brad-mcquaid
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Pantheon spotlights Undead race
If being a civilized yet formerly rotting creature is your grandest desire in an MMO race, then Pantheon's Undead Warlords are waiting to welcome you home. A new dev blog on Pantheon's Kickstarter page today shared some of the background of these playable Revenants. Originally from the world of Terminus, Revenants are former spirits that are now bound to corpses using death magic. They're a little psychotic and mean, but the Undead have learned enough control to form the outline of a civilized society in the game. CEO Brad McQuaid also hosted a Q&A video touching on subjects such as the business model (free for the initial levels with a subscription required after that), the Unity engine, the target demographic, the current makeup of the dev team, humor in the game, and pledge rewards. You can watch the video after the break.
Pantheon interview offers glimpse of economy, housing, and more
With the imminent shut down of Vanguard: Saga of Heroes on the horizon, eyes are turning to the upcoming Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen project spearheaded by one of the earlier fantasy game's creators. Brad McQuaid, first known for his work on the original EverQuest, is looking to fill the niche for old-school games that focus on group content and slow progression. How much will Pantheon fit the bill as the go-to game for all those old-school gamers looking for a challenging new home? Before the weekend announcement caught everyone off-guard, we nabbed McQuaid and Director of Development Salim Grant to find out a few more details about the game and its economy (no bind-on-pickup!), crafting, housing, and classes and races.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen to livestream game development tonight, reveals the Ogre
If you've ever wanted to get an insider's look at MMO development, Visionary Realms is offering that chance. The studio will stream sessions of Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's development from the desktop of Senior Artist Vu Nguyen live on Twitch while various team members offer commentary and answer audience questions from chat. The first show airs on the Rob and Dan Show tonight, January 27th, at 7:00 p.m. EST. Additionally, Chief Creative Officer Brad McQuaid will host a Reddit Ask-Me-Anything at 4:00 p.m. EST Wednesday, January 29th. "We've said from day one that we want the community involved every step of the way, and this is a chance to prove that we're committed to that," noted Director of Development Salim Grant. The team has also just revealed the Ogre. [Source: Visionary Realms press release]
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding January 12 - 25, 2014
After a sleepy holiday season, the crowdfunding crowd has woken up and gotten down to business. And amidst that new bustle of activity, Make My MMO's ranks are altering a bit. Two games leave our listing, but each for different reasons; the cross-platform space sim Space Unfolding folded after missing its goal, and Face of Mankind moved along to Betawatch to join the ranks of the games in testing. And now that War of Omens' campaign has wrapped up, it moves into the fully funded category. Some campaigns have really kicked into high gear. Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen joined the crowdfunding race and has delivered a slew of nearly daily news. Novus AEterno has nearly tripled its goal and is closing in on yet another stretch goal these final days of its campaign, while The Repopulation has also blown away its initial goal and is aiming for its eigth stretch goal (not to mention revealed plenty of juicy new bits). A smaller title, Tales From The Strange Universe, is more than halfway to its modest goal with a week left. And newcomer Star Rider also jumps on the Kickstarter bandwagon. Unfortunately, others aren't faring as well. Things aren't looking promising for Antilia or Universe Rush, whose campaigns end soon and are still over $85K and $98K short of their respective goals. Want more details on these stories or an update on all the already-funded projects? We've got the round-up right here.
Pantheon's Crusader brings two shields to the fight
Pantheon's latest announced class, the Crusader, might have the trappings of a traditional armored tank, but he's got a few surprises up his sleeves -- such as the ability to dual-wield shields. Crusaders are front-line fighters that use heavy armor, one- and two-handed weapons, and tall shields as well as a dollop of divine power to smite foes and bless allies. Players who go down this virtuous path can specialize either as a melee-focused Cavalier or a magic-using Paladin. It sounds as though Crusaders will be very beneficial to parties with group-wide buffs and the ability to tank effectively. They'll also get a squire to help out, undead-banishing abilities, and the option to pick up two shields for both protection and offense.
Pantheon adds two pledge tiers and shows off its day/night cycle
A couple of small updates to the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen crowdfunding campaign were pushed out today. First up is the addition of two new pledge tiers: the cartographer tier for $125 (which includes alpha and beta access, name reservation, a limited-edition cloth map, and other goodies) and a journeyman's pledge tier for $375 (which is geared toward folks looking to do serious testing of the game). Visionary Realms also released a pair of screenshots to show the difference between its day and night cycle. As of the writing of this article, Pantheon has reached 23% of its $800,000 goal with 31 days remaining in the campaign.
New class rises to join Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
The second class revealed for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen isn't the hero that the world of Terminus needs, but it's the one the world deserves. The Dark Knight is exactly what it sounds like on the tin: Aside from striking fear into the cowardly and superstitious lot of Terminus' monsters, it's a fusion of melee abilities and destructive spellcasting that draws upon unholy might. It's a class with plenty of toys to mix with extensive martial training, and it serves nicely as a peek at the conceptual space of Pantheon's classes. Dark Knights have access to several choices of both weapon and armor, generally focusing on heavy plate armor along with two-handed swords, shield, and axes. They also possess the ability to drain life and strength from their foes, apply diseases, summon necromantic minions, and possibly hang upside-down from gargoyles. There's a bit more lore to be found in the official reveal; keep your ears open for more classes so that you'll be properly prepared.
