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PAX Prime 2014: Paying a premium for Pathfinder Online
Would you pay to get into an alpha test? Well, would you continue to pay a monthly subscription to keep on playing a title that's not yet launched? If you've answered "yes" to these questions plus the special one that I ask at the end of this article, then you're one of the folks that Pathfinder Online hopes to recruit for early enrollment come September 15th. I sat down with Goblinworks CEO Ryan Dancey and Game Designer Stephen Chaney at PAX Prime yesterday to talk about this next big step for the game. Pathfinder Online is still far from feature complete, but the team considers it done enough that it can monetize the game in the form of a monthly sub. The 20,000 or so folks who will be admitted into early enrollment play (a number that includes the 7,000 Kickstarter backers) are expected to pay $15 a month as the team continues to develop the title. In exchange, characters and progress will not be wiped, and players will get to see the game take shape around them. Goblinworks' philosophy is to have a robust game design first and then wrap the rest of the game around it afterward. Dancy said that the monetization is necessary to keep the lights on and the development rolling. The budget for a finished Pathfinder Online is $5 million (89% of which is salaries), but only $1.4 million has been raised so far. Being only passingly familiar with Pathfinder Online, I asked why the MMO with its territory control seems so different from the small party, adventure-oriented tabletop game. The reason for this is that the pen-and-paper game doesn't completely translate to software boundaries, plus it draws from an adventure pack that Paizo tested a while back that went on to become one of its best-selling products. In both versions of Pathfinder, the long game is to rule the land and establish a legacy, not merely fill up a bag with XP and loot. So is it worth it to you to pay a full subscription price for a half-finished game? That's up to you.
Latest Pathfinder Online devblog emphasizes player-driven economy
Although players in Pathfinder Online's Alpha 7 run will earn 5,000 XP per hour (in order to help them test more things), the latest devblog warns that things will get decidedly harder once gameplay starts after Early Enrollment. At that point players will face a "cold start," beginning the game with only simple peasant clothes, a club, and 1,000 XP to spend on initial feats. Everything else, from feats to gear to cash, will grow from that. The devblog also details the player-driven economy; by design, nearly everything characters use will be player-crafted. Mobs will drop only starter equipment, coin, salvage, or -- the rarest and most valuable -- recipes. Players can only upgrade gear past the starter level through crafting, and gear can be crafted with certain key words that add bonuses when combined with specific slotted feats. For full details, and a look at what Pathfinder devs are doing at PAX Prime, check out the official site.
Quests, Elves, and Dwarves coming soon to Pathfinder Online
Pathfinder Online's alpha is growing by leaps and bounds as evidenced by two upcoming builds that will take shape over the next few weeks. In them, the devs are adding in essential systems like questing along with new races. With next week's alpha 7 build, questing and companies will be introduced into the game as will possible new terrain types. Then when alpha 8 comes along, the sandbox MMO will make the jump to its early enrollment servers. This update will also include Elves, Dwarves, a graphical upgrade, expendables, storage, auction houses, banks, and more terrain options. Part of the purpose of these new builds is to conduct what the devs are calling a "cold start" to see how players advance when they begin with nothing but a club and the clothes on their back. "Everything your character possesses and every ability your character learns after that point will be totally dependent on how you choose to play the game," the devs posted. [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
Obsidian rolls critical success, acquires Pathfinder RPG license
Good news for tabletop roleplaying fans who enjoy using a controller as much as rolling a 20-sided die: Obsidian, developers of South Park: The Stick of Truth and the upcoming Pillars of Eternity, have entered into a licensing agreement with publisher Paizo Inc. to produce games based on the Pathfinder tabletop RPG. Don't rush to the Arms & Equipment chapter to start preparing for an epic quest just yet though, as the first game will be an adaptation of the Pathfinder Adventure card game, where one to four players take on the role of classic fantasy RPG archetypes like fighter, rogue, wizard and cleric as they work together to defeat enemies. An associated press release notes that the game is in development for tablets, but does not specify which, nor does it give an expected release window. Pathfinder Online, the Pathfinder-based MMO, will stay with developer Goblin Works. [Image: Paizo]
Pathfinder early access starts September 15, cash shop structures revealed
GoblinWorks has posted some "major announcements" on its Pathfinder Online website. They include the start date for early enrollment (September 15th) as well as tweaks to early enrollment packages and a new Explorer Access package. Gameplay-wise, the firm has unveiled premium cash shop items, which it says "are not going to be mechanically superior to player-character crafted items." Two of the items will regenerate power, though, so it's worth reading the full explanation if you're concerned about potential monetization intrusions in your fantasy sandbox. Finally, GoblinWorks talks up Pathfinder's individual player structures, which are also available via the cash shop. Base camps serve as adventure-sustaining settlements when you're far from home, and they remain active for five days once deployed. Once they despawn, they're on a 15-day cooldown. They're priced at $50. Smallholdings are also available and feature "a substantial amount of local storage" for $200.
