Anyone playing the new Darkfall?

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blankslate

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2008
8,797
572
126
full loot, pvp nearly anywhere, no pre-set factions, seemingly gradual curve for equipment upgrades all very cool and make me try the game out.

But what I didn't like:

-It's essentially an fps with some terrible physics, your character skills don't really do anything to increase your chance to hit for example, it's all about jumping around in circles trying to stay behind your enemy. Stupid and unrealistic, and not what I want to play.

-The prowess system is cool in concept, but ultimately it's just a huge massive grind that removes ALL decision from character creation, because eventually everyone can master everything. I greatly prefer systems that force you to make decisions, for the gold standard see shadowbane's character creation system, classes, professions, disciplines, etc. It was nearly perfect. For a modern good example see path of exile, another great system that forces you to decide what you want to be good at. Any system that lets you master everything over time simply rewards those who played the longest and offers zero benefits to the new guy who discovered a cool new build idea.

Rebuild darkfall with a UI like WoW with tabbed targeting, and replace the prowess system with a passive skill tree and skill gem system like in path of exile, and I'd pay $20/month to play.


Anyone from shadowbane playing this?

Shadowbane was my first MMO and quite frankly it had a very good interface and the class system was very nicely done.

If Shadowbane was remade well it very could be what you suggest Chiropteran.
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
14
81
www.markbetz.net
Gave this a try last night. Created a character and played through a good chunk of the tutorial steps.

I'm intrigued, and I will definitely get in again tonight and see how it develops. Initial impressions are mixed.

The game definitely has an indie feel. The character models are so-so. The world is pretty low-poly but looks good in some areas I've seen. You can tell they didn't have a lot of resources to put into modeling and texturing. As has been mentioned the interface is freaking horrible. It won't keep me from playing but in terms of design and implementation it's a steaming pile. The merchant buy/sell interface is literally the worst I have ever seen. I don't get why it would have been harder or more expensive to just follow some established patterns.

The game doesn't make very good use of audio, from what I've heard so far. Combat sounds are muted and uninspiring, and it lacks many of the little audio cues that give more polished virtual worlds their punch. I also had issues adjusting the volume of the music, which seemed to also affect the volume of effects.

The combat, what little I have experienced so far, was oddly satisfying. I think I actually like the FPS model in this genre, and the automatic transitions from 3rd to 1st person perspective actually seemed to work well. I could see this system being a gas in a large battle, if it doesn't turn into a slideshow.

Looking forward to exploring a little more tonight.
 

Chiropteran

Diamond Member
Nov 14, 2003
9,811
110
106
Shadowbane was my first MMO and quite frankly it had a very good interface and the class system was very nicely done.

If Shadowbane was remade well it very could be what you suggest Chiropteran.

Absolutely. I loved Shadowbane, despite the fact that the client was a buggy piece of garbage that crashed constantly and was never fixed.


A remade Shadowbane with a better client would be my dream game.
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
Gave this a try last night. Created a character and played through a good chunk of the tutorial steps.

I'm intrigued, and I will definitely get in again tonight and see how it develops. Initial impressions are mixed.

The game definitely has an indie feel. The character models are so-so. The world is pretty low-poly but looks good in some areas I've seen. You can tell they didn't have a lot of resources to put into modeling and texturing. As has been mentioned the interface is freaking horrible. It won't keep me from playing but in terms of design and implementation it's a steaming pile. The merchant buy/sell interface is literally the worst I have ever seen. I don't get why it would have been harder or more expensive to just follow some established patterns.

The game doesn't make very good use of audio, from what I've heard so far. Combat sounds are muted and uninspiring, and it lacks many of the little audio cues that give more polished virtual worlds their punch. I also had issues adjusting the volume of the music, which seemed to also affect the volume of effects.

The combat, what little I have experienced so far, was oddly satisfying. I think I actually like the FPS model in this genre, and the automatic transitions from 3rd to 1st person perspective actually seemed to work well. I could see this system being a gas in a large battle, if it doesn't turn into a slideshow.

Looking forward to exploring a little more tonight.

Agreed, I logged in and first thing I did was turn off all audio, haha ... pointless sadly.
 

ThinClient

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2013
3,977
4
0
Agreed, I logged in and first thing I did was turn off all audio, haha ... pointless sadly.

Audio is not pointless. It is actually absolutely crucial in PVP -at least, in parts of it. Unfortunately, ambiance sounds also include all player sounds. I have music turned off with everything else turned up 100%. When I play DarkFall, I crank my speakers WAY up to hear people coming as far away as the game will let me hear.

If you're not in combat, it's crucial to listen for weapons unsheathed, footsteps, etc.

