Customer Reviews

Dark Age of Camelot Expansion: Shrouded Isles

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

1,000 words or less...

I've played DAoC since the day of it's release and I have tested the Shrouded Isles expansion extensively. I've logged over 2000 hours playtime and am a serious gamer. However bear in mind that the few following points are one writers opinion.

When choosing a game you must see it in relation to the other games available. Because this is a mmorpg, there are only a few competitors, and soon to be more. Do some research first, you will be putting your precious time into the game you choose.

Advantages of DAoC over other mmorpgs:
1. The company listens to the player base. This is genuninely unique in this game genre.
2. There are 40+ classes to play. Each class can be built in a variety of ways.
3. You have three realms to choose from. There is so much to see.
4. It looks great, and with Shrouded coming out, nothing else really compares.
5. The engine is very stable, and speedy.
6. Customer service is extensive and far superior to that available in competing titles of the same genre.
7. Changes are frequently made, and oft sweeping. You can combat changes if you are vocal, organized and back it with data. I have made changes in how things work in this world, you can too.
8. I don't know why this is, but the player base is more nice in general than in any other game I've played. It's my #1 reason for playing so much. You won't find this kind of quality playerbase in any other game. Especially on the roleplay servers.
9. Mythic takes risks. I like to reward ingenuity and risktaking in business. It keeps changes coming to us, the players.
10. The game is well designed, feature rich, fun and a blast too.

Disadvantages:
1. Mythic is small, though growing. They can only accomplish so much at once.
(This first comment is double edged. While small, the company does it's own bidding. There is no Sony or MS giant pulling puppet strings.)
2. Sometimes the vocal playerbase has forced changes that were not in the best interests of 'balance'. Balance and fairness among classes can be trying and difficult. Waves upon the beach.
Remember: 40+ class each building 3+ ways. Balancing 120 builds in PvE and RvR both is no small task. I wouldn't wish it upon an enemy.
3. Hibernia was rushed out in production last september and the realm lacks. However in SI Hibernia is gorgeous. They made up to us.
4. If you just want to RvR, levelling is slow to get to 50.
5. At level 50 (consider 250-500 hours to get here!!!) those who like PvE or have become accustomed to it may be bored by RvR. RvR is why I play however, and leveling is a chore for me.
6. Some classes are superior to others, and it can be frustrating dying repeatedly, or being so often victorious due to a given ability. Changes do come however.

The game is considerably more humane to your time than any other current mmorpg. I love humane companies.
The game is fun and well designed. There are many quests. Player crafted armor etc is fully viable. PvE is extensive and fun for a variety of levels. RvR is fun - but it is much too fast.

All in all I give this game a 7 of 10. As a mmorpg I give this game a 10 of 10. It's hands down the best mmorpg out there. Best company, best customer service. And it's a small company that broke into a market by doing cool things their big competitors didn't care to do, like giving us a role-play server.

The company continually adds new changes that are better for the player. Speeding up leveling, etc. /applaud.
Additionally, I'd like to add:
It can be very trying playing a game when it is first released. They are all buggy and difficult. DAoC launched MUCH more smoothly than any other 1st person mmorpg I've played, and I've played them all at launch.
More than a year into it's life, DAoC is feature rich, well built and kind. Many changes still need to be made and there are still buggy things (interrupt coding for casters) that need work. Some of these things deeply bite into fun. All in all, the company has proved itself over this past year. They have shown they have courage, they listen, the continue to strive to better the world. They have shown outstanding customer service in all of my interactions (let me tell you 'Godsend'!) with them.

It's not a perfect experience. It's not a perfect game. But if you look at the competition, it's no competition. Some of the upcoming mmorpgs may be better than DAoC, but they will all be bug ridden beta launches for 6 months. That's just the nature of the industry, and the complexity of creating an online pc mmorpg.

All in all. Dark Age of Camelot and more superiorly Shrouded Isles, is the best game I have had the privelege of particpating in. This is largely due as well to the many, many fine people I have met and come to know in Hibernia, Percival.

