Darkness Falls - Good or Bad?

[old.cerebus]

Okay, we are all pretty much looking forward to Darkness Falls, even though it may be 2 patches away.

In an effort to make the game more fun and add High level content, Mythic has introduced a dungeon that you can get to depending on several factors.

To get there you have to hold a certain amount of keeps, within your realm/enemy realm. Those realms that are weaker than the others hardly ever get to play in this dungeon.

This is worrying, as shown on the American servers the poor Hibernians will get to use DF maybe 5% of the time, Albion and Midgard will have access to it the rest of the time.

Can I just ask how this helps?

Why are we adding a dungeon that gives great experience, RvR training and uber drops that only the strongest and most populated Realms can access?

I may have missed the point but this just seems a little strange to me.

I know you Mids and Albs, even some Hibs, may claim that DF will kick off RvR on the servers, giving us all some reason to go out all take forts etc.....

It's pretty much fact however that when Albion and Midgard want something, the amount of high level players you have usually means you get it.

I very much doubt that Hibernia will benefit at all from Darkness Falls, I very much doubt anybody really cares, it's just the more I read about Darkness Falls the more it seems to be a place that was designed to congratulate the realm with most high level players.

Please, prove me wrong.........

 

[old.Gombur Glodson]

dont underestimate the hibs...
I think all 3 realms will have a fair shot at DF

 

[Alrindel]

It just means that Dun Crauchon, known to all who love and hate it as Dun Pingpong, will still change hands every thirty minutes. It's just that now there will be a reason.

 

[cleeve]

Whilst I love playing with my m8s in hibernia

the more info I see on new patches the more I wish I hadnt bothered joining the realm. THis may sound like sour grapes and indeed it is. I think across every server Hibernia is the least populated realm and in every patch there are more and more reasons not to play a hibenrian character.

I know this probably sounds daft at this stage but from what I can see of the new patches we will get less salvageable gear, more nerfs and less items / quests to do. Its very frustrating returning to Hibernia after playing on midgard and realising how poorly we have been supported with content, patches and quests. I have played both albion and midgard and I do realise that these realms are far from perfect. They are however - closer to perfect than hibernia has ever been and will be for the forseeable future.

I love my firbie druid - I am beginning to hate the realm he is trapped in.

Revor

 

[old.cerebus]

Yes but it change hands between the two strongest realms. With it being so close to your Portal keeps you Mids/Albs have a renewable source of fighters.

Us Hibs have to spend 15 minutes running past the 3rd, 5th and 12th Holes on the wonderful golf course we call Hibernia to get to Emain, even then we have the disadvantage of not knowing where you are all hiding.

I really hope for the servers sake that I have underestimated the Hibs, if I haven't and the trend continues on the Euro servers then it will be a damn shame.

Who here actually thinks that us Hibernians will have a choice to go to Darkness Falls or will we have to get there quickly as soon as our alliance manages to take some forts back?

I can't help feeling that you Mids will take great pride in keeping us Hibs and Albs out of the dungeon and powerlevelling your lower levels.

 

[old.Alliandre]

If they don't check their realms they'll soon find something interesting happening there.

Hibernia are well organised and when they have enough people are usually great in RvR.

I do think it's bad giving more advantage to the realm with more power at the time. If someone takes to many keeps they'll own RvR .

Hopefully this doesn't happen though.

 

[Brannor McThife]

Originally posted by LegoPirate
I love my firbie druid - I am beginning to hate the realm he is trapped in.

Amen brother.

-G

 

[Flimgoblin]

Nicer armour and better weapons isn't the be all and end all of everything...


Anyway whilst Albion or Midgard are in DF, whoever's outside can go steal all their keeps, open the gate and pile in

(Note: if yer already in DF when the gate closes, you stay there... so you just need to open it up and pile in... of course if you have to /release you'll have to go keep takin again..)

Having lots of keeps has to be a good thing else noone will take em... yes it makes the rich richer, but not by an unassailable amount.

 

[old.chesnor]

As it stands on Excal right now, Hibs arent exactly weaklings. In fact it seems that the Hibs are the strongest (they have both of thier own relics). It is not good enough to say 'Hibernia is gimped'. Sure the realm is not as finished as Alb (finished) or Mid (nealry finished). But I honestly think that although Hib has no RvR killer class (like skald, minstrel or smite cleric), in well formed groups they are pretty badass. Also Hib has a good distribution of classes (some are more popular, obviously) but Middy suffers from NAFSS (Not Another Fking Skald Syndrome) and Alb have loads of Minstrels and Smite Clerics (gotta love them n00bs)

In fact, I wouldnt be suprised given the fact that the Albs have some form of superiority complex, they get toasted by Mid and Hib on DF access, but only time will tell...

