www.darkfallonline.com/patch/090209.html

Had a chance to try it out before the hotfix, and I love everything I experienced so far.

Some key things:

• Skill gains improved across the board in PvE
• Monsters AI adjusted to make them less exploitable
• Loot auto stacks in bags now
• Looting with weapon sheathed automatically sheathes the weapon and loots
• Attacking a players mount, or ship, or warhulk now makes you rogue
• Chaos Chests inventory updates
• Village System Tweaks
• New 1h Clubs
• New Elemental Bows
• Skillgain increased for more advanced recipes in weapon smithing
• Ship creation made easier with far less mats, but this excludes the largest ships for now.
• Ship survivability decreased.  Now ships are easier to make, but also not so easy to run away to improve ship battle dynamics gearing up for the expansion.
• All spell schools skill up faster. We need to point out that this concerns the schools and not the individual spells. This is the first step in introducing more spells and spell schools to the game

 Looks really nice. I want a game to play, badly : p

excellent stuff.

looking forward to expansion patch notes and finally the transfers

 Question, subscribing to DF == buying the game? I can't see any clear indication of where I am suppose to buy the digital download

Go to darkfall.com, pick version, make your account, enter your bank information, then update your subscription to have it charge the card.  If you haven't bought it yet it will charge you 49.99 and your first month will start.

If you are on NA version there are some clans that will recruit you right off the bat, and help you grow at which point you can stick around or say peace if you don't like them all that much.  I'd suggest checking out Project Mayhem and Dark Requiem in the clans page and applying.

Usually an officer will contact you in game and chat with you and many will accept new players as recruits.  This can help socially and with advice for the game.  Good luck.

Originally posted by ProfRed

Go to darkfall.com, pick version, make your account, enter your bank information, then update your subscription to have it charge the card.  If you haven't bought it yet it will charge you 49.99 and your first month will start.

If you are on NA version there are some clans that will recruit you right off the bat, and help you grow at which point you can stick around or say peace if you don't like them all that much.  I'd suggest checking out Project Mayhem and Dark Requiem in the clans page and applying.

Usually an officer will contact you in game and chat with you and many will accept new players as recruits.  This can help socially and with advice for the game.  Good luck.

I'm from europe. 49.99 american dollars or euro? I'm just a poor student : I    

Not sure honestly.  It should tell you at the EU account page though under subscription.

This patch isn't just awesome, it's yet another, among many, actions that show AV has a vision and is realizing it. Unlike other games that get twisted like Gumby because of loud board complaints, the developers are gamers and significantly improving this game in line with their vision, and the result, is the fun factor continues to climb. I genuinely feel bad for any that DFO is a game for, but live in the past.

-CC

All the patch notes are:

Patch Notes September 2nd 2009

This patch prepares the ground for Darkfall's October Expansion. All the changes implemented have been carefully considered and balanced before introduction into the game.

Ships

Darkfall's October Expansion brings massive changes to the naval combat landscape. We take the first steps in this direction in today's patch:
•Damaged ships will now move slower. This makes it harder for ships to run away and de-spawn when they are severely damaged.
•All ships have had their hitpoints significantly reduced. This change will bring balance and more of a challenge to naval combat.
•Most ships are now cheaper to produce. This excludes high-end ships for now.
•Trying to unsummon a ship while it's taking damage or being repaired will now break the unsummoning.
•If you attack a ship you could go rogue depending on the status between yourself and the player controlling it.
Warhulks
•Damaged warhulks will move slower
•Trying to unsummon a warhulk while it's taking damage or being repaired will now break the unsummoning.
•If you attack a warhulk you could go rogue depending on the status between yourself and the player controlling it.
Crafting

Skill gain in weaponsmithing has been enhanced: Creating higher rank weapons will now make your skill increase faster. This change will make it more rewarding for crafters to involve themselves in creating higher rank weapons.

Visual and Worldbuilding Updates

There have been many visual updates to the environment (boulders, vegetation etc.), also updates to the Chaldean props, to Dwarven Stone Walls, and to many props around Agon.

There have also been worldbuilding improvements and updates to the following areas:
•Zahnal
•Shargal
•Sorgom
•Velmuna
•Zirdna
•Dun Amsharra
•Fahral
•Kir Janu
•Saenal
•Niasha
•Nerghum
•Aderghum
Weapons / Items

New one handed clubs have been added to the game

•Spirit Club
•Manus Dei
•Bonecrippler
•Composit Club
•Enigma
Durability has been increased for the following transmutation staffs, to align the item's value and resource cost with the item's lifespan.
•Sarracenia
•Cursecaller
•Bonestaff
•Tyrantsmight
•Rod of origins
•Staff of legend
•Draunadan
•Snakeskin
•Corpsecall
•Darkheart

New elemental bows have been added to the game:

•Ravenous
•Flametrail
•Bolt Thrower
•Snowfall
Arcane protection has been added to necklaces
Arcane protection has been added to rings
The inventory of chaos chests has been upgraded
If you attack a cannon you could go rogue depending on the status between yourself and the player controlling it.
The shield blocking damage reduction bonus has been reduced to 80%