Enjoy! You really can't go wrong with this buy.
~Davina of the Percival Server

The great thing about this MMORPG (massive multiplayer online roleplaying game) is the fact that you have the option to level/XP in relative safety of your own realm, and then when you feel like it zoom off to the PVP areas where you can kill and be killed by other PC's to your hearts content.
There are on average 4 races and 12 different classes in each of 3 different realms that are at war with each other. Each realm has 2 relic Keeps (housing relics) and 7 frontier forts (used to defend the frontier), enemy realms can take your forts, invade your frontier (not your homeland) and make attempts to steal your relics (which they then take back to their own relic keeps, and gain bonuses to magic or melee - depending on the relic).
Each realm is very different visually, and class/race wise. Thats the beauty of this game, its almost like 3 games in one in that you can play a different realm on a different server (Midgard on one, Hibernia on another and Albion on another).
The drawbacks of the game are the graphical engine, people mention epic battles. But you cant enjoy an epic battle, a keep taking, or a relic stealing without your FRAMES PER SECOND going down into the single digits - often down to less than 2. This is to be rectified in the upcoming expansion - SHROUDED ISLES - which appears on the shelves . . .. The expansion will contain an updated version of the engine which will allow you to make full use of the power of your graphics card.
Its a very fun game, but be warned, the whole game is geared towards playing with 7 other people in a group, which enables you to xp very efficiently (choosing the right classes to be in that group is evn mor eimportant) - you CAN solo xp, but be advised that for the majority of classes, this is a much slower task than grouping with other people (some classes can actually xp faster solo in earlier levels than they can in groups).
Another drawback of this game is that once you hit the max level (level 50) the only things you have left to do is RVR (fighting other realms) and searching for items to better your character, that and roll another character (being as there are 36 total across the realms - you wont exactly get bored).

Shrouded Isles is the first expansion for the massive multiplayer role playing game "The Dark ages of Camelot" or DAoC for short.

To understand a bit about the game's back story, DAoC makes wonderful use of three seperate mythologies: English, Celtic and Norse. You can create a character in any one of these lands.

Mythic, the company behind DAoC, made a wise decision in basing their game on actual mythology, as it has both an accessibility and a richness and resonance not found in the competitors. Those people drawn to the role playing elements of the game, have more to work with, and it's easier to fathom what constitutes an acceptable name, for example.

The lands reflect the research and forethought which went into the design of the game. For example, each of the lands has a capital city. Obviously there's camelot for Albion (aka England), but in Hibernia (Irish/Celtic mythology) the capital city is Tir Na Nog, or the celtic land of the fairies. If you've ever travelled in Ireland or england, you almost can't help but smile to see landmarks on the map like the cliffs of Moher or the Salisbury plain, with a dungeon entrance inside a strange but familiar set of stone monoliths called Stonehenge.

As for game mechanics, this is probably one of the most hotly contested issues within the DAoC community. DAoC has a large number of classes spread amongst the three realms, and one of DAoC's innovations was the design of the game as a player vs. player environment.

As a new player you choose a realm, and a character class and proceed to age or level your character via combatting NPC creatures alone or in groups, or by doing quests and tasks. You could if you chose to, never leave the safety of your home realm, and avoid ever having to deal with the unpleasant prospect of being attacked or preyed upon by other players. In general home realms feature a lot of cooperation and esprit de cour, and DAoC offers enough guild functions to support the concept of persistent player organizations within the realms.

Eventually, most people want to taste combat against these other realms, and DAoC provides an ingenous mechanism which allows players to enter these dangerous frontiers when they choose to, yet still retreat safely to their homeland when they want to continue to gain experience or engage in the local trade economy.

In many ways Guild features are the backbone of the RvR system, since the guilds and alliances of guilds really are the engine which drives the ebb and flow of player vs player combat. DAoC does feature large scale combat, and in fact, really requires that substantial numbers of people work together in forming armies for sieging and attempts to steal and hold enemy relics.

Each realm's frontier zone contains keeps which can be sieged and held, and castles containing relics which can be stolen and held to the benefit of bonuses for magic users or weapon yielding folk throughout the land.

The realm vs. realm or RvR combat continues to undergo constant tuning, as popularity and success in combat of the various realms and classes reveals ways in which some classes are either bugged or too powerful.

In SI, part of the value of the expansion is the introduction of two new classes in each realm, with distinct capabilities. Depending on your outlook, Mythic is either ambitious or crazy, but no one can accuse them of being complacent or risk averse.

