Darkfall, brought to PA by The Realm of Wang

wizen

Darkfall Online is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) in development by Aventurine SA that combines real-time action and strategy in a fantasy setting. The game is expected to feature unrestricted PvP, full looting, a huge, dynamic game world that evolves in response to player actions, and a player skill dependent combat system free of the class and level systems that typify most MMORPGs. The game is currently in internal beta, an external beta is now open for registration (www.darkfallonline.com/beta) and the release date is set in late 2008.

Gameplay

Playable races

There are six playable races in Darkfall. Unlike other MMOGs, racial choice does not heavily influence your characters choices or progression options: 95% of the skills may be learned regardless of your race, the remainder are race-specific abilities. Each race begins play in their own homeland, and have their own unique storylines, histories, and racial alliances/enemies.

While certain races have friendships and hatreds with other races in Darkfall, these are not strictly enforced upon the players, and it is possible for allied clans to declare war upon both their own race and their racial allies. Declaring war against a clan will prevent players of the declaring clan from sustaining alignment penalties associated with attacking and killing players of the opposing clan, regardless of race.

It is possible to form mixed-race clans of opposing factions, but this choice comes with some disadvantages: NPCs will always behave according to their racial faction, and will thus react with hostility to racial enemies even if accompanied by and/or allied with friendly races. A recent developer journal has indicated however that the NPCs of cities built by an all-race clan will not attack members of the owning clan, regardless of race.

The races are as follows:

Alfar (Dark Elves)

* Homeland: Nagast
* Allies: None
* Enemies: Everyone
* Racial mount: Shulgan Drake

The Alfar are the cruel, hate-spawned cousins of the Mirdain. Abducted eons ago by their insane god-king Melek, these former Mirdain have been mutated and warped by his diabolical influence and his mother's Silver Circlet into fearless, rage-driven killers. Striking their enemies from the shadowy, spell-blasted lands of Nagast, the Alfar tear a bloody swath of destruction wherever they go, disappearing as quickly as they appeared. Gifted with an innate affinity for the magical arts, the Alfar are skilled spellcasters who draw their power from their volatile God. Due to this unpredictability, Alfar spells fluctuate in power, creating a slight variance in result with every cast. Alfar have a deep seated hatred for all other life on Agon; though they can join clans of other races, they loathe doing so.

Dwarves

* Homeland: Dvergheim
* Allies: Humans, Mirdain
* Enemies: Mahirim, Orks, Alfar
* Racial mount: Garmir Ram

Grim-faced, iron-strong and unshakable in courage and convictions, dwarves are trueborn children of the mountains. They are an introspective and taciturn race who scorn all gods in preference of a multi-millennial path to perfection that was laid out by the legendary founder of their nation. The dwarves follow the teachings of Ymir, a legendary mastersmith who forged many of Dvergheim's greatest wonders, as well as the nation itself. Ymir spent his final years writing a book that laid out a detailed, step by step plan for the next 20,000 years of dwarven civilization. Ymir's teachings told the dwarves what to strive for, what to practice and what to create, and he told them how and when they should approach each task.

Humans

* Homeland: Mercia
* Allies: Dwarves, Mirdain
* Enemies: Mahirim, Orks, Alfar
* Racial mount: Warhorse

Humans in the game live very much like their real life counterparts did in medieval times, with a feudal system, and a constant power struggle between the King and the Church. Humans are a versatile race, with no particular strengths and weaknesses.

Mirdain (Forest Elves)

* Homeland: Mirendil
* Allies: Dwarves, Humans
* Enemies: Mahirim, Orks, Alfar
* Racial mount: Aerdian cat

The Mirdain are a sophisticated race of skilled diplomats and traders. They prefer diplomacy and subtle manipulation to direct conflict, but Mirdain are still brilliant tacticians whose expert troop movements and cunning ruses allow them to defeat enemies many times their number. Working deep from within their forest home of Mirendil, the Mirdain are a peaceful and cultured race in a world torn by war. The Mirdain are somewhat magically adept, and most of them are able to direct a modest number of spells. They are also skilled hunters, proficient with the bow from an early age.

