Darkfall Release 22nd JAN 09!

well its nearly upon us.. the most hardcore mmo you'll probably ever play.
I hope to see some of you KA's there (especially you Ym) as its a game made for people like us.



Here's some of the features and info(long read but worth it,I also highlighted some cool stuff):

What is Darkfall?
Darkfall is a Next Generation online roleplaying game developed by Adventurine AS.

What is an online roleplaying game?
An online roleplaying game is a game that is played over the internet, in a world inhabited by thousands of real people. Everyone logs in from their computers all over the world and meet up in a fantasy world for adventure and fun.

What do you mean by Next Generation?
By Next Generation we mean that Darkfall was inspired by the pioneers of online roleplaying games, such as Ultima Online and Asherons Call, but has advanced features and technology that is never before seen in online games, and we are confident that Darkfall will advance the genre further.

What is the setting of Darkfall?
Darkfall has all the features of its predecessors, meaning hundreds of combat skills/trade skills, hundreds of spells, hundreds of different monsters to kill, hundreds of dungeons, more magical items than you can shake a battleaxe at, vast wilderness, player owned houses and castles, and everything you expect from an online roleplaying game. Darkfall is highly geared towards player vs. player combat, and especially towards racial wars and player-run clans conquering city states owned by other player-run clans. You can read more about conquest here.

Racial wars?
Yes. Darkfall has six different main character races: Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Mahirim, Orks and Alfar. Each race has different political standings with the other races. The Elves are at peace with Dwarves and Humans, but are wary of Mahirim, and are at war with the Orks. Everyone hates the Alfar, and the Alfar hate everyone. In effecst this means that Elven players may travel to Dwarven and Human cities without having any problems with the city guards, and may buy and sell in stores. If an Elven player traveled to an Orkish city, he would be killed on sight, both by city guards and other players. In Alfar cities, everyone gets killed anyway.

Can I play all races on the same account?
No. This is something we have discussed at length , and we believe that there would be too much unwanted spying going on: if you play an Alfar, for example, you may log on your Elf scout just to check if the Elven town of Charybdis is well defended at the moment or not.

I have to be in a clan?
Not at all. Darkfall can be played any way you want. If you want to get involved in conquest, wars and ruling kingdoms, you join a clan, or get together with some friends and start your own. If you just want to be a lone adventurer, hunting for treasure, magical items and fame, you just go out and do it. You can even be a mercenary, selling your sword arm to the highest bidder, or a merchant, setting up caravans and shops in different cities, buying high quality hides from Mahirim hunters, and selling them for top prices at Human cities. You can even hook up with a few friends and be pirates, sailing your galleon around, plundering merchant ships and other pirates, or a Dwarven blacksmith, crafting mighty magical weapons and armor, or maybe a farmer producing rare herbs and spell reagents that you can sell in the cities. The possibilities are endless.

Will it be possible to start a multi-race Clan?
Yes. Clans with a mix of say humans, elves and dwarves will be common in Darkfall, or mixes of Orks and Mahirim. Alfar tend to not mix with other races at all.
There will most certainly be Clans in Darkfall with players from all races. We predict that this will be small evil player killer Clans, that will set up their Clan headquarters in remote locations, and not get involved in city conquest or empire building at all, since it will be almost impossible for these Clans to recruit NPC hirelings to help defend their cities, and run their shops. And who knows, maybe a strong Clan with a mix of all races may be able to run their cities, and conquer new territories without the help of NPC hirelings. It will be extremely hard, but it is possible in theory

Will you have character classes and levels in Darkfall?
No. Darkfall has no traditional character classes, and no levels. Our character advancement system is 100% skill based, meaning you learn a new skill or spell from an NPC or another player (yes, neat huh?) and this skill or spell is raised by being used. In effect this means that if you purchase the skill Swordsmanship from an NPC or another player, it is raised by wielding a sword, and fighting monsters or players with it.
We wanted to give the players total control of what and how they want to play. Customize your own character to suit your playing style best, without traditional templates to limit your character. If you want to be an axe wielding dwarven fighter you simply pick up the Axe skill, Axe Mastery, Parry, Dodge, Cleave and other linked skills. If you later decide that some magic would be nice as support, you pick up a few magic skills and spells as well. Same goes for trade skills. Want to be able to create weapons? Pick up Smithing and Weapon Crafting.
Want to make clothing when you are tired of battle? Pick up Tailoring. No need to reroll your character. There is no way to "gimp" your character by picking the "wrong" skills or spells.
Get what you want, play as you want.


