Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

Where is Kilsin? Why a 4th graphical overhaul?

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    • 188 posts
    October 27, 2023 6:54 AM PDT
    I fell in love with the concept of the game listening to Brad and then Joppa back in 2015-2016. I pledged in 2017 as Alpha seemed to be rapidly approaching... after Brad posted Alpha would be soon iirc.

    When Project Faerthale was annouced it was a potential crossroad for the entire game/project of Pantheon. Then it was revealed... and everyone was blown away! It was inspiring and what every backer wanted. What has happened since??

    What happened to Community Manager Kilsin? No mention of anything but this uncharacteristic 247 game mode in the October newsletter. Why is there a 3rd or 4th complete graphical overhaul being done? Unity and/or the HDRP cannot handle the current textures? We waited years for that to get completed and now its thrown out the window? The graphics in 2017 when Monty was world building were good enough. Or why not use the default Unity assets and push the game forward.

    Who cares if you cannot have "pre-alpha" tests every month. You have to make progress & bug fixes in order to "test". PROGRESS is needed. Not completely overhauling the same systems for a 3rd and 4th time.

    This game now looks like a mobile phone game and its going away from its roots.. again. I have extremely low faith that this will be anything remotely close to its original core values and the mission statement.
    • 80 posts
    October 27, 2023 7:28 AM PDT
    Not sure what Kilsin has to do with it.

    I agree with the absurdity of the art, though admittedly the animation is far better now. You unintentionally pointed out an advantage that I never considered. It could hypothetically run on a powerful tablet now. That's very good for a group centric game, assuming they don't turn it into a solo MMO by the time it launches.

    Mod Edit: personal attack
    This post was edited by Jothany at October 27, 2023 8:41 AM PDT
    • 3852 posts
    October 27, 2023 8:08 AM PDT
    Releasing Pantheon the MMO for use on a tablet or a phone would be a questionable advantage at best. A nightmarish trashing of the basic concept to accommodate the limitations of mobile devices at worst. With the worst far more likely than the best.

    But, and this is a BIG but, releasing an extraction game using Pantheon's pre-alpha build would be a horse of a very different color. The limitations would not be so crippling. The more cartoonish graphics would not be so jarring.
    • 326 posts
    October 27, 2023 9:46 AM PDT
    Yes, where is Kilsin?
    • 2053 posts
    October 27, 2023 9:54 AM PDT

    Kilsin left VR in June. Privacy laws don't allow VR to post any details and he didn't make any farewell posts. 

    From what little I hear, he is building up his health & nutrition consulting business in Australia.

    I still hope to see him ingame when it finally releases.

    • 172 posts
    October 27, 2023 10:15 AM PDT
    Jothany said:

    Kilsin left VR in June. Privacy laws don't allow VR to post any details and he didn't make any farewell posts.

    From what little I hear, he is building up his health & nutrition consulting business in Australia.

    I still hope to see him ingame when it finally releases.



    Mod Edit: If you can find any public statement by VR or Kilsin on the subject, feel free to link it. Otherwise, we'll respect the privacy of everyone involved and not post 3rd party opinions on it.
    This post was edited by Jothany at October 27, 2023 11:49 AM PDT
    • 18 posts
    October 27, 2023 12:18 PM PDT

    Here's a direct link to a recent comment from Kilsin on Reddit concerning his departure:

    https://www.reddit.com/r/PantheonMMO/comments/17bdjg7/a_little_present_from_mmorpgcom/k5w1ddj/

    • 1284 posts
    October 27, 2023 1:58 PM PDT
    Kastor said: I fell in love with the concept of the game listening to Brad and then Joppa back in 2015-2016. I pledged in 2017 as Alpha seemed to be rapidly approaching... after Brad posted Alpha would be soon iirc. When Project Faerthale was announced it was a potential crossroad for the entire game/project of Pantheon. Then it was revealed... and everyone was blown away! It was inspiring and what every backer wanted. What has happened since??


    A lot has happened. The short version of the story is that the game needed to be rebuilt because it wasn't fit to handle thousands of players simultaneously. They could have continued down the path that they were on, but the result would have likely been disastrous. Hence the refactor.



    Why is there a 3rd or 4th complete graphical overhaul being done? Unity and/or the HDRP cannot handle the current textures? We waited years for that to get completed and now its thrown out the window? The graphics in 2017 when Monty was world building were good enough. Or why not use the default Unity assets and push the game forward.


    It's my understanding that this is the first graphical overhaul. The unity assets were always place holders (at least that's what I've heard since I started following the project). So now they're finally adding their own assets in their own style. This allows their current artists to build things in a way that works best for them and move quicker.



    Who cares if you cannot have "pre-alpha" tests every month. You have to make progress & bug fixes in order to "test". PROGRESS is needed.


    The current rate of bug fixes and progress is surpassing any previous rate that I've seen.



    Hope that helps a tad.
    Ran
    This post was edited by Ranarius at October 27, 2023 1:59 PM PDT
    • 172 posts
    October 27, 2023 2:54 PM PDT
    @Jothany

    Thats a hilarious edit because those are not third party postings, those are acknowledged by Kilsin himself.



    He got canned and its public information at this point. Don't abuse your power.
    • 2053 posts
    October 27, 2023 4:21 PM PDT
    Aayden said: @Jothany Thats a hilarious edit because those are not third party postings, those are acknowledged by Kilsin himself. He got canned and its public information at this point. Don't abuse your power.


    Those 2 links you posted didn't go to comments made by Kilsin himself, they went to the top of long threads on Reddit. I have plenty to do without spending time reading Reddit to see what Kilsin has or hasn't said publicly. IF you had known how to link to the individual posts he made - as Viirin did - I would have checked them first and not modded you.


    For future reference, you are welcome to contact anyone whose moderation you disagree with directly through Private Messages on this forum (or on VR's Discord). If you have complaints about the moderation, you are welcome to contact our boss Jamie "Savanja" Henry or VR directly to voice them.

    However, "Arguing with or 'calling out' a moderator or member of Visionary Realms" in public threads is not allowed on most forums and is against the Community Guidelines of this one as well. You can see those guidelines in this thread:

    https://seforums.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/1595/pantheon-community-guidelines


    I didn't abuse my power. Please don't abuse your privileges.
    This post was edited by Jothany at October 27, 2023 4:26 PM PDT
    • 172 posts
    October 27, 2023 5:01 PM PDT
    Jothany said:
    Aayden said: @Jothany Thats a hilarious edit because those are not third party postings, those are acknowledged by Kilsin himself. He got canned and its public information at this point. Don't abuse your power.


    Those 2 links you posted didn't go to comments made by Kilsin himself, they went to the top of long threads on Reddit. I have plenty to do without spending time reading Reddit to see what Kilsin has or hasn't said publicly. IF you had known how to link to the individual posts he made - as Viirin did - I would have checked them first and not modded you.


    For future reference, you are welcome to contact anyone whose moderation you disagree with directly through Private Messages on this forum (or on VR's Discord). If you have complaints about the moderation, you are welcome to contact our boss Jamie "Savanja" Henry or VR directly to voice them.

    However, "Arguing with or 'calling out' a moderator or member of Visionary Realms" in public threads is not allowed on most forums and is against the Community Guidelines of this one as well. You can see those guidelines in this thread:

    https://seforums.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/1595/pantheon-community-guidelines


    I didn't abuse my power. Please don't abuse your privileges.




    To say "I have plenty to do without spending time reading Reddit to see what Kilsin has or hasn't said publicly" and then make a decision based on an assumption without properly investigating the facts seems like an abuse of power. So I apologize if I've over stepped.

    However, nuking my post in fact makes you obligated to be right about what your intention was. If you don't want to take the time to see that the reply from Kilsin about the subject matter were in fact there, because you don't have the time or simply don't want to, isn't reasonable to take down someone's post. That's an unfortunate result of your assumption.

    This isn't an argument, it was and is a statement of facts. I'll take accountability in the fact that I didn't post a thread that was a direct link with all the other sublinks as Viirin did, and I thank him for that and I apologize for not satisfying some guideline/rule that hasn't been stated clearly about things that are already on the internet. But I'd like you to take accountability that, in short, and quoted above, can't take the time to read what was and wasn't said. You're a moderator, that's your job.

