PvP-filled weekend in DarkFall

Posted on October 12, 2009 by SynCaine

I’m beginning to wonder if the rush of adrenaline I get from PvP in DarkFall is ever going to fade. I’ve been playing the game regularly now since February, and yet each fight still gives me that same sense of excitement and thrill, regardless if I’m wearing my top set or just in a robe with a rank0 sword chasing some random enemy through an NPC city. Even in a one on one practice fight I still get that hyper-focused mind frame to play at my absolute best. It’s great stuff.

This weekend was an absolute blast in DarkFall for not only myself, but Apollo and Cairn as well. Friday primetime we dropped a siege on Bladethorpe, the hamlet we lost the weekend before, and after a serious slugfest against Force and TRA, we hammered the stone and reclaimed our property. Sadly I was having driver issues for the major push, but still got in on a few fights and was able to hear the rest on vent. I think everyone from both sides had a great time, as numbers were about even and the server held up well considering the amount of players. The fighting was so even that our first pushed failed by a slim margin, and while our second push was successful in routing the enemy, it was certainly not a guaranteed win.

With our hamlet back and our clan back in that area, Saturday night saw us heading just north to Albertworth to see if we could get some PvP out of Imperil. Our group of ten successfully ran around for hours that night hitting Albertworth and other hamlets/cities, finally ending the night joining up with another group of ten from our alliance and controlling Albertworth for a good hour or so. We hammered their mine a little, but they had enough active players harassing us to prevent any serious damage.

The great thing about DarkFall is the contrast in fighting styles and tactics between a large engagement like a siege and the smaller stuff like Saturday night. The basics (don’t die) stay the same, but you need different strategies overall and a slightly different playstyle personally. Being out of position during a siege is far more likely to get you killed, but not pulling your weight in a small group could lead to a bigger disaster for everyone else.

While I still don’t consider myself a great PvP’er, I feel like I’ve improved a good deal since becoming more active in Apollo. In one-on-one situations I feel like I have a better understanding of what to watch for, how far to push things, and how to counter what my opponent is trying to do. If nothing else, I’ve learned that if you are more aggressive you are likely to get your opponent out of their comfort zone and get them to make some mistakes. Previously I was always on my heels, letting the fight come to me, and I’ve since learned that’s the best way to lose any fight. In small scale fights I’m more aware of everything around me, and I’ve gotten better at moving with the group. It sounds simple, but just being able to keep up and ‘flow’ with the allies around you is something that takes some time to develop. Now that Apollo is focused on being more active in PvP and starting fights, I know I’ll only improve, and that’s very exciting.

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, PvP | 5 Comments

What’s that monthly fee really buying you?

Posted on October 9, 2009 by SynCaine

Two different yet related items have sparked this post about why we pay a monthly fee; the upcoming release of Cities XL and Tobold’s re-review of WoW. Cities XL because some are questioning why they would need to pay monthly for the game, and Tobold’s WoW post because it’s a good reflection of what paying that fee can get you.

Let’s start with Cities XL. I know very little about the game itself, other than it’s basically trying to be SimCity with a monthly fee and some minor player-to-player parts. The issue some have is justifying that monthly fee (which is $5 mind you, not $15) for what amounts to a chat room and perhaps some city to city trading (sorry if there is more, again, I’ve only read two items about the game).

In my opinion, looking at a game like Cities XL and complaining that it’s not MMO enough seems a bit off, especially in today’s solo-hero-dominated market. In my mind that $5 a month is not paying for a fancy avatar that can walk around a player built city and collect ‘epic’ loot and random achievements. That $5 is going to pay for future content and enhancements to your 99% single player game; for a team dedicated to expanding and improving that game. I’d pay $5 or more monthly if the team behind Civilization 4 offered a product like this, with each month bringing new content or changes, with every 6 months or year bringing large update to the features, graphics, and sound. How many single player games would you love to pay $5 a month for if the original team behind it continued to pump out more stuff? I mean hell, people already do this with games like Madden, but instead of paying $5 a month they pay $60 a year. Madden sells millions of copies each year despite changing very little year-to-year; know any other games that fit that description?

