Rating: 
Summary: When did they add the fourth realm: Verant?
Review: DAoC player for over 2 years here. Cancelled due to ToA.Basically introduced camping, massive PvE raids requiring long hours, hundreds of hours spent farming and XPing artifacts, MLs that are buggy, and increased the gap between the haves and have-nots. DAoC separated itself from the other MMORPGs with it's outstanding Realm vs. Realm setup. It's more than just crude playerkilling. It's a very compelling end game. ToA threw it out of balance due to many of the items and ML abilities that weren't easy for average players to attain. Effectively extending the PvE grind hundreds/thousands of hours post level 50. ouch. If you like PvE, you probably weren't playing this game in the first place and were playing EQ instead. This expansion is a poorly attempted ripoff of EQ that fails on so many levels, the worst being that it actually hurts Camelot's defining feature; RvR. Stay away from this one at all costs. p.s. not n00b friendly. If you aren't an existing DAoC player, this expansion offers no reason whatsoever for you to join up.
Rating:
Summary: If you enjoy a sledgehammer to the privates, you'll love it
Review: This will do down as the worst expansion in online gaming history. Not only did Mythic(a) impart a campfest when they introduced TOA, they alienated a huge portion of their player-base. Many of those people quit. Then, they have angered the remaining loyal who played by Mythic(a)'s rules and nerfed the crap out of the Master Levels and Artifacts so that after many many days, they are useless. Please do yourself a favor and wait for World of Warcraft or even Everquest 2. Do not but this garbage game.
Rating: 
Summary: Mythic has painted themselves into a corner with ToA
Review: On the positive side, the graphics upgrade in ToA was nice, and the addition of a new race to each realm was nice as well. The new treasures and complex quests are also nice. What wasnt so nice was the GIGANTIC and necessary time sink that was built in with this expansion to characters that were already level 50. Mythic assured everyone that the Master Levels and Artifacts would have little effect on RvR. This is not true at all. There are all sorts of occurances happening daily in RvR and Mythic has begun "balancing" the Master Levels and the artifacts. The problem with this is, Mythic has had a horrible time trying to balance classes and realms. Huge gutting, sweeping and often un-thought-out changes to a class or skill can seem to happen at any time. Many people just "reroll" and start a new character. Because of this, many servers have realms that are lop-sided when it comes to RvR because many people move to a realm with a class or combination of classes that are viable in RvR therefore unbalancing the realms. Since the classes were never "optimally" balanced to begin with, Mythic added Realm Abilites to attempt to balance the classes and make RvR more balanced. Well, this didnt work either, Many of the realm abilities are overpowered (just waiting for "adjustment"), and many are useless (ToA is the ONLY reason anyone would waste points and spec in Mastery of Water). Now the Master Levels and Artifacts (that have "effects") are proving to be "difficult" for Mythic and changes have already begun. All of this really would not be a big deal if it wasnt for the time involved. Getting to 50 to begin with is not horribly difficult, but it will take some commitment. Most classes can even eventually make it to 50 solo. Getting Realm Abilities can take a little longer as it requires Realm vs Realm participation and the amount of "Realm Points" needed to gain "Realm Abilites" goes up with each level - Basically more leveling. This by itself is not a big deal, many people still RvR'ed having low realm abilites and are slowly building them up. Now add Trials of Atlantis. The majority of the content in Trials of Atlantis is for toons that are level 50 although there is some stuff that is a little lower in level, it should also make a good area for groups in the 40's. ToA basically turned this game into EQ light. This would be cool too, if I hadnt left EQ because of the time sink involved in the game. I will never have the time needed to achieve some of the Master levels and artifacts that WILL be needed in RvR. Some Master Levels and Quests can actually be solo'd but many require huge groups. Many of the dungeons are "locked" meaning you cant enter without a certain Master Level. There are still "pathing issues" and other bugs that havent been removed since beta and because of the "riddle-like" nature of ToA, it isnt always apparent that it is a bug. Again, the problem is not really just the time involved, but the combination of the time involved and the necessity of actually doing it if you want to RvR and stay competitive in RvR. At this point Mythic has painted itself into a corner. Casual players are mad because of the time sink involved, many are leaving. They really cant take away the time sink now as many people have actually trudged through some of the master levels. People that just enjoyed the RvR aspect of the game are mad because now they have to spend hours in PvE again to stay competitive in RvR. They are making many of the powergamers that have put the hours into ToA mad because they are nerfing the master levels and artifacts. Mythic has announced that they will be redoing all of the Realm Abilites now and giving "redone" versions of popular realm abilites like Bunker of Faith to every realm. Because of the foundation of this game with different classes in different realms having different stats and skills as well as how the specific realm classes team together for utility, this is bound to change the balances again, leading to more class and realm specific changes which up to this point Mythic has not been the best at handling. If you have the time, this game can be a lot fun even with the problems it has. The Player vs Monster and Player vs Player(RvR) balance of the game is truly unique and a lot of fun. I would expect what you have "worked" for in-game to change though as this has always been the norm. If you are just looking for something to pass the time before WoW or EQ2, I would consider the gold edition first and not bother with the ToA expansion until you feel you are truly commited.
