Darkfall Online Comments by Ed Zitron

"Also, I question the wisdom of allowing a first-time reviewer to dish out a 2/10"

Zitron is not a 'first-time reviewer', he has been writing for PC Zone and others for a while now.

good god this game looks utter shit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgXH-lyDN...

Sweet mercy, that looks as dull as dishwater with about the same level of animation.

I was actually going to download the game and make an informed decision. Instead, I will LOWER the score to a 1/10.

Why, you ask? (Or not, if you're that way inclined?)

Where the sodding hell is the download link? Or the account creation link? Or anything even remotely looking like a way into the game?

edit: There is a link to a "review" from IGN; unfortunately, the words "review" and "first impressions" share nothing other than some letters.

@ Telre : Please read my posts. I didn't comment on the graphics (although they are utter arse) I said the animations are shocking. Swinging a sword back and forth across a horizontal plane. It honestly looked like something a GCSE computing student came up with. The game is an asbsolute dog. You cannot actually legitimately defend it. I really pity you for wasting money on it. I'd rather burn a wad of £20's than spend my money on Darkfall.

seasidebaz

be glad you cant find it

"THIS REVIEWR IS LIER. HE IS NOT HARDCORE ENUFF FOR THIS GAME AND WROTE THIS OUT OF INSECERITY..2/10?? LOL PISS POOR CAN'T HACK IT. I PROLLY PK HIM 100 TIMES LAWL. ONLY THE TRU LEGEDNS AND WARRIORS OF THE MMO COMUNITY CAN SURVIVE IN DARKFALL. iT IS GREATEST GAME EVER CONCEIEVed. i waited 8 years for it. i don't liek the way he insults the game. LET IT BE KNOWN I AM WILLING TO DIE FOR DARKFALL!!!!!!"

I can't believe these Hardcore haters. Have any of them actually reached puberty yet? (Great Spelling also - too busy ganking to go to school?)

Great review by the way. I wouldn't touch this dross if they paid me. (I guess i'm not THAT hardcore).

Flame-on Fanbois!!!

I can see what Eurogamers staff thought about it:

"Hey Bob, mmorpg.coms traffic increases by 2000 every time they post about Darkfall, let's make so utterly faulty review of it that it stinks of bias miles away and let's add journalistic self-pwn by calling everyone who likes the game Fanboys! We'll have 10000 hits before the day is done!"

"Great idea Ed! Get to it!"

First time poster here and probably won't log on again.
Just created account to encourage some people not to miss this game out. Best gaming experience i've had in years. Its far from fault however each fault is being addressed by the developers with breathtaking speeds. I feel reading the review that he is extremely biased and simply focuses and exaggerates points in the game which have little impact on gameplay. PvsP in this game really has you on the edge of the seat. Grouped PvP is excellent fun.
To me it sounds like the reviewer was a terrible player who simply rage quit. I'll watch this page for a short while if anyone has any comments/questions.
Honestly this is the worst review i have ever read of any form of media.

Kishe is really upset about this.

lol kishe is probably right

You're right, we all work for Eurogamer. :-/

So, from stumbling around the official site for a while, there isn't a trial and the only way to download the actual client is through a forum post?

Honestly this is the worst review i have ever read of any form of media.

glol

Sadly, I was able to purchase DF Online in the first week. Next to my Pool of Radiance CE worst buy evar now sits my DF Online receipt. For those looking for a REAL pvp experience... Shadowbane is FREE.

Its far from fault however each fault is being addressed by the developers with breathtaking speeds.

So, to be sure on this, you want me to buy a faulty game because the awesome indie dev, who took how many years to get it to this stage, are working at breathtaking speeds ?

Nah, i'll give it a miss, but thanks!

@ George Roper
What online game has not had faults?
I'm just glad that in the game i play they are addressed with promptly.

lol, Just watched the trailer... "100% PURE INGAME FOOTAGE!!1"

this commenting much entertain has been so far. darkfall players has shown grerat unity and much mouth frothing. shame no facts much. poor squirrels.

