Interview 27 – Mark Kalmes, part 2

You can find a transcript of this show here! * (0:20) John’s Bloodmoon Goblins Pathfinder supplement is now available for sale as a PDF, with print soon to follow. * (2:22) The  ecology and agenda of monsters in Pathfinder Online. * (3:42) The nature of existing (and eventually expanded) “theme park” content as opposed to the “sandbox” content. * (6:08) The reason we need to ask hard questions about this MMO. * (8:06) Does the gaming world really need another fantasy MMO?  The historical context for Pathfinder Online’s creation. * (16:29) The cash model for the game.  The points at which it will likely be subscription-based versus “freemium” or completely free-to-play. * (18:02) Given the market climate — and Paizo’s obvious claim to fame — why not focus the resources into a high-end virtual tabletop instead of an MMO? * (19:26) The graphical enhancements planned between the tech demo and actual game. * (21:15) The purpose of the second Kickstarter, particularly in light of investor funding. * (31:53) How is player feedback going to be gathered and used to alter the game world during the design process?  How is Paizo involved in the game’s development? * (35:52) Balancing the influence of project backers when comparing the number of people on one side against the depth of pocketbooks on the other. * (37:27) How Goblinworks is defining the game’s “beta” and why there’s a subscription attached to it.  Whether there’s intended to be any character-resource resets or similar setbacks during the beta. * (45:58) Mark’s interest in seeing large-scale combat look more like authentic, Medieval warfare. * (48:45) A round-up of the relevant links.  You can checkout the Pathfinder Online Kickstarter right here.  If you want to visit Mark’s blog, that would be here.  And finally, our postcards contest is up for voting over here. Hosts: Dan, Johann, John, Pat Guests: Mark Kalmes