dungeons & dragons onlineFollow

I have played it and it will be getting at least a small portion of my attention. It is far more group based than EQ but it's designed in a way where finding a group really shouldn't be an issue. It's also designed in a way where lvl lvl lvl isn't the main goal of the game either. It's about the adventure, which is where I think DDO will shine over EQ. I am just pissed druids wont be in at release.

IMO this game is going to be HUGE at release but only time will tell as to whether or not it stays around.

Last I heard it is being released on Feb. 28. My B-Day. Happy B-Day to me

I doubt I will be leaving EQ anytime soon though.

I know a beta tester who was really looking forward to it. Now he says not a chance in hell.

Yeah, but you gotta admit, D&D the cartoon was really fun!

As far as lvls go, each lvl has 4 ranks (I think it is BS but it is their way of stretching out the lvls while keeping the cap at 20[however the cap at release is only 10]) and with each rank you gain a new feat/ability but your spells and such are still based upon lvl. Being that each rank within the lvl is still at that lvl and keeping with the lvl cap of 20, the lvl spread isn't as wide as EQ.

I was able to get in on one of the stress tests but only had about a day to play so I wasn't able to get very far, but from what I was able to play it is totally instanced based and totally mission based. As a lvl 1 I was able to solo alot of the lower lvl missions but I had to bypass parts of some of the missions because I didn't have the strength of a group to back me. From each mission you get xp/rewards and you can repeat the same missions again and again but the more you do the same mission the less xp/reward you recieve.

The 'grind' as many would put it does not exist. Think of it more like the MMs where you do a task/mission and at the end you recieve xp/reward based upon the lvl of the mission.

If you go into it looking for another everquest your going to hate it. DDO is a completly different world.

One of the reasons I enjoy DDO is because it has the things I was looking for that EQ doesn't have. For example: in EQ, as a rogue you can hit your sneak/hide buttons and go blazing through the middle of an open field with 50 mobs in the middle of the day, sunshine and all. Not going to happen in DDO. In DDO you have to watch the gear your wearing or even take it off and sneak around in the shadows hoping you don't kick something laying on the floor and attract the mobs attention. Your specilization/skill checks and such actually matter here. In EQ you start a crawl, someone screwes up and you have to sit around for the next 5 or 10 minutes medding. In DDO you start a mission with what you have and once you use it your SOL. No limitless spells, no hp regen from sitting around and no room for stupid mistakes. DDO requires a certain amount of skill, thought and problem solving ability. DDO is a game that will make you think and plan about what your going to do before you do it.

If they were smart and did it like a pen and paper adventure, be it a module like Temple of Elemental Evil (<3) or one your own brilliant DM came up with (<3 my old DM), it will take a looong time to hit cap.

When my last campaign ended, it had been 3 years running and my mage was level 19. She was bad ***. I highly doubt the developers of this game will do anything like that though. It does sound like they are using the spell rules though, you x amount of spells per day based upon your level and once they are gone, they are gone until you sleep for 8 hours.


I still don't think it will come close to my first true love of roleplaying games though. I had such a great time rolling dice and spending time around a table with real live people while being involved in a brilliant storyline with entertaining npc's.

Sigh...

So you have to actually dress up in costume in front of your PC and get divorced because you cannot simply tell your wife "OMM is at 40%, just another 20 minutes"?

Everquest is not solo friendly.

Spending 6 years in a guild farming 1300 AAs in groups and aquiring gear from 48 person raids and getting your epic 2.0 with the help of friends and then soloing Trakanon does not make Everquest a "soloing" game.

who wants to have to stop playing for 8 hours just to refresh spells ? Not me thats for damn sure bye bye ddo

... been a while since a post put me into tears. Man thats hilarios.

Most definately (assuming I have the specs for it). Out of all the MMORPG's announced since -- well, pretty much since EQ -- this one has interested me the most. I'll readily say there's a lot of good things done with EQ, but I also feel it has lost its way in some aspects. I'll be interested to see what folks from its original team do now with the added hindsight and experience that creating and watching EQ brought them.

Yeah, I should note that by "leave" I really mean "try". If Vanguard sucks co[i][/i]ckatrice eggs, then obviously I won't stick with it.

Ok, I have to put in my 2cp here, because I play AD&D, and have shaken the hands of Gygax, Mentzer, and *****.

1) The fact that it is based upon Eberron and 3.5 rules, right there, is enough to make me NOT want to play it.

