Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Give this potential newbie a hand, please?
Deioth
Member UncommonPosts: 64
I've been considerring DAoC a while. After quitting WoW well over a year ago because Blizzard caters entirely to the battle.net crowd instead of actually making a unique game (I could max out a post with how pissed I am at Blizzard for ruining such potential and only making EverQuest PVP edition) I've tried and failed at other MMOs. So, back again to DAoC, and thinking of giving it a shot. But the thing that's making me nervous is, I don't want to invest time and money into a dying game. From what I hear, population levels are lowering and have become hugely seperated thanks to the TOA expansion. I am a fairly mixed player, I enjoy practically anything an MMO could offer me, from gathering loot, to fighting players, to crafting, to roleplay, to story, to raids. Problem being, of course... population. I don't want to discover that 90% of the player base on the ToA servers are already 50+ just because I want to enjoy raid content some day and be stuck soloing the entire time. For that matter, I don't want to find out it's the same on the classic servers and I lose out on some game content I might enjoy. I also don't want to invest time and money into this game if it's dying, especially if Warhammer takes away a lot of the playerbase.
So, what seems to be the deal? Is Mythic showing dedication to DAoC enough that it won't be ignored with Warhammer coming out? I know it just had a new expansion (woot minotaurs! I do miss my tauren
) but is that making a noticeable difference? For that matter, is the difference just shock value or will it be enough to bring the numbers back up? If there's one thing I can't stand about MMOs is it's the lack of players, and if there's another thing I can't stand even more is that all the players are max level or twinked and powerleveling alts, which is pretty common in long established games.
So, what seems to be the deal? Is Mythic showing dedication to DAoC enough that it won't be ignored with Warhammer coming out? I know it just had a new expansion (woot minotaurs! I do miss my tauren
) but is that making a noticeable difference? For that matter, is the difference just shock value or will it be enough to bring the numbers back up? If there's one thing I can't stand about MMOs is it's the lack of players, and if there's another thing I can't stand even more is that all the players are max level or twinked and powerleveling alts, which is pretty common in long established games.
Comments
Depends on your gaming goals, and what you expect out of your MMO's.
Yes, DAOC population levels are declining, and will probably continue to do so, especially with all the new MMO's on the horizon like WH, AOC, Vanguard and many others. Will the population reach zero and the plug pulled? Not likely, Mythic will have the cash to keep the game viable for years and even now they are adding new content in the form of smaller patches. Notice, Ultima Online is still around, 10 years later... DAOC has potential to last the same. Some folks really like its Arthurian (is that a word?) based game world and there is little comparable to it coming out now.
DAOC won't be the only game to go through this..I expect most games will suffer declines (yep, even Eve and WoW) as people give the new offerings a try. Some will return though, back to their favorites so DAOC will remain strong.
As to population, I can't speak for one of the more populated TOA servers like Lancelot, but Morgan Le Fey is pretty sparse, especially for new players... which is why I did not return there (or my other favorite server, Mordred)
Classic servers are jumping, especially Gareth. (Ector seems a bit light, but Lamorak is decent for new players as well). The three servers are clustered and you can move freely between them, so it really doesnt matter which one you start on (except if you plan to buy housing, then be sure to start on the server that you want a house on). All sorts of returning players on Gareth, many rolling up not only the new Minotaurs (not all are maulers btw) but still lots of stealther, support classes and mages being created in all three realms.
The lower level battle grounds, especially Thidaranki, (20-24), Molvik (35-39) and Cathal Valley (45-49) are full of people, as many as 30 or 40 players per realm..and the action can be extremely busy (US timezones btw)
Now, I'm betting you can continue to play on the classic servers and still have fun for several years...but what are you goals. In my case, I enjoy being part of a new game/server, so I'll be lured away by Warhammer or one of the others one day. But that's OK for me...I don't live to play the same character over and over. I've got 5 or 6 level 50's that I've previously abandoned and currently have 4 level 49.5's that I'm fighting nightly with in CV. (i get bored being one class, so I have a Bard, a Vamp, a Light Eld and a Mana Eld).
All I'm looking for right now is a game to keep me entertained for the next 6 to 9 months, and DAOC is fitting the bill perfectly. If you were looking for a game which will have vibrant, growing populations for the next 2 or 3 years, you might want to hold up for one of the new releases....
But, if you want to have some fun right now.... and for quite some time if you like... come join DAOC and play on a Classic server....
(sorry TOA guys, gotta promote my own servers)
Oh yes.... TOA does offer a different gaming experience, so you might want to create a character on Lancelot and take a look around...might be something for you there as well... (but not me... TOA = Bleah)
Edit.. one more thing.. I'm not going to lie...there is a decent amount of twinking, powerleveling going on, but its not quite as bad since Classic servers have only been around for 1.5 yrs or so....you can still get a group thats playing the game straight up if you like and enjoy the full game experience (with a lot of the painful time sinks removed from the game that we all hated long ago)
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
The bad part about the TOA server is everyone has a buff bot, although with stat buff potions you can get failry close to their effectiveness.
