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Wish vs Dark and Light
Oakstead
Member Posts: 455
The next two significant immersive online games coming out at nearly the same time are "Dark and Light" and "Wish". Both promise innivation to the MMORPG world (unlike WoW and EQII) yet the devs of each have made some different decisions.
1. One zoneless server cluster with dynamic loading - Both games have this with the result that a higher degree of dynamic game content can be used than in the past. The dynamic loading means that server side lag from lots of characters in one area will be minimized.
2. Realm vs Realm - Both games have this but the opposing realm in Wish is NPC based while in Dark and Light it is player based. Consequently both games have a settlement game where players build and expand towns against the opposing realm.
3. Variable Realm Territory Definition - Only Dark and Light has this with its mana fountains. Each realm defines its territory by keeping mana fountains supplied with resources. These mana fountains increase mana recharge rates giving the home characters a big advantage in fighting or any any other mana depleting activity. So characters deep within their territory are safe from attack by the opposite realm. Taking land from the opposite realm first requires choking off supplies to one or more mana fountains by repeated raiding and this will prevent midnight zerg attacks. Wish mentions front lines in the FAQ but does not describe how they are formed.
4. Fantasy genre - Both games have some common fantasy races with some unique races of their own.
5. Movement - Wish is point and click on the ground meaning that 3D movement is not possible. Dark and Light has WASD or arrow movement or point and click depending on player preference. Dark and Light is very 3D with hang gliders and flying mounts for more advanced characters.
6. Levels - Wish has a flat skill tree while Dark and Light has 10 levels of skills. This means that players can always group with each other in Wish but this comes at the cost of not really having that character progression that opens up new lands and inter-character interaction.
7. Graphics - Both games have advanced graphics and the human characters really look the same LOL.
8. Quests - Both games have unique GM led questing events and unique back story changing quests. Dark and Light will have the conventional static quests as well. Wish promises only unique quests so apparently Wish will not have as many quests overall, especially considering they have only one server. (this sort of thing seems better suited to a conventional small server).
9. Player based economy - Both games have this and DnL has item wear to keep resources flowing through the economy. Unique items in Dark and Light come from quests only. MoB drops are realistic in both meaning that animals will not drop swords. Actual item drops in DnL will be rare with resource drops being more common allowing crafters to really have a purpose. In DnL if player crafters can not keep up then NPC merchants will move in to keep the fighters supplied. DnL will have persistent markets in towns and will allow advanced crafters to hire NPC store vendors.
10. Skill Advancement - Both games increase skills by actual use. Additionally, in DnL the total skill points are normalized at each level meaning that no one can max out in all the skills. Instead only your most used skills can max our thus forcing character specialization at the higher levels.
11. PvP - In wish the PvP is not integral to the realm vs realm competition. Instead Wish has arenas, special PvP areas, and rogues (steal from NPCs and you become wanted meaning other players can kill you). In contrast rogues in Dark and Light can lock pick fortress doors and assasinate high level land ruling nobles (thus taking part in the high level political game of Dark and Light). They can also steal from characters of the opposite realm and kill opposite realm characters on dark nights.
I am sure others will want to add their comments 
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Comments
I like the latest picture of Wish human's model. But i don't know in details how the world will work.
I Know Ganareth (dnl's world) is huge and can host lots of people whithout they feel alone : u can use teleport, flying mounts, or other things like baloon.
The pvp is what i'm waiting for : building (house, fortress) are destroyable, u can attack business caravans traveling from town to town, conquest a kingdom and controll it politicaly.
I don"t know for Wish, it's easy to say u have one unique server, but is the game realy build for that ?
Wish and DnL: Two future games, that are true next generation!
Oaks a very good summary, with a little DnL bias, but that's ok! I would of had the same bias if I had written it.
I am really looking forward to DnL, it's full of features that make this game stand out, But I wish "Wish" well. Wish will be a true next gen game.
Maybe we can hear from someone who is looking forward to Wish to do a summary on Wish's features, something I would greatly like to read.
Cheers and well written Oaks
After a recent experaince with player crafted only i will not do that again, why inflation massive and pure greed on crafters part. Hunting for no reason very very boring.........and plain ole harvesting didn't cut it either
oh there was another with no loot that didn't do well either..................
2nd didn't the last game that tried NO npcs fail????
nice review, and thank you
Theres still alot left to be seen on both games. I personally think DnL will be the monster game that kills WoW and EQ2. I think Wish will appeal to the non pvp type player but DnL is definately the game for pvp types. The pvp in DnL will be similar to eve-online and thus players will have a very very dynamic role in the game. When i think pvp i cant think of any other way to do it. The downfall of DnL could be how it handles players that exploit lag, ld's and camping various choke points. In Eve - Online these are quite serious issues that threaten the future of the game. I know it sucks to go LD and find yourself dead but lets face it a minor penalty for a few compared to the repeated exploits of those who want to hit and run or run and hide is a minor price to pay for the longevity of the game. I doubt i'll play Wish mainly because it just doesnt seem much different than the selection of non pvp type games that are already Live. I'm definatley going to try DnL to see if it lives up to the dream. The real question is.. What games will be able to survive Vanguard?
Make a difference!
THANK YOU SO MUCH for doing this!This definetly compares 2 great upcoming MMORPG's and sums it up quite well!Im getting DnL....I loVE PvP AND RvR and that player crafting thing actually has a use unlike alot of other games......thank you!
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I didn't mention that when you go link dead your character is taken over by a general script. I believe players can set this script to keep fighting, run away, etc. As for choke points I don't see anything in the game being as bad as the jump gates in EVE-Online. I am sure the game will have strategic mountain passes, etc but even there you can always hang glide. Also no warping away for a guaranteed escape (that always bothered me about EVE also). This game just so many more options than EVE.
Vanguard! Does anyone really have any concrete information on it beyond the warm fuzzies and hoped-for goals put up at their site? They have not yet said how they will accomplish all those goals with actual game play information.
I was following Wish and D&L both up until a year ago (or so). I think Wish looks great. Graphics are really sweet, but the lack of pvp turned me off. I had a lot of fun in DAOC with the RvR endgame giving a twist. Plus, whenever PVE got boring, could go camp greys! (haha, plus other fun RvR stuff like keep taking, and general harassment) So Wish has fallen off my wish list. Looking forward to fun stuff in D&L. All the released information sounds pretty good - I just am hoping the gameplay = fun as well. Horizons was hyped nicely, and turned into a pile of waste real quick.
Tacklebury --}>>>
I think your forgot to mention that Wish is purely skill based (like UO) while DnL is still sltightly class based. A character in Wish can at anytime completly rearrange their character, while a character in DnL is still limited by their chosen class.
Possibly so man, but the attitudes of the devs on the forums and the unwillingness to allow movement styles other than PnC stink. It wasn't just the lag or bad RPing, it was a combination of stuff. Imo when devs start bashing or being negative on their own forums, that's pretty bad. Heh. If you wanna play it though enjoy. 8)
Tacklebury --}>>>
Tacklebury --}>>>