2) I've seen it, firsthand, Gencon 2005. Wasn't really impressed, the controls looked iffy, and the "to hit" die in the lower right hand corner was annoying. Graphics were good, but so are the graphics for everything new, nowadays. Needs to have good control, or a great "fun factor." I still play The Sims, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Dungeon Siege 2 and Doom 3 because they are fun games.

Graphics don't make or break a game. If that was true, then noone would be buying these "system in a controller" games that hook right into their TV's. The Atari one is STILL the biggest seller. Why? Because Asteroids is a cool game. :)

3) Because of the time I have invested into EQ, no I will not be cancelling my account. However..

4) I've been waiting for Vanguard for years. DDO, even AFTER playing AD&D (since '89), just because it's made by a company I am thoroughly familar with,(and have given THOUSANDS of dollars to) is not enough to make me want to rush out and buy it, ergo, I'm not going to.

Will Vanguard be enough to make me walk away from EQ? Probably not, "I'm in their world now," and I have been for a long time. When I tried to take a break, it called back to me.

Will it be enough to make me take another long break? Time will tell...

Hi. I'm Thoryndar, and I've spent way, way, way too much money on my gaming addiciton.

Long post, with many facts about DDO and a liberal sprinkling of IMO. :)

I'm a DDO beta tester, and have been since the stress test. I'll list several things about the game, now that the NDA has been lifted, but the bottom line IMO (and the opinion of MANY beta testers in the forums) is that DDO is pretty much a total bomb, thanks to some really horrific design ideas. Let's list some basics about the game so far...

1. As of this time, there is no first person view. Some folks prefer the over-the-shoulder view, but I'd at least like the option to go first person, like EQ. Let me choose which I want. The devs have been utterly silent as to whether FPV will be added.

2. Eberron campaign world: It sucks. Someone at WOTC was obviously trying to justify their employment by creating YET ANOTHER DnD world...which is something like hiring a seventh press agent for Paris Hilton. Pretty much a waste. What's more, the world is poorly developed, written by hacks, is a poor example of classic high fantasy, and introduces ANDROIDS as a playable race. That's right. The warforged. Sentient golems. OOoookay. Eberron has been hugely unpopular with nearly everyone that doesn't want to play a superpowered robot as a character, but WOTC continues to shove it down our throats, thinking we'll eventually warm up to it. Not likely, but WoTC has never been known for intelligence, creativity, or anything approaching an understanding of what RPG'ers enjoy.

3. Combat. In an effort to revolutionize the MMORPG, they have introduced 'action oriented' combat as a supposedly superior alternative to the "/autoattack and wait" fight. This was a blatant play for the adolescent, ADHD twitch gamer crowd. It didn't impress them, and it's been nothing but grief for us MMO players. The PnP Dungeons and Dragons players find it absolutely abhorrent. Combat is a twitchy, chaotic mess that goes far too quickly to use anything like strategy, skills/feats, or communication. They've revamped it three times trying to make it palatable, but it is still amost universally despised. Why they thought combat that has worked fine for MILLIONS of MMO players should be completely overhauled is beyond me. Hell, to be true to the PnP game, combat would have to be turn-based. Many thought it would be. Oh, and there is STILL an /autoattack function in DDO. You have to either press that and chase mobs around, or constantly mash your left mouse button. Obviously this is much better than /autoattack from EQ, WoW, guild wars, FFO, etc. *snort*

4. Dungeons. The entire makeup of DDO is missions. You don't get exp or loot to speak of unless you finish a dungeon, which can take anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours, depending upon level, group, and luck. Basically imagine being forced to go on LDoNs forever in order to level. This is supposed to be better than the standard EQ-type "grind". Unfortunately, because there is actually so little real content in the game you wind up having to repeat dungeons about five times each to gain levels. There are an average of 12 dungeons for each level, and there will not be more added before release, according to the devs. This basically means that you'll have to go through repeats at least three to six times to gain a level...and that's IF you get groups to go through all the dungeons you haven't visited yet, or if you can even find them. But wait. Here's the REALLY fun part! YOU GET LESS EXP THE MORE YOU GO THROUGH A DUNGEON! So not only are you doing the same thing over and over, you're getting less exp each time! This is Turbine's alternative to grinding. Wow. How revolutionary.

