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And want to tell you all about it.
I will try to keep myself from flaming it too hard, or being too fanboy like. After seeing Mourning go down in flames (no i didnt touch it, even with a pole) after i followed the game for quite some time, i looked at dragon empire's, Wish and dark and light.
Then Dragon Empire's and wish got canned. Mourning was a complete joke of a unintentioned scam, and now Dark and Light steps up.
I couldnt help myself from buying it. And here comes a review of the game...
I will make this review and maybe add to it, so far this is my second day i played the game, and here i my first impressions.
After i downloaded my copy from bittorrent (wtf) i was amazed at the speed it went, allthough no company should make use of something like bottorrent in my opinion, it was faster then the avarage ftp download, so i was happy.
I installed the game and patched it, again quite quickly. And getting ready to delve in and be disappointed (yes i read what you all read here), i couldnt. My account couldnt be found. I checked and checked again, but i typed everything right. At a last attempt 30 minutes later i reset my password, and voila, with the new password i could log in.
Ok slight setback, but hey, its a new game, i was suprised the server was even up ! So i went into the character creation screen. After going through very dull log in screens and generic patchers, i was suprised to see even a game on there, and while i started creating my character, i noticed a lot of races looked exactly the same but for the tone of their skin. This was kind of disappointing, but hey dark elves and wood elves would look kind of the same annyway, so i overcame the hinderance, and created a dark elf.
I could customise the appearance slightly, and pick earrings etc. It wasnt good, but it was enough for a new game. I didnt expect anything, and you could actually customise your character to some extend. So that was something.
Then i logged in, and my eyes opened quite wide. Allthough the FPS on my fairly good computer wasnt totally up for it, and the interface was a little clunky, when i turned around i saw a beautifull mountain in the distance, a snowstorm was blowing around me, and i saw a frozen lake with a reflecting sun glare in it. I was simply stunned, i did not expect to see a whole lot in this game, but i was amazed. It took me about half a hour to get passed looking around.
I must add that the looking around part is not quite perfected yet. You can look around freely when you press the right mouse button, but this doesnt work very effectivly and sometimes hangs up for no apparent reason. The WASD movement did work quite well though, but i like mouselooking. Clicking the mouse a certain way did kinda help it, but it needs some work.
After the looking around bit i started looking for things to do. Got 2 quests in the starting village, and headed out to complete one. Without any direction and a HUGE world around me i got lost quite quickly though. Luckely there is a command to teleport back to your starting position, which i glady used.
So back to my starting position i figured i'd kill some monsters. I ran to my first monster, hit it and died instantly... It was quite easy to find my corpse back, and notice i attacked a level 5 monster. I quickly grabbed my dropped money (not a whole lot but hey) and looked around for a lvl 1 monster. I found it quite quickly and started hitting it. Amazingly enough there were quite sufficient animations in place, and it looked a lot more polished then i expected it to look. Spell effects look pretty good and the animations are avarage. I expected the game to lack in this department but its not quite as bad as i imagined.
After a small while and a few deaths i got tired and logged off, lvl 3 and quite happy about it.
Next day i logged in, there were quite a few more players then i saw the previous day (prime time?). A few invited me into their guild and helped me underway with some armor, weapons and general advice. People were fairly helpfull and i got 2 random people approaching me with advice (yes i was acting like a complete newbie, since i am).
I got into a guild with about 12 people online at the time, and about 70/80 members. I saw at least 200 other people running by and playing the game. This was quite a suprise to me because i figured i'd be the only one who'd be so crazy to buy the game. My guild came from SWG though, and had quite a few dedicated players, even from the SoG time. Everyone agreed that was a big mistake (SoG) but patches were regulary implemented (both times i logged in i had a new patch incoming). People were quite high level and quite happy about the game.
With my guild were currently saving up cash to buy a house which collects resources which in turn have to be escorted to a hall which we are building. It all sounds pretty good to me and my guildies said its all implemented and working. (i havent seen it yet cos im a lowbie)
I leveled a couple levels more, bought some more armor and talked to my guildies before logging off.
Overall its a mixed experience. Its much MUCH better then i expected, but its clearly not a finished game yet. It needs a lot of polishing on the tutorial, interface, controlls and quests. The world looked awesome, if not a little bugged at times (sometimes water looked a little weird, and soemtimes a branch of a tree was hanging in mid air, without a tree or whatever). Those were exceptions though. Generally the world looks awesome. I have not explored a whole lot, but i did buy a hangglider and soared through about 3 km's of air, and did find new stuff every minute, so it doesnt seem to empty to me, however i can be mistaking.
