FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Information
 * • Revision: August 31, 2020
 * • Version: Mirrored from the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Official Site FAQ
 * • Warranty: This FAQ is a living, evolving document. While we certainly endeavor to make the answers as accurate as possible, we also reserve the right to change or modify these answers as we get closer to beta and release. Some details are also intentionally left out because they warrant testing and tweaking during beta before making those details final. We will also be adding new questions as they occur to us and come from the community.

-- The Pantheon Difference For FAQ points relating expressly to that which makes Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen stand apart from others, See:

Otherwise the FAQ points are organized below into related categories.

GENERAL
1.0 What is Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen? Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is a new, modern, high fantasy MMO currently in development incorporating both new and classical game mechanics. Please see the What is Pantheon page for more information.

'''1.0.1 It sounds like Pantheon is bringing back a lot of ‘older’ MMO game mechanics. Is Pantheon a clone of older games or is it a modern MMO?''' Pantheon is most definitely a modern MMO with modern graphics and new and exciting features and mechanics. There are already emulators out there that are clones of earlier MMOs and Visionary Realms has no desire to make another emulator. That said, we also feel that many of the features and mechanics of previous MMOs have been abandoned in more recent games, resulting in a less challenging, compelling, deep, and social experience. Pantheon, therefore, will indeed bring back some of these conventional mechanics and ideas but with a fresh perspective, some tweaks and revisions. We also understand that while gamers’ tastes don’t fundamentally change over time, their situations, lives, and responsibilities do. Likewise, some game mechanics often associated with earlier MMOs involved inordinate amounts of downtime, overly severe penalties, too much competition over content and resources, and even downright boring or overly repetitive gameplay. Our intention, therefore, is not to bring back ‘everything’ from the old days, but rather to pick and choose those which make sense and are needed to make a fun, social, cooperative, and challenging game.

1.0.2 What will Pantheon feature that is new and different? While Pantheon utilizes a number of classical game mechanics, there are many new and interesting features we are introducing to complement the old. Please check out Pantheon Features for more information.

1.1 Who is the targeted player (demographic) base for this game, and why? While some MMOs have been designed with the goal and desire to appeal to all gamers, all of the time, we at Visionary Realms believe the future of MMOs is all about creating more focused games, targeting specific gamers with distinct preferences. Pantheon is first and foremost a deeply social game. Players who desire cooperative play, working together as a team, and the shared experiences that result from playing with other real people to overcome challenges will enjoy Pantheon. Players who want an MMO to be their home and to interact with communities and player-driven economies will find what they are looking for in Pantheon. Why? We feel that, at least recently, the MMO players who enjoy these elements have been orphaned. In fact, the Visionary Realms team feels they are part of this orphaned group. And it doesn’t take a lot of research to find countless articles, blogs, and posts full of players seeking for the kind of experience we aim to offer in Pantheon.

1.1.1 Does that mean that Pantheon’s target audience is just older players, the gamers who played and enjoyed many of the first generation of MMOs? Absolutely not. There are many younger players out there who enjoy cooperative and social play. They love playing PC and console games, regardless of genre, with their friends and against the game’s AI. When these younger gamers play Pantheon, they’ll find that cooperative play, but in a lasting, persistent, and content-rich virtual world. Millions of players have been exposed to massively multiplayer games in the last 15+ years. So, while we’re not trying to appeal to everyone, Pantheon will attract a large group of gamers, both young and old.

1.2 Will playing Pantheon involve ‘camping’? This is a tricky question to answer, primarily because ‘camping’ means many different things to many people. To some, camping means sitting around in one place for hours on end with lots of downtime and lots of boredom too. To others, it means moving to different locations, establishing a foothold in a dangerous area, and then often having one or more members of the group ‘pulling’ mobs back to that foothold. The developers of Pantheon are interested far more in the latter than the former. If done correctly, this style of gameplay can be a lot of fun and also provide opportunities to socialize. That said, while Terminus is more of an open ‘sandbox’ world and not about moving linearly from one quest hub to another, establishing footholds in the depths of dungeons will not be the only way to advance your character.

1.2.1 So then tell us more about the concept of ‘pulling’ and ‘crowd control’?<BR/> In many cases, we want to bring back the gameplay of pulling and splitting packs of mobs. To facilitate this, players will need tools that make this possible. These tools will come in the form of spells and abilities that allow you to ‘lull’ or ‘pacify’ the mob. In cases where you must deal with more than one mob, some classes will have the ability to cast spells like ‘root’, ‘snare’, ‘mesmerize’, etc.<BR/>

1.2.2 What is Crowd Control in Pantheon?<BR/> When mobs flee and run towards another pack of mobs, a simple root is sometimes enough to keep things under control. During a more challenging battle, controlling the mobs through mesmerize, root, or stuns so they are rendered inactive will be key to surviving the encounter.<BR/>

Encounter Control is something that will also be a part of Pantheon. When you encounter atmospheres and climates, for example, certain classes like the Druid may be able to alter the surrounding environment. Indeed, changing the climate could have adverse effects on a boss encounter. As an example, a frost shield used by a boss mob could be made much less effective or even completely useless by a Druid changing the atmosphere to a scorching climate.

Controlling mobs and rendering them inactive, to keep control of the numbers of hostile NPCs in a fight, or preventing additional mobs from joining the fight, will be a critical component of Pantheon’s combat mechanics.<BR/>

1.2.3 Will there be ‘diminishing returns’ on Crowd Control?<BR/> Potentially. We’re still fleshing out our combat system. As we continue to run more internal tests, we will make a more concrete decision.<BR/>

1.3 Will there be a lot of downtime while playing Pantheon?<BR/> This is also a tricky question to answer because ‘too much’ downtime is subjective. We feel our target audience does enjoy some downtime, whether it’s to take a bio break or to do some socializing. But we also feel situations with too much downtime or repetition can be boring, even for our specific audience, and we will endeavor to avoid it.<BR/>

1.4 Will you be able to solo in Pantheon?<BR/> Yes. While most content will be designed for groups, there will typically also be content that is soloable. Some classes may solo better than other classes.<BR/>

'''1.5 How are you going to encourage strangers to start talking to each other and play together in the game? Especially when it comes to people with already established connections within the game? How are you going to keep the new player experience enjoyable after the game has been out for six months?'''<BR/> There will be an entire system of features and mechanics to help people find new friends and others to group with -- there is no one special solution to such a challenge -- it must be a priority and addressed from many angles.<BR/>

Some quick and easy examples, of course, would be to reward people who don't know each other to group together, to help them stay in contact, to allow the sharing of personal information if they want, to allow searching for new friends if that person chooses to participate in matchmaking. The main point is that we'll be doing all sorts of things to proactively bring people together and KEEP them together.

This is the opposite of something like a dungeon finder that randomly brings in people you need to do an instance, you then do the instance without speaking a word, and once the instance is over the group disperses. This is what damages communities and prevents true social interaction.<BR/>

'''1.6 How do you plan to keep players interested without the hardcore grind of older MMOs? Will Pantheon be as hardcore as some older MMOs?'''<BR/> Keeping players interested and playing a long time, whether in one session or spread out over days, involves creating compelling gameplay. Player rewards, levelling, earning new abilities, and acquiring more powerful items at a reasonable rate are some ways to make your game sticky. Add in that grouping with others will be encouraged and rewarded and that people will be making new friends in-game, and you have a situation where your comrades need you to log in with them in order to advance. Most people who want to be part of a team, to be a team player, respond well to this pressure.

As for how ‘hardcore’ Pantheon will be, we’ve said it wouldn't be as grindy, and the type of grind we were referring to involves tedious repetition. But that doesn't mean Pantheon won't be difficult, or involved, or require time invested in order to advance -- in fact, virtually all MUDs and MMOs are built around time invested as the primary advancement mechanism. Pantheon will both challenge and entertain you.<BR/>

1.7 What design philosophies are being used for the creation of Pantheon?<BR/> We’re building Pantheon from the ground up to make sure the game is fun at low levels, then tackling the next set of levels, and most importantly making sure it’s fun all along the way. This is a development philosophy that we really embrace. Having seen and been part of projects that weren’t made that way, we’re very convinced our approach to Pantheon is the way to go.<BR/>

'''1.8 Will there be hidden things all over the world that encourage players to travel off the beaten path? Not just for ‘story’ progression, not just for quests, but for the sake of just... adventuring?'''<BR/> Yes, linked to our Perception system. If your perception skill is not high enough or the wrong type, what may be visible to others will not be visible to you.<BR/>

1.9 Will there be a trial of the game for me to play before I buy it?<BR/> Yes, a new player will be able to download and play Pantheon to a certain level for free, with a minimum of impediments. It's important to us that players, especially those who might not be familiar with classically-spirited MMOs, be given a chance to acclimate and truly enjoy the game. That said, some restrictions on these free characters may have to be made in order to avoid them being used by farmers, griefers, etc.<BR/>

1.10 Will there be a built-in voice chat system?<BR/> Yes. While many players may use other chat clients, we still want to implement optional voice chat in-game. Most likely, you would only hear and be able to chat with people in your group and guild as hearing everyone around you becomes a cacophony of noise.<BR/>

1.11 Why is this MMO going to last more than six months and not turn into a P2W F2P game?<BR/> Pantheon is being designed on a proven foundation of MMO mechanics, gameplay, and systems design. It’s being built to support grouping, teamwork, community, and shared experiences. It’s also about having a clear idea of who we are making the game for and not sacrificing features that make MMOs sticky in an attempt to appeal to everyone.