5. The interface is clunky and unintuitive, but it may change before release. God I hope so. The inventory screen is miniscule, and hotkeys are a pain to use. Chat is a nightmare, and all the interface windows are bulky and must remain rather large to be readable, no matter the resolution.

6. The overall look of the game is unimpressive, although the graphics technology is good. The costumes/armor are odd at best, and downright ridiculous at worst. Barbarian human chain looks identical to brigandine or scale, with only color being different. Some armors look nothing at all like what they supposedly are. Character body styles (fat, thin, muscular) are absent, and faces tend to look very much alike. The overall styling in the game is alien and often almost comical, instead of being realistic and fantasy/medieval. This is reflected in the city design as well. On the plus side, monsters look excellent. Wish I could play a monster.

7. Claustrophobia: The entire game takes place in the single city of Stormreach, although it does have seven zones. All dungeons are reached by wandering around various areas of the city depending upon levels, and I can tell you that until at least level 5, all you'll be seeing will be sewers, basements that look like sewers, a couple warehouses, and outdoor areas that look like old EQ graphics with walls dressed up to look like trees. You'll get VERY sick and tired of Stormreach in a very short time. There are no wide open areas to explore, no blighted deserts, no arctic tundras, no deep dwarven delves, no elven tree cities, no world. Just one city.

8. No solo content, no PvP, no tradeskilling, no 'bazaar' or /auction, no zonewide chat, no druid class, no monk class, no gnome race or drow race. These are simply facts and will not change before release. Interpret them as you will. Tradeskills 'may' be added later, as might the missing classes and races with paid expansions.

9. The max level for the game is indeed 10 at present, and takes a LOOOOT of exp to reach, though you get 4 'mini dings' each level. The 'mini dings' are essentially worthless, and give you only some minor improvements. What's more, you can only have a limited number of these improvements on your character. Ever. So if a nice attribute opens up for you at level 7, you get to pick which one you have to give up.

10. Casters have mana pools. I'm not sure how this could have been done otherwise with the way they designed the game as an 'action' title. The second edition rules of PnP DnD had such a system as an optional rule, so it's not totally off the wall anyway.

11. Almost every dungeon has a 'rest area' with stone plinths marking it. You get to refresh health and mana here, and even get a dead character rezzed. It's not very logical for kobolds or trolls to have these little areas in their homes for invading adventurers to use, but there you have it. It's a bandaid for poor game design. You can only use the rest stops once per adventure.

12. The 'dungeon rush'. The phrase coined for EQ tedium was 'the grind'. Now DDO has introduced 'the rush'. Because of the way the game is designed, you are rewarded for punching through dungeons as fast as possible to get the exp/loot and get back out to do it again. The group literally bull rushes through the thing, especially if you've been there before. There is no strategy, communication, or cameraderie. It's every man or woman for him or herself. You can bash barrels for minor loot, so folks are usually racing up ahead to find them and start bashing. This rush approach can trigger lots of ugly traps, encounters, or leave folks behind if they don't happen to know the dungeon like the back of their hand. The tedious repetition is all still there, but unlike 'the grind' you don't have time to chat or afk to relieve it. You just run through the same dungeons doing the same things over and over and over and over. There are no camps in the game. You never stop, unless you manage to stop the group long enough for a rest by spamming "NEED TO AFK" until they all actually look in the chat window to see it.

Of course many of these shortcomings are not evident during a quick playtest, and the gaming sites are all utterly smitten with the very idea of a DnD-based MMO (like I was). They'll sing DDO's praises non-stop, because they won't have much of a clue. Try visiting the DDO forums and you'll get a far clearer picture of what's going on. DDO tries to be far too much to too many, and tried to do things in an exciting, new way that is neither exciting, nor even terribly new. It's a mess, and the devs have made clear that they're not planning on changing it. They'll stand behind their 'vision' to the bitter end because they'd have to admit a huge blunder and waste of time otherwise. Folks get fired for that, so they'll continue ignoring the pleas and complaints from the beta testers and press forward, all the while assuring their bosses that the players will just love the game to death. DDO will probably even sell very well initially, just because of the huge initial market. We'll see how it does after about three months after release.

Oh well. There's always Vanguard or Conan: Age of Hyboria coming out soon. :)


Edited, Mon Jan 23 19:18:49 2006 by Maderik

Edited, Mon Jan 23 19:15:27 2006 by Maderik

Wizards of the coast fu@k us again ty asshats!