Would I like DDO?

[Doug]

Ok, so, moving on from the March Mayhem (and boy, some of the threads deserved that title this year), I got the impression that there are alot of DDO fans around now (or where here before but only 'come out' lately).

Anywho, onto my topic: Would I like DDO? I don't play WoW or any MMO (I did play Guild Wars for a time, but not done that for a long while). My work time is set on GMT, so I'm largely available between 6 and 8, and 9 to 11 (typically, I need to surrender the computer for an hour). Also, I'm not the sort of player who'll generally stick to 1 game for a whole week (like, I'll play alittle BF2142, alittle TF2, etc).

So, a) do I need to grind alot in DDO? And b) do you think I'll actually like the thing?

 

[iJosh]

Dungeons and dragons online huh.

I personally don't like it. Its too awkward. Or I'm just a complete nub and don't feel like remembering all the random shit it has.

 

[sneakthief]

Well ... DDO seems to be one of those Love or Hate games. People come from other MMO's and either 1) Love DDO because it isnt like that game or 2) Hate DDO because it isnt like that game. There are people that leave the game to try some new MMO (ex: AOC) and come back because it just didnt live up to DDO, and there are people that just leave and never come back. The reasons most posted why people love DDO are 1) the active combat system, 2) the character customization (not visual) and 3) the instance based group play (preventing greifing and camping by other players).

Being that you dont play other MMO's ... You have to ask yourself what kind of game you do like?

If you are a D&D genre fan, then you get that flavor with DDO. If you are an original D&D guy and think anything after AD&D is blasphemy and Forgotten Realms is the only real D&D world, then you wont like, since its based around the 3.5 rules and Eberron.

If you like real time fast action fights and group game play, then you might like DDO. Right now its most comparable to a Third person shooter (FPS but with the camera behind you), but in a month or so thier will be a first person view as well.

There is SOME solo play in DDO, but really, if one wants to play by thierself, why play a MMO at all?

To answer your grinding question. That's all a matter of opinion. There CAN be a lot of grinding if you want THE ABSOLUTE BEST OF THE BEST gear out there. But most people get by on a lot lower level gear than that (permadeath players that re-roll when they die, so they very rarely have the very best stuff). There are many casual players and static groups that play at a set time every week. You dont have to play all week.

The best bet is to sign up for the trial and hop on the forums. There you can get an idea of what you might want to do but also see if you can find a group of people that play in your timeframes. One thing to be careful of on the forums: A LOT of the posts are by and directed towards the hardcore gamers, so if something seems very "lofty" or "you have to have X" ... ignore it.

 

[KVB]

Upper level mechanisms have a bit of grinding, but you need not grind to advance.

Would you like it? Free trial link: http://trial.ddo.com/ Here's how I met it:

I came from a FPS (iD, Valve) background to DDO, with a little kicking and screaming. 3rd person view disoriented me at first, but now I prefer it. (Ironically, our next mod should include a first person view camera setting.) I started running solo to gain the mechanics an feel of the game. I look at each quest as a puzzle (not a container for puzzles). I take a slow, patient steady approach to progress. For the cost of seeing two movies in the cinema per month, I can run about 6 hours a week and never run out of things to do.

The game focuses on the quest rather activities that don't advance your character.

Quests are instance based, you only go in with 1-5 other players; no one will come along and kill you just cause they can.

The quests are designed for groups of 4-6, however those who like a different challege sometimes run dedicated solo or duo.

IHope this gives you some insight.

 

[Rhob Anybody]

Easiest thing is to download the trial and give it a try. If your playing gmt time you would probably be better off on the EU servers although their not as heavily populated as the U.S. they will probably have a lot more people about for the times you play.

As to the grind I will be honest and say end game it can be quite a large part of the game but it is optional. The grinding is mainly for raid access and crafting. This means to enter a few of the 12 man quests you will have to rerun quests a few times. And the majority of crafting atm can only be done in one raid (till mod 9 goes live anyway) and can take a lot of runs to get the items you need to make your own weapon or armour.

Apart from the item grind tho I feel this is a very well balanced game that has a lot to offer anyone who is willing to put a little time in. Just dont expect it to click for you immediately as the controlls can be fiddly to start but after a few hours most players have no problems.

