Howdy. Just remembering good 'ole Nimue in DAOC

[Arlost]

Howdy all,

Was drinking a beer the other night and thinking about playing DAoC back in the day on Nimue Hibernia and started searching around the internet for it. Sad to see it's a discontinued shard.

But was happy to find these forums. I remember lots of names from back in those days still posting here.

I can't even fully remember what years I played from, 2002 to 2004 I think. I played a Celt ranger named Diernaen Cadori, an Elf nightshade named Elamir, I played a few characters in Albion, RP'ed there for a brief time. Can't recall the name but I remember starting up an in-character Thieves Guild, and that was a blast! Anyone remember that?

But I recall on Hibernia Nimue was where the RP community really was.

I remember the ever amazing Lurikeen Popo - ( Loendal) the great Llava the nightshade, Magnoliah, Fierenza (sp?) Kriss Moonblade, O'Muley's story nights. I think I was in the guild Haven for a while, I remember the guild O'Suilebhain too, a bunch great community we had there for a while.

Anyone here remember, any of you around, what are you guys up to now?

I stopped playing MMOs around 2004, real-life took over since then, I was moving around the country a lot hopping from job to job and I just couldn't get back into MMOs. The only two I was ever seriously invested in was Ultima Online and Dark Age of Camelot. I tried WoW for just a bit. Honestly, I didn't care much for it even though I thought I would.

I can't even remember the name of the character I played or server, I felt like the RPing community there was shaky. I remember there were a few story nights but that was about it. It didn't have the same level of community feel like DAoC and UO had back in the days.

So anyway, I guess this is just all nostalgic referencing but it's great to see these boards around and people recalling the old school days.

I started up a UO account recently again just to re-live some nostalgic memories and I'm playing a character named Arlost on Atlantic. I was surprised to find somewhat of a thriving RP community still there and I jumped in on some tavern nights and was a lot of fun.

I am thinking about trying DAoC again just to re-live it for a brief bit. Does anyone still play, what's it like nowadays? I assume not much RP is left there?

[Morreion]

Welcome to the board, Arlost! Glad you wandered in, others before you have done the exact same thing, led via a Google search for the good old days

It's been almost a decade since I played on Nimue, and some details are fading here, but I could swear that I remember seeing the name Elamir. Sounds familiar.

You mention some classic names of Nimue RP folk! Not sure if any here still play DAoC now, I know Sinaedh played for the longest time out of the posters here.

I've still been hanging in there, playing MMOs, but the games and/or my experiences in them aren't nearly as good as they were back in the DAoC days. Communities are pretty barren these days; what does exist is mostly walled off behind guilds. Perhaps I'm simply jaded with the genre, perhaps the games and player base have changed for the worse from an old-school viewpoint, perhaps it's a mix of both.

I played WoW at release and had a good time for over a year there- ever since then, it's been a walk in the wilderness trying to find a long-term game to play. Compared to DAoC, the community was terrible in WoW, but from today's perspective, I'd take first-year WoW's community in a heartbeat over today's solo-oriented MMOs where it's unusual for players to even communicated outside of a guild.

A few years ago some of us on the board here tried DAoC Uthgard, a private server hosted in Germany that brought back the classic DAoC experience. I was terribly disappointed when players started drifting away from our group nights there. Maybe that's saying, 'you can't go back'. I think about going back occasionally. Old friends from old games get harder to find and play with. The last effort to have an old-school guild experience with lots of us on this board was in WAR back in 2008, I think. Now I play with a relatively small circle of friends still hanging in there.

I keep an eye out on upcoming titles (currently I'm looking at Shroud of the Avatar, Star Citizen, and EQ Next Landmark). I'm sort of burned out on the standard themepark experience and yearn for a good sandbox that hearkens back to UO, when MMOs were virtual worlds.

Some members here will say they're excited about Camelot Unchained- sort of a PvP-only remake of DAoC by Mark Jacobs. I wish it had PvE too!

I go back to old games sometimes- UO, Vanguard and such. Nostalgia is a big pull for me. That's why I started this board years ago, to collect the memories and stories from then.

Glad to hear from you, hope you post here in the future!

[Arlost]

Thanks Morreion! And thanks - a lot - for putting together the board. If not for that there wouldn't be much left to remember. Keep it up.

I've been going through some of the posts and screenshots here, it's great remembering all that. I am really glad some of you saved that. It's like a photojournalistic record of what we created. Maybe we didn't create the game but we created the characters, stories and community. I swear now I remember the firbolg Gack and the Hounds of Morrigan! And lot's of other names are coming back to me. Aeleoth the celt is one I remember hunting with. And the storynights on the fallen log in Ardee.

