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Finally a MMORPG worth the time!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: December 14, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I have been a "gamer" for over 20 years, playing everything from AD&D to Zork. I have spent years playing MMORPGs, including Ultima Online, Asheron's Call and Everquest, so I believe I have an excellent grasp of how Dark Age of Camelot compares to other games of this type. Without a doubt, DAoC is the best MMORPG currently available and I highly recommend it. From the stunning magical effects, and the heraldic "coats of arms", down to the breath-taking scenary, the graphics are simple awesome. The entire concept of the game featuring it's Realm to Realm struggles {the "us versus them" philosophy) and the historical background incorporated into the game, truly sets this game apart from the others, and adds to the game's addictive nature. Though DAoC is not "perfect", it has more going for it than it's competitors, including a programming/support staff that actually LISTENS to the players and IMPLEMENTS new concepts and bug-fixes in a very expeditious manner, unquestionably faster than UO, AC or EQ. What more do you want? A truly great game with a great support team! 'Nuff said!

Not a EQ, AC, or AO fan.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 9 / 10
Date: December 04, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I could not stand EQ or any of the other MMPOGS, and I was talked into buying this game. For EQ you had the level restrictions and tedious fighting with little reward. I took one look at AC and said no, I thought with AO there would be something that could hold me, but no on that one as well. The PvP aspect to the games was a turn off, either you could do it whenever like UO or only on designated servers or in arenas. I was not a PvP player in any way shape or form.

DAoC incorporated a new feeling that struck the right cord with me; Realm Vs. Realm. You work with people in your own realm more because there is a common goal. You want to fight and earn your way up so you can invade or work on taking the other realm's Keeps.

From a technical standpoint the game improves on what the other games to date have made mistakes on.

1. Leveling - In EQ leveling is difficult, time consuming, and if you die after reaching a level you loose that level. Leveling in DAoC is not easy but they have corrected the problem of losing what you have earned. Also if you die you can go back to your gave site to restore half of what you lost, in most cases that could be at least an hour or two of fighting.
2. Fighting - Every game so far you have had to fight to earn your levels, DAoC allows you to do Tasks up until you are level 20 that earn you experience and Money. You can search for tasks from any town person or merchant. Having this ability allows a good amount of cool off time if you are tired of fighting. It is a good rule of thumb that tasks will get you half way to the next level once you complete your level cap.
3. Paying for Spells - I don't know about you but I hated working or compiling spells or buying them at high prices. You choose a path in DAoC that you want to walk down and earn spells as your level increases. The animation for the spells is very eye catching.
4. Pets - Calling pets and controlling pets in AO was frustrating and confusing, thus I used a martial artist till I stopped playing. Here the controls are visible and easy to use.
5. Downtime - There is very little downtime in this game. The "healing" feature is increase compared to EQ or others. I can expect to sit for a bit if I am without a healer but certain aspects of the game allow for very little downtime. \
6. Power Leveling or Twinking Characters - Armor, weapons etc can be used at any level, just expect to break it if you are too low for it. Every item has a con to it. Grey, Green, Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red, and Purple. Starting from the lowest con that doesn't provide you best protection or damage to Purple which means you way out of its league and shouldn't touch it till you are higher.

With new aspects and improved ones I have played this game in almost every spare amount of time I have. I have often equated my time being wasted as missing valuable DAoC time.

I recommend it for at least for the thrill of taking a Keep or camping the enemies gate and earning yourself Realm Points.

Never thought a role playing game would get someone like me

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: November 24, 2001
Author: Amazon User

When I was growing up, D & D and all those other RPGs were really popular with the "nerds" of the school. When one of my friends started to play EverQuest, I wondered how someone could get so addicted to a game. Well, a good friend of mine got two copiesof DAoC, and gave one to me. Needless to say, now I am addicted to it. You can do just about anything, being a great fighter, a healer, an expert craftsman/woman, or if you have enough time, you can do all of the above. The graphics are incredible (went out and bought a new graphics card just for the game) the sound is also very realistic (surround sound for the computer is my next buy. I have the normal two front speakers, and it still sounds like sometimes the attacks are actually coming from behind me). If you have ever wondered what online game to buy, I would suggest this game to anyone. You will more likely than not get addicted to it, but why not get addicted to something that is not going to kill you? Keeps me out of trouble, and it is a very cheap form of entertainment. This is a must buy in my mind.

