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Goblinworks answers post-Kickstarter questions in latest Pathfinder livestream
So yesterday was a big day in the life of Pathfinder Online, what with the project meeting its Kickstarter goals and all. To celebrate, a gaggle of Goblinworks devs sat down for an impromptu livestream last night that gave fans and backers the opportunity to put some faces with forum names and ask a few questions of the newly funded project. The livestream is now archived on YouTube, and you can watch the entire 47 minutes after the cut. The team answered several community generated questions during the vidcast, among them a confirmed list of beginning playable races (elves, dwarves, humans, and gnomes), clarification on the game's "pet" system, and more. [Thanks to Don for the tip!]
Pathfinder Online Kickstarter now successfully funded [Updated]
Pathfinder Online's Kickstarter campaign is coming right down to the wire, and it's anyone's guess whether the game will achieve its funding goal of a million bucks before the campaign ends in six hours. As this is being written, the campaign has amassed $972,177, meaning that the campaign needs to pick up an additional 30 grand or so within the next six hours. So far, the campaign has been raking in a steady flow of contributions, and $30,000 in six hours isn't a terribly farfetched goal. Unless there's a sudden drought of pledges, it looks like Pathfinder Online is going to achieve its goal with (admittedly very little) time to spare. If you're trying to decide whether or not to pledge and would like to know more about the game, Goblinworks CEO Ryan Dancey has started an impromptu ask-me-anything thread on Reddit, so feel free to pop by and ask some questions. [Update: The Kickstarter just passed $1,000,000. Pathfinder Online incoming!]
New Pathfinder dev blog talks contract, questing mechanics
The latest Pathfinder Online dev blog is all about contracts. It's also about 20,000 pages long, so reading it starts to feel like reading a real contract after about the 10,000 page mark. OK, it's not all that bad. Heck it's actually pretty interesting stuff, since most MMOs these days go out of their way to segregate players from each other and from decisions that have lasting gameplay implications. Not so in Pathfinder, thanks to its contract mechanics, which Ryan Dancey says are like "a questing system hidden in plain sight." While some of what you'll read in this particular blog is theoretical (and as such, it carries the standard subject-to-change disclaimers), the system as it stands right now is broken down into four in-game tools: escrow, reputation, alignment, and the law. Contracts themselves are sub-divided into assassination, auction, bounty, guard, loan, purchase, sale, and transportation flavors. It sounds somewhat complex, but there's definitely a method to Goblinworks' madness. "Ideally, most of the commercial, diplomatic, and adventuring activities in the game will develop through player-to-player contracting," Dancey writes. "If somebody offers you a reward for bringing them 10 rat tails, it will be because another player needs 10 rat tails for some reason, not just because an NPC has an exclamation point bobbing over his head."
Pathfinder Online kicks off a Kickstarter video series
Pathfinder Online's Kickstarter page got a video update today: the start of a promised "behind the scenes" glimpse of the goings-on at Goblinworks. The video is all about Mark Kalmes, Goblinworks' Chief Technology Officer. Kalmes is introduced as something of an industry veteran, having his hands in the City of Heroes, Champions Online, and World of Darkness pots as he progressed through his career. It was during the WoD years that he met Goblinworks CEO Ryan Dancey, and... well, you can hear the story for yourself in the video. Along with talking a little bit about himself and how he became part of the Pathfinder Online team, Kalmes says a bit about the company's goal (to "go into beta as quickly as possible, start getting a few people in the game, and then start building the game that they enjoy") as well as his hopes for the game and its development. This video is the first in a series of introductions to team members and their roles within Goblinworks. Keep tabs on the project's Kickstarter page (where if you're especially passionate, you can still donate even though the team has reached its goal and then some) for further updates!
Goblinworks CEO: 'There's a whole new way to make MMOs affordably'
Pull up a chair, sandpark fans, and while you're at it you might want to grab a large cup of your favorite caffeinated beverage. Goblinworks has published the first in a series of dev blogs designed to give starving sandbox fans a peek into the world of Pathfinder Online, and it's quite a lengthy read. Goblinworks CEO Ryan Dancey introduces key members of the Pathfinder team (including industry veterans who have worked on titles including City of Heroes and World of Darkness) before moving on to a high-level view of Pathfinder's business plan. Three main strategies emerge from the wall o' text, and Dancey cites the use of field-tested middleware, sandbox design elements, and most interestingly, a hard cap on the number of new players allowed into the game each month as the factors that will make Pathfinder stand apart from the gaggle of themepark clones currently blotting out the sun. "Making a game that starts with 4,500 players and grows to 16,500 players [after seven months] is much, much easier and vastly less expensive than making a game designed to accommodate a million players on day one," Dancey explains. He goes on to say that Pathfinder aims to emulate EVE Online's model of starting small and gradually building a larger playerbase over time while avoiding "a huge themepark mortgage" in terms of development and infrastructure costs.
CCP's Ryan Dancey on keeping EVE Online compelling
CCP Games Chief Marketing Officer Ryan S. Dancey recently spoke with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt about the state of EVE Online and what makes the sci-fi title unique. EVE has traits that many MMOs don't, such as player governance, a dynamic virtual economy, and slow but continual subscription growth. CCP does face problems in tandem with that growth however, namely from RMT operations. There is also the issue of balancing developer control over aspects of the game's economy (mission rewards, salvage and loot drops, ISK sinks) with the ideal of allowing EVE's economy to be as player-driven as possible, explains Dancey. Among other things discussed in the interview, Gamasutra asks how White Wolf has changed following the merger with CCP Games nearly three years ago. Dancey tells Gamasutra: "It's just an imprint... White Wolf used to have a fairly large staff. It doesn't anymore. It's focusing primarily on the World of Darkness RPG products. It's not doing some of the things it used to do; board games and other card games and things. The focus of the company [CCP] is on making MMOs and our legacy table top business is a legacy business."
EVE Online interview confirms details of retail release
One of announcements that came out of EVE Online's most recent Fanfest was news that the game will be sold on retail shelves this March, with the release of the Apocrypha expansion. A publishing deal struck between EVE's developer CCP Games and Atari means that the game may well see an influx of players in the coming months. MMORPG.com's Managing Editor Jon Wood caught up with Ryan Dancey, Chief Marketing Officer at CCP Games, and the two discussed how EVE's shift away from being a purely digital product will affect the game. Also notable is that Dancey gives the details of what that $39.95 (€39.99) for the box will buy: Mac and PC versions; a Career Guide for new pilots; 60 days of game time that can be converted into PLEX; automatically have needed standings for factional warfare; a VIP pass which functions like the Buddy Program; and a shuttle with expanded cargo capacity. These extras were previously rumored to be included with the EVE retail purchase, but Ryan Dancey's comments in the MMORPG.com interview would seem to confirm those rumors. Have a look at the rest of the interview focused on EVE Online's retail release for more on how the publishing deal between CCP Games and Atari is shaping up.
