Great video Nathan. And great news indeed! I can't wait to be able to get back into Pantheon the MMO and I love your idea of streaming it ZORK style LOL

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Can't wait! I think I'm gonna do it

@ez243

8 ай бұрын

Blind gamers probably have no other way to enjoy these games UNLESS they have a buddy in the pilot seat who is constantly talking in cinematic-like Descriptive-Mode. Nathan's joke idea isn't much different from what i do when gaming with my long-time blind buddy. I wonder if Nathan would get in trouble for it? It can feel pretty authentic, such as when listening to an audio book, especially the LitRPG genre. He could attempt to take breaks in the action to read descriptions and to offer interactive choices for his Chat that's listening in.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, I really actually want to do it December 1st, unless VR tells me otherwise, I'm gonna do it

@ez243

8 ай бұрын

​@@TheNathanNAPALMI'm an Alpha backer, not pre-alpha. I'd be happy to volunteer and help you out with wording descriptions while you are busy reading your Chat and doing game-related things. . Of course i have to wait until my Tier is allowed in!

@marcl5942

8 ай бұрын

Nathan Napalm has been eaten by a grue...

If nothing else good came of 247, at least we got the gag order NDA lifted. Backing out is the right choice given the feedback.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

This is true, and hopefully the NDA continues to lift, it would be good for them at this point

I still 100% believe that all the alpha backers are going to log in and realize that almost nothing has been completed, and that the game is STILL 3-4 years (or more) from releasing. Game companies are now using major stall tactics. All of these games keep changing engines, updating their code, adding "cool" new skins, ships, mounts, etc... all the while their game is either barely playable, or has zero content and the core game systems are missing. Im done buying any and all "pre-release" games and paying for alphas / betas / early access.

Maybe I'm a negative jerk but the extraction mode really was a straw that broke the camels back. Alpha pushbacks, broken promises, and then the horrid visual change was difficult to accept but when they came out and announced doing what every failed kickstarter MMO has done it was too much. I'm very skeptical at this point. I hope this alpha really happens. Also I have some things I'd like to know when that NDA lifts. How big is Terminus really? Are there more zones than Thronefast, Wilds End, and Faerthale that you have been able to explore? What kind of areas are there that we have not seen? Snowy Mountain peaks, dry sand covered deserts, Island chains in a vast ocean, wide open plains, etc? Have you seen any cities besides thronefast at least a little bit? Are there multiple continents? Does the world feel full of life yet like having NPCs and lots of mobs? It looks very empty from all I've seen. I hope this works.

Standing by with the largest popcorn bag ever made for December!

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

There will be a lot of popcorn to digest

You're too sweet, Nathan! Great video! I can't wait to dive back into Terminus with you and Bounty, and our Pantheon friends! I'm beyond excited with this news!!

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Can't wait!

@mujinn_

8 ай бұрын

I look forward to that day as well.

@vaughn6371

8 ай бұрын

That's a good burger!

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

The BEST Burger!

@Alexander-ix2jp

8 ай бұрын

@@vaughn6371 Speaking of good burgers, I want Steve to come back. I miss the guy.

Finally feel like my Alpha pledge means something :) I'm very excited

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

WOOOT! Big victory imo

Nice to get some good news for Pantheon. Transparency is the best way I think at this point for them to change the opinion of those following this game. With Ambers Adrift and Monsters & Memories looking so good right now, and being so open about what they are working on. Pantheon needs to show us what is great about there game (not just talk about it). Its a great time to be a classic MMO lover.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

So true!

Best news! Actually the way they responded to this shows me that they have so much character. The "apology" made me feel better about VR than I did even before this terrible chapter happened. I know it sounds crazy but I feel better about them now, because they proved they can own up to mistakes and they can LISTEN to the community.

@user-hm4jm1cy7m

8 ай бұрын

Didnt they fire a guy that outed them for making the 247 and not telling anyone they were doing it?