Also DAOC can be someone strainful on a new player compared to games like WoW at low levels money coming in is slow and it can be rather hard to level some classes without decent gear such as melee classes.
So if you do decide to give DAoC a try send me a PM and I'll give you my character names and server.
That is, in EQ, there was this level that you tried to get to and it
was a real bitch to get it. Then they kept raising it and raising
it. Thus players kept going after it. Hence the "Ever" in
Everquest. This means that people are always working on those top
level toons. As the number of new players declined then the
starter zones were empty and it was "impossible" to catch up. I
think this menality has spread to lots of other games and partly
because of its mechanics - WoW being EQ made easy with PvP thrown in as
an after thought.
DAOC is diferent. There is a level 50 and that is your highest
level. If you play on the ToA servers then there are Master
Levels to do, but those are not that important, it all dpends on your
class. There are Champion Levels, but you earn those for anything
you do and the abilites you get for it are not that impressive to cause
balance concerns.
DAOC has reduced the time it takes to earn things dramatically. I
got to level 20 in 6 hours. I think I was level 24 in a little
over 7. I was not being PLed either.
I think you really need to look at what you want from a game and do not
worry about anything else. If you start off on a regular server
then things will look baren. The population is split up over 4-6
servers. You will have a harder time getting groups at all levels
because of that.
The classic server Gareth will not look barren because of a high
population on one server. There are almost as many people playing
on the regular server cluster but it does not look that way.
I am not sure if DAOC population is "declining." It is in
flux. People leaving, coming back, and trying for the first
time. Some times of the year things look more empty than others
because of RL issues. I can say that my guild is growning.
It is growing mostly from returning players and new players.
If you want groups to level up with then the Classic server might be
better. But I want to stress that it does not really matter
because leveling is so easy there is virtually no reason to group at
all. Almost every class can solo quickly. You group up for
raids, and RvR. As for getting to a level where you are ready to
"compete" then any new players can do it is a quick time. I would
say a casual player on a regular server could get everything done in
about 2-3 months depending on how much you could play in a week.
If you went all out at it and got into a guild, then you could be to
level 50 in less than a week and be done with all of your ML and
artifacts in 2 weeks.
As for investing in DAOC, this is probably to time to come and try it
out. There is a new expansion added so some people have come back
to check it out. There is a new class so peope will be leveling
those. They have spent the past year improving the game by
updating a lot of things. They have started a new quest system
that they are rolling out. They are going to continue to update
the old zones. They are working on class improvments.
As for the future it is hard to say. I mean EA Mythic is planning
on keeping DAOC around. It is going to part of EA attempt to be a
rival to Sony and an attempt to take some subscribers away from
WoW. But new games are coming out. The only two that could
have an impact on population are AoC and WAR. Vangaurd will not
appeal to 99.999% of DAOC players. It is EQ made harder.
WoW is popular because it was easily accesible and quick to level at
the early levels. DAOC has been made easier. DAOC has
RvR. Why would any sane DAOC player decide to leave to go play a
difficult game that is another EQ clone that many people on DAOC fled
from EQ to start with?
AoC might take some subscribers if it is not bug ridden and has some
positive feedback. WAR is certainly a challenge to DAOC
population, but at the same time it is a very different game with a
different RvR experience. So given these two games, 12-18 months
from now I would expect, barring some huge EA money and advertisement,
that DAOC population will be lower. But, given server clustering
and perhaps even clustering in the future, there will still be people
to play with. I doubt that you will see subscription numbers less
than 50,000.
My trial character is on the Nimue RP server, Midgard, Valkyn Bonedancer, his random name is Eponifridhbh, and I've no idea what to do with him roleplay wise as of right now =P
You will usually find a better community there and one that is more mature. The key is to stick it out at the low level and try to find a guild to join.
I would use one of the channelers to TP to another server on the cluster. As for LFG, there is a LFG flag you can set and you can search for a group. Click on the last icon on the right that has all of your character information. At the bottom I think there is a button labeled find or something like that. Click that to search or set yourself looking for a group.
If you are interested in grouping and seeing a lot more people then I would suggest you try Gareth server.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
1. The system is going through changes over the next few patches.
2. It is the worst aspect of the gaming and crafting I believe it outlawed by international law as cruel and unusual punishment.
3. It does you not good at this level (it might never do you any good - it really depends on the changes being made).
If you must craft it is simple. Make an item from your main tradeskill, so for tailoring make cloth gloves. Make sure the item cons orange to you. With every item you make your skill will go up fopr the first 100-200 points. When you reach 99, you must go see your crafting trainer. Then at 199 you do it again, etc.
Are these just overlooked quests from an overhaul? All of them were picked up through speach boxes as opposed to the quest window with rewards and such displayed. Is there a list of quests to avoid somewhere out there due to their lack of information or being bugged or something? How can I complete them or get rid of them because some are apparently not removable. Also, where exactly should I level and quest up to avoid this kind of crap and maybe find some other people?
I can't say I have had any of the problems you speak of. Sometimes when I do kill tasks the direction they tell me it is hard to find the mobs I am supposed to kill, but not with full quests.
