Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
A Total Lack of Transparency
This is the total failure of Darkfall.
Is the game actually released? Their website doesn't suggest so, but yet news releases on gaming sites seem to suggest that it is. What is the truth?
What are the features of this game? Is there an empirical list of features that someone can display that details the actual features of the game today? Or is there a list of "in development" features with a schedule attached?
Does the company intend to support the playerbase the would like to play? If so, when will they allow people to play on demand? Do they have a schedule for expanding or contracting their exposure to the market to meet the demand, or lack of demand?
...
Where is the transparency? Where is the full faith and trust in the consumer?
This is what has doomed this game to third-world status.
Its failure is not due to a presence of bugs...every release has bugs...WOW and LoTRO had their fair share and they were both highly polished releases.
Its failure is not due to a lack of robustness and polish...there are plenty of games that can survive a pitiful start and achieve a solid and successful base. Anarchy Online and EVE Online were both horridly released games that went on to great things.
Its failure is not due to it being a small independent company with limited resources. CCP, Turbine, Mythic...all small shops with a will to accomplish. It can be done, and will be done again in the future.
No.
It is a total lack of willingness to be open and share the trials and tribulations of this journey. There is little harm that can come from being forthright about the hardships on this journey, after all most people are well aware that this is not a game funded by the deep pockets of corporate interests.
So why the silence? Why the shrouded mystique? What purpose can it serve to continue a veil of secrecy? It disempowers the partisan champion and only emboldens the cynics. Truth is the most potent antibody to the disease of misinformation.
Being a small company is no excuse for this. It takes very little to communicate with the public...little more than a small amount of thoughtfulness and a small dose of faith in the community you wish to nurture. The smaller the operation the more important it is to maintain a very strong bond with the community you are hoping to foster.
Instead, Aventurine offers a total disregard and mistrust for the consumer. Any self-resepecting adult with any reasonable experience in this world should know better than to allow themselves to be abused in such a manner.
....
Demand information.
Demand integrity.
Demand equity in words and actions.
Demand respect.
And above all demand transparency. It is very easy to provide and the height of spiteful arrogance to deny.
Comments
QFT. I concur. Total failure of Aventurine moreso than Darkfall.
The truth is too hardcore to reveal.
Bans a perma, but so are sigs in necro posts.
EAT ME MMORPG.com!
well people say this game well overlord your face off
OP, post of the month. Trouble is that AV are pretty low on the scale for those other things you mention too. Transparency, accountability, honesty (there is a line between spin and out and out BS that AV cross with impunity) goes a huge way to help mitigate other issues.
Amen Brother!
The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. - Harlan Ellison
How on earth is someone going to attack this post? It speaks completely the truth. I was just thinking about the other day....why are they still acting they way they are now that the game is released? We see what is not finished, what is not polished/complete, and we see what is complete. Why still be so secretive? I am not a Darkfall hater, i just come to these forums out of interest of what is happening once in a while. But as i said, i was just thinking the other day how, due to the actions of AV, both past and present, if I were a customer (which I am not), I would actually have a feeling that AV was literally out to get me. Of course that is not true, but their attitude, conveyed both by their words and actions, gives me that strong psychological feeling that they are not just out to make a profit with customers coming second, like any other normal company, but they are actually a hostile enemy (and not one that is an enemy due to my feelings toward them, but due to their seemingly hostile feelings toward their customers).
I don't know what AV is actually doing, nothing they do seems to make sense now that everything good and bad is out in the open and they are continuing as if nothing is out in the open, but it is a sad state of affairs when a company appears as if its sole purpose is to wage war on its own customers' knowledge of the game, regardless if that is true or not.
They're not really being that secretive... I think info is hard to come across because they don't know how to get it out there properly. Every question you want answered can be found on their forums, you have to work to find the info though.
You can create an account below to purchase the game... which will be some time they aren't selling anymore until they lower que times...
https://www.darkfallonline.com/accounts/f/default.php?pname=Homepage
Forum info about the game..
http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=149310
The graphics are dated, but who cares. The sound is wacky until you set it up properly. You have to disable several video options in order for it be smooth. I have an average 70 - 100 FPS with a geforce 9800 gtx and 4 gig of RAM.
The gameplay takes getting used to, but its fun. The AI can be a pain in the butt, which is fun. Roaming bands of PKers can be a pain in the butt, which is fun. I've run into one bug that is very aggrivating, the GMs replied within 30 minutes...
