Looking back at 2010

Posted on December 17, 2010 by SynCaine

Prompted by Lum doing it, lets review my 2010 predictions and see how I do. I’m not sure when I’m going to do my 2011 predictions, but my guess is sometime next week. I’ve not really thought about 2011, but there certainly should be some major activity and plenty of prediction-fodder. On to last year’s predictions!

Darkfall

Two expansions will be released in 2010, each one bringing something as new and interesting as the first two. Best guess is a major enhancement to the economy/trading that brings DF’s economy closer to EVE-levels, and something that really focuses on improving PvE, perhaps expanding the current dungeons and somehow making them better PvE destinations and PvP hotspots. I’m thinking AV uses the center dungeon as an example and gives each region its own great dungeon, with all the other dungeons serving a distinct purpose (chests, specific mobs).

We only got one expansion, HellFreeze, which was delayed from summer to fall, with the next one currently set for Q1 2011, so no points there. The expansion and other patches did however revamp a lot of PvE, and that was significantly improved in 2010. Dungeons also got updated and have indeed become hotspots with more specific purposes. No go on the economy aside from smaller stuff like rare ore from normal nodes.

PvP itself will continue to be refined and balanced, and the specialization system will continue to get fleshed out. The worry of ‘uber’ toons will subside as many reach a highly competitive level, and overall the time to reach that level is decreased thanks to specialization.

Swing and a miss here. Specializations did not get expanded, although stat gains were altered and the HP formula was changed. The first phase of meditation was added, although for 2010, the path to becoming truly viable is still (debatably) not in great shape. The hybrid character still dominates, and 90% of PvP’ers still all use familiar tactics/methods.

Ships and such ARE more common, warhulks not so much (especially the higher-tier ones, and still no one uses them in actual combat. They are mobile cannon batteries to be brought out after combat to tear down a city/stone). The NA server has still not seen a true world war, although sieging and conflict are very common. The overall population seems to be on the rise, and retention is high, with many of the same names from 2010 looking to be big time players in 2011.

I did stay subscribed for all of 2010, although for a few months I was not very active. The Community Publisher Program continues to fund all of my gaming, and I expect that the release of the next expansion will indeed increase sales to second Ferrari levels.

Warhammer Online

I hope Mythic is given enough resources to release an expansion, one that brings a third faction to the game and basically saves it from getting AutoAssaulted.

Still no third faction, still no hope for WAR. Things did settle down in terms of tech, but 2010 was a year full of revamps and removals rather than strong additions to push WAR forward. At this point I’ve given up hope for WAR, because while it still DOES have that great base to be a fun casual PvP MMO, it’s been a full year and still Mythic has done nothing to impress me or really improve the game. WAR needs massive changes to core systems, not minor tweaks and updates.

World of Warcraft

Cataclysm will eventually be released

Check.

Many will be disappointed that not as much of the old content got a makeover as they expected

50/50. Most like what was changed, but some are disappointed that some zones saw little attention. 2/6 capital cities being updated is laughable, although my prediction that vanilla raids being redone for 85s did not happen (right?).

The ‘new shiny’ of Cataclysm will be shorter lived than WotLK

I believe someone reached the cap in WotLK in just over 24 hours, it took someone 5 to cap in Cata. Many are also reporting already sitting at 85 with their guild, and some bloggers have predicted that the overall life of Cata may be shorter than WotLK. Still too early to fully call this one, but it’s looking correct so far.

Blizzard will be focusing on starting up the hype for their next MMO

Titan.

One highly-touted feature of Cataclysm will ‘fail’ similar to WotLK’s WinterGrasp

Not the case, or too early to call? I’ve not heard of anything really being a disaster though, and I assume I would have by now?

WoW will be even less of an MMO at the end of 2010 than it was in 2009.

I think I nailed this one. Given how linear the questing in new Azeroth is, and how phasing makes group questing more of a hassle than a bonus, WoW truly is less of an MMO (in terms of being a virtual world and all about playing with thousands) than it was pre-Cata. I’ve seen post-Cata WoW called a great single player RPG by more than one WoW blogger so far. WoW players of course don’t care, but that just further drives the point home that most of them are not MMO players to begin with.

