Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
The problems with DAOC
SpeedyBanana
Member Posts: 32
The game has too many classes, 45 at the moment, most of which are rarely played because they are useless. Instead of making a few interesting and unique classes with a lot of skills and spells available for players to work with, Mythic has spammed the game with more and more classes that are very similar to others save for one or two token abilities. Every expansion pack Mythic introduces new and overpowered classes as an incentive for people to buy it. Rather then take a step back and redesign a class, Mythic usually destroys it. I don't ever remember a patch where they nerfed some aspect of a class and offered a buff somewhere else to compensate. It takes a long time to get to 50 and gear your character, and there is no guarantee that in the time you are doing that Mythic won't destroy your it, unless you pick a garbage class like a Thane, which has been a joke since the launch of the game.
Buffbots have also driven away a large amount of people over the years. Unlike other games where useful buffs are spread around the different classes, in DAOC one class has all the best buffs. There is no duration or range on the buffs, so once cast they will remain with you until you die. As an unbuffed player you have no chance to kill a buffed player no matter how well you play. The ridiculous increase in HP and Damage from buffs will more then make up for any differential in skill. They have become essential on all but the 3 classic servers (where you can't have buffbots) so unless you are willing to pay for two copies of the game and all the expansion packs and pay for two subscriptions, don't even bother, you will not be able to get anything done. Rather then fix this issues in the early part of the game life, Mythic has let this slide and lost a large amount of the player base because of it. It's too late to fix the problem now because if they nerfed buffbots they would instantly lose more then half their playerbase. When you check the www.camelotherald.com and see around 1000 players for a given server, subtract that by about 40-50% and that's the amount of real players you have in the game (I'm not kidding). The other half of the players are afk bots sitting up againts a wall in a keep, used to buff up somebody's main character. Also keep in mind the remaining players left are split into 3 different realms, and there are 50 levels divinding them further. Take into account how massive (and empty) the world is and you will get an understanding of just how few people there are left.
The PVE game has really degraded over the years. With each expansion pack Mythic has added new zones to level in, with better mobs, better exp, better quests and better items, without ever asking themselves why anybody would ever go back to the classic zones again. Each new expantion pack replaces a large part of the original content with smaller, more up to date zones. At the moment the only real way to level is through Task Dungeons. I wouldn't really call them dungeons, they are more like instanced hallways with a row of mobs evenly spaced appart. You get all kinds of bonuses for killing each mob and a large bonus at the end for completing the instance (which you do by killing all the mobs in most cases, or all of a certain type). They are a lot like the random dungeons in City of Heroes, except much more tedius, uncreative and dry. You will almost never find a group on anything but the classic servers meaning most of the group oriented classes like a Bard will need to be power leveled by a buffbot account or something in order to level up, or you will spend 2-3 months running task dungeons every day until you get to 50. Mythic has added some new quests, rather then update their old quests. Unless you have played the game for a while you won't really know what's worth doing and what's not. Some of the new quests will offer great exp / item rewards, while some of the original quests will have you running around the world for an hour or two for a few silver. Some of the older quests don't even work, you will be asked to go somewhere and kill a specific mob that has long been removed from the game, or repositioned without updating the quest.
After all the frustration you have to go through the end game isn't very rewarding. RVR can be fun for a little while, if you choose the right class, but it tends to get annoying very quickly. Crowd control really ruins the fun a lot of the times. You spend a lot of time setting up a group, running around trying to find some action, only to get mezzed by an enemy group and sit there while they kill you instantly one by one. Or you will be stunned and nuked to death while you sit there being unable to do anything. Most classes can't go out solo in the frontiers with all the stealth classes crawling around so a group is esential. However, long gone are the times when everbody would get in a big zerg and invite anyone. Most of the RVR these days are done in tight, specifically designed groups of 8 people. Again the importance of choosing the right class. If you were unlucky enought roll a Thane or a Necromancer for example, chances are you will almost never get into a group. Even if you have the right class, unless you have artifacts coming out of your arse, have high realm rank, master level and champion level, you're probably going to get passed over somebody else who has been playing the game longer and does. What do you do if you can't get into a group? You can either go out on your own, only to die by some invisible player who stabs you in the face/back or join a pickup group with other people who can't find groups, only to get destroyed and farmed for realm points by some other 8 man group from another realm.
