[Kickstarter page] I am personally more used to seeing crowd-funding campaigns for online games failing these days, especially those with targets of over USD 500,000. ArtCraft Entertainment, with its debut MMORPG Crowfall, has somewhat bucked that trend with the USD 800,000 target secured, and accomplished in just 4 days! What makes Crowfall so different from the others?
For those who didn’t know, each game world (or Campaign World) has a limited time, lasting around 1 to 3 months or until some win condition is met. Each Campaign has four stages: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. With each passing season, the World grows more deadly as the land is consumed by an unstoppable legion of undead – The Hunger, which you can learn more below.
At the end of Winter, the Campaign is over. A victorious side is declared, the map is wiped and that World goes offline forever. Players, with their characters intact, are then set to join another Campaign World. There are several different kingdoms players can fight for, and destruction is key in Crowfall. In fact, the game is pretty much like Minecraft, except just much less block-y.
The beginning of each Campaign is like the first round of Civilization: players are dropped into a harsh environment, surrounded by Fog-of-War. The Worlds are filled with deadly monsters, haunted ruins, abandoned quarries… and the most dangerous predator of all, other players. Craft weapons, scavenge armor, secure a stronghold, forge alliances and conquer the World!
Other than Campaign Worlds, there is also the Eternal Kingdoms, which are barren of resources but last forever (never deleted like Campaign Worlds). Players will be allocated an Eternal Kingdom, and at the end of each Campaign, they can return to either count their spoils or lick their wounds before they choose a new Campaign and fight again.
Heroes are created using a deep multi-classing system. Start with a base archetype (such as a Knight) and add advantages (such as “Eagle Eyes”, which increases archery skill) and disadvantages (such as “Poor health”, which decreases endurance but frees up points to spend elsewhere. From there, classes can be promoted (from “Knight” to “Sentinel”, a heavily armored ranged warrior).
Each hero archetype represents a core role and play style. For instance, certain heroes will be extremely effective in combat situations while others excel at crafting and resource management. Players can also create and manage multiple heroes across multiple active campaigns and kingdoms, each with their own unique capabilities and resources. Man, what a game Crowfall will be!