Well said Nathan. And thank you for putting your neck out with your past videos; I'm sure they had a bearing on VR's change of mind.

This is most definitely a step in the right direction for VR. I hope they turn the ship around and put it into full gear. Only time will tell, but this is good news for a change so I'll take it.

I am not getting my hopes up again for this game. No money from me until I see a finale game product. I just don't trust them anymore.

oh so now extraction mode is too good for us, what an outrage

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

lol

I have given up on pantheon. this is the first of them admitting they are going off the script of making the game. once brad died so did pantheon. the fan base will leave because another game will take its place.

This makes me feel much better for the game now. I really can not wait til you get in there for awhile Nathan

How this announcement affects me personally is I get to start testing in December... super excited for that. Dropping of the 247 play mode; glad they listened to us. Dropping of the verbal NDA; about frickin time you content creators can start to freely talk about the game we're all excited for and maybe start generating some positive news about it. All in all this announcement has restored my trust. I still reserve the right to be upset about the graphic change... still not happy about that based on what I've seen of the live world so far.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Hopefully when you play it, (the video shown is already outrageously outdated) the artstyle grows on you. I was never 100% against it and saw the beauty in it right away, but I'm super interested in how others will see and feel when they experience it

they listened to the negative response about the extraction mode. hopefully they listen to the community again about the absurd changes to the art style.

Great news and great video Nathan! I read it as the Alpha pledges would get 24 hour sessions like the the VIP's used to get. And I had the same idea as you for streaming it.😁

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah I’m starting to think you are right

HmMmMmM&M Perhaps this is why i was taunted in Shawns M&M chat "Yeah? See you in 2 years when you change your mind" alright buddy... challenge accepted! Get yo asses in gear!

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Pantheon is looking like it's in a bad state. M&M is looking way better at this stage, not much else to say really.

Glad they have changed direction on this. It seems like they are really just sort of fumbling in the dark and changing direction when they hit a pointy object.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

That is pretty much how development works seems like to me

Iwas thinking about streaming just me and talking while i play too, Gladd we get to go back to the MMO. lets go break it!

Great News!!! Looking forward to more videos in the future.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

More to come!

I am still skeptical that it will happen.. but I do hope that it will finally open up for Alpha... will be watching

It's been so damn long my pledge is no longer listed on their site - can't remember if I got alpha access or not, silly stuff.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Just log in and check your account

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Write it off as a loss and move on. Or troll like I do, there is something cathartic about shouting, "HEY THIS THING DOESNT EVEN HAVE ALL THE CLASSES FINISHED!"

Thank god they are back on track

Thank goodness for good news!

Good news! One thing on my mind though - is their funding situation. In the Discord meeting a few weeks back, they said that the 247 version would possibly provide more funding - and it seemed like that implied their current funding is dwindling. I'm curious to hear what their strategy is now to address that situation (assuming I've assumed correctly ;) ). Not dooming - just genuinely curious because after that Discord meeting, I'm trying to more accurately recalibrate my confidence measurement on this project. I have had high hopes - still have high hopes - but for the various reasons we're all familiar with, I'm not sure what to think anymore, lol...

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Well, thanks to the way Brad had set up the way funds are handled, they have enough to get the current team to launch, they just know that whatever this day is (they said "years") is too long. Their project is too long in the tooth and they need more artists and developers, the extra funding is needed to hire more people. The funding is appropriately balanced to how many people are on staff

@corthin_the_dorf

8 ай бұрын

If one thing is for certain, the lift on the NDA will have a LOT of intense eyes pouring over the info coming out. Looking forward to the reverse titanic spewage. There's an intro graphic for your coming series there somewhere... haha

I remember when my old guildmaster Willfight was first talking about Pantheon when the crowdfunding first started. I am so happy for him because he was a really good guy and he was really looking forward to this! If I had the disposable income to be an Alpha I would be right there with him. Great video Nate!

