Darkfall Online RULES

Illuvatar said:

The short version: at the moment Darkfall is a flawed gem that may grow into being *the* MMO for people that enjoy PVP games in a sandbox setting.

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Keen, from Keen and Graev's Gaming Blog, has been playing Darkfall for a while now and posted his score for the game, based on several categories, in order to answer the emails he gets in regards to the game. Here's the text (emphasis mine):

Scale: Fantastic, Great, Good, Mediocre, Bad, Lousy, Total Crap.
Totally subjective. Totally my take based on how I play the game.

Skill-based system
I expected: Fantastic
They delivered: Mediocre
Reason: The system is susceptible to macroing and sets aside the value of earning skills with the value of accruing them. Example: Instead of hitting mobs with spells to earn skillups, you just spam them into the sky. The skill system could have been taken an alternate root with skill trees, skill progression and unlocks, choices between skills via branches or pools, etc.

Combat
I expected: Decent
They delivered: Great
Reason: I expected Oblivion with a lot of issues translating such a real-time system to the mmorpg gameplay. Aventurine surprised by actually pulling it off with just a few quirks that can be worked out.

Crafting
I expected: Fantastic
They delivered: Mediocre/Bad
Reason: It’s not what they advertised it to be. I’m not even knocking them for simplicity or tedium. I’m knocking them here for allowing stupid stuff to make it into launch such as only having to make the very first item from 1-100. Seriously, why craft anything but Goblin Axes from 1-100 when they take the least materials and you can skill up on them just as easily as something that takes 100x the mats? The system earns points with me for really requiring players to work at something, rewarding them with a player-driven economy, and having much of the game in general center around crafting. [Additional points added today for making the gathering system more in-line with what it should be in today's patch with resource nodes being global.]

Melee Abilities and Weapons
I expected: Great
They delivered: Lousy
Reason: Whether you’re using a dagger or a polearm, the abilities are all the same. You get a Seize (draw in), Knock back, Whirlwind, and power attack. Zero thought went into this. Additionally, combat with certain weapons doesn’t make sense or it’s not polished. Polearms do the most damage, have the most range, and the widest arc while the only drawback is they use the most stamina. Arguably using anything else is inferior. There are subtle differences, but weapons should really stand out as having their unique benefits and drawbacks. It’s too simple. Ranged Combat falls into this for much of the same reasons.

Magic System
I expected: Good
They delivered: Mediocre
Reason: The spells are just “bleh” right now. I admit that few people have even reached the elemental magics, but commenting on what I have seen I can’t possibly rank it higher. The simple bolt spell with a splash is effective and to the point, but using it to such a degree as pretty much the bread and butter is just… well, “bleh”. I’ll happily reevaluate this later.

PvE Gameplay
I expected: Good
They delivered: Total Crap
Reason: The game is obviously not a PvE game. The mob behavior is … I don’t even know sometimes. There are times I think “Wow that’s the smartest mob I’ve ever seen” and then there are times where I think “Some GM must be controlling this thing and having a great laugh” because of how bizarre they act. The fact remains that PvE introduces money to the economy and PvP redistributes it. Lately I have avoided PvE as nothing but a chore

PvP Gameplay
I expected: Good
They delivered: Fantastic
Reason: It’s the total package. The “hardcore” consequences with the political landscape combined with how completely open it all is make it for one of the best PvP experiences ever. Add in the fact that they made the oblivion style combat actually work, mounted combat work, sieges, ship combat, and almost everything they promised have really made this an experience that every future PvP game will have to live up to.

City Building
I expected: Good
They delivered: Fantastic
Reason: I added this as its own category because I really feel that they’ve achieved something special with cities. Owning land in Darkfall is the total experience. When you finally own something under the conditions of this game then that feeling you get will embody what Darkfall is all about. Just imagine how easy it will be to lose territory and how important it is that you don’t. It gives your clan a place to hang out, a place to craft, and a purpose.

Graphics
I expected: Good
They delivered: Great
Reason: I expected 1999 and I got 2007. Can’t complain with what they’ve been able to pull off. The game on max settings really is beautiful if you can look past some of the animations.

Itemization
I expected: Bad
They delivered: Good
Reason: I actually thought we would be stuck with something a lot simpler. There are several types of armor, different appearances for each race, item ranks based on skill level, durability, and functionality (although limited as mentioned in combat). ‘Enough’ diversity is there to not make you think about it. Gear doesn’t matter - exactly how it should be.

