Crowfall: The new MMO takes on the genre

The developer studio ArtCraft Entertainment Inc. aims to set new standards with the upcoming fantasy MMO Crowfall. The game principle is to be re-conceived from theme park and sandbox MMORPGs.

Much is still unknown about Crowfall, only that it wants to completely change the MMO scene. This is possible when you look at the developer prominence behind the game: Founder of ArtCraft Entertainment J. Todd Coleman was the Creative Director of Shadowbane, Wizard101, and Pirate101. Another co-founder is Gordon Walton, who was previously the Executive Producer of Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, and Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Thus, they bring a lot of experience that they will need: Although Crowfall is said to be oriented toward the 2004 released and now discontinued Shadowbane, it will be neither a typical sandbox nor a typical theme park MMO.

The Western Wall of ArtCraft Entertainment

On the website play2crush.com, the developers have expressed their views on the MMO genre in a provocative manner. Starting with a jab at the gaming industry, which only focuses on mass market success, they write: “With a theme park MMO, you cannot lose, and with a sandbox MMO, you cannot win. If you can neither win nor lose, why do you even play?” Good question, yet they want to win with Crowfall and develop a next-generation MMO. It is also clear what they do not want:

We do not want to kill rats anymore and no longer fill experience point bars or collect unnecessary junk.

What all this means is still unclear, as the developers are keeping game information under wraps. However, the comic graphics of Crowfall are intended to be clear and straightforward.

Dynamic Conquest and a Player-Driven Economy as the Holy Grail

The core idea of the game involves two key features: on the one hand, dynamic conquest and on the other, a player-driven economy. “Combining these two concepts is the holy grail of MMO development,” says Coleman.

In the conquests, different servers fight for their territory, similar to what happens in Guild Wars 2 in “World vs. World”. The uniqueness comes from the novel server system: Unlike in previous MMO titles, the basic game world is not distributed across all servers and then inhabited by the respective players of a server, but each server has its own virtual realm. Thus, on Server A, the game world could resemble a burning steppe, while on Server B, mountains, rivers, and valleys could embellish the landscape. According to Coleman, each server is “very unique” and predestined to be changed by a dynamic game world.

How exactly the player-regulated economy is structured will likely be revealed soon. The crafting system is expected to be a central component of the game and show parallels with those of EVE Online, Ultima Online, or Star Wars Galaxies. No wonder: The legendary designers Thomas Blair and Raph Koster, who had a major influence on crafting in SWG, are now pulling the strings at Crowfall.

They especially criticize that there have been no new impulses in crafting in recent years. In an interview with mmorpg.com, they express optimism that the team will manage to counteract stagnation with fresh ideas. Crafting is set to re-engage players and play a key role, whether for creating equipment, conquest items, or building cities.

After a Decision Comes Consequence

In Crowfall, decisions play an essential role. Every decision carries consequences. This is intended to involve players more deeply in the gameplay than ever before in an MMO. How these high goals will be implemented and achieved is not yet known. A countdown runs on the official Crowfall website until 25.02.2015, after which a major announcement regarding the game is expected, hopefully containing more detailed game information. Until then, one can already create an account and browse through the forum, where the developers have already revealed some small hints about the game.

Conclusion: Quite big promises from ArtCraft Entertainment, especially J. Todd Coleman. But Coleman truly speaks to my soul. The MMO genre needs to evolve to counter significant fluctuations and declines in player numbers. That is a fact. We have all seen what has happened to the titles of recent years: Free-to-play, megaservers, and often unsatisfactory quarterly numbers. Leading back to a rebranded homogenized mass that has grown old. Who dares to develop a new AAA MMORPG?

In the Western market, there is hardly anything apart from Everquest Next, as the risks are high – online role-playing games are among the most complex projects in the gaming industry. In Asia, the world is a little different. There, new titles are regularly released, bringing fresh air to the market, but hopeful AAA MMOs like Black Desert and Bless Online are still awaited here. Therefore, I think it’s good that the developers of Crowfall publicly commit to taking a new step and fundamentally changing the MMO genre.

Before the announcement on 25.02, one can only speculate and guess whether, and if so, to what extent Crowfall will revolutionize the scene. The question also is: How will all these innovations be implemented and what new features can we still expect? Nevertheless, I am very curious whether the search for the holy MMO grail will be crowned with success. What do you think?