and the funny thing is that thee supposed hardcore people dont realize is that EVE has alot more penalties, risks and loss than darkfall does. And yet, because theres a high security zone (which probably makes up 25% of the game - and is just like the starter cities in darkfall with their PEW PEW towers....) its suddenly carebear...lol....

I got nothing against fans of a game, but there is a point where it just borders on lunacy.

Originally posted by Respit

Unfortunately, I feel due to human nature, that once there is significant population, that these kind of light-hearted occurances will become fewer and far between.

 

I may be wrong, but I can only draw upon my expeirences from playing UO from launch untill early 2008.

Anyway, thanks for the write-up.

You might be right.  I also think the differenent races have their own subculture of players.   I did an article a while back about some statistics of how many people were playing what races, and other trends.  The orks in that data came off as most likely to attack their own kind.  One of my guildies saw this first hand as he is one of the few of us that are prefering them over the mahirim.   I think as the dust starts to settle, guilds will build cities and people will spread out a lot more.   In the beginning, the starter areas will be very crowded, which means there are bound to be some freaks in there.

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Originally posted by Stradden

I think you may want to re-consider the attack on the reviewer and his review. you read the review and came toa  conclusion about the game. I think he did just fine by you.

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Actually if that's the impression you got from my response, then my apologies as it wasn't intended to criticize him but rather the game itself although I do feel like he was intentionally downplaying some of the glaring issues.

Originally posted by arctarus

 Hi Paragus1, nice write up.

So whats the goal for players in this game? the so-call end-game, or objective? Since gear is of no value, so there wont be a need  to raid dungeons, bg to grind, crafting also have not much purpose i guess?

Any idea what do players do once they max out their skills?

Impossible to say how the endgame will play out, as it always is before a game comes out.  I didn't say gear was of no value, I said it helps, but it is not the defining factor of your characters power like other MMOs.

Take WoW just as an example.   If you have 2 warriors of the same race and strip them naked, there is little difference between them other than their talents, which is usually confined to a few viable templates.   When you add gear to the equation, one becomes godlike compared to the other because he has raid gear and the other one has blues.   In Darkfall this is not the case.    Gear does not magic transform you into some sort of Mighty Morphin Power Ranger who can one shot people.   More of the game gets left up to how you fight your battle.

Crafting has a purpose, which is a means to create weapons and armor which would other wise be hard to find on monsters, or not at all.

The entire concept of dungeons and tiers of dungeons is what I consider to be a linear gameplay element.   First you do BRD, then LBRS, then UBRS, then MC, then BWL, etc.    A lot of players like this style of gaming because they have a tangible way to measure their progress and they never have to wonder where to go next.   Darkfall is a lot more open ended in that where you go and what you do is completely up to you.

I read the Paraus1 review and was pretty impressed with the game based on the review. Just wondering and I hope no-one already asked this question and I missed it, but does melee combat just consist of two different swing styles? Is there no blocking, parry, or a dodge function. I just would like the option to stay in a stationary place and block incoming attacks as opposed to the complete chaos of running around and jumping to avoid attacks.

Originally posted by fredmercury

I read the Paraus1 review and was pretty impressed with the game based on the review. Just wondering and I hope no-one already asked this question and I missed it, but does melee combat just consist of two different swing styles? Is there no blocking, parry, or a dodge function. I just would like the option to stay in a stationary place and block incoming attacks as opposed to the complete chaos of running around and jumping to avoid attacks.

Yes there is blocking and parry. Blocking is a bit better than parry as it should be though. Shield > Weapon in damage reduction lol.

The combat isn't just about the 2 swings either. You have the over hand and the side slash, Side slash is easier to aim and the Verticle swing is to avoid hitting other nearby players. With that though there are weapon skills you can get. Power attack, Sieze and Knockback. Knockback of course knocks the opponent away from you. Sieze brings them closer to you. And Power attack does more dmg (After you skill it up).

There's also some spells that can be handy for a melee char, Mana to Stamina is an example. It takes some of your mana and converts it to stamina. Without stamina you can't fight, flee, jump or many other things.

Combat is about moving, timed blocks, stamina management, Aiming etc. So it's a bit more than just the 2 swings.

I actually forgot to mention the blocking aspect of the melee section.   Honestly there was so much ground to cover and the article was getting a bit too long.  Pretty much Gray explained it.

I'd like too get more info on the trade/crafting systems and banking. Plus player homes if they are available.

5th article in a row to make it to Massively

Originally posted by Nicrox

I'd like too get more info on the trade/crafting systems and banking. Plus player homes if they are available.

Banking is universal, meaning if you put your items in a bank, they can be retreived from any other bank in the world.   Some of the beta testers don't like this idea, but I am indifferent.  Not sure if player housing is going to be in at release.  I know there are Hamlets that can be claimed, but I think I read somewhere housing with coming after launch.   Not 100% sure on that.  Also every tree in the entire world can have an axe taken to it for harvesting wood, the same goes for rocks and plants.

Originally posted by miagisan

and the funny thing is that thee supposed hardcore people dont realize is that EVE has alot more penalties, risks and loss than darkfall does. And yet, because theres a high security zone (which probably makes up 25% of the game - and is just like the starter cities in darkfall with their PEW PEW towers....) its suddenly carebear...lol....

I got nothing against fans of a game, but there is a point where it just borders on lunacy.

I don't know who said that, but I agree that EVE has some very harsh penalties.  EVE is a badass system and I love that game.  I was there for launch, and I go back every couple months and I will keep doing that.  I just get disconnected always being in a ship.  Nothing they can help.  Ambulation = I will be in EVE 40 hours a week for 2 months before I wander off again.