 

[cleeve]

U miss my point chesnor

I am not talking about classes, I am not talking about items per se - I am talking about content. Dungeons to explore, quests to fulfil, new content to keep stale characters fresh and so on.

Now I KNOW this is a problem across the board and that GOA are actually superior to Mythic in the whole events ideas that they have but, and it is still a big but - Look at the plans for version 1.51 -

Look at all the salvageable items alone that Albion get compared with a pittance for midgard and Hibernia. Hibernia has 2 bows ffs - thats nice and balanced - denegrate an entire realm down to one class why dont you? Contrary to popular belief there arent as many rangers in hibernia as people think.

I know we can do very well at rvr - I have seen well organised hibby groups slaughter opponents left right and centre until they are outnumbered by the ubiquitous level 50s of other realms and slaughtered.

My point is this - Hibernia will forever be a realm for alts and bitter gamers who want to play in a finished realm but cannot due shabby support and lack of content unless this is addressed - it is far bigger than a darkness falls isuue.

I don't think any Hibernian player wants to play in the realm for the 'sympathy vote'. TBH there are plenty of celtic legends that could be expanded upon with a little more work. I hope the new expansion doesnt prove to be more of the same 1.e shitloads of new stuff for albion, a little bit of stuff for Midgard and the scraps thrown to the starving dogs of hibernia

As it stands I have very real concerns for the longevity of Hibernia as a viable realm - and we cannot afford to lose the few high levels that we do have.

THanks for listening folks

Revor

 

[Fex]

Revor this is just for you mate Looks like you need a little cheering up

 

[SilverHood]

cant wait for the PvP server.... a chance to play a hibbie class, and not stuck in hibernia

If it wasn't for the fact that there is so little game content in hib, I would be playing there

Albion seems like Champagne compared to Hibernia, which is like old, stale bitter ale....

There just doesn't seem anything to do in Hibernia (lvl 11, done a grand total of 3 quests, 1 pending)....

my lvl 13 paladin (now deleted) has unfinished quests sticking our of his ears

And my skald (lvl 13) has done 4 so far, not trainer related, and I know where to do the other low lvl quests

just isn't anything in Hib apart from the people

 

[old.chesnor]

I have played all 3 now, to nearly 30....

Albion = Uber...loads of drops, uber RvR classes, well designed...FINISHED.

Midgard = Nice...lots of drops, great RvR classes, well designed...ALMOST FINSHED

Hibernia..omg!..no drops, no and I mean no RvR classes, a giant crazy golf course and NO LOVING. Guess Mythic think its 'gh3y' like the majority of its customers do heh.

Good thing is though, all the 'i 0wz0r j00' r0x0r players generally play in alb/mid, because the challenge is minimal. Meaining the more thoughtful gamer heads off elsewhere....

All this is in imho, of course.

 

[Tigerius]

Yeah I think you Hibs can win on having higher average intelligence and maturity. As for my experiences of the realms I can say too little about Hib and Mid yet in terms of drops and design, but I would like some motivation to comments like Albion having uber RvR classes. There are alot of things not making sense when it comes to peoples opinions of RvR classes and balance, such as Archers whining over nerfs and everyone else finding them overpowered, such as Mid being the strongest realm but melee sucking alot (and Mid being the melee realm), and in this case Albion having uber RvR classes but yet fairly by definition the poorest cloth casters.

Darkness Falls should if all realms care for it, be a huge yo-yo. Once one realm goes in it's free playground for the other 2. I see an organised hibernian realm doing no better or worse in general than the other 2. Albs/Mids may have numbers to easily take keeps, but being mostly immature powergamers do you seriously expect anyone to 'sacrifice' himself and defend these keeps? Nah, we'll just run straight into DF and leave em all up for grabs and loose DF acces within a matter of hours.

 

[old.LandShark]

Df weapons and armor are pretty much universally inferior to a) epic armors, which all have acess to, and b) rank9/10 material crafted gear that enchants to 35% bonus.
Weapons especially - look at ANY DFvsCrafted thread on US forums - the odd guy who advocates his l33t glowing DF weapon always get ridiculed, cos the arcanite crafted gear just owns em. Spellcrafting, when/if it ever arrives, will be the absolute end of all but the most uber of uber DF gear. (legion drops for example)
And tbh.... it's going to be a great motivation for every realm to get the hell out there and take some keeps.
And as for "DC will always be alb/mid" well fine, are you saying Caer benowyc or Bledmeer Faste aren't also easy to reach? Gonna be 3-way pingpong baby and server population difference would have to be a lot more drastic than it is, before it starts becoming a major issue in terms of 'who can hold most keeps'.
Plus... get down there, and you stay till you release =p Extended stays easily possible i would have thought.

