So I was in Big Lots ...Follow

... and there was this shiny box that said "Dark Age of Camelot" on it. I knew DaoC was an MMORPG, like my beloved Final Fantasy XI, and that it was older but a lot of people still play it. I also knew one of its big selling points was RvR combat. That's about all I knew.

Now, let me be specific about what this box was. Big Lots is a store that sells clearance merchandise no longer carried at other stores. This was DaoC Gold Edition, that comes with the original game and the Shrouded Isles expansion. That's it. I know there are a zillion more, I saw the whole thing at EBGames just recently. Gold Edition also comes with a map of the three realms and a (probably obsolete) player's guide, and comes in a BIG box, one of the ones that's almost the size of my laptop that PC games used to come with.

It looked so shiny. So ... collectible. I'd just gotten the Civ Chronicles set for Christmas, and the collector in me was saying "Map! Booklet! Shininess! Must get!" I wasn't sure I was convinced. But I found the box like a minute before we had to leave, and so I had to make a snap decision.

So I'm here now, with the box in front of me, typing up a post on Ala -- where I usually go for FFXI info. And I'm asking you guys a question. Not just "Is this a good game," not just "Help me I'm new," but "Is it worth it to play with just the game and the first expansion?" Will the game, like, crash on me or something? I know there'll be a million and one hours of updates, but that doesn't bother me greatly; I can just bring my laptop to the library and use their free wireless Internet.

So, should I return the game (I haven't opened it yet) or not? Anyone?

Thank you in advance. {/bow}

Edited, Jan 11th 2007 9:51pm by Murrquan

Edited, Jan 11th 2007 9:53pm by Murrquan

one more thing..on the link I provided, there is also the option to purchase the entire gamepac with all expansions for $29.99. I believe this is the same price as upgrading to the LoTM x-pac from the free trial, so really, buying what you bought was not really needed, and didn't save you anything in the long run. I would recommend trying out the free trial and seeing if you are interested.

Hopefully, you know some people from your other games and can meet them in game for some help.

It is not very newb friendly and finding people to level with is very difficult at that low of a level. Don't judge the game though until you hit 20-24 and can enter Thidranki. thidranki is a taste of what you will experience in big boy RvR and is very fun, fast and exciting.

This game is about being 50, not getting there (and sadly, the game caters to this and experienced players know ways to go from 1-50 in literally hours whereas you it will take weeks or even a month to do). This really hurts the game in attracting new players to it.

Hmmm, thinking about it, there is no reason to use your CD key if you download the free trial.

you will just have to decide if you want to pay for it past then, but since you would already have a "ToA" account from the free trial, no reason to use a SI CD key.

The game is about the best thing going if you would want to play other people. The PvE is solid, but probably not as good as WoW. The crafting was just made easy, and has a place in the game..that is crafted items are near the top of the line equipment.

That is why I said don't judge the game until you hit level 24 (and can enter Thidranki). If you don't like it then, you probably will never like it. The latest expansion has a RvR area that is not so unlike Thidranki. New people can do well in it and gain Realm Ranks (this is for level 50 toons primarily) just because of the setup, and the gank groups generally leave it alone. Also, even though you will lose out a lot of the total experience of the game, classic servers are much more newb friendly should you go that route.

You could install the disk version you have....you would just need more updating. That is like probably version 1.4x or something. We are in 1.87 now, so you would have 40 odd updates to do, plus getting to the minimum ToA client.

I just think it is shorter to go with the demo free trial, since you will have so much downloading anyways.

Financially, you did not save anything by buying a "real" edition over using the free trial and in actuality lost some money out of it (since they give out that and more for free). You can start with either though and progress, but you have lots of downloading either way.

Edited, Jan 14th 2007 12:10pm by thuri

he would play in ToA client...the game would update him automatically. It has been made available for free.

They announced soon that ToA will be shut down also and people will automatically get Catacombs client upgrade for free.

Found the link:
http://www.trialsofatlantis.com/downloads/

Edited, Jan 20th 2007 10:24am by thuri