If you do decide to give this game a try feel free to pm me with any questions you have as I'm allways happy to give a bit of advice or help to a new player.

 

[SchnorriS]

sneakthief KVB and Rhob make several good points. I would emphasize:
1) Unlike many other MMOs, your loot is your loot. No one can ninja it.
2) there are lots of common areas, but your party quests in its own private instance. No one can steal your kills or hog the monsters.
3) each party member gets xp for any quest objective completed by the party, not for who gets the first strike or the killing blow. Xp comes from finishing quests, not killing X number of monster Y or running pointless errands.
4) tactics matter: positioning, weapon and spell choice, thinking about what to do next. You can hack-and-slash, or you devise alternate strategies to complete quest objectives (stealth, charm, speed, selective engagement); you can use the ideal party makeup (healer, caster(s), rogue, fighters), or go with what you have. Cooperative play wins.

also,
5) character design matters: because of the customization available, you can make uber builds, niche builds, and concept builds, pure class or multi-class builds, or whatever makes you happy (instructions, suggestions and discussion all available on the forums). Feats and enhancements matter, but your choices are reversible, if you really need to. You have 10 character slots. Per server. There is plenty of opportunity to experiment, to try a character and save it to come back to later.

6) most good xp and loot comes from quests which are best completed in a small group (4-6). There are quest chains at all levels which give chances at named items (good level-appropriate loot); regular chests drop randomly-generated items, most of which are only good to sell, some of which can be very useful. Starting about level 10, there are 12-man raids with unique items of varying usefulness, but these are not essential to gaining xp. You can repeat specific quests to try to get specific items, but you don't have to.

7) each quest has a 3-4 level range for best xp, and there is a power-level penalty for a 4-or-higher level diference between party members. Turbine implemented several encounter areas at various levels where a greater range of players can group without penalty.

8) encounter areas: un-structured, non-quest wide-open outdoor playing (also instanced; no loot or xp stealing) that give xp for killcount milestones, finding non-repeatable explorer points, and defeating rare-ish, repeatable named encounters for chests. They are a great place when you have some time to kill but not enough for a full quest, and to practice soloing, combat and tactics.

9) people use the LFM system (group is Looking For Members) to fill their group. Don't be shy about playing with total strangers, that's the best way to meet people and learn things. However, a number of people solo or duo quests, especially at first when learning the game or later to test the limits of their abilities and ingenuity. If you are patient, realistic, and go slowly, if you don't mind using more pots and wands, if you have a good solo character, and especially if you have FPS experience, you can successfully solo quite a lot. There are helpful guides on the forums.

10) there is PvP in specific, segregated and designated areas, but it's a sideshow. It's fun for messing around with friends, and useful for testing weapons, tactics, character builds and equipment. The main public areas are not PvP; you won't get PK'ed.

11) I know there are a number of players from Down Under, and their peak playtimes are different from the U.S. player base. If one server seems sparse when you are usually on, try one of the others.

However, if you really, truly need your character to look completely unique (face, body, or equipment) DDO does not satisfy that. If you get the most enjoyment out of pwning all comers, DDO will probably not satisfy that. If you need time to plan your response, DDO does not allow that; combat is in real-time. If you want complete unpredictability, DDO will not satisfy that; especially in the beginning, monster and trap placement is mostly static (when you repeat a quest, the only major variable is how you decide to handle it.)

I hope this gives a good picture of DDO, but there is no substitute for your own opinion. I hope you have a positive experience!

 

[ntomlin63]

I would add that IMO DDO is perfect for a casual gamer who can't devote endless hours daily to playing. I myself have some days I play for hours on end but most days I play an hour or three or not at all. In fact I almost never play during my six day work week and then on my three day weekends there are days I don't play, days I play a couple of hours and times I play marathon sessions. And the good thing is that the game is designed so that even playing sporadically like I do I still have decent character advancement and still get decent loot. I am one of the unlucky people I almost never ever get a piece of any of the so called uber loot. But I have had several people give me wonderful equipment in the year+ I have played.

 

[Deacon Cole]

Depends on how much you liked Guild Wars. