Come back to Camelot offer - free log in 7/14 to 7/24

[Xanthippe]

Received an email inviting me to play DAOC again (as a former player).  From the website
http://www.comebacktocamelot.com

We're offering you the chance to come back to Camelot for free. As a former* player, we'd like to give you 10 free days** to discover what has kept others playing while you've been away. You won't even have to start over; your character awaits you just as you left it when you last played.

Note that this is a limited time offer. You must log into your account between July 14-24, 2005
to receive 10 days of free play

The "classic" servers are running at capacity - well, 2 of the 3 of them - while the others are running far less than capacity.  I wish they'd made the classic servers such that one could make an insta-50 - I played enough today to remember how much I hate the pve in DAOC - which was very little actually - spent the time catching up with friends who were levelling an artifact.  Ugh, levelling an artifact.  What kind of bonehead thought that one up?

The game looks old, and feels slow and kludgy.  Predictably, RAs and artifacts and MLs have turned rvr battles into very quick things, over way too soon.  Hell, I recall people bitching about fights being over too fast before RAs were even in the game.  Now it's way worse from what I was told.

If only I could be a lady farmer or fisherman.  Maybe then I could stay in the game, chatting away and happy with the social aspect.  The crafting hasn't been changed at all that I could see.  I don't have Catacombs, so I don't know how that is.

OTOH, I spent more time downloading the EQ2 trial than I spent playing it.  Thus far, it hasn't called to me to play it again.  So much about that just felt wrong and buggy.

Ah, the ennui of summer has drifted upon me.  Nothing is good enough.  Pass the pamprin.

[sinij]

This should be two-fold lesson to any and all developers. Not all changes, especially ones centered on empty shiny and mudflation, are good. Going back on something can be worth-while, UO I'm looking at you.

[Strazos]

Too bad I never got any expansion, or even to lvl 20 in DAoC.

[Paelos]

DAOC was my first MMOG, and thus I have an attachment to it. However, the grind still made me quick the game once before I got to 50, and the only reason I made it was a dedicated guild bent on getting me there. I'll say it again, the idea of trying to level another toon, Catacombs or not, fills me with an unending rage only Haemish could fathom.

[schild]

No.

But I offer this:

In war we're tough and able,
Quite indefatigable.
Between our quests we sequin vests and impersonate Clark Gable.
It's a busy life in Camelot.

I have to push the pram a lot.

[HaemishM]

Got the email, promptly deleted it.

The last time I played, I wrote a review about it. I can sum up the review in "PVP fun, leveling NOT. I did more leveling than PVP."

[WayAbvPar]

I can't bring myself to ever play it again. The PvE was just so tedious and boring. Even more so than EQ, or any of the later games.

[Xanthippe]

I was surprised to find that the pve in EQ2 was no better.  The graphics didn't thrill me either.  Only having played EQ for about 4 hours though, maybe the unfamiliarity of the interface was partially to blame for my dissatisfaction. I expected something more ... quick, I guess.

[Nebu]

I was surprised to find that the pve in EQ2 was no better.  The graphics didn't thrill me either.  Only having played EQ for about 4 hours though, maybe the unfamiliarity of the interface was partially to blame for my dissatisfaction. I expected something more ... quick, I guess.

No, your first impression was a good one.  The PvE in EQ2 is still a boring treadmill with little hope.  Even the best of interfaces couldn't have saved it.

As for Camelot, it's all about delayed gratification... something that a "game" shouldn't require.  If you can stomach the treadmill to the endgame, the rvr is quite fun.  It's just a shame that so much tedium has to be endured just to get to the enjoyable part of this or ANY game.

[Xanthippe]

I wonder how many copies would fly off the shelves if Mythic decided to open some Frontiers only servers with insta-50s.

I would pay for that.  That's what it would take for me to go back.

[squirrel]

I wonder how many copies would fly off the shelves if Mythic decided to open some Frontiers only servers with insta-50s.