Once in a while you might get lucky and be around when a zerg forms a couple times a week, or you might be involved in a keep defence/siege. Again though, the importance of choosing the right class. If you are a caster / archer class, life will be pretty good because you can cast your spells from the walls of your tower or keep. If you are some kind of melee class, all you are going to do is sit there and watch. You cannot go and fight people inside the keep, because there are walls and a door to stop you from getting in and a bunch of people on the walls that will destroy you if you get close. If you are inside the keep, you also can't do anything because there is a large blob of people that will destroy you instantly if you run out and try to engage somebody in melee combat. So basically, you sit there and do nothing... There are no siege towers or ladders like you would expect from a medieval war game.
There are many reasons why there is almost nobody left playing DAOC, and these are just some of them. Before you think about joining or rejoining the game, put a little more thought into it. It might turn out to be something you like, but keep in mind it wasn't for thousands of people. To be fair the game has improved a lot in the past year or so, because Mythic finally started to listen to what people wanted. Unfortunately they started listening when it was too late and everybody had left.
Buffbots have also driven away a large amount of people over the years. Unlike other games where useful buffs are spread around the different classes, in DAOC one class has all the best buffs. There is no duration or range on the buffs, so once cast they will remain with you until you die. As an unbuffed player you have no chance to kill a buffed player no matter how well you play. The ridiculous increase in HP and Damage from buffs will more then make up for any differential in skill. They have become essential on all but the 3 classic servers (where you can't have buffbots) so unless you are willing to pay for two copies of the game and all the expansion packs and pay for two subscriptions, don't even bother, you will not be able to get anything done. Rather then fix this issues in the early part of the game life, Mythic has let this slide and lost a large amount of the player base because of it. It's too late to fix the problem now because if they nerfed buffbots they would instantly lose more then half their playerbase. When you check the www.camelotherald.com and see around 1000 players for a given server, subtract that by about 40-50% and that's the amount of real players you have in the game (I'm not kidding). The other half of the players are afk bots sitting up againts a wall in a keep, used to buff up somebody's main character. Also keep in mind the remaining players left are split into 3 different realms, and there are 50 levels divinding them further. Take into account how massive (and empty) the world is and you will get an understanding of just how few people there are left.
The PVE game has really degraded over the years. With each expansion pack Mythic has added new zones to level in, with better mobs, better exp, better quests and better items, without ever asking themselves why anybody would ever go back to the classic zones again. Each new expantion pack replaces a large part of the original content with smaller, more up to date zones. At the moment the only real way to level is through Task Dungeons. I wouldn't really call them dungeons, they are more like instanced hallways with a row of mobs evenly spaced appart. You get all kinds of bonuses for killing each mob and a large bonus at the end for completing the instance (which you do by killing all the mobs in most cases, or all of a certain type). They are a lot like the random dungeons in City of Heroes, except much more tedius, uncreative and dry. You will almost never find a group on anything but the classic servers meaning most of the group oriented classes like a Bard will need to be power leveled by a buffbot account or something in order to level up, or you will spend 2-3 months running task dungeons every day until you get to 50. Mythic has added some new quests, rather then update their old quests. Unless you have played the game for a while you won't really know what's worth doing and what's not. Some of the new quests will offer great exp / item rewards, while some of the original quests will have you running around the world for an hour or two for a few silver. Some of the older quests don't even work, you will be asked to go somewhere and kill a specific mob that has long been removed from the game, or repositioned without updating the quest.
