Well, it's true what people say about playing DF solo: it's hard. I was asking Random if he had joined a clan because I was simply wondering if he had experienced the game from that perspective yet.
I, believe it or not, have NOT experienced DF from a clan perspective. I roll alone 90% of the time. Random, if you havn't joined a clan yet, we can roll around some time once I get back from this trip.
Anyways, back to your question... the reason why the question 'did you join a clan?' is so ubiquitous amongst DF players is probably because they remember their own experiences as a solo player. It's not easy coming from another game. You have to be on CONSTANT alert. There is literally no respite unless you're out on a deserted island somewhere or you are naked (and I don't play naked). More often than not you will run into bands of players who would love nothing more than to loot your corpse dry... and being so heavily outnumbered, they likely will, if you let them catch you. And when you do happen upon one or two or three people on their own and you decide to attack, most of the time they will run away. Of course, after a while you get used to killing these runners and it's not an issue, but it can be incredibly frustrating for a newer player.
So when you play DF solo it is harder to aquire and stockpile quality loot, it is harder to skill up (thus making it harder to fight), and it is simply harder to survive in general. Even relatively simple things such as traveling can turn into a nightmare if you are without a mount and patience. And I haven't even touched on the PvE yet. Maybe 15% of the mobs in the world are soloable if you are wearing Full Plate/Infernal/Black Knight armor with good food and at least medium potions on hand. That is ridiculous to me, and I'm sure it's also ridiculous for people coming from other games expecting to be able to solo at least 40% of the mobs in the world without much of a problem.
tl;dr-- You can play DF solo. The game just has a much harsher learning curve and is thus incredibly frustrating when you do so. Once you get the hang of it, you can become quite viable. My skills are still pretty low, especially in comparison to the power-gaming clans, but my bank vault will attest to my success.
Thanks APEist, that was a very well written response. I really appreciate it. After reading that I'm not so worried about the prospect of solo-ing. Harder cool, as long as it's not impossible.
In War - Victory. In Peace - Vigilance. In Death - Sacrifice.
Well, it's true what people say about playing DF solo: it's hard. I was asking Random if he had joined a clan because I was simply wondering if he had experienced the game from that perspective yet.
I, believe it or not, have NOT experienced DF from a clan perspective. I roll alone 90% of the time. Random, if you havn't joined a clan yet, we can roll around some time once I get back from this trip.
Anyways, back to your question... the reason why the question 'did you join a clan?' is so ubiquitous amongst DF players is probably because they remember their own experiences as a solo player. It's not easy coming from another game. You have to be on CONSTANT alert. There is literally no respite unless you're out on a deserted island somewhere or you are naked (and I don't play naked). More often than not you will run into bands of players who would love nothing more than to loot your corpse dry... and being so heavily outnumbered, they likely will, if you let them catch you. And when you do happen upon one or two or three people on their own and you decide to attack, most of the time they will run away. Of course, after a while you get used to killing these runners and it's not an issue, but it can be incredibly frustrating for a newer player.
So when you play DF solo it is harder to aquire and stockpile quality loot, it is harder to skill up (thus making it harder to fight), and it is simply harder to survive in general. Even relatively simple things such as traveling can turn into a nightmare if you are without a mount and patience. And I haven't even touched on the PvE yet. Maybe 15% of the mobs in the world are soloable if you are wearing Full Plate/Infernal/Black Knight armor with good food and at least medium potions on hand. That is ridiculous to me, and I'm sure it's also ridiculous for people coming from other games expecting to be able to solo at least 40% of the mobs in the world without much of a problem.
tl;dr-- You can play DF solo. The game just has a much harsher learning curve and is thus incredibly frustrating when you do so. Once you get the hang of it, you can become quite viable. My skills are still pretty low, especially in comparison to the power-gaming clans, but my bank vault will attest to my success.
Thanks APEist, that was a very well written response. I really appreciate it. After reading that I'm not so worried about the prospect of solo-ing. Harder cool, as long as it's not impossible.
APEist is quite correct in solo-ing being possible in Darkfall. I've been a lone wolf since release and love it. I see the words "not Solo-Friendly" being thrown around regularly in these forums. I think a more acurate description would be "not Solo-Easy." The first week or so it is really rough.....or at least it was for me. Losing all my stuff would bring out my more eloquent side as I found words like "You mother fucking cock suckers" spewing out of my mouth. Yep ...... sadly while the neighbor kids were over one day, so now "MFCS" is kind of a joke around here. A really bad joke.........
*drops head in shame
Anyways I decided the best way for me to become less attached to my "Stuff" was to make it readily available. I had heard there was currently no skill cap so I picked up all the crafting skills I would be needing to keep myself stocked up. I certainly spend more time gathering materials than I would like but see it as part of being self sufficient. They are as follows .......
GATHERING/CONVERTING SKILLS
~Herb Gathering ..... chopping at a bush with a sickle for various herbs.
~Logging ...... chopping at a tree with an axe for wood/resin.
~Mining ..... chopping at a rock with a pick axe for ore(Stone/Metal/Sulfur and an occasional gem).
~Skinning ..... Skinning tombstones for various items used in crafting.
