Darkfall - Slow and Steady Wins the Race

I wasn't able to get the game until a month after release, but while some people on the forums are whining about their late start, I know better from past experiences.

When I started Ultima Online back in 1997 I was PK'd everyday left and right, but I kept at it, and instead of crying about it, I learned the game and ended up coming back and slaughtering all those that had killed me (Yes, I am deranged, and I do keep a list).

So to all those people upset there are others with a month worth of skill gains ahead of them; this isn't EvE where a player can constantly train for 5+ years and never reach max skills. You will eventually- sooner than you think- hit max skills in your chosen area of expertise. You will have your day in the sun, but you have to stick to it and keep working your skills while practising PvP.

Also, to those complaining the game is boring; if you haven't found a clan and experienced group PvP in Darkfall, then I can completely understand. This is the foundation of the game, and if you avoid it, play around it, or out-right skip it, then I can understand your boredom. This game is meant to be played with a group, so get in a clan!

The game has its flaws, but for anyone that played and enjoyed old school UO, then the flaws seem minor because the PvP and sandbox immersion are just THAT fun!

As the title of this post states; this game isn't WoW where you can hit end game in one week and then melt faces with minimal PvP experience. The game is suppose to be a grind, and PvP is suppose to be something to practise and get better at. I think my heart melted when I saw people in clan chat talking about getting better at mounted combat; this game will go down as one of my top MMOs, and I've played 20+ titles in the genre (again, yes, I am deranged).

Darkfall Crafting

I picked up my first crafting skill in Darkfall Online; because I am training archery, I decided to take the bowyer skill to supply myself with arrows.

The skill takes 500g to acquire, but after that it's just a matter of making arrows (and bows) for skill gains. After you've obtained the crafting skill of your choice, you must then gather the necessary tools and mats to craft.

It takes (1) iron ingot and (1) wood to craft a set of 20 arrows. This sounds simple enough, yet the "ingot" and "wood" are the refined forms of "ore" and "timber". There is a 5:2 ratio for refining these mats, so it takes 5/5 ore/timber to make 40 arrows.

Once you have gathered the mats you will need a woodcutting tool that is purchased from an NPC vendor in town for 20g. Take this tool, and your mats, and head to the nearest wood-working station. This is the same station where you refine your timber into wood.

It takes 20 seconds to craft a set of 10 arrows, so if you hit the station with 50+ in mats, you might be there awhile. This is still better than spending 1 gpu on arrows (the going rate).

My archery is now at 30 along with my polearms, parry, and 1h sword. I would like to get all these combat skills to 50+ by next weekend so I can contribute better on PvP runs. Other than skillups, it's just a matter of stocking my bank with weapons, armor, mounts, potions, and food. I can't wait till I have a stocked bank with 50+ on skills so I can start making nightly PvP runs.

Dead Elves, and Darkfall

I had a great time in Darkfall this weekend. The PvP is a blast, and believe it or not, the PvE is actually quite entertaining as well. The mobs don't just stand there until you beat them to death; they strafe, dodge, kite, etc. I've only encountered small mobs such as Goblins and NPC Dwarves, but I did see a Giant Skeleton Knight on my way to Mirdain to gank Elfs.

It was Saturday evening when a Captain from my clan announced he was gathering members in our Hamlet to venture into Elf territory for some PvP. I quickly jumped on board, but when I found out it was a mounted expedition, I opted to stay back. Well, the Captain said he had an extra mount and I offered him 200g for it, and the rest is... well I'm getting there.

So, the Captain, myself, and two Sargent's headed south towards Elf country. It took us roughly 30 minutes of riding just to get where the scenery changes, but I wasn't complaining since I think exploration is worthless in today's themepark MMOs. We ran into a couple of Alfar attacking a lone Elf and we moved in fast. The Elf made a run for it, and we decided to take out the Alfar pair instead.

I found out quickly that I need some practise with mounted combat as I kept missing when I'd ride by to strike. I did, however, get a couple of mount hits in when my pig did a back kick or two.

After dispatching the two Alfar we traveled some to the west and ended up running into a member of our Alliance going 1v1 on an Elf. We started to move in, but when we saw he had things under control we backed off, but stayed near in case he needed any help.

After moving on we received a tell from the Alliance member we had just ran into mentioning a couple of Elf miners he had located. We moved towards his location, but by the time we arrived, he was dead, and there was 5-10 Elfs pelting us with arrows.

We tried to retreat, but we lost one of the Sargent's and his mount. After that, the three of us continued a little longer and encountered another pait of Alfar. This pair was able to take out our Captains' mount, but we took them out quickly after. At that point we called it a night and recalled back to our bindstone.

I can't wait to get my skills up to par, and start gathering armor / potion sets for PvP like I had back in Ultima Online. I am glad our Clan usually has something going on nightly, and there's always someone near our Hamlet ready to hunt. An important aspect of a game like this, or EvE, is finding the right group of people to play with, and I believe my new Clan is just that.

