New MMO Crowfall

[Azezeil]

I've seen more info about their cash shop than any solid gampelay. No thanks.

You should probably leave the store page then.

[JamesGoblin]

Here's some test footage from two weeks ago - it's basically watching the making of a sausage, low polish and lots of raw stuff (testing aside, majority of games wouldn't even be announced this early).

To explain what it means - the teams & maps here are still very small, there is 4/13 classes with only partial spells/animations, lots of features is missing (say, sieges/captures/destruction is to be added in March sessions) and so on. Anyway, here goes:

Confessor (ranged fire DPS):



Knight (warrior / tank):

[JamesGoblin]

Raph Koster on Crowfall’s Social Gameplay:



PS for all Raph lovers, here is an earlier CF video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zltIihDcuQY

[unfilteredJW]

I have to say, from a subjective stand point, that's one nice looking UI.

[Djriff]

I love it, still waiting on my invite :C

[Axaron]

I've been spoiled by excellent PvEvP. Will this have any significant PVE content? My guess is no, given the website says A "PVP" MMO.

[JamesGoblin]

I've been spoiled by excellent PvEvP. Will this have any significant PVE content? My guess is no, given the website says A "PVP" MMO.

No, I wouldn't call it significant. There will be friendly NPCs ("thralls" connected with crafting and possibly defense etc.) and hostile monsters including bigger ones, kind of mini-bosses. But these won't be dropping epic swords and such "endgame" gear, there will be NO instanced dungeons or raids.

They'll be there merely to guard important places (graveyards, mines...) and increase level of threat. Also some might be "farmable" for mats which automatically means potential PvP hotspots, but the economy will evolve around crafting, gathering materials and fighting for territory/resources (this includes destruction / pillage of enemy structures and - on some servers - player corpse loot).

TLDR - think: Eve Online, it gives good image of Crowfall's PvP/PvE, gearing and leveling.

[ro9ue]

I need to do some catching up on this game this weekend, I didn't have time to read all of the updates. I have to say though, the "vessels" system is actually really unique and cool.

[Slaughty8]

[...]
TLDR - think: Eve Online, it gives good image of Crowfall's PvP/PvE, gearing and leveling.

Wowm then I am 100% into Crowfall. The same I can't wait for Albion Online release. Soo many great games this year. Any new info about Crowfall's release date, still planned for this year?

[JamesGoblin]

I need to do some catching up on this game this weekend, I didn't have time to read all of the updates. I have to say though, the "vessels" system is actually really unique and cool.

Vessels are actually a little "quote" from Eve Online (one of many reasons Crowfall is seen as medieval Eve) - crow spirit / vessel duality is very similar to pilot(clone) / ship in Eve.

Also, vessels can be lost/destroyed/pillaged/brought in inventory and crafted in various qualities, from "green" to "epic" or I guess "legendary", to use WoW terms.

Wow then I am 100% into Crowfall. The same I can't wait for Albion Online release. Soo many great games this year. Any new info about Crowfall's release date, still planned for this year?

Well formally December this year is still the plan, but it won't happen. Frankly, I don't expect it sooner than Q2 next year - at best.

[franciscourant]

I need to do some catching up on this game this weekend, I didn't have time to read all of the updates. I have to say though, the "vessels" system is actually really unique and cool.

I'm a fan of pretty much every feature announced for Crowfall, however the vessel system... I'm not sure about it. It will be easier to tell once we can try it, but for now I'm not sure that being allowed to switch from an archetype to the next in a single play session is really beneficial for the strategy/tactic aspects.

We will see... Other than that the world architecture, the progression, the territory conquest, temporary campaigns... the lore & Hunger, etc. are really exciting. It's cool to see that the devs are taking real risks with this game and trying new things.

Can't wait for the first campaign. =)

[JamesGoblin]

I'm a fan of pretty much every feature announced for Crowfall, however the vessel system... I'm not sure about it. It will be easier to tell once we can try it, but for now I'm not sure that being allowed to switch from an archetype to the next in a single play session is really beneficial for the strategy/tactic aspects.

We will see... Other than that the world architecture, the progression, the territory conquest, temporary campaigns... the lore & Hunger, etc. are really exciting. It's cool to see that the devs are taking real risks with this game and trying new things.

Can't wait for the first campaign. =)

Vessels (think,EVE: soul=pilot and body=ship) are one of couple risky but very interesting decisions. Of course, "quoting" EVE doesn't guarantee success, but I'm always supporting innovation and new chances - especially having current MMO landscape in mind.

I mean, I know people are (I certainly am) very much invested and tied to their avatars, and here, these will be quite expendable. So it's yet to be seen how big hit will the RPG part take.


Here is some recent Ranger PvP footage with significantly improved FPS & with bit more players on screen:



Also, catapults are added to tests, and below is the first destruction video I saw, from yesterday (I skimmed tru it - say, skip to 44:10 for some destruction):

[ro9ue]

There have been a ton of updates on this game:

[JamesGoblin]

I almost wrote "The long awaited..." - but this is rather an announcement of something like that!? Anyway - Throne War Module Overview.

