Rating: 
Summary: It's all about PVP
Review: A lot of reviewers have written that this game is just EQ on steroids, but they're wrong... People who play EQ sit on the side of the fence of fighting boring AI or sitting around chatting. If you're from the world of PvP, this is definitely one to get, for those of you who play Lineage, this is Lineage except on a massive scale. The Realm versus Realm wars are incredible, with seige engines in 3D. It has better graphics than EQ and new features are being added all the time. There is also no "zoning" which can be a pain in EQ. Parties also share experience from the lowest to the highest level, unlike EQ where everyone camps around to fight one guy to get that item. The rogues are also MUCH more developed than any other MMORPG on the market, with the ability for stealth, backstab, mixed fighting styles, and some advanced rogue abilities that you should find out for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: Review focusing on character differentiation
Review: There are many other reviews here and elsewhere on the net that talk about all aspects of the game. Here, I'm going to focus only on how Dark Age of Camlet allows me to make my character different from others who are the same class and race as mine. For me, one of the most appealing aspects of an MMORPG game is the ability to make a character as unique an individual as I am in real life. In an online RPG, most of us are known by our name and our class - "Hi I'm Brach, level 16 Armsman" - and this is usually the extent of individuation. Furthermore, since most MMORPGs cannot provide more than a handful of character facial and body models, most player avatars look fairly similar (especially once people playing your same class being acquiring the same quest items as you have). In Dark Age of Camelot, however, the game artists and designers have provided a great number of ways to make your character not only look and feel different, but even play differently than others of your same class and race. Here's how: 1. Realm and race selection. You can choose to be from one of 3 different realms on any given server. Each realm has four different racial types, so you have essentially 12 different races to choose from in the entire game. All are visually distinct, even the four human races of Albion. 2. Body type. Each character can be short, average, or tall. 3. Face and hair. Each gender of each race has about 10 different faces and 10 different hair colors to choose from. 4. Class and Skills. Each realm offers about 10-11 different classes to choose from. Within each class, you receive a set of basic skills which all others of your class also receive. However, as you advance in level you also receive specialization points to spend on advanced skills. How you spend these points is up to you. This means that even if another player has chosen the same realm, race, body, face, hair, and class as you, you might have a completely different set of strengths than that other player. This is true across all classes - for example, one tall blonde Highlander Armsman of Albion might specialize in polearms, while another tall blonde Highlander Armsman of Albion might specialize in using a shield and a slashing weapon. Furthermore, you might choose to develop crafting skills - adding yet another way to make your character more unique. 5. Weapons and Armor. The choice of weapons and armor is simply staggering. Each realm has its own look and feel for armor. While there is only one kind of cloth armor, there are three different kinds of leather armor, three kinds of studded leather, chain, mail, and plate armors. Visually all are unique, and armor can be mixed and matched among six different pieces (helm, sleeves, gauntlets, jerkin or breastplate, boots, and leggings). There are also a number of different shields available in varying styles, sizes and materials. The two Highlander Armsmen described above could very well look quite different depending on the kind of armor each is wearing.
Weapons add another amazing choice. Even if both characters specialize in the same weapon type - Slashing, for example - there are half a dozen different slashing weapons available, all with differing but balanced damage and speed ratios. Your choice of slashing weapon will tend to suit your style of play - do you want a weapon that is quick but deals less damage, or one that is slow but really packs a punch? The visual models of the weapons are outstanding and people use them - it is entertaining to see some people using short swords, others using scimitars, others axes, while others prefer morning stars or great two-handed swords. And given all other things being equal, no one suffers for choosing to use one weapon over another - all are effective. 6. Cloth Dyes, Leather Dyes, and Armor Enamels.
Right from the beginning of the game you can easily dye your clothing and enamel your armor with colors available from local vendors. No special skill is required - but the richest colors are also for the richest characters - and this allows you to "show off" your wealth, because most players know that if someone is walking around in a royal purple cloak, they must be quite wealthy or have a wealthy patron. 7. Guild emblems.