~Wood Cutting ..... converting wood into usable lumber with a saw.
~Smelting ..... converting ore into usable ingots with tongs.
CRAFTING SKILLS
~Herbalism ..... Used to make potions for Health/Stamina/Mana regeneration. (Currently making "Moderate" potions)
~Tailoring ..... Used to make lightweight armor. (Currently making full leather armor, next is studded then bone armor)
~Bowyer ...... Used to make Bows/Arrows (Currently making arrows, bows I use are loot drops from players/MOBs)
~Alchemy ...... Used to make Mage Staffs/Greater potions/battle spikes (Currently used to make Staffs)
~Weaponsmith ..... Used to make melee weapons (Currently making pole arms/1-H swords)
~Taming ..... Used to make mounts
Currently the weapons I am able to make are lower than my current skill level in said weapon. So I imagine I'm taking a substantial damage hit there. Taming is a biggie as having a mount is a necessity for escaping bad situations and travel. To create a mount you need (1) steedgrass and a tamers whistle. The steedgrass is obtained through "Herbalism" and is an uncommon drop. I have been herbing since release and my skill is at 100. In the bank I hold 22 steedgrass which is the same as 22 mounts. I also have several mounts I have looted from players.
With the above skill set it really isn't a biggie when I get rolled. I just go back to the bank and re-equipt every thing I just lost. Getting ganked by 10 guys on mounts when I'm out gathering materials is another story however. Losing a bag full of resources is pretty painful (see MFCS).
I would like to pick up fishing and cooking so as to have an unlimited supply of food as well. Although I seem to get enough food from loot drops and herbalism currently. I'll wait until I can level up some of the other skills.
When I loot some really "Good" stuff I usually just stick it in the bank. Saving it for a rainy day I guess....
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
in THIS FORUM, but its definately more hater than neutral, since the only good thing he said about DF was that it was a gigantic open world CS knife fighting map. I thought this too at first, but it isn't true, in melee you can jump over ppls swings and duck under them, and there are the 4 melee skills you can use.. And remember not everyone uses melee, so yeah combat is deeper than CS knife fighting, not even close to as deep as I would like, but its not close to CS knife fighting.
Though I think the dumbest part of combat is how long it takes you to die, making war strategy less important if you can regenerate easily (think Warcraft 3, strategy barely mattered at all there). The depth of the combat itself will do for now.
APEist is quite correct in solo-ing being possible in Darkfall. I've been a lone wolf since release and love it. I see the words "not Solo-Friendly" being thrown around regularly in these forums. I think a more acurate description would be "not Solo-Easy." The first week or so it is really rough.....or at least it was for me. Losing all my stuff would bring out my more eloquent side as I found words like "You mother fucking cock suckers" spewing out of my mouth. Yep ...... sadly while the neighbor kids were over one day, so now "MFCS" is kind of a joke around here. A really bad joke.........
*drops head in shame
Anyways I decided the best way for me to become less attached to my "Stuff" was to make it readily available. I had heard there was currently no skill cap so I picked up all the crafting skills I would be needing to keep myself stocked up. I certainly spend more time gathering materials than I would like but see it as part of being self sufficient. They are as follows .......
GATHERING/CONVERTING SKILLS
~Herb Gathering ..... chopping at a bush with a sickle for various herbs.
~Logging ...... chopping at a tree with an axe for wood/resin.
~Mining ..... chopping at a rock with a pick axe for ore(Stone/Metal/Sulfur and an occasional gem).
~Skinning ..... Skinning tombstones for various items used in crafting.
~Wood Cutting ..... converting wood into usable lumber with a saw.
~Smelting ..... converting ore into usable ingots with tongs.
CRAFTING SKILLS
~Herbalism ..... Used to make potions for Health/Stamina/Mana regeneration. (Currently making "Moderate" potions)
~Tailoring ..... Used to make lightweight armor. (Currently making full leather armor, next is studded then bone armor)
~Bowyer ...... Used to make Bows/Arrows (Currently making arrows, bows I use are loot drops from players/MOBs)
~Alchemy ...... Used to make Mage Staffs/Greater potions/battle spikes (Currently used to make Staffs)
~Weaponsmith ..... Used to make melee weapons (Currently making pole arms/1-H swords)
~Taming ..... Used to make mounts
Currently the weapons I am able to make are lower than my current skill level in said weapon. So I imagine I'm taking a substantial damage hit there. Taming is a biggie as having a mount is a necessity for escaping bad situations and travel. To create a mount you need (1) steedgrass and a tamers whistle. The steedgrass is obtained through "Herbalism" and is an uncommon drop. I have been herbing since release and my skill is at 100. In the bank I hold 22 steedgrass which is the same as 22 mounts. I also have several mounts I have looted from players.
With the above skill set it really isn't a biggie when I get rolled. I just go back to the bank and re-equipt every thing I just lost. Getting ganked by 10 guys on mounts when I'm out gathering materials is another story however. Losing a bag full of resources is pretty painful (see MFCS).
I would like to pick up fishing and cooking so as to have an unlimited supply of food as well. Although I seem to get enough food from loot drops and herbalism currently. I'll wait until I can level up some of the other skills.
