Pax Dei Will Enter Early Access On June 18th, Aims To Develop MMO Alongside Its Players | MMORPG.com

System · June 4

Pax Dei Will Enter Early Access On June 18th, Aims To Develop MMO Alongside Its Players | MMORPG.com

Pax Dei, the upcoming sandbox MMO from developer Mainframe Industries, will be launching into Early Access later this month, bringing the MMO to players on June 18th.

Read the full story here

Slapshot1188 · June 4

While I will probably buy it... this is a huge glaring 4 alarm red flag:

The exact business model and pricing of Pax Dei after Early Access are not defined yet. After release we plan to introduce, on top of the initial game purchase, a fee (subscription or similar) for on-going access to the game and plots. Founder's Packs include the initial game purchase, and the owner of a Founder’s Pack will also retain character slots and exclusive recipes included in their pack. We will be transparent about our future pricing plans and provide more details as we approach the official release.

Buyer Beware.

Wargfoot · June 4

I hate the phrase "exclusive recipe".

If it is powerful enough to make the founder's pack worth buying the people who didn't get it will be upset. If it isn't powerful, why buy it? So yeah, plenty of red flags here.

MaxBacon · June 4

Don't feel this is a good decision, the MMO is still rather early, it's just a base with its base mechanics and not focused on content or depth to the game.

Trying to early access an MMO is players running out of content, that'll make it hard to upkeep momentum.

Slapshot1188 · June 4

Wargfoot said:

I hate the phrase "exclusive recipe".

If it is powerful enough to make the founder's pack worth buying the people who didn't get it will be upset. If it isn't powerful, why buy it? So yeah, plenty of red flags here.

Just cosmetics. They have photos on their website. Its some tapestries and tables and wall sconces etc...

Only advantage seems to be that the middle and top packages have additional character slots and land slots. But given the ambiguity around their monetization I'm not sure how big those adds are.

Ryukan · June 4

I dunno I found it to be pretty boring from what time I played it in the last demo. Also, I refuse to play a game that relies heavily on crafting but also features a mechanic for failing at crafting things. I will not watch the game eat the resources I spent time gathering because of an RNG chance at failure.

I think this game will be more of an NMO than an MMO....A Niche Multiplayer Online game. It will be a very niche game if they add a sub fee or some other type of ongoing fee.

ShinyFlygon · June 4

"...the team working on Pax Dei needs an active community to help progress the development."

Translation: "We started this project with ideas for systems only, not content, and we've realized that we still have no idea how to create anything of interest for players to do in this game."

I'll pass, thanks. If you can't be bothered to hire writers and content designers, I can't be bothered to pay you.

sabrefoxx · June 4

I played the beta for all of 20 minutes the other month and I'll tell ya, it's too soon to release into ea. It won't be polished, it'll be buggy, janky, and it will lose its player count after the first month. It certainly won't be a blockbuster.

You might say, "But it's early access, of course it'll be janky at first", I counter by saying: 1)Why are you allowing them to charge you to play test their janky game, 2) why are you treating EA as if it is expected to have bad content that you paid for, 3) Why aren't you holding developers to a standard where it is polished and only minor changes and input are needed rather than an unpolished one with major changes and input are needed?

I'll pass on this. I'll bet that after 1 month it'll have less than 1k players online if that.

Wargfoot · June 4

It looks like a lot of promises (someone may be a pope) that we'll never see.

Anfere31 · June 4

Paid alpha, no thank you. Its never ok to make playes pay for unfinished products.

Pay to get into early access, next news in a couple of weeks is the exiting paid DLC release or cash-shop features introduction. Been there, seen that, unfortunatly done that too, no moar. ?

If its so critical for developement and the game is still in heavy production, releasing it in early access is fine but free of charge. Making players pay to test, discover bugs, give feedback is just free labor + no strings attached money compared to investor's money that comes with its share of responsabilities, to bankroll the end of the developpement cycle of their game.

Its sad how studios just found a neet way to make players shoulder many of the burdens of developping a game with a hefty fee to the point of burning
Whole communities / genra's while also killing their game on arrival in the process.

