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Taking Shape - An Interview with Brad McQuaid & Chris Perkins | Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen | MMORP
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Taking Shape - An Interview with Brad McQuaid & Chris Perkins | Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen | MMORPG.com
This past week we had the chance to interview Brad McQuaid and Chris Perkins about the work on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. The game is really in great shape despite not making its Kickstarter. MMO fans will have a lot to look forward too as the team has: a playable solid core game, gotten its first round of funding, and hit solid internal milestones. Let's have the guys bring us up to date on the project and give you a few details you may not have heard yet.
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거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
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I agree that generally it won't be as good as a single player, but that doesn't mean it can't be good.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
In EQ, we seemed to get by just fine with getting people back to the group in a dungeon and if it was a deep difficult area, that was part of the point of the risk/reward of doing it (and also provided class tools of use, Call of the Hero anyone?). If you had time, you got back in deep with a party, if you didn't you camped other areas that were more accessible. All of this was part of the selection process of game play. The weight of time and effort which made being able to do something later when you had time all the more enjoyable.
I keep hearing how people don't have time these days, how the market of players is different and I think this is pure marketing BS. My friends and I all worked 40+ hours a week, were adults in our late 20's to 30's while playing EQ. We had jobs, families, and responsibilities and yet we were still able to enjoy much of what EQ had to offer. So this idea that people only have an hour of play time is the same mantra that led us to the slew of garbage we have in the industry today. I mean, people are so busy that they need dungeons to be 5 min runs, instant dungeon finder queues and everything centered around getting around easy.
Sorry Brad and Chris, if you have been sold on this, then you are already heading down the wrong path. I have seen this approach far too many times in the past and all we get in the end is a watered down mainstream game touted as "hardcore".
Look, I understand people don't have time to play 24/7, this was always the case. Times didn't change, there are still adults who game for a hobby (well, we used to when games were still games) and put aside time to play the game. There are still college kids and high school kids who have lots of time to play and will likely be the ones doing all of the top end content. Lastly, there are still those who lack time and catch a bit of play here and there when they can. You want to bring back the old days of social gaming? You do it by making a game, not an entertainment simulator that is designed for the limited time of mobile app players and the short attention spans. Make the game good, make it "worth" spending time in and the result is that people will make time to play the game, just like we did back in EQ.
If you mainstream this game, you are in for some serious trouble. Those of us who wanted old school won't play it and mainstream will get bored and move on shortly after.
I hope so as well, but something tells me it will be a game feature of convenience.
This is the problem with such features. Want instant travel? Fine... make it a class spell or ability and put up restrictions on obtaining it and when it can be used. You want to allow people to summon a corpse? Sure, make it a class spell and do the same with conditional use (ie must be in zone). You want to summon a player to your party, fine.. bring along a mage and have them use Call of Hero to summon the player easy to the group.
Look, we just added a bunch of neat features that make the game easier, but are dependent on the pros/cons of play (ie having the class and meeting certain conditions). /gasp... Game play, who would have thunk it?
Nah... lets just make it some stupid UI feature where people click it quick to get around easily.
Pretty disappointed on this one, big time.
So basically, you think there should not be any games that have this. That all games should cater to your specific desire of game play? Also, how is it "elitist" to want a social game that requires group team work? Are all sports elitist too? Is team work some sort of social ill?
I can see your point though, I mean... when you want to play the game by yourself doing the content solo, It is understandable that you wouldn't want to group, though at that point, I would find it pretty odd to be playing an MMO when a single player game is specifically designed for such. I mean, it is like walking into a seafood restaurant and complaining that there is no Italian food. Maybe I am just being elitist though. /shrug
Regardless, it is something that could be done through a class, providing yet another layer of class interdependence. Compare ways it can be done:
1. (Mainstream) UI feature where you can remotely invite the person to the group, then the leader clicks the "summon to leader" button and the player is instantly whisked to the group, safely and in such a "hardcore" fashion.
2. (old school) The summoner class as the ability to call a person to them that is within the same zone as them. This spell is given at a certain level, requires a money component (blue diamond, etc...) and has some limitations to its use (maybe not used in combat, etc...).
Number (1) is a typical sell out gimmick done by mainstream games all to serve that "convenience" cancerous development style of play. The other provides the same solution, but it has requirements and is a form of game play.
For instance, lets say the group you are heading to join didn't have a summoner, maybe... there is a group near that area. Maybe you can contact them, and they would be able to summon you to them (for a price), allowing you to get closer to your group without risking the dangerous of traveling all the way by yourself.
Maybe there are no summoners, maybe... you are a class that has invis and can sneak in by yourself? Maybe, you are a monk or another class that can feign death flop into to the group. Maybe you are a stealth class that can sneak on in. Maybe you bought some invis potions which would get you there.
See all the elements of play we have? All the choices the pros/cons of classes, their abilities to both handle things on their own as well as provide tools to the group?
One is a game play solution, the other is just a simple cheat for convenience.
There are 3 types of people in the world.
1.) Those who make things happen
2.) Those who watch things happen
3.) And those who wonder "What the %#*& just happened?!"
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Originally posted by Scagweed22
is it the graphics? the repetativenesses? i mean what is the point? you could be so much more productive in real life
Real life brings repetition and pointlessness too. The only thing real life offers is Great graphics. Its kinda expensive too and way to dependent on the cash shop. Totally pay to win as well. No thank you. Ill stick to my games.
It's a single player feature. Great, All MMOs need something for players to do when they can't hook up with their friends/guildies. But the personal story in the MMO? It's just not needed. Let's all make stories together. THose are more personal anyway. When I am online alone, that's probably when I should be focusing on my crafting and gathering......or whatever it is in that MMO.
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Brad McQuaid
CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc.
www.pantheonmmo.com
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Those commenting on personal story have completely misinterpreted it. Read the entire article again and gain context. The one line is likely poorly written as well.
They are talking about the game being rich in lore and story. EQ was rich in lore and story yet not geared toward single player. They want to progress this one area that has progressed within single player mmos (instead of what they have destroyed) and apply it to to a hardcore, group oriented fantasy concept.
The irony here is that they are not opening alpha early to players because players will likely not grasp the overall concept and not contribute constructively to early stages of testing ... and people replying to this very article proves this.
There is nothing stated in the article about personal story. Besides, personal means it is personal to you. It does not imply you are being told you are a hero or if it is a single player experience especially when the entire context of the article is about the game being a hardcore, group oriented concept. It is a personal response to the game play experience only.
You stay sassy!
Thanks Brad, though one question about caravans; will those limit gimmicks such as a group forming a caravan and then a single character sneaking into a dungeon location, bypassing content only to spawn the party at the camp area?
I can see such abuses as many times, just getting your group to that deep area in the dungeon was the achievement. If someone can sneak/invis/FD flop into a safe spot and setup camp, it will really defeat the purpose of a dungeon crawl. That is why I cringe when I see these types of systems.
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Brad McQuaid
CCO, Visionary Realms, Inc.
www.pantheonmmo.com
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All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
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