DF feels like it's more populated because of chat, but running around doesn't feel the same way. There are people there, just doesn't seem like a lot of them. I spent the past few days trying to find a guild. I've noticed the same few guilds advertising recruitment in chat, and the ones I talked to only had a few active members. I joined one with 30+ members, but only about half are active.
When my sub to MO ended about 2 weeks ago, it didn't feel much better. When in town it can be hit or miss, either there will be several people there or there will be only a couple. It was getting very difficult to buy equipment from crafters in Fab which is supposed to be a more populated town. Meduli, which is probably the most popular, wasn't much better, and there were times when there were no crafters present. This was before vendors, and territory control. The lack of general chat, which I'm not advocating, made MO feel a lot emptier when you weren't in town. I could find a spot to farm gazelles without having any other person around; while wisents continued to be difficult as they're endlessly farmed regardless of how many people are playing.
I don't think that Darkfall really has any advantage as far as population. It's really not much dif. in feel then MO. Sometimes it seems like there's enough people, but most of the time both games felt like they were in severe need of a population boost.
The size of the game worlds is actually irrelevant, as MO relies entirely upon player interaction, and DF doesn't encourage you to go far from NPC towns to hunt.
|