Dark and Light

Theely · June 2006

So, the first two batches of people are now allowed access to the game. Even though it hasn't been very long, I was wondering if anyone was in those batches and what they thought of the game so far?

Granted if people are actually playing it and are in those batches they are most likely playing and giving a flying hoot about forums... lol

Cleffy · June 2006

One of the pioneers made a past earlier about how terrible the game is. He showed some screenshots of incomplete character models where much of the geometry simply wasn't there. He might of posted it in the Dark in Light Forums. Its pretty far back in the general forums and searching for "Dark and Light" would be a pain.

Valharan · June 2006

I can seriously help you out here (That is if you don't need a good chuckle and go check out the DnL boards).

SoG = Boring, clunky, vacant, content free, buggy and boring.

Now I'm pointing this out because I was in SoG and just got done playing DnL.

SoG = DnL

Simply put this game is as big a steaming pile as I have ever seen. There isnt a single fun thing in this game... no seriously not one. I've had alot more fun watching the forums detonate than I ever did playing the game.

I wouldnt play this game for free.

Valharan · June 2006

Holy crap when did I get a sig/quote and all that I must have been really drunk and getting sexed up by someones little sister when I put that tripe up there.

Theely · June 2006

So basically its going through your normal launch period? Rarely will a game have a launch without problems. Certainly coming from a new company at least... I hope lol.

Damnit all to hell. I want a new game to play.
(Don't start listing others please, because I've played them all... that I care about.)

[Deleted User] · June 2006

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Nefair · June 2006

Originally posted by Fion
Dont let this one lead you one. I was a pioneer myself (though thankfully not by paid preorder, I wont EVER preorder to get into a beta, thats so clearly a scam.) I also was invited in on one of the first batches and figured 'what the hell, I'll give them a 2nd shot'

PATHETIC. This game is a crapload of craptastic craptitude. Holy crap the only worse game I've EVER tested was.. oh wait.. it's actually THE WORST. Yes thats right, even worse then Horizons!

It's just a shitty game that isn't going to go any where. It's design docs and 'faq' and stuff give you the impression that it is going to be AWESOME and totally ahead of it's time! But.. it isn't. It's pathetic.

You need a new MMOG to play? Wait a few months for Age of Conan.

Or Vangaurd: SoH

MW2K · June 2006

Originally posted by Nefair
Or Vangaurd: SoH

The word on that isn't so flash either.

tetsul · June 2006

Originally posted by Theely

So basically its going through your normal launch period?

No. The server crashing is normal. A slow time signing up because of sheer number of people is normal. A hard time finding low level mobs to fight because everyone is looking for them is normal. Some minor tweaking to spawn rates, ai, vendors, etc that's normal. Bad lag around a crowd of people is normal.

Broken promises is not normal. Drowning while standing on a dock is not normal. Computers that look like they could land the space shuttle getting 6fps when they're alone is not normal. No descriptions for skills combined with no way to change them back is not normal. Banks taking your money and not giving it back is not normal. Having bugs at launch that would have been found by a moderately intelligent chimpanzee in a beta test is not normal. Forums loaded with preorder people complaining about EVERYTHING is not normal. Vast numbers of previously hopeful fans saying they are leaving after two days of playing is not normal. The devs saying it was launched without a hitch during this whole production is not normal.

This doesn't make it a normal launch, it makes it (to keep with Fion's theme) craptacular.

[Deleted User] · June 2006

The user and all related content has been deleted.

BlueCoyote · June 2006

It's pretty rough around the edges, but I'm really enjoying the crafting system.

Anageth · June 2006

Originally posted by Fion

PATHETIC. This game is a crapload of craptastic craptitude. Holy crap the only worse game I've EVER tested was.. oh wait.. it's actually THE WORST. Yes thats right, even worse then Horizons!

Lmao, I couldn't have said it better - except for the Horizons bit, never tried it.

Theely · June 2006

Damn, that is a shame.

One thing I noticed someone say, "broken promises."

Did they break things as in something they said they were going to offer is not in game yet?

Which in turn would go back to their announcement that only 40% of what they said would be in game would be included in launch?

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not fanboy'in this up. I've never played it. I'm just a minor hater of people tossing the phrase "broken promises" when it comes to video games. Game developing, especially on this scale is something that is very difficult.

