I've been reading on and off about this game since it came out. Recently, I'm starting to fall out of love with Perpetuum (due to the hatred from DEVs of new players, even a few months old) and have been actively looking for another FFA PVP game and there are so fucking few on the market of course Darkfall was on the list.

I downloaded the client last night, registered for the trial, installed it today and have been playing for the last couple hours.

1.) The installer. I work in IT but seriously who distributes their installer in a .rar? I'm willing to bet that by itself has dozens (?) of potential players going "wtf is a rar file".

so I unpack the file in to a directory and what do I get? 2 Actual clients (EU and US versions, despite having picked a North American server before I even downloaded it) and a butt load of bzip2'd files (for those of you not familiar, it's a better version of zip).

Wait forever for the installer to launch.. install .. download 54 mb of patches AND THEN PATCH ALL 7 GB OF THE DATA INSTALLER WHAT THE FLYING MOTHERFUCKING HELL FOR SERIOUS??@#$??@#?!?!?

This whole process took the better part of an hour, that might not seem like a long time but after a 7 hour client download; it is.

PS. Does the volume really need to be maxed out for your epic installer orchestral score? and why can't I have 1920x1080 windowed mode? WHY?

Yes. The install is best defined as 'This makes dial-up look attractive'

2.) Load the game, create character .. it's basically Morrowind from 9 years ago with even fewer character creation options. Why do I have to have a 3 character minimum 'last name'? Why can't I change the crack-whore Alfar fem eyes? Anyway.

3.) Brace myself for the universally reviled UI ... and .. this doesn't look that bad, a bit generic and definitely dated but ..

and then .. the game play.

4.) Words escape me for just how bad this is. I have to rebind most of the major movement keys to be able to do anything whatsoever. I have left mouse button bound to switch between the UI/Options menu/action in game? WTF??????

Uh.. Have to unsheath/sheath weapons .. wander Akathothakjaslkdjf (?) around for an hour looking for something to do ..

get warned I'm leaving the safe newbie zone .. head back .. find some goblins.. die on the 6th one because I rebound parry to USE (you know V = Use in practically everything right?) ..

can't figure out how to use spells despite having them in the vertical hotbar and that "Mana (*COUGH* MAGIC) Missle" says it needs no reagents on the tooltip) that I begged in the COMPLETELY EMPTY chat channel for how to make it horizontal to no avail the bound hot keys do nothing. I see no bind for targeting. There is absolutely no tutorial or anything at all just random vendors and a handful of mute players (4?).

Log out.. Hit official forums.. told I have no account.. head to MMORPG.com

Graphics while dated as hell aren't awful. Day/Night cycle is nice. Love the giant mushrooms. Sound effects are LOUD (default) and very .. odd. This reminds me *a lot* of some kind of multiplayer Morrowind.. which would be a good thing if it were polished as it is it feels *very* amateurish.. more like some kind of kludgy clunky mod for the 9 year old original.

I can easily see where the macroing comes in .. leveling crouch walking, sprint, jump, run I got only a few points in each in my short tenure.

I'm going to bed, I'm not sure this will see another day of play. I suspect because of the way I've read the skill system is set up this will be wasting my time like some rain forest tribe shooting blow guns at passing military planes overhead.

Watch these videos made by Val Roth to help you get started on the right path. Take your time and enjoy the journey.

Welcome to Agon.

Join a clan early. I suggest Newer or any clan with a city(not an hamlet) That dont mind helping out newb's.

Setting binds to where you feel most comfortable is the biggest part about immersing yourself. Once you figure that out and get rolling, it will be smooth sailing.

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Originally posted by Cecropia
Watch these videos made by Val Roth to help you get started on the right path. Take your time and enjoy the journey.
Welcome to Agon.

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Thanks for the link, I'm watching them bored at work right now.

A note about the graphics.. The alfar land has, by far, the ugliest terrain. It looks very dated compared to many other areas.

LOL this is everyone's first impression pretty much . ... stick with it though at least until you know why we say no other game has a bigger adrenaline rush to offer (1-6 months depending on how often you duel or take risks).

I hated this game at first too.

Chat is always dead because it only has a couple guys bored who are chatting while crafting/harvesting or just standing there doing nothing because you cannot exactly play while chatting at the same time. Most people are found in vent and never chat unless it is in their private clan chat.

Send me a tell if you are on NA if you have any questions.

This is pretty similar to my first experience with the game. The graphics look okay in the zone where I started. It was amazing how beautiful some things looked yet at the same time there were other things like flowers and different objects in towns which looked horrible.

The game is not polished at all. But I would say finish at least the trial or free month you have before quiting to give the game a fair shot. But definitely don't play for 6 months if you don't like it as someone suggested ^^^

The new player perspective is tough because of the learning curve and lack of hand holding, but this is really the only major thing wrong with what is the greatest pvp mmo ever. You will be astounded at how little any of this matters when you have basically built your own custom UI with binds suited to your playstyle. Darkfall isn't WOW -- there is little development committed to hand holding and more committed to providing a rich pvp experience. You'll get it in time. Is this a game with unlimited development capital? no. But the game is more fun than games that do have such funding.