Pantheon MMO Testing Targeting Spring 2024, New Art Style Stays, And Other Tidbits From The 247 Live Q&A

Following the public announcements yesterday regarding Pantheon 247 and the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen MMORPG itself, I gave my thoughts on how this current direction probably isn't good for the MMO many of us have been waiting on.

Last night, the team held a public Discord call addressing questions from the community, and while much of the call was reiterating points made in the written announcement, there were a few nuggets worth recapping.

For the most part it was Creative Director Chris Perkins answering questions but we did hear from a few other members of the team along the way.

(Personal Opinion - It was hard not to feel like the team is stressed and down a bit just in tone and delivery on this call. Just a personal thought though and I could be totally wrong here.)

Here's a recap of some answers given:

- Kicking the call off, and taking up over 20 minutes, the initial few questions are basically "why" and "when" did 247 become a thing. The team reiterates what they've already said publically (while going into a bit more detail with examples) of how previous testing just wasn't satisfactory with the data collection needed, and 247 provided a way for testers to stay engaged longer with certain systems and testing things they may not normally test.

- Perkins also reiterates again that Pantheon 247 is still being considered for monetization, but no final decision has been made on that front.

- Interestingly, the MMORPG version of Pantheon, previously announced to have testing resume "next year", is more specifically targeting Spring of next year for that resumption. The team is also looking at possibly removing some aspects of the NDA on existing testers, but this is another area where no decision has been made yet.

- In regards to comparisons to EverQuest Next and Ashes of Creation: Apocalypse, the comparisons are not lost on the team, but they feel the Pantheon 247 situation differs due to Pantheon (the MMO) being what the studio exists to create, and 247 only exists to fit that goal. Other games felt disconnected from the heart and tissue of the parent game. 247 is different...according to the team, at least.

- On the "how does this help the MMO's development", the only things the team says they developed for 247 that doesn't help the MMO's development is basically the 247 timer, portal extraction, and ruleset. Everything else they change or update also gets developed in the MMORPG. Group size did come up in this discussion, too, though. The MMO is developed and balanced around 6 person groups. It has changed to 4 players for 247 now, but it will return to 6 in future balancing passes.

- Allowing volunteers to help "speed things up" has legal complications, so the team isn't totally opposed to the idea, but it would have big challenges. Hiring from the community may continue to happen, though.

- No changes to classes or features planned for the MMORPG right now, but scope is always being reviewed. And no, climbing isn't something that killed the game. Features like swimming were discussed here. Swimming may be surface level only at first, but that's not the "forever" plan.

- Art style - Sorry, if you don't like this art style, it is set in stone that there won't be another massive deviation. There will, of course, be adjustments and improvement, but no, Pantheon won't be shifting "back" to a more "realistic" style or anything.

- Good question here: Is the negative reaction to the art style and 247 news coming largely from the community or is it coming from people who have "no skin in the game" or those that haven't tested things themselves? Both. There have been negative reactions from long time VIPs and there's a responsibility the team needs to take from that. Even the name "247" has been critiqued as "dumb" and "deceptive", even if that wasn't the team's intent. People feeling mislead is not ok and the team apologizes for that. The team encourages those in testing to look at the cadence picking up and realize that's because of the art change and 247, and even if they don't like the "extraction" mode, at least see that it is helping.

- "Pantheon is NOT going away. We will be back there. And all of the groundwork and structure allows the MMO to continue and continue more rapidly." 

- When are classes coming? The team put this to the community and asked "are you ok if they are half-baked but in-game now?" Community said yes. Classes coming hopefully prior to Christmas then. Zones will take longer.

- Have you considered a publisher? We'll consider all things, but not if they take away from allowing Pantheon MMO to be Pantheon. F2P with microtransactions or more casual means it isn't Pantheon. The team hasn't seen an offer from a potential publisher that wouldn't change Pantheon at its core too much to consider.

- Given current resources and teams, how long until Pantheon MMO released if no new funding or resources are gained? Literal years. This would be for "full" release. People would have access and the MMO would start to support itself a bit earlier.