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DF after nearly a month
Ok, so it's been nearly a month since I started playing. I wouldn't bother writing DF review #2352456 but I've seen several people ask for reviews after a month of playing, so here's mine....
I'll skip all the crap that everybody already knows about, dated graphics, clunky interface, etc, that's all true, anybody who tells you differently is flat out lying.
I loved the old school original UO, it's still my favorite MMO of all time. I loved EVE, my 2nd favorite MMO. I liked those games, and DF, because death matters. I've played a number of MMOs where getting killed carried absolutely 0 consiquence. For me, that takes the thrill out of it. Who cares if you live or die when nothing is on the line, when there is nothing lost and nothing gained? Shadowbane and DAOC come in a distant 3rd and 4th on my list, they weren't full loot games, but the group pvp was a blast....DF has plenty of that.
In UO and EVE, you needed two things: 1) the ability to replace lost equipment, because you will die and lose everything and dying happened on a regular basis. 2) skills, you needed to build up certain skills to be competative in pvp. I figured DF would be exactly the same, and so far it has been. But knowing this, I planned for it, and I'm taking a rather boring approach to DF. I've spent most of my time building up my armor crafting, and related gathering skills. I spend a lot of time chopping wood, mining ore, and slaughtering goblins for their leather.
After nearly a month, I can craft my own scale armor (basically teir 3 armor). This is by no means a major accomplishment, raising trade skills is pretty easy, just time consuming. A friend of mine has taken a similiar approach to the game, he's working on weaponsmithing. When we die, we give each other the mats we need to make a new set of armor and new weapons. Harvesting mats was pretty painful at first, very slow. But now that we've got our skills up it doesn't take nearly as long. I don't plan to be a miner forever, but it's nice knowing that when (not if) I end up dead and naked I can easily get myself a decent set of gear. For me, that's been worth the effort, not to mention gathering mats raises your str, vitality, etc.
Speaking of gear...if you get attached to your gear, DF isn't for you. You will lose your gear, and lose it often. Either you'll die and someone will loot it, or eventually it will break due to use. Gear in DF is easily replacable, and rather generic. This game isn't about collecting phat lewtz, but having good gear is important. If you need shiney new epics, or if you think having the best gear in the game will make you the best PvP'er in the game, DF isn't for you.
So I have #1 covered, I can easily replace my gear when I die. It's not the best gear in the world, but I've only been playing a month so I'm happy with what I can do in that area.
To address #2, pvp skills, I've spent a lot of time on a bloodwall. Bloodwalling is basically a group of people taking turns beating each other up to increase skills. Bloodwalling is a touchy subject for some people. Some think it's great, like me, others think it's unfair...and they are right, to an extent.
I have friends that started the same time I did, they don't bloodwall. We've fight each other when our clan has "fight nights" (basically training for us noobs), I can take them 2v1, and it's not really a close fight. These guys aren't slouches in pvp, and they have better gear than I do. I have an advantage over them, not because of gear, not because of player skill, but because my polearm skill is over 75. At 75 weapon skill you can learn the mastery skill for that weapon, that skill provides a good increase in damage output. Their 2h weapon skills are below 40 and they don't have the mastery skill. My rigor skill, which decreases damage taken, is more than double of what they have. Bloodwalling has definitely given me an advantage over them.
I consdier bloodwalling to be no different than power leveling, I don't mean paying to have a character power leveled, I mean grouping with higher level players (or other similiar methods) for fast xp/levels. I don't consider it to be unfair because anybody can do it. It's not like a little secret thing that only a handful of people know how to do, you can walk into any player run city and there will be a bloodwall. All you have to do is join a clan that has a city, or at least has access to a player city, that's just about every clan in the game.
So, after a month of playing DF, I'm doing exactly what I expected I'd be doing....grinding up my key skills. That's not a complaint. If this were any other new MMO, I'd be doign the same thing, grinding through the levels as fast as I could.