After all the frustration you have to go through the end game isn't very rewarding. RVR can be fun for a little while, if you choose the right class, but it tends to get annoying very quickly. Crowd control really ruins the fun a lot of the times. You spend a lot of time setting up a group, running around trying to find some action, only to get mezzed by an enemy group and sit there while they kill you instantly one by one. Or you will be stunned and nuked to death while you sit there being unable to do anything. Most classes can't go out solo in the frontiers with all the stealth classes crawling around so a group is esential. However, long gone are the times when everbody would get in a big zerg and invite anyone. Most of the RVR these days are done in tight, specifically designed groups of 8 people. Again the importance of choosing the right class. If you were unlucky enought roll a Thane or a Necromancer for example, chances are you will almost never get into a group. Even if you have the right class, unless you have artifacts coming out of your arse, have high realm rank, master level and champion level, you're probably going to get passed over somebody else who has been playing the game longer and does. What do you do if you can't get into a group? You can either go out on your own, only to die by some invisible player who stabs you in the face/back or join a pickup group with other people who can't find groups, only to get destroyed and farmed for realm points by some other 8 man group from another realm.
Once in a while you might get lucky and be around when a zerg forms a couple times a week, or you might be involved in a keep defence/siege. Again though, the importance of choosing the right class. If you are a caster / archer class, life will be pretty good because you can cast your spells from the walls of your tower or keep. If you are some kind of melee class, all you are going to do is sit there and watch. You cannot go and fight people inside the keep, because there are walls and a door to stop you from getting in and a bunch of people on the walls that will destroy you if you get close. If you are inside the keep, you also can't do anything because there is a large blob of people that will destroy you instantly if you run out and try to engage somebody in melee combat. So basically, you sit there and do nothing... There are no siege towers or ladders like you would expect from a medieval war game.
There are many reasons why there is almost nobody left playing DAOC, and these are just some of them. Before you think about joining or rejoining the game, put a little more thought into it. It might turn out to be something you like, but keep in mind it wasn't for thousands of people. To be fair the game has improved a lot in the past year or so, because Mythic finally started to listen to what people wanted. Unfortunately they started listening when it was too late and everybody had left.
Comments
So many people seem to cry about the fact that you have to work in this game. Nothing is handed to you. Noone will ever come along and say 'here, let me hold your hand and make all the decisions for you and at the end of the day, you'll get to feel like a champ for doing nothing at all'. There's a reason why people who play these days stick around. It's because the rewards of actually trying hard pay off. My bard I quit playing on MLF was RR5l3 when I left that server and was never guilded. Are you serious? You had a hard time finding a group at any level with that class? I have a new bard on Gareth and get group invites all the time. Only I have to decline because my guy is always already grouped within minutes of logging in. I join a cg and say bard lfg. Not very hard to do at all.
It's even funnier that you mention necros. I dusted mine off last weekend and took him to agramon and the lab on caerleon cluster. Got 45k solo that night. I know a lot of other classes get more rps, but guy, if my solo sight necro can pull those kinds of rps, it only reaffirms in my mind that detractors of this game are simply wanting something for nothing. Sure I died a lot in NF last weekend. But did I come here and write a long post about getting zerged? Nope. /rel and hit it again. And again and again. Gained 2 realm rank levels that night. Not bad for a toon with ml1, cl0, eerie darkness stone as my only arty and a class that is obviously not playable in rvr...
If you think having to pay more money or grind for more time in order to have an equal oppertunity makes sense, then why does DAOC have 10,000 (wait, cut that by 50%, since half are bots) er 5,000 people on during primetime and declining and an easymode game like World of Warcraft has a couple of million and quickly growing? I'm not trying to promote anything or be a fanboi, but its pretty clear people want a game thats easy, fun, and enjoyable. I work enough at work, I'm not interested in doing more tedius tasks when I get home. My post was designed to explain to people just what they're getting into. If they want to pay 2x the money and grind that long it's up to them.
"I actually cook my meat with nothing but my burning hatred for vegetables"
1. WoW is easy until level 40. Then we can start talking about the grinds and constant 40 man raids.
2. Weeks killing the same mob? WTF. You can get to max level solo in 120 hours played.
3. You do not need to grind at all. It is possible to level up just by doing quests. It is just as fast, and for the upper levels it is often much faster than killing.
