Topics like this get instantly deleted on the DF forums, understandably.  Indeed, mods there have been deleting a lot of posts lately even when they are well written on not on outright taboo topics.

Darkfall is pretty much in free fall right now.  We'll never know what the subscription rates are, but given how dead chat channels are and how few people you see, it's got to be at an all time low and plunging.   Even with all the drama and rancor on forumfall, the few remaining players have had their hopes up only to be dashed again.

The siege patch (now "expansion") has been delayed for months.  The code base is probably such a crappy piece of spaghetti that implementing major changes due the dependencies is hopeless.  How does this bode for DF 2.0? All we ever see are a few alpha stage things, mostly reskinned models.  DF 2.0's crafting is was shown merely as a conceptual update with hand drawn items last week.  This in a game we were told in July would be code complete in August.   Lots of promises but no concrete specifics.  No new UI screen shots. 

References keep getting made to "business partners" wrt release of more information.   Who is going to keep funding this disaster?  Certainly not the players.

There's no nice way to say it: Tasos is a flat out liar. 

People resort to lying when things are desperate.  How well does this kind of behavior ever end in the real world?

It's unfortunate, but I think Darkfall is on its last legs. 

If you've got reason to think differently, I'd like to be encouraged, because there isn't any other live game worth playing these days.

the only reason why this game isnt doing well is because of the eliet player base already in game...i quit playing because of them and im shur MANy others have too. I dont liek grinding my ass for 2=4hrs get my kick ass armor n swords then go out of main starting/spawn city and get killed by a Hopped up orc on crack and steroids....that IMMEDIATLY scares ppl off...

im at the point where im praying for darkfall 2.0 to wipe the ENTIRE player base just to help give the new wave of players a fair start...

no one wants to play a game where you cant even make it out of the starting city...or living in fear of going out to get ganked immedietly losing your stuff...

i PERSONALLY think now this is just me! There shoudl be a zone arround each starting area, a WIDE zone where PVP is not allowed to help new players get to the point of survival outside the area...or even spawn two UBER LEET guards taht walk the patrol path arround the area killing PKers....

i KNOW im not alone in this positon...i persoanlly LOVE Darkfall and wish i could play it again but i cant stand getting all my epic gear being robbed from me when im just 10 steps out of the city by two jacked up steroid popping orcs that have nothing better to do than camp low lvls cuz they cant kill anything there own skill lvl.

END OF RANT

Originally posted by Gwing

the only reason why this game isnt doing well is because of the elite player base already in game..........

Nowhere near the only reason, nor near the top.

 It's mixed in there with:

• AV's lies
• Lack of additional content in the past 2 1/2 years
• Lack of balancing PVP
• Lack of properly addressing/balancing villages, traderoutes, ship-fishing, and seatowers.
• Broken alignment/siege/trade systems.
• UI
• Hindered performance from only using 1 CPU core.
• Useless GMs
• Easily buggable/abuseable PVE with monotonous/tedious AI and spawns that only support single vets.
• 100's of millions of gold pieces in the economy that are the product of duping/major exploits.
• Radar hackers that have been around the entire life of the game (people like Juice Man)
• Too long to get gear from bank / gear up / go find PVP (last part's due to the low population which is due to everything else I've listed)

I could go on

Yes, I think the same as the OP.

DF was the most hyped and failed game ever. It was fun the first 10 days of release before we known that more you grind more you are stronger

Oh and I was just thinking, hey, Darkfall has a very high rating in "Most Popular Games" today...

But now I'm reading your comments here and I'm shocked...
It's almost like Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, except that they are really doing something again to fix the game.
Actually they promised 2 major updates this fiscal year... well, we'll see.

I know for a fact, that the pop on Telon server is rising again, and that finding
groups, even in low level is very easy right now.

The downside to you Darkfall gamers: there's no pvp... but that doesn't seem to be thaaat big a problem, when I'm reading some of your ganking comments :)

Why I'm posting this here is because I personally think, if you are looking for another game, that VG is not far from Darkfall. In fact I didn't join Darkfall when it started, because it was too similar to VG and I needed a change those days.

Just my 2 cents though :)

Hmmmz don;t hope so.....Just resubbed!!

2004 called, they want their thread back.

What I'm saying is that AV has always been like this, I remember at one point it took like a year without even a "hi" from them, true story.

Kids these days have no patience.

Not saying AV isn't full of shit, incase you're wondering.