Mahirim

* Homeland: Tribelands
* Allies: Orks
* Enemies: Humans, Mirdain, Dwarves, Alfar
* Racial mount: None; able to run as fast as a mount on all fours when out of combat.

A fierce race of predators from the untamed wilds of the Tribelands, the Mahirim are a race who still seem at odds with their recent move to civilization. While they have laws now, they retain all the finely-honed instincts and predatory skills of their pack-hunter ancestors. Though they have recently evolved to walk on two-legs, the wolf-like Mahirim retain the ability to run on all fours, and can easily out-pace all other races on foot and match other races' mounts for speed, whilst retaining the capability to ride other races' mounts. Given their long history of aggression and their somewhat arrogant nature, the Mahirim have few friends. They do, however, have a small degree of respect for the Orks, who are very capable warriors and equally warlike.

Orks

* Homeland: Morak
* Allies: Mahirim
* Enemies: Humans, Mirdain, Dwarves, Alfar
* Racial mount: Death Pig

Until very recently the Orks used to roam the swamps like the Goblins do now: no permanent settlements, no civilisation, spending their time hunting or at war. But, an evil deity tamed the Orks and taught them how to build cities and enslave workers. Modern day Orkish society is built on the enslavement of the Goblin race, as they do all the manual labour for the Orks. The Orks also control an evil cult of Dwarves who design buildings and weapons for Orkish conquest; they live in much better conditions than the Goblins. The Orks believe that one day their God will rise from the Volcano and kill all non-Orks.

Attributes

As with other MMORPGs, player characters have a set of semi-static attributes, which determine their in-game physical and mental prowess. These attributes are: strength, vitality, dexterity, wisdom, intelligence, and quickness [41]. These attributes improve over time in response to player activity, for example, repeated use of a melee weapon will result in a gradual improvement in that player's strength statistic over time, which in turn will allow him/her to deal greater melee damage. There are also three dynamic attributes: hitpoints, mana, and stamina, which determine a player's overall vitality and capacity for physical activity and/or magic, which fluctuate in response to performing actions and receiving damage.

Receiving physical or magical damage from other players, NPCs or other objects cause the loss of hitpoints until that player is incapacitated, at which point there is a certain amount of time during which that player can choose to declare themselves dead and return to their last "bind point", or they may be "finished off" by force, or revived by another player. Unless revived, the player dies at the expiration of the incapacitation timer.

Likewise, the casting of magical spells requires and expends mana points, and the execution of various physical activities, such as sprinting, the swinging of weapons, and casting of spells expend stamina. All three of these statistics are regained over time at varying rates, and/or may be rapidly regained through the use of healing and other restorative spells, potions and items.

In terms of racial differences, the order of races with respect to the strength statistic is: ork > dwarf > mahirim > human > mirdain (elf) > alfar (dark-elf), while for intelligence, the order is the exact reverse: alfar > mirdain > human > mahirim > dwarf > ork.

Skills

Darkfall departs from the conventional MMORPG paradigm of character levels as the main form of character progression, favouring instead a broad skill-based system[42], similar to that found in games such as Ultima online and EVE online. Skills and skill proficiency determine a wide range of a character's capability in the game, including weapons and weapon skills and special attacks, spells, and archery, stealth mechanics, all aspects of player crafting, as well as more basic facets of gameplay, such as the ability to swim, climb vertical surfaces, and to ride and control mounts.

Many skills may be learned from NPC trainers in the game, however certain skills will require other skills as prerequisites, and/or may only be learned through specific quests and/or NPCs in remote/hidden areas. Without exception however, skills are improved (raised in power) through actual usage in game. The possibility for players to teach other players certain skills once a certain level of mastery has been reached has also been discussed by the developers.

