Today I will explain the philosophy behind campaigns, the function in the game and how they drive the story and world development forward.
I assume most of you have at some point played a game offering a campaign. Whether it is a RTS where you beat connected scenarios or play a tabletop game, maybe even something like D&D where a campaign can last months, there is one thing they all have in common. Campaigns are enriching gameplay with a story, whether it is a simple story arc or just a map where you conquer one region after the other, there is something that drives the game forward. In better ones there will be new realizations, new options, twists and turns, in short, something that makes the process of playing through the game better.
With CoRE (or claimgame) being text-based without any flashy graphics or animations it is even more relying on these elements. Traditionally in MMOs this would be quests, but if you ever played one you probably went through an epic questline for the game to reward you and then you can watch the next player do the same, and the next, and the next, aaaaand ... I guess you get my point.
That is the reason campaigns are global, all players working together (at least those who participate) to achieve a common goal. This also means whatever is the outcome of the campaign applies to all players, it applies to the game world. Campaigns are meant to evolve the game world and change it. For example, lets look at the campaign "Settle the outskirts" which is running at the time of writing. The outskirts were explorable for quite some time before the campaign started. But now it is time to actually settle it, but easier said then done. From pushing back the wildlife, to acquiring resources and support the building process. It is all a community effort to actually make the settlement a reality in the game world. So now patch after which it is just there.
But why would players participate and spend time and resources on it? Well, apart from having fun doing so or curiosity about what will happen if the campaign is through there is an obvious answer. Rewards. With every player being able to participate it is the perfect opportunity to introduce a leaderboard and leaderboard prizes. After all, it also makes sense in the game context, that whoever wants the players to support their cause would offer some rewards in return. So in the end, hosting a campaign is something a faction does to ask for and reward support for their goals. And a faction could easily be a player faction in the admittedly distant future.
Lastly, lets look at what campaigns will and could have in store. In the campaign mentioned above a settlement is built, which is a rather economically focused endeavor where it is mostly about providing work and resources. Now lets imagine we are preparing for war, obviously we need equipment, supplies, maybe set up logistics, but in the end there would be combat. So fighting an enemy force is the likely consequence, but that might not just be kill X of Y. Large scale battles likely offer opportunities for strategic goals and targets. What if the enemy is reinforced unless certain portals are strategically attacked. Maybe it requires to kill tough elite monsters which can be challenged by more powerful players. Or maybe something requires a blaze of glory moment which ends in character death. Surely such a sacrifice would be rewarded by a campaign.
There are many ways how a campaign can be an interesting progression and/or competitive experience and in the end, this is what war stories are made of. Looking back, one of the most iconic campaigns I played was probably Warcraft3 (play it if you never did). Do I remember what units I made, what upgrades or how the maps looked? For the most part the answer is no. But I will never forget the events in Northrend, discovering Kalimdor or defending Mount Hyjal.
So yeah, that is the reason I added campaigns and why I think it is the only viable tool for world progression that makes sense. I am looking forward to running many more after the current one and slowly create the world of CoRE. Anyway, that is it for today. The current campaign will end soon and the land update is around the corner. Don't forget about the looming $FAVOR token creation and airdrop and see you in the game.
BR,
thatclaimgamedev