"Our next module is the “Throne War Module”. This is basically a mini-campaign, a half-way step between Siege Perilous and a full-blown campaign. We’re still locking down the details, but the basic functionality looks like this:

• Three faction rules (Order, Balance, Chaos) – similar to God’s Reach
• Much bigger play area with room for multiple keeps (three or more, placed by us)
• Siege mechanics to capture these strongholds
• The map is made up of parcels that we’ve placed by hand (in the future they will be procedurally generated)
• The campaign will last multiple days (around half a week) and be “live” the entire time (except maintenance, as necessary)
• The world will include capture points that produce resources (stone, iron, wood)
• Those resources are necessary to build and repair the strongholds
• You’ll need to use caravan animals to move those resources around the map"

PS Of course, no date was given This just announces what's next after current siege tests. Speaking of which...

[sinilaid]

This game looks so awesome but €99 (or how ever much it is) for alpha is a bit too much. Will be looking forward to this (and CU).

[franciscourant]

This game looks so awesome but €99 (or how ever much it is) for alpha is a bit too much. Will be looking forward to this (and CU).

Yea that's a lot of money compared to other B2P games where we pay like $70 and can play forever. It's meant for those who are really interested in testing the game early and be part of the development I guess (with the lag, bugs, crashes, etc.). =P

I'm among the couple thousands testers of Crowfall and I really like it though. We can discuss with the developers, suggest things, give our feedback on the features recently implemented... I think it's worth the money in my case.

After Siege Perilous (current phase of test with wall destruction, larger teams, siege weapons) we will be testing a mini-campaign, so a mode that resembles more to the real game, and I guess that they'll need more testers to participate. Maybe they'll invite some Beta 1 testers at that time and Beta 1 reward is included in the $69 bundle (slightly more affordable).

[Halicia]

Yea that's a lot of money compared to other B2P games where we pay like $70 and can play forever. It's meant for those who are really interested in testing the game early and be part of the development I guess (with the lag, bugs, crashes, etc.). =P

I'm among the couple thousands testers of Crowfall and I really like it though. We can discuss with the developers, suggest things, give our feedback on the features recently implemented... I think it's worth the money in my case.

After Siege Perilous (current phase of test with wall destruction, larger teams, siege weapons) we will be testing a mini-campaign, so a mode that resembles more to the real game, and I guess that they'll need more testers to participate. Maybe they'll invite some Beta 1 testers at that time and Beta 1 reward is included in the $69 bundle (slightly more affordable).

Not directed purely at this game, but I don't understand why its worth a customer paying money to playtest an incomplete game that they'd otherwise have to pay people to do. Its bad enough to pay for a week or month of early beta access, its another thing entirely to be paying for alpha systems tests.

This is largely why I've avoided software kickstarters. After they finally launch, they're invariably cheaper on Steam... AT LAUNCH... then they were if you helped them get off the ground in kickstarter. Why punish those that helped you get the game to live ?

[1001]

Not directed purely at this game, but I don't understand why its worth a customer paying money to playtest an incomplete game that they'd otherwise have to pay people to do. Its bad enough to pay for a week or month of early beta access, its another thing entirely to be paying for alpha systems tests.

This is largely why I've avoided software kickstarters. After they finally launch, they're invariably cheaper on Steam... AT LAUNCH... then they were if you helped them get off the ground in kickstarter. Why punish those that helped you get the game to live ?

It's the exclusivity that people are paying through the nose for, the state of the game is irrelevant. These KS projects generally have no need for public testing during alpha but if people want to pay for the privilege then why not let them?

[Gorsameth]

Not directed purely at this game, but I don't understand why its worth a customer paying money to playtest an incomplete game that they'd otherwise have to pay people to do. Its bad enough to pay for a week or month of early beta access, its another thing entirely to be paying for alpha systems tests.

This is largely why I've avoided software kickstarters. After they finally launch, they're invariably cheaper on Steam... AT LAUNCH... then they were if you helped them get off the ground in kickstarter. Why punish those that helped you get the game to live ?

Only bad kickstarters are cheaper after release then before.
Good kickstarters sell you the base game for X and then early access to those who want for X + more.

Companies are asking extra money to test their game because people are willing to pay money for it. That's how commerce works.

[Orby]

The game looks nice and the developers are really trying to sell it and they sound super passionate.

Unfortunately as a 11 years strong WoW player I look at this like every MMO and say "Do I really want to put loads of time (which I don't have now days) into another MMO" the answer being 'no', no I don't.

I have lost count of how many MMO's I have tried over the years to try and replace WoW,. the last MMO being Black Desert. and No matter how much I force myself to like them I keep coming back to WoW even with the current dead state it's in, even though I don't play WoW anymore as much as I used to, I am even unsubbed right now until Legion arrives.

5 - 7 years ago I would have jumped at wanting to play this, as I didn't have a job, a family or much of a life, I was at university wasting all my time playing WoW and making art. I will play any game now days that doesn't involve a massive time sink. But as far as MMO's go they are pretty samish to me.

But if anyone else outside me that has free time it looks like fun, I say on my behalf if you are looking for a new MMO give it a go, I just don't have the time. Its got dwarfs too which makes me want to play it