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Dark Age of Camelot: 2011 Re-Review
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Dark Age of Camelot is one of the most enduring games ever created with a devoted fan base. MMORPG.com introduces a new writer in Lori May with her inaugural review. Lori looks at Dark Age of Camelot and offers a comprehensive re-review of the game. Check it out!
As someone who cut her teeth on the once revolutionary creation that is Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC), revisiting this aging MMORPG is akin to coming home. The familiar lands of Hibernia, Albion and Midgard have received a steady stream of graphic updates over the years, but fundamentally the virtual world remains the same. Despite the old adage, you can go home to DAoC—but is there something here for new players, also? With October marking the 10 year anniversary of this MMMORPG, it seemed like the perfect time to take yet another look at what Dark Age of Camelot offers gamers, and whether or not it keeps up with more modern MMORPGS.
Read more of Lori May's Dark Age of Camelot Re-Review.
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Comments
Maybe I played a different DOAC trial, because I found it severly dated and couldnt stand it for more than 10 minutes.
make this 1 f2p just for fun, and im back in action.
Now i have to play regnum online
Aye, i also found it severaly dated with the comeback trial and after 30 minutes also had to drop out. Back in its hayday it was a great game but thesedays graphically it does not cut it anymore.
I will stick with memories of closed/open betsa and then 2yrs of play (comeback trial i did was 2-3yrs ago for myself) but a friend tried it several months back and dropped it because graphically the game sucked.
Mythic gutted the very concept of the game( RVR )when they allowed unfettered realm switching. Realms exist IN NAME ONLY...since a players can play on any and all realms on the same server with just a few minutes between realm changing.This totally unbalanced the game,since many play the realm with the largest population and resulting largest number of relics.
Mythic reduced servers to one ...with the Atlantis artifacts.Now to compete on the frontier you must be fully TOA equipped ....with a very expensive set of equippent. And then ther are the bots. A second character a % of the players have to heal and buff them(to the detrement of all who don't have one).
All in all DAOC is a sad disfigured remnant of what was once a great game.
Some of the comments are just unfair.
1. The graphics are at least passable. The game supports all sorts of graphics enhancement options. You can crank it up to max resolution and affects and it looks decent. It isn't Aion but it isn't horrible either. You probably have a bad rig if you think it is that bad. Someone mentioned playing Regnum online. I've played that game and DAOC's graphics are 100times better.
2. The TOA artys and MLs can all be purchased with bounty points now. You don't need to do the encounters or farm the artys at all. RVR and you can earn points to buy them. It is extremely easy. When I was last playing I was able to fully deck out my character in no time.
3. Buff Bot - it's been that way since the release of the game. Nothing that mythic changed or gutted. If you don't have one you can use a friends. A buffbot can typically buff 3 people. Not to mention some people carry 3 accounts so they have 2 different buff bots. Also, if you are 8v8ing you will get buffs from your healers anyway. Not a big deal. Been dealing with it since like 2003.
4. Realm switching - not a big deal. Gives people flexibility and options. I don't see how this really hurts the game.
I'm not currently playing DAOC but I've played on and off for many many years. I've also played on Ywain. Still the best PVP game out there.
This is still the best PVP game out there period. The fact that people are still playing this game and paying monthly fees at that shows that the concept and design of this game are great.
So many of the new MMO's obviously look better and out perform in every area is really due more to the updated technology. Yet even with that technology look at how many end up going f2p and yet here we are 10 years later and DAOC is still going.
Now if someone could buy a clue and actually do the same concept, 3 factions, no cross talk, objective based PVP that offers even carebears safe haven...sign me up.
The classes, PVP gameplay and the setting still makes this game great.
The fact that noone has released another quality 3 faction based PVP game shows that the gaming companies / developers / studios are just plain stupid. It's an untapped gold mine.
Spikex ,like you i'm stunned that some one has just not copied and updated this great classic...that has no competition.
Best RvR in Dekade!!!
So that makes it ok? If Mythic had done something about the problem. (And YES buffbots in a PvP/RvR game are a problem) It wouldn't have progressed to the point. Where people just gave up and tolerate it. Buffbots have no place in RvR game unless they are being played full time by a person.
In War - Victory.
In Peace - Vigilance.
In Death - Sacrifice.
