How little art was finished that changing the art style didn't flush massive amounts of work down the toilet? It's been a while since I looked at Pantheon but I thought the building of the game world and models has been in full swing for a while now.
yeah the only answer is they seriously mis managed their funds and time. even at a snails pace, with little resources, with the time that they have had a really decent product could have been made
I've played a week in season one and really enjoyed it. Fully under the scepticism I see on the comments, but actually playing it made me realize there is the core of a good social MMO here. Definitely gonna hop into this season for 2 weeks this time. The art style switch soured many, I get that, honestly I include myself in that, but it's grown on me and I can say with confidence that it will get better. The sound quality recently went through a huge overhaul and improvement. Would also add, many games have been successful with unremarkable visuals at launch, Minecraft, fortnite to name a few, if the core game works it can still do well. It's never gonna be that level of success, but I think it will meet the needs of the old school social MMO base well.
@@motive7475So is Ashes of Creation, and it looks much better graphically with 1 year less in total development. That’s not to say it’s great, perfect, whatever, but it’s been put on the pedestal by many folks as the de factor indie leader still in development. In 2014, there was waning interest in WOW, and FFXIV had not quite hit their groove, so this market was wide open. Unfortunately for the indies, mobas exploded along with FFXIV releasing Heavensward. While WOW kept bleeding, these others were growing. I think the indies that thought a 3-4 year development cycle would work due to this massive up from interest were completely taken aback with Covid and with Shadowbringers and WOW Classic releases. As the discussions left the indies, so did bigger investors. And now 9-10 years later, these projects are likely to never make money.
Over 5 years ago when I played PA this looked completely different and had solid animation movement and realism to its character models, lighting, textures, everything. Now it looks and animates like a bad cartoon.
It went from looking like a nice dark fantasy game into some disgusting fortnite crayon design bull. I'm glad I waited to pledge, I will not be pledging to this. Glad Brad McQuaid isn't around to see this disgusting pile. They want the EQ/older audience yet change the art style to this to appeal to the trend of Fortnite and fortnite clones. Now they will get neither audience.
Honestly I think the character models in a weird way look more proportionate and the animations are better. But the graphics quality definitely is much worse like this imo, I prefered the old look. Hopefully this might actually release at some point now.
@@prodesu8607 The way the game a going now I'm not sure I look forward to it any longer sadly. I saw this as the last MMO that I would play but know I guess there will be no more chance for MMO comeback as I see it.
Two, three years ago, when Cohh and some small streamers were running around in an underground starting area the game looked way better and more developed. After messing around with the current version, everything they were showing for years was just smoke and mirrors.
The very first time I saw something from this game a long time ago, I already said to myself: "This looks really bad for today's standards. All of it. Graphics, animations, gameplay." And well.. nothing has changed in that department. This still looks like a game that came out 20 years ago as an Everquest competitor. But hey, that's just my opinion. And people who really enjoy this old school type of MMO, all the joy and entertainment to you playing this in the future.
At this point the best we can hope for is a minimum viable product. They'll do as much as they are legally required to, but anything more just isn't possible for this studio. Ten years of development and this is what we get? A constant reiteration of the same stuff, always changing but never growing. The only hope we really have is for this project to get sold off to a more experienced studio that will at least make something out of it. It wont be Pantheon but that ship has already sailed.
its why indie funded stuff sucks. They are working off donations, not expectations. With investors you are beholden to them, they need to see a return on their investment. With crowd sourcing, they just sit there and recieve the money, draw a nice salary and who cares what comes next
Once Brad McQuaid passed away, I wrote this off. I buried it with him that day. That simple. Once I saw the art change, I knew it had died with him. It isn't at all close to what he wanted. In fact it is almost the exact opposite. I have a Alpha key, but out of respect, it isn't going to get used. I spent $1000 for 2 packages, because the vision at that time was a up to date EverQuest. Thats what everyone that paid into, paid for. This is Disney WoW - in it's most infantile form. This game will most likely NOT see the light of day. I think they didn't know how to let the project go, after Brad passed away. The art change alone, killed the majority of the audience *invested* in it. We all understand we "donated" .... it's a lot like "donating" to a homeless person with a "Hungry, please donate" sign. So ya do, and you watch them go into the liquor store and come out with a bottle of Vodka and a candy bar.... That is what this is like. Honor and integrity no longer exist in this world, I keep forgetting that....
