Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen released its latest recap post, which details the pre-alpha testing that has been occurring recently. As part of this month's newsletter, the team at Visionary Realms has touted its recent extraction mode testing as helping to improve its production pace since the testing began.
For those who haven't been following the production of the MMO in recent weeks, Visionary Realms found itself in hot water with both backers and fans of the project when word leaked that the purported 24/7 testing going on was for an extraction-style game mode and not the MMORPG proper. The leaked letter was a communication sent to backers who are under an NDA by Visionary Realms' Ben Dean, laying out the extraction mode's potential to be monetized as a way to gain new funding sources for the MMO.
Initially, Visionary Realms didn't deny the letter's veracity, stating that the inclusion of the mode in the pre-alpha testing did not mean the "cancellation of Pantheon." Later that week the team released its own post detailing the new mode, and why the team felt it necessary to build it, as well as hosted a Q&A with the community on its Discord to address questions and feedback from the community about the concerns they have for the extraction mode and Pantheon's future.
One of the key claims around why building the 247 extraction mode was a good move is down to the way it helps production, as creative director Chris Perkins explained during the Q&A. The same claim was made when the team was addressing feedback to its new painterly art style change back in September. Now, with the most recent newsletter, Pantheon's developers are claiming they are seeing the fruits of that labor.
The latest Pre-Alpha Recap for #PantheonMMO is here! ??-Immerse yourself in Terminus with our new audio overhaul! ??-Crafting and gathering updates! ??-New class: Paladin! ???That's not all, read the full recap below!https://t.co/XILhejxOFH#Gaming | #IndieDev | #GameDev pic.twitter.com/vbMrtnUFA4
— Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen (@PantheonMMO) November 7, 2023
With the pre-alpha test server available for the last five weeks, Visionary Realms states that they are still hard at work gathering feedback from players. The recap states that Pantheon is using its extraction style feature in testing, but have "found it incredibly useful for fast-tracking updates, feedback, and fixes." It continues by saying that the fact that the server has been up this whole time, the dev team can "work when they can" to pump out hotfixes.
As a result, the Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen team claims that production is moving at a pace the team has "not been able to achieve previously." They go on to attribute this not only to the 247 mode, but also the art style change, which they claim has allowed them to make "solid forward momentum" on the MMORPG, including crafting and gathering updates, a complete audio overhaul, and the addition of the Paladin class.
The team has dropped a new development tracker page for players to see the latest update and progress on the pre-alpha testing, which they intend to update weekly. You can check out that, and the full Pantheon pre-alpha recap on the official website.