Pantheon reveals the Cleric
Pantheon is still in the early stages of its Kickstarter campaign rollercoaster and has revealed its first (non-stretch goal) class: the Cleric. According to the announcement post, the Cleric is a battle priest who's big on doing nice things for good folks while smashing bad folks with blunt instruments. The Cleric uses divine spells to heal friends and harm foes backed up with his or her trusty warhammer or flail and a lot of heavy armor. It looks as though players will have an option to eschew this mode and spec as a lightly armored spellcaster or an astral Paladin. One of the most interesting aspect of the Cleric is his or her choice in deity. That choice won't be merely for roleplaying purposes but will influence which spells and abilities will be granted to the Cleric.
Brad McQuaid explains more of his design goals for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has only just opened its Kickstarter campaign, and it's about an eighth of the way to its initial goal with more than a month to go. Perhaps you're still on the fence about whether or not you want to donate, however, wondering what sort of game you'll be getting out of it when all is said and done. So why not let the game's creator tell you about it? In the second of a series of community Q&A sessions, Brad McQuaid explains more about the design goals of Pantheon as well as how the game will handle specific mechanics like fast travel, quests, and items. McQuaid also explains what inspired the team to make the game and how far along the development process is at the moment. Check out the full video past the break, and keep your eyes peeled for a third part in the near future.
McQuaid's Pantheon adds pledge tiers, touts $50k in 20 hours
Brad McQuaid has posted a lengthy update on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen's Kickstarter project page. He says that the fledgling MMO surpassed $50,000 in donations within 20 hours of the crowdfunding launch, and that this is proof positive that a "large crowd" wants a game "that returns to the roots of what made MMOs so popular in the first place." The update also mentions additional pledge tiers, including a $250.00 and a $750.00 tier designed for guilds. The latter features 10 copies of the game, and 30 days of subscription time and beta access for each along with a custom guild tabard.
Brad McQuaid's Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen launches Kickstarter campaign
Ready, set, go: One of the industry's most notorious developers has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $800,000 or more for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen. Visionary Realms head Brad McQuaid's super-secret project is labeled as "a group-focused MMORPG based on challenging gameplay and open world high fantasy." Pantheon takes place in a world where both gods and heroes roam and where players will be on a quest to reclaim their lost glory and power. According to the feature list, Pantheon will have a heavy social focus, an open and non-linear world, the ability to customize your class by "bonding with the spirits of fallen warriors," action combat, an emphasis on travel instead of instant ports, exploration as part of character development, and "designed downtime" as part of the game experience. While McQuaid is asking for $800,000 to add more employees and fund development of the game, his stretch goals continue to the $6.7 million mark. Will you help pony up the $3.2 million needed for a Bard class?
McQuaid's MMO is Pantheon: Rise of The Fallen [Updated]
Thanks to some sleuthing of one fan, the name of Brad McQuaid's upcoming MMO has been discovered -- and confirmed -- on Twitter. Behold Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen! Unfortunately, the name of the project is the only tidbit of information that has been confirmed so far, although additional information has been compiled as to who might actually be a part of the development team: Noell Walling, Tony Vhalen Garcia, Ben de la Durantaye, James Rochelle, and Corey LeFever. It also appears that SOE is the registrar for the domain PantheonROTF.com, but there is no indication of what that might mean. For those who are concerned about how McQuaid will handle this new project, he acknowledged that due to his initial big success, he "became extremely arrogant, thinking whatever [he] touched would turn into gold," but he learned from his mistakes and is looking forward. [Thanks to BaBaGraPL for the tip!] [Update: Pantheon's PR has contacted us to clarify that SOE is not involved in the project and that the reference was an error on the early version of the site. We've also tucked some awesome new logo art behind the break.]
McQuaid tweets teaser pic for his mystery MMO
Back in September, Brad McQuaid let fans know he was working on a secret MMO, but has remained pretty tight-lipped about things since then. Now, McQuaid has taken to Twitter to tease interested fans with a tiny morsel: a beefy armored man with a broadsword (that's quite true to its name) sitting on an elaborate horned throne. Astute observers may question the significance of the solid blue eyes, which are reminiscent of a certain classic sci-fi story. More details will be available once this mystery MMO's Kickstarter is launched sometime in January. Until then, check out the full image of this imposing figure below. [Thanks to BabaGraPL for the tip!]
Brad McQuaid delays Kickstarter until January
Would you like to give Brad McQuaid a whole lot of money to make another game after Vanguard? Well, you'll just have to wait a bit longer. In a recent Twitter update, McQuaid stated that the Kickstarter for his next project will be delayed until January due to the challenge of raising funds during the holiday season. He also promised followers that the delay will mean showing off more of the game when the project goes live. No one knows what the project will look like at this point, although McQuaid's previous statements have indicated that it's meant as a throwback to the days of the original EverQuest and the first iterations of Vanguard. If that sounds like exactly what you'd like to play... well, as we said, you'll have to wait a little while to fund it. But it's coming.
Brad McQuaid looks to Kickstarter for new MMO
Brad McQuaid, best known as one of the original EverQuest designers and Executive Producer on Vanguard, is throwing out hints for his newest upcoming MMO that he plans to fund through Kickstarter. In a series of tweets, McQuaid asks for interested fans to submit questions for him to use on his Kickstarter campaign video. "Please email your questions to aradune@hotmail.com," the tweets suggest. "We're excited to start this dialog with our future players! We hope to have our kickstarter page up in the next 3 weeks or so... The game is high fantasy and if you've played EQ 1 and/or Vanguard, you've got a general idea of what the game's about and what kind of questions to ask :)" But McQuaid doesn't want to leave out the younger players: "I should also add that if you are a younger player & didn't play EQ or VG, but you want a challenging game & not a game that tries to be all things to all players, then you should feel right at home too, so please send us some questions as well :)" After being rehired by SOE in 2012 to work on Vanguard and EverQuest, McQuaid was let go in August of this year. We first heard hints at this new MMO project back in September. [Thanks to BabaGraPL for the tip!]
Brad McQuaid working on 'secret' MMO since leaving SOE
You may or may not have been aware that former Senior Game Designer Brad McQuaid was let go from SOE this past August, but either way, do not fret. The McQuaid cat has landed on his feet and is working on a "secret" MMO in conjunction with his former studio. McQuaid's personal page hints at the project: "Brad left SOE in August 2013 as part of a huge [reduction in force]. With so many jobless developers in the area and so many exciting game design ideas in his head, Brad intends to start something. He's run the ideas by John Smedley, who was visibly excited. More info will be made available on this site and elsewhere when the timing is appropriate." Meanwhile, on Twitter McQuaid set his status as "Working on sekret MMO. That is all for now." He also mentions that "going forward I intend to work as closely with [SOE] as possible." [Thanks to Marianne and Matt for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Do you still play your first MMO?
With Brad McQuaid's return to EverQuest in the news this week, nostalgia has invaded our comment section. The most veteran of our MMO commenters mused about the days of meditating into spellbooks, losing levels on death, embarking on corpse runs, and waiting on the boat. No one even mentioned camping for jboots, begging to be put on a list for a spot in a dungeon group, or having your raid planejumped right before your eyes! I think old-schoolers know that the old days had more than their fair share of problems, which is why most of them are probably playing Guild Wars 2 or The Secret World and not Asheron's Call or Anarchy Online. Or are they? Are more people living in classic MMOs than they let on? My first was Ultima Online, and yes, I do poke my nose in once or twice a year, but it hasn't been my "main game" in a truly long time. What about you guys? Do you still play your first MMO? And if you've ever gone back, was it as you remembered? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Brad McQuaid returns to EverQuest
It's like getting the band together again. Less than a year ago, Brad McQuaid returned to Vanguard, the game that he had created. But McQuaid had room to go even further back to his first position of note... and now he's done it. It's been confirmed on the official forums that Brad McQuaid is now back with EverQuest, a fact that has resulted in no shortage of fan shock. McQuaid says that after 12 years, he couldn't resist the chance to rejoin the team and get back to work on the game, which he feels still bears many traces of work he did back when he was first involved in development. He also hints that some of his first projects will involve elements of the game that have been hinted at since launch, although he avoids further explanation. Whether you're happy or sad about it as an old-school EverQuest player, you can't deny that it's big news. [Thanks to Tess for the tip!]
The Game Archaeologist: Origin stories of modern MMO studios
A good origin story always captivates me, especially when it gives me a new perspective on something I've come to appreciate over the years. I love looking back at actors' first few films or hearing about how, say, Atari and Microsoft got their start. With MMO studios, these origin stories abound and are equally fascinating to me. For example, who would've known that the makers of a couple of SNES titles would one day be running the largest MMO in the world? Or what if few gaming hobbyists in the '80s hadn't created MUDs and then gone on to revolutionize online PvP play? Today we're going to go back to the very beginning of several modern MMO studios to see when and how they came into being. Who knows... it might change how you see them forever.
The Tattered Notebook: Gearing up for SOE Live
In just a few weeks, SOE fans will gather in Las Vegas for Fan Faire SOE Live. The name change isn't the only thing that's different this year, though. As the convention details begin to take shape, we're finding a lot more questions than answers. In this week's Tattered Notebook, we'll look at some of the changes this year and try to read the tea leaves of what they might mean for fans. We'll look at what's on the schedule, like money and a possible Mobhunter sighting, and also what's not included (but should be).
