Man I hope Mythic got a royalty check for thisFollow

The original poster has some very valid points. If I read his post(s) correctly, he isn't really slamming SoE for taking what few things DAoC did better and incorporating them into their new game; I take it as merely his observation that this was so.

Let me try another analogy that falls under the general heading of "There's Nothing New Under The Sun":

What's a car? Basically, each car is a frame, an engine, a transmission, four tires and a cabin to sit in and operate the vehicle. Sure, there are many different configurations, features and levels of both but, when reduced to its very essence, it's just the sum of its parts.

So too is a MMORPG. You might have different features, different settings and different toons but, really, how different is one from another except by the accessories?

I played DAoC for a couple of years. Most of that time, I enjoyed it but I knew that Mythic was having horrible problems balancing their PvP endgame. When I sold my account a couple months back, the game had almost been ruined by their last downloadable xpac- New Frontiers. By that time, I was playing almost exclusively on their PvE server but Mythic was quick to tell you that PvP was their signature feature and that the game was and is geared toward that end- PvE is merely a means to that end. In fact, many if not most consider their last PvE expansion- Trials of Atlantis- as being a total flop.

My statements thus far might give one the impression that I found nothing in DAoC to be fun or innovative at all. That's not the case at all. I had played EQ1 for about 18 months and found much in DAoC to be better: the classes were better because you had some variety within the classes as to spells/abilities you chose for your character. In EQ, tanks swung weapons, mages cast spells and Cleric healed- not much different from any one Warrior to another one. I thought the DAoC crafting system was much more deep and compelling than EQ's. I thought that DAoC actually looked better than EQ (still do in fact).

To carry forth the car analogy a bit further, Chevrolet didn't totally re-invent the car from what Ford made. Chevrolet set out to make their cars different and maybe better, but they didn't decide to reinvent the wheel, so to speak. They built upon the technology that existed. Well, so too has SoE built upon what Mythic did right and avoided what they did wrong (well, we can hope on the second point, right?). Nothing wrong with that concept and still even less so >IF< they pull it out.

Well,

As a thought, inspiration can come from not only copying what another does well, but fixing what one does poorly. To be the game DOAC was, it had to come out after Everquest. You can argue all you want about relative subscriptions if DAOC came out first - but it would not have been the same game.

I look forward to trying EQII in a few days, then I'll see how it is. At that time, I doubt very seriously I'll care where any of the game's ideas came from ...