I can only assume that this question is asked somewhat commonly, and is fairly arguable.  However, I'd like your opinions about whether or not DAoC is worth trying now in 2012 for somebody who never played it back in its "golden age".  How's the learning curve?  The community?  Is it so dated that it's a major distraction? 

Thanks in advance.

i have the same question....

I think a first time player would be very distracted by the dated ui. There's a free trial and the download is small regardless, minus well give it a go.

The game is about as far from you can get from its original form. Just about everything that made it great is long long gone.

But, even still, it has the best PvP out there. By far.

The learning curve isn't all that high, its been WoWified over the years, and laced with tons of tutorials. It's really easy to level up and there are plenty of guilds to help. Just make sure to find a guild, because I'm sure you'll run into things that don't make sense from a modern MMO perspective.

But just know, when people go off and praise DAoC, they're not talking about the game as it exists now.

Originally posted by jadedlevir

I think a first time player would be very distracted by the dated ui. There's a free trial and the download is small regardless, minus well give it a go.

Why do people people going on about the "dated UI"? What exactly is dated about it? It has all the functionality of a modern UI and, it is FULLY MODDABLE. So you can literally download any UI you want. Is it because the game (as of 4 years ago) used slash commands as well as buttons?

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

Battlegrounds are also completely while leveling up so you don't even have that as a diversion to the PvE side

Originally posted by Starpower

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

But that just makes sense. To each their own I guess.

Originally posted by Garvon3

Originally posted by Starpower

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

But that just makes sense. To each their own I guess.

Maybe but I don't look for realism in MMOs. I look for the fun factor. That rarely includes realism

Originally posted by Starpower

Originally posted by Garvon3

Originally posted by Starpower

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

But that just makes sense. To each their own I guess.

Maybe but I don't look for realism in MMOs. I look for the fun factor. That rarely includes realism

It's not just realism, it's balance. Having casting interrupted by melee is a balance against the insane amount of damage they do.

IMO

if you LOVE soloing quests its a great mmo for you cuz no1 / rarely does it..

if you love PVP grouping or soloing or just with a few friends you LOVE it...

but if you hate doing the same thing over and over and over this game WONT be for you..it has become very easy in lvling and geting artifacts gear and such..like many this game has been dumbed down for the masses..i resubbed about 3 months ago and now unsubbing cuz im tired of rolling lvl 50's in 1 day..the game gets old fast and seems to be and plays like a f2p mmo that you have to subb for

pve i give it a 4 / 10 ..only cuz no one does it anymore..other than that id score higher

pvp id give it a 8 / 10 ..love the pvp but like a said..gets old fast but if you like a all out mmo that focuses on pvp mmo this is it

overall 6 / 10 ..i rly love pve in daoc of old ..but now its totally focused on bg / rvr ..i guess you gotta take the good with the bad but the game has always been steered for pvp ...like shadowbane but with pve imo shadowbane was much better..if i wanted to play a all-out pvp mmo..id play a all-out pvp mmo that has no pve..this is a hybrid  that 90% plays pvp

oh and if you played WAR HAMMER before playing this..its sorta whats its like..but much better than war-hammer and balanced

Might worth it if it was free to play.

But it's not.

So I would say no. Don't waste your money on that old game.

Was good back then, but not anymore.

Originally posted by Requiem6

Might worth it if it was free to play.

But it's not.

 

So I would say no. Don't waste your money on that old game.

Was good back then, but not anymore.

It's still far better than most MMOs, it's just nowhere near as good as it used to be.

You cant go home again

I tried coming back (with the free trial) last year but the game is all but dead. Even on the weekends server populations were in the mid 200's.

The main problem that I forsee is that the UI and nuances of this game are, in MMO terms, antiquated, and so a youngster such as myself would have a hard time getting the hang of the pre-WoW formula.  Especially since the community is, form what I've heard, small and tight-knit, I figure newcomers would be outcasts when grouping near endgame. 

I don't know, there's just so much about it that makes me want to jump in, but so much that makes me hesitant.  Mainly the UI. 

I am debating going back on the free trial just to see. Hoping it is not dead pop wise

Originally posted by SignusM

Originally posted by Starpower

Originally posted by Garvon3

Originally posted by Starpower

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

But that just makes sense. To each their own I guess.

Maybe but I don't look for realism in MMOs. I look for the fun factor. That rarely includes realism

It's not just realism, it's balance. Having casting interrupted by melee is a balance against the insane amount of damage they do.

I agree with Signus here. It bothers me when I am playing a caster in an mmo and I can continue casting while some dude is chopping me up with a sword. Interrupts just make sense to me. The job of the caster is to stay out of the enemy's melee range. That's why DAOC was live action chess. Both players couldn't just stand there and dish out DPS on each other like Rock Em Sock Em robots, one melee and one casting. Positions and locations mattered. Planning out where to run and where to stand all mattered. Extending mattered.

Originally posted by Jimmac

Originally posted by SignusM

Originally posted by Starpower

Originally posted by Garvon3

Originally posted by Starpower

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

But that just makes sense. To each their own I guess.

Maybe but I don't look for realism in MMOs. I look for the fun factor. That rarely includes realism

It's not just realism, it's balance. Having casting interrupted by melee is a balance against the insane amount of damage they do.

I agree with Signus here. It bothers me when I am playing a caster in an mmo and I can continue casting while some dude is chopping me up with a sword. Interrupts just make sense to me. The job of the caster is to stay out of the enemy's melee range. That's why DAOC was live action chess. Both players couldn't just stand there and dish out DPS on each other like Rock Em Sock Em robots, one melee and one casting. Positions and locations mattered. Planning out where to run and where to stand all mattered. Extending mattered.

Fine then why doesn't getting blasted by a bolt of fire/cold/energy stop you from swinging your sword?  It bothers me when I am playing a melee that I can ignore attacks on me and still swing. Everyone always tries to nerf the caster.  Me big brute me swing axe nothing stops me.....

Btw this is a game and as far as I know realism has already gone out the window when they introduced magic and invis/stealth.

Somebody suggested Uthgard to me in a pm.  What can you guys tell me about it (not much information on its website)?

Originally posted by Yizle

Originally posted by Jimmac

Originally posted by SignusM

Originally posted by Starpower

Originally posted by Garvon3

Originally posted by Starpower

If you can get past the combat mechanics then yes. I never liked not being able to cast spells just because something just hit you or shoot your bow because the mob is in melee range

But that just makes sense. To each their own I guess.

Maybe but I don't look for realism in MMOs. I look for the fun factor. That rarely includes realism

It's not just realism, it's balance. Having casting interrupted by melee is a balance against the insane amount of damage they do.

I agree with Signus here. It bothers me when I am playing a caster in an mmo and I can continue casting while some dude is chopping me up with a sword. Interrupts just make sense to me. The job of the caster is to stay out of the enemy's melee range. That's why DAOC was live action chess. Both players couldn't just stand there and dish out DPS on each other like Rock Em Sock Em robots, one melee and one casting. Positions and locations mattered. Planning out where to run and where to stand all mattered. Extending mattered.

Fine then why doesn't getting blasted by a bolt of fire/cold/energy stop you from swinging your sword?  It bothers me when I am playing a melee that I can ignore attacks on me and still swing. Everyone always tries to nerf the caster.  Me big brute me swing axe nothing stops me.....

Btw this is a game and as far as I know realism has already gone out the window when they introduced magic and invis/stealth.

like someone else said, it was for balance purposes when i played (this was a long time ago) a caster could kill a melee VERY VERY quick.. so getting to the caster was extremely hard if the caster if the caster got the jump on the Melee.

so thus the interupt system.