General Posted in Entertainment

I’ve written about Pathfinder Online before, and I’m here to do it again. MMORPG.com has been writing an ongoing Early Enrollment review for the game that I’ve been following, and today they published another part of it, this time with fresh eyes. The writer of the original pieces, Bill Murphy, knows Ryan Dancey personally, and he feels “too close to the game to give it a fully unbiased review.” Fair enough. We’ve all experienced situations where our views may have been biased by personal relationships. Today, Steven Messner published his own thoughts on Pathfinder Online.

The verdict: Pathfinder Online is not ready for market yet. Messner is fairly brutal in his assessment, saying that the game “feels years behind in any aspect, and any remarkable core element it might have is overshadowed by how unpolished and unfinished so much of it seems to be.”

I still hold out hope for Pathfinder Online, though, so let’s talk about what Messner’s issues with the game are.

Graphics. “Menu systems look laughably archaic,” he writes, later remarking that his first login made it “obvious that this was a game not for those looking to be awed by high fidelity graphics.” Character models he describes as “lifeless” and “glorified ways to interact with the crafting or leveling interface.” Worse still, the geographical layout lacks any sort of character or inspiration, and Mesnner mentions that the game seems “barren.”

“Menu systems look laughably archaic,” he writes, later remarking that his first login made it “obvious that this was a game not for those looking to be awed by high fidelity graphics.” Character models he describes as “lifeless” and “glorified ways to interact with the crafting or leveling interface.” Worse still, the geographical layout lacks any sort of character or inspiration, and Mesnner mentions that the game seems “barren.” Newbie unfriendliness. Even after reading the tutorial information, Messner felt “at a loss” to describe the mechanical intricacies of Pathfinder Online. Right now, there are sizable player guides to introduce newbies to the game, but expecting a new player to spend his time “reading 40 pages of beginner’s guides” is a bit steep.

Even after reading the tutorial information, Messner felt “at a loss” to describe the mechanical intricacies of Pathfinder Online. Right now, there are sizable player guides to introduce newbies to the game, but expecting a new player to spend his time “reading 40 pages of beginner’s guides” is a bit steep. Gameplay. Messner writes that his time in-game was “terribly dull.” He does not say why, but I imagine the size of the game world and the small player population played into this.

Messner writes that his time in-game was “terribly dull.” He does not say why, but I imagine the size of the game world and the small player population played into this. Business model. Perhaps most damningly, Messner castigate Pathfinder Online’s Early Enrollment, writing that the game provides the illusion that “you are somehow receiving the benefit of peeking behind the curtains to experience the wondrous sight of watching an MMORPG be built from the ground up.” Perhaps that will be true one day. As of now, he says, Pathfinder Online has interesting ideas but “can barely stand on its own legs.”

I cannot fault him on any of these. Graphically, Pathfinder Online cannot compete with the visuals of Final Fantasy XIV or TERA or Guild Wars 2, nor does it have the unique art style of Albion Online or Crowfall. Nor is it supposed to. With the emphasis on large scale PvP, I think Pathfinder Online is best served with downgraded graphical models in the same way that World of Warcraft is. In a game that hopes to have dozens of players in territorial warfare, people will already experience graphical slowdowns. Trying to cram in high-resolution textures, detailed lighting and shadows, and flowing cloth is a recipe for disaster.

With regard to the game’s complexity, I hope that the new player tutorial improves with time. As a game designed around open world PvP, sandbox gameplay, and a player-driven economy, Pathfinder Online courts complexity (true to its roots with EVE Online). With any luck, the resources available to players will greatly expand, easing them into the game. Messner himself says that combat is “deeply nuanced and original,” which is a breath of fresh air in an era of hotkey-mashing Warcraft-clones. Leveling, he says, is “staggeringly robust,” which opens the door to considerable promise.

I cannot fully comment on Messner’s complaints about gameplay; as mentioned previously, I hope a growing player population will alleviate this issue.

His last complaint regarding the business model: I’ll hold my tongue on this. Pathfinder Online has always seemed rather quick to take money from the fans. With a Kickstarter, Early Enrollment charge, and a recurring subscription fee, Pathfinder Online seems built to drain the pockets of its devoted playerbase. However. As I cannot see Ryan Dancey’s business plan, and I don’t know how the money is being spent, I will be charitable and believe that this money is being well-spent to fund a project of considerable magnitude. Ryan Dancey’s goal seems to be to fundamentally transform the MMORPG landscape like World of Warcraft did. For that, I cannot fault him. With EVE’s depth of gameplay and a popular fantasy setting, he may just succeed.

I’m not ready to count Pathfinder Online out. Having witness the heyday of D&D 3e and EVE Online, I’m crossing my fingers. At this stage, Pathfinder Online is a gamble, but no one’s ever made history by playing it safe.