It can feel very rewarding standing in an afk macroers line of fire, making them go rogue so you can kill them.
I dunno I guess all I'm saying is I don't think people are really looking for answers as much as they are just trolling and bitching because crap isn't placed on a silver platter for them.
Thetus, please don't confuse the issue with the truth.
When I saw the title of this I actually thought it was about weapons not showing their DPS or something.
It's hard to argue that they need to update their website. They should have bitten the bullet and hired a full time person to do that. It's pretty obvious that it's someone's "when you have a minute' job right now.
I wonder how the fanbots will try and subvert this post ?
I completly agree with the OP. AV is simply pathetic. You don't even need to play or experience the game to see the level at which AV treats its own user base. They have even promised a new forum layout three weeks ag and STILL not delivered. Website is the same as it was pre launch. And there is not road map or wiki.
Personally I think there might be some quite talented peopled at AV... though the way the company is run seems all down to one one. Lord Tasos. What a moron.
Very well done post. I agree and it is 100% true.
This^^ ...!
Tasos has way too big of an ego to reveal how incompetent Aventurine has become.
____________________________
It is very hard to change the 'culture' of a company very hard ineed. It takes major effort and must come from the top down with absolute zeal. To be honest the only way I could see it happening is with someone else at the helm, seems unlikely at this time.
Compare and contrast with Mythic when they where a small shop releasing DAOC. Virtually every day there where announcements on pretty much everything that was going on, not one liners either paragraphs. Transparency epitomised. What was the CSR womans name that handled DAOC's releae Tanya, Tonya? I am having a senior moment.
The game is released, chill out.
All the features in it are implemented and fully functional.
The game is fun as hell, and it is one of the most complete releases I played (in terms of content).
Only thing really missing is the fluff stuff, like wild animals, and wandering mobs (at the moment they are only in selected areas like dungeons cities and ruins).
Also PvE is not as developed as in other games, few quests and not too many dungeons.
But since it is a PvP centered game, doesn't really matter.
But the major features are all there:
-Alliance System: Clan can ally with each other in game and share the same chat and resourcers. Your journal keep track of who your guild is allied or Kos to. The Guild master can put in KoS or Ally any guild with the click of a button and the whole server will know about.
-Guild system: Guilds have ranks in it (Like General, Lieutenant, Sergeant etc.....), at the moment they are fixed, but AV will make it customizable in the next few patches.
-Rogue system: People go Rogue if the hit or kill people of the same race. Any other race and enemy clans are fair game.
-Player City building: Only guilds can build their own city and they can do so only on selected area (so no single player house building). Cities includes all crafting stations (Smithy, Smelter, Alchemy, Work bench and so on........) plus some special buildings like quarries, mines, groves and farms where extraction rate is much better than normal nodes. Only the biggest cities have those special buildings.
Also you can mount Cannons to each tower to help defending the walls.
You lose a city when a raid force conquers your clan stone.
-The economy: The bank system is universal, which means that you can deposit and withdraw from anywhere. However there is not an AH, this is intended, although AV said they will implement some NPCs vendors which can see your stuff locally.
-Crafting: Crafters can craft absolutely everything in this game, from mounts to weapons, buildings, armors, food, potions, ammunitions
-Loot: Of course we all know about the full loot system, grat stuff. Also regarding the NPCs looting that's quite realistic, the mobs drop what they are wearing.
So if you see an NPC guard with full plate, he will drop some of that. Animals do not drop any equipment, usually they drop only reagents.
-AI: Mobs use line of sight, which means that if they can see you they will approach you, if you are not in front of them they won't see you.
When you fight a mob they move around you, they do not stay still, the run away then charge back or they ll shoot you with a bow.
Mobs AI in Darkfall is one of the best.
-Ship building: Many ships available, although the biggest ships have not being built yet, because the clans are focusing on building their own city.
-Skill Trees: There are lots of skills both Crafting and combat related, all working, in total the original ones are more or less 250, but some are repeated with some variations in other tress. Of course there is no traditional leveling (or linear leveling) which makes the game so much more enjoyable, without the pressure of having to grind mobs in order to reach level cap.
-Combat: I will explain this by telling you it is very similar to Morrowind/Oblivion. So you have the idea. You need to basically aim for everything in particular if you are an Archer or a Mage.