Pros and cons... Pros WIN!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 10 / 12
Date: June 26, 2002
Author: Amazon User

DAoC's biggest strength is its flexibility.

- Powergamers can race through to the engame, skip the quests and content, and start slaying enemies within a month or two.
- Roleplayers have several servers they can use to bow, curtsey, thee and thou all day.
- Casual gamers can log on and goof around with friends, exploring the continent and completing the many quests.
- Obsessive/compulsives can pour all their time and money into crafting.
- Armchair strategists can lead raids on enemy forts and relics.
- Bloodthirsty newbiekillers will soon have their own servers for pure Player vs. Player adventuring.
- Social players can hang around, make friends, and jabber over guild chat all day. IRC with trolls and dwarves.

The combinations of realms, classes, races, and specialized skills allow for the creation of either fairly standard characters (big warriors that smash things) or some unique, unusual, and challenging combinations (lurikeen 2-handed weapon champs, anyone? :)

No matter what your style of play, Dark Age of Camelot has something for you.

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DAoC's biggest weakness is its flexibility.

- There is a lot of opportunity for players to completely screw up their characters if they don't do enough research first. Hopefully, Mythic will soon implement the long-promised ability to respec, but even that will not solve all the problems.
- Constantly-changing class balance does frustrate many players, sometimes with good reason.
- Players who hold their breath waiting for long-promised additions (disguise, guild housing, spellcrafting) turn blue and suffocate while unrequested, unexpected additions are made.

No matter what your style of play, something about the game will make you angry.

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There are pros and cons, but I love this game. I've had more fun with my level 50 druid, mid-range champion and ranger, and little lowbie warden, than I've ever had with any other game. The people are terrific, and there is just so much to do in this little universe!

Highly, highly recommended.

This Game Rocks

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: December 05, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I am dumbfounded by the bad reviews this game is getting I played EQ for 2 years and if you don't think this is an upgrade your crazy. As far as graphics go how can anyone possibly compare this game to EQ, the graphics in this game are so much better it's incredible I could see if they were close but this is no contest.
Second in everquest if your are a warrior you get do kick or bash
sitting at your computer just praying for that critical hit that sometimes never comes, this game has styles which makes melee a joy. Third how about the fact you don't have to carry food and water around that was so stupid in EQ, and money they added the mitheral piece so its easier to trade 1 mitheral versus money that in everquest you could barely carry without being encumbered. So in conclusion I not sure what some people expected possibly a sword in the box would have been realistic give me a break.

Try the rest, but come back to the best

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: January 21, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Without question, this is the ruler of all other MMORPG's. Why? Here we go (in no particular order)...

(1) Most realistic looking world - not cartoony, overly colorful, or too "fantastical" like other games are - the scenery could almost make you believe that you are there.

(2) Best selection of classes and customization - an extremely balanced game that still presents numerous distinctly different classes. NO other game offers as much variety.

(3) Sweet graphics, great sounds. Excellent sound variety completes the atmosphere. In particular, the dungeons have echo, water, music, ghostly undead whispering, etc. Graphical effects, such as shimmering water reflections, are on par with the best of them. Water is reminiscent of Morrowind, cobwebs are disturbed by drafts in dungeons, ever-changing weather effects, etc. Enough cannot be said.

(4) Excellent selection of grouping choices. Form chat groups, combat groups, guilds - clear, distinct, with numerous settings you can customize.

(5) Fun selection of monsters. Some you have heard of, like werewolfs, etc., others you have never heard of or even imagined, like naburite drinkers, for instance.

(6) Excellent system for judging mob difficulty - a unique color system that soon becomes second nature, judge the difficulty and benefits of attacking a particular mob, at a glance.

(7) A crafting system that actually has meaning! Make unique weapons, enchant them, sell them for gold! A nice little side diversion to regular "hunting".

(8) Fun RvR. Goal oriented objectives, like capturing enemy keeps for notoriety and benefits, as well as 'regular' head-on confrontations. Nothing beats a human opponent!

(9) Cooperation is encouraged more in this game than any other I have seen. You WANT to team up, rather than being forced to, or going solo. Truly a social game.