It's also about priorities, keeping to a budget, and experience. The Visionary Realms team has members who were key architects of an MMO that has been running since 1999 and another that ran seven years. We are confident that if in the past, by harnessing teamwork and community, by creating environments conducive to building true friendships, we were able to entertain people for months and even years that we can do it again. In fact, with the online gamespace having grown so considerably in recent years, we are confident that a significant number of MMO gamers will be drawn to a truly social game, namely Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen.<BR/>

1.12 Will there be realms with different rulesets?<BR/> We are definitely fans of alternate ruleset realms, be they PvP, role-playing focused, hard-core focused, etc. That said, our ability to offer alternate ruleset realms will depend, at least at launch, on how many realms we need and can support in total.<BR/>

'''1.13 Has Pantheon been funded? How are you guys going to address the development costs of making an MMO?'''<BR/> In addition to money coming in via crowdfunding, several angel investors have participated in seed funding. This has enabled us to put the team on payroll as well as bring on additional developers. We are currently seeking an additional round of funding to enable us to continue to build the team, specifically more artists and world builders. If you are interested in investing in Visionary Realms and Pantheon, click here.<BR/>

1.13.1 Can I donate or pledge to support Pantheon?<BR/> Absolutely. While crowdfunding is not Pantheon’s only source of development resources, it is and has been an important one. Click here for pledge and sign up options.<BR/>

'''1.14 What about people whose pledges include pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing? When will they be invited into the game to help test and to provide feedback?'''<BR/> We are absolutely committed to upholding our end of pledge rewards, including pre-alpha, alpha, and beta testing. That said, it serves no one and no purpose to bring people in too early. As soon as the game is ready to bring in outside testers, we will honor our commitments to do so. To this end, on October 21st, we announced pre-alpha to commence in time for the holidays, December 2017.<BR/>

1.15 On which platforms will I be able to play Pantheon?<BR/> The great thing about Unity is that it can target different systems. We will absolutely have a PC client. We hope to have a Mac client as well if it makes sense as we near release. Any other clients would come after launch. It depends on the timing and where Unity is at, and the time that it takes us to make sure the client works on each platform. PC first, and then Mac; then we’ll see where it goes from there.<BR/>

'''1.16 Will the game be localized? Where will the server(s) be localized? If there is both NA and EU realms, will there be a region lock?'''<BR/> The answer is “most likely.” We’re unsure of the timing yet, but we’re in talks with other publishers that could help us out with that. Everything in our database is setup to support localization, so it’s just going to be a matter of timing and when it makes sense to do so.<BR/>

1.16.1 What are the plans for different Realms, Regions and Locations?<BR/> Nothing is set in stone. Our servers are all cloud based, so it will be easy to setup realms in different parts of the world as necessary.<BR/>

1.16.2 Will there be private servers?<BR/> While it’s an interesting idea, there is no current plans to support private servers.<BR/>

1.17 Are there any plans for voice acting?<BR/> Minimal. It’s a major resource cost for us. We’ll add it where we can do it well and consistently if it makes sense to do so. Otherwise, we are going to stay focused on other areas.<BR/>

ABILITIES AND SPELLS
2.0 What is new or unique about spells and abilities in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen?<BR/> An important aspect of character development in Pantheon is obtaining powerful spells and abilities. In MMOs it is common to find rare items out in the world, whether by adventuring or by crafting, but abilities and spells are more often learned from trainers or even just given to player when his or her character levels up. In Pantheon, however, many of the more rare and exotic spells and abilities are not found at the local trainer, but from a wise sage hiding in the depths of a dungeon or at the top of a remote tower. Through a game system we call “The Living Codex”, players will be able to manage both standard class abilities and these powerful and rare abilities.

'''2.1 What is the Living Codex? [Dated 2018] '''<BR/> The Living Codex serves as a ‘spellbook’ to manage “Essential” and “Transcendent” spells and abilities.

The first section of The Living Codex is labeled “Essential” and will contain the host of standard abilities characters can naturally learn throughout their lifetime.

The second section of The Living Codex is labeled “Transcendent” and is built for the scribing and intensifying of powerful Prime Scroll abilities.

'''2.1.1 What are “Prime Scroll” abilities? [Dated 2018] '''<BR/> In Pantheon, many of the most powerful and exotic abilities can only be found out in the wilds of Terminus from heavily guarded treasure vaults, the depths of dungeons, and from unimaginable locations. These most powerful abilities are written on legendary parchments known as Prime Scrolls.

Spells and abilities are learned from Prime Scrolls and stored in The Living Codex as “Transcendent” abilities.

The Prime Scroll will only fill the top portion of each page; underneath, there will be three empty sections that the player can mark with special items which will further enhance the primary ability. These three sections are detailed below:

• Seal of Amplification
 * Amplifies the bonus modifiers from Mana Climates that affect the Primary Scroll’s mana color. More powerful seals will increase the bonuses.

• Brand of Resilience
 * Lessens the negative modifiers from Mana Climates that affect the Primary Scroll’s mana color. More powerful brands will decrease the penalties.

• Signet of Synergy
 * Applying a Signet of Synergy to an ability will unlock different class-specific synergy effects that can be used in combination with synergy effects from other classes, sometimes producing an awesome effect. However, the Primary Scroll ability must be capable of synergy effects and not all are.

'''2.1.2 What is “Skill Mastery”? [Added 2020] '''<BR/> Many of your spells and abilities can be 'improved' by investing mastery points into that skill/ability. While not every skill or ability can be improved this way, most can. For those that can, there are three levels of mastery - each gained at a growing cost in Mastery points. These points can be earned via gaining levels and by other means - potentially via quests or other means. Each level of mastery makes the spell or ability more powerful by adding functionality, reducing associated usage costs or a number of other advantages. A good example of a tier-3 Mastery for a spell might be converting it from single use to group-wide.

2.2 Will there be a limitation to the number of abilities we can use at a given time?<BR/> You may be limited to a subset of your abilities for the next encounter, causing you to have to intelligently plan ahead and memorize the spells most effective against the upcoming enemy. Likewise, you'll want to memorize spells that counter the upcoming mob’s abilities. Lastly, you may have some abilities that work synergistically with others in your group, but, the key point is that these tactical decisions can be made right before the actual encounter. Then, say you move on deeper into the dungeon and are about to confront a different boss with different abilities and a different disposition, it may make tactical sense to prep different abilities. So yes, you are limited to that extent (you cannot simply use any of your 80+ abilities whenever you wish), because planning for the battle ahead and doing so effectively is key to Pantheon. The exact number of spells, abilities, feats and actions one can prep is TBD and won’t likely be finalized until Beta. What’s depicted in screenshots showing the UI is not final.

2.3 How will players get new spells and abilities, will we be able to purchase them ahead of time, or will they have to return to a trainer to learn them as they go?<BR/> At this point, you could acquire them ahead of time, but that is not set in stone. An important factoid however: not all of your abilities and spells will be on trainers sitting in safe spaces in villages and towns; rather, the more exotic and desired abilities you'll have to learn from NPCs whom you'll have to find -- for example, an ancient sage found in the depths of a dungeon or at the top room of an ominous tower. You may also have to find research abilities or acquire them through rare drops.

2.4 Can casting a spell fail or ‘fizzle’?<BR/> Spells have a chance to fizzle or do less damage because of a resist and this applies to both players and NPCs. We feel this will add an additional level of tactics, knowledge, and challenge.

'''2.5 Tell me more about spells. Can you move while casting a spell?'''<BR/> Some spells, such as instant cast spells, can be cast on the move. As far as channeled spells, there will be some specific spells you can cast on the move, but most will be stationary. We want to build mobility through instant cast abilities, and temporarily turn some channeled abilities into instant cast abilities contextually for combat.

2.5.1 Will breaking ‘line of sight’ cause spells to fail?<BR/> Yes. Breaking line of sight from an enemy will prevent spells landing on you.

2.6 Will there be skill-trees that make a class very different, or for example, will a level 12 warrior always equal a level 12 warrior?<BR/> Pantheon is a traditional level based system with skills and abilities that are unlocked and practiced as you level. Some customization and specialization will be present, but never to the point where a warrior ceases to be a warrior.