On the other hand, Tobold’s re-review of WoW is a good example of what five years of $15 a month might get you. Read his review, and now remove everything about WoW that was already in place in 2004; what’s left/changed? Do the same exercise for EVE Online. Now adjust for the fact that EVE just recently hit 300k subs worth of money coming in, while Blizzard has had millions paying $15 and $40 for two expansions. Going forward, which game would you place your money on to improve more in the NEXT five years?

Buying any MMO is in some ways a two step investment. The original up-front cost covers what you get at launch and shortly after, the basic idea and core of the game. The justification behind a monthly fee is that the game will expand and improve as time goes on; that the games lowest point is its first month and each month after things should only get noticeably better. That aspect is part of the appeal and charm of the MMO genre; that if you find a game you like its appeal won’t end when you reach the final boss and see the ‘game over’ screen. You’ve found a virtual world that fits you, one in constant flux that will continue to entertain you thanks to its setting, community, and development.

Early MMO games certainly followed this design. UO was a near limitless world of opportunity, and the player-run aspects of the game gave it almost endless ‘content’. EQ, while a bit more linear, was still updated at such a rapid pace that only the very upper elite reach what could be called a ‘game over’ point, and many expansions and updates went beyond just tacking on ‘more’ at the end of the carrot stick. Asheron’s Call had its monthly patches that changed up the world and progressed the over-arching storyline.

Today WoW gets a major patch once every 6 months (if that), a patch that might add one end-game instance and other tweaks. Every two years (for $40) the level cap will be raised, new zones will replace (not compliment) the old zones, new gear replaces old, and the treadmill of rep/gear/tokens gets reset. There is no progressing storyline like in AC, there is little player-driven content like in UO, and the PvE update pace is a joke compared to EQ1. All this done with profits (resources) that dwarf what UO/EQ/AC had to work with. At the current rate of updates, EQ1 will soon be graphically superior to WoW.

And while I use WoW as the most blatant example here (due to overall resources and glacial pace of timid updates), how do other current games in the MMO genre compare. LotRO started out with a furious (at least in comparison to WoW) pace of monthly updates and story progression, yet this (according to what I’ve read) has now slowed, and even at it’s peak did not stack up to what Turbine was doing previously with Asheron’s Call. How is EQ2’s pace of updates compared to EQ1 back in the day? DarkFall has seen one major expansion (patch) since release, with another set for this month. It’s a little early to compare it to 97 UO, but let’s hope Aventurine can keep pace.

I don’t have an answer as to why, a few exceptions aside, the overall pace of MMO updates has slowed. Is it just that most studios are trying to be Blizzard, pace of updates included? Has the technology really gotten THAT complicated that it makes major updates more difficult? (And if so, how is it that CCP, with the most technically advanced MMO out, is lapping everyone else yearly?) Or is it simply because we, the MMO gamers, have shown that we will settle for 6 month updates, pricy expansions on top of subscription fees, and five year old feature sets?

Posted in Asheron's Call, Civilization Series, Console Gaming, Darkfall Online, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, Rant, Ultima Online, World of Warcraft | 36 Comments

How character transfers will effect DarkFall’s NA and EU servers.

Posted on October 8, 2009 by SynCaine

With EU to NA server transfers coming (hopefully) sometime this month in DarkFall, there are some who are worried about population and balance being ruined on both servers. Some fear EU will become under-populated, while those on the NA server fear that everyone coming from EU is going to be a maxed-out character.

The EU server population worry is certainly valid, as it’s difficult to judge exactly how many players will transfer and what Aventurine’s plans are to replace those leaving. As it has been noted many times, Aventurine has yet to really market DarkFall beyond a few banner ads, and perhaps they are waiting for this coming expansion to roll something out. I’m not sure if a trial would be possible (although if EVE can do it, DF should be as well), but certainly many are at least interested in giving this unique game a shot, yet are currently unwilling to drop $50 on something so different. DarkFall is not a game for everyone, but at the same time it does have a lot to offer; things that might surprise people who don’t think they fit the description of a typical DF player.