The rest

Stuff will be released, the AAA stuff will be flooded with tourists, they will leave after a month, and everyone will be wondering why in 2010 no MMO outside of WoW has a million subs. Some will still cling to the believe that WoW really is just that good and something like it will also get millions of subs, more will accept that the MMO market is just not that big. Those in the second group will find a way to profit, those in the first will be unemployed and asking ‘why’.

10/10 here?

I mean more or less this is exactly what happened to Aion (late 2009 release, 2010 fade), Champions, Star Trek, and FFXIV (in record time). The games that aimed lower mostly found their niche (though it is sad to hear Fallen Earth is doing just so so), while big studios are giving out play time, going to the minors (F2P), or cutting staff/costs.

The blog

I’ll continue to mix in-game reports from DarkFall with opinion posts about the game itself, plus commenting on whatever happens to be going on in the MMO space.

Overall I think 2010 more or less went this way. As expected no other MMO jumped out to pull me away from Darkfall, and the biggest addition to my gaming time is League of Legends, a non-MMO.

Darkfall aside, I feel 2010 was a down year for the genre as a whole, not only in terms of quality titles, but worthwhile blogging topics. There is only so many times you can write about some AAA-aspiring game failing due to poor basics a month after release, or that upcoming AAA-aspiring game is promising the moon and the stars on a 4th, 5th, or 19th pillar.

Games like EVE kept growing, games like EQ1/UO continued to stay alive, and the post-Wow crop of major titles continued to try and differentiate themselves with unique themepark rides.

Luckily 2010 is coming to a close, and 2011 looks to at least be a whole lot more interesting (and hopefully successful).

Posted in Aion, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Fallen Earth, League of Legends, Random, Site update, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

Darkfall’s solution to Chinese gold farmers

Posted on December 16, 2010 by SynCaine

Covert Ops indeed.

Edit: Should include this video as well; a good demonstration of small-group tactics against a much larger force.

Posted in Darkfall Online, PvP | 9 Comments

Patch giveth, and patch… not giveth as much?

Posted on December 16, 2010 by SynCaine

The bad news is that today’s Darkfall patch did not deliver the items I was hoping it would, and instead ended up just tweaking a few things for balance purposes along with adding in the holiday update. Still nice, and good to see Aventurine releasing smaller patches rather than bundling everything up, but not all that I had hoped for yesterday. Reason to ragequit? Nope, but it will make the wait for the Q1 updates seem just that much longer.

The good news is that Civilization V finally got its long-awaited patch, one that addresses many of the communities concerns. I’ve been itching to play Civ V again for some time now, but knew this patch was coming, so have held off on starting a new game. Time to jump in now! Double bonus that the first DLC pack is now available on Direct2Drive, and since I pre-ordered Civ, I get it free. Two new civs can’t hurt, and hopefully the scenario is fun.

Posted in Civilization Series, Darkfall Online, Patch Notes | Comments Off on Patch giveth, and patch… not giveth as much?

Darkfall: Meditation thoughts + next patch

Posted on December 15, 2010 by SynCaine

It would seem that I picked a great time to get back into Darkfall, as this update mentions a lot of rather exciting things, chief among them fixes to clan warfare and the expanding of the meditation (offline skilling) system. We will see tomorrow exactly what the patch brings, but last weeks was a welcome surprise, and I’m guessing we will see more of the same tomorrow. Plus it sounds like DF2010 (or whatever it gets renamed to) is shaping up well, so hopefully we see it in Q1 2011.

Having experienced the meditation system first-hand now, I can see the direction Aventurine is taking it, and it makes a lot of sense. Rather than having it be a total character progression system like in EVE, Darkfall’s system is more supplemental. Ultimately (once you can use it for stats and more skills) players will log in and do whatever they enjoy doing, be it PvP, PvE, gathering, or crafting, and then they will be able to set up meditation to either compliment what they are doing, or fill in the gaps of their character.

