WarCry Choice Posts: 345 Joined: 3 Dec 2005     | Morkdaorc |
WarCry Choice  Posts: 76 Joined: 4 May 2007    | Good article Surly. I will admit that I have always been a "I'll believe it when I see it" type. I have plenty of stuff to do, so I am in no rush to lose hours of my life in a new virtual world. I have had my eyes on Darkfall for a few years, but have by no means participated in its development or to the community base as much as some. I believe that there are many things going on behind the scenes (e.g., finding a publisher, new graphics) that have slowed the progress of this ambitious title, but when's it's ready, it will be ready. With somewhere around 50+ (granted, not all in this genre or with the same diversity of features) other MMOs in developement, Adventurine probably has had to keep things on the down-low to prevent other developers from incorporating the innovative ideas that the Darkfall team have come up with. Afterall, you cannot trust a Beta NDA to hush testers and prevent leaks to the outside world. I imagine that Adventurine had to make sure the game is stable, that they have the server structure, and that in x amount of time after Beta the game would go gold. Being gamers themselves they know that an unstable Beta client would be devestating to their game, and being in business, they couldn't move forward without being ready to produce the game to the masses. I am one of the 80,000 that watched that video. O.K., I'll admit it. I watched it more than once and it did get my blood pumping. I, like everyone else, would love to see more information about this game. Hell, I read the Sands of Rubaiyat enough times that I could probably recite it for you. But in the same breath I can say that I understand where Tasos, Claus, and the gang are coming from. To me the game's release is more important than some fluff. If Adventurine was eager to release more detailed information on their game, I could get more out of them in a 15 minute phone interview (feel free to contact me Tasos) than any amount of video could offer. |
Apprentice Posts: 9 Joined: 24 Jul 2005 | Good summation of the feelings of the majority of Darkfall's followers, especially the older ones. I really hope you're right about Aventurine's claims starting to have a lot more truth behind them and hopefully there will be a beta this summer. Unfortunately we won't probably won't hear more about this possible beta coming this summer until at least a week from now in the next journal update. |
WarCry Choice Posts: 345 Joined: 3 Dec 2005 | Great job Surly! Can't wait for your next one in two weeks :D. Morkdaorc |
WarCry Choice Posts: 25 Joined: 14 May 2007  | Oh they'll have a playable public client out by the end of September, mark my words. Exactly how many people experience it is inconsequential since all we really need is one person from the public to verify that it's real, it's fun, and that it's nearly ready to ship. People simply don't trust what a company says about its product, and why should they? I don't Run Not Walk to KFC every time they tell me their chicken is going to make me wet my pants with delight do I? |
How I Mine 4 Fish? Posts: 52 Joined: 27 Jun 2005   | and than theres the other side.. the side of "reality"... I like this one better because it obviously wasn't written by some Darkfall fanboy called Surly. ----------------------------- It seems that countless people have grown quite weary hearing about the Darkfall mmorpg project year after year that touts innovative features and gameplay that is supposed to accompany its launch. The problem seems to be that the project in question does not appear to have produced anything much of actual significance over a span of some 7 odd years to back up any of the claims it makes but yet seems to expect the general public and possible future consumers to accept what some might consider to be string-along tactics coupled with suppressive like control practices all in a effort to seemingly keep the following strong and the questions to a minimum. I enjoy good player vs player titles as much as the next avid gamer does but no amount of lust for good player vs player action will make the developers of this darkfall project look like anything other than something comical at this point after 6 plus years of -development- and nothing to show for it other than the same monotonous "We have the Holy Grail of Player vs Player MMOG" promises. Do the forthcoming titles within the same genre such as Age of Conan and Warhammer Online with their multi million dollar development budgets and large professional teams shake in their proverbial boots over the greatness that this Darkfall project continuously touts, or do they simply poke fun at it behind closed doors? http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=1466 Unfortunately (??or fortunately??) sometimes those doors swing open showing what others really think. And so without further ado some 10 red flag reasons will be listed as to why I feel darkfall is nothing more than an ill conceived project that never had (and probably never will have) the