FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS | Kickstarter
1. What platforms will Crowfall be available on?
Crowfall is only available for Windows PCs at this time.
2. Is there a monthly membership fee required to play the game?
There is no monthly fee required.
There is an optional monthly fee, for players elect to sign up for VIP membership.
To be clear: a VIP membership is NOT required to play the game.
3. Is the game Free-to-Play, with micropayments? Or is there a retail price?
Crowfall is "buy to play," meaning that you only have to buy the retail game, in order to play.
With the purchase of the game, you get a single game account. This account can be used to log into the Crowfall game universe.
Each account is limited to three (3) characters/avatars, and one (1) passive training slot.
4. What is a passive training slot?
Skill advancement for your characters is achieved by (1) using skills in the game, and (2) by using the passive skill training system, which allows you to select a skill for your character(s) to train, even when you are offline.
5. What is VIP membership?
VIP members are given additional benefits, including:
"Passive training" (automatic skill advancement) for all your characters - not just 1!
Priority access to all game servers
VIP frame/badge on the forums
Discount pricing on any purchases
Behind the scenes access to the development of the game
Other cool (non-balance affecting) benefits as we think of them!
6. Is there a micropayment shop?
There is a limited micropayment shop, which can only be used to buy things that do NOT affect the balance of the game.
7. Can I buy advancement, or powerful items from the shop?
No. The shop only sells cosmetic (non-balance affecting) items, game time, and additional space (parcels of land, on which structures can be placed) for your Personal Kingdom.
8. What is the "Arcane Weapon Recipe set - (cosmetic)"?
Crowfall has a crafting system, which players can use to create items out of raw materials (such as stone, iron, or wood.)
Items like swords, shields, and arrows have attributes - like how much damage they do, or how fast they can be used.
The "Arcane Weapon Recipe set" allows you to apply a unique look to the weapons that you craft. From an attribute standpoint, they are identical to the swords, shields and helmets created by other players - but with a cool, unique look/style.
This recipe set is UNIQUE to our Kickstarter backers. Players who come later will not be able to craft items with the "Arcane Weapons" style.
9. What is an Avatar Frame, and Forum Badge?
These are unique cosmetic identifiers which let other players know that you backed Crowfall during our kickstarter! The avatar frame is a graphical frame that surrounds the portrait of your avatar in the game. The forum badge will be displayed when you post messages on our forums.
10. What is an "additional character slot"?
The standard game account is limited to store only 3 characters/avatars. Some KS reward tiers increase the number of characters or avatars that you can store on your account.
11. If I buy extra character slots, will the VIP membership give me passive training for those characters, too?
No, VIP memberships only allow you to train 3 your characters in parallel.
12. What is a personal kingdom, and how do I get one?
Every player starts with a small personal Kingdom. This is sort of like a Minecraft realm - it's a world that you own, that other players can come and visit (if you let them.)
You control the administration of your Kingdom. That means you can invite player in, kick them out, grant them land, charge them taxes, set the import/export rules and turn on and off player-versus-player combat.
13. Can I increase the size of my Kingdom?
Yes. Some reward tiers include bonus parcels of land. Kingdoms start with 9 parcels (arranged in a 3x3 grid.) Increasing the size of your Kingdom you own means that you have more land that you can grant to other players, on which they can build structures.
These reward tiers also grant you dedicated buildings (such as Castles, Keeps and Cottages) which you can grant other players as Vassals of your kingdom.
14. Does the additional land grant me any in-game benefit?
The benefit of having more land is indirect - you can attract more players to your Kingdom to trade, craft and socialize.
Building a vibrant, player-driven market will make the land of your Kingdom will be more valuable, and you can leverage that perceived value in the form of higher taxes.
15. I see that these bonus parcels are "tax-free". What does that mean?
There are in-game (not real world) maintenance fees associated with both land and buildings. Tax-free parcels do not require you to pay any ongoing property tax - though the buildings and structures placed on them will still require maintenance (and of course you can still charge your Vassals as you see fit.)
