Do you currently play Darkfall Online?
24 Total Votes
Yes, I've already made the purchase and I'm in the game.
17 votes (70%)
No, but I'm still trying to purchase the game.
3 votes (12%)
No, and I have no interest in playing.
0 votes (0%)
What is Darkfall?
4 votes (16%)
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
General Update
The LAN party was great; we all had a blast and made it home safely.
Now on to the reason I started this blog- my MMO addiction. I haven't been playing Darkfall since I got back because of the announcement from AV on transfers to NA-1. Now they were not specific, but they did say it would be "months" before transferred would be allowed to NA-1.
Our clan has been discussing our options and it looks like we'll probably be re-rolling on NA-1 the day it's released. I think everyone is kind of looking forward to a fresh start- not to mention with a much lower ping.
There are six races in the game, but after playing for a few months now I know which I like and dislike and for what reasons. The wolf is just too big. In a game where foliage provides cover and there are no radars or names over people's head, being 7'2" does not help.
The Ork and Dwarves are just too ugly. I'm about 50/50 when it comes to picking between looks & functionality, but those two races look horrible.
The Humans, Elves, and Alfar are all possible choices for me on the reroll, and it appears to be the general preference in the clan right now. So until NA-1 gets released supposedly in June, I'll just be playing Counter-Strike and only logging in to Darkfall for occasional PvP on my EU-1 character- I just won't be gaining skills or worrying about stocking up my bank.
Now on to the reason I started this blog- my MMO addiction. I haven't been playing Darkfall since I got back because of the announcement from AV on transfers to NA-1. Now they were not specific, but they did say it would be "months" before transferred would be allowed to NA-1.
Our clan has been discussing our options and it looks like we'll probably be re-rolling on NA-1 the day it's released. I think everyone is kind of looking forward to a fresh start- not to mention with a much lower ping.
There are six races in the game, but after playing for a few months now I know which I like and dislike and for what reasons. The wolf is just too big. In a game where foliage provides cover and there are no radars or names over people's head, being 7'2" does not help.
The Ork and Dwarves are just too ugly. I'm about 50/50 when it comes to picking between looks & functionality, but those two races look horrible.
The Humans, Elves, and Alfar are all possible choices for me on the reroll, and it appears to be the general preference in the clan right now. So until NA-1 gets released supposedly in June, I'll just be playing Counter-Strike and only logging in to Darkfall for occasional PvP on my EU-1 character- I just won't be gaining skills or worrying about stocking up my bank.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Leaving Tonight for Austin
I'm leaving late tonight for the LAN party which last through Monday. We'll be playing Counter-Strike: Source and Crysis: Wars this time around. Unless there was a last minute sign-up, it looks like we'll have about 18 guys. We were aiming for 20 so we could have four 5v5 teams for CS:S, and two 10v10 teams for Crysis: Wars, but 18 will have to do.
It's usually FPS action all weekend, but since it's a 24/3 weekend, people take breaks to check email and listen to music. I on the other hand will be milling for herbs in Darkfall so I can get my herbalism to 50+ to make the moderate potions for PvP. I've also saved up a nice stack of berries for food as well from milling herbs. As far as I can tell the food variants only differ in the amount of time the food buff last - not in severity. If this is the case, then the berries aren't a terrible selection until I can make it to the ocean for some fishing.
I also need to start saving my metal for armor sets since my clan has moved too far for me to make purchases from my normal armor vendor. I like paying cash for armor sets and using my mats to make arrows and increase my own crafting profession at the same time. The problem is that all the guild armorsmiths prefer to craft sets for the mats only and usually don't have spare sets for sale. I might just buy the mats with the money and turn that over to the armorsmiths - that way everybody wins.
Well, wish me luck for the LAN tourneys - I'll need it with my rusty FPS skills =p
It's usually FPS action all weekend, but since it's a 24/3 weekend, people take breaks to check email and listen to music. I on the other hand will be milling for herbs in Darkfall so I can get my herbalism to 50+ to make the moderate potions for PvP. I've also saved up a nice stack of berries for food as well from milling herbs. As far as I can tell the food variants only differ in the amount of time the food buff last - not in severity. If this is the case, then the berries aren't a terrible selection until I can make it to the ocean for some fishing.
I also need to start saving my metal for armor sets since my clan has moved too far for me to make purchases from my normal armor vendor. I like paying cash for armor sets and using my mats to make arrows and increase my own crafting profession at the same time. The problem is that all the guild armorsmiths prefer to craft sets for the mats only and usually don't have spare sets for sale. I might just buy the mats with the money and turn that over to the armorsmiths - that way everybody wins.
Well, wish me luck for the LAN tourneys - I'll need it with my rusty FPS skills =p
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Upcoming LAN
I haven't been able to get any Darkfall time because I've been playing Counter Strike: Source in preparation for an upcoming LAN party I attend every year.
I didn't play CS at all before last years LAN and I ended up getting schooled because I was rusty. This year, however, I'm going to kick some ass. I've been playing a little each night and I feel like I'm almost back to my normal skill level.
I will still get owned by most of the players there since some of these guys are old school bad ass CS players, but I will hold my own!
I will get more Darkfall content posted when I get some time to play, but fear not, I'm still VERY addicted to Darkfall and it's the only MMO I plan to play. Seriously, if you haven't checked it out by now, you're missing out on a great experience!
I didn't play CS at all before last years LAN and I ended up getting schooled because I was rusty. This year, however, I'm going to kick some ass. I've been playing a little each night and I feel like I'm almost back to my normal skill level.
I will still get owned by most of the players there since some of these guys are old school bad ass CS players, but I will hold my own!