So here you go, my first 2 days of playing summarized for anyone interested. I'd like to add right now that i dont want any part of my post to be quoted anywhere, except if its the entire post. I dont want any fanboy to use this, or any flamer for that matter.
This game still needs work, but i do see that this is very much a game and can be enjoyed as it is. Me, ill be playing this for at least a while longer to see where it takes me, but so far i've been pleasantly suprised.
Considering this is a STARTING mmorpg, i'd give the game a 7. It works, servers are up, and lag doesnt seem to be a issue.
As a normall existing game measuring up to wow or EQ2 (as they are now), i'd give it a 4. Like i said before, it needs a lot of work in a lot of departments.
Ups : No lag detected yet, Servers been up non-stop for as far as i know, Game looks great, Quite some stuff to do allready (buy pets, gliders, parachute's, build forts, collect resources, craft, escort resource, etc)
Downs : Just about every part of the game needs polish, most parts need a lot of it, controlls are bugged, starter quest seems bugged (the rest works fine), everything needs balancing, Engine is very demanding, overall not a whole lot of newbie help from the start.
I would not recommend this game to annyone who never played a new mmorpg.
For the people who have played new mmo's, if you have something you allready like, stay there .
For the people who seem to like the ideas dark and light present,and are looking for something new, wait a while, maybe 2/3 months, maybe 6 months and get in, i think the game might be quite good then.
For the people who want to be part of the opening stages of a game or are bored and are really looking for something new : 55 euro's is a lot of money for a unfinished product, but it is a product, its not a scam and it seems to work. There is a community and it doesnt seem very small. You might be pleasantly suprised in this game like me, if you dont mind wagering 55 euro's on it, like me, then i do recommend trying the game.
P.S. Please dont quote any part of this post. Thank you.
Comments
All right, I won't quote a specific part but it would make life easier.
Beautiful world? Thank _Pix_ he hovers around here every so often. The rest, works for me for a review.
To be realistic about the game, it is a beta at best, and needs to go back to that stage, thee are two many bugs and balancing issues even for a second rate MMORPG at the moment, certain aspects of the game are good, but other parts are downright horrible for a paying version.
The game was pushed for realease due to unrealistic goals, the quality and quantity of the current devs do not fit the project. Perhaps there is a logistical reason why no one has created such a huge world in a MMORPG before, the amount of time it would take to populate it with meaningful content would be astonding.
Anyways i enjoyed your review,
And agree with the second score as it stands in the market as 4/10
Yeah no. I really can't take this review that seriously. Not because you and I disagree on the ratings that the game should get but because of you. You state in the first part of the post that you don't want to be "too fanboy like" and yet read the first half of your review.
I don't understand why a company would use bit torent, but that is ok.
Problems finding my account and logging in, but that is ok.
Dull log in screen and generic patchers, but that is ok.
No real customizations for characters, but that is ok.
Can't move right with wsad, but that is ok.
You are the ulitmate fannyboy. Like I said, I am not against your view of the game. You may like it, you may have not had the same problems I did, that is fine. But you had problems, big ones, from logging in, to unsatisfying character creation and movment issues. You just make yourself look foolish there fannyboy.
Oops...
I have the same impressions of the game atm, almost exactly
One thing that I've now done is find a Guild, having them around has opened up the game concept for me. Playing at off-peak (Aussie times) and having 5-15 gulidies on at any one time chatting away, making plans is a really sweet feeling
The short game is leveling, the long game is with Guilds trying to build something lasting in KvK. I'm trying to get involved in that now
Good honest read, thx for the post
I guess your absolutely right. Its a very (too?) ambitious project, for a small team. But hey, if i had to chose a founding principle in a devellopment team, i would pick ambition over realism anytime. But they got time now to finish off the game, so who knows what will happend to it, it does have potential though, even considering the "beta" stage it is in now.
And i agree, it would look good on the devellopers to say they'll make the game free (beta) untill its a bit more polished, but i guess they'll never do that due to financial pressure and stuff.
Originally posted by elitwebb
And I am just quoting part of your post. Partly because you think you can ask people to do that and they must comply with your wishes, which is not true. But mostly because I am a dick.
I didnt expect anyone to listen, but if someone respects my request, im happy. If you dont, i'll lay awake this night and cry untill my pillow is soked.
Here you draw a very good conclusion, so i dont have to .
