Casual Gamers: What do you think of ToA?

[Melachi]

I'm sick of all these people spoilt for time telling me ToA is amazing, yes it probably is if you can afford to stay up allnight to camp the spawn for XXXX artifact because for me during the day, it's got que's longer than the motor tax office. Or Mr.I Can Do The Masterlevels alone because I have 500 accounts and 500 pc's so im my own one man battlegroup. And no offence intended now, but I dont want to opinion of role players because well basically all thats required for a roleplayer to enjoy ToA is pretty graphics a few brutal story lines and some other roleplayers, as the rest is done in the role players imagination.

I wan't to know what people who play for only 2-4hours a day think, people who might work late shifts so play at unsociable hours, those who still didnt manage to farm cash for SC'ed armour ect.. ect..

Tell me what you think of ToA

 

[Kami]

I left after playing DAOC since US Beta, coming here and playing it on EU servers. Says it all really.

It's a time sink and like housing is designed to keep the subscriptions coming in whilst they try to sort out RvR.

 

[Darzil]

Well, I guess as a member of a roleplaying guild, you'd count me out, but as I don't really roleplay, merely like a l33t speak free atmosphere, I'll reply anyway.

I play about 5-10 hours a week generally, sometimes more, sometimes less.

I've enjoyed the Master Levels so far, though I'm only ML 1, and have done several bits several times helping out others. I like that different strategies have to be used, and that there are techniques to do them efficiently that aren't posted on the web, so there is still more to learn.

Although I was involved in some failed attempts to get Artifacts, I've not yet got any. I'm sure I will at some point, though.

I've been enjoying the new quests, and the new dimensions underwater gives.

I've not done much in the frontier (in common with most other people), but that was pretty much the same before, as I can't compete with the high RR gank groups, and I tend to only head out there for keep/relic takes / defences, as I find them more enjoyable. I have been out there in an 'opted' group, and it was great fun, but I'd not want to do it every day.

The graphics are nice, but what I really like is that the mob ai is more interesting. The rest of the game doesn't have stuff like blood from wounded mobs turning into little scorpions who can grow bigger with time !

If you're a casual player who wants to keep up with the ML's and Artifacts, you'll be disappointed. You couldn't do it with realm ranks before, and the same applies.

If you're a casual player who wants to play the game for the ride, without a ML/Artifact destination, you'll enjoy it.

Like many things in life, your approach will dictate your experience.

Darzil SiegeMaster

 

[Ethiraseth]

liked it at first, but now that the novely is gone im already bored with it. Everything takes too much time for me to like, even though i can easily spend 30+ hours a week on it.

 

[Morchaoron]

I prolly could stay up all night (kinda) to play ToA but its not worth it... really ive had enough.....

rvr was fun, this mindless waiting/mob bashing is not, i have 5 50s so i did it enough now....

ToA is FAR from amazing, its just not fun, it only made the game more boring then interesting

i will write a final review sometime when i am bored at my 'work' again

 

[Melachi]

Well, I guess as a member of a roleplaying guild, you'd count me out, but as I don't really roleplay, merely like a l33t speak free atmosphere, I'll reply anyway.

Sorry worded it badly, I meant power gaming roleplayers, wasnt trying to dig at anyone who enjoys roleplaying, not my cup of tea but thats just a matter of opinion. Reason I really want to find this out is because im thinking of comming back to daoc this summer, im just afraid though that with the way it ToA is currently, not being very Casual PLayer friendly, Im fearing it will be even worse in 2 months time as most people will be finished with their artifact and Masterlevel hunting leaving just a few to do it themselves, and I just want to know is it worth it, leveling to 50 again and then having to do master levels and artifact hunting alone and infrequently.

