Complete Heal

I figured this might help a few people. If you install the patch and get “error starting darkfall: 14001″ do the following and you should be able to log in. Look in your Darkfall folder, find the file name shown below and run it. It does something with C++ and once it’s done you can run the game just fine. Good luck.

File name:

vcredist_x86.exe

Darkfall was scheduled to go live yesterday. What happened?

It did not go live by the end of day
Their forums have been locked down for over 12 hours now due to high traffic
They couldn’t process their pre-order charges in time
They found a game breaking bug that had to get patched at the last minute
I just downloaded another 400MB patch
I see the server up as “Server EU-1″
I click on new character
It goes to a queue and says “you have a login slot, press play.”
I press play
I get “Error Starting Darkfall:14001″
It reboots the game – looking at the EULA

Nice……….

It’s less than 24 hours before the Darkfall release is upon us. When I left for work this morning, my torrent download was at about 80% so it should be ready to install tonight. I was one of the “lucky” ones who was able to battle the overloaded pre-order web servers and successfully create an account, enter billing information and then place an order for the game.

I know my “success story” puts me in the minority as the official forums are ablaze with “Epic Fail” and “Europe pulls another Failcom” posts. Let me back up a minute. What is Darkfall? Darkfall is a PVP centric MMO that’s been in development for over 7 years. The game has been developed on a low budget but has high expectations from a veteran playerbase who want something different than your standard cookie cutter MMO.

The game seems to lack resources, even as it approaches release. The developers announced the initial retail release would be a European one on 2/25/09 but that US players could pre-order and play on the European servers. They would allow US players to transfer off to US servers once the US version goes live. In other words, as a US player the best way to think of it is you get a head start.

The devs opened up a registration link to their beta players late last week. The link was leaked to the general public and soon thousands of players brought the pre-order servers to a screeching halt. The dev team worked diligently to expand their servers and the pre-order link was on again off again over a period of about 3 days. During this time period, many players lamented the inability to actually give Darkfall their cash. Intersting eh? Yesterday, they announced that the pre-order servers were back up and I made it through by spamming my F5 refresh key to successfully make my first purchase – in Euros. I really should know better by this point but I’m curious and willing to gamble the 50 bucks or whatever the equivalent in Euros might be.

Within a few hours of my purchase, I learned that the pre-orders had “sold out” and no more copies would be available until release. They also alluded to more copies being available on lauch day but those could sell out as well. The devs seem intent on keeping the population down so as not to overly burden their servers upon release. That’s a unique strategy. Basically, they are limiting the flow of initial cash into the game. Will it work?

Look at it this way. If the game experience is solid and stable – and we really have no reason to suspect it will be judging from their problems so far, then word of mouth will be strong and a throttled release may make sense. On the other hand if the servers are down or have problems, pre-order players will head back to the forums ranting and the game will die before it even has a chance to take off. Players who haven’t been able to sign up and hand over their $50 will just move on. The devs would have lost out on that cash flow that they could use to keep the game a going concern and improve performance and stability. It’s quite a gamble by the developers.

I can’t remember another modern MMO having such a restricted release – actually turning away potential paying customers. However, many MMO’s have released adding lots of servers and then were faced with server consolidations and character transfers because the initial rush didn’t pan out – in other words it wasn’t sustainable.

Regardless of your thoughts on Darkfall, their approach to release is an interesting one. I’m intrigued by the skill based character development, full loot PVP, large seamless world, naval battles and more. Hopefully, I’ll have some screenshots and updates for you all in the next 24 hours. That is of course assuming the servers actually stay up and I’m able to log in. The stakes are high. Will the Darkfall developers strategy prove out to be an epic fail or will we look back and say they were smarter than the average bear?

I have a weakness. I bet I’m not alone. My weakness is that I can’t resist the temptation of buying new MMOs when they come out. I’m a sucker for the genre I guess – always lining up to pre-order the “next big thing” usually paying extra for the big box containing the collector’s edition with a mouse pad and some figurines that end up living in a drawer. I bought into the hype for Ultima Online, Everquest, Everquest 2, WOW, Anarchy Online, Dark Age of Camelot, Shadowbane, Guild Wars, Vanguard, Pirates of the Burning Sea, Lord of the Rings, Asheron’s Call 1 and 2, Age of Conan, Warhammer and probably a few more that I can’t remember. I get so excited about the release of new MMOs that I spend hours researching the systems, watching videos and trying to figure out how to best hit the ground running. Usually within a short time span the novelty wears off and I’m back playing whatever I was playing before the new game released.

Every now and then I dust off one of these games and install it again thinking I’ll get up to max level and experience the game in all it’s glory just one more time. Unfortunately, that rarely happens. I keep telling myself that each time a new game comes out that promises the world I’ll have the discipline to wait until it’s a proven commodity before spending my hard earned cash. This is especially true when I feel like I’ve been burned one too many times recently.

I’m afraid I’m up to my old antics once again. I’m about to pre-order Darkfall Online. Yes, you can stop laughing now. No seriously – stop lol…. What’s funny is my expectations for the game are super low and my spidey sense is telling me to run away from this game… and fast. However, the promise of a seamless world with no leveling and advancement by skill points (sandbox system) is alluring. I like the idea of a game with consequences – where PVP is everywhere and death means losing all your stuff. To me, the promise of Darkfall is what Warhammer should have been in a world that seems as interesting as Vanguard. I just don’t know if the developers are going to be able to pull it off.

Why am I concerned? Well first of all the game has a long history of being considered vaporware. Constant delays have been the norm but we finally have a 2/25 release date that looks like it’s actually going to happen. The game is generating lots of buzz both positive and negative without spending any money really on advertising dollars. The game is supposed to release in less than a week and technically you can’t order the game yet. I don’t think stores will have it on the shelves – especially since the first release is EU only. They are going to do a limited scope pre-order program but to date only beta testers and people who have used a leaked link have been able to actually order the game. I’ve been trying to use that link all day and keep getting time outs. It’s really not putting forth a very good first impression. If they can’t get the registrations and pre-orders working when only a small portion of the people who are going to order the game even know that the link is available then I have worries about their ability to keep the servers running etc…

I can’t remember a game releasing in less than a week having such a state of confusion about the process only days before it goes live. I can’t believe I’m going through all this – spamming my F5 key trying to get their pre-order page to load so I can buy a game in Euros that may or may not ever release or have servers that can stay up. Is it really that bad out there in MMO land that people like me will try to hitch their wagon to a horse that hasn’t even been born? At least I’ve kept my sense of humor – I think I may need it in Darkfall. That is if I can ever get the link to work to give them my money. I’ll keep you all posted.