Gutting the very concept of the game REALM VS REALM warfare by allowing cross realming is not something that is trivial.It's has destroyed the very fabric of the game.
Imagine a pro football game that you are required to pay for in order to watch. Now imagine that on every play the players decide which team they will play on for that play ! Thats todays DAOC.
....whats wrong with this picture
Great review Lori! Makes me want to play this again!
Don't be terrorized! You're more likely to die of a car accident, drowning, fire, or murder! More people die every year from prescription drugs than terrorism LOL!
Same here. Except it's not just the graphics, screensots can make it look passable, but something about actually playing just feels much worse. Could be due to the lack of a modern UI, or the animations, or even just how desolate the game is. Especially going back to old areas I remember, like Fort Atla or Ardee. Places that might be obsolete, but still very close to where new players get dropped after the godawful tutorial.
Seems to me they could have worked a bit harder at updating the new player experience over the years, but it's obvious they gave up hope of getting new players long ago.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
A re-review for a game that is this old is silly. The game needs to go f2p at this point. Last time I tried playing this, the server was empty except for those at high level. And yes, the graphics are dated so between dated graphics and low pop, this needs to go f2p to revitalize it.
this game is so old is this game still alive
Great game in its day , but a re review is totally pointless ( Unless you know something we dont and its going free to play ) ... the game is all but but dead now except for the die hard fans.
Old game in sleep mode mythic are part of the borg now and WAR failed.
I wanted to like this game awhile back when giving it a try, but atleast for me the graphics were too far below what I am used to. The pics included in this article look good, but that is not what I saw when i logged in to the game. The landscape seemed very uninteresting and sparse, and the animals were walking around and their movement did not match the ground so it looked like they were sliding around. I messed around in the game for the free month and it was always the same so I don't think it was connection. I was playing other mmo's at the time and not having any similar problems. Avatars also were terrible to look at.
Maybe they've made some graphical improvements though, I don't know. This was a couple years back.
Still the #1 pvp mmo. Nothing has came close nor sustained it. Please don't even try to say wow, you'll be laughed right off the board. Pillar humping arena != pvp Anyhow, this was my first game. I still miss it, nothing has ever compared... Guild wars 2 is supposed to take some of the similarities of DAOC, however if i am not mistaken guild wars 2's 3 faction system is pre determined and only happens once a week, correct?
Ive heard the fanatics of daoc proclaim on many occasions how this is the best pvp ever created, just like the vanguard fanatics do the same for vg pve. I couldnt disagree more with either group.
This game has everything that removes skill from the equation. Buffbots that make the stealth classes 1v1 gods, if you're slightly higher level you get huge bonus damage and if you're slighly lower level you get huge penalties to hit and damage,cc being the deciding factor in nearly every single encounter,many classes that are dead weight on the battlefield,someone 3 football fields away looking at you funny so you cant cast a spell or shoot a bow,etc.
Oddly enough i think the pve is much more interesting. The positional attacks,reactionary styles,combat chains,unique spells like the pulsing "bubbles", etc were all quite revolutionary when this game released.
Now many would try to argue rvr abilities like purge mititgate the cc aspect and the rvr nature of the game mitigate the stealth god status but i simply disagree. Especially at this stage of the game when population is so low, getting to fully equiped level 50 and finding a solid 8man group or more is highly frustrating.
Creating in effect one server and allowing everyone to move between the three realms is the worse decision since toa and master levels.
I think its because those are screenshots of the most recent content or expansions. Problem is, as a new player, you don't see that. You don't see Atlantis or Catacombs even. For most of the game's lifespan, they've neglected the lower level content, and even made sweeping changes to eliminate it as the game got so top-heavy. I understand why, but by doing that, they cut off any chance the game had of continued growth. It's become complete garbage to wade through for new players, and the vast majority just aren't going to have the patience for it.
At this point, they should just set all characters to level 50, upgrade all mobs everywhere to lv.45-55, maybe toss some interesting drops all over the old maps to encourage exploration for those that might appreciate it, and revamp the starting experience to dump players into RvR almost immediately.
When I want a single-player story, I'll play a single-player game. When I play an MMO, I want a massively multiplayer world.
The closest thing I have seen is GuildWars 2 where everyone has access to the same classes but its World Vs World Vs World. Basically 3 servers all going head to head........to head