Starting DAoC

[Bozia]

Would it still be worth it to start playing DAoC as a total noob? I've been looking for a good MMO and had my eye on DAoC for a while. I tried the trial yesterday for a short time and I really liked it. But I was wondering some things.
Will I be able to compete in RvR when I reach a high enough level or will the gear gap be so huge I won't make a dent in most people?
Will I be able to find groups at lower levels or will I pretty much have to solo all the way to the levelcap?
Should I go US or EU servers when I decide to start playing?

Thanks

 

[Cadelin]

If you only speak English go US servers. If you also speak german/french ok you can pick those servers.

There aren't a huge number of leveling groups nowadays. However if you pick a solid class for leveling solo it is really fast and on the US there are dragon quests that give awesome exp at the later levels.

DaoC is designed so that everyone can get the best loot. It really isn't difficult to get a decent set of loot (called template) that will allow you to compete in RvR fine.

 

[Bozia]

Hmm, guess it'll be US servers then seeing as I don't speak german nor french.
Is the time difference a problem for EU players on US servers? Or are there more than enough people playing at EU daytimes too?
How should I pick a server? Just pick one with the highest number of people online or are there some servers with loads of EU people playing?

Oh, and if I did a paybycash payment, I won't need CC details right? (i just entered in some random stuff)

Sorry for all the questions

 

[Dreamor]

I've not long stopped playing DAOC on US servers, theres so many EU people on there, most the time there is a lot of people, the RVR can run into the early hours (when its busiest) but then again, its still a lot better than here.
I was in a guild with a bunch of yanks based in an Army Barracks in Germany, was quality.

As for paying by cash, not sure what you mean, does accept MasterCard iirc.
Picking a server, any of the classic ones really.... for Artifact servers, I'd probably check around 9pm and see what the high pop servers are. If the Camelot forums are stillr running (VNBoards) I'd go over and check that. Might be a decent place to start at getting a guild.

Best of luck

 

[Bozia]

Cool. Thanks for the answers
That paybycash is some alternate way of paying for your subscription and I guess for licenses too. I guess if you pay that way you won't need valid CC info anymore, I hopy so, seeing as I don't have a CC

 

[old.Whoodoo]

DAoC is still thriving despite all the doomsayers on here

For a server choice, one bane of this game is the use of buffbots, if you cant afford 2 accounts, then you have a few choices, the first is find a decent guild willing to help you along the way, which isnt that easy sadly, although some are better than others. Secondly, Classic servers offer a better option, where buffbots have ranged buffs, meaning more and more dont use them, or use pots.

The last option, is to buy an account off ebay or similar, or to find someone with a redundant account you can reopen, but beware there are pitfalls with this, namely people reclaiming accounts at will. I will say this doesnt happen often and many people to trade accounts (yes its against rules blah blah...wotever).

If you do go US, then look on the VN boards, part of the IGN network, for more info and assistance with US related questions.

Lastly, find yourself on the Caerleon Cluster, look me up for any little help I can offer.

 

[uron]

i would go for the alb US classic servers to start with if i was starting from scratch without any help...lvl up a deathsight necro to make some money fast, thn grind another char of your choice! oh the fun!

 

[Imgormiel]

i would go for the alb US classic servers to start with if i was starting from scratch without any help...lvl up a deathsight necro to make some money fast, thn grind another char of your choice! oh the fun!

Sarcasm ftw

small rep on it's way to u, low wit derives my favourite humor (notice the pun )

 

[Zarteck]

think the english servers on EU is just as good as US, have recently played on US for a couple of months and the action wasnt that great, so went back to EU, and i like it here..

 

[Soulja_IA_]

Well English servers are still good despite what people are saying and there still a lot of RvR on this server.

If you started afresh on this server problem is the population that is my only gripe whatever realm you choose on this server there is always I know realm i play someone to help you out.

It all boils down to wether you like this game I known people over years come to game hit a certain lvl and then get dissillusioned with it but as I said you will always find some good soul in any game that take you under his wing so to speak and help.

Goodluck to you if you do try Daoc I played since just after it released and I still enjoy it.

Soulja

 

[Wild]

i know its against the coc to sell accounts.. but what about giving them away ? i got a few accounts i dont use anymore . if its any use and not against the coc ill give u a uk account

 

[Azonic]

Alot of people still level new chars so obviously making a new character isnt a problem as once they are leveled they can kit them out quite easily using help from guilds and plat.
The problem for new players is the fact that they havent got access to plat and guilds to help them get their characters sorted and so they arent competitive.
If people were to help new players template and get them ready for rvr then there wouldnt be a problem for new people to join. To me the problem seems with people no helping new people and not with the fact that everyone in rvr is high rr/templated etc...

