DAoC: Catacombs Expansion Now Free To Download

In a sudden breakaway from the usual Warhammer Online newsletters they've been throwing at us on a regular basis lately, Mythic Entertainment EA Mythic took a moment (or two) of their precious time to give their fans a little present. Sorry for ruining the surprise there in the title, and yes, we're obviously talking about the Dark Age of Camelot: Catacombs expansion pack that came out a few years after the cult MMO's original release. Which, as of now, is free! (gotta love that word)

"EA Mythic today announced that "Catacombs", the fifth expansion for the critically-acclaimed MMO "Dark Age of Camelot", is available to all current and retired players as a free download. All accounts have been granted access to the expansion content.

The "Catacombs" expansion introduces improved graphics, five new character classes, three massive underground cities, and instanced dungeons to the world of Camelot. Players can download the "Catacombs" files at http://catacombs.darkageofcamelot.com/ downloads.php. Former players returning to the game can re-activate their account, regain their original characters and take advantage of the online availability of the expansion."

In order to play Catacombs, you still need the original DAoC and the Shrouded Isles expansion, though you can also get these as a 14-day free trial, at www.darkageofcamelot.com/downloads. Also, do note that the Catacombs download is only compatible with US / Mythic servers.

As one of the genre's pioneering trio - along with Ultima Online and EverQuest - Dark Age of Camelot was still holding about 1% market share in the field of subscription-based MMO games as of June 2006, according to MMOGChart.com. Ultima Online and EverQuest were also in the same area (1.1% and 1.6% respectively), while World of Warcraft had already conquered more than 50% of the market by that time. We'll see where it's at in 2010...

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)