When I loot some really "Good" stuff I usually just stick it in the bank. Saving it for a rainy day I guess....
Hopefully this will help out someone else.....
~Hairysun~
I like this post, very nice. You ever thought about turning it into maybe a FAQ or asking the MMORPG.com staff to sticky it?
In War - Victory. In Peace - Vigilance. In Death - Sacrifice.
Darkfall has problems. It's not all roses and sunshine like people might paint it as. But, if you don't play it.. You don't have to worry about the status of the game. If you are spending your waking hours on the forums of a game you don't play, you may want to seek out help or at least try to get a job (I know, the ecomony is tough right now), or better yet, find a game you enjoy, and play it. You will find much more joy doing that, then posting on a forum of a game you don't play or plan on playing. Let's point out the obvious. 1. Darkfall is not as great as Tasos says. You can't get 10k people in one area. You can't get 1k people in one area. Tasos has been full of crap now since he started 2. People are enjoying Darkfall. Even with all of it's flaws, people are having fun playing a huge knife only counter-strike map. You may not like it, but, get this, you don't have to. 3. There's bugs, crashes, exploits, cheats, hacks, zergs, naked pointless fighting, broken things/skills, missing spells.. etc. Yes. There are a lot of problems with Darkfall. 4. The game is in alpha/beta state. People fall through the world, things don't work quite right.. Yep. Lots of things aren't complete. 5. AV will charge you twice, or 3 times maybe. The GMs suck. The website doesn't inform. The FAQ isn't right. But, if you don't plan on buying the game.. none of these things affect you. Move on.
Bro, you hit the nail on the head!
Me and my friends bought and played. Didn't like and went to Chronicle of Spellborn. Yet, on a whim I find myself defending others here, locked in agruement with some very ignorant fanbois who want to spread misstruths about darkfall. As any citizen of a community, we are just doing a civic duty to inform would-be purchasers of Darkfall, that Aventurien presented us with their best offering and it's standards were incredibly sub-par.
Thus, even fans of Darkfall have moved on, leaving a very small and bitter community behind. Heck, Chronicle of Spellborn is free to download (not $50 bucks), can play all you want until you reach certain content, then you must buy. The PvP is superb!
Why am I here? Because I feel that many fanbois are not being straitforward with the rest of the community about the quality and state Darkfall is in. It is more than obvious some of these people are posting lies because they have something at stake or some motive. And that is not fair to would-be buyers of this game, if they didn't knew the truth!
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
Great news though.. none of the problems with darkfall affect you one bit. Smile.. your day just got brighter.
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
Great news though.. none of the problems with darkfall affect you one bit. Smile.. your day just got brighter.
I am not saying this is me because it's not but there are plenty of people that take the stance that it DOES affect them. If game companies can create very low sub-par quality games and get people to pay $50 for it +monthly fee for alpha stage beta testing, some people think that it will "infect" other game companies to think they can do the same thing. Just a thought...
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
Great news though.. none of the problems with darkfall affect you one bit. Smile.. your day just got brighter.
I am not saying this is me because it's not but there are plenty of people that take the stance that it DOES affect them. If game companies can create very low sub-par quality games and get people to pay $50 for it +monthly fee for alpha stage beta testing, some people think that it will "infect" other game companies to think they can do the same thing. Just a thought...
Are you playing the game?
Are you having fun?
Because I'm playing the game, and I'm having a good time.
I spent 80 bucks on AoC, and 50 bucks on WAR.. and I played AoC for 2 weeks and WAR for 6 weeks.
One more thing, DF isn't a huge wild success. If there is anything that says You can release a crappy game and make a killing, look at games like AoC, that had a wide release t hat sucked. You see where I'm going with this?
Random, have you gotten in good with a solid clan yet?
You know I have no ill will at al towards you APEist. You and to a slightly less extent Paragus. Are what I would call more credible members of the DF community. On the the topic at hand. When I read your post a thought popped into my head. Why is it the one of the first things DF players suggest when someone says something relating to playing the game. Is that they need to hurry up and find a clan. Not saying you are just a trend I notice in alot of replies from DF players. Almost like it's being suggested that you aren't playing the game right, unless you find a clan ASAP.
Correct me if I am wrong, but DF totes itself as being a PvP Sandbox game right? Sandbox games are supposed to be about freedom, and player making their own content right? So out of curiousity why is it one of the firsts things I have to do, is get myself ball & chained to a clan? I'm no rocket scientist, but that doesn't seem like alot of freedom to me, if the path I have to take has already been decided, the moment I enter the game.
There have been quite a few post where someone was like "I didn't like the game". Then comes the follow up reply from someone asking "Did you join a clan?" Usually followed by responses of "If you didn't you aren't playing the game how it's supposed to be played, go find yourself a clan, and then you can start to enjoy the game". For a game that says it's sandbox, which incidently the meaning of is still debated about today, but generally means freedom and player driven content. Is it that right off the bat, what I would consider something I should be deciding, as a player, is already decided. I don't know to me that sounds no different then how a theme park game as you all like to refer to them, tells you what set of skills you'll have.