Originally posted by indiramourn
You post in forums, you get quoted. And asking for people to quote your entire post is a bit egotistical, don't you think? Anyway. I can sum up your review with your statement above. Or in other words...If you lower your expectations enough, DnL isn't that bad.
I understand, and i asked people not to quote parts of my post, but maybe that came across wrong. Why is it egotistic to ask such a favor from people who read it ? Im not saying ill burn your house if you dont listen .
About the lowering expectations, you are absolutly right. If i heard good things about this game i probably posted the review in a more negative manner, but i just think the game doesnt deserve the flaming its receiving right now, so i took time to list some of the positive aspects as well. Regardless of the expectations, im still playing the game in my fourth day now, and im having fun, that wouldnt have changed, no matter what the expectation.
Originally posted by indiramourn
have the same impressions of the game atm, almost exactly
One thing that I've now done is find a Guild, having them around has opened up the game concept for me. Playing at off-peak (Aussie times) and having 5-15 gulidies on at any one time chatting away, making plans is a really sweet feeling
The short game is leveling, the long game is with Guilds trying to build something lasting in KvK. I'm trying to get involved in that now
Good honest read, thx for the post
Well i cant say much about the long game since i just started, and you did too if i read correctly. So ill cross that bridge when i reach it. For now theres some entertainment to be found, and i think the game has potential, even though it scores a 4 .
You said,
"Considering this is a STARTING mmorpg, i'd give the game a 7. It works, servers are up, and lag doesnt seem to be a issue.
As a normall existing game measuring up to wow or EQ2 (as they are
now), i'd give it a 4. Like i said before, it needs a lot of work in a
lot of departments."
Here's my question. Are they charging people any less because it is an (admittedly) incomplete product? Or are they charging people exactly the same amount as "WoW and EQ2 as they are now"?
I will agree that some leeway needs to be given to new games, in that you can't expect them to have the amount of content that an older game does, just by definition. But if they're going to knowingly put an unfinished game out there, they need to charge unfinished-game-prices. Otherwise, it could easily be argued, "Why would I pay you $15 for something incomplete, when I can get something complete for exactly the same price?"
C
explain because I've never really seen the statement go past that. It
has potential to do what exactly? What does this game currently offer
that no other game does? I haven't really seen anything myself. Most of
what this game offers or claims to be coming has been done, and done
better by a better dev team. I don't care about flying dragons or snowboarding either. It's just a different look to travelling. All these games have travel in them. Weather and seasons, Ryzom has these. RvR or KvK, same thing really, DAoC does a splendid job already. Good crafting, Horizons and EQ2 come to mind.
You also throw out the "No game is ever 100%" arguement. True, but by the time they are charging people to play at least these other games are playable. The state this game is in isn't good enough to charge people for. Glaring bugs, rollbacks, horrible customer service, even worse mods on their boards. People paying for this game right now in this state are only ruining future games as I see it. If these guys get away with charging for an Aplha stage product, what can we expect in the future from other companies?
No they are not charging less, and i agree they should. Its an expensive game and it shouldnt be. However, most mmo's had impossible first months. From SWG to WoW to Horizons to shadowbane to wwiionline. They all had problems, they all charged top dollar (allthough some game compensated players, which is a very nice thing to do), so i guess its to be expected. That doesnt mean that it SHOULD be expected. Realisticly speaking, i guess its best to expect it, or wait a few months before buying a game.
I took that fact into consideration when i wrote the review.
I personally have to work 4 hours to earn 50 euro's and buy this game. I had about 10 hours fun out of it up untill now. I'd say thats money well spend, but you should be able to expect more from a game then what DnL is offering now. Thats why i wrote recommendations at the end of my post, as to who should consider buying the game.
But to repeat myself, you should only buy this game if you know what you get into in a new MMORPG, and your willing to risk 55 euro's. If you dont want that, you shouldnt touch this game. Period.
I see where your coming from, and i agree with you 100%, i guess i just have a different approach at things. The game does what i wanted it to do ... Entertain me.
Lol
I guess your absolutely right. Its a very (too?) ambitious project, for a small team. But hey, if i had to chose a founding principle in a devellopment team, i would pick ambition over realism anytime. But they got time now to finish off the game, so who knows what will happend to it, it does have potential though, even considering the "beta" stage it is in now.
And i agree, it would look good on the devellopers to say they'll make the game free (beta) untill its a bit more polished, but i guess they'll never do that due to financial pressure and stuff.
This has to be my favorite."Considering this is a STARTING mmorpg, i'd give the game a 7. It works, servers are up, and lag doesnt seem to be a issue."
