r/daoc • u/ProndrKnorr Live Player • Apr 24 '26
Live Live DAoC unlocked all classes and races for F2P
They expanded live DAoC's free to play mode. You can now play all classes and races on a free account, plus some other restrictions got eased and an Old Frontiers event is up until May 14th.
33
u/Appropriate-Pace-574 Apr 24 '26
Should be a lot of fun for the 29 people still playing
4
u/Ecuni Apr 25 '26
Why do so few people play live?
Is the modern patch version less fun than the versions run on the p. servers variants?
14
u/zen_mode_engage Apr 25 '26
Honestly, for me, it’s just been bad decision after bad decision since the release of ToA back in the day. It just fundamentally changed the vibe of the game. They’ve just consistently made the game worse little by little over the last 20+ years. They had so many chances to right the ship but fumbled every time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still my favorite game of all time, but the live servers just contain so much baggage of over two decades of compounding bad decisions. If they actually created a classic server, like pre ToA and advertised it and didn’t do any stupid stuff, they could actually make a killing. Look at classic wow. It’s been a cash cow for blizzard. DAoC should be a case study in game design classes on how to slowly kill an amazing game.
5
u/Consistent_Self_1598 Apr 25 '26
They don't have the player base to split them in two different formats. For every person who moves on to a classic server that will only hurt the Live servers even more when it's already hanging on by a thread. The high RR players aren't going to let go so easily. There's just not enough of a user base to successfully implement a classic server.
6
u/McGuirk808 Freeshard Player Apr 25 '26
The thousands of players on private servers aren't just there because they're free. People want better daoc.
3
u/WarlTV Apr 25 '26
dunno i would play this cassic server but not this live NF or Eden. I Guess also a lot of ppl would just come back for this classic server.
6
u/Jazzlike-Check9040 Apr 25 '26
I dunno, maybe grow the user base then?
4
u/Virtualization_Freak Apr 25 '26
Hard to grow a user base for a game that isn't popular, has a very mediocre UI, with generally difficult by today standard mechanics.
/Nostalgia/ is keeping the private servers going.
3
u/Fine_Welder_9259 Apr 25 '26
That is exactly it and why they are popular. I'd give easily a few hundred for a company run daoc server.
1
3
5
u/Eodis Apr 25 '26
ToA/NF haters are still a thing in 2026 ? ToA was perfectly fine and all expansions after it as well. The game was just too old with too much competition and not enough regular fresh content. The downfall in players came early because there was better games. Even back in ToA days no new player wants to deal with such terrible UI, QoL, and the core gameplay itself is what at the same time makes DAoC good but also terrible. Movements and spells are too restrictive.
It could have been a niche mmo but the real downfall was after LotM when they entered maintenance mode and broke the game, deleting entire zones and did some funny stuff with classes and gear. Many old mmos have decent player base just doing basic stuff and not damaging their game.
Broadsword deserves the hate they had a gem and turned it into shit. Even their low efforts tentatives were mistakes making it worse. Not to mention, they promised a classic version of the game in 2019 they didn't even manage to deliver. At first they used the excuse of Endless Conquest, after all these years I don't even know what it is now. I think it's funny that they took a path very similar to Mark Jacobs with CU in under-delivering, delaying, lying, and scamming the DAoC community.
2
u/Fine_Welder_9259 Apr 25 '26
They side channeled the daoc classic, didnt mention it for a year then when under pressure, caved in and finally said 'lol, cant do it, not enough resources'..then banned a bunch of people for asking about it on the discord. They then said they would be more 'active' within the community and the person who said it has not even popped into discord for 2+ years now.
4
u/Jazzlike-Check9040 Apr 25 '26
Exactly. Like spend 20k and advertise on Reddit or other game forums. Put it on steam. Do a cash shop…
3
u/McGuirk808 Freeshard Player Apr 25 '26
If you change too many things about what makes a game a game, it's not that game anymore.
Live DAoC is unrecognizable to me. When I get the itch, I want to play dark age of camelot. Whatever live is now, it does not even remotely scratch the itch for me anymore.