 

[Golena]

If your starting 100% new then buying an account while it may seem easy and fast probably isn't the best option.

US classic would be the server i'd recommend 100% of the time for a new player. You don't need a buffbot to compete to don't need to purchase 2 accounts and most importantly you can level most of the way in the BG's.

What that means is that instead of bashing mobs solo for hours on end you can spend a large part of your leveling time running round fighting other people. A few of them are fairly quiet and you'll probably want to explore the PvE areas as a new player anyway but it means your not stuck solo with no rvr experience until you reach 50.
As an example on the EU servers most of my characters reach level 50 without ever having tried to RvR. I've had characters with 30+ kills on US classic before reaching level 10.

 

[NavaloreShadowvar]

Alot of people still level new chars so obviously making a new character isnt a problem as once they are leveled they can kit them out quite easily using help from guilds and plat.
The problem for new players is the fact that they havent got access to plat and guilds to help them get their characters sorted and so they arent competitive.
If people were to help new players template and get them ready for rvr then there wouldnt be a problem for new people to join. To me the problem seems with people no helping new people and not with the fact that everyone in rvr is high rr/templated etc...

I agree with you azonic, tbh we should encourage new ppl to join, and also help them out, also let them join big friendly guilds, etc... its the main problem with this cluster nowadays, ppl whine the server is dying but then we dont encourage new players to start on it...

 

[Golena]

I agree with you azonic, tbh we should encourage new ppl to join, and also help them out, also let them join big friendly guilds, etc... its the main problem with this cluster nowadays, ppl whine the server is dying but then we dont encourage new players to start on it...

I think the problem in threads like this is that most of us have been playing for so long that sometimes it's easy to forget what starting DAoC is actually like.
There's an entire game before you hit 50 and get yourself templated.. We've all forgotten about it because we've done it 20 times 3 years ago and think 50 RvR is the only way forward.

Simply PL'ing people to 50 and a template isn't the answer. If your starting new go somewhere like US classic where people are still doing the newbie stuff for the first time and you can actually enjoy the full game not just the last bit of it.
Most people here are simply doing the equivalent of when you ask if you should play a platform game saying.. yeah play it.. don't go from level 1 tho, if you use this code you can jump straight to the last boss.. yeah!! Doing the last boss might be the best bit but it's not nearly as enjoyable if you haven't done the bits before to get there!

 

[Manisch Depressiv]

Simply PL'ing people to 50 and a template isn't the answer. If your starting new go somewhere like US classic where people are still doing the newbie stuff for the first time and you can actually enjoy the full game not just the last bit of it.

The problem for me with most games is that killing n rats at level 1, x rabbits at level 2 and y wolfes at level 3 isn't funny any more if you play video games for 15 years.

The whole leveling system and skill system in DAoC (like in many other games) is today just bad design.

When I'd make a game, I would remove leveling completly, among a lot of other stuff like for example all character slots bar one per account.

Self sufficient players with all LGMs and the ability to log in every class needed for the situation kills a lot of immersion in my opinion.

I would rather make a karma based system, you would earn karma for different things and spent it on enhancing your attributes and buying skills and enhancing skills or initiating when you're a mage/physical adept. Kinda like in Shadowrun, the pen & paper RPG.

It means it would give you maybe a fraction of a karma once for killing a rat for the first time, but surely not if you did it for fun. For fun you would get a dead rat that could maybe be used for something, be it a rat soup or whatever. It should be a part of a story/quest if it yields karma. So killing a mighty dragon once would yield you plenty of karma, but you wouldn't be able to start the story/quest again with the same character.

PvP would be goal/quest oriented too, I mean, what human being is going out every night with the constant danger of dying? I would let the players compete for tasks, for example two groups trying to achieve the same goal from different spawns being able to fight each other and I dont mean capture the flag with that but maybe again a complicated quest of killing a dragon. The losing group wouldn't be able to do the same quest again, they would have to go for a different dragon in a different region maybe.

If you wanted to kill mobs for fun, casting lifetap a bazillion of times on similar mobs, sure, you would be able to do it, in a damn forest but surely not for karma.

I would allow complete PvP freedom, everybody would be able to attack/kill other players everywhere, but with consequences, like in EVE Online. Attacking someone in a high security system would mean that the cops/guards blast you away. The whole two/three realm system is just bad design too and bloody unrealistic. Sure, it's a fantasy game, but a never ending conflict between two realms with no content updates will ultimatively lead to groups running in circles for RPs or camping a bridge, waiting for the next RA they can buy and slagging the enemies off on public forums for being shite/noobs or so ever.