So say you enjoy PvE with your clan, but you find yourself always using melee and archery, so your magic skills and Int are falling behind. Meditate to get a few spells, then work those into your PvE trips. Without meditation, for some schools you would have to cast spells you had no interest in just to skill up the school itself, and this largely contributed to many feeling like they were ‘grinding’ rather than playing. Character development is a key characteristic of any good MMO, but in Darkfall too often the path to where you wanted to go was filled with poor choices. Meditation cleans this issue up rather nicely.

With diminishing returns, the system excels at getting you to a happy point, but is very costly if you expect it to do everything for you. In a way, this solves the EVE-offline ‘problem’ (if you consider people paying you NOT to play a problem…), because short of buying gold, you won’t be able to sustain simply logging in to set up meditation. Plus those who actively play will progress faster, another common criticism of EVE.

I’m also hopeful that the siege-related changes put an end to alt-clan sieges and other tactics that ‘cheapened’ the whole experience. Considering that a good siege in Darkfall is about as much fun as you can have in an MMO (fact, not opinion), putting an end to loopholes that ultimately lead to players NOT fighting over property is much needed. Sometimes it’s great to give players freedom, but sometimes, it’s necessary to set some baseline rules. In this case, it’s very much the latter.

Much more on all of this as the patch notes are released and I experience things more in-game.

(DarkFall-related post disclaimer/reminder. If you click the image link near the top-right of this page and buy a DarkFall account, I get paid 20% of the client cost. If you believe this taints my views and reporting on DarkFall, your opinion is wrong.)

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 5 Comments

Collision Detection revisited

Posted on December 14, 2010 by SynCaine

Different games require different things, and something vital to one might be completely trivial to another. The goal of this post is to consider how important spot-on collision detection is to Darkfall, and to also touch on some other games and how collision impacts them.

When I say the collision is spot-on in Darkfall, I mean it. The smallest rock, wall angle, or board across a window will stop a projectile (arrow, spell, cannon), and character collision is 100%: if someone is in your way, at no point will you ‘pass through’ them, regardless of how long you push against them. The collision is so accurate it’s always surprising when something DOESN’T stop a projectile, such as certain tree leaves or ground vegetation.

If Darkfall’s combat was tab-target based, the collision would not be as important, but when you factor in manually aiming every arrow or spell, its impact starts to add up. Ducking behind a window is 100% viable in DF, while in most MMOs it’s generally useless (if it’s even possible). The different races in DF having different height values are not just a graphical difference, but a gameplay one as well. A tall Maharim peaks out above a wall more than a short Alfar, and this has significant tactical value (easier to hit the Maharim, easier for him to look over a wall to get a shot off, etc). That same Alfar might be able to get through a small window, while the Maharim will run up tall stairs that the Alfar would have to jump to climb.

The layout of each boat, the location of a window in a house, how a city is laid out, how a wall starts to deteriorate from damage; all of these things have major gameplay impact that skilled players will take full advantage of. The arc of an arrow has value beyond just looking realistic. That some spells arc while others fire straight, the size of their AoE, that a few pass through walls, etc, all of these are not just graphical differences in Darkfall, but things that must be calculated and mastered.

And if the collision was not so spot-on, if objects had an ‘estimated’ size rather than an absolute one, much of this would be lost. If a wall did not allow objects to pass through the lower sections of its crenellations (Google ftw), this would not only ‘cheapen’ the experience, but cause confusion as to what does or does not block a projectile or player. If house windows were just ‘fluff’, the different combat situations I’ve experienced fighting around them would be drastically different. If that newly-fallen piece of rubble from a wall was just an empty graphical effect, siege tactics would simply not be the same.

Before WAR was released, I posted how crucial collision detection can be for a PvP game. (Bonus points to Spinewire for mentioning DF back then!) The ideas behind that post still stand, but where WAR failed Darkfall got it right. WAR simply did not do enough with collision to really make it matter, at least in the way I had envisioned it. Yes, you had players pile up at the top of a ramp, but it never got as detailed or important as two players blocking a ship ramp, or the tactics that go into a small scale engagement. The ‘zerg’ in WAR is not the same beast it is in Darkfall, and collision plays a large role in that (friendly fire be the biggest factor).