2.7 Will pure melee classes utilize mana?<BR/> Pure melee classes could possibly use mana in certain situations. We are not ruling out mana as a resource for any class (as well as other resources like endurance); however, not all classes will rely heavily on mana. Warriors, Rogues, and Monks might use different colors of mana situationally.

2.8 Will there be a traditional skill system?<BR/> Yes. Other than abilities and spells, there are a large variety of passive skills that are available and level up with your character.

2.9 Is there a Sneaking mechanic?<BR/> Yes, but it will be class specific. Currently, we’ve shown off “Shadow Walk” for Rogues.

'''2.10 Will there be a ‘Feign Death’ skill? Can it fail?'''<BR/> There will be a Feign Death type skill, and yes, it can fail.

ATMOSPHERE/CLIMATE SYSTEM
3.0 What are atmosphere and acclimation?<BR/> There will be certain extreme environments in the game to which you’ll need your character to become acclimated. There will be six at launch: Frigid, Scorching, Toxic, Anaerobic, Pressure, and Wind Shear. Each of those extreme climates will have tiers associated with them corresponding to how punishing they will be to the player. For example, you may be able to survive in a Tier 1 environment without any acclimation, but you would certainly experience some detrimental effects like a weapon or movement speed penalty. The higher the tier the more detrimental and severe the effects would be.

3.0.1 How can one become acclimated?<BR/> The process of becoming acclimated is carried out through equipment modification or special equipment allowing you to absorb resistances altering the physical composition of your body. Your character will have different slots like chest, legs, hands, arms, feet, etc. to which you apply these items. We will reveal more details as to how exactly this will work and how to change acclimatization as well. We want it to be seamless and also plan on having different environments within environments, such as the scorching environment found in the frigid environment of Amberfaet.

3.1 What are Infusions?<BR/> Infusions are items that you can apply to acclimate various body parts through the acclimation tab in your inventory. You can apply one infusion each to your head, chest, arms, hands, legs, and feet. Mixing and matching infusions will also be allowed.

3.1.1 How do you obtain Infusions?<BR/> Lower tier infusions, which give less acclimation, will be fairly attainable for most players through drops.

Higher tier infusions, which give more acclimation, will be attained through raiding and epic style quests.

3.1.2 How long do Infusions last?<BR/> Infusions will last until you remove them, and persist through death. As long as you have applied an infusion, it will grant acclimation as long as you want it to. Once you have an infusion, they will stay with your character, even if you remove them. Higher tier infusions will replace lower tier infusions.

3.1.3 Can Infusions be crafted?<BR/> Crafters will play a role in crafting infusions. There may be special types of infusions that give some bonuses or that allow for three or four different climates to be acclimated. Master crafters will be able to play a role in crafting some of these infusions uniquely.

3.1.4 Are Infusions all I need for acclimation? <BR/> You can expect to see different factors play into your overall acclimation score. Ultimately, it’s not going to be one infusion per slot and, once you’re fully decked out in your slots, not having to think about it any more. There will be several other factors that play a role into “maxing” out your acclimation score, and some of those will have an upkeep associated with them.

PLAYER CHARACTERS
4.0 What races are currently planned for launch?<BR/> Nine are planned: Archai, Dark Myr, Dwarf, Elf, Gnome, Halfling, Human, Ogre, and Skar. Please check out the Pantheon races page for more detailed information.

4.1 How extreme will Pantheon go to make classes and races feel truly different from one another?<BR/> One’s race and class should definitely result in a different experience and playing an alternate character should feel reasonably different.

One difference would be some race’s ability to tolerate some environments and climates better that other - though only to an extent. For example, the Coldark Dwarves will most likely start with a degree of acclimation. It would be easier for Dwarves to reach the Tier 1 threshold for frigid climates.

However, these differences do not extend to significant racial penalties, like experience penalties; we don't think anything like that will be necessary in Pantheon.

4.2 Given the large number or race/class combinations, how will you avoid homogenization, but retain balance?<BR/> On a high level, overall, there must be balance. If not, everyone would feel compelled to play the most powerful race/class combination. Nevertheless, However, or Although, race choice will involve receiving different innate racial abilities, which will be handy while adventuring. So, there will be times when the race you choose is to your and your party’s advantage, other times neutral, and other times to your disadvantage. Same with classes. They will all be useful in any serious dungeon or other adventure area, but one may be more situationally advantageous.

4.3 Are races going to have specific factions at creation, and will there be instances where an evil race character can’t run to a good city?<BR/> Yes. While there are some nuances to faction and alignment adjustment, evil races such as the Ogre, Skar, and Dark Myr will have a hard time getting close to good race cities. This is not set in stone, however, as you can adjust your faction and alignment through your actions in the game world.

4.4 Will faction be important in Pantheon, and will a player be able to betray their home faction?<BR/> We like all of that in general -- the question comes up though: to what degree should these factions matter and does this sort of thing slip into PvP territory? If it does, you'd only see it in PvP realms. But changing your factions so NPCs will react differently to you -- this is all key to the game -- our faction system will be quite robust. Yes, you could betray your home or default factions.

4.5 What are the implications for choosing a particular deity?<BR/> The choice of deity will affect gameplay in terms of things like alignment and faction.

4.6 Will Pantheon require me to play for hours and hours or all night and day to advance my character?<BR/> No. While the world of Terminus will consist of vast landscapes and epic dungeons, there is no reason to require players to play long, continuous gaming sessions. Players will be able to play a couple of hours, logout, and return later to continue their journey. There will also be mechanics and features to both help people get together and group and also to make lasting friendships. To further facilitate this, there will also be ways for players to keep their group together, even if some members of the group can play longer than others or at different times.

4.7 What kind of character customization will we see at character creation?<BR/> There will be a standard set of options available compared to modern MMO standards -- there should be a healthy amount of options from which you can choose.

While we hope for the female playable characters in Pantheon to be as attractive as depicted in the Races section, this brings up an important point: they will be very attractive, heroic in appearance, a persona anyone could look up to; but, they will not be overly sexualized. We want all players to be proud of their character and their appearance.

4.8 What kind of equipment visualization can we expect to see on characters?<BR/> The game world will contain thousands, if not tens of thousands, of items. That said, there can never be a 1:1 ratio between what you are specifically wearing, and how you appear to other players. What you're wearing can be inspiring, and it reflects your adventures, level, and accomplishments. Cosmetic gear will also be available, with players selecting how they want to view your character by toggling between adventure and cosmetic.

4.9 Are there plans for alternate advancement (AA) paths?<BR/> Something similar may be added post-launch, but, currently, we’re focused on primary class advancement through leveling, skills, abilities, spells, and items.

4.10 Will there be bags and encumbrance?<BR/> Yes. There will also be bags and other high level containers that reduce the weight of their possessions.

'''4.11 Can I play with my friend’s new character using my high-level character? What about alts?'''<BR/> Yes, through the Mentor System. Mentoring temporarily de-levels your character and allows you to group with them. You will either scale down or assume the character you were at that lower level (TBD). This will enable players to group together without one being overpowered and trivializing content.

The Mentor System is voluntary; although, there will be incentives to mentor, giving your character certain advantages (points, recognition, and other rewards – the details are TBD). We want to encourage people to help new players. Additionally, there will be incentives to create alternate characters through the Progeny System (where when you reach a certain level, you can create an alternate level one character who will have some advantages over a brand-new character).

CLASSES
5.0 What classes will there be on release?<BR/> The twelve classes intended to be available for release are: Cleric, Dire Lord, Druid, Enchanter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Shaman, Summoner, Warrior and Wizard. Please check out the Pantheon classes page for more detailed information.

5.0.1 Are you open to the idea of additional classes post-launch, or do you feel that this results in later classes having a diminished role in the world/lore?<BR/> We are indeed open to adding them, but only if done correctly and with care. If implemented poorly, classes added post-launch can have diminished roles in the world and in lore. We are committed to not taking shortcuts, to doing things right, and we are tenacious enough to execute on these commitments.

5.0.2 Will there be Bards and Necromancers in Pantheon?<BR/> Yes, but it’s still uncertain whether or not they will be available at launch. Either way, they will be unique and important classes.

5.1 Will choice of race limit class selection?<BR/> Yes, here is the current plan:



5.1.1 Will classes be gender locked?<BR/> No – we don’t see any need or advantage.

5.2 Will Pantheon's classes have clear-cut roles such as the holy trinity (tank, healer, DPS) or will they be much more flexible/customizable?<BR/> Pantheon does indeed use a class based system and those classes do fulfill roles, especially in group and raid contexts. There will also be opportunities to focus each class on more specific and specialized roles, especially at higher levels. That said, because we feel it’s important that classes fulfill distinct roles, creating interdependence is vital to a fulfilling social and cooperative experience. If everyone is the same, this simply cannot be achieved. Likewise, if every class is absolutely unique, grouping can become overly complicated and, in some cases, certain classes could be less desirable to have in a group than others. To avoid this, Pantheon will use a quaternity system consisting of tank, healer, DPS, and crowd-control.