Performance / Lag
I expected: Good
They delivered: Lousy
Reason: The game itself actually runs really well on my system (70-100fps), but they lose an overwhelming amount of points for server-side lag and stability. It’s inexcusable for it to be going on this long.

Server Stability + Communication from Aventurine
I expected: Bad
They delivered: Total crap
Reason: Didn’t have to be Nostradamus on this one. The server queues lasting 3+ hours, server downtimes every day, ninja patches with no notes, and almost a total communications blackout make this category a stinker of massive proportions. The worst of any company I’ve seen actually.

Overall
I expected: Good
They delivered: Good/Great
Reason: There is something about Darkfall. It has that really important aspect that reaches out and grabs on to you to keep you playing. There is something special about all they’ve accomplished with taking PvP combat and gameplay to new places. I don’t think I’ll be able to go back to a game that doesn’t capture the same quality of PvP and potential on this scale. I’ve been saying this a lot: “Darkfall is better than I expected”. Although they could have, and really should have in 7 years, reached the “Fantastic” status, the server issues combined with the systems that fell short (like the skill system) make Darkfall Good/Great. I don’t expect much from Aventurine. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if it took them a year to overhaul the skills system. But the fact that I can set those things aside and still play a very functional and very fun game is the key.

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Illuvatar said:

I must agree though, when it comes to PvE and Melee skills. But all in all I think the game has a lot of potential. It could gather a niche like EVE has done over the last few years.

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All weapons have a knockback ability. Polearms have a slight push back (which is a son of a ***** if you are trying to run people down). I don't think polearms are OP. I've used them quite a bit and they have great uses but i'm changing over to 1 handers with shield atm. It is almost impossible to make proper use of parry with a weapon that slow added with the change that you can't parry arrows only block them. If you want to do alot of damage on every hit then you pick the biggest and slowest weapon. I don't see the issue with it.

The reason people ***** is that they try and joust a person using a polearm. If you only hit them when they hit you then you are going to lose. They have a clear advantage on single hits. If you stay in on them and use your weapon speed you are just fine. If you block their slow blows and hit them right after you can quickly take them down using a shield and 1 hander while taking very little damage.

It's fun sitting back and letting someone burn themselves out of stamina trying to kill me before i blast/beat them to death as they stand there helplessly.

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Look at it like this, if you survive some close combat with a pole-arm wielder all you need to do is run away. Because you will have more stamina left then he will.

Or like me right now, realising that I've invested in Polearm and that it can't be used on horseback.

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If you have run into a guy who actually uses parry or block (especially after it got boosted in terms of responsiveness in last patch) you will find that polearms or 2h in general are not at all overpowered. Even the slowest player in-game can block swings from a polearm.

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My alliance op in DF last night had over 200 people participating at once in the same area, and I maintained 60-80 fps throughout the duration of it.

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wynams said:

So now that this game is out, where is
ammon777's review???!!?

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Originally Posted by Ammon777
Also I get paid about $600.00 every month by the government NOT to work, for the rest of my life. You probably have to slave day after day at minimum wage jobs for the rest of your life. Who is smarter? Who has a better life? I get to play MMORPGs the rest of my life for free. I have unlimited free time. I get to play games all my life without end. And the government pays me because I am called schizophrenic. While you: you have to slave your whole life and retire with a measly sum. You come home to play games for a few hours, then log off because you have to go sleep cuz tomorrow you work again. Again, who was smarter, in the end? Who escaped the drabness of common man's life? My life PWNs your life. I laugh in your face. Fuck off.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Killuminati
Wow, congratz not only are you a parasitic piece of scum but you brag about it. At least the freaking people that work minimum wage jobs have the decency to not be pieces of shits and actually have some dignity in their life. Wow, 600 bucks woopdeefuckng doo you probably can barely eat some weeks. I guess somehow you aren't slaving your whole life like a measly scum? Wow, you get to play video games big accomplishment in life you worthless bum. Sorry buddy but no matter how well you think you are painting yourself out to be. You are under a common man. You are worse than snot. The little bugs people step on while walking are of more significance than you are as a human being. Whats funny is that you no longer even have any self-respect and flash your idiocy and disgusting nature as if you were some kind of royalty. Face it you are worthless and you will die a lonely piece of scum.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ammon777
I'm leavin Forumfall. And Darkfall.

I waited over 5 years for this interesting game concept and should have realized during that entire abysmal wait that the horrible community full of griefers and haters is going to ruin the entire game experience, no matter how well-thought out the game design was. You drive away any decent players that might have come here. It might be a good game design but I have had the last straw of tolerance with this community. So fuck you, I'm out.