Magic

•All spell schools skill up faster. We need to point out that this concerns the schools and not the individual spells. This is the first step in introducing more spells and spell schools to the game
•Unburden has been modified: It's quicker to cast, has a larger effect, a shorter duration and a longer cooldown. The changes are to make the penalty for armorcasting more meaningful add a bit more balance to melee and archery vs. magic.
•Mana and ingredient costs have been reduced for the following spells:
- Delayed shot
- Desecration
- Disease
- Evil eye
- Exhaust
- Holy weakness
- Lightning weakness
- Mental weakness
- Ominous drain
- Palsy
- Pestilence
- Piercing weakness
- Slashing weakness
- Slow
- Sluggish
- Spell curse
- Stupidity
- Tarnish
- Tongue rot
- Weakening blaze
- Weakening chill

•Magic area of effect damage (splash damage) will no longer give extra damage if the target has his back turned against the spell's epicenter. Backstabbing bonuses for magic will only be given if you hit a player directly in the back with a magic projectile. This is another step in balancing magic vs. melee/archery and is counterbalanced by a small reduction in shield blocking damage reduction.
•Heal other & Sacrifice reach has been extended making healers a little more effective.
•Corrected problems with the Reflect Spell
•The Wisdom requirement for learning Maintenance has been reduced to 30 from 50

Accessibility/ UI / Controls

The following are just a few of the many planned improvements to Darkfall's accessibility, User Interface and Control system.
•Added first person animations for bows, grenades and magic staffs when running and walking. You can now see what you're wielding.
•Clicking on a player's name in chat will now open a message tab for that player
•When you are buying in bulk you can now type in the number of items you want
•We have increased the max number of items you can buy in bulk
•Fixed several bugs having to do with the visuals of an inventory.
•Fixed a bug where on rare occasions a player could get one of his old characters restored.
•Corrected a bug where sheathing a weapon before a missile would impact would cause a damage miscalculation.
•A "follow me" button has been added to the world map. This will make the world map always center on you.
•Corrected some party member window issues having to do with dragging the window.
•Auto-sheathing of weapons has been added when pressing the use key on an object (e.g. gravestone, mount etc.)
Village System
•Village Control Points now give 20% more gold output.
•Village Control Points have had their health reduced by 25%
•A global message will be issued 30 minutes before villages go vulnerable.

Monsters / AI

•Fighting against monsters will now approximately triple the skill gain compared to that against player characters
•Getting hit by monsters will approximately triple the skill gain (i.e. resistance) compared to getting hit by player characters
•There have been several upgrades to AI tactics and monster behavior making them less likely to be exploited.
•If you attack a mount you could go rogue depending on the status between you and the player controlling it.
Environment System

There was a bug where some areas weren't seeing enough weather effects like rain and snow and this has been fixed.

Looks like a good patch. They now force you into PvE but when will they make the actual PVE more interesting or give a true point to it beyond skill ups?

Seriously Aventurine listens to the players and knows the state of their game.  It is like.. if I went back in time and listed all of the gripes I had since beta and then look over the patch and expansion notes they directly address each of the issues.

Patch is really great, and the expansion plans are even better.  I can't wait to see how much the game grows over the next 6 months.

I have to admit it s looking alot better. I might have to fire it up again. Hopefully theres clans/guilds always needing people as that game isn t the most solo friendly.

Now if they could fix all the hacks I may, just may, resub.

can't seem to get this post formatted correctly.  self deleted.

A pile of dog crap wrapped in a nice ribbon is still just a pile of dog crap.

Originally posted by Mokwee

A pile of dog crap wrapped in a nice ribbon is still just a pile of dog crap.

Thanks for the brilliant bump Mokwee, you deserve a thanks for a post like this....dont you, you little Darkfall fanboy you....

Good boy

/pats little Mokwee's flat head

;)

 Holy shit!

Its almost scary to see how AV is fixing things in DF. I have played many other MMOs and seen anything like it before. And this was suppose to be a small patch! 

Soon there wont be any reason to not play DF.  Seriously! It wont. 

Really impressed with race alliance chat and the reception of the patch.  I am interested to see how the population is over the next week.  It seems like it's tripled since the patch.  I guess this is because people stopped playing waiting for it for the extra skill gain, but there is a ton of people on right now.

Originally posted by ProfRed

It seems like it's tripled since the patch.  I guess this is because people stopped playing waiting for it for the extra skill gain, but there is a ton of people on right now.

This is what we have said since start. Reduce the grind and let people level up fast. We want to fight on equal settings and finally AV listen. It's a pvp mmo, and we can't let new players lose for a year just to make DF "hardcore".

Good job from AV.

 A sad day for my clan buddies and I. During the summer, we grinded the hell out of our minds to attain multiple lvl 100 schools and high melee weapon skills. Now I have barely any time for Darkfall as I still have to write 3 essays and an outline of a chapter right now.

On the bright side, at least more people will use archery now, I think. I like archery actually even though I used high level nukes almost all the time.

AV makes their patches and "expansions" seem like they are fixing the game and making it better. but if you had been following the game before release and played it at launch you would know that they arent tweaking they are adding things that should of existed at launch.

like the ability to see your bow while using it, really? it took them this long to get that into the game...? good try av for trying to make your lack of professionalism look like your listening to your playerbase