There is nothing else left to do in DAoC and it's quite funny to see how some of the hardcore PvP players refer to DAoC as a game with best end game PvP - it lacks everything in this regard. In a proper end game PvP the noobs that are being laughed/insulted would earn enough money to buy a merc contract and make the offenders suffer which also means that a proper end game PvP has to have a severe death penalty, e.g. you have to use a "clone" of your character, with lower attributes/skills and maybe even less wealthy.

 

[Golena]

The whole leveling system and skill system in DAoC (like in many other games) is today just bad design.

Actually the thing that I think most MMPORGS got wrong, other than the repetivness of leveling is that the longer you play the more powerful you become. From a roleplaying perspective this makes sense but from a gameplay perspective it means that new players are on a constant treadmill to try and catch up.

If instead the longer you played the less powerful you became (in PvP anyway) you'd need to constantly improve your playstyle to compete and getting to high levels would actually constantly be a challenge instead of get easier and easier the longer you continued.

It was perhaps more obvious in games like Diablo2 where the hardest levels were at the beginning and once you'd got to high level and all the uber gear levels took longer to complete but required far less in the way of skill.

 

[old.windforce]

give windforce multishot cow level

 

[xxManiacxx]

I loved Cow level with my sorc

 

[Shike]

The problem for me with most games is that killing n rats at level 1, x rabbits at level 2 and y wolfes at level 3 isn't funny any more if you play video games for 15 years.

The whole leveling system and skill system in DAoC (like in many other games) is today just bad design.

When I'd make a game, I would remove leveling completly, among a lot of other stuff like for example all character slots bar one per account.

Self sufficient players with all LGMs and the ability to log in every class needed for the situation kills a lot of immersion in my opinion.

I would rather make a karma based system, you would earn karma for different things and spent it on enhancing your attributes and buying skills and enhancing skills or initiating when you're a mage/physical adept. Kinda like in Shadowrun, the pen & paper RPG.

It means it would give you maybe a fraction of a karma once for killing a rat for the first time, but surely not if you did it for fun. For fun you would get a dead rat that could maybe be used for something, be it a rat soup or whatever. It should be a part of a story/quest if it yields karma. So killing a mighty dragon once would yield you plenty of karma, but you wouldn't be able to start the story/quest again with the same character.

PvP would be goal/quest oriented too, I mean, what human being is going out every night with the constant danger of dying? I would let the players compete for tasks, for example two groups trying to achieve the same goal from different spawns being able to fight each other and I dont mean capture the flag with that but maybe again a complicated quest of killing a dragon. The losing group wouldn't be able to do the same quest again, they would have to go for a different dragon in a different region maybe.

If you wanted to kill mobs for fun, casting lifetap a bazillion of times on similar mobs, sure, you would be able to do it, in a damn forest but surely not for karma.

I would allow complete PvP freedom, everybody would be able to attack/kill other players everywhere, but with consequences, like in EVE Online. Attacking someone in a high security system would mean that the cops/guards blast you away. The whole two/three realm system is just bad design too and bloody unrealistic. Sure, it's a fantasy game, but a never ending conflict between two realms with no content updates will ultimatively lead to groups running in circles for RPs or camping a bridge, waiting for the next RA they can buy and slagging the enemies off on public forums for being shite/noobs or so ever.

There is nothing else left to do in DAoC and it's quite funny to see how some of the hardcore PvP players refer to DAoC as a game with best end game PvP - it lacks everything in this regard. In a proper end game PvP the noobs that are being laughed/insulted would earn enough money to buy a merc contract and make the offenders suffer which also means that a proper end game PvP has to have a severe death penalty, e.g. you have to use a "clone" of your character, with lower attributes/skills and maybe even less wealthy.

Agree

 

[Thadius]

I would go US. I actually enjoyed 1-50 on my hiblets over there! :O

And I recieved a pm from a gm when he saw my name (Spanktheyanks), and said I have noticed that loads of EU people are over here, blahblah. Oh well, makes our version better!

 

[Tallen]

I would go US. I actually enjoyed 1-50 on my hiblets over there! :O

And I recieved a pm from a gm when he saw my name (Spanktheyanks), and said I have noticed that loads of EU people are over here, blahblah. Oh well, makes our version better!

I would say almost certainly that there are more EU players on US than on Dyvet.

 

[Nibble]

na Zin aload are on teh French and german clusters now