If your guild is successful enough and powerful enough, they may have enough money to purchase an emblem which can then be emblazoned on cloak and shields. The emblem consists of one of three patterns, a primary color, a secondary color, and one of 40 symbols (each realm has 40 different symbols, unique to that realm). The combination of pattern, colors, and symbols means that there are over 5000 different possible guild emblems. Nothing quite screams "prestige" like a guild emblem. With so many different ways to visually distinguish your character from other characters, Dark Age of Camelot provides an excellent foundation for creating your own unique avatar and experience of the game - all that's left to do is for you to add a dash of personality and live it up! If you enjoy creating a unique individual in an MMORPG, Dark Age of Camelot provides all the tools you could hope for, on top of an extremely fun to play game.
Rating:
Summary: Subscription needed to play
Review: The only gripe I have with this game is the fact that you don't find out about the subscription rates until you're deep into setting it up. It also takes a lot of digging on the Mythic web site to find info about the monthly subscription.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't Compare to Ultima Online
Review: After four years of Ultima Online, I was looking forward to something new. This is not it, unless all you want is player vs. player combat. without the richness of social life that is found in Ultima. Ultima is so large and varied that there is always something new to do there and continues to rise to the challenges of new games by reshaping itself. I believe that this game will be a lot of fun at first but will get old fast. Back to Ultima for me.
Rating:
Summary: for those who *aren't* recovering EQ/AC addicts...
Review: As somebody who missed the ship on the whole EQ/AC/AO/UO/?? mmorpg scene the past few years, I can heartily recommend this game to anybody with little to no experience in these types of games. It definitely lives up to any hype you might have heard which drove you to reading these reviews. ;-)
As for technical problems, I've had none. Let me just get that out of the way. I do have a moderately high end pc I recently built, however. So running it on that old 300mhz compaq will probably not work out. I'm also using good old windows98se. If the game has problems with other windows OS's, I wouldn't be surprised. Despite all the outraged reviewers here, *a lot* of gamers still use win98se for some very good reasons. And of course, Mythic's servers have been running flawlessly(well, as flawless as is possible) since day 1. Support has also been top-notch as several friends have had issues dealt with in what they say is a prompt and friendly manner. (and I've only read good things about this on various forums as well)
NOW, as for gameplay; it is (...) addicting and incredibly fun. We've all heard how addictive EQ is/was... this game I imagine is no different. You'll soon find that you've printed off a few lists of various data and have them taped up around your computer! You'll find yourself at work either daydreaming about the adventures you'll have as soon as you get home or actually digging through fansites looking for a good spell list or map.
Much to the dismay of my old gaming buddies, I've dropped the rocket launchers and haven't looked back since I bought this game. My wife, who has hated games for as long as I've been playing them :-), has been caught peeking over my shoulder wondering what I'm doing. I think we'll be getting a 2nd copy for our basement computer in the near future. ;)
Bottom line: this is a great game which will more than fill whatever gaming time you can muster up. And once you get into it, I can promise you'll at least consider uninstalling all those other games. So if you're actually teetering on the edge of buying this game, I'd say go for it. I bought it out of pure curiosity and have been pleasantly surprised. :)
Rating:
Summary: Best MMORPG release in past 3 years!
Review: DAoC's developers worked closely with their beta testers to ensure a smooth release earlier this month. Whilst there are still minor bugs, these are generally sorted out as quickly as possible. Mythic appear eager to not only listen to their customers, but to act on that information as well. The game itself is based on Arthurian legend and provides for a NON-pvp, as well as pvp Realm wars. So everyone can choose how much involvement they wish to make to the game. If you like PvP, then build up your level to 15, and go fight for your Realm. If you prefer PvM and crafting, then stay in your Realm and support the fighters, and enjoy the numerous quests and tasks that can be had from many NPCs. Mythic has provided 2 role playing servers, as well as numerous *normal* play ones. Their rules for the RP servers differ slightly from the normal servers, so make sure you are aware of what is allowed or not. This is definitely a game worth buying. The only drawback so far, is that Mythic has agreed for a French company to hold the rights for three European servers. If you've got the US CD - then you cannot use it to play on the European servers - and vice versa. For those with friends world-wide, this restricts them in their choice of servers. I'm lucky to have got my US CD despatched by Amazon to my UK residence, before they changed their policy. Alas, my friends here have now been told they cannot buy from Amazon - a great pity, as they also wanted to play with their American friends.