Anyways, everything else stated is just not acceptable though. I'll stay away for now and look back a month later.

tetsul · June 2006

Originally posted by Theely

One thing I noticed someone say, "broken promises."
...
I'm just a minor hater of people tossing the phrase "broken promises" when it comes to video games. Game developing, especially on this scale is something that is very difficult.

No prob, I've seen it enough times too. People could go on and on about broken/bug ridden/totally missing faq items, or the pioneers and there drake/lizard chicken. They could probably make a thirty paragraph comparison (please don't) but I'll give the easiest one that's from an old post.

"according to OFFICIAL STATEMENTS -- SOG IS NOT DNL"

For all you who didn't like the NGE, I'm making a game. It's not SWG with the NGE, I'll officially state that. It's a scifi mmorpg with blasters that controls the same, that you view from over the character's shoulder, with the exact same clunky interface, and you click the piss out of your enemy to fight them. It's totally different from NGE.

komarr · June 2006

Originally posted by Fion

PATHETIC. This game is a crapload of craptastic craptitude. Holy crap the only worse game I've EVER tested was.. oh wait.. it's actually THE WORST. Yes thats right, even worse then Horizons!

Worse then Horizons?? Dayum!! That's some pretty serious suckitude right there. I had high hopes for DnL when I first heard about it, and it's just gone steadily downhill ever since.

Ake_Gamer · June 2006

I've been a pioneer since they opened the SoG world to us. This game reminds me the most of Shadowbane. It too had incredible potential and sounded like the game every PvPer dreamed about. Implementation was terrible.

DnL right now is still in an early beta phase. but they obviously need the cash flow. Here are some examples:

There are 3 starter "quests" in the home village. None of them introduce the UI, none of them introduce you to the game, only 1 of them can be completed. There is a touch of lore in one of them, but then dead ends. Where do you go to learn more?

The help option brings up a blank window.

It's very difficult to figure out how to sell/buy items. I've never seen a more complex design for such a simple task.

Mob spawns: Aggressive mobs spawn on or near the new player bind point. LOL It's pretty humorous to see all the new folks getting eaten by spiders as they try to figure out where the heck they are.

The world is HUGE..let me repeat HUMONGOUS...GARGANTUAN....and bloody empty.

A non MMO game publisher rarely if ever allows a product to hit the shelves that can't be easily started. Otherwise, people return the box the next day.

First impressions are important and sadly for the Devs/Publishers...no prom date for you.

Sorry, fellas. Tough market, but you knew that going in. Shouldn't release until you can at least give a minimally fun experience to the new player so that they want to play more.

Murais · June 2006

I knew this was coming. I was in closed beta. And it was about a month before SoG released, and they couldn't even keep the servers up long enough to test the game. But, because of that NDA, I had to keep my yap shut. Now I can freely say, that this was crap coming from a while back. I tried to put it off a beta bugs, but it just never came out of them.

It's a shame, I was a HUGE fan of this game. Too bad they had to go and make it into a huge turd.

Briansho · June 2006

I predict tomorrow they will either delay or attempt to let everyone in the game.
If the let everyone in the game all the people on the forums that have been playing will start whining about too many people trying to log in. Like always they will blame other players for the server problems and not the developers.

hercules · June 2006

Originally posted by Ake_Gamer
I've been a pioneer since they opened the SoG world to us. This game reminds me the most of Shadowbane. It too had incredible potential and sounded like the game every PvPer dreamed about. Implementation was terrible.

DnL right now is still in an early beta phase. but they obviously need the cash flow. Here are some examples:

There are 3 starter "quests" in the home village. None of them introduce the UI, none of them introduce you to the game, only 1 of them can be completed. There is a touch of lore in one of them, but then dead ends. Where do you go to learn more?

The help option brings up a blank window.

It's very difficult to figure out how to sell/buy items. I've never seen a more complex design for such a simple task.

Mob spawns: Aggressive mobs spawn on or near the new player bind point. LOL It's pretty humorous to see all the new folks getting eaten by spiders as they try to figure out where the heck they are.

The world is HUGE..let me repeat HUMONGOUS...GARGANTUAN....and bloody empty.

A non MMO game publisher rarely if ever allows a product to hit the shelves that can't be easily started. Otherwise, people return the box the next day.

