Crowfall aka Play2Crush aka Shadowbane II aka Nostalgia Online

[Merusk]

Might makes right, bitches.

[Falconeer]

New Character Progression FAQ. It really is a lot like Shadowbane. Which is a very good thing.

How does character progression work?

Character progression happens in a few different ways.

At character creation, the player selects an Archetype, and a series of Advantages and Disadvantages.

This is done on a point system; each character (or avatar) has a set number of points that can be spent to improve the character. Additional points can be gained by taking Disadvantages. There is a limit to the number of Advantage and Disadvantage runes that can be added to each character.  

After creating the character and advancing your base skills to a level of competency through gameplay, each Archetype has the option to promote to another Class or occupation. We are planning for multiple promotion classes for each base Archetype.

The promotion classes enable the player to skew their character in a specific direction. Want to be a Knight who does more damage? Promote to Swordsman! Want to be a Knight who has even more defensive skills? Promote to Crusader! Want to be a Knight who has a ranged weapon and skills? Promote to Sentinel!



Can I change my Promotion Class later?  

No. There are a few changes that are permanent, and this is one of them. Choose carefully.  



What does a promotion class grant?  

In almost all cases the promotion class increases your skill maximums on all relevant skills. This enables the player to train their skills deeper into a chosen path, becoming a master at what they do.

Most of the time promotion also grants new powers to use in combat and extends the awesomeness of existing powers.

Sometimes promotion will grant a new weapon that can be used along with skills and powers that accompany it. Such as a melee class gaining the ability to use a bow and the skills that accompany bow usage.  

Promotion also offers the character a final chance to alter any of their advantages and disadvantages. At this point we think the player fully understands what would be useful to their character as a permanent choice.



What are the requirements to promote?  

We are still working on the exact mechanics that will allow a character to promote to their promotion class but are pretty sure it will have something to do with skill points. Either earn a specific total amount of skill points or train some specific skills to a required amount. It might even be a combination of both.



After I select a Promotion Classes, am I done with customization?

No. In addition to promotion classes, characters can also take Disciplines, which are a type of “sub-class” to further customize your character.

Disciplines are applied by collecting Runestones in the game, and applying them to your character. Not every Discipline will be available to every Archetype – but every Archetype will have access to many, many Disciplines.

Disciplines allow you to further customize your characters skills and powers. Want to focus that Knight on more sword damage? Or increasing his Strength attribute? Or turning into a Werebear? These are the types of customization effects that can be added by using Disciplines.

Discipline runes can increase your skill max will certain skills, grant access to new skills and powers, grant you new crafting recipes, or give you the ability to master weapon types that are normally restricted.

The skills, powers and recipes granted by Disciplines are typically very thematic. For example, we wouldn’t have a generic “Weapon Master” discipline that gives you a bonus to swords, spears and shields – but we might have a “Gladiator” discipline that does exactly that, because it makes sense that a Gladiator might have that particular collection of skills.

Discipline Examples:

Alchemist Runestone

“Wine from Water, Lead from Gold”

Grants Potion Recipes
Grants Alchemy Skill
Grants Inventory Bag (Potions) - Potions placed in Potion bag will not explode when hit
Werewolf Runestone

“For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack”

Grants Limited Time Transformation Power - Grants Werewolf combat powers while in Werewolf form
Grants Bonus Damage Vampyre Stat
Increases Movement speed Stat
Grants equipment slot: Jorts



Can my Disciplines be changed?  

Yes, you can overwrite existing Discipline Runestones with new ones. Doing so will remove or reduce the benefits granted by the previous Discipline, and destroy the old one in the process.



Do Disciplines have restrictions?  

Some of them do, usually in any case where an animation set is required for that weapon which that archetype may not have. For example the Cavalier Discipline (which grants shield mastery and block powers) would not be usable by Duelist archetype, because they do have the necessary skill pre-requirements (shields) or animation sets.



Can you give me some examples of other Disciplines?  

Sure. Here are a few examples.

Standard Bearer

Rune Caster

Collector

Lapidary

Beastmaster

Ratcatcher

Blood of the Ancients

Berserker

Swashbuckler

Stonecutter

Commander



Where do Disciplines Runestones come from?  

