This expansion brought me back to the game and is keeping me there...
Now onto the content of the game,there have been many improvements to the content side as well as all new features.In order to have installed Darkness Rising you are required to install all previous expansions.Catacombs is the expansion before DR and it brought a ton of new dungeons and instanced areas.The new task dungeons that you can begin going to at lvl 1 have made lvling no longer a slow grind.They haven't made it too easy but it isn't a painful experience .In fact the tds are very fun.There is a taskmaster near each of the dungeons whom you can go up to and receive one of several randomly generated task.Such as killing a named boss,killing a number of certain mobs (such as "Kill 9 mummified stone firbolgs"),and the clear the entire dungeon task.These task dungeons can be soloed or grouped and they will automatically adjust the difficulty depending on how many people are in your group.I could write more than most people would want to read on the dungeons and instanced areas that were added in Catacombs (which I mention because you would have to have installed it in order to play DR).
Darkness rising brings to the table horses as player controlled mounts .While this isn't an addition in itself that would keep anyone in a game ,it is a nice addition and makes travel for anyone over level 35 much nicer.The way you can upgrade your horse with barding ,speed upgrades etc is a very nice touch.Your horse is also affected by any speed buffs you are running.
The real meat of Darkness Rising is the addition of Champion Levels and subclassing.At level 30 you can begin the start of the champion quests.These quests are long but extremely interesting and not at all a grind or as hellishly hard as TOA Master Level quests .Once you reach level 50 ,you can begin the quests that lread to points for subclassing as well as some great gear.I will write more on these quests when I have completed them all,I am currently in the middle of them.
As far as population is concerned,before Catacombs and Darkness Rising I too had problems with the old servers.They were not as populated with lower classes as they once were ,which made starting new characters difficult and lonely.The answer to that problem is the classic servers they have opened.These servers were designed for people who wanted to play the game w/o TOA and the dreaded master levels.They are the most populated servers now and it is easy to find many people at any level to group with or have conversation.When I decided to check out these servers I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of people at lower classes.A big factor is that on these servers there is no /level bonus.This was an extra incentive they gave to people who reached lvl 50 with a character.If one had a 50 then any alternate character they made could be brought up to level 20 immediately at their trainer.Without this and without master levels these servers are now the best, in my opinion,that the game has to offer.Catacombs and Darkness Rising have made DAOC worth starting up an old account or starting a new one.The game has become more balanced (even though it was the most balanced mmo out,already),more interesting and not such a level grind.I would recommend this mmo(massively multiplayer online) to veterans and newbies alike, above any other mmo on the market. If you start a character on Gareth classic server in Hibernia give Nimhiis a /tell.
P.S. Hehe I forgot to mention they have made starting the game alot easier for people who have never played the game or for people who have been gone for a long time.They now have a very good tutorial that walks you through starting out,fighting,questing ,merchants,the user interface,macros ,and just about every aspect of the game.Not only does it show you all this in writing ,there is a pleasant sounding woman walking you through the tutorial area.Thanks again and I hope to see you in the lands of Camelot. /bow