5.3 Will warriors focus on sword and shield or will they be a master of all weapons?<BR/> We wouldn't say warriors are masters of all weapons, no. They are masters of some weapons and this may vary by what race of warrior you are.

Warriors generally have the most varied melee combat skills like parry, dodge, riposte, dual wield, etc. They can use other weapon types, such as two handed weapons.

Other classes will be very formidable in melee combat as well -- they'll just express their lethality using different items, skills, and tactics.

5.4 How will ranged classes be handled, and how will ammo work?<BR/> Ranged classes will do more than just auto-attack or autofire their main weapons. There will be abilities for ranged classes. For ammo, we’re not big on tedium. We will create a system for ammo dependent classes to carry enough ammo to not be a hinderance or disrupt gameplay too often, and crafters can create ammo out in the field so they don’t have to go back to a crafting station. For better ammunition and thrown weapons, it is yet to be determined whether they will be stacked or unlimited use.

5.4.1 Will there be any ranged weapons for casters like wands or totems?<BR/> Maybe, but it’s too early to say for sure.

'''5.5 Will certain classes have pets? Can these pets be given items to equip?'''<BR/> While some classes will have pets, the ability to equip items will depend on the pet type.For example, wolf pets won’t be able to equip a sword.

'''5.6 Will there be hand to hand or fist weapons? Will they have visuals?'''<BR/> While there will be fist weapons, a Monk’s bare fists will be one of his most powerful weapons.These will have visuals in-game.

CRAFTING
 6.0 What are the plans for crafting in Pantheon?<BR/>''' Crafting is an important part of Pantheon. A big emphasis is going to be on cooperation between adventurers and crafters. There exists a symbiotic relationship, not competition -- both adventurers and crafters will need each other. With as many horizontal content paths as we’re going to have, you’re going to want to seek crafters for those very specific situations. Instead of having to farm a specific piece of gear, it might be more beneficial to find a crafter with that recipe.

Some items drop when you kill a mob, while others are harvestable, and others are crafted. Other than a few class-specific rewards, such as epic quest items, many items will be craftable. Crafting also goes hand-in-hand with dropped items by allowing players to customize their gear. Players can often bring items to a crafter to customize and tailor them to their specific needs. Since a customized item is meant specifically for your character, the item will likely be bound (untradeable) but this allows the crafter to squeeze out some additional power from a dropped item. That said, it is possible (TBD) you could later break down the item into components, allowing another crafter to use those materials to augment something for you in the future.

6.1 Can I just craft and avoid combat?<BR/> To some degree; although, special crafting areas require some significant combat effort to reach. Players who are both adventurers and crafters will greatly benefit from being masters of both.

6.2 What type of special crafting areas are there?<BR/> Some items in Pantheon require certain climates to create. For example, located in Amberfaet is The Anvil, a naturally occurring region in the zone and a scorching environment inside a frigid environment. Crafters will be required to acclimate to the scorching environment to eventually use The Anvil for crafting.

6.3 Are there plans for secondary/ancillary skills like fishing?<BR/> Yes, secondary skills like fishing are fun and something different to do, perhaps during some downtime.

6.4 Will there be crafted or player housing?<BR/> Housing isn’t currently a planned release feature. Implementing housing properly is a big deal. We don’t want instanced housing or open world housing where urban sprawl takes half the world and people can’t find a place to make their home. Post launch, we are looking at potentially implementing ideas that affect gameplay such as: Outposts that guilds could create in areas appropriate to their level, and other players could visit their outpost. When the Outposts are complete, similar to the Wild West, the guild can retrieve their wagon of belongings and move their Outpost. Again, this idea would be a post-launch feature.

6.5 What will the in-game economy model be like?<BR/> Having a player-driven economy is an important part of Pantheon, and we want a heavy focus on player-to-player trading. Items need to come in and out of the economy regularly. Keeping items scarce, and adding item sinks to give reason to donate or sacrifice your items, will be important to the game. With some exceptions (quest items, epic-quest items, crafter customized items), almost everything in the game will be tradable. We want exotic items found in one end of the world to be very valuable elsewhere.

6.6 What is the plan for player trading systems?<BR/> There will be an in-game trading system that you can use to directly trade with other players.

In addition, there will be Auction Houses, but they will be local only. We wanted to make sure that supply and demand exists in various parts of the world, and the benefits are many to trading in the various different regions of Terminus.

As a post launch feature, we may allow players to set up their own merchants.

As a reminder, all in-game trading systems will be for in-game items and currency only - not real money transactions.

DEATH
7.0 Will there be a ‘death penalty’?<BR/> We want the player to respect and even fear the environment, but also to be enticed by it. A big part of achieving this balance is making sure there is an incentive to avoid death. While the details of this system are not yet fleshed out (and will likely be tweaked and changed a bit during beta), you can expect death to be something you’d rather avoid. That said, if a death penalty is too severe, it can keep players away from some of the more challenging and rewarding content, and we are keeping this in mind as well. So death will sting, but it will also not involve losing an unreasonable amount of experience, levels, or a permanent loss of items.

'''7.0.1 What currently happens when you die? [Updated Aug-2020] '''<BR/> When your character is defeated, he or she falls to the ground dead, and some experience is lost. You are still given a view of the area, with the possibility to pan your character’s camera. You are prompted with the option to release. If you release your character’s body, a skeletal corpse will remain where he or she died. Your character will then respawn at his or her bind point with only their equipped items on them. To retrieve your remaining equipment and money, you must return to your character’s corpse and loot it.

7.0.2 Can you de-level when losing experience from dying?<BR/> Most likely no. To avoid any gameplay oddities associated with losing levels, we are instead considering an ‘experience debt’ system.

7.0.3 Will there be in-combat resurrection?<BR/> Yes, there will be a few options for in-combat resurrection. It is still to be determined which classes will have them, or what they do.

7.0.4 Will there be abilities, spells, and skills to help negate the pain of death?<BR/> Yes. You will be able to /drag a corpse (assuming you have /consent). There will also be spells like Summon Corpse, Resurrection, and Call of the Hero so that groups can stick together and keep going.

7.1 Can other players loot my corpse?<BR/> No. The only case this may be a possibility is if we choose to allow /consent to loot corpses. This is something we will be testing and deciding on closer to, or during, external testing.

DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
'''8.0 What stage in development in Pantheon currently? How far along are you guys?'''<BR/> We are pleased with the amount of progress we’ve been able to make with the resources we have. Currently we have multiple zones up on cloud servers and can play, test, and balance the core playable classes including combat, travel, and the abilities/spells/stances/actions for each base class. The foundation and core gameplay elements are present. Once testing, tweaking, and balancing is complete, we will continue forward, testing higher levels, adding more zones, and implementing any remaining features and mechanics.

We are working hard and will shortly be bringing pre-alpha pledgers in for the 5th Pre-Alpha set of Testing (September 2020). Once all Pre-Alpha testing is complete, we will be working towards the next phase where we can invite alpha pledgers. The game must be ready, but we are heading strongly in that direction.

8.1 What is the ETA for external testing?<BR/> We have announced that we will be inviting the another group of players for PA5 (Pre-Alpha 5) in September 2020. This round of invites are for Pre-Alpha pledgers only, and not to be confused with Alpha.

8.2 Can you explain Pre-Alpha and the other testing phases?<BR/> Pre-Alpha means that the game is still under heavy development. Some mechanics may not be in the game yet, and everything you see could be changed before release.

Then in Alpha, we plan on having the entire continent of Kingsreach ready for testing. Afterwards, there will be beta testing.

We stress the semantics because we have Pre-Alpha, Alpha, and Beta access available at different pledge levels. Traditional testing occurs in these development phases, rather than an ‘early access’ program.

8.2.1 How long will you test Pantheon (Alpha/Beta) before launch?<BR/> Ideally, we want to be in testing for a full year -- this approach helped launch past games in a solid, balanced way, and we want this for Pantheon as well.

8.3 What are the approximate timeframes for Alpha, Beta, and commercial release?<BR/> There are many variables involved and developing a massively multiplayer game is not an easy thing to do. Our goal is to be in alpha and beta testing as soon as we have consolidated feedback from Pre-Alpha and implemented changes needed to be alpha-ready. The launch date is to be determined. We don’t like to be evasive, but the timing must be right, the game ready with a sufficient amount of content, so our players can give us meaningful feedback, bug reports, etc. Important: these dates are not set in stone and subject to change.