Admittedly I haven't tried any other MMOs than the UO, DAoC and WoW triad but from what you say I believe it. Even from my outsider perspective it doesn't seem like they are what they once was. I thought about trying LotR Online, or maybe Elder Scrolls Online when it releases, but from their videos and screenshots they still don't even feel the same. I don't know what it is.

I read about Camelot Unchained in my recent research but I agree, I think the PvE aspect was a big draw. RvR was a lot of fun and I have a lot of memories (One fond memory of climbing a keep wall with Elamir while my group battled below only to go toe-to-toe with a powerful Norse shadowblade at the top in what seemed almost like a scripted duel) but it was the balance between the two I enjoyed. The PvE part of DAoC was really neat. Sitting in a group in a cramped dungeon or foggy forest, loved keeping it IC as much as possible. I am sure I remember even trying to keep it IC in RvR.

You said I'm not the only one who dug it up through Google - I'm not surprised, there's something to be said for that. I think it had an impact on all of us on one way or another. We could step into our own stories for a brief time and there was no predicting what was down the road.

I am patching DAoC as we speak and I think I will give it a short spin. Just for nostalgia's sake. Probably won't make it past the 14-day free trial but I think that will be enough to just walk the virtual roads again and hear the sounds, even if it's a solo expedition.

[Rakul]

Hey Arlost, welcome to Far Journeys!

DAoC was the best MMO of all that I have played. From the new experiences, exploring a huge world (from all 3 realms), to the great community... it was simply amazing! Thankfully, I have this crew here. hehe

[Regolyth]

I'm not sure how I missed this before, but welcome to the boards Arlost. I hope to see you around more often.

[Arlost]

Thanks for the welcome!

[Morreion]

Dec 14, 2013 2:05:12 GMT -5 Arlost said:

I am patching DAoC as we speak and I think I will give it a short spin. Just for nostalgia's sake. Probably won't make it past the 14-day free trial but I think that will be enough to just walk the virtual roads again and hear the sounds, even if it's a solo expedition.

Arlost, I'd be interested in your impressions of your return visit to DAoC!

[Loendal]

Biggun Diernan!!! Is welcome home!

How the heck have you been? I have always wondered what happened to you, and could have sworn I ran into you on other MMO's that I tried here and there.

I too have shifted away from MMO's and find alot more of my time in APB:Reloaded and various non-online games such as Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress and such. Having a little boy of my own (He's 7 now) cut a big ole slice out of my Roleplaying capabilities and MMO time. You were always one of the greats and I still recall (In frightening vivid clarity) a time when Popo and Diernan were sitting on top of the hill overlooking the pooka's near the bridge over the river near Ardee. Diernan was trying to come up with a gift for (I think) O'Suilebahn's wedding. I recall working a little Luri magic and created something right there in his little hands.

And let's not forget the overbearing brother Faladir! I believe that was more during your transitional times between Hibernia and Albion.

I've also dabbled in the Emulators out there.. SWGEmu; Earth and Beyond's Emulator: Net-7 and Uthgard still pulls me back on occasion, if only to give someone sparklies

Glad to see you again!

[Arlost]

Popo!

I remember that time on the hill! Bringing back memories. Haha, there were a lot of them. O'Suilebahn's wedding was one of the first big RP events we went to on Nimue I think. Then there was always random adventuring and exploring and getting into trouble. Hah.

I remember Faladir too. You're right that was about the time I started the Thieves Guild in Albion with a character named Kalaric. Surprisingly enough had three or four RPers join up with it there for a time.

But then I left, had to focus on RL for a few years. But, been settled for a bit now and was looking for a hobby and thought I'd try it again. How long were you around Nimue after I left?

I did fire up DAOC again briefly and was very disappointed they removed the RP servers and it just seems like a rather dull RVR game now. I enjoyed the PvP aspect of it but it was always about the RP for me and it's definitely not there anymore.

However on the other hand I'm back in it again in Ultima Online. Believe it or not I've been there for about two months now and I've gotten into some great RP. Some of the folks I've met run their own RP cities, with IC politics, events and theres even always on-going plot-lines. I just recently moved over to the Catskills shard with some other RPers to start an IC guild of rangers and I've gotten invested in it again, I admit. It's been fun and reminds me a bit of the old Nimue. (If anyone is ever interested in getting into some UO RPing just let me know)

Good to hear from you. I hope all is well and your son is doing good. Stay in touch, I think these boards are a great place for that.

[Loendal]

I jumped back into UO for the 14 day free trial, I can't really afford to add another pay subscription or I'd join you I miss Roleplayers!

By the way, since you're looking up good memories:

farjourneys.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=collaborations&action=display&thread=310