Crowfall is an up and coming MMORPG causing quite a bit of buzz. Within 3 days of launching their Crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, the project is already fully backed. The game aims to merge the MMO and Strategy genres together. MMOs are persistent, your characters are yours forever (assuming you’re not on some sort of perma-death server), certain raids are catered to specific levels, specific areas contain specific mobs, and so on. Strategy games on the other hand, have an end point. Each match differs from the last and can be approached in different ways.
Crowfall seeks to draw from the best aspects of these distinct genres. Players will be able to keep their characters forever. Customization, both visually and in classes will be permitted. Each class is allowed up to three “discipline”, which are essentially sub classes. So while two Knights may charge toward each other in battle, one might be much tankier than the other, or perhaps one might suddenly stop, only to draw a bow and quickly fire an arrow. Crowfall is a game that respects play styles, and players won’t have to feel limited by whatever class they’ve selected.
Known as Crows, players will take control of these immortal beings and constantly depart to dying worlds and engage in battle. The story of the Crows is what will prevent monotonous routine after months spent on a MMO. While the characters will remain persistent, the worlds that players encompass will not be. Servers, or “Realms” consists of a campaign. These campaigns will only last from 1 to 3 months (and are split into the 4 seasons) or when game ending conditions are met. Certain campaigns may only allow certain races to join. Resource abundance can vary from campaign to campaign. The multitude of campaign variations will prevent the game from feeling stale. The conditions to end a campaign will also be varied, allowing player many choices.
With each game world being unique, this naturally means the terrain and map of each world are also different. You may have grown accustomed to the layout of your previous campaign, but suddenly you’re thrown into an unfamiliar environment once more. This allows for the joy of exploration to continue within one contained game. Crowfall also features VoxelFarm technology. While voxels may normally be associated with games like Minecraft in which players are encouraged to build, Crowfall allows for destruction. Promising completely destructible worlds, Crowfall can dig tunnels underground to surprise attack an enemy, or go with brute force and take down castle walls. It all comes down to strategic preference.
However, there is one other persistent feature of Crowfall: the Eternal Kingdom. The Eternal Kingdoms are permanent worlds that are player owned and managed. Players will have control over things like taxes and player housing. The Eternal Kingdom will act as a base where players can store their resources from campaigns and to prepare for new ones. Building structures in the Eternal Kingdom is only possible by gathering resources within campaign worlds, as Eternal Kingdoms are naturally barren of any natural resources.
Leading the charge is industry veteran Gordon Walton. Walton was an executive producer on classics like Ultima Online and Star Wars: Galaxies. Alongside him is J. Todd Coleman, who was a creative director on games like Shadowbane and Wizard101. They are backed by various members that are very familiar with the industry, and together they make up the roster of ArtCraft Entertainment.
Crowfall is currently in very early stages. To contribute to their Kickstarter and a full list of features, click here. The campaign ends on March 26th. For some sweet visuals from their press kit, see below.
Source: Games Press, Crowfall Kickstarter
