I've played EQ2 up to level 48'ish. I like the PVE content, I enjoy the game for the most part. It runs kinda crappy and the character animations are awful. Besides that It's alright.

I have not played AOC wondering if I should bother investing any time into it now I hear it's a good game.

Darkfall is the odd one here it's the hardcore pvp nonsense I keep hearing about. I downloaded the trial and haven't started yet but I've seen a few tutorial videos and the graphics look nice and the monster AI looks good. Any suggestions?

Oh also, I do not share any hate torwards SOE or Funcom so I do not want to make my decisions based on the developer.

I never played EQ2 (for a long time), but I have played AoC and Darkfall.

AoC:  I found AoC to be a pretty fun game.  Its combat system kind of cool with how the combos work, and the graphics are amazing.  At its core, the game is basically about doing quests and gaining exp, much like WoW.  The dungeons are...okay, nothing special, nothing horrible.  Not much grouping in AoC for the most part, so it's great if you like solo.

The PvP isn't horrible, but nothing special either.  I liked the different classes a lot, there is a great melee/caster DPS called Herald of Xotli that is one of the coolest classes ever in an MMO I think.  Caveats here are that you need a pretty beefy system to run it.

Darkfall:  Before I say anything else, I want you to know that Darkfall is basically a B-rated game from an indie developer.  I played it for a while and it does have some genuinely cool things about it.  The world is huge, and it's actually fun to explore.  You can find some really cool things, and you always have a feeling of danger because of the open world PvP.  The combat is fun and twitchy too.

The downsides for me were that the grind was HORRIBLE in Darkfall.  If you ever want to get good enough to PvP, you literally have to spend over a month doing nothing but grinding skills.  And even then, you will be sub-par.  Worse still, while you are trying to skill up, more experienced players will be trying to make your life a living hell, ganking you whenever they see you and you will have no chance when they find you.  This can be partially mitigated by joining a decent (and remote!) guild.  However, nothing protects you from ganking completely.

So I guess if I were to pick one for you, I would say AoC.  Darkfall is a very hardcore game, and I do not think it is a good game currently.  If they made the grind less severe, I may change my opinion of it.

Originally posted by Creslin321

I never played EQ2 (for a long time), but I have played AoC and Darkfall.

AoC:  I found AoC to be a pretty fun game.  Its combat system kind of cool with how the combos work, and the graphics are amazing.  At its core, the game is basically about doing quests and gaining exp, much like WoW.  The dungeons are...okay, nothing special, nothing horrible.  Not much grouping in AoC for the most part, so it's great if you like solo.

The PvP isn't horrible, but nothing special either.  I liked the different classes a lot, there is a great melee/caster DPS called Herald of Xotli that is one of the coolest classes ever in an MMO I think.  Caveats here are that you need a pretty beefy system to run it.

 

Darkfall:  Before I say anything else, I want you to know that Darkfall is basically a B-rated game from an indie developer.  I played it for a while and it does have some genuinely cool things about it.  The world is huge, and it's actually fun to explore.  You can find some really cool things, and you always have a feeling of danger because of the open world PvP.  The combat is fun and twitchy too.

The downsides for me were that the grind was HORRIBLE in Darkfall.  If you ever want to get good enough to PvP, you literally have to spend over a month doing nothing but grinding skills.  And even then, you will be sub-par.  Worse still, while you are trying to skill up, more experienced players will be trying to make your life a living hell, ganking you whenever they see you and you will have no chance when they find you.  This can be partially mitigated by joining a decent (and remote!) guild.  However, nothing protects you from ganking completely.

 

So I guess if I were to pick one for you, I would say AoC.  Darkfall is a very hardcore game, and I do not think it is a good game currently.  If they made the grind less severe, I may change my opinion of it.

Wow. Thank you for the quick detailed response. I have been getting similar information about darkfall being an extremely grind heavy game which I'm not very fond of. The other aspects of the game seem intriguing but yeah I suppose i'm leaning more torwards the other two PVE games. I'm not much of a solo player but I also hear the first 70'ish levels of EQ2 are low population so theres lots of solo'ing there too...

I've played EQ2 and AoC both to end game and they are both decent quest grinders if thats your thing. AoC was the last one I tried and for me, it was super boring because you are forced to quest grind solo to max level before the fun really started. Neither game takes long to reach max level, but I really dislike having to solo 79 levels to begin having fun.

DF is completely different and if you feel EQ2 ran crappy on your system, you will probably be very disappointed in AoC and DF performance.

I've played all three MMOs you mentioned. Actually, I tried EQ2, but it didn't really keep me interested.

Between AoC and DF, it depends on what you're looking for. AoC has great graphics and an awesome IP behind it while DF has good graphics and a great world with mobs. AoC has a bigger developer behind it, so it'll be more polished. DF gives you a better sense of danger and adventure.

I haven't played AoC since launch, so I can't give you any up-to-date info on it. From what I've read, it's improved since launch, but it was so bad at launch just about anything would've made it better.

DF also had a rough launch and is still trying to right the ship. They just released a major patch which adds a fair amount of new stuff. There's a giant expansion promised for next year that will basically overhaul the entire game.

Of the two, I enjoyed DF a lot more than AoC. DF does have a grind, but it's only as bad as you make it. I played for half a year and was only ganked a handful of times, while others seem to be ganked a lot more. YMMV, especially depending on which race you choose.

like the above stated AoC ( and DF to a lesser extent) takes a good computer to run it well. AoC with low graphics settings is just not that good.

they are very different games but lukily they both have free trials. give them a shot an see for yourself.

EQ2 for the in depth pve

AoC for the action and pvp

Darkfall for the UO style gameplay, high risk PVE

EQ2 is the only quest grinder outside of WoW to keep me interested longer than the free month.  The problem I had with AoC was the spam happy combat system and the fact that every zone felt so small and boxed in compared to other games out there.

Naw, go with FF14, I hear its going on sale soon.

Man... all three of those game developers would have to pay me to play  those games.

But.. If i really had to choose I would grab AoC.

Darkfall just suxs for anything but rocket arena reskinned as a fantasy theme and EQ2 is old and clunky crap.

Originally posted by seabeast

Naw, go with FF14, I hear its going on sale soon.

I have FF14. Worst 75 dollars I ever spent on the CE edition. utter garbage.

Originally posted by Exavus

Originally posted by seabeast

Naw, go with FF14, I hear its going on sale soon.

I have FF14. Worst 75 dollars I ever spent on the CE edition. utter garbage.

A little advice...

Dont ever buy a collectors edition of a MMO!!!

I dunno wads up with the darkfall fanbois. Last I was there checkin things out they were literally doing the job of pushy car salesmen, doing the job of the PR.

I play FFXIV right now and am no means a fanboy, though I will admit I have been posting in favor of it recently.

Granted it is getting horrible reviews, and it can be "testing" at times when you play, the community is really good, and a major factor for me is a fresh start.  It is fun having all sorts of people around everywhere, just gives a nice feel to a game, rather start a game like AoC, Darkfall, or EQ2 and you will barely see anyone for a while.

Granted I could be wrong, but I do like the release of a game, even if it isn't in the best shape (as is FFXIV right now), but I give most things time to turn their act around, and plan on giving the game a couple months.

But of course it is up to you, Darkfall isn't a bad game, just has a really bad community.  AoC is fun, but I haven't played it since release+3months really, so not sure how it is now adays.  EQ2 is cool, but then again I only played that for a month.