So I can learn any skill or spell?
Almost. Some skills and spells are race specific, meaning you can not learn them unless you are of the appropriate race. The races also have limits on what they can and cant learn. The dwarves for instance, are better at melee fighting than they are at magic, so they can master some awesome melee techniques, but they can not learn some of the most advanced spells. Dwarves are however the best smiths in the world, so they can make magical armor that is alot better than those smiths of other races make. This somewhat makes up for them being a little weak at actual spellcasting.


Do you have skill caps?
Yes. Skills start at 1 and can be raised to 100.
How many spells and skills will Darkfall have? As many as we can possibly add before retail. We currently have about 300 skills and 200 spells designed on paper, but we are hoping to get at least 500 skills and 500 spells in there before retail.
Why so many spells and skills? Because we want to make combat, spellcasting, trade and item creation as interesting as possible. We want every player to have their own personal set of favourite spells and skills, so no combat situation is the same. Obviously there will be certain skill and spell combinations that work better than others in combat, but hopefully as many as possible, so at least a certain level of individual player skill can shine through, unlike other games we do not want to mention by name (but that we still love to play).

Can players make magical items?
Yes. Darkfall features an extremely sophisticated item creator, that will enable players to create powerful items, such as weapons, jewelry, armor, wands, potions, food and more. We have invested alot of time and design resources into making the ultimate player based economy, so players that enjoy making a living as a trader, creator of quality weapons, amazing potions, or powerful magical items will truly enjoy Darkfall, and find a almost limitless item creator system never before seen in any MMORPG.

How do I gain new spells and skills?
Most spells and skills can be purchased from NPCs, and they will teach you the basics of the particular skill or spell, so you can start using it and training it. Some NPCs may ask you to help them perform certain quests before they are willing to teach you special spells and skills.

What is your spell system like?
We dont want to get into too much detail at this early stage, but spells will be divided into several different schools of magic: Lesser Magic, Greater Magic, Element of Fire, Element of Earth, Element of Water, Element of Air, Witchcraft, Spellsinging, Necromancy, Wild Magic, Arcane Magic and Ritual Magic. In addition there are some special spells that do not fit directly into any school of magic, such as racial specialty spells.

Can I cast spells while wearing armor?
Yes. However, your casting time (the time it takes to actually cast the spell) will increase significantly if you are wearing heavy armor. So while it takes only 2 seconds for a player wearing a robe to cast a spell, it may take as long as 5 seconds for a player in a full platemail to cast the exact same spell. There is also a slighly increased chance of botching a spell if you are wearing heavy armor.

Will wearing armor affect running and swimming speed?
Yes. If you are wearing heavy armor, you will run and swim slightly slower than if you are wearing no armor at all.

So why should I wear heavy armor at all?
If you are wearing heavy armor, you will be harder to hit than if you are wearing no armor. Armor will also absorb some damage from swords, arrows and even spells. So there are tradeoffs involved here. You sacrifice movement speed and casting time (the time it takes to cast a spell), for getting hit less often, and for less damage.

How are you going to handle Player Killing?
Anyone can attack anyone. In fact we encourage you to seek out and kill enemies of your race and your clan. However, it is up to each kingdom to set the rules of their borders. The different kingdoms have NPC guards, that have orders given to them by the player kings and lords. For example, in the city state of Midheim, controlled by the player clan Black Rose, it is illegal to steal and attack players of neutral and good alignment. Evil characters are not allowed into the city, in addition to members of the Keepers of Chaos clan, members of The Mercs and members of the House of Chaos clan. Guards will attack violators on sight, and all inhabitants of the city are encouraged to do the same. (We may add a feature to have guards Kill On Sight individual players too).

Well how am I gonna keep track of all different cities laws?
You will find all the information you need on the political map. Including who controls the different city states/kingdoms/fiefs, their laws and who they kill on sight.