Yes in the next paragraph you do compair it to other games and give it a 4. You see, that is what makes you a fannyboy, and takes away all your cred. Either a game is a 7 or it is a 4. Those numbers are too far apart to be the same game. Either you are reviewing this on its own merits or you slide it up to another game and compair.
What is it gonna be fannyboy?
I guess your absolutely right. Its a very (too?) ambitious project, for a small team. But hey, if i had to chose a founding principle in a devellopment team, i would pick ambition over realism anytime. But they got time now to finish off the game, so who knows what will happend to it, it does have potential though, even considering the "beta" stage it is in now.
And i agree, it would look good on the devellopers to say they'll make the game free (beta) untill its a bit more polished, but i guess they'll never do that due to financial pressure and stuff.
Please, for your own sake, stop drinking the Farlan kool-aid. Remember Jonestown? I refused to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent.
Good luck to you fannyboy.
We as a community should not lower our standards of what a MMORPG that is released should have. The original poster clearly did that by shrugging off all the shortcomings of Dark and Light by saying they are not so bad when reality is that it is completley unacceptable.
Furthermore if the original thread starter was genuine in his review he would have given the game a neutral score of a 5. But the original thread starter gave the game a score of a 7 with the chance of that score improving becuase of "potential".
A lot of games that are more complete then Dark and Light are around the 7-9 range in terms of ratings. Dark And Light even from a neutral observation deserves at most a rating of a 5.
That is why I can not take this reveiw seriously.
I for one agree with elitwebb. For me, a fanboy is someone who can overlook all the negatives of a game, make excuses for them, and say that only the postives matter. The OP did exactly that.
I was actually somewhat excited about this reading about it before release, signed up, bought a copy and --- blah. My initial impressions were much the same as yours - movement and interface were a bit uncomfortable/inconvenient - customization was minimal, etc. So I get some starter quest ....and I'm supposed to go to some ...tower? And I re-read my quest log again and again, and ask people - none of which respond - wander around for 3 hours *not* finding this 'newbie' quest place that I got ...so I go and I kill things for a little bit, get level 5 or 6, and log off. And....after that never really felt like logging back on, there was just no appeal whatsoever. I'm going to give it another shot in 6 months or so. -N
Gaming? That's not gaming!
That's just people sat 'round in costumes drinking...
Glad you are liking the game.
I found the bugs, non-terrain graphics (landscape is nice), and other aspects of the game not so pleasant.
MMORPGs have been around for quite some time, and I expect a more polished game. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. The only thing DnL had going for it was the large world, a few bit of politics and PvP. That's the "new" (well, not that new except for the large world) additions to the MMORPG gameworld. To have the # of bugs is just insane. But, that's my opinion. Again, I'm happy you have enjoyed the game.
I for one agree with elitwebb. For me, a fanboy is someone who can overlook all the negatives of a game, make excuses for them, and say that only the postives matter. The OP did exactly that.
Vindication. You have just been made my official propane vendor in any MMORPG I play.
Like the OP I decided to give the game a try and bought it about one week after launch. Not sure why I did, given the negative publicity, but I was just out of 4 years on AO, and a year on WoW and EQ2, looking for something to do before the new games coming in the fall. And, I have to admit, I felt a bit sorry for Farlan.
I spent 3 days in the game and it was the worst ganing experience i have ever had.
Some highlights:
- Starting village devoid of any other players
- Only one NPC who would talk to me with only ONE quest (which I tried to find the mobs to kill only to be told after 3 frustrating days "oh that mob is not in game yet")
- Horrible lag, with startling "features" .. one minute you are wading through treacle, the next you are warped ahead about 50 feet only to be one-shotted because perversely you are always warped right next to a higher level mob
- Clumsy interface, boring combat, and mouse controls with a (totally unpredictable) mind of their own
I won't bother repeating all the bugs others have written about, but I can confirm that they were not exaggerated. The world IS beautiful, but the lag causes some weird kind of motion effect and I felt seasick most of the time.
After 3 days I quit and I won't go back. The most challenging "feature" was getting my subscription cancelled. Took 4 days, longer than I spent playing the game.
Someone on these boards posted that they felt guilty about the fun they were having reading these forms and the DnL forums. I can honestly say that I have had way more fun reading these forums than I had in game (or ever expect to have in that game) and I don't feel at all guilty about it: gotta get my $55 worth somehow
PS: wave to everyone, I am new to MMORPG.com, nice to meet you all