This game has been in development for so long. Also haven't heard anything from anyone about it besides cohh. It doesn't seem to make a ton of progress between cohhs updates. I dont have a lot of faith in this game.
to be fair the art was more of embers adrift before.. and going in this game now and looking at this.. I feel like this with the lighting will be much better than the embers adrift as I find it colorless.. it's got it's place still. it's still fun.
Totally agreed with you about the graphics,but that being said they have come a LONG way in animation and lighting since I logged on before. And honestly the graphics became secondary to the gameplay style. It has an Everquest "feel" you know, like Brad wanted. Big open areas with huge buildings. Mobs that aggro you and run you into the ground! That made EQ fun. I'm sure they are progressing towards his dream, as well as the expectations we all had/have, for the project. Ty man for being a supporter. I pledged,but can't do a V.I.P. !! Lol. Stay honest.
I understand this is an Alpha but this feels underwhelming. Perhaps the art style choice and UI design choice gives this game a very generic feeling. I'm unable to feel any sort of pull because it looks like a lot of other low-tier MMOs that are put out. Edit: I'm told this is pre-alpha, but my feelings still stand. I'm not against this game, only underwhelmed. Perhaps if we got a bit of story? Visual uniqueness? I suppose if they chose something not human I would feel more interested in the world they are trying to present. :P
Just started playing yesterday ( alsonstarted a rogue ) I've been following this game since i think 2016 . I was not a fan of the art change, but not enough for me to give up on it provided the game is a " good " game ....for me thats defined more by the world and rpg elements and character development
id have to agree. graphics and over all looks of the game do justice to how long it been worked on Conan exiles and myth of empires look way better and were not worked on near as long.
Conan also has a massive team lawl this game being made by like 20 people...... and the lead that started it died. Conan also is a basic simple games boring and nothing interesting in it.
@@WayneTwitch Palworld had less than 20 people and it still looks better. Conan has been called many thing but i dont remember Boring being one of them. all im saying is with the time they have had it should look more like New World graphics wise and terrain.
@@bloodybob3750 palworld was a ark/pokemon ripoff copy pasta with little diversity. I played conan its boring. The games to replicate Everquest and Eqoa the graphics in Pantheon look just how i expected them to. You could argue its a janky looking game but so is conan and this games many years from coming still. Mmo are the hardest games to create and cost the most money with what they been getting done is impressive. People have the source code for eqoa and they been working on brining that back since 2012 shit takes forever. Anyway graphics are the lest of my worry in a mmo and like i said i like how Pantheon looks go check out eqoa and you will see the kinda art they are going for.
@@bloodybob3750 I take you you never played everquest lol. I would go back and look some videos up and let me know about the graphics. As well do you think killing bats and snakes at level 1 should have mechanics ? Because thats all i see people killing in the beta not a raid boss.
When you forget to turn lighting on. (I don't really care about this game and I hope it turns out good or at least ok, but that damn lighting would be a direct nope for me). I mean not even stencil shadows indoor, in 2024... rough. EDit: oh sorry, I was not even at the rat part. I'm sorry for the backers... :/
It's a shame the idea of this game is being so horribly executed. They have done nothing in the ten plus years they have been developing it, except lie & steal from the people that invested in it. First the original designer, Brad, used the money given to his company to buy drugs and OD, then they fired a high ranking developer over the phone for talking about how bad it's being handled, they changed the art of the game to make it look worse, they tried to change the game to a Warzone clone(for more money), they lied to investors again by telling them they changed what they already purchased(letting less paying pledges play at the same time as higher paying pledges), they hand pick what people like in Discord and let them do/say what ever they want, they have less game developed now than what they had 6 years ago. It's awful. DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO THIS PYRAMID SCHEME!!!