@RabiddRabitt1984

7 ай бұрын

A wild Bloodguard member appears!

VICTORY! I mean they dropped the stupid extraction mode, once again VICTORY! I can't wait until we can talk about this and maybe one day show it as well. Maybe this new openness will help them recover.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I hope so!

change in graphics still sucks so hard that I could now never play it.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Lets see how it progresses. Next time Pantheon is shown it will look way better than what you see here and that's just how it's going to be until we get to launch : improvements as shaders and lighting is added in, as they adjust textures etc

I cant get over the new graphics the old one looked so much better imo

Whoa, alpha access!!!!! Hell yaaa!!!

Alpha pledgers were about to have 24/7 access to 247, does this mean now we only get invited 1 day per month? Guess we'll see on Thurs.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

No, sounds like it's still 24/7 just no extraction

@user-hl2dy3bt7j

8 ай бұрын

disagree, seems like alpha level will have set days@@TheNathanNAPALM

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

yeah it is worded strangely isn't it, 24-hour play sessions into next year, yeah I'm not sure

@thawol9227

8 ай бұрын

That's the way I took it as they would get invited to certain days for a 24 hour period. Maybe vr will think that if they get to play and like it some will up grade. Who knows

@jamesdenny1131

8 ай бұрын

@@thawol9227 If that's what they are aiming for they need to just give alpha players 24/7 access too. That will get more pledges. The odd 24 hour testing session once a month isn't going to get them very many new pledges.

I believe I'm an Alpha tester. Back when I did the Kickstarter. But I'm not sure. Will be fun to find out.

Playing like a novel actually sounds kind of cool!

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Look forward to it! Going to be fun!

It is nice to see some positivity coming back to VR. Granted the negativity was self inflicted but still, nice to see it turning around a bit.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Agreed

Does this mean they might go back on the graphics thing too and stick with the original idea instead? Either way, interested to see how this all plays out after the recent change

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I doubt it, the artstyle has legitimately been getting stuff done, and they need that forward progress or they're not gonna make it

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

The momentum has been strong since this switch and it already looks so much better than even this video from last month, they need to keep pushing forward

Can't wait to see your moth open wide enough to swallow the Titanic, Nathan. Hopefully during the inevitable Popsicle Video. Also worth clarifying that Alpha pledges will get access for 24 hours a month starting in December. I don't think you said that. And yeah, the no-video stream would be so funny man. Make sure it's OK though, 'cause it's a little borderline (like, not sure if you'd be allowed to have the sound coming through or not).

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, may have to mute the audio too, I'll see what they say

Let me know if you need to wait until December to answer this but this question popped into my head last night while I was working . Would you say that you enjoy the combat & encounters more or less than Embers Adrift?

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, I am allowed to answer this because I've streamed it before, and overall : Yes, Pantheon is more to the root of the genre I love in combat and encounters, but I still love Embers

@circaen

8 ай бұрын

@@TheNathanNAPALM That is pretty encouraging because I really enjoy Embers combat. Thanks Nathan.

If I get my alpha invite, I am going to miss making my alpha searching joke in your videos after all these years. So here is one more, and possibly the last... *searches frantically for his Pantheon alpha invite, like he was looking for water after crawling through the Sahara for days*

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I'm going to miss it too, but I'll be so happy you are playing!

Still skeptical.. they should just launch already and roll out on going updates like Embers.

That's good step, but they really needs to make lots of progress with new zones also. So we also can see progress with the game.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Agreed, and exactly what I expect to see

YES to the novel stream! Thats a great idea.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yay, thank you! Think I'm gonna do it Dec 1st unless VR straight tells me no

Great news!

Thanks Napalm!

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

My pleasure!

Some progress at least, but the game still has a long ways to go and who knows what the future holds. Wasn’t the extraction a possible source of revenue? What now?

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

yeah, they were hoping it would be, guess they'll need to show cool stuff and get more pledges

As long as the graphics look like paw patrol I'll be playing other things.

