Crowfall is a seamless blend of an MMO with a large-scale Strategy game, where players control the universe, to shape as they see fit. Characters are persistent, but the campaign worlds are not. players are Immortal Champions, traveling between realms to fight in an eternal War of the Gods.
Each Campaign World is a server or "realm". It exists for a limited time – typically 1 to 3 months -- or until some win condition is met. During this time, the World will change. 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.
At the end of Winter, the Campaign is over. A victor is declared, the map is wiped and that World goes offline forever... ...but the characters are NEVER wiped. Instead, the participants take their winnings back home to the Eternal Kingdoms, to prepare and strategize for the next Campaign.
Following on the success of the Crowfall Kickstarter campaign earlier this year, ArtCraft Entertainment has now amassed more than two million dollars via continued funding through the official website.
Equally impressive, the campaign continues to pull in a record dollars-per-backer amount, amassing this sum from more than 19,000 individuals. The company’s founders, J. Todd Coleman (creative director, Shadowbane, Wizard101, Pirate101) and Gordon Walton (executive producer, Ultima Online, Star Wars Galaxies, Star Wars: The Old Republic) attribute this to Crowfall’s unique vision—a blend between a large-scale feudal strategy game and a traditional MMO.
"We weren’t sure what would happen post-Kickstarter. We knew that we would offer pledge bundles on our website, but would they get any traction?” mused Coleman, who also serves as Crowfall’s creative director. "Obviously we hoped so, since the additional funding will only serve to make the game that much better, but would it grow or flatline? We had no idea what to expect.”
"The answer is: our momentum is growing,” added Executive Producer Gordon Walton. “In terms of overall pledges, total number of backers, and web traffic; every week is bigger than the previous.”
The Worlds are made of voxels (like Minecraft, only much less blocky) – which means the entire World is destructible. Crowfall's campaign maps are procedurally generated -- meaning that the process of creating every mountain, forest, river, castle and abandoned village is automated. Each World is different, which means that the game of territorial conquest will be different in every Campaign.
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.
There are two types of Worlds in the Crowfall universe: the Campaign Worlds, which produce materials (stone, iron and wood) and the Eternal Kingdoms, which are barren of resources -- but last forever. If each Campaign is like a soccer match, the Eternal Kingdoms encompass the entire season! Unlike the Campaigns, these Worlds are permanent -- and they are completely managed and owned by the players.
Players act as rulers -- they can divide up their domains into provinces and grant those lands to other players. Benevolent monarch or iron-fisted tyrant, what kind of kingdom will you rule?
The Eternal Kingdom can be massive -- with mountains and rivers, castles and villages, dungeons and ruins. They are also devoid of resources: stone, iron and wood. To gain the resources necessary to build structures and craft items, players will have to participate in Campaigns... or treat with those who do.
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