Interviews

Craft of Gods: A First Look Interview

Please introduce yourself and describe your position on the Craft of Gods development team.

My name is Fabrizio Calì and I'm the CEO of Kalicanthus Entertainment. I'm taking care of all the product management part for Craft of Gods, which means I'm involved in everything concerning the game: from content to strategy to development of features.

Please tell us about Craft of Gods.

Craft of Gods is 3D Fantasy MMORPG based on Slavic mythology. It is a Realm versus Realm kind of game, which means that players are divided into two factions (Light and Darkness) that fight against each other - and soon there'll be a third, neutral faction as well, that will bring equilibrium to the world. It's a PvP game, but it will appeal also to PvE lovers thanks to the many quests and dungeons available. Moreover, there's a sophisticated social part: not only you can create and join guilds, but you can also create relationships between players (father and son, brothers etc). There's also a very nice crafting and economic system, with 8 professions that players can choose from and many other interesting features.

Has Craft of Gods been released elsewhere or is it a 'new to the market' game?

It is a totally new game, which haven't been released anywhere yet. It will be released worldwide soon and it will be available in four languages: English, German, Russian and Italian.

Would you consider Craft of Gods a traditional MMORPG or more of an MMO action RPG?

It is more of a traditional MMORPG and by that I mean that the game focus on features and elements that have become extremely important inside an MMO game. Let me explain: we believe that community is the most important factor in a massive multiplayer game and we want to provide players that kind of fun, involvement and thrill that is provided by games that have become legendary, such as Ultima Online or Dark Age of Camelot, just to mention a couple of them. For example, there's an element of exploration of the game world (and we're talking about a huge world, with more than 25 different maps) that has been lost in recent years: many games tend to guide the player to the world in a very detailed way, by showing him exactly where to find what he needs and which direction to follow. We went the opposite direction, because we want to bring back the sense of satisfaction you have when you discover something new or the community spirit that is created when you share your knowledge about the game with other players that need help. And that's just an example of the direction we're following.

Where did the idea for the game come from and what is the back story for Craft of Gods?

The game is based on Slavic mythology and it's the first of this kind. The storyline is very interesting: Rod, the God that created the entire Universe, created three worlds within it. Then, by breathing out his Divine Spirit, he created the Bird Mater Sva and Svarog, the Heavenly Father. Svarog lifted his hammer, and the world bowed to his will. Svarog created the sky and twelve columns that support it, and then Rod created the water and Great Ocean and the Alatyr Stone, the Stone of all stones, the first Stone. By smiting it with his hammer, Svarog created the fiery Semargl, and Svarog Warriors, known as Ratichi..
The Great Black Snake, born from the Darkness where Rod was imprisoned, looked at the world, smiled at Svarog's heaven and decided to imitate him. He slithered towards the Alatyr stone, and smote it with his black hammer. And from this demons were born, known as Dasuni.

Semargl immediately felt the evil presence of the Snake and ordered Svarog to fight the evil Snake.

When Rod saw the battle, he was afraid that this conflict will cause the destruction of the world, and he decided to cut the world in half - and those halves were called Avi and Navi.

Svarog and Semargl settled in Avi, and the Black Snake in Navi.

But the Black Snake desired more lives and souls, and he created his soldiers and settled them over the entire world. To fight the Black Snake, Svarog created humans, but in this he made a mistake. Humans were not brave or powerful enough to conquer the Snake's army.

Then Svarog created Giants, and give them strong bodies and mighty spirits.

And so the War began....

There are lots of new MMOs on the market today. What sets Craft of Gods apart from the rest?

There are a few features that we think set Craft of Gods apart from other games. First of all, the 'old-school spirit' that animates the game and that we've already mentioned. There are no classes in Craft of Gods, only skills: each player can choose from 14 schools of skills, every one of which contains 15 powers - there are 210 different skills, and you are completely free to choose any set you like. This means you can customize your character as you prefer. Not only that, but depending on the race you choose, you'll have some abilities available that are specific to that race.

There's a very nice endgame as well: you can become a DemiGod and acquire some special abilities if you're able to guide your guild to the conquest of the 12 pillars. Of course you'll have to fight against other players in order to do that, so it's not an easy task... :)

Last but not least, there's a very nice mount feature that we'll explain later in the interview.

Walk us through character creation. How customized can players make their 'toons?

The first thing you have choose is your realm: Light or Darkness - there'll also be a third realm introduced with a future expansion. Depending on the realm you choose, you'll be able to choose between three different races, each one with its peculiar features - for example, each race has got some exclusive skills. Then you can choose your sex and customize your skin and your hair style, your beard, your physical build, your legs, your hips etc.

Click through to read about races, the guild system and more.