On the other hand, having collision as accurate as it is in DF occurring in WoW would be, at best, a non-factor. Sure, it might be neat to see players go around and over the details of a battleground field, but with tab-targeting, no friendly-fire, and the overall pace of the combat, how much would collision really add? Is the importance of a WoW window the same as in DF? With nametags (another WAR mistake) above everyone’s head, is it really all that important to have a small rock block spells or arrows? And ultimately, is that really what the PvP combat in WoW is all about? LoS arena mechanics aside, does the average players even factor that in, or do they value that the game has lower system requirements and an easier ‘feel’? Outside of PvP, how enjoyable would fighting a WoW mob be if you got stuck on every little detail or your attacks failed because the mob ran behind a rock?

With so many new MMOs in the pipeline for 2011, it’s easy to get lost in the big features and not consider the small stuff. Rift has some interesting ‘big name’ mechanics that it hopes to bring to the genre, but what does its collision detection model look like? Just how important will character size be? Will the overall mechanics lean towards PvE or PvP balance? These among other questions are difficult to full answer until you experience not just one game, but also another that does it drastically different.

If you asked a WAR player who has not played Darkfall about collision, I doubt many of them consider it an issue. If you asked a WoW-only player about it, I doubt many would even know what you really mean. The reverse could be said on other issues; ask a DF-only player about gaming the Auction House for instance and I doubt you would get much out of them.

Point being, it’s only when you truly consider the countless factors that go into the MMO design soup that you can you really start to piece a game together, and figure out what really makes it work, or in some cases, not work.

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 7 Comments

Darkfall: Northern Sea Fortress

Posted on December 13, 2010 by SynCaine

Darkfall’s latest patch set the Sea Fortresses to go live in prime time rather than on a moving 22 hour schedule. The patch also made it so they go live daily, which might be a bug (the previous timer was for once every ten days). Forum opinion seems to be that every three days in prime time would be ideal. We shall see what Aventurine does, if anything.

As I had time last night, and my internet was stable (which now is a 50/50 proposition, some days it’s fine, some days it still spikes), I was able to join Flying V as they set out to try and capture the northern fortress. We had about 25 people, and sailed out on the recently added Junk (Yunk) ship.

We arrived just as the tower went live, and the battle was already raging. At first approach we tried to position ourselves to get as many cannons on the fortress as possible, but it soon became clear that, due to the six or seven other ships in the area, this would not be so easy. Numerous times enemy boats would sail across our field of view, shooting a few cannonballs and continuing on. Our overall organization was very solid however, and whenever the ship took damage we were able to quickly repair it (the more damage a ship takes, the slower is moves).

The fortress was ultimately captured by DHW, but that did not mean the fighting was over. At one point we got in good position to fire on an enemy Barque. We crippled it (25% HP), and then considered a boarding action to take it. However, as we were not the only ones taking aim at it, it’s HP continued to drop and eventually the decision to just sink it was made. Once the ship was down, a large battle broke out in the water, and at a later point we would end up returning to this spot to loot a good number of graves.

As we sailed a bit further, we spotted another ship (a Brig I believe) that had already been boarded and had fighting on its deck. Making a quick call, we sent our force to the ship to capture it. After some fighting, the deck was cleared and the ship was ours. At this point we had suffered a few casualties, and not having the manpower to control two boats, packed the Brig up and continued on.

An enemy Schooner then came into range, piloted by Covert Ops. Our two ships came close enough to board, but neither side made the jump. After some back and forth fire, we got positioning on them and unleashed our cannons, making quick work of their boat. With the crew now in the water, we sent in most of our players to clean up, and that fighting went well. However, as we were finishing off the last CO, a DHW force engaged us, and in our wounded and scattered state, we were defeated (I say we, but I was still on deck guarding the ship, so only watched/listened to the action). A few attempts were made to board our boat, but the enemy always jumped off quickly, in part thanks to our wall blocking the captain.