Pathfinder Online releases new alpha client
Pathfinder Online alpha testers have a shiny new client to test out, an upgrade that hopefully will distract them from the requisite XP and inventory wipe. The new client includes better lighting, animation fixes, coin drops from mobs, additional utility feats, and a better distribution of resource nodes. NPCs have also been given a speed boost to cut down on the ease of kiting by players. [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
Make My MMO: June 22 - June 28, 2014
This week in MMO crowdfunding news, Star Citizen made more money. At this point I should probably go ahead and add that as a permanent part of Make My MMO's opening paragraph. Elsewhere, Pathfinder Online formally flung open its doors and invited backers into its alpha. If you supported the fantasy sandbox on Kickstarter or purchased access through the GoblinWorks store, you should be getting an email invite. Finally, indie outfit Nesoi Tech revealed Bone Gulch, which is some sort of online multiplayer Old West thing built with the Unity engine. Though its Kickstarter page labels it an MMO, I'm not sure how MMO it really is, but I'm desperate enough for a Red Dead Redemption-style persistent world to be cautiously optimistic. As always, the rest of our crowdfunded MMO roundup is just past the break.
Pathfinder Online formally opens alpha to backers
"Ladies and Gentlemen and Miscellaneous Humanoids of all Types," wrote Ryan Dancey on the Goblinworks website today, "It is my great pleasure to announce that we are beginning the formal Alpha Test of Pathfinder Online." According to Dancey, invitations are now en route to Kickstarter backers and everyone who purchased alpha access through the official game store, so check your email if you ponied up. You can also check out the release notes to clue you in on what's in the alpha and what isn't quite. For those not participating in the test, the studio plans to livestream the current build tomorrow -- that is, Friday, June 27th, at 6 p.m. EDT -- on its Twitch channel.
Pathfinder Online takes crowdforging seriously
Goblinworks, whose sandbox MMO Pathfinder Online entered alpha earlier this month, is turning to hopeful players for crowdforging purposes by way of the IdeaScale platform. You've probably seen the concept used for software and mobile development already: Players post mechanics and gameplay suggestions and ideas, and other contributors vote them up to show the developers where to focus time and effort. The Goblinworks team has highlighted a number of ideas via Twitter, including player books, gender neutrality, clothing dye, beast taming, and terrain as impediment. You can check out and contribute to the entire list of suggestions on the official site.
Pathfinder Online details the War of Towers
If you're gearing up for Early Enrollment in Pathfinder Online, you'll be pleased to know that your experience will be a bit more robust than planned. When the development team looked at the minimum viable early access product, it didn't appear indicative of what the game was supposed to be in the long run, but there was no way to get the full territory control system in without a lot of further work. So what could be done? Why, a stripped-down version. Dubbed the War of Towers, the system will reward players for capturing and controlling towers near one of the existing Settlements, allowing those Settlements to advance and improve in new directions. There's a video available just past the break that explains the details of how this tower capturing works, but the short version is that it should at least fill a gap until the full territory control system can be rolled out later.
Pathfinder set to begin NDA-free alpha
GoblinWorks released a new Pathfinder dev blog this week. In a nutshell, the team is kicking off the fantasy sandbox's alpha test in very short order. The first week or two "will be an internal test" comprised of employees and family members, writes CEO Ryan Dancey. Dancey also points out that alpha really does mean alpha, but even so, GoblinWorks will not restrict testers with any sort of NDA. Click through the links below for more info! [Thanks Chrysillis!]
Pathfinder focuses on crafting in latest dev video
Pathfinder Online's crafting system is the focus of this week's dev blog by Goblinworks CEO Ryan Dancey. Through crowdforging, the company hopes to develop improvements and features with the help of the community. In the included video diary, designer Stephen Cheney talks more about how resources and materials are gathered for crafting, the importance of tiers, refined items, and how important crafting will be in the game. The dev blog also discusses the Kickstarter rewards, the status of the guild land rush, and more. Check out the complete dev video embedded after the cut. [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
Pathfinder Online announces a second guild land rush
Pathfinder Online's Lee Hammock today announced the three winners of Goblinworks' promotional guild competition: The Empyrean Order, Pax Aeternum, and The Seventh Veil. The guilds will helm the first three PC settlements when the game hits early enrollment. But you don't care because you're probably not in any of those guilds, right? So Goblinworks hopes to command your attention with a new account system that will pave the way for you to claim a chunk of the game world for you and your mates. Anyone's who's bought a crowdforger or early enrollment package for the game can form a guild for this second "Land Rush," which will go on for 10 weeks and allow teams to jockey for position and territory long before the game goes live. More details on how to finagle a guild settlement once the new system is active can be found on the official blog.