Free trial aside, overall marketing for DF needs to increase. If you check meta-critic the game still only has two reviews, and while another Ed Zitron hackjob is clearly something AV wants to avoid, the game in its current state should garner reasonable attention. It’s not a pretty polished fairy with wings, but anyone who gets beyond character creation will be able to see that DF is more than just a Counterstrike knife fight with a subscription fee. And while DarkFall made a lot of noise when it was released on blogs and other very MMO-focused sites, it’s still something even most MMO fans know nothing about. How many GW or WoW PvP players log in each day wishing they had something more behind their actions, or how many players are out there wanting nothing more than to be a guild crafter who matters? DarkFall certainly captured those who were looking for a 3D version of UO, but now it’s time to expand and reach other potential fans. Assuming Aventurine puts something together, both the EU and NA servers will be fine regarding population.

As for the NA server being flooded with maxed-out EU players, it’s not going to happen. While ridiculously powerful players make a lot of noise on the forums, even on EU they are the exception rather than the norm. Yes certain clans (Apollo included) will get a few jacked-up members with some seriously developed character (70+ stats, 350+ HP), but just like on NA today, most people reach a competent level with their character and then focus more on PLAYING the game rather than building up their skills/stats. The average on EU will be higher simply based on time, but even 10-15 stat points don’t create a huge power imbalance. Add to this that many EU-based characters have been in hibernation waiting for transfer, and NA has little to worry about. The power balance has far more to do with magic being the dominant combat choice than with length of character development. Things will certainly be different come transfers, but that will have more to do with political shifts as different alliances gain more members or become more active than with the few 100 stat characters coming over.

Posted in Darkfall Online, Mass Media | 11 Comments

Metal Gear Batman: Arkham Asylum

Posted on October 7, 2009 by SynCaine

Batman: Arkham Asylum’s developer would make Blizzard jealous of their copy/paste skills. Dear god is this game Metal Gear Solid with Batman replacing Solid Snake.

(It’s still a fun enough game mind you, but each new room/area just scream ‘remember me on the PlayStation?’ while I’m playing. I’m fully expecting a Psycho Mantis-like moment at some point.)

Posted in Random, Rant | 13 Comments

Niche and Mass Market: One big happy MMO genre

Posted on October 6, 2009 by SynCaine

We are at an interesting point in history with MMOs, highlighted beautifully with the recent re-release of the Asian answer to WoW in Aion and the uber-niche Fallen Earth. One is benefiting from a year of full release under its belt, a huge budget, and a tried-and-tested game style wrapped in pretty fairy wings. The other is a more traditional MMO in almost every sense of the word. It’s a little buggy, it’s somewhat unpolished, it does things in odd or ‘unique’ ways, and its main appeal is aimed at a small subset of the overall gaming crowd. One is clearly trying to be the next big thing; the other is just hoping to do its own thing.

And from my viewpoint, having been heavily involved with MMOs since 1997 and UO, the genre is now very clearly going in two directions. One is the ‘Hollywood’ or ‘bigmac’ path, the path of blockbuster or bust, the path of Madden (insert year), the path that if it worked before, re-release it with new box art and call it a sequel. It’s amazing that a genre like MMOs could reach such a point, but clearly we are at it now thanks to 11m WoW players and a billion dollars in revenue. The genre as a whole is no longer a niche dominated by nerds in basements like RPG’s themselves were prior to Final Fantasy 7. There is big money to be made with MMOs, and the safest bet on reaching the mass market is to over-spend on flash and follow a trusted formula. The louder Paul Barnett yells the more initial boxes get sold, fundamentally broken game design (two faction PvP) be damned. Every summer we see the same mindless yet entertaining Hollywood blockbusters show up in theaters, and now every Oct/Nov we are likely to see ‘the next big one’ appear on store shelves and on Steam/D2D. 2008 we had WAR, 2009 it was Aion’s turn, 2010 will be SW:TOR, and 2011 it will likely be Blizzard’s next MMO. And like those summer blockbusters, they are fun to show up to, let your brain go to sleep, and just enjoy the pretty colors flashing before you eyes as a few hours pass by.

At the other end we have the niche titles like Fallen Earth and DarkFall (among countless others). No one working on such titles ever thinks their game will contend with WoW for top subscriber numbers, or see their commercials feature Mr. T. What they did know is they were developing something for a specific group of players (one they hope is large enough to sustain them), and knowing that if they deliver on the expectations of that group they will be rewarded with player loyalty and a unique spot in a genre overrun with me-too titles. And like most indie films, most people won’t ‘get’ the appeal of such titles. How could losing all your loot possibly be fun? How is wandering around a drab wasteland better than gliding through a shiny magic forest? This can’t possibly be entertainment; I don’t see any big explosions or famous faces.

