Pan'Theon: Rise' of th'e Fal'Len - #1 Thread in MMO

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Soygen

The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
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Since this is the actual thread about Brad's latest game, I think it's fair to ask: without Brad is there hope for Pantheon?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how hopeful were you prior to Brad's passing?
 
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DickTrickle

Definitely NOT Furor Planedefiler
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Since this is the actual thread about Brad's latest game, I think it's fair to ask: without Brad is there hope for Pantheon?

I wonder if they'll scale their plans back some. I always felt like Brad was such a dreamer that it caused scope creep. Vanguard had that issue and sounded like Pantheon would too. Perhaps they'll get more realistic in the systems and content they'll plan to put out there.
 
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Adinirahc

Trakanon Raider
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how hopeful were you prior to Brad's passing?

I was hovering around a 4, prior to Brad's passing. Lack of progress and news over the last year, was really disturbing. Now, I could see it going one of two ways... Project collapses and dies, or the team rallies strong and pushes on. Maybe gets some angel investment and actually benefits from a bit more "freedom" to do what's needed. Guessing it's all riding on Joppa and a bit of funding luck at this point. I'm a bit more optimistic now actually. Say a 6 now. I don't think Brad's mind was in a good place recently (one of his recent posts was almost incoherent, until he redid it). Sadly, I think he might have been hurting the development of the game more towards the end, then helping it.

I am truly sad he is gone. For all his faults (and we all have them) he created a game that so many of us loved.
 
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Lunis

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Let's be honest, after the failed KS & the short-lived fuzzy troll era.. did anyone really expect the game to even get this far? If a game like Project Gorgon can be in early access on steam for years i dont see any reason Pantheon can't either.
 

rinthea

Trakanon Raider
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Sad news, just heard about it.

I wonder if they'll scale their plans back some. I always felt like Brad was such a dreamer that it caused scope creep. Vanguard had that issue and sounded like Pantheon would too. Perhaps they'll get more realistic in the systems and content they'll plan to put out there.

I wouldn't be surprised if they do. But I hope not. There's something magical about sticking to your guns chasing outlandish, over reaching dreams. They may fail often, but when they work out you sometimes get something of rare amazement.
 

Sevens

Log Wizard
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To be honest, in the last year or so Brad had become more of a PR or face for the company. Chris "Joppa" Perkins has been running the actual development of the game, so I think this will have minimal impact on the development.
 
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Valderen

Space Pirate
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It might have an impact on their ability to continue to raise funding. Brad was a major factor for many to donate and follow this game, even if his impact on actual development was no longer huge.
 
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Kuro

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Obviously they need to launch a GoFundMe for Brad's "baby" right now while people are paying attention
 
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popsicledeath

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On a scale of 1 to 10, how hopeful were you prior to Brad's passing?

1. But in fairness my personal helium scale tops out at around 3. Not sure how hands on he was in actual game making, so maybe it cripples them, or maybe now is the perfect time for a new kickstarter to carry Brad's tm Vision forward.
 

Rhanyn

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Obviously they need to launch a GoFundMe for Brad's "baby" right now while people are paying attention

While some may feel it is in bad taste, and lord knows I've sworn off giving the project money before feeling like it's a guaranteed thing, I hope they get some kind of memorial fund raiser going for the game. The industry should rally to see the last project of one of the pioneers of the genre get made, and fingers crossed, hopefully we will get one last monolithic gift from Brad. I was seriously hoping all of this wasn't real or some kind of bad joke at first. I feel for everyone close to him, he gave me many wonderful memories, may he hotrod sweet dirt bikes in the next life, with monster mozzarella sticks, and successful fully funded projects as far as the eye can see.
 
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popsicledeath

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Bad taste? Not around here. Bad taste is launching a Kickstarter with little more than some napkin ideas. The Pantheon team casting a 96% res as a last ditch effort to avoid a complete wipe of The Vision is the sort of old-school tenacity we need back in mmoRPGs. That's right, I included the fucking R, P and G. Everquest was an example of entrepreneurial grit and determination, and giving a bunch of salty gamers an outlet for their lame ass thoughts and prayers blubbering is exactly what this game needs. Get this shit funded, in the name of Brad, The Vision, and a return to old school American gaming, launch a Kickstarter and let's make Pantheon a reality, for better or worse it's what Brad would want and God knows it's what we deserve!
 
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Chukzombi

Millie's Staff Member
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honestly there is a better chance this project goes forth with out the stigma that the funds are buying motorcycles or whatever. Brad will always be the father of modern MMORPGs and his passing deeply saddens all of us, but he also tanked a lot of the initial momentum for Pantheon with some of his shenanigans.
 
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goishen

Macho Ma'am
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To be completely honest, I think the game actually has a chance of coming out now. Before, my hopes of this game ever coming out were extremely low.