-Sieges: Pretty much in, although people is focusing on building the cities at the moment so there isn't much going on.
This is not a game for soloers, you will have to be in some kind of guild in order to have fun.
This is a game in between Shadowbane and Ultima Online, with some SWG aspects.
To me the game is great, but it is not for all.
But yes the game exist and it is one of the best, if we talk about features implementation.
There is one big problem though.
Aventurine, for some weird reasons, wants to keep this game as a niche game and it is not doing any effort to open more servers.
The current one (EU1) is already full and they close the sales until they increase the capacity of this one, at the moment there are huge queues to enter the game.
They didn't plan to open new ones yet, unfortunately.
So, that's the only "shady" or weird thing going on with DF, and it is the fact that Aventurine refuses to risk opening more servers.
But the game itself is fantastic for PvPers, in particular the ones who like clan vs clan warfare, DF is much much better than all the PvP shit coming from Asia, and way better than both AoC and WAR (unleass you are a carebear in which case those 2 will be a better option).
If AV would have invested just a bit into its publicicty, show patch notes and give reasons and warning for every time they take the servers down ect. They be in a better situation. Infact if they had half a brain they would open up with the money they have made, yet another server and allow more players to join in.
Niche game but it does have alot of people who will play it regardless the issues it may have. This game can easly have from 75k to 125k playerbase but more due to its concept of ffa pvp full loot than anything else.
Only issue i have with this game is when the darn fanbois try to blow it out of poportion. If you guys love the game be like Parsus. You dont see him comming to these forums and exaggerating crap about it. He goes on and enlightens us with the features as they are. He alone has informed Many of us of the game without dissing other games or without making outrageous claims.
Not even trolls can take a bite at Parsus and that speaks for himself.
Watching Fanbois drop their soap in a prison full of desperate men.
The game is released, chill out.
All the features in it are implemented and fully functional.
The game is fun as hell, and it is one of the most complete releases I played (in terms of content).
Only thing really missing is the fluff stuff, like wild animals, and wandering mobs (at the moment they are only in selected areas like dungeons cities and ruins).
Also PvE is not as developed as in other games, few quests and not too many dungeons.
But since it is a PvP centered game, doesn't really matter.
But the major features are all there:
-Alliance System: Clan can ally with each other in game and share the same chat and resourcers. Your journal keep track of who your guild is allied or Kos to. The Guild master can put in KoS or Ally any guild with the click of a button and the whole server will know about.
-Guild system: Guilds have ranks in it (Like General, Lieutenant, Sergeant etc.....), at the moment they are fixed, but AV will make it customizable in the next few patches.
-Rogue system: People go Rogue if the hit or kill people of the same race. Any other race and enemy clans are fair game.
-Player City building: Only guilds can build their own city and they can do so only on selected area (so no single player house building). Cities includes all crafting stations (Smithy, Smelter, Alchemy, Work bench and so on........) plus some special buildings like quarries, mines, groves and farms where extraction rate is much better than normal nodes. Only the biggest cities have those special buildings.
Also you can mount Cannons to each tower to help defending the walls.
You lose a city when a raid force conquers your clan stone.
-The economy: The bank system is universal, which means that you can deposit and withdraw from anywhere. However there is not an AH, this is intended, although AV said they will implement some NPCs vendors which can see your stuff locally.
-Crafting: Crafters can craft absolutely everything in this game, from mounts to weapons, buildings, armors, food, potions, ammunitions
-Loot: Of course we all know about the full loot system, grat stuff. Also regarding the NPCs looting that's quite realistic, the mobs drop what they are wearing.
So if you see an NPC guard with full plate, he will drop some of that. Animals do not drop any equipment, usually they drop only reagents.
-AI: Mobs use line of sight, which means that if they can see you they will approach you, if you are not in front of them they won't see you.
When you fight a mob they move around you, they do not stay still, the run away then charge back or they ll shoot you with a bow.
Mobs AI in Darkfall is one of the best.
-Ship building: Many ships available, although the biggest ships have not being built yet, because the clans are focusing on building their own city.
This is not a game for soloers, you will have to be in some kind of guild in order to have fun.
This is a game in between Shadowbane and Ultima Online, with some SWG aspects.
To me the game is great, but it is not for all.
But yes the game exist and it is one of the best, if we talk about features implementation.
There is one big problem though.
Aventurine, for some weird reasons, wants to keep this game as a niche game and it is not doing any effort to open more servers.
