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Bugs Aside, The Darkfall Experience
CaerDarrow
Member Posts: 7
Anyone who has played MMORPGs for long enough will know that how much fun you have in an MMO has little to do with the game, and a lot to do with the people you play with. Yes, Darkfall is somewhat different in some superfluous ways (seamless world, all-item crafting, classless skill based advancement) as well as some important ways (Full PVP, Full Loot, Player Skill oriented combat, Exploration Potential). I make this distinction on the basis for player interaction. The reasons why people will love and hate this game are the same. This game forces player interaction in a high-stakes environment. This fact alone amplifies each situation you come across (for better or worse). It is an amazing feeling to best your PC opponent in battle and a defeat can be a crushing experience. Once moment you will be frothing at the mouth and throwing your headset to the ground, in the next few minutes you will log on for more.
This game is hard without friends. If you solo, you will encounter the worst of this player interaction dynamic. The majority of your interactions with other people will likely range from suspicious to hostile. This kind of playstyle will quickly wear all but the most persistant of lone wolves. This dynamic is where DF gets its richness. The key is to have balance with your interactions. If you have a solid clan or group of friends, this game quickly turns around. Due to the nature of the combat system, 2 players playing together have the potential to be more than twice as powerful as 1 player alone. I say potential because without developed skills 2 player can also be less powerful than 1 player alone.
This game pays to be adventurous and to experiment. There is relatively little information about the DF world out there. People who spend time exploring (not just the world but game dynamics) have a definite head up on the rest. Knowledge really is power due to the way that Adventurine has backed away from full disclosure. Even after playing beta for several months I was still learning little tricks like how to add annotations to my map, or how to create group waypoints (both rather obscure chat commands).
In my mind this game will not impact WoW player base much. In WoW, you have opposite dynamics. You can easily advance by yourself and play for weeks without ever having to interact with other players. You know what is out in the world because of complete maps (though you can not fully explore everything untill you are high enough level). People have control over their interaction with others. This makes WoW a casual game and has little overlap with the DF experience. If anything, Darkfall will attract players that are resilient, creative, resourceful, social, and can quickly adapt to their environment (few battles are ever the same, there are just too many variables). Perhaps Counter-Strike players, or people who are used to a more dynamic experience (and who can take some abuse) with their gaming. If I was to compare the experience with any one game, it might be PlanetSide. Not really because they share many gameplay dynamics, but because I see the same kind of motivated playerbase.
This, in my mind, is the core aspects of DF. I posted this because these dynamics seem to be obfuscated by people who can not see past the bugs. Don't get me wrong, they are dealing with some massive bugs and the game is not polished, but these things are temporary. Adventurine has a very dedicated and skilled staff who respond quickly to key issues and over the last few months working with them in beta, I am confident that in the long run, they will be sure everything falls into place.
I am glad to see so many trolls out there who dislike the game. If anything, there are too many people who want to play this game and the more that can be dissuaded, even if it is by arguments based on empty fear or frusteration, the less diluted the DF community will be. I was on the fence about whether to be involved in the EU launch or to wait for the NA launch when there will likely be less launch issues and they will have their systems better perfected. After a few days of going back and forth, I have decided that I would rather play a buggy, laggy, ganky, unpolished Darkfall than subject myself to any other MMO on the market right now.
Perhaps DF has tainted my experience for MMOs, but more likely is the fact that after seeing how an MMO can get it right (for me personally of course), it is hard to going back to the old MMO Template #4.
Comments
Thanks for posting something other than the usual flames.
Played:
EQ1, AO, WoW, AoC
Best thread ever:
http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2680105/thread/225957#2680105
I thought you had a very good post up to this point. You pretty much invalidated everything else you said with this paragraph. Perhaps you do not know how MMOs work (unlikely considering what you wrote).
Please explain in detail how shrinking the player base makes good business sense and allows AV to expand on the game?
You like the game which is great, but if you think DF can succeed by pushing players away you are insane.
-Atziluth-
- Never underestimate the predictability of stupidity.
Excellent post. My brain was starting to fry reading all the complaint threads posted recently. You summarized my thoughts.
Question: How many WoW players does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Answer: 0, Blizzard does it for them.
amen too that
In response to atziluth:
It is not so much pushing players away as controlling demand. Flamers or not, people are going to play DF if it is a good fit for them. There is not a troll out there who is going to have long-term effects on the demand for this game. The current effect of successful flamers is to reduce immediate demand. This has 2 positive effects. 1) It reduces the influx of players that is thrashing server loads and 2) in slows down the injection of players in the population (community diffusion). Currently, people are reporting 50+ players (likely an exxageration) at newbie spawns. This creates a "hold-up" in the operations of acclimation processes (ie newbies are flooding the world).