Rating:
Summary: Least of the worst available right now MMORPG wise.
Review: Negatives. 1. Population disparity. Mythic refuses to implement population controls. As a result certain realms drastically outnumber their counterparts. It isn't fun trying to RVR when you're outnumbered 10 - 1. When RVR becomes ridiculous due to enemies zerging it isn't fun, when a game isn't fun I don't play. People should be automatically placed on server/realm which is underpopulated. Their only option would be to indicate which realm they want to play, and the game automatically places them. 2. Class disparity. Mythic has no concept of class balance. Realm abilities are f---ed. Certain realm abilities are absolutely useless while others are overpowered. It's taken mythic, from release til now to actually clue in and accept this fact and they claim to plan on changing it with a new "Frontiers" expansion. They've chosen to nerf the hell out of midgard classes, while beefing up albions. They ignore team leaders who provide input on classes, and say results are based on their testing. Pendragon is the test server and on average there's maybe 12 people on the damn thing. So I'd like to know just who the f--- is testing these so called class changes.
Rating:
Summary: Killed DAoC
Review: This expansion has killed the game for me and a majority of my friends. I'v been playing since release, I beta'd SI and have many level 50s. I played TOA for a few days, and cancelled my account. There is so much wrong with this expansion its not funny. It was never needed, the game had tons of unused content, yet this bug fest of overpoweredness PvE'ness has turned the game into a shell of what it once was. Let me give you a little look at how good ToA is, SINCE RELEASE, Mythic has spent every single day pathing, hot fixing, and fixing the bugs in ToA. To this day the bugs are rampant and patches are 90% bug fixes. Mythic has gone downhill. They are by far one of the worst MMORPG companies. Dont buy this, you'll save alot of money.
Rating:
Summary: Has convinced a hardcore fan to quit
Review: This expansion was a terrible mistake and a drastic departure from mythic's previous game plan. It is essentially a massive, 1000-hour time synch to aquire equipment and abilities, without which you cannot even remotely compete with your realm adversaries. If you do not have 1000s of hours you will be a second class citizen. If you have more than one character, you cannot play them both effectively, no matter how much time your have. If you do not enjoy mundane tasks and losing a lot, you will not like this game. Please do not buy this game. Wait for World of Warcraft or something else. -Retired R7L5 Paladin et al.
Rating: 
Summary: Personally I love it
Review: It seems like alot of the reviews for this game are all bad, but let me assure you that plenty of us like it! The graphics are AMAZING.. the textures and new trees really bring all your favorite old hangouts to life. The new races are also really fun to play. Albion finally gets a huge and strong race, the half-ogres. Hibernia finally gets a mean looking race, the Shar. And Midgard gets a real casting class finally, the Frostalf. Not only does the scenery look amazingly better, but all the windows have gotten a makeover, that you can choose new themes for or even make-over yourself if you know how to. Another fun feature is, of course, the world of Atlantis itself! It's so entertaining to explore the new areas (which you don't need to be highest level for by any means!) and fight underwater creatures, new land creatures, and see all kinds of amazing new places. I would recommend this to any type of DAOC player... RPer, RvRer, casual PvEer.. you'll all find something you like!
