Transferring from WoW...Follow

I recently quit WoW, after getting somewhat bored with it. I've been considering switching to DAOC, but I don't really know too much about it yet... can anyone give me some advice? Would this be a good game for an ex-WoWer? Thanks.

daoc > wow

I'm quitting WoW because the endgame model is so screwed up. All the endgame raids take 40 people which means each person is a cog in a machine doing a very specific job. As well, to get your class set, you have to run the same end-game instance an average of 200-300 times, and its filled with trashmobs to just waste time, even if the boss encounters are fun, there's still 5 times longer spent on the tedious grind than on the boss encounter.

The 5-man party requires a lot more skill on the part of the players as they have to be more dynamic than spamming a single function. It's also a lot easier to form a 5-man party. 40-man content requires being in an uber-guild. 5-man can be done by a group of friends or just about any guild. Yet in WoW, the 5-man party has no place. The newer content is more of the same, as is the planned content.

The main part of the game was fun, with no end-game to speak of, I've taken 3 characters to the level cap and have most classes at least to the teens with a few in the 30's and 40's, but it's getting very old.

PvP is an even bigger joke. One battle ground is so grossly overweighted in pvp honor that any other form of pvp is meaningless for honor, so all there is to do is farm that BG. As it turns out, that BG is won about 95% of the time by horde across all the servers through a combination of class imbalance between the factions, poor terrain design that is biased in favor of the horde, and the fact that the alliance players are too stupid to work as a team. Whether you're horde or alliance, horde winning 95% of the time just isn't fun, especially since the ranking is a ladder system, rendering the whole system meaningless for both sides.

PvP also has no reflection of your own skill. Out in the main world, you'll never have a balanced encounter, either you'll be in a smaller or larger group, or there will be a significant level differenence. Also the element of surprise is so overwhelming the person who does the attack almost always wins.

In BG you're in a 10 or 40 player group, so your skill is much less imporant than how your group is on average.

So that's why I quit WoW.

I am looking for a new game and considering DAoC, but I want to know how it addresses those issues. For endgame PvE, is it set up for massive groups grinding through a tedious instance, or is there significant content for 5-man groups (with loot at least as good as the 40-man stuff).

How does getting end-game loot work? I absolutely HATE the group going into the raid, praying the item they want drops and they win it (through a roll, dkp, etc), with most people leaving disappointed. There are so many better ways to do it.

Is there a concept of Soulbound? on Equip or Pickup? Can I buy any items if I have enough money or do I have to farm the best stuff?

How long does it take to reach the level cap? I don't know how expansions have effected it since WoW is my first MMO and has no expansions, but it seems like if it needs more than 20-30 days of /played to hit the cap, it's just not worth playing. Grinding up the levels should not be a chore.

Does PvP depend more on getting into a good (or bigger group) than your skill, or does your own skill count for something? Of course, dueling doesn't count.

hate to break the news to ya but wow has radar hacks too ...

all games have cheaters. on the new servers it doesent seem too bad but im sure there are folks running it.