I would pay for that.  That's what it would take for me to go back.

I'd be there in a heartbeat. But no-way no-how will i grind to 50 again, no matter how 'easy' catacombs makes it.

[ClydeJr]

I was going to try it and downloaded the 1GB+ engine upgrade from SI to Catacombs. Unfortunately I decided to check to Herald to see the stats on my characters and it looks like they got purged (although they've been inactive for about 2.5 years). 2 50s down the drain...

[Soln]

I wonder how many copies would fly off the shelves if Mythic decided to open some Frontiers only servers with insta-50s.

I would pay for that.  That's what it would take for me to go back.

I'd be there in a heartbeat. But no-way no-how will i grind to 50 again, no matter how 'easy' catacombs makes it.

I'll third (?) that. Let me pay extra for a 'fifdee and I'll resub.  Played for 1.5yrs (x2 accounts) and only got to lvl 45.  RvR was a blast, although at 45 it was usually over after the first 3-5secs in the first skirmish then a lovely 5-10min trip back... Love those AoE's:(  So, let me correct that last sentence:  BG's were a blast, RvR sux a$$ unless you are a HC catass lvl 50 (I quit before the horror that is ToA, but I hear now that's made it unplayable for the non-artifacted). 

So I'd resub if I could start at 50 and there was none around with artifacts playing at effectively lvl55+.  After the whole endgame of DAoC is RvR, why just people get on with it? 

[Soln]

..sry my bad less Diet Coke

[Xanthippe]

I was going to try it and downloaded the 1GB+ engine upgrade from SI to Catacombs. Unfortunately I decided to check to Herald to see the stats on my characters and it looks like they got purged (although they've been inactive for about 2.5 years). 2 50s down the drain...

My characters were still there, despite not being listed on the Herald.  Yours probably are, too.  I don't think Mythic has yet purged any characters, other than perhaps banned characters.

[HRose]

I wish they had took my old idea (12 April 04).

Slap in the Catacomb expansion a one-time use code that instantly levels your toon to 45.

[Paelos]

I wish they had took my old idea (12 April 04).

Slap in the Catacomb expansion a one-time use code that instantly levels your toon to 45.

I wish you'd quit whoring out your old links on this site. FYI, they don't listen to you because you don't work for them.

[stray]

Whaddya know?

I wish that too.

[Johny Cee]

Don't like the idea of the insta-50 bit. 

You'd have people breeze in,  roll some 50s,  get rolled by the nearest powergamer/gank group.  Quit.  Even without inequities caused by artifacts/ToA,  people who know what the hell their doing and run in regular groups will drop casuals no problem.

In the process,  I think it would pretty well shatter the communities.  And the big draw of this type of game is the social scene/community.

I'd like to see the levels 40-50 have their xp cut massively.  Again.  Bump xp for bgs to a point where it's inefficient NOT to go to the BG.  Maybe cut out level 1-20 in it's entirety.  Change health/power regen rates in the homelands only so that if you have to xp or kill a mob, it's not a game of watching your character sit.

Unfortunately,  the main problem with the game is the systemic flaws in the magic/combat system.  Interrupts,  the fact that you can neither live with or without CC, no diminishing marginal returns to investment in spec lines, high damage in rvr, etc.  Overhauling and tweaking the underlying mechanics that much would be a fucking disaster.

I do hold out some hope for Warhammer.  Mythic has proven to be a good adapter/emulator,  if not a great innovator.  I'd expect to see them adapt to WoW and their own strengths,  while minimizing the weaknesses.

[stray]

Unless Mythic makes "Warhammer", and not "everything we learned from Daoc, but with Warhammer skins", I'm not going to like it. No matter how good of a "better Daoc" it may be. I don't want to see one ruleset or design referenced from that game. [EDIT] Ok, I'm not going to be THAT shitty about it...But still, I hold little hope that this won't be anything but Warhammer in a superficial sense.

