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Dark Age of Camelot Releases Old Expansion as Patch

Posted by Zonk on from the kindness-and-generosity-of-the-nobility dept.

Popular MMOG Dark Age of Camelot has had several expansions since its launch, and recently the Shrouded Isles expansion was released to the playerbase as a patch to the game. This essentially ensures that anyone who purchases even the base game is upgraded to the better graphics engine of the Shrouded Isles expansion. The patch is downloadable from FileFront and ValueCommerce. Another notch in the trend of Massive games trying to emphasize free content additions as a selling point.

36 comments

  1. Nice spin by SimianOverlord · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    Free content additions?

    What about all the poor suckers who bought the expansion with their own hard cash originally? What recompense are they going to get? Is this what MMORPG's are going to do now, release expansions, get a few suckers to give them money, then just release it for free anyway later on?

    --
    Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
    1. Re:Nice spin by override11 · · Score: 1

      thats exactly what I thought at first. Sok, I'm a WoW player now. :)

      --
      No I didnt spell check this post...
    2. Re:Nice spin by tntguy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They got to use it for months (year(s)?) earlier. Think of all those suckers that paid for Doom and Quake! Phew!

    3. Re:Nice spin by SimianOverlord · · Score: 1

      True, but the fact they already pay a monthly subscription anyway just pushes it over the edge for me.

      --
      Meine Schwester ist sehr, sehr reizvoll - Nietzsche
    4. Re:Nice spin by kenp2002 · · Score: 2, Informative

      They don't get access to the zone as far as I heard (but I stopped playing my 50 Valewalker when Trials of Atlantis came out and haven't followed Mythic much after that), only the updated graphics engine. They use NDL's (Numeric Designs) rendering engine (same one used for Elder Scroll Morrowind.) Their "expansions" tend to fall along NDL's updates to their engine. Hmmm....

      --
      -=[ Who Is John Galt? ]=-
    5. Re:Nice spin by randalx · · Score: 1

      i guess you can think of it as you're paying to get it sooner then everybody else. wouldn't be so bad if things like this were clearly spelled out.

    6. Re:Nice spin by stanmann · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Welcome the the world of MMORPGs.. Everyone with staying power does it.

      EITHER
      A) buy each new expansion for $19-$29 OR
      B) wait 18 months or so and buy the special combo pack with the original+ last 3(6/9/etc)expansions for $19-$25.
      C) get a free "buddy" key that includes all current expansions to "share" with a "friend"

      Playing on the bleeding edge is expensive. Waiting a while is cheaper... Eventually Doom3 will be $19.95 and I'll buy it. Or it will be included free with my subscription to PCGamer.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
    7. Re:Nice spin by syynnapse · · Score: 1

      I think that if you wait long enough on any PC game, you can eventually play for free. I mean, look at all the suckers who payed for doom, and now I can play it free all day long. muhuhahahahaha
      goodness im sad.

      --

      System.out.println(syynnapse.getSig());

    8. Re:Nice spin by Derkec · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Wow, this is this first time I've wanted to respond to slashdot post with a biblical parable.

      Here's the short version:

      Guy needs help havesting. He hires 10 day workers for X money to do the work. Around noon, he goes out and snatches another 10 to do work. At 2, he gets 10 more. At the end of the day, he's happy. He pays X money to each person.

      The people working all day are pissed. "Why do those guys get the same reward for less work?" they ask. The land owner replies, "I told you that you would get X for your labor, and you got it. Our arrangement was fair."

      Boom. You paid for content. You got it. Life was good. If someone else is given it as an incentive to play later, that's fine.

    9. Re:Nice spin by Jonny+290 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      1: Spend three years paying coders and devs to write a huge, immersive video game, an order of magnitude more complex than most console titles.
      2: Invite 200,000 people to play on it.
      3: Manage it for less than 2.5 million a month, while adding content, maintaining and adjusting game balance, keeping sufficient live CSRs on duty to answer help requests and appeals, and make it fun to not only the hardcore gamer, but the casual player and roleplayer as well.

      once you can pull this off, you can bitch about mmo fees. until then, you can't say a got-damn thing.

      these things are fucking expensive to run.

