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Dark Age of Camelot: Press Event Revelations
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
Last Week, Garrett Fuller and Jon Wood headed down to Fairfax VA for an EA Mythic Press Event. Today, Garrett lets us know what they had to say about their flagship, Dark Age of Camelot.
Dark Age of Camelot if a game that has come a long way. After five years it is considered one of the top old-school MMOs and is often ranked in with Ultima Online and Everquest. However, the Dark Age of Camelot we saw this week carries many upgrades and features which keep it in competition with the current MMOs we are all playing today. After five years on the map, Dark Age of Camelot still delivers and plans to deliver for many years to come.
Producer Walt Yarborough gave us a presentation on the changes that we can expect from Dark Age of Camelot in the near future. After going through and highlighting points on The Labyrinth of the Minotaur, he went right into the new content that players will be able to enjoy. Also, he did mention that GOA will be launching the expansion in Europe sometime in February. The expansion has been available in North America since November.
;)
You can read the whole article here.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Very nice improvments,
However....when I went back and popped in eariler this year to see how things are in old DAoC one thing really needs to be looked at and that is the "downtime". Kill one mob, sit around for several minutes resting. Its really really dull, slow paced gameplay. Doling out free levels every so often is no solution, the message that sends is "yeah we know our gameplay/leveling sucks, so here, have a free level on the house".
DAoC was my first MMORPG and I started playing it back in 2002, so I really want to see this game succeed. But nothing will bring me back until they find a way to bring in the old community and increase their subscription numbers. No game will be populated as WoW is at the moment, but it should not be hard to find a group if you want one. When I used to play DAoC, I never had problems finding a group and we would level for hours. I found that fun, but now the population is pretty low and most people are already lvl 50 and most of them just want to RvR. Again, when I used to play, I found no shortage of people who liked to do the PvE content. But now people just want to RvR and could careless about the PvE content. Even in-game people say that this game is all about the RvR. Well, it wasn't all about the RvR back then. RvR was a large part of it and the stories were built for it, but PvE was also a big part and big enough that they had a server dedicated to PvE alone. Now I liked RvR too, but I didn't want to have to RvR 24/7. I wanted to be able to also go do a raid maybe a couple times a week and maybe some RPing events.
So unless they can provide that feel that it once had for me, I won't be coming back. To produce that feel, they need to encourage RPing, bring back the community that likes to do the PvE content as well as the RvR content, and provide measures that encourage the already scarce community to group together instead of soloing all the time.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
This was changed in 1.87. It takes about 30-60 seconds (depending on level) to go from 1% to 100% now. They've also added campfires (drops in SI and classic areas) that increase power/end/hp regen rates.
I thought that the leveling was the best part of the game. You had no downtime if you were grouped with others that can replenish your hitpoints, endurance, and mana. But yeah, soloing sucks and that is why I left after Catacombs. I tried it out this past fall and they've improved the amount of xp you get in the Classic and SI areas, which has given people a reason to come out of the Catacombs and group up. But it was still a lot harder to find a group than it was back in the day, so I left. I have all, but the LoTM expansions too. I don't want new areas to explore, I want the old areas with people to play in them with. These new campaigns will help, but they are targetted for lvl 50's, which is something I don't have. And I prefer not to have to solo to 50 just to see that new content. I'll just stick with WoW and The Burning Crusade. I just found a great guild on a new server and I am having a lot of fun. Plus we RP. Imagine a guild of 80+ accounts of RPers who also plan to do all content in-game and also have experience with it. The results is a lot of fun times.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
DAoC is OldSchool, and the main thing OldSchool MMORPGs have working for them is that they dont appeal to everyone = compromises less to none (and in my opinion a good game cant appeal to everyone, we're only human here ..
)
What I love about DAoC and why i've played it a few years = it's PvP, I L U V it
Long life DAoC!
ED : Yes it is "grindyR" compared to recent releases, it has fixed class roles, team play works wonders.
Realm VS Realm endgame PvP and the Battlegrounds (having toons for as many BGs as possible) are what gives it it's wonderful coating. Those that 'been there know.
That sounds nice, how recent was 1.87???
Other replies, I played DAoC for over a year, had several level 50"s and higher RR toons. The game was slow paced and grindy hence the empty servers and free levels.
1.87 went live last week I believe.
No matter what I play, I always come back to this game. Not only does levelling fly when you are in a group, but many, and I mean MANY classes are so soloable now it is nice. Did not go back to RVR this time around, but rather Gaheris which allows you to play any class and any race and explore the world. Always raids going on, and plenty of people around to play with so its good!!!
That sounds nice, how recent was 1.87???
Other replies, I played DAoC for over a year, had several level 50"s and higher RR toons. The game was slow paced and grindy hence the empty servers and free levels.
1.87 went live on 1/11/07.They did an update to 1.87 last week.