So you have an alignment in Darkfall?
Yes. You start out with a neutral alignment, and based on your actions, this alignment changes.Being regarded by others as evil is easy, just kill someone totally unprovoked, and voila, you are evil, and will be killed on sight by most guards, clans and players. Changing your alignment towards good is a long and hard road, but once you get there, you will have the respect of all other neutral and good players, probably even the evil players.

Don't you fear that out of control player killers will ruin the game?
No. Being a random player killer of evil alignment is definately possible, but also an extremely hard career. You will have enemies everywhere, and will have a hard time finding a safe city to sell/buy in. Also keep in mind that Darkfall is a very harsh world, deep into the dark ages and then some. This is a place were people will kill you if they get half a chance, loot you, take your equipment, and then brag about it to their friends. If you find it hard to get by on your own, join a clan, and you have instant protection, friends and allies. Grow strong, and go out and punish those that have done you wrong.

Remember that people can kill you, but you can also kill them. It goes both ways. Someone being rude, and refuse to leave you alone? Kill them. Someone stealing from you? Kill them. Someone camping your favourite part of the woods? Kill them.
We are not saying killing people is nice, a good idea, or even legal - we are just trying to prepare everyone for a really great game - a game were YOU decide what you want to do, and how you will interact with other people.

So what if a good clan is at war with another good clan?
Once the clans have declared war on each other, no alignment adjustments will occur due to your actions towards members of the clan you are at war with.

Will Darkfall have safe zones?
There wont be any traditional safe zones as seen in other games, were you cant attack anyone just because you entered a safe zone. However, a town owned by your Clan should be pretty safe, as long as your Clan has hired some strong NPC guards, and/or you have a few Clan friends hanging around. We do however expect that hostile Clans may launch small skirmish attacks on your city, and try to take out a few NPC guards, merchants or other players. Basically just to weaken the town defenses, terrorize its player inhabitants, and to hurt the defending Clans economy. NPC guards are expensive to hire, and the more often they die, the higher they consider the risk of guarding this particular city, and they will demand higher wages for their services. Re-equipping looted guards will also take its toll from the defending Clans battlechest.

Can you fight in cities?
Yes you can fight wherever you want. No safe zones.

Darkfall looks great, but i dont like PvP, can I play anyway?
This game is geared towards the PvP market, so you may find Darkfall a bit too harsh for you. That being said, we are aiming at having more useful tradeskills than any released MMORPG to this date, so you may find something of interest to you in Darkfall despite all the PvP action. Most Clans will need a large range of player smiths, farmers, tailors, hunters, fishermen, alchemists, miners, etc., and they will offer relatively safe cities and good accommodations for those willing to spend time crafting items, or providing supplies for the Clan. In theory you could play Darkfall for a year, and never have to take part in any PvP as long as you are careful, and dont venture too far into dangerous territories. Also remember that the Darkfall world is absolutely huge, with hundreds of small islands scattered all over the world. Nothing is preventing you from finding a hard to reach, hard to find little spot of the world, set up a house, and live in peace with a few friends, hunting in the nearby woods, or adventuring into the local dungeons without seeing other players for weeks at a time.
Darkfall can be experienced any way you prefer. We are just making the game - you play it.

Will Darkfall Have player owned houses?
Definately. Players will be able to set up houses of various sizes and design, ranging from small cottages to huge castles and citadels.

Can I design my own house? Yes.


Can you walk through other players in Darkfall?
No, so blocking entrances etc will be a viable pvp tactic. It is possible to push players and monsters out of the way though, so this tactic can be countered.

Can I have pets or NPC hirelings in Darkfall?
No pets at launch.


Can I survive in Darkfall without learning magic or fighting?
Absolutely. You can be extremely successful in Darkfall doing only tradeskills and being good at diplomatics and politics. Start a Clan, or let others do the killing and dirty work for you.

Can I be successful in PVP without learning magic?
We are balancing magic and melee/archery skills so that you can compete even if you choose not to learn magic. Darkfall is a magical world though, so if you are hell-bent on not picking up any magic skills or spells, you may have to rely on magical items, potions or scrolls to aid you in PVP. But it will definately be possible.
The most successful 1vs1 PVPers in Darkfall will probably know a good amount of both melee, stealth and magical skills, and use both defensive and offensive magic to win fights. In Clan wars, teams with a healthy mix of wizards, warriors, archers, thieves and priests will probably dominate, as long as they are well coordinated and trained. But dont forget all the tradesmen, farmers, bakers, miners etc in the Clans city, stocking up supplies of spell reagents, gold, weapons, potions, armor etc to help your Clan win the war in the long run. The fighting bit is only part of what it will take for a Clan to dominate in Darkfall.

