Crowfall MMO Kickstarter campaign begins

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Vega

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Crowfall MMO Kickstarter campaign begins

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-02-24-crowfall-mmo-kickstarter-campaign-begins

This is the game I wrote excitedly about recently (and I'll write more about very soon). It's an MMO where players fight other players on procedurally generated server-sized worlds that, over the course of months, eventually die.

But characters don't die, they persist. They live in an Eternal Kingdom worlds. However, if characters there want resources then they have to fight on the dying worlds for them. And the more resources you have, the more power in the Eternal Kingdoms you have. There's a fealty political hierarchy in play.

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crowfall/crowfall-throne-war-pc-mmo
 
Taking on a MMO with big hitters like Everquest Next being made....
I doubt it will live up to the potential.....but it could...Shadowbane was all the talk like 10 years ago =)
 
When they say SW Galaxies, is he the guy who destroyed it and then tried to put it back after he already chased away all of the players? If so I hope his kickstater fails and he gets hit by a truck.

I miss when seeing a jedi was like, "ZOMG A JEDI !!".
 
Kardonxt said:
When they say SW Galaxies, is he the guy who destroyed it and then tried to put it back after he already chased away all of the players? If so I hope his kickstater fails and he gets hit by a truck.

I miss when seeing a jedi was like, "ZOMG A JEDI !!".
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That would be John Smedley and he is the President of the company that used to be SOE, which is now named Daybreak and no longer affiliated with Sony. So the answer is no he is no J Todd Coleman is not that guy and I do not see any affiliation of Crowfall to Daybreak games.
 
not going to play it just based on the artstyle alone not my cup of tea, i do not like the blocky cartoon look that is shares with wow and is a super big turn off to me.
 
c@Nc3r said:
That would be John Smedley and he is the President of the company that used to be SOE, which is now named Daybreak and no longer affiliated with Sony. So the answer is no he is no J Todd Coleman is not that guy and I do not see any affiliation of Crowfall to Daybreak games.
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Thanks for the info. Then I wish him good luck with his kickstarter and hope John Smedley is hit by a truck. :)
 
I think it's interesting. Power struggles between player factions, was an integral part of the original DIKU MUDs.

One person governing the "Eternal Kingdoms" in between the land destruction thingy sounds a bit overpowered?

I'd like to see more about the procedural world. They have half of the money that they need and 29 days to go, so I hope that it works out for them.

I'm glad that somebody is trying something new.
 
c@Nc3r said:
That would be John Smedley and he is the President of the company that used to be SOE, which is now named Daybreak and no longer affiliated with Sony. So the answer is no he is no J Todd Coleman is not that guy and I do not see any affiliation of Crowfall to Daybreak games.
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LucasArts was equally responsible for what happened to SWG. They demanded that SOE make changes similar to the ones they did, though SOE was happy to oblige and did not resist in the slightest (or even try to treat the players with more respect than they did).

Comixbooks said:
Taking on a MMO with big hitters like Everquest Next being made....
I doubt it will live up to the potential.....but it could...Shadowbane was all the talk like 10 years ago =)
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How many "big hitters" have we had? Let's face it, there has not been a single decent MMO since EVE, and before than not since Ultima Online. And even those two are mediocre and were never worth someone's time relative to excellent singleplayer and regular-multiplayer games. There is no indication at all, that SOE of all people, is going to actually do something different with EQN besides token-features that do not come anywhere close to meeting the sandbox hype. Maybe they will, but certainly not likely enough for others to not even try to compete.

DPI said:
People aren't gonna be calling it anything, because it'll barely exist.
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Very likely the most accurate statement here. Why are they trying to make a MMO off of kickstarter money? Do a kickstarter for a good singleplayer or multiplayer game as a basis...build a reputation and make money off of that first.
 
Its so easy to be cynical about gaming these days, its easy to get sucked into that even if you're not a cynical person; I'm one of those cynical idiots and sometimes I catch myself and realize it sucks, and it blows. It blows an entire mule train humping a sierra nevada grade. But I spent a few minutes reading their actual ideas with this game, and they aren't bad. They'll reach their funding goal, in less than 24hrs they've already hit 476,000 of the requested 800,000. But I think their biggest challenge won't be funding, but standing out.

The notions of Kickstarter, Early Access, MMO's, MOBA's, Fantasy RPG's - they've all sort of followed the path of reality TV to some extents: honest and fun at the beginning, now they're just the equivalent of a guy banging a pot on his head with a wooden spoon.
 
