Well its true. If it was for me, I would like to have all the features and "exploits" of classic DAoC enabled here on Uthgard. Espacially levelling is an issue for me, because I remember how timeconsuming it can be if you do it the normal way.

However Uthgard is the only classic DAoC freeshard with sufficent member count, so I decided to give it a try and play a class that is easy to level.

Though I would like it more if the classic PL strategies where still viable here.

Powerleveling here, powerleveling there...

If you check out your DAoC-Portal, you will see that theres some i50-Server that provide PvP only. No need to level up or farm items. And theres no real population on those servers. Just because every low-minded has every char.

Often, I hear that DAoC is a PvP-based game. Well, I have to say that I´ve never understood DAoC as a PvP-Game. I can do PvP, but I don´t have to. I can do PvE until my brain blows up. The major issue of DAoC was the community itself. Socialize with other players.

I remember the good old days on Ava/Hib. There has been waiting lists for groups at popular spots. Someone with a pencil and a sheet of paper wrote down the names of replacement-players. It was very social those days. Players buffed you without asking, If u died, you received at least 2 or 3 /sends "Where? Shall we rezz?". These good old days are gone mostly.

DAoCs social death was powerleveling. Let me tell you my story:

I was member of a well known hibernian guild. Thats why I know Kintrada ^^. I had a ranger. But no buffbot. I simply didn´t want to pay for 2 accs. So I had to spend points in "Pathfinding", which meant that I had less DMG-potential. Well, guess what answer i received when asking for groups to do some RvR... "No buffbot? sorry then, good luck!"

The /level command came up. When I didn´t have a 50 (other server), I had to level from 1-20 the normal way. Guess what happened when I asked some guys for group... "sorry, it´s my twink, got push-group".

I could have participated. But I had no buffbot so far.

Later, the real powerleveling-era came up. You´ve found no more low-level groups. About 85%+ of the players simply gathered around in their guilds, doing powerleveling. Since I had one account only, I had some twinks. Guess what happened, when I asked for a spot in a PL-group? "Got buffbot?" - "No" - "in that case sorry"

DAoC went from a social game into a PL-game without social elements. New players that started around, without knowing any old players still had no real chance to level up in any way.
Is that we want for Uthgard? The reason why i play on Uthgard is: it´s nearly the good old DAoC-experience as in these old days on Live, when i played. People have to gather with other players to level up fast. Whats the point of powerleveling? Get a char quick to 50, do some RvR, and then PL the next char? And collect several accounts full of 50´s, like it was on live?

Yes, it is hard to level up on Uthgard. But it´s not as hard and long-termed as it was when DAoC was released. I recently leveled my cleric from 16-32 within 2 days, only with random groups. Playtime about 6 hours for that. If someone doesnt want to spend the time needed for that - go to insta50 server.

I simply wonder how many new players I´ve found since i started playing on Uthgard. Players totally new to DAoC. Not 50 or 100, of course. But a few. Do you think those players would have a chance if PL was possible here? I think no.

It is hard to compete when you're using the same gear for 10 levels at a time, because there is no gear available to new players, and if it is, it is over priced.

Well, thats not really true. Me by myself, i have several crafters. Often, when im grouped and need new gear for my chars, i ask other players in the group if anybody needs something. At material costs. On the other side, i offer my crafting skill in /trade. Not a single lowlevel reacting on that.
When I started over in another realm on uthgard, i asked for a crafter to help me out. I had a few gold pieces, not really much. I asked if he could craft me some gear, first try. Guess what he did? He crafted me a whole set at material costs, and gave me another set for NOTHING, as i was new in the realm.

When i reached level 43, i was able to pay for my lvl 50 temp. Not all capped, but suitable for its costs. Farming money on Uthgard is way easier than it was on live. When i had 5p, i was rich in the old days. On Uthgard, you´re poor when you dont have at least 15p. That´s the point.

And even with dropped items, its possible to level up. If not: just ask in /trade for some help. There wont be a reply within seconds. But if you continue asking, you´ll find someone to help you. Its just as easy as that.
And in the realm forums, its a good chance to open a thread and asking for some help as a startup. Period.

No matter where you go, you find groups xping - and that is what I really like about this server - on live it was all about pl at orc spot, ac bomb grp, goblin spot and poc. Or laters solo cleaning instances... rest of daoc world was dead.

Two days ago, I wanted to solo my last missing 0,2 til 50 - went Stone Henge - passed like 4 groups on the way down....
Yesterday, I took part at first dragon raid - on the way to dragon I passed another 3-4 groups - and that on a server with "only" 900 at prime - fantastic!

I even "fear" SI a bit - as all the guys xping will spread over too huge maps.

Making pl hard or even impossible is one vital key for a good server life!

Dirtymind wrote:I even "fear" SI a bit - as all the guys xping will spread over too huge maps.

might happen, but imho ppl will just spread over SI maps instead of classic maps, which is fine...and some spots like dungeons or other zones (lyonesse/dartmoor for alb for example) won't be abandoned due to drops or good spots...

i also like that PLing is not really possible here..otherwise it would be even harder for newcomers to level up as they won't be able to do PLing themselves very often

There is perhaps one thing to keep in mind regarding PL'ing - and that is the banning of buffbots and dual logging. That means that you could never PL yourself a twink as it was done in the old days (logging two accounts, basically). So even if the staff would remove the current XP clamp, I don't think that we would be seeing a lot of PL'ing, just because it would mean that you yourself couldn't directly profit from it in the same way as you did on live servers. At best it would take twice as long, because if 8 people want to PL twinks, then they have to basically do it twice (4 twinks and 4 lvl 50 chars to PL them).

and thus fostering the communal spirit!

Lasastard wrote:At best it would take twice as long, because if 8 people want to PL twinks, then they have to basically do it twice (4 twinks and 4 lvl 50 chars to PL them).

Or just xp together? Ah right, stupid idea But on the other hand... Even with RVR setup and possible AT chars, with 8 players knowing the game and playing well (and access to some money), it shouldnt take much longer than one intense week.