Landing on Morgan Le Fay in Dark Age of Camelot...
TC Vows To Hit Level 50 Before SB Release
That's right, TC will have 50th level characters sometime prior to 2004. Actually, several members of The Cabal have entered the 40's while keeping the guild within the top 5 for RPs on Andred. For all those still in DAOC, the level march will soon be over and TC will be able to return to the simple life of just killing players. Some members have recently departed The Cabal and have founded Guardian's Chosen under Spart, while UDL's members have formed their own tag on Andred.
DAOC: Andred . . . It Begins
So Andred launched yesterday, and the level frenzy has started. Shortly after hitting 10th I made my first RP, and as anyone else 10+ will tell you, its a mad house. This server will be a very interesting one to play on as people try to level up.
Did I Say Andred? I Meant Mordred
That's right Andred is up . . . and its full from second one. GJ Mythic. You created the same stupid situation twice in a row. Of course, Mordred's pop seems like a normal server now.
Did I Say Mordred? I Meant Andred
On the day that Mythic announced the launch of a 2nd PvP server, we choose Andred. The manner in which they started the open beta on Mordred quite suddenly, combined with even the slight chance that it could be wiped, made it easy for us to choose the 2nd server. Our allies will be on Andred, as well as some large guilds to fight against. The fact that Mordred has been completely full at all times since the open beta started, and very difficult to even log into, only makes our choice of Andred seem that much better. Some TC folks will be playing characters on Mordred during the lower levels, but when Andred goes live in two weeks, TC will form there as a guild.
Getting About Time for Mordred
If you're one of the TC members who wanted to get onto the Mordred beta, you should be able to log in there now. Spart and Iaxon both logged in and did /charcopy to bring over a high level test guy. If you have any questions about getting into Mordred Beta and such, please ask Spart either through our private forums or the VN boards. Although they've opened the beta a bit more recently, I can't find a confirmed date of release for that server. Rumors have flown around about the end of July all the way to Christmas. The only thing we know for sure about the beta is that we'll be allied with our pks-in-arms, Covetous Crew. TC and CC will also be working together in Shadowbane, and if you are a part of the SB beta, please look for Dart during the evenings.
Choice of Worlds is Getting Interesting...
First off, the description of the new DaoC all-pvp server, Mordred, is sounding quite tempting. No separate realms, anyone can travel anywhere, anyone can pk anyone else not in their guild or alliance, you actually get xp for killing players, and the developers promise a faster means of travelling around. And to that the introduction of Realm Abilities, and suddenly DaoC is looking worth trying again (but only on Mordred). That server seems to be less than a month away. Beyond that lies beta accounts for Sony's new release, Star Wars Galaxies. That's looking like a quality product (from the makers of EQ), and it would be a nice departure from the swords & spells genre. Shadowbane will be opening up their beta a bit more soon, and will even taking new beta applications when they do. And of course, an AC2 beta won't be far off. So many candies, but I'm thinking TC might pop up on Mordred, just because it will be out first and we haven't been feeding much as of late.
Asheron's Call 2
A month ago, Microsoft announced that it was developing the sequel to Asheron's Call for release this winter. This weekend, they updated the Official AC2 Site with quite a bit of new information. What's interesting to note about AC2, is that they promise an advanced form of AI over the original AC. Taking a page from DaoC's anti-camping code, their dev staff claims that "no monster in AC2 will fight exactly the same way twice." Their AI will allow them to change their tactics from battle to battle, form allegiances with other monsters, call for help, etc. And this one also seems to copy Shadowbane's focus on allowing towns to grow and prosper based upon the activity of the players that use that town. Of course, only SB allows you to actually found a city and completely destroy the cities of others.
In AC2, it seems the towns will all be there at the start, and will grow or shrink, both in size and function, depending upon how many players use that town and what trade skills they practice there. Their developers promise to create an economy that is completely player-driven. On a final note, the races and monsters seem to reflect the crazy abominations we had hoped to see in UO2, without the techy aspect of things. It seems the development of AC2 may be worth keeping an eye on. Of course, what developers say their MMORPG will be like and how fun it is to actually play are two completely different things. We'll wait and see.
Ok, what's the next big thing?
The Cabal as a guild won't exist in Camelot much longer. This past week has seen a great portion of our players move on from the MLF server, with many others soon to follow. The concensus is that, while it did provide a fair amount of fun, there is too much PvP downtime and not enough content in Camelot to keep our players interested. TC took over 1st place in rps on MLF, due mainly to constant killers like Vires, Inasnum, Kalyan, Anduan, etc., though everyone added to the cause. Congrats to the guild that takes over #1 on MLF. We've also experienced all the supa monster-bashing, rinse-n-repeat keep taking, and 50 on 50 on 50 Emain battles this world had to offer.
Some will still play on MLF, but many others will be found on different DaoC servers, EQ servers, UO:SP and Counter Strike. And that is where we will be as a guild until that next big thing comes along. We met a lot of new faces on MLF that joined us late in our time there, and we hope those players stay in touch through our message boards until another worthy MMORPG unites TC once again.
Oh Don't Worry, I Still Hate Guards
Despite his being a complete guardzone wuss, I'm happy to announce the newest member to the Inner Circle of TC, Chieftan Crauchon of Emain Macha. It was either him or Bizanich, and well, you can never have enough lurikeen ranjas. And Biz never has enough guards with him, anyways. Of course, if the Luripeen dies, he's outta the family. I actually wouldn't be surprised if some late night Mids of Albs have already changed his mind while I'm typing this. The little turncoat. I never liked him. In all honesty, the battle to retake Crauchon tonight was a textbook example of how fun DAOC "can" be. It was a true three-way fight that was very close all the way to the end, and was a united effort of TC and the alliance headed up by Phoenix Guard.