proper resources to be successfully pulled off and is caught in a slow downward spiral brought on by many different factors. Red Flag 1. Development cycles? Most people understand that creating something as complex as a MMORPG title requires massive amounts of resources in the form of both money and man power , as well as past experience or you simply end up in a seemingly never-ending development cycle of which this darkfall project has been caught in for the last 6-7 years. A tell tale sign to some of improper management , insufficient manpower , insufficient monetary support and insufficient experience and planning. Red Flag 2. Intended features vs man power? The features list of this project seems to be on par with something that you would expect to see coming out of a studio such as Blizzard and World of Warcraft which had a budget that was in the tens of millions of dollars and the support of some of the most talented and experienced developers in the industry. Even with the proper tools and experience at their disposal, it still took Blizzard some 4 years to complete. Yet a small group of amateurs who seemingly have never produced anything even remotely near the scale of a world of warcraft type project seem to be attempting to pull off the same. Red Flag 3. Missed deadlines and broken promises? To the best of my knowledge this Darkfall project has missed almost every publically announced development milestone to date. For example making announcements of "beta testing" than continuously pushing it back or not delivering or simply waving it off. Red Flag 4. Uncertainties and lack of precise information It would appear that some years back the announcement was made that this Darkfall project had secured a publisher by the name of "Aventurine" in Greece but unfortunately there does not seem to be any information about this company anywhere. Many believe that Aventurine = Razorwax = Aventurine and that there is no seperate publishing entity or fundee pumping the money and support that would be needed to bring a project like this to fruition. A recent 2007 update has stated that they are displaying the title to various parties in an attempt to secure publishing support "etc" etc" at this point in time. Red Flag 5. Sporatic updates There are periods when nothing new is reported for months on end and when finally something new is provided - it really is nothing more than the same information released months back. A perfect example of this would be the Jan 2007 video displaying some basic combat. This video brings with it absolutely nothing new and what is displayed in it can have easily been seen in still screenshots released months beforehand. Red Flag 6. Gestapo-like run official forums & poor PR To the best of my knowledge this project does not have any official PR person who handles the release of new information and community activities. This is essentially left up to "volunteers" or "fans" who, for the most part, are allowed to moderate forums with a Gestapo-like mentality , effectively rubbing out anyone who brings up any valid questions or concerns surrounding the project. Red Flag 7. misc lose ends and problems? It appears that back in 2003 the term "Darkfall" was requested to be trademarked. Some concerns were brought up that there might be issues with it which were than effectively squashed with a general "That was taken care of already". http://www.geocities.com/myth0rreality/app.jpg Red Flag 8. little to no concrete information even after many years in production While a general understanding exists of the intended gameplay, for the most part , the bulk of its features remain shrouded in mystery which may point to a lack of direction and understanding of goals. Red Flag 9. Unproven code and technology To the best of my knowledge this project does not use any proven , licensed technology behind it and is built upon completely proprietary and yet-to-be-proven code. One of the touted features is the ability for this technology to support up to 10,000 or so people in massive battles online at the same time which has never been successfully implemented anywhere else to date nor even attempted by some of the most experienced development studios out there for the problems it would cause associated with internet connectivity and latency issues. Red Flag 10. launch dates vs current reality? The project had an official launch date of 2003 making it essentially 4 years overdue and possibly showing that the developers had no clear understanding of what they were getting into and could now very likely be floundering with the unexpected loads or unforseen developmental problems. It would appear that at this point in time from a logical business point of view that this darkfall project has most likely missed any window of opportunity for success it may have had by some 2-3 years. It is visually outdated compared to similar upcoming titles and still does not appear to be anywhere near completion or have the support structure in place for a 2007 launch which might have been its last hope and which many of its competitors such as Warhammer Online and Age of Conan will achieve with almost certainty. The success of any project includes having the understanding that you cannot develop forever and that deadlines , or the act of sticking to them, are in fact very important things in achieving success and when they are missed by years than the odds of ever reaching that success becomes slim to none. |