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

What?! You mean you didn't sign up for ugly polygon painted clown mode?

I'm not convinced, they should have known and it sounds like they did know how upset they would make the community with the stupid extraction thing. They really had no choice, as huge amounts of players were just completely throwing in the towel over that choice of theirs. So where does this leave us? Alpha testers in December? Hard to get excited about that, considering it should have happened 2 years ago at this point, and beta should already be involved. I will say this, after this update I won't completely ignore Pantheon updates, and I may rethink joining in when they allow beta testers in. But I'm still pretty solidly ready to just give up on them. I really don't see how this changes any of the problems that have plagued the game for years and years, and it sure as heck doesn't make up for the multitude of bad choices they have made in the years leading up to this. I seriously think at this point Pantheon is just dead on arrival, thats how it feels, and how I feel about it, and I'm not sure how at this point they can change anyones minds. I mean seriously... just mind blowing that 9 years in, and 5 years after the complete change in direction, that they are only now doing 24 hour server access, and only now scheduling alpha testers. Its still a poop sandwich however you slice it. I'm far from convinced.

Thanks for the latest info about Pantheon Nathan Napalm. As far as ideas for your channel: I would enjoy if you made a story out of your play sessions. It is why I enjoy watching Ion Blazes Everquest videos or Cerontheses Conan Exiles videos or Vertiigo Gaming 7 Days to Die videos. We actually bought 7 Days to Die after watching Vertiigos video series about the game. He made the game seem so over the top fun and it is. Ion Blaze shares the lore of the zone he is going to. He discusses his goals of that play session. Then he shows video highlights of his play session. Then he tortures himself for every death. He puts clips on his ears. He uses hot sauce in a painful way. Cerontheses makes epic pvp based story arcs. He explains his goals. He sets things in motion. Then over a series of videos he attempts to exact his revenge. Sometimes it works out. Sometimes they end up being all cheaters and get banned before he can take them down. Vertiigo Gaming from Australia always betrays his friends and gets himself into the craziest scenarios. His over the top colorful personality with his now wife, but back then just female co- player from across the ocean, along with a few other online friends, make hilarious videos. Maybe I am the minority but I just do not enjoy watching people playing a game live unless it is a game that isn't out yet and this is the first look. Regardless, keep up the great work Nathan Napalm. Let's hope Pantheon becomes the game we all hoped for. Let's hope it is actually released and not shut down which appears more likely at this point.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

yeah great idea!

It's about time they gave me the alpha access I paid for 5 years ago.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

agreed

@EQOAnostalgia

8 ай бұрын

Corsten in the house, what's up dude!

@ddrlear

8 ай бұрын

@@EQOAnostalgia Hows it goin man, hope you're doing well!

@EQOAnostalgia

8 ай бұрын

@@ddrlear Doing good man, how you been? I'm actually back into the MMORPG coverage. Pissed off like 20-30% of our community covering Christian and conspiracy stuff lol, good times. Even got booted from the discord. Did a Halloween episode for EQOA recently. Hope to play it again proper some day. Still holding onto hope.

"general assault" is an understatement lol

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

got pretty crazy lol

Where can I get that EverQuest Tshirt?

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I don't think this one is for sell anymore, it was during the pandemic and says "EverQuest : Social Distancing Since 1999"

Did the Graphics style changed? what i saw in the background of this video does look really bad

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Yes they changed the graphics and yes they look horrifically bad. I can only shrug and move on.

This is great news I was about to pledge for pre alpha until the whole 247 debacle happened.. now I'm gonna commit and do the pledge. As well as my mother.