 

[old.Prof]

You can say many bad things about Hibernia, but you can't say their classes (or most of em) are less good at RvR.

Recent numbers from USA servers show that Midgard (!) classes perform on average significantly less then Hibernians or Albions, in fact Hibernian classes even narrowly outperform Albions. Albion relies mostly on higher population numbers to keep their upper hand in RvR, same counts for Midgard on the few servers they dominate. Hibernia has to fight on almost any server a population disadvantage, yet on only a few they're really in problem.

Have to say that the realm heaviest hit by the recent changes is Midgard (serious nerfage for hunters and zerkers).

So you Hibernians shouldn't worry to much about not getting into DF, unless there would be a significant server population imbalance (à la Lancelot) - but I don't see that happen soon on the english servers.

 

[cleeve]

Its all very well talking about rvr performance

its all very well talking about server population

MY point is simple - Many players wont reach high levels in hib - because they will become bored and disillusion by the realm. If you want my honest feelings - I will perservere and get most of my chars to high levels - but this is simply because many good friends from r/l play on hib/pryd that is the only reason. That is my content, and not everyone will a.) think this is acceptable for their money or b.) have friends who they can talk aboslute bollix with on the internet for hours at a time.

Darkness Falls may well be irrelevant for hibernia and become a play ground for Albs and Mids - I dont know tbh, I would hope we could give both realms a run for their money, but unless Hibernia gets some loving and we get an influx of players - I suspect that we will never be able to truly compete in rvr.

To date nearly all of our successes have been hit and run raids on keeps, Yggdra or surpise keep retakes- only to see the keeps retaken at 4pm in the afternoon the following day. 4pm may not be a problem for Midgard, (it certainly wasnt in that case!) but for us we simply didnt have the players online at the time to defend the keep.

If you want my honest opinion on Hibbie chars its simple - I truly believe we have the best balanced realm of the three. Most have our classes have excellent abilities in their specialties and good abilities in their secondary skills. I genuinely trying new classes - My druid rocks, My celtic spear hero makes me drool every time he hits and my luri enchantress is simply enchanting I will soon be starting a luri or elf ranger - just so I can practice me stealthy tree hugging sniper skills.

This isn't a whine - I dont want sympathy - I just want to voice my concerns. I love the game, I love my character and guild - I dont want to see it all go down the tubes because of blinkered support from Mythic. If anyone from GOA reads these PLEASE feed this back into the development loop if you can. IF theres a better place to do it PLEASE tell me, I dont mind putting my opnions out there to be disagreed with - what I dont want to see is a ghost realm that everyone says Oh yeah Hibernia is the third realm but hardly anyone plays there cos theres sweet fa to do.

As regards player crafted items - I couldnt agree more, anyone in my guild will back me on this - I am quite happy to fund crafters who are trying to get their skills up. They really are vital to the realm and the pressure on our few highly skilled crafters in driving their characters into anon or retirement.

I would love to see parity - I dont want to see extra given to hibernia - all I would like to see in a patch is parity between all 3 realms be that drops, dungeons or quests. I hope mythic at least attempt to grant parity to all 3 realms from now on rather than dangling all the baubles in front of midgard or albion.

Cheers

Revor

 

[Ardwan]

Well about you having to run all the way to retake DC, why not just port into Hadrians and take Beno, or to odins and take Bled.
Surely while the albs and mids are battling it out over DC, you could quickly take Bled, Beno, or hell, get the numbers and take em both...

All you need to do is get some alts in the main guilds, then the next time DC is yours, buy as many rams as possible, suicide back to your bind, then pass your rams onto alts. Then ya don't need to bother heading to DC to get rams, just get em off yer alts


Oh and, the only reason I play on alb is because I am really interested in all the medieval and crusade stuff, so being a Paladin is the class for me.
I have played both Hib and Mid upto about lvl 20 and I am just don't have the enthusiasm to explore every inch of the realms like I have with Albion...but Hibernia kept me playing longest because Midgard has got to be the most boring place in the world...its all grey black and white, when you quit the game it takes 20 minutes before you can see anything due to being staring at white for so long.

 

[Tigerius]

Sad if situation in Hibernia is really as you describe it. That you have fewer players in general is a fact and that alone might be a hard strike on increased population, but then an unfinished realm on top of that, really can make it hard on you I guess.