Germzypie · June 4

sabrefoxx said:

I played the beta for all of 20 minutes the other month and I'll tell ya, it's too soon to release into ea. It won't be polished, it'll be buggy, janky, and it will lose its player count after the first month. It certainly won't be a blockbuster.

You might say, "But it's early access, of course it'll be janky at first", I counter by saying: 1)Why are you allowing them to charge you to play test their janky game, 2) why are you treating EA as if it is expected to have bad content that you paid for, 3) Why aren't you holding developers to a standard where it is polished and only minor changes and input are needed rather than an unpolished one with major changes and input are needed?

I'll pass on this. I'll bet that after 1 month it'll have less than 1k players online if that.

I think i lasted about 30 minutes. I was in the crafting window and my "neighbor" kited a bear to me, and somehow he lost aggro and it killed me instead. The he proceeded to do the immature thing in region chat. I thanked him for making me realize what a flop this was and logged off.

lotrlore · June 4

Wargfoot said:

I hate the phrase "exclusive recipe".

If it is powerful enough to make the founder's pack worth buying the people who didn't get it will be upset. If it isn't powerful, why buy it? So yeah, plenty of red flags here.

One of the first questions I asked in our interview was about these recipes because I had the same thought. Do these recipes provide an advantage over people who just don't have as much disposable income. Thankfully, they are cosmetic, but it's definitely something that will rub some people the wrong way, no matter how you look at it.

Elidien_ga · June 4

I tried it too and while it was rough around the edges, the worst part was it felt like another cliched, paint by the numbers survival game. I had no reason to keep playing or return. Maybe that will change in the future.

samooryesord · June 4

Seems like it's yet another endless beta MMO with no direction or plan in sight. Wonderful.

Relampago · June 4

I will stand out from the doom and gloom and say my guild and I loved this game and played extensively during Alpha 2. I am fairly certain I will be playing well after 1 month. Their dungeon designs were really cool and there is alot to work with here.

Slapshot1188 · June 4

Relampago said:

I will stand out from the doom and gloom and say my guild and I loved this game and played extensively during Alpha 2. I am fairly certain I will be playing well after 1 month. Their dungeon designs were really cool and there is alot to work with here.

I thought it was beautiful... but lacking a lot of actual GAME.

That said, our one guy who we usually charge with building our base thought it was one of the best games we played in recent memory

lotrlore · June 4

Slapshot1188 said:

Relampago said:

I will stand out from the doom and gloom and say my guild and I loved this game and played extensively during Alpha 2. I am fairly certain I will be playing well after 1 month. Their dungeon designs were really cool and there is alot to work with here.

I thought it was beautiful... but lacking a lot of actual GAME.

That said, our one guy who we usually charge with building our base thought it was one of the best games we played in recent memory

I think, too, the developers know it's a bit barebones when you look at the ambition they have for its future. They are essentially trying to build a medieval EVE Online, so early access and developing with fans actually makes sense here (and as someone who hates that EVERYTHING is launching into EA, I can't believe I just wrote that sentence).

That said, it's going to be interesting to see if they can trickle updates out fast enough to keep players engaged - especially since they are aiming to create a fully persistent, liveable world. If players feel like they can drop in and out with every update, something just isn't clicking as a result.

Time will tell (and we'll be watching it as well - full early access review likely to come sometime in the beginning of July)

Slapshot1188 · June 4

lotrlore said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Relampago said:

I will stand out from the doom and gloom and say my guild and I loved this game and played extensively during Alpha 2. I am fairly certain I will be playing well after 1 month. Their dungeon designs were really cool and there is alot to work with here.

I thought it was beautiful... but lacking a lot of actual GAME.

That said, our one guy who we usually charge with building our base thought it was one of the best games we played in recent memory

I think, too, the developers know it's a bit barebones when you look at the ambition they have for its future. They are essentially trying to build a medieval EVE Online, so early access and developing with fans actually makes sense here (and as someone who hates that EVERYTHING is launching into EA, I can't believe I just wrote that sentence).