Apprentice Posts: 9 Joined: 24 Jul 2005 | Someone keeps bringing this up on the forums and new threads are made/deleted, but I'll throw this on here because it's a good response by Teth and it shouldn't get lost because these threads are deleted. I shortened it so there would be room (I cut out part of the first user's explanation of the flags, read up for full explanations). ------ Most people understand that creating something as complex as a MMORPG title requires massive amounts of resources in the form of both money and man power , as well as past experience or you simply end up in a seemingly never-ending development cycle of which this darkfall project has been caught in for the last 6-7 years. A tell tale sign to some of improper management , insufficient manpower , insufficient monetary support and insufficient experience and planning. PROTIP: Almost all MMORPGs miss launch dates, push out early, and generally have screwed-up dev cycles. It's virtually endemic in game design in general, and that goes doubly for MMORPGs. If you don't believe me, go read the commentary of, oh, I don't know, Scott Jennings or Sanya Weathers or Oliver Smith. These are all people who have worked extensively in the MMORPG industry (Scott and Sanya on DAoC, Oliver Smith on WW2O) and they all have very unkind things to say about the design culture inherent there. Quote: Manpower != capability. Mount & Blade, a delightful little game with one of the best combat systems to come out of computer gaming and a hell of a lot more fun than many games with million-dollar budgets and five-dozen-man dev teams behind them, is the product of a husband & wife team in Turkey. In fact there's a very strong case to be had for small teams in game development, as it tends to minimize spaghetti code. It is also a commonly-accepted rule of software development that, after a point, throwing more manpower at something has a primarily deleterious effect due to the amount of time that has to be spent teaching the newbies the ropes as opposed to the amount of contributions they'll actually be able to do. If you look at a lot of dev teams, you'll find out that the bulk of their manpower will often be in the art department, because it doesn't have those issues. Code, however, is where the real ugly work is done. Quote: See #1. Basically, game designers in general suck at keeping deadlines, and this goes doubly for MMORPGs. Tasos has admitted that they were overconfident in the early days, which has been both good and bad from a development standpoint - good because it's allowed them to do a lot of things that "conventional wisdom" would say is impossible, and bad because it's led to rather unrealistic scheduling in the past. Quote: What than is the purpose of this Aventurine company that they are supposadely supported and published by? Why do they need to look at other options now? |
Apprentice Posts: 9 Joined: 24 Jul 2005 | Quote: Darkfall PR runs on two concepts: Quote: Tasos Flambouras, besides being the Assistant Producer, also doubles as the PR guy. Brannoc handles the forums. And lol, Gestapo-like mentality? The Darkfall forums are considerably less gagged & bound than just about any other MMORPG forums I've seen out there. Go take a peek in Off-Topic and see what I'm talking about, maybe. Quote: http://www.geocities.com/myth0rreality/app.jpg Amusingly enough, they're in the final stages of having the rights to the Darkfall name for just about everything but the game itself - they've all but secured the rights for the Darkfall name for spinoff materials like novels, movies & toys, for example. That said, they can publish even if they don't have the name copyrighted; this is not an uncommon event. Quote: Many of the touted features such as siege systems , city building , hundreds of skills and spells , quests and bulk of the general gameplay has yet to be explained or seen in any type of functioning manner. To date, all that has been shown is that there is in fact a quite basic and rudimentary looking combat system after 6-7 years of production. Quote: ONE: The server technology they are using is frequently used in enterprise-grade server solutions, so it's hardly "unproven". Quote: Until 2003, the DF project was essentially a few guys in a basement. That's the hard truth. Later in 2003 they moved to Greece to join up with the Aventurine guys, and that's when development began in earnest. The first while in Athens was spent bringing all the new guys up to speed however, so you could make a case that DF's development did not kick into full gear "properly" until '04. Up until then was basically just conceptual groundwork. I hope that answers your questions! |
