Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by Paragus1

New 12/23/08 interview with Tasos done by Curse.com.   You can find the interview HERE.

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13. Does Darkfall have "buff" spells?

Buffs have always annoyed us as players. Buffs tend to be very time consuming, repetitive, restrictive, and pointless because they negate themselves, they can make characters virtually unkillable, they're sources of constant visual and verbal spam, and distractions to say the least. In games with a lot of buffs, you spend an awful lot of time preparing to play. We prefer that you can just log in and start playing instead.

Darkfall has few buffs and they're mostly tactical and situational. They don't last very long and most are buff other spells. This way they become part of the action and not part of the preparations.

In Darkfall "my buffs went out" definitely won't be an excuse.

 

 

Will the game be as great as it sounds in this interview? I won't know till I play it, and before that I'll get a good indication when the NDA is dropped.

But it certainly SOUNDs awesome, and those are the answers I, and many other players looking for something outside of the EQ/WoW clone are looking for.

I only have one small quibble with this answer. If you are buffing your allies, you ARE playing the game, not WAITING to play the game, since buffing would be part of the game.

WAITING to play the game would be, IMO, waiting in a que to log in.

You may or may not like buffs, but if they are in a game, they are part of the game play. I personally never had a problem with buffs, or debuffs. I always liked buffing up in DAoC before heading out into enemy territory.

Perhaps he meant you spend time preparing to fight, instead of fighting, but that also true with the rest of the game, buying gear, gaining skills, training skills, etc.

he meant the extortion comes with buffs...either you have them or you not competitive EVERYTIME you go into a fight ...

Gear, skills and what you describe lasts longer and are more indipendend to a single fight you may prepare for...

Originally posted by grimfall

I don't want to threadjack, but players are going to min-max.  They always have and they always will.  To act like they're not is naive.

So? I have yet to see an RPG where you can't min-max in some form or another. If it didn't have min-maxing then people would complain about that as well.

Just like in Magic, the Gathering the unimaginative will flock to cookie cutter builds until a creative person comes up with a counter strategy, then people will flock to that build. If the generalist was the strongest build (and who knows it might be) then people will flock to that build.

I don't see the point in complaining about something that is so ingrained in the genre. Now if there is one spec that is stronger than any other in all regards under all situation then I might agree, but that's the joy of online games. Balance is an ongoing issue that inevitably changes regularly.

How many viable builds would it take for people to be satisfied? 10? 100? Enough that even a monkey could randomly make a viable character?

Originally posted by grimfall

Originally posted by Loke666

Originally posted by grimfall

Originally posted by pewtpewt

How is that talking out of the side of your mouth? If you intend to specialize in magery, than of course you would need to learn LESSER power before GREATER power. There will also be plenty of hybrids. A few abilities will be needed before gaining access to others "Oh look, I can can cast such powerful spells, but not those simple ones"? Kind of logical.

Yes, kind of logical.

Now tell me how what you just described differs from the Wizard class in EQ or WoW.

 

You won't get more HPs everytime you better yourself, that is the big difference.

 

That's levels, not classes.

Are you sure you're not going to get more hit points?  It's hard to say without seeing the list of skills, but 'toughnes' could be a skill or 'evasion' or 'fire resistance' - all of those things will wind up doing essentially the same thing that hit points do.

As tasos siad games is modelled after elderscroll series also so go play morrowind or oblivion you understand more how skill system will buff you up and make you tougher±'
 

Originally posted by Aganazer

Originally posted by grimfall

I don't want to threadjack, but players are going to min-max.  They always have and they always will.  To act like they're not is naive.

So? I have yet to see an RPG where you can't min-max in some form or another. If it didn't have min-maxing then people would complain about that as well.

Just like in Magic, the Gathering the unimaginative will flock to cookie cutter builds until a creative person comes up with a counter strategy, then people will flock to that build. If the generalist was the strongest build (and who knows it might be) then people will flock to that build.

I don't see the point in complaining about something that is so ingrained in the genre. Now if there is one spec that is stronger than any other in all regards under all situation then I might agree, but that's the joy of online games. Balance is an ongoing issue that inevitably changes regularly.

