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Make My MMO: Crowdfunding August 25 - September 7, 2013
If you build it, they will come. While that adage hold true for baseball diamonds in cornfields, it's a little bit different for MMOs. If you're set on developing a new virtual playground, you get them to come so you can build it! That's the philosophy behind crowdfunding, anyway, and many are latching onto it. So how fare the fields of crowdfunding lately? New projects (Alteil Horizons, Epic Space) sprouted up, one took root and grew stronger (Divergence), and others (Project Snowstorm, Realms of Creation, Enspira Online) withered away from lack of nourishment. See how your favorite projects are growing right here in Make My MMO.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding August 11 - 24, 2013
Just when you think it will be a quiet couple of weeks on the crowdfunding scene... it isn't. Crowdfunding hopefuls seem to be following the advice of The Gambler this week: Know when to hold them, when to fold them, when to walk away, and even when to run! The funded crowd is holding steady with only a few bits of news, but two projects are on the brink of folding as they are both far short of their goals. Legends of Firestorm, on the other hand, didn't just walk away -- it high-tailed it out of Kickstarter without a word of explanation. In the meantime, thwo new projects (StarCraft Universe and Enspira Online) have joined the scene, and another project resurfaced. Check out the details right here.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding July 28 - August 10, 2013
Ah, the joys of bringing more games into the fold. Sadly, we don't know whether this will be just a brief passing in the night or a more permanent stay; that all depends on how newcomers Project Snowstorm and Legends of Firestorm do on their respective Kickstarter campaigns. Will the community help them make their MMOs? We'll keep watch and keep you informed. Speaking of keeping informed, a few of the funded projects found themselves in the news lately -- and we mean more than just crowdfunding king Star Citizen! And we've got it all rounded up right here for your perusing pleasure.
Pathfinder Online asks what's in your backpack
Are you the sort of player whose inventory is forever overflowing with items of indeterminate source? You'll want to break that habit before Pathfinder Online is released, because you'll have more to worry about than just the upper limit on items in your inventory. The latest development blog on the official site explains the Encumbrance system, another limit on how many items you can carry due to a combination of size and weight. Hauling around a lot of large and awkward items is going to mean less ability to carry everything else, while lots of little things like herbs will be more easily carried up to the inventory limit. The blog also has more details on what happens to your inventory when you die -- some of your items are instantly destroyed, and only those items specifically bound to you will be exempt from looting. The game is also implementing an item decay system, ensuring that nothing you have is all that permanent, although with the encumbrance system in place that might be something of a blessing in disguise at times.
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding July 14 - 27, 2013
Another fortnight down; another MMO hopeful lost. The casualty? Story Quest Online, which didn't come close to meeting its Kickstarter goal. The newest addition to this list, Realms of Creation, is still moving toward its goal and has another 34 days left to reach it. To see more about it, check out the new video after the break. In other news, Pathfinder Online also has a new video, and Star Citizen's Chris Robert's talked at length in an exclusive Massively interview. Even controversial Greed Monger headlined with a demonstration of its house building feature. Catch all the links to these stories right here in Make My MMO.
GoblinWorks 'solidly on track' to hit Pathfinder's early enrollment goal
GoblinWorks is breaking up Pathfinder Online's development process into quarterly chunks. These chunks are known as milestones, and the latest dev blog for the fantasy sandbox title says milestone one was completed on April 15th while milestone two wrapped on July 15th. The first quarter goal involved getting the game's tools and pipeline firmly in place, as well as "switching to the Unity middleware engine." The second milestone involved core game systems as well as the integration of a procedural terrain sculpting tool called Grome, the escalation system for PvE content, and plenty of art and programming work. So what about milestone three? That's covered in the lengthy dev blog as well, and GoblinWorks' Ryan Dancey says that it boils down to "polish polish polish." He also mentions that the team is "solidly on track to hit our early enrollment goal." You can read the full entry at the GoblinWorks website. [Thanks Chrysillis!]
New Pathfinder vid shows animations, world fly-throughs, angry troll
If you've been waiting for something tangible to sink your teeth into with regard to Pathfinder Online, look no further than the four-minute video clip recently released by GoblinWorks. The video is an updated version of the one shown during the Pathfinder seminar at PaizoCon, and it's got everything from world fly-throughs to static character models to combat animations. Click past the cut to view the trailer, and read more about it on the official Pathfinder blog via the link below. [Thanks Chrysillis!]
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding June 30 - July 13, 2013
The last two weeks haven't been quiet on the crowdfunding front. While Star Citizen takes the lead with the most news (from ever-expanding coffers to just "finding ways to make the game more awesome"), other titles had their own snippets to report as well. There's also some upheaval in our ranks: We gained a new MMORTS/MMORPG mix project but lost two others from our list when both Skara: The Blade Remains and Anthym didn't meet their goals. And yet another title makes its final appearance before moving on to Betawatch! That's right, folks; TUG is saying hasta la vista to Make My MMO in favor of alpha land. Curious as to what all else has transpired? Then check out the details after the break.
