Will things like oceans, rivers, lakes, ponds and streams eventually carve and shape landscapes?
TL;DRNo, terrain won't change dynamically from water flow; artists will instead hand-create rivers and lakes that look carved, and terrain shapes may later create places where water appears.
No. In the sense that we will not have the terrain dynamically change based on water flow, or create this playground where people could direct the water flow and make things happen on the terrain. I don't think it will be that dynamic, but it will more likely be the opposite, where we have terrain shapes that, especially with the simulated data that's behind it, will more likely create opportunities for water to appear or rivers to flow when we get to that point, when we get that part of it working.
Now, as artists, we will go through and we will create rivers and anything that seems to have carved its way through rocks and stuff. But we're saying that it's not going to be something that procedurally happens live in the game. We're not talking about deformable terrain where the water will slowly wear away the terrain or anything. But with our tools, we will go through and we will create the impression that these lakes and rivers and streams have been here for years and have worked their effect on rocks and stuff like that.