8.4 Is there a Streamer Program?<BR/> Yes. As of October 2017, Visionary Realms opened applications for a Pantheon streamer program. If you think you have what it takes to be an official Pantheon streamer, send Ben “Machail” Dean an email at [mailto:ben@visionaryrealms.com ben@visionaryrealms.com] with a note of interest, channel information, and any questions you may have. Streaming has already been conducted by members of the Streaming Community in both PA3 and PA4 and will hopefully continue once main testing for PA5 is underway.

DUNGEONS AND RAIDS
9.0 Are dungeons open world or instanced?<BR/> All dungeons are open world. There are no plans for instanced dungeons at this time. The dungeons will be very large to handle multiple groups of players. More realms will be added if overpopulation becomes a problem.

9.1 Will you be able to raid in Pantheon?

Yes, there will be raid content in Pantheon. That said, the majority of content is being designed for grouping, with the remainder for soloing or raiding.

'''9.2 What do you envision the ‘End Game’ scene to be like? Classic style, with inherently difficult raids? Or more contemporary with many different levels of difficulty? Do you guys plan on raiding at all?'''<BR/> We're trying to avoid the term 'End Game' because it has evolved into something far different than what it literally means. In some games, the perception that the true game, the ‘fun’ game, doesn’t begin until the 'end game'. The reason why isn't important, and varies depending on the game, but with Pantheon you won’t be compelled to rush to the final levels.

Even if you could rush to maximum level, you would be incredibly ill-equipped to handle high-end combat. Because you found some way to rush to max level (perhaps a bug, etc.) your character won't have what it needs to do well at the higher levels. Further, most content in Pantheon will be designed around grouping, with smaller amounts designed for soloing and raiding. Pantheon is not primarily a raiding game, though we know many in our community enjoy raiding. Same with soloing -- it is not Pantheon's focus, but some people like to solo occasionally. Also, there's no reason that raids couldn't exist at level 20 or level 30. In other words, there is nothing magical or special at the final levels that somehow allows you to experience an aspect of Pantheon that was previously hidden - that will not be the case. We want the game to be fun and adventurous, providing a consistent opportunity to find skills and items throughout your entire experience from low to max level, versus simply at the 'end game'. Lastly, we will be launching expansions frequently enough to keep ahead of most players, and we will raise the level cap as necessary.

GAME RULES / CUSTOMER SERVICE
10.0 How is Pantheon going to handle kill stealing?<BR/> If you go around kill stealing and bothering other players your reputation is likely to suffer and you could even be blacklisted such that people refuse to group with you. In terms of the actual mechanic, the player or group that does the most damage will receive the experience and loot (note: this is not yet set in stone and will be evaluated during alpha and beta testing).

Repeated griefing and harassment will become a Customer Service issue. If a player consistently ruins the fun and entertainment of other players, he or she will no longer be welcome to play Pantheon.

'''10.1 Open world MMOs sometimes suffer from too much competition for resources, overcrowding, and other similar issues. For example, what plans are there to mitigate one guild from preventing others from progressing?'''<BR/> By creating plenty of content, a large world, not allowing realms to become overpopulated (for example, by quickly launching new realms), possible systems and rules within specific realms, and if issues escalate, Customer Service (GMs) will become involved. Above all, we want to use positive reinforcement by making sure that there is enough content and an epic world to minimize these issues.

We also want to make sure there will be plenty of great items and choices for adventuring all over the world. For example, we want to avoid there being just a single sought-after item for a specific class, at a specific level - Similarly powerful and valued items will be available elsewhere in the world.

10.2 Will there be a volunteer guide system?<BR/> Absolutely. We will begin putting that program together in Beta or earlier. Additionally, we will also have a guild outreach program and mentoring system. Onboarding and helping newcomers get acquainted with the game is very important to us.

'''10.3 Some MMOs have been notorious for sending way too much information to the client. How does the development team plan on combating past programs like ShowEQ and MacroQuest?'''<BR/> We are keenly aware of this issue. With Pantheon, we’ve been building the client's architecture from day one to be as dumb as possible and only sending the bare minimum of information.

10.4 Will multi-boxing be allowed in Pantheon?<BR/> Our reaction to multi-boxing is to try something first before we even entertain the idea of artificially restricting it. We want to make combat, especially mid and higher level combat, tactically intense with a focus on paying attention to the details -- causing multi-boxing to be extremely difficult, if not impossible. As a result, it likely will be far inferior to having an actual person in your group.

10.5 Will players be able to make ‘macros’?<BR/> There will be plenty of / (slash) commands that players can assign to hot keys. Likewise, the GUI will be customizable. However, players will not be able to create hotkeys that automate playing their character or chain a long list of commands together.

10.6 Will we be able to customize our own UI in-game without add-ons?<BR/> Yes, the UI will be customizable and skinnable. We will likely avoid, however, true scripting languages that might allow a player to create macros that automate gameplay.

GROUPING
11.0 How big are groups in Pantheon?<BR/> There will be a limit to group size (currently 6-8 players, but that’s not set in stone), to add a tactical element in terms of group configuration.

11.0.1 Will there be raid groups and what size?<BR/> Raid size has yet to be determined. There may be a limit, or encounters might be made for different raid sizes. We will experiment with this number in alpha and beta.

11.1 How is experience split between group members?<BR/> We haven’t determined a final answer for this yet. Currently, players split experience equally. This will be changing a lot as we enter external testing and beyond.

11.2 Will the composition of your group matter?<BR/> The classes that make up your group’s composition are very important. Depending on which classes are in your group, will greatly alter the tactics and overall strategy you need to use in combat situations.

GUILDS
12.0 Will there be a restriction on guild sizes?<BR/> We don’t have hard limits in mind. A very large guild raid force might affect gameplay; though, if a mob is zerged, it might flee, or perhaps call in reinforcements. In terms of an arbitrary hard limit for players in a guild, we don’t see a reason for that limitation. We will also have a robust guild management system.

'''12.1 Will the in-game guild functions include raid attendance tracking for guild events? Will there be any tie-in with loot distribution to allow a raid leader to distribute loot through the guild tool using the aforementioned tracking systems?'''<BR/> Yes, pretty much all of that and more.

12.2 Will guilds be a glorified chat room or will there be mechanics tied to them?<BR/> You can expect to see many of the normal guild mechanics for organization and recruiting you can find in modern MMOs. In regards to specific guild perks, we need to make sure they fit the kind of game Pantheon is. Expect more information to be released on guilds closer to external testing and release.

GAME MECHANICS
13.0 How will targeting work?<BR/> There will be both offensive and defensive targets. Beneficial spells and abilities will be directed toward your defensive target, while harmful spells and abilities will be directed at your offensive target. Some spells and abilities, primarily area-of-effect spells, will involve targeting the ground or area around your foes.

You can also mark targets visually for other players in your group.

13.1 Is there an auto-attack and if so, how will it work?<BR/> There will be a traditional auto-attack system. Passive abilities will trigger automatically during combat (dodge, parry, etc.). This gives the player the time to focus on selecting abilities and spells (magic missile, fireball, counterspells, deflections, etc.) based on what’s going on tactically in combat.

13.1.1 Does Pantheon use tab-targeting and auto-attack or a more ‘action’ focused combat system?<BR/> We realize that some MMOs have used a more ‘action’ oriented combat system, where you click on different buttons to attack, swing your sword, dodge, etc. With Pantheon, combat will still be action-packed and require close attention, using tactics, as well as reacting to what mobs and other players may be doing. In Fact, in addition to the traditional auto-attack mechanic, Pantheon will expand on it and you will be casting spells, assuming stances, countering or deflecting your opponent's moves and spells, and more. Additionally, while you can either click directly on a mob or simply use the tab key to change targets, there will also be a subset of spells where you can target the ground (for example, some area-of-effect spells).

13.1.2 Can you go into more detail regarding the action aspect of combat?<BR/> The player will have enough time to react to what the NPC is doing (counterspell, deflect, move out of the way, etc.). Combat is more involved and the player will need to pay attention, but it is not ‘twitch’ in the way a first-person shooter is.

13.1.3 Is there any reason to position to the side or behind an enemy?<BR/> NPCs / Mobs cannot block, parry, or riposte when you are attacking them from their rear 180 degrees. Additionally, other detrimental effects like area of effect spells will emphasize good positioning.

13.2 Will there be ability chaining?<BR/> We’re considering it. We don’t want to create a detailed combo system, but we like the idea of synergetic abilities, and the opportunity for players abilities to open possible actions for others. We will reveal more in the future.

13.3 Is the combat system set in stone?<BR/> Combat statistics, formulas, weapon damage, weapon delay, resource pools, regeneration, etc. are all things we are constantly tweaking and monitoring. While we are at the point we need to be right now, we don’t consider anything final. Tweaking and balancing a MMO is an ongoing process.

