[2020] Bringing War of the Gods to LIVE

In light of our announcement today that Crowfall has officially entered the alpha testing phase, we are ready to bring the War of the Gods (5.110) update to our LIVE testing environment!

On Friday, May 29, the LIVE server will be taken offline at approximately 8:00 am CDT | 15:00 pm CEST in order to perform maintenance and to deploy the update. Initially, the LIVE environment will offer three of our five world bands: Eternal Kingdoms (the player-owned realms), God’s Reach (the starter area), and the Infected (3-faction-based campaign wars).

We are still in the process of testing and balancing the fourth world, the Dregs (guild -vs- guild campaigns) on TEST and will continue to do so, on TEST, for now. Those who wish to test this mode – and have a higher tolerance for playtest issues – are invited to download the TEST game client and log into TEST.

It’s important to remember that Crowfall is not a finished game. Whether you’re playtesting on LIVE or TEST, it is still testing and there will be issues. We urge you to share your feedback with us on the Testing and Feedback forums so that we can identify and correct bugs and problem areas that interfere with your enjoyment of the game.

Quick facts:

The LIVE server will go down at approximately 8:00 am CDT | 15:00 pm CEST.


The LIVE server will be offline for an estimated window of about 4-hours and as that changes we will keep you informed on the Forums. We will make an announcement when service is restored. If it looks like it may go longer than we anticipate, we will post updates.


There will be a full wipe of LIVE, meaning all characters, passive skill training and inventory will be cleared as part of releasing the Alpha update on LIVE.


The TEST environment will remain online and available for those who wish to continue playtesting there.


Both the LIVE and TEST game clients are available here. Note that these are two different downloads, so be sure you’re downloading and installing the one that correlates to where you want to play.

In light of our announcement today that Crowfall has officially entered the alpha testing phase, we are ready to bring the War of the Gods (5.110) update to our LIVE testing environment!

On Friday, May 29, the LIVE server will be taken offline at approximately 8:00 am CDT | 15:00 pm CEST in order to perform maintenance and to deploy the update. Initially, the LIVE environment will offer three of our five world bands: Eternal Kingdoms (the player-owned realms), God’s Reach (the starter area), and the Infected (3-faction-based campaign wars).

We are still in the process of testing and balancing the fourth world, the Dregs (guild -vs- guild campaigns) on TEST and will continue to do so, on TEST, for now. Those who wish to test this mode – and have a higher tolerance for playtest issues – are invited to download the TEST game client and log into TEST.

It’s important to remember that Crowfall is not a finished game. Whether you’re playtesting on LIVE or TEST, it is still testing and there will be issues. We urge you to share your feedback with us on the Testing and Feedback forums so that we can identify and correct bugs and problem areas that interfere with your enjoyment of the game.

Quick facts:

The LIVE server will go down at approximately 8:00 am CDT | 15:00 pm CEST.


The LIVE server will be offline for an estimated window of about 4-hours and as that changes we will keep you informed on the Forums. We will make an announcement when service is restored. If it looks like it may go longer than we anticipate, we will post updates.


There will be a full wipe of LIVE, meaning all characters, passive skill training and inventory will be cleared as part of releasing the Alpha update on LIVE.


The TEST environment will remain online and available for those who wish to continue playtesting there.


Both the LIVE and TEST game clients are available here. Note that these are two different downloads, so be sure you’re downloading and installing the one that correlates to where you want to play.

Yes, it's today. Edited the original post. Thanks!

Yes, there will be a wipe when the game transitions to beta. We try not to wipe unless we have to, but when there are major updates that require it, we will. This means it's not possible to project how many more wipes there may be between now and launch. And, yes, that means we will do a final wipe before the game launches.

Regarding Dregs, the testing for that will continue to be the focus on our TEST server environment. Those who want to participate in Dregs campaigns can playtest it on TEST.

No, I was Seer Pann on Great Lakes. I knew a Pandora (in game and IRL) not sure what shard she played on, though.

The build on LIVE has been there for quite some time, and people who are new to the game were not seeing all the great new things we've added since LIVE was last updated.

1. The signal for beta will be when we begin inviting non-backers to participate in the playtesting.

2. I'll say again that we wipe only when it's absolutely necessary. There will be a number of updates to correct issues and make improvements on LIVE, and it will be far better for newcomers to have 5.110 on LIVE than to continue playing the 5.100 version that has been there, without updates, for more than six months.

The version that running on Live was from last July (!), so there is value in refreshing the environment and getting God's Reach and Infected in front of new players for that reason alone. Both the Dregs and the new player experience will be added to this version once they stabilize to a point where we feel comfortable; at a minimum there are some campaign scoring issues that we need to iron out.

We're working on both of the above as we speak. and yes, they will both be added to the alpha environment prior to beta.

Beta, for us, will trigger when we feel comfortable enough with the build to begin inviting in the registered crowfall.com players (360k or so) in waves.

Todd

If you want to continue playing Dregs, then stay on Test.

Live was so out of date (almost a year) that it needed to be updated.

Todd

No, our investors and partners weren't consulted on this, and there are no contractual obligations or monetary triggers behind it. I made the call to push GR and Infected up to Live because it's a better experience for new players in almost every way -- as you would expect from 9+ months of development. Client performance is far better, as you suggest (we're seeing an increase of +20 for most players, and even up to +50 fps for some), but every other game system is better as well. Lighting is improved. Seasons now change the appearance of the world. AI is better. The user interface has been significantly overhauled. The powers system has 9+ months of bug fixing and polish. There is a mountain of new features and content.

Propping to Live now also spreads out two different risks that were previously tied together (launching such a large build AND launching a new type of Campaign) so that we can tackle issues that arise in one or the other without fighting a war on two fronts. When Dregs is polished enough to launch, it will now be an incremental update to Live, which is much easier to stomach. For those of you testing Dregs on Test, not much has changed. For new players coming in, it's a world of difference.

Todd

We'll never let it fall that far behind again.

Todd

Yes. There will be a wipe before Beta, and there will be a wipe before Launch. There may be other wipes, too, if we make significant changes and we cant find a way to avoid them.

I'll talk to the team about increasing skill training and adding testing mats. Someone mentioned that in game, as well. It's a good idea.

Yes. Didn't we already cover that?

Todd

Oh, got it. I meant "if you want to play on Dregs right now, then stay on Test."

Todd