 

[Ethiraseth]

Sorry worded it badly, I meant power gaming roleplayers, wasnt trying to dig at anyone who enjoys roleplaying, not my cup of tea but thats just a matter of opinion. Reason I really want to find this out is because im thinking of comming back to daoc this summer, im just afraid though that with the way it ToA is currently, not being very Casual PLayer friendly, Im fearing it will be even worse in 2 months time as most people will be finished with their artifact and Masterlevel hunting leaving just a few to do it themselves, and I just want to know is it worth it, leveling to 50 again and then having to do master levels and artifact hunting alone and infrequently.

in my opinion, don't bother, not with so many new mmorpg's coming out soon, better to start all over again together with every other player in the game.

 

[Moriath]

not every other player ..

 

[eatsam]

Toa takes way way to much time to get "into" and get something out of.. my experience with toa so far is ml1 + alot of failed artifact hunting and about 500 lost gold to pay back constitution .. i would prolly have 3-4 artifacts and ml5-6 if'd played as much as some others, but i don't have the time and urge to do this,so now im doomed to be left behind in rvr sooner or later.

 

[Chimaira]

I consider myself a very active gamer.

but every day I log on now I just hate the shit even more.

spent 5 hours in AC last night to exp an item.

wtf is up with that. Ive done 4 lvl 50s so far. they reckon Im gonna do that grind with all chars? it would take several years even if I sat online 24/7 during those years.

ToA had a good concept. to bad mythic has to exagurate (sp?)

When I think of endless sidi raids to get uber gear. which now is completely useless. my pala can solo items that beats sidi items u had to farm 15 hours with your fg at nights.

and why to they bother to keep the ancient 89% qua drops in game at all?

Chim

 

[Asty]

Wouldn't call myself a casual player, however i can only play around 2-3 hours on normal weekdays now. Usually it goes to checking first a couple of spawn spots and after seeing they're already camped or not spawned i go back to town and think what to do and read FH. Then i might go help someone in my guild with something or try to farm some scrolls a bit and Whoops! time to log. Thats how almost every day goes, almost same if i didnt log on at all. Some days can be fun, naturally.. when you accomplish something, but usually its just total frustration. Why do i keep playing then? I like my guild, don't have much else to do and i love rvr and wanna get there back. Daoc did need something new.. but TOA is just total crap.

 

[Ailil]

I started with TOA as someone who had loads of time, enjoyed much of it, found some of it very frustrating (finding ML groups and levelling artifacts right up there). Then I started work this week and haven't really logged on much, just knowing that every little thing someone might want to do can end up taking hours and hours has been putting me off.

So don't know, might try at weekend.

 

[old.Whoodoo]

While I admit I enjoy the features of ToA, and the MLs, its a shame to see people wizzing through them so fast, leaving us casual gamers in the cold.


Playing both excal and pryd, ive watched ppl begging for ML1 and 2 groups a lot the last few days, because all the player base is too busy on the high end ones.

I cant blame ppl for wanting to max out the MLs asap, and theres nothign to stop them, its just boring for the likes of us to wait for over an hour for 1fg to form, and normally not the most ideal group either.
I will say a few of those high MLers are now starting to roll their alts with us, which is great, as the higher MLs take a lot more organising than "turn up at x we go".

Give ToA a month, and youll have a damn hard job finding an ML1 or 2 group. Thats the shame of it. Short lived, and only ther l337 will get it all.

 

[Vesania]

I'm what might be considered an immersive roleplayer, but that doesn't mean I don't play the game properly at the same time or that I cannot hold a valid opinion concerning gameplay. I can assure you that I look for more than pretty graphics.

So far I find ToA good for lvl 45+. The level of content below this isn't exceptional, both in PvE and questing terms and it can be difficult sometimes if trying to accommodate a group of guildmates on quests, if the levels in the group range only as far apart as 44 to 50. Some of the artifact and master trial criteria also seem to have been designed by a sadistic maniac. The Healer's Embrace Cloak and 2.10 being cases in point.

I do find it a source of irritation that it now seems to be the case that you need high ML to be able to compete on the frontier at all. Recent keep battles have been fraught to say the least, when faced with super-fast pbaoe casting caster triads. A group of veterans died in 2 seconds at a keep door last night. I don't exaggerate either. 2 seconds - dead. They didn't even have time to hit the door once, never mind back away.

