Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is a open-world high fantasy MMORPG in development by Visionary Realms, Inc., headed by Brad McQuaid of EverQuest fame.

Platforms
The game will be available on Windows and possibly other platforms.

The Pantheon Difference

 * An MMO Evolved: Rise of the Fallen will likely be a fundamentally different game compared to what you may have experienced playing other modern MMORPGs. From the moment you log in you will notice that the game is more social and has an emphasis on cooperative play. The monsters are often tougher and exploration is more involved. You will need friends in the game and your reputation can either help you progress or hinder it. Death in-game is meaningful and you’ll want to avoid it when possible. You’ll learn your surroundings and the lay of the land, spending meaningful time in each area and not just running through as quickly as possible to collect ten hides. You will need strategy, cunning and endurance to uncover all that Pantheon has to offer. You will find yourself in group and guild chats as you strategize or even just to pass the time between battles. Pantheon is social, thought-provoking, and the memories from your experiences in Terminus will last a lifetime.


 * Atmosphere / Climate System: One of Pantheon’s tenets is ‘Engage the World!’ When we talk about being a PvE MMO, our definition of ‘environment’ means a lot more than just fighting NPCs -- players will be contending with the world itself. Some regions will be very hot or cold. Some areas within a zone might be enchanted with complete darkness, or silence (meaning spoken spells won't work), or poison or miasma. Small tornadoes could travel through a region, compelling players to work their way around them, not through them, lest they take significant damage. Also, certain spells may work better or worse (or even only work) depending on the climate or atmosphere -- for example, a 'Call Lightning' spell could deal more damage than a typical ‘lightning bolt’ spell but could only be cast if there is a storm in the region.


 * Powerful Spells and Abilities: In MMOs it is common to find rare items out in the world, 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 found not at the local trainer but from a wise sage hiding in the depths of a dungeon or at the top of a remote tower. Learn more: The Living Codex


 * Dynamic NPC Encounter Groups: The world is not static and unchanging – every day is not ‘groundhog’ day. Events occur that can completely change the population of a zone or the population of a group of NPCs within a zone (and the rarer the event, the rarer the rewards -- many exotic items can only be obtained when one of these zone events occur). An example: after you kill some key mobs guarding a hill giant camp, this triggers a zone event that loads up an invading force of Storm Giants who then proceed to attack the Hill Giant camp.


 * NPC Dispositions and Behaviors: An area we have not seen much innovation in MMORPGs, almost since their inception, is the area of NPC AI. What if certain enemies had different “dispositions” that had to be discovered by the player? Many NPCs in Pantheon will have advanced behaviors, like the propensity to flee if possible, or to stand and fight to the end. Some NPCs will be inclined to help other NPCs in the area, while some will not. Some will target certain classes within the group that is attacking them. NPC’s movement speeds may vary if they feel they are outmatched. While it is too early to go into a lot of detail, some of the different dispositions we are working on include: the Alarmist, the Bully, the Craven, the Opportunist, the Protector, and the Strategist.


 * Colored Mana System: Different classes will use different colors of mana. Some rare abilities, spells, and prayers will use more than one color of mana. These exotic abilities create an opportunity to sub-class your character, allowing players to customize their class to a degree, but without removing the interdependence between classes that is key to group content and building community.


 * Progeny System: Players will be able to 'retire' high level characters and then create their children as new characters, but these new characters, the 'progeny', will have certain abilities, stats, etc. that make them slightly yet noticeably better than a completely brand new character (but not to the point that it unbalances things).


 * Situational Gear In Pantheon: In Pantheon, there often won't simply be a weapon or piece of gear that is the absolute best item for your character’s class and level. Instead, many items will be more situational, and the player will need to ask himself, 'where am I?', 'what am I going to fight next?', and 'who in my group is what class, and what items do they have that may help defeat the next encounter?' Items that protect against climates/atmospheres (areas of extreme heat or cold, or disease, or absolute darkness) will often be important. So also will 'bane' items that are especially effective against certain types of mobs (for example, the Undead, or Dragonkind).