Rating:
Summary: There Are only 2 MMORPG Games in the future
Review: My two cents:
First off-this game kicks major a$$. The spells are awesome, the fighters are as fun as mages, unlike the Eq style fighting, press a, 1, 2 , and 3, then do it again and the RvR is awesome. The leveling and questing is awesome and there are good newbie weapons that are easily attainable. The quests are fun, unlike the quests in EQ that send you running through high lvl high aggrow zones for hours, only to go back again to complete the quest. All this done because it is a rare thing to find a benevolent druid or wizard in the zones. DAoC is, unlike EQ, fun to explore. Scenery that is ever changing is an awesome break from the reapeted textiles of EQ. All and all, unlike EQ, this game is not only fun for role players and newbies, but the high levels kick too.
The second game is the reason i say in the future because it is not out yet. Shadowbane is going to dominate. From what I have read of the extensive beta testing planned in SB, i have much more confidence in it than in AO and i think the gameplay will be uncomparable to the floundering mmorpg, as far as I am concerned, is little above zero (only because of the graphics and even then SB has them beaten in that aspect). With the expansion for DAoC coming about the same time as SB is going to be released, they should both stay in the running, and the competition should develope two incredible games that should be observed with mutual respect. The fantasy and quest based gameplay of DAoC will be a good match for the political and medievil setting of Shadowbane. The one problem that I anticipate in SB is the possibility of the game degrading into a pking environment. I hope that SB will keep a strong beta population on the provide the backbone and help orchestrate and set up the gameplay in SB. For future buyers I suggest that they should be patient if they get the game, and that they lvl as high as possible and as fast as possible in the most nuetral zone in the game. Also, one should probably get toghether a group of good friends and form a guild toghether. That way one could set up a strong guild before the competitors even start.
I have rambled off the subject of the review, and for that I am sorry. I am very excited about both the potential of SB and the engrossing and fun gameplay of DAoC.
Rating:
Summary: Be very careful this can be a Nightmare!
Review: Be very careful when purchasing this game. The process of instllation so that you can get to the game can and was a nightmare! CAUTION! This game does not support Voodoo Cards. If you have one you'll have to purchase another. And after installation...still no guarantee that the game will work..for me it didn't.
The customer service calls have continued for over one week and nothing has been accomplished except to cause several operating problems with my system by following their suggestions.. The people are very nice and most cooperative, but they have a very...and I mean very limited knowledge of the problems showing up with this game.
Simply put...It is the opinion of this writer that Dark Age of Camelot has a very narrow acceptance parameter for some machines. Yours could be one which like mine...won't run the game. The supprising part is that there is nothing special about my machine...it is very vanilla and doesn't seem to have any other problems connecting to anything else on the internet. IN SHORT BEWARE BUYER! This game may be called Return to Store after many frustrating hours of never connecting with the game.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: I have played pretty much all of the MMORPG's that have hit the market, most have been ok, but nothing fantastic. That is until this game. DAoC is just about one of the best games that I have played. It does seem to have alot in common with Everquest, however it has recognized Everquests shortcomings and fixed them. I almost didnt buy this game as my computer doesnt quite meet the minimum requirements, without a few upgrades. However it does seem to run fine for the most part. I would Highly recommend this game.
Rating:
Summary: Time Sink
Review: If you are just getting into online MMORPGs I would suggest to be careful with DAOC :). Like EQ, this game is very addictive and is a MAJOR timesink. If you are able to spend a few hours a day on a game then you will love this more than your children. But if you are just a casual gamer be careful...
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