4. You do not need a buffbot.
5. If you are buffbot paranoid then go play on the classic servers.
I agree wholeheartedly with you : If you are the kind of player that gives up easily or are the kind of player that thinks playing 2 hours a week should get you the same rewards as someone who plays 8 hours a day or a player that feels that simply logging in should reward you with feeling like a champ, then you shouldn't play dark age of camelot. I understand not everyone is able to dedicate 4-5 hours a day on a game. I work over the internet and my job has a lot of time where I'm just waiting for a job to come in. Where on DAoC's box does it say that people that work harder will be reduced to the lowest common denominator because some chump only wants to play an hour a week and still play at the level of everyone else? Looking over my boxes and can't find that anywhere. The fact that I went to Alb/Ector and rolled a lvl 1 toon, that has leveled to 24 so far exclusivly in battlegrounds, including Demon's Breach and leveled exclusively on members of other realms shows me that you are a carebear in search of something for nothing. Those battles you claim you were denied are there to be had. You will never find them though sitting around crying about how unfair the game is. The other postre was definately right on about people that cry about having to 'grind'. Being anti-social and refusing to explore will get you nothing in this game. My heretic I made when catacombs came out leveled almost entirely on quests. Always something new, every level until 50. But I had to work hard to find those quests and I can see where most people would rather give up, do the most simple, easy thing then cry about it afterward.
A lot of people keep playing WoW because it's easy and safe. After going through the upper level quests a few times, what could be the point of sticking around unless you simply like to feel safe in the same old same old? I left that game when I hit level 60 and don't care that they added levels and quests beyond that. I saw that the experience would be the same so I stay away. I enjoy being challenged by games I play and having played a lot of games, I've come to recognize that the greatest challenge a player will ever face is against other players. Not in some safe haven, instanced, perfectly structured fight where the battles are almost scripted out every time.
The random chaos that comes from games like Counter-Strike and DAoC have nothing to do with some stupid quest that deserves to be in a single player game. It comes from never knowing what's going to happen or where it's going to happen. If you can't handle having to focus or to try hard to come out on top, DAoC is not a game for you.
The classes already in the game have also been under heavy review and modification, with both positive and negetive changes being made, so the statement on lack of change is a bit out of place.
Some of the newer classes that were introduced were made to be able to fight without the need for bots, to the extent they can't even be buffed by other players. and there have always been classes capable of defeating a buffed oponent anyway, if you can play them right.
and as others have said, the classic servers also took measures to allow people a place without bots.
I would strongly suggest trying some of the other classes, if you are struggling so much with your current ones, or even try to find a group or some friends on the game, so that you can find a class or 2 to join up with where your skills can complement each other. it IS a MMO after all.
and one other thing, the time taken to get to 50 should not be a problem if the journey's enjoyable. if you don't like that journey, then the game's probably just not for you.
------------------------------
Currently playing: Rift
former player of: DAoC, Everquest 2, Guild Wars, SWG (pre-NGE), WoW, Warhammer online, LotR:O
I don't have time to reply to all that whine, but here comes.
There are 45 Classes to choose from however, you should only be playing one realm at a time anyhow... so devide that number by 3.
I have played DAoC for over 4 years and I havent played all the classes and thats GOOD! That means there's more content I could try if I wanted to.
AS for exping, if you knew what you are doing you can level up a character to 50 in a couple of days even without plvling doing a combination of RvR/PvE and Questing.
Crowdcontrol is great, try a class that uses it instead of complaning.
If you don't bring a treb or ram to a keepseige, you only got yourself to blame...and there are several classes who can climb walls! Including the warrior(classes)
Was rather odd that the OP apparently joined MMORPG.com just to post a long flame post of DAOC. Makes me think he created an alternate account.
I actually agree with him about crowd control, and I'm glad to see WAR will be restricting this feature quite a bit. But as to the rest of the post...mostly a whine from someone who appears to have created a Thane as a main.
Its true btw, one large component of the RVR game is the 8 man group. Also true, certain classes are not welcome in 8 man groups, especially not the 8-mans trying to become legends on the server. If you want to run with the 8's.... roll a class that they really need, like a speeder, healer, tank or other useful support class.... stay away from solo friendly classes like Archers, Stealthers, and the like.