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I do not doubt they have good ideas, but developing a good MMOG is much more expensive and complicated (so even with money, you need talent) than a good MP or SP game. So if they have to resort to a kickstarter...it's not looking good for their prospects of having enough resources to turn their ideas into a fully functioning, and good, game. Only fundraising on the level of Star Citizen would make me say they have a decent chance.
 
Comixbooks said:
Taking on a MMO with big hitters like Everquest Next being made....
I doubt it will live up to the potential.....but it could...Shadowbane was all the talk like 10 years ago =)
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I don't think there's really any successful big hitters in recent times. Wildstar and Elder Scroll were perhaps the most hyped MMO in recent time, and they both failed to live up to their hype.

We'll have to wait and see what happens with EQN, but I'm not too optimistic after what went on with SOE, which saw a couple of top people being let go from the team.

I think there's still that desire for a new successful MMO, which is yet to be fulfilled. So there's certainly room for this one to be a success, if they get it right.
 
Planetside 2 did pretty good so did Guild Wars 2 but both kinda died down by now.

Meanwhile I can't even find a game in Advanced Warfare at this time of day....
 
Looks very interesting...but I have to say I'm getting a bit sick of how much you spend to get the special perk in just about every major crowdfunded MMO. It shouldn't take a $250+ investment to get "the good stuff" and its far worse if these some of these rewards are exclusive.
 
Looks like a Failure in the making if Lord British can't pull it off how are these guy going to do it?
The name of the game is just bad... Cash Grab for sure with no Heart behind the game...
If Guild Wars 2 could kinda pull it off this thing isn't for sure....
 
VIP membership allows all 3 of your character slots to be passively trained, as opposed to the 1 slot that would be passively trained without it. There doesn't seem to be any other appreciable change to gameplay (forum badge who cares etc). Also priority access to servers, could be relevant at the start of campaigns.

VIP subscriptions are tradeable in-game (presumably on a month by month basis).
 
I'm worried about their timeline for finishing the game.

I've always thought that Star Citizen might be the equivalent of the Death Star, against every other MMO in existence. I know that there are purists that are "fantasy only" or "sci-fi only" but World of Warcraft was an icebreaker that ended up killing the player bases, in the original Telnet, MUDs.

The more that I read about Star Citizen ( Shielding & Mining ) the more that I think that will be true. Chris Roberts is going balls to the walls:

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14489-Design-Shields-Management

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14522-Star-Citizen-Careers-Mining


Edit: For the Fantasy purists ( LOL ):

"Ultra Extended Alderaan Explosion"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBAZGtBfcY4
 
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Xaeos said:
Looks very interesting...but I have to say I'm getting a bit sick of how much you spend to get the special perk in just about every major crowdfunded MMO. It shouldn't take a $250+ investment to get "the good stuff" and its far worse if these some of these rewards are exclusive.
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Yea those packages are pretty nuts. I had a little chuckle at the FAQ. "Why isn't there an option higher than $10,000?" A: "Kickstarter wouldn't let us have a package higher than $10,000, contact us and we can discuss rewards!"
 
For those who may be interested, as I post there are 20 hours remaining in the Crowfall crowdfunding drive. They've already hit their funding requirement and have crushed quite a few stretch goals. There are also lots of updates on Kickstarter and the website for the game itself that describe the game's systems in more detail, compared to early in the campaign.

If you want to lock in, now is the time!
 
The only MMO i'd REALLY love to see a modern remake of is City of Heroes. Now that it's gone, i'm missing it alot. :(
Did hear rumors that they may have a remake or something like it eventually but but that's all i've heard though.
 
kamxam said:
The only MMO i'd REALLY love to see a modern remake of is City of Heroes. Now that it's gone, i'm missing it alot. :(
Did hear rumors that they may have a remake or something like it eventually but but that's all i've heard though.
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I don't get why CoH folded. It had a relatively small, but loyal and static, customer base that must have been able to cover operating expenses at the minimum and a little bit of new content every once in a while.
 
I'm on the fence with Crowfall.

It seems like an MMO, but also a lobby esque PvP game where I sit in my EK and load in to campaigns I want to, which doesn't seem very MMO like when I'm just picking and choosing a map like I would in a CoD or BF multiplayer.

I hope I'm missing something?
 