Although not specifically a part of SI, Mythic also installed spellcrafting around the time of the release, as part of it's continued commitment to providing a robust tradeskills system and economy. Spellcrafting and alchemy allow players to train their skills in adding magical properties to the player made weapons and armor, and allowing them to compete with the rare item drops which previously often required dedication to endless hours of killing NPC creatures.

One of the quaint touches in DAoC was it's somewhat antiquated engine, and the rendering of terrain and objects. One of the things SI provides is an enhanced graphics engine, which ostensibly provides performance improvements, but also is harder on and less forgiving of older graphics cards. There's some noticeable eye candy like reflective water, but the graphics engine really isn't really the main point of interest in SI, in comparison to the new lands available for exploration, and the new classes.

SI is really an evolutionary step, and one which every DAoC player will no doubt want to invest in. It's not a 2.0 game, although I commend Mythic for working to make what in essence amounts to an unlocking of new content, a worthwhile purchase that also addresses issues with the game. They've also designed SI so that it can still coexist in relative peace with those DAoC players who don't want to spring for the add-on.

But it's probably worth noting that Mythic has continued to earn the dedication of its customers, by adding in new content, and capabilites, as well as special interest server types ever since the release of the DAoC.

In addressing the complaints and shortcomings of the RvR system, they had, prior to Shrouded Isles, introduced a massive dungeon called Darkness Falls, which also added a new wrinkle and importance to the possession of frontier keeps.

It seems to me that Mythic continues to consider itself the underdog in the MMORPG wars, and as such is working very hard to make their game the best it can be. There really is more nuance and variety to DAoC than that offered by any of it's competitors (with the excepction perhaps of Anarchy online) and that has kept players interested in the game, and Mythic's subscriber revenues solid.

Shrouded Isles requires DAoC, but someone new to the game would not have a problem finding the base game and the expansion for the price of the original game. As many people have been playing DAoC for over a year, someone new to the world of DAoC would no doubt find an immense world to explore, experiment with, and learn about. With Shrouded Isles, it's now got an updated graphics engine, new classes, and lands and epic dungeons to explore.

...The bottom line is that DAoC is a fun, stable game and if you enjoy fantasy MMOGs then you should definately check it out. Shrouded Isles has a new version of the graphics engine which is a lot faster and simply stunning: even simple things like the leaves on trees, running water, and "real" shadows greatly improve the immersive quality of the visuals. There's also going to be new races, classes and monsters as well as new areas to explore...For current players, the expansion is a must; for new players, it should make joining the DAoC community even more enticing.

This expansion, with it's new classes, races and zones, makes a great game even better. The new graphics engine has improved the frame rate in large RvR events and the starting cities in the new zones are some of the best hunting grounds for lowbie characters. You will also find new "epic" dungeons in the expanded areas and a large "outdoor dungeon" crawling with some of the most challenging PvE mobs in the game. And if you are a crafter... here, you will have access to crafting towns with *all* materials as well as forge, lathe, alchemy table and vault.

If you are serious about Dark Age of Camelot, you will D E F I N I T E L Y want this expansion.

To those of you who enjoy the fantasy rpg's this is a must!

disclaimer: In case you didn't already know, this is not a stand alonge game, like Warcraft III or Diablo II, instead you must pay a monthly fee to play ([$-$]/mo)for it is on-line only.

The visuals are amazing! With this expansion, SI, you get the improved graphics engine that shows shadowing effects, reflection's in water, amazing sunsets, enhanced spell effects, etc. The gameplay is just as before, with DAOC, however now the menu system has been upgraded and has become a bit more friendly. Additionally you get a few more new races for a player character, and two more classes per realm.

You can play this game SOLO if you wish, or you can, as most do, group up with other players to explore this new realm.

I've played this game for about a year now, and I am still enjoying it :-)

This is the expansion to Dark Ages of Camelot which launched about 19 mos ago. It was the smoothest launch of any morg I have played. The graphics and music are great. The end game is Realm vs Realm (RVR) where u battle the other two realms.

The game is level based with max levels of 50. This expansion added new zones to hunt for higher lvls which was badly needed. Most of the zones go unused like a lot of expansion packs. The city of Avalon is the most populated area in the expansion and it drops great loot and exp for players from 35-50, it's darkness falls without the other realms visiting you.

