The development of the new MMORPG Crowfall is steadily progressing and the developers are letting fans participate in every step. Our author Benedict had the opportunity to play Crowfall and speak with the developers.
Crowfall has been in development for several years now. The Kickstarter goal was reached back in February 2015. Since then, the game has been steadily evolving and is not under any time pressure, as the studio ArtCraft Entertainment is producing and publishing it themselves.
Players were involved early on and are an important part of the development. They should test as early as possible and provide feedback to make the game into what they want it to be.
I also had the opportunity to take a closer look at Crowfall. I have invested nearly ten hours in the game and examined the current features more closely.
Additionally, I spoke with Creative Director J. Todd Coleman and Executive Producer Gordon Walton in an interview and looked at material for the now implemented campaigns. As someone who has been playing MMORPGs for over 15 years, I think: Crowfall looks really promising. And there are reasons for that.
1. An innovative yet classic class design
Crowfall offers you the chance to choose from 11 classes, each of which can be developed into one of 3 ascendant classes. You therefore have a choice between 33 unique classes for each character.
How the class system works
The archetypes follow a similar pattern to what many MMORPG veterans and roleplaying fans will be familiar with. Choosing a class that fits your playstyle is relatively easy. There are:
- Ranged fighters
- Melee fighters
- Magic users
- Supporters
- Hybrids
What makes classes special
However, the classes themselves are significantly different and more specialized than in most MMORPGs. There are special classes like Myrmidons, Duelists, and specialized Frost and Fire mages that distinguish themselves from traditional classes like Warriors and Mages. Additionally, there are only certain race/class combinations.
The class design brings a fresh wind to the genre without reinventing the genre itself. Rather than creating completely new classes with a new balancing, Crowfall chooses to add new nuances to familiar archetypes.
In particular, the ascendant classes allow players to choose their own focus for the class: more damage or perhaps healing? Safe distance or more risk in melee combat?
All of this makes the classes more special. Familiar playstyles are deepened and offer players the opportunity to find their own niche.
2. You have a role through skills
In Crowfall, not only does your character’s level increase, but also your account level. You have the opportunity to fulfill a specific role through passively rising skill points.
How specializations work
While you play or are offline, you earn points for passive skills. These are divided into:
- Profession skills
- Race skills
- Class skills
You can earn points for these categories at any time. You simply choose a path to follow, accumulating points that you can spend in the various skill trees at any time.
Through the mechanics, you won’t fall behind other players and friends if you don’t play for a while. When you come back, you will have points for skills to distribute that apply to every character of the account.
The benefits of skills
The skills from the skill trees are passive skills that improve your characters. They provide you things like stronger attacks, higher success chances in crafting, or improved resource gathering.
By following a path, you choose a role. You determine whether you are a fighter, gatherer, or craftsman. You can specialize in these roles.
You can also choose to fulfill multiple roles, but then you will have to sacrifice expertise in each role. In Crowfall, all roles are always needed:
- Crafters create equipment for fighters
- Gatherers obtain resources for the crafters
- Fighters protect gatherers on their runs
3. There is always something to do through campaigns
In a video, the campaigns from Crowfall were introduced to me. The first “unsanctioned” campaign has been playable since December 18 on the test servers of Crowfall. Starting in January 2019, there will be the first “sanctioned” campaign with special rewards for the best players on the leaderboard. Sanctioned campaigns will be a kind of “tournament”.
What are campaigns?
Campaigns are time-limited events in Crowfall where you visit randomly generated continents (worlds) and complete tasks. The focus is on gathering resources and fighting between factions. In the campaigns, the seasons even have an impact on the game.
There are different types of continents that offer various activities:
- Adventures, where players can gather resources and engage in PvE
- Sieges, where important locations of other factions are conquered
- Free Cities, where players can trade.
There are also “Breachheads,” staging areas that serve as the stronghold for the respective faction. The appearance and offerings of the worlds are always random. Coleman:
Every new campaign feels like a round of Civilization. Everything is black, and you don’t know what there is to see until someone explores the world. Not even we know that. We hit “generate” and see what comes out.
What makes campaigns special
As a campaign progresses, the “Hunger” spreads across the world until it completely consumes it. The Hunger is a form of winter that corrupts the environment and makes resources scarcer.