Note: This question is posed directly at APEist and/or Paragus since they seem to be the only two sane DF fans here.
Great post and good question. I think the term sandbox has gotten lost somewhere over the years personally. DF has to many mechanic and player imposed limitations to be much of a true sandbox in the old school meaning.
I like that phrase, it is very accurate. Because of the "sandbox" nature of the game itself, people have so much power to influence it, that they restrict or often cancel out that "sandbox" feeling.
Originally posted by Hairysun APEist is quite correct in solo-ing being possible in Darkfall. I've been a lone wolf since release and love it. I see the words "not Solo-Friendly" being thrown around regularly in these forums. I think a more acurate description would be "not Solo-Easy." The first week or so it is really rough.....or at least it was for me. Losing all my stuff would bring out my more eloquent side as I found words like "You mother fucking cock suckers" spewing out of my mouth. Yep ...... sadly while the neighbor kids were over one day, so now "MFCS" is kind of a joke around here. A really bad joke......... *drops head in shame
Anyways I decided the best way for me to become less attached to my "Stuff" was to make it readily available. I had heard there was currently no skill cap so I picked up all the crafting skills I would be needing to keep myself stocked up. I certainly spend more time gathering materials than I would like but see it as part of being self sufficient. They are as follows .......
GATHERING/CONVERTING SKILLS ~Herb Gathering ..... chopping at a bush with a sickle for various herbs. ~Logging ...... chopping at a tree with an axe for wood/resin. ~Mining ..... chopping at a rock with a pick axe for ore(Stone/Metal/Sulfur and an occasional gem). ~Skinning ..... Skinning tombstones for various items used in crafting. ~Wood Cutting ..... converting wood into usable lumber with a saw. ~Smelting ..... converting ore into usable ingots with tongs.
CRAFTING SKILLS ~Herbalism ..... Used to make potions for Health/Stamina/Mana regeneration. (Currently making "Moderate" potions) ~Tailoring ..... Used to make lightweight armor. (Currently making full leather armor, next is studded then bone armor) ~Bowyer ...... Used to make Bows/Arrows (Currently making arrows, bows I use are loot drops from players/MOBs) ~Alchemy ...... Used to make Mage Staffs/Greater potions/battle spikes (Currently used to make Staffs) ~Weaponsmith ..... Used to make melee weapons (Currently making pole arms/1-H swords) ~Taming ..... Used to make mounts
Currently the weapons I am able to make are lower than my current skill level in said weapon. So I imagine I'm taking a substantial damage hit there. Taming is a biggie as having a mount is a necessity for escaping bad situations and travel. To create a mount you need (1) steedgrass and a tamers whistle. The steedgrass is obtained through "Herbalism" and is an uncommon drop. I have been herbing since release and my skill is at 100. In the bank I hold 22 steedgrass which is the same as 22 mounts. I also have several mounts I have looted from players.
With the above skill set it really isn't a biggie when I get rolled. I just go back to the bank and re-equipt every thing I just lost. Getting ganked by 10 guys on mounts when I'm out gathering materials is another story however. Losing a bag full of resources is pretty painful (see MFCS).
I would like to pick up fishing and cooking so as to have an unlimited supply of food as well. Although I seem to get enough food from loot drops and herbalism currently. I'll wait until I can level up some of the other skills.
When I loot some really "Good" stuff I usually just stick it in the bank. Saving it for a rainy day I guess....
Hopefully this will help out someone else.....
~Hairysun~
Hehe, I like your writing style. Thank you for the informative and interesting post. I wish there were more people like you, and less people like jav... errr, Im not gonna name them, we all know their names. Long story short, after reading post like this, I am more inclined to try DF (if I ever be able to purchase it).
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
No its.. pretty spot on. If only you'd admit the games failings maybe AV would *do* something to guide this game to mediocrity rather than diredom.
It's like this.
The game is not complete, but those who enjoy playing it, still play it. AV isn't doing something because they keep selling out (I hate saying that because they are only offering a few subs at a time.. ).. so why you say the game is mediocrity, it's still selling. There is still demand (although artificial).. So, I think the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" As in, you may not be doing it the way everyone else does, but you are doing something right..
But, if you don't plan on buying the game.. none of these things affect you. Move on.
It affects everyone. If developers decide to pee on people and yet gamers still buy the game and praise them, then it affects everyone, even if you don't buy the game, because other developers will start peeing too.
3. There's bugs, crashes, exploits, cheats, hacks, zergs, naked pointless fighting, broken things/skills, missing spells.. etc. Yes. There are a lot of problems with Darkfall. I have yet to see one hacker. Are there ppl exploiting the game mechanics? Sure, but what game doesn't have that?
Are there missing features? Of course..the game is barely 2 months old. Are there server issues? Yes...but again..what game this young does not have them? 4. The game is in alpha/beta state. People fall through the world, things don't work quite right.. Yep. Lots of things aren't complete. Never fallen through the world but I know it happens. Hell I fell through the world in WoW after Lich King was released.
dude if you have not seen a hacker you have closed your eyes and become a fanboi!!
No one should be paying to play this game. I feel horrible for all that have. I know all games, even the now legendary WoW released in a beta-ish state, but this is ridiculous.
