Like a lot of you I've had an itch to scratch for the MMORPG genre and while I've got old standbys like EQ I've been hunting for something fresh. Just by chance I ran across an article on the web discussing some updates for Darkfall and decided to investigate. I'm not a PVP fan at all and didn't have enough time to thoroughly check out the original game. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that Rise of Agon is actually scratching that itch waaayy more than I thought it would and it's not costing me a dime! They're totally fair in terms of their freemium model as well. From what I can tell as of the latest updates the only big sacrifice is storage space because you can claim houses now and your character doesn't get deleted after 30 days of inactivity like some had rumored. Now, that being said there is full loot on death in "red" areas so I know for some people that's enough to walk away.
But stay with me!
Again I'm actually anti PVP but this game handles it pretty fairly! It's easy enough to keep money banked and some things automatically are sent to your bank to keep them safe. Also as of December 2019 there are NON-PVP capitals which are no loot. This game feels old school guys! There's tons of quests, and every action you take raises your level for that particular skill which I love. It's pretty easy to earn gold in the game and 200k gold will net you a month of subscription so just like in EVE you can earn your sub in-game if you want to. The graphics do look somewhat dated but not terrible by any stretch. Oh and I love the crafting system as it's actually rather robust! In fact, everything found in-game can be crafted including house deeds.
So far I've never once been attacked and the community has been really friendly. I'm inclined to beleive Darfall isn't full of your typical gankers you'd find in this type of game. Now that's not to say you'll never get attacked but I've found generally folks treat this game like it's PVE with optional PVP. (Remember even WoW had open PVP if you ran into the other faction.) The only other downside I've found is trying to find updated information or a an up to date guide. But for some folks a guide isn't wanted or warranted so maybe that wouldn't bother you. After 5 hours of playing this game I'd have to say what I'm loving the most is that it respects my time. I haven't felt like I've been grinding at all for anything, it's very balanced that way in terms of work versus reward.
I hope some of you are interested in joining me and perhaps we can group together!
Oh..I guess I didn't mention there's Necromancy, Witchcraft, all the elemental magics and several cool melee types.