As a casual gamer, I can't compete at the same rate with MLs and artifacts - the two artifacts I own are at 59% and 12% of level 0, respectively, after a week of ownership. I simply don't have the time to farm levels (or scrolls or anything else) ruthlessly till I am uber and I am noticing the difference...and yes, it is a bit dispiriting sometimes. However, ToA overall is such a rich environment with plenty to do, that I'm hoping I'll just get used to being ganked all over again.

 

[Pin]

Playing both excal and pryd, ive watched ppl begging for ML1 and 2 groups a lot the last few days, because all the player base is too busy on the high end ones.

Playing on alb/exc there were people begging for ml1 and ml2 raids right from the start, but that doesn't mean that nobody is doing them.

When I've had a bit of 'spare' time I've logged my alts and ported to Volcanus Haven and had to wait a grand total of 30seconds before finding a pick-up group to do ML1.1 - there's a constant stream of people doing the early MLs.

Give ToA a month, and youll have a damn hard job finding an ML1 or 2 group. Thats the shame of it. Short lived, and only ther l337 will get it all.

In a month's time of course there will be fewer raids, but just like there's a constant stream of people levelling characters up, there will be a constant stream of people wanting to ML their characters up. And with MLs you can't (completely) stick to a Necro/Cabby/Chanter/SM and get powerlevelled through it.

 

[Tholus]

My opinion is tha that ToA is a nice add-on.

Sometime frustrating, as frustrating was the levelling at the beginning.
Sometimes hard, as was hard finding a good XP group at the beginning.

But with calm, patience and some time I believe we all will have what we want.
Spent months to reach 50.... can spend months to get MLs.
If you having fun in the meanwhile, who cares?

And about the hardcore players?
To be honest I dont lean on them to have my ML steps done, I lean to the same, old, gimp friends I have always played with, those with a family, a wife, a work, children... still struggling (like me) to get ML2 or 3 or a single artifact.

The others, the leet boyz, will have everything in a couple months and will keep killing us in Emain in 2 secs, as they always have done and always will do....
and again: who cares?

 

[Skilgannon]

Most of the players that I have heard say they are bored of TOA are the ones that I see running around like headless chickens, their sphinctors twitching at the thought someone might be a higher ML than them, or have more artifacts. They are racing through the content, and then saying they are bored.

Funny really.

I love this expansion. I work full time but enjoy spending a great deal of my freetime on the game and so far am having a blast, and will do for the foreseeable future.

For me, dumping all my alts was a logical approach and instead concentrating on one char. I am enjoying that, and am in no real rush to get back to running from AMG to HMG and back.

Great expansion to a great game.

 

[Tiawhyn]

I consider myself a casual player as well (maybe 10 hours of play in a week). I didnt even bother with doing ml's yet and only have two artifacts on my ranger (lvl 48) and only one of them activated. Got a lvl 50 druid and havent really bothered with him yet caus I wanted 50 first for my ranger. Allthough i like the content so far i decided to leave TOA alone for now. Its so frustrating to try to level and gain artifacts/scrolls at the same time cause the death rate is horriffic. It almost got me to the point of doing Y - E - S last week. I thought it would be nice, me not being lvl 50 yet and artifacts xping along with my normal xp but just doesnt seem to work that way for me.

I just gonna take a break before i really spoil the game for myself and quit for good, caus in itself daoc is still a fun game to play.

 

[Pogel]

I play about 10 hours per week, with only one evening "dedicated" to playing and the rest made up of the odd hour here and there. I'm not yet ML1 (still need the last step) and have no artifacts (or any scrolls as yet). I've only the 1 level 50, and that's a Healer, so that makes artifact farming slow and painful. So far I've found what I've done fun, though I can see it getting harder to get any further with MLs.

I'm not sure how it will work out in the long term. I've got plans for a new, cheap suit based on quested items that should keep me somewhat competitive in RvR. If I get a few MLs of Perfector that should help too.

