I thought I'd just mention this news-bit for the few that still visit here from time-to-time. Pantheon rotf ran out of the donation money and "paused"development. Well as you would immediately surmise, the donors are none too happy. There is also controversy about where the money went as some developers may not have gotten their fair share. You can follow the drama on their pantheon's website or rerolled's forum. Looks like whatever Brad touches just falls apart. Glaxono
It may be too early to know if the game will ever exist or not. It is not too early to develop your opinions about the actions taken to date. I feel like we were misled by omission. I did not believe that after raising over $160K that development would abruptly cease less than 2 months later. I did not believe that anyone would continue to take $15 per month from people to keep a website running that costs comparatively little to run. I did not believe that anyone who has a "dream" to create something would cease all development until they get the millions necessary for office space and a full time dev team. It doesn't smell too good to me.
Really? Tried a Kick Starter, claims was not prepared for it enough, failed the kick start. Then took the funding to the fans who were to back the game, raised $160k (his claim) which he won't account for while charging $5 a month just for the privilege to post/view the website. All while claiming that the game was being worked on with exciting things being released in the near future. Then the story changed to the goal being met, we got the word out there and are waiting for someone "Big" to pick them up for funding. At the same time he will no longer rule out micro-transactions and F2P options if that will allow him to create the game that he swore would never have either. This sounds like the first warp drive ship being launched from earth in "Star Trek - 1st Contact"; only the warp drive ship is a wagon with three rusted wheels being pulled by a mangy dog with hopes of attracting the huge investor who might not look into what happened with this game with Brad at the helm.
Oh the funding is now accounted for: http://pjpantheon.com/threads/you-are-ok-with-this.1026/ Should have called it Pantheon: rotfl
Pretty ugly and go glad I didn't put money into this. I just had a bad feeling about it from the beginning. With the news about how the funds were mis-appropriated by Brad and the whole Dev team quitting, Pantheon's chances at another crowd-funding attempt or an influx of investment funds is unlikely at best. Brad McQuaid will never be able to lead a project again. Period.
If there is any doubt, here are the bona fides: http://imgur.com/ci9eXtq Danielle J. Brightman-Garcia is the wife of Tony "Vhalen" Garcia of EQ and EQ2. Also, it seems Brad no longer has a team at all: https://www.pantheonrotf.com/wiki/view/pageId/216/slug/about-us Scroll down through Brad's information to the part in bold he has recently added. Brad's new "big plan" is to make the game using volunteers "some of which" may be hired later if he finds funding: https://www.pantheonrotf.com/blogs/355/106/re-building-pantheon-part-1 I kid you not--volunteers needed! Stick a fork in him Boys--McQuaid is done. No one in their right mind would trust him again after this.
Interesting read: http://pjpantheon.com/threads/the-rise-and-fall-of-pantheon.1027/#post-13202 I really would have liked to see Pantheon succeed but short of a fool and his money it's very unlikely that after this fiasco Brad will ever get the backing he needs. There's no denying his creative talents but he has proven more than once that leadership is not his forte.
History does tend to repeat itself and this train wreck had "Not going to happen" written all over it. Both Microsoft and Sony don't throw away investments so easily; yet MS dropped this game millions into it and SoE dumped more money into this game hoping to rescue what, at heart, is a fantastic, but unfixable MMO. It takes more than brilliant concepts and a reputation as a "Gaming God" to launch a game hoping to be a AAA title. The poor performance of the crowd funding would indicate that the trust was not there to get wallets open for support. Many players that were here for the launch of this game have not forgotten all the blame that was thrown around towards their "inadequate gaming rigs", lack of funding, too tight of a schedule, you name it. When the truth came out as well as the famous parking lot firing of the employees that worked so hard to give us the game that we have now, many lost any respect they might have had for Brad.
Hmmmm....once I said (and have written on FB Pantheon wall) that I am really afraid of Vanguard deja vu...mainly because of the same team and Brad´s cracked reputation. Immediately Brad reacted and blamed Sony and mainly Microsoft for all the VG troubles. Well, now we all see that Brad´s management is not as perfect as he keeps thinking about.... But despite all the troubles I plan to stay backing Pantheon few more weeks/months, just to keep the hope alive, even I know there i snot much to hope in nowadays :-/ But we never know, maybe new talented team will rise up from the volunteers pool...
Any additional funds you send to Brad are just going directly into his pocket at this point. He hasn't even posted on the pantheon site in over a week now. The website's forums are dead as the last few holdouts have slowly and quietly stepped away. Brad is finished in the gaming business. I'll bet big that he comes out with some type of book/memoir tell-all about his MMO experiences.
Well, dear mate. let´s call it "very last chance for Brad!" My 5 dollars per month will not ruin me...but as I said - will be patient just few more weeks, maybe months. If nothing significantly moves ahead, I do quit backing Brad´s efforts forever due to a big disappointment, but will for sure give a chance to other game projects (Mafia III or so)...
Without the likes of Jason and Tony it is going to be hard to expect anything significant from this project. But nevertheless I do wish the team (or whatever is left of it) the best and hope they can salvage something out of it. But with the talent they lost, it will be quite hard if not impossible. Rather sadly, PantheonROFL seems to be a more appropriate working title for this game given what happened last month.