Rating:
Summary: Masterful and Horror combined = ToA
Review: Trials of Atlantis Expansion from Mythic Ent. as added cd and addon world to the original game Dark Age of Camelot is both a game shaping magnificent experience and profoundly will change gaming in all MMorPgs forever and the worst horror story you'll be part of at the same time. 1.) Discovering these new lands and creatures and people will expound your gaming experience to an unmatched level of amazement. Based on the background of the lost city of atlantis an underwater world with thick rich and complex story lines. You will need and want tons of time to do this. This new expansion almost and is entirely designed as an extension for level 50 characters who earned 50 in DAoC (orig game). 2.) The 2nd aspect of ToA are "Master Levels" or "Trials" themselves where characters complete a complex sequential series of "tests" encounters with monsters and npcs etc.. to achieve a final success of completing a "Trial". 10 tests per Trial, Nine trials. The final encounter is a massive challenge requiring superior numbers of characters with powerful talent and discipline and tons of time in real life (irl). 3.) The Trials grant the successor member (character) a "master ability" which will assist them in facing the enemy. The enemy is the other two realms from which DAoC was based. It's called RvR, Realm verses Realm where your character and realm war against the opposing. These new abilities range from ridiculously useless and inconsequential to grotesquely over powered and war altering. The only compare I could offer you is if a nuclear weapon had plunged to earth in 1200 bc and it had a "fire" trigger that was labeled with the caption "kill another nation pull the trigger". Whats the problem? DAoC is based on RvR (end game). The time it takes to complete a single Trial is approximately 4-6 hours contigously with approximately (and intermitantly) 1-5 groups of characters dedicated to performing that one task or test when your online and specifically able to attend for the full 4-6 hours. Now these tests and trials are not easy unless you have alot of organization, leadership, disciplined, kindhearted quiet people who follow and execute direction with little animosity or attitude and have the patience of a redwood tree in California. 4.) Another unique aspect to ToA expansion are "Artifacts" these are legendary powerful rare unique weapons and character wear (clothes jewelry etc.) that embue and enhance your character inorder to prepare for war with the enemy. How do you get these? Glad you asked. a.) you must find and obtain 3 scrolls per artifact. Usually by killing creatures who will eventually "drop" the scroll so you can pick it up. After 2 weeks of killing these creatures (yes I said 2 weeks) you finally obtain a 2nd scroll the third is so rare of a drop that some members have camped spots for 30 days killing enmasse nonstop to obtain. Do you have that kind of time? If not, you going to be a naked ham with kill me on their back when facing the enemy. If your a casual gamer and your about to roll a level 1 character and ultimately want to kill the enemy (someone at their computer who rolled a similar char) your going to be busy preparing for this event for about 2 years irl. Sound like fun? If so, buy the new expansion and go hog wild. If you dont have that magnitude of free game time and want to kill the enemy in a reasonable 4- 6 months after ingame preparation (hunting, questing etc.) I would seriously suggest you buy another game. Oh and let me add in several instances you kill the monster with the artifact and the monster doesnt drop it. Sometimes the monster only drops it after 12 tries or more. Did I mention it usually takes 1-3 groups of people (8 per grp) to kill this mob? Like I said, if your new your doomed, if your not...../shrug buy 30 new computers and 30 new accounts from Mythic and cram them into your spare bedroom because you'll need all of them to achieve a Master Level before year 2010. Apparently some people have this magnitude of time because their rampaging the war zones and enemy areas wiping out hordes of people who are basically cattle and die with a glazed look on their face.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Network Programming & Software
Review: First of all let me say that I love DAOC with SI. The programming there was quite good. NOW, enter ToA... Apparently Mythic didn't do a good job of network usage forecasting because as soon as they opened up ToA, the network errors and lag went through the roof spoiling the game for not only ToA players but for everyone else as well. I won't go into a big technical analysis of it, but as a person who works/programs on network software, let me just sum it up: YOU BLEW IT MYTHIC!!!! Did they ever even think what they were going to do to their network load??? Also with the way the game works, if you want to be any good in RvR, you have to buy ToA to get the better equipment. So Mythic has now handicapped those folks who cannot afford faster computers and better video cards. If you buy this, BEWARE, you really need to have a monster video card or you will have to cut you resolution to almost nothing to keep the frame rate errors down to some rate that you can deal with. So MYTHIC, did you even think this through???? If you did, then you should fire whoever did the planning and projections for it. I know I could not stand to have someone that incompetent work for me!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Total POS
Review: This game emcompasses everything DAOC players didn't want and hurts or ignores everything DAOC is about.
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