Having suffered some serious casualties from the fight with DHW, we sailed away, stopping once to pick up some loot. While we were not successful in capturing the tower, the night was still a success thanks to the captured ship, not to mention all of the good PvP. Seeing that many ships in action was a blast, and rumor has it AV has some additional plans related to swimmers vs ships, as currently it’s just a little too effective to sit in the water and attempt to board a ship.

Definitely looking forward to the next trip though, and hopefully some of the games bigger ships get brought out.

(DarkFall-related post disclaimer/reminder. If you click the image link near the top-right of this page and buy a DarkFall account, I get paid 20% of the client cost. If you believe this taints my views and reporting on DarkFall, your opinion is wrong.)

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, PvP | Comments Off on Darkfall: Northern Sea Fortress

Kingdom Conquest tips

Posted on December 10, 2010 by SynCaine

A lot of people have the same questions about Kingdom Conquest, so rather than typing them out on my iPhone, I’ll just put some info up here.

First and most importantly, always work towards a quest goal, as they will give you a very nice boost in resources as you complete them. The highest quests I got up to on world 7 were the 1000 resource ones, which gave (I believe) 3500 of each resource. I also got up to conquering a level 4 territory (which was very tough), so they seem to go on for quite a while.

Related to the above, try to focus on increasing your resource gains before really working on monsters and units. The building needed to increase unit size beyond 4.0 (the starting size) is very expensive, and you will also need another building before that to open up the middle (rear) slot. Before you go after that, try to get AT LEAST 1000+ of each resource coming in, preferably 1500+.

One final note about resources: level up your warehouse until it can hold 7900 resources (level 5 I believe), or higher if you don’t play daily. This will prevent resources from being ‘wasted’ when you cap out. This is especially important when completing quests, because if a reward puts you over your current limit, the excess will be wasted.

For monsters, you want to keep the count as low as possible at all times to free up food income. This means that when you gain a new monster from a pack, you should use it to attack a level 2 territory. It likely won’t win, but it will drop its count to 1, and also earn it some XP. The other option  you have is to synthesize the monster, which can be useful to skill up your ‘main’ monsters primary skill or to give it new ones (there are quests explaining this)

As the goal of the game is to capture towers, look around your starting area and start grabbing land in the direction of the tower. Wait to build your base (also explained in a quest) until you are one square away from a tower, as this will cut down on travel time/fatigue when attacking. If you have an aggressive neighbor, position your base accordingly.

The ‘best’ starter unit I’ve found is a goblin archery as the leader, and a goblin warrior at the front. The warrior is a 2.5 count monster, while the archery has range 3 and is 1.5 count, giving you a maxed out 4.0 unit. Both can usually be found on the auction house for cheap, and are also fairly common in packs. The 2.5 lizard unit is also very strong, and likewise can be paired with an archer. Try to use this unit as often as possible, as you will have quests asking you to conquer higher and higher level territories.

Items from packs: You can’t sell or trade the weapons/shields/rings you get, so as soon as you no longer need something, it’s best to trash it (warehouse, little trash icon on the card itself) to reduce clutter.

When doing the dungeons, it’s always best to wait for 4 people, as this will ensure you finish and get the two pack bonus, plus cut down the amount of time it takes to clear one out. 3 is usually fine if things are slow.

Posted in iPhone, Random | 30 Comments

Kingdon Conquest Alliance formed

Posted on December 10, 2010 by SynCaine

World 9 is the latest world in KC, and Inquisition has an alliance up (Inquisition). We are situated in the north-east. If you want to play with us, you can go into the options menu at the launch screen and switch worlds.

On world 7 I got up to level 12 with my guy, and up to that point the game was a ton of fun, so still highly recommended.

I wrote about KC here, if you are looking for into about this great iPhone game.