(10) FUN! Impossible to describe, but after trying all the other games, I only found myself comparing them to this one, and none matching it. Try it out - you will be hooked !!

technically solid, yet empty

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: January 24, 2002
Author: Amazon User

Like all other MMORPGs at the time of writing this, gameplay consists of repetition. Players have no real effect on their environment. The main focus is RvR or Realm vs. Realm battle. Player vs. Player combat is only possible across realms, not within. The best equipment is dropped by monsters, so there is not much reason to work for the pinnacle of a craft. All trade skill products have only combat related applications. Character levels can only be gained by repeatedly killing AI monsters. There is a reward system for RvR, "Realm Points" are awarded for killing members of an opposing realm, however the actual reward system has not been implemented yet, points can be earned but not redeemed for anything of value. the only thing good about this game in my opinion is that it has had fewer technical problems that any other MMORPG at release so far, but other than that its a boring waste of time. if you are a big MMORPG player then maybe this would be a good game for you. i however will avoid MMORPGs for a long while to come, they lack depth.

Grief Killing and Misery Destroys a Great Game System

1 Rating: 1, Useful: 9 / 11
Date: December 03, 2001
Author: Amazon User

I once loved this game; it was an Everquest without all of EQ's frustrating points and with a better background. I found myself playing it more than any other game I've ever been involved in.

But in the two months since release I have watched it go from a true joy to a griefers paradise. A month into the game my teen level character was making her first foray into the frontier, hunting fierce monsters and facing occasional onslaughts from the rival realms in some incredible PVP battles. Now that area is empty, as anyone fool enough to set foot in it is one shot killed by an unseen sniper 10 or 20 levels above them--many of whom have found ways to exploit the game system so as to cause XP loss. The once noble battles between the realms have been taken over by rudeness, exploitation of game bugs, and sickening sociopathic behavior. The company is unable to fix the bugs and unwilling to condemn anti-social behavior.

Two months after game release, play had become a chore. I had no ability to fight the griefers from other realms because the preferred tactic was to attack only lower level characters. And no respect for many of my "comrades" who had turned to the same sick behavior. It felt like the dark days of Ultima Online's "dread lord" period. But unlike then, we have other choices, and I've moved back to Everquest. EQ may have problems, but I've never seen an Everquest player defending an emote "/em urinates on the dead corpse of an enemy" as valid roleplaying.

That's the griefer mentality that's destroyed DAOC for me.

If you play EQ, your EQ days are over.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 27 / 53
Date: September 23, 2001
Author: Amazon User

As an avid EQ player, I must say DAoC blows it out of the water. The graphics are phenomenal, the quests are a blast, very user friendly, the PvP has been well thought and controlled, I can go on and on. This is a definite game to buy!

You'll need LOTS of free time to be able to play.

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 10 / 13
Date: February 11, 2002
Author: Amazon User

This game has wonderful graphics, and is a lot of fun when you have a group of friends to play with, IF you have a LOT of time to put into the game. Casual players will find that past level 20 this game is impossible to play.

The Realm v Realm combat doesn't really become possible until level 25 and even then you get killed in one shot by "stealthed" characters very, very often. You can't realistically do Realm v Realm until around level 40.

Getting to level 40 is the impossible part for casual players. All characters can quickly reach level 20 to 25 in a few days to weeks of play (depending on how many hours a day you play). Past level 25, the leveling treadmill becomes VERY long and boring.

More content is finally being added to the game such as new monsters and items, but in reality, the only activities there are to do in the game are to find a group and camp the same monsters to "level up", or click the mouse button over and over thousands of times working tradeskills. But don't count on tradeskills being worth anything because no one buys from players since the monsters drop much better armor and weapons.

Quests get useless past level 20 except for the epic quest you get once every 5 levels or so. There is no community, no reason for tradeskills, no one talks to anyone outside their group or guild, because you must continually "level up" just to keep up. If you take even a few days off and your friends don't, they will be so far above you in level that you cannot even group with them anymore because you have to be with people of your similar level to gain experience points.

There are fewer and fewer high level players becuase the game turns into solid work after level 20, and consists solely of camping the same monsters over and over and over and over to get experience to level up. Realm v Realm combat is only possible in groups unless you are a very high level archer with high stealth. Then there is still no point to RvR except collecting "realm points" which do nothing for you.

In short, most people find the game a lot of fun the first month, then it goes downhill very quickly as the game gets extremely repititious, tedious, and boring since its only purpose/goal is to "level up."

This game would only be worth it if the CD AND the first month were free. You will kick yourself for paying $40 for a game you won't be playing a couple of months from now.

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