Just about everything needs fixing, but at the very minimum the economy, sieging, and character progression need adjustments.  

The main problems as I see it are/were the huge grind and the lack of a skill cap that perpetuated that grind and made everyones character basically the same.

For me, character progression and UI and sound effects/music/amience.  Clicking on a tree and watching my guy chop chop chop all day long, this is a GRIND and is quite NON interactive except for moments where I must rest or move to a new tree.  This "mechanic" exists with almost every other skill in the game.  Instead of making it rewarding and fun they've turned it into "work" and something that can be done while reading a book or watching TV.  Any game that designs itself into making you do everything else BUT play the game, is just horrible.

The UI, just needs to feel more intuitive and user friendly, and maybe even moddable. 

Sound just needs a major overhaul to help with immersion.

Originally posted by elocke

For me, character progression and UI and sound effects/music/amience.  Clicking on a tree and watching my guy chop chop chop all day long, this is a GRIND and is quite NON interactive except for moments where I must rest or move to a new tree.  This "mechanic" exists with almost every other skill in the game.  Instead of making it rewarding and fun they've turned it into "work" and something that can be done while reading a book or watching TV.  Any game that designs itself into making you do everything else BUT play the game, is just horrible.

The UI, just needs to feel more intuitive and user friendly, and maybe even moddable. 

Sound just needs a major overhaul to help with immersion.

I'm sorry but maybe you could care to give me an example of a game where chopping a tree is just downright riveting?

UI is fine once you change the UI button off of right-click. I don't know why they have it there but its ridiculous and will get you killed. Set your UI button to something like ESC and you'll be fine.

This game along with EVE are the only 2 games in over 10 years that I haven't turned off the music. The ambience/feel of the world is one of the best parts of the game. No other game does it matter that you're hearing footsteps or a spell casting in the distance.

For me, obviously something about the grinding/skill cap. Next, skill progression: I hate that evreyone is a caster/archer/fighter. I wish there were specializations or boons/boosts that encourage different 'builds'.

stats and skill progression WITH A HARD CAP.

optional first person view for melee combat.

better character modles.

more player buildable towns/keeps/castles/fortifications/crafting tables/houses/etc.

siege mechanics so you can destroy anything player made.

better mounted combat mechanics.

and for God's sake make that stupid yellow cast bar in the middle of the screen optional.

Originally posted by helthros

Originally posted by elocke

For me, character progression and UI and sound effects/music/amience.  Clicking on a tree and watching my guy chop chop chop all day long, this is a GRIND and is quite NON interactive except for moments where I must rest or move to a new tree.  This "mechanic" exists with almost every other skill in the game.  Instead of making it rewarding and fun they've turned it into "work" and something that can be done while reading a book or watching TV.  Any game that designs itself into making you do everything else BUT play the game, is just horrible.

The UI, just needs to feel more intuitive and user friendly, and maybe even moddable. 

Sound just needs a major overhaul to help with immersion.

 

I'm sorry but maybe you could care to give me an example of a game where chopping a tree is just downright riveting?

<...>

The unrivaled number one and most exciting gathering mechanic i ever experienced in a MMO is Ryzom's ressource gathering.

You set up you gathering options, with different options you have different gathering results, if you not focus on it and takes measures against you can a)exhaust a ressource node by your actions or b) the resource nodes even can explode, which can KILL you. Tell me a game where gathering action can even kill you ;)

Changing the nature of the game will alienate the current player base without overcoming the disdain many have for the game. Not changing the nature of the game will result in attracting very few, if any, new players. So either completely abandon the franchise or stay very close to the game as it is. A good start might be to dust off the original feature list and see what can now be implemented without changing what they actually made. MMO sequels are generally a bad idea.

Smoother experience, better combat and more sand obviously.

Also i disagree with the poster above, working on the core mechanism could be a great thing for any mmo in fact, usually companies don't have the balls to do it, or if they do it, it is to implement features that are at the opposite of the original design. For example SWG NGE and Uo. Both had core mechanism revamped, but they are at the opposite of what is expected by the players which piss them off. If a game is able to revamp their core mechanism every few years and stay fidel to their original design, it would be great for the game,and i think be welcome by a mojority of player.