How many viable builds would it take for people to be satisfied? 10? 100? Enough that even a monkey could randomly make a viable character?

 

And then someone find a build that owns all(doubfull i say in darkfall)and still many lose in  pvp why is that?

Think about this if you know answer ill give you a nice cookie ingame in world of Agon:)

Laugh at uber builds i play my own game and let fight deside on many factors not only skills:)

250k+ people registered on the forums, 10k ppl simultanuosly on a server = more than one server at launch lol.

Great interview, cool to hear about a tornado spell.

Aventurine WANTS hybrids, not cookie cutter skill sets. There will always be cookie cutters, but many people enjoy originality and experimenting with skill sets until they have the playstyle that fits them. So the argument of "wizard...bla bla bla" is null.

is it me or we actully having some decent discussion finaly

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

Originally posted by ianicus

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

exceept vanguard had a flaw and that is levels also needed alot more time in beta

My take on his answers:

1. No
2. Sounds cool
3. The question wasn't about crafting, specifically.  That being said, sounds cool.
4. Yes and No - Yes, there are dieties.  No, there aren't requirements for certain levels of piety in order to gain acess to abilties, not that this was actually asked...I interpreted the question as more specific to RP than skills.
5. Very open system ensures there really aren't any true "classes".  Players will probably fall into standard melee, ranged, magic classifications, but they aren't bound by them.  Sounds cool.
6. Skirted the question.  if players can "go off the grid", then there will obviously be empty places.
7. Copped out by using the same answer for 6.  Sounds like there are going to be empty places, perhaps many, in game.  Big world, probably with hot spots of activity.
8. Sounds good
9. Sounds good
10. Sounds good for hardcore PVPers, bad for the soft.  Key point - don't get attached to anything!
11. Sounds good on paper.  Ultimately, though, groups and clans will be more powerful.  Case in point, his reference elsewhere int the article to a group stalking a single player.
12. Sounds cool
13. Sounds cool - appears to refer to WoWish pre-raid buffing as a bad thing.  Stop wasting time setting up and just go fight!
14. No prestige classes - sounds fine, I really don't care.
15. BS - a simple yes or no would suffice.  Why be coy?  If the exist then they'll be found and published in short order.
16. See 15..
17. Doesn't answer the question.  The number and size of the ships available is irrelevant to the ability to customize any given ship.
18. Interesting - I definitely won't be doing any ship building, regardless.
19. Sounds cool and drops a couple of interesting tidbits
    • People have played from various locations, globally.  Good to know.
    • The game will be downloadable as opposed to limited to a retail box.  Many of us suspected this already, due to the lack of information about box prices, distributors, etc..  It's good to get confirmation.
20. Sounds cool - some other interesting tidbits:
    • He obviously recognizes the demand of the NA market
    • "just don't have the resources" - resources, in this context, generally refer to both people and money.  So, he's essentially stating the reasons they aren't prepared for a NA launch are due to a lack of people and money. They do have a US hosting company, but not a US publisher.  I'm wondering if NA market publishers are disinclined to deal with them based on their development history.  Maybe a "let's wait and see" attitude? 

All-in-all, it was a very good interview.  Some good questions were asked and some good answers were given.  Some questions were skirted or outright not answered, which is Taso's prerogative, regardless what I think, but most questions were answered.

~Ripper

Originally posted by downtoearth

is it me or we actully having some decent discussion finaly

Looks to be that way!   As far as buffs go, I think the argument about necessity is one thing, but has anyone else played Asheron's Call?   You can tell Tasos was heavily influenced by that game (a good thing IMO).  The buffs in Asheron's Call only last for 15 minutes, and it would take several minutes to cast them all on yourself, let alone helping a friend and casting buffs on them as well.   These buffs were essential to surviving in the higher end portions of the game.   This means by the time you were done buffing, you had only around 8-10 minutes to do what you needed to do before you had to start the buff cycle all over again.   Do the math and thats about 1/3 to 1/2 of your time in a combat area just casting buffs instead of playing the game.