Sky15 said:
I'm on the fence with Crowfall.

It seems like an MMO, but also a lobby esque PvP game where I sit in my EK and load in to campaigns I want to, which doesn't seem very MMO like when I'm just picking and choosing a map like I would in a CoD or BF multiplayer.

I hope I'm missing something?
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My understanding is that its a matter of scale; it isn't a "lobby" game any more so than say... hanging out in any MMO's city areas are "lobbies" and then going to adventure out in the world.

The "Campaign maps"" are huge, world sized - they have NPCs, dungeons, resource nodes etc... and you can build guild/player cities here as well, and all the siege/city combat you can think of (plus the destructible terrain is nice!) When you arrive you won't have any idea where to find the good resources, the topography etc... but as you and everyone else playing does so, the map will take shape. Those who remember Shadowbane, think of that concept. Of course, things built out on a campaign map can be destroyed by enemies - player and NPC alike. They run for a particular point of time, and then the Campaign is over and the world disappears. Victors are crowned and loss states are possible too, not just in PVP.

For instance, it is possible for the NPC "bad guy" faction to completely overwhelm the players mapwide and that "world" will be forever lost to The Hunger, so no players will have "won" on that map. Then another map with that ruleset will come into being, likely with some features in place depending on the previous one's end. There will be multiple "Campaign" rulesets from what I've read - ranging from things like "Order, Balance, and Chaos" (each person and/or guild has to align with one of the three factions and is an enemy to the other two), all the way down to the hardcore "every man for themselves PVP, with significant loot drop" types. There may also be stranger types like "only Elves and Dwarves are allowed on this campaign map, and it is Elf v Dwarf" or "Free for all PVP, but only Centaurs and Minotaur characters are allowed on this campaign".

The "Eternal Kingdoms" are another complimentary part of the game - this is the "town" play. The crafters, the traders, the tavern-style roleplaying, politics, city building etc....while all these things will also happen on Campaign realms, they will be in a different manner within EKs (ie Building a city on an EK is very different in aims and methodology than building one on a Campaign shard). EK realms will lack all but the most basic resources, so in order to build and craft you'll need to go into the Campaigns or get someone who "lives" in your EK to do so and bring back the goods! This will enable you to say, upgrade your buildings, craft better stuff etc.. and heavily ties into the Monarch system. You can grant people the right to build on a plot of land you own, control taxes and/or require certain actions etc.. and share in their wealth. Maybe some people want to run small EKs of their own, others may want to settle down as part of a large kingdom owned by someone else, acting as a vassal..

At least from what I've read, its a full MMO experience, not a "lobby" setup. Hope this helps a bit.

Edit: 10 hours to go, and they're pretty close to breaking 1.7 million!
 
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Game almost broke 17,000 backers

Camelot Unchained has like 14,000 backers

But it increases if they open up Backers on their website.

My only complaint is the Art Design looks to be the same painterly look that Dishonored and the Animations are kinda Comic book like but hell if could be better then Guildwars 2.
They could Scrap the Art Design concepts I suppose and Start Over. It looks like Everquest Landmark Art.

If I created MMO I would Steal everything that Everquest 2 did Right Art wise =)
Then use Dark Age of Camelots Game Mechanics and Rifts attentions to detail for the Interface.
 
They certainly plan to allow backing via the website. My understanding is that, now that Kickstarter-tier are closed, there will be "2015 post-KS" tier pledges which have almost, but not quite, all the extras offered during the Kickstarter era. Prices will be similar, maybe a little higher than some of the "early bird" options.

The main element that displeases me is that Kickstarter backers will NOT be able to upgrade to higher pledges (as of today), and still receive all the bonuses of the "KS-tier" edition of that pledge. For instance, if you bought the $60 Backer package, during KS, you'll get all the KS bonus items in all teirs up to to and including that one. Then, lets say you want to upgrade to Bronze tier ($100) - you'll still keep your KS goodies up to $60, but above it including Bronze etc... will only be granted to you as if you bought a NON-KS "2015 Bronze" pledge instead.!

This is completely the opposite of what the most successful crowdfunded MMOs to date have done (Star Citizen, Shroud of the Avatar - both of which allowed early backers to keep their special status and upgrade to higher tiers with that status intact) and I feel its a really bad policy. This makes it less likely for players who locked in during Kickstarter to upgrade later, knowing they won't be granted KS benefits for then upgraded level. Not every player can afford to put down $100+ or more all at once during the KS funding period, but there will be two or more years to come before the game goes live and during that time players could add to their pledge as thy wish - there's a strong precedent of this in the best crowdfunded titles. I hope they change this policy if there's enough pressure from the backer base.

