Rating: Summary: MMORPG playing at its pinnacle. Review: As a lifelong gamer, I cannot begin to tell you how refreshing this game is. After the plethora of Everquest expansions, Diablo ripoffs, and subpar multiplayer games (Anarchy and Shadowbane), DAoC comes out on top as the penultimate on-line gaming experience. With fully fleshed out PvE (player vs. environment) and PvP (player vs. player) environments, the game touts an infinite amount of depth. Granted, with the end game actually being Realm vs. Realm combat, those players looking for a deep story will be left wanting. However, the building of your character to level 50 can be extremely addicting and strangely satisfying. Add in the multitude of crafting options, guild associations and alliances, and now the upcoming housing options, this gamer cannot think of another title that gives so much for so little. Mythic's support of the game is unrivaled, supporting an in-game help and appeal system, and a wonderfully slick gaming interface, this title is unmatched in the world of MMORPG's. If you are a fan of RPG's or online gaming, you deserve to play this title at least once. With the first months subscription coming free with the purchase of the game, what do you have to lose?
Rating: Summary: High level RvR game not for the casual player Review: DAOC isn't for the casual player if your aim is to play in RvR outside of the Battlegrounds.First of all, you have to level to 50. Even a level 46-48 doesn't have much of a chance against a level 50 character because levels matter a great deal in the game. Second, you have to get spellcrafted armor and maximize your resists. Otherwise you're just roadkill for the hardcore players in DAOC. Third, you have to get yourself a SECOND account (yes you heard correctly) and level up what's contemptuously referred to as a "buffbot" Buffbots is one of DAOC's biggest problems. The term is used to describe a buffing class that's usually maximized in it's buffing capacity and is usually left at the user's realm portal keep since most buffs do not have a range limit and you cannot touch their buffbots inside their realm portal keep. There is a HUGE difference between a buffbotted player and a unbuffbotted player - the buffbot user will win 100% of the time. Yes, 100% of the time. Fourth, There's still the Realm Ability rat race. In order to even be competitive, you also need to gain realm points to buy "Realm Abilities" which range from the powerful such as Bunker of Faith" to the broken such as "Mastery of Arms" Yep, some of the Realm Abilities are still broken to this day - much to Mythic's embarassment. And lastly, if you consider yourself a casual player, don't count on the game being fun at the high end RvR for you although the lower level "battlegrounds" might allow you to be more competitive in RvR, but like "real" RvR, the battlegrounds also have their fair share of buffbotted players who'll simply step on your character like the proverbial roach if you don't have your own buffbot. And lastly, not all the classes are balanced which is probably a major understatement. Caveat Emptor on this game.
Rating: Summary: Very addictive Review: MMORPGs (massively multiplayer online roleplaying games) are a breed unlike any other computer game, and DAoC is one of the best out there. Sure, it has its problems like any MMORPG, but overall it's captivating and immensely fun. This game really begins when you hit the highest levels and can adventure in the frontiers, fighting real player enemies, which, let's face it, is definitely more challenging and exciting than fighting AI monsters. The game does appear to be more geared to hardcore players who can devote a lot of time to it than to casual players. There are three realms to explore and numerous class/race combinations you can create within those realms. The user interface is pretty friendly - someone who had never played an MMORPG could catch on to DAoC pretty quickly.
Rating: Summary: a huge time investment Review: This game can be difficult to get into. I used to play Everquest and I will make comparisons in this review. DAoC players appear more serious about the game than Everquest players. Everyone seems pretty much focused on the game-playing aspect, and for this reason, it can be hard to meet people. It felt like it took people a long time to trust new players, and because I play such online games for social interaction, I was disappointed by this. Occasionally it was possible to play with really great people, but often such groups would split at the end of the night and you wouldn't see them again. DAoC certainly has beautiful graphics, and its theme is well-grounded in Western mythology. As a student of all three areas that DAoC is based on, I enjoyed that aspect of reality. The names of the NPCs, the place-names, the classes - it was all very consistent. The manual is quite limited, and much of the gameplay is learned from other players. It can be quite hard to ask technical questions, however, if you choose a Roleplaying server. Stick with a regular server for your first character or you may be scolded for talking "out of character." Roleplaying servers however are great for those of us who do not enjoy 3l33t-speak and want to get completely into our characters. In the end, I quit playing because it became too frustrating to play with my limited time. One death could set me back three hours and I do not have that much time to invest in a game. Evaluating DAoC, I would say that it is a very deep game with a devoted playerbase without many of the problems EQ suffered from. However, it requires a strong time investment and a willingness to take on the steep learning curve.