That said, it's going to be interesting to see if they can trickle updates out fast enough to keep players engaged - especially since they are aiming to create a fully persistent, liveable world. If players feel like they can drop in and out with every update, something just isn't clicking as a result.

Time will tell (and we'll be watching it as well - full early access review likely to come sometime in the beginning of July)

Yeah... and the design is HIGHLY relying on GROUPS to accomplish things. So if your group's main blacksmith decides to stop playing, it will hurt trying to get someone else with similar skill.

lotrlore · June 4

Slapshot1188 said:

lotrlore said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Relampago said:

I will stand out from the doom and gloom and say my guild and I loved this game and played extensively during Alpha 2. I am fairly certain I will be playing well after 1 month. Their dungeon designs were really cool and there is alot to work with here.

I thought it was beautiful... but lacking a lot of actual GAME.

That said, our one guy who we usually charge with building our base thought it was one of the best games we played in recent memory

I think, too, the developers know it's a bit barebones when you look at the ambition they have for its future. They are essentially trying to build a medieval EVE Online, so early access and developing with fans actually makes sense here (and as someone who hates that EVERYTHING is launching into EA, I can't believe I just wrote that sentence).

That said, it's going to be interesting to see if they can trickle updates out fast enough to keep players engaged - especially since they are aiming to create a fully persistent, liveable world. If players feel like they can drop in and out with every update, something just isn't clicking as a result.

Time will tell (and we'll be watching it as well - full early access review likely to come sometime in the beginning of July)

Yeah... and the design is HIGHLY relying on GROUPS to accomplish things. So if your group's main blacksmith decides to stop playing, it will hurt trying to get someone else with similar skill.

Yea - though, if they pull it off, your group's blacksmith won't be the only blacksmith you can rely on. The village/town/kingdom should be full of them, and the in-game market (when it's added along with the gold economy) should fill the void. It just might be more expensive in the short term.

That said, this is all dependent on it actually working as intended, which is a tall order in this day and age.

Torpian · June 4

I am definitely going to play this but only after the following has occurred: 1. It hits full release and has ironed out all its many bugs (probably 2 years from now). 2. It realises it needs quests and hires people to implement some kind of story for the game.

For the second point, they should look at Conan Exiles which didn't have a traditional story but the quests were tethered to the achievements and as you unlocked each level of the achievements, more of the story would unfold. Lore was scattered all over the land and I had a strong sense that I was in Conan's world. This game must have it's own sense of identity and not just rely on players making friends with one another to be the hook that keeps players coming back for more.

Raagnarz · June 4

Whelp my interest and praise for this product and company just fell off a cliff. I had a lot of respect for what they were trying to do, and the more old school approach of them trying to do it. This "game" is in alpha phase at best currently. I've been part of multiple play tests. I love that, like monsters and memories, they were going old school alpha/beta testing inviting people in. Each play test you saw the improvements they made and they got to see how people reacted with the changes and new systems. However a couple play tests in, and now that they have some goodwill from the community, they're gonna go right for their pockets before this product is even actually a true game. I expected this company to have more integrity, and that was my fault. They can throw out any reasons they want for why they think this is a good idea. Only one reason would be truthful and they'll never say it, we want people's money now in case we can never finish this the way we want. Just removed Pax Dei from my wish list and my discord servers.

Slapshot1188 · June 4

lotrlore said:

Slapshot1188 said:

lotrlore said:

Slapshot1188 said:

Relampago said:

I will stand out from the doom and gloom and say my guild and I loved this game and played extensively during Alpha 2. I am fairly certain I will be playing well after 1 month. Their dungeon designs were really cool and there is alot to work with here.

I thought it was beautiful... but lacking a lot of actual GAME.

That said, our one guy who we usually charge with building our base thought it was one of the best games we played in recent memory

I think, too, the developers know it's a bit barebones when you look at the ambition they have for its future. They are essentially trying to build a medieval EVE Online, so early access and developing with fans actually makes sense here (and as someone who hates that EVERYTHING is launching into EA, I can't believe I just wrote that sentence).