I don't know who would reasonably attack EVE while promoting Darkfall.  Seems foolish to me.  EVE does have ways to never PvP though, and insurance.  Darkfall no matter what you do you will get murdered, and looted.  It is a different system, but they both are good.

No need to argue about this.  Both games are greatness.

Very good review.

Originally posted by Paragus1

Originally posted by Nicrox

I'd like too get more info on the trade/crafting systems and banking. Plus player homes if they are available.

 

Banking is universal, meaning if you put your items in a bank, they can be retreived from any other bank in the world.   Some of the beta testers don't like this idea, but I am indifferent.  Not sure if player housing is going to be in at release.  I know there are Hamlets that can be claimed, but I think I read somewhere housing with coming after launch.   Not 100% sure on that.  Also every tree in the entire world can have an axe taken to it for harvesting wood, the same goes for rocks and plants.

I wish there was more indepth info into the world of Darkfalls economy. I consider it to be the glue that binds any mmo together.

Originally posted by Nicrox
 

I wish there was more indepth info into the world of Darkfalls economy. I consider it to be the glue that binds any mmo together.

I can tell you that there are no auction houses, and no plans to my knowledge to add them.

Hi Paragus, thanks for the review. I'd like to ask a couple of questions if I may.

Q1 - I'm having trouble picturing how this UI can acommodate "1,000 skills and spells". In fact, it actually sounds to me much more limited than a more traditional MMORPG. If I read you right you bind a skill or spell to your number keys for a total of 10 useable? Can your function or other keys be used as well?

Q2 - Are there any meaningful damage types/resistances in the game? For example are some armor types more resistant to fire than to water, can some characters with high willpower at times resist magic, etc.? Or is it just a straight equation for all damage (with perhaps block/dodge/parry thrown in)? Did you see any fire swords or ice arrow type items in the game?

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Originally posted by Pynda

Hi Paragus, thanks for the review. I'd like to ask a couple of questions if I may.
Q1 - I'm having trouble picturing how this UI can acommodate "1,000 skills and spells". In fact, it actually sounds to me much more limited than a more traditional MMORPG. If I read you right you bind a skill or spell to your number keys for a total of 10 useable? Can your function or other keys be used as well?

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there aren't 1000 skills. more like 500 i think, many of these are for crafting & other non-combat things, many are also "specialisation skills", like "lesser magic duration increase" or "withcraft mana efficiency" or "armoured archery".

in reality you're mainly using 10-20 favourite skills regularly.

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Q2 - Are there any meaningful damage types/resistances in the game? For example are some armor types more resistant to fire than to water, can some characters with high willpower at times resist magic, etc.? Or is it just a straight equation for all damage (with perhaps block/dodge/parry thrown in)? Did you see any fire swords or ice arrow type items in the game?

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Originally posted by Paragus1

In regards to the gankfest thing, I was actually surprised how many people seemed to respect other people of their own race.  There are people out there who will cut you down if the situation is right, I had it happen to me once.  

I saw 2 Mahirim fighting each other, and one of them had a red name.   I assumed the red guy was trying to gank the blue one so I helped the blue guy kill the red.   During the battle, I took the brunt of the damage from the red, and I accidentally hit the blue.   We both raced to loot as much as we could from the red guy and we started to part ways.... or so I thought.    I guess the other guy saw me in rogue status because I hit him, and decided he wanted my cut of the loot so he attacked and I lost since I was still hurt from the fight.    I wasn't really upset though, I thought the entire incident was pretty funny.

This is how a game should behave. You're making me more interested in trying out DF. 

Of course, the care-bear gamers will play anyway and instead of going back to their previous game, they will start whining about how unbalanced the game is and how its "not fair". Since they don't give a shit about other gamers as long as they get to play literally EVERY game the way they think it should be played,  these care-bears will use their usual "we're all going to start leaving in droves and kill your game" tactic to scare the comapny into making changes. The devs will try to appease them and put safegards into place that ruin the original game design and destroy the gameplay for anyone else. Another game diluted at the hands of the WoW/WoW-clones crowd.

*yippee*

Good review.

Originally posted by cfurlin

Great review, thanks for providing the link. If they deliver on all these features then this may be the game I've been looking for since UO.

I agree with you that there will be a lot of "players" (if that's what you want to call them) who will screem "unfair" at every turn. Personally, if an orc is bigger than a dwarf, it SHOULD BE easier to hit -- sorry about your genetics, dude 

People who are looking for care-bear games like WoW will probably not like it. Hopefully they will go back to WoW. I'd rather see a group of QUALITY players to keep the game afloat than 11 million players, many of them morons or immature a**holes.

One thing I'd really like to see in any game in the future is a "death is permanant" server for those who like to live on the edge. That means when you die your character is wiped. You start over. Talk about a challenge. 

 

WOW is carebear, is this because you can't loot dead bodies? Quality players? No game is 100 pct "quality players". You run into more a-holes in WOW because there is 11 million players.

Morons? There all around you man, in schools and jobs, does that mean you quit your job or school?

Immature? Of course cause there is 12-13 year old or younger, but thats because WOW is so universal. But Im not here to debate WOW fan base with someone who is one of those people who are narrowminded.

Darkfall, good review though. Its nice to see actual comments on this game from someone I know is honest (to an extent lol, I remember the WAR comments, hd some solid points but could have been considered 1 sided) 

It will be interesting to see what happens WAR took a huge hit after its release (sifted through its true players quickly)  I think this game will end up like WAR, have a final steady base around 200-300k. Even though its possibly gonna be a great game, just people have already have a comfort with there game, so this game will have to really wow the players, WAR didn't, AOC didn't and people just returned to there game or floated.

Good luck to all those people, I play WAR, WOW and GW and am quite happy with them. I will be trying this game but can't see me paying for 3 subs in a month lol