The so-called classic servers lack ToA ( which finally after lots of changes was a really good expansion... ) and unfortunately, with Catacombs classes and balancing based on the assumption of buffed characters ( look at the Scout on classic servers... ), the ARServers are a mess with regards to RvR balancing.
But still the first year DAoC was lots of fun. Thanks for that Ex Mythic Entertainment!
DAOC is a good game, I still have accounts on it because the RvR is good times, and I really enjoy it. Maybe not as flashy as some of the newer games, but still a good time.
"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
I played on Gareth off an on since its release and I just recently quit this past December when the double xp was around. Finding a group is not easy like you say it is. You almost have to solo or wait for a group for a pretty long time. There are some levels that is easy to find groups for, but not all of them. When I played DAoC from 2002-2004, grouping came natural to everyone and you could find one within 5 min. But now it is not natural and a lot of people would much rather solo. Finding a group can take anywhere from 5min to never depending on your level and the time of day.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Im really glad theyre still actively putting out content updates for this game. It is too great a game to let die especially in pvp. I often rue ebaying my account several years ago and would certainly go back to it however i just cant bring myself to grind soem more toons again sadly.
With the 1.87 changes that somneone mentioned about the regen and xp rates being uppped i might try it out on the free trial again although im tempted to go more for the us servers as opposed to the euro servers as i hear theyre very low populaiton now
Have to say ive still never quite managed to recreate the thrill i got pvping in daoc on many occasions.
Greatness is difficult to appreciate from close up. The great mountain on the horizon is only the ground when you are standing on it.
The biggest problem with DAoC now is population.
I started on the Gawaine server 4 1/2 years ago. I'm still here, but the population is almost non-existent.
When I first started, Gawaine would have 2500 people on in the evening. Now it's usually under 400.
They addressed this for RvR and for raids (MLs, Dragon, Caer Sidi, etc) with the clustering, bringing the cluster population up to about where Gawaine used to be on its own.
The problem is most of the zones are not clustered so the PvE is spread out across 4 servers.
You used to be able to go into just about any of the main dungeons in classic or SI and find a group.
In addtion to the population spread across 4 servers, the task dungeons and other instances mean lots of people are leveling out of sight and are harder to find to get into a group.
Merge all the zones but housing (have no idea how you could merge housing fairly so leave it alone) and drop the instance dungeons would go a long way to help.
Then they just need to find a way to attract people back or get new players.
If something significant doesn't happen, a successful release of WAR will signal a serious decline in DAoC if not it's death.
-G
the ehancements mentioned that will be coming (like extra slots for characters, etc) -- He failed to mention that they are considering this to be a "Real Money Transaction" -- meaning yeh, its gonna be available but you are gonna pay for it. Much like the nickel and dime shenanigans of SOE and Station. Since its EA now, this wasnt a surprise. EA will bleed every cent they can out of you.
As far as the rest, as an Elder of the game, I think EA Mythic making some of the changes that were screamed for 4 -5 years ago is more like --yeh thats nice but its a little late.
Top that with a joke of customer service sending canned responses --- nah gonna leave it off my game list.
Does anyone happen to know, though, if they might be combining the smaller servers of a particular type? Because I really was turned off by the fact that the three roleplay servers were clustering not even 300 people all together at times while Garreth held more alone without including those it was clustered with. I can understand the ToA thing, since that applies to the RP servers... Might they offer a ToA RP and a non-ToA RP?
Just want to say I agree, completely. I tried going back to DAOC, when the classic servers were implemented, but it just wasn't the same.
Running back and forth to task dungeons, I got a new character up to 50 in a ridiculously short amount of time, but the community that made it such a great game didn't seem to be there anymore. I think the PvE was just as important to the sense community as the RvR, but Mythic seems to have let that part of the game wither and die. It's tough to keep the PvE appealing to players, but between bots, solo content, and speeding up and simplifying levelling as much as possible, there didn't seem to be much to it anymore, to accommodate much socializing.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
I couldn't agree more - DAoC is one of the best MMOs out even after 5 years. There is no PvP that even hits close to this.
On the flip side I have been playing on and off since SI was released, so I'm always looking for something new, and AoC and War are the only 2 games that I could imagin trading my DAoC for.
A half year ago I popped back in, and, still all the same,...
I thought this was very interesting and they have earned my respect saying this to.
Even though EA Mythic may not get everything right (then again who does), you have to respect a company that makes mistakes, admits it, and really tries to give something back to the players in return.
Now if only SOE did something like that concerning SWG... makes you wonder why they dont when Mythic can admit mistakes and do something to make up for that mistake.
DAoC was my first MMORPG, and it will always hold great memories for me. I'm glad to see that they are continuing to make changes and make the game better, but I wanted to list a few of the things that really discouraged me about the game and why I left. I have been back a few times but only to leave again after a month or so.