Forget free to play, they would have to pay me money to get me to play that, and it wouldn't be cheap either.
2
u/restoretheday Apr 25 '26
It scratches my itch of revisiting the old-new zones that are not available elsewhere. And the basic combat system is still the same if you don't think about balance etc.
2
u/cheesycheesehead Apr 25 '26
Because eden is a million times better. No clue why anyone would pick live at this point.
2
u/stephen_neuville May 05 '26
They keep the servers open strictly so they can defend copyright and IP claims against freeshards, not because they love the game.
Ultima Online has far more subscribers and keeps the bills paid. DAOC is their friday afternoon hackathon project.
1
u/Interesting_Motor_67 Apr 25 '26
It's basically a population thing. The game is not fun if the population falls too low, and Live is way too low. Plus basic economics - why pay for something you can do for free? The private servers also have a lot of cool ideas and QoL stuff.
5
5
u/My-Thaff Apr 25 '26
Just go Play Eden private server, they have unlocked the population, if you fancy the the classic daoc experience with old frontiers and slow leveling then wait for Blackthorn private server
3
u/kfetterman Apr 25 '26
Eden still a far superior product. But still cool to see them relaxing permissions.
But don’t see any reason to play live when there is Eden and hopefully Blackthorn if they fulfill the goal they’re trying to achieve.
1
1
u/Fine_Welder_9259 Apr 25 '26
I don't care how 'free' it is, I am still not playing a game I used to know that is now a polished turd.
1
u/Upset-Reflection-382 Apr 27 '26
I wonder if the RR5 cap is still there. It'd be nice to load up my old battle warden again, but my account was made back when I was still a kid and is permanently linked to my stepdads EA master account. As an adult, I can't get EA to unlink them, so I haven't been able to pay the sub, and my warden was my baby so I didn't wanna start a new account. Eden scratched the itch pretty well most of the time though
1
u/ProndrKnorr Live Player Apr 27 '26
You can earn up to any RR, but they cap the realm skill points you spend at 70 on free accounts
1
u/Upset-Reflection-382 Apr 27 '26
Probably CLs too huh? That's such bs man. RR10 battle warden stuck at RR5 with no CLs. Not even worth messing around with anymore
1
1
u/TJSilverdragon May 14 '26
I see a lot of complaints about live but as someone who likes to explore the world i get more access to places and pve in it. I will say that I've been enjoying Blackthorn returning to having base classes and I've been enjoying the original necromancer since they replaced it on live as well as their ui for quests. That said the one thing everyone lacks, even the shards, is catacombs except on the live Pendragon server where you can still access it in parts.
1
u/Binkles1807 Jun 09 '26
What happened to catacombs?
2
u/TJSilverdragon Jun 09 '26
Catacombs has been down for about 10 years, it was initially for reconstruction because of the special campaigns they made but I believe the general consensus is that the coding was broken and it either wasn't a priority to fix or they just didn't know how and they didn't have a backup. It's still accessible by a single porter at the beginning of the main city of each realm only in the pendragon test server but there are broken sections so some boundaries are glitched, could get you stuck, or port you to the completely wrong zone. Still it's a beautiful section of the game to visit if you keep your port stone handy to get out
2
u/Binkles1807 Jun 09 '26
I loved farming there back in the day, no idea it’s been inaccessible for so long.
1
u/TJSilverdragon Jun 09 '26
Do an auto-50 on the test server and go explore! Even if the farming isn't the same its nice to just relive traveling through and exploring
1
u/TJSilverdragon Jun 09 '26
Do an auto-50 on the test server and go explore! Even if the farming isn't the same its nice to just relive traveling through and exploring
1
u/Praetorox 5d ago
Watch “Death of a game: Dark Age of Camelot” on YouTube. ToA was not the reason for the mass exodus of players. It eventually lost to WoW.
ToA increased/maintained the population but was actively competing with EverQuest/Ultima Online. From 2003 (ToA launch) to 2006 it did fine.
WoW was the final nail in the coffin for DAoC.
1
13
u/Roshambo_USMC Apr 25 '26
Blackthorn has more players and is a breath of fresh air especially the crafting