At one point, when niche titles like Auto Assault, Shadowbane, and Pirates of the Burning Sea were being closed down or in jeopardy, it seemed like the ONLY viable option in the MMO genre was to go clone or stay home (ba-zing!). For a while the only successful niche title was EVE Online, being the one example of how to pull off niche and still grow and make real profits. Yet Fallen Earth is getting a lot of positive buzz despite the fact that it’s rough around the edges, with much of it coming from people who are MMO vets and truly are tired of the WoW-clone gameplay. People are genuinely excited about its unique aspects and are just enjoying being noobs in a truly new environment (and not just new in terms of setting, but game mechanics as well).

Aventurine not only delivered a stable and solid product with DarkFall, but they have established a niche of players who are now excited about the games future and the direction its taking. The word ‘potential’ is often seen, and the boards are active with players debating and wondering how new features might work. It’s refreshing to see “how will navel combat effect politics, what will caravans do for the economy?” debated rather than reading “Anyone know the stats of the next raid set?”.

Just like ‘real’ movie fans applaud and support indie films while still checking out a blockbuster (but shhh about that), I’m overall very happy with the current MMO genre and how things are playing out. Whether I’m in the mood to kill another ten rats in whatever flashy and ‘polished’ setting is currently the ‘it’ thing, or to experience something new through the graphic engine lens of an indie studio, both options are healthy and readily available in 2009, and that’s win/win for gaming fans all around; be they the highly sophisticated and attractive people playing niche games or the subhuman mouth-breathing virgins that play WoW. (Had to add that last part in, just in case anyone though I might be remotely talking positive about WoW and ruining my e-cred, yo)

Posted in Aion, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, MMO design, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Rant, SW:TOR, Ultima Online, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 10 Comments

Homeless in DarkFall, and back to DDO

Posted on October 5, 2009 by SynCaine

Considering I did not touch the computer all Sunday, a whole lot of gaming still happened this weekend. My clan in DarkFall making some poor siege-related decisions, my return to DDO, and some single-player gaming all happened.

In DarkFall, the long and short of how Apollo lost both our city holdings comes down to not knowing the details of the siege system and making rash decisions instead of just stepping away. The clan Imperil brought a group of ten or so to our hamlet of Bladethorpe and used siege hammers to disable the mine and a clan house. In retaliation, Apollo and a few members of our alliance (Cairnivores) took a trip to the Imperil city of Albertworth and hammered their gatehouse and zap tower. The resistance was sparse and we easily took the city. Now at this point, with the time being around midnight EST, we should have called it a night and logged.

Instead, a few of our officers wanted to drop a siege and try to take the city outright, and not knowing the full details of the siege system, dropped a challenge and made our two holdings vulnerable. Two hours later, with Force (Imperil’s alliance) having hired the top mercenary alliance (Zealot) to help out, they stormed a weakly defended Hammerdale and took it. Our main force was at Bladethorpe, and we mostly expected to lose Hammerdale. As the attacking force showed up at Bladethorpe some 30 minutes later, a massive battle started.

I had a good position to survey the northern battlefield, and from my vantage point could see that the initial charge by Black Shields and company was being held back, with some tombstones popping up among the trees. Over vent I heard a few members saying they were wining the ground battle and that they were starting to push out. It was at this point that the second enemy force attacked from the south, and crashed directly into the defenders in the hamlet. I did not witness this battle, but it was clear from my viewpoint that our magic attacks on the northern force stopped, and soon all ground defenders were dead or scattered. We had assumed a second alliance group was covering the south, but either they got overwhelmed quickly or were out of place, because the southern attacking force hit our guys hard.

A few enemy members then climbed up to the treetop walkway myself and a few other members were occupying, and after some good melee and ranged battles, we too broke and died. As I respawned at the hamlet, the stone was already surrounded by enemies with hammers. Shortly after the hamlet was taken and the siege was over at around 4am EST. The only major regret is that this all happened so late, and that many of our key members were not online to assist. Now we are living out of a chaos city near the center of Agon, deciding where to go as a clan next. We have a few very powerful members coming as part of the EU/NA transfers, and the upcoming October expansion will also bring some of our less-active members back online. Once all that happens, I’m sure we will throw ourselves into the mix of things once again. For now, we get to play the role of spoilers, showing up whenever and fighting whoever we like. It’s a nice change of pace, although returning to city ownership and all the politics that brings is ultimately what DarkFall is all about.