The current one (EU1) is already full and they close the sales until they increase the capacity of this one, at the moment there are huge queues to enter the game.
They didn't plan to open new ones yet, unfortunately.
So, that's the only "shady" or weird thing going on with DF, and it is the fact that Aventurine refuses to risk opening more servers.
But the game itself is fantastic for PvPers, in particular the ones who like clan vs clan warfare, DF is much much better than all the PvP shit coming from Asia, and way better than both AoC and WAR (unleass you are a carebear in which case those 2 will be a better option).
But on their website they mention PLENTY OF FEATURES that didnt make it to the game. Prestige classes, and plenty of other things i can easly take out from their faq and feature section.
Learn to read, as in read the op's whole post before comming in here bashing. The dude speaks the truth when it comes to how AV is handling the matter. No warnings on server shutdowns, No updates to their webpage. Infact no Patch updates and when they will be applied.
Watching Fanbois drop their soap in a prison full of desperate men.
AMEN TO ALL THE ABOVE! This post is everything I have been pondering about this game since launch. And every troll/fanboi has got to agree with this thread. Even if i could get a copy I would most likely feel like I was just bent over by tasos. Aint happening buddy. Maybe Aventurine is a small company of "gamers" who want to deliver for the gamer, but give me a break, aint happening. If you people in darkfall honestly dont feel like your paying to stress test thier SERVER then the fanboy force is stronger then i thought. Overall, I will wait a long long time before giving this company a dime. The way they handled the launch, the development, the constant down SERVER, the adding of more people to that SERVER,3-4 hour que times..... just unprofessional. How the hell are they going to handle the real stress of a modern day Vgame. Aint happening with tasos.
Yup, that's Aventurine's problem, but Tasos is too arrogant to do anything about it. I'll be damned if they change, let alone adopt the level of communication that, say, Mythic has.
Well list all those features missing then.
But by doing so remember than even WoW had very important features missing at release, like the Battlegrounds.......
DF doesn't have any of the major feature missing, which for an indie is a miracle.
Of course there are few, but none of them are game breaking.
This is the most complete MMO I played, same league as WoW and EQ2 and maybe Warhammer, of course in terms of features and content.
And that's a fact.
If you want to just hang on smaller features or fluff, then do so, we are in a free world.
As I said the only very sad thing about Darkfall is the poor planning of the Account management and the Server capacity, which is creating the biggest problem for DF success.
There is no excuse for that and I am the first one to admit that.
But the game itself is great, and believe me people who is playing it is enjoying it very much.
PS: Oh and I wasn't bashing, only people bashing here are the people who keep trying to make Darkfall look worse than it actually is.
Well maybe since they're a small company, their working on this game 24/7. They don't have time to waste a day on you arrogant people who want your games and you want them NOW! If you want a good game, your gonna have to wait. If you wanna be a crack head and waste their time so it comes out a month later, be my and other people's guest. Go play an f2p mmo if your so uptight about not having anything to do. It doesn't matter how it's released, if IGN rates it high, people will buy. It's just one of those things that you will have to understand, that IGN rules the world (of warcraft).
haha ign did not review this game...no review companys did. Not even Euro ones.
The game is released, chill out.
All the features in it are implemented and fully functional.
The game is fun as hell, and it is one of the most complete releases I played (in terms of content).
Only thing really missing is the fluff stuff, like wild animals, and wandering mobs (at the moment they are only in selected areas like dungeons cities and ruins).
Also PvE is not as developed as in other games, few quests and not too many dungeons.
But since it is a PvP centered game, doesn't really matter.
But the major features are all there:
-Alliance System: Clan can ally with each other in game and share the same chat and resourcers. Your journal keep track of who your guild is allied or Kos to. The Guild master can put in KoS or Ally any guild with the click of a button and the whole server will know about.
-Guild system: Guilds have ranks in it (Like General, Lieutenant, Sergeant etc.....), at the moment they are fixed, but AV will make it customizable in the next few patches.
-Rogue system: People go Rogue if the hit or kill people of the same race. Any other race and enemy clans are fair game.
-Player City building: Only guilds can build their own city and they can do so only on selected area (so no single player house building). Cities includes all crafting stations (Smithy, Smelter, Alchemy, Work bench and so on........) plus some special buildings like quarries, mines, groves and farms where extraction rate is much better than normal nodes. Only the biggest cities have those special buildings.