How I Mine 4 Fish? Posts: 88 Joined: 24 Mar 2007 | Sheesh Timberchode, you got butthurt and lonely over here on the Warcry forums so you mosey'd over to the real boards and made that dumb thread? You got forumfalled. You really should go get a life and stop obsessing over Darkfall and it's status. |
How I Mine 4 Fish? Posts: 52 Joined: 27 Jun 2005 | "Sheesh Timberchode, you got butthurt and lonely over here on the Warcry forums so you mosey'd over to the real boards and made that dumb thread?" No. I have no idea what you're talking about. I never made any other thread anywhere. I guess more people are just opening their eyes to reality. I would never go to the real forums because the forums there are a bigger joke than the project itself is. "Aventurine is ridiculously well-funded. Take my word on this one" I have a nice luxury Condo in Iraq I can sell you if you believe that. Right. They are so "ridiculously well-funded" that rather than hiring a professional team of developers they go with 4 amateurs from Norway who have never built anything remotely close to a MMORPG before and allow them to blow their $$$ for the past 7 years producing SQUAT. Right..... You would think that a Company that is so rich as you claim this Aventurine to be would have a large and detailed website of all their past business achievements outlining how they came to be so rich rather than having their website (if you can call a splash page a website) hosted at "theplanet.com" in Texas where both DF and Razorwax sites are hosted. Wake up. its alot later than you think. This project is built by a group of guys who thought they had what it takes to build a MMORPG , moved to Greece to live as cheap as possible, and are now failing miserably. It can't be anymore obvious. It's just that there are so many people out there that lack even the most commen of commen sense. P. T. Barnum |
How I Mine 4 Fish? Posts: 88 Joined: 24 Mar 2007 | Heh, for all your cries for us to "open our eyes to reality" you seem to be living in a huge fantasy yourself. If you'd actually have done even about 30 seconds of research, you'd realize Aventurine is a military contractor who has done simulation work, and also has a fairly skilled developer team working on the project. However, there's absolutely no point in telling you this, because you're dumb as a box of rocks. Please get off these forums and stop embarassing yourself, you do humanity a great disservice. |
WarCry Choice Posts: 25 Joined: 14 May 2007 | I credit this retort to Teth, of the community staff at Aventurine.
PROTIP: Almost all MMORPGs miss launch dates, push out early, and generally have screwed-up dev cycles. It's virtually endemic in game design in general, and that goes doubly for MMORPGs. If you don't believe me, go read the commentary of, oh, I don't know, Scott Jennings or Sanya Weathers or Oliver Smith. These are all people who have worked extensively in the MMORPG industry (Scott and Sanya on DAoC, Oliver Smith on WW2O) and they all have very unkind things to say about the design culture inherent there.
Manpower != capability. Mount & Blade, a delightful little game with one of the best combat systems to come out of computer gaming and a hell of a lot more fun than many games with million-dollar budgets and five-dozen-man dev teams behind them, is the product of a husband & wife team in Turkey. In fact there's a very strong case to be had for small teams in game development, as it tends to minimize spaghetti code. It is also a commonly-accepted rule of software development that, after a point, throwing more manpower at something has a primarily deleterious effect due to the amount of time that has to be spent teaching the newbies the ropes as opposed to the amount of contributions they'll actually be able to do. If you look at a lot of dev teams, you'll find out that the bulk of their manpower will often be in the art department, because it doesn't have those issues. Code, however, is where the real ugly work is done.
See #1. Basically, game designers in general suck at keeping deadlines, and this goes doubly for MMORPGs. Tasos has admitted that they were overconfident in the early days, which has been both good and bad from a development standpoint - good because it's allowed them to do a lot of things that "conventional wisdom" would say is impossible, and bad because it's led to rather unrealistic scheduling in the past.
Aventurine = Razorwax. This is very simple. They've even admitted it themselves. All of the former employees of Razorwax are now working in the Aventurine offices, and this can be confirmed by going down to Athens and knocking on their office door. A few people in the community have even done it. Furthermore, Aventurine is ridiculously well-funded. Take my word on this one, because I have seen the proof. The reason why they are looking for distributors & the ilk is because they could either spend months/years and a whole whack of money on developing that infrastructure themselves...ooooor they could save a lot of time, money, and manpower by simply going through somebody else who already has all that set up. It's simple common sense.
