That's cool that they're starting to hire people for their HQ in California. I imagine some things are easier to do in an office environment, rather than everyone on the staff being remote.
Hiring 7 new staff shows the amount of funding they got. It has to be sizable to be looking on taking 7 staff at 50-70k a year each. Very exciting. I am sure stream to stream we will see the progress.
Awesome that they are hiring, however what is not awesome is that gaming industry has laregely moved out of San Diego which is where they are hiring.
Hopefully they can cover moving expenses.
Is it possible, in this day and age, to have people work remotely?
Brad mad this post, seems they are allot of remote staff...
It is a bit of a challenge and it took a while to get used to (very different from the way EQ and VG were built).
The biggest difference is showing off the game in a far earlier state than one would in the old days when there was really no choice but to be funded by a large publisher. In those cases you would hold off on advertising, getting the word out, showing off the game, etc. until the game itself was much further along.
Showing the game earlier (which we've done primarily via twitch streams, although this will be expanding) has overall been a very positive experience. That said, there's often comment and criticism interspersed with a vast majority of positive feedback, complaining about visual fidelity (graphics, models, animations, etc) even though we are always clear that the game is in a pre-alpha state. Some people listen, some people don't and/or don't care. Either way, we're fine with it as we're able to show significant progress each and every time.
All in all, once we got used to this 'new way of building an MMO', it's really been quite a fun ride. I remember when working on EQ, when it was in a pre-alpha or alpha state, and having a burning desire to start showing it off. But from a marketing and PR standpoint that would have been the wrong call so we of course waited until later before showing off the game (usually by visiting different game magazines, showing off the game to them and at trade shows like E3, and then hopefully receiving some coverage). With both EQ and VG we were blessed with quite a bit of coverage including one cover for each game. Back then this was a big deal and how you got the word out.
Of course the world is a different place now, over a decade later. Not only are we showing the game off earlier than what was the norm in the past, but the way you reach people is very different. Interviews and coverage in paper magazines is pretty much obsolete. Working with online web game sites is still part of the equation, but the more effective way is to have youtube personalities showcase the game in live twitch streams and pre-recorded coverage. Putting together videos, doing podcasts, etc. are also a key part of the equation.
Honestly any negativity or skepticism actually fills us with adrenaline as we look forward to showing off the game in the near future and sharing with the community the progress we have made. If you look at the streams we have done over the last year you can clearly see the significant progress we have made (and made with an unheard of low amount of money spent). Being an 'indie' developer means being extra careful with funds, planning very carefully, and running lean and mean. I think this is a good thing as this project is by far the best planned out, organized, filled with incredibly talented people, and frugal development effort that I've ever been involved with, and I've been doing this 20+ years. Showing off the game, incomplete, with temporary assets and plenty of warts, is still a total blast and fun because we're able to do so earlier than with previous projects. Answering the skeptics with measurable and significant forward progress is also rewarding
One of the tricks learned early on is to plan very carefully such that the game is being worked on and making progress and also every so many months in a state where we can show it off live. Thanks to engines like Unity, the cloud for hosting servers, and the maturity of remote tools (skype, etc), we've been able to build Pantheon up to a point that simply would have been impossible even a decade ago without a lot more money, people, and time. This has made us better planners, better stewards of the funds we have, and enabled us to bring on talent from all of the world -- we don't have to hire people already living in San Diego or to somehow entice them to move here. While I've worked with some very talented and dedicated teams over the years, the Visionary Realms team is by far the most committed, hard working, self-motivated and driven I've ever had the honor to work with. Couple that with much better game (as opposed to merely graphics) engines (Unity in our case), the cloud, Bizspark, etc. plus the knowledge gained from building two MMOs before and what we've been able to do thus far is unprecedented.
Sure, sometimes you need a thick skin, and you definitely need to be extremely stubborn and tenacious. From a management standpoint, learning how to coordinate collaborative development remotely was initially very challenging as well. But, as with most things, practice is what it's all about. The more you do it, the better you get at it. The ultimate mandate for a start-up company is to *survive*, but we've been able to do more than that, to thrive and become extremely efficient in our use of funds and other resources. Personally I love it and the freedom that comes with being an indie developer is very rewarding. Taking on the most challenging genre of game to develop (the massively multiplayer online game) is probably kind of crazy... crazy like a fox
But Pantheon fills a need, an empty space in the MMO genre right now that has been sorely neglected. Bringing back group oriented gameplay, significantly more challenging content, supporting a community that is already growing even before pre-alpha launch, etc. is very rewarding as there are many MMO players out there who feel orphaned amongst the typically only casual, easy to play, and often pay to win games that are prevalent right now. Likewise, reaching out to younger players who have never experienced a true cooperative and social MMO is a gratifying challenge.
Times change, and so must we game developers. So far, so good. When we launch and taste success I think many people will be astounded by the amount of money spent to develop Pantheon. Gone are the days of mega-bucks MMO projects possible only by support or even ownership of major publishers. We are in an MMO renaissance now with multiple indie MMOs in development, each focused on their own target audience as opposed to trying to be the next WoW-killer and somehow appealing to everyone all of the time. Instead we can serve our chosen audience better than ever before by focusing on making a great MMO for them specifically. Combine that with the fact that Pantheon is also the game we on the development team have been craving to play as well, and life is pretty darn good
All the positions are art team positions, I think (with the exception of a customer service manager).
Well, I suppose that's one aspect of the game most everyone thinks has room for improvement.
6 Art and 1 Customer Service.
I think it's really positive to the game that they're hiring art and customer service. It should mean that their game engine and background tech are progressing well and they're focusing their effort on getting content done + allowing people into their game.