I will wait and see, still not going back. Will wait on Sparoh and your upcoming videos. Wasted enough time already in Pantheon Rise and Fall discord. I want to enjoy the holidays, enough drama for me for now. Take care be safe God bless. Bet the art will still stink, dealbreaker. Peace

that flight jacket outfit with a shield...odd

I didn't hate the idea of 24/7 but man did it frustrate me... I am glad they made this switch .. I will say I wouldn't mind if they left this mode active and voluntary especiallty if it does help them test

Still not convinced.

wait alpha pledges finally get to play? i've been alpha waiting for 3+ years.

@TheNathanNAPALM

7 ай бұрын

Yeah they are letting alpha pledgers in sometime here in December

You said you're joking about it but does this mean you can stream alpha sometime in December? I've been tracking this game for 7+ years at this point waiting patiently for a stable alpha to make the plunge and pledge. I think it's safe to say MANY people are in the same boat. If they pull it off, this could be a turning point for the project. I hope they realize how important this moment is for them.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Agreed, and I'm still pushing to be able to stream, got to get dev permission though to show it

@gameburn178

8 ай бұрын

What would a stable alpha look like? How much content would you need to feel okay about handing over a week's pay? .... mmorpgs promise thousands of hours of gameplay, either through a sandbox model with a large world and progression tracks or through a questing model, involving hundreds of quests. WoW, LotRO, SWtOR, Runescape, EQ2, FF14, New World, Guilld Wars 2: they all offer a LOT of game for a relatively modest amount of money every month, or for a one off purchase, or in the case of some of them: free to play. No "contributions" of hundreds or even thousands of dollars are required for any of the already-finished games we can get now, and are in fact the standard for the genre.

ill check back in 5 years, mebbe alpha will be ready.

Heck yes bro 💪

Yes! Stream that alpha non-footage! I'd listen to you play the game and watch your handsome face react to what it sees =)

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I will describe what I see in great detail

Great video Nathan. Alpha pledgers can play, does that mean current pledgers or those that have pledged in the past as well. Will they also revert the color scheme? Anyways, great video.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Everyone who has bought a pledge that gave Alpha access even the old pledges that don't exist will have access. The color scheme will look way different with shaders/lighting too

I hate the art style change still. It's seriously turning off from game. It freaking looks like WoW now.

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

It looks worse than the Unity assets. WAY worse. A bad knockoff of Fortnite, with animations far worse than WoW. You're insulting WoW to compare it to this.

@deathbysnusnu2744

8 ай бұрын

WoW sucked, and looked like shit.@@Ziegfried82

Good stuff

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed

Didnt they fire a guy that outed them for making the 247 and not telling anyone they were doing it?

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I don't know the full story, that's the rumor

Very good choice by them.

Finally some good fucking food. Now to remember my old yahoo email

ROCK ON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nothing matters as long as the art looks like that, I predict a dead of arrival game if it ever launches.

After 5 years they announced something revelant

Need money now format. Panic mode format.

Pantheon 😂🤣 it better be good bishes Keep the videos up sir ✌️😎

This game is DOA

Maybe I am mistaken, but your quote "And last, but not least, in December, all Alpha pledgers will have access to Pantheon and in the full MMO state" may be inaccurate. The actual posting says Alpha Pledges will be invited to play 24-hour sessions starting in December and continuing into next year, schedule to be announced. That reads to me like they are going to have testing phases lasting 24-hours, and release it to blocks of Alpha testers so as to limit how many players are actually able to play the game at any one give time. This will not in fact open the game up to all Alpha Pledges for 24/7 access nor does it guarantee that all Alpha Pledges will even be invited in December. It could be sometime next year for their 24-hour session to kick the tires.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah I didn't say for 24/7 access, I just said in the MMO state : This is the MMO Pantheon not the extraction mode : I didn't state anything beyond that, but yeah looks like alpha pledgers will be invited in to play sometimes and for 24 hour sessions : Likely on certain weekends

They just need to get all the classes out and add content from what I see from the videos.... everything will fall in place and they can see how all the classes feel in the game.