Originally posted by Requiamer

Smoother experience, better combat and more sand obviously.

Also i disagree with the poster above, working on the core mechanism could be a great thing for any mmo in fact, usually companies don't have the balls to do it, or if they do it, it is to implement features that are at the opposite of the original design. For example SWG NGE and Uo. Both had core mechanism revamped, but they are at the opposite of what is expected by the players which piss them off. If a game is able to revamp their core mechanism every few years and stay fidel to their original design, it would be great for the game,and i think be welcome by a mojority of player.

 "Working on" is fine. Changing the nature of it is bad. For instance adding large no PvP areas would be bad, and exactly what most people who won't play the game would want.

Originally posted by DarthRaiden

Originally posted by helthros

Originally posted by elocke

For me, character progression and UI and sound effects/music/amience.  Clicking on a tree and watching my guy chop chop chop all day long, this is a GRIND and is quite NON interactive except for moments where I must rest or move to a new tree.  This "mechanic" exists with almost every other skill in the game.  Instead of making it rewarding and fun they've turned it into "work" and something that can be done while reading a book or watching TV.  Any game that designs itself into making you do everything else BUT play the game, is just horrible.

The UI, just needs to feel more intuitive and user friendly, and maybe even moddable. 

Sound just needs a major overhaul to help with immersion.

 

I'm sorry but maybe you could care to give me an example of a game where chopping a tree is just downright riveting?

<...>

The unrivaled number one and most exciting gathering mechanic i ever experienced in a MMO is Ryzom's ressource gathering.

You set up you gathering options, with different options you have different gathering results, if you not focus on it and takes measures against you can a)exhaust a ressource node by your actions or b) the resource nodes even can explode, which can KILL you. Tell me a game where gathering action can even kill you ;)

Agree with ya there, Darth.

Ryzom's harvesting system is brilliant, IMO. It's a mini-game in itself. Better yet, it's set up in such a way where two people can work together to harvest... one harvesting and one care-planning. Awesome stuff.

Actually, Ryzom does a lot of things extremely well. Their custom spell system, via "stanzas" is brilliant as well. The crafting system and how materials affect the results of armor, how the crafters have such direct control over the stats, etc... again... brilliant.

It's unfortunate that so many dismiss Ryzom for what it doesn't do well, considering that there's so much that it does brilliantly.

Grind, get rid of it. Specializations in combat and crafting. It's fine that they are going with the armour specization thing, but  is doing nothing to fix the everyone is a armour-weapon-alchemist-enchantrix-herblore-mining-herbing-bowyer-woodworking--fisherman-cooking-taming-shipbuilding-lumberjack issue.

I want trade to be relevant.As well as actual empire building. So local banking, regional resources,no portals, benefits to being blue.Perhaps you set up some sort of capital market in the capital cities where you could sell stuffn or put up offers to buy stuff. To compensate for portals gone and actually add some risk/reward to traveling you increase speed on roads by x%.

And what I've said is already beyond the scope of what darkfall would ever achieve, just want to point that out before going on...

Then you balances races and add race changes. Being in a all race clan will automatically flag you grey as long as your in the clan. What this all would basically do is 1. Promote people to be blue. 2. Promote clans to be only race alliance,traders aren't good. 3. Promote clans to build empires that are consecutive. No more of this holdings half way around the world crap to portal to a good spawn.

Oh, and get rid of this rng to riches bs. Chaos chest are nice, but not the "oh I found a deed" stuff. Or the rare ore crap. What they should do is get rid of rare ores, and instead make them into valuable nodes that are regional. Of course you would have to adjust the ratio of crafting materials. But the benefit would be no more rng, value is placed on certain areas, hotspots for pvp in lawless areas, much more trade. Then , all rare ores are available  on the islands-now you have ships going back and forth between the islands/main land.