I kind of like the PVE content of ToA (minus the waiting). I'd rather spend an evening tackling one uber mob with tricks up his sleeves than mowing down 100's of low risk XP mobs. I've always thought XP should be about overcoming a significant challenge rather than churning through unchallenging mobs at the highest possible rate.

 

[Shu_ayala]

I'm a fairly casual gamer - depending how I'm feeling - some weeks I can do 15-30 hours a week and other weeks maybe 10 hours a week.

I work full time but have upto 6 hours a night where I can play. My brother works 12 hour shifts so his times of playing can vary drastically. Thats always been the case and I've got used to it - its been fun grouping between me and my brother (we both have to accounts so a 4 player group could normally do ok).

I think both me and my brother did the same when ToA was released we started looking into all the new stuff... ML's, artifacts, new ToA mobs etc etc... I even went as far as getting ML1 completed. A week or 2 later and we've both gone back to leveling our alts in Classic and SI zones. This generally fits in easier for our times online.

I cant argue that the poeple who are doing all the ML's fast shouldnt be doing it becuase its their reward for putting all those hours in - which is fair to say the least. I also couldnt argue when poeple who put more hours in got higher RR levels than me - as its there reward again for the hours that they had done.

My main gripe (if I can call it that) - is I SO CANT BE BOTHERED WITH LEVEL/XP GRIND ANYMORE! It was pretty painful getting to Level 50 as it was. Now as soon as I've done that its onto more level grind for ages and ages!!!! From my point of view if they are going to add more HIGH character content which makes up this extra level grind (time sink?) can they not at least put alot more standard level content in for those of us who would rather adventure and find things out than to level grind constantly?

Please dont take this as a moan at the higher players who are RR10 and ML10 - your quite welcome to your extra abilities as you've all worked for it - its just very hard for us solo and small group players to get to those heights - at least just add a little more solo/small group actions for us. It wouldnt harm anything as the higher players probably wouldnt touch it with a barge pole and we could keep out their way....

PS Maybe even think about adding multiple ways to complete ML's? Such as running one way where u can quickly complete the ML using large battlegroups as it is now and the second way where you can solo or small group kill mobs for the same reward but have to kill ALOT more mobs for that reward?

 

[kain]

I'm a casual gamer, I can handle ML's... As I just find a raid and jump on it.

What I can't handle and annoys me like you wouldn't believe is master level experience and leveling artifacts, WTF is that all about... not fun and not needed.

took me almost two years to level a freakin' thane to 50 and I don't wanna spend my limited time in game just gathering groups to re-do damn ml's for exp.

and after farming for god knows how many hours to find 3 scrolls, and doing a trial that 99.9% of the time takes alot of man power I then have to FARM mobs of a certain type while my artifact gets the condition whooped out of it.

If they dumped the leveling/farming aspect out of ToA you would have a damn sweet exspansion, all they needed to have done was put more effort into it.

plus anything that requires a large battle group to complete is going to be a nightmare in a few months, especially on prydwen :-(

Darkage of campalot

 

[Oldleaf]

Iam more then a casual player i think (8+ hours or so) and spending lots of time in TOA so far, i havent any artifact yet only 3 complete sets of scrolls, 2 quest items and completed ML1. But is it really neccesary to have artifacts and being high in ML to survive in RvR? i doubt it... Played a Shadowblade with Masterpiece armor and weapons, al stats, skills and most resist capped, but 80% of the 1 vs 1 fights i loosed, not because iam a bad player but agains high rr players with or without a buffbot i cant win, and i think TOA items dont increase my changes that much. Now fully playing my Minstrel, i hope to get 2 or 3 Artifacts but i dont rush it, the rest of my equipment will be quested and player crafted.

 

[Grieff]

Lol at ToA

Well ...

I have played DAOC since euro-beta, 1st ever MMORPG ever, did not want to even go near an ever-crack environment.

For 2+ years DAOC was just fine, I am a professional and played about 7-15 hrs a week depending on workload.

The content graphics etc is fine and a welcome addition.

However the time spent getting through ML's and artifact lvling etc. is insane.