That said, it's going to be interesting to see if they can trickle updates out fast enough to keep players engaged - especially since they are aiming to create a fully persistent, liveable world. If players feel like they can drop in and out with every update, something just isn't clicking as a result.

Time will tell (and we'll be watching it as well - full early access review likely to come sometime in the beginning of July)

Yeah... and the design is HIGHLY relying on GROUPS to accomplish things. So if your group's main blacksmith decides to stop playing, it will hurt trying to get someone else with similar skill.

Yea - though, if they pull it off, your group's blacksmith won't be the only blacksmith you can rely on. The village/town/kingdom should be full of them, and the in-game market (when it's added along with the gold economy) should fill the void. It just might be more expensive in the short term.

That said, this is all dependent on it actually working as intended, which is a tall order in this day and age.

Right. It can work if there is a market. But there wasn't in the last test and I haven't heard that it will be a launch or even near launch feature. The challenge is that it's hard to get people back once they drift. Sure folks might come back to check out a big patch but it's never the same.

If they launch with no market, and groups start to lose key members its just going to make it harder to keep the group together. You can plug a hole in the dam, but eventually you can't reach the new hole because you are already plugging the old one. Remember... it's a GRIND to get good at these professions. You have to work together and funnel resources to someone in order to help them progress. Its unlikely any group smaller than 40 or 50 is going to have 2 blacksmiths, 2 leather workers, 2 tailors... etc...

We shall see. Sound like my group will be there on day 1. It remains to be seen if we will be there on day 60.

Sovrath · June 4

sabrefoxx said:

I played the beta for all of 20 minutes the other month and I'll tell ya, it's too soon to release into ea. It won't be polished, it'll be buggy, janky, and it will lose its player count after the first month. It certainly won't be a blockbuster.

You might say, "But it's early access, of course it'll be janky at first", I counter by saying: 1)Why are you allowing them to charge you to play test their janky game, 2) why are you treating EA as if it is expected to have bad content that you paid for, 3) Why aren't you holding developers to a standard where it is polished and only minor changes and input are needed rather than an unpolished one with major changes and input are needed?

I'll pass on this. I'll bet that after 1 month it'll have less than 1k players online if that.

Because you’re looking at it “wrong “

One is essentially donating money to an ongoing project in the hopes that it will actually be finished and successful.

They in turn give you perks.

It’s a complete risk and not for most people but sadly most people do it.

Sarla · June 4

samooryesord said:

Seems like it's yet another endless beta MMO with no direction or plan in sight. Wonderful.

Why go to all the trouble these days of finishing games. People are happy to just pay for early access. Most of them don't finish or end up garbage after the milking is done

Sovrath · June 5

Sarla said:

samooryesord said:

Seems like it's yet another endless beta MMO with no direction or plan in sight. Wonderful.

Why go to all the trouble these days of finishing games. People are happy to just pay for early access. Most of them don't finish or end up garbage after the milking is done

The issue is they don't have the money to finish a game. Early access, crowd funding, these things give developers (of varying degrees of experience and/or skill) the opportunity to make a game.

The second issue is that many of them aren't up to the task.

And even if they have the skill or experience, they might not be able to do it.

Look at the recent "Wayward Realms" kickstarter that just launched. It's run by two developers who created Daggerfall. But their kickstarter shows very little, even though they've worked on it for several years.

As someone who has most of their crowdfunded projects actually launching, I'll tell you that I gave money because I'd "love" for it to work. But if someone were to ask me if I thought it had a better chance at happening I'd say "no, I don't really think it will happen.," Heck even if it happened, they are raising money so they can make it to Early Access and get a publisher.

bleah.

Lateris · June 5

My pals in my guild were blown away with the potential and existing crafting system from the last round of testing prior to this announcement. I have to agree with them when I tested the game and joined them. I enjoyed the crafting and sense of world immersion but can see how early the game is at. I'll probably wait and see what the plan is for this game but will support them for the first tier pricing/

I thought the publisher is Main Frame and the co publisher is New Tales?

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