Posted in Inquisition Clan, iPhone | 8 Comments

Blood Bowl: Norse on Norse crime

Posted on December 9, 2010 by SynCaine

Last night I played a particularly brutal game of Blood Bowl, as my Norse team went up against another Norse team. When two teams that love to hit, but can’t take it meet, you know its going to get ugly. When one side (my opponent) was terrible dice, well, things get REAL ugly.

The first sign of things to come came on the very first turn, when his Yeti threw a block on mine, and the result was a double knock-down, with neither of us having the block skill. My Yeti was dazed, his was dead. His apothecary rushed on to the field, but he must have hired the same guy I had in my league game, as the result was dead/dead.

The next few turns were about even, with a few players on both sides getting KO’ed or knocked off the pitch. He received the kickoff, and just four turns later scored a touchdown.

On the following kickoff he only had 10 players thanks to the dead Yeti, while I had a full 11 thanks to have 12 on my roster. The following four turns produced the most brutal sequence of events I’ve ever seen. On my very first turn, two of the players he placed on the line got injured, one thanks to my Yeti, another thanks to a wolf. On his turn he rolled a skull for a block, and that player ended up injured as well. On my next turn, I blocked his +1str runner, and not only did he get injured, but he got a rather fatal -1AV injury. Finally, on the final turn of the half, right before my guy ran the ball in, I threw a sideline block, knocked his player off the pitch, and got an injury roll for that as well. My opponent called it quits at the half, and honestly, I don’t blame him.

The dominating win gave me two MVPs, with one of them going to a wolf, finally earning him a promotion and the critical Block skill. The Yeti also hit level three, and in addition to his Mighty Blow skill, he picked up Juggernaut to help compensate for his lack of Block. Overall the team is a lot of fun to play, although having almost everyone at 7AV means that someday soon, I’ll be on the receiving end of a slaughter.

Posted in Blood Bowl | Comments Off on Blood Bowl: Norse on Norse crime

Darkfall: Battle for Skogul

Posted on December 8, 2010 by SynCaine

Mmmm, good MMO PvP, how I’ve missed you so.

Not even Comcast’s wrath could keep me away last night, as Flying V (my alliance) laid siege to the hamlet of Skogul, owned by the ReVenge alliance. We brought around 40, all from our alliance, while the enemy forces varied during the fighting but were always close to our numbers, and we also had third parties to contend with. The hamlet of Skogul is located on the northern coast of Agon, in the snowy dwarf lands.

As my internet was still spiking and d/c’ing me at random, I was at first hesitant to pull out my top gear bag, but after seeing everyone around me pull out Dragon and Infernal armor, I said the hell with it and went all out, even buying a few pieces of Infernal to really bulk up. I’m running Destroyer / Mage Killer right now, making magic encumbrance somewhat of a non-issue, so I had all crafted full plate with four pieces of Infernal, a keened r60 greatsword, a keened r70 bow, and enchanted arcane jeweler. Total value of the bag was probably north of 100k, which for me is a good chunk considering I have just under 300k gold in my bank (though the total value of my bank is likely in the 600k range, if not higher).

With everyone gear-up and looking good, we made our way north to the hamlet. On the way I got d/c’ed a good 3-4 times, and during one disconnect someone (random passerby no doubt) swiped my battlehorn. Now on foot with 100k of gear on me, the siege force far ahead, I ran as fast as I could to catch up, praying an enemy force would not find me. As I approached an NPC city near our meeting point, I spotted a dozen or so enemies, and in true hero fashion, hid behind a rock.

Over vent I heard that our force had pushed into the enemies, and so I charged out from behind my rock and into the enemies flank, getting some solid swings in before they knew what was happening. Like a madman I chased down one unfortunate soul, my Justicebringer sending him to his grave. This early skirmish was a total route, as we not only outnumbered but also heavy out-geared the enemies (most seemed to be in bone/scale/banded with r40s), and soon the snowy cliffs were littered with bodies and gravestones. Round one went to Flying V.

Our siege leaders had placed our siege stone on a plateau overlooking the hamlet, only accessible from one direction. This is where our force gathered, and it not only gave us the high ground, but also a great view of the entire area, making spotting enemy movement much easier. The fastest way up to our plateau was through a tunnel system, and its here that round two would go down.