THe most likely reason the population is dwindling now is because people know DF 2.0 is comming and they are uncertain how that will affect current characters etc.  Since most people spend their time in the game grinding away on something there is not much point in doing that right now.

I would expect that the population would be minimal given the "new" game coming out "soon".

Originally posted by busdriver

2004 called, they want their thread back.

 

What I'm saying is that AV has always been like this, I remember at one point it took like a year without even a "hi" from them, true story.

Kids these days have no patience.

 

Not saying AV isn't full of shit, incase you're wondering.

Very true, I for one do not mind if the developer go silent.

However, it is another matter if they talk but are not honest.

You know, your thread is likely getting deleted on the Darkfall forums because you (acknowledged in the same post) offer no real evidence yet still make the conclusion that the game is failing horribly and Tasos is lying about business deals and the game is going to shut down soon based on speculation and thinly veiled ad hominem. That isn't inviting intelligent conversation, that's just a narrow-minded attack on the game/company.

Originally posted by Aethaeryn

THe most likely reason the population is dwindling now is because people know DF 2.0 is comming and they are uncertain how that will affect current characters etc.  Since most people spend their time in the game grinding away on something there is not much point in doing that right now.

I would expect that the population would be minimal given the "new" game coming out "soon".

That is another indirect evidence suggest that the developer is clueless on how to handle its client base, and how to market its upcoming products.

They have been actively driving away their potential customer base, still doing so.  This is a factor to consider in their future products.  I do not want to pay a sub and play an effective solo game, because there is no active population.  DAoC is a far better game if I want a ghost town.  At least it was.

I don't think them shutting down the game is at all likely.  Make major changes and upset a lot of players is certainly possible.

For one thing I've heard* they've already recouped all the development costs and are solidly in black ink financially.  With this I doubt there's any sort of financial trouble.

If anything I think there was a design flaw that they had not anticipated.  This is just speculation on my part, but I often hear of cases where characters get so strong that they're virtually unbeatable in PVP.  I think there may be too much of a power spread between new character (or even middle progress characters) and high progress characters with massive skills.  Perhaps this is one of the things addressed in 2.0

One post I did get a chuckle out of was an endorsement of Darkfall as a PVE oriented game.  Maybe I missed something drastic in positioning changes, but I was under the impression that building characters for PVP and PVP battles themselves were of major emphasis.  The last thing I expected was for DF to cater to... uhm...  PVE'ers.  Should 2.0 present a major change in positioning toward PVE, I would be surprised.  Shocked even.

* based on forum posts from others who follow this sort of thing.

Originally posted by davidemo89

Yes, I think the same as the OP.

DF was the most hyped and failed game ever. It was fun the first 10 days of release before we known that more you grind more you are stronger

So you found out a MMORPG is working as intended.

just had to bite on this.

Just because a person sees the light doesnt mean they are at the end of the tunnel.

In Darkfall 2.0, they should eliminate the skilling system (it was antiquated to begin with...they are not the first to try it.) Eliminate noob town spawning and focus on that insane mob AI... I enjoyed being hunted. In fact, having mobs hunt me is the most thrilling aspect of the game... and I don't mind the occassional gank after I've learned how to move my character.

If they decide to keep the skilling system, then revamp it. Pulling a bow builds strength, and so does swimming. But, I'm not hoping to be an olympian in the process... just a better hunter. So don't allow me to build stats outside of normal hunting or foraging. A farmer is far healthier and stronger than a bank clerk... let's keep some real world dynamics in check please.

I don't hate Darkfall. I am far too intelligent to waste my time on something that uses time to waste my time.

Originally posted by ActionMMORPG

I don't think them shutting down the game is at all likely.  Make major changes and upset a lot of players is certainly possible.

 

For one thing I've heard* they've already recouped all the development costs and are solidly in black ink financially.  With this I doubt there's any sort of financial trouble.

 

If anything I think there was a design flaw that they had not anticipated.  This is just speculation on my part, but I often hear of cases where characters get so strong that they're virtually unbeatable in PVP.  I think there may be too much of a power spread between new character (or even middle progress characters) and high progress characters with massive skills.  Perhaps this is one of the things addressed in 2.0

 

One post I did get a chuckle out of was an endorsement of Darkfall as a PVE oriented game.  Maybe I missed something drastic in positioning changes, but I was under the impression that building characters for PVP and PVP battles themselves were of major emphasis.  The last thing I expected was for DF to cater to... uhm...  PVE'ers.  Should 2.0 present a major change in positioning toward PVE, I would be surprised.  Shocked even.