The most honest, straight forward, non fanbois/non hater review i have seen yet. Kudos!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
No its.. pretty spot on. If only you'd admit the games failings maybe AV would *do* something to guide this game to mediocrity rather than diredom.
It's like this.
The game is not complete, but those who enjoy playing it, still play it. AV isn't doing something because they keep selling out (I hate saying that because they are only offering a few subs at a time.. ).. so why you say the game is mediocrity, it's still selling. There is still demand (although artificial).. So, I think the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" As in, you may not be doing it the way everyone else does, but you are doing something right..
There is demand but like you said it is artificial. The exploitation will only get worse and even when/if they fix the exploits and hacks the people who used them will be entrenched. they will pimp their friends and power level their other toons. Once a game fails in such a way as this game has (no matter how small) it snowballs. They have to either restart the server or just let the current server become the test server and hope they got most of the hacks and create new servers with no ability to transfer. If they don't fix this it will die really really fast. Take the example of AoC on how fast a game can shrink. Heck take EQ2 as an example, but they did fix themselves.
The hype is what is driving the craze and that is slowly being replaced with the youtube vids of the hackers.
I think the only smart thing they have done so far is limit the release. Can you imagine a mass release of a game that is this bad right now? My goodness... say they have 50k people on. It took just that many people to basically break the game via hacks. Can you imagine what 200k pool of players would have done to this game?
I think a mass release would have really hurt the game due to the problems you mention. They do have issues. But if they had 5% more subs.. that would up the issues significantly.
Easy solution to the problem of exploited skill levels, gear, etc....
Perma-death.
Honestly, if AV opened a perma-death server, I'd be there in a heart-beat. It might suck for a while, in the time that it takes to clear up some of the flying / ground hacking 'sploits, but once those are done, we'd have a nice even playing field, and some REALLY intense gameplay.
Comments
Well, it's true what people say about playing DF solo: it's hard. I was asking Random if he had joined a clan because I was simply wondering if he had experienced the game from that perspective yet.
I, believe it or not, have NOT experienced DF from a clan perspective. I roll alone 90% of the time. Random, if you havn't joined a clan yet, we can roll around some time once I get back from this trip.
Anyways, back to your question... the reason why the question 'did you join a clan?' is so ubiquitous amongst DF players is probably because they remember their own experiences as a solo player. It's not easy coming from another game. You have to be on CONSTANT alert. There is literally no respite unless you're out on a deserted island somewhere or you are naked (and I don't play naked). More often than not you will run into bands of players who would love nothing more than to loot your corpse dry... and being so heavily outnumbered, they likely will, if you let them catch you. And when you do happen upon one or two or three people on their own and you decide to attack, most of the time they will run away. Of course, after a while you get used to killing these runners and it's not an issue, but it can be incredibly frustrating for a newer player.
So when you play DF solo it is harder to aquire and stockpile quality loot, it is harder to skill up (thus making it harder to fight), and it is simply harder to survive in general. Even relatively simple things such as traveling can turn into a nightmare if you are without a mount and patience. And I haven't even touched on the PvE yet. Maybe 15% of the mobs in the world are soloable if you are wearing Full Plate/Infernal/Black Knight armor with good food and at least medium potions on hand. That is ridiculous to me, and I'm sure it's also ridiculous for people coming from other games expecting to be able to solo at least 40% of the mobs in the world without much of a problem.
tl;dr-- You can play DF solo. The game just has a much harsher learning curve and is thus incredibly frustrating when you do so. Once you get the hang of it, you can become quite viable. My skills are still pretty low, especially in comparison to the power-gaming clans, but my bank vault will attest to my success.
Thanks APEist, that was a very well written response. I really appreciate it. After reading that I'm not so worried about the prospect of solo-ing. Harder cool, as long as it's not impossible.
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
I've been with my clan even before Darkfall.
So, Yes.
Currently playing Real Life..
http://i36.tinypic.com/2uyod3k.gif
For all your stalking needs..
http://www.plurk.com/Random_
Well, it's true what people say about playing DF solo: it's hard. I was asking Random if he had joined a clan because I was simply wondering if he had experienced the game from that perspective yet.
I, believe it or not, have NOT experienced DF from a clan perspective. I roll alone 90% of the time. Random, if you havn't joined a clan yet, we can roll around some time once I get back from this trip.
Anyways, back to your question... the reason why the question 'did you join a clan?' is so ubiquitous amongst DF players is probably because they remember their own experiences as a solo player. It's not easy coming from another game. You have to be on CONSTANT alert. There is literally no respite unless you're out on a deserted island somewhere or you are naked (and I don't play naked). More often than not you will run into bands of players who would love nothing more than to loot your corpse dry... and being so heavily outnumbered, they likely will, if you let them catch you. And when you do happen upon one or two or three people on their own and you decide to attack, most of the time they will run away. Of course, after a while you get used to killing these runners and it's not an issue, but it can be incredibly frustrating for a newer player.
