Following the wild success, and timely completion of their technology demo crowdfunding effort
back in June, the crew at Seattle-based crew of tabletop veterans at Goblinworks have launched a new
Kickstarter project for the Pathfinder Online game proper, and have already raised over 10% of their ambitious US$1,000,000 goal in the pledge drive's first 24 hours.
Pathfinder Online is a hybrid sandbox/theme park-style MMO where characters explore, develop, find adventure and dominate a wilderness frontier in a land of sword and sorcery.
In a sandbox MMO your characters are able to make a persistent impact on the game world. Your characters will be the heroes of legend. Your character’s actions will determine how kingdoms rise and fall. They’ll drive trade and commerce. They’ll explore the world and discover the magic, monsters and adventure that await.
For those not familiar with the franchise, Pathfinder is a tabletop fantasy role-playing game launched in 2009 that boasts to now be outselling genre stalwart Dungeons & Dragons. The game development company Goblinworks has been founded by veterans of both tabletop and MMO videogames, with resumes that include the CEO of Paizo Publishing and co-founder of Wizards of the Coast, former CMO of Eve Online developer CCP, the Programming Lead of Cryptic's City of Villains, among others.
The pitch explains that the developer already has the funding to make the completed game on a long timeline, but that sourcing extra funding, and community participation in the development process via Kickstarter will allow them to expedite the process, and increase the game's scope.
With gameplay based on the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, key features include a single server with unrestricted world PvP. The game is currently planned for PC, with Mac and Linux both possible if resources permit. The first stretch goal has been marked for $1.06M and will add additional races.
The planned final release date will depend on final funding levels, with projections ranging from 2015 to 2016, following a 2014 beta. However, so-called "crowdforgers" can opt for early enrolment via higher pledge tiers, and help shape the game's development process as it happens.
Watch the pitch video below, and head over to the Pathfinder Online
Kickstarter page for a saving throw.