User Reviews (1 - 11 of 90)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Now available for free download

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: July 12, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Don't get me wrong, DaoC is a great game and I have two accounts and 14 toons to attest to this fact. The good news, at least for those just entering the game, is that you'll have an easy time immersing yourself in the game, at all levels. The bad, for long-term gamers, is that Mythic has made all of those levels, Master Levels and achievements that took you months and months of work MUCH easier for noobs to achieve, without actually giving you anything in return (you DO get the nice title of "Elder" if you've player for four years or more). Given the ridiculously exaggerated prices for artifacts and scrolls achieved through Atlantis (now available for free download along with the basic DaoC software and Shrouded Isles expansion at Mythic's site), Mythic has made scroll drops vastly easier, and dramatically increased the cost of repairing artifacts (in addition to adding Epic Armor in Catacombs that comes close to approximating artifact quality, and which anyone can, and almost has to, get as part of general class quests).

It's genuinely sad that Mythic, rather than responding to its long time, loyal customer base, has chosen to pander the game to potential new subscribers. It wouldn't be such an issue if something were done to balance this, like giving long-time players some advantages in crafting (getting an LGM "has never been easier"), or benefits for toons leveled prior to the Task Dungeons of Catacombs (where "leveling has never been easier"). Sadly, this is not the case, and new subscribers continue to join, which is, in some ways, great news. What should concern them, however, is one day they'll be veterans, like the rest of us, and will find out first hand how deaf Mythic can be to that group.

Mythic's Misstep

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: September 26, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Since Dark Age of Camelot was released in 2001, it has received almost universal praise. However, when the second commercial expansion pack came out, a great number of players slammed it, turning their backs on the game. It seems almost superfluous to write a review of an expansion pack that is now included in most all purchases of the original game (e.g. the Platinum edition), but Trials of Atlantis deserves some attention, even at this late date.

Dark Age of Camelot (DAoC) was (and is) adored by the MMORPG populace for many reasons, not the least of which was its unique RvR system. It was a solid, balanced, three-way player battle that had both incentive and reward. Those not wishing to participate were not required, but for those who did, the game truly blossomed in the culminating RvR endgame (if one can accurately term it as such).

The crux of such a system is balance, and not just among the realms. Players have to have an equal footing. Atlantis introduced new lands, quests and items, but its major selling point was that this was an expansion for higher level players, and as such offered rewards for those hardcore aficionados. Atlantis included 10 extensive multi-group quests called "master levels." Each ML would grant the player who successfully completed it a certain power. The problem is that the MLs took a great amount of time and effort, which many DAoC players did not wish to invest.

Not that it was/is easy to get to level 50 (the ultimate character level in DAoC), but once a player got there, he had "arrived" and was able to go toe to toe with all other high level players. The master levels gave an unfair advantage to those who had the time and desire to gather up large raid groups and spend several hours pursuing a single goal. Therefore, regular players found themselves behind those who had put in all the time.

The other benefit of ToA was artifacts. These were high level items that were rather difficult to obtain. Once obtained, the user then had to find 3 scrolls that dropped off certain mobs to activate it. This introduced camping into DAoC...something from which the game had remained relatively free. Suddenly players found themselves in turf battles with their own realmmates. Even after the artifact was activated, the owner still had to fight certain monsters to level it. Only then was the artifact useful. Artifacts leveled slowly and each artifact required different opponents, so time spent leveling one artifact did little for another. Frustration mounted.

Mythic heard the cries of its players and went to work on Atlantis. MLs were made easier and less time consuming and artifacts became less difficult to obtain and level. Still, the basic premise of the expansion as it fit within the framework of DAoC was flawed.

Mythic recently brought up a few non-ToA servers and they have quickly become the most popular shards out there. ToA has effectively been neutralized for new players on some other servers as their average populations have dropped to a point that gathering a large ML raid force is a difficult proposition at best, thus throwing the balance off even further as it will be considerably tougher for those without MLs and artifacts to obtain them. There are stories of once strong guilds almost folding as the lion's share of their memberships relocated to the new servers. It would not be a complete surprise to see Mythic convert more servers to this model, leaving ToA servers as the niche product.

So why three stars? Because ToA is a great expansion. In another game, it would have been hailed along the lines of EverQuest's Scars of Velious. Instead, it had a negative effect on the aspect of DAoC that makes the game so appealing, and therein lay its problem. Some of my most enjoyable times in DAoC were spent in the lands of Atlantis. I achieved ML5 and owned multiple artifacts. The expansion was fun, but only for a limited number of players. I think Mythic was probably stunned to see the reaction to ToA, both negative and positive (when the non-ToA servers became so popular). The expansion is a good one, but it is not wildly popular and, at this stage in the life of the game, is almost irrelevant.