      --
      Hey Taco! Looks like you're using the "infinite monkeys and typewriters" scheme to generate Ask Slashdots again...
    10. Re:Nice spin by tsm_sf · · Score: 1

      I always thought the point of that parable was that bosses are no-account sons a bitches.

      --
      Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
    11. Re:Nice spin by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey it's like going to a movie theater vs. renting vs. waiting for it to come on network tv.

  2. early adopters? by bagel2ooo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Isn't this the qualm of all early adopters? You're taking a gamble whenever you make a purchase. It can be an educated and calculated risk, or it can be a folly. Everyone is entitled to their right to complain but at times like this it isn't very sensible.

    --
    ( o ) one could say I'm rather baked
    1. Re:early adopters? by gl4ss · · Score: 2, Interesting

      with subscription based mmorpg's you're making a purchase EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

      and as such you could expect them to keep the game intresting without you paying even more. could, of course, but usually wont because hey, it's another profit oppurtunity.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    2. Re:early adopters? by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 1

      > with subscription based mmorpg's you're making a purchase EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

      If you don't like it, then vote with your dollar. No one is FORCING you to play & pay.

      Find a game that you can play with your friends that doesn't involve a monthly fee.

      Ask yourself this -- what is more important: Being with friends or Having to pay for the opportunity to do so?

      > and as such you could expect them to keep the game interesting without ...

      The games industry, unfortunately, cares only about one thing - the bottom line. Not sure why this is such a shock to most people.

      What's that quote:
      "There's a sucker born every minute."

      Of course, there are a few titles & companies that do care about quality -- but the MMORPGs exist to make money. They _have_ to -- they won't last if they don't! The subscription model is the dream state -- how to get customers to continually pay for a product that is never finished! "Ship it!" becomes the norm, since your product is always being worked on. A program is perpetually buggy, by definition.

      Look, I'm not against MMORPGs. One just needs to take a look at the bigger picture. I'm currently playing WoW and having a great time running my guild. Is the game perfect, no. But guess what, as a game developer I understand that there is NO SUCH thing as a perfect game. EVERY system has flaws and limitation. Do you want to bitch about it, or _DO_ something constructively about it? Organize a petition, inform others, etc. Simply complaing about a game, doesn't let the developers (or publisher) aware of it, unless it is on a site that they read.

      Thankfully blizzard has the "/bug" command to log bugs & suggestions. I use it all the time: about 2 bugs a day. Hopefully my feedback will make things better in the future.

      There's a difference between criticism, and constructive criticism.

      Peace

    3. Re:early adopters? by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      I _am_ voting with my dollar.

      if they had more quality they _would_ have my euros, infinitely, at 10e per month. for it to make sense to keep paying they would have to have a new game's worth of playing every few months.

      the problem are fiascos that end up costing you a monthly fee... that you pay because they promise to fix the bugs, then later you just find out they were just developing a new expansion that you have to buy to get on even playing field and the upgrades you were promised.

      so.. i'm still just playing online games that don't include a monthly fee.

      there's no perfect game.. but that's not an excuse for making deliberate shit.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  3. yay, this should effect all 12 players by Pengo · · Score: 2, Interesting


    WoW has all but destroyed the player base of DAoC. Their endgame relies on a large number of people playing, and unfortunately it's spun into a rut thats going to take a miracle to fix. WoW and EQ2 have finally nailed the coffin shut on that game imho.

    Mythic has had no real compeition in their niche until now. I hope they enjoyed their hayday while they had it.