Disciplines are found by participating in Campaigns.

The exact method varies: they can be scavenged (meaning they will spawn in ruins, or uncovered as buried treasure when tunneling in the ground), some can be crafted (using additives and resources found in the Campaign worlds) some can be granted as a special Campaign reward.



Can Discipline Runes be traded?  

Yes, but since they can’t be removed (only destroyed), you can only use them if they have not yet been applied to a character.

[amiable]

This looked interesting enough that I kicked in 36$ to be a backer. I'm going to run under the assumption that it  is terrible though.  Seems like a good idea to get started in a guild, any non-f13 guilds planning on heading in (because we all know the f13 guild will last approximately 2 weeks).

[HaemishM]

As long as the Discipline runes aren't dropped off the same static mob in the same static place that spawns on a set timer, I'm ok with it. The fucking Commander rune from Shadowbane was a PITA spawn camp that immediately became THE hot spot on the server. Everyone wanted to build in close proximity to that one spot, and there's nothing like getting ganked and having the rune stolen right as that bastard spawned.

[Threash]

http://community.crowfall.com/index.php?/topic/4418-031315-character-progression-faq/

I see a werewolf discipline!

[HaemishM]

HOWL, BITCHES, HOWL!

[Paelos]

I wonder when this thing goes to Beta? Probably around Summer 2016 I guess.

[WayAbvPar]

As long as the Discipline runes aren't dropped off the same static mob in the same static place that spawns on a set timer, I'm ok with it. The fucking Commander rune from Shadowbane was a PITA spawn camp that immediately became THE hot spot on the server. Everyone wanted to build in close proximity to that one spot, and there's nothing like getting ganked and having the rune stolen right as that bastard spawned.

Even more fun was to pick the mob's pocket for the rune while someone who camped for hours was fighting him  I can't remember which rune it was I did that on, but god the guy was fucking pissed. Thankfully some nice priest in our guild responded to my 911 and summoned me away.

Shadowbane had some fun mechanics

[Threash]

As long as the Discipline runes aren't dropped off the same static mob in the same static place that spawns on a set timer, I'm ok with it. The fucking Commander rune from Shadowbane was a PITA spawn camp that immediately became THE hot spot on the server. Everyone wanted to build in close proximity to that one spot, and there's nothing like getting ganked and having the rune stolen right as that bastard spawned.

Creating conflict hotspots was sorta the whole point of making them static drops.

[Falconeer]

Shadowbane had some fun mechanics

Exactly! That's my point. It really did. Now, the only chance to MAYBE come up with something cool and unexpected (emergent?) is to try and design new stuff centered around resources, thievery, treachery, territory control and things like that. Stuff that worked here and there in Shadowbane. Stuff that worked here and there in EVE. And even in Archeage. The chances that it will work in Crowfall are very low, but certainly higher than if no one ever tries anything again.

[HaemishM]

As long as the Discipline runes aren't dropped off the same static mob in the same static place that spawns on a set timer, I'm ok with it. The fucking Commander rune from Shadowbane was a PITA spawn camp that immediately became THE hot spot on the server. Everyone wanted to build in close proximity to that one spot, and there's nothing like getting ganked and having the rune stolen right as that bastard spawned.

Creating conflict hotspots was sorta the whole point of making them static drops.

Oh I had no problem with them as resources that generate conflict. It was that one rune in particular that was the problem. It was utterly and completely without parallel, and every guild needed as many of them as they could to compete. A squad with a commander rune had a huge advantage over a squad without one.

[Segoris]

Yeah, hot spots for conflict is fine, but don't keep them confined to one static spot. Mix the spawn point up to create multiple conflict hot spots. Even better if they are not too far away,

[Draegan]

They have said in one interview or another mines will spawn nodes of rich whatevers and then  will be able me kind and of global message or something as an example.

[Tannhauser]

Maybe do 'Ore Tracking' where your skill allows you to see all the ore nodes in a zone.  They are ranked Rich, Average and Poor.  The lone crafter might risk going out to a Poor node solo while a team camp the Rich nodes for their guild.

If there are a lot of poor nodes, it will spread the gankers out maybe and also let solo crafters get a node or two.