I've seen bits and pieces of the end game. I've defended my clans city from an attack. I've attacked a rival alliance's town. I've patroled our lands, I've gone deep into enemy lands with a raiding party, I've gone solo deep into dwarf lands (i'm orc) to raise hell and gank noobs for easy ore....I've even made it out alive a few times 
I'm quite sure I've lost more than I've gained in pvp, but it's been a blast.
I'm 110% satisified with DF, I'm sure I'll be sticking around for another few months.
Comments
Thanks for the write-up, and hope the experience continues to be a positive one.
One question. What video card and resolution are you using? I only ask because the for "me", while the character models themselves are not very detailed, the environment and items are. I run at 1920 x 1200 with a 9800GTX.
Cheers -CC
"Lately it occurs to me,
what a long, strange trip it's been". -Hunter
Sounds like a similar experience to mine except that I don't craft only harvested while I was new to the game and building my character up.
CC the character models are horribad don't bother trying to make them look better.
Just something to keep in mind with Armorsmithing. Up to plate it's easy just a grind. After Plate though it gets a bit insane. You need to buy the mastery and level it as well. The down side to that is most of the Mastery Cratables take a bit more resources than anything you probably used to skillup Armorsmithing itself. And to make the good stuff you will need access to the rare ores. I did the whole process twice, took a good while even with a large clan/alliance backing me.
Dual 8800 GT, 1920x1280, runs fine.
On a semi-unrelated note...I turn off environment shadows, some for performance (I get a little laggy with there are a bunch of people on screen), but mainly because it's a lot easier to spot people hiding in the shadows when I don't see shadows
Dual 8800 GT, 1920x1280, runs fine.
On a semi-unrelated note...I turn off environment shadows, some for performance (I get a little laggy with there are a bunch of people on screen), but mainly because it's a lot easier to spot people hiding in the shadows when I don't see shadows
lol something related that I always found funny. Shadows nor bushes are very reliable to hide in and that was one of the selling points for me. Real stealth > Invisy button for me (When it can work that is lol). Turning your settings down shows you a lot more than I think was intended lol. One day about 2 weeks after release I had some people trying to sneak up on me and it was funny because they thought they were in a wheat field lol. Often times I would be comming down a hill and see people harvesting in the bushes. I come walking up and there trying to be still and quiet. Start unloading arrows on them and bring em down fast and for awhile most would ask "How'd you find me??". I felt bad telling them that chars get loaded sooner than the bushes themselves lol.
good read, man. Sounds about like my first month. I had a Hell of a time playing DF, and would probably still be playing were it not for AV trying to charge me twice for the game.
It's really good being able to craft your own gear. A bank full of expendable sets really makes the game that much more enjoyable. You can go out and raid without worrying about losing anything that will set you back, and if you manage to score some good stuff and bank it....bonus!!
Bottom line though...if you're enjoying the game, don't let people's bashing get you down. Most of them have never even played DF and are just repeating what they hear others say like some kind of retarded parrot.
i hope this site split they game list like this
1:p2p, a:dx9
b:dx10
2:f2p a:dx9
b:dx10
why?
simple it just makes knowing wich game as a nice graphic simpler the fact is lot of game feel like every game where made 6 years ago
with good reason ,often silkroad is better looking then a lot new game be it f2p or p2p
dx 10 game are just better looking even the cheap game lol
A very informative and well written story. I hope some of the more radical fans take it from you and post their experiences "as is" without trying to convert the rest of the world or prove them wrong.
Hope to see another story 1 month later.
Thank you.
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.
I had planned on just getting it to the point where I could make plate, full plate is when it starts getting difficult, right?
I figure it'd be good to be able to make a plate/scale set, just in case someone needed some armor and none of our clan/alliance crafters were available. or am I just going to be knee deep in that kind of armor at some point?
I had planned on just getting it to the point where I could make plate, full plate is when it starts getting difficult, right?