Rating: Summary: Quit Whining...This Game Rocks Review: ...quit whining people, its not like your gonna be at level 50 in one day, it takes some effort. Secondly people keep calling the PvP horrible...in every guild ive been in on this game there have been at least 30 individuals dedicated to the RvR aspect of this game, and there are more than 100 active guilds per server. And with 4 different battlegrounds and The Frontier where you can attempt to take the keeps and magical relics which benefit the entire realm by boosting stats, saying that the PvP is bogus....is well....bogus. Other people have complained about the repetition of the game....Well what do you expect? you get new spells/combat styles almost every level, and you can specialize in different categories on your character type, for example a Runemaster on the realm of Midgard can spec. in either Darkness, Suppression or Runecarving - each of these has its ups and downs, and effectively creates many different 'styles' of runemasters. It is the same for every class. Theres also the HUMOUNGOUS selection/combination of armor and weapons you could have, as well as specialize in, and the little perks like cloaks, hats, and dyes for your armor give the user a more friendly expirience. If you get bored you can craft. This means you can adopt a profession that allows you to make a certain kind of product (EX. Tailors can make leather and cloth armor, as well as have a small skill in weaponcrafting). There are dedicated individuals in this aspect of the game as well, crafting godly weapons and armors like its nothing. In closing i would like to say that you should give the game some time, and quit complaining about the diffuculty of the beginning levels. With 1000-2000+ people on each of the numerous servers, and 3 different realms, its not like your going to be bored.
Rating: Summary: Promising but botched Review: If you enjoy tedious activities, hours of boredom, and seconds of fun dispersed inbetween, than this game is for you! If you enjoy mindless, mob-based and mismatched combat in which outcomes are determined by sheer coincidence of numbers and repetitive exploits, you will like this game! If you like well-thought out and fast paced pvp games that posit relatively equal numbers of characters with balanced abilities agaisnt each other in frequently rewarding engagements, you will be disappointed by this game. In all honesty, this game is great 20-40 seconds at a time in pvp combat. However, it can take 3-8 hours to generate these short bouts of fun. It's really disappointing that Mythic isn't competent enough to capatalize on a good concept by turning those seconds of fun into minutes, or even hours by making some simple adjustments. My advice: wait for Star Wars Galaxies. Do NOT reward Mythic for their laziness.
Rating: Summary: So-So Game Review: Let me start off by saying-There is Awful PvP. Ultima Online(a 5 year old game) has better PvP than. Second off, getting around the world is also bad. There are no portals,recalls or teleaports. You have to run everywhere or take a horse(still takes 30min from realm to realm). Thirdly, Combat is very plain- a few special moves and repeative motion of beating something with a sword or casting a few spells over-and-over. Finally, it is very very newb unfriendly. You will get no help from anyone(unlike UO or EQ). The only thing I liked was the few parties I got into. It was fun with all different characters working together.
Rating: Summary: Dark Age of Camelot Review: It seems that Mythic is now starting to ban innocent people from the game and the only contact with Mythic is when a CSR send you a tell in game to say "you have just been caught maphacking" and you are suddenly looking at your desktop. You will then recieve the autoresponce from Mythic stating that your character was caught maphacking. This will be the last you will hear from them. They will not answer emails and you can say goodbye to your hard earned money. It appears as though they do not need to prove to anyone that you was guilty and can close your account at anytime. Maybe people should really start to consider this very carefully before they pay for for the game only to have it taken away from you for no reason. Mythics responce when you phone will be that they can take any action they want as to the agreement that you click on when you enter the game. It seems this is starting to happen to an increasing number of people and Mythic thinks themselves in a position where they can just take the money from people with no need account for their actions.
Rating: Summary: DAoC Take it from me Review: Bottom line is DAoC is a great game. I've playd AC, AC2, and DAoC and after the initial shock I am liking DAoC much better. The only drawback to the game is that the game doesn't REALLY get started untill you reach lvl 20, or at least lvl 10. Nice graphics, good character creation, cool spells and combat moves. If your a online RPG fan this is your game. Have fun.
Rating: Summary: Awesome Game Play Review: Personally I have played online games since the 1980s. I have found the actually game mechanics to be the closest to regular RPG of what I have tried. The graphics are good and more in synch with the time peroid of when the game takes place. The game has large zones that do not require much downtime to load. Races and classes are varied, and the skills given to each seem to balance out each other very well. Spells and skills come rapidly. I like the game play because it doesn't require hours of camping a particular area where you can get a certain badie. Respawn times are quit, and the game play is constant with little downtime for healing. Team play is excellent, and the autoloot feature is wonderful for dividing loot and monies. I like that what you make can be better than what you can kill off of a monster. This feature alone ensures a balanced economy for the game. The game is balanced for higher end players. As they get the opportunity to fight for their realm. So you can make it to level 50 and still have things to do. Fighting sequences offer even the fighter classes special abilities to make their game play fun with different fighting styles. Great graphics, time spent on back story development so that it isn't entirely hack and slash make this game a lot of fun for a variety of players. Over the years I have tried Everquest, Ashron's Call, many different muds and other online games. This one has the best overall marks for me. If you are a girl gamer, alas female figures that obviously haven't been drawn by 13 year old males.
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