Yes, Cost and performance. Making an entire MMO with the previous graphics and only 9 artists isn't feasible, and they don't have the budget to run 100-man art teams. Filling a game with premade assets is terrible for performance. Also, I think they just like the style for some reason. I'm not a fan, but then most of the games I play came out in the 90s so I'm really not a stickler for graphical quality. The bright side is that they've been leaking some of the newer models they're working on, and they aren't quite as cartoonish as the ones they have currently.
@@michaelmorrison5280 Oh ok ty. I was wondering if it was a switch to this graphics style purely to appeal to WoW players and/or because it's a style that ages better over time. Maybe those reasons did play a part into it, but it for sure makes even more since about resources and and artists. It's a shame because the game had so much more of an identity before.
The graphics aging more gracefully over time was my thought as to why they switched to the cartoony look. Especially considering it's been in development forevor. The realistic graphics they had might have looked severely dated by the time it released.
Pantheon is nothing more than a scam for Everquest fans who are hungry/desperate to recapture the era of MMOs that we all know is long dead. Even if it did release, todays MMO fans will make it far from the atmosphere they are trying to replicate. Its just never going to be the way it used to be again, time to move on. Ive been playing online games since MUDS were the rage. This game looks horrible. I know its indie but so was stardew valley , and it actually released!!!!
I can't say enough about Embers Adrift indie MMO. Its the first game in ages that gives me those EQ evercrack feels. You can try the game for free up to the first 3 zones. No sub is required any longer after box purchase but you will be limited to 1 character unless you sub.
Its going backwards, and its not better, and to say its going in right direction is delusional. So sad wish I had never put any money into this, IMHO this is not what Brad had envisioned
Man that art style is awful. There is a reason I played EQ over WoW.... I mean... if I wanted this, I could just sub to WoW.... This game has gone from EQ3, to Fortnite, to WoW... wtf is going on with the dev?
How little art was finished that changing the art style didn't flush massive amounts of work down the toilet? It's been a while since I looked at Pantheon but I thought the building of the game world and models has been in full swing for a while now.
yeah the only answer is they seriously mis managed their funds and time. even at a snails pace, with little resources, with the time that they have had a really decent product could have been made
I've played a week in season one and really enjoyed it. Fully under the scepticism I see on the comments, but actually playing it made me realize there is the core of a good social MMO here. Definitely gonna hop into this season for 2 weeks this time.
The art style switch soured many, I get that, honestly I include myself in that, but it's grown on me and I can say with confidence that it will get better. The sound quality recently went through a huge overhaul and improvement.
Would also add, many games have been successful with unremarkable visuals at launch, Minecraft, fortnite to name a few, if the core game works it can still do well. It's never gonna be that level of success, but I think it will meet the needs of the old school social MMO base well.
Do you think this gameplay core gives Pantheon a chance to survive based on its' current state, considering the game releases in December?
For a game that has been in dev since… 2014? This looks really rough.
You do know this is an Indie game?
@@motive7475So is Ashes of Creation, and it looks much better graphically with 1 year less in total development. That’s not to say it’s great, perfect, whatever, but it’s been put on the pedestal by many folks as the de factor indie leader still in development.
In 2014, there was waning interest in WOW, and FFXIV had not quite hit their groove, so this market was wide open. Unfortunately for the indies, mobas exploded along with FFXIV releasing Heavensward. While WOW kept bleeding, these others were growing. I think the indies that thought a 3-4 year development cycle would work due to this massive up from interest were completely taken aback with Covid and with Shadowbringers and WOW Classic releases. As the discussions left the indies, so did bigger investors. And now 9-10 years later, these projects are likely to never make money.
Its suppose to feel that way... Its pretty much Everquest 2.0 and i love how it looks
@@motive7475 Embers Adrift is an indie game and it looks way better than this. Its a crime more people dont play it.
@@chrismj4676 Because Embers is a boring grind with no content.
Over 5 years ago when I played PA this looked completely different and had solid animation movement and realism to its character models, lighting, textures, everything. Now it looks and animates like a bad cartoon.
It went from looking like a nice dark fantasy game into some disgusting fortnite crayon design bull. I'm glad I waited to pledge, I will not be pledging to this. Glad Brad McQuaid isn't around to see this disgusting pile. They want the EQ/older audience yet change the art style to this to appeal to the trend of Fortnite and fortnite clones. Now they will get neither audience.