I've posted some screenshots of our fun night at Crauchon to the right, some of the casualites typical in Emain, as well as our clashes with some of the horrors in the Cursed Forest and the 89sp Glacial Giant.
Realm Points or Levels?
Such tough choices. First we did nothing but level and we had like 8 realm points for the whole guild. Then we RVR'd every day and made it to #2 in RPs. Now we are back to level'n, so we slip to #3 in RPs. Doh! Of course, this will delay the launch of Shadowbane even further. Fortunately, the Cabal has seen two more players hit 50th Level, Bregor and Vires, and the guild has several more reaching the high 40's.
We have also welcomed many new quality members into our ranks over the last few weeks. TC has also started going out in large 20 to 35 player groups to acquire faster levels and better magic items. We've mowed down Raven Wraiths and the Siabra City down in the Bog of Cullen, and even depleted the Grand Pooka spawn in Breifine. I guess bring on the Epic Zones; we're ready for 'em. Sadly tho, the main thing we all want to do is PvP all day. We just can't keep doing that in the low 40's these days when your enemies are all becoming red. Must . . get . . 50th . . *dies*
Shadowbane Beta and Yet More Delays
Wolfpack and UbiSoft finally announced the start of the Shadowbane closed beta on the 17th. They also had a big preview of SB in Austin about a week prior to that. Both good signs, but unfortunately Vosx also went on record saying that SB won't be released until after TC hits #1 in realm points. At least I think he said that. I could barely understand him because my leprechaun has been blabbering all day about the government spies in the apartment across the hall. News of the latest condition for SB launch sent many TC members into an unbridled rage, resulting in over 100k rp's yesterday. Now, TC is firmly in the #2 spot for both Hibbies and the server overall, but I'm sure once with hit #1, Wolfpack will come up with another excuse. Whatever happens with SB, I've been asked to pass on an a message to TC. He says . . . "kill, kill, kill".
A Little Payoff for all the Level'n
Last night, Arkon became the first TC member to hit 50th level, with Bizanich and Vires not far behind. Great job guys! pl me, k? In addition, The Cabal has crept up to 3rd amongst Hibernian guilds for realm points, 5th on the MLF server overall. If you glance at our last news post, you can see that's quite a leap in a short time. The majority of RvR battles take place right around the Albion Milegate in Emain Macha. I'm usually stealthed in odd places, but I managed to take some screenshots showing the masses of troops that clash out there in the frontier. For those still in the level struggle to get to 40th and up, hang in there, imo its worth it. After having a few long nights consisting of constant adrenalized, bloody warfare, I'm finding it hard to get back to level'n again. I just need to be sniped by red and orange archers a few more times...
Climbin' the Charts
It seems our guild has shown its usual sense of holiday cheer. Our brothers and sisters have killed enough of the enemy over this past holiday week to pull us up to 6th place on the Hibernia side of things, and 16th on the MLF server overall. The reality is that only a handful of TC members are even making all those realms points. The bulk of our troops are still working their way up to the 40's. Scary.
Links to Dark Age of Camelot Information
I've added some links to the left menu that contain very useful information about Camelot. Banshee has created two Camelot Item Databases, one for weapons and one for armor. They still need some of work, but currently list most of the world's magic items. Many Cabal members are now into their high 30's and low 40's, and we've been able to finally mix it up with the enemy out in the frontiers. This release is into its 3rd month, and still has its imbalances, but few players have been disappointed by the PvP aspect of DAOC.
The Cabal Formed on Morgan Le Fay
Obsinius could only stare in sad embarassment as members of The Cabal displayed their joy in our newly founded Camelot guild . . . by dancing poorly. As of this past Saturday, TC went ahead and officially formed a guild on the DAOC server, Morgan Le Fay. After experiencing this release for its first couple of months, and evaluating whether or not they have an enjoyable PvP system, we've decide to make it our home. Members of TC will be leveling as fast as possible so that we can join in the frontier wars with our friendly Hibernian guilds, Fight With Honor and House of Sagacious. If you check the HoS webpage, you can catch a nice glimpse of the fun involved with beseiging and conquering enemy keeps.
We openly invite our old friends from UO:LS, UO:SP and Everquest to join us on MLF. Camelot is a MMORPG that makes it much easier for low levels players to be powerlevel'd up by their friends then EQ did, and with no corpse recovery, no item/gold looting and no experience loss on PvP death, it is much more accomodating for continual PvP warfare. The taking and defending of territory also gives some measure of victory to battles beyond the "haha, I killed you f3wl" limitation of previous MMORPGs. Check our members page to see who is playing on MLF, and if you're interested in starting up with us there, drop a message to Katrinaa, Obsinius or myself. Some of our Nameless Clan friends are already building up with us on MLF, and we're gathering new faces along the way. It's been a fun time for TC in Camelot.
How Many Corpses Can Fit in One Screenshot?
That's what Anduan and the TC players on MLF are trying to figure out. All reports out of Hibernia indicate that DAOC is going to be alot funner than EQ both in the PVE & PvP aspects. Anduan and Vires have a bet to see who can pack the most kills into a 1024x728 pixel area. If Vires wins, Anduan has to say "Shadowbane is better" while standing in front of Punisher. If Anduan wins, Vires has to actually grow an inch. Short people, hmph.
Morgan La Fey Server, Hibernia Realm
That's where the majority of TC players are as part of the House of Sagacious guild, allied with the FWH guild, Fight With Honor. Anduan has the ability to add you to the guild there, so don't message the HoS folks and say "I'm Anduan's buddy, add me", cause they won't. Just message Anduan and he can do it from anywhere. Some TC are experimenting with the other realms on different servers (I'm one of them), but mainly its MLF.
Archived News Posts:
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