As for DDO, the F2P update has brought a few small but noticeable changes to the general feel of the game, and so far the cash shop is not super in-your-face or obnoxious. It has the usual F2P junk like XP pots and extra healing whatevers, plus all the now limited races/classes/instances for sale as well. Thankfully this can all be bypassed by paying the normal $15 a month. As this go-around Aria and I will be playing with two old friends from WoW/WAR, the tougher instances should go much smoother with a balanced group, and hopefully we progress further overall than we did the last time.

Finally, Direct2Drive continues its 5 year anniversary sale, and as part of that I picked up Elven Legacy for $5. It’s a turn based, hex map strategy game from the same studio that made Majesty 2. It’s a little rough in spots, but so far it’s a very challenging and fairly deep strategy game, and for $5 it’s tough not to recommend it to anyone looking for a quick strategy fix. Especially in the wake of Majesty 2’s somewhat easy single player campaign, Elven Legacy will definitely have you re-thinking your moves and restarting maps as you perfect your strategy.

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, DDO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Housing, PvP, Random, Site update, The Casualties Guild | 10 Comments

Localized banking: Feature or hassle?

Posted on October 2, 2009 by SynCaine

Localized banking is something DarkFall originally had on its list of features, but at some point this was changed and now banking is global. On a recent preview of the October patch, the idea of localized banking was mentioned, and has since caused some debate among players about its functionality and purpose.

First let’s try and define the different banking systems. Global banking means any bank you go to contains your entire bank contents in it, and you can freely deposit and withdraw anything you want. Most themepark games like WoW or WAR use such a system, and currently that’s how banks work in DarkFall. I can go into an enemy player city and use their bank to pull out a cannon to help with a siege on that very city. Local banking, which is what EVE has, means each bank location is its own account, and you must travel to each location if you wish to use its content. For DarkFall, this would mean that if you go to an enemy city and kill some players, you would also have to either travel back to your bank to deposit the items, or you would make the deposit locally but at a later point have to travel and retrieve them.

Some of the drawbacks to local banking are reduced convenience, increased micro-management (which bank did I put that sword in again?), and increased hassle when relocating. Anyone that has ever switched locations in EVE knows all too well how painful it is to fly from station to station picking up all your stuff, especially if you don’t have access to a mass-hauling ship. Localized banking adds another layer of complexity to anyone new to such a game, especially those coming from global banking systems, and it’s easy to envision a scenario were a new player goes to access a bank for some gear only to realize he has to travel 20 minutes to get it from his local bank. If you know the system you can plan ahead, but it’s another step on the learning curve for a new player.

The benefits of local banking are a little more difficult to quantify. For starters, local banking means players will spend more time traveling from one bank to another just to get all their stuff organized. At face value, that sounds like a bad thing, as you would rather be fighting mobs or players instead of traveling from point A to point B. But if we dig deeper, more traveling players means more PvP targets for PKs, more regional activity as you watch traders ride around to deliver goods, and more risk/reward during a siege. With local banking a clan will no longer be able to pull out the needed hammers, cannons, warhulks, and/or ships from their enemies’ bank. If you think you are going to need something for a siege, you need to take it out of your local bank, carry it to the siege location, and deploy it. Defenders can now try to intercept such deliveries, killing a warhulk driver/carrier before he arrives. Attacking players will also not be able to fully loot defenders and immediately bank the loot. As in a true battlefield, the winners will be free to pick among the bodies, but they won’t be hauling away every scrap of armor. In addition, gone will be the silly tactic of FIXING an enemy bank so your attacking force can re-supply, and instead the attackers will be encouraged to take out the local bank in order to cut off the defenders from resupplying. Localized banking opens up more tactical decisions for all players, and such strategic depth is what makes an impact PvP game so much fun.

