Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen Interview

There’s a new, short interview with Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen’s Brad McQuaid and director of development Salim Grant over at Massively, which includes questions on the player’s title, player housing, alternative funding avenues, future plans, and more. Here’s a snip:

You mentioned that the purpose of Kickstarter was just “to get the ball rolling on development” and that other funding opportunities will be visited if the basic goal is all that is reached. What other avenues will you be looking to for additional funds?

It all depends on how much we receive from Kickstarter. The usual avenues would be investors and game publishers.

Along those lines, if additional funding is not acquired, then what are the long-term plans for the features whose funding goals are not met? Will crafting and housing (slated as $3.5M and $4M stretch goals, respectively) be off the table completely? What will happen to the game if the Kickstarter goal is not met?

If the stretch goals are not met sooner as opposed to later, then we’ll do our best to implement them after the game has launched, as expansions, digital downloads, and the like.

You have a game tenet that focuses on economy, yet player crafting is not even a consideration until the $3.5 million stretch goal. Can you describe how you envision the economy working, with and without crafting? For instance, will there be an auction house focusing only on looted drops? Will looted items be Bind on Pickup?

Most items will be tradeable, so we expect a vibrant economy. When crafting is added, whether sooner or later, that will add to the economy because items won’t only be found while adventuring but also as the product of crafting.