If you are a newcomer to DAoC, you will likely have ToA included in your purchase. If not, it is the one expansion to skip, given a choice. Shrouded Isles and Catacombs have been huge successes and are essential to the experience, but ToA is an unfortunate stepchild in the DAoC family. Buy it if you want the hardcore camping and grinding experience and make certain you join a highly populated server. Otherwise, you'll find it is a waste of time and money.

This expansion damaged the game

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 09, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I've played DAoC since it's release. i had a great time - original RVR was a lot of fun, and my friends and i could always find a new distraction to keep us occupied. trials of atlantis, coupled with the updated new frontiers ruined DAoC. atlantis is centered around gaining artifacts, earned through absolutely tedious encounters that often require several groups of players. then, you still need to collect three scrolls to activate the artifact - these drop randomly from some creatures, calling for camping toa mobs endlessly. some of these artifacts are so overpowered that they've made players who don't get them obsolete. also, player crafted armor and particularly weapons have taken a serious blow. they can't compete with the perks on toa drops and artifacts. this expansion has pushed many original players, like myself, to walk away.

A good, but misguided expansion

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: December 08, 2004
Author: Amazon User

When the TOA expansion came out, it suffered from its share of bugs and balance issues. Many of these have been fixed. It is attractive and fun, with many quests, artifact mobs, and other challenges. The problem is, its a high level pve expansion in a game that appeals mainly to a PVP audience. PVP lovers usually hate the "repetition" (leveling treadmill, etc) of PVE. And to compete effectively in PVP you are pretty much forced to complete the Master Levels and acquire the Artifacts that are introduced in the expansion.

So if you like PvE, this is good fun. If you are like most folks that play DAOC for the PVP, you will agree that this was a misguided expansion.

Time Sink

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 1 / 3
Date: October 29, 2004
Author: Amazon User

PvE Expansion for a game wich end game is PvP. Great Idea Mythic.

Time Sink!

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: September 23, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Overall, DAoC is an okay game, though it has ptential to be a GREAT game on the right server and realm. What I liked about DAoC was that it was not an EQ time sink. However, ToA changed that. Still, some of the MLs are fun, if you like 8 hour raids.

Everything you want in a MMORPG

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 2
Date: August 03, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you are reading this then you are already on the right track. This game is by far one of the best I have played. I played SWG, FFXI, and L2. And I keep coming back. No other game offers PvP like it. It does however get frustrating. Especially if you keep getting killed by the same person, but that just makes it so much better when you get revenge. The teamwork is great. Mythic has the world divided into 3 realms, all battling each other, so your "realmmates" have to help you so that you will become an assett to the team. Character custimization is great, giving you options of dying your clothes almost any shade of color, and now your weapons too. And Trials of Atlantis just opened another door, giving you the ability to fight under water, and offering a vast selection of new weapons and armors.

If you dont like PvP, DAOC still has something to offer. You can always battle monsters, a huge selection with weaknesses and strengths all to their own. And plenty of dungeons and island and underwater worlds to explore.

And if fighting isnt quite your thing, you can be a crafter and make weapons and armors, or dyes and magical gems for them.

Point being, theres always something to be had from this game. So go ahead and join the action.

Cruddy expansion for great game.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: July 24, 2004
Author: Amazon User

If you're thinking about playing daoc, buy the platinum edition, it includes all the expansions currently available for $29.xx and you won't regret it. If you've already bought gold or classic, you don't need to even think about ToA until you're close to level 40. (for those of you who haven't played, levels top out at 50) If you are a casual player (have a life, or don't have time/money to level 2+ accounts to 50) don't add ToA on, it'll be months before you see any benefit, and it's just not that fun. The rest of the game is very enjoyable, and you don't need this annoyance to enjoy it. Good graphics though, and it has a slightly upgraded standard interface.

Bought, but rarely use

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 02, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Have several level 50 toons, and got this expansion because as many have said it's a "must have" in order to survive in RvR - the main/only "end-game" to DAoC.

Main reason I don't use it anymore is they enormously sacrificed performance for eye candy. Using a 3Ghz, 1M, Nvidia system it's still a totally porked out lag-fest. Just try walking through Camp forest without looking at the ground and you'll probably lag all the way to Sauvage before you rubber-band back.

I only load ToA to assist guildy's with their quests, then go back to the much more fun and much faster SI engine for regular game play.

I'd only recommend this xpack to well developed characters. New players don't need it and would cause more frustration than fun. If your new to the game, get SI and have a blast. When you're 50, get ToA to do the quests, then go back to SI to enjoy the game again.

excellent expansion for the level 40 plus players

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 1 / 4
Date: June 26, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Great graphics, artifacts and new armor. This is a great expansion if you have a level 40 plus character. It had some bugs on release but Mythic has fixed the bugs. I recommend this expansion if you enjoy DAOC.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Next 

Actions