So what the heck is Darkfall

[Search]

Yea Felagunda, on EU I started Cryptic with friends then we merged with Serenity Now my name was Search Forit. Then I rerolled to NA and played with a clan so I could level my char up in peace, then went and tried out for BkS cuz they were small scale pvpers(I beat Rhade in my tryout duel btw  ) Was named Search Far. We always rolled with whoever was online(usually 5-8 as mentioned earlier) but before magic this was enough to take out anyone. We would hold down cities and fight off huge groups by just being better. That was all ruined when anyone could get 50 in a magic school and lob nuclear bombs around the battlefield and 3 shot anyone.

[Cyclonite]

Darkfall had a lot of potential and great ideas but failed to deliver.  In my opinion some things they needed in place at release were a skill/stat cap, balanced magic system, physics (who didn't get tired of guys running in circles), and a more accessible UI. The game is too far along to make any sweeping changes or they risk losing the remaining player base. Aventurine is all in on this sinking ship which is unfortunate because if they developed another similar MMO they would know what works and what doesn't.

[Felagunda]

You may or may not have been in a zerg clan. Just sayin.

Definatly was at that time

[Felagunda]

The game is too far along to make any sweeping changes or they risk losing the remaining player base. Aventurine is all in on this sinking ship which is unfortunate because if they developed another similar MMO they would know what works and what doesn't.

They needed to fix the duping bug sooner and then they needed a totally whipe of items by the end of April.  I mean the Mercs duped and made a vile forge in the first 2 months of the game and AFIAK another wasn't made 1 year and 3 months later on NA or EU b/c it cost to much and wasn't worth it.  They dupped up their skills so sad .  Korvos had 50 mil on NA guess it pays to know the right guy    BTW I was in his guild he never farmed untill they found out how to bug out the Devil's and he had his wealth way before that.

My point is alot of people left because of that and that fact that they took to long to do anything.  They wanted to realease most of the patches in huge updates that just broke/unbalanced the game even worse.  They kept doing that without fixing things that had been around since day one that was messed up.  Sound familure?

[Rhade]

Darkfall had a lot of potential and great ideas but failed to deliver.  In my opinion some things they needed in place at release were a skill/stat cap, balanced magic system, physics (who didn't get tired of guys running in circles), and a more accessible UI. The game is too far along to make any sweeping changes or they risk losing the remaining player base. Aventurine is all in on this sinking ship which is unfortunate because if they developed another similar MMO they would know what works and what doesn't.

Bolded for emphasis, but Darkfall was a great game with a lot of potential.

Early NA was some of the most fun I've ever had gaming, and our core of players went through so much together and it was the first time I saw what a clan really should be. /emotional

[Felagunda]

Early NA was some of the most fun I've ever had gaming, and our core of players went through so much together and it was the first time I saw what a clan really should be. /emotional

That is kinda sad.  Sad that is no more.  Sad that it took you that long to experience that.  Have you played many mmorpgs?  If so which ones?

[RipperX]

Darkfall was epic in it's "prime" which was the first few months when the server was full of players. I made a few Youtube videos which have garnished a decent amount of hits on the topic, ill post a few here if your still looking to get an idea on the game.  Again great game, but it needs improvements and if improved could be the best mmorpg ever. I'm still waiting on elemental arrows for archers, portals scattered all around the world, and Bindestones and Banks on boats so there can be roaming pirate clans on water.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPQwfKzV4-E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5wLuLvhlZU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Ffmri2liFU

All the best,
Ripper X

[MrShine]

Darkfall was a game with fantastic potential and lofty aspirations that did a belly flop.  It was fun for awhile early, but the touted "player skill" emphasis ultimately just turned into who could grind their character the longest and the fastest, which turned into scripts and bots and cities that were crowded yet devoid of actual players.

Picture crpg where the level cap was removed and you might get a general idea.  Character disparity ran amok, which really reduced the 'player skill' factor imo.

[Banok]

don't listen to what people say, just download the free trial and try it yourself. its DEFINATELY not for everyone.

darkfall was also prolly the most fun i've had in a computer game. its a love/hate relationship though. even though theres many things that suck about DF there is still no other computer game like it, nobody can deny it that.

although my clan has already started playing again (nomads). Im waiting for new expac which will hopefully rekindle my interest.

In my opinion some things they needed in place at release were a skill/stat cap, balanced magic system, physics

Be fair at least it actually had a physics system, even if was a dated one. no other mmo even trys to emulate physics. I've only game I ever seen it in FPS games.