So when you play DF solo it is harder to aquire and stockpile quality loot, it is harder to skill up (thus making it harder to fight), and it is simply harder to survive in general. Even relatively simple things such as traveling can turn into a nightmare if you are without a mount and patience. And I haven't even touched on the PvE yet. Maybe 15% of the mobs in the world are soloable if you are wearing Full Plate/Infernal/Black Knight armor with good food and at least medium potions on hand. That is ridiculous to me, and I'm sure it's also ridiculous for people coming from other games expecting to be able to solo at least 40% of the mobs in the world without much of a problem.
tl;dr-- You can play DF solo. The game just has a much harsher learning curve and is thus incredibly frustrating when you do so. Once you get the hang of it, you can become quite viable. My skills are still pretty low, especially in comparison to the power-gaming clans, but my bank vault will attest to my success.
Thanks APEist, that was a very well written response. I really appreciate it. After reading that I'm not so worried about the prospect of solo-ing. Harder cool, as long as it's not impossible.
APEist is quite correct in solo-ing being possible in Darkfall. I've been a lone wolf since release and love it. I see the words "not Solo-Friendly" being thrown around regularly in these forums. I think a more acurate description would be "not Solo-Easy." The first week or so it is really rough.....or at least it was for me. Losing all my stuff would bring out my more eloquent side as I found words like "You mother fucking cock suckers" spewing out of my mouth. Yep ...... sadly while the neighbor kids were over one day, so now "MFCS" is kind of a joke around here. A really bad joke.........
*drops head in shame
Anyways I decided the best way for me to become less attached to my "Stuff" was to make it readily available. I had heard there was currently no skill cap so I picked up all the crafting skills I would be needing to keep myself stocked up. I certainly spend more time gathering materials than I would like but see it as part of being self sufficient. They are as follows .......
GATHERING/CONVERTING SKILLS
~Herb Gathering ..... chopping at a bush with a sickle for various herbs.
~Logging ...... chopping at a tree with an axe for wood/resin.
~Mining ..... chopping at a rock with a pick axe for ore(Stone/Metal/Sulfur and an occasional gem).
~Skinning ..... Skinning tombstones for various items used in crafting.
~Wood Cutting ..... converting wood into usable lumber with a saw.
~Smelting ..... converting ore into usable ingots with tongs.
CRAFTING SKILLS
~Herbalism ..... Used to make potions for Health/Stamina/Mana regeneration. (Currently making "Moderate" potions)
~Tailoring ..... Used to make lightweight armor. (Currently making full leather armor, next is studded then bone armor)
~Bowyer ...... Used to make Bows/Arrows (Currently making arrows, bows I use are loot drops from players/MOBs)
~Alchemy ...... Used to make Mage Staffs/Greater potions/battle spikes (Currently used to make Staffs)
~Weaponsmith ..... Used to make melee weapons (Currently making pole arms/1-H swords)
~Taming ..... Used to make mounts
Currently the weapons I am able to make are lower than my current skill level in said weapon. So I imagine I'm taking a substantial damage hit there. Taming is a biggie as having a mount is a necessity for escaping bad situations and travel. To create a mount you need (1) steedgrass and a tamers whistle. The steedgrass is obtained through "Herbalism" and is an uncommon drop. I have been herbing since release and my skill is at 100. In the bank I hold 22 steedgrass which is the same as 22 mounts. I also have several mounts I have looted from players.
With the above skill set it really isn't a biggie when I get rolled. I just go back to the bank and re-equipt every thing I just lost. Getting ganked by 10 guys on mounts when I'm out gathering materials is another story however. Losing a bag full of resources is pretty painful (see MFCS).
I would like to pick up fishing and cooking so as to have an unlimited supply of food as well. Although I seem to get enough food from loot drops and herbalism currently. I'll wait until I can level up some of the other skills.
When I loot some really "Good" stuff I usually just stick it in the bank. Saving it for a rainy day I guess....
Hopefully this will help out someone else.....
~Hairysun~
http://www.straightdope.com/
Hairysun, great post. Thanks for the info. It's nice to see an informative post rather then the usual "OMG DF RULEZ GO BAK 2 WoW!"
in THIS FORUM, but its definately more hater than neutral, since the only good thing he said about DF was that it was a gigantic open world CS knife fighting map. I thought this too at first, but it isn't true, in melee you can jump over ppls swings and duck under them, and there are the 4 melee skills you can use.. And remember not everyone uses melee, so yeah combat is deeper than CS knife fighting, not even close to as deep as I would like, but its not close to CS knife fighting.
Though I think the dumbest part of combat is how long it takes you to die, making war strategy less important if you can regenerate easily (think Warcraft 3, strategy barely mattered at all there). The depth of the combat itself will do for now.
When I'm energetic I'm:
the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
When I'm at default I'm:
WHITE/BLUE
Lol according to this I'm bipolar :O
APEist is quite correct in solo-ing being possible in Darkfall. I've been a lone wolf since release and love it. I see the words "not Solo-Friendly" being thrown around regularly in these forums. I think a more acurate description would be "not Solo-Easy." The first week or so it is really rough.....or at least it was for me. Losing all my stuff would bring out my more eloquent side as I found words like "You mother fucking cock suckers" spewing out of my mouth. Yep ...... sadly while the neighbor kids were over one day, so now "MFCS" is kind of a joke around here. A really bad joke.........
