DAoC at end of natural life...

[erol]

Was just having a long discussion with a friend about people leaving DAoC.

I might be wrong but it feels like more and more ppl are leaving the game, both veterans and newbies. In the forums it feels like 80% of the threads are whines about over-powered Mids, PL-ing or Fins.

Can it be that the game has now lost most of it's excitement, that there is nothing fun or new about game for people to discover. Just about every tactic, every spell combination, and every mob spot has been well documented and used.

Also, when regular faces start to leave the game, it really starts to kill the whole community aspect of the game, possibly one of the most important aspects of the game?

Maybe the game has just come to it's natural end of life, a timespan by which no game can go past? Sure Trials of Atlantis will bring some new excitement back into it, but is this frankly too little too late?

Just interested in some of your thoughts.

 

[old.Laryssa]

/salute

have a good one - cya perhaps in a better virtual life

 

[psyke]

I personally would just like to be the 1st to FLAME this thread as I am sure there are going to be a few and I like being the 1st

heheh

and I agree

 

[erol]

hehe, I'm not leaving.. not yet anyway

I still quite enjoy the game, but I do find it a downer when loads of friends and other ppl that you know leave, hence the thread.

 

[-Nuked-]

best time in the game is where everyone has something to learn thats gone now, so all that is left is whine and lots of people begging people to cry to make rivers!

 

[Esoteric]

Yes to all of what you have said.

For me they shot themselves in the foot when the delayed the much needed rvr expansion in favour of housing and a new add-on pack. RvR has not fundamentally changed since beta.

The bad delays in patching and fixing broken or over tweaked classes takes years.

And when all my old friends started leaving that was it for me, for an mmorpg the community is everything to me all we have now are pl'rs, bb's and some loot whores ie they don't kill big baddie for the joy of it, its for the greediness of what it might drop to make them more l33t.

Although planetside isnt everyones cup of tea, they have patched twice a week (this week). Already they have realised that certain training types were underpowered and fixed them asap. They are also very shortly fundamentally changing how you capture bases/forts. The game hasn't been out for 6 months....

DAoC could have been great heck I played it for two years and I have never received bad customer service from GOA but with any mmo the updating of content is crucial to keeping folk interested, they do the minimum too little too late and have had my cash for far too long. As far as rpg's go I may play wow and some mates are going on about darkfall online but certainly until christmas Im in planetside. SOE have shown me how a good mmo company act, I've been used to mythic far too long. (Having said all this mythic are better than Legend Of Myr, heard some nightmare stories).

Thats my two pence anyway

 

[Darkdancer.]

This seems to happen a lot in the summer months, come Autumn u will see a lot of familiar faces reapearing.

 

[old.Laryssa]

Originally posted by erol
hehe, I'm not leaving.. not yet anyway

only my friends i made in this game keep me on playing - DAoC got boring - there is nothing new to see anymore.

I were everywhere i guess

 

[Esoteric]

Originally posted by Darkdancer.
This seems to happen a lot in the summer months, come Autumn u will see a lot of familiar faces reapearing.

I seriously doubt it...... as sept/winter approaches many new mmo will be coming out and the one Im on atm Planetside is growing in population very fast. I think in sept the euro swg release date is set and wow is out at xmas not to mention countless other mmo's I don't even know about.

New pastures are far better than what daoc/mythic offer.

 

[erol]

Esoteric - Yes I totally agree... it seems that Mythic have shot themselves in teh foot by making the update system so complex, that it requires what feels like months of testing before anything actually appears on the live servers. Nevermind the additional time us European ppl have to wait for all the translations.

Darkdancer - I hope you are right.

 

[Darkdancer.]

At the moment swg is not in the same league as daoc, I cant see any real contenders till mid 2004. When halflife2 comes out in september Ill be off for a bit, but i recon ill be back.

 

[old.Laryssa]

i'm waiting for Dark&Light (www.darkandlight.com)

looks nice and promising (althought the char models are shit atm)

 

[Marwolaeth]

Must admit it is now very rarely I even play this game anymore....I've tried mucking around with afew of my characters but it just lacks that instant satisfaction aspect I get from my new love Day of Defeat

only reason I keep paying my subscription fee is that I have a very hard time throwing somthing away that I can later bring out of the attic and go all nostalgic over (yup I even have all my old school excercise books). Think 1.62 might breathe some new life into my DAoC experience (give the BG's a go with some instant lvl 20 character classes i can't be arsed to lvl but look fun) and so maybe get me hooked again, but atm there is I'm afraid to say very little reason for logging on anymore.

 

[tomee]

I still play the game but think im playing more out of addiction than enjoyment.

I feel a lot of people just want to race to 50 and PL alts, this is what has spoilt the game for me only having one account and wanting to get to 50 via the old method of grps etc is few and far between.

RVR is just Zerg after zerg so i went back for xp and that is either get yourself a chanter or solo all the way ;-(.

Bring back game design that needs a good 8 people grp to bring in good xp giving people the chance to meet more people and become a friendlier hib rather than peeps out for themselves.