[Trippin]

Darkfall was really fun at the birth of the NA server. Only the most intelligent players (those who knew how to use their resources to their full advantage), and the most skilled players were able to thrive in that era. Those were probably some of the most entertaining times I had in online gaming.

However, the game was a grindfest and everyone knew it. Those with the most grinded up characters were able to beat players ten times better than them because they could spam large AoE magic spells that took no skill to land. The real problem with that game was the grind.

To give you an idea, I permanently quit the game the day that I decided to grind up one of my magic schools (everyone had far out-grinded me at that point, as I had quit multiple times because of various gameplay flaws). It took me three hours to get "Lightning Magic" from 89-90 and "Lightning Ball" from 69-70. Keep in mind that there are eight magic schools in that game with about twenty spells each.

[DrKronic]

Also the actual gold to grind a mage was epic, I.e. really u had to be a clan to really have powerful mages, the Queen of Freehold was such a mage and it was like for a mage ur a God. Compared to any other player who is about as effective as a NPC vs U

[Felagunda]

Magic wasn't that bad to grind I have over 35 good surging and that was before they made it goe up what was 2x or 4x faster if done on mobs?  Before the end I had all intensfy at 100 and about 80 surging spells.  Who surges a beacon I will tell you who does me!

[EyeBeat]

Darkfall was fun for the first 3 or 4 months when everyone was equal and huge wars were fought.  After that it slowly went down hill.  I thought the opening of the NA server would jolt things up for people to start playing again.  Unfortunately the known exploits were launched with the NA server so certain guilds started up new characters on NA and just exploited tons of gold and wealth undisturbed.

The transfers from EU to NA were given nothing but their characters.  So you either joined with one of the NA powers that were already established or failed at trying to make a new force since everyone already had way the fuck ton more than you.  I tried to do the second option and it did not work at all.

Part of being good at Darkfall was also knowing a good programmer to make you some really good AFK macroing programs.  I had people go into other guilds and steal these programs since I didn't have time to figure out how to make them myself. 

Real life took over as I started working way the fuck more and Darkfall became more of a game that seemed impossible to keep up with.  Darkfall rewards people that do nothing but play it.  You will never rise above them so do not even bother trying to play Darkfall casually. 

[Cyclonite]

They needed to fix the duping bug sooner and then they needed a totally whipe of items by the end of April.  I mean the Mercs duped and made a vile forge in the first 2 months of the game and AFIAK another wasn't made 1 year and 3 months later on NA or EU b/c it cost to much and wasn't worth it.  They dupped up their skills so sad .  Korvos had 50 mil on NA guess it pays to know the right guy    BTW I was in his guild he never farmed untill they found out how to bug out the Devil's and he had his wealth way before that.

My point is alot of people left because of that and that fact that they took to long to do anything.  They wanted to realease most of the patches in huge updates that just broke/unbalanced the game even worse.  They kept doing that without fixing things that had been around since day one that was messed up.  Sound familure?

Oh yeah I forgot about the various exploits. The exploit that really bothered me was the acid pool exploit because it created huge pvp imbalances so early in the game. Some beta testers knew full well about it but decided they wouldn't report it so they could abuse it for their own gain.  It was clear early game who exploited this bug because you literally couldn't kill these guys in pvp without 3-4x numbers. People's defense was "well you will eventually catch up to them" but in reality you won't because those are the guys who will do anything to max their characters. It's almost a metagame of who can find the next exploit to gain an edge over everyone else.

Oh and another negative aspect of this game, the community. It literally has the worst community of any game ever created. If you want to surround yourself with degenerates then darkfall is the place.

[Gorath]

Bolded for emphasis, but Darkfall was a great game with a lot of potential.

Early NA was some of the most fun I've ever had gaming, and our core of players went through so much together and it was the first time I saw what a clan really should be. /emotional

^
This.  Had a blast roamin with Rhade and Van in the beta and EU1 launch period, pre-magic fuck all bullshit aoe spam craptastic letdown etc etc.  2am raiding groups of house burning trolololing and whatnot.  Good times.

Biggest killer of the game for me, aside from the stupid shit mentioned already (craptastic UI/Chat/Trade/Blah blah) was the fact that during beta they kept referencing an oblivion/M&B-esque melee system.  What they gave us was CS-style LMB spam knifing melee with a nigh-worthless block mechanic.  After the grind bullshit for magic and stats hit big from the carebear zap-tower hiding macro bitches, with a shitty melee system to play with I just flat out lost any interest and went back to playing M&B until Warband came out.

DarkFail-  So much potential and broken promises delivering a grindtastic macro-based aoe-fest.