When an MMO is deep in development, it’s natural for players to want to know the answers to everything, down to the tiniest detail, like can I have a purple mohawk, can I build an empire doing nothing but selling pie, and can I gank elves with impunity?
I don’t know the answers to these questions when it comes to Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, and if Brad McQuaid does, he’s probably not going to tell you either. In fact his latest dev blog explains why it’s pointless to get too deep into the details right now, in spite of the fact that the community is antsy to know everything about spells and abilities and how it all works.
“It makes more sense to discuss the high-level vision and the philosophy and goals regarding these systems than the specific details and mechanics,” he writes.
“At this stage of development, it seems more prudent and to be more productive and helpful if we discuss what we’re trying to accomplish should we limit the number of abilities you can mem (again, just one example of many) as opposed to exactly how this system works in detail, how many slots there might be, etc. Having a dialog with the community at this point regarding what we’re trying to accomplish at the high level, what our goals are, and what we’d like to see happen is something we love to do. On the other hand, setting in stone how many ability slots there will be, or the exact group size we’re shooting for, or any other similar specifics seems pre-mature.”
So what can he answer? The game’s skills are “memorized” akin to something like EverQuest, and you’ll want to change them up depending on where you are — there won’t be one winning configuration for everything. On the other hand, you also won’t be tediously flipping your skills constantly, but you’ll be forced to prepare for fights. Mana management will also play a more distinct role than in “what we’ve experienced in recent times.”
Check the whole piece out on Pantheon’s blog.
