Darkfall: Final Thoughts

Not too long ago I took a nice restful vacation, did some yard work, traveled to see family. Upon returning, I didn't feel like playing Darkfall immediately, so I did other things. Then a couple of days turned into weeks and it became obvious the game didn't have enough appeal for me to draw me back in. So I'll leave it as I began, with curiosity and hope.

Despite the public criticisms and the very real frustrations that exist in the game currently, I think AV is on the way to creating the niche game they have worked on for so long. I was never a fanboy, didn't follow development, and always assumed, as many others did, that the game was vaporware. But when it arrived in the world newborn-red and wailing, I wanted to check it out. I knew it was open PvP and full loot, features I have never cared for, but I went in with a philosophical attitude and it paid off; those features had little effect on my enjoyment of the game long term, either negative or positive.

In realizing their goal of a wide-open PvP-focused game, however, the other elements of the game have suffered. As the developers have said, it's not a game for everyone. Nor should it be. I'm glad the MMO genre is maturing enough to support niche games. If Darkfall doesn't survive, Mortal Online and others will try for the free-for-all PvP niche. Perhaps we'll see other games where diplomacy or trade get the intense focus that as heretofore been spent on combat and questing. And so I hope that DF is succesful and develops into the kind of game so many of its fans have longed for since the early days of Ultima Online.

For me the PvP is not enough of a draw. I'm not a competitive person nor a competitive player. I like the grander possibiloities of living in that kind of world, such as in the now-departed Shadowbane, but DF isn't offering that. And so I find myself with little interest in rejoining the world when so many other possibilites beckon. I do hope, however, that those who continue to enjoy DF are able to keep it alive for a long time.