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Darkfall
FAQ
This FAQ explains Darkfall -
the Next Generation MMORPG developed by Razorwax
AS .
Whats is Darkfall?
What is an online roleplaying game?
What do you mean by Next Generation?
What is the setting of Darkfall?
So what advanced features are you
talking about?
Racial wars?
So you have only six races?
Where can I read about the different
races?
Can I play all races on the same
account?
I have to be in a clan?
 Will
it be possible to start a multi-race Clan?
Will you have character classes and
levels in Darkfall?
So I can learn any skill or spell?
So what are Prestigue Classes?
Do you have skill caps?
How many spells and skills will
Darkfall have?
Why so many spells and skills?
Can players make magical items?
How do I gain new spells and skills?
What is your
spell system like?
Can
I cast spells while wearing armor?
Will
wearing armor affect running and swimming speed?
So
why should I wear heavy armor at all?
How are you going to handle player killing?
Well how am I gonna keep track of
all different cities laws?
So you have an alignment in Darkfall?
Dont you fear that out of control
player killers will ruin the game?
So what if a good clan is at war with
another good clan?
Will Darkfall have safe zones?
Can you fight in cities?
Darkfall looks great, but i dont
like PvP, can I play anyway?
Will Darkfall have player owned
houses?
Can I design my own house?
Will
Darkfall have universal banks?
Can
you walk through other players in Darkfall?
Can
I have pets or NPC hirelings in Darkfall?
What
can my NPC hirelings do?
Can
I have more than one NPC hireling?
How
do I tell my NPC hirelings what to do?
Can
I survive in Darkfall without learning magic?
Can
I be successful in PVP without learning magic?
What effect will eating or not eating
have on my character?
Will you have permanent character death?
Will you have character aging?
What
camera view will Darkfall have?
Will
Darkfall feature night/day cycles?
Will Darkfall feature weather
effects?
Will Darkfall have "zones"?
How
will you prevent cheating and hacks?
How
will you punish cheaters and hackers?
How much will I have to pay to play Darkfall?
How about system requirements?
Will
Darkfall support different gaming platforms?
When is Darkfall entering open beta
testing?
When will Darkfall be released?
What
is Darkfall?
Darkfall is a Next Generation online roleplaying game developed by Razorwax
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, Everquest 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?
The setting of Darkfall is the typical High-Fantasy type, with dragons, elves,
swords and sorcery.
So what advanced features are you talking about?
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 effect 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.
So you have only six races?
Well yes and no. We have some pretty neat features when it comes to races. We
will announce these at a later date.
Where can I read about the different races?
Read about the different races of Darkfall here.
Can I play all races on the same account?
No. This is something we have discussed at length within Razorwax, 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.
Remember that human NPC hirelings, such as guards and vendors, will not tolerate
Orks and Alfar players, and may attack them on sight, even though they are in
the same Clan. In Alfar towns, NPC guards will attack anything not Alfar. The
same goes for alignment, so an evil Clan will have to recruit evil NPC hirelings
only.
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.
That being said - We do have something called Prestige classes, like Paladins,
Warlocks, Assasins etc.
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.
We also has some special
skills and spells for the prestige classes that members of the appropriate prestige
class can learn.
So what are Prestigue Classes?
Prestigue Classes are special classes, such as Paladin, Assasin, Gladiator,
Enchanter, etc. These classes are totally optional, and if you dont want to,
you dont ever have to pick a class for your character. Picking a Prestigue Class
will in most cases give you a few special skills, maybe even a few special spells
belonging to this particular Prestigue Class. Paladins for instance, gain the
ability to Lay-Hands (instant heal) once every day.
Some Prestigue Classes will give you real good bonuses, others may only have
minor bonuses and a cool sounding name. A general rule however, is that the
more bonuses you get, the more tradeoffs there are. Druids for instance, may
never use metal armor after they are initiated into Druidhood. Paladins have
to give half of their earnings to their church, etc.
Prestigue Classes may be interesting to some players, and some classes may give
you an extra reason to roleplay, or maybe give you an edge as a PvPer, or as
a player smith. We can promise you alot of interesting Prestigue Classes to
try out.
Picking a Prestigue Class is not final - you can change class later, but this
carries some minor penalties, such as a wait period.
The easy route would have been to make picking a Prestigue Class final, but
we want to keep Darkfall as open ended as possible.
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.
Dont 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 clanis 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. [more info to come]
Will Darkfall have universal banks?
Most probably. It will be tested in alpha and beta. We like the idea that if
you deposit a longsword in a bank, you have to go back to the exact same bank
to withdraw it. However this might prove too annoying in the long run, and as
with everything else, we have to consider gameplay issues vs. realism.
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?
Yes. You can have pets and NPC hirelings in Darkfall, ranging from tamed animals
and monsters, to summoned skeletons, charmed animals and monsters, hired NPC
merchants, hired NPC guards, etc.
What can my NPC hirelings do?
NPC hirelings can follow you around and fight with you, they can carry your
loot, they can perform skills and spells to aid you, etc. NPC hirelings can
do pretty much everything that player friends can do. In addition, NPC hirelings
can be given advanced orders such as patrolling your city, looking for enemies,
criminals and thieves. They can be a vendor in your shop that you have set up,
they can mine for minerals in a mine, they can go out into the forest and chop
wood for you, or stand on the banks of a river, fishing for you all day.
Can I have more than one NPC hireling?
Yes. You can have several NPC hirelings under your command at all times. The
maximum number of NPC hirelings you can have under your command is limited by
several leadership and command skills.
How do I tell my NPC hirelings what to do?
You can either give an NPC hireling a direct one-time order, such as "heal me",
or you can set up a more permanent chain of orders, through an advanced NPC
hireling interface in Darkfall. This advanced interface can tell the NPC hireling
to heal you every time your health goes below say 10% of your max health, and
cast invisibility on you and herself if enemies comes running at you. Obviously
the NPC hireling has to have the matching skills and spells to perform these
actions.
NPC hirelings have skills and spells like players, and the more skills or spells
an NPC hireling has, and the better skill and spell levels she has, the more
gold will she require for her services.
Can I survive in Darkfall without learning magic?
Absolutely. You can be extremely successful in Darkfall doing only tradeskills
and being good at diplomatics and politics. Start a Clan, or hire some NPC hirelings,
and 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. o.O
Counterstrike, Quake and Unreal work pretty well yea? Oh and 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?
The alpha engine runs on a 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, and at least not till after the PC version is out, and a proven
success. An Xbox version is possible, but not planned. Darkfall for Mac or Linux
is highly unlikely.
When is Darkfall entering open
beta testing?
We are hoping for a open beta test of Darkfall in Q4 2002. The word "Delay"
is very common in the game development industry though, so we can only hope
and guess at this stage.
When will Darkfall be released?
We are hoping for a Q1 2003 release of Darkfall. Again, delays happen, but we
are working hard to get Darkfall ready for release.
The only thing we can say for sure, is that Darkfall wont be released till it
is finished and running stable.
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