*drops head in shame
Anyways I decided the best way for me to become less attached to my "Stuff" was to make it readily available. I had heard there was currently no skill cap so I picked up all the crafting skills I would be needing to keep myself stocked up. I certainly spend more time gathering materials than I would like but see it as part of being self sufficient. They are as follows .......
GATHERING/CONVERTING SKILLS
~Herb Gathering ..... chopping at a bush with a sickle for various herbs.
~Logging ...... chopping at a tree with an axe for wood/resin.
~Mining ..... chopping at a rock with a pick axe for ore(Stone/Metal/Sulfur and an occasional gem).
~Skinning ..... Skinning tombstones for various items used in crafting.
~Wood Cutting ..... converting wood into usable lumber with a saw.
~Smelting ..... converting ore into usable ingots with tongs.
CRAFTING SKILLS
~Herbalism ..... Used to make potions for Health/Stamina/Mana regeneration. (Currently making "Moderate" potions)
~Tailoring ..... Used to make lightweight armor. (Currently making full leather armor, next is studded then bone armor)
~Bowyer ...... Used to make Bows/Arrows (Currently making arrows, bows I use are loot drops from players/MOBs)
~Alchemy ...... Used to make Mage Staffs/Greater potions/battle spikes (Currently used to make Staffs)
~Weaponsmith ..... Used to make melee weapons (Currently making pole arms/1-H swords)
~Taming ..... Used to make mounts
Currently the weapons I am able to make are lower than my current skill level in said weapon. So I imagine I'm taking a substantial damage hit there. Taming is a biggie as having a mount is a necessity for escaping bad situations and travel. To create a mount you need (1) steedgrass and a tamers whistle. The steedgrass is obtained through "Herbalism" and is an uncommon drop. I have been herbing since release and my skill is at 100. In the bank I hold 22 steedgrass which is the same as 22 mounts. I also have several mounts I have looted from players.
With the above skill set it really isn't a biggie when I get rolled. I just go back to the bank and re-equipt every thing I just lost. Getting ganked by 10 guys on mounts when I'm out gathering materials is another story however. Losing a bag full of resources is pretty painful (see MFCS).
I would like to pick up fishing and cooking so as to have an unlimited supply of food as well. Although I seem to get enough food from loot drops and herbalism currently. I'll wait until I can level up some of the other skills.
When I loot some really "Good" stuff I usually just stick it in the bank. Saving it for a rainy day I guess....
Hopefully this will help out someone else.....
~Hairysun~
I like this post, very nice. You ever thought about turning it into maybe a FAQ or asking the MMORPG.com staff to sticky it?
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
Bro, you hit the nail on the head!
Me and my friends bought and played. Didn't like and went to Chronicle of Spellborn. Yet, on a whim I find myself defending others here, locked in agruement with some very ignorant fanbois who want to spread misstruths about darkfall. As any citizen of a community, we are just doing a civic duty to inform would-be purchasers of Darkfall, that Aventurien presented us with their best offering and it's standards were incredibly sub-par.
Thus, even fans of Darkfall have moved on, leaving a very small and bitter community behind. Heck, Chronicle of Spellborn is free to download (not $50 bucks), can play all you want until you reach certain content, then you must buy. The PvP is superb!
Why am I here? Because I feel that many fanbois are not being straitforward with the rest of the community about the quality and state Darkfall is in. It is more than obvious some of these people are posting lies because they have something at stake or some motive. And that is not fair to would-be buyers of this game, if they didn't knew the truth!
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
[X] drill here for new monitor
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
Great news though.. none of the problems with darkfall affect you one bit. Smile.. your day just got brighter.
Currently playing Real Life..
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considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
Great news though.. none of the problems with darkfall affect you one bit. Smile.. your day just got brighter.
I am not saying this is me because it's not but there are plenty of people that take the stance that it DOES affect them. If game companies can create very low sub-par quality games and get people to pay $50 for it +monthly fee for alpha stage beta testing, some people think that it will "infect" other game companies to think they can do the same thing. Just a thought...
wow people still quoting my post? seems people didn't look further down where i said it was sarcasm.
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
Well.. I don't think it's 90% lies.. seeing as it's the same stuff the trolls have been reporting.. And they are always right!!
I hope you understand now that you could be even called a liar and troll though you played the game but did not made "DF-is-soooo-ubergreat-and -fun" post . Everything that is against propaganda should not be listened to.
Great news though.. none of the problems with darkfall affect you one bit. Smile.. your day just got brighter.
I am not saying this is me because it's not but there are plenty of people that take the stance that it DOES affect them. If game companies can create very low sub-par quality games and get people to pay $50 for it +monthly fee for alpha stage beta testing, some people think that it will "infect" other game companies to think they can do the same thing. Just a thought...
Are you playing the game?
Are you having fun?
Because I'm playing the game, and I'm having a good time.
I spent 80 bucks on AoC, and 50 bucks on WAR.. and I played AoC for 2 weeks and WAR for 6 weeks.
