Pathfinder 1E Questions about the Pathfinder Online MMO for Ryan Dancey, Mark Kalmes, or Lisa Stevens?

[Morrus]

Goblinworks and Paizo have kindly offered us the opportunity to interview them about the Pathfinder Online MMO.

"Our sister company Goblinworks is in the process of developing Pathfinder Online, a sandbox MMORPG based on the best-selling and award-winning Pathfinder world from the tabletop RPG. The team the studio has put together to create Pathfinder Online includes Lisa Stevens (Paizo CEO), Ryan Dancey (Eve Online, Dungeons & Dragons) and Mark Kalmes (City of Heroes, World of Darkness).



There's currently a Kickstarter underway to raise funds for the game's development, with nearly $550k raised so for of a $1M goal. The Kickstarter is serving as Goblinworks' vehicle to have Pathfinder Online *Crowdforged*, a design practice that gives fans and the community unprecedented access and input to how the game is developed.


In-game, the world will be based almost entirely on the actions of the players. From founding outposts in the wilderness to defending, or attacking, settlements in the territory; from growing crops, harvesting and item-crafting, players will drive the world and nearly everything in it. Meaningful human interaction is at the heart of the game, and PVP conflict with massive-scale battles is an area this game will be truly innovative."

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Do you have a question for the team? Anything you'd like to know? Post your questions here, and I'll compile them and send them off poste-haste! We only have a day or so to collect these questions, so be quick.

 

[Fiddleback]

Avatar customization is always a biggy for MMOs. How customizable will a players avatar be? Dare we hope for City of Heroes levels of customization or are we talking more like 'pick one of these ten faces and go'?

 

[B.T.]

1. Why should I care about the Pathfinder MMO more than any other MMO? What will make it better than the next generic WOW clone?

2. How much will the MMO resemble Pathfinder? Are we talking "using the Pathfinder name and art style" or "porting the mechanics into the game"? If so, will the Prone Shooter feat be included?

 

[tylermalan]

1. Why should I care about the Pathfinder MMO more than any other MMO? What will make it better than the next generic WOW clone?

I second this.

I played WoW when it first came out, but it was difficult to play with friends (who all played more than me and out-leveled me), and the gameplay is so simple and the storyline so un-driven that it couldn't hold me as a single-player experience. Fast forward many years and I just tried Guild Wars 2. It's better than WoW, in my opinion, but the gameplay seems literally identical and it just couldn't hold me. GW2 was a little better in the storyline department, both in the actual meat of the storyline and in how it encourages you to partake, but wasn't good enough to keep me interested like other single player RPGs.

What I look for in just about any game are interesting gameplay mechanics and a story that pulls me back into my chair after work. I want to know if Pathfinder will do these - I want to know how it will make me consider NOT going to the gym (or whatever) when I really should, just so I can play.

 

[RangerWickett]

Will combat be point and click like Warcraft, or more twitch-reaction a la God of War?

 

[Felorn Gloryaxe]

What will the questing system be like? Will it be your cliche kill 10 rats? Or will it be completely story driven questing?

 

[Fiddleback]

Yes, tell us about story. Will there be some and will it be sufficient to hold interest? How much of the questing will be really story driven and not just Collect 10 'x'. Get a 'y' and take it to 'z'.

Will there be meaningful, story impacting choices? I'm not talking a morality meter, but rather things that have real, measurable impact to both your character and the story.

Is it possible to make a 'no-grind' MMO? And, if so, how do you intend to do it?

Can you do NPCs that stay relevant? That Fat Farmer I met back when I was level 1 who was kind of funny and interesting, can I still go to him at level 10 and check up on him, see if he has anything new for me, interact with him meaningfully, etc?

 

[Jester David]

Given there's only 11 days left from the initial 49 - just over 20% - and still over 40% of the total remaining, what will happen to all the planned content if this fails to fund? Will the Emerald Spire still be written and available, or is this out only chance for a Pathfinder megadungeon?

 

[Jester David]

1. Why should I care about the Pathfinder MMO more than any other MMO? What will make it better than the next generic WOW clone?

I think they've answered this. Repeatedly. In both Kickstarters and in every interview and discussion on the game.

 

[Keefe the Thief]

I have followed the development of the kickstarter(s), so my questions are pretty specific:

- Is this the last kickstarter we are going to see? You had one for creating a demo video for potential investors that was pretty successful, and now one just for accelerating the development process. This leaves the possibility open for additional kickstarters.

- As a followup: You wanted 50.000 for the demo and got 300.000. What happened to the extra 250.000 dollars pledged? Your statements in the kickstarter were really vague in this regard.

- Do you think it is healthy for your kickstarter that more and more goodies for backers are Pathfinder RPG products? Should the MMO not be enticing enough by itself?

- As a followup: You stated that Paizo and Goblinworks are separate companies, bound by contracts and licensing. The more the time progresses, the less believable this seems to become (sharing employees, giving RPG products to kickstarter backers etc.) Is this just for financial protection in case one of the companies folds?