A Triple Serving of Awesome - Crowfall Previews

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A Triple Serving of Awesome - Crowfall Previews

Double rainbows can take a hike, as Crowfall developers pull a hat trick of major announcements after a week of confusion. They let the community know there’d be a big reveal, but just failed to mention that reveal was actually three big reveals on the same day.

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Slapshot1188

Have to digest this but at face value I like it all!

Leiloni

They have a Cleric class? When was that announced? What is it?

LrdEtrius

Leiloni said:

They have a Cleric class? When was that announced? What is it?

“Legionnaire” has been changed to “Cleric” because it is no longer uniquely related to the Centaur culture. It also means this class will have a rework coming (which, frankly, was already overdue).

FelixMajor

Would like to try this game sometime.

Wellspring

Very interesting! I really like the race/class change.

How are disciplines earned?

One major thing I didn't like about Crowfall alpha so far, is that you level up your character's skills by time based unlocks -- instead of actually playing the game.

To increase your players skills, you simply needed to select which skill you want to improve, and then log out. After a few RL hours or days passed, you'd have unlocked the next skill level.

It's been a few months since I've played the alpha build, and I haven't been following the development that closely, so it may have changed since then... But as it stood, their skill system wasn't my favorite. I want to improve my character by actually playing the game, not by waiting for a timer to count down.

Arkade99

Wellspring said:

Very interesting! I really like the race/class change.



How are disciplines earned?



One major thing I didn't like about Crowfall alpha so far, is that you level up your character's skills by time based unlocks -- instead of actually playing the game.



To increase your players skills, you simply needed to select which skill you want to improve, and then log out. After a few RL hours or days passed, you'd have unlocked the next skill level.



It's been a few months since I've played the alpha build, and I haven't been following the development that closely, so it may have changed since then... But as it stood, their skill system wasn't my favorite. I want to improve my character by actually playing the game, not by waiting for a timer to count down.

You will improve your character by playing the game. Obtaining higher quality resources, using them to craft better vessels, better gear and better disciplines. Or killing your enemies and taking stuff from them.

The skill system is still passive and IMO, that's how it should be. The idea is that they want players to spend their time actually playing the game and working toward winning the campaign instead of grinding on mobs for XP.

Mikeha

Hype level rising.

cheyane

I think this game might break my no PvP rule. Do you lose a lot when you die in PvP how far back do get set back to and is it full loot PvP ?

They are doing so many great things I don't want to miss out and I saw the recent graphic thing just posted and I really do like wheat I see but those that supported this game must be pleased.

postlarval

I was getting more interested until I saw who authored the article. Red would try and convince a quarryman he needs a pet rock for the right price. Richard must have cut off his allowance.

zedsdead

This is the only crowdfunding MMO that looks like it may actually have a successful release. Game looks great so far.

Octagon7711

It does look and sound interesting. I don't normally PvP but am considering checking this one out. Still too early to say, though.

druez

This is good. Very good.

knightsbayne

I love me some Crowfall, but am I the only one who hates the lighting from the video? I know they have more control over their lighting now, but those shadows are really really dark in the video.

Thane

zedsdead said:

This is the only crowdfunding MMO that looks like it may actually have a successful release. Game looks great so far.

my hopes are still with marc jacobs

MarkJacobs

Woot! Thanks Red, I've leveled up to insane. That's a major gain from when we were just called crazy for building our own engine by our friends in the industry!!!

In all seriousness, gratz to Crowfall and its backers, the Unity and graphical upgrades are, IMO, a smart move by ACE. Well done.

Tintagil

A massive reveal indeed! As others have said, I will have to take some time to digest all of this info, but on the surface I am very pleased with these changes. My dreams of a Minotaur Champion just came true!

Shaigh

Have they made any mentions on how many more pre-alpha module tests they will do until they start with some alpha testing?

Wizardry

I play Hearthstone which uses Unity and it is awful.I just went back to try Gorgon again and yet again,even after more than a year and a half the frame rates are awful.I have not seen one positive from using Unity on the gamer's side but likely VERY cheap for the developer.

Race/Class might be big news to someone but not me,i would expect races and classes,expectations should not be a surprise.

IDK about any major announcement,this sounds to me like nothing more than telling us the team is working on the game,yep we would already figure as much.
Terms like stoked....invested,i see the invest part being part of the job,so goes with the territory and stoked,well why not be stoked for ANY game doing the same ideas?Point being,when they have something unique or very interesting,it might be worth noting,but this is just typical game design and someone is getting stoked over typical stuff?

As to graphical upgrades,i already stated what i think or don't think of the Unity engine.So i would have to see LIVE in game video and accompanied by frame rates to get even remotely interested because talk is cheap and easy to do.

Red_Thomas

cheyane said:

I think this game might break my no PvP rule. Do you lose a lot when you die in PvP how far back do get set back to and is it full loot PvP ?

They are doing so many great things I don't want to miss out and I saw the recent graphic thing just posted and I really do like wheat I see but those that supported this game must be pleased.