First impressions are important and sadly for the Devs/Publishers...no prom date for you.

Sorry, fellas. Tough market, but you knew that going in. Shouldn't release until you can at least give a minimally fun experience to the new player so that they want to play more.

Intresting post.And i have to say you bring up a nice point.

Mobs spawning at site of entry of new players is the single worst thing you can ever do.This leads to a horrible first impression.You loads up first time and mob attacks you= one annoyed customer.

I recall in eve online beta i did on numerous times state on the forum that the eve start up will cost them a lot.

It involved mining for a few hours and then running around the galaxy with your ore to some station.This gave a very boring first day and would make people sigh and drop the game asap.

Since launch i understand the eve developers have seen the light finally and changed it.

But unlike eve which is basically stable and not many bugs.I understand DnL suffers from performance issues,loads of missing features and bugs.

So hearing the start up has many issues too is really very risky for DnL.

Chessack · June 2006

Originally posted by Ake_Gamer

The help option brings up a blank window.

Now that... is just beyond pathetic.

It's bad enough that most MMORPGs do not stay on top of help files as they update the game... but to go live with a blank help window, is just sad.

C

zoey121 · June 2006

Thanks for bringing current information to us about the shape of the game

I started thinking back to ac 2's release From the problems they had to the no npcs ( early on) the needing things from crafters, no loot ( don't know if that was changed latter on ) but i remember it was a pretty world but it felt very empty

When i first heard of the sure size of the game my first thoughts were was it going to be static spawns random spawns and if any ai action other then waiting for players to go kill them

The newbe area is the first impressions of the game Usualy it is the last thing newer mmorpgs focus on from the tutorial to the hand holding first few levels From what i read on d & l home fourms there was a current bug that allowed pvp to take place in the new be spawn zones. I do hope they get a patch in quick to fix that

First impressions count, and the newbe areas are what generaly hook players .

hercules · June 2006

Originally posted by zoey121

First impressions count, and the newbe areas are what generaly hook players .

I said this way back in 2002 back when a newbie life was a hostile environment.

You got to make the first week an amazing experience.This makes vets hopeful and gooks new mmorpg players in.

WoW is the best example of this.Lovely and superb till you hit 60 then it shows the bland nature of the game.

But you know what it has already hooked the clients.

Reading thru this post and other sites the newbie life in this game is an introduction to hardship,bugs and fustration.

I think they need to start fixing the game asap and consider a free trial or even free client extremely soon to encourage ppl to at least try their game and then hopefully if they sort the first few weeks of content out they might stand a chance at holding ppl with a sub.

Valharan · June 2006

They had 6 years to inject an ounce of fun into this game. Failed.

What is a few weeks going to change?

Dinivan · June 2006

Here are the opinions of current DnL players:

http://www.darkandlight.net/forums/showthread.php?t=60592&page=1&pp=20

Some examples:

Bugs to Report:

- Use transport while in water on boat doesnt put u on boat

- CAncel incantation & stop incantation both key mapping and
clicking X does not stop spell casting for any of the wizard path tree.

- Grouping makes it 1/3rd of xp <-- Worse than stress test and SOG.

- Group members go invisible - looking up and down does not fix like in sog (disapear from radar too)

- Buy window interface is as clear as mud - i mean wtf is with the little dude as filter and the plus sign as buy?

- Wizard spells all interuptable no cast timer lower than 3 seconds on lowbie spells makes it near impossible to kill things

- No quests anywhere

- Mobs cant be attacked

- LOTS of ITEMS, NPC and UI still in FRENCH. Looking on the starter vendor is ez to see

- Help sections all empty on all screens

What Id like changed:

-Faster start game - its all about learning dnl not grinding the boring combat system

- should be able to chose ur starting town - my mates and i are
different races - they are miles away and theres no way ill be able to
travel to them. WE tried baloons and everything.