 * The Perception System: One of the most profound things about Pantheon is how we are designing the game from the ground up so that the Environment truly matters – we want players to care about the world they are in, and why things are the way they are. When you think of MMOs, when is the last time you discovered the meaning, or the history, or the secrets of a person, place or event without being told by a text box? What if we’ve conceived of a way to bring players back to exploring because they are compelled by what they see in front of them - not because a blinking light tells them to go there? In Pantheon, Wizards will be able to perceive things that a Warrior cannot. Through prayer, a Cleric may gain insight into an area, or a creature, that a Rogue could never know. Through our perception system, Pantheon will redefine how the game world becomes known, and how players will work together to progress.

Future Features

 * Building Outposts
 * Non-Instanced Housing
 * Player-run dungeons and regions

Game Summary
What Is Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen?

Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is a massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) that takes place on Terminus, a high fantasy world of powerful deities, valiant heroes, insidious enemies and fantastic creatures. Pantheon focuses on challenging content and social aspects of gameplay, encouraging groups and guilds, forging new relationships, and earning a reputation in the community.

In addition to traditional fantasy races and classes, the world of Terminus has been formed from the ‘shipwrecked’ fragments of many different realms and worlds, bringing their unique civilizations and Celestial deities with them. It is into the current age of this wonderful and mysterious world that players will step foot for the first time. Realms long lost will be explored anew. Peoples and cultures striving to gain a foothold in this unfamiliar world will form alliances and vie for power. Uncovered civilizations and awe-inspiring locales will offer new and incredible adventures for you and your friends to experience. Enter a world where the environment itself tells the story and where content is always king.

Because Pantheon values the paradigm of great risk vs. great reward, the player will always be encouraged to push themselves out the door and to embrace exploration, adventure, danger and the community of players alongside them. Imagine an expansive, detailed and lore-rich world where the environment itself tells much of the story. Envision challenging content, meaningful character progression, and compelling social and group-oriented game play along with opportunities to both solo and raid. This is Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen.

Game Features

 * Enjoy a Lore-rich and deeply complex world where environmental storytelling is central.
 * Immerse yourself in group-focused, intensely social game play using classes that complement each other, encouraging teamwork.
 * Make use of Colored Mana to give your spells flavor and variety.
 * Battle the harsh climates of the world—it can, and will, affect your character.
 * Play classes that have meaningful and defined roles such as Tank, Healer, DPS or Utility (crowd and encounter control). Class identity and group interdependence is key!
 * Choose from a variety of races to play, delve into their epic back-stories and learn of the Celestials who may have been brought to Terminus with them.
 * Discover meaningful questing that is optional, not the primary means of character advancement.
 * Watch the population evolve around you as different NPCs and beasts may change depending on your past actions.
 * Carry on your legacy with progeny—retire a character and have his or her child resume the adventure
 * Rely on your senses as your character’s own intuition may lead you to important discoveries.
 * Learn that limited and class based teleportation may get you close, but in order to reach many destinations you will have to traverse the realm-scarred lands of Terminus through the use of your own two feet, on the back of your mighty steed or even across the seas themselves.
 * Quickly equip situational gear as you move from one climate to the next.
 * Take part in an economy that is largely player driven.
 * Find convenience in dual targeting. Attack your target while healing your allies.
 * Respect your surroundings—succumbing to death has its consequences.

Design Tenets
The developers' stated tenets in designed the game are:
 * An awareness that content is king.
 * A requirement that classes have identities. No single player should be able to do everything on their own.
 * A belief that game economies should be predicated on delaying and minimizing item value deflation.
 * A commitment to a style of play that focuses on immersive combat, and engaging group mechanics.
 * An understanding that a truly challenging game is truly rewarding.
 * An expectation that with greater risk will come greater reward.
 * An understanding that player involvement is required for progression. All actions (or lack thereof) should have consequences. Positive actions should be rewarded. Apathy or lack of action should not be rewarded with bonuses.
 * A belief that meaningful character progression will always involve a player increasing in both power and prestige.
 * A mindset that some degree of downtime should be part of a game, ensuring players have time to form important social bonds.
 * A belief that an immersive world requires intelligent inhabitants.
 * An understanding that faction and alignment should be an integral part of interacting with the world and its citizens.
 * A sincere commitment to creating a world where a focus on cooperative play will attract those seeking a challenge.
 * A belief that the greatest sense of accomplishment comes when it is shared - and earned.
 * An agreement that player levels should be both meaningful and memorable.
 * An assertion that player vs. environment should involve more than NPCs -- Engage the World!

Source

 * http://www.pantheonmmo.com/game/
 * http://www.pantheonmmo.com/game/faq/