Edited to include: many of the issues listed in this review have been addressed or are listed by devs as works in progress.

The spin on the release could have launched things to the moon. (But then again, that would be consistent with copying many of the features of EQ)

The profantiy filter briefly edited out the word "bastard" giving many the chuckle about their *%&*#!! swords.

Archers were one shot killing everything on the frontier..until it was NERFED. (recognize that word?) now they two shot most things...heh...

Runemasters and Thanes were offing everything as far as the eye can see, then....NERF!

Did I mention how rogues were oobah one moment, then NERFED into oblivion?

Did I mention that some casters were oobah, then NERFED into oblivion? (okay, one step removed from oblivion)

(note the use of the word NERF!, you will be seeing it alot in the next few months if you play the game)

CS has a back log of 9 - 23 hours before responding, some people report waits of up to 7 days. So much for beating EQ on response time. They are at least aware of the issue and are promising to address it and increase staff.

Mobs still suddenly shoot into the air like rockets..youll be walking along..then suddenly the spriggarn you are looking at will pull a superman and launch into orbit, straight up. I shiznot you not.

(Ground Control to major Tom....)

There still is no acceptable first person view of the game, it was added as an afterthought, and implemented poorly. But the view is great from FPS, it all comes alive when you play that way. Too bad there is no way to target self in 1st person mode for healing. ( in fairness, the devs stated they never intended an FPS version of the game at all)

The graphics have the EQ world as it exists pre Luclin beat hands down. The water alone is worth buying the game to see, the sky is not as good as some of the EQ ones, but also really good. The dynamic lighting adds a good element to the game. realistic female body models alone are entertaining. (no defy-gravity-break-spine chests here)

There is alot of warping and lag in certain areas. Framerates can quickly drop below acceptable in Camelot when there are alot of peeps.

There are many good things about the game, it is very similiar to EQ in almost every way with some notable differences.

Examples:
EQ guild chat= /gu DAoC guild chat = /gu
EQ shout command = /shout DAoC shout command = /yell

you get the idea....different but similiar.

The differences arise in interface and play tasks. I will get into them in a moment.

If you have read this far, you must think I hate this game and its devs, you are wrong.

I like the game, it will be my pickup second to EQ. I want to get all the dirty laundry out in the open and make sure that you go in with your eyes open.

CS is improving, they are responsive and answer the community directly. (same as EQ used to be, look for this to be NERFED) They have made immediate changes to address issues of both playability and content, fixing broken quests and NPCs and adding features like the /ignore feature. (which is what you can do to my review if you dont like it)

The game is still a level driven treadmill, Levels grant specialization points used to buy specials, with combat/spell oriented skills tied to level advancement.

Difference? Spells are granted without purchasing (go up a level and get the next granted spells automatically), you never need to mem them, (they are always memmed) and you get special skills that stack with spell abilities.

They have a rotating spell/special ability "gem" bar just like the skill bar in EQ. (the ten layers of buttons) You can fill them up with all your spells or created macro keys. then toggle for different affect.

Thats good, great, awesome.

Example: A cleric can have a bar setup for party healing, party combat/healing or just solo spells. Toggle to whatever is needed and keep going. Again, good and something I have written to ask Verant to implement.

Difference? Warrior types get special techniques, much like spells with specializations in a weapon. They cost Endurance to use but add an element to the game. Some are timed or targeted, such that you need to be on a certain side of a mob or have already done another maneuver to do them.

Both good and bad, in a big fight you go through that endurance fast...really fast..then you dont get to do specials..and cant run away very fast at all...

Character developement is implemented a bit better in the game. You can really have two high level Paladins with very different skillsets because of this.

Tradeskills. There is nothing to say that Sydia didnt say already. They did a bang up job. Rather than drag and click, you setup macro keys and have the items in inventory. When you run out, it tells you what you were missing. Skills can also ACTUALLY pay to do. In a fairly short time you can get up to working with Iron to make a realistic PROFIT from your weapon/armor crafting doing CONSIGNMENTS to NPCs.

(insert appropo Ferengi drooling here...profit..yesss my preciousssss) <---mixed reference for the gifted.

EX - Weaponsmith making a broadsword: needs a leather wrapped hilt, a blade and to combine them. You buy bronze bars, leather swatches and rowan wood boards. You push three buttons. 1,2,3 voila! you have a bronze broadsword. All you have to do is find a place to stand near the forge.

(interestingly, the d00ds pick on the "breadmakers" alot in the game, "what you doing staring at the forge????" heh, making bread moron)

Player made items are also enchantable. Only player made items are enchantable quality. You can with a small investment and alot of time, get fairly wealthy without ever whacking another mob. Really.

Quests. In each level, you can perform a number of quests that give out about 33% of your level in EXP. They are usually fairly quick and easy, getting harder as you level.

Tasks. In each level you can perform a number of 'tasks' equal to your level. These are also EXP giving.
Example: Guard gives you the task of killing a goblin fishmonger, you get exp for the mob and for turning in the head. Nice break from the treadmill.

Then the secret weapon is unveiled: PVP. After a certain level you are encouraged to go to the "frontier" and engage the evil enemies of the realm you choose.

The game balance here is still very much in beta 5, but from all reports, its supposed to be fun.

When you die, you can /release from your death or wait for a rez till your timer runs out. Ressurection is available as early as level 10 to some classes. When you /release from your corpse, you reappear at your bind point with ALL YOUR GEAR. you lose exp after level 6, and CON points, which you can buy back from a healer.

You can also pray at your own tombstone to get back come of your exp you lost when dying. Nice.

Everyone is designed to be able to solo or group. In PVP some of the MEZ and other control spells are nerfed..but there are more sides to any caster than mez.

Overall I give the game a thumbs up. As long as you understand some of the downsides, you dont get an unreasonable expectation and I believe that you can enjoy yourself.

I would not rate it above a 7 on a ten point scale, Gamespot gave it a 9.1. I alo believe the "to the moon" level spin was at work there.

I play on the Guinevere server in Albion (Camelot), same as Sydia and Svaer. I play a Paladin, Seraphiel, and a Cabilist Mowgley (mage).

There are some interesting races, drawing from Norse, Celtic and British legend. (Brits play humans only)

My caveat to anyone wanting to play: the hype is just that: HYPE. Go to see it if you are interested in playing instead.

Links of interest:

www.darkageofcamelot.com/
- the company site

www.daatlas.com/
-Maps, and more maps

daoc.crgaming.com/
-Character information site

camelot.allakhazam.com/
-Allakhazam, nuff said

vnboards.ign.com/default.asp?cat=5033
-The devs and Pres of the company post here with real info on the game, they do not own the site

daoc.catacombs.com/index.cfm
-includes a character builder that allows you to map your characters developement

cso.daoc.net/
-customer service link, with the best tradskills guide I have seen

Got one character to level ten, several others to just about ten in each realm.  That took an amazing amount of time.  Passing level ten in DAoC has taken almost as long as passing level 30 in EQ.

I will occasionally log in to check out changes, but I am pretty much over the excitement with tradeskills.  The reduction in the value of the skills has already begun with tasks returning less money than before the last patch, (1.36 I think).

With tradeskills being mostly out of the picture, the idea that you could play a character with little or no combat in them has faded fast...I had visions of playing a smith for the RP alone...

In all fairness, they really have mucked up some stuff with the patches and are trying to figure out whats going on with several classes.  They even started to have people who work for them actually play the game...(they have peeps playing, they just publicily announced that they would have peeps playing rogues and archers in specific...which begs the question why they did not have any before...)

I will return occasionally to this section to update when I think something is worthwhile..in the meantime...take care.

Mowgley