Daoc Europe keep losing players

[Loonatik]

Having played both WoW, DDO and GW, I'm a bit amazed that a 5 year old game like DAoC still is my first choice. Some things are better in the other games, but that's just because they are newer. I'd say DAoC can compete with any other MMORPG out there with better advertising.

I've had several PMs the last few weeks from players asking questions about how to spec their chars, where to hunt etc. As I haven't had questions like that for ages I asked them if they were new to Albion, and much to my surprise they were not only new to Albion but to DAoC as well. 3 of them had played the 14 day trial version and then decided to buy the game.

Looking back at my own very confused first steps in DAoC, I realised that it must be a total nightmare for new players to get started without any help. I hope that Mythic (with EA behind them) can use the coming expansion to reach new player markets and to make sure that new players get a fair chance to enjoy DAoC as much as the oldtimers once did.

 

[Svartmetall]

I'd say DAoC can compete with any other MMORPG out there with better advertising.

Agreed.

 

[Coldbeard]

Would certaintly renew if ther population was higher and active 8v8 groups again. At the moment the population just seems too low to be worth playing. As the playerbase shrinks, more and more people will most likely quit too, creating a vicious circle. DooooOom.

I liked what someone proposed earlier in this thread, sending a mail out to everyone that have subscribed to daoc before and offer a free month's subscription or something. Would be worth a shot.

Marketing and advertisement has been commented many times and it is a fact that this is lacking and could have been done much better to keep the interest up for DAoC. Might be hard to advertise a game that is 4 years old, but IMO DAoC is still the best MMORPG out there.

Only me and my bestfriend ever heard of DAoC around here, most people have never tested DAoC or have no clue what it is.

 

[Konah]

Don´t tell me that when you started playing the game, your main motivation was killing some juicy dwarfs and raiding other realms.

was for me. i came from an fps background i got this game cos i cancelled my ISDN line and wanted smth i could play competatively without the need for low ping. 3way realm war sounded cool and was my sole reason for getting the game.

[QUOTE='Thorwyn[B&Q]When you start, you don´t even have an idea about how RvR is.[/QUOTE]

no you dont, but thats what the beta/2week trial was for, can still remember the exciting-scary-nervous run to amg emain in beta on my lvl14 merc and that adrenaline and what i saw there were what made me buy the game.

 

[Dr_Evil]

Same population drop every summer, they come back after the holiday. More than half my guild are still on holiday or out enjoying the sun, and I can say the same about most guilds. Especially in Scandinavia the weather has been better than it has been in atleast 10 years.

 

[MadsKaizer]

people are on camlann instead.

 

[cHodAX]

can still remember the exciting-scary-nervous run to amg emain in beta on my lvl14 merc and that adrenaline and what i saw there were what made me buy the game.

Happy days, that feeling is what DAoC has lost to be honest.

 

[Sollac]

If I put my Pollyanna head on, and slide the rose-tinted glasses up my nose a bit, I could hope for this: the delays with announcing the new expansion are because EA wants to use it as a platform to relaunch the game. Major advertising campaigns - 'cos hell, if there's one thing EA can do well, it's promote something - including actual promotion of the game in the UK, and an overall raising of the game's profile. I don't know how likely this is - the realist in me says EA only give a damn about the potential profits from WAR, which is why they bid for Mythic in the first place, and aren't all that fussed about "Mythic's other game" - but it's certainly possible.

Despite all the problems with RvR these days, I still think DAOC is the best MMORPG out there quality-wise, and I'd love to see it enjoying a new lease of life with an EA-funded push.

for those that watch sky one will know EA advertise there.

usually before voyager or some sci fi epic.

so here hope that they advertise it there...make me wanna play it.....
.....ooh i do already :england:

 

[Eeben]

you can XP to 20 very fast indeed even when completely solo and unbuffed in crap gear...

yes you can but you forget how fuckign boring it is to solo to lvl 20 as a new player with nobody to talk to.. If i wantet to play solo i would go play a single player game not a mmorpg..

 

[Dwali]

yes you can but you forget how fuckign boring it is to solo to lvl 20 as a new player with nobody to talk to.. If i wantet to play solo i would go play a single player game not a mmorpg..

or do as me...i play Star Wars Empire at Wars and this new FPS game terrawars when i get bored of daoc/WoW

 

[Svartmetall]

yes you can but you forget how fuckign boring it is to solo to lvl 20 as a new player with nobody to talk to.. If i wantet to play solo i would go play a single player game not a mmorpg..