Whilst the breadth and depth of the skill system has been frequently referenced in developer reports, only a few skills have been specifically named and described by the developers. Despite the relatively small amount of information available on player-learnable skills, developers have reported there will be approximately 500 skills and 500 spells in the game at release.

Loot

Darkfall has been designed from the outset as a full-loot PVP game, meaning on death players are able to fully loot other players of their gear and gold on their person. The ability to fully loot other players has been factored into the game as an important facet of the RTS-like logistical meta-game between warring clans.

The ability to fully loot other players is a significant departure from the other contemporary MMOGs, such as World of Warcraft, in which the quest for ever better gear is the primary driver of player character improvement once maximum level has been attained. In Darkfall, character skills are the primary driver of character improvement, and while gear is expected to have some influence in determining a player character's overall power, it will be of greatly diminished importance than in other MMOGs.

Alignment

Darkfall will feature a player character alignment system, which ranges from good to evil, based upon the actions of players. Characters will start the game with a neutral alignment. "Evil" actions, such as the killing of other characters without provocation, stealing from other characters, and even the casting of certain necromantic spells cause a change in alignment toward evil. The repercussions of an evil alignment range in severity from NPCs ceasing to trade with a character and the inability of a character to "bind" in certain cities & towns, to that character being attacked on sight by NPC guards and player characters of good alignment receiving quests and alignment bonuses for hunting and killing evil characters.

From the Darkfall character FAQ: "Turning evil is easy, although it doesn't make for an easy life. Killing other characters unprovoked will get you there fast and this will make most guards, clans and other players attack you on sight. Changing your alignment towards good is a challenging and difficult process."

Stealth

Almost all MMORPGs implement the concept of player stealth by allowing players/NPCs to become pseudo-magically "invisible", thereby permitting stealthy movement, and surprise attacks. Typically, this "pseudo-invisibility" skill is a fundamental game mechanic that provides the core functionality and/or defining trait of a limited number of player classes.

In Darkfall, stealth is accomplished by playing stealthily, employing real-world stealth techniques such as moving in darkness/shadow, employing camouflage, walking silently, and using world objects as cover; that is, stealth is not "auto-magical", and not restricted to any particular class or subset of players. Since Darkfall is a class-less MMORPG, any player is able to acquire the various stealth-enhancing skills and to follow a stealthy playstyle.

This feature of "true steath" also comes with semi-realistic limitations - wearing heavy metallic armour emits audible clinking sounds, and reflects light, and moving more slowly decreases the volume of footsteps. True stealth in Darkfall is also made possible through the deliberate lack of "player radar" and use of first-person perspective for ranged combat and general movement, combined with realistic, dynamic weather and day/night cycle.

(above content from Darkfall's Wikipedia entry. Click the link for more information.)

Links.
Darkfall Screenshot Gallery
Darkfall Community Forums
Newest Darkfall Gameplay Trailer
17-minute Darkfall Showcase

wizen

If you PA chaps decide to do things your own way, and create a PA guild exclusively for Darkfall, I'm offering you the opportunity to join us as a sub-guild. You would maintain relative autonomy, have access to our town, cities and binding stones, and have our protection. In exchange, we would need to borrow your sword arms in times of need. Obviously, if there's too few of you to form a guild, or if you'd rather not form a guild at all, we'd be glad to welcome you into Kirdain proper, but if you wish to form a guild of your own, this is a way to maintain access to trade hubs and needed resources as members of Kirdain, while maintaining your own separate structure and hierarchy.

Don't quote me on the details, but if you would like to form a guild of your own under Kirdain's banner & protection, get the leader to PM me, and I'll set him/her up with the appropriate contact info.

'Sitewhoring' removed, replaced with offer of allegiance.

Forar

Here we go again...

Arthil

Even so Forar... those screenshots are -not- the Darkfall Online I was seeing only a month or two ago, those graphics look friggin' sweet.