13.4 Will there be weapon resists and armor/skin types that affect physical combat?<BR/> Yes, what sort of material your weapon is made of and the body type of your target will matter. For example, scale, bone, and slime body types mitigate slashing damage, while crystalline body types take extra damage from piercing attacks.

13.5 Are there going to be any type of ranged weapons?<BR/> Absolutely. Ranged throwing weapons and archery will certainly be in Pantheon.

13.6 Will there be any friendly fire or negative friendly effects?<BR/> There may be a few rare, extremely powerful AOE spells, that could affect others in your group. You’ll want to use them judicially and make very sure your group is positioned correctly. That being said, this would be the exception, not the rule.

13.7 Will players have an /assist command?<BR/> Yes.

13.8 How will loot work?<BR/> Mobs that you kill have a chance to drop loot. The loot you obtain after defeating a mob should make sense relative to the type of mob. In other words, pelts and fur should come from animals, and swords and shields from sentient beings. Rats will not drop breastplates, unless perhaps they are really big rats who just finished eating your friend. Items will not be the only thing a mob may drop -- in Pantheon, many of the more rare and exotic spells and abilities are obtained from a wise sage hiding in the depths of a dungeon or at the top of a remote tower, instead of at the local trainer.

13.9 What is your philosophy on item proliferation and drops?<BR/> Our desire to bring back the value and personality of items drives our item design. This means that the frequency of upgrades will be slower and when you do get a new piece of gear, not only will the experience be memorable but, also, so will the item. We want you to collect your items and be able to remember their names. When you get that epic item or rare drop after an incredible dungeon crawl, we want you to be in awe of what you have accomplished and the reward that came from it. Items will be memorable, deserved, cherished, and desired. There will also be many ‘situational’ items.

13.10 What about the notion of magical versus non-magical weapons?<BR/> Lower level items will have their limits. Many will not be ‘magical’, limiting the types of mobs you can engage. That said, the first few levels should go fairly quickly and then advancement will slow as the player gets into the meat of the game. Roleplaying-wise, it’s traditional to start with more basic equipment, then gain access to more powerful non-magical gear, and then eventually magical gear and even planar gear. High level items will include procs (the ability to cast spells themselves), bane bonuses, regeneration & spell focus bonuses, and more.

13.11 Will I be able to freely trade my items?<BR/> We recognize that the items you gain from your adventures, or the hard-earned gold coins, are yours and that you should be able to do with them whatever you want. This means that no-drop and bind-on-equip items will be the exception, not the rule. Epic weapons or items used for quests may be restricted, but the majority of items will not. That said, some quests may require you to turn in an older item in order to complete them. You will also be able to sacrifice items at altars in temples in return for valuable and long lasting ‘buffs’. So, while the game will not stop you from handing down most items to other players, it will also encourage you to remove older items from the player-driven economy by rewarding you accordingly.

13.11.1 If you sell an item to an NPC vendor, can other players buy them?<BR/> Yes.

13.12 Are items going to have level or stat requirements and what do you think about twinking?<BR/> In general, there will be no hard level limits. High-level items will have their power scaled by the player’s ability, reflecting their limitations in using the items’ full power due to their lower level/ability. This prevents too much power being placed in the hands of a low-level character.

There will still be lots of reasons to trade in your items such as sacrificing them at temples for long term buffs, augmenting your items, etc. Over time, this will cause more powerful items to trickle down.

It is, however, our responsibility to stay ahead of that curve by introducing new content with better items to drop and craft. This is more difficult to design properly, but we feel it creates a much more vibrant and open player driven economy.

13.12.1 Will item effects have level requirements?<BR/> For item procs and ‘clicky’ items, these effects will have a level requirement. ‘Worn’ or passive effects from items will not.

13.13 Will weapons or armor have light sources?<BR/> Yes. Additionally, you will be able to visually see the reflection of various light sources on other objects in Terminus.

13.14 Will there be collisions between players or mobs?<BR/> This is something that we have debated internally, and will continue to look at before and during external testing. We are aware of the griefing potential from player collision. Collision with NPCs / Mobs is something in which we'd be more open.

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS (NPCS / MOBS)
14.0 What type of AI will mobs have?<BR/> Mobs have a variety of AI dispositions. For example, some mobs stand their ground while others flee. Some may go after certain classes or races. The tactics used against mobs, especially boss encounters, need to involve a great deal of variation and avoid simplistic 'tank and spank' behavior where possible.

14.0.1 Is it possible to tell what disposition a mob has?<BR/> Yes, through the Perception System. Players who have chosen to become a keeper and embark on the perception system will be able to discern certain things such as disposition. Otherwise, you will have to discover mob dispositions through trial and error.

14.0.2 What is the alarmist disposition?<BR/> A mob with the alarmist disposition will run to nearby friends for help, instead of immediately attacking when aggroed. The alarmist mob will also have a special shout message in the chat log.

14.0.3 Will there be tactics you can employ to counter dispositions?<BR/> Yes. For example, the alarmist disposition can be disrupted by crowd control. If under the effects of crowd control for a certain amount of time, its entire alarmist routine will be skipped.

14.0.4 What other types of dispositions will exist?<BR/> There will be other types of dispositions such as pyrophobic, predator, and sniper dispositions.

NPC behavior will also be expanded on to include options like smart healing, ranged NPCs using cover, cleave attacks, knockbacks, knockdowns, and charms. Mob migration may even exist, creating dynamic pathing patterns and routes.

Some behaviors could be very disruptive, causing great difficulty for players. Others will be more specific roles, such as our “Ambient Mobs.”

14.0.5 What are ‘Ambient Mobs?’<BR/> Ambient mobs are a behavior type for NPCs that are more closely defined. For example, balconies could have a battalion of archers on them and, every so often with a shout, release a volley of arrows which players must avoid, or do something to stop.

14.0.6 How will caster mobs function?<BR/> We have very robust tools which allow us to give caster mobs amazing depth, ability arsenal, and intelligence on how they use their abilities. For example, certain caster mobs could: utilize a heavy damage spell to target a low health character, target a melee player with a root spell, or target a healer with an interrupt. These behaviors could also apply to melee mobs as well.

14.1 Will mobs aggro be linked together?<BR/> We will have a mix of social aggro, social linked, solo pulled, and a few other varieties of mob behavior. An example would be the scout/alarmist mob -- if they see you attack an ally of theirs, they will run away and call the entire camp to come back and attack you. In this example, it will be imperative for a group to somehow immobilize that NPC.

14.2 Will there be mob trains in Pantheon?<BR/> Yes. In fact, with our better mob pathing, these could be even more dangerous.

14.2.1 Will mobs chase you forever or have a leash mechanic?<BR/> Within a given zone, mobs will chase you forever.

'''14.3 I have to ask, will there be dragons? Everyone loves dragons!'''<BR/> Yes. Dragons play a significant and unique role in Terminus. There will be all kinds of Dragonkind -- drakes, wyverns, wyrms and true dragons, which are also a large part of ancient Lore. Alternatively see Lore Video (Official YouTube).

14.4 Will there be a consider system for gauging mob strength and aggression?<BR/> Yes.

14.5 Will there be a rare chance to obtain good loot from common mobs?<BR/> There will be a rare chance for common mobs to drop an area specific, lore specific, and/or mob specific item. However, there will not be a global world loot table.

PvP
15.0 Will there be PvP?<BR/> Pantheon is primarily a PvE (Player vs. Environment) game. In fact, when we say ‘environment’, we don’t just mean NPCs, but also contending with climates and atmospheres -- the very world itself. That said, we understand that a portion of our target audience also enjoys player vs. player. Our experience is that separate PvE and PvP realms is the answer; however, it is too early to predict how many PvP realms would exist at launch. That being said, we will definitely launch with at least one player vs. player realm. Also, importantly, when we do eventually focus on PVP, any tweaks and changes to classes and races in order to make PVP more fun, will not affect the balance of Pantheon's PvE experience. As the game grows, there could be additional variations of PvP realms and more attention paid to the unique gameplay mechanics associated with PvP.

'''15.1 Many games struggle to create unique classes because of the balancing issues that PvP creates. How do you prevent PvP from affecting PvE?'''<BR/> The issue with balance and PvP vs. PvE is not one that is that difficult to solve, but it does require planning: you just use different formulas and data - you don't cross your streams. That way, if we need to make Paladins in PvE more powerful, we can do that without disrupting PvP balance and vice versa.