- More staff presence - there has been no-one on all day. There was more people here on the SoG launch.

i ke a lot of the people i played SOG for a while, till i got bored
couse there was nothing to, that happened like a moth after SOG
release, not a lot of time for a MMO.
I was one of those who really believed in the game becouse of its systems and its dept, so i waited for the full release.
Full release is here and old worries are back and new ones come up.
Old worries for me are the combat system, it´s bad, nothing new, even
worse than older MMO´s, skills are boring, classes are not balanced,
and why do they want it to make so hard to level up??? I mean has
anyone thought how long it can take to level a char from 1 to 100?
months is it really necesary to make that hard? what´s the purpose?
Another old worry is the interface, its not bad, it just sucks. half of
the times when i hit enter to chat it doesn´t work. when i bring out
the inventory i can barely see what i´m wearing. the new simbols for
desease, fire, frost, magic, etc look all the same, my stats bars
should be bigger so i can cotrol my status better during combat, etc
etc etc.
New worries, the way this game is thought to be played you need a
minimum amount of people to make it run well, otherwise you wont be
able to sell your resources, nor will the wanted system work well, the
conquering battles will be a laugh, etc etc. Solution to that? new
players, lots of them, but! what will happen when a new player gets in
the game and sees how shitty the combat system is and how hard is to
level up? i´ll tell you, he will leave in less than 4 hours.
I WANT to love this game, please Farlan make me love this game, give
reasons to love it, give me reasons to call my friends that got lost
becouse something called NGE and tell them "hey i´m playing this great
game, come and see it, you´ll love it too".
What i´m starting to think, and this has been said before, is that the
great thing about this game is the world itself, and as far as i know
it wasn´t made by these guys, feel free to think what you want.
As for me, i will keep playing, becouse like you i paid in advance for
something which i thougth would be more "coocked". Hopefully we´ll all
have a wonderfull time and the game will succeed. Wish you good luck tu
you all.

My first impression, By Hammy the brave, wise and insane dwarven warrior.
-Went out and saw a Brillant Stone, a Ripe Nuts, and a Lost Treausre
-60 30 5 seconds respectivly 1% chance on them all to extract something
-Rock and nuts stayed lost treasure vanished after failure
-Went to kill things killed a level 4 and a level 1 got to level 2
-Went and killed a level 9 as a level two, ran into a level 7 died
-Got bug and crashed and here posting
The problems I have with the above are
-The 1% chance to get a resource is terrible
-The things you can kill are not dependant on level for damage they do
-Crashing is just bad

-I dont like the character control or movement and physical attack animations.
-Character selection is about as bland as you can get.
-The world is massive and explorable but there is not much reason to
explore it other then to find stronger mobs and thats not enough.
-Mobs respawn in the weirdest ways. Like run at the speed of sound
across the landscape to get back to its place? It just looks wrong and
out of place.
-Customer support? Non-existant!
-The players here are great but everyone is pissed off about one thing
or another. No one is enthralled by the game and have nothing positive
to say about it and I am now one of them.
-Banks keep your money and thats the same as having none in the first place.
-Slash commands for binding and other things? Those in themsleves are
not so bad but at least provide a full /help list of the command
options so we can actually use them.
-Forums are horrible. General Discussion about it and is cluttered with
everything from game error's, guild invites, crafting questions and
talk of games people came from.
-The people that made this game have a good vision but need to work with some real game teams to have it realized.

After 3 years......
1. Can't craft. Vendors are bugged and when I can actually open one they dont hold important ingredients.
2. Can't kill mobs. Get next to no xp from anything.
3. Can't PvP. Banks are bugged
and dont let you withdraw, not heading into combat with full moneybelt.
Im a non withdrawing member of my guild.
4. Can't Explore. Just finished
my fourth try at mapping a barony. Landing periodically and using the
save command to save my work due to frequent crashes. Logged off for a
few minutes to eat and returned to find my map all grey again.
5. Can't do missions. I have
taken at least 15 missions over the past few days. After spending hours
and hours looking for the required over- simplified "go kill this" or
"take this to" tasks, I have completed a total of 2 quests for a total
of 45 xp reward.
6. Can't contact ingame support
Attemted many MANY times to pass these problems and other questions
thru the appropriate chat channel (/gmhelp) and get absolutely NO
reply...

tetsul · June 2006

It a shameless bump to make sure that anyone who hasn't got the word about this mess gets to see this thread and save themselves money, I'll post one from the Classic Quotes thread in the DnL forum. It's originally from a hardcore fan who finally got to play the game.

"I hate everything and everyone who even knows of this game."

SBE1 · June 2006

This game could go down as the shortest lived MMO in the history of modern games. If it makes it past six months, I'd be amazed.

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