Another benefit of local banking is that it makes things, well, more local. Currently in DarkFall you can head out to a far-away mob spawn, and as long as it has a bank nearby you can farm away and bank whenever you need. You then return home and bam, all your loot is right there. With local banking, location will play a much bigger factor in the value of real-estate. If a city has great mob camps nearby, that makes it much easier to farm and bank than a more isolated location. Sure you can still travel to that far-away location and farm, but if you bank near that location, then at some point you have to travel back and retrieve it or not bank as often and become a bigger/richer PvP target. Also cities or hamlets located in far-away spots force the owners to gear up and travel further to reach their destination, rather then the current norm of traveling naked and pulling out gear once you arrive. The more people traveling around fully geared, the more active the world feels, and the more motivation for others to also head out and look for a fight.

I’m sure this topic will come up again once more details are revealed, especially once we know how player-run vendors will work (also coming in this expansion) and how they will related to the banking change. Also mentioned are caravans for transporting goods, so clearly Aventurine has some extensive plans brewing for all this rather than just adding a feature for the sake of adding it.

Posted in crafting, Darkfall Online, EVE Online, Housing, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 33 Comments

Your MMO won’t have a million subs, sorry Blizzard.

Posted on September 30, 2009 by SynCaine

Tobold and I have a friendly little challenge going (around comment 45 on that post), one that sadly won’t have a result for a few years. The challenge is simple: The next Blizzard MMO won’t reach the popularity of WoW. More specifically, my bet is the game won’t retain 1million+ subscriptions after 6 months in the US/EU. Tobold is betting on 1m+. Of course WoW is closer to around 5 million subs in the US/EU after all these years, so even if Blizzard gets 1m it will look like a failure, but one million is a nice round number so lets go with that.

The details behind the challenge are, imo, more interesting than the actual sub numbers of the next Bliz MMO. To quote Tobold:

I think the stupid and false belief that WoW’s success is due to a combination of luck, timing, and marketing is the direct reason why we are seeing so many bad, sub-million subscriber games out there. If other companies would study what WoW did right (and I’m not saying they did everything right), and produced games with the same excellence of execution and attention to detail, they would have over a million subscribers too.

So if I can put words in his mouth, “Better WoW-clones please”. My view is the exact opposite, the more you try to out-WoW WoW, the closer your game is to Warhammer Online’s current fate/flaws. The more you stick to what you do well (CCP with EVE, Turbine with LotRO, even Mythic themselves with DAoC), the more sustained success you will see. Remember success in the MMO space is a marathon, not a sprint, and designing for 11 million is a fast track to the unemployment line.

The biggest problem I see today is studios are looking at WoW, and more specifically its huge user base, and trying to mimic the gameplay/design of WoW to get similar financial results. The problem is that WoW’s financial success is not tied directly to it’s design, but to the fact that it launched in 2004, at a time when what it offered was exactly what people wanted, SOE helped by pushing their established user base from EQ2 to WoW thanks to a disaster at launch, and the snowball rolled downhill after that. Yes WoW was a great game, but sorry, its design compared to the rest of the genre is not 11m great vs 300k for everyone else.

As each new AAA MMO launches, we see the same pattern repeating over and over. Initial over-hype and ‘the next WoW’ praise, tourists flock the servers on the first month, they wake up and realize game X is not WoW (their first and only MMO love), and return home. One million sold, 300k-ish after 6 months. We saw it with LotRO, AoC, WAR. We will see it with Aion and SW:TOR, and yes, with Blizzard’s next MMO as well.  Any MMO that launches will have its share of issues, and while so many were not around to witness, WoW was no different in this regard. It had queues, it had server crashes and rollbacks, it had (has) class balance issues, broken systems (pvp), an inadequate UI, botched lore, graphic and sound problems, dev controversy, etc. You name it; WoW had/has it, just like any other MMO. It was not the polished little gem many found in 2006 or beyond that they now compare to any freshly launched game.

It’s too bad we have to wait so long, but hopefully between now and then the genre sees a few more EVE-like titles with actual vision (small v) and purpose rather than soulless WoW-clone after WoW-clone (but with wings!).