Also you can mount Cannons to each tower to help defending the walls.
You lose a city when a raid force conquers your clan stone.
-The economy: The bank system is universal, which means that you can deposit and withdraw from anywhere. However there is not an AH, this is intended, although AV said they will implement some NPCs vendors which can see your stuff locally.
-Crafting: Crafters can craft absolutely everything in this game, from mounts to weapons, buildings, armors, food, potions, ammunitions
-Loot: Of course we all know about the full loot system, grat stuff. Also regarding the NPCs looting that's quite realistic, the mobs drop what they are wearing.
So if you see an NPC guard with full plate, he will drop some of that. Animals do not drop any equipment, usually they drop only reagents.
-AI: Mobs use line of sight, which means that if they can see you they will approach you, if you are not in front of them they won't see you.
When you fight a mob they move around you, they do not stay still, the run away then charge back or they ll shoot you with a bow.
Mobs AI in Darkfall is one of the best.
-Ship building: Many ships available, although the biggest ships have not being built yet, because the clans are focusing on building their own city.
This is not a game for soloers, you will have to be in some kind of guild in order to have fun.
This is a game in between Shadowbane and Ultima Online, with some SWG aspects.
To me the game is great, but it is not for all.
But yes the game exist and it is one of the best, if we talk about features implementation.
There is one big problem though.
Aventurine, for some weird reasons, wants to keep this game as a niche game and it is not doing any effort to open more servers.
The current one (EU1) is already full and they close the sales until they increase the capacity of this one, at the moment there are huge queues to enter the game.
They didn't plan to open new ones yet, unfortunately.
So, that's the only "shady" or weird thing going on with DF, and it is the fact that Aventurine refuses to risk opening more servers.
But the game itself is fantastic for PvPers, in particular the ones who like clan vs clan warfare, DF is much much better than all the PvP shit coming from Asia, and way better than both AoC and WAR (unleass you are a carebear in which case those 2 will be a better option).
But on their website they mention PLENTY OF FEATURES that didnt make it to the game. Prestige classes, and plenty of other things i can easly take out from their faq and feature section.
Learn to read, as in read the op's whole post before comming in here bashing. The dude speaks the truth when it comes to how AV is handling the matter. No warnings on server shutdowns, No updates to their webpage. Infact no Patch updates and when they will be applied.
We can work through the list
Prestige classes - known that they will be out off release to DarkFall fans since April 2008
what else ?
Darkfalls target audience is not someone who been used to get handhold..you clearly not target audience ..go find you anther game that offers you that..or increase your search skill ..because the piece of info about prestige classes was announced a year ago..
-----MY-TERMS-OF-USE--------------------------------------------------
$OE - eternal enemy of online gaming
-We finally WON !!!! 2011 $OE accepted that they have been fired 2005 by the playerbase and closed down ridiculous NGE !!
"There was suppression of speech and all kinds of things between disturbing and fascistic." Raph Koster (parted $OE)
This is a great freaking post. Ianubisi for President, 2012
http://rr.pc.ign.com/rrobj/pc/object/16821/
IGN rating NR....1 Reader review giving it a 9.5 lol ooookay.
Well maybe since they're a small company, their working on this game 24/7. They don't have time to waste a day on you arrogant people who want your games and you want them NOW! If you want a good game, your gonna have to wait. If you wanna be a crack head and waste their time so it comes out a month later, be my and other people's guest. Go play an f2p mmo if your so uptight about not having anything to do. It doesn't matter how it's released, if IGN rates it high, people will buy. It's just one of those things that you will have to understand, that IGN rules the world (of warcraft).
They charge just as much as AAA companies, if you alllow to be treated like a piece of poo by a company that charges as much as the big guys on the pretext that they're an indie company trying to do something different for a niche playerbase, then I don't think there's any point in arguing, because its obvious that we're on very different wavelenghts.
The rules of Debate are really simple; once you have to stoop to insults instead of facts, logic, or reason to try and win your argument, you've lost.
Great post but anyone without the fanboy goggles on could of told you this years ago.If people are shocked by the way AV are acting then they are idiots who can't see trouble two foot in front of them. Did you or the other fanboys expect anything other than what you are getting from tasos? come on where have you been for the last eight years?
Jah Rasta For I.
The Wicked Shall Fall..
http://www.ethnic2020.com/images/Ebay/black-jesus.jpg