It sounds to me like this guy is just a terrible gamer, and is so lacking of skill that he simply couldn't do anything in Darkfall. The combat system certainly isn't broken. It works exactly as intended. If you aim at someone, swing your weapon, and they fall inside the arc of your swing, they will be hit. If you miss, you don't hit. What is Special Ed's problem with that? You aim your arrows or magic, fire it at someone, and if it hits them, they take damage. You miss, they don't. Seriously, I'm missing the part where this is broken. It's actually a hell of a lot of fun, and I can't see how anyone could have such disdain for it, unless they have garbage coordination and NEED the auto-targeting typical of MMO's.

Don't listen to this clown; the game is really fun, and if you want and enjoy full-loot PvP-centric games, you will have fun in Darkfall. If you want to kill dragons and evil fairies, and need to have some "lore" hold your hand through the game, you will not like Darkfall. Simple.

There, my first and last time visiting this website.

zitronfails oh how hardcore111111

So, they come here, post, and then leave forever?

Is that not a little bit counter-intuitive. When people then begin ripping thier argument to shreds, there's no way they can defend thier points...

What online game has not had faults?
I'm just glad that in the game i play they are addressed with promptly.

Depends on what you class as a 'fault'.

IMO, one massive 'fault' in Darkfall is a game-engine that looks, in every single respect, like it belongs pre-Everquest. Which, quite frankly, in my current Nvidia 295 GXT'd state, is atrocious.

Eye-candy is very much a part of the overall experience. Its why Vanguards environments are still amongst the best out there, in and even out of MMORPG land.

Whereas this monstrosity just looks shit, in every single respect, and wouldn't immerse me in any way, shape or form. In fact, i'd sooner be immersed in acid.

Hardstyle, yo! \o/

K guys don't think i'll be back here.
Anyway don't let one review put you off-- try it for yourself. I'm currently enjoying it and to me thats all that matters :)
Goodluck gaming guys

So, they come here, post, and then leave forever?

Is that not a little bit counter-intuitive. When people then begin ripping thier argument to shreds, there's no way they can defend thier points...

Whoa

Whoa whoa whoa, what the fuck.

What the fuck?









They have arguments now?

What did I miss?

Try it for ourselves? I'd love to.

Gah! I forgot there isn't a free trial! Oh well.

I haven't left, please see my post near the bottom of page2.

To quote your very own forums -

'You're pretty much fu**ed if you don't have wep mastery when you are fighting some one who does. A f***ing naked can kill you when your armored if his wep mastery is high enough.' - Razzums

'Rock = People without weapon mastery
Paper = People with weapon mastery

Which is exactly what they promised wouldn't happen... ' - Kzuri

'My main concern is 'character skill' seems to trump 'player skill' more than it should, and I think that is the point of the OP. Regardless of 'player skill', a character with weapon mastery will almost always pull out a win against a character without. ' - MrShine

REVEWER IS A NOOB!!11

I don't mind a bad review of something as its down to personal opinion but when this guy (usually decent reviewer) gets so many facts wrong i feel the review becomes defunct. It seems like he hasnt even got an account and has never played the game.

Check ZtruK's comment at bottom of page 2 for these "facts" that i'm talking about.

RM2KMaster you have a point i will be back to read peoples responses.

