| Dark Age Of Camelot |
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Information About ™Dark Age Of Camelot |
''Dark Age of Camelot'' is a , Norse Mythology inspired Midgard and Celt ic Hibernia . The game was developed by Mythic Entertainment and released on October 10 , 2001 . For the majority of players, the most interesting part of the game is realm vs. realm combat (RvR). On normal servers, players cannot harm other members of their realm. They can travel to special areas called Frontiers and fight players from other realms. Most of the DAoC population focuses on RvR, mainly because PvE ( Player Versus Environment ) can be rather unstimulating or too challenging on many classes (there are, however, some classes who excel at PvE combat, such as the necromancer). There are three Role-playing servers, which act as normal servers except you must follow proper role-playing guidelines, a Player Versus Player server, in which everyone is free to attack anyone at any time, and a co-op server, in which there is no RvR. Each server can support up to 3500 online players at the same time. Recently, Mythic Entertainment has introduced "server clustering" - where certain locations (Frontiers, Capital cities) from multiple servers essentially become one location, and players can interact with players from and travel to other servers. A new server type has recently been released. These are officially called the "Alternate Rules Servers", but players like to call them the "Classic" servers. They are similar to standard servers except there is no content from the Trials of Atlantis expansion, other than the three races introduced with that expansion, and all stat-enhancement spells (buffs) can only be cast on players with whom you are grouped and within a certain distance. This new server type was launched after extensive player feedback and irritation with the ToA expansion and the issue of buffbots. As of December 13 2005 there are 22 North American servers, four of which are outside of a cluster, and the rest are spread out among five clusters. CLASSES The classes in the game are: Albion: ''Armsman, Cabalist, Cleric, Friar, Heretic (Catacombs), Infiltrator, Mercenary, Minstrel, Necromancer (Shrouded Isles), Paladin, Reaver (Shrouded Isles), Scout, Sorcerer, Theurgist, Wizard''. Hibernia: ''Animist (Shrouded Isles), Bainshee (Overpower'd and in need of a severe beating with the nerf bat), Bard, Blademaster, Champion, Druid, Eldritch, Enchanter, Hero, Mentalist, Nightshade, Ranger, Valewalker (Shrouded Isles), Vampiir (Catacombs)''. Midgard: ''Berserker, Bonedancer (Shrouded Isles), Healer, Hunter, Runemaster, Savage (Shrouded Isles), Shadowblade, Shaman, Skald, Spiritmaster, Thane, Valkyrie (Catacombs), Warlock (Catacombs), Warrior''. RACES The races in the game are: Albion: ''Avalonian, Briton, Half-Ogre (Trials of Atlantis), Highlander, Inconnu (Shrouded Isles), Saracen''. Hibernia: ''Celt, Elf, Firbolg, Lurikeen, Shar (Trials of Atlantis), Sylvan (Shrouded Isles)''. Midgard: ''Dwarf, Frostalf (Trials of Atlantis), Kobold, Norseman, Troll, Valkyn (Shrouded Isles)''. EXPANSIONS Mythic has produced six expansions (4 retail, 2 free) for DAoC:
The Trials of Atlantis expansion remains very controversial. Many players rejected it because of the high difficulty, organization, and time required in Atlantis's epic raids. The expansion featured extremely powerful items known as artifacts, and extra abilities known as "Master Levels" which are very difficult for the casual player to receive and are considered by many to be too powerful. Artifacts, obtained by hidden encounters only become useful when the player finds the three scrolls hoarded by Atlantean monsters. Furthermore, artifacts must gain experince in order to reach their full potential. Once this has occurred, artifacts become some of the most mighty items in the entire game. In more recent versions of the game, many changes have been made to Atlantean areas in order to make encounters easier, as well as making the artifacts and scrolls easier to come by. How much these changes have 'fixed' things remains to be seen.
In July, 2005 Mythic started three new servers, Lamorak, Gareth, and Ector, which do not include the Trials of Atlantis zones and restrict the use of Buff Bots by limiting the range at which the caster's buffs will affect a player, and by allowing buffers to only cast buffs on players in a group with them. The new servers are meant for those players who rejected the special equipment and abilities in Atlantis, and their potential use in RVR combat. Mythic also introduced a new island, called Agramon, which acts as a central island that connected the frontiers of the three realms. Unlike the rest of the Frontiers zones, there are no keeps and any player from any realm can open gates. Agramon is supposed to imitate the zone Emain Macha, which before New Frontiers was the main area for level 50 RvR. The zone still exists but due to the nature of New Frontiers, it is no longer the hub of combat. Some however (especially on the classic servers) feel that Agramon isn't quite what they had hoped for; consequently, it isn't used much at all. Lag is still a bit of a problem on it as well. STORYLINE Each realm has a unique but parallel storyline, which is expanded with retail expansions. The European distributors occasionally add writings about the realms and their inhabitants in detail. In the original Realm zones, smaller cities in the realm need protection against monsters common to many other RPGs. In particular, Albion is menaced by undead raised by Moragnna and Hibernia is torn apart by the Unseelie court and Siabra. Shrouded Isles- Each realm is called to assist a smaller allied realm against a large enemy. In Albion, the Drakoran have besieged the final stongholds of Lady Lile's Avalonians. Hibernia has come to the aid of Hybrasil, where the Sylvans face extinction at the hands of the Fomorians. Midgards ancestral home at Aegir has seen the Last of the Troll Fathers hunted down by the Morvalt. Trials of Atlantis - The ruins of Atlantis have been discovered, as well as a portal to another Plane where the ancient Atlanteans underwent their trials. How did Atlantis come to its end and what powers were left behind? The Trials remain in a form twisted by the passage of time and the departure of the denizens of Atlantis. Ancient artifacts wait to be discovered and have their power and secrets revealed by learned scholars. Familiar figures from Greek and Egyptian mythology make their appearance in a new land waiting to be discovered. Catacombs- A nemesis has taken control of the power within the Darkspire, gaining control of most of the denizens of an underground realm's race. Arawn, previously referenced as an ally of the Avalonians and patron of the Inconnu, has had his realm overrun by revolting dead and enslaved Inconnu. The Shar are only able to hold their ground at the gates of their Otherworld citadel. The Kobolds have been forced to open the secrets of the undercity to outsiders in a desperate bid for survival. Darkness Rising - The King of the realm has returned to fight back a growing rebellion. Further investigations will reveal a conspiracy with a dark power behind the rebellion. To become a Champion of the Realm the player must defeat the demonic evil behind the unrest and return peace to the land. EXTERNAL LINKS
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