Player-driven economy 'at the very heart' of Pathfinder's design
Need some light reading material? Skip the latest Pathfinder Online dev blog, then! The update is typically verbose, but that's to be expected when discussing a sandbox title with a mile-long feature list. GoblinWorks' Ryan Dancey writes about the player-driven economy which is "at the very heart of the game design for Pathfinder Online." Key talking points include harvesting, processing, and of course crafting, as well as the developers' role as the "central bankers" with the power to control everything from money sinks and faucets to resource injections. There's a fair number of moving parts in GoblinWorks' design, and that fact isn't lost on Dancey. "We are concerned about the complexity implied by this system when it's reduced to inventory lists and markets," he explains. "Obviously the potential exists to shock players with huge lists of similar goods with very minor variations, making buying and selling decisions difficult. Our plan currently is to tackle this problem with UI design so you can filter and sort these lists quickly and understandably."
Make My MMO: Crowdfunding June 16 - 29, 2013
Go ahead -- make my MMO. And here you thought this phrase only worked when interrupting a robbery! What was a unique phenomenon in the not-too-distant past has become an increasingly popular trend: crowdfunding new MMOs. Whether they're using the Kickstarter funding platform or another, more and more developers are turning to the public instead of publishers to take their designs from the drawing board and into reality. In fact, sometimes it feels like there are just too many to keep up with! Besides the new campaigns that seem to be popping up like dandelions, there are the successfully funded games to keep an eye on. So here's what we're going to do for you: We'll make it easier for you to keep tabs on both the new campaigns hitting the crowdfunding scene and the progress of those MMOs that already made their goal and have moved on in their development journeys (but haven't made beta yet). Join us past the break for the inaugural Make My MMO, a biweekly accounting of all MMOs crowdfunded. Have you heard about new campaigns that aren't listed? Send us a note and let us know!
Pathfinder to feature hands-on construction, building, planning
Many modern-day MMOs have relegated crafting to an automated afterthought. Not Pathfinder Online, though. No sirree, GoblinWorks' crowdfunding sandbox will feature plenty of hands-on construction, according to the firm's latest blog post. "While it may be easier to wave your hand and decree that your minions build whatever you want, we think it's a little more interesting if players have to think hard, plan ahead, and cooperate to get the most out of their settlements," writes developer Rich Baker. How is it all going to work? That's a pretty lengthy discussion, which you'll find on the official Pathfinder dev blog. You'll also find a brief work-in-progress video clip that shows the progression of a market settlement. We've embedded that for you after the break.
Pathfinder Online early access begins in 2014
Last January, Pathfinder Online sneaked past its Kickstarter funding goal of a million real-life dollars at what was effectively the last minute. And now, five months after that success, Goblinworks is ready to outline what it is that early backers actually purchased. In a lengthy and detailed blog post, Goblinworks' Ryan Dancey explained what the GW team considers to be Pathfinder Online's "minimum viable product." He also explained that early enrollment users will first gain access to what is effectively a barebones version of the game, with the focus from the team being on building a strong foundation for the content to come. Development will continue in phases from there. Most important for backers is the announcement of a timeline; early enrollment for Pathfinder Online is currently set for the third quarter of 2014 and is expected to run for around 18 months. With that schedule, unrestricted territorial warfare would launch in the first quarter of 2016. Goblinworks is billing the long development pipeline as an opportunity for players to get in on the ground floor and witness MMO development from the inside out. [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
Pathfinder Online never closes a door without opening a PvP window
Having a settlement you worked hard to build be under constant attack just isn't fun. Pathfinder Online realizes this, which is why settlements are normally defended by large numbers of respawning NPC guards. Not too many to prevent players from scouting a town or stealing a few things, but enough to make a frontal assault fruitless unless you want your corpses to litter the outskirts of town. If that were always the case, though, attacking a settlement would be pointless. So during a brief window every day, the guard respawn rate decreases, numbers thin, and suddenly the town looks much more vulnerable to attack. A well-developed settlement will still have guards, but a coordinated force will be able to eliminate them... unless players step in to defend the settlement. This also solves the problem of having massive attacks come when no one is awake to know what's happening. Read the full details in the latest development blog on the official site.
Pathfinder Online dev blog talks dynamic PvE, escalation
Pathfinder Online's website has updated with a two-pronged dev blog attack. The first salvo concerns Kickstarter updates and more importantly, when backers will start receiving some of their rewards. The game's pledge management system is coming next week, so be sure you have a Paizo.com account set up and ready to receive rewards like the PDF superpack. The second portion of the update concerns escalation cycles and escalation mechanics which tie into Pathfinder's version of PvE content. "An escalation is a dynamic story event such as a Bonedancer goblin invasion, an outbreak of widespread banditry from the League of the Wood, or a raid of dark elf slavers," the blog explains. Goblinworks says that its escalation mechanics are such that players will encounter a wide variety of content and story scenarios. "The combination of different types of strength-based advances, expansion preference, stage advances, and quests associated with stages provides us with a wide variety of tools for creating very different experiences from escalation to escalation," the company says. "Some escalations like the barbarian raid will effectively march across the map; some will reach a defensible limit and fort up; some will keep trying to expand indefinitely and attempt to overrun the entire map." [Thanks to all who sent this one in!]