The game has faults clearly. But the reviewer has addressed about 1/2 of them. The game is not fully finished. Now on the other hand as far as a journalist or writer this site loses all credibility. The writer has not played this game for more then a few hours and clearly has a slow learning curve in these types of games.
The lore and the PVE aspect is severely underdeveloped. I would venture to say they have devoted energy to fixing some of the more pertinent issues.
The author clearly has misunderstood the principles behind the game mechanics. You can in fact switch weapons in the appropriate amount of time (less then 1 sec unless you have down syndrome). Another example the arthur did not spend enough time playing is his explanation of pvp tactics. Running in circles is a tactic used by the newest players usually in starter areas. He he devoted as much time to playing the game as he had to writing the article he may have realized the depth of the pvp that he had missed.
Another point made by the author that demonstrates his incompetence with gaming mechanics is his lack of realization a 1 handed sword actually has shorter range then say a polearm. So while he was getting killed by someone with a polearm he could not understand why his hits did not register. Well here is a note. Its not the game mechanics that did not register your hit it was you. I have played this game of over a month and the last thing i would complain about is hits registering.
Your misunderstanding of basic gaming mechanics (for any game) are further cemented by your inept strategy to chase someone down. You were both running the same speed and since you were not in his range there is no reason you would hit him. You could have taken a bow out or used magic and dealt double the damage as to his front.

Finally i would have to say, you my friend should be ashamed of yourself. As a reviewer you have posted a review from a position of authority or understand. People in the gaming community read these review and place weight in your words. Having played this game for about a month I clearly see you are inept at understand these and probably other game mechanics and would seriously doubt any review you have written or will write.

You do not seem to be interested in your job as your quote clearly points out. Please move on. Seems like this review is a fail worse then the lore in darkfall.

Sorry in advance for any typo's or grammer mistakes i am at work and do not wish to commit the time to edit this.

Here are the factual errors in the review:
1) "However, to 'do' anything - talk to an NPC, bind yourself to a location, loot a corpse, and so on - you have to click the right mouse button to toggle between interaction or movement mode." -- You simply hit F... that's a single key no right clicking or anything of the sort.

2) "The difference in feedback between a sword hitting or missing is negligible" -- You are able to turn on hit sounds to make it very noticable.

3) "your combat skills affect how often you actually connect." -- They do nothing of the sort, player skill determines if you hit or not.

4) "but usually ends messily when an enemy decides to run at you' -- As with any MMO standing face to face with a melee while using a ranged weapon is a bad idea.

5) "leaving you with the choice of changing weapon (a ten-second operation - five if you're particularly nimble) or running backwards in the vain hope of not dying." -- Weapon swapping requires the press of a single button, 5 seconds for a nimble person to hit a single button is a slight exaggeration I believe.

6) "a kindly fellow informed me that it would only take me "about six or eight hours to get good"." -- You can pvp from the moment you step into the game and be effective, the 6-8 hours is to get a handle on the controls. If you want to set personal goals of getting the best skills by all means do so, but you don't need to at all.

7) "You see, anyone can kill anyone. For the most part, your first ten or so hours in Darkfall are spent dying" -- My first week or so was spent killing people, not sure what your problem is, perhaps you were expecting a flower picking game? This one is about killing things, the better you are the more frequently you are on the winning side of a fight.

8) "When I start my first quest, I don't want a three-minute run to kill goblins only to get killed by a six-foot wolf called BarBArIaX WooFKilLer." -- Goblins are about 30 seconds away if you had managed to look at the minimap clearly pointing out their exact spawn location. You are also with a few seconds of guard towers that would crush that wolf guy trying to kill you.

There you go 8 completely false statements, the rest is based upon the reviewer's opinion that many can disagree with: as an example I for one don't care much for graphics, I prefer stable performance in siege fighting with hundreds of people(which the reviewer no doubt had no idea existed). Doing quest lines is also incredibly boring to me, I'd rather fight people, start wars, burn cities all that good stuff. This article should be prefaced by a disclaimer indicating the reviewers extreme bias towards the EQ/WoW/WAR style of MMO as this is a completely different style of game.

DF forums are full of people who don't play the game. I don't have mastery and do just fine. If you hit them more than they hit you, mastery doesn't matter. That post is classic QQ from someone who is mad AV fixed an exploit.