Posted in Age of Conan, Aion, Dark Age of Camelot, EQ2, EVE Online, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO design, Site update, SW:TOR, Warhammer Online, World of Warcraft | 57 Comments

Because 59 FPS just won’t do…

Posted on September 30, 2009 by SynCaine

I would like to think I’m normally strong willed regarding most things in life, with one very noticeable exception: gaming. Be it chasing a .05% crit upgrade in a themepark, grinding out some skill to 100 just to get it maxed out, or resetting a level because I made a small mistake on one of the 30+ turns, gaming makes me a loon. And it’s not just in-game either; gaming-related purchases are no different. Why ONLY spend $130 on headphones when the $180 model might help identify sounds just that much better. If you are going to spend $2500 on a gaming rig, you might as well go to $3000 and get the Alienware, right?

And so when Aventurine announced that DarkFall now supports SLI thanks to their work with Nvidia, well, that single 8800GT just won’t do. And while a second 8800GT would be a quick and cheap option, the 295GTX card is only a few… hundred dollars more. I mean it’s going into a $3000 comp, what’s a few hundred on top? I’m weak, so so weak.

The truth is, when I got the Alienware I intentionally got a weaker graphics cards because I knew at the time Nvidia was planning to release newer cards (this was before the 200x series of cards were released), so instead of getting a top end 9800x card, I got the older model 8800GT and waited. Plus with all the other hardware being top-end, even on a 24” monitor (why get a 21” when the 24” is that much better, right…?) at 1900×1200 most games still run at 60FPS+.

Unfortunately for my wallet, DarkFall does not run at 60FPS+ at ALL times with everything maxed at the moment. So shadows got turned off, and now even in large 100+ battles the FPS holds up, but hey, shadows are off, and I like shadows. So Newegg, Nvidia, and BFG all owe some money to Aventurine, because without those beta drivers that now support SLI for DF, I would not have been motivated to make the purchase of a new BFG 295GTX card last night. Hopefully I get it Friday for some weekend gaming goodness, but now comes the fun part, waiting for the damn thing to arrive!

(And if we are really being honest here, Nvidia actually bought the card for me, since their stock has been on fire recently. At least normally being good with money somewhat lessens the pain of being gaming obsessed)

Posted in Darkfall Online, Patch Notes, Random | 6 Comments

DarkFall: Specialization rather than a skill cap.

Posted on September 29, 2009 by SynCaine

Another day, another quality post in the “Spotlight” section of the Darkfall forum, with today’s entry talking about Aventurine’s thoughts on a skill cap (not happening), and their plans for character diversity through specialization. Follow the link for all the details, but the basic idea behind specialization is you boost one skill/ability at the expense of something else. One example is the mage-killer ability, which boosts your archery damage vs a player wielding a staff, but limits your own magic usage. Another example is the current spell specialization, with the options being jump-casting, 10% damage, spell travel speed, or a range increase. As you can only select one boost per spell (and not for all spells), you have to make some choices and pick which spells will fill what roll. Assigning and switching the specialization costs 1000 gold, which is a decent amount but not crippling.

As someone who was a supporter of a skill cap, I actually really like the thinking behind specialization and how it will add diversity to the ‘end-game’, when most characters have many of their skills maxed. Obviously the key will be how it’s implemented and how it affects balance, but the overall idea of getting one bonus at the expense of others is a good one. Currently this system only effects spells and soon will give archers some options, but hopefully melee and crafting also see similar specializations soon, rather than ‘MMO soon’. Melee users need a better way to close the distance and ‘stick’ to their targets, while specialization in crafting needs to reward players for focusing in certain areas rather than being a jack-of-all-trades with every craft maxed.

One other benefit of specialization that I have not seen discussed is its impact on newer players. For example, by focusing early on archery, a fairly new player can compete at the higher levels with specialization, as the magic penalties won’t effect them much (they don’t have the magic skills yet anyway) while the damage and utility boosts will be instantly noticeable. Once that new character has grown a bit, they can then decide if they want to further focus on archery, or at that time change focus to either magic or melee. While the ‘ramp up’ time in DarkFall is very short compared to most MMOs, anything that allows fresh characters to jump in and contribute faster is a plus in my book, and a real strength of sandbox MMO design.

My usually MMO cynicism for any new system to be right on day one is being somewhat held back by Aventurine’s short but successful patching history, and by the fact that even if archery specialization takes some time to iron out, it along with the other features in the October expansion (especially player vendors) are really starting to add up.

Posted in Combat Systems, Darkfall Online, MMO design, Patch Notes, PvP | 16 Comments