I'm happy I never pledged; I have a hard time to believe what Brad wanted to project to be, feels sad they left his vision behind totally.
Honestly I think the character models in a weird way look more proportionate and the animations are better. But the graphics quality definitely is much worse like this imo, I prefered the old look. Hopefully this might actually release at some point now.
@@prodesu8607 The way the game a going now I'm not sure I look forward to it any longer sadly. I saw this as the last MMO that I would play but know I guess there will be no more chance for MMO comeback as I see it.
@@gandir5720 Yeah im keeping an open mind, ill probably check it out in release if that ever happens. Not going myself too much though.
Two, three years ago, when Cohh and some small streamers were running around in an underground starting area the game looked way better and more developed. After messing around with the current version, everything they were showing for years was just smoke and mirrors.
The sad truth..
The very first time I saw something from this game a long time ago, I already said to myself: "This looks really bad for today's standards. All of it. Graphics, animations, gameplay." And well.. nothing has changed in that department. This still looks like a game that came out 20 years ago as an Everquest competitor. But hey, that's just my opinion. And people who really enjoy this old school type of MMO, all the joy and entertainment to you playing this in the future.
The disappointment is palpable...
At this point the best we can hope for is a minimum viable product. They'll do as much as they are legally required to, but anything more just isn't possible for this studio. Ten years of development and this is what we get? A constant reiteration of the same stuff, always changing but never growing. The only hope we really have is for this project to get sold off to a more experienced studio that will at least make something out of it. It wont be Pantheon but that ship has already sailed.
its why indie funded stuff sucks. They are working off donations, not expectations. With investors you are beholden to them, they need to see a return on their investment. With crowd sourcing, they just sit there and recieve the money, draw a nice salary and who cares what comes next
Once Brad McQuaid passed away, I wrote this off. I buried it with him that day. That simple. Once I saw the art change, I knew it had died with him. It isn't at all close to what he wanted. In fact it is almost the exact opposite.
I have a Alpha key, but out of respect, it isn't going to get used. I spent $1000 for 2 packages, because the vision at that time was a up to date EverQuest. Thats what everyone that paid into, paid for.
This is Disney WoW - in it's most infantile form. This game will most likely NOT see the light of day. I think they didn't know how to let the project go, after Brad passed away. The art change alone, killed the majority of the audience *invested* in it.
We all understand we "donated" .... it's a lot like "donating" to a homeless person with a "Hungry, please donate" sign. So ya do, and you watch them go into the liquor store and come out with a bottle of Vodka and a candy bar....
That is what this is like.
Honor and integrity no longer exist in this world, I keep forgetting that....
This game has been in development for so long. Also haven't heard anything from anyone about it besides cohh. It doesn't seem to make a ton of progress between cohhs updates. I dont have a lot of faith in this game.
Its a small game studio do you have any idea how insane it is to make a mmo ?
At this point. Are we 100% sure Marc Jacobs isn't on the dev team?
to be fair the art was more of embers adrift before.. and going in this game now and looking at this.. I feel like this with the lighting will be much better than the embers adrift as I find it colorless.. it's got it's place still. it's still fun.
This was THE GAME I was looking forward to. Gave up on it a long time ago. The art change killed any interest I had left for it.
Totally agreed with you about the graphics,but that being said they have come a LONG way in animation and lighting since I logged on before. And honestly the graphics became secondary to the gameplay style. It has an Everquest "feel" you know, like Brad wanted. Big open areas with huge buildings. Mobs that aggro you and run you into the ground! That made EQ fun. I'm sure they are progressing towards his dream, as well as the expectations we all had/have, for the project. Ty man for being a supporter. I pledged,but can't do a V.I.P. !! Lol. Stay honest.
I understand this is an Alpha but this feels underwhelming. Perhaps the art style choice and UI design choice gives this game a very generic feeling. I'm unable to feel any sort of pull because it looks like a lot of other low-tier MMOs that are put out.
Edit: I'm told this is pre-alpha, but my feelings still stand. I'm not against this game, only underwhelmed. Perhaps if we got a bit of story? Visual uniqueness? I suppose if they chose something not human I would feel more interested in the world they are trying to present. :P
The UI is awful
Agree!
