Dark Age of Camelot - by Arislyn on 13:38 23 Feb 2004
Runt and I bought a couple of copies of Dark Age of Camelot Gold Box Edition last night, as we were both searching for something that we could play together. This struck us as a good choice since DAoC is down to $10. We figured that with the first month of play free, $20 was a reasonable price to pay to see if we like it.
So far, I'm really enjoying the game. But, I think that may have a lot to do with the fact that I've been playing with Runt...who sits in the same room with me, within arm's reach. So, communication is a breeze ("Run away! Run away!") and we both know that we're not going to gip each other. *grins* (It's generally a bad idea to hoard goodies from the spousal unit.) So, I'm not running into a lot of the social problems I have had in the past with MMORPGs. However, this will be put to the test once I try partying with strangers.
But, really, that is luck of the draw. I know there are plenty of fine players out there who want to relax and have fun. The problem is, the obnoxious ones tend to be a lot louder than the good ones.
I haven't tried soloing, yet. Though, Runt did give that a go as a magic-user and we found out one thing with with a surety: lone MU's break easily. (*crack* "My spleen!")
Once we've played a bit more, I'll give more of an opinion about the classes/races/quests and whatnot. For now, though, I'll tell you the only peeve we have with the game: the interface. It's not that the interface is hard to figure out....it's that it's so easy to loose it! You see, to chat, you need to use commands much like you do in a MUD, i.e. "/tell Runt Run, Forest Run!" would be a private message to Runt, "/say Run, Forest, Run!" would be a message that everyone in the immediate area would hear, etc. If you forget to type that nifty backslash-switch combo and just type away, you end up activating hotkeys which open/close/activate/deactivate commands...one of which makes all your interfaces go "poof!" And then you get to spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out what button/combination of buttons you hit to make it do that.
But, that's really not a huge deal after the first time it happens. It's simply a matter of getting used to the way the game works. Once you've played for a day or so, it should all come naturally. Other than that, the actual interfaces themselves are pretty intuitive.
Runt and I bought a couple of copies of Dark Age of Camelot Gold Box Edition last night, as we were both searching for something that we could play together. This struck us as a good choice since DAoC is down to $10. We figured that with the first month of play free, $20 was a reasonable price to pay to see if we like it.
So far, I'm really enjoying the game. But, I think that may have a lot to do with the fact that I've been playing with Runt...who sits in the same room with me, within arm's reach. So, communication is a breeze ("Run away! Run away!") and we both know that we're not going to gip each other. *grins* (It's generally a bad idea to hoard goodies from the spousal unit.) So, I'm not running into a lot of the social problems I have had in the past with MMORPGs. However, this will be put to the test once I try partying with strangers.
But, really, that is luck of the draw. I know there are plenty of fine players out there who want to relax and have fun. The problem is, the obnoxious ones tend to be a lot louder than the good ones.
I haven't tried soloing, yet. Though, Runt did give that a go as a magic-user and we found out one thing with with a surety: lone MU's break easily. (*crack* "My spleen!")
Once we've played a bit more, I'll give more of an opinion about the classes/races/quests and whatnot. For now, though, I'll tell you the only peeve we have with the game: the interface. It's not that the interface is hard to figure out....it's that it's so easy to loose it! You see, to chat, you need to use commands much like you do in a MUD, i.e. "/tell Runt Run, Forest Run!" would be a private message to Runt, "/say Run, Forest, Run!" would be a message that everyone in the immediate area would hear, etc. If you forget to type that nifty backslash-switch combo and just type away, you end up activating hotkeys which open/close/activate/deactivate commands...one of which makes all your interfaces go "poof!" And then you get to spend quite a bit of time trying to figure out what button/combination of buttons you hit to make it do that.
But, that's really not a huge deal after the first time it happens. It's simply a matter of getting used to the way the game works. Once you've played for a day or so, it should all come naturally. Other than that, the actual interfaces themselves are pretty intuitive.
Dark Age of Camelot - by Arislyn on 09:11 24 Feb 2004
In case anyone is interested, here is a link to the DAoC FAQ.
The more I play of this game, the more I like it. I'm really enjoying the feeling of the Realm vs. Realm features. Instead of having PvP combat, what you have are players who are defending the frontiers of their homelands and protecting their cultural relics. It encourages teamwork among those of a Realm while still providing a challenge for those players who like to fight real people.
One feature that they've implemented that is wonderful in helping cut down on any cheating is the fact that, though you can have 8 characters per server, once you have picked a Realm to fight in on a particular server, you may not make a character in another Realm there. If you want to try another Realm, you must create that character on another server. This prevents people from playing "double agent" and logging in as a member of a Realm, seeing what is happening behind enemy lines and then logging in again as another character to take advantage of that knowledge.
In case anyone is interested, here is a link to the DAoC FAQ.
The more I play of this game, the more I like it. I'm really enjoying the feeling of the Realm vs. Realm features. Instead of having PvP combat, what you have are players who are defending the frontiers of their homelands and protecting their cultural relics. It encourages teamwork among those of a Realm while still providing a challenge for those players who like to fight real people.
One feature that they've implemented that is wonderful in helping cut down on any cheating is the fact that, though you can have 8 characters per server, once you have picked a Realm to fight in on a particular server, you may not make a character in another Realm there. If you want to try another Realm, you must create that character on another server. This prevents people from playing "double agent" and logging in as a member of a Realm, seeing what is happening behind enemy lines and then logging in again as another character to take advantage of that knowledge.
Dark Age of Camelot - by Arislyn on 08:31 03 Mar 2004
Okay, it's official: I'm addicted to this game. I take back every bad generalization I have made about MMORPGs. (Now, they simply apply to specific games. *grins*)
I have a couple of characters in a couple of different guild and everyone seems to be quite friendly. I haven't run into any leet gamerz, there has been no smack talk on the open channels, no kill stealing, nada. In fact, I've grouped with a few strangers over the past week and everyone was extremelly nice. Even if we screwed up and died, everyone's attitude has been "Eh, no big deal. Let's try again."
Okay, it's official: I'm addicted to this game. I take back every bad generalization I have made about MMORPGs. (Now, they simply apply to specific games. *grins*)
I have a couple of characters in a couple of different guild and everyone seems to be quite friendly. I haven't run into any leet gamerz, there has been no smack talk on the open channels, no kill stealing, nada. In fact, I've grouped with a few strangers over the past week and everyone was extremelly nice. Even if we screwed up and died, everyone's attitude has been "Eh, no big deal. Let's try again."