[Falconeer]

Mount and TAMING FAQ!

Yes, even your mount can be stolen or corpse looted.

Mount FAQ


What are mounts like in Crowfall?
Mounts are creatures that have been tamed to act as both a companion and a steed. They provide players with a method of moving more quickly around the game, and sometimes giving them the ability to transport more items.


How do I get a mount?
Players with the right skill(s) will be able to tame certain creatures they find in the world, and some of these can be ridden as mounts. Additionally, some magic items will allow the player to manifest (summon) a mount from your inventory. 


What determines if I can tame a creature?
All gameplay in Crowfall requires one or more skills; taming and riding mounts are no different! Certain creatures will require higher amounts of skill to tame than others. Skill will also be required in order to keep control of that creature once you have tamed it. Increasing your riding skill will help you tame more wild creatures, which in turns allows you to increase your movement speed while mounted. 


Can you tame creatures other than Mounts? What can you do with the tamed creature?
Yes. Some creatures are a pack animals. Taming them allows you to open up a separate inventory on that creature, to add and remove items from it, and to order that creature to take simple commands like “stay,” “come” and “follow me.” If the creature is a regular mount, you can ride it, have it follow you or release it back into the wild (i.e. un-tame it). With figurine mounts, you can also dismiss them (i.e. turn it back into a figurine in your inventory, for later use).


Can mounts be attacked? Do they have health? Can they be killed?
Yes, yes and yes. Mounts are creatures in the world, so they can take damage and be killed.


Will a mount defend himself, or you, if attacked?
Yes, when you are not riding on a mount, the mount will defend itself and/or its master. 


Can players use creatures higher than their riding skill allows? 
No. The riding skill determines which mounts you can ride, as well as mount speed.


You said that mounts can die. Can figurine mounts die?
Yes, but figurine mounts have multiple lives. When it dies, the item takes some decay, and there is a delay timer before the mount can be summoned again. Remember that these are items, so they follow the same design philosophy as everything else: nothing lasts forever.


Can someone else take my mount? 
These are items, so they are subject to the Campaign loot rules. That means there is a risk/reward scenario whenever you decide to use a mount figurine. Be careful where you take them.


What about the Kickstarter reward mounts? Don’t they last forever?
The Kickstarter mounts will be limited in use, like normal figurines – but we WILL give you a way to get the visual appearance back, if they are lost in gameplay. Our goal is not to make these “permanent”, but rather to make them temporary, but recoverable. We do want you to be able to continue to use them over the lifetime of the game, though, to show other players that you were an early backer.


Can I get more figurines in the game? Or only through Kickstarter? 
There will be Disciplines that allow players to craft new figurines. However, the Kickstarter reward figurines have a unique appearance. Only Kickstarter backers (of the appropriate tiers) will have access to these mounts. 


Can my Centaur character ride on a mount? 
No, centaurs already have a base movement speed increase and there will be some other mechanic that allows them to travel at mount speed.

[Paelos]

It's hard to say what part gear is going to play in the actual game, if it's all so transient.

[Zetor]

Similarly, what will be the purpose of crafters? I mean, sure, we'll have the handful of mega-hardcore crafter catasses with uberguild backup who start making super-optimized weapons/armor and probably amassing several Scrooge McDuck moneybins on day 1... then what? Hundreds/thousands of nameless 'also ran' crafters whose purpose is to mass-produce "kinda okayish" gear the guilds will buy up in bulk for their zerg sieges? I can feel the excitement already.

(I used to play a pure crafter back in SWG... yeah, still bitter. SWG does that to people. )

[Paelos]

If collecting and funneling resources is the name of the game, I don't think you can take it with you into the game. So it's going to be about setting up shop early and dominating the map.

[HaemishM]

Also, all gear is going to be decaying, so very transient - meaning the crafters will have a market that doesn't stagnate because everyone will eventually need new gear.

[Draegan]

It's heavily influenced by EVE. So gear will be lost and gained through PVP and loot drops (with varying degrees of severity). Same thing can be said about winning materials and bringing them into campaigns. From a design point of view, each campaign has it's own import rules. Some allow you to bring everything you have, some allow you to bring in nothing. You get to choose.