What effect will eating or not eating have on my character?
We dont want to add too many mundane everyday issues to Darkfall. However we do think that eating or not should have some influence on your character. This means that if you are absolutely starving, your stats and skills will take a small penalty, and you will regenerate hitpoints, stamina and mana slightly slower than if you werent starving. Nothing big – you cant die from hunger - just enough for it to make sense to have some food in your backpack.
We have tradeskills such as farming, setting snares and hunting animals, and we are serious about having useful tradeskills in Darkfall. Therefore eating is in the game, and players that enjoy farming, setting traps, baking, cooking, fishing, hunting, etc. can sell their wares to other players and actually be useful to others.

Will you have permanent character death?
No. This is a very bad idea.

Will you have character aging?
No. This is almost as bad as permanent death.

What camera view will Darkfall have?
Darkfall will have a first-person camera view. Probably the most debated issue in our team, with strong points both for and against. We settled for first-person view because we believe this view gives the most immersed gaming experience, the most nerve wrecking combat situations, and the most beautiful view of our landscape and dungeons. (JUST TO ADD DEVS STATED 3RD PERSON IS IN AS WELL - Kragg)
RPG games with first-person views that work great: Arena, Daggerfall, Ultima Underworld, Deus Ex.

Will Darkfall feature night/day cycles?
Absolutely. The sun comes up in the morning, and goes down in the evening just like in real life. The exact timecycle is not set yet, but the current total night/day cycle is about 4 hours long.

Will Darkfall feature weather effects?
Yes. Expect realistic weather effects, such as rain, snow, wind blowing in the trees, wind blowing in the grass on the ground, thunder and lightning.

Will Darkfall have "zones"?
No. Darkfall will not have "zones" and zone loading as seen in other MMORPGs when traveling in the huge Darkfall World. There will be a short loading pause when entering dungeons though.

How will you prevent cheating and hacks?
Darkfall was developed with preventing and detecting cheating and hacking in mind from day one.
We are not going to tell you exactly how we will prevent and detect cheating and hacking, but rest assured that cheaters and hackers will be found and dealt with.

How will you punish cheaters and hackers?
Cheaters and hackers will be banned from the game, and their characters will be deleted.

How much will I have to pay to play Darkfall?
We have no idea yet, probably the same as other MMORPGs on the market - $50 for the CD, first month free, then $10 each month. We'll see. Obviously it would be cool to give the game away for free, but we got bills to pay

How about system requirements?
PIII 800mzh, with 256mb RAM and a Gforce 2 card. Obviously the retail version will be optimized alot, but this is a very demanding game. We are just not sure what system we should recommend just yet. Minimum internet connection? It should work with a 56k modem, but we obviously recommend DSL or Cable

Will Darkfall support different gaming platforms?
Darkfall is primarily developed for the PC. It is unlikely that we will support other platforms

Quote :

In Alfar cities, everyone gets killed anyway.

I Laughed out loud

Wow... actually got me quite excited about the game, it might not be a fail, well, we can only hope..

I'm thinking of starting a small, completely informal group of player killers, or maybe mercanaries.

Any thoughts?

I downloaded and watched the long gameplay teaser. Pity there was no interface. Maybe there is no interface. If they allow turning off the silly blood effects, I would say it might be a pleasure to play. I wonder if they managae to copy into warhammer the ships and building cities.

See you Kragg - maybe in the game

seems that all types of pvp are in, but i think they are trying to go for good vs evil race/faction setup.

human,elves,dwarves vs orks,mahirim vs alfar

i'm totally not sure what role i want to play tbh, i'm gonna wait till im in beta to test it out then properly decide more towards launch so i can see how the game really works and what features are in and which are out.

Some videos

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/4/view/videos/play/1190

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiIY8tg2qBs

Maybe, maybe, maybe^^ Many people put a lot of expectations in this game.

I'd be an ork, of course.