If you're stalking, it's important to be listening for your prey's weapons or footsteps, etc.

Vivi, PM me your character name. I'm in an incredibly shitty clan and would like a step up. I'm sitting about 10k prowess if it matters.
 

ThinClient

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2013
3,977
4
0
Haha. Danky got ganked, then the NA server died. Server came back up a few minutes later and he was able to set up for them and was able to kill his attackers instead. :awe:
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
I didn't get on until after midnight and then only for a half hour or so. I'll look for the invite when I get on tonight.

Read some FAQs last night and things are starting to make quite a bit more sense to me. :)

Read the guide in the STEAM overlay ... I found it helpful.
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
14
81
www.markbetz.net
Read the guide in the STEAM overlay ... I found it helpful.

I haven't managed to get myself out of the starter area yet. In fact I didn't even realize that I need to complete the tutorial tasks and get transported out until I read the faq last night.


I'm on what I think is the last step, "Complete 3 Feats." I've been killing the crap out of stuff around Lyran but haven't had any of the items drop yet. Not sure if I need to skin, or do something else.

I was thinking I may actually roll a new toon tonight, now that I have a better idea of what I'm doing. If I do I'll post the new name, or maybe reuse the one I have now.
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
14
81
www.markbetz.net
So it can be any three feats? I already have several. But I think this last task involves three specific ones, and then somehow I am supposed to get ported out. It's all a little unclear :).

Btw, are there quests in Darkfall, or do feats sort of stand in for them?
 

ViviTheMage

Lifer
Dec 12, 2002
36,189
87
91
madgenius.com
It can be any 3 feats, but you have to accomplish them after you get to that portion of the 'quest' tutorial, and not previously...you can't just have completed 3 feats before.
 

KMFJD

Lifer
Aug 11, 2005
32,679
52,115
136
You should go to your areas capitol city and run the starter dungeon, that will get you some feats pretty quickly, remember to bring your skinning knife to skin the mobs, the more people down there the faster they spawn, i couldn't keep up the looting and skinning they were popping up so fast.

It's a lot better than the original darkfall so far
 

ThinClient

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2013
3,977
4
0
You should go to your areas capitol city and run the starter dungeon, that will get you some feats pretty quickly, remember to bring your skinning knife to skin the mobs, the more people down there the faster they spawn, i couldn't keep up the looting and skinning they were popping up so fast.

It's a lot better than the original darkfall so far

This. Every capital city as a Scumling dungeon. Scumlings count as varmints, so you'll be able to finish the 30, 150, then 1000 varmint feats very quickly. If you're skinning and looting, you'll make a fair bit of gold and a LOT of hide.

That hide turns into leather, which gets you prowess in the process. That leather can make you even more prowess if you start the leather armor feats.

First, make 2 padded leather gloves.

Then make an entire set (yes another pair of gloves).

Then make 100 glove sets.

Then make 500 glove sets. This finishes the padded leather crafting feats.

That alone is very very easy to do and nets you a LOT of prowess.

Those leather working feats exist for each of the first four tiers of leather armor: padded, normal leather, hardened leather, and studded. Each one gives progressively more prowess than the tier before it.

This is a fantastic way to gain prowess.
 

Markbnj

Elite Member <br>Moderator Emeritus
Moderator
Sep 16, 2005
15,682
14
81
www.markbetz.net
You should go to your areas capitol city and run the starter dungeon, that will get you some feats pretty quickly, remember to bring your skinning knife to skin the mobs, the more people down there the faster they spawn, i couldn't keep up the looting and skinning they were popping up so fast.

It's a lot better than the original darkfall so far

I think I started in my region's capital city? Lyran? Hard to tell from looking at the map, but it does have a small dungeon I haven't explored yet. Last night I killed a bunch of Kobolds across the lake in front of the town, but I just looted the stones. Didn't know I needed to skin them. Is everything skinnable? Seems weird skinning tombstones.
 

KMFJD

Lifer
Aug 11, 2005
32,679
52,115
136
I think I started in my region's capital city? Lyran? Hard to tell from looking at the map, but it does have a small dungeon I haven't explored yet. Last night I killed a bunch of Kobolds across the lake in front of the town, but I just looted the stones. Didn't know I needed to skin them. Is everything skinnable? Seems weird skinning tombstones.

I think only animals/humanoid mobs are skinnable, i could be wrong. The new release is a lot more accessible than the initial release, heck they even provide you with a set of tools from the start. I also noticed the drops from gathering are better and it just keeps going until you run out of stamina. I found some good tips on the reddit channel for Darkfall http://www.reddit.com/r/darkfall
 
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