[Draegan]

Similarly, what will be the purpose of crafters? I mean, sure, we'll have the handful of mega-hardcore crafter catasses with uberguild backup who start making super-optimized weapons/armor and probably amassing several Scrooge McDuck moneybins on day 1... then what? Hundreds/thousands of nameless 'also ran' crafters whose purpose is to mass-produce "kinda okayish" gear the guilds will buy up in bulk for their zerg sieges? I can feel the excitement already.

(I used to play a pure crafter back in SWG... yeah, still bitter. SWG does that to people. )

It's the same premise as EVE. Campaigns will be limited in population, and not everyone can craft, so I doubt you'll be amoung many of thousands. Maybe 100 or so?

[Threash]

Campaigns are limited by only letting you bring one character, not by population as far as i know.  I think that will do a much better job of keeping the number of crafters low than anything else.

[Falconeer]

Daily News from the Crawful PvP utopia.

Today it's about Campaign rewards.

Relics & Artifacts FAQ

Do I get anything for participating in Campaigns?
Yes. First of all, Campaigns are the primary method of collecting materials and rare resources for use in the Eternal Kingdoms.

Second, Campaigns are also the source of Artifacts and Relics. These are items players can earn by participating in Campaigns.


What do Artifacts and Relics do?
When displayed in the proper building in your Eternal Kingdom, Artifacts and Relics will grant you blessings, which represent the influence of ancient magic and the divine favor of the Gods. These blessings work in much the same manner as passive training: they are “always on” your character, regardless of which Kingdom or Campaign you travel to.


What is a Blessing?
Blessings are passive spell effects (utility buffs) that players can select based on the Artifacts and Relics they have access too. Blessings are minor effects, like “increases archery training speed by 1%” or “increases wood harvesting speed by 5%”.

There is a maximum amount of blessings a player can have active on a character at one time (current estimate is 3 per character). Collecting more Artifacts and Relics on your will give you more blessings to choose from -- but since all characters are limited to only 3 active blessings at any time, having more of them only gives you more variety and choice, not more power.


What is the difference between an Artifact and a Relic?
Artifacts are typically guild rewards. Relics are typically player rewards.
Artifacts are “World” rewards. These can only be gained by winning Campaigns. Artifacts are meaningful trophies (like the World Cup) that can be displayed in your Eternal Kingdom, that confer their blessings on all the players who own land in that Kingdom.
An example of an Artifact might be “the Anvil of Kane”, which (when placed, for example, inside a Reliquary in a Mountain Citadel) offers the “Strength of the Crescent Moon” blessing to all the players on this World.
Relics are “Player and City” rewards. Relics offer similar blessings, but can only be utilized by a smaller number of players – they can be placed inside of the buildings in the cities or villages of your Eternal Kingdom. Relics can be collected in Campaigns or crafted using rare reagents.
An example of a Relic might be “the Blade of Taerious”, which (once placed in a Chaos Temple) offers the “Gaes of Speed” blessing to the players who own land in and around a (player-built) village in your Kingdom.


How do I use my Artifact, or Relic?
To be activated, an Artifact or Relic must be placed on display in an appropriate building in the guild or player’s Eternal Kingdom. Different buildings house different types of Artifacts and Relics, for example:
- Barracks can only display weapons of legend. 
- Temples can only house religious items. 
- Reliquaries can house many different type of artifacts and relics, but take up a lot of real estate and require a lot of maintenance/property tax. 
Each Artifact or Relic must be placed in a building for the blessing to be active. The blessing on these items are time-limited; when the blessing runs out, the Artifact or Relic must be recharged.


Is there any other way to get these outside of Campaigns? Yes.
These are items, and can be freely traded between players.

Also, Guinea Beast Pack Pig free for all backers. It carries around resources, which sounds more and more like a system borrowed from Archeage. Again, good.

[Soulflame]

Also, all gear is going to be decaying, so very transient - meaning the crafters will have a market that doesn't stagnate because everyone will eventually need new gear.

If gear is that transient, then most players will go with the best price point gear, in terms of defense/offense points for time spent (whether in resource gathering + crafting or money gathering time.)  I'd actually expect that price point to be well within the reach of most casual crafters.

