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Coda314

Dalayan Beginner
Hello all.

I'm an Aussie MMO player, currently addicted to Dark Ages of Camelot, playing on the PvE-only server, 'Gaheris'.

Recently a few mates of mine upgraded their net access from dial-up to broadband, and suggested we run a casual gaming session, something like an hour or two a week. They suggested the usual suspects, eg, Neverwinter Nights and Dungeon Siege. But I find such games very claustrophobic after a MMO like DAoC. Since we're only talking an hour or two weekly, taking up a commercial MMO doesn't really make sense for them, so I started sniffing around for less expensive options and wound up here. :)

Judging by these forums, it seems that SoD is robust/complete enough for long-term play. What is the server up-time like, particularly in US non-peak? We would be playing around 8-10pm local, which is currently 16 hours in front of the US East coast (ie., 4-6am). On a server where you can play for free, you have absolutely no right to complain about server down-time, but if the server was regularly down, say for maintenance while most of the US was asleep, that could be an issue for us.

Are there any other factors we should bear in mind in choosing SoD as home for a couple of hours a week?

Thanks for reading this,
Coda.
 
Much to the contrary, you will benefit by your "awkward" play times if I may put it that way. The reason being that if you're playing with friends you won't have to worry about groups (primary problem on off hours). However, you will benefit from the least amount of server lag since the server load will be much less. As for downtime, well I will just say that a lot of people play SOD and I dont think anyone leaves because of downtime (as in since the server was brought "back up" after some fiasco...). The game definitely has a lot to offer, and there is a lot of development at the low to mid end, which just a few months ago was lacking quite a bit. But hey, if you don't like it then no worries because you can't beat the price!
 
I would also add that there is no set "downtime" for patches, they typically go in when the admins are ready for them. Reading the frontpage will show you the dates for the recent patches and you will see that their is no set pattern to them. Same thing goes for the timing on patches, seen it happen morning, afternoon, evening - whatever fits into Wiz's (admin) schedule.
 
Many thanks for your replies, much appreciated. :)

I have the Gold Edition of EQ, bought on a whim whilst on-sale a while back. I have now installed that, and started up the EQ patcher. Checking the SoD getting-started guide, I see that in the EQ patcher I should have all expansions ticked, up to and including the Lost Dungeons. However, when I tick the Planes of Power box, which was initially unchecked, the patcher gives a warning message, saying that I should reinstall from the PoP CD's, which are not part of the Gold Edition.

Will the EQ patcher do its job regardless, or do I need to purchase PoP too?

Cheers,
Coda
 
Coda, you should be able to let the patcher run everything up to speed, I actually had no disks as I got rid of them years ago, and the patcher got me to where I need to be.

PS. Aussie here also, as is my wife, Zurash and Kindfaithe in game. :)
 
Regarding playing hours, I am on euro time, and average number of users displayed is half of US peak time.

I never had problems with uptime (I am a casual player, 2 times a week in average, for 2-3 hours). I am very happy, and had to log off maybe once for a fast update in two months. I guess most of the GMs in charge of the patches sleep when I play ;)
(Although GMs are there for petitions and stuff).

After EQ, I tried NWN just like you, and of course it's fun and all, but something is missing. Then there was SoD! Easy, fun, fast.

Bottom line is, go ahead and try it out, you will probably get addicted to SoD and become a Platinium Member!
 
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