@nytman4359

8 ай бұрын

@@GameDeveloperPrim-Evil I would agree with that except for the 7 years that went by... they need the classes to test and see what works and what doesn't

It's a little too late. And the visuals are still killing me. It's not what they showed that they were heading in the direction. They wanted to go and a 180° from that direction to A Disney. And I don't know if I can get into a disney game

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Monsters and Memories have a far better old school EQ stylized thing going on. Pantheon on the other hand seems to have a serious problem of looking like a generic Fortnite wannabe. Does not look good, at all. Moving away from "247" is good, but there seems to be a serious problem with development. Several classes are not finished? Most starting zones are not finished? And that means the game is nowhere near launch. There should be several dungeons and raids complete after over 8 years of development. Crazy to be in the state it is in.

Hate to say it but ive lost faith in Pantheon. Dont get me wrong, ill try it if it ever drops, but the hype for it is long gone.

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Monsters and Memories already showed more progress than this game. Kind of amazing actually.

@alfredpee6488

8 ай бұрын

Agreed, definitely more excitement for M&M at this point.

This game is NEVER coming out. Will revisit in 10 years. Edit: All they had to do was make a reskinned EQ. Better UI. Better graphics in same style. Keep the gameplay. 3-5 years max. 10 years to have nothing is insane. How do you waste 87,600 hours. Monster and memories is already surpassing this and it has been in development for like a year or less.

Nathan what do you think about everyone's reaction to the extraction mode? It seems like there was a lot of negativity and whining in the community.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I think it was an over-reaction and a BIG misunderstanding, but as I said before, I didn't like having a time limit and didn't like the death mechanic for the extraction mode, it was too rage-quity for me, and I'm glad it's gone, but it wasn't the end-all that the internet made it out to be

Well, hope for the best expect the worse.

Awesomeeeeeeer

What is that walking animation 😅

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Some of the worst animations I have seen in gaming since Superman64.

the most stupid decision they ever did was change the graphics

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

Actually the most stupid decision was "247" but graphics are a very close second. Graphics look terrible, but if this is the best they can do so be it.

Frank is pumped

Ok, as ajoke, I want to put my conspiracy theory hat on... what if 24/7 and going back on it was all a ploy to get everyone to forget the dreadfull artstyle change? I don't actually believe this but it did seem to have that effect. In all seriousness though, it was good to see them change tack on this, and own up to their mistake. Which tell's me they they are not as out of touch as recent decisions seemed to sugggest. Now if they can only do something about the new art direction. I know it's not going to change, they have said as much, though they did also say they would try to make it a bit grittier. So here's hoping they find a way to patch that whole before it sinks the ship. As it has with other MMORPG's, even from large companies.

Hype!

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Great news!

So make a move that literally destroyed your entire company then go back to pre announcement. The game will never make it.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

That's a bit dramatic I would say

honestly i dont think i care anymore about this game all because of monsters and memories lol im so hyped for that game i dont want to play anything else.

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

M&M looks like what I actually wanted. Honestly even the stuff shown when Brad was still around was a lot of fluff I didn't give a rip about. Climbing? Climates? LOL I don't give a rip about that crap. I want old school EQ gameplay with some flair like what Vanguard:SOH offered. Instead these devs were agonizing over game mechanics that most of us could not possibly care less about.

My prayers will be answered when this game actually launches. Almost 10 years have passed and they show little progress. They simply changed the model over to what they feel will allow them to extract more money out of people. I feel sorry for anyone who has given or continues to give them money.