But Prydwens, fear not, Reinforcements from Albion (excal) is here! I can't yet guarantee our continued stay but we hear the call and we burn for the cause.

 

[old.Breydel]

Cerebus that's a very valid concern you have there. When I moved to the US I started on Albion Nimue, which there is by far the weakest realm. Since DF was new to me and I wanted to explore it I got pissed off too that we barely had access. And even when we did have it I got frustrated about being ganked by level 50 shadowblades (I'm a 26 scout). Also in Ablion there was a constant depressive spirit amoung the realm because Hibs and Mids owned us so much. And then even the jerkass Mids found it amuzing to keep on whining and whining on the VN board how much Albion sucked. When it got really bad Laroma emailed me she bought DAoC US too and wanted to try out a bard on Hibs somewhere. Timing was perfect and we both started on Hibs MLF (which is where I still am now).

I must say the difference of atmosphere on Alb Nimue and MLF Hibs was like day against night. People on Alb Nimue were friendly too but the stress to perform in RvR was often leading to conflicts between large guilds and unhappy players.

MLF is completely different, the server is near perfect balanced. I think the lasts starts show that Hib got 137 mill RP since the server started, Alb got 136 mill RP and Midgard 133 mill. Now in the last 7 days Hibernia has been on top a bit but that's after a few weeks of being the slighly weaker realm too. Playing on a balanced server really makes the game a lot more fun.

When on Alb Nimue DF was open it was like "whoa, drop whatever you are doing and go to DF". Now on MLF when DF is open it's like "OK, I'm not doing anything in particular so I go there" or "I'm busy in RvR/exping so I'll go some other day". Way more fun like that.


I always enjoyed playing underdog classes, chosing the side of the weakest (I saw on herald Alb Nimue was weaker than the other two) but the way the DF access works I would never do that again anymore. A perfect server balance is the best way to go.

Playing on an overpowered realm ain't fun either. Sure you have DF almost 24/7 but what are you going to do with all those items? There is barely anyone to kill in the frontiers.

Yesterday I was in Emain to RvR too. Well, we were with many Hibs there and only a few Albs and Mids showed up. Isn't really fun when you're more or less running in each others way to find enemies to slain. But as usual, when u decide to suicide and start crafting a bit you hear that lots of enemies are reported again, duh.

 

[old.HiredGoon]

DF is not a good idea, if you ask me. Albion has 5 itemized dungeons when that time comes (i think), and midgard will have 4(from memory, may not be correct), so we dont really need another one. Hib on the other hand, could do with some sweetness. Hib does not have enough people to lootrun in DF and defend keeps at the same time. Mid and alb does. this means that hibs will get into df, only to be trapped 30 mins later.

DF requires numbers AND levels. Hib has neither. to me, its just another Buff-the-uber-realm thing.

If i had anything to say, it would be scrapped along with realm abilities... Bad move, to empower the strongest


So, in short, i feel for you hibs. i really do

(when DF comes, i will prolly be hib myself, so poor me LOL )

 

[old.cerebus]

Good posts guys !

I won't rant on about Hibernia being weak or unfinished, all anybody has to do is go to the vnboards and read the countless amounts of flames Mythic have received over Hibernia, here's one to get you started :

http://vnboards.ign.com/message.asp?topic=30332852&replies=21

Because many people (Including Mythic) prefer Albion because of the recognizable history behind it, it's pretty obvious to anybody that Albion has had most attention from the developers.

The reasons behind this was, and I quote from Mythic, that Albion was the first realm that they created, they had many people all getting used to and learning the graphics program which meant a more diverse realm with lots more different aspects to it. Hibernia was the last realm created and due to the designers now being used to the builder, they had a much smaller team creating a realm in the same amount of time, thus meaning less diversity.

This of course means that whilst deciding on a realm, most people will go for Albion, many europeans will go to Midgard. As someone said before, Hibernia is a place where people go to create Alts.

I had never heard of DAoC when I bought the game and I had no idea I would be doomed to be the underdog all my life. I wen't to Hibernia because it was the more magical of the realms.

If this is actually true I will leave for you to decide. A recent test to find the 20 most powerful and practical spells in DAoC found that only 3 out of the 20 where actually from Hibernian casters.

(Of course, no test can really be accurate in this game)

Mythic say that Hibernia doesn't have a problem, most Hibernians think otherwise. This thread was started to raise my cncerns over DF but has turned into something bigger. Good.

