Anyone get DaoC Catacombs?

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Sat Dec 11, 2004 11:35 pm

Dark Age of Camelot is kind of rebron with this new expansion that gives it a brand new graphic engine, and adds a ton of stuff. Anyone have it? Any impressions?

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:10 am

Did you even read anything about the expansion?

The game is hardly "reborn". It does give dungeons a very nice graphic overhaul. It adds instanced dungeons with mobs appropriate to level. It adds drops which are useful in PvE combat. It adds much-upgraded character models.

If you have a level 50 toon or toons and are done leveling alts, there's not much in Catacombs to make it worth owning.

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:17 am

Yes, I read all the info from Mythic. It sounded like there was a lot more added depth then that...

triggercut · Post by **triggercut** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:22 am

If you have a level 50 toon (and frankly, that's a huuuge percentage of the DAoC base now that WoW is here), other than the character models--which are ok, but hardly worth 30 bucks--there's no reason to buy Catacombs. There's just nothing there for you.

It's a great expansion for folks wanting to get their toons to 50 who can't find anyone to group with at low levels. It's part of Mythic's plan to make leveling easier, hoping to get people to level 50 and the endgame of the realm wars. Unfortunately, they still haven't addressed the problems they created with the ToA expansion last year, so getting to 50 still is only half the battle.

Oh, and one other thing that it adds: 5 new classes, which seem to be fairly fun: 2 Mid, 2 Hib, one Alb. Not sure that's enough hook to get anyone to plop down 30 bucks tho, either.

Faldarian · Post by **Faldarian** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 1:56 am

I have it and have played it briefly, and I'd argue that the new character models are definitely worth the cost of the expansion if you're into the game or interested in getting back into it. I'd say it's a must have if you ever go back to it.

The new areas are cool, and offer something different to fight in than what you've been doing. There's some new equipment and things to go do, which is all anybody with a 50 who wants to do PvE is looking for really.

The new classes are cool. I've tried a warlock myself and thought it was a lot of fun, felt very powerful; others look cool but I haven't had time to try them out yet.

My wife is a hardcore DaoC lover. She has 2 50's, a few 40+ characters and umpteen others in the 20-30 range, and she loves the new expansion. She showed me some of the new areas, and they look impressive and varied and had a sort of dungeon crawl feel that DaoC has never really done well up to now.

My opinionis that if you really like DaoC and were just waiting for something more to do in it, it's a great expansion. It's also pretty easy to level in it these days, so it'll support a casual play style like the one I have with it where I don't spend a great deal of time with it anymore.

If you really like WoW or EQ2 and are having a great time, keep playing those and come back to this later and give it a try when you're bored some day. It's still the same old DaoC, but it really -feels- like a new game in a lot of places with Catacombs. Really one of the best expansions I've seen for an MMO yet, but it won't make you love a game you didn't like if you quit for that reason originally.

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:03 am

Hey thanks! That's a lot of great info

jonsauce · Post by **jonsauce** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:07 am

I was thinking of trying it out, so I reopened my account which has a 50 Scout , 50 infiltrator, 46 minstrel, 42 Cabalist + 4 others in the 20s on Percival. This server used to be one of the most popular servers but it is DEAD. Yes...DEAD, at least if you aren't playing in Albion. People have been slowly leaving for the last year but when WoW came out it just seemed to take everyone.

Granted during primetime the server reaches 1300 or so but no one is our doing RvR which is what I care about. I was thinking about getting Catacombs but I am not even going to bother since there are so few people out in RvR. When my month runs out I am cancelling for good.

DAoC has been my favorite game for the last 3 years because I have enjoyed RvR so much during that time. It's just not fun anymore though since so many people have left. It's sad to see my favorite game change so much

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 2:38 am

jonsauce - WHOA! Wow, I remeber when that server was just overwhelmed. And little RvR action? Yea, that does suck.

I think developers will be finding the overall MMORG market for the rest of time isn't going to be the insanely easy cashcow they all thought. I think the # of MMORG players has hit critical mass, and all new releases will be sucking away the same relative group of players.

Faldarian · Post by **Faldarian** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 4:07 pm

I play in Hibernia on Percival, and it's still pretty busy. There aren't as many people in RvR right now largely just because of the new expansion; it'll start to level back out as people expand back into the frontiers. The same thing happened with Atlantis when that came out, but eventually people returned.

Albion does outnumber the other realms though on most servers (Hibernia is the least populated realm on Percival). Part of their strategy over the last few months has really helped it even out though, so over a few months time it should get a little better- especially with the new classes.

Many of the other servers are pretty much ghost towns now though; they'd do well to consolidate a few of the lower population servers.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/dark-age-of-ca ... 494p2.html

Gamespy's short preview/review of Catacombs, if you're interested.

jpinard · Post by **jpinard** » Sun Dec 12, 2004 11:21 pm

Thanks Faldarian, I read that. Yes, I don't understand why they don't consolidate servers more aggressivley.