Thank God! lol

I will attempt to set up the capability for you to at least stream the audio :) . if you whant

From what we can gather from their own reports, aren't they more or less out of money? I would ask for an accounting of where the existing/past donations have gone. Personally, I would certainly not give a cent more or hours more "testing" time to these guys unless they guarantee refunds for past and any future contributions. The proof that their word is good for future refunds for future work is whether they will give refunds for past contributions. Your contributions can be what you give any other developer: you will consider buying/subscribing to a finished game. Reverse it for a second and imagine if Bethesda's Starfield team had asked for money from a potential fan base with no strings attached. At least you can cancel a pre-order quite late in the whole process... People were getting refunds on Starfield after playing this finished game for dozens of hours. This is the difference between pre-orders and donations. You could offer them the opportunity to receive your pre-order? That is already incredibly generous by today's standards.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

They never said they were out of money, they have always hired based on when they have gathered enough money to pay said new hire until launch, so saying they are looking for additional funding means they want to hire more people

Is Pantheon really back? I mean, did it ever go anywhere? Isn't it the case that all that really happened here was: *(1)* They changed the art style and announced this mode to try and make some quick cash because they are out of money (okay, not *out of money,* if you want to be precise, we can say, unable to get enough money to release it within a window that would make their ultimate development period... what, a 13 year development time span? A 15 year development time-span? Or maybe realistically never, since we've gotten into the situation before where the tech has become outdated because of the prolonged development time, leading the game to need an entire refactor, adding more time in turn, leading to a negative feedback loop), and then *(2)* Once there was too much outrage about this and they realized it was untenable to continue (which took about two or three weeks), they *(3)* Were then forced to change the game back. I don't see how this is in any way the progress or the victory it's being painted as -- Did they get the money/data that they needed in the time period since they changed to 247 and back? We can probably safely conclude they didn't. So what has changed? Essentially what happened was, a whistleblower blew the whistle on VR, and then they went ahead and did the hail-Mary that they had been trying to do but keep a secret, but they had to do it out in the open. Their plan failed, as it was probably going to do regardless. It just failed quicker because it was exposed to public scrutiny. Now they're "back," in the same place they started -- in financial trouble, with a highly unfinished game, no release date in sight, not even any alpha date in sight, and no ability to get the full-time staff needed to finish the game within the amount of time needed to ensure it's not even more heavily technologically outdated -- which, if past actions are any indicator, would necessitate yet another refactor and another years-long delay added onto the release time (i.e., essentially never releasing). As a political move, they're going to act like they're doing *something* by saying they will undo the verbal NDA. It appears they are doing this, not because they want to, but because their reputation was damaged so much; the fact that this was initiated by a whistleblower has given the optic that they are hiding a lot from the fans and pledgers. They have to portray the image that they have nothing to hide; apparently they really *do* have at least a few things to hide, so they're going to announce that they're going to let people talk about it, without actually showing anything -- which is basically what their marketing approach has essentially always been for the past ten years: talk about their vision about what they want in a game, but show nothing, and assume the fans will continue to buy into it further. So far, this has worked for ten years, but it's starting to unravel, because you can only do this for so long before somebody will want to see what you've done with that decade of time and those millions upon millions of of dollars. So again, I don't know how we can realistically paint this as a victory, or as anything positive, really. It's as if we went from 2 down to 0, and then from 0 down to -10, and now we're celebrating being back at 0 again. Think of it like this: a guy promises to us that he's going to become the greatest guitar player of all time. He sells us all tickets a couple years in advance. Ten years go by, he learns how to play the four chords from "smoke on the water," then jumps into a river and drowns himself. We're all on the riverbank like "You can do it! I think it's still fine!... I think he's still fine, right?" Then we watch a guy on a speedboat drive up, tie a cinderblock to the leg of his floating corpse, and his corpse sinks to the bottom of the river, and we all start booing and shouting at the river "You promised us a concert!! booooo! boooooo!" And now we just had a diver swim down to the bottom of riverbed, cut the rope, and the bloated, water-logged corpse floated back up to the surface, and we're all on the bank cheering "yay! He's alive! We're so back!! Gee, I can't wait til the performance next week!!" "I can't wait til he plays that Yngwie Malmstein cover he told us about, it's gonna totally rock!!" "I believed in him all along!!" "Me too!" "Never doubted it." "Best. Performance. Ever. No doubt." "You're the best guitarist ever!!" "We all love you bro!" It's like, wait a second, wtf planet am I living on again? And what are we celebrating again?