A duck!

So, yes, let us discuss Darkfall here my mans.

The Muffin Man

I thought we, as a society, had grown past "If it's not a human or an elf, males and females look the same (except females have a bow in their hair)".

Eat it You Nasty Pig.

Is this actually going to be released this year?

wizen

Yep, it's going to be released in December. If you'll follow the link to the newest gameplay video, it's of fottage of a press conference in Athens. They had the beta client running steadily for a half hour with no bugs or crashes, and when it finally did crash, it was due to a 'could not connect to server' error.

Back to beta / release, though, I don't know when beta is going to begin, but they have announced that it's going to end in the beginning of december, with release following shortly after that.

Aldo

heh, 3 weeks of beta? That's uh...

That does not instil me with hope that this game is going to be anywhere near enjoyable.

Dog

I heard they aren't releasing this in the US.

Dog

I heard the release date was pushed back from March 2001 is this also true?

lazegamer

I give this a pretty low chance of actually being put together well, but I'm willing to tempt it because the principles of the game are so much in line with what I want out of an MMO. Applied to your group on the DFO forums, and the RoK wiki.

lazegamer

wizen wrote: »

Sitewhoring removed.

Maybe linking an already established guild isn't so great, but I would like to see some kind of PA organization here akin to how we usually handle MMO startups (see: The Six Mouths).

wizen

Aldo wrote:

heh, 3 weeks of beta? That's uh...

That does not instil me with hope that this game is going to be anywhere near enjoyable.

The client was built from the ground up by Aventurine, with the game's specific mechanics in mind. It is, as I understand it, a very stable client. As for how enjoyable the game will be, I don't see how a short open beta relates to how well the game is made. It's been in development for a heck of a long time, so they have the mechanics polished to a fine edge. They've updated the graphics (as seen in the conference video) and are polishing the animations. There's a very large group of followers on the official forums, and they're ready to play this thing already. To me, at least, it seems that all the ingredients are there for an enjoyable game. I just hope that release goes well.

robothero wrote:

I heard they aren't releasing this in the US.

Not true, they are releasing the game in North America. I'm Canadian, and I can't wait for it. However, the European server will be opening up before the US server does, so the majority of people that have been waiting for this game for years will be playing on there, rather than waiting. The EU server has been tested from Western US, and performed well.

robothero wrote:

I heard the release date was pushed back from March 2001 is this also true?

Yes, this is true. The mechanics of the game have been being worked on, polished, alpha'd, beta'd, false beta'd, back into development, etc. for quite a few years. However, on the bright side, this means that the physics, math, balance and logic side of things have been thoroughly ironed out.

lazegamer wrote:

I give this a pretty low chance of actually being put together well, but I'm willing to tempt it because the principles of the game are so much in line with what I want out of an MMO. Applied to your group on the DFO forums, and the RoK wiki.

I respectfully disagree with your analysis of release, and am glad to hear you're putting aside your reservations. You'll actually need to apply on our forums. The link's in the left hand navigation list.

lazegamer wrote:

wizen wrote:

Sitewhoring removed.

Maybe linking an already established guild isn't so great, but I would like to see some kind of PA organization here akin to how we usually handle MMO startups (see: The Six Mouths).

1 - I sought permission from the mod team before making this post. I thought that, considering the highly intellectual tone and thorough analysis present in Tycho's front page posts, day after day, the PA Forums would be a good place to recruit intelligent, mature players, who have experience gaming, and who are open to frank discussion of how valid a game is for release (because, let's face it, there are a lot of doubts about Darkfall.) I am not site whoring, I'm strategically recruiting.
2 - I have an idea re. accommodating a PA style startup, but I need to clear it with Kirdain's nobles. Stick with me, here.

Aldo

Oh, i misread your post, I thought it read that beta was going to start at the beginning of December, but it's going to end then.

