Try Eden (DAoC) this Christmas

[Evia]

Originally Posted by Danth [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Dark Age of Camelot was made on the cheap. It was well-made within its budget, but the limitations show through after awhile and I think contribute to its common problem with longevity. Complex zones like cities are few indeed. Most of the zones are somewhat modular in design, especially evident with the dungeon zones and new frontiers. Same for the characters. Effectively the game has a "bank" of major player abilities and each realm's classes differ primarily in terms of who gets what skills. In earlier versions of the game's history that tended to cause it to favor the realms with fewer overall classes to some degree because having the same general set of abilities on fewer classes means it was easier for those realms to build good groups. PvE mechanics in DAOC are for the most part rather simplistic compared to EQ; the game is an early example of how balancing abilities for PvP tends to neuter PvE.

I greatly prefer the realm PvP-focused endgame over EQ-style PvE raiding but the rest of the game was not able to keep me long-term. EQ had more depth, at least insofar as I was concerned. Private servers often try to rectify some of those flaws through class or mechanic changes or by adding in various expansions out the gate, to varying degrees of success. For the most part, it's wise to get in on private servers early. I am not surprised your friends like it on first impression. It gives a better "first impression" than EQ does as it is in many ways less punishing to new players. It'll be interesting to receive an update as to how well they're maintaining interest one year from now. Admittedly the limited once-a-week schedule might draw that timeline out a bit.

I totally agree! pretty much on every thing you just said lol. you managed to articulate it very well! Depth is the main reason ive stuck with EQ all these years. Older MMOS had less of it than EQ and new MMOS are absent of it entirely.