Trade Skills give players a means to craft items that can be used or sold to other players. Again, have taken great pains (obviously drawn for the inherent weaknesses in other games) to design a trade-skill system that is actually useful, can be profitable and is balanced enough to reward only those dedicated enough to devote their energies toward mastering their chosen skill.

Craftsmen in Camelot are valued for two reasons – firstly (and most commonly) the Craftsmen is able to create items that are superior to everything but quest items and exceedingly rare drops from high-level monsters. Want a new set of armor? You can obtain pieces from one of the dungeons, purchase it from an NPC Merchant, or go for the best – seek out a player Armour-crafter and pay him to create you a set of armor that is superior in terms of durability and quality – resulting in better protection and less costs to maintain. The same applies to Weapon-crafters, Tailors and Fletchers. Secondly, the games main focus (which I will get to shortly) of Realm vs. Realm Combat (Or RvR as it is termed) needs master craftsmen to create siege engines such as catapults, balistas and battering rams to defend and conquer the many castles that stand in the way of victory.

The trade system is well designed with the consignment system. This allows players to receive tasks from their NPC Trade Guildmaster for orders that must be crafted then delivered to other NPCs in the main city of that realm. I.e. “Master Dingus needs a pair of Steel Plate Boots created for him”. You create the boots, give them to Master Dingus (who must first be located) and are rewarded with the cost of your materials needed to make the item, plus a bonus dependant on the quality of the finished item. (Which at the moment, is still just a little too random).

This, coupled with the mini-quest task system allows players to avoid a lot of the senseless, find monster, kill monster, rest, and repeat grind of leveling, at least until level twenty. Or stick to trades and never see any real combat, instead devoting their lives to create items for their friends, guild or realm mates.

Most people want combat though, and combat in DAoC kicks MAJOR bootee (I believe Mr Hutchins is referring to how much ‘fun’ it is – Ed) . Combat is separated into four classes, those who get up close and whack on things, those who heal the whackers who get whacked, those who whack from a distance, and those that support the whacking.

Mythic again has taken great care into balancing the classes so that no one class is 100% essential, and that each class is more than moderately able to go off and whack all by themselves. (A big change from a lot of other online games). Ultimately, though, the best and most fun way to adventure (polite term for going off on a whacking spree) is to whack together in a big group. This allows players to take advantage of their teammates skills and ability’s that offset their own weaknesses. It’s also a great way to make new friends online. To this end, Mythic have introduced a very nice LFG system (Looking for Group) where players can simply flag a box and have their name submitted as a candidate for anybody else looking for additional support. Although still somewhat under-used by the player base – the tool is there, and works very well indeed. Existing teams can also specify which types of whackers they need to complete or enhance their group. Brilliant.