Its like the wife that I will divorce because she is a bitch. ITS NOT FUCKING WORTH IT. FUCK OFF AND DIE !!!

It is bad enough tolerating a bunch of fucking assholes for over 5 years. Now I have to tolerate abusive moderators. Fuck you, mods. Please BAN THIS ACCOUNT. LOCK THIS THREAD AND MAKE IT AN EXAMPLE OF YOUR PATHETIC-NESS. IT WILL SERVE AS A TESTAMENT TO YOUR HAUGHTY DEMEANOR. I DONT WANT YOUR FUCKING BETA. FUCK YOU! If they do ban this account, make sure you note it. These moderators condone and fully support abuse of the community members. It is this same self-destructive, hideous and abusive attitude that will ruin Darkfall, not its game design. Forumfall... Hah! You think throwing insults at each other endlessly gives you more skillz? That is a fucking joke. This game will be lucky to have 40,000 subscribers after everyone with a heart finds out what worthless pieces of shit of griefers the community has always been. Go log onto Darktide and take a look around.

I'm gonna play single player games from now on. And I am gonna actually have more fun than you. Cya never! I know I wont be missed, because you're incapable of any compassion or common decency. You talk about political morality and complain about corruption and evil in the world while exercising absolutely no restraint against flaming people that should be your friends: people here should be friends in support of Darkfall, but you are all enemies to each other. This community slits its own wrists.

You can call me a carebear (oh noes!), failure, or scum (as I have been so eloquently called recently) all you want, until you are blue in the fucking face. It will make absolutely no fucking difference to me now. This community will ruin any potential that Darkfall had. Shadowbane proved that PvP communities are worthless nobodies that run around ganking each other with absolutely no brains. I must say though, its good fucking riddance for myself: since I am rid of you assholes forever. Thank fucking God I am rid of you.

So fuck off and die !!! You might have fun in Darkfall, good for you. I dont care anymore. Also, Darkfall's team is so fucking small I doubt you will get half of the content they are promising. Good luck, losers.

/signing off after 5 years of endless drudgery, boredom, & lack of dev support

This thread will be locked or deleted, I might be banned, and you will see that moderators here have no fucking ethics. At all.

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How to sneak, hide and kill, in the shadows.(Story)

Let me tell you my story.

I woke up one morning being hated by everoyone in the village.
My friends hunted me, the common people around me hunted me, even the city guards started to shoot me on sight.

I was forced to abandon my homeland, the land of the Orks..
Traveling north to the snowy lands, seeking to gain redemption and being welcome once again.
It took along while, a few hours, just to even get to the snow.

I found myself a remote island, where I could call it my home, it was empty exept for the shiny stone and the bridge.

I was naked, only with a short sword and a staff..
At the beginning of my manhunt, I found a group of three people having problems with some kobolts.
Two of them lying on the ground, shouting for help and the third one was on his way to help...

I grabbed my leafblade and blindly runned into him, chasing the poor dwarf like an animal, but alas, he had gear, skills and the weapons, all that I didnt have.
Leaving him one windgust from dying.. he slained me..

I woke up, back at the bridge on my isle, thats now my new home..
I dont know how I got there, but I was shure, I need to get my old wooden Greataxe back.

I walked around those frozen parts when I found a town without towers or bank, theese people could sell me the axe, but not without gold..
As I stood there, trying to figure out how to get the gold, I heard mounts, alot alot of mounts incomming...
The closest thing to hide under was a tiny rock.. luckily it was shaped like myself when I sits down to rest...
Hoping it works and they pass me on the right side, I sat, and wait.
One, two, three, four... more and more passed me.. some of them even runned over me, I was lucky to be alive, the high grass maby did the difference.

After that I found a lone human in the open frozen lands.. not shure how I would sneak up on him, since there was nothing to hide on really.. A few tiny bone-pieces and tiny rocks, crouching, waiting for him to turn around, after 5 minutes I was close enough to rush him..
He was killing hivekins..
I waited and waited for about 10 more minutes, until he got a bit hurt from the fighting..
NOW! the time to strike was perfect, got him down, he paniced, you could see him look all around him on where to run.
With him down, I found a fishing pole on his corpse.

Started to fish a bit of lobsters to get the gold going, but the fishingpole broke halfway there.
Leaving me with alot of fish I couldnt sell or make into food.
Once again I was desperate.

I runned around and found a goblin spawn, where there was two humans, even at full health they didnt look like a big threat in combat, so I charged into em and gave them both the killing blow.. A cloth chest, some arrows, a bow, and the gold!

