Differences

bmdevine

We seem to be continuing the flamewars in this board. I should probably mention that I currently play DF (have for about the last week), and agree with about 60% of what was posted in the Eurogamer review. That being said, I still enjoy the game so far, have played it more that the reviewer did, and would like to elaborate a bit on the on the pseudo review that was posted by a user here who appeared to want to provide bullet point items that may have been packed with meaning for him, but didn’t provide much to go on for people who haven’t played the game. One of the reasons I’m enjoying the game (and that may not last forever – it never does with MMOs) is that it’s different from most of what’s out there. How is it different? I’ll try to point out what I’ve observed, and will attempt to refrain for the most part from value judgments. Those who don’t like my observations or don't want to read them can feel free to flame away (as if I could stop you), and those who like them or want to add something constructive or correct me, please feel free to add your two cents (or more, if you can spare it.)

Skills: Just about everything you do in Darkfall requires using a skill (running, sprinting, swimming, jumping, swinging a sword, getting hit, resting, casting magic, logging, mining, etc.) Every time you perform an action, you slowly level up the associated skill(s). It’s a slow process that could be described by some as an arduous grind, but it is different than simply gaining experience by killing mobs and leveling up the way you do in games like WoW with automatic stat boosts being applied to your character each time you level. In DF, you level up skills independently of one another, although some skills that are subsets of a larger skill category will also level the parent category, e.g. healing yourself will boost your healing skill and your lesser magic skill. Harvesting will boost your primary attributes over time (str, dex, vit, quickness, wis, etc.) You can’t see the skill levels of other players you’re fighting the way you can usually see the level of players in a lot of level-based games, so when you make the decision to attack someone, you don’t always know what you’re in for.

Quests: There are quests in Darkfall, but they are not the focus, and you won’t see exclamation points or question marks over the quest givers head, nor will you get an arrow pointing you in the right direction. For the most part, it seems like EQ in the early days, although when you have completed the objectives, the name of the person with whom you have to speak to complete the quest will show up on the minimap when you get close enough. That’s about as much help as you’ll get. Quests don’t give you a lot, and you never have to do a single one. One person in the other thread commented on this note by saying you don’t have to do quests in WoW, but the difference is that games like WoW encourage (even if not force) you to do quests with the rewards (good money, gear, and even extra content at times.) This is not the case with DF – you can get little bits of money, and even some items from quests, but the best items in the game are crafted – not quested or raided or bought from an NPC with some sort of raid/PvP token.

Gear: You can’t repair gear in DF. Once it wears out, it breaks and it’s gone. Therefore, you shouldn’t get too attached to it. Even if you could repair it, you'd still have to worry about losing it to PKers. Therefore, the game is not about getting high level gear and then dancing around showing it off. You use it when necessary, bank it when it's not, and always make sure you have spares or money/mats for more.

Banking: A comment was made in the other post about banking being important. A lot of people responded “so what?” The poster was probably referring to putting stuff in the bank so as not to risk losing it. Frequent banking in DF is as important as frequently saving your work when you’re on the computer writing a long, important paper for school. If you don’t, you run the risk of losing everything and having to start over. You always have to watch your back. It’s a full loot game, and full loot literally means full loot (except for your leafblade, which is pretty much worthless.)

Socialization: It’s hard to fully explain this to people who haven’t played a game like DF and are used to systems where geopolitics are static, but DF pretty much coerces people into working together.  You can do things on your own, but life for a lone wolf is extremely difficult.  It's not like a PvE level-based game where you can easily get to max level without ever grouping if you so choose.  In DF, if you try to survive on your own, the likelihood is that you’ll be constantly harassed, and will have to be careful when exploring, because you may not be abreast of current geopolitics that can affect you as you wander around and try to find safe shelter. Cities / towns can change hands as clans & clan alliances vie for power. The best way to protect yourself and ensure that you have a reasonable chance of being successful/profitable is by joining a clan and working with others. The political system is very complex. Some people really get into it and others don’t, but everyone is affected by it, and there's a lot of interclan communication. There are countless people who complain about games not forcing socialization and grouping more.  They could definitely get that with DF (although it may not be the type of interaction they want.) Also, it’s hard not to want to judge a game by its forums, but there are a lot of decent people in the DF community. I’ve met quite a few over the last week. Wherever there’s a community that numbers in the thousands, there’s going to be diversity of personality. Those that choose to hang out in areas where opinions are expressed are not often predominantly thoughtful, articulate, or sensible.

All that being said, the interface is clunky and can be hard to get past when you first get into the game. If that’s a dealbreaker, then you definitely shouldn’t try DF, but I’ve gotten used to it, and can deal with it. Most MMOs make countless changes/improvements to their interfaces over time.  Hopefully AV will.  I hope so, but I'm currently enjoying the game, and am not holding my breath.

 

Einstein-DF

 Very nice writeup congrats.

daarco

Its a sad thing we need those kind of posts to clairfy the DF gameplay. Do we need theses things for Wow, WAR? No. Why is it so hard for many to understand different kinds of gameplay styles. If one style works well for you, Good. If another dont..fine. Thats the purpose with it.

I know what style i prefer, and i try not to flame all others for not beeing as the ones i like.