One more thing, DF isn't a huge wild success. If there is anything that says You can release a crappy game and make a killing, look at games like AoC, that had a wide release t hat sucked. You see where I'm going with this?
Currently playing Real Life..
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For all your stalking needs..
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You know I have no ill will at al towards you APEist. You and to a slightly less extent Paragus. Are what I would call more credible members of the DF community. On the the topic at hand. When I read your post a thought popped into my head. Why is it the one of the first things DF players suggest when someone says something relating to playing the game. Is that they need to hurry up and find a clan. Not saying you are just a trend I notice in alot of replies from DF players. Almost like it's being suggested that you aren't playing the game right, unless you find a clan ASAP.
Correct me if I am wrong, but DF totes itself as being a PvP Sandbox game right? Sandbox games are supposed to be about freedom, and player making their own content right? So out of curiousity why is it one of the firsts things I have to do, is get myself ball & chained to a clan? I'm no rocket scientist, but that doesn't seem like alot of freedom to me, if the path I have to take has already been decided, the moment I enter the game.
There have been quite a few post where someone was like "I didn't like the game". Then comes the follow up reply from someone asking "Did you join a clan?" Usually followed by responses of "If you didn't you aren't playing the game how it's supposed to be played, go find yourself a clan, and then you can start to enjoy the game". For a game that says it's sandbox, which incidently the meaning of is still debated about today, but generally means freedom and player driven content. Is it that right off the bat, what I would consider something I should be deciding, as a player, is already decided. I don't know to me that sounds no different then how a theme park game as you all like to refer to them, tells you what set of skills you'll have.
Note: This question is posed directly at APEist and/or Paragus since they seem to be the only two sane DF fans here.
Great post and good question. I think the term sandbox has gotten lost somewhere over the years personally. DF has to many mechanic and player imposed limitations to be much of a true sandbox in the old school meaning.
I like that phrase, it is very accurate. Because of the "sandbox" nature of the game itself, people have so much power to influence it, that they restrict or often cancel out that "sandbox" feeling.
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
Hehe, I like your writing style. Thank you for the informative and interesting post. I wish there were more people like you, and less people like jav... errr, Im not gonna name them, we all know their names. Long story short, after reading post like this, I am more inclined to try DF (if I ever be able to purchase it).
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
No its.. pretty spot on. If only you'd admit the games failings maybe AV would *do* something to guide this game to mediocrity rather than diredom.
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
No its.. pretty spot on. If only you'd admit the games failings maybe AV would *do* something to guide this game to mediocrity rather than diredom.
It's like this.
The game is not complete, but those who enjoy playing it, still play it. AV isn't doing something because they keep selling out (I hate saying that because they are only offering a few subs at a time.. ).. so why you say the game is mediocrity, it's still selling. There is still demand (although artificial).. So, I think the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" As in, you may not be doing it the way everyone else does, but you are doing something right..
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stop quoting me! it was a sarcastic post....sweet jebus already
It affects everyone. If developers decide to pee on people and yet gamers still buy the game and praise them, then it affects everyone, even if you don't buy the game, because other developers will start peeing too.
dude if you have not seen a hacker you have closed your eyes and become a fanboi!!
No one should be paying to play this game. I feel horrible for all that have. I know all games, even the now legendary WoW released in a beta-ish state, but this is ridiculous.
considering that it's 90% lies and msinformation as usual, of course you'd support it.
No its.. pretty spot on. If only you'd admit the games failings maybe AV would *do* something to guide this game to mediocrity rather than diredom.
It's like this.
The game is not complete, but those who enjoy playing it, still play it. AV isn't doing something because they keep selling out (I hate saying that because they are only offering a few subs at a time.. ).. so why you say the game is mediocrity, it's still selling. There is still demand (although artificial).. So, I think the saying goes "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" As in, you may not be doing it the way everyone else does, but you are doing something right..
There is demand but like you said it is artificial. The exploitation will only get worse and even when/if they fix the exploits and hacks the people who used them will be entrenched. they will pimp their friends and power level their other toons. Once a game fails in such a way as this game has (no matter how small) it snowballs. They have to either restart the server or just let the current server become the test server and hope they got most of the hacks and create new servers with no ability to transfer. If they don't fix this it will die really really fast. Take the example of AoC on how fast a game can shrink. Heck take EQ2 as an example, but they did fix themselves.
The hype is what is driving the craze and that is slowly being replaced with the youtube vids of the hackers.
I think the only smart thing they have done so far is limit the release. Can you imagine a mass release of a game that is this bad right now? My goodness... say they have 50k people on. It took just that many people to basically break the game via hacks. Can you imagine what 200k pool of players would have done to this game?
I think a mass release would have really hurt the game due to the problems you mention. They do have issues. But if they had 5% more subs.. that would up the issues significantly.
Currently playing Real Life..
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For all your stalking needs..
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Easy solution to the problem of exploited skill levels, gear, etc....
Perma-death.
Honestly, if AV opened a perma-death server, I'd be there in a heart-beat. It might suck for a while, in the time that it takes to clear up some of the flying / ground hacking 'sploits, but once those are done, we'd have a nice even playing field, and some REALLY intense gameplay.