So group with someone, already. I said it was very fast 'even when' solo...so it's even faster when you group with other people

 

[Eeben]

So group with someone, already. I said it was very fast 'even when' solo...so it's even faster when you group with other people

but problem is there is no ppl to group with if your not 20+ an then its still damn hard getting a grp because everybody pl's.. Powerleveling has killt this time..

 

[Puppet]

I just want to add.

There! Finally the true Steveh speaks! That wasn't too hard to admit huh

 

[Gandelf]

The main problem is human nature. When people come across something new, the novelty factor attracts them, but after a while they start to lose interest and maybe even don't bother with it again. DAoC (and all the other games) is the same. That's why Mythic have tried to keep our enthusiasm and interest alive by introducing new expansions.

If Mythic made things too easy, like granting /level 40 to level 50s, or making xp easy etc, then people will lose interest even more quickly, because there is no challenge.

RvR is the same. The original idea of capturing enemy relics, keeps etc, was vibrant and new when DAoC first came out, but nowadays it is somewhat boring and all we have is a vicious circle of one realm capturing stuff, then the other realm retaliating to get their relic(s) back, then the third realm does the same, etc. etc. ad infinitum.

Warhammer may well be looked upon as a "DAoC 2" and we may see players moving en-mass from DAoC to Warhammer when it is finally released. Maybe at that point Mythic will pull the plug on DAoC for good, perhaps in the process offering established players the chance to create levelled characters in Warhammer in recognition of their loyalty.

We will just have to wait and see!

 

[Chimaira]

There! Finally the true Steveh speaks! That wasn't too hard to admit huh

You seriously need to find a new joke

 

[SkarIronfist]

1. The game gives you what you put in. If you want a nice easy RVR life, then there are easier games out there.

I don't deny the barrier to effective RVR is high. But the easy TOA items/High rps per kill have really made RR5 quite achievable in the short term and thats a very nice level to be effective from.

I have to be honest, sometimes the whine about "Leet Groups" makes me laugh. Yes there are some very good groups still on the server who run around with minimum RR9+ and yes you are pretty much going to be hammered by them, hell I still haven't beaten them. But they don't run every night/day.

As pointed out dear Guildie pointed out (Baldgrim), you can create a group and quite quickly get it to a reasonable level quickly (and that was in OFs). You have to put the work in.

If you want group RVR, then get of your ass and run a group. Don't expect a someone else to do it. Sort out your Healers and Shammy and the rest follows. The hardest thing is to get a group of reliable people together and make sure you have some backups.

2. Yes the marketing sucks for the game. But to hope for anything better would be unreasonable (Hopes he is proven wrong). Since DAOC is a EA asset, then we can only hope.

3. More cheer less grumpiness.

 

[Thadius]

Probably due to the fucking shit rvr for the past 5 months, a lot of people cba with it any more, me included.

For once, gamah isnt chatting shit!

 

[Oldleaf]

For many players the game is just to hard, even if you have done the ml's, quests, CL's, arties with a mp set with all capped stats/skills/resist/hits the best jewelry they can get, a second account and then when you think you ready for RvR you notice very fast that your to much behind in RA's and so loosing more then winning.

Mythic made the game to hard, thats a reason for players to leave and no new players will start DAOC.

 

[Void959]

/lvl 40 to the ppl with 1 lvl 50
/lvl 30 to the newbies
make xp easy
NPC BUFFBOTS in the frontiers ( Lots of players cant use 2 pc or have a ubber pc)

/agree

Yes the playerbase will spring back somewhat after summer but it is noticably dropping slowly overtime. If the changes you suggest were implemented it wouldn't stop people quitting but it WOULD make many new players. I doubt many stay for more than a few weeks as it is atm, so hard to get established unless you have plats, 2 accounts, a good guild and/or friends in game already, and yes exping/artis/MLs have become easier over time as many people will say but they're still far too slow for how dull they are.

 

[Ctuchik]

XP is easy.

XP'ing in DAoC is among the slowest and most hideous thing in ANY MMORPG ive ever played.

downtime without a healing class is beyond a joke, even worse for those thats using power without a recharge buff.

the "storyline" is non existant making doing the quests pretty bloody boring.

95% of the server is using buffbots and leechers in moderna, making the extreamly few of us that doesent have one have to solo. u tried to solo level a healer? i did for 46 levels until i just couldent beat the TD timer anymore.

yes things are *SLIGHTLY* better then what it used to be but its no way near being good enough.

so the only thing that acually IS worth it in this game IS rvr.

until they acually take HUGE steps towards making grinding be less important (even TD grinding) and acually make up a QUEST story that u can 100% LEVEL on this game WILL die alot faster then if they did.

ppl WANT a good storyline to follow when they level up nowadays, sitting at a camp for 10 hours a day chopping the same fking mobs over and over just doesent cut it anymore. it was doable 4+ years ago when we didnt have anything diffrent.

but now all the new MMORPG's all have atleast a decent storyline to follow or enough quests to acually DONT have to sit and grind day in and day out.

whats scaring ALL the new players away that acually find this game is the complete lack of groups at ANY level. there havent been more then a few random XP groups around almost since moderna came. ite either fixed XP groups thats gonna run fixed rvr group or they all go to PL in moderna. why? because the PVE in this game is UTTER SHIT!