Our scouts had spotted a solid number of enemies gathering at a nearby chaos bank just below our plateau, and the call was made to hit them now rather than allow them to fully gather and prepare. In one coordinated action, we jumped down to surround the little holding that contained the bank, and soon the enemies were either dead or fleeing in all directions. The strike was decisive and deadly. Once the fighting was over, we were told to return to our former position, and so we set out towards the tunnels.

Inside we found a solid number of enemies, and a deadly battle broke out, with both sides throwing Wall of Force bubbles and AoE magic inside the tightly packed space. The normally serine white tunnels were soon a kaleidoscope of colors, and for a few tense moments neither side made much progress. To make matters worse, a second enemy force had rallied from behind us, and attacked us at the mouth of the tunnel system. Pinned from both sides, we had no choice but to make an all-out rush, and with our melee group leading the way, we smashed into the upper tunnel force. In such a confined space, friendly fire was rampant, and even identifying an enemy to swing at consistently proved to be a challenge.

Our charge however broke the enemy’s spirit, and many of them were cut down as they attempted to flee. With one force dealt with, we turned our attention to the group at the base of the tunnels, and in one well-coordinated strike, wiped that group as well.

After looting the dead, most of our force went back to quickly bank, while others returned to the siege stone. At this point I somehow got myself separated long enough to be alone in the tunnels, and as I was running up I noticed five or six players running down. My first thought was that they were friendly, but this was not the case. A quick 180 turn and I went running back down the tunnel, magic and arrows flying in and all around me. I called for help on vent, and a few players were nearby. As my health dropped to zero, allies rounded a corner and engaged. An enemy, sword drawn, stood over my body, readying the gank, only to have a Wall of Force stop him. Clutch save by my side. As the enemies were routed, I was rezzed, and could thankfully continue the fight.

After regrouping everyone at our siege stone, the hamlet went live and our original goal was to spawn some cannons and hammer the stone down from our position. While our initial shots were successful, the enemy soon deployed strongboxes to block our fire, along with their own cannons to try and destroy ours. The call was made to jump down, storm the hamlet, and secure the stone.

Our initial push was a success, as well coordinated magic volleys and a strong assault pushed the enemies back and out of the hamlet. At this point however we were being attacked from multiple sides, and after hours of solid group cohesion, things broke down a bit and soon our force was in disarray. Over vent I could hear reports of fights being lost and units falling back. As I was moving back, I spotted an ally on the ground, and made my way over to rez. As I reached the body, an enemy player was preparing to gank. I was able to interrupt him, but then made the horrible mistake of trying to rez instead of killing the enemy. I not only failed the rez, but also took enough damage to get very low, and eventually went down when two other enemies jumped in. As I went down, I was able to see that we had lost that position entirely, and over vent could hear that our force overall had been broken.

While we officially lost the siege, to a man everyone had an absolute blast. The battle was also a great learning lesson for us, and I fully believe the next siege we drop our tactics will be even better. Morale on vent was very high even in defeat, and after some personal recounts of the battle, most logged for the night.

As annoying as my personal issues with my internet were, I must say I completely lucked out and avoided a disconnect that would have gotten me killed, staying connected at all key moments. Hopefully later this week the grand wizard of Comcast finally tracks down the issue, and I can get back to playing fully. It’s been too long, and Darkfall is the only MMO out that can make so many hours fly by so quickly, yet so enjoyable for me.

Good fights to ReVenge and their allies/mercs, and congrats to the leaders of Flying V for not only keeping us active, but getting us into such great battles. Looking forward to the next one!

Edit: Video of the siege from Ray Pew.

(DarkFall-related post disclaimer/reminder. If you click the image link near the top-right of this page and buy a DarkFall account, I get paid 20% of the client cost. If you believe this taints my views and reporting on DarkFall, your opinion is wrong.)

Posted in Darkfall Online, PvP | 10 Comments