    Again, I'm not picking a fight, but I think I have a right to be displeased with your decision and voice my opinion about that.
    This post was edited by Aayden at October 27, 2023 5:03 PM PDT
    • 194 posts
    October 28, 2023 12:56 AM PDT
    Not even worth it. I'll deal with it elsewhere.
    This post was edited by justdrop at October 28, 2023 12:57 AM PDT
    • 2053 posts
    October 28, 2023 2:43 AM PDT

    Aayden said: I'm not picking a fight, but I think I have a right to be displeased with your decision and voice my opinion about that.

    You do have the right to be displeased with my decision, to question it, to take your concerns to the Community Manager if your not happy with my response, even to appeal to HER bosses if you are still unhappy. Everyone does. But you do NOT have the right to force that conversation to take place in public, on the thread that was moderated.

    The forum offers Private Messages. I have sent you one. Please read it.

    • 801 posts
    October 28, 2023 4:40 AM PDT

    RedGang said: Not sure what Kilsin has to do with it. I agree with the absurdity of the art, though admittedly the animation is far better now. You unintentionally pointed out an advantage that I never considered. It could hypothetically run on a powerful tablet now. That's very good for a group centric game, assuming they don't turn it into a solo MMO by the time it launches. Mod Edit: personal attack

     

    Actually, OP is a doppelganger to a few of us here. We come back to look how the project is going and when Alpha will be available. Kilsin i got to know for a while there. Seeing how he was fired, wasn't in the projects best interest. Sometimes heads butt and people don't like each other. I was one of the first to follow Brad when he first posted on the idea. It was an idea only back then in 2012. Many waited to see if it was going to be real before backing the project. With the flip flop issues back then, we held off till late to back the project.

    However..... seeing the way it looks today, i am not in favor of the game graphics and calling it out it sucks, it is not what we backed at the start. I am not into playing Fortnite games.

    So back to your question why? When we find out CM's are fired in the way we sort of understand and the project is nowhere near Alpha and the horrible graphics changes, we get concerned about our backing of the project. Hope that clears up a few things, and yes many i speak too feel it is vaporware at this point.

    • 326 posts
    October 28, 2023 6:05 AM PDT
    More dissembling (concerning Kilsin). How unfortunate.
    • 1284 posts
    October 28, 2023 10:22 AM PDT

    Gonna need to get this back on topic.  The question about Kilsin was answered and that's as much information about his personal life that will be allowed here.  If you want to talk more about that I suggest you do it with him.  

    Feel free to continue discussing the other topics at hand.  

    • VR Staff
    • 530 posts
    October 28, 2023 1:58 PM PDT

    Crazzie said:

    RedGang said: Not sure what Kilsin has to do with it. I agree with the absurdity of the art, though admittedly the animation is far better now. You unintentionally pointed out an advantage that I never considered. It could hypothetically run on a powerful tablet now. That's very good for a group centric game, assuming they don't turn it into a solo MMO by the time it launches. Mod Edit: personal attack

     

    Actually, OP is a doppelganger to a few of us here. We come back to look how the project is going and when Alpha will be available. Kilsin i got to know for a while there. Seeing how he was fired, wasn't in the projects best interest. Sometimes heads butt and people don't like each other. I was one of the first to follow Brad when he first posted on the idea. It was an idea only back then in 2012. Many waited to see if it was going to be real before backing the project. With the flip flop issues back then, we held off till late to back the project.

    However..... seeing the way it looks today, i am not in favor of the game graphics and calling it out it sucks, it is not what we backed at the start. I am not into playing Fortnite games.

    So back to your question why? When we find out CM's are fired in the way we sort of understand and the project is nowhere near Alpha and the horrible graphics changes, we get concerned about our backing of the project. Hope that clears up a few things, and yes many i speak too feel it is vaporware at this point.

    No one here is privy to the details of Kilsin's employment or release and we have already stated that we are not inclined to discuss private matters. Decisions made regarding employment are made for the better of the team and/or the team members and the only people who have the ability to make that determination, are the team. I'm closing this thread. Feel free to reopen one regarding the art, but we are done entertaining community discussion on the topic of previous team members.