Awesome that they are hiring, however what is not awesome is that gaming industry has laregely moved out of San Diego which is where they are hiring.
Hopefully they can cover moving expenses.
Is it possible, in this day and age, to have people work remotely?
Not for art teams - all the game companies I know have art teams working together in house due to needing to collaborate closely together.
Also art assets are usually huge so working on a local network with the entire team saving to local server art depot is pretty much required.
Again remote work for art is extremelly rare for mmos
My cousin is a artist and makes video games. He works with companies all over the world and has never left his home to do so but for the few times he worked local.
Comments
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Well, I suppose that's one aspect of the game most everyone thinks has room for improvement.
6 Art and 1 Customer Service.
Is it possible, in this day and age, to have people work remotely?
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
Brad mad this post, seems they are allot of remote staff...
It is a bit of a challenge and it took a while to get used to (very different from the way EQ and VG were built).
The biggest difference is showing off the game in a far earlier state than one would in the old days when there was really no choice but to be funded by a large publisher. In those cases you would hold off on advertising, getting the word out, showing off the game, etc. until the game itself was much further along.
Showing the game earlier (which we've done primarily via twitch streams, although this will be expanding) has overall been a very positive experience. That said, there's often comment and criticism interspersed with a vast majority of positive feedback, complaining about visual fidelity (graphics, models, animations, etc) even though we are always clear that the game is in a pre-alpha state. Some people listen, some people don't and/or don't care. Either way, we're fine with it as we're able to show significant progress each and every time.
All in all, once we got used to this 'new way of building an MMO', it's really been quite a fun ride. I remember when working on EQ, when it was in a pre-alpha or alpha state, and having a burning desire to start showing it off. But from a marketing and PR standpoint that would have been the wrong call so we of course waited until later before showing off the game (usually by visiting different game magazines, showing off the game to them and at trade shows like E3, and then hopefully receiving some coverage). With both EQ and VG we were blessed with quite a bit of coverage including one cover for each game. Back then this was a big deal and how you got the word out.
Of course the world is a different place now, over a decade later. Not only are we showing the game off earlier than what was the norm in the past, but the way you reach people is very different. Interviews and coverage in paper magazines is pretty much obsolete. Working with online web game sites is still part of the equation, but the more effective way is to have youtube personalities showcase the game in live twitch streams and pre-recorded coverage. Putting together videos, doing podcasts, etc. are also a key part of the equation.
Honestly any negativity or skepticism actually fills us with adrenaline as we look forward to showing off the game in the near future and sharing with the community the progress we have made. If you look at the streams we have done over the last year you can clearly see the significant progress we have made (and made with an unheard of low amount of money spent). Being an 'indie' developer means being extra careful with funds, planning very carefully, and running lean and mean. I think this is a good thing as this project is by far the best planned out, organized, filled with incredibly talented people, and frugal development effort that I've ever been involved with, and I've been doing this 20+ years. Showing off the game, incomplete, with temporary assets and plenty of warts, is still a total blast and fun because we're able to do so earlier than with previous projects. Answering the skeptics with measurable and significant forward progress is also rewarding
One of the tricks learned early on is to plan very carefully such that the game is being worked on and making progress and also every so many months in a state where we can show it off live. Thanks to engines like Unity, the cloud for hosting servers, and the maturity of remote tools (skype, etc), we've been able to build Pantheon up to a point that simply would have been impossible even a decade ago without a lot more money, people, and time. This has made us better planners, better stewards of the funds we have, and enabled us to bring on talent from all of the world -- we don't have to hire people already living in San Diego or to somehow entice them to move here. While I've worked with some very talented and dedicated teams over the years, the Visionary Realms team is by far the most committed, hard working, self-motivated and driven I've ever had the honor to work with. Couple that with much better game (as opposed to merely graphics) engines (Unity in our case), the cloud, Bizspark, etc. plus the knowledge gained from building two MMOs before and what we've been able to do thus far is unprecedented.
Sure, sometimes you need a thick skin, and you definitely need to be extremely stubborn and tenacious. From a management standpoint, learning how to coordinate collaborative development remotely was initially very challenging as well. But, as with most things, practice is what it's all about. The more you do it, the better you get at it. The ultimate mandate for a start-up company is to *survive*, but we've been able to do more than that, to thrive and become extremely efficient in our use of funds and other resources. Personally I love it and the freedom that comes with being an indie developer is very rewarding. Taking on the most challenging genre of game to develop (the massively multiplayer online game) is probably kind of crazy... crazy like a fox
Times change, and so must we game developers. So far, so good. When we launch and taste success I think many people will be astounded by the amount of money spent to develop Pantheon. Gone are the days of mega-bucks MMO projects possible only by support or even ownership of major publishers. We are in an MMO renaissance now with multiple indie MMOs in development, each focused on their own target audience as opposed to trying to be the next WoW-killer and somehow appealing to everyone all of the time. Instead we can serve our chosen audience better than ever before by focusing on making a great MMO for them specifically. Combine that with the fact that Pantheon is also the game we on the development team have been craving to play as well, and life is pretty darn good
I think it's really positive to the game that they're hiring art and customer service. It should mean that their game engine and background tech are progressing well and they're focusing their effort on getting content done + allowing people into their game.
My cousin is a artist and makes video games. He works with companies all over the world and has never left his home to do so but for the few times he worked local.
It's stated at the bottom of the job postings...
"Location:
This position preferably located at Visionary Realms HQ North San Diego County, California, however we will consider non-local applicants as well"
Joppa actually said this very thing in the last stream.