New on the Scene

Here's what I learned about Darkfall online: It was a game that had been in development for years by a small indie company. Their focus was to create a PvP based game that was completely open-ended skill based. It would support realistic physics... i.e. avatar collision, arcing arrows, etc... Their intent was to make it full loot and a large world and allow the players to really create the lore. Many people likened it to Ultima Online. The news on the game was skimpy at the time, and negative comments such as "vaporware" were abundant due to the long development and some false starts by this small indie company. Nonetheless, I was intrigued....

Discovering Darkfall

Circa 2006. I was in the mood for a new MMO. I had been playing WoW for a few years now and I needed a change of pace...

Let me go into some background about myself and what I was looking for in a game. I grew up playing the old style sword and board. You know, the kind you play around a table with 20 sided dice and a gamemaster. The original D&D and then 2nd edition, Champions, Vampires: The Masquerade. These were the kind of games where you were limited only by your imagination. If you came up with an idea outside the box, we would just figure out an appropriate die roll for the action. But even then, one could see the evolution of my gaming style. I moved from the more structured levelling style games to those that were more skill based. This was all before online games.

Of course, I graduated to the old school MUDS. Those great games without the graphical interface that bring back fond memories. Naturally, I was drawn into the MMO's when they started coming out. I recall the original meridian 59, Ultima Online, everquest... etc...

I admit I took a hiatus from the virtual community while the games matured. Partly because I was disappointed with the laginess and weak graphics of those early games. Partly because I was caught up pursuing my schooling. Also partly due to other extracurricular activities.

I picked up gaming again with everquest 2 and then WoW, which held my interest for a number of years. However, like the evolution of my table top roleplaying games, I began to look for a more... hardcore game. What I wanted was a game that had more open options. I had maxed out my characters in WoW and realized that the direction of progression drastically changes with level based games. I wanted a game that was skill based, without the artificial cap of the level system. I also wanted more flexibility in the "class" system, and finally, I wanted a game that had a little more risk and excitement in the implementation of PvP.

I searched around and found some blurbs on the internet and various sources about the development of a game called Darkfall Online. My interest was peaked and I began to read about the game...

For those interested about this game, here is a link to a first 60 days of Darkfall review:

http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Paragus1/052009/3727_60-Days-of-Darkfall#comments

More to come later...