Thinking that some assclown on this forum is going to be able to convince stangers in the long term to not experience DF (even when their friends are saying otherwise) is unrealistic.
Hehehe you took the bait there get ready for a show.
Aw, where is my show?
Mhm.. this sums up my feelings for the game right now aswell.
Waiting for Fallen Earth, World of Darkness, Old Republic, FFXIV
Mhm.. this sums up my feelings for the game right now aswell.
Yep, totally agree. As soon as they fix the synch issues (which they will) the game will be fantastic.
right you are OP.
once again, the ardent flamboys have inadvertantly helped the game they are trying to hurt.
flame on flamers.
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Corpus Callosum
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flamboys, I like that one
I wanna play this game too
So many good and bad posts about it that every gamer just has to try it for himself.
We need more copies for those who didnt manage to get one
Here, Here.
Usual wannabe elitist drivel. No, you're not better than everyone else. Deal with it.
"There is as yet insufficient data for a meaningful answer."
In concept its a great game, I agree. It would be great to play it.
Without playing it you might as well go to the library and pick up a good book.
It reminds me so much of Eve-Online... "Epic Fleet Battles" ... LOL! If everything in Eve worked like it was written about in their marketting material it would rock (veldspar?). Same thing with Darkfall... if it actually worked it would be solid. It has a long way to go though, and I'm resentful that Tasos lied to us and sold it to us when he knew it still wasn't ready.
Far far from it.
Amegashie,
I am sure your boss at Dairy Queen will agree that there is no room for intelligent analysis. He might lose some workers with ideas like that floating around.
See how Dameonk can oppose me AND respond intelligently?
I just recently glanced through these forums again and was surprised to see that there were still trolls here. I've been in the beta for the last couple of months and loving it, and just assumed the trolls would've crawled back under their rocks once opinions about the game got out. Apparently not - the game has to be perfect, especially during beta and release of all things, or else it's an automatic and complete failure in their eyes.
I'm not some fanboy who's going to declare this MMO is brilliantly or anything, it's decent. Comparable to EVE (in more ways that one) when it was released. Give it a few months and the major kinks should be worked out. A year for something approaching a polished MMO. The same as every MMO I've ever played.
Personally, I can't wait even a few months. It may not be perfect, but it's better than anything else. Cya y'all ingame!
Oww, I guess I should be hurt now ? Your sad attempt at an insult just shows you never had an argument to begin with.
Then again I guess your concept of an "intelligent analysis" ends with watching FOXNews.
I would agree here. They are specialized as a development team and should have sourced everything else (marketing, server farm, PR, release scheduling). That is where having an experienced producer can pay off. Stick to your core competency Adventurine!
I thought you had a very good post up to this point. You pretty much invalidated everything else you said with this paragraph. Perhaps you do not know how MMOs work (unlikely considering what you wrote).
Please explain in detail how shrinking the player base makes good business sense and allows AV to expand on the game?
You like the game which is great, but if you think DF can succeed by pushing players away you are insane.
I'd have to agree. The entire point of making an MMO is MONEY and money also dictates content expansion.
Was WoW the same game it is today when it had first released? Not by a long shot: It took them YEARS of positive cash flows in the millions to get to where they are today and add the amount of content/features.
Content/features => more labor => more money needed
This is a sequence of characters intended to produce some profound mental effect, but it has failed.
I thought you had a very good post up to this point. You pretty much invalidated everything else you said with this paragraph. Perhaps you do not know how MMOs work (unlikely considering what you wrote).
Please explain in detail how shrinking the player base makes good business sense and allows AV to expand on the game?
You like the game which is great, but if you think DF can succeed by pushing players away you are insane.
I'd have to agree. The entire point of making an MMO is MONEY and money also dictates content expansion.
Was WoW the same game it is today when it had first released? Not by a long shot: It took them YEARS of positive cash flows in the millions to get to where they are today and add the amount of content/features.
Content/features => more labor => more money needed
Yes, but my point is that a flamer is not going to affect the long term demand for this game, only the short term flow of players. The fact that a lot of the issues right now are due to high traffic, slowing that flow would help alleviate these issues without changing the total population of players a month from now.