Going back to Dakness Falls, I do enjoy playing the underdog but only when I do actually stand a chance of winning. Hibernia is suffering due to boring design and a lack of players meaning we won't get to play in DF a majority of the time.

Okay so the euipment may not be so uber as I stated in my first post. The experience in both RvR terms and levelling terms is amazing, there will be a lot of high level equipment floating around for newbies to use meaning yet again faster levelling for them.

Above all, those that choose Albion or Midgard, currently are getting more for the money they payed upon purchase. If I spend my hard earned cash on something like this, I expect to get the same experience as everybody else.

Imho and please share your opinion, Darkness Falls will not open up RvR on the unbalanced Euro servers, it will only give those in Hibernia yet another reason to move away.

We all love DAoC, if we didn't we wouldn't be here, I'm not asking for Mythic to make Hibernia uber or for them to Nerf Alb/Mid, all I'm asking is for the people in charge to really think out their ideas before patching them.

For too many times Mythic have introduced something that may be great for some poeple but horrible to others.

 

[cjc1665]

Rev -

An intelligent, thoughtful, well worded post?


*huge support*


Amen, brother.

 

[Flimgoblin]

Just to clear something up that HiredGoon said that might be confusing...

If you have DF then lose it... you're not trapped inside. Just noone else can get in after you. You can still leave at any time (without having to die/release), just yer not getting back in.

 

[SFXman]

Well I think that this is a bad addition depending on server... for example just some while back on Prydwen this would've been horrendous with the mids r0x0ring but then again I don't know would hibernia on Prydwen stand a chance for some while still.
Kind of a double-edged sword, DF that is.

 

[old.giriam]

my god you people whine a lot.

we (hibernia) are no weaker than the other realms, DF will not be a problem. do a simple /realm now and then and you can see that for yourself.

and please, try to keep your worldly opinions to yourself when they are based on your experience as a l 17 alb, 19 hib and 4 viking; do you really think that's all the playing it takes to learn more about the game than the developers?

ps. i live on excal, dunno about the other servers..

G, tired of whining hibbies.

 

[cleeve]

and please, try to keep your worldly opinions to yourself when they are based on your experience as a l 17 alb, 19 hib and 4 viking; do you really think that's all the playing it takes to learn more about the game than the developers?

ps. i live on excal, dunno about the other servers..

G, tired of whining hibbies.

Why come to a forum m8? seriously why? So everyone can agree with you?

Did you read any posts in your rush to spout off your illconsidered and innacturate invective dribble? I doubt it. I havent at any point stated that the designers should do this and should do that - I have said that in my opinion Hibernia has been given the short end of the stick as regards many items. But hey - I am sorry - obivously I should agree with you and worship the designers.

Get your head out of your arse and read peoples comments before accusing them of whining. I am sick of inconsidered badly argued statements such as the one you have made - but it wont stop you throwing your posts about willy nilly.

You live on excal so you DON'T know about prydwyn - I play on both excal and prydwyn and I think that as it stands excalibur is more balanced.

I was pointing out what is a very real imbalance in content between albion/midgard/hibernia - so what I am talking about is as all three realms as a whole - something that would help everyone - maybe if you had read my post, you would understand this.

Finally - Even if you were/are the senior developer at Mythic I would still hold to my opinion that Hibernia is an afterthought realm and that on many servers - the population of hibernia suffers for that very reason.

My god some people spout some offensive bollix for no reason what so ever.

Revor

 

[old.chesnor]

Originally posted by giriam
my god you people whine a lot.
<snip>
G, tired of whining hibbies.

Nice whine, Hibby

 

[old.cerebus]

we (hibernia) are no weaker than the other realms

and please, try to keep your worldly opinions to yourself

ps. i live on excal, dunno about the other servers..

Enough said really.

If you could be assed to read the posts you will see that we are talking about the effects of Darkness Falls on unbalanced servers.

Way to spoil what was otherwise an informative thread, ass.

 

[old.Prof]

If you could be assed to read the posts you will see that we are talking about the effects of Darkness Falls on unbalanced servers.

It has to be pointed out this can be a problem for ANY realm.

There are quite a few USA servers were Midgard (Pellinor among others) or Albion (Bors) are the realms barred from DF. Yes Hibernia is outnumbered on most servers (but usually not by that much), but no this has only a surprising marginal effect on RvR, except when population imbalances go to extreme levels.

Basically it differs from server to server, on Excalibur I don't see much problem as all 3 realms are pretty equal, on Prydwen it might be a problem I agree - the situation is pretty unhealthy on that server, complicated by the fact that the server is somewhat underpopulated.