I've played Ultima Online, EverQuest, Asheron's Call (1 and 2) and a few different MUD's as well as Dark Age of Camelot. Dark Age of Camelot is, by far, the most fun.
Before getting into why I like the game, let me start with this: No MMORPG yet has lived up to the potential of the genre. I have high hopes for WOW, but none of them yet have nailed it and that includes DAoC. All of the games have some basic problems:
- Most of the time is spent on the "level grind" just trying to get experience bit-by-bit to draw you to the next level.
- Popular hunting grounds get "camped" (e.g. people camp out there waiting for monsters to appear).
- The environment is static. You can kill monsters, but they always reappear and nothing in the world itself ever changes other than occasional updates to the world by the live development teams.
DAoC has not addressed these things, but neither has anyone else effectively. There is one problem that DAoC has handled brilliantly that other games have as an issue: Player-vs.-player combat.
Some players like to fight other players. Others like to play against the game. In Ultima Online this was first seen as a problem when high level players would kill any low level player they came across. So if you are just minding your own business, walking from town to town, some bozo could walk up and kill you and ruin your game experience.
The problem is a large body of players feel PvP is a _MUST HAVE_ feature. Another body of players abolutely HATE it.
What DAoC has done is this:
1. Created PvP zones. If you enter the zone, you are fair game and so is anyone else.
2. Created a system where players could control a zone for their collective benefit --thereby giving rise to large groups of players forming impromptu armies to fight each other over control of these zones. Players also get special PvP points to spend on character improvement.
3. Create PvP-only servers as well as "Co-op" servers that have no PvP at all.
4. Most importantly, PvP is not on an individual basis, it's on a "realm" basis. There are three "Realms". You cannot fight characters in your own realm, only 'enemy' characters from the other two. This also leads to the armies of players clashing thing.
So this is where DAoC really shines.
As for myself, I hate PvP. I play on the co-op server. And even though I am ignoring the very best parts of the game, I stilll have a lot of fun.
One thing I hated about EverQuest was that I lost all my stuff when I died. On DAoC, you ressurect with all of your stuff and a small XP loss. Enough that you want to avoid dying, but not enough to ruin your fun. You can get back into playing quickly.
One thing I hated about UO was that it was hard to get started. You had to spend a lot of time chopping down trees and killing rabbits before you could really get into any fun. DAoC is fun two minutes after you have a new character.
The only real complaints I have about DAoC are this:
- I really wish they had a minimap, like Asheron's Call 2.
- I like to play solo, but the game is geared towards encouraging you to play in larger groups. You can solo, but are rewarded less for it.
I sent you an email on how you can try the game for free, so you can try it and see if you agree with me.
By the way, if there are any DAoC players our there, my current character is a 25th level Valewalker on the Gaheris server named "Growth".
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