Darkfall blog is active

Like hell it is! These last few days there has been a lot of posts in Darkfall Blog. There has been a Ship post spotlighting the uniqueness of ships in Darkfall, a new comic from TinyTyke and a post about trading and how to get anything you need. Also, we got to see the new Arthain models for the whole family and I gotta say it's quite impressive, those Arthain human-dogs are really scary and another community feedback post with some nice information about coming changes like: one hander and shield being more useful, ship protection against swimmers and smaller treasure maps plus some long-awaited changes like die from fall damage being discussed. All in all, very interesting reading for Darkfall players.
Also, in the Darkfall Blog has appeared some vague information of a new server event that could be part of something bigger. Dead be comin... is the "title" for the event that is supposed to happen today. I'll try to be there and report whatever happens. It might be very good fun!

We all like to be patched...

Today, Aventurine has reward our continous pasion with yet another patch. This one was kinda little with only fixing a bug about treasure maps (I haven't found one yet :-o); more upgrades to certain zones (Scaranibben and Thorsland are the only ones I recognize) and the inevitable Halloween theme.
Apparently, besides some Halloween weapons, now some mobs appear in player cities and we have evidence to prove it! This is a cool addition and I hope they keep it after Halloween or tweak it a bit so it can work, not only for a month, but forever. This patch has also ninja-added a new Hellfreeze loading screen. Maybe it has increased the treasure map drop rate. One can only hope. Get ingame to see the changes!

Darkfall Postcard 9: MetalFace

In here, I posted a picture of big face-shaped rock. Well, some days ago, while exploring our Frostbourne city I saw a face in the rock. So, am I obsessed or are they? This is your decision to make. Do you see the face in the mine too? I can very clearly see a nose and the left eye of a very rich (Selentine and Veilron) face.

Weird Windlord Chest

Yup, weird things still happen to me. Last week I was looking for a Selentine Chest out in the open, very close to Velmuna to cash those little keys when I see a chest in a Windlord nest. Surprised I see that the "use" hand icon appears when I roll the mouse over the chest. I look at the tag: L22 Windlord Chest. Unfortunately I wasn't able to use it and neither was Brutal. What's this chest? Maybe some time ago, Devs thought about Mob Chests? Is it an inside joke? Am I allucinating?
Seriously, this is good news. For me, this means that Aventurine still has many things to implement. It's like all those empty but very nice spots, they say: We're empty NOW but there might or will be some interesting things here. Keep exploring!!

I love Darkfall and you don't :-P

The winners of the suculent 5.000$ prize of the "I love Darkfall" contest have been announced and as many people, me included were expecting, the fabulous concrete dragon got it. It's creators, Albatros and Gervantes, earned it with their effort and their love for the details (the dragon breathes fire!).



The second prize was for Khor Syon a fellow mahirim that carved on stone his adventures. I also like this "entry" (I don't how to catalog this, esculpture maybe?) because of its originality and inmersion. It's a really good idea for a contest like this and something that a lot of people might see and wonder what it means. Some pictures ahead.

Today, Resfelm has spotlighted a special mention; TPTON created a schoner replica made of sticks. It's also a very nice piece of work but it lacks some detail love. Maybe it was a matter of time but TPTON should have painted the ship and taken the picture in a more suitable place. Take a look.

  

Congratulations to the winners!

Darkfall Postcard 8: The Empty Inn

All Agon is waiting for the coming patch to crawl out of their holes and start repopulating the 5 continents once again. Unfortunately, the awaited patch will not implement more NPC so this beautiful Inn will remain empty and lonely for some time. What a pity...

Friends will be friends

While I think how to start the Politics Section, I want to post a little picture of some clanmates getting ready to roll at clan bank. In this game, more than any other I've played before, you need to have some friends. That's why the majority of people joins a clan as soon as they can. Some very brave players wander the land by themselves but unless you have a good toon and you are a good player you are going to suffer A LOT. For me, that's actually a flaw. For this game to grow bigger it needs to be more solo and casual friendly. Right now, every other player, even a blue one, is seen as the enemy when he should be your ally, at least temporarily. In this game, when two players meet eachother, 99% of the time is to kill eachother, 0.5% to ignore eachother and the 0.5% is to help eachother. Darkfall needs a better alignment system that favors people helping eachother and a better chat system including Chat Bubbles to improve player communication. With those two things, Darkfall would improve quite a lot. Enjoy the game!

Darkfall Postcards 7: Rockface

Agon is a very old place and ancient cultures now gone used to roam the land. We know some of them like the great Nithron and the rich Chal d'Ean but the wise explorers know there are even older constructions and sculptures in Agon, like the old Rockface.

Darkfall Postcard 6: Magic is everywhere!

Well, well, a long time since I took a beautiful or curious screenshot! The moment ha arrived to start again the Darkfall Postcard section an so, even if this snapshot is not really good, here we go! I found this place in Alfar lands and it looks like a Chal d'Ean place of high magic but right now it's home of several Severii undead soldiers. The worst thing about this descovery, as usual, is the lack of things to do here. It would be nice if you could overload yourself with magic or get any magic item in this place. I still hope this kind of things will come with time. Patience, my friends, patience.

Tremors in Darkfall!

Well, I have 8 days to wait until Day21 comes and I'm biting my nails more than ever. Anyway, AV has released some more information that most likely will feature in coming Darkfall free Expansion. You can find the the Spotlight thread here in Darkfall Forums. This thread from Laenih explains that some monsters will have an improved appearance and the example are the Sarlids that now have a very threatening look. I've been asking for some time now more diverstity in mobs tactics and abilities and it seems like some of it is coming now. You can check the video below to see how will behave this new "Tremor inspired" creature . Fun is coming!