The problem with DAOC is the fact that the game is SOOOO unbalanced. It is casters casters casters. Tanks, especially in Albion, don't stand a chance in rvr. Good nukers can take down a tank before they ever get close to them. There have been many nights where I was hit for 780/600/500 death before I could get near the caster. He could take me down MUCH faster than I could ever take him down. Mythic is very slow to make any changes in game. They have known about several game changing bugs like the block/parry bug and it took them 19 mos to fix it.

This game is very very entertaining until about lvl 20 then it starts to GRIND. Experience is not linear. It takes about as long to get from lvl 40-50 as it does to get from 1-40. Once you hit 50 you spend all your time in RVR and you better hope your class is not one of the many gimped RVR classes. Some classes are great against npc mobs and totally gimped in RVR.

Shrouded Isles was a decent expansion. It addressed many of the glaring weaknesses in the original game. Those weaknesses were areas to lvl post 40 and additional areas to find items.

Daoc is a good morg but it is slow to evolve and has the worst customer service I have ever seen. There are NOOO mythic controled events nor will you ever get an answer in game from customer service. If you enjoy killing and grinding experience this is the game for you. The RVR is set up in set areas so most of the player vs player is in large groups (zerg vs zerg or worse yet zerg vs your group). The basic rule is largest zerg wins. The one glaring downside to the game is the time it takes to get back into the action. Once you die in RVR it can take as long as 20 minutes for you to get back to the fighting. For the casual gamer that can be prohibitive.

All in all Daoc is worth playing but it has shown very little ability to change. There are better morgs out there.

One of the greatest aspects of this game is that it's practically 3 and a half games in one. There are three realms that you can play in, Albion, Hibernia, and Midgard. All three are radically different from each other. Albion is the "king arthur" realm, with knights in shining armor, wizards, and clerics. This is also the most "human" realm of the three, with highlanders, britons, saracens, and avalonians, with the exception of the new iconnu race. Hibernia is based on celtic lore and is considered the "magical realm", because many of the classes have a magical twist to them (as well as some of the most powerful caster classes in the game, such as the eldritch). Hibernia has races such as lurikeens(halfling like) celts(humans), elves and firbolgs (huge humanlike beings) Midgard is based mostly on norse mythology, and has some of the best "tank"(melee oriented) classes, such as the warrior and the bezerker. Midgard has the races of trolls, dwarfs norse(human race) and kobolds (short blue strange looking creatures). The half game is the frontier lands of each realm, where the two opposing realms can invade and take over keeps and possibly steal the relics of your realm (there are 6 total, 2 per realm), which give bonuses to your entire realm and gives them a slight advantage in RvR(realm vs. realm).

Players who wish to RvR may do so, and wander the frontiers of their lands to defend against invaders or transport to the enemy lands to take the fight to their own grounds. Players can both attack and defend keeps from the enemy, which can be fun with siege weapons. Those that wish to PvE(player vs. environment) will also find many challenges that they can try. There are many quests that players can do, and dungeons they can venture in for exploration as well as finding rare and unique items from the monsters within.

As for the expansion, what does it add? Well for starters, each realm has an entire new zone that they can explore, and from what I've seen, the new areas are roughly at least 2/3's of the original lands, so there's quite a bit to see and do. There are new dungeons to explore, as well as a new race and 2 new classes per realm (Iconnu for Albion, Valkyn for Midgard, and Sylvan for Hibernia). The game gets a big graphics overhaul and looks stunning for the most part, especially the new water effects. Many of the new monsters in the new lands are high lvl, so they give player alternative places to hunt and explore, and many monsters drop unique items you can't find anywhere else. The game definitely runs a lot smoother, although huge RvR battles still tend to drive the framerate down.

Overall, my only real complaint is that the expansion requires a pretty up to date video card (like Geforce 3 and later) to run smoothly. Many of my friends in the game have complained that the expansion doesnt run very well for them, mainly cause of the video card. But for those that can run it, it is truly a worthy purchase.

Well its like this, the reflexes in the water - i cant see them even with my geforce 4 but at least the water now moves its not staganated; graphical engine - ahhh, this where they made real improvements, smooth graphics and innovative colors of the interface; Music and SFX - added ambient music and ambient sfx wich create a different type of atmosphere; Commands&emotions - new emotions and commands gives a more personalized RPG; Races&Classes - Well i tryed the necromancer and i like it, new countries and NPC's.

