I was an oldschool darktider back in the day, but left aruond the end of the Gaerlien/Martine story arc.  What I'm wondering is whether Darktide is still as bad as it was when i left, or whether it's worth coming back for while I wait the (possibly endless?) wait for Darkfall.

Essentially I'm looking for any Darktide players who can give a status update on what's going on

kind of curious about this myself, the new patch tempted me to reactivate... but its been 3 years since I played or more... and my main is only level 136

Yea, I heard they raised the level cap as well, max was 126 (with estimated levels and such going past that) and since I don't think I remember any of my old account info anymore I think I'd have to go from scratch...

I guess it really needs to be very worth it for me to try to get back into it at this point...

I don't play DT, but in reference to the level cap:

The level cap was upped to 275 in July 2005. I stopped playing before then, in 2004. When I stopped I was 126 and had all of my stats and skills maxed, with the maximum amount of xp (4 billion) unassigned. I finally started playing again in 2007. When I logged in after I was only 240. It took me several months to reach 275.

Leveling has become a lot easier now over the last year or two. Turbine has GREATLY increased the amount of xp earned from quests. So, leveling up is not as hard as it used to be.

Also FYI, there is a free trial at http://trial.ac.turbine.com/.

The problem is that I don't really feel like going into the grind I remember AC to be to be competetive in PvP like I know you'll need.

hell, my 1st char never made it to 126, I was only 108 when I left, and a tonne of that was from joining an XP chain and hacking the program to say I was passing up huge amounts more XP then I was, lol.

Yes, you need to be a high level to compete in PvP. AC like every single other MMO requires time to be competitive. This is not an FPS or RTS where you can theoretically jump right in and be competitive with everyone else.

Also I hit 126 in 2001 without ever macroing or joining an xp chain. It took a lot of hours hunting Aerlinthe.

I undetsand you though. My tolerance for repetitive tasks has grown shorter over time. I cannot stand WoW because of the hours that can be required for a single instance. I don't have the patience for it any more nor do I have patience to level up to 275 again, which is why I only have one 275 character.

If you want to save yourself sometime you can reactivate your old account. Here is the info for retrieving really old accounts: http://turbine.fuzeqna.com/asheronscall/consumer/kbdetail.asp?kbid=1289

If you're thinking of trying the game again, now is the best time. There is a temporary small increase in players as old players return to check out the 100th patch. http://asheron.info/ is the main source of information now beside the official AC forums. Maggie's and WarCry haven't been updated in a while.

What?! maggies isn't updating??

I can understand the front page, which hassn't updated in 6+ years, but she always had the latest patch details there.  I would submit my findings month after month to that, hehe.

Yea, thinking back to leveling my 1st char on Solclaim before i rerolled on darktide, I was all gung-ho about grinding, I would spend 8+ hours a day grinding in places like the Lugians in the dungeon near Qatar (the south western town near the border of the blight, I think I have the name a bit wrong)

In truth though, if jackcat isn't updating, it doesn't bode well... :P

i went back and played for  a bit in 2007, its just not the same as it used to be.

ended up giving my account away lol, if only there for private servers set up with 2002/2003 patched AC version running. then i'd still be playing

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Originally posted by Shiladie
What?! maggies isn't updating??
I can understand the front page, which hassn't updated in 6+ years, but she always had the latest patch details there. I would submit my findings month after month to that, hehe.
Yea, thinking back to leveling my 1st char on Solclaim before i rerolled on darktide, I was all gung-ho about grinding, I would spend 8+ hours a day grinding in places like the Lugians in the dungeon near Qatar (the south western town near the border of the blight, I think I have the name a bit wrong)
In truth though, if jackcat isn't updating, it doesn't bode well... :P

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I'm not positive, but I think someone said she had a kid. She still creates patch pages, but they are not as comprehensive as they used to be. Her quest list hasn't be updated in a long time. asheron.info is the best source of information now and far more current because anyone can update it at anytime.

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Originally posted by aranin

i went back and played for  a bit in 2007, its just not the same as it used to be.
ended up giving my account away lol, if only there for private servers set up with 2002/2003 patched AC version running. then i'd still be playing

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Unless you want to play the 2002/2003 game for PvP, you would get bored quick because the game won't change. Depending on how you play there would come a point when you have all the items you want or need. Your characters would max out. There would be no new quests or items to discover or obtain.

People post on the official forums asking for a classic server fairly often, but in my opinion it's a complete waste of resources. Yeah, it would be fun to revisit the past for a while, but it won't be the same as you remember. You would know what and where everything is. There would be no mystery, which is the only reason why you yearn for the old times.

If you are concerned about not being able to reactivate your old account, you shouldn't be.

I had some time talking with the turbine customer service people and with even the smallest bit of info, or even a character name, they can track down your account.

I left ac when WAR came out. 

I was playing on the DT server, and it was fun.  Couple of things though:

you must be at least 180 to complete in PvP if you are a melee.. You can be 150 as a mage.

The new patch was mostly for the PvP crowd. 

The game is fun, but NO WHERE near as fun as it used to be. Mostly pitiful drama instead of actual game changing events (with mansions, really no point to control a town..  All the sell rates suck, so if you are selling Mayoi or shoushi.. no difference)

First of all, if you're looking to get back into the game, you should know that places like maggies and other sites are not where you want to look up information.

If you're looking to get more information go here: http://www.asheron.info which is the ACC Wiki... it has all the best and most recent information and usually has all the new patch content the day of the patch, unlike VN and other crappy resources.

Second, if you're looking to be competitive on DT, or any server for that matter, you'll need to read up on societies as well as the new loot system with Mana Forges and Keys. The best gear int he game can no longer be found hunting, you pretty much have to grind out keys and use them on the mana forge chests for the top tier gear and epics (like majors.. but the next step up).

So you can still be competitive on DT if you had a major suit, but the new epics are the best gear you're going to get and if you want to be into pvp you will have to upgrade eventually.

As for leveling, it's really not difficult the catch up in AC at all, specially with the 130 and 150 islands as well as less active players so places like EO are not as hard to get into as they once were.

Is it worth coming back to? That depends on what you're looking for, as someone who enjoys pvp, there hasn't been anything that has come out that compares to AC for me, Darkfall included (and I was a beta tester in DF for months... and still played AC more).

If you want to come back, i'd suggest going mage and working up a character, it shouldnt be too difficult even if you are solo, once you have 7s and can fully self buff, it's pretty simple and just a matter of picking up a few rend wands. The top allegiances now are still pretty much UD & Og.