Then add a unique mat on each island which will promote trade not only between the mains land, but also between islands.Or actually, having 2 unique resources, each available on two of the islands, for ex. The nw and se have one, and the other two have the other. That way you have trading ships going both latitudinal and longitudinal.

I can go on and on and on,but there is no point because the game will never achieve making a sandbox world, simply a pvp arena.

Originally posted by zymurgeist

Originally posted by Requiamer

Smoother experience, better combat and more sand obviously.

Also i disagree with the poster above, working on the core mechanism could be a great thing for any mmo in fact, usually companies don't have the balls to do it, or if they do it, it is to implement features that are at the opposite of the original design. For example SWG NGE and Uo. Both had core mechanism revamped, but they are at the opposite of what is expected by the players which piss them off. If a game is able to revamp their core mechanism every few years and stay fidel to their original design, it would be great for the game,and i think be welcome by a mojority of player.

 "Working on" is fine. Changing the nature of it is bad. For instance adding large no PvP areas would be bad, and exactly what most people who won't play the game would want.

Ye thats what i meant, changing the nature, or not staying fidel to the original design, i think its pretty much the same.

It is developed/managed by Adventurine, you can't fix that. 

Originally posted by helthros

Originally posted by elocke

For me, character progression and UI and sound effects/music/amience.  Clicking on a tree and watching my guy chop chop chop all day long, this is a GRIND and is quite NON interactive except for moments where I must rest or move to a new tree.  This "mechanic" exists with almost every other skill in the game.  Instead of making it rewarding and fun they've turned it into "work" and something that can be done while reading a book or watching TV.  Any game that designs itself into making you do everything else BUT play the game, is just horrible.

The UI, just needs to feel more intuitive and user friendly, and maybe even moddable. 

Sound just needs a major overhaul to help with immersion.

 

I'm sorry but maybe you could care to give me an example of a game where chopping a tree is just downright riveting?

That was my point.  It's not riveting.  My suggestion is to design this aspect of a game to be more enticing.  To get away from it being boring.  Vanguard surprisingly makes it a bit more fun.  First with the sound and animation of the tree actually falling, then from the mini game that harvesting brings in VG with getting special items etc. from it.  It's not "riveting" but it's a start and TEN times better than DF's click and wait for 15 minutes version, with the annoying sound of chop, chop, chop being the only indicator that anything is even happening.

Personally ( and I know they wont do it) factor skill usage to ping within reasonable limits so that someone with high ping can actually compete.

Someone will work this issue out, as more games are taking the MMOFPS path, but it wont be AV.

I enjoyed DF until the US server move, I wish I could still play it competitively with 280 ping but I cant.

-Fast skill and stat progression with specialization. We would have all kind of players, not just clones.

-Normal UI

-All-race clan members are grey. Same race clans get a 10% dmg boost.

-Paid race change

-If two clans wants to war each other, they shouldn`t be limited by the only 5 wars.

-Portal chamber outside player citys. One on each islands and a few in the wilderness on mainland.

-No more than a 20% statistical power gap between the highest level player and the lowest. More options rather than more power for vets. (stole that one from planetside).

rework combat balance: make 1h weapons useful, improve shields, decrease archery and magic

bows should be useless against metal armor, only longbow able to pierce it, but you need to be standing still

make the use of armor very intrusive against any kind of magic, less so but st still against archery and swimming

make a few more type of horses ( charger for fcombat and one for heavy packs) and make the regenerate, as it was, so be useful in combat, maybe add horse armor

make shield and bow usable from horse, horse lance too

every single ruin, there are thousand, should have its dwellers, be them monsters or npc

return every house to deed

delete any gold above say 10k

delete any banked resource above 1k

make it that a guy in full plate cannot cast ANY spell

make nodes, including trees etc, giving not always the same amount of resource

make percentage to get more ingots (refined resource) or less based on random roll plus skill

Better pve to get people out into the world would be one thing.  Another would be a hard skill cap.  Diversity is a good thing and in the current system everyone is a clone of another.