Amber Night (rebooted)

Sanya Weathers has a good “how I got here from there” writeup at The Escapist. Read it. It’s good.

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Somebody had to report it.

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Strike that gong
We can live forever

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Betting on the bull in the heather

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I went from Game to Game
I aged, I grew and lost my innocence
I soon became enraged by each
and every bad experience

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Let’s do this thing!

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Scott Jennings, game designer extraordinaire, guy who “fixes stuff,” and not-the-executive-producer, is leaving Mythic to pursue bigger and better things.  We* here at Amber Night wish Scott and his family all the best in their move back to the southwest.

*There are enough of us in here to make Sybil look like a small gathering of close friends.  But we all love ya Lum!

Dark Age of Camelot was my first foray into the world of MMOs, and except for a 6 month period where I simply couldn't justify paying for 4 online accounts, I've had an active account since a few weeks after launch.  My friend Brian introduced me to the game, patiently (very very patiently) walking me through this completely new-to-me concept.  I was hooked at once, and to say there were periods where grades and hygiene suffered is not an understatement.  At one point I literally had to ask a friend to change my account password for finals week to something I couldn't guess.  Not that I didn't try.

Brian is no longer with us, and someday I'll dedicate an entire post to his memory.  Let me just say that there's not a time I login to the game that I don't think of the great times Brian and I had, discovering new dungeons and things to kill as we explored the core lands of Albion.  The game has changed much since then, mostly in good ways, but also in some not-so-good ways.  It didn't really hit me until last night just how much the game has really changed, especially since Catacombs.

Last night myself and my friend Andy helped Andy's brother Paul get into the game.  Up until last night Paul has never played a PC game, let alone an online game.  He comes from the console world of shooters and jumpers.  He has had DSL for exactly 1 week, and doesn't understand yet why it is better than dialup.  Yes gentle reader, I am speaking of the freshest kind of meat, still warm and pulsating from the kill.  We're talking about the stuff the lions get to eat before the hyenas, okay?  You can imagine then that this was a very different experience for him, and I was excited to introduce a new player to the lands of Albion, hoping perchance to experience Albion anew, vicariously through Paul.  Alas, this was not to happen.  Andy had other ideas.  To get Paul up to RvR speed as quickly as possible, we did task dungeons.  Paul was not to experience the killing fields of Cornwall or the Tomb of Mithra.  No, Paul was going to get power-leveled in task dungeons where everything conned high purple to him.

I like Andy and all, but sometimes he's a shithead.  But even in his shitheadedness he can speak truth.  I suggested that maybe we should mix it up a bit, do a few TDs, then maybe some hunting or something.  Andy then explained something to me that I think I already knew but hadn't wanted to confront: DAoC is no longer a PvE game.  You grind task dungeons until you can do battlegrounds, then you do battlegrounds until you max RPs, then you grind for the next battleground.  Rinse, repeat until 50.  You can mix it up a bit with your Champion and epic quests, but otherwise it's TD-BG to 50 now.

You can of course buck this trend, but just try getting a group.  To say that the original lands are deserted now is an understatement.  There are giants in Cornwall who are at this very moment collecting pensions.  You can probably kill them by whacking their walkers with a staff.  On the downside their loot drops may not be so interesting.  Last one I killed dropped a piece of hard candy, a magnifying glass, half a pack of Pal Malls and a Life Alert bracelet.

Mythic have lately put out several polls, asking players what they'd like to see in upcoming expansions. (see how easy it is Sony?  See?!)  I honestly can't remember if any of the choices were “fix the old lands so people will hunt there again,” but that would get my vote. (and possibly did get my vote, but I have the memory of an earthworm)  Certainly somebody at Mythic could come up with a reason for players to want to flock back out into the lands in which we used to frolic and slaughter.  I don't think DAoC has to be a PvP only game.  I don't want to have to think only of the end-game whenever I roll a new toon. (and I still roll new toons)  And I certainly don't want the only experience a new player has in the game to be the TD-BG shuffle.