Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Those who don't like MMORPGs should stick to Unreal & Quake, April 12, 2004
By A Customer
Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) is, arguably, the best MMORPG currently available due to its unique focus on 'realm' (i.e., large-scale player v. player - PVP) combat. It *loosely* weaves Arthurian, Celtic and Viking lore into a world in which the three are always in conflict. However, in its effort to combine character development (i.e., largely player v. environment - PVE) with PVP, it has attracted a core of players who want nothing more than to have the game become a first-person shooter - ala Unreal Tournament.While most players aren't big PVE fans, we can understand appreciate the importance of 'investing' some time and effort to develop a persona in a MMORPG environment to progress to an end-game goal, which includes defending your lands (by slaying 'invaders' played by other people). It makes good business sense if you're trying to keep a monthly subscriber base. It's a shame that the featured responses are panning a very good game and giving you a warped sense of its merit based solely upon their selfish desire to turn DAoC into yet another mindless first-person shooter game.
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16 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Buy this Expansion!!!!, June 30, 2004
After reading some of the reviews I felt this Expansion needed some explaining. This Expansion is for ALL the realms within DAoC to enjoy not just the Albions as noted in a previous review. The reference to the name Catacombs just means that the game will now have Instanced Dungeons. This is something that was made popular with games like EverQuest. It just means that a group of people can have a undisturbed encounter in which just their group can participate in a dungeon adventure without another group stumbling into the encounter. The other reason to buy this and the most important is the character graphics upgrade. I feel it is the best look in the online games so far. To many times only the world is made to look realistic and the character suffers. Not here!! It will blow you away the detail made in a truly 3D rendering. So now not only does the world in DAoC look great due to the Trials of Atlantis expansion but now you can have a character thats looks like they fit in that world(TWO THUMBS WAY UP!!!!)
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Mixed Review, February 4, 2005
Fun:2.0 out of 5 stars
I have played DarkAges since the first day of the games release, across 2 servers and 2 realms (I have not played Albion).
The Catacombs Expansion will give a solo or casual player a much less stressful time levelling and earning decent PvE gear. The instanced hunting can make for relatively fast levelling compared to the old zones.
All in all, it is a good expansion if you like the PvE content of the game. Its not if you only play for PvP.
Regardless, if you are new to the genre or DarkAges in particular there are a few things you should know...
Levelling may be quick with the Catacombs expansion (if you are casual or solo and dont have friends to powerlevel you), but that is less than half the battle. That is the only selling point.
The real flaw in the game comes from the amount of time required to farm gear - very much of it with poor drop rates (soon to be increased, though spawn times will be made even longer which is just robbing peter to pay paul) and excessive camping by people (including guilds that will log in as a mob spawns and steal it). These items however are 100% necessary to the completion of a character. Some characters, such as the warden, are almost useless if they have not done the full run of MasterLevels and ToA farming. The time for this farming is very intense.
All in all, there is a Very Steep entry level for starters.
On top of that, there is a confusing and easy to mess up specialization system, where you spend your skill points. Respecs (rechoosing your skills) for these points are rarely handed out by Mythic (once per year or less), and the stones you need to use to retrain your skills go for insanely high prices that nobody but the most dedicated and equipped players can afford. In a recent statement Mythic said they were happy with this system.
This means once you create a character it will have to stay like that. Once you have put in the time to level, gear out, masterlevel, and then begin the realmpoint treadmill - you will have put in hundreds upon hundreds of hours. If you made a mistake or found you do not like your specialization, or found it to be in poor demand, or would just like a change - you will be stuck with it for good.
The game is plagued with a poor interface, strict class selection for PvP (many classes are unwelcome), finicky PvP (as the interrupt system attests to), and Extremely Fast paced PvP. Literally there are classes that can kill you instantly, and there is almost no give and take in a battle.
The hallmark of the game is PvP, but the pace of it makes it very difficult to enjoy. It is faster than most FPS games. If you do not have a planned organized competitive group you will just be farmed & frustrated.
So in the end, even though I play it to this day, I have a powerful guild and support network to make levelling or getting gear tolerable, and PvP a success instead of being repeatedly killed over and over. Guilds like mine however, do not invite newcomers or people who play less than 6 hours per day.
I cannot, and do not, recommend this title for a beginner or a newcomer.
If you are a veteran DarkAges fan, you may enjoy the solo exp of Catacombs, or the change in appearances (though SI is still the superior PvP engine if you do not depend on healers helper, etc).
Rates are now increased to the same price as Warcraft, EQ2, etc. The President now only promises to support the game as long as the community does, and such a non-committal message does not bode well for the future.
I hope this review was helpful.
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