I figure it'd be good to be able to make a plate/scale set, just in case someone needed some armor and none of our clan/alliance crafters were available. or am I just going to be knee deep in that kind of armor at some point?
Yeah, you can get to the point of plate fairly easy (Just takes awhile and a bit of resources). Plates also basically all you need really. Use banded when in groups of people you don't know well. Use Scale when out with your clan and others you know well. Use Plate for sieges and defending against sieges.
As far as knee deep in scale and plate. I would recomend you keep this in your bank for you personally.
5 Sets of banded, 3 sets of Scale, 1-2 Sets of Plate. Restock it when you can and you should be fine for w/e comes up. I actually started using coloured bags to makes things easier.
Blue Bags - Full set of Plate, 200 Arrows, R40 Bow, 2 Mounts, R40 1 handed club, Shield, Staff, 20 Greater Heal pots, 20 Greater Stamina pots, R40 2 Handed club and food.
Red - Scale and close to the same as the Blue bags
Green - Banded and some ok weapons etc.
This is just for your use. You can add a couple of sets for clan mates you may want to go hunt with. Never hurts to be prepaired.
Edited to Add: Something worth mentioning, unless every thing has changed completely since I left the absolute most cost efficient and fastest way to skill up your Armorsmithing is with chain leggings. Harvest a good amount of Ore, and I mean a lot. Once you have a ton lol get like 100 leathers or something like that. Make nothing but chain leggings and NPC them. The NPC will pay you enough to rebuy the amount of leather used to make the chain leggings+ a little extra I think. Point is, the only thing you have to get more of are the ingots.
After 13 posts..Sound more like a Dev for Darkfall...
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Of course, and you're an agent sent from MO. Your title says "Elite Member". I'd hope by now you'd know how to refrain from trolling.
-CC
"Lately it occurs to me,
what a long, strange trip it's been". -Hunter
LOL, yeah, I've gone through some effort, making an account 2 years ago, and posting a few questions/comments about various other MMO's....all in an attempt to hide my identiy as a DF dev so I could make this post to lure in thousands of new customers. btw, I do work on commision, so please mention my name when signing up for DF, thank you!
Of course, and you're an agent sent from MO. Your title says "Elite Member". I'd hope by now you'd know how to refrain from trolling.
-CC
Trolling what is that? I thought my post had good taste.Short and to the point and nothing bad was said.Now lets look at your post on the other hand..Whos a troll>?
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
That's good to know, thanks for the tip
LOL, yeah, I've gone through some effort, making an account 2 years ago, and posting a few questions/comments about various other MMO's....all in an attempt to hide my identiy as a DF dev so I could make this post to lure in thousands of new customers. btw, I do work on commision, so please mention my name when signing up for DF, thank you!
Wonder never cease..But anyhow.Your write up is good and looks more like a Dev would write..Pat your self on the back.People need to stop reading into something in which it is not there right China Cat?
Edit Mod
Some people rob you at gun point..Others will rob you at "Ball Point Pen"
Lol you spent most of your time chopping harvesting crafting and and also alot of bloodwalling (bloodwall is for losers, real pvp and mobs are way faster with skills gain, nub) and you claim you have already after not even played a month high skills, what a load of crap.
Plus most you wrote is incorrect also and END game wtf the fuck are you talking about.
I have feeling you played a complete different game or your lying.
Terible review if you can call this a review plus its bad for Darkfall also to promote cheating, yes your hear it right if you bloodwall and also harvest alot you AFK bloodwall so you MACRO when afk, you ruin the game and you dont even realise:(
Bloody cheaters:(
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
might wanna pick up tailoring too. Studded leather makes a great armor for harvesting regs or just fooling around with PVE. Not too bad if you get jumped either.
Cheap and easy to make....about equal to banded, but much lighter.
Grind up with cloth pants....buy cloth from vendor, sell pants back to vendor and buy more cloth. You can grind it out in a few hours.
But that is the main reason I won't touch DF. So would I be off if I summarized your opinion as, "If you lower your standards enough then DF is a great game!"