Since the Hunger spreads further, it limits each campaign to a certain time. Additionally, special rules may exist for campaigns. Coleman said:
When a new campaign starts, there are requirements for who can play. There could be campaigns only for level 1 characters, then I need to create a new one. Or it could only be for max-level characters, and only elves and dwarves are allowed in.
Then I have to go through my character list and see which character fits.
This makes each campaign a unique event and offers Crowfall the opportunity to create new rules, experiment with new things, and keep players engaged.
The purpose of campaigns
In campaigns, you will find resources needed for crafting items. The best items can only come from players who are dedicated to crafting.
To obtain the materials, you need a scout to reveal the position and a crew of protectors who are specialized in combat. Only then can gatherers safely collect resources for the crafters.
With the crafted equipment, you can participate in the sieges to lead your faction to victory and score on the leaderboard. Because Crowfall is an MMORPG you can win.
The best players, groups, and guilds receive rewards.
4. Creative freedom through “Eternal Kingdoms”
Crowfall not only offers campaigns where players can play against each other but also personal areas to build and get creative, called “Eternal Kingdoms”. The Eternal Kingdoms are the individual kingdoms of players.
How Eternal Kingdoms work
In your own Eternal Kingdom, you can build on the area assigned to you as you please. However, you cannot create buildings freely “block by block”.
Instead, you receive pieces for the world and finished buildings with which you can expand your kingdom.
The land is divided into lots to make it easier. This allows for easier creation of forests, cities, or other areas.
What you can do in Eternal Kingdoms
The kingdoms are not only there to express your creative side. You can also impose your own rules to create a sort of “private server”.
If you choose to create a pacifist kingdom, you turn off PvP and enjoy the tranquility with friends or strangers. Especially roleplayers will be pleased with this.
If you prefer combat, turn on PvP and host your own pit fights. On the test servers, there have already been some kingdoms that built arenas where players could fight for a title.
5. The game principle promises long-term motivation
With the unique game principle that Crowfall offers with its campaigns and class and talent system, it seeks to break away from the MMORPG genre. The features are all quite promising regarding long-term motivation.
The campaigns encourage players to engage with new characters repeatedly and try new things. Leveling a new character to the maximum level should only take a weekend. This offers variety in gameplay.
For those who prefer to be creative, they can express themselves in their Eternal Kingdom and create new scenes or dedicate themselves to roleplaying. When other players open their kingdoms to outsiders, there is also much to discover here.
Leaderboards encourage diligent PvP players to keep fighting and strive for the best. Since Crowfall is primarily focused on PvP, most players should feel at home here.
However, PvP is not only limited to combat but also involves the economy. According to Coleman, there are entire kingdoms where players attempt to simply dominate the market with their goods.
They send NPC merchants with their goods into the city and try to hold a monopoly on the best weapons and armor. An economic battle will also be part of Crowfall.
Who is Crowfall suitable for?
I also asked J. Todd Coleman and Gordon Walton for whom Crowfall is best suited. The answer was quite clear. Coleman:
Hardcore gamers, min/maxers, and PvP enthusiasts are our main target group. But many people immediately think of battles when they hear PvP. Many of our players are hardcore PvP crafters. They just want to create the best goods and make the most money. That’s why I think competitive players are our area.
Particularly in the area of crafting, Gordon Walton added: “No equipment drops as loot with us.” Instead, the best equipment comes only from (player) crafters.
However, the focus of Crowfall is heavily placed on the PvP aspect.
Can I play Crowfall alone?
I also asked this question. Coleman’s answer:
There is definitely a single-player experience. We even have some single-players with us. But they play it “for a higher purpose.” You can play as a crafter who specializes in swords or a scout who offers his services.
Additionally, Crowfall has ensured there is a PvP aspect for single players. In addition to large battles for strongholds, there are also camps and watchtowers that can be taken by skilled players alone.
In general, single players will likely thrive in Crowfall primarily in a role as a mercenary or venture out together with other single players as adventurers. Work is still ongoing on this content.
The work on Crowfall is proceeding at full speed, and the game is continually being developed. Thus, Crowfall aims to become your next MMORPG.