Omigod... I've been waiting for this game for...well, I don't know, but it feels like eternity and I fear more waiting is due
Maybe someday my kids will play that game

Anyway, as a veteran Ultima and Shadowbane player, Darkfall is a dream come true. I've seen the forums about what people feel about the closed beta and honestly, most of the posts were a mix of marketing and typical fanboism, however, there is a big potential and huge expectations.

Wait...didn't I say that about both AoC and Warhammer? Oh nevermind...

I know what you mean, btw everything i've said about DF is with a big handful of salt lol, this has potential to be great or to be a great failure.

Release delayed, but im still quitting lotro and will wait for DF.

OB 22 Jan, Release now is 25 Feb.

I've made a vow - if they won't do an open beta and go really for a full release, I won't be playing the game no sooner than three months after release to avoid the AoC/WHO syndrome again.

On the other side, those three months will be probably veeeery painful for me

yes OB (seems A. are calling it a "trial") will start 22nd but apperently so many people are waiting to play its gonna be a limited amount of people that will get to play the OB, i think they said only 200k people, so reasonable enough. Just make sure you are ready to apply on the 22nd lol

there will also be pre-orders for early access as well, but after AoC i might pass on the pre-orders lol

Kragg wrote:

yes OB (seems A. are calling it a "trial") will start 22nd but apperently so many people are waiting to play its gonna be a limited amount of people that will get to play the OB, i think they said only 200k people, so reasonable enough. Just make sure you are ready to apply on the 22nd lol

there will also be pre-orders for early access as well, but after AoC i might pass on the pre-orders lol

200k is the number of ppl that want to get their hands on DF as i understood it, but they don't seem to be able to handle that lot atm....so far i didn't read any information from the announcement on how they will set up access to the OB, either they will allow ppl that applied for beta access already or survival of the fittest (or fastest)

for the pre-order they said that PO will not only be needed to have some early access, but also to have somthing like a VIP-pass when it comes to official release and handling of many many gamers that want to play DF

official announcment can be read here... <<clicky>>

If someone can get me a trial ill try this game... =)

Hype surrounding Darkfall is huge right now, despite our best efforts.

Bwahahaha - this sentence made it to my personal top ten of official MMORPG statements

I may add something more...

The reasons for the new release date follow:

[ thank you for using MMORPG.Excuse.Generator.Pro.v11.05 ]

Please download your own Great.Suprises.Manager.Lite to contain your astonishment upon seeing this unlikely happening.


This is gonna be fun

Ive seen some videos, and i must say ORCS RULE !!! i love them !! i love crushing everything and if i get to some nice kin with PvP skilled ppls we can make every castle to ruins ... Dark Fall looks very good!

tasos posted some news regarding what happened the last few days on forums.... <<clicky>>

looks like feb 25th could work out as real release date *crosses fingers*

Halbarz you making tribe in darkfall right? What about keep Karn Aanug ?

Yeah Zortag, Not sure about if theres a KA Tribe being made but me Kachez and Halbarz a tribe of some sort

Tuff wrote:

Yeah Zortag, Not sure about if theres a KA Tribe being made but me Kachez and Halbarz are making one

Im speaking with Halbarz and we dunno what to do , hehe, cuase Ymg is going to play orcs .. and maybe he will make Karn Aanug ... and Harmo is going to play Dwarf and maybe will make Karn Aanug too hehe..

Well if eithero f them are, they should get a clan recruitment thread up on the forums so they can line up a few good members before launch

Harmo goes dwarfs? Traitor!

Anyway the name Karn Aanug isnt Dwarvish (Unless were going by Warhammer guild lore ) in that case The orcs would win naming priority

Oh and.. http://www.darkfall-eu.com/community/showthread.php?t=802

SCUM In Darkfall :S

Another thing is that i fear if KA Was remade in Darkfall it would not be as succesful as in lotro, DF Is a completely different type of pvp that many lotro players including myself are not used to, and many of the guilds currently recruiting are from 6 year + backgrounds of Shadowbane/UO Etc.

Thats erm.. not to say we cant kick there ass of course

Oh yes, SCUM... Let's go

We have the experience of PvP, as good as anyone else. We have the teamwork - better than most. We might not have the numbers, but numbers aren't neccessary to enjoy the game, right? We can still pick off SCUM with 2 or 3.