What's an image worth?

Besides some bad news from Tasos, today we've received some screenshots from the new World Terrain System. The word Systems and some bits from Tasos post seem to point to something bigger than graphic revamp but for the time being, we don't know what might be. So, let's talk about graphics. Actually there's not much talk to do because 99% of the gamers know that graphics are nothing if there's no good gameplay. Some time ago, before a very needed improve on my computer, I found that I couldn't play the new games anymore so I took a look into old games, oldies but goldies. Then I found one of the best games I've ever played, nº1 PC game of all times according to IGN: X-COM: UFO Defense.
That game is just amazing and the size of the pixel is nearly as great as the game is. Despite that, the level of inmersion and care you had for your squad members was just completely amazing. I gotta admit it, in X-Com I reloaded pretty often, but it was not because I wanted to win the battle.  I didn't want my great characters to die! The whole game is amazing and if you've never played it, go download it right away. You're gonna have a blast!
Well, the same thing happens to Darkfall. I don't need to reload to save my character but I truly don't care much about graphics either. I'm happy they improve them because most likely it will bring more players to the game but in my list, graphics update are low, very low.

The Wild Bunch

There's nothing as good as group up with some people to bash whatever is in our way. What do you like best? Solo or grouped gameplay?

Siege Report: Oethrain 30th May

Well, just a few hours ago started a new siege we, BoS alliance, dropped on ANG. We left Hal-Kali by boat and that picture shows the moment after we touched land close to Oethrain. Seconds after I took the shot, we were told that an ANG ships was coming and we went for it despite being a little scattered. After some fights in the water and some exchange of boats (I believe that happened but I'm not completely sure) we were killed and retreated back to HK.
Our second push was by mount and this time we were a nice packed group of 20 raiders aprox riding towards Oethrain. Not far from there, we got ambushed by ANG, I didn't managed to see their numbers clearly but people say we were outnumbered. Obviously no buffs on. Some of us managed to survive and gathered in hill nearby. The siege was over and some of that little group recalled back just before two? ANG appeared at our doorstep following Purple. We lost that fight aswell. Damn! It wasn't a good afternoon.
Back in Hal-Kali everyone was talking about the spy ANG must have in our lines and it really sounds like the truth. In both attacks they knew exactly where we were and had the numbers to stop us easily. I can completely make my mind about. On one side, I like players using spies because the game and the world feels more organic On the other side, there will always be players who won't use these tactics and so, they'll be in disadvantage. It's not a matter of game mechanics that you won't use like not using magic at all because my character hates all magician. It's a social mechanic related to how clans work. I don't know...

First raft journey!

Sadly, a good mate from CotP has left the clan (Naha we want you back!) and he has given away all of his bank. One of the many good things he gave me was a raft. This screenshot shows my first journey on raft, from Orksland to Yssam, and that's a beautiful sunken abby or something like that. Just another very nice piece of Agon's landscape.

The Silent World or why we need chat bubbles

In here there is a very interesting thread about how to implement Chat Bubbles in Darkfall. The OP explains very well how the system would work so I'd like to focus on why we need them. Chat Bubbles, in any of its forms, be it with bubble or just the text, improves inmersion terribly. You don't need to check your ultiple chat tabs to know if your group leader said regroup or attack or nothing at all. Also, finally we would be able to read the funny things mobs say to you when you kill them, who watches the Monster Tab? In my opinion Chat Bubbles expands the sandbox, it's not a very big expansion or tool but it is an improvement and we would all enjoy it if properly coded. I'd love to see this happen in the coming GUI revamp but I'm not very hopeful. We'll see.

Best Taunt Ever!

Grouped playtime

I knew it! I was so sure that whenever I could group up with some CotP mates I would have a great time and I did! Yesterday, 5 members of CotP grouped together and went for some PvE. First we killed some earth elementals and tried to kill a greater celestial, but man, he is a tough one! After the elementals, we farmed some golems and it was really really funny. In the picture you can see our SG, Heist, looting the grave while fellow clan memebers Mouda and Dougy are resting. We even got some veilron ore! Yiha!

More mounts!!

In yesterday, spotlight we had the announcement of several new mounts. A new mahirim mount, the lovely Tribeland Bear in the picture, will be added very soon. Then some mix between gazelle and cheetah called Blue Tail Runner, which is faster than normal mounts but has less hit points, will come after that. But the really good news is the last part: "This cheetah-gazelle mix is just the first of a more specialized collection of mounts being added, each with a specific role or purpose. Some of them feature additional skills useful in certain situations, and differ from each other in a wide range of abilities." I really like that.
For the moment, mounts are still pretty valuable because I haven't found any easy steedgrass-droping mob near my city but my toon is slowly growing stronger and everything shall come.

And so... archery mastery!

Finally, after so and so many arrows I have my archery at 75 and have just bought archery mastery, also called Sharpshooter and Spirited Archer. Now, I'm supposed to do more damage with my bows and if I can get some r40 bows I should be a competitive archer, right? Well, I'm eager to see if this is really true.

Darkfall Postcard 5: Life under us

Hey! Look at the great cavern I found in a Dungeon. Not a bad place, uh? Unfortunately I was there to find PvP but I didn't. Anyway, you can also notice that my equipment is not so shitty nowadays. Improving step by step.

I finally got it!

Hell yeah! I'm a full archer now and it's only a matter of time to see Sharpshooter go up. I'm eager to do some small scale PvP. And I'm also thinking about frapsing some of my stuff to make the Darkfall Cinema. Let's go for it!