With regards to the art design, I personally like it and understand it grants a lot of benefits. Hyper-realism often looks wonky and requires lots more GPU power, compared to stylized characters. One thing that brought World of Warcraft to success over EverQuest 2 (and I was initially an EQ2 buyer!) was its good-looking stylized art that required much less processing power than EQ2. Devs have finally figured this out I think (after such faux pas as Age of Conan etc..). Especially considering this is a game that will have massive amounts of players fighting each other (a la UO and Shadowbane), plus the additional computations of destructible voxel-based terrain there will be even more horsepower needed to render all this; a factor multiplied exponentially if they went with realism. Everyone has their preferences however, but I don't really mind so long as the art style has character, looks good, and plays well.
 
I think the idea is brilliant and is what is lacking from a lot of games... new ideas. This is something I would love to play if it is done well.
 
For those who may be wondering, Crowfall met their Kickstarter goal and have shifted over to allowing backing via their website. Kickstarter packages are still the best value, but the 2015 packages are still excellent, in line with their "the earlier you back, the more stuff you get, all other things being equal". They have also raised a large amount of funding from more conventional investment sources, so they are not building the game entirely on the backs of crowdfunders. It is also worth it to note that the game at launch will be Buy To Play exclusively, with the option for a "VIP subscription" which conveys some bonuses.

There are now several new design documents on their website showcasing the game' systems and they've begun to offer some backer package "customizations/individual item purchases" (ie Maybe you want to start with a larger Fort or Keep for your Eternal Kingdom, without backing one of the ultra-high tier that normally grants it.) and many of them are even on sale right now.

Thankfully the developers went back on Kickstarter backers not being able to upgrade their pledges and get the full Kickstarter benefits of the next level; now you can do so! Furthermore, they made it so that existing Kickstarter backers like myself can purchase ONE(no longer available to anyone else) Kickstarter Level Pledge to be gifted to another player! This feature will be active at least through the rest of the month of June and many of us are trying to convince the devs to widen the accessibility both in number of packages and in time "open". In the event that they do so, I'll open an at-cost pledge-gifting project much as I did for Star Citizen and Shroud of the Avatar!

For the time being though, I will be selling my one giftable Kickstarter-tier Crowfall pledge of ANY Level! I shall make a FS/FT thread with more details, but for any of those interested feel free to PM me! I especially implore those who are interested at backing high-leveled packages to contact - Even more so than at lower levels, the KS version of high leveled packages have major benefits! For instance, the 2015 version of the Amber Bundle ($250+) offers a very respectable good value of 1 Year of VIP subscription...where the KS Amber Bundle ($250) has 6 (yes, SIX) years of VIP included! Bonuses like this are the reason they're limiting KS packages, I'm sure!

Likewise, if anyone is interested in the game itself feel free to post here...or should I create a new thread now that the title is out of Kickstarter funding?
 
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how did I miss this?

not a big crowdfunder...but Vega's endorsement...well, that means something
 
No time to gab! Through a series of events, the person who originally purchased a pledge from me is lacking a viable payment method - this means I have a single pledge (of any tier, as stated above) available! However, we're down to the wire (as in the ability to purchase said pledge will likely be gone sometime tomorrow, if not sooner!), I won't be making a full FS post; PM me for more info.

Long story short, here is a comparison of all pledge tiers, and the major differences between the Kickstarter edition and the standard 2015 edition . Please note that listed prices are for example only - contact me via PM if you are interested ASAP and I can give you info on final pricing so we can lock in the pledge!

https://i.imgur.com/bBLWqgw.jpg
 
Any opinions on crowfall more recently? I was strongly recommended it by a friend today. I have an original email backing alpha sign up with them but that's it. Am I able to hop on the forums with that still? I don't know that I ever made the forum account even tho I had the ability to.

Especially curious of more thoughts recently by Vega.

Also what is the minimum tier you really would want to back for if you chose to buy a 2015 one from them now? Is it really even a need to do it? Are they looking at 2016 release for a date?

EDIT :Google says aimed for probably optimistic end of 2016 date. Game has no nda!? Very nice . Newer euro gamer article was by Vega too. From August.
 
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