Now after heading back, I bought myself the greateaxe, and a few extra arrows for the gold that was left behind.

The manhunt begins.
In a town full of ruins, monsters, humans, dwarfs and elfs, there is some perfect sneaking spots..
Going like an S thorugh the players, one to the left, one to the right, passing so closely they could feel my skin against theirs, leaving em alone for now.
Got myself up to a tower where I could shoot without any worries about they finding my location.

Loading a few arrows, changing location after every 2 shots.
Hit, hit, changing window, another hit, going downstairs, another one, he is down.

Now his friends panic, and more kobolts had followed me during the sneakwalk, they are overwhelmed, and forced to retreat with their friend lying there.

Me myself, I jumped into the water, swimming silent around to their backs.
Leaving the water without making a sound, they both sat there, resting up.
I started to load arrows into their backs, one is low on health and runs for the towers that was close by.
No idea to chase him, the other one started charing me..

cont http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=166389&highlight=good

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http://www.darkfallonline.com/expansion/ (pictures)

Darkfall's first Expansion - July 2009


Darkfall released on February 25th 2009. Since the launch, Darkfall's development continued even harder than before. Several very large patches were released but these were mainly focused on optimizations, improvements, and fixes. Our entire team and all the resources at our disposal are dedicated to development and we're working to make Darkfall the best game it can possibly be. An early result of our commitment to the game's evolution is the first of a series of regular free expansions. Following are just some of the highlights:


Massive PvE Monster Re-balancing
We've been watching the PvE dynamic and taking in player and tester feedback while experimenting with the PvE/Monster balance on our test servers. We've decided to implement a massive re-balancing of monster hit points, stats, and loot tables. We agree that many of the mid and high level monsters were unreasonably difficult to fight and we have taken serious rebalancing measures where those were needed. We've increased the gold and reagent drops for most monsters and added a higher probability for uncommon and rare drops such as steedgrass and runestones. Lower level monsters have seen fewer changes than mid to high level ones. We have been testing the results of this re-balancing and, while we're still working on it, we believe that these changes will be a huge improvement and will solve many of the problems players were experiencing with PvE.

Weapon Re-Balancing
Another much needed change: Lower rank weapons were a little too powerful, and higher rank weapons were not powerful enough. We've made adjustments on both ends to restore the proper balance.

Armor Re-balancing
Most armor has received a small increase in magic resistance. This should give warriors more of a chance against concentrated area of effect spells.

Crafting price Adjustments
Most craftable items have seen a significant reduction in crafting costs and especially in gold costs. Higher rank equipment is now a lot cheaper to produce and this should improve the market for the Darkfall crafters. Combined with the new influx of gold in the economy due to the PvE rebalancing, being a crafter in Darkfall should be more profitable than ever.

*Note on Rebalancing
The adjustments in PvE, Weapons, Armor, and crafting are the results of months of observations, feedback, experimentation and testing. Even so, we'll keep watching very closely and making any further adjustments needed.

Player Housing
This has been one of the most requested features since we announced Darkfall and it's now in the game. You can now own a house on any one of hundreds of hidden locations around Agon, on small secluded islands, in the desert of Rubaiyat, the frozen wastes of Niflheim, the deep jungles of Yssam. You can find house deeds in treasure chests, on monsters, or you can buy them from other players and use them to claim your house.

Houses offer house recall and can be upgraded to offer you benefits such as the capability of sharing your house with friends, the option of having a harvestable garden or a private workbench, and much more. Many feature an open window you can use to trade through more safely. You can decorate your house with numerous status symbols that you can find or earn. These range from fine paintings and hunting trophies, to chairs, tables and chandeliers.

This is just the first stage of the Darkfall Player Housing system. Over the coming weeks and months we will expand heavily on this system by adding many new and important features, new rare upgrades like for example more house slots, new decorations, and more house types. Of course this is Darkfall so housing is more than just a player home, its part of a much larger system:
The Village System
Player housing is tied in with the village system. Groups of houses make up a village. The Village System introduces many dynamic small scale PvP hotspots that clans can compete to control. The individual house ownership doesn't actually change but the village itself generates tax for its owner. Holding one or more villages generates direct gold income, potentially earning your clan thousands of gold every hour.