UI is just a placeholder.
The game rly shrines in grp content maybe Cohh invest more time into it at some point.
To clarify, it's not an alpha. It's still pre-alpha, he's tagged it incorrectly. Company is obfuscating reality with its seasons and PA phases.
Ah yes, back at it again with Pantheon: Rise of the Cashgrab.
How is it a cash grab lawl.
Just started playing yesterday ( alsonstarted a rogue ) I've been following this game since i think 2016 . I was not a fan of the art change, but not enough for me to give up on it provided the game is a " good " game ....for me thats defined more by the world and rpg elements and character development
Solid stream! Lighting changes look really good
id have to agree. graphics and over all looks of the game do justice to how long it been worked on Conan exiles and myth of empires look way better and were not worked on near as long.
Conan also has a massive team lawl this game being made by like 20 people...... and the lead that started it died. Conan also is a basic simple games boring and nothing interesting in it.
@@WayneTwitch Palworld had less than 20 people and it still looks better. Conan has been called many thing but i dont remember Boring being one of them. all im saying is with the time they have had it should look more like New World graphics wise and terrain.
@@bloodybob3750 palworld was a ark/pokemon ripoff copy pasta with little diversity. I played conan its boring. The games to replicate Everquest and Eqoa the graphics in Pantheon look just how i expected them to. You could argue its a janky looking game but so is conan and this games many years from coming still. Mmo are the hardest games to create and cost the most money with what they been getting done is impressive. People have the source code for eqoa and they been working on brining that back since 2012 shit takes forever. Anyway graphics are the lest of my worry in a mmo and like i said i like how Pantheon looks go check out eqoa and you will see the kinda art they are going for.
@@WayneTwitch Pantheon WAS supposed to be EQ with up to date graphics and mechanics. from the looks of IN-GAME play it is nothing close .
@@bloodybob3750 I take you you never played everquest lol. I would go back and look some videos up and let me know about the graphics. As well do you think killing bats and snakes at level 1 should have mechanics ? Because thats all i see people killing in the beta not a raid boss.
Sunk-cost fallacy
Hey looks like you finally paid your heating bill. Good for you.
I was wondering when we would get one of these.
You know it’s bad when your 4 year old walks by, sees it on your phone and says, “daddy, is that an NES game?
When you forget to turn lighting on. (I don't really care about this game and I hope it turns out good or at least ok, but that damn lighting would be a direct nope for me).
I mean not even stencil shadows indoor, in 2024... rough.
EDit: oh sorry, I was not even at the rat part. I'm sorry for the backers... :/
It's a shame the idea of this game is being so horribly executed. They have done nothing in the ten plus years they have been developing it, except lie & steal from the people that invested in it. First the original designer, Brad, used the money given to his company to buy drugs and OD, then they fired a high ranking developer over the phone for talking about how bad it's being handled, they changed the art of the game to make it look worse, they tried to change the game to a Warzone clone(for more money), they lied to investors again by telling them they changed what they already purchased(letting less paying pledges play at the same time as higher paying pledges), they hand pick what people like in Discord and let them do/say what ever they want, they have less game developed now than what they had 6 years ago. It's awful. DO NOT GIVE MONEY TO THIS PYRAMID SCHEME!!!
Cohh has the same feedback about showing the .1 progress to skill points and they didn't even change that which is like a 5 minute change in the code.
It's an option you can disable in settings, lots of options to change that text for months.
Yeah Cohh has even used the option in another stream - guess he forgot lol
Come to jesus meeting lol
Someone thought this art update was a good idea. And that's everything you need to know about this dev team.
Did it undergo an art style change? And why?
Yes, Cost and performance.
Making an entire MMO with the previous graphics and only 9 artists isn't feasible, and they don't have the budget to run 100-man art teams.
Filling a game with premade assets is terrible for performance.
Also, I think they just like the style for some reason. I'm not a fan, but then most of the games I play came out in the 90s so I'm really not a stickler for graphical quality.
The bright side is that they've been leaking some of the newer models they're working on, and they aren't quite as cartoonish as the ones they have currently.
