Today is the first day that you can become part of the Founder's Program for the new MMO set in the 40k universe Eternal Crusade. The Founder's Program is not a crowd funding, but instead is an early pre-order for the already funded game that will release in the Fall of 2015. The new site is now live, and can be found here at this address..
http://www.eternalcrusade.com/
Early in this games development Graham McNeill (author from the Black Library) was on board for the story telling and immersion of the 40k background into this game. Dedication and immersion into the 40k universe is not only vital for this game, but is a driving force behind the design of this game.
A little about the game, as I was able to spend a solid hour and half talking to creator, Miguel Caron. The game will be a hybrid free to play MMO, set upon the world of Arkhona, where 4 factions will fight across the continents. Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, Orks, and Eldar are the 4 armies to choose from, and all are accessible with the purchase of the game. However you can play the game for free, but only Ork Boyz would be unlocked, which can still progress through the game. So yes, you can play this game for free, and never have to drop a dime on it.
The game is also not a subscription based game, once you buy it, you can play on the open single server (think Eve), and play any of the 4 factions you wish to. Unlike many other MMO's, that do not offer you enough character slots to play one character of each race without upgrading, Eternal Crusade gives you 4 character slots before offering you the chance to upgrade additional character slots.
Eternal Crusade is a game designed from the ground up to put you into the position of an elite soldier in the 40k universe. During he Interview this was said many times, that in this game there is only War. The game itself will be 85% PvP and 15% PvE. Razorcom is full embedded into the game, and if you dont like hearing my voice (or other peoples voices), you can switch them over to a fully functional faction voice set. Yes, you will Space Marines talking back to you instead of any high pitched or broken voices. The game engine was said to support easily over a 1000 combatants.
Easy interaction and coordination between players is highly utilized in this game, and going against the grain and being abusive and anti-social to the system and players drastically lowers your experience.
During this part of the conversation my phone cut out on me, but there will also be story driven campaigns. Campaigns during the game area narrative tool, laid out by Graham McNeill to move the game forward, and will last 1-3 weeks.
An example was given of a player first entering the game. Here is what I recall of that
A player first logging into the game, drops from orbit in his own personal strike craft, bringing with him his space marine bike. The player then after a few moments comes upon an eldar held fortification. Automatically the player is attached to a local captain working this area, and the captain comes in over the comm link. (you can always swap out to another group).
The Captain or Marine in charge, quickly welcomes the player in and notices he is new to the game. He requests that the marine hold momentarily as two forces are preparing to move in on that position where an Eldar Fire Prism has positioned itself that the marine has no chance to really take out with additional firepower.
Because the new player has no means to take on the Fire Prism, the Captain says that he can drop a heavy weapon down to the players position, and that if he can take out the Fire Prism the marines will move in to take cover him and take the fortified position.
Moments later, a dropship brings down the heavy weapon needed, while the two groups of marines have wrapped up a battle they were in, and are now moving towards his position for the fight.
The Founders Program.
It has to be said again that this is not a crowd funding of the game, that the game has already been funded for launch next year. The Founder's Program is a pre-order of the game with some bonus's for jumping on board early.
With the Founder's Program you get early game access, that will come on a first come first serve sort of thing. This includes the training cage, testing weapons, and early access to the rogue trader stores with bonus cash.
Here is a list I found of things available from the Founder's Packs
Identity – Enhance your character’s core identity with unique Founders-only squad emblems, Heroes, and background-related titles, biographies, and cosmetics
Weapon Skins – Unique cosmetics for each race
Armor Skins – Unique cosmetics for each race
Space Ship Decorations – Unique cosmetics to dress up your Squad or Strike Force Cruiser’s interior the way you want
Miscellaneous – Unique execution animations and pets, both utility and non-combat
Vehicles – Unique Founders-only vehicles
Consumables – Extra ammunition, grenades, and other convenience items
Accessories – Unique equipment pieces
As a Founder you will also gain access to playable modules of Warhammer 40k: Eternal Crusade far before the launch date.
Players who join at this point, will board their strike cruiser as it embarks through the warp on the trip to Arkhona, which interestingly enough takes about 18 months and matches up with the release of the project. As the trip unfolds, new hatches will be available to unlock new features, like a firing range or training hall to test weapons. During this time, players can suit up, alter there rooms, and even see the warp passing by as the trip continues. Eventually maps and briefing will also become available before coming out of the warp for planetfall.
The Rogue Trader shop. This was talked about a lot, as many free to play really become pay to play with stores that sell increasingly better equipment. Not with Eternal Crusade. Instead alternative abilities of weapons can be bought using Rogue Trader funds. For Example..... If a bolter does 100pts per minute damage, an alternative that could be purchased would be one that does 50pts of damage per 30 seconds. In this sense these are more side grades rather than upgrades.
The Rogue Trader shop was explained like this....... its not pay to play, but pay to be cool instead. Meaning different looks, versions of armor... MK III or IV etc.
It was stressed that the designers of the game are an open book. There are no secrets here. They want an open dialogue with their players, to find out what they want, and how to best experience being an elite solder of the 40k universe.
Even though I took tons of notes, I will be the first to admit here, that I know I am not doing the game design here much justice. I look forward to seeing this game, and while we did not get into any of the specs of the game, or visuals, the game design and concepts appear very solid. I am hoping to secure some Founders Program games from Behavior Interactive for an on site contest that I have in mind. If so we will definitely jump in on this as quickly as possible.
