In January’s Crowfall Q&A video, Design Lead Thomas Blair and Founder/Art Director J. Todd Coleman discuss Crowfall as an “experimental project.” So many game design elements, Coleman explains, are subject to change because of the team’s experimental mentality. “We’re going to find out what this game is all about, and we’re going to do it by trying things out. Some of them will work; some of them won’t,” Coleman says. “And through the course of this experiment, we hope to find a game that’s really compelling, that you want to play.” He further reveals that the Kickstarter was based on the idea that the right kind of exploration-driven players would step up to guide their path.
The pair also address how Crowfall defies the idea of ship dates. “I don’t even think in those terms,” Coleman tells watchers. “I’m thinking of it as, OK, what’s the 10-year strategy for this game, and what are we going to grow over time. The launch date really is just that moment when you say, OK, we’re not going to wipe again. And usually it’s when you say, ‘And we’re going to collect money,’ but we’re already doing that.” Launch for Crowfall, therefore, will be when the game — persistent characters, specifically — is no longer due for wipes.
A bit of time is spent discussing god choices and Hunger Dome mechanics in testing, and Coleman and Blair shelve a question on monsters in the Eternal Kingdoms. It’s a quick listen/watch, and you can find it below.