Darkfall PR runs on two concepts:
Tasos Flambouras, besides being the Assistant Producer, also doubles as the PR guy. Brannoc handles the forums. And lol, Gestapo-like mentality? The Darkfall forums are considerably less gagged & bound than just about any other MMORPG forums I've seen out there. Go take a peek in Off-Topic and see what I'm talking about, maybe.
Amusingly enough, they're in the final stages of having the rights to the Darkfall name for just about everything but the game itself - they've all but secured the rights for the Darkfall name for spinoff materials like novels, movies & toys, for example. That said, they can publish even if they don't have the name copyrighted; this is not an uncommon event.
Joy of discovery, my boy. Joy of discovery. The Darkfall devs don't believe in giving everybody a detailed laundry list of every game feature so they don't have to figure anything out for themselves.
ONE: The server technology they are using is frequently used in enterprise-grade server solutions, so it's hardly "unproven". TWO: EVE Online has basically the same server architecture, just without the dynamically distributed resources. The EVE devs have said frequently that they are capable of making resources dynamically distributed (as opposed to automatic distribution at daily downtimes), but it would require them to rewrite their entire host code. If a game is written from the ground-up to take advantage of this, then there's no problem.
Until 2003, the DF project was essentially a few guys in a basement. That's the hard truth. Later in 2003 they moved to Greece to join up with the Aventurine guys, and that's when development began in earnest. The first while in Athens was spent bringing all the new guys up to speed however, so you could make a case that DF's development did not kick into full gear "properly" until '04. Up until then was basically just conceptual groundwork. I hope that answers your questions! |
How I Mine 4 Fish? Posts: 52 Joined: 27 Jun 2005 | Let me you clue you in on something. There is no amount of "explaining" from the fanboys that can be done for this project at this point anymore. Because all your "explanations" are, just like the project at this point, laughable at best. |
Killed 10 Boars Posts: 15 Joined: 10 Jun 2007 |
Stop getting all pissy just because their counter-arguments were much better than your initial arguments. And for someone who keeps commenting so negatively about Darkfall, you really do seem to be obsessed with it. You're here every update following it and posting on it, which is much more dedicated than a lot of the so-called "fanboys" are. This leads me to believe that you're just another one of these people trying to appear bad ass to the world, but as soon as beta is released, you'll be on your knees doing unspeakable activities to get in. Now choose a side: if you're going to keep following this game through every update, that's fine, just reveal yourself for what you are: another Darkfall hopeful. Otherwise, if you really do think this project is a joke and you aren't just blowing smoke, leave and stop letting Darkfall control your life. Stop half-assing it and don't keep playing the fence. |
How I Mine 4 Fish? Posts: 52 Joined: 27 Jun 2005 | Those "counter arguments" are nothing more than fanboy spin believed by only blind-faith fools. ----------- "ONE: The server technology they are using is frequently used in enterprise-grade server solutions." Really? WHICH ONES?? Or have they conveniently left that part out? Talk is cheap especially when it can't be backed up by any facts. I myself developed enterprise-grade server technology being used in over 1,000 companies around the world. Are you stupid enough to believe me? No? Then maybe you should ask yourself why you are dumb enough to believe them? Because they say so? Because they are developing a video game? Oh well than their words MUST be law. Let me you clue you in on something Surly If you haven't figured it out yet. No one (other than the other delusional fanboys) are going to take your views seriously. You (along with Brannoc) are two of the largest fanboys of this project that exist. You as well all the other fanboys will spin every single obvious (and 100% warranted) redflag about this project that can be listed and make some kind of ridiculous excuse for it just so you can keep the hope alive for a project that failed about 3 years ago no matter how obvious that is to anyone that has ANY kind of commen sense left in their brains. There is no amount of "explaining" from the fanboys that can be done for this project at this point anymore. Because all your "explanations" are, just like the project at this point, laughable at best with absolutely no factual evidence behind any of it. You want to know what will save this project and shut up the critics? ---> A PUBLIC BETA. <-------- Unfortunately there has never been one and when this summer comes and passes and doesn't deliver one I am quite sure you and all your crew will still be marching on spinning your BS to the other delusional fanboys for next year and the year after that. Why doesn't Warcry invite