 

[old.chipper]

the reason the game is dull for ppl is once you lvl to 50 its game over RvR has NOT changed since beta its still the same, and this is the area that should have been looked at long before housing. you get to 50 rvr thats the whole point of the game but whats the point when its all the same? all the keeps require exactly the same tactic to take theres no individualty about the keeps ie you take one you can take em all far too few zones to rvr in and those zones which have tk's in em 2 out of 3 of em are not very good only in the last few months has odins really picked up HW well dead as a door nail.
im really hoping with the rvr expansion i can renew my passion for daoc that i had in beta cos as it stands its a task to play the game 50% of the time with more zones to rvr in and i dont mean in each others backyard completely neutral zones not hib frontier not alb frontier etc i reckon the game could be alot more fun also siege craft needs to be spruced up it doesnt play half as important role as it can and should.

and i must agree focus pulling (and yes i have done it and love it) is killing grps its a nightmare gettin grps these days if you dont have a class you need for focus pulling forget getting a grp unless youre a good friend of whoever is doing so few normal xp grps these days which is a shame

 

[old.SOSAGES]

its just a shame that 2 chanters and a healer can own any spawn point all day and pl 2/3 alts at the same time

i do it my self with 2 chanters and a bard and happily get lots of money and to lvl 44 in about 4 days played... once an alt is at 43ish i take him to fins and do the "List" ..

is it boring yep..
rvr is the end game make it easier to get to 50 would be a nice start and more rvr stuff to do and maybe some class nerfing here and there

 

[-Dreama-]

I think that with the new expansion pack you'll see a lot of old faces re-apear, however, just like SI, you'll see them disapear again after a month, maybe 2.
Let's face it, you can put a new dress on the doll but it's the same borring doll. You won't see a stong lasting community in DAoC again untill they make the doll talk and walk, and they will never do that.

 

[Esoteric]

Originally posted by Darkdancer.
At the moment swg is not in the same league as daoc, I cant see any real contenders till mid 2004. When halflife2 comes out in september Ill be off for a bit, but i recon ill be back.

I'd like to know if you have played it and what you base your statement on friends from daoc have stated to me that swg has 100 times the content than daoc and patches are very regular.

SWG for now does not actually appeal to me for two reasons the fee they charge (tho no idea on what euro fees will be) and I prefer a proper fantasy rpg, planetside is just a change till something better comes along rpg wise. Tho I will probably keep planetside going along with an rpg but daoc aint it.

 

[tomee]

I know this would not help but just my idea.

Rather than a /20 level, if they did a /command that once you hit 40 you could get to 50 would be a lot more enjoyable.

More 50's would appear in RVR and more peeps would be trying testing out their new chars in RVR less high RR chars then so more even fights more fun as more peeps will do RVR.

The lower lvls are enjoyable XP its the 40-50 thats a bind expecially SOLO.

Y skip the enjoyable xp lvls with /20 command.

Just an idea to try and improve game get more peeps RVR etc

 

[Darkdancer.]

I'd like to know if you have played it and what you base your statement on friends from daoc have stated to me that swg has 100 times the content than daoc and patches are very regular.

SWG for now does not actually appeal to me for two reasons the fee they charge (tho no idea on what euro fees will be) and I prefer a proper fantasy rpg, planetside is just a change till something better comes along rpg wise. Tho I will probably keep planetside going along with an rpg but daoc aint it.



We have 2 beta testers in my guild and also I read a review in pczone which gave it 65%.

 

[old.chipper]

beta sucked right up untill the last 10 days then the game was incredible and there expanding on it all the time swg has lots more potential than daoc ever had remember SWG is in its infancy with teething trouble daoc is much older and still lacking its most fundamental qualities

 

[cjkaceBM]

The biggest change to RvR would be if they removed all of the current frontiers and made everyone port into a new RVR zone much like SI.

Everyone would be then at the same advantage/disadvantage travel to fight wise, and there would be lots more room to move about. Maybe make the whole zone a triangle shape so that each TK is equal distance from any other and put a huge town/fort in the middle for us all to squabble over.

In fact instead of a fort/town in the centre build a whole zone out of rocks/cliffs/ruins where u can climb up one side but not the other, and create areas where ambushes can be set up. This will bring the whole of RVR a new lease of life imo. No need to hunt for perfect group set-ups as the terrain will dictate which groups are best.

 

[Sharma]

I can say although there is a lot of whines and stuff and people yelling "FOTM!" around and stuff, ToA and the new expansions are keeping me hanging on for a while and also with the intorduction of /level, it will give an opportunity for veteran players to dive right into the middle levels of new classes and provide all the skills right away as opposed to going through the zzzz period of 1-20 and having to cope with terrible groups who dont have a clue

I can say that ToA seems very intresting and coupled with /level it will be very intresting to try new class/race combinations right away

 

[temseti]

Thats the problem with level based games, people reach the end level and after that there character doesn't grow much which is a shame. They'll then lose interest and decide to make an alt character for some new fun. Most likely the alt character will be power leveled to hell and back, but with the state of the game most see it as the way to go.