Four times a day all villages go vulnerable during which time they can either be reclaimed by their owner or taken over by another clan. Every six hours Darkfall turns into a no-holds barred deathmatch for control over villages and their taxes. This new feature gives every clan the opportunity to score strategic victories and to gain considerable income by protecting their holdings or taking over someone else's.
Character Specialization System
The Character Specialization System gives you the opportunity to enhance and customize your character based on your play-style. It features hundreds of options and thousands of possible combinations that can make your character a true specialist in what he does best. The first stage of the character specialization system allows you to choose add-ons for many of your spells. Currently there are four customizations you can choose from: You may increase the damage your spell inflicts, its velocity (so it travels faster to the target), the range of the spell, or you can choose to be able to jump while casting it. You can choose one of the four options for each spell.
You can buy these add-ons from Mages in Clan city mage guilds. You may choose to customize your spells to better suit your play-style long-term, or you can make a quick change based on your immediate needs. Buying a new add-on will override the old one and there are no limitations to how often you can change the way your spells are configured.
This is the first stage of the Character Specialization System. Over the coming weeks and months we will keep adding more customizations and options, including specializations for archery and melee combat.
Clan City Crafter Income
Whenever someone uses a crafting station in a city you own, a small gold bonus is added to a pool. Your clan bank will get money from this pool periodically during the course of the day. This adds more incentive to own holdings and perform all crafting operations in your own city or hamlet.

Darkfall's Weather System
The new Darkfall Weather system is extremely sophisticated and it simulates a real world weather system. Some of the weather effects you'll be seeing include rain, wind, variable cloud cover, fog etc. depending on the season and local conditions. Other than enhancing the beauty of the world and player immersion, the weather can affect visibility, making it a tactical ally or an enemy depending on the situation.

Title Quests
Title quests give you huge gold and item rewards and more importantly - a title. Your title gives you a boost in certain attributes depending on the title's type. If you go down the Intelligence line of quests for example, you gain titles that boost your intelligence. You may have several titles and you can switch between them once a day activating different bonuses depending on your needs.

Compass
We've added a compass to Darkfall which should provide to be a great tactical addition to the game. It makes it much easier to navigate or to call out the direction of incoming enemies.

New Mount
The Battlehorn is more than just a sturdy new mount. It's the first in a series of new advanced mounts.



Sithra
The sithra is a powerful and awesome looking elemental weapon. It will strike fear in your enemies and will be the envy of your friends and clan-mates. With their long blades of pure elemental energy they can cut through most living things with ease. The sithra is the first of a series of new and advanced weapons providing warriors with more and interesting combat options.



Skill & Spell Books
These extremely rare drops may arm even a new character with deadly spells and skills should he be so lucky as to get his hands on one of them. The skill and spell books have no requirement to use so if you're lucky enough to come into possession of the Book of Volcano, you'll instantly learn that spell and can use it immediately provided you have the proper reagents in your backpack. If you already have the spell you can read the book and get a boost in your proficiency. Skill and Spell books cannot raise your proficiency past a beginner level of the skill and spell in question. If your proficiency level is over the limit, you won't be able to use the book, but you could sell it, or give it to a friend.
Skill & Spell books can help new players get into the game faster and older ones to get a significant boost in their less developed skills and spells.
Special Attribute consumables
Attribute consumables are new rare drops that can help bridge the gap between you and your mortal enemies. These edibles will give you a permanent increase in attributes up to a medium level. They provide an excellent option for newer characters to catch up to everyone else and for adventurers to find new valuable items for sale on the open market.

Random Treasure Chests
Explorers can now find random treasure chests scattered all over Agon. They may hold rare loot like house deeds, spell books, gold, runestones, sithras, rare ores, keys, attribute consumables and much more.



The Nexus System
The Nexus System is a dynamic tactical transportation system. You can manually spawn an entrance portal and then you go and spawn the exit to it. There's a limited number of people that can use each one of these portals, they can be destroyed, and they also stay open for a limited time. Only one can be active per person. It can be used by anyone, friend or foe. The owner gets a message about who went through his portal, also when it's attacked and when it's destroyed and by whom.


Additional Features and Updates
In additions to the aforementioned new features and improvements, this expansion features hundreds of fixes, improvements and optimizations to Darkfall including: - An expandable hotbar
- You can no longer build new structures while your city is vulnerable during a siege
- New and improved Clan newsreel, featuring news filters
- New Journal Quest page
- New Journal crafting overview page
- Autocrafting is in, one of the most requested features by the Darkfall crafters
- Bulk buying from NPC vendors is now possible. This was one of the most requested features by the Darkfall community.
- Several AI updates and improvements to the Darkfall monsters
- Increased ship speed
- All figurines (mounts, cannons, warhulks, ships) have had their weight considerably increased.


COPYRIGHT ⓒ AVENTURINE 2009, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Darkfall

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