I will get more Darkfall content posted when I get some time to play, but fear not, I'm still VERY addicted to Darkfall and it's the only MMO I plan to play. Seriously, if you haven't checked it out by now, you're missing out on a great experience!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Darkfall Harvesting, Loot, and Keys
I finally harvested my first Steedgrass the other night, and oddly enough a clan-mate messaged me right after I harvested it offering his taming (turning Steedgrass into a mount) services.
I still have not looted another veilron key since my first one only a week into the game. I have seen another drop, but with 10 people molesting the corpse of the fallen foe, it's hard to be that quick on the loot.
For those who don't know, Darkfall mobs have a chance of dropping a key; the key opens statically placed chest throughout the world of Agon, and they're based off the difficulty of the mob. The first tier keys are called salentine and sell for 200g a pop. This is because there is 200g in the chest when you open it + magically enhanced items. So people are paying for the chance to get some nice items because the gold is reimbursed upon opening the chest.
The second tier key is the veilron, and this one typically sells for 2000g since, just as the previous key, it has this amount of gold in the chest. I sold my first veilron key for 1900g because I was hard-up for cash and it was late with no buyers (plus the guy came to me).
There are higher tiers of keys, but I have yet to see those or even hear of one in trade chat. I have heard the next tier up holds 4000g in it, though. I'm looking forward to getting my first drop of THAT magnitude.
On a side note, I have severely improved my mounted combat! I am now able to hit someone almost every time I ride past, barring a cluster fuck when too many clan-mates bunch up instead of riding through. I'm wondering if splitting into separate formations when we have 5+ guys on mounts. It seems having a few groups of 3 seems to be the magic number. With this amount you can have group 1 ride by first, then group 2, and so on. This way there's never more than 3 people passing the target at once, and it dissolves the cluster fuck situations that only benefit the opponents on the ground.
Splitting into formation groups would also help when there's multiple targets. You would be able to send each group after certain targets which should increase overall efficiency of making sure all swords are swinging constantly and attacking someone rather than waiting your chance to ride by and get a single hit.
I still have not looted another veilron key since my first one only a week into the game. I have seen another drop, but with 10 people molesting the corpse of the fallen foe, it's hard to be that quick on the loot.
For those who don't know, Darkfall mobs have a chance of dropping a key; the key opens statically placed chest throughout the world of Agon, and they're based off the difficulty of the mob. The first tier keys are called salentine and sell for 200g a pop. This is because there is 200g in the chest when you open it + magically enhanced items. So people are paying for the chance to get some nice items because the gold is reimbursed upon opening the chest.
The second tier key is the veilron, and this one typically sells for 2000g since, just as the previous key, it has this amount of gold in the chest. I sold my first veilron key for 1900g because I was hard-up for cash and it was late with no buyers (plus the guy came to me).
There are higher tiers of keys, but I have yet to see those or even hear of one in trade chat. I have heard the next tier up holds 4000g in it, though. I'm looking forward to getting my first drop of THAT magnitude.
On a side note, I have severely improved my mounted combat! I am now able to hit someone almost every time I ride past, barring a cluster fuck when too many clan-mates bunch up instead of riding through. I'm wondering if splitting into separate formations when we have 5+ guys on mounts. It seems having a few groups of 3 seems to be the magic number. With this amount you can have group 1 ride by first, then group 2, and so on. This way there's never more than 3 people passing the target at once, and it dissolves the cluster fuck situations that only benefit the opponents on the ground.
Splitting into formation groups would also help when there's multiple targets. You would be able to send each group after certain targets which should increase overall efficiency of making sure all swords are swinging constantly and attacking someone rather than waiting your chance to ride by and get a single hit.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Darkfall - PvP Ambush
.BMP)
I logged on late last night to get some game time in before bed, but because of the late hour I figured I would just gather timber & ore to craft some arrows.That was before I heard the call in vent for help defending our clan's hamlet. I started throwing my gear together and prepared to head out; however, by the time I made it to the hamlet, two of our guys had chased off the attackers. They weren't far away, so I made my way towards them on my mount. I was halfway to their location when I noticed I was taking damage from behind; upon rotating my camera angle (something you can do while mounted), I noticed I was being chased by 3 mounted players with an additional guy dismounted trying to shoot down my mount with his bow.
I called out the situation in vent and was instructed to lead them north towards the other two clan members I was already headed towards. I cut and weaved around trees and hills to avoid the incoming arrows from killing my mount before I reached the soon-to-be ambush location. We had two members hiding behind a rock directly up ahead, and another rapidly approaching from the south, which would turn this fight into a 4v4. But as I rode past the rock hiding our guys, I looked back to see a couple of the enemies mounts quickly drop due to arrows from our skilled archers that had popped out from behind the rock. They didn't know what hit them!
Even outnumbered 4 to 3, we still had the element of surprise, and this was the prevailing factor! I circled back around, now with only one enemy chasing me on mount, but I ignored him and moved directly to the almost-dead guy on foot. I rode by and landed a successful hit (I'm getting better at mounted combat). The clan-mate approaching from the south had just arrived and landed the next hit on this enemy for the final blow.
By this time we dispatched three of their guys, and only one remained and was hauling ass into the distance on his mount. With all the commotion on vent, another 4 clan members had arrived and helped us chase the last guy. We ended up calling off the chase and everyone headed back to the hamlet. I called it a night at that point, since it was already late to begin with.
I wish I could have seen the look on those guys faces when they thought I was their lone prey and how quickly they became the hunted with a spur of the moment trap. It's moments like these you just can't find in a themepark MMO; Darkfall is shaping up to be a great MMORPG!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
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).
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).
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