A quick update on DAoC.

[DDuce]

Greetings,

I have been gone for 1.5 years now from the DAoC scene, left a week before they released Shrouded Isles for reasons I'll keep to my own.
But lately I've been monitoring the community and the game again and decided Í'm going to play again!

Can someone give this old guy an impression of how the community is these days, with spellcrafting housing etc. is there still a fine balance between the "Level 3 player: gimmeh gold for black dye plzZZzZz!!@@@!!!1" and the great friendships, arguments and wars in the realms and on the frontier?
Or have there been so many changes nothing is the same except the graphics? (wait, even those are better with SI!)
I'm particularly interested in the community offcourse, since that has always been why I enjoyed this game the most.

ow, and 1 last question, how much has pre-20 levelling changed now all "experienced" players can use the /level20 command.
Did it turn into forced soloing, or clumsy groups?

Many thanks in advance! I hope that I can play again very soon.

 

[Gorrion]

Had i know'n for 1½ year ago that Daoc would get a add-on like TOA i would have quitted the game then, I have put alot of hours in the game and that is prolly the only reson im trying to hold on.
if you are starting from level 1 there is a good chance you will have to solo from level 1 - 20, and maby even beyond as TOA takes all the time from those who usually had some spare time to help new players.
There have been some incidents of scammers on the excalibur server lately and this has made it even harder to trust other players, making it even harder for new "true" players to get help.
You say you are interested in the community . . . well since TOA has been release the community has suffered greatly, its as if a dark cloud has engulfed the game and slowly suffercating the realm of Daoc.

 

[gunner440]

xping is now generally done via plvl to about 40

then off to xp the usual way

pre-20, groups are almost non existant

 

[Zaffa]

Ppl seen alot more greedy and not very willing to help unless they get something from it, and the ill help ya some other day thingy dosnt work anymore, i actually had to bribe my old guild into helping me do a quest...

ofc there are still nice players, just seems the leet CS crew have taken over daoc :/

 

[Healer McHeal]

there is still some nice players about, u just have to find them and dont call them weird for not being all greedy like every one else :x

 

[Taen]

A lot has changed and the game requires a big time input now if you want to be competitive .. the community is still fine ... fighting and whining as always

 

[gervaise]

And I would suggest that now is probably not a good time to start.
a) the release is still bugged - huge patch is already out in the US with more to come. Lots of server crashes as well at the moment.
b) further major changes coming - which will lead to more patches etc etc
c) lots of new games coming this year:
Lineage2 launched its open beta today prior to its full launch at the end of April (its the translation, full server loading etc that is being tested game is already live in Korea)
City of Heroes end of April
WoW is now in beta
Ryzom is in beta
etc etc and there may yet be EQ2, DragonEmpires etc. Big changes coming in terms of player numbers - (DAoC VN boards have dies a death foe example)

 

[Oro]

Levelled from 1 to 20 without difficulty a few weeks ago (after ToA release), sometimes in groups, sometimes solo. 20-24 went fast as lots of /level players making their Thid toons. 24-35 is a little more tricky as its that wasteland between Thid and high level groups and I know some peeps have really struggled.

Though people go on and on about SC'd gear, to be honest you don't need it before 50, unless you're going to be uber in Thid. Have made it all the way from 1 to 47 so far with nothing except drops and the occasional hand-me-down from nice peeps. Bought crafted boots once when I was struggling to get something that wasn't grey con, but that was it.

Have not had any trouble getting any groups etc all the way up, and wasn't in guild until mid 20s or so and previously knew nobody except for maybe one person in the realm I'm playing.

Met all kinds of idiots, great people, selfish people, clever players and kind people the whole way.

In short, what you will meet playerwise is the same as it was nearly 2 years ago. Met a lot of peeps playing game for first time pre-20 and the groups can be a bit uneven, but thats part of the fun.

Getting a lvl11 group to use MA in dungeon was quite funny. Arguably the skill on display was higher in some ways than a lvl40 group as all your CC and abilities are next to zero and everyone has appalling equipment. Scary though of course too

In short: you can make the game just as easy to level through as it used to be, or as hard as you want to make it for yourself depending on what class you choose to play and how you go about it.