This isn't to shit on Brad, either. But the dude could spend hours whittling away on that keyboard of his, just to have all the developers say, "None of this is in the game."
 

popsicledeath

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If nothing else, an entire industry he helped create are now considering their own mortality. None of us are getting younger. Many of us want a return too what captivated us so long ago. Or at least a shot at it. Or just to see if get a fair shot for a new generation to judge and decide if they can enjoy it too. Now is the time for a project like Pantheon to amplify Brad's Vision for a game deeper and more engaging than the anime WoW clone China shit we've been force fed for so many years. Brad made professional mistskes, sure, but I think he saw a cultural shift toward more meaningful gaming with him trying to launch Pantheon. Maybe too early and stumbled out of the blocks, but if not now, then when?
 
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Erronius

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...I hope they get some kind of memorial fund raiser going for the game.

I've been really critical of Brad and Pantheon since Day 1. And VG as well. And to be honest...all my trolling and Fallen gifs aside...even I'd like to see this happen.

I always felt Brad would have done better joining an existing team somewhere. Not as the penultimate leader, or the one controlling the purse-strings...but as someone running the 'creative' folks. But I've always felt his "Vision" kind of screwed him over on that.

The sad part of all of this is that...Brad has been a symbol of the core EQ genre to a lot of people for a long time now. And many had already been declaring that genre dead, myself included. Does it all just die off now with the death of Brad?

I'd always assumed that Brad had another good 15-20 years of trying to develop another "EQ DONE RIGHT". The idea that the genre is now truly dead, and that Pantheon...of all games...might be the last hurrah...that shit is pretty sad to me.


I didn't even post on this topic yesterday because all I could think about was some one-liners to make fun of Pantheon/Brad/etc.
 
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Hateyou

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I've been really critical of Brad and Pantheon since Day 1. And VG as well. And to be honest...all my trolling and Fallen gifs aside...even I'd like to see this happen.

I always felt Brad would have done better joining an existing team somewhere. Not as the penultimate leader, or the one controlling the purse-strings...but as someone running the 'creative' folks. But I've always felt his "Vision" kind of screwed him over on that.

The sad part of all of this is that...Brad has been a symbol of the core EQ genre to a lot of people for a long time now. And many had already been declaring that genre dead, myself included. Does it all just die off now with the death of Brad?

I'd always assumed that Brad had another good 15-20 years of trying to develop another "EQ DONE RIGHT". The idea that the genre is now truly dead, and that Pantheon...of all games...might be the last hurrah...that shit is pretty sad to me.


I didn't even post on this topic yesterday because all I could think about was some one-liners to make fun of Pantheon/Brad/etc.

I agree with all this but I think that this game now has a better chance with him out of the picture. His ideas were always cool on paper but implementation and scope creep were big weaknesses of his imo. He was also out of touch with crowd funding, that recent “Pantheonize your head” gift shop really highlighted that. I cringed when I saw people donating to this in the past once his $45k theft thing happened. (And fuck off to whoever was saying that was hearsay, he admitted it and that was the origin of the original team drama/breakup) Now, I think it’s kind of cool people want to donate to get his last project out the door. I personally won’t be, but I won’t be so inclined to think people donating are clueless retards like I did before!
 

Muligan

Trakanon Raider
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how hopeful were you prior to Brad's passing?

Honestly, I've a always felt the game would release. My assumption is that it would take forever and would become irrelevant due to other games releasing ahead of it. Players committing to other games and not really giving Pantheon much of a chance would be its biggest issue. It also runs the risk of becoming dated quickly if it takes a lengthy amount of time to release.

I think it will make it but time will tell just how much of a chance it's given.
 

Mat'hir Uth Gan

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I agree with all this but I think that this game now has a better chance with him out of the picture. His ideas were always cool on paper but implementation and scope creep were big weaknesses of his imo. He was also out of touch with crowd funding, that recent “Pantheonize your head” gift shop really highlighted that. I cringed when I saw people donating to this in the past once his $45k theft thing happened. (And fuck off to whoever was saying that was hearsay, he admitted it and that was the origin of the original team drama/breakup) Now, I think it’s kind of cool people want to donate to get his last project out the door. I personally won’t be, but I won’t be so inclined to think people donating are clueless retards like I did before!

I agree that if the company is smart and takes advantage of the emotions and good will surrounding Brad's death, especially if phrased in some form of getting Brad's final game and dream to launch, this tragedy could prove to be a funding bonanza. And I hope they are astute enough to do so with good taste. The alternative of the game being shuttered is not appealing to me at all, I would like to see this thing make it to launch and judge it then.

On a side note, as a hardcore skeptic, what would they need to show for you to feel comfortable donating to development?
 
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TJT

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All I would want is to have an active dev blog showing actual incremental development and advancement. Seems we have literally years of slow or no development that makes us more cynical and suspicious about it.
 
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