Pathfinder Online shows off its map
Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock is your host and guide to a tour through Pathfinder Online's detailed maps. Pathfinder's maps look a little different than a typical MMO map, offering more of a malleable report on shifting allegiances and events in a hex layout. The main map is color-coded to show terrain type, with symbols and lines representing cities, trade routes, player towns, security levels, and points of interest. Knowing which resources come from which terrain type will be crucial to building up player settlements. Hammock and his beige shirt of stunning good looks star in a nine-minute developer video that you can watch after the break.
Pathfinder Online's devs on dynamic escalations and new races
In the latest installment of the Pathfinder Online video blog, Goblinworks PvE designer Bob Settles joins lead designer Lee Hammock to discuss escalations and alternate races. Races are the simpler topic; Hammock explains that the team does plan to expand the available races significantly, noting that races that are flavors of other races are much easier to implement because of shared models. And what about escalations? "Escalation" is the team's fancy term for one of the game's many dynamic, hex-shaped zones that are reserved for monster spawns and can over time, well, escalate and expand to neighboring hexes, ramping up in scale and difficulty with elite bosses. Multiple escalation themes are discussed in the video, including escalations that allow participants to do something other than beat mobs into submission. Enjoy the video below.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding March 16 - March 22, 2014
Last week's new entry MyDream met its $100,000 Kickstarter goal, and it did so with over two weeks left in its funding drive! Aside from that bit of good news, it was fairly quiet on the crowdfunding front. GoblinWorks made waves with some interesting class reveals for fantasy sandbox Pathfinder Online (say hello to the Aristocrat, the Commoner, and the Expert in addition to usual suspects like the Barbarian, Paladin, Sorcerer, and Bard). And superhero project City of Titans announced that it's moving its assets from Unreal 3 to Unreal 4, which will enable greater ease, flexibility, and detail during the game's development cycle. Click past the cut to catch up on the rest of the crowdfunding... er, crowd.
Boatloads of classes are coming to Pathfinder Online
The latest Pathfinder Online video dev blog has arrived, and it features Goblinworks' Lee Hammock and Stephen Cheney answering questions about which classes will enter the game in which phase. The Fighter, Rogue, Wizard, and Cleric will be first during early enrollment, followed by the more crafting-based roles like the Aristocrat, Commoner, and Expert, and then the core classes of the Barbarian, Paladin, Sorcerer, and Bard. The Ranger, Druid, and Monk are likely to emerge during open enrollment. The accompanying blog post also explains how experience and skills will map from the tabletop game to the MMORPG. We've included the complete video diary below.
Pathfinder Online opens new storefront, posts first video dev blog
The Goblinworks team has this evening posted several bits of news about its forthcoming sandbox, Pathfinder Online. The studio has revamped its website and opened a new store it's calling the Goblin Squad Store, a "portal for merchandise that is currently only available to Goblin Squad members." The store appears to be a way for would-be backers to toss some (or more) cash at the developers even though the Kickstarter has ended. In return, gamers can select from a lengthy list of add-ons both physical and digital, including tabletop miniatures, forum titles, gametime, and even a swanky messenger bag. If you're keen more on learning about the game than on funding it, the team's new video blog might be of more interest. The first of planned biweekly episodes went live tonight and features Goblinworks' Lee Hammock and Stephen Cheney explaining how slots and divine powers work in the game. We've embedded the vid behind the cut.
Pathfinder Online's Ryan Dancey on crowdforging a 'minimum viable product'
In response to our recent editorial questioning whether we are in fact in the middle of a sandbox renaissance, Goblinworks CEO Ryan Dancey has penned a Massively-exclusive dev blog to explain why his game, Pathfinder Online, is indeed at the center of such a renaissance. Pathfinder was specifically mentioned in our article as a possible example of those pseudo-sandboxes that rely too heavily on creating a space for players to butcher each other without bothering to create the mechanics for anything else. Dancey hopes to clarify his game's outlook today. Read on for his dev blog, in which he discusses what he means by "minimum viable product," distances Pathfinder from the cripplingly expensive graphical arms race plaguing the industry, and elaborates on just how Goblinworks plans to roll out this "crowdforged" MMO.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding February 9 - 22, 2014
In the world of MMOs, no news is not necessarily good news -- especially when it comes to crowdfunding. Silence often denotes a lack of progress on a game, and that can certainly make investors nervous. Thankfully, many games provide players with updates that we, in turn, provide for you here. If no news is bad, then news is good, right? Unfortunately, this doesn't hold true. In the case of Star Rider and Hot Rod Hustle, the news is that neither met its funding goals. So we say farewell to these two games from Make My MMO. And Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's campaign was chock-full of news, but in the end, its Kickstarter didn't succeed either; Pantheon, however, is continuing the fundraising effort on its official site. At least some news is good! War of Omens also leaves this round up, but for different reasons: Players can hop in and play the game! Likewise, HEX: Shards of Fate and StarCraft Universe move on now that both have moved into testing. Another sandbox, Terrayn, also joins the Kickstarter ranks. To hear other good news, keep reading.
