DarkFall is a beautiful world. It's strange and interesting and I was pleasantly surprised by the varied landscapes. DarkFall stretches it's engine to the limit and the game ends up looking great. I found myself looking around with true wonder at the different cities I came across and the strange sights.
Of course, death is a common experience in DarkFall! However, as an experienced Ultima Onlinen gamer, it never bothered me too much. OK let me explain, see in DarkFall when your character dies she leaves everything on her corpse. Any other player can walk up to your corpse and take everything you own! (Actually it's a gravestone in DarkFall, in Ultima Online it was the same thing but you left a body behind, and when looted completely you were left naked, and not to compeltely sidetrack but in Ultima Online you could also cut up your enemies body and take whatever parts you wanted as trophies)I've talked about this in past posts, probably my Ultima Online posts. See, this kind of gameplay system makes DarkFall a completely different class of MMOs. It's a style of MMO forgotten to the average WoW gamer, but it's one familiar to many vets.
Everything changes in a free-loot based game. Epic swords are still epic, but common swords do great damage even compared to said epic swords. This is because gear MUST be expendable! So decent or even great gear is cheap to come by.
However gear is used up much more quickly, therefor a game like DarkFall has a GREAT crafting element. There is a huge place for crafters in DarkFall. (Even if it is not nearly as fun as PvP)
Plenty of interesting dungeons to explore in DarkFall! :)
So what is there to do in DarkFall? Well, PvP of course! And the PvP IS a lot of fun. You need to like ganking, and you need to like conflict. And conflict and ganking go so well hand in hand together. DarkFall is the ultima PvP MMO I've played, hands down. It has many of the great PvP elements of Lineage 2 without the awful asian grind that really ruined the game imo. Castle sieges, random PvP out in the world, and many skirmishes between cities is the best fun the game has to offer.And believe me, there is NOTHING as satisfying as running along side your mates on your mounts heading towards the enemy for battle. It's a very very rewarding experience that no PvE MMO could ever offer. Just takes some stones and a lust for battle!
This is DarkFall's version of Bone Armor. It's great for mages because it has good armor but doesn't have a big impact on your magic skills.
So why am I leaving DarkFall, for now at least, if my review of it is so positive? Well the reasons are two fold.The reason I am leaving, is because I can not afford it at this moment. I recently switched jobs and I just needed to conserve that $15 for other things untill I get back on top of bills and such.
So then the second reason, is not why am I leaving, but why may I not return? Well, that is because DarkFall does not have the grab-and-go gameplay that I have kind of come to be used to and enjoy. It's the same thing that drove me from EvE. Yeah, it's fun and really exciting! But it can also be kind of empty and boring at the same time. Just you and your skills and your mates and your loot. Yeah, that really is all you need, that's why DarkFall is not a bad game by any stretch. But were are the quests? The story? I suppose perhaps I am maturing in my RL life and my MMO life. I no longer have the stamina (lie) to game for 8+ hr stretches. I prefer a MMO were I can be doing RL things and just jump in when I have an hour or two, have some fun, maybe even a PvP battle or two, and then go to bed or go to work.
That said... I am very much looking forward to Aion! So, stay tuned to Cow Nose the 50 Pound Cat's MMO Adventures and you just may see some great Aion action. :D
In the meantime.. stay tuned for some free MMO updates! Runes of Magic, and Wizard 101, wohoo! Two MMOs LONG overdue for an appearance on this blog.
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