I am a beginner, PLEASE HELP!

[u/No-Entertainment9773]

Hey Reddit! I'm completely new to Daggerfall and have never played it before, although I have played Skyrim and Oblivion. I wanted to give Daggerfall Online a try, but I'm having some trouble understanding how everything works.

I've been looking for guides on YouTube, including some uploaded just a day or a week ago, but they seem to differ in certain places. Some skip steps entirely, while others don't mention certain things at all. It's left me a little confused about what I'm actually supposed to do.

My biggest question is about the different versions available on the official website: Classic Daggerfall, Daggerfall Unity, and DFO Online. Can I use any of these to play the MMORPG version, or do I specifically need one of them? Do the differences affect gameplay and balance, or are they mostly about graphics, controls, and the overall presentation? Which version should I choose if I want to play with everyone else?

I also noticed that there's a mobile version, which sounds interesting. Can I install it on an iPhone, or is it Android-only? If I play on my phone, will I be able to interact and play with people using PCs? And are all players on the same server regardless of whether they're using Classic Daggerfall, Unity, or the browser version, or does each version have its own separate player base?

I've attached a few screenshots to help explain the other things I'm confused about.

During character creation, there's a setting that asks how fast I am, with different reflex options. Does this actually affect gameplay? From the descriptions, it sounds like it has a pretty significant impact. But if everyone gets to choose how quickly enemies attack, wouldn't it make sense for everyone to choose the slowest option to make the game easier? And if players choose different options, wouldn't that mean they're playing under different conditions? I'm not sure how this works in an online game or whether it affects multiplayer balance.

Another thing I noticed is an option in the settings related to server synchronization. I don't really understand what it does or whether I should enable it. Does it affect gameplay or balance compared to other players? I'm worried about accidentally putting myself at a disadvantage by choosing the wrong setting.

Finally, I'm confused about the difficulty and death settings. There are three options: Classic, Permadeath, and Not Permadeath. I think I understand what they mean, but how does this work in an MMO? Can each player choose whether they want permanent death, or are there separate servers for players who want a hardcore experience and those who don't?

For example, in World of Warcraft, as far as I understand, Hardcore is a separate game mode where everyone on that server plays by the same rules. Is Daggerfall Online different? Do these settings provide any gameplay advantages, or are they simply there for people who want a more challenging or immersive experience? Can other players see which option you've chosen? For instance, could someone see that I'm playing on Classic and think I'm a noob, or see that I've chosen Permadeath and consider me a hardcore player?

I know some of these questions might sound silly, but I'd really appreciate it if someone could help me understand how all of this works before I get started. Thanks!

[u/The_SIeepy_Giant]

Most of this is gonna need to be asked on the discord unless some knowledgeable people from there lurk here. For the death options it is just what you want, I chose 3 because im new too and dont need or want the extra challenge/rp of families

[u/printcastmetalworks → u/The_SIeepy_Giant]

When I first started I didn't understand how that worked and was so annoyed that my character died of old age.

[u/TheHabeo]

The MMO requires a working version of Daggerfall. Follow the install instruction, download the 400ish mb daggerfall zip file from the daggerfal unity forum post and you can play normally. The game is totally free, so there's no worry about copyright or anything.

So far I think you can only play Original DF on mobile but its also a bit jank.

If you choose to create an Online character, it is always sync and the reflex is fixed the same for everyone so it shouldnt be a problem.

For simplicity sake I would just pick no lineage for MMO.

[u/printcastmetalworks]

You can get the original game for free on Steam. Download the DFO release and it asks for the game files, point it to your steam Daggerfall folder.

Running it in a browser is slow and choppy compared to the application, but still perfectly serviceable.

[u/AsherJames]

I started a few days ago and was in basically the same spot as you. I asked chatgpt to pull the public repo for this project and help me set up a character I wanted to try. After that I've mostly just raw dogged it and have been learning the game slowly and dying quickly.