the "producer" of this Darkfall project over here to have a little open debate about these things? I am sure he can clear up all these misconceptions in a jiffy by providing some actual proof for a change rather than letting their fanboy lackeys do all their PR for them constantly. Or maybe not. ------- Amusingly enough, or should I say "conveniently enough" you linked to a second trademark application of lesser importance that only deals with the production of goods and not with the ownership rights of the word mark Darkfall in the video game industry which was rejected already , and which is the much more important one... TRUE you do not need to get a name trademarked to use it but you have to ask why the trademark attorneys rejected it in the first place and what kind of legal liabilities thay would be opening themselves up to if they actually did go ahead and use it commercially when they couldn't legally have it trademarked for themselves. http://tarr.uspto.gov/servlet/tarr?regser=serial&entry=78284311 oh and BTW - have they added receiving real-world sexual favors from hot woman on a daily basis to their features list yet? Because that is about the only thing they forget to include. From this point on don't bother getting into a verbal argument/debate with me over the validity of Darkfall because unfortunately for you and its followers -- it provides you with no solid legs to stand on. |
Surly's Column: "Alphabeta"
Where once word from on high would bring the great unwashed into clamored fanaticism I now look upon the fans and followers mixed with relief and perhaps a touch of bleak bewilderment. Who are these ennui, the patient and debonair, who cling to a somber calmness and abandon the once common voracious frenzy of all mention of testing and release? There, but for the curse of disillusion, go I
Perhaps the truth is not that Darkfall's fans have come upon enlightenment, rather they've forcefully adopted maturity out of necessity. Through years of mismanaged beta signups, alpha client circulation, leaked footage, and missed deadlines it remains true that Darkfall is one of the most anticipated MMORPGs yet in development. Relations with the community are non-existent, and the flippant disdain which appears to pour from Aventurine's mouth with every address directed at the community is hardly something that can be confused for endearing. The unshakable loyalty of such fans is quite the inspiration.
After previous fumbling, last week Ass. Producer Tasos Flambouras once again brought up the word "beta". Tentatively, Aventurine has arrived at an internal date, a goal, of summer 2007. I am quite relieved to see that the fans have not been stirred into a fit of convulsions over the matter, jealously slashing one another's throats to win statistical favor through attrition. However, I can't help but feel that this lack of emotional outburst may be for the wrong reasons. Aventurine has a less than stellar record with anticipated dates, and it's no secret to any follower of the game's development that a tremendous portion of the buzz that came with clan beta signups of two years ago has subsided and left a great deal of people disenchanted.
Mistakes have been made, there's no real way to deny it. Coupled with the complete information lockdown which took place immediately after it, it's really no wonder that vaporware speculation began to proliferate with ease across various gaming sites and communities. These mistakes, however, are a tremendously beneficial thing in my eyes. Given a defense contractor used to being accountable only to its employer, what would you expect? The lesson of accountability to an audience is one very hard learned, and it is better to make these realizations now, before it matters. One could make a career out of learning to please a crowd, after all.
Temperance is a trait perhaps most valuable, and indeed admirable, in any company who would defy market standards in the creation of something as encompassing as an MMORPG. Temperance that I believe Aventurine has now learned, for which I lend them by my respect for its achievement, and my sympathy for the process of attaining it. That said, if I might venture an estimation, it is well within reason to believe the projections Tasos is willing to make from here on out. If Aventurine speculates a summer beta, there will be a summer beta. Not a moment too soon in my eyes, with the flames of the competition licking their heels.
I see the MMO market through a haze of cynicism brought by years of broken dreams at the hands of profiteers. The last great love of my more childish youth is in utter ruin, commercialized, clinging desperately with tear-soaked cheeks to the genre it birthed. Without success, and soon, the very concept of a free multiplayer environment will decay from our memories, a forgotten and failed notion left by the wayside of progress, efficiency, to the march of the pigs. Who then will provide me, provide us, with this very particular form of entertainment which reigns alone as the pinnacle of meaningful time mismanagement? The pitiful truth of reality, though it may be harsh, is no one.