There's still big fun to be had in DAOC, and like was mentioned,various paths to success that will avoid most of the OP's concerns.
We're not fanbois because we found a way to enjoy the game, and we're not people that are "hanging on till they disconnect the servers. I've returned to DAOC after several years playing COV, WOW, GW, and now trying out Vanguard...but I still have a DAOC account to have some RVR fun once in a while....
"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
Still a great game and getting better every day
I'm really not a fanboy but the thing is that DAOC is a great MMO. Of course there are a lot of things I dislike in it but it doesn't take ages to max a character, it is among the rare games where only questing is enough and you don't have to spend hours and hours grinding. If you are a hardcore gamer, you will have to grind though to gather the rarest and most expansive loots.
You can play this game at your own pace and still enjoy it. The only problem I currently have in DAOC is population. On some European servers the population is getting low (between 250-300 people at max.) and when your characters are on these servers you sometimes have some problems for grouping.
I wish I knew DAOC sooner when the population was high.
I have played DAoC off and on for 4 years. One of the things that I like is that there are so many choices/ I have made some toons that I didnt like, or didn't master playing well... but never felt the need to trash the game over it.
I also manage to play well -- without -- yes without a buffbot. I am in a good guild and we -- ready for this -- GROUP together -- yes it still happens. Sometimes we do very well and sometimes not so well. It happens - part of the game/any game.
I very rare talk about the game on chatboards but this need my comment cause people always crying about how the game sucks and that if you don't have this that you can't make it in the game I played this game for 4 years and is still playing this game I play a nightshade and I think that is one of the hardest classes to play by far you never have a group rarely get a group and you must learn how to solo. I been polaying for 4 years on this toon and only made rr 8L1 so far and where I see people everyday that have been playing for months and have made rr 8+ and that let me know how easy mythic have made this game. That is even with the Master Levels where it took over 60+ people to do now you can do all with about 20+ people Mythic only made the game more and more easier. To get people to play the game but you always got to have someone crying about something in life you can't give everyone everything they want the only thing I can tell you is to get use to it and to find one toon that you like an play it. If you don't find a new game don't cry about it with a long essay about what you don't like. Because it will never change there will always be OPed toon and there will always be zergs adapt or Quit.
Hi I'm Ravkeen!
Emilia_Emi Lvl 56 Witch
Now Playing : Black Desert Online
"America is not at war, the US Military is at war, America is at the mall."
There's endless variety for a player to toy around with.
^ ^ ^ ^
Agree - plenty of variety and something for everyone.
No. This is where you are wrong and clearly haven't played many games outside of DAOC. If you're an idiot you will figure 45 classes = a lot of content. If you have any kind of intelligence you will figure that out of 45 classes, many are of simple design and similar to other classes.
In alb for example, everbody gets the same styles. If you spec into swords as an armsmen or as a merc, or as anything else that can spec swords you use the exact same styles. If you spec shield, you get the same shield styles as every other person who specs in shields. This is the same for every single realm. So yes you might have 45 different classes but many of them use the exact same abilities. Look at realm abilities. Either then two or three, most classes get the exact same things. Mages will have almost the exact same abilities to choose from, melee classes, same thing. Take thanes and warriors. What's the difference? Both wear the exact same armor, exact same weapons, exact same styles, they look exactly the same (absolutely no way to tell one from the other visually), more then half of the realm abilities are exactly the same, etc. The only difference is the warrior will have more hp and a few token tank abilities, and the thane can use a few lightning spells mainly just for shits and giggles. Beyond that, there is no difference.