I have all but quit playing, as one spends hours either sitting about waiting, endless mob killing for no real gain or listening to a variety of whines about getting into or leaving battlegroup raids.

I have seen friends split apart, as those with a real life are pressured into bad situations, with either their guilds or friends who don't. It's an unhealthy situation

The hours involved are simply a waste of life ...

Imagine the new skills or experiences you could have had if you spent your time away from the PC

About a good 40% of the DOAC population is clinically addicted and will have serious RL issues soon.

Its very simple ... unless you are a kid, unemployed with no drive, a student about to fail your course or have zero social skills/life ... it's not for you.


My point of view ...

 

[yaruar]

While I admit I enjoy the features of ToA, and the MLs, its a shame to see people wizzing through them so fast, leaving us casual gamers in the cold.


Playing both excal and pryd, ive watched ppl begging for ML1 and 2 groups a lot the last few days, because all the player base is too busy on the high end ones.

I cant blame ppl for wanting to max out the MLs asap, and theres nothign to stop them, its just boring for the likes of us to wait for over an hour for 1fg to form, and normally not the most ideal group either.
I will say a few of those high MLers are now starting to roll their alts with us, which is great, as the higher MLs take a lot more organising than "turn up at x we go".

Give ToA a month, and youll have a damn hard job finding an ML1 or 2 group. Thats the shame of it. Short lived, and only ther l337 will get it all.

Yeah, but on the other hand, with experience and knowledge almost all the ml's can be done in a handful of hours which means that people can actually build specific groups to do them in the future. I'm very much a casual gamer, i've done 1 and 2 got an artifact and am slowly leveling it. Done a few quests and generally enjoyed myself.

I've missed out on a couple of ml3 raids due to timing and commitments, but I'll get round to it soon enough.

I suspect in future people will be taking the pl route to the master levels. In theory you can do ml 1 to 9 less than a week with the right setup/commitment.

 

[Flimgoblin]

one thing I'm not to keen on is the artifact levelling requirements...

fair enough when it's quite generic and you can level them whilst doing something else - but some things like Kalare's Necklace (levels off of statues) pretty much demand you farm monsters. Not really something I'm keen on (I got to 50 the hard way - exploring the realm, not camping at the l33t3st xp spot for my level for days on end )

 

[Slitzzz]

I like it!

 

[Laston]

it was fun a while, now im just to bored with leveling artifacts (wtf is this the items is frikkin anicent and i need to kill MONSTERS so the frikkin item can level??? biggest waste ever). MLs seem like mostly fluff and none in my guild has done em...


Can´t wait for WoW :kissit:

 

[Bracken]

On the whole I like it. Weekdays I get in from work 7-8pm so have between 2-4 hours to play and have realised the only way for me to enjoy it is to just accept the level I'm playing at. I'm not going to be able to have 5 artifacts fully levelled, and I'm not always gonna finish that ML TODAY! I just have to go at the pace my online time allows and accept there are others who have more time to play who will have more artifacts and will get their ml10 sooner than I will. Yes, some of the encounters have been a royal pain the ass - but I can live with that as there are many fun encounters. Yes, there are some other bugs/issues that need resolving. But I've warmed to TOA, and I can't help but thinking that some of the "negatives" are down to how people approach it.

 

[swords]

Actually i work during the day like most other people, but the way my guild works is we have set times to go and do TOA stuff.
We gather, pick an artefact or a scroll someone needs, and give it a go.
Got my third art activated and im almost ML4 now.

Its not so bad but i miss RvR, which is why people are racing through it realy.

 

[klavrynd]

come in the game as a noob and exp to 50
patch , do epics, needs time to become competitive
patch + si, farm money and get sc to cap all
patch , bye soft cap, the allround races now suck
toa, hi ml's and artifacts, lets pay more money to be viable in rvr again, but now you need more even more time

time spent increasing in an exponential rate?

<Remembers reading "closing the gap between casual and hardcore players" somewhere>

i don't think i'm too happy with toa, if i wanted to pve 24/7 and camp spots for an item i'd go buy EQ