[Johny Cee]

Unless Mythic makes "Warhammer", and not "everything we learned from Daoc, but with Warhammer skins", I'm not going to like it. No matter how good of a "better Daoc" it may be. I don't want to see one ruleset or design referenced from that game.

Difference of opinion. 

I'd like to see "Everything we learned from Daoc, WoW, and CoH;  now with Warhammer".  Mostly,  that's because I have more faith in evolution over innovation.  Innovation tends to be tricky,  risky, and not particularly done well.

[stray]

Unless Mythic makes "Warhammer", and not "everything we learned from Daoc, but with Warhammer skins", I'm not going to like it. No matter how good of a "better Daoc" it may be. I don't want to see one ruleset or design referenced from that game.

Difference of opinion. 

I'd like to see "Everything we learned from Daoc, WoW, and CoH;  now with Warhammer".  Mostly,  that's because I have more faith in evolution over innovation.  Innovation tends to be tricky,  risky, and not particularly done well.

I just don't see Warhammer as being all that compatible with the other three. I don't expect an exact translation or anything, but I'd be pleased if they start taking the approach Turbine has done with D&D. At least with DDO, they're trying to be loyal to D&D moreso than they are AC, EQ, WoW, CoH, etc..

The video game medium and the MMO genre as a whole should be taken into account, of course, but the first priority should be to accurately represent the license. Not the other way around. If Mythic starts giving me signs that they're building upon a Warhammer foundation, then adding on all of their good ideas on top of that, then I'll be interested. If they're going to tack on Warhammer on top of said ideas, then I won't.

[Hoax]

I just dont see how it can possibly work...

Unless GW/Mythic suddenly grow two brains and realize in order for it to make sense in a MMOG they need to use something more akin to Mordheim then WHfantasy.  Which they wont, therefore the whole thing is just going to be "teh new shiney" with some GW looking characters.

[HRose]

with some GW looking characters.

You are asking too much.

[Soln]

Don't like the idea of the insta-50 bit. 

You'd have people breeze in,  roll some 50s,  get rolled by the nearest powergamer/gank group.  Quit.  Even without inequities caused by artifacts/ToA,  people who know what the hell their doing and run in regular groups will drop casuals no problem.

In the process,  I think it would pretty well shatter the communities.  And the big draw of this type of game is the social scene/community.

I'd like to see the levels 40-50 have their xp cut massively.  Again.  Bump xp for bgs to a point where it's inefficient NOT to go to the BG.  Maybe cut out level 1-20 in it's entirety.  Change health/power regen rates in the homelands only so that if you have to xp or kill a mob, it's not a game of watching your character sit.

Unfortunately,  the main problem with the game is the systemic flaws in the magic/combat system.  Interrupts,  the fact that you can neither live with or without CC, no diminishing marginal returns to investment in spec lines, high damage in rvr, etc.  Overhauling and tweaking the underlying mechanics that much would be a fucking disaster.

I do hold out some hope for Warhammer.  Mythic has proven to be a good adapter/emulator,  if not a great innovator.  I'd expect to see them adapt to WoW and their own strengths,  while minimizing the weaknesses.

that's all valid, but I just wonder how big the server communities are that are left (no insult).  There could easily be bad behavior and inbalance with insta-50's, but frankly the endgame is RvR and I would think most people would welcome new opponents in the Frontiers.  Also, these people would be coming in more or less untwinked (unartifacted at least), and in my case, without any knowledge and PvP experience of many of the new skills.  I don't think an "insta-50" would be on par with a 50 in-game already.  And finally, the game needs life.  Again, not trying to be rude, but DAoC seems a dying game.  There are several people here all saying we would gladly resub if there was some mechanic and advantage to get us into RvR quickly.  We all agree that would be worthwhile.  The problem, as were discussing, is how Mythic could implement it.  I agree it would not be trivial, but hopefully they could start on a new instance as a test.