3) "your combat skills affect how often you actually connect." -- They do nothing of the sort, player skill determines if you hit or not.

your OWN FORUMS are complaining about this issue!! Jeez!

edit: Gah, too slow!

Edit 2: The game's forums are filled with people who don't play the game?!! Right, right *strokes neckbeard

Poor Ed getting all this flack for saying a shit game is shit.

It's funny that no matter how many fanboys post in this comment thread, it's never going to brush over the enormous 2/10 that's looming over the top of this page given by one of the most respected video gaming websites in Europe.

6-8 hours to wrestle with the controls on a game that you can't even download or play?

Sorry, but that's 6-8 hours that would be better spent playing Left 4 Dead.

6-8 hours to wrestle with the controls on a game that you can't even download or play?

Sorry, but that's 6-8 hours that would be better spent playing Left 4 Dead.

Or wanking your old man off.

People are just angry at an unfair/biased review. This review is like saying the Godfather sucks because it's not funny enough.

He is comparing a game in genre X as if it's a game in genre Y. Like reviewing the Godfather expecting a comedy and blasting it because it's not funny.

Or wanking your old man off.

Very true. Probably get better results from that as well.

I've also noticed that nobody has mentioned anything about the 10-20 minute wait you need to endure just to get a spot on the server. There is apparently 1 server which can host 10,000 people, and at any one time there are 30-40,000 people in the queue.

NOT. GOOD.

never mind the time wasted playing darkfall, how about the time wasted reading and attempting to interpret the overlong, rambling posts by the darkfall forum trolls.

can we please, tho, ensure that the next time we review an obscure niche MMO and give it a low score, we once again invite the trolls from that MMOs forum into this one - i like them.

2 of my friends have been fanboying and white knighting this game for so damn long.........i tried to tell them.

Thanks to all the Darkfall Online fanboys, you made this a very entertaining thread. 7/10

"6-8 hours to wrestle with the controls"

EVE's tutorial takes this long to get out of and it takes days before you know everything about the UI.

@seaside
"I've also noticed that nobody has mentioned anything about the 10-20 minute wait you need to endure just to get a spot on the server. There is apparently 1 server which can host 10,000 people, and at any one time there are 30-40,000 people in the queue."

This issue was dealt with by the developers within a week. There is now no queue.

"I've also noticed that nobody has mentioned anything about the 10-20 minute wait you need to endure just to get a spot on the server."

More false information. Quetimes were fixed a long time ago (6 weeks maybe). You get in instantly.

More false information. Quetimes were fixed a long time ago (6 weeks maybe). You get in instantly.

Well I wouldn't be knowing about that, what with all current articles saying the game is arse and the queues are long. Oh, and nowhere to actually download the client. Not that I want to anymore, having just watched a video and seen some screenshots. "Messy" wouldn't even begin to describe what I saw :)

@Ztruk
And when you get in, are all the players as welcoming and pleasant as the trolls that wandered into EG today?

I don't think anyone is trolling Emilia.ZtruK is simply notifying readers of EG about inaccuracies in this review.

I agree staggered launch is rough. It's a bitch to buy the game. The reason we are here is to combat the false information flying around about this game. It's had haters for 8 years calling it vaporware, those trolls have turned into a legion of people trying to make the game fail. Half the negative crap you read is from people who don't have accounts. The community in game is not even close to what is represented on the forums.

If you want real information on the game, I urge you to read Paragus's blog from the bottom up, it is exactly what my and others who actually play experience is like in game.

http://www.mmorpg.com/blogs/Paragus1

A legion of people want a small indie game to fail? And they've formed this big ol' group who post on the forums (notable, no one on the forums posts to correct this...er..legion) incorrect information to put off people who might be interested in the game (which is very few).

Oh god, you are blinkered aren't you?

8 years

Hold on, it took a team 8 years to make an MMO that turns out to be pure bollocks?

Incompetence or what . . .

@AphoticCosmos
Have you personally played the game?
If not you cannot call it pure bollocks.