My @PantheonMMO @Aradune #PantheonMMO observations/rambles post-stream

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen blabbing from myself after watching the stream tonight with my own inputs..



So first off, this is a social game with challenging content. The two really do need to be as one, because there is a bad habit for people to not be social if it isn't challenging. The problem with MMORPG's nowadays is how anti-social they are. Your best memories of a MMORPG should be with others, those are the memories most people/us carry with us forever, not sitting in a Garrison spamming missions by ourselves. Playing with friends always keeps you playing longer, as you are less likely to feel a sense of lonely-ness in a game that not only encourages you to be social and work together, but is borderline required.



First thing I noticed was the Everquest-esque menus, from loot to the character page. It has an old school feel right when you look at it even though the graphics are good (especially the environment.) Then I got hit with a nostalgia wave with the classic buff sounds.



While mentioning buffs, animations and buffs definitely remind me of Everquest, which isn't a surprise considering Brad McQuaid's history. Instead of extensive spell animations, it's mainly colored swings of a weapon (red line/aura while swinging a weapon) or your hands illuminating with a bright color while casting a spell. For newer age players that might disappoint them, but it isn't a problem to me. The spellbook comes right out of Everquest too, which is a nice tough to make you actually feel like a magic user, instead of it just being there on your hotbar as you load into the game.



With 6 people (Guessing this is going to be the standard for groups) mobs didn't die quickly. Compared to something like WoW where even solo a mob is dying within 1-3 seconds. I didn't time it, but it seemed like 10+, often running 20+. A great way to make it feel like you're actually in combat instead of just rolling your head across the keyboard and everything in the area died.



The scenic trail they want on right away was great. It truly felt like you were in a big open world, with the sun shining in a way that looked great in the world. The world didn't just feel like an afterthought, it was something you could appreciate while playing and going across it (much like EQOA)



Old school MMORPG CC where CC is actually important. Due to the strength of mobs, CC is actually useful. Again to compare it to MMORPG's nowadays where when mobs die so quickly, why would you CC if they die so quickly? There is again reason to have different classes that can CC In different ways, which helps make all the classes more valuable in their own ways whether it's tanking, damage, CC, healing, and combinations of the sorts.



They said they want to have tactic based ability usage. As in, not just spamming the same rotation over and over again. They are experimenting with this by (atleast for now) using a unique mana system, sort of like how HP has worked in some games (similar to a traditional fighting game.) When you cast a spell, you lose mana, but then there is a transparent bar of mana you can regenerate. However, if you get interrupted during a spell, you then lose the mana you could regenerate. The idea is just that they want it to be more about tactics and adapting to situations and your mana, not just using the same old rotation every fight throughout the game.



There was an area they were fighting on early up that made me happy because it wasn't a traditional environment where you're just on a flat surface on the ground fighting mobs. I don't want to call it a treehouse, but it was more like a wooden fort that they were climbing up and were fighting monsters up there. It really did feel unique because you get so used in games nowadays of just fighting on flat surfaces.



From an environment standpoint, I enjoyed the cave they went into as well. It felt like a true mysterious cave, not just something with a circular path, well lit that didn't feel dangerous. No, this looked like a real cave where you would consider being careful especially if you've never been in the area before. I liked it.



There are things like torches you can use to help light the it up,. and the torch has no lifespan. So that will be fun to have someone as a guide lighting it up with a torch to help you direct yourself through it.



Speaking of the torch, they also mentioned that mobs have behavioral elements to them. So you can be holding a lit torch, and certain mobs may actually get afraid when you are going up to them with the torch. They want mobs to have their own personalities and that was a prime example of one they used.



The loading time was super quick when they went into another zone (Not sure if they called it a dungeon, but it wasn't an instance. There was a loading screen going to it though, but it took literally 1-2 seconds even without a high rig computer)



"If you don't make death a big deal, they [players] don't respect the environment" They said this to reiterate that this is a challenging game. They don't want to be too hardcore, but it goes to the sense of the world and adventure and threats again to where they actually want players to be thinking and be careful about what they're doing and getting themselves into.



They want to have a dynamic population where you may go to an area you otherwise wouldn't, whether it's because of an event or a holiday or something else.



In the dungeon area they went into (or deeper into the cave, whatever you want to call it, when they hit a loading screen going deeper) there was a door where they needed a key, and they had to go back to a pillar on the ground and go through it and found a key, where there was a pretty tough boss inside that they actually wiped on once.



They said the best part was from when they started in the village and went on to the fort area and then into a cave then all through it, that it wasn't because a quest told them to do so, it was just what ended up happening as they grouped up. They want to bring that back to MMORPG's.



They said it's too early to talk about crafted gear vs gear that drops off mobs, but they said they do want crafted gear to have a place. An example is that they want you to get all your daily things you would need in the game from players instead of NPC's where you just buy a stack of something, to further emphasize player involvement/community.



It'll also be harder for lower levels to tag along with higher levels, as the world is dangerous and you won't be able to just be invisible as you run around following your higher level buddies. There will be higher level players in lower player areas because there will be different content for them to do, like how they were in the dungeon and there was a lower level where level 30's would be, but where they were was the upper part for level 8-12's.



Overall, Pantheon looked fun. More than willing to give a try and hopeful for it.

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