QUESTS
'''16.0 “The Grind” has kept some people from joining their friends in playing MMORPGs in the past. With no plans for quest hubs, how will Pantheon appeal to players who aren't interested in a grind and want story-driven content?'''<BR/> Gaining experience by any means, including killing mobs, finishing quests, etc. is still the fundamental way to keep track of a character’s vertical progression and accomplishments. That much is similar between earlier MMOs and Pantheon and, really, between almost all MMOs. The Perception system is our answer to boring quest hubs and being told to accomplish things that really have nothing to do with the environment and the lore. By using your Perception skill, by finding Perception triggers, and by following them where they lead, you will be doing 'quests', but quests given to you in context by the environment. You can be rewarded in just as many ways as a traditional quest: experience, items, a quest token, etc., as well as with special skills and abilities.

16.1 How does the Perception System work?<BR/> Through the Perception System, players can become a Keeper and quest dialogue is recorded in your Tome of Keeping. Keepers can utilize two skills to progress through the Perception System: a passive skill called Insight, and an active skill called Investigate. Once you’ve completed a Perception Quest, you won’t be bothered by the dialogue in the future. Hints and keywords are given to help direct players, no specific instructions will be given.

16.1.1 Do you have to start quests in the Perception System at the beginning?<BR/> It is very important that most quests can be obtained at any point in time. While it can be challenging from a design perspective, we feel it is integral to the success of the system that players can do the content on their terms. In theory, a player could get to max level without participating much in the Perception System, and then become a Keeper at level 50. We have some ideas for this to happen seamlessly.

16.1.2 What is the importance of the Perception System?<BR/> Certain quests completed through the Perception System can unlock additional content. For example, if players had not talked to a specific quest NPC and gone through the questline, they might not have a key to access certain parts of a dungeon.

16.1.3 How does one become a Keeper through the Perception System?<BR/> Your introduction to the Perception System will be as a fledgling keeper. You’ll have an apprentice / master relationship with an NPC who is very wise, old, and well acquainted with the aspects of perception. The NPC will be in an area like a starting city, and they will mentor you through the beginning of the system: teaching you how to notice things, acquire your initial skills for perception, and having you put them to use in small tasks and little quests nearby. There will be other mentors throughout the game world which you will need to find in order to progress through the perception system.

16.1.4 Will there be specialization within the Perception System?<BR/> Perception is built around ‘Investigation’ and ‘Insight’. Specializing into either one of these paths is something we are considering, but nothing is set in stone.

'''16.2 How will I know if an NPC has a quest? Will we have to actually converse with NPCs, or will we be prompted by punctuation marks over their heads?'''<BR/> If you want to find out if an NPC has a quest all you have to do is… talk to him. We will NOT be utilizing the ‘over the head icon’ approach, and there will be no punctuation or other symbols above NPCs’ heads. You will either have to begin a conversation with an NPC, or an NPC may begin one with you. Likewise, the environment itself will give clues and help you start a quest.

We want you to investigate your surroundings -- gathering information and interacting with NPCs is a big part of that. So don’t be shy, speak with the inhabitants of Terminus and engage the world!

16.3 Will there be many quests?<BR/> Story and lore elements are essential to our Quest system – they need to be meaningful and give purpose. But as a player, you should never feel overwhelmed with a bunch of quests that are nothing but mundane tasks. When you get a quest, the intent is that it will be epic in nature and reinforce the fact that you are a resurrected hero. More specifically, Pantheon is not a ‘quest hub’ game, where you move to one level appropriate hub, do a bunch of quests in that area, and then move to the next hub; rather, you will need to search out and find quests by interacting with PCs in a less linear, and more ‘sandbox’ style, setting.

16.4 Will there be ‘epic’ quests?<BR/> Absolutely. Some of the most memorable gaming experiences stem from the adventure involved in obtaining and earning ‘epic’ weapons and items. These quests should be class defining moments and fill you with a major sense of accomplishment when completed. Whether hunting for clues to start a quest, or trying to figure out the right thing to say or do in order to get to the next step, epic quests will be a significant social component of the game.

There will also be quests for epic, class defining abilities.

16.5 Will there be lore based questing?<BR/> Absolutely. Virtually all quests (both traditional and perception triggered) will be based on the lore of the world.

16.6 If a quest requires a specific drop, will mobs just drop one, or will they drop one for everyone?<BR/> It is still too early to say, but it could vary based on context.

TRAVEL
'''17.0 What can you tell me about travel in Pantheon? Will there be teleportation? Will there be any limits or restrictions?'''<BR/> Pantheon will have meaningful travel -- players will need to travel to new areas and face the dangers that come with such a journey. That said, there will be spells like 'Call of the Hero', which summons an ally to your side if they are grouped with you. There will also be a caravan-like system, where a player can log out whilst in a group and then log back in and still be with the group, even if that group has moved. There will also be additional ways to help groups come together and stay together. But it's also important to note that this doesn't mean people will be able to travel as they please, to anywhere in the world, at a whim -- especially if they haven't travelled there by foot or horse at least once (e.g. players will need to unlock certain regions by travelling there first). More details to come as we get closer to beta and launch.

'''17.1 Will there be mounts and other ways to increase a player’s travel speed? [Dated 2018] '''<BR/> Yes, there will be a variety of mounts, as well as spells and abilities that can be obtained which increase travel speed.

17.1.1 Can you meditate or memorize spells on mounts?<BR/> This is still to be determined.

17.2 Will there be flying mounts?<BR/> While there will certainly be flying NPCs, whether or not players will have the ability to fly is undecided at this point. What we can say is that if we do offer flying mounts, either before or after launch, the goal will be to make travel more fun; not to allow players to avoid, bypass, or skip over large chunks of content.

'''17.3 Will there be any form of sea travel to get across large bodies of water? Will swimming be an option?'''<BR/> We've not finalized how sea travel will work at launch, but eventually you'll be able to sail ships around the world (definitely post-launch). Before all of that is implemented, however, and by launch, some limited class abilities like those that teleport you over land would likely teleport you over water as well.

As for swimming, it is not only an option, but a very important skill, with one of our player races being aquatic. Spells and items that give your character underwater breathing can also be obtained.

17.4 Will there be climbing?<BR/> Climbing is an integral part of the movement system in Pantheon - in other words, most surfaces you encounter will be able to be climbed, subject to the limitations of your skill and stamina usage. This is part of the intent of the developers to allow players as much freedom as possible to explore the World of Terminus - both vertically as well as horizontally.

Players will also be able to acquire items or abilities for their characters that allow them to better climb vertical surfaces.

WORLD
18.0 Will you be dividing the world into zones or will it be entirely open?<BR/> Pantheon is a zone-based game as opposed to having a truly seamless world; although, this could change as technology and tools evolve, either before or after launch. Regardless, however, our current technology and tools allow us to create truly vast, rich, and detailed zones. Players will not be running frequently into zone borders. Our larger zones also allow us to create long vistas and views, and in almost all cases, if you can see a location, you can travel there.

We have lots of overworld adventure areas and overland dungeons where players don’t need to zone into, but there may be several groups hunting there. Even in underworld and dedicated dungeon areas, they will be open world as well. It is all part of the shared experience we really want to capture.

18.1 Will the game have instances?<BR/> Pantheon will support instancing to a limited degree, using it primarily for storytelling in a linear fashion, perhaps at the end of an epic quest. The vast majority of content, however, will exist in non-instanced shared zones.

18.2 Without instancing, are you concerned about overcrowding and/or too much competition for resources and content?<BR/> Overcrowding and too much competition are indeed problems that have plagued both MMOs with and without instancing. If there are not enough players around, it can be hard to group and socialize. But if there are too many people around, the world feels crowded and people have to wait for encounters or spawns, or even compete for them. Our answer to this issue is twofold: first, primarily during the later phases of beta, we will determine how many people online at one time in our game world feels right -- neither under-crowded or overcrowded. Second, if and when a realm population grows too large, we will launch a new realm with incentives for players to spread out. And with our harnessing of cloud hosted servers, this is actually something we can do dynamically, easily, and quickly.

18.3 What is being done to make the world feel alive?<BR/> We love the idea of bringing back a wide level range of content in the same zone. While some areas in a zone may be for low levels, other areas may contain higher level content. We want high and low level players to occupy the same spaces, encounter each other in their travels, and inspire players to reach higher levels.

18.4 Does Pantheon have a day/night cycle?<BR/> Yes. There is to be a meaningful day/night cycle - with changing NPC actions/patterns. In addition, dynamic weather is planned. We have already implemented a first pass on these dynamic systems: moving clouds, variable light levels, fog banks, and misty areas -- more to follow as we progress through alpha/beta phases.

18.5 Will there be underwater zones?<BR/> Yes. In fact, one of our playable races, the Dark Myr, is an underwater race. It is important to note here; however, that while the idea of exploring underwater areas and discovering ‘Atlantean’ ruins is a compelling one, many implementations of underwater content and gameplay in other MMOs has left some gamers with a negative impression. We are confident that we can provide compelling and fun underwater zones as well as an interface and ability to move underwater that is not frustrating. Additionally, our goal of having underwater zones is not only to provide a different feel and atmosphere, but also to create areas where different tactics can come into play. Underwater exploration and combat is more of a 3D experience, since you can be attacked from any direction, including above and below you. Some good examples of this are the Battle Room from the book and movie Ender’s Game and the combat in the nebula between Kirk and Khan in the original Star Trek 2 movie, where Kirk outsmarts Khan by attacking from above using his familiarity with 3D space to his advantage.