So it falls on Aventurine S.A. to bear the responsibility, whether desired or not, to champion a genre on its death bed, to stop the decay. Appeal to the lowest common denominator simply does not interest the highest common denominator. Expecting the best, all fans of Darkfall are faithful to the idea of a free, fully featured persistent world. Too long have the whiners been given their snot-rags in place of the deserved slap in the face at the hands of an industry which panders where it should protect, yields where it should hold, and cowers in fear where it should innovate. Stalwart determination and obstinance would be the necessary bulwark against tradition if one is to challenge those historical assumptions by the industry. Fitting, then, that Aventurine would make its motto for development "No Compromise"; fitting also that the dedicated fans' ambitions be available to shoulder that burden.
No greater example exists of the fans' abilities to aid Aventurine than in the very recent examples of our friend Muffins. Piecemealed together from various screenshots and video clips from Darkfall's official library, the "Darkfall is Coming" video has received well over 80,000 views and growing on YouTube in addition to thousands of downloads for it from hosted sites. It is quoted by new Darkfall arrivals almost universally as the video that got them hooked. Its popularity dwarfs the view rates of the official Darkfall video, which claims credit to less than one tenth of the popularity of this fan video across all mediums including the Darkfall Online Website, and betrays the official Aventurine repertoire of propaganda for what it is: insufficient. Congratulations to our friend, avid blogger, and resident creative genius, Muffins. Your contributions are not going unnoticed.
This early in development, publicity isn't everything. Development obviously takes precedence over all other objectives, but when the time comes to really promote Darkfall and Aventurine finally takes up the reins of the "PR Machine" in full force I believe that we, as fans, have a tremendous amount to add. Muffins' video is proof of that. Aventurine obviously has never run an ad campaign across the internet, never promoted a video game, and doesn't have much experience with pleasing its fans. So here is really where we, as a collective of gamers, can truly contribute.
I believe making at least an estimation of the necessary resources will help Aventurine considerably when it is time for them to begin full scale promotion. As an old fan who trumpeted Darkfall quite heavily during the clan beta signups of 2005, I come from the position of some one who wants to approach his old gaming friends once again and bring news of Darkfall without having old beer cans thrown at my head. I can only speak for myself on these matters though, so I'd encourage any and all fan input as I'm sure will be appreciated by Tasos. So here's a short list of what I'd like to see once a release date is finalized:
Videos. The bulk of gamers have attention spans shorter than a Special Olympics Spelling Bee, so it stands to reason that videos should be the primary promotion.
1.Walkthrough of character creation and a newbie PvE quest.
2.Developer commentary as they film him at a workstation explaining one of
Darkfall's innovative technical features, such as AI programming, sound effects, or resource generation.
3.PvP battle scenario played out with siege equipment from a birds-eye view which details a possible strategy like an American Football game replay booth.
4.Promotional video of clips which glorify and detail the merchant's path in the game of Darkfall, showing caravans, mining, shipment raiding, and blockade running.
5.Promotional video of PvE team effort and/or Raid Content in progress.
Since the current Darkfall Gameplay video already details a bit of action sequence in fighting and naval combat, further of promotion may be redundant in that area. However, if the inclination struck them, I would also like to see a long 10-15 minute "epic" promotional video that would tell a short story, detailing basically every aspect of the game in the process from espionage and clan warfare to resource wars and naval blockades. I should accredit such wonderful ideas from times past to another community member, Porthios. As these things have been discussed before with little attention, I hope now that backed by a published article that these ideas, which once caused me to pump my fist in heated excitement, may inspire Aventurine when they have need to let flow their creative juices. I can't hold a candle to the creativity of our collective Darkfall Community, and neither can Aventurine. So let loose, and remember, it wasn't that long ago Aventurine was asking us for quest ideas, so they do value productive input.
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