    1. Re:yay, this should effect all 12 players by Zwets · · Score: 1

      So, are you saying that red ink is flowing like a river of blood? And that, if DAoC is to survive at all, it will be among MMORPG dilettante dabblers? Sorry, couldn't resist. :-)

      --
      One of the lessons of history is that nothing is often a good thing to do and always a clever thing to say. - Will Duran
    2. Re:yay, this should effect all 12 players by CountBrass · · Score: 1

      Hate to disagree but EQ2 stink like a barrel of 3 month old fish.

      Let me give you a for instance: the starting locations for all races and classes, regardless of good/evil are identical as are the quests.

      The quests are crap. You'll frequently be given quests that say "go kill X in location Y" with no idea where location Y is! And you'll be given quests that are far too high level for you: to the extent that quest characters further down the trail (the dark elf at the crossroads in the overseer quest for example) won't even talk to you about the quest because you're too low a level and no explanation given!

      If you've played WOW and EQ2 then it terms of quality you'll know they're like something that's really well done (WoW) and something that's a pile of utter crap (EQ2).

      --
      Bad analogies are like waxing a monkey with a rainbow.
  4. Wasted my money.. by trendescape · · Score: 0

    I'm so glad I wasted my money buying the upgrade.

    --
    irc.enterthegame.com #linux
  5. Not bad looking by Ganondorf+Dragmire · · Score: 1

    I am playing both WoW and EQ2. I have friends who are still playing DAOC. My first impression to the game was that it looked terrible. I seen the new shots of this expansion. Its a major update. Its so cool for them to be doing this for free. But again, after WoW's release, they should of done it eariler. WoW really did destroy some of its subscription base. But over all...not bad.

  6. COH Free Content! Woot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Next content update "Issue 3: council of war" for City of Heroes is coming out later this month for free, and its advancing the story line.
    However things such as City of villains will be a optional expansion pack, you'll have to pay to have it added to your Coh account. If the devs have their way CoV will also be available as a seprate game for those who dont want to get CoH. But those with CoH just buy the pack and have it added on.

    Also included in this update are areas where PvP arenas are being built.
    coh.com

    1. Re:COH Free Content! Woot! by mconeone · · Score: 1

      What makes you think this content is free? You pay $15/mo to play the game, which is well above what it takes to maintain the game. They ARE necessary though, as CoH has a fraction of the content that WoW has, yet they are the same price.

    2. Re:COH Free Content! Woot! by snuf23 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Um - I would hope they are charging more than what it takes to maintain the game. They are a company in business to make a profit afterall.
      I don't consider the extra content free - it makes me much happier paying the monthly fee when I know that there are quarterly "expansions" included in that cost.
      As to CoH vs. WoW - to each his own. I've been playing CoH since June and still haven't seen and done everything. Admittedly I only have time for a couple of hours everyday, so I am by no means a hardcore MMO player.
      I tried the beta for WoW and just couldn't get into it. I'm sure it's a great game and lots of people seem to love it. Not enough spandex for me though.

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
    3. Re:COH Free Content! Woot! by Golias · · Score: 1

      I found CoH to be superior in most ways (interface, content, originality, creativity of quests, character design, etc.) over WoW.

      That said, I dropped my CoH account and have completely switched to WoW. I did so for one reason and one reason only: Almost nobody I know is playing City of Heroes, while it seems that everybody and his kid brother are playing World of Warcraft. If I want to game with my friends and colleagues, it has to be in World of Warcraft.

      This is entirely a result of Blizzard's huge reputation for making fun games. NCSoft is big in Asia, but virtually unkown here. The only people who will continue to favor CoH over other MMORPG's are those who feel a strong preference for the comic-book superhero genre over Tolkien-esque fantasy. Which is fine, but it does mean that CoH will become more of a niche community.