I didn't play daoc beta, but i do kick myself for not doing so because i had it ready to download in q4 2001 but i don't know why i didn't. I've played many mmorpgs and yeah its sucky when that beta feeling goes. It happens when you know the game too much, nothing new to learn or to enhance your character.

I only have 1 level 50 character and yes it took me a long time to reach, over 22 /played days. But in the time, i explored the lands, did every quests i could, often spent a long time finding a group (being a blademaster) but when i found a group it was nice because it's a chance to meet new friends. I missed BG0...mainly because i didn't think about going, but going to Bg1 with my first char on hib was fun, killing albs and mids with new friends from bg1 and others from beforehand. Things like BG1 are great to meet new people, i met erol, bou and strongbad there (all in PDC now) and it was all a pretty new experience to them. BG1 did make me want to defnitley develop my character. All was going good, not a buffbot in sight.

Alt chars that are powerleveled won't do any of the quests, they won't be lfg and meet new friends either, they think why bother when we can get level 50 in very few /played days. To me, that does take an important aspect away from the game. Focus pulling doesn't help. I'll have fun leveling my nightshade, what group wants a nightshade when they can use an uber underhill (buffs provided by a buffbot of course). Fins suck, most list holders are pricks and will make any excuse to keep you away (afterall, who needs a tank when you can focus pull with a chanter and druid). From lvl 40-45.5 i lvled in sheeroe hills which was cool, the rest thanks to Tur suil hunts organised by bou and erol (and the odd fins group that didn't do focus pulls as much).

Unless your in a really active RvR guild, you'll be stood outside dl looking for group to face the alb zerg. But i do agree that RvR needs a major boost because its just take keep, lose keep, take keep, lose keep etc theres not enough purpose to it.

Great idea to have gfx improvement instead of improved rvr, as long as my character looks even better from 360 degrees while mezed or eating dirt, who cares!!!!

 

[Wuren]

Originally posted by -Nuked-
best time in the game is where everyone has something to learn thats gone now, so all that is left is whine and lots of people begging people to cry to make rivers!

So true, really miss the xp groups where we went deep into EZ/CF exploring where no one had been before with Cuth Motor Tylar Dach Nova Nicky Kainz and a few others. Also, the "epic" battles that took place in emain at the beginging (tho they would be called uber zergs today) of the game where quite funny.

 

[nicky-nook]

Cuth Motor Tylar Dach Nova Nicky Kainz and a few others

O God yeah

Reagrds Nicky.

ps i still think DAoC is still decent.

 

[wylf]

I think daoc always have been an enjoyable game for me... been playing alb most of my time, but since i started hib i dont know anymore...

All the PL really destroys the game for everyone else, first of all there aint much people to group with, secondly, the PLers take the good camps that you need at lvl 40 +.

And then, 3rd... playing a hero is also kinda useless, since tanks just arent needed in good exp groups in hibernia.

Whatever bad words they always say about alb, with lots of kids there and stuff... At least there you can get groups and have fun...

Hib just isnt enjoyable as a tank class.

maybe would have more fun as caster...

Nevertheless, i think many people quit because of whats been said earlier... No new places, RvR just the same, zerg vs zerg...
give us some good RvR expansion soon, or im also out...

Wylf - 50 Minstrel
sirwylf - 50 Paladin
Wylf - 41 Hero
Kealan - 39 Paladin *gimp*
Nosferathu - 30 Necro
Coldfrost, wylfe, wylx and other thid chars...

 

[censi]

its about time they did something drastic to RVR,emain and odins is so fooking stale.

What CJ was sounded could be cool. One Rv type realm that u all port into. With towns you can fight over and keeps nears the towns....

anything but mile gates and alb zergs.

something for the hardcore FG'ers and yet places for the zerggers to go and sog it out. places for soloers... and areas for new comers to rvr...

OBviously they would have to think it threw carefully but somethi with a bit more depth to it than the current RVR scenario which tbh is pretty uninspired.

 

[tomee]

Hi wylf,

many a times ive seen you in CM lol looking fo grp when all spots are camped by grps of 3 and lots of greys, as im there as well ;-).

See you same place same spot tonight lol looking for a normal grp
fingers crossed m8,

Ill put you on friends list see if i can take note of names on here and get enough who want a normal xp grp and we can go to EZ

 

[Solarius]

The death of the game started back in 1.53. Specifically:

From Patch Archives

GROUPING AND EXPERIENCE CHANGE

- We've relaxed the rules that govern the experience clamp that occurs when lower level characters group with higher level characters and the group fights monsters deemed unchallenging to the group's total strength. You should now be able to group with a wider range of players in the group without suffering an experience point penalty.

With the removal of the penalty, a grey con, who would contribute nothing to the group, still gets the same exp as if in a group of even levels killing the same con mobs. Hence, the advent of PL

Bring back the exp penalty, and IMO alot of the problems will fix themselves. Players will have to group at the same level, lvl 50 chanters will no longer be able to hog the CM camps to pl his lvl 5 alt, and so on.

Oh, doesn't mean I don't think a new RvR zone would make things better too though.