Will Darkfall be important to the genre?

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I don't know if Darkfall will be that important. It's not getting that much notable press, except to point out that it's been in production for almost a decade. Combine a lack of visibility outside of MMO geek circles with the "features" like ganking and MAYBE Darkfall will garner critical acclaim like EVE Online does, but it won't redefine anything.

Remember, UO had open PvP, and it was removed because people got sick of it. It will undoubtedly find a niche, a la EVE Online, but calling a game "innovative" because it does what the first modern MMO did (and got slammed for) is either ignorance of ancestry or plain old unwarrented hubris.

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I doubt their claim to being innovative is having open-PvP.

It seems the detractors of the game are upset, for some reason, that the game isn't actually vaporware. Or are angry about the open-PvP full-loot nature of the ruleset. However, there are things to be happy about, a complete non-combat player can, within a city, begin a life of a crafter. With a 100% player-based economy where EVERY item is craftable and every item is lootable on death there will be a HUGE need for crafters. Fame and fortune will come to those non-combat players, as much or moreso than the combat-oriented players.

Another things to be hopeful about is seeing a skill-based progression system in another game. Alternatives to levels and classes should be in the marketplace, even if they are niche, for players to have a breadth of choices. Just EVE alone isn't enough.

Finally, if this game makes even a small profit it will give hope to maybe hundreds of small teams wondering if the days of a startup in this genre are dead and gone. Innovation comes from small teams taking big risks with different-than-the-norm ideas to hopefully make a place for themselves in the market. Stagnation comes from 1 proven model and clone after clone after clone trying to capture a piece of that pie.

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