      With MMORPG's, it's always "come for the gameplay, stay for the human interaction." There's nothing about any of these games to keep me playing them for more than a month or two, but hanging out online with people I know from distant locations while enjoying the game content has some appeal. They are not really games, they are chat rooms with fun diversions. Therefore the most popular one (with the circles I run in) wins my dollars. If everybody I knew moved to EQ2, so would I.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    4. Re:COH Free Content! Woot! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >CoH has a fraction of the content that WoW has

      The only game I have seen with more cotent vs COH is AC (and I've played nearly all of them). COH is a well polished game with lots of content.

      Its only downside is it doesn't cover all the MMORPG player types (eg. Killers).

  7. Free content additions???? by niconorsk · · Score: 1
    It seems that the companies are forgetting one small thing. When I pay a monthly fee for a MMORPG, the company will advertise that this fee is to cover server costs and
    • for the development of new content and improvements.
    Looks like the new content isn't all that free after all.
    --
    Nothing is impossible. We just haven't quite worked out how to do it yet.
  8. The story got it all wrong... by Ralin_JM · · Score: 2, Informative

    Mythic only released the engine for free, you still have to pay for the Shrouded Isles content. The only reason the SI engine is being offred as a free download is because the DAoC classic engine will no longer be supported once Catacombs is released tuesday. Not as generous as it first sounded eh?

    1. Re:The story got it all wrong... by DarkFencer · · Score: 3, Informative

      That was the original plan, but they have since said that ALL of SI would be free, not just the engine.

      Guess they figured it is too much trouble to bother seperating it.

  9. Mythic has released 2 free expansions by helfon1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Mythic had 2 expansions "Foundations" that they released free of charge. One was an entire housing system and zones and the other was a makeover of the RvR zones and system. They have done a pretty good job with making sure that the 12 dollars a month doesn't just go to bug fixing and server costs it also pays for added content if you want to download it. On top of that they have had 2 yearly pay expansions (with the 3rd being released tomorrow Dec 7th)

    I hope more companies follow Mythic's lead and make the standard monthly mmo fee actually feel like it is paying for something.

    1. Re:Mythic has released 2 free expansions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be clear, the housing was promised as part of the base game before it was released. It was finally included in Foundations a year or two after DAoC initailly came out.

  10. It's a Engine Change more so than a free expansion by ApacheVE · · Score: 1

    I won't comment on the free vs retail for the expansion, but the reason why Mythic is releasing Shrouded Isles for free is that with Catacombs, the newest retail expansion pack, they are introducing a new game engine which isn't compatable with the Classic game client. Thus SI, the expansion they are now offering for free, is the new minimum client needed to play the game. Why not just run the Catacombs engine? Well, this is mostly used for people with lower end machines or players who run two or more accounts (it's less resource intensive). Plus, it's over two years old and SI isn't even a popular zone. :)

  11. Re:It's a Engine Change more so than a free expans by Ralin_JM · · Score: 1

    Unless you count the lost seed quest that is. :P I'm sure a lot of broke classic users can't wait to get that.

  12. Re:It's a Engine Change more so than a free expans by Rallion · · Score: 1

    The same game now has a third engine? Whoa. Just make it good enough the first time and stick with it, please.

  13. Taking a hint from EVE-Online by ghideon · · Score: 1

    EVE-Online always releases new content in the form of patches. They just had their massive update go live about two weeks ago (the Shiva/Exodus expansion).

    I quit playing DAoC around the time the first expansion came out, not because of the expansion but more because I got bored of it. Frankly, it's kinda bull that they try to get you to buy an expansion, especially when it's a PVP game and you're trying to remain competitive with other players.

    EVE-Online is fairly popular, and it must be easier on the developers to have one single client/codebase/install to maintain, as opposed to different expansions. I already pay $15/mo for the game, and if they would start charging for expansions I'd prolly tire of that quickly, even tho I haven't tired of the game.

  14. Re:It's a Engine Change more so than a free expans by ApacheVE · · Score: 1

    Dark Age of Camelot is an ever-evolving product. They don't plan on making a DAoC 2, so they keep upgrading the technology to keep up with the times.