/rant over!

 

[Saggy]

XP'ing in DAoC is among the slowest and most hideous thing in ANY MMORPG ive ever played.

While exping in DAoC is quite boring it's faster than in any MMORPG I've played - name one game that is faster and I'll race you for it!

 

[Flimgoblin]

I kinda agree about the Buffbots, but



is counterproductive.

People still fail to understand, that the PvE is a vital part of the game and that DAoC isn´t all about RvR.
If you want to cure the game, you need to get new players interested in the game and make them level their toons, because that´s 50% of the gamedesign. Insta-level-50-equip-everything-RR10 doesn´t help solving the problems. In fact, it´s fighting fire with fire.
You approach is ok for an instant fun server (and that won´t attract too many newbies). But for the existing servers, a temporary fix like this will kill the game faster than you know. Think about the impact of /level 20 on the PvE part.

Agreed, PvE feels a lot less worthwhile these days as the amount of achievement in getting to 50 is non-existent, master levels are easier, artifacts are easier.

It pushes everyone into RvR which as fun as it can be sometimes is pretty crappy at other times. And if PvE is instantly completed - where do you go when you don't feel like RvR? Offline....

 

[Ctuchik]

While exping in DAoC is quite boring it's faster than in any MMORPG I've played - name one game that is faster and I'll race you for it!

auto assault. solo to lvl 80 can be done in a couple of days. and is a hell of alot more fun to as u acually have to move around and have a bit of a story around it. and its more then possible to level up solo as a healer in that game almost just as fast as a DPS class.. and THAT is something DAoC will never ever get close to.

and then theres GW offcourse, max lvl in a few hours?

/edit: and no i'm not gonna race anything as i dont have the time to sit 14+ hours a day leveling. but u have almost no feeling of progression at late levels in DAoC. in AA u can do 3 - 4 levels in a hour playing casually even at high levels.

 

[Flimgoblin]

but problem is there is no ppl to group with if your not 20+ an then its still damn hard getting a grp because everybody pl's.. Powerleveling has killt this time..

very true - even with /level 20 if there wasn't the powerlevel to 50 there'd be far more people grouping together and playing.

At first it was just hard to get a good group together... too many infiltrators/scouts.

Then it was hard to get a group below level 40...

Now you have to get your friends to agree to forming an xp group from level 1 if you want an xp group - even the AC groups are all just powerlevellers.

 

[Saggy]

auto assault. solo to lvl 80 can be done in a couple of days. and is a hell of alot more fun to as u acually have to move around and have a bit of a story around it. and its more then possible to level up solo as a healer in that game almost just as fast as a DPS class.. and THAT is something DAoC will never ever get close to.

and then theres GW offcourse, max lvl in a few hours?

Never played Auto Assault and only played GW for few hours (got level or two ) so can't comment on those EQ/WoW/Lineage2 and such are way slower to level than DAoC though.

 

[Ctuchik]

Never played Auto Assault and only played GW for few hours (got level or two ) so can't comment on those EQ/WoW/Lineage2 and such are way slower to level than DAoC though.

i'm not trying to get insta lvl 50. i just want to have a feeling of accomplishment as a casual player in DAoC.

and i want back XP groups so my healer finally ding 50!

 

[Raven]

cant understand it, there are so many (to quote) "nice guys irl" playing these days, you would have thought the server would be heaving

 

[Saggy]

Now you have to get your friends to agree to forming an xp group from level 1 if you want an xp group - even the AC groups are all just powerlevellers.

The game atmosphere and the feel of community would be way stronger without offline ways to get in touch with other players - FH and IRC are the main reasons why there isn't exp groups going, imo

 

[Ctuchik]

where did i say that?

 

[Bugz]

The biggest problem with the exping is they only increased leveling speed and locations. if you are a faster leveler, like a vamp, this is great for you, as it scales effectively with your leveling ability. But for a class like a bard, it scales only to the bards killing speed, which is very slow.

They need to implant something like NWN had. If your out of combat, you can rest for 10-15 seconds and bang, full power/hp again. That would WIPE every complaint about the grind.