MMORPG players have been waiting a long time for Pantheon, but testers might have to have to wait a bit longer: In this month’s Visionary Realms newsletter, the studio explains that emerging issues in its in-house networking integration may push the September pre-alpha off course. The “tentative” launch for the pre-alpha session is slated for September 17th, but it may not hold.
“We have set an internal deadline to make a final decision about delaying past this date; that decision will be made no sooner than August 30th, and no later than September 3rd, ensuring that if we are able to meet the September 17th date, VIPs will be given a full two weeks of advance notice,” the team explains.
When it does roll out, the pre-alpha will include Thronefest, multiple classes and races, ore gathering and smelting, skills, techniques, and a single server to “put networking to the test.”
The newsletter also includes a section from VR’s Director of Communications, Ben Dean, who discusses the game’s transparency and marketing evolution. “We also realized that some early marketing was focused on the ‘hardcore oldschool gamer,'” he writes. “While our tenets haven’t changed it didn’t take long to realize we needed to be less exclusive in our wording and presentation.
“Yes, we aim for challenging content, and yes, we will continue to practice and respect some of the foundations that made MMORPGs so revolutionary, but you can do that without being prohibitive. When you paint the picture that it’s a hard game for older gamers, the only thing that happens is that you get a following of hardcore oldschool gamers. Everyone else who doesn’t feel they fit into that category dismisses the game, thinking it won’t have anything for them. Nothing could be further from the truth since Pantheon is an incredibly deep and wonderful experience. We wanted to show these ideals to the newer generations of gamers so they could enjoy them too. We needed to adjust our language and not exclude potential players who would enjoy Pantheon as much as the next. We didn’t need to change the game, just change the way we were talking about the game.”