1. I wish they would make it so you can fully respec your character any time you want if you would like to. Make it easy for people to do. Yeah they have single line respecs at lvl 20 and 40. I don't want to respec ONE line. I want ALL my points back and let me respec them ALL the way I want. Don't make me have to kill the dragon or do some rediculously insane quest to get a full respec stone. Just let me pay some gold or wait a set amount of time and then the option to respec is open to me. Make me feel like if I screwed up my spec that I am able to fix it if I need to or want to. Make it easy for me to experiment with different specs. Also please give me some inkling of what abiliies I will get at the trainer if I spend points in certain lines. Yes you can click on the skill line and see what you will get at certain levels but you have no F-ing idea what each of those do until you train in it and then delve it to see what kind of style it is. I don't want to go to a F-ing 3rd party website to use their "Character Builder 2.0" to decide how I should spend my points. I want something official from Mythic to let me know what my options are.
2. Spellcrafting and Imbueing items to get bonuses to your gear. With my first (and only) lvl 50, I worked with a guild member to figure out my "template" and to get some nice gear. The spellcrafter says something like... OK, get naked and then give me all your base stats. Ok now put on the rings and jewlels.. now give me those stats... or some rediculous thing where I had to give him all these numbers. Meanwhile I had to get another LGM Armorcrafter to make me a set of 100% or 99% quality set of armor. Which I had to wait for him to do for almost an hour and cost me an arm and a leg as well. Then I go back to the Spellcrafter, give him the player made armor. He then gets the stats from the armor and then makes the jewels etc in order to "combine" them with the armor (which I HOPE he does not destroy). I pay him an arm and a leg after waiting for another hour and get a set of nice armor with good stats for my Berserker (half of which make no sense to me). But I do know that I have Axe +10, Left Axe +11 etc, etc woohoo! Please make it EASIER for me to obtain some good gear with good stats without it being such a pain in the rear end. I thought... well I am going to learn Spellcrafting so I can do my own armor. There is hardly any info on the Herald to help me learn what or how to do it. So I go again, to a 3rd party site and download and INSTALL a spellcrafter calculator 2.0 or whatever it was. I opened it up and looked at it and went WTF is this and how do I use it? I read the instructions that came with it. It didn't take long for me to say SCREW this! What do they want me to be... a F-ing Nuclear Physicist so I can understand how this F-ing thing works??? Make it easier to obtain a decent set of gear that I can at least compete in with. Ok make me grind for it, I'm ok with that. (Yes I got my Epic set of gear, only to be told, "That's not as good as player made and spellcrafted gear"... WTF?) Or make me pay for it. That's cool but make it something I feel I can achieve and help me understand how to achieve it. And BTW what in the hell is "Base Clamped Damage" anyway??
3. Help a noob get a little more coin so he can afford to buy some decent armor after lvl 10-15 or so. Yes you can farm Aurulite and buy the Catacombs gear, but how can I do that if I can't kill anything in that Adventure Wing higher than a blue and then only if it doesn't "add" because my set of gear is sub par? I realize you can farm alot of Aurulite with a group, but at the moment I'm not in a big guild and don't have tons of time to do that. I go to the Market Explorer to see what is available there... and surprise I can't afford it. I'm not one to beg other people for money. Help me get some money early on!
4. PLEASE add a freaking EMAIL system into the game! What an idea!!! I want to send messages or send items to my other characters or friends even when they are not playing. Then when they log on.. BOOM they got my message or my items or whatever. It took Mythic what.... 4 years to add MAPS to the game. How many more years until they add an email system to the game? This one is way over-due if you ask me.
5. Let there be a way that I can sell items without having to have a house with a consignment merchant. If I don't have a house I'm screwed if I have stuff to sell other than SPAMMING the general chat... WTS such and such. I realize that this all works together with Foundations (housing expansion), but I don't have a house for crying out loud!! NO I don't really want one that I have to pay rent on or lose, just so I can place a consignment merchant there to sell my goods..
Having said all that, I love Dark Age of Camelot. I hope it does last another 20 years. Those are just some of the things I think they could improve on with the game. But for now I think I am leaving it once again to play WoW with my rl friends and their fun and helpful guild. But I will probably be back sometime... maybe
You really do have to respect Mythic.
Hopefully Mythic influences Ultima Online to start doing the same.
Yeah, as much as I hated TOA, and pre-TOA DAOC is still my all-time favorite MMO- I have to say, what SOE did to SWG is really much worse. If only they'd make similar classic servers, they'd save a lot of face on that. Although like with Mythic, waiting two years to get around to it, seems a bit late for that. Still, you'd think they'd try to salvage the game, it's one of the few that isn't an EQ clone in any way, shape or form.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
I really enjoyed DAoC when it first came out, it easily pulled me away from EQ1. The 1st expansion, Shrouded Isles, was quite fun and well made.
ToA did kill it for me though....
I was actually going to return some time ago but when EA bought Mythic, or I should say Mark sold his company out, I lost a lot of respect for them. So I didn't return as I will not play or rent any game made by EA. Sad really, some of my fondest ingame moments were in DAoC.