16. What to the different testing phases mean (Beta 1, Alpha 3, etc)?
Product testing happens over the life of the development process, with an increasing number of players in each success phase of testing.
The process is:
We work on the game
We test it internally
We decide that we are ready to run an external test of existing features and content
Invite in a small number of "pre-alpha" testers to play it, to find bugs and get feedback
Go back into development
Invite Pre-Alpha + Alpha 1 testers
Go back into development
.and so on, until we have completed the product and tested it sufficiently for launch.
17. Will you complete the entire project before you ship it?
Once the core module is completed (and tested), we will ship it. If and when we are able to work on other rulesets, we will treat these as separate deliverables, and they will be taken through a parallel (but functionally identical) process.
18. When is Alpha 1 testing scheduled to begin?
Alpha testing for certain features of the core module will begin at the end of Summer, 2016. We expect to be testing new features and content on a quarterly basis.
19. What are the "Name-A-Fallen." rewards?
Campaign worlds are generated procedurally. That means we use a program to generate each new Campaign map - with mountains, rivers, valleys, trees, you name it.
Part of this generation includes creating ruins of past civilizations. Abandoned castles, haunted villages, statues of fallen monarchs.
To make these environments come alive, we assign them names (like the "Keep of Argenon" or the "Kingdom of Truganesh").
These reward tiers give you a chance to add your own names to the mix - helping us to craft the narrative backdrop of the Crowfall universe.
20. What does "Expanded symbols for Guild Heraldry" mean?
Every Guild has a "coat of arms," or a guild crest. This is a combination of a field (pattern) on the shield, color choices, and a guild mark or symbol.
Guilds select their symbol for a library of common symbols.
For certain reward tiers, we set aside a collection of additional symbols that can be used to make your Guild crests really "stand out from the crowd."
21. What is the "Unique guild heraldry" reward?
The unique heraldry reward is exactly that - rather than selecting your guild symbol from a list, we will work with you to design a guild crest that is entirely unique, and reserved exclusively or your guild.
Note: guild symbols are, of course, subject to our approved before inclusion in the game.
22. How often do you expect to do premiere backer studio tours?
We expect to schedule a tour every 3 to 6 months. Backers who elect to join us as part of a reward package will need to contact us ahead of time for scheduling. Travel and lodging costs to Austin, Texas are not included.
23. How often do you expect to do Happy Hours with the Crowfall team?
As often as possible.
Again, backers who elect to join us as part of a HH reward package should contact us ahead of time for scheduling. Travel and lodging costs to Austin, Texas not included in this one, either. but we will buy the first round of drinks.
24. Can you give details on the monthly Q&A with the ACE team?
This will be a monthly skype call, where various members of the team will field questions from our community about the design of the game, and the development process.
25. What is included in the "Dinner with the Founders" reward?
It's an invitation to dine privately with the founders of ArtCraft (J. Todd Coleman and Gordon Walton). This reward will need to be pre-scheduled, and is generally only available in Austin, Texas (travel and lodging not included.)
If you would prefer to meet in another city during a conference (such as the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco) that might be possible, if the founders already plan on attending.
Contact us and we'll work it out!
26. What does "manipulate the rules . of a campaign?" mean?
Our campaigns are set up with a series of "knobs" that allow us to change the rules. You can set things like "what races are allowed?" or "how long should this Campaign last?"
This reward tier gives you the chance to spin the (pre-existing) knobs. Whatever combination of rules you choose, we'll name that Campaign and launch it in the live environment. If it's popular, we'll launch more campaigns with your ruleset. If not, we'll retire it.
27. Why are there no tiers above $10,000?
Kickstarter has an absolute backer limit of $10,000. If you are interested in a larger amount, please contact us directly at
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28. Can kickstarter rewards be transferred to another account?
Yes, but rewards can be transferred once only, and they cannot be stacked (meaning that a single account cannot have multiples of the same reward.)
