For many MMORPG fans, “Dark Age of Camelot” (PC) is still considered the online role-playing game with the best PvP. The game was released in 2001 in the USA and established the three-realm combat system, which is still maintained in Guild Wars 2 and The Elder Scrolls Online today. In 2022, the game will receive a new server with classic elements and a restart: Such a classic version had already caused a resurgence for World of Warcraft.
What kind of game is it? Dark Age of Camelot is a classic MMORPG with some unique features that many veterans still highlight 21 years after its release:
In the game, 3 realms fight against each other:
- Albion (Arthurian Legend, Knights and Mages)
- Hibernia (Celtic Mythology, Elves and Fairies)
- Midgard (Norse Mythology, Trolls and Dwarves)
Each realm has different versions of certain classes that vary greatly, leading to crazy class combinations:
- “Shadowblade” is, for example, a rogue who can wield a two-handed weapon
- the Scout is a bowman who fights with a shield
- the Animist can summon numerous mushrooms that attack enemies
Above all, PvP is considered formative for the MMORPG genre: Players fought against each other for castles and relics. There were duels, small skirmishes, or massive battles.
If everything was so great, why is it then dead? Dark Age of Camelot experienced a relatively large hype in the early 2000s and released several expansions in rapid succession.
Then it became clear that “PvE” games like Everquest performed better on the market than PvP titles like Dark Age of Camelot. The DAOC developers, Mythic, tried to steer the game towards PvE with the “Trials of Atlantis” expansion in 2003, which worked moderately well.
The game also had ongoing balancing issues: Especially new classes that came with the expansions were considered “too strong” and “overpowered”: It was said that they were just that good to encourage many people to buy the new add-on.
Then the hype for World of Warcraft emerged, and Dark Age of Camelot disappeared more or less from the spotlight starting in 2005.
The leading minds of the game turned to other projects and the next generation of MMORPGs: The design chief, Mark Jacobs, developed Warhammer Online, and the production chief, Matt Firor, moved to Bethesda and worked on “The Elder Scrolls Online”.
New server with classic elements aims to be a restart and bring back old players
This is the idea now: As clarified in a newsletter summarizing a developer Discord chat, a new server is planned for 2022 to bring players back to DAOC:
- The server is to run a “modified version of DAOC” – the rest is on “strong classic elements”
- The server is to allow for a “restart”
- The server is to be launched in summer
The developers emphasize that the current DAOC on the Ywain server should not be negatively affected by this.
What’s behind this: DAOC is certainly one of the MMORPGs that has been most glorified 20 years later. Many debates continually arise about how great DAOC was – for many in Europe and Germany, it was their “first MMORPG”.
The attempt to revive the game and turn back the clock is certainly interesting.
However, it must be said that Dark Age of Camelot has aged significantly worse in terms of graphics compared to World of Warcraft.
For many years, fans of DAOC have hoped that “Camelot Unchained” will eventually succeed. This is an indie MMORPG from DAOC developer Marc Jacobs:
MMORPG Camelot Unchained has been in development for 9 years – the atmosphere is openly hostile