End game is going through a lull at the moment: most guilds are slaving through ToA religiously for artifacts and abilities, so there's an artificial quiet on the battlefield. ToA is fun, if you take it at your own pace. If you see it only as a means to be uber in RvR, expect pain and frustration.

Everyone still accuses everyone else of zerging while quietly getting on and doing their own

Is DAoC still a good game to play?

Yes.

 

[Bleri]

There are a lot of bitter people at the moment, but hasnt there always been with every addition to the game.

Theres also a lot of people talking about new games coming out saying it will be the end of DAoC, but hasnt there always been.

The game (or should it be called a hobby?) survives, the community survives and if people are still playing after 2+ years it cant be all bad.

I would guess levelling 1 - 20 would be a lot different than it used to be, but I took a run through Camelot Hills and Salisbury Plains today and there where people there, just not as many as there used to be. Kill tasks, especially in Isle of Glass would be the way I would go though if I had to do it again.

The biggest change has really been in RvR. Its now ( and has been for a long time) mainly RP whores making uber leeet groups. The only real way around that is to group with guild mainly.

If anyone asked me to recommend a MMORPG I'd say DAoC without hesitation. Lineage 2 closed beta reminded me about how well Mythic approached the subject of PvP

 

[Vodkafairy]

there is still some nice players about, u just have to find them and dont call them weird for not being all greedy like every one else :x

exactely

 

[Korax]

exactely

But they ARE wierd! :touch:

 

[old.Whoodoo]

The community as a whole hasnt changed much, evident by a severe lack of new players and low level grouping these days.

Much of the new blood comes in the shape of ebayers, many of whom cant even spell their own names, and are so obvious when a level 50 asks "wheres Jordheim?".

Money and time are what DAoC stands for now more than ever. You have to put in the time for the MasterLevels, farming cash and dungeon crawls lasting for hours to get the best items and stand a chance of being a major player in RvR. Here is where the freindly people often turn into Mr Hyde when faced with sharing with their fellow players. The green eyed monster of jelously, greed and envy come into play, and more often than not freindships are broken.

Each realm and indeed each server boasts its own mentality, from my experience, Midgard Excal has turned into an anti-social "dont talk in chat", "thats mine ya hear", "you are not FOTM f*ck off!!" kinda place. There are still many nice people about, but becoming fewer, every one is out for themselves. Items are prices so only the l337 can afford them, farming groups prohibit the average player for gaining his own items, RvR is down to whos got the uberest ToA drop, and PvE is based on who you know, not how good a player you are.

As for Prydwen, we here I found a rather refreshing more generous populus, and I dont just mean the people I have found in my guild, although I have to say they do remind me of how excal used to be. When my poor level 15 infil was trying to exp he didnt have to ask for a group, one just invited him along for the ride. When items dropped, just like the old days, if they fitted his class they didnt have to ask, they just gave.

I would say in general 50% of the servers still have really nice people, realy nice guilds and great attitude, spoilt by the remainder who would sell their grannys teeth for that illusive scroll or self proccing anul implant from TOA.

DAoC is in my eyes still well worth playing and most of the people you will come across are still very pleasant, my best tip here is find a nice freindly guild who are still into PvE and having fun.

 

[Dukat]

DAoC, even with the selfishness that ToA has broughtout in quite a few players, is still quite enjoyable.

I dont know about 1-20 as i have a lvl 50 char (and so /level) but i hear its not easy, but its not impossible. 20-28ish was ok for me, 28ish to 40 was really hard though, as i was lvling a scout, i found that a fair bit of PL (4-5 levels in total) was needed just to keep me going.

all in all though there are plenty of 'good' players at all levels to balance out with the bitter players / scammers. for every annoying person who /sticks and macros 'givf gold' theres a genuinely funny person who comes and says 'hello good sir, my i have some coin for a new cloak?'

DAoC has always been my favorite game, and toa, /level and other new changes havent made it any less of a good game

 

[DDuce]

It's good to see that it hasn't changed that much. And I guess pre-20 should be doable. And levelling from 30 to 40 has always been hard, apart from Albion. I can only speculate on how many Goblins I've killed..
But I heard they changed those aswell, more hp and more adds or something.

Ah well, got a confirmation of my SI order today, it's only 4 euro 95 now. And I'll get ToA as soon as possible.

Thank you all very much for your replies!!

 

[Rubric]

How long are characters kept for on the servers these days?