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

The reason many of us are celebrating is much simpler: We used to play a Pantheon test that was absolutely amazing and we had the times of our lives : This was taken away and replaced with a mode that was less exciting and all of our friends went away : Now we are returning to the testing but this time we can play whenever we want and this time we are getting new friends coming to play with us

@StevensBorowsky

8 ай бұрын

@@TheNathanNAPALM oh, well that makes sense I guess. Well hey if you guys had the time of your lives it doesn't sound like they have much to hide at all then, I guess this is all just a big misunderstanding and they can just go ahead and release the alpha and tons of people will donate and they can finish the game. What could be the problem then, if people are having the time of their lives? Unless you mean like, the people who had the "time of their lives" playing Fallout 76, that type of thing

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah I mean, unless everybody I know is just crazy, but myself, Sparoh, Bounty, Dymlos, Draq, Therek, RandomRob, Xelic, Minus (before he worked for VR), Mujinn, Vindini, and every literal person I played Pantheon with before the "extraction mode" we adored every second, there is definitely much to say on the transparency of Pantheon, the communication, and yes, I think we should be further along in development 8 years later, but what they ARE making, what IS here is absurdly good

@StevensBorowsky

8 ай бұрын

@@TheNathanNAPALM oh, well, okay, I take your word for it. although I remain reservedly skeptical because I haven't seen any indications of anybody saying this until now

Happy for you guys that put 200$ into the game in 2013. I put mine in the S&P, I am also happy with my investment.

Now they just need to go back to the old art style and I'm onboard again. The new art style kills all immersion of this game and thus, any interest I had in it.

@Ziegfried82

8 ай бұрын

New art style just looks awful. WoW looks better, with far better animations. Either they go back to the more realistic style and use all Unity assets or they are left with a steaming pile visually. How do they expect to get a larger audience when the game looks like ass?!

Eh. Stuck on Ember Adrift. Look clunky and cartoon like WoW. Ill give it a try but highly doubt I'll last long.

If only they framed the 247 testing properly in their press release none of this would've been an issue. I thought it was a genius way to test a mmo efficiently. Having portals and time limits to get players to exactly what they want tested quickly and efficiently. Especially with their small team. Now its gonna be an open world where testers can go any which way they want and the testing efficiency takes a hit and therefore the game development will take even longer than it has. Its better for the players that want that quick fix now, I get that, but I would rather play the finished game faster than the alpha version now.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

Yeah, but unfortunately people were simply outright refusing to play it, so they were getting less data it seems

@Tkonpk

8 ай бұрын

@@TheNathanNAPALM That's because they mentioned monetizing it. I think had they brought the idea up as a way to stream line testing, it would have been received well. Then and only then if the player base spoke out about how it should be it's own game mode.. or game etc.. then they can say something like that. I think that in tandem with the huge art shift that happened, definitely ruffled a few feathers.

@Anasyn_Nysana

8 ай бұрын

Extraction mode is a joke.

@gameburn178

8 ай бұрын

@@Anasyn_Nysana My experience with games that have tried "extraction modes" is the worst. Camelot Unchained with Ragnarok, and the original "Rebirth" Sci Fi mmorpg that tried an extraction First Person Shooter. Doubtless there are others. Didn't Ashes of Creation try some kind of battle royale?

@Anasyn_Nysana

8 ай бұрын

@@gameburn178 I believe they also tried something like a battle royale.

I'm an alpha pledger from 2014. To say I have been waiting a long time for alpha access is a massive understatement. That said I can't even say I'm that excited to see the game in whatever state it's in atm. I may not even bother. Hard to be excited when it looks like the game doesn't have a good chance of ever being completed in a good state.

@TheNathanNAPALM

8 ай бұрын

I think you will be delighted when you try it, VR has done a poor job at showing what they've been doing, and playing is believing