I cannot say that I find this all that encouraging for the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Kickstarter.
VR is Visionary Realms, his company, and not some other virtual reality venture as I initially hoped.
An Angel Investor is somebody willing to invest with a very high amount of risk. As the next step after failing to successfully crowd fund a project… and Brad was using crowd funding to demonstrate that the project had sufficient support to be worth investing in… it smacks of desperation. Well, it does when you put it out there on Twitter.
Of course, the project has not failed to crowd fund yet. There are still nine days left to go. But the numbers look grim. The mini chart at Kicktraq tells the tale.
With nine days left to go, the project is not even at the half way point of funding. And the total needed to be raised each and every day now stands at close to $46,000. The most raised in a single day to this point has been just over $42,000, with the average per day standing at just $12,000.
Pledge Data So Far
So there needs to be a really REALLY big finish for this to be a success.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 
Look at the bright side. At least we can get straight to the wheels coming off part without eating all that time on development.
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Eating=wasting. Thanks iphone!
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We can all enjoy a lifetime of running from one pack of exclamation points to the next in the name of accessibility. I see a lot of people talk about the sad state of current MMOs, it’s a shame so few put their money where their mouth is.
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@Jenks – Well, yes and no. I see a lot of wishing for something new/old/whatever. But that does not automatically translate into “must therefore support project X!”
In yet another parallel with Mark Jacobs and Lord British, Brad brings with him a load of baggage, not all of it good. Vanguard seemed to suffer from a failure of management as much as anything, something that gets laid at Brad’s doorstep. Who else should we point at?
That he went into this Kickstarter with very little preamble and, it seemed to me, without much in the way of research as to how to approach such things, could not be viewed as a positive sign. And the project itself, while claiming focus, seemed to lack in that department. The statement was not to try to be all things to all people, but then PvP was up there as a stretch goal. To me, that smacks of widening scope to the complete detriment of focus.
I still backed the project, but I can understand that people who want an old school thing might not believe that Brad can actually deliver it. Putting your money where your mouth is does not mean throwing cash at things when you do not believe they will ever come to pass.
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Bad timing by them. Too many crowd funded MMOs recently, plus there seemed very little to distinguish Pantheon from the others. Outside of it basically being a modern day EQ…
I’m personally more interested in the RG project, Avatar something. However, I still hold be breathe when it comes to any and all crowd funded MMOs.
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“But that does not automatically translate into “must therefore support project X!””
Obviously, if it didn’t I wouldn’t be wishing they were putting their money where their mouth was. This kickstarter not being funded means without a doubt that we will not see this sort of MMO (difficult, group based PVE) in the near future and possibly our lifetimes.
If this is the type of game you want, then in terms of design Vanguard is a massive success. Bad business decisions, but excellent design, which is what matters to me. Warhammer Online and Tabula Rasa were flat out uninspired and terrible games, respectively. Vanguard turned out to be a pretty good game with amazing ideas, that was half finished and unplayable when it was effectively canceled by MS and SOE crapped out what was done. For what matters to me (the chance at playing an awesome game), Brad is the obvious choice of the three. That said, I backed all three.
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He’d have got the $500k you predicted he was worth. I’m not sure that getting $800k would have done any better a job of attracting further investment than getting $500k would, but failing to get it now makes the project look, well, like a failure.
I backed it, the only Kickstarter I have ever backed but the whole campaign has been a shambles. It really didn’t bode well for the game if organizing a coherent Kickstarter was beyond the team. I still want to play it though and I agree with Jenks that, of all the erstwhile big name devs roaming the crowdfunding jungle, Brad is the one most likely to come up with an MMO to suit my tastes.
You can come back and redo a Kickstarter campaign, I believe. I suggest Brad gets a quote from a good PR company capable of organizing a proper campaign and then does another Kickstarter on his own to raise the money to hire them to run a second KS for Pantheon.
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I don’t think the failure of Pantheon shows that there is not a want for a difficult group based MMO. It shows that the crowd-sourced funding for such is drying up, after Avatar, Pathfinder, Pantheon, etc all put their hands out. Also, you better have a much better pitch / plan if you want people to donate $50 or more to get into Alpha these days…
Heck, Wildstar is trying to an extent to cater just to this very group oriented PvE base.