In UO, most of the good gear sat in banks.  Unless the player felt the risk of losing the gear was low enough to warrant using it.

[shiznitz]

And that tendency to hoard was not good for the game. Players hoarded the weapons and armor with the most durability because the marginal cost of the higher durability gear was so high, i.e. while the actual durability differential was a linear relationship, the relative rarity of the crafting components was exponential.

What UO showed was that if +1 weapons are extremely rare, players will not risk losing them even though the benefit of the +1 is statistically small. IIRC, the best weapons in the game would add 5% to one's attack skill which would effectively add less than 5% to one's success rate. Players invested so much gold/time in acquiring the best gear, they had an irrational fear of losing it even if such loss barely altered their effectiveness.

If items can be lost/looted, then players will hoard those items that are hardest to acquire making those items' existence basically pointless. The way to cure this is have items degrade with time, not actual usage.  If that awesome axe is going to decay in your bank anyway, you might as well use it.

[Draegan]

The fact that there are some campaigns that you can't bring gear out of, you might be compelled to use them just because you'll lose them anyway.

[Triforcer]

The fact that there are some campaigns that you can't bring gear out of, you might be compelled to use them just because you'll lose them anyway.

Well, maybe.  But I was the type of guy who would complete a BG2 file with an inventory full of  100 never used consumables because I was always afraid of "wasting" them.   Some people just game that way.

[Paelos]

Yeah the healing potion problem.

[Segoris]

I only think people will hoard when joining a full-loot campaign, but I also think those will not be the most common. The more common rulesets will likely not have full-loot, and hoarding shouldn't be too much of an issue there.

I actually view those servers and the economy they create to be closer to DAoC then UO, and hoarding was not bad there since gear lasted long enough to not really need to hoard. Personally, I only kept one extra piece of gear for each slot and sold the rest (with 99/100qua gear at stupid mark-ups).

[Paelos]

Yeah in DAOC, loot decay sort of made everything a non-issue when it came to expenses. It also created a market for non-perfect items that everyone could afford as regular wear.

Loot in some ways should mirror how we wear what we do daily. There's armor for different occasions. Sometimes you don't want that fancy set while you're washing the mule and fending off boggarts.

[Typhon]

If the way you gather gear or gold to pay for gear is tedious (you put fucking PvE in my PvP?!) then I do not want.  I want to fight.  I don't want to craft, heal, scavenge for materials, hunt for crafters or play the AH (seems like they understand this part).  I just want to fight.

[Paelos]

I don't want to craft, heal, scavenge for materials, hunt for crafters or play the AH (seems like they understand this part).  I just want to fight.

Uh, the entire thing seems to revolve around materials, crafting them, hording them, and fighting over them. And whether you get to take them with you.

[Malakili]

If the way you gather gear or gold to pay for gear is tedious (you put fucking PvE in my PvP?!) then I do not want.  I want to fight.  I don't want to craft, heal, scavenge for materials, hunt for crafters or play the AH (seems like they understand this part).  I just want to fight.

You realize that outright fighting isn't the only kind of "PvP" in these games right?

Anyway, I'm sure you'll be able to just do combat on your character if you want to.  But if all you want is deathmatch, I'm not sure why you'd want an MMO to begin with.

I really don't know why I still get sucked into these same stupid arguments a decade later.  Eh, whatever.

[Merusk]

If the way you gather gear or gold to pay for gear is tedious (you put fucking PvE in my PvP?!) then I do not want.  I want to fight.  I don't want to craft, heal, scavenge for materials, hunt for crafters or play the AH (seems like they understand this part).  I just want to fight.

Sign onto a very large guild, then. That's the only way you'll get to be a foot soldier and be equipped without touching crafting or farming.

ed: Oh, you'll also have to be of some prominence in that guild. You can't sit around not farming as random scrub, you have to be able to justify, "i'm doing xyz for the guild" to be supported like that.

[Draegan]

If they do things right, if all you want to do is fight, you'll probably end up sitting around and defending crafters as they gather shit. Protecting forests/mines and what not or invading and getting those areas under control.