If You've Been Eagerly Watching Pantheon: Rise Of The Fallen, It's Your Day! Early Access Starts Today

The day has finally come for Visionary Realms and the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen team. The MMORPG heads to early access today. While exact timing of the servers going live hasn't been shared as of the time of this writing, those that purchase access should be able to jump in at some point today, provided there are no issues or delays.

This is the dangerous part, though. Remember, Pantheon has tried to get the word out there as much as possible that this early access is "not a full game release." Hell, it's even posted on their early access page on the official site. Early access will include content up to level 40, 12 of the 14 classes planned for full launch, 6 of the 9 races also planned for release, crafting, and overworld and dungeon content.

That means there seems to be plenty to explore and mess around with, but yes, it is not the completed MMO.

That's where things get dangerous, I think. For people like you and me that are reading and writing about MMOs and Pantheon specifically, we get that this early access isn't the full game. However, someone browsing MMOs on Steam and seeing it available may not take the time to research things. There's a window to disappoint someone there.

There's also the argument that the company is now asking directly for cash. When Visionary Realms ran its pledge program, it was done only through their site (after the initial crowdfunding campaign). That meant you had to read about what you were buying and you knew you were buying into a product you, initially, wouldn't be able to even access for a while.

When you start asking for early access cash on a platform like Steam, like it or not, you are "for sale" now. You are open to the critique that comes with a "launch" even if you acknowledge that the game isn't "fully" launched. It comes with the territory. You're open to reviews and you took cash for the experience you are providing. You can't "hide" behind "well it's early access, not a full launch." To a large portion of the gaming audience, that distinction won't be made.

None of this is to say that Pantheon is making the wrong call here. If they believe they have enough of a product to interest people, go for it. Get your cash to help fund the rest of your development and have some players interested in what you're doing. However, if early access is a bit of a mess, the "it's not launch" flags aren't going to fly for most.

I am very interested to get into the MMO today and poke around. I've never had access to the game so this will literally be my first experience in the game, too. I'll circle back with thoughts next week.

In the meantime, if you're in early access, let me know your early thoughts below.

Early access is available on Steam and will be priced at $39.99.