[Numtini]

Even if you have instant 50, you still have a crushing grind ahead of you. The last time I played I had a 48 or something or other. First thing my guild wanted was for me to spend the next two months every sunday afternoon getting my MLs. That was like 4+ hours in what was basically supervised autofollow while some ubers actually did the quests. And then lots of groups to XP what was it artifacts?

That was to get me up to "competitive" in RvR.

I really liked what I was seeing with new frontiers, but I just couldn't deal with that.

[WayAbvPar]

Even if you have instant 50, you still have a crushing grind ahead of you. The last time I played I had a 48 or something or other. First thing my guild wanted was for me to spend the next two months every sunday afternoon getting my MLs. That was like 4+ hours in what was basically supervised autofollow while some ubers actually did the quests. And then lots of groups to XP what was it artifacts?

That was to get me up to "competitive" in RvR.

I really liked what I was seeing with new frontiers, but I just couldn't deal with that.

Ummm, yeah. Fuck that noise.

[HRose]

Even if you have instant 50, you still have a crushing grind ahead of you. The last time I played I had a 48 or something or other. First thing my guild wanted was for me to spend the next two months every sunday afternoon getting my MLs. That was like 4+ hours in what was basically supervised autofollow while some ubers actually did the quests. And then lots of groups to XP what was it artifacts?

Okay, but ToA is GONE.

When I write about DAoC I don't consider anymore the artifacts. From my point of view from now the game is just about the "classic" servers and nothing else.

Yes, there are still the realm skills but I definitely do not think that the PvP is inaccessible right now. Even without my idea of the one-time use code we still have to remember that now you can enter PvP right at level 1. Yes, there are huge problems (siege engines wrongly calibrated, not enough players around etc..) but the possibility is there and you can enjoy the PvP right away.

There are MANY points to criticize about the game but the most popular ones aren't anymore valid today.

If you hate ToA now you can play WITHOUT it. So it's pointless to still rant about it.
If you hate the PvE you can now just level through PvP.

[Strazos]

Someone explain to me how, at level one, you contribute anything in PvP?

You're a one-hit kill.

[HaemishM]

If you hate the PvE you can now just level through PvP.

Except that even on the classic, no-TOA servers, I'd imagine finding PVP at levels under 20 isn't going to happen. And on the other servers, you know, the majority of the other servers, you DO have TOA, everyone has outleveled you, yadda yadda yadda.

EDIT: For Strazos, Hrose is talking about the level 1 battlegrounds, I'd imagine, which only have levels 1-4. But really, who the fuck is going to go into them before level 3 or 4? That's right, no one. At least not more than once.

[Xanthippe]

I think some people misunderstood my post about the insta-50s.

Classic server, frontiers only, no homeworld.  Thus, no ToA - so no artifacts or MLs. 

No uber loot.  Just some sort of generic whatever armor - give em epic.

No crafting.

So no pve grind what-so-ever.  Just rvr.  That's all.

I think this would attract a different sort of player in general, so the DAOC community wouldn't suffer any more than it already is.

[HaemishM]

In other words, Guild Wars style.  :-D

[Strazos]

You mean, without the godly, balenced PvP?

[HaemishM]

It is Camelot. Of course without.

[Hoax]

Why does everyone get a hard-on for DAOC regardless of how much of the horrible craptastic grind they get rid of?

Other then you poor souls who had this pile as your first MMG I dont see what the appeal is.  RvR is shite, follow trains, pointless positional chains nobody used trumped by 1-3 skill mashing for each class.  AoE cc, horrible balance, did I mention AoE cc oh and horrible stealth implementation.  Not to mention Buff bots, the endless ctf-without-score boredom that was taking Keeps/relics and the ugly gfx.

I just dont get it, if DAOC was not your first MMG and you still keep wanting to go back to it would you please explain why to me?  I know such people exist, hell I've gamed with a bunch of them, there must be a reason I'm missing.