I loved reading that, even though it's just reciting information from the past, it was a great read and a great interview. Honestly, I have nothing more to say. :)

And one thing I didn't know about Darkfall previously, is Aventurine's view on Buffs. I love what he said about buffs, and how they will play out in Darkfall. Sounds perfect, whenever I read about this game, everything just sounds too good to be true.

I can't wait for Darkfall to release.

This post may make me appear as a "fanboi", but if that's what you want to call it, then so be it. I just can't wait for this game.

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Read #19: "the European server". Sheesh.

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Ohhhhhhhh.... You meant #19. Since you didn't make it clear and specific, I thought you meant #20 when you posted:

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The servers answers confuse me.

There's a lot of speculation over how many servers there will be. He says 'The European Server' singular, at which point I thought 'Finally, an answer, one server'. Then two sentences later he says 'European servers' ....

Taken literally they will launch with one server and have plans to launch more as demand dictates. It seems like they're going to get caught with their pants down there - unless they intend to limit online sales, which they've made no mention of. Maybe their dowload client server will be the bottleneck to keep too many players from joining before they have more servers ready.

He does a little talking out the side of his mouth when he says there's no classes, but certain skills will need to be done to unlock other skills. Mark it down, 1 month after launch, the players will make de-facto Min Max classes, and start to exclude players who don't fit in the cookie cutter roles. Also races, are de-facto classes in the way that they give access to certain skills.

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See how easy it is to not understand when the poster isn't clear? Anyone can do it.

You can give him a break now, ok? :)

I realy want this game to be what it says it gona be:P

If it is OMFG it will be awsome

But it sounds to good to be true!!

This was a great interview.

Im glad too finally see Darkfall being discussed as it should have been a long time ago.

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The buffs in Asheron's Call only last for 15 minutes, and it would take several minutes to cast them all on yourself, let alone helping a friend and casting buffs on them as well. These buffs were essential to surviving in the higher end portions of the game. This means by the time you were done buffing, you had only around 8-10 minutes to do what you needed to do before you had to start the buff cycle all over again. Do the math and thats about 1/3 to 1/2 of your time in a combat area just casting buffs instead of playing the game.

---

Yep, I liked his point about this. It's defacto in 99% of MMO's out now, even the F2P asian grinders, that you have to buff and buff heavy. Then the mob takes it off, then you have to put it back on. Rinse/repeat all day long.

I usually play support or healer classes and this does get to be a strain with so many "buff me" "my ___ ran out" "Wrong buff, I asked for ___, not ____". In battle and out. It's your job in those games, but it does get tedious.

I always wondered what a game would be like as a healer or support class, if you just HEALED and that's it? I mean, not one buff or debuff. Just a lot of healing. You got a tank or dps going to town on someone and taking damages, and you just hit heal. Simple but to the point.

I guess we'll see what it's like.

Still intrigued about Darkfall.

Originally posted by downtoearth

Originally posted by ianicus

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

 

exceept vanguard had a flaw and that is levels also needed alot more time in beta

DF has levels, it may not be literaly called a level as you progress through the game, but it HAS levels.

PS "levels" as such have been a major part or P&P and Computer RPG's since thier conception, in one form or another, just as they are a part of Darkfall.

Originally posted by ianicus

Originally posted by downtoearth

Originally posted by ianicus

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

 

exceept vanguard had a flaw and that is levels also needed alot more time in beta

 

DF has levels, it may not be literaly called a level as you progress through the game, but it HAS levels.

 

PS "levels" as such have been a major part or P&P and Computer RPG's since thier conception, in one form or another, just as they are a part of Darkfall.

I dont think they were talking about being that defined as lvl's.  More of the LvL 1,  Lvl 2... ect..  Otherwise, sure it can easily be said every game has lvl's.  UO for example.... you do not have the required Str to use that.. Welp, guess I havn't reached that lvl yet....

Originally posted by Aragon100

This was a great interview.

Im glad too finally see Darkfall being discussed as it should have been a long time ago.

 

I believe in free speech. There is no correct way to discuss a game.

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by Aragon100

This was a great interview.

Im glad too finally see Darkfall being discussed as it should have been a long time ago.

 

 

I believe in free speech. There is no correct way to discuss a game.

