The Crowfall website got a bit of a redesign over the course of the last week or so; the front page is now more of a landing page with high-level information about the game and its features; the news reel (that is: the list of recent articles/updates) has been moved onto its own page. Also, the pledge total listed at the top of the page now reads (as of this writing) $5,974,701. The pledge portal helpfully informs us that $2,398,765 of this has come from pledges; the rest, presumably, has been the result of ArtCraft’s other efforts to fund the game.

Anyhow, in recent news (it has been a couple of weeks since we last checked in with this project, if not more). Since then, ArtCraft have given us a look at their work on the Champion archetype’s powers and UI, as well as their work on the equipment that the class will have access to (some of which is depicted above).

We also get a glimpse of the Champion in action in the second video in this article; the first video introduces us to UX artist Billy Garretsen.

Additionally, Crowfall welcomed its 23,000th backer in late October, which is a pretty significant milestone. Per that same update, ArtCraft also explain why their earlier pledge to post one news update a week (or thereabouts) seemingly didn’t come to pass:

And speaking of news, our October experiment for doing one big release with all the news one day a week… well, we tried it, and the net is: we like the old schedule better. As explained on the forums, the point of trying different update schedules is to find a system that works well for everyone: our team, our community and those who share our news with others. Our current plan is to do updates on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday—one article per day—with an occasional extra treat on Mondays or Fridays. We hope this will suit everyone but aren’t afraid of going back to the drawing board if we need to until we get it exactly right.

The next Hunger Dome test is also coming up soon:

Speaking of the Hunger Dome, things are coming together nicely as we ramp up to launch the next phase of pre-alpha testing. Remember: Backers up to and including those with the Alpha 2 reward will receive invitations to this testing phase!

Winners of the Cawstume Contest were also announced.

Over the last couple of days, ArtCraft have released another Q&A video, focusing on the following topics:

• Will Crowfall implement something that gives formation? For example, a grid system and when your party forms a certain pattern on it you get a bonus or defense boost?
• How do you perceive the Guineacean’s burrow ability will work?
• How will a specialist, like the Ranger, differ from an archetype like the Stalker who also uses a bow?
• Will it be possible to travel between Eternal Kingdoms without exiting to the menu?
• Will there be bodies of water, some that can be crossed and some that can’t?
• Will campaign worlds have modes of fast travel such as mounts, portals and teleporters?
• What will be the next focus after combat?

The most recent update posted to the game’s website, meanwhile, looks at the “three paths to glory” in Crowfall:

What will your Crowfall legacy be?

Different players have vastly different answers. And that’s not a problem; this vision is strong enough to give completely different players exactly the game they are looking for.

There are three paths to greatness in Crowfall.  These are the vectors that separate the good players frombad, and great guilds from the mediocre.

They are Glory, Wealth and Power.

The article goes into detail about what each of those paths entails. It’s also worth checking out just for the new concept art, some of which is really quite gorgeous.