Overally the expansion pack really improved the game, but i think it lacks information, info on quests, abilities and skills i think its a problem that DAOC really needs to improve. Even the complete guides dont give us deep info in the definition of most skills and abilities.

1,000 words or less...

I've played DAoC since the day of it's release and I have tested the Shrouded Isles expansion extensively. I've logged over 2000 hours playtime and am a serious gamer. However bear in mind that the few following points are one writers opinion.

When choosing a game you must see it in relation to the other games available. Because this is a mmorpg, there are only a few competitors, and soon to be more. Do some research first, you will be putting your precious time into the game you choose.

Advantages of DAoC over other mmorpgs:
1. The company listens to the player base. This is genuninely unique in this game genre.
2. There are 40+ classes to play. Each class can be built in a variety of ways.
3. You have three realms to choose from. There is so much to see.
4. It looks great, and with Shrouded coming out, nothing else really compares.
5. The engine is very stable, and speedy.
6. Customer service is extensive and far superior to that available in competing titles of the same genre.
7. Changes are frequently made, and oft sweeping. You can combat changes if you are vocal, organized and back it with data. I have made changes in how things work in this world, you can too.
8. I don't know why this is, but the player base is more nice in general than in any other game I've played. It's my #1 reason for playing so much. You won't find this kind of quality playerbase in any other game. Especially on the roleplay servers.
9. Mythic takes risks. I like to reward ingenuity and risktaking in business. It keeps changes coming to us, the players.
10. The game is well designed, feature rich, fun and a blast too.

Disadvantages:
1. Mythic is small, though growing. They can only accomplish so much at once.
(This first comment is double edged. While small, the company does it's own bidding. There is no Sony or MS giant pulling puppet strings.)
2. Sometimes the vocal playerbase has forced changes that were not in the best interests of 'balance'. Balance and fairness among classes can be trying and difficult. Waves upon the beach.
Remember: 40+ class each building 3+ ways. Balancing 120 builds in PvE and RvR both is no small task. I wouldn't wish it upon an enemy.
3. Hibernia was rushed out in production last september and the realm lacks. However in SI Hibernia is gorgeous. They made up to us.
4. If you just want to RvR, levelling is slow to get to 50.
5. At level 50 (consider 250-500 hours to get here!!!) those who like PvE or have become accustomed to it may be bored by RvR. RvR is why I play however, and leveling is a chore for me.
6. Some classes are superior to others, and it can be frustrating dying repeatedly, or being so often victorious due to a given ability. Changes do come however.

The game is considerably more humane to your time than any other current mmorpg. I love humane companies.
The game is fun and well designed. There are many quests. Player crafted armor etc is fully viable. PvE is extensive and fun for a variety of levels. RvR is fun - but it is much too fast.

All in all I give this game a 7 of 10. As a mmorpg I give this game a 10 of 10. It's hands down the best mmorpg out there. Best company, best customer service. And it's a small company that broke into a market by doing cool things their big competitors didn't care to do, like giving us a role-play server.

The company continually adds new changes that are better for the player. Speeding up leveling, etc. /applaud.
Additionally, I'd like to add:
It can be very trying playing a game when it is first released. They are all buggy and difficult. DAoC launched MUCH more smoothly than any other 1st person mmorpg I've played, and I've played them all at launch.
More than a year into it's life, DAoC is feature rich, well built and kind. Many changes still need to be made and there are still buggy things (interrupt coding for casters) that need work. Some of these things deeply bite into fun. All in all, the company has proved itself over this past year. They have shown they have courage, they listen, the continue to strive to better the world. They have shown outstanding customer service in all of my interactions (let me tell you 'Godsend'!) with them.

It's not a perfect experience. It's not a perfect game. But if you look at the competition, it's no competition. Some of the upcoming mmorpgs may be better than DAoC, but they will all be bug ridden beta launches for 6 months. That's just the nature of the industry, and the complexity of creating an online pc mmorpg.

All in all. Dark Age of Camelot and more superiorly Shrouded Isles, is the best game I have had the privelege of particpating in. This is largely due as well to the many, many fine people I have met and come to know in Hibernia, Percival.

Enjoy! You really can't go wrong with this buy.
~Davina of the Percival Server