18.6 Will there be any special skills for exploring or navigating dungeons?<BR/> Yes. One example is the climbing skill which will be an important part of every player’s arsenal. Improving that skill will determine what type of faces you can grab onto and climb. One of the keys to vertical ascent and progression within dungeons, say Amberfaet, is the ability to climb. Climbing won’t be limited to only climbing faces. Certain classes, like Rogues, will have ropes that you will need in certain environments where there are no surfaces to climb. There will be several different climbing surfaces.

18.7 Will Pantheon have GM events to keep the world exciting?<BR/> Not just GM events, but an intricate Event System to keep the world more dynamic and a commitment by the live team to revamp older zones to keep them popular as well.

18.8 What does Pantheon have to offer a fan of the sandbox style game?<BR/> Pantheon is definitely more open world and ‘sandboxy’ than many MMOs, but it is still at its core a game system, not a true sandbox sans rules. But the key point is that you can go where you want to go, take on whatever you want to take on (though you may die trying), and travel to wherever you can see (assuming you don't freeze to death en route). So, the decisions are yours -- you are not being led around by the game on rails, with only so many options or decision points.

18.9 Will there be factions, kill on sight, etc.?<BR/> Yes, absolutely. To have an open, living, breathing world, it is important to have dynamic faction relationships between the denizens of the world. From the get-go, you will be making decisions and actions that will affect your faction standing with races and the various people-groups in the game world. Alignment will also play a role -- not only might your decisions affect your factions, but you will also be affecting a moral alignment as well. Some factions will respond to faction, while others respond to alignment, and some to both.

'''18.10 Would you say that the world is being designed more for 1st or 3rd person view? Will there be claustrophobic dungeons that make 3rd person play difficult? Will every dungeon have high ceilings for a 3rd person camera?'''<BR/> We test consistently in both and plan to support both. There are indeed areas where one view may be advantageous over another.

18.11 Will there be a minimap or traditional map system?<BR/> We want the world of Terminus to feel grand in scale, and to be exciting around each corner. For this reason, we are not going to provide a minimap.

In terms of larger maps - maybe. With Pantheon, we’re making a vast epic fantasy world. If, in alpha or beta, we feel the need to provide some navigation to the players, we may do so.

18.11.1 What does the team think about player made maps?<BR/> We’d love for players to be able to have interactive maps. Being able to make your own marks and notes on the map is something we will consider during development.

18.12 Will there be a /loc (location) or similar system in-game?<BR/> Yes.

PAYMENT MODEL
'''19.0 What is Pantheon’s Revenue Model? Will the game be pay to play, free to play, freemium, or what?'''<BR/> We are considering either using the traditional subscription based model, or a model where the player buys the game and then has the option of purchasing mini-expansions or ‘modules’ after launch. Either way, the game’s world will continue to expand, more content will be added, as well as new features and mechanics. Visionary Realms strongly believes that the revenue model of an MMO needs to match the game’s target audience. Because of this, Pantheon will not be ‘freemium’ or have ‘cash shops’ -- building your character and advancing in-game will be based on time invested and tactics used, not on how much money the player has in real life.

19.0.1 So then, whichever model you choose, will I have to spend money up front, before I experience the game for myself?<BR/> No, absolutely not. The first 5-10 levels of the game (details TBD) will be absolutely free, with some limitations to throttle potential abuse. Nor will there be a physical box you have to buy (although we are not ruling out the option of purchasing a special, premium box for those who like to have something tangible to go along with their virtual world). We feel strongly that you should have the opportunity to play and experience Pantheon for a time, and then decide if the game is right for you, before having to pull out your wallet.

'''19.0.2 How do you plan to justify a subscription fee? Being a casual player and paying a subscription fee don't usually go hand in hand?'''<BR/> Pantheon isn't a casual game -- it's a hard-core challenging game. Another example that has proven that a hard-core game can be successful and popular without appealing to everyone is Dark Souls. The future of games, especially MMOs, is making them the best that you can for your target audience, not watering them down to try to appeal to everyone. The reason why Pantheon will work using a subscription fee is because of the type of player we are targeting, the emphasis on community, grouping, matchmaking, and shared experiences. The primary reason other MMOs have not been able to retain players for more than a couple of months, invalidating the sub model, is because they are not sufficiently sticky and social.

TECHNOLOGY
20.0 Why did you choose to use the Unity engine for Pantheon?<BR/> There were a lot of reasons we chose Unity, and they all had to do with the positives of the engine, not necessarily the negatives of others. Much of the decision came down to the fact that it is an engine that enabled us to get to work quickly without requiring an expensive and large team. Unity has also allowed us to rapidly develop the game itself and will also enable us to deploy to multiple platforms with minimal effort. Unity is truly a ‘game engine’ and not just a ‘graphics engine’. It also supports the use of higher level languages like C# and the easy inclusion of a variety of plug-ins. These features and more allow the Pantheon development team to focus on making a game first and not an engine. We are a lean, mean team, and we want to spend the majority of our time making the game itself, not tweaking and modifying the core of a graphics engine, or having to also build a broad suite of tools or add-ons.

'''20.1 I’ve heard Unity is more suited for smaller, simple games. What major games have used or are using Unity?'''<BR/> While Unity originally may have been geared towards smaller and more simple games, since then, a lot has changed. Unity’s developers are committed to providing an engine every bit as capable as any other professional game engine. In fact, we have a special relationship with them and they are excited to see a major MMO being developed using their technology. Here are some of the AAA games that are using the Unity engine:


 * ● Crowfall
 * ● Deus Ex: The Fall
 * ● Might & Magic X Legacy
 * ● République
 * ● Gloria Victis
 * ● Wasteland 2
 * ● Dead Trigger 2
 * ● Kerbal Space Program
 * ● Call of Duty®: Strike Team
 * ● Endless Space
 * ● Shroud of the Avatar

A longer list may be found here.

20.2 What programs are used to make the game’s artwork?<BR/> Most modelling is done in the latest version of Maya. For sculpting, ZBrush is used in most cases and 3D-Coat in some cases. Texturing is done in Substance Painter with everything then brought together inside Unity. We’re also writing custom shaders as necessary. Other software includes World Machine and Mudbox for terrain and some other baking software like xNormal and Knald.<BR/>

UNOFFICIAL FAQ
The following FAQ are NOT from the official FAQ on Pantheon's website. However, only questions given an answer by an official VR employee are listed below.

Note: Entries might be trimmed, ordered slightly differently, or in some way 'cleaned' to ease the reading experience. We strive to ensure that the essence of the response is retained, but if you're in doubt about some aspect of the question/answer, we encourage you to go to the source linked by the question to listen/read the answer for yourself.

CLIMBING
How will the developers handle players utilizing the Climbing skill to avoid encountering mobs?

Chris 'Joppa' Perkins: The answer is simple. There's constraints in the system, and so long as you are working around the constraints to do certain things, that's absolutely fine. There's a difference between leveraging your skills and abilities to exert player agency over an experience versus tampering with or exploiting certain things to gain an unintended/broken/exploitative result. I'm not going to go into the differences between those two things right now except to say: climbing exists to be fun and be adventurous and to give players a completely new sphere of gameplay to manipulate -- to create the kind of outcomes they want to create.

DATES
'''When is the release date? / When is the next pre-alpha phase? / Can you ballpark an estimate?'''

Ben 'Machail' Dean: One of the biggest reasons why we don't [ballpark an estimate] is because of the way we're funded. Pantheon is largely crowd funded, that sort of sets the pace at which we are able to develop. As we get more funding--if crowd funding peaks--that can have an effect on it, or if we get a larger investor that can certainly speed things up. It's very difficult to say it'll be "such and such date" without knowing the cadence of that funding.

RACIAL ACTIVES
When can we expect to see Racial Actives?

WARDROBE SYSTEM / TRANSMOG
The following statement is only one of a handful made in regards to the topic in the conversation that it originates from, but it summarizes Joppa's thoughts on the matter:



Pictured: Let me clarify again: I am not against a wardrobe system that is designed in a way that does not compromise our goals for item identity and prestige. If I put in the time and effort to slay Sleepless and loot a sword that I love, I have earned that item. If I love the way it looks and want to use that skin when I ride into town, I can get behind a player's choice and incentive to do that. I also think players having a toggle where they can see the true look of what other players have equipped is a right all players should have. What I said earlier is that this kind of system is not currently planned. That does not mean we won't revisit down the line at a more appropriate point in development.