People should also note that Smartnn is either at the highest possible rank or 1 below that rank from what I have been able to see by looking through the player rankings.

I would very strongly suggest that anyone thinking of subscribing to this game wait until version 484 is released, this is due to the fact that the Developer has been promising a release of the next version for something like at least 18months if not longer.

Also if you read the forums on the DarkSpace site one of the Admins has actually stated that the developer/owner of the game has said that the game will be taken offline if it stops paying for it's self which he then says it is very close to no longer doing.

Also from what I have been able to see in the forums on the site, if you make a complaint of any type you will be abused by the greater part of the online community. This basically means that if you subscribe to the game you are subscribing to the game as it currently stands with no sort of guarantee that you will be able to play the game when you want.

There are a great number of problems that this game has and although the game does have the potential to be a good game, the way it currently stands it is not worth the US $9.95 a month that is being charged for it.

So please if you are thinking of subscribing to this game take an hour or so to read through the forums. Read the compensation requests, the user complaints and the replies to those complaints, and take the time to see if you can find any information regarding what might be happening with th game from the Owner/developer.

To the long time players and the admin/mods that post on this site I am sorry but I think people have the right to know about the game in full before they go and pay out their hard earned money on something they may later regret.

Hmm well I just resubscribed after an extended absence. The game really is a lot of fun. It's biggest problem is the fact that so few people know about it and try it out. They see games like EVE and automatically think that because it has so many players it must be great.

That said, if you're not into PvP and being in direct control of your ship you won't like Darkspace. Unlike EVE you pilot and control it manually. But once you get the hang of it you become addicted.

I've been playing on and off for almost 6 years now. It's the only multiplayer game I keep coming back to. That should say something about it's quality. No other multiplayer game has kept my interest for so long.

Originally posted by mrxinstall

People should also note that Smartnn is either at the highest possible rank or 1 below that rank from what I have been able to see by looking through the player rankings. 

I don't really consider EVE better. I don't like the skill system and how you have no control over how fast you can train, the fact you can get podded, the lack of control over your ship etc.

Darkspace is a totally different game. You can't compare it to EVE other than the fact that it takes place in space. And I don't know what perspective EVE is played in but Darkspace is like a 3rd person FPS. EVE seems to be like a RPG in space while Darkspace is more like a FPS in space. All depends on what game type you prefer. I've been playing Darkspace on and off for 6 years now, and I still come back to it. You can just jump in and play (like a sandbox game) without having to do any tedious stuff like mining or running missions.

In Darkspace you don't have skills, you have ranks and badges. The more you play, the faster you progress. You have direct control over your ship. There's no such thing as "podding"; if your ship is destroyed you lose some prestige but you just get another ship and earn it back (it's really no big deal). There's no "ganking" since there's no PvE element to the game...you don't have to mine for credits, do missions, hunt pirates etc. Its all PvP. Your "mission" is to conquer the entire metaverse, one planet at a time, and destroy your enemies' ships in the process.

To me EVE sounds like an advanced version of Star Sonata. I'm not saying it's a bad game, but EVE and DS are completely different games. I've been thinking about trying EVE out, but when I read the manuals and player guides it just sounds like a tedious time-sink where you can't accomplish much without being part of a strong team and where there's a constant threat of being ganked. In DS you need a team too (you're forced to team up just by choosing one of the factions), but there's no time sinks other than the learning curve and no threat of being ganked. You don't have to search for rare items in DS; it's all available ingame by building at factories or salvaging wreckage from destroyed ships.

Darkspace will appeal to players who crave a PvP experience where they pilot their ships directly. It will appeal to players who desire a "chess match in space" as each faction constantly struggles to capture, build and defend planets. It will appeal to players who don't want time sinks and don't want to bother with PvE elements or players who are super powerful just because they found the "mega rare laser of planetary doom".

DS is team-based PvP, and only PvP with a FPS-type perspective. Not everyone can handle it.

EDIT: People have to stop comparing this game to EVE. The two games aren't even remotely similar. I might wind up playing both actually. Darkspace will satisfy my craving for pure PvP space fun, and EVE might satisfy my craving for a space RPG.

It shouldn't be a contestant against EVE. Well yeah every mmo is a contestant against every other mmo, but EVE and Darkspace are too different to be in direct competition with each other for the same players and playerbase. EVE players may not like Darkspace's gameplay, and I know many Darkspace players don't like EVE's gameplay at all.

The problem is people don't really know what Darkspace is all about. They don't know how it plays. All they see is another space mmo. Darkspace differs from EVE the way Shadowbane differs from Everquest (if you know those two games then you know what I'm talking about). Darkspace is a 3rd person PvP chess match on a galactic scale.

In version 484 due for beta testing soon there will be more AI in the metaverse and thus more to do than the pure PvP we have now, but it will still be primarily a PvP game.

I just don't like people comparing this game to EVE. It's not a proper comparison. You can't compare Shadowbane to Everquest since the two games have a different focus, play completely different and appeal to different types of players. Both are a pseudo-medieval high fantasty setting but that's where the similarities end. And you can't compare Darkspace to EVE for the same reason.

Originally posted by holycannoli

It shouldn't be a contestant against EVE. Well yeah every mmo is a contestant against every other mmo, but EVE and Darkspace are too different to be in direct competition with each other for the same players and playerbase. EVE players may not like Darkspace's gameplay, and I know many Darkspace players don't like EVE's gameplay at all.

The problem is people don't really know what Darkspace is all about. They don't know how it plays. All they see is another space mmo. Darkspace differs from EVE the way Shadowbane differs from Everquest (if you know those two games then you know what I'm talking about). Darkspace is a 3rd person PvP chess match on a galactic scale.

In version 484 due for beta testing soon there will be more AI in the metaverse and thus more to do than the pure PvP we have now, but it will still be primarily a PvP game.

I just don't like people comparing this game to EVE. It's not a proper comparison. You can't compare Shadowbane to Everquest since the two games have a different focus, play completely different and appeal to different types of players. Both are a pseudo-medieval high fantasty setting but that's where the similarities end. And you can't compare Darkspace to EVE for the same reason.

Darkspace, while it does have it's obvious flaws, is alot better than EvE to me. Why? Well it's pretty simple.. The combat. If you want a game where you spend days and months training skills, just so you can click an enemy and click on your Railgun to fire it, EvE is all yours. But if you want a game where your own skills are the base of how well you do in combat, Darkspace is the right way to go.

While Darkspace obviously doesnt have as many Players and Developers as EvE, the community is alot better. We dont have Dev's stealing Blueprints ;)

It has it's flaws, but it's still one of the best games I've ever had the chance to play..