Comments on: What Dark Age of Camelot Means To Me

By: ZenEmu

ZenEmu — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:50:54 +0000

DAoC was a fantastic game. It still is really. The Mythic servers are still quite busy. Now GoA have lost their DAoC license and are handing the EU back over to Mythic, a lot of the old EU players are resubbing, and these are some of the best players you can imagine.

Sadly the game has lost some of its magic though. It is too easy now, and with other games offering more graphical bang for your buck, not many players stay long term anymore.

I will always have fond memories of DAOC. It was a truly ground breaking game. I was proud to be a small part of it.

By: wolfiebr

wolfiebr — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 01:30:00 +0000

I also have great memories of Daoc, which I played since beta, specially the great crafting which never since has been equaled (crafted equipment custom made to your own design – a template so called), however I must also point out the evil grind (having an alt was like a nightmare) and the frustrating crowd control. I also remember the radar and other exploits that ruined it for a lot of people.

Besides, it got old. WoW came and it had a better performance on basically most any rig around, and better graphics. And at release it offered much of what Daoc offered (there was some sense of realm pride at launch, specially with people who had background on warcraft II and III) with a lot more polish.

By: bonedead

bonedead — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:24:47 +0000

I also played Mid (started a month or two after release) and have many memories of Ygg and Uppland. I’m not sure what made people develop such great sense of realm pride, but there were other things that I liked just as much as the realm pride. Such as the Capital cities actually feeling significant, especially if you started as say a Troll in Galplen (which has since been renamed to like Galphen or some crap), there was no instant teleport to the city BS, you had to save up 5s, buy a horse ticket, and then ride it out.

I’m not sure what it was exactly but I know it just seemed so damn good at the time and looking back now I’m able to see it as a map with mob spawns on it and a dungeon here or there instead of what I saw it as then, another world.

By: Ender

Ender — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:36:14 +0000

DAOC failed when it seperated PvE from PvP because that turned PvP into a mini game and not a natural part of the server. The second failure was when it made CC so grossly overpowered. The balance was so terrible for the first 4-6 months that I unfortunately left the game before it ever got fixed and was fun.

Sadly the best PvP I’ve experienced to this day was the early days of Tallon Zek in EQ. For a game that just slapped PvP on at the end and never balanced it they sure had the right idea about it. Make the players fight over the PvE and then they always have incentive to fight instead of just camping honor points or realm points.

By: Gustavef

Gustavef — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 21:00:10 +0000

Having come from EQ, my favorite things about DoAC were:
1) more soloable creatures at/near level. You might have had to worry about BaF, but you could solo hunt. Groups did better over all because you had more leway in the pulling.

2) “Tap for quest mobs.” For quest mobs that were on limited spawn timers, you only had to hit the mob once to get the credit for the kill. Much less bickering and arguing or such mobs.

3) PvP helped the whole realm, not the individual. There was a purpose beyond personal pride to go fight.

I do think that 2 factions is not enough for healthy PvP. Three or four is a good start but I find that player created factions work the best. EVE and Darkfall are good examples of that idea. However, if you are going to have fixed factions have more than two, and don’t make a “good-evil” split.

Separating PvE from PvP map wise was a good idea. However, I still found that for the most part you had to level to max before heading out. Personally, I think level differences should be thrown out in PvP areas. This just leaves gear and character abilities. But all level based calculations (to-hit/damage) should be removed.

By: VatecD

VatecD — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 19:26:35 +0000

@smthin

I played before they added the Realm Points system (or the low-level battlegrounds; or the towers). In fact, I quit just about the time that Darkness Falls was added. So, in my day, there were very few ways for an Alb to break out of a mez ;^)

By: Roman09

Roman09 — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:34:21 +0000

Two other things i can’t forget. Necromancers fighting each other for the best spots in Gwyddeneau to power level alts by killing the white lights. And who can forget all the Cleric Bots sitting in the keeps. As much as i loved DAOC you needed a bot to be really competitive. Still think the extra accounts is what keeps the game alive today.

By: smthin

smthin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:19:04 +0000

Arena in WoW is as much pvp as Team Fortress 2, with TF2 being about 10 times more balanced, skill based and fun. They are just different things, open world pvp and “arena” scenario sport..

Anyway great thing in DAOC that you could REALLY punish bad play. People who blew purges at wrong time, did not look 360 degrees etc.. in most other mmos, as long as you got numbers and decent gear you can /faceroll to victory by spamming damage skills. In DAOC you just get mezzed and meleed down by a warden lol :p I miss that, driving an 8 man as my Supp RM then nearsighting a Sorc as he is trying to bolt range mezz us. ohh the qq of it

By: VatecD

VatecD — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:00:49 +0000

What did Dark Age of Camp-a-lot mean to me?

I remember riding horses. Lots of horses. It was a game about riding horses.

I remember guild drama and alliance drama.

I remember “PvP” consisting of a dozen Albs lined up in front of their border keep, facing a dozen Hibs just down the slope and out of range. Every now and then some enterprising fool would dart out ahead of the line and shoot at someone, then get mowed down by Rangers and Eldritches.

I remember lots of massive slideshow zergs as several dozen players, most on /autofollow, followed the one guy who knew the way to the target and had a PC that didn’t play lag.

I remember some of the worst PvE action I’ve ever had the displeasure to experience, standing in one location and pulling the same five monsters over and over until everyone got the level / phat lewt they were looking for (or the group wiped because of one player’s minor error or bad luck).

I remember being in a full group and being wiped by a Warden and a Bard who were only a couple of levels higher than us. The entire group stood there mesmerized while the Warden slowly (oh-so-very-slowly) killed each of us in turn.

…

Sure, in the year or so I played I did have some fun. I led an impromptu keep recapture raid. I helped organize one of the first keep sieges on my server (Guinevere).

But mostly I just remember horses. And guild drama.

Dark Age of Camp-a-lot and Mage of Conan are the only two MMOs that I never, ever miss.

By: Roman09

Roman09 — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:16:32 +0000

Being a low realm rank infiltrator, i wasn’t a beast on the bg’s, but im happy to say one of the few times i ever one shotted, if you count Perforate artery-stunning stab, as a one shot, was in Molvik. During a keep siege that we were defending i was stealthed looking for squishies and low health targets when i came upon a Kobold dancing. That dance looked kind of like the old soft shoe. I thought this is too perfect, i know ill die but wth, maybe ill get him to half health and our scout can finish him. I ran up to him, set up as best i could and bam, heard his funny moan of death, the two mauler’s sitting next to him didn’t move, I danced for a second, popped vanish and got out of there. Small victory i know, but still a victory.