Not that I'm looking forward to this game, but I guess that's because its followers have been annoying me for years. Back when WoW started there was this huge hardcore guild that migrated from DAoC and they were all "oh we're just waiting for Darkfall, this game will suck compared to Darkfall" That was in 2004. :P

Oh well, I won't knock it until I try it.

Dog

Have they secured a US publisher yet?

wizen

http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/data/530600.html

I mis-spoke. The developer is Razorwax, the publisher is Aventurine SA.

The plan is to initially release in 50 countries, and then worldwide. Considering that half their forum population is North American, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense NOT to include Canada and America in the initial 50.

Aldo; DAoC -does- suck compared to Darkfall. DAoC also sucks compared to a glass of milk. But that's just my opinion, as I tried DAoC during a period of time when its popularity had waned.

Dog

Razorwax and Adventurine are the same company. Adventurine absorbed Razorwax about a year after Darkfall was originally announced. They have also stated that due to the fact they are most likely self-publishing, an initial release outside of Europe will probably be too expensive for them unless they secure an outside (read: North American) publisher. I'll assume this has not happened.

Thus my questions.

wizen

robothero wrote: »

Razorwax and Adventurine are the same company. Adventurine absorbed Razorwax about a year after Darkfall was originally announced. They have also stated that due to the fact they are most likely self-publishing, an initial release outside of Europe will probably be too expensive for them unless they secure an outside (read: North American) publisher. I'll assume this has not happened.

Thus my questions.

I wasn't aware of the merger, that explains a lot. Admittedly, I havn't been following this game long, but it tickles my fancy.

Anyway, using the magic of Google, I found the answer to your question here

"While we haven't selected a publisher in N. America yet like we have in Europe, this doesn't actually mean that we need one, or that we're going to wait for one, in order to launch the game there."

ie/ buy it online. Better for the environment, too.

Edit: Word from Gunnarr, head of Kirdain's navy and the supervising noble to my recruiting efforts.

Shoutbox output edited for legibility wrote:

(12:08pm) wizen: How do we know that Darkfall will be released in NA?
(12:16pm) Gunnarr: They are focusing on Digital Download ATM. They have servers already in San Diego
(12:16pm) Gunnarr: The company in San Deigo is called GNi. - http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=70361
(12:17pm) Gunnarr: But it is a well plublished and talked about event. So there will be US servers right off the bat.

Also.

If you PA chaps decide to do things your own way, and create a PA guild exclusively for Darkfall, I'm offering you the opportunity to join us as a sub-guild. You would maintain relative autonomy, have access to our town, cities and binding stones, and have our protection. In exchange, we would need to borrow your sword arms in times of need. Obviously, if there's too few of you to form a guild, or if you'd rather not form a guild at all, we'd be glad to welcome you into Kirdain proper, but if you wish to form a guild of your own, this is a way to maintain access to trade hubs and needed resources as members of Kirdain, while maintaining your own separate structure and hierarchy.

Don't quote me on the details, but if you would like to form a guild, get the leader to PM me, and I'll set him/her up with the appropriate contact info.

Dog

GNi is a hosting solution, not a publisher.


http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?t=61038

The answer to the question on whether we're going to launch in N. America and Europe at the same time is: "Right now it doesn't look that way"

wizen

I didn't say it was a hosting solution.

It is a server solution for release which, when combined with digital download (which circumvents the need to find a US publisher for physical boxes & DVDs) will allow Aventurine to have NA customers on NA servers.

Edit: Sorry, thought that quote was a signature.

You're right, they can't guarantee it now, but it's something they're shooting for. Regardless, we will all be able to play it on release, whether it be on a NA or EU server.

lazegamer

I'm not so interested in being able to play it immediately on release day. If the game is good enough that I'll be playing it for a long time, I don't care if I have to wait a while till I can play on a NA server.

wizen

Fair enough.

If you PA chaps are bored, feel free to head on over to http://www.realmofkirdain.com/forums and partake in our shout box. Great way to whittle the time away.

wizen

Just an update for you good folk;

Nov 11 2008 - Beta has begun.

