Darkfall Online

[Morreion]

Darkfall official site

MMORPG.com - Darkfall Online Review

Potential. Sadly unrealized potential. This is the sad truth of the matter: Darkfall is a game that is filled with great ideas and good intentions. Darkfall is a game that seems to fall short on just about everything it has, too. For having been in development for so very long, the game simply felt like an early beta build when I played. While I crashed slightly less than I did when Vanguard was first released, I actually felt that even that game had received more polish.

[Morreion]

Darkfall introduces seven day trial for one dollar (Massively)

It's not a free trial, but it's a trial nonetheless. For one dollar (or one euro, depending on which side of the ocean you're on), you can download and play Darkfall for one week. It's the second "new player friendly" move in a relatively short amount of time, and seems to indicate that the Darkfall developers are looking to reach out beyond their current community.

[Regolyth]

Really? A dollar? They couldn't do a free trial? For a dollar, you'd think they'd at least give a 14-day trial. DAoC does that for free.

[Morreion]

Darkfall Online FAQ (Hardcore Casual)

Plenty of tips for the newbie on playing Darkfall.

Warm In The Shadows: Darkfall Interview (Rock Paper Shotgun)

A year into the game, the head of the Darkfall dev team answers questions. A 14-day trial has been added.

New details revealed for upcoming Darkfall expansion (Massively)

Follow-up: Community Q&A (Darkfall official site)

Aventurine expanding Darkfall, development team (Massively)

I don't think the numbers are that large for this game, but I give them credit for hanging in there and making a PvP sandbox for those who like it.

[Morreion]

Darkfall dev diary talks new UI, quest content, and more (Massively)

Other notable items include the mention of a completely new environmental sound system as well as an in-game political map which will feature clan associations, vendor and bank locations, and various other resources.

Darkfall offline leveling goes live (Massively)

The biggest change is the much-discussed offline leveling system.

Jeff Reahard reports on his adventures in Darkfall-

Choose My Adventure: The Wayback Machine (Massively)

After an excursion in the sewers below Red Moon, I figured it was time to bend to the will of the people and join a clan. It's not that you can't play Darkfall solo. I was making good progress and having a blast, even when a random player stole the pants off my corpse before I could make it back to reclaim my items (I don't know if it was the legendary nopantscharlie, but if so, he's now the proud owner of a pair of blood-stained leather greaves with less than .19 durability remaining, and he should also be thinking about changing his name).

Choose My Adventure: Special treatment, or how I learned to stop worrying and love the gank (Massively)

That said, it's easy to rag on a FFA/full loot PvP title's community. Stereotypes exist for a reason after all, and if you play Darkfall for a couple of hours, you'll no doubt run across a few. The forums, for example, are something of a cesspool where even the worthwhile discussions often feature enough testosterone and locker room posturing to fill a supertanker seven times over. In game, racial and alliance chats are sometimes similarly off-putting. Really though, if you've only played the trial for a couple of days or spent a week soloing goblins, you don't really know the game's community.

Choose My Adventure: Singing the skill grind blues (Massiverly)

While the skill grind is no doubt frustrating to FPS fans who just want to log in and be instantly competitive, I actually prefer the current system as it a) gives me a long-term goal and b) gives me time to practice all of the actual combat skills that aren't related to numbers. To summarize, yes the grind is big, but no, this isn't cause for QQ.

Choose My Adventure: Time management and the AFK game (Massively)

To be fair, this is usually a good time. Saddling up with fellow recruits and a NEW councilor and riding out on a mission of retribution is a blast. The adversaries are skilled enough to give newbs a fight (but not skilled enough to completely faceroll a party like Darkfall's truly elite players could).



Choose My Adventure: Christmas in Agon (Massively)

In any event, my human character got in quite a few PvP scrapes last week, whether it was fending off the newb-gankers who like to frequent the goblin spawns around Monkfield and Copperdale or engaging in a bit of opportunistic PKing of his own deep in the Agonian wilderness. I'm starting to feel a bit more comfortable with Darkfall's combat (no small feat for someone who rarely PvPs outside of Global Agenda), and I'm getting to the point at which death is much rarer than it used to be.

Darkfall Survivor Guy series-

Darkfall: Survivor Guy: Darkfall Edition
Now that MMORPG.com's Survivor Guy, Adam Tingle, has completed his series on Mortal Online, it is high time to take on another sandbox title, Darkfall Online. Adam regales our readers with his great storytelling as he ventured into the Darkfall world. Check it out and then let us know what you think in the comments below. Enjoy!

I wiped the sweat from my brow and slammed my pickaxe into another node of iron. Before long I sensed the weariness of my avatar and the aching of my index finger so I decided to take a well-deserved break. Slowly I sat down in the green foliage that surrounded me, carefully looking around to make sure my presence would go unnoticed. After deciding that the coast was clear, I headed into the many chat tabs of the game, clicking around for the latest gossip and happenings; it was mostly the usual banter apart from one stark warning- “Two outlaws in the wilds around Heart of Eanna, look out new guys”.

Darkfall: Survivor Guy: Darkfall Edition #2
MMORPG.com's Survivor Guy, Adam Tingle, started his latest write up earlier this week by taking a look at Aventurine Studios' sandbox title, Darkfall. Adam continues his adventures in Darkfall Online...or not. You won't want to miss Adam's adventures this week. Be sure to let us know what you think of Survivor Guy: Darkfall Edition #2 by commenting below.

I don't know exactly how it happened, but five minutes later I found myself plodding along the coast line, naked except for my initial leather-strap outfit, bereft of ore and poorer than when I started. My 'mate' had simply approached me, uttered a word of thanks and then butchered me with a massive sword. Robbed and broken, and a few tears dangling from my eyes, I headed back toward Heart of Eanna feeling sorry for myself.

Darkfall: Survivor Guy: Darkfall Edition #3
MMORPG.com writer Adam Tingle continues his adventures in Darkfall with Survivor Guy: Darkfall Edition #3. In the first installment, Adam took his first tottering steps in Darkfall. In the second, he got his bearings aligned and began questing and feeling not-quite-so-n00bish. Now we come to part three of Adam's continuing adventures. Check it out and then leave us a comment or two below.

I was low of health and the blows delivered to my form by this shiny bastard weren’t helping matters. I decided to unceremoniously turn-tail and get the hell of out dodge. My combatant replied with a volley of arrows and a smug grin. I was felled, beaten, bruised and you know what? He didn’t deliver the final blow. Instead of slamming the ‘space’ bar, I waited, unwilling to give the satisfaction of a quick corpse rummage. I hope he grazed his arm on the damn tomb stone.