/journal pulls up your journal and usually gives you good directions. If you have the full game and not just the trial, you can go to Catacombs zones which have the best quests. You can go to Shrouded Isles and it has double XP right now so that is the place to level.
Go here for a walkthrough of all of the quests: http://camelot.allakhazam.com/quests.html
The ones with just the chat boxes and not the popup window are the older quests that are in the process of being updated. The ones that are updated you can /map and it will display a green dot which is the place you need to go for the next step of your quest.
Also, they are upgrading all of their quests to the new box format. As they do that I am sure many of these issues are going to be fixed (although I have never had the problems you seem to be having). It will just take a couple of months to get all of them done.
this guy is right crafting only helps if you have alot of money since if you get to 500+ you will start needing 50g - 2p to get stacks
If you want armor, the best thing to do is go into the dungeons. Those have had their loot tables upgraded. I do not play in Mid so I cannot tell you the name of them. There is also a low level addition to DF. You get there near the start town. There are good items in there. Those are probably your best options until all of the quests are updated so you can see what the quests offer.
Also, the newer the area the better the items. So if you go to SI they will be a little better. If you go to Cats they will be a lot better. DR is good for items, but you cannot start those quests until 30.
If you are looking for items/help when you login type /who bonedancer or /who bondancer 50. Then send a tell to one of them asking if he knows where to hunt for items or level, or just advice on the class. Chances are, unless the person is busy, you will get a good answer and perhaps even free items. I know I keep around my old armor and weapons and give them away.
I've been away for a bit - I think I mellowed a little while I was gone -- everything JulianD posted I agree with here -- (well, I don't love Classic as much)
Crafting is a major pain - but getting big overhauls... wait.
The quests will be better and for sure they have redone the way they do many in the starter towns. They have been working on making the beginning of the game a little easier.
One thing about clustered servers, if you don't find someone in an area on one cluster - just go to a different one.
Now you can also be in guilds cross cluster as well.
Give the gareth cluster a try if you want to actually enjoy this mmo. I just started up again, and joining said cluster proved to be worthwhile. There are lots of people everywhere, especially during peek hours.
I play Hib so if you hop over and happen to join them, feel free to send Sariix a tell!
Also, if you roll on the classic cluster, get a character to level 20-24 and try out the Thidranki battlegrounds. Lots of action going on all the time here and its a lot of fun. You get mad exp (I think its double here as well) killing other players and can easily level in the battlegrounds. You'll also receive realm points which can be spent on realm abilities.
The advice to roll on Ector is sound, if getting a cheaper priced lot for your house is a concern. On the downside, fewer people go to the Ector marketplace to search for goods...they tend to focus on Gareth and Lamorak more....
But...it cost me 14 plat for a lot on Gareth... so the advice is sound I suppose.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Well, I'm gonna give Ryzom a shot and see how things go (no software to buy, so that's a plus) and the Ryzom Ring sounds pertty damn interesting. Assuming that doesn't hold my interest, I'll just splurge for the epic edition of DAoC.
I really would rather not have to limit my rolelpay opportunities by joining some other server, and being one who would enjoy raid content I really don't want to have to make a choice between a lot of people or roleplay and raiding. Does Mythic have plans to combine the smaller servers, like the RP ones? On another note, do they plan to upgrade the interface or are there mods for that or does the trial not include interface upgrades (for example, I reaaallly hate the lack of a counter or bar or something to tell me when a spell will cast)?
Just FYI, Ryzom has and likely will continue to have huge financial problems. The game was so not ready when it released and the public beta was embarassing. It doomed the game to obscuirty and a very small but dedicated fan base. It is far more popular in EU so if you play at those times things should be more populated than if you play at US prime time. The game appears somewhat barren, but perhaps as not as it used to.
Sadly, it sounds like you only scratched the surface of what the game can be.
You chose to play on an RP server (which, actually, if I didn't know better, I'd do, too) with a much-reduced playerbase from it's former glory days. Therefore, you're going to find yourself doing a good bit of soloing. Although, to be fair, you're playing a class that does very well at soloing, so that might not be such a huge problem, but it still deprives you of the social aspect of the game.
The quests ARE in a state of flux right now, as many of the older quests are either phased out, or brought into line with the "new" quest system. You can tell the difference by the kind of dialogue window you get. If the window contains bracketed text (nestled among an NPC's 'tale'), then it's an old quest. If you get a window with the 'tale', and a description of what you'll get upon completion (items, xp, etc.), then it's a new quest. I haven't done a LOT of questing in Midgard, although I have done all the new level 1-10 quests that were written for Mularn and Vasudheim, and found them to be a lot of fun.
All this being said, however... you make no mention at all of partaking in what DAoC does BEST, and that's RvR. At LEAST make your way to a Battleground and be part of taking a keep before you write the game off altogether. Again, though... the more people on your server/cluster, the more fun you're bound to have. Which is why so many folks here advocate starting on one of the Bossiney cluster servers (Gareth, Lamorak or Ector).
If you're done with DAoC for now, then good luck to you in Ryzom!