Dark Age of Camelot

Dark Age of Camelot is an MMORPG that people to this day still think of when talking about what great PvP is. Unlike many MMO's that only have two sides to fight for, DAoC had three. There was the Norse mythology based Midgard, the Arthurian Albion, and the Celtic Hibernia. Each realm fought a constant battle against each other, which was called Realm vs Realm, or RvR. This RvR is what kept me and many other people playing it for many years.

I recently started playing it again as I was feeling nostalgic, and shortly afterwards I was very glad I did. I've previously gone back to the game before, but this time it was different. It seems that the Mythic team have made some great improvements to the game, making it better for first timers and returning veterans alike. I also found some new additions to the game that addressed issues when I was originally playing.



First things first, the controls were much easier than before. I found I could move my character and camera with ease, thanks to the MMO control scheme. Everything feels much more smooth and fluid than before, which is really nice. First time players may still notice a difference if used to more modern MMO's such as World of Warcraft though. As well, there are some unique controls and mechanics that they will need to learn.

As I delved into the game and wandered about, I met plenty of players both in and out of the battlegrounds. I am proud to say that this community has and most likely always will be the best there is. The people there are an astonishingly friendly and helpful bunch, and I've made several good friends already. When an enemy player killed me and typed /bow as a sign of respect to the enemy, I knew I was home. It was a nice change of pace from the /spit you get from enemies in other MMO games.



As to the core of game, not too much has changed. The PvP, or RvR, is still a lot of fun. Leveling up is fast and easy, the quests here are actually really good. Mythic added an npc to battlegrounds that provide buffs for coin, which helps resolve the buffbot issue. Also, my favorite addition to the game, they added an npc that sells you PvP gear you can purchase with currency you get while in the battleground. The gear might not be exactly equal to spellcrafted, but it is still pretty nice.

So unlike all the previous times I have revisited DAoC, this time I actually think I will be sticking around for a while. I would definitely recommend revisiting if you have not been back in a while. I would also welcome any newbies that want to try it out. It's like a fine wine, it's old but has aged well and is a bit of an acquired taste. You can sign up for their Free 14 Day Trial below. I'll be looking forward to pwning you if you don't roll Midgard.

http://darkageofcamelot.com/trial

New Player Guide

The Mages of Warhammer

Heyo.

I sort of took a leave of absence, both from WoW and my Mage. Every now and then I get bored of the norm, so take a break and try something new. It's something I recommend everyone try when they feel they are getting burned out from WoW. It brings in new experiences, and can give you some appreciation when you come back to WoW (if you do). So what have I been gaming up to?

Warhammer Online, was one of my major pit stops. I had always wanted to play it, so play it I did. They currently have a free trial that never ends, so I took that up and tested it out. First things first, I made a High Elf Archmage (of course), and found myself in for a big change of pace from normal magery. Not only could I pwn faces, I also had pretty good healing abilities.

It was odd at first, but I got into it pretty quickly. I mostly leveled up through world pvp and scenarios (battlegrounds). Some fights I would mainly dps, some fights I would heal alot. I of course typically preferred dpsing, but there was a built in game mechanic to promote switching back and forth. The more you dps, the better your heals get, and the more you heal, the better your dps gets.

This turned out to be quite nice. I would actually want to heal people, so that I could pwn more face. Did I mention that Archmages have a giant lazer beam spell, that has like a 60 yard range? Yeah, it was pretty awesome. I got him to level 10 fairly quickly, and twinked him out in the best level 10 pvp gear available. Afterwards, I decided to see how things were on the evil side.

I made a Dark Elf Sorceress (Dark Elf chicks are hot, okay?), to see how their version of the mage was. Unlike Archmages, this class was not also able to moonlight as a healer, but a pure dps class. They have a unique class mechanic like most classes in WAR do, theirs is Dark Magic. As you cast damaging spells, your dark magic builds up (like an empty rage bar), causing you to do more damage. However, there is a drawback to this.

Each damaging spell that you cast has a chance to backlash and do some damage to you. The higher amount of dark magic you have, the higher the chance. So while you are pwning people, you may just suddenly die if you are not paying attention. There is a spell that allows you to release your dark magic though (I love releasing my dark magic all over archmages). So you have some control over how much dark magic you want to build up.

Unfortunately, while the Sorceress seems really cool, she doesn't hold a candle to the Archmage. The fact is that classes with healing ability will outshine those that don't most of the time. As well, half the time you are trying to fight as a Sorceress you are helpling the enemy by lowering your hp. As well, the class doesn't seem to be doing the damage for all that backlashing to be worth it (imo).

Next blog I will be covering the other game I played, Hellgate London, as well as updates to what I have been dabbling with in WoW now that I've come back.