 

* based on forum posts from others who follow this sort of thing.

Its speculation but why should they staying absolutely not affected with everything thats going on around them (economic crisis and all that) .

Also having covered the costs is one thing (a good one at that) but you wanna make profit and found also future development.

The flaw was, to miscalculate playerbase ability to macro and exploit a skill progression system that was thought as "free for all without artificial barrier but impossible to master all aspects". After exploietr and macroer reached high levels in all important skills they had to make the access to high levels easier wich caused this "everyone should have any and all skills" aka "grind".

Don't fall in your last paragraph on the propaganda coming from pure PvP'r who don't want to touch any other aspect of the game. Their ideal game is login, gear up with  magically  instand access to any type of gear you would like.  Warp or run at max 10 seconds to the next PvP hotspot and smash and swing your axe around. Of course this fights you endouver should be that like you could win 1 vs 1 against everyone or the game is unbalanced despite the world is open field and situation varies. After a hour log off.

That is probably a good PvP game but thats not what Darkfall has been advertised as:

1. You need to earn your "paper"-skill. Unfortunately the initial PvP driven progression has been expoited the shit outa it by the players, so AV has given Bonus to PvE driven progression WITHOUT closing the down the option for everyone to progress through PvP. But these guys don't just want to exclusively progress through PvP, they also feel it should also their way be the ASAP way  (You know the typical when i am end game ready type of  Min/Max'r,a s if there would be a "end game" in a sandbox )

2. DF try t implment a risk vs reward mechanic. What would be the risk if you have everything at your disposal without any effort. Gear up should be tedious so you feel the risk  of loosing and having to regear again. But these guys will tell you "why should i loose time with collecting my gear, finally is a PvP game" 

So don't fall for that, PvP is possible on 95% of the map on any time , these guys are just to lazy or dismiss any other posible activity in the sandbox and open world  of DF.

I guess at this point in time two things could happen: game shutdown or some sort of F2P option. The latter may extend the life of this game, but I doubt it will last long.

May I ask why everyone with the negative "thinks they know" posts carry on doing so?

I mean nobody knows right but the company themselves what position they are in.. unless of course you have some inside knowledge.. and dont throw the i see the shares online etc crap.. means nothing these days..

Nobody knows how the game has carried on for so long over years with low subs anyhow ( or so it seem low subs ) so there must be something else going on that keeps them at it.. Slow paced to almost crawling/death is normaly for a reason yes.. Does not mean it has to do with doom and gloom all the time lol..

Its the same old story, Any forum I go on for lots of games, has whine this whine that. this sux this dont work etc etc, yet when im playing such games, I see plenty of people in chat at least playing the game not complaining, or if they do moan its in tongue and cheek and they carry on..

Forums.. terrible things :D

1)  Any rumors that the game has payed for itself are pure twaddle.  The game has never been a huge hit in terms of concurrent subs.  However the company is involved in other ventures including some government stuff so they may be in the black despite the low subs.

2)  The move to Greece was down in part because Greece offers/offered government subsidies to software companies that operated in the country.  Given Greece's current issues those subsidies are almost certaintly no more which may be putting some pressure on the company.

3) Tasos and Bill Roper are both slimy scum monkies.  They ought to go into business together.

That being said though I think the company is doing fine given their other activities.  The cut off of subsidies (if they've cut off) may have them looking at a longer pay off period for DF and posibly an accounting adjustment this year, but I think they're repositioning themselves with DF 2.0.  The company looks to be moving a bit closer to the middle hoping to pick up some pve and light pvpers, which may benefit them in terms of subs.  On the other hand it could blow up in their faces and lose them subs.

I doubt that DF is in any danger of closing any time soon.  The past few years have shown that mmorpgs can live off of fewer subs that most people think.

they should have made a non full loot consensual PVP server and i bet it would be doing a lot better. I know I know i'm a carebears but guess what we carebears pay the bills while you PVPers just drive us away from games.

Heh, you people are just learning now Tasos is a lier? I think the majority of players learned this pre-beta... Now we envy our good decisions with a smile. The guy was literally calling people trouts in his own chat room back then. The forums here back in the day were all complete truth and the population was against him then. Only to have him come out and blast the public unprofessionally to fool the few remaining followers he could exploit... I mean come out people wake up and leave already.. it's time...

The guy is a complete unprofessional, his ship is sinking, dont give him the glory of classifiing it as some buyout red tape mumbo jumbo hoopla.. delete the content and move on...  Its Xmas time, tons of new content to play elsewhere