The other problem with 45 classes is that each class does not have a lot to it. They are very simple and straight forward. Take a fire wizard. What spells does he have? Two bolts, one DD, one AOE DD, and.... thats it... the rest are either your shield buffs (every caster in that realm gets the exact same ones) or something like your baseline root which you will rarely use. Take a bainshee for example, one of the latest classes added. What exactly does she have? Lets assume you spec spectral guard like almost everbody does. You have a nuke, a cone DD, a cone root, and cone bolt. Considering you will almost never get close to a large group of mids or albs, without exploding instantly, to make good use of those close range aoe spells, you are going to be left spamming your nuke for 95% of the time you play that class. You have an arrow damage reduction group buff which you must sit there and do absolutely nothing in order to keep up (lol....) and... thats it. That's all you have. You have one good nuke, 3 aoes you will not get to use 95% of the time you are playing that char, and another spell that will use maybe once a month. So you spend 3-5 days played to get to 50 in RVR and get some gear only to be pushing one button all the time, because you only have one spell thats of any use. Ya... that's A LOT of content... give me a break. Ever wonder why DAOC players have gotten along fine with just one bar with 10 buttons? While in something like WoW people will have 30-40+ icons on their screen and often times even that is not enough.
Now look at world of warcraft (again, not trying to be a fanboi but it does have better game design then DAOC in some respects) and try to tell me how similar a paladin and warrior is. Or tell me how similar a mage and a warlock is, or a priest and a druid. In WoW you only have 9 classes, but those classes are 10x more unique then any class DAOC has to offer. There are tons and tons of completely different spells and abilities and ways to use them, tons of ways to spec them and equip them and play them. A paladin in WOW that changes spec from ret to holy is far more different then playing say a warrior and a thane, or a zerker, or a savage, or anything. Change a druid's spec from feral to anything else really, and they are more different then any single class comparison in DAOC. So ya, there are a lot of classes in DAOC, but many are almost exactly the same except a few abilities. It's like going on a roller coaster the first time, then painting it a different color and sitting in a different seat and telling me it's a completely new exeriance.... right...
Oh and servers are clustered now, so it's very simple to make a char on mid for one server in the cluster, alb on another, and hib on the third. You're losing badly to hibs in RVR? or BG? np, log on your hib character. All servers play in the same battlegrounds and rvr zones so you can be playing mid one second, log off, log on alb char, and go and kill the same people you were playing with 30 seconds ago. So no, it's not 45 / 3 you idiot.
Oh and yes, I made this account just to post this rant. I somehow knew two years in advance that I would be making this whine so I planned ahead.... excellent theory genius
One thing I will agree on thought, is that his game is improving. It is better now then it has ever been. Mythic is finally starting to make the changes people want because if they don't there won't be anybody left (and it's already at that point almost, just look on camelotherald.com and see for yourself). RVR is the only spark that still holds this pile together. It's the one thing you won't find anywhere else. Even as flawed as it sometimes is. The problem is the amount of bs you have to put up with for it. I'm not going to list everything but there are many, like customer support. My warlock started a petition at level 4 about not being able to remove a quest form my quest log. My character is now level 42, and after over 2 days played, I have still not gotten a responce. Everytime I log him on I click ok to refresh the appeal and play for 5-6 hours and still no reply from a GM. Goes to show you what kind of company is running this game.... The timer which tracks how long you wait in an appeal que only goes up to 24 hours then loops back to 0. It has already looped over twice and pretty soon will loop over a third time.
I concur. This is what I did to get to 50 the last time I played and it didn't feel like a grind. I did the recruit quest line from 1-6. Lion's Den BG from 6-9. Grouped or soloed from 10-20. Remember that all the while you have Epic quests every 5 levels, which I did. 20-24 I did Thid. 25-35 I grouped mostly, but sometimes soloed if I only had an hour or so. From 35-39 I did Molv. From 40-50 I grouped, BG'd and quested.
I found that routine fun. You'd be suprised at how much fun you have when you are not in a rush to 50. RvR is only one aspect of the game. People who cannot have fun outside RvR usually don't make it. I would suggest playing a FPS game if you want a game that doesn't require you to advance first to get better. I've played Planetside and it isn't a bad FPS game. There is no grind there and you can jump right into the PvP.
As far as classes getting nerfed, well lets talk about that. People have a problem when a class gets nerfed, because they were playing that class and they were pwning face with it. The classes needed the nerfs, enough said. I do have some complaints about some classes needing nerfs, but not getting them, but that is another story. I've never had a problem playing a class or spec I wanted. That is the draw to the game for me. I love the amount of classes and spec you have to choose from. Yes, some are stronger than others, but I only join guilds who accept any class/spec that way I can play what I find fun. Like I said before, I know this game really well, so I was able to play any class/spec and find a good use for them in PvP. Sometimes that use was purely defense, other times it was just offense. Sometimes I had the joy of playing a class/spec that was good at both. Then you have the class/specs that are mainly good for rezzing and buffing or spying. But even that is very useful and is needed to succeed.
