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Independent Development To Continue & Looking For Its Niche - Pathfinder Online - MMORPG.com
Shelassa
MMORPG.COM Staff UncommonPosts: 616
Independent Development To Continue & Looking For Its Niche - Pathfinder Online - MMORPG.com
Pathfinder Online News - Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens has written an extensive letter to update backers and the Pathfinder Online community about the future of the game. After an independent analysis, it was determined that the game needs to find its niche but that it would be unlikely that any major player on the MMO scene would be interested in finishing development. As a result, Paizo has decided to move forward on its own to try to complete the game within next year.
Comments
I self identify as a monkey.
And so the self-delusion continues...
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
I have more respect for those that set reasonable and achievable goals, do not try to play wordsmith games like Early Enrollment (no wipe) for a game literally years from release, and then actually deliver on those goals, on the timeline they say.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
I feel she is simply stinging from lost money/investment and just won't give up trying to recoup some of that money.
If i personally was going to try and save his game,i don't think i would know where to start.I know my own personal preference i look to combat and events,i mean a real server wide event similar to Besieged in FFXI or even their lesser Campaigns.
Besieged however needs a large city and several themed mob families that invade the city.Then you need to target a level as to how difficult the fights would be,imo aim for top end Boss with filler mobs to allow lower levels to have fun as well.
Then you create various rewards for whatever type of event you create.Then if your team is creative you create other ideas like it doesn't have to be a direct copy but along the lines of being able to hire npc's to aid your cause.
RARE is a very important mechanic in any game because players desire rare items.If you make it too easy to acquire then it is not rare anymore and loses value.IMO ou do not and SHOULD not ever make everything linear,meaning you must kill level 30 Boss to get that level; 30 rare item to craft.Instead you might create a very rare node that mybe only appears at a certain time of day or night or in certain weather.Perhaps there is a rng random recipe spawning mechanic,you know maybe that exploration pays off finding a rare node or recipe hidden beside a rock or in a broken vase etc etc.
It is called EFFORT,the more cool ideas and disco and rares the more it keeps players busy.
Then you have ideas for combat like flashy player to player combo.You do NOT create a "community"if everyone is playing solo.Allow rewards again i always point to FFXI because imo that design team was smarter than most others.Grouping allows you to have more buffs and debuffs as wlll to kill faster for bonus rewards for chain killing and they have to be a certain toughness.Xp should be weighted towards grouping as well with those added buffs you will kill faster,more efficiently.Once again you could do like FFXI and have players earn a certain level then they can quest a soloing class lie ka Beastmaster if they wanted.
options options options,the more your game offers the better fun it becomes and keeps players interested.Did i mention NO ALT gamin,instead the sub class allows players over longevity to continue improving their character with more and more choice/option.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
That's why these projects always struggle and then have to go for Early Enrollment or similar instances where they expect you to pay fees for the privilege of testing their game and then also in return promise not to wipe your progress. It really is the worst possible combination.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
I would suggest a namechange ASAP, first to a project name and when the game actually is ready for beta then the real name, something that attracts the players actually enjoying this type of game. As an added bonus it would rub off some of the failure points the first team got.
Once that is done I would review what mechanics that the current fans like and what to rework, being a niche game is not necessarily a bad thing but if you go niche you need to be the best game possible for your target customers. A general game can have more less successful features since they attract people from a broader range, when you go small you need the people you aiming for to really love your game.
Once all mechanics are as good as possible you need to improve and expand the game and after polish it up.
Changing the engine is a major work just like changing the target group and try to get the Pathfinder fans liking it, both of those cost a lot of money Paizo doesn't seem willing or able to put in the project so neither will happen (and if they try without coughing up the needed cash we will see another failure).
That is at least my suggestion.
The better alternative would be selling the IP and what they got to someone competent (and they would likely scrap all work so far). Turbine would have been good 6 years or so ago but that is out. Amazon or Bethesda/Zenimax is probably the only ones with enough cash that at least would be slightly interested in one of the largest P&P IPs out there. I don't see someone like Blizzard to put in money into someone else IP, if they wanted to make a new MMO it will likely be either World of Diablo or Wow2, both having higher possibilities then Pathfinder since most Blizzard fans would buy anything labeled Diablo or Warcraft no matter what. But I am sure Lisa already figured all this out and tried all companies she could.
Also, Bethesda own Zenimax and they actually could afford to make another AAA MMO, Paradox do have a more limited budget even if the company have many fans.
To my knowledge is the only MMO experience Paradox have "Salem: The Crafting MMO" and they only published that.
One day the head dev posted that she was awfully sorry but that she would stop all development on the game.
Everyone was sorry to hear that.
Everyone agreed that this was probably the best.
Years had passed without her finding a sponsor for her niche vision and it was obvious it was never going to happen.
Why can't Lisa have that simple insight?
Afford another MMO? Are you joking? Zenimax is worth billions. The board of directors for Zenimax includes Jerry Bruckheimer, Cal Ripken Jr and Robert Trump.
But, ESO has found its niche and there would be no sense in creating/producing another MMO that competes with your existing MMO.
I couldn't agree more. Sometimes you just have to cut your losses and move on. All they are going to accomplish is wasting another year and some more money at this rate.
That money they've lost is gone and it's not coming back. Maybe it's time to accept that and try to recover their losses on other projects...
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
But I don't think it would compete with ESO if they stay true to the IP, it should target another crowd just like Neverwinter and DDO does (but preferably a larger audience then them). What a Pathfinder game should do is focusing on people that like D&D and Pathfinder as well as people who like D&D based games. ESOs focus is more people who enjoy the TES games.
But then again, Zenimax probably wouldn't do it anyways, it would be even more profitable to license Forgotten realms or Dragonlance instead if they wanted to make that type of game. It was just a suggestion of someone competent enough to handle the license and I think they would pull it off. Or for that matter do they already own the Fallout license which also have a rather high MMO potential.
Ah, that actually could work really well. NWN and NWN2 did pretty well and a game like that could be made for a tenth of a AAA MMORPG and still be good. I think Paradox could manage that, a full blown MMO would be a very different matter.
Another possibility would be making it into a CORPG similar to the original Guildwars, also far cheaper and easier then a full MMO and Guildwars did rather well without any famous IP to pull it.
In either case I don't see any need for the code Goblinworks did.
That mans maybe 10 species of creatures,far less npc's,only one large city etc etc.
However even though you save a lot of time and money through less assets,you still need depth and content and events to keep players busy without 3500 linear quests.Linear game play is not even a MMO anyhow,i think players want to feel like the yare playing THEIR game not the same scripted content as everyone else.
This is the best content i have ever played in my entire life of rpg's.....This is how you get a player like me on board.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
This way they just keep 3 people kind of working on it ( we can not know if they are at all , or how much ... maybe hour a week ? ) And nobody can accuse them of squandering the money.
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
Yea. You are right.... Greedmonger...so many.
Still, by keeping appearance of "we are working on it" they have much less flak, for no personal cost. ( they dont have to be working on it, just claim that they are )