If you're reading this article, than you're already vaguely aware of Crowfall's announcement for its Kickstarter campaign, from the title of this piece at the very least. Anyone that's been following the upcoming "Throne War Simulator" MMORPG and its interesting method of information deployment over the past few months has probably witnessed the slow but steady countdown ticking away below their official banner. Many have been watching and waiting for this big announcement ever since it was first promised. I think it's quite safe to say that the hype level is at an all time high for this studio producing its very first title.

More of a Headscratcher than you might think

Although ArtCraft has a wealth of experience on its team, pieced brilliantly together from the many corners of the MMORPG production industry, they are still "brand new" in a sense. And they face an uphill battle competing with an innovative class of games currently in development whom all have their sights set on reinvigorating a struggling genre in its transition from tried-and-true models to something new, fresh, and daring. I literally could not be more excited for them.

I really want them to succeed.

Just as equally as I want EverQuest Next and Revival to succeed, I want Crowfall to prove that my favorite genre of games is not a dying breed. I want them to provide clear and undeniable evidence that there still is a demand for these types of games. Even more importantly than that, I want them to declare to the industry that we're sick of successful studios taking the easy way out by leaning on the re-skinned, technologically equivalent (at least everywhere but visually) regurgitated versions of the exact same gameplay mechanics we've been digesting since World of Warcraft streamlined the themepark pathway that the EverQuest development team trail-blazed at the turn of the millennium.

No. The MMORPG genre is not dying.

We're all just tired of the low-risk, high-reward clone garbage which has gotten so bad that players aren't even subconsciously dodging the latest crap titles. Many of us are actively choosing not to participate in these gorgeous, hardware-hungry endeavors that feature the most tranquilized and neutered selection of social incentives I've seen this side of Call of Duty - Black Ops. The fact that any current or recent MMORPG games with all these increasingly instanced, solo-adventure inspiring mechanics have any kind of social atmosphere or community connection whatsoever is because of the hard work and effort of their players (fighting against at least half of these games' core systems to accomplish it).

Most modern massive multiplayer game mechanics are so counter-productive to social gaming that the label "MMO" is no longer at all indicative of an online social experience meant to be played with other people. By today's terminology and classification, even Farmville is a damn MMO. (And sadly, that Facebook browser game is even more socially enjoyable than the latest slew of triple-A MMORPGs to hit the market this past year.) Yes I'm talking about you TESO, Wildstar, and ArcheAge. I'm getting really tired of the phrase"next gen" being applied to new MMO innovations that have only further segregated and compartmentalized people into their own individual massive paradises.

Get to the point already!

However, I do believe we're finally seeing the pendulum swing in the other direction. This latest class of MMORPGs in development are making a very strong push back towards social gameplay by providing strong mechanics that require player interaction, and even core systems at the very earliest parts of the game that incentivize group dynamics (whether it's with or against each other). Crowfall, EverQuest Next, Revival - all three of these new and ambitious titles are attempting to push the boundaries back in the direction of player agency (see: players affecting one  another's game-world and being required to finally acknowledge each other's existence). I have exceedingly high hopes for just about everything they stand for and everything they are trying to accomplish in the industry right now.

Well... almost everything.

(Why a Kickstarter campaign Crowfall? Just why?) I totally get it when a game wants to be crowd-funded. In fact, every mainstream MMO ever produced has been crowd-funded, technically. We are a massive audience of gamers and we're throwing massive amounts of money, collectively, at these games. Hell, pretty much any game ever made is crowd-funded if you think of it on those terms. But don't let the technicalities confuse you; there is an incredibly enormous difference between crowd-funding internally, and crowd-funding through wee-man sites.

I fully believe that the group of individuals working on Crowfall have all the capability, experience, and understanding of the industry required to successfully promote, sell, and package early-access founder's programs for their game - direct. I'm not being sarcastic either. These guys know the industry. Trust me, they know how to get something like that done. Which is why I still can't comprehend how and why they are choosing a limited income initiative like Kickstarter to fund a multi-million dollar MMORPG? You can't Kickstart a multi-million dollar production. Well, you can, but not with a high level of respectibility (maybe, but it's note likely, and I'll explain why).

Here's how I can be totally off base and completely wrong about this:

When Crowfall doesn't make an internal founder/supporter program and they also don't devise any Steam early-access program and double-dip from it's very excited, and very hyped current fanbase.

Sure. There are a few benefits to Kickstarting, but I don't believe any of them outweigh the negatives - at least when it comes to a massive high-end MMORPG that's going to take million and millions of dollars to deliver. Why? You can't promise anything this early. You cannot guarantee stretch goals - at least not the kind of stretch goals we've seen developers promise and fall-flat on. Anyone who helped Kickstart Godus knows exactly what I'm talking about; and I wouldn't touch that game with a ten-foot MMO pole even if someone was offering me free access to any other real MMORPG of my choice (okay, maybe I would - but it would only be to smash it to teeny tiny bits and declare flawless victory).

It just ain't right

It is not that hard - as a team of professional industry (and genre) veterans - to design an early-access program that doesn't leave your audience completely hanging. Kickstarter is great for helping the local guy developing a low-budget game from Mom and Pops basement find funding to see his dream (that others happen to share, get realized). Why not Crowfall you say? Because the guy in the basement has no other platform to stand on - that's why. He has no other way, except to reach out with a charity bucket through a small-business promoter like Kickstarter and hope that other people also believe in his dream enough to help make it come true.

Crowfall doesn't have that problem.

They have everything they need to launch an in-house supporter program like the Daybreak Landmark Founder's program or Illfonic's home-site store where they're selling early access buy-ins to the their own title in Revival. Why? Because they've got industry pros, who know the business, know the market, and have the studio large enough to pop the umbrella over their own head instead of running under Kickstarter's.They have the same level of talent, experience, and size to do it themselves, but they didn't (and if they do plan on it in the future, they better have a damn good explanation for doing both). Kickstarter just doesn't feel right for a project like this, especially given some of the most recent questionable money-grabs by other companies out there *cough* Star Citizen *cough cough*.

I know this is totally my opinion, and a lot of people will disagree with me; but I'm entitled to it, and I'm not about to start blowing smoke up anyone's ass just because I really like a game. I'm being completely straight-forward with you all. I really, really like Crowfall; and choosing to pull funds via Kickstarter is the first real development choice they've made that I can't find any reason at all to like.

Maybe I've got it all wrong. Maybe this is just how everyone is going to do things in the future.

I honestly hope they blow my mind and I'll have to completely retract this negative stance on their marketing design (which up until now has been one of the best early development information deployments I've ever seen in the genre). I really do. Right now though, this is just how I feel and I know I'm not alone (as discussions from several friends and colleagues is what even pointed me towards analysis to begin with).

I didn't haphazardly title this article. I truly don't know, nor do I understand, why Crowfall is choosing to Kickstart itself. Hopefully I find a good answer for that question. If you think you've got one, be sure to leave it in the comment section below. I can't become anything but educated and enlightening at this point; because this does not make any sense at all to me right now. Someone help?