He's talking about actually agreeing/disagreeing on of what people think might be in the game without trolling. 

Originally posted by Focker

Originally posted by Ihmotepp

Originally posted by Aragon100

This was a great interview.

Im glad too finally see Darkfall being discussed as it should have been a long time ago.

 

 

I believe in free speech. There is no correct way to discuss a game.

 

He's talking about actually agreeing/disagreeing on of what people think might be in the game without trolling. 

IMO, after reading many of the posts on this forum, the definition of "trolling" in regards to Darkfall, is making a statement about Darkfall  that is not positive.

In other words, you have the right to say positive things about Darkfall, or else you are  a troll. I believe in free speech.

Originally posted by Focker

Originally posted by ianicus

Originally posted by downtoearth

Originally posted by ianicus

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

 

exceept vanguard had a flaw and that is levels also needed alot more time in beta

 

DF has levels, it may not be literaly called a level as you progress through the game, but it HAS levels.

 

PS "levels" as such have been a major part or P&P and Computer RPG's since thier conception, in one form or another, just as they are a part of Darkfall.

 

I dont think they were talking about being that defined as lvl's.  More of the LvL 1,  Lvl 2... ect..  Otherwise, sure it can easily be said every game has lvl's.  UO for example.... you do not have the required Str to use that.. Welp, guess I havn't reached that lvl yet....

It is level based.  People will argue HP equates a level up, if you get more hp you get a lvl; if you cannot use everything from the start of the character then you don't meet the level requirement.  If you have to practice something a lot to get to the next level of spell, that is a level requirement. 

I never said it was a bad thing, but the naive need to stop sounding the "no level game!!" trumpets.  There are levels.  Just in a different way from most games.

Originally posted by ianicus

Originally posted by downtoearth

Originally posted by ianicus

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

 

exceept vanguard had a flaw and that is levels also needed alot more time in beta

 

DF has levels, it may not be literaly called a level as you progress through the game, but it HAS levels.

 

PS "levels" as such have been a major part or P&P and Computer RPG's since thier conception, in one form or another, just as they are a part of Darkfall.

50 newbs cant touch a hgih level person in a game like wow or even vanguard sorry cant be dont

4 newbs can take a vet in darkfall

Originally posted by downtoearth

Originally posted by ianicus

Originally posted by downtoearth

Originally posted by ianicus

this game sounds more and more like Vanguard with full loot PVP than ever, not that this is bad. I just hope they launch a heck of alot more ready than VG launched lol

 

exceept vanguard had a flaw and that is levels also needed alot more time in beta

 

DF has levels, it may not be literaly called a level as you progress through the game, but it HAS levels.

 

PS "levels" as such have been a major part or P&P and Computer RPG's since thier conception, in one form or another, just as they are a part of Darkfall.

 

50 newbs cant touch a hgih level person in a game like wow or even vanguard sorry cant be dont

4 newbs can take a vet in darkfall

You know this how?  Have you done it?  Have you seen it done?

Edit - I am speaking only to DF, not to VG or WoW.  I don't disagree that those games have clearly defined level systems.  However, I think your post is a load.

Originally posted by Hazmal 

It is level based.  People will argue HP equates a level up, if you get more hp you get a lvl; if you cannot use everything from the start of the character then you don't meet the level requirement.  If you have to practice something a lot to get to the next level of spell, that is a level requirement. 

I never said it was a bad thing, but the naive need to stop sounding the "no level game!!" trumpets.  There are levels.  Just in a different way from most games.

I can see your point but I don't think that this is a fair assessment.  In level based games your character abilities generally advance together, so you are not going to be able to be cast the highest rank of fireball unless all your other skills / abilities are also advanced to such degree which would probably take a very long time. 

In a skill based game like this you could have the max rank fireball skill and not be able to do anything else at all in a relatively short space of time.  So if all you want to do is cast big balls of fire at people your done in a few hours.

There are probably some skill interdependencies that would make it necessary to have couple of skills but you get the general idea.

Also you can't make a charcter completely different from anyone else in level based game, what skills you are going to end up with are decided before you even roll you character.

You can say it has skill levels but it does not have character levels.