Also, Vanguard failed mostly because the launch was about as poor as possible. Launch a miserable MMO and chances are very good it will fail.
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Having to put that on Twitter is a pretty good indicator of how much credibility/faith/trust/belief the industry has left in him.
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So… the odds of that 3m stretch goal aren’t good?
Classic McQuaid though. With this Kickstarter still going, he lets everyone know that whether it funds or not, he will keep making the game. That should really motivate people to donate McQuaid, way to go!
Guy can’t run a Kickstarter without tripping over himself at every step, lets give him money to make a game!
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Does twitter work for getting $500k / 1 week? If so, I’m doing it wrong.
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Personally I just cant see another fantasy MMO hitting the market – we have hit saturation I think – and what mystical new gadget or gizmo is going to make that much of a difference?
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@sleepysam – For the right person, I am sure that Twitter can be used to raise a half a million dollars or more in a week. Try to imagine Joss Whedon asking for that much and not getting it.
You and I… and Brad…. maybe not.
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Perhaps a rebranding is in order. The name they chose for this is absolutely horrible. I wouldn’t discount something as seemingly trivial as that along with the “baggage” as reasons for the lack of support.
This also was publicized well other than the fantastic Boogie interview.
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Kickstarter is an excellent driver of natural selection. This Kickstarter is a perfect example of that process. McQuaid has no track record apart from a very old geriatric MMO that percentage-wise few people have ever played. His follow up MMO has tainted him with a permanent stain of someone who can not be trusted to manage a team of devs.
Please explain again why anyone should pledge to this project.
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I thought VR meant Virtual Reality, here I thought it was a new feature for the game.
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@Werit – My initial thought when this tweet went up was, “Oh, Brad is helping out somebody working on a virtual reality project. That is mighty neighborly of him, what with being in the middle of a struggling Kickstarter campaign and all.”
Then about two hours later something in my brain said, “Visionary Realms… VR… oh yeah.”
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I’ve been pretty solid on the side of; “anyone who gives a bunch of money to Brad is an idiot.” I think we had this conversation not too long ago. I don’t have anything against the guy. I just think he’s a bad investment.
I am still floored that there are people like some of the folks above who think he has a good project in him. Brad needs to get on with a real good producer and a good business manager. Then we may see what he can do. But have him be the manager? I wouldn’t give him a cent.
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“Please explain again why anyone should pledge to this project.”
You will not see another MMO for many years (or ever) that requires socializing or even thinking to succeed, and not succeeding has actual consequences.
If you like packs of exclamation points and being the savior of the world, then don’t pledge because a lifetime of happiness awaits you.
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Pingback: Kickstarted By An Angel | Stropp's World
I agree with Genda here, not on the idiot bit, but that he needs to be a part of the team. He needs a solid business team on his side, which lets him get on with the creative part of the project. Without that, I don’t think he can succeed here.
Interestingly, if he does manage to secure any Angel investment, one of the conditions will be exactly that, the installation of management folks. These guys don’t fund projects to feel good, they want major ROI, and that requires people who know how to run a business.
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I think everyone is assuming alot of things about the future of MMOs with this. I don’t think one can just say because no one wants to fun this particular project that this type of MMO is doomed.
I think this is a case of not a single kickstarter MMO has as of yet DELIVERED. We can’t all just keep on funding these projects which takes 3-4 years to complete. At some point kickstarter backers need to get some sort of reward for all this. Last year was insane on kickstarter with all the games (not only MMO games), but very few (None) of the big ones actually delivered to date.
So for me personally, i did not back this project, not because i don’t want such an MMO, but because i already backed two other MMOs last year which is nowhere near delivery.
How long can players/users continiously spend their money on these projects with nothing delivering? If Camelon/SotA/Star Citizen actually released now THEN i would be more open to backing further projects.
It’s a case of timing of project itself and the timing of OTHER projects in the same genre that is killing this. I bet if this was launched before the other titles it would’ve done better…at this stage reality is setting in.
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