Darkfall Postcards

"Your Darkfall Online Purchase Skill has increased by 0.1%"

I could have been playing since Monday actually, but I never checked my email since it looked as if my purchase timed-out and the game had sold out in 4 minutes. Well, I checked my email late Wednesday night and saw a confirmation of purchase; I then tried to log on the game and BAM... I'm in!

I created a male Mahirim and entered the world. The excessive shadows from the surrounding foliage almost killed my graphics card, but I quickly adjusted the video settings as most people do their first time in a game and everything was fine. I'm located in Texas and I was receiving a generous 150-170 ping with spikes into the 190's.The interface takes some getting used to, but after an hour it was definitely second nature. I did however reset my sheath weapon to my back mouse button and my "use" key from F over to the forward mouse button.

I took the first quest to kill some Goblins and acquire 5 axes; after a short run to the north I was engaged in combat with not one, but 3 goblins. I quickly retreated and waited for my buddy from work to show up (he just popped on vent and was logging on Darkfall).With both of us we had an easy, but still challenging time taking out the Goblins. We immediately traded in our starting wep (Dagger) for a polearm. This is a must since the daggers range is ridiculous.

We were taking turns making bank runs during our Goblin genocide; during one of my runs to the bank I hear my buddy on vent say and Ork just attacked and killed him. Well, I was almost back, so I sprinted to the location in time to see the Ork execute (a skill called "Gank") my friend.I drew my polearm and charged with a passion I haven't felt since the days of Ultima Online PvP. I was only a few hours old and didn't have much as far as skills, but I held my own and ALMOST killed the, now red after killing my buddy, Ork.

The funny part is another Mahirim sat there and watched the fight without helping either, then after the Ork had his victory, the spectator Mahirim finished the Ork and proceeded to loot all three of us, hehe. To the passive goes the spoils? =P

Anyways, now it's time to find a clan to join and help grow! I'm going to hit up Syncaine's clan since his commentary on PvP falls right in-line with my ideals.

Hope to see you all in the game, and if you haven't bought it yet, what are you waiting for!?

Darkfall Online

I know I said I'm "taking a break", and that is true in the sense I'm not playing WoW anymore, and I only log into EvE to set training, but after reading about Darkfall Online since 2005, and it's now released...

I have read enough to know I am going to spend the next 5 years of my life PK'ing people en'mass in Darkfall! I have yearned for the days of Ultima Online, and it seems current MMOs have nothing but profit margins in mind and aim their titles towards soccer moms and mentally challenged earmuff people.

I respect the limited release, but damn, I wish I could get in there cause I'm one of the people that WILL be staying! I have the game client downloaded, and my CC info saved and ready to purchase as soon as more copies become available.

I'm currently prepping for the game by reading all PvP strats, and any general info I can get on the game; however, I have yet to find a clan to join. I am looking for a clan with Orks and Furries as I plan to be howling at people when I decapitate them. I know it goes without saying, but the clan must be PvP focused (it's Darkfall, durr). If anyone knows any clans looking for a quality old school PvP'er, then please let me know who to contact.

Thanks,
Heineken - UO - Chesapeake 1996-2000

Break Time

I'm taking Trigonometry in college and after my first two test I have an 83.5 in the class. This is unacceptable, so I'm taking a break from gaming until I can bring that back up and hopefully end with an A

I will start gaming / blogging after this class since the classes I have left won't be a problem.

Thank you for understanding!

Keystone / Placebo / Civic

Complaining Gets You Nowhere!!

I'm waiting for family and friends to catch up to me on my gnome mage, but they're taking their time for various reasons. I don't mind the wait since I get to do BGs (30-39), and that's my favorite part of the game.

I've noticed that when the match is going in favor of the Horde, the Alliance tends to start name calling and bitching and moaning about people not knowing what to do. I'm some-what guilty of this behavior in my early days of WoW, but I've matured a little bit since then.

I recently started taking it upon myself to correct people's mistakes with a tone of humility, and surprisingly enough most of the time the person just didn't know that aspect of the game. I believe that more amateur gamers play on the Alliance side, and that is the reason for the Horde winning the majority of BGs.

So, it's not a fact of these people knowing what to do and screwing up, but rather not knowing what to do in the first place. WoW suffers already from lack of accountability, as there's not much you can do for a player being a tard and messing up, or screwing you over. If this can be overcome and we hold each other accountable for our actions (after we've been taught), then improvements will be made.

For this reason, I've also started calling people out, myself included, for making mistakes. These are players that I see all the time and I know they're aware of the correct action for that situation. This also must be done with a sense of humility, otherwise the message is lost and arguments erupt.

My point is, the next time you see someone screwing up in BGs, try explaining to that person where they messed up before calling them names. If they mess up after that, then call them out in a polite manner.

Keep in mind that success must be called out too for the balance to be in place. So while it's good to call out mistakes, it does nothing if you never call people out for success also.

I've been trying these tactics over the past few weeks, and my win percentage has gone up.
Try it, and tell me your results.