Sebster

[Ashin]

For some reason Darkfall just doesn't seem to interest me, and I know others in SoH kind of had the same reaction toward it. I don't really have any cogent argument against it.. it just never made me want to learn more basically. I'm also a bit wary of the dev team.

It looks like "the next big game" for SoH is likely to be AoC, or Vanguard. For now we have a few of the original members enjoying WoW, and a very nice crew still loving AO. (AO is a "real" game btw =P)

[Zyco]

I need a real game to come out. How come you folks never talk about Darkfall?

Darkfall looks like total garbage - dated graphics, low budget... looks like another Mourning to me.

[Ashin]

Then again Zyco was never one to mince words. =P

[Relent]

I dunno, Darkfall development has more differences than similarities to the Mourning project.

For similarities, they are pretty secretive (which I don't like) and place a heavy emphasis on PvP with high consequence. (which I do like)

But they have much deeper pockets. The Darkfall group is funded well enough that it's part of thier problem; there's not enough pressure for them to wrap up development. I certainly wouldn't call it a low budget effort.

The graphics on old screenies is all pre-2003 technology, which they always said would be updated before release. If you look at the newer display models beginning to appear it's very different. Has a detailed plasticy thing going that reminds me of EQ2. Which I never liked, but you SoH folks all seemed to.

You don't have to like it, but be fair. And for open PvP with land control and crafting and trade, there are no comparable alternatives on the horizon, so there's no way I'd write it off without a look.

I seem to remember SoE writing off WoW pre-beta to go play EQ2. What game are you playing these days Zyco? I forget.

[pyroglyphix]

I have to agree with Zyco.

Darkfall and Mourning look like flavorless crap. I could care less about the graphics, graphics don't make a game FUN.

I don't really see anything new or innovative that other games haven't tried, not that that's a requirement, but cloning systems from other games doesn't appeal to me either.

And we knew WoW was going to be good, most of us just avoided it because it was too cartoonish.

[Zyco]

hehe.. SoE? wish I had their money

My complaint with Darkfall is that DoO and all thsoe other PvP guilds are getting hyped over it, without even really seeing anything from it other than reading descriptions and maybe seeing video clips.. i saw the video from it and it was horrendous looking.

Mourning was one of these overhyped games, people even PRE-PAID for this game with never playing anything on it.. and they got screwed over mostly. I am a fan of Independant companies.. but, in terms of an MMO who is crowned the next holy grail of pvp games.. I dont see that happening. If it was that easy it would have been done already.

As for WoW.. yes I knocked the shit out of the game, until i tried it and then I see that its super solid and does pretty much everything right.. just isnt groundbreaking or anything like that - but all that makes it super fun.

[Ashin]

Actually I guess Glyff picked the right word for me to use.. flavorless.. Darkfall looked and felt very flavorless to me. And that kind of stopped me from wanting to dig deeper and learn more. I won't proclaim that this way of decision making is particularly thorough of course.

But something needs to get me going in a game.. there needs to be some kind of flare or style or craftsmanship or story that pulls me in. It's not right or wrong but, for me personally, that just isn't there with Darkfall.

Now as for stability/viability concerns, I think that is still a legitimate concern. I'll go back to what I said about Mourning quite a while before the severity of their problems was fully understood.. very simply and subjectively put: they just didn't "act" like a professional company that was going to introduce and support a long-running title. I get the same vibe from Darkfall. However I could VERY easily be completely wrong because I haven't looked into much.

As for the PvP features.. I do think the mantra of destroyable assets is a little overated. Of course things like land control can make the game much more interesting, but it needs to be viewed in the context of the entire game (including its non-PvP aspects). To me, simply because a game has this list of features does not necessarily tell me that the PvP will be enjoyable or motivating at all.

[Relent]

Ok, so I meant SoH and typed SoE. But I can't be the only one who's ever done that.

Features don't make the game for me. All they do is mark out what might be worth looking at. Darkfall could suck for any number of reasons, but I'm hungry for a PvP game with player-driven politics and economy. That's what they're promising, so I'll be in there for a look. And I'll make my own judgement then independent of any hype.

[pyroglyphix]

Look at the Vanguard site. They have TONS of lore available, even puzzles and such to keep fans busy until the game launches...which is a loooong ways off, they just started beta testing.

Sure, they have Microsoft backing them, but maintaining a decent website isn't something that requires hundreds of thousands of dollers. The website is very simple and intuitive, without a lot of flashy crap like the EQ2 site features, and host to tons of information about the game.

The way I look at it, either the lore/background/information is there, or it isn't. If they can't put in the effort to make it available, I think it's safe to assume that if the website doesn't have it, then neither do they.

I did a lot of beta testing for Horizons. The game had a nicely designed website, but it lacked any real information. The game was very hyped, was supposed to be the next big EQ killer. They had a lot of ideas in the way of crafting, PvP, and player-owned lands...they even had friggin' dragons as a player class!

What a horrible experience that turned out to be. The game had no real live team to speak of, just a bunch of random beta testers complaining about things on their boards. They might have gotten around to fixing those problems, had they been able to make combat work.

Anyways, they launched with a ton of problems, and nose dived the game right into the ground. Anyone who still plays it (if it's still up?) is a die-hard fanboi.

My point here is that Darkfall and Mourning share those same earmarks that Horizons had...and watching DoO wait with bated breath for the next big PVP-focused game to come out while ignoring everything else saddens me.

[Guest]

DoO isnt ignoring everything else out there, but I think a number of us have been interested in Darkfall long enough that it might seem that way.

Vangard, Heroes Journey, and several other titles are being discussed. The problem I have is that none of them promise much difference in the way of gameplay where as Darkfall is full on PvP. I'm tired of PvE.

I have my doubts about Darkfall which are much the same as Ashin has previously stated. I kinda get the same feeling so I'm not gonna rush out and pre-order the game without getting some feedback from beta testers.