@@michaelmorrison5280 Oh ok ty. I was wondering if it was a switch to this graphics style purely to appeal to WoW players and/or because it's a style that ages better over time. Maybe those reasons did play a part into it, but it for sure makes even more since about resources and and artists.
It's a shame because the game had so much more of an identity before.
The graphics aging more gracefully over time was my thought as to why they switched to the cartoony look. Especially considering it's been in development forevor.
The realistic graphics they had might have looked severely dated by the time it released.
Guys go easy on this cause its only been in development for a decade
I was excited about this game when they first started working on it. I cannot believe it almost has the same graphics as the original everquest.
You can play a week each season by buying the game for $50, so you can hop in right now if it appeals to you. The group play is where it's at
EverQuest 1 and 2 fan and I was stoked for this but it isn’t what I was hoping for. Too bad EQ 3 lost its supporters 😢
Hard to believe people still think this is going to have a genuine launch.
Cohh doesn't know how to play an oldfashioned MMO without twink gear and high-level druids powerleveling him. It's kind of sad.
The art changes just made all hope I had for this game turn to melted icecream.
Melted ice-cream is the best and well wtf are you talking about it looks better now then before.
Is this a mobile game?
this is what they did with my money?
C. Cohh not so hard buddy we do need that screen to see what is going on and you don't get a monitor that big that cheep ya know.
Disappointing to say the least. Nothing to get excited about here imo. Good luck to the backers, I hope they get some value in the future!
Maybe they will go back to the old art style when the current developer ages out and dies?
looks a bit like LOTRO
previous version was miles better than this. this looks like it was put together in a year
50 dollars for 6 weeks?
I feel bad you gave them your money. Kind of... Definitely wasted, what, 10k? Could have given that to charity instead of vaporware.
Yea I feel like a fool
Man… this is sad. I’m sorry, but this looks so bad. I remember being so hyped for this originally but it looks nothing like what it did.
same ... I regret backing it cause they didn't hold up to anything they promised art wise, i feel it was false advertisement :/
And rightfully so. Smells like vaporware.
@@trustyWeedGuy You're using words you don't comprehend then.
@@Ezra-UK Copium is a strong drug, this project is dead and buried, my condolences champ xdd
Pantheon is nothing more than a scam for Everquest fans who are hungry/desperate to recapture the era of MMOs that we all know is long dead. Even if it did release, todays MMO fans will make it far from the atmosphere they are trying to replicate. Its just never going to be the way it used to be again, time to move on. Ive been playing online games since MUDS were the rage. This game looks horrible. I know its indie but so was stardew valley , and it actually released!!!!
I can't say enough about Embers Adrift indie MMO. Its the first game in ages that gives me those EQ evercrack feels. You can try the game for free up to the first 3 zones. No sub is required any longer after box purchase but you will be limited to 1 character unless you sub.
Paid 500$ years ago to play alpha, gotta say this hurts to look at like its never making it to alpha
A decade for this crap? Get funned.
Since they went away from that old school style to this self shader I've lost all interest. Too bad, was super stoked before the change :(
Why are you still giving this scam time
He has hope still and he is an investor in the said game.
I think the devs played a little too much Everquest, this looks terrible.
Im so upset £250 backer since 2018 and this is what we get. everything i seen over the year is not what im playing its unacceptable.
Its going backwards, and its not better, and to say its going in right direction is delusional. So sad wish I had never put any money into this, IMHO this is not what Brad had envisioned
Man that art style is awful. There is a reason I played EQ over WoW.... I mean... if I wanted this, I could just sub to WoW....
This game has gone from EQ3, to Fortnite, to WoW... wtf is going on with the dev?
Getting caught up... and wtf is this crap? Last I looked the game didn't appear to be from 2012.
if only Brad could see this pile of garbage.......RIP
Vanguard looks better than this and that came out in 2007
Coh really got hit with this scam? Damn.
YIKES...this looks bad.
This game looks truly terrible
can i refund this game ?????
First
Even for alpha this looks so bad lol
this looks like absolute rubbish ngl.
looked better a few years ago
Looks very rough and does not look fun at all.