NativityInBlack's page

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to take a few minutes to share my list of concerns with the current Pathfinder Online kickstarter and MMO model.

I will be brutally honest, as will be the end consumer someday, while we have time to correct the course or at least think about.

First, paying a subscription for a beta. That's a really flawed concept if you measure that we already have pretty decent subscription-free premium games, like Guild Wars 2. I understand the "Gmail Beta" concept, but if we are already paying for the product (Gmail is free by the way), having a monthly upkeep for a project you're trying to help will not keep this game afloat, even if the target is just 2000 players, if the game is not better than all the options out there, with a subscription, they will just leave and won't look back.

Second, the flagship tagline for the product is: "A game where your actions are persistent, your characters can build kingdoms, and YOU are the storyteller!" and yet the plan is to offer the product without even a basic player housing. By 2015 I'm pretty sure we will have Archeage out and other premium online/lan games that really let you build, and with decent graphics too. I've found little on the current model that screams on how we will actually build our kingdoms or even a hut.

Third, forced PVP. Forced PVP games are all fun on paper but they haven't been floating that well, even more on the Western community. I (sorta) know the EVE PVP model but I personally don't believe it will translate that well for a game that's selling point is trying to let us "be the Storyteller". Pwning n00bs exploring is hardly roleplaying and every breach you leave open will be exploited and will drive many crafters/roleplayers away. More options on how to play the game won't hurt it, let PVP'ers face each other, for as long as they want, but a pacifist flag will not hurt the product either.

Anyhow, I'm currently backing the MMO, after backing the Demo, and I'm craving for a decent MMO but please believe when I say that you have one opportunity to make a good impression and you can make it without being a WoW clone or EVE on foot with swords. Not trying to argue either, just took sometime off my Sunday to voice my ideas, as this is a collaborative project.

Godspeed,

Any news on the bookplates from the Kickstarter? Is not listed on my product purchases.

Each Reward Tier would have its own Clan <.<

The Demo Diabolists @ $5
The PDF Pirates @ $15
The Goblin Squad @ $30
The Print Paladins @ $50

The Signature Sorcerors @ $75
The T-Shirt Gang @ $100
The Founder's Guild @ $250
The Guild of the Granite Lithographs @ $500

The Order of the Alpha @ $1000

That's by far the coolest post yet

Just a T-Shirter m'self ey, but best luck to the Founder Forefathers.

The Minecraft engine!

Questing, combat and the way the in-game stories unfold on SWG was utterly awful I hope PFO stay away from that mold.

My picks!

My idea of perfect puzzle-driven levels:

Options for Jason Bulmahn's level:
The Statuary: Some master craftsman must have spent a lifetime carving all the statues carefully placed throughout the halls beneath the goblin lair. Oddly, the statues seem to be telling a story. While the meaning is not entirely clear, one thing is certain: Something terrible happened here and the malevolence behind it still lurks nearby.

Options for James Jacobs' level:
The Enigma Vaults: In ages past, the mad wizard who dwelt in these halls collected many strange items in his travels—and the strangest of those he put on display here, in a museum-like complex he called the Enigma Vaults. When a group of thieves made their way into the vaults in hopes of a huge payday, they released something far beyond their capacity to control, and now they serve as the thralls of a sinister influence from a dark and distant world.

Options for Erik Mona's level:
Final Exam: Decades ago, a long-dead River Kingdoms lodge of the Pathfinder Society used a dungeon below Thornkeep as a makeshift headquarters and final testing ground for their most promising agents. Sealed records in the deepest vaults of the Society's headquarters in Absalom suggest that the "infernal exam" housed in the dungeon eventually spelled the doom of the entire lodge, whose corpses lurk there still as animate proctors, still administering their challenges to those brave enough to attempt them.

:)

Whelp 300k go shop for a kickass engine and middleware!

Watch out for the 38 Studios massive failure, don't grow too much!

Best luck!

I personally think a subscription model would help keeping the cities active/viable as only paying players would keep their homes and keeps and we will be constantly "renting" server-space.

Anyway, here's what one development team did with Unreal Engine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ocs53DyGip4& hd=1

Thanks Ryan that was really nice. :) Happy to see that you guys are on top of whats possible today even all the way around the globe!

Elth wrote:

It would be great to play a rogue in a huge kingdom where I could traverse rooftops to avoid the local law enforcement. Not in a acrobatic Assassins Creed style, but something that could work in dungeons, sewers, rooftops or just plain old getting over a wall.

Again another important point on how a decent engine could make a great MMO.

I don't believe Gamebryo's and Hero Engine's (and not even Epic Unreal Engine) could pull that off under a MMO netcode.

Hope Paizo is aware the kind of attention this project could have if they hinted at those shiny new features not available anywhere.

Only beware of digging some jerks will certainly make holes on my lawn that will ship me straight to some magma pit in the middle of the planet in my jammies.

The corpse run will be a bish. :(

Great points and ideas Jamie, hope they are still reading.

I completely forgot about digging, even after playing Minecraft and Terraria for many hours I couldn't even imagine having that on an MMO.

:)

It's really rare to be able to give feedback so early on a project, so thanks for stopping by Ryan. :)

If possible please look for an engine/middleware that will allow YOU to eventually let us:

1-Jump
2-Climb (rogue-like adventures)
3-Swim (underwater exploration/dungeons)
4-Fly (endgame-spells-mounts)

To mimic a little of the freedom we have on a PnP session we will need the right tools, beside the Goliath no one else has really given us all the dimensions and even there it's very limited.

To be blunt, the world is ready for a Minecraft MMO, and for that we will need:

#1 in-game building/crafting tools
#2 perma-spawning enemies banging on the stuff we build
#3 dynamic dungeons
#4 deep character progression

- will win the day -

Godspeed,

Given the success of the kickstarter please get a decent engine.

Several multi-million dollars games are in trouble because they picked the wrong engine and it's way too late to go back now.

Warhammer Online - used Gamebryo, it was laggy, unresponsive and could not handle a lot of players at once.

Star Wars the Old Republic - uses the Hero Engine, ugly, dated graphics. Elder scrolls online is already doomed by that engine and it's not even on beta yet.

I remember rumors that Ultima Online 2, the last attempt on a sandboy MMO, had their engine melt when they had too many players at once. EverQuest 2 was really traumatic as well, I remember buying a top line PC and it still played awfully.

Please go play TERA online just to try out a modern combat, I believe it's powered by EPIC and while it can't hold an horde on screen it's fluid and fun. Part of the WoW success it's on the fluidity of the animations and combat-response time.

Even if you decide to build it in-house, please get some external consultants and real-deal dev modules.

A decent engine is the most important part of any game project, to have a real shot you guys -must- test how many simultaneous players the system can hold at once - and interact and the combat response time (DX11 support would be nice, if possible).

Godspeed,

The kickstarter of the technology demo is here if anyone haven't helped yet:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1675907842/pathfinder-online-technology -demo