You'll want to take a closer look at PvP, it's not really going to work quite like anything you've experienced before, I think.  The gist of it is that PvP happens in campaigns that last for a set amount of time.  Multiple campaigns are going on at once with a spread of rules from fairly easy and low-impact, to hardcore free-for-all.  Any answer for one ruleset may not be true for another, and there will be new rulesets coming in and going away over time.

I don't think I've specifically asked about loot dropping, but my impression is that it'll be a total drop on death.  Just keep in mind that you're in these campaigns for weeks to months and you should go into it kind of thinking that your character doesn't really keep any loot past the campaign.  Not that you can't leave the campaign with stuff.  There's a special bank that you put things you'd like to take with you after the campaign (in the bank, not on you.  that's an important distinction).  

You'll get a chance per item for that item to transfer out of the campaign and into your Eternal Kingdom, and the chance goes up based on how hardcore the ruleset of the campaign and whether or not you win the campaign.  They haven't mentioned it, but I think they should sell items to increase your chances in the cash shop, too.

This is one of the things I really like about this game.  I think the various rulesets will really create something for everyone, and I really think the idea that these campaigns are self-contained will keep people from being too upset about total loot drops.  Plus, with the survival genre still going strong, I think the industry is a lot more open to that idea than it was several years ago.

rathalas22

One of the biggest issues I foresee is that only a select few race/class/discipline combinations will be viable to play. This has happened in many games before this one. IMHO it will be worse in this game due to the devs stating that they are not trying to balance them. Time will tell.

Red_Thomas

MarkJacobs said:

Woot! Thanks Red, I've leveled up to insane. That's a major gain from when we were just called crazy for building our own engine by our friends in the industry!!!

In all seriousness, gratz to Crowfall and its backers, the Unity and graphical upgrades are, IMO, a smart move by ACE. Well done.

I still think you're crazy, dude.  

At the end of the day, it's all costs:benefits.  I'm sure guys like you look at it and see some very clear weight on building your own engine, and frankly you've been successful at it.  There's no denying that.

On the flip side, though.  If you didn't have to invest development resources in all that back-end development, and were able to focus on game design and more complex game systems...  It really seems hard to justify the expense.  Of course, if you already have guys experienced in that, have a head start on it, and all the other tons of variables that go into what form of development effort has the biggest impact...  There are always going to be plenty of situations where it makes sense.

As a general rule, I think it's a pretty bad idea for studios to attempt their own engine.  You'd definitely know better, but I'm pretty comfortable with that statement.

MarkJacobs

Red_Thomas said:

MarkJacobs said:

Woot! Thanks Red, I've leveled up to insane. That's a major gain from when we were just called crazy for building our own engine by our friends in the industry!!!



In all seriousness, gratz to Crowfall and its backers, the Unity and graphical upgrades are, IMO, a smart move by ACE. Well done.

I still think you're crazy, dude.  

At the end of the day, it's all costs:benefits.  I'm sure guys like you look at it and see some very clear weight on building your own engine, and frankly you've been successful at it.  There's no denying that.

On the flip side, though.  If you didn't have to invest development resources in all that back-end development, and were able to focus on game design and more complex game systems...  It really seems hard to justify the expense.  Of course, if you already have guys experienced in that, have a head start on it, and all the other tons of variables that go into what form of development effort has the biggest impact...  There are always going to be plenty of situations where it makes sense.

As a general rule, I think it's a pretty bad idea for studios to attempt their own engine.  You'd definitely know better, but I'm pretty comfortable with that statement.

Hey wait, did you just downgrade me from insane? I'm depressed now.

The difference for us, and why we are building our own engine was that we were/are going for large-scale battles (1k+). In 2013, that was impossible to do via Unity/Crytek/Unreal. ACE and CSE went two very different and quite interesting routes in our Kickstarters. In order to deliver on our game, we needed to try to make our own engine, in the case of ACE, they weren't going for that same scale game, they were/are are focusing on other things first and foremost. Neither of our approaches is right nor wrong. We can both fail, we can both succeed. We could even fail in unexpected ways which always makes game development, and especially MMORPG development, much more challenging.

And you're absolutely right, in most cases it's a bad idea to make your own engine. OTOH, I'm sure the CEO of Improbable is probably a very happy man now.

As per above, gratz to ACE and its backers, I'm sure that most of them (you can never make everybody happy as I always say about our updates) very happy with this update! Cheers!

Atis-nob

Red_Thomas said: They haven't mentioned it, but I think they should sell items to increase your chances in the cash shop, too.

That would be a huge turn off for many players. A game with box price and subscription that is mandatory for competitive people should be able to avoid paid advantages in shop. Selling buildings and parcels already raises some questions but these offers are at least limited. Selling power to win more loot in every single campaign would slap a huge p2w stigma on game and company.

Trident9259

is this the one that has swashbuckling mice?



pass.

Alomar

Well, some good changes indeed. This addressed 2/3 of my main complaints with this game, even though I was willing to try it with them. Now, if only someone could "accidently" erase all the coding for the rat/mouse race I'd be all in....until CU came out. Keep them cheap shots at people willing to push the boundaries coming.