Maybe that is where the main division is between those who enjoy DF and those who do not: Production standards. What is acceptable and what is not. For me, it's tied to immersion. I can't get past an interface that feels hackneyed and amaturish. Or animations that look primitive and ackward. Or design decisions that don't feel well thought out. Where the only explaination if you're going to insist that all the design decisions in DF were throught out and deliberate is that the developers actually hate the player's guts.
Something that all DF fans share? mas⋅och⋅ism 1. gratification gained from pain, deprivation, degradation, etc., inflicted or imposed on oneself, either as a result of one's own actions or the actions of others, esp. the tendency to seek this form of gratification.
And then you went on to say this: "If this were any other new MMO, I'd be doign the same thing, grinding through the levels as fast as I could."
This completely goes against my, "The journey to max level is where most of the fun should be when it comes to MMORPG's" philosophy.
Thank you for your post, MM0315. Please post again in a month and let us know how you are doing.
From what i can see, DF is nothing more than a constant equipement grind. Stuff break, you die you loose everything, so you constantly looking to replace your gears, but then gears are easy replaceable as long as you grind some more this time gahtering skills.
So yeah, you work for an hour or 2 to get your gears replaced (remember it's easy to replace gears), only to lose them again. This is fun for you ? Yeah i'd prefer trying to insert needle under my toe nail, it souund less painful then this game.
nah...you can bank up gear from the people you kill and never have to craft or gather a thing. Or join a good-sized guild and get stuff from them.
Gear is expendable, and consumable.
nah...you can bank up gear from the people you kill and never have to craft or gather a thing. Or join a good-sized guild and get stuff from them.
Gear is expendable, and consumable.
That is the trick. You don't ever sell equipment you gather, just bank it. At least until you can find better stuff to replace it. I have a bag full of weapons. A bag full of sheilds, a bag full of armor. If I go out on my own I eather don't carry anything or just the tool I'm going to use. I only use my best stuff for important grouping. You really learn to appreciate what you have when you know you can lose it at any time.
This is only one of the big problems DF has. So its okay for you and your friends to unattended macro and gain skills but the guy who actually wants to play the game the way it was intended( ie in real pvp or pvm) is at a huge disadvantage because you've cheated (according to DF unattended macroing is cheating whther you like it or not) your skill up. Its no different than maxing your sprint skill by leaving your guy running into a wall all day. And don't say you don't do it or others don't or people in your clan don't, I played, I know. It was even stated in the awesome 7/10 review DF got from some no name gaming site (lol). If you don't see the fundamental flaw with putting the casual or even the gamer who plays the game the way it was intended to be at such a big disadvantage than your nuts and you should stick with DF. Also powerleveling requires you to actually move and attend your computer, the bloodwall does not and AV does a very very very poor job of monitoring these things. I suppose they are working on the beta still though, thats a tough stage for developers to get everything ironed out in. Anyways, have fun with your maxed out char you didn't even play to get his skills up. I suppose this is what the 'hardcore' gamers want, lol easy, unattended macroing, pvp fests.
Because i see it often used in the posts above and in other posts too, can someone explain me where is the unattended macroing part of the Bloodwall ?
There is someone places himself afk but he is NOT macroing.
And there is someone else who hits him while he is at the keyboard.. so where is the untattended macroing part ?
If someone would set up a macro to hit someone and he would go afk he would kill the one he hits.
These is not an attempt to excuse the bloodwall but i see people call these unattented macroing and nothing really of it is.
The probs about unattended macroing have been taken care of with an early patch in which hiting valid targets has become a requirement for skill up.
-----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)
You know, I think that they should disable the "turn of the shadow" things. It do give people an unfair advantage even though it do raise the system reqs a bit if the disable the function.
It is kinda pointless to hide in the shadow if the other players can turn it off.
And, no. I am not saying turning them of is cheating just that Avi should fix so you can't.
Nice write up OP