Camelot by Lok

 

Ahh, Camelot. I'd been "cursory" over this area a few times, but never acutally really looked at it until evo 62 (long story). In that "second look" I noticed a good many things I'd not noticed before (and a few I probably could have lived w/out noticing :P). So i decided that i'd do a review of it, just for the sake of saying "yea, it's pretty kewl down there."

The first thing to know about camelot is that it's extremly out of the way to walk to (it's in the north-east woods), and that it's seperated into 2 distinct parts: Blackmoor and Camelot proper. There are several "Sub-areas" in this (for example in blackmoore, there's mordred's keep, and a "battle area" and a small hut. In Camelot there are several smaller areas - a place where there's an invasion going on, a battle with some scotts, a tourny yard, and a small (if a bit jaded) keep. There is of course a round table and the court of king arthur - all done in what must be fair literariy accuracy.

The area gives vivid descriptions of the characters - king arthur, lancelot, ladies in waiting, benlad the green knight, ect. Thier gear is presumably about what the book would have you expect (not that i've read the book). The Knights are difficult for thier level, getting in several hits at a time; the casters (merlin and his demon) are as tough as nails, although they don't appear to be "classed" casters. Most mobs have some eq, but none has a "full set" - and most is aligned (good or evil). This detracts somewhat from it's usefulness; it's also of a fairly low quality (except for a few "rarities" - such as a wand of charm person). Even Mighty Excalibur isn't noteworthy - or very mighty.

It's got color though - having walked through it, i have an understanding of the book a bit beyond what i did - namely that it's got something to do with guenviere, lancelot, a dude named "mordred", a chick named "morgan" and a bunch of fights. The problem is that for all that color, there's no "guts" to it - no progs, no quests, no holy grail (it's mentioned in a room description, what the hells up with that?), and very little "substance" so far as equipment or even shops go. You visit it, hoping to find something exciting or new, and come out asking "where's the beef?". I personally was terribly disappointed at nearly every turn; theres nothing to do but walk around, as though your in a manquin factory, looking at the still and unmoving mobs. A jousting quest with Lancelot or a real "quest for the holy grail" would have been fascinating - but is lacking.

So go check it out for the color, but, like a fruit salad, dont expect much meat to be under it.