The problem is that people want a class that can do everything good. And since Catacombs, I'd say we have plenty that can do that now. This is why I play no longer. Some older classes have been made obsolete by newer classes. This doesn't mean that older classes can't hold thier own in groups anymore, it just means that Mythic has created the ultimate solo class that is good in PvE and are powerhouses in PvP.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
SpeedyBanana : what did DAoC ever do to you to deserve such a "hateful" post, if you can't see at least 1 good aspect of DAoC then please restrain from writing cuz you're hurting my eyes.
Don't make me believe, in all honesty, that this game is older than you are ...
It's not a perfect game, but it's undoubtedly to the MMORPG genre as Film-Noir to the movie industry.
Those that know, have been there.
Speedy...,
I have played a Thane in DAoC and every other class in each realm. You are right, a lot of them do have the same abilities, but each class has something or a few somethings that make them unique. I also play a Paladin in WoW at the moment and have played every class in WoW also. I have also played 10 other MMO's other than DAoC and WoW as well. So I definitely have experience and my opinion should count for something.
With that said, I disagree that a Ret. Pally is that much different than a Prot Pally. A Pally in WoW has all the same abilities as every other Pally excluding the few talent abilities earned. And I do mean only a few. A good Pally in WoW uses every ability he is given, depending on the situation. So there really isn't any difference between a Ret. and Prot Pally in WoW. A Ret Pally in WoW does more white dmg than a Prot Pally, but still uses a 2hander in some situations and a sword and board in others and heal and clense in others.
A Thane in DAoC will not have the same abilities as another Thane unless they are specced the same. A Thane in DAoC if specced to be a 2 handed sword user will have a different experience entirely as a sword and board user, whereas a Pally in WoW is the same experience no matter what because a Pally in WoW has all the same abilities as any other Pally in WoW excluding the 2-3 talent abilities.
DAoC has essentially 11 different classes. Considering that each realm has a similar version of one class compared to another on one of the other realms. Those 11 classes are different than each other. Each class has 3 different spec lines and each can get whatever realm abilities they want, which is far better than the few talent abilities you get from WoW. Your playstyle depends on what spec you play, plain and simple. Keep in mind that every melee class as you describe is not the same either. Lets look at a few:
Pally- Chants and special buffs and plate make this class unique from the others
Arms- Plate, Polearms, and extra tanking abilities
Merc- Duel Weilder, who relies on positional attacks.
That is just 3 of the main melee classes in Albion, not to mention the other semi-melee classes Albion has. I think you would rather the three of those classes be combined into one and to be allowed the option to spec this or that rather than having to choose another name for the class entirely. Well, I would rather have the different names and story arcs for each class, than having 20 spec lines to choose from.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
"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
why slam someone for slamming the game on an open game forum? Its their opinion. It didnt agree with yours, so why lower yourself to slam them personally when they are slamming a game? Its their opinion, simple.
Besides, I kinda like to think that when I go on an open forum for a particular game, I am gonna read BOTH sides. If the forum has nothing but sweetness and doughnuts all over it, thats one HUGE red flag to me. Forums are just that. To discuss ALLL the facets and opinions and experiences, not just for those that you happen to want to read or happen to agree with.
Lots of things wrong with DAOC. I would have to say CSR being the worst and for that after a few years, I have cancelled my accounts. Not looking back. Mythic doesnt care. They wish to have subscribers yes, but they do nothing in return to service their customers. Canned responses and helpless reps gets tiring after a few years. Too many new games out.
*** This is not to bash the game. I still think DAOC has the best PVP anywhere. I am just sick of the "working as intended", "cannot help you at this time" and "Thank you for playing DAOC. Good hunting!"..........with 5 active accounts, who needs the bs? Money better spent elsewhere.