Pathfinder producer talks player-generated content, archetypes, and more
Goblinworks' CEO Ryan Dancy recently guested on the DM Fiat podcast. The Pathfinder Online producer had plenty to say about the tabletop RPG that's invading the MMO space, including nuggets about Pathfinder's extensive guild/settlement system, the River Kingdoms and expanding beyond them, and player-generated content. Dancey says that Goblinworks would like for players to create their own PvE content modules and sell them to others, likely via some sort of app store format. He also mentions Pathfinder's archetype system and its numerous advantages over traditional class mechanics. Head to DM Fiat to listen to the podcast. [Thanks Mark!]
Pathfinder Online discusses the creed of assassination
Not everything in Pathfinder Online is meant to be sweetness and light. Your player-run settlement might have all of the people it needs to be built into a great city, but all it takes is an assassin accosting one of those people and suddenly everything can fall apart. And that's not just conjecture -- the latest development blog shows how the assassination system is meant to facilitate precisely that sort of outcome under the right circumstances. Assassination is a system allowing players to put out contracts on other players, whether for long-term gain or just spite. Successful assassins will slowly become better and better at stealth and can prevent targets from resurrecting nearby. They also get access to Disguises, special outfits that change your display name and hide your actual abilities from other players. If you're looking to be the blade in the night that puts down your target, take a look at the official blog for all the details.
Goblinworks illuminates Pathfinder's spellcasting system
Thinking about becoming a Wizard or Sorcerer in Pathfinder Online? It's not going to be like rolling a mage in another MMO, where you'll instantly have access to infinite firebolt and ice shard spells that are conveniently located on your hotbar. No, it's going to be complex and deep because this is Pathfinder and that is what Pathfinder does. In a new dev blog, Designer Stephen Cheney spells out (har) the approach the team is currently taking with arcane casters (i.e., Wizards and Sorcerers). While these classes will get a huge reservoir of basic cantrips to fling out during normal combat, their actual spells will be difficult to acquire, powerful to perform, and limited in number of uses. Cheney talks about how wizards will put together spellbooks, why it's important to have a pouch full of spell components, and what keywords you're going to want to collect in order to build the type of caster you envision. It's a lengthy read, but as a wizard apprentice, you're already used to that, aren't you? [Thanks to Matixzun for the tip!]
Pathfinder Online dev blog explains territory and the hex map
You wouldn't normally think that something like hex size would be such a big deal in a video game, but Pathfinder Online's Lee Hammock explains in today's most recent blog post that it can make a huge difference. First off, the type of hex matters. Whether it's a settlement hex, a wilderness hex, a monster hex, or an NPC hex, each version determines control capabilities, building laws, resources, and so on. This basically means that no two settlements will be alike. If you'd like to read up on how much territory and the hex map actually matters in Pathfinder Online, head on over to the dev blog to read more. [Thanks matixzun for the tip!]
Pathfinder Online shows off early development art
You might have been looking forward to Pathfinder Online for a while, but it's been hard to really look at the game. That's starting to change with the latest blog entry on the official site in which art director Mike Hines discusses the process of making art for Pathfinder Online and shows off some early renders that should demonstrate what the game will look like once players finally get to enjoy it. Hines discusses the fact that the game has the advantage of drawing upon a great deal of established artwork for the Pathfinder tabletop game, but it also has the challenge of adapting those visuals to the online space. He also shows off several early concept renders and sketches, stressing with each that these are still works in progress that might change before the final release. If you're anxious to look at the game instead of just forward to it, look through the full blog entry on the official site. [Thanks to matixuzn for the tip!]
Murder by numbers: A closer look at Pathfinder Online's combat mathematics
If you like granular detail on still-in-progress systems for a game that hasn't been released yet, boy are you in luck! A new dev post from the Goblinworks team turns a microscope on the hows and whys of combat in Pathfinder Online. This is obviously an important thing, as Pathfinder itself has a well-established combat system that's awesome for pen-and-paper gameplay but probably significantly less awesome for online combat. The system is being modified so that there will be fewer chances for epic failures and so that epic successes won't completely imbalance the game. Combat is being built to make even small numerical differences important (it'll be way cooler to have +10 against Immobilize than nothing), to emphasize the importance of different weapon types, and to keep luck from being a more important factor than player skill. Read the whole blog post for the nitty-gritties of how the numbers work out.