I'm still trying to spread the good word (recruiting or not), as the larger the initial population is, the better. However, if you're eager to try this game out, at least, and want to have something to do other than run around killing/being killed, pop on over to Kirdain forums, and join up. We'd love to have you as a member long term, but failing that, we could certainly find a way to make your trial action-packed.

TheLawinator

Man, I was hoping to get an invite to this to check it out, but no dice. When/if I do, I'll join up with you, Wizen.

wizen

Good to hear it, Lawinator.

frank as fuck

I, too, would be really interested in trying this out. I wish I would've gotten beta, but hey, I suppose I can wait another couple weeks or whatever.

tsplitter

This beta seems kind of fishy to me. I get that there is an NDA so beta testers cant blab info about the beta, but no one seems to know anything not even so much as a leaked photo. I simply cannot believe that no one knows someone who got in, or that no one would leak anything at all.

Ragnar Dragonfyre

I signed up for a DFO forum acct. back in Jan. 2004. I've been following it pretty diligently ever since. Still no beta invite.

However, today at the forums Tasos, lead developer, posted a bunch of beta impressions from the testers. It's no video or screenshots, but it's something!

http://forums.darkfallonline.com/showthread.php?p=1967940#post1967940

Fuu

Well, I've had a beta ap sitting in since you could first register for beta accounts... back when i quit playing on Darktide in asheron's call (circa 2003)...

No invite yet but i think it might be because the last DXdiag i had submitted was a Pentium 3, 256 megs of ram and a voodoo 3 card.

ghen

Here's a review of the beta by some italian mmorpg site, they were invited/went to athens to play the game.

Aldo

Wow, the game looks so dated. I didn't think it would be this bad.

Bendery It Like Beckham

Aldo wrote: »

Wow, the game looks so dated. I didn't think it would be this bad.

I think it actually looks pretty good, and even though the english in the above review was terrible, I got an idea of what game play would be like. and honestly I can say I popped a bit of wood.

Zzulu

it looks awful (sounds good on paper though)

I also don't understand why the screenshots the italians took themselves are watermarked with Darkfalls company logo..

Arthil

Those screen shots look a lot better than I had expected. I know it's hard looking past the graphics when you've got stuff like Warhammer around, but they aren't terrible. Considering all the things I remember them wanting to be in Darkfall it's not surprising the graphics aren't top of the line.

Bendery It Like Beckham

also that whole building the engine from the ground up, and being 8 years work in progress thing.

Ragnar Dragonfyre

Zzulu wrote: »

it looks awful (sounds good on paper though)

I also don't understand why the screenshots the italians took themselves are watermarked with Darkfalls company logo..

Admittedly, the animations in this game are rather bad. The graphical consistency just isn't there.

That said, the sense of scale in this game is absolutely unmatched. The world looks huge in all the videos and screens I've seen. Darkfall evokes a sense of adventure in me that I haven't felt since I first logged into UO... and I haven't even played the game yet.

The features and gameplay will sell Darkfall, not the graphics (I sound like a fanboi, I know)... but, I'd really like them to fix some of the abysmal animation.

I really hope this game delivers. A skill based advancement system, with FPS mechanics, full loot and FFA PvP? Sign me right the fuck up.

Zzulu

I watched the 17min video that was recently released. The naval warfare looks terrible. Like something out of 10 years ago. Like a lot of things in the game.

but hey, I personally hope the game will succeed so eh

Xtarath

I have been waiting for this for a long time. I don't know if I want to make a small trader or evil clan, or join up with you guys.

Do you guys have any preference for races yet, Wizen?

Zzulu

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=XX4jLw5oM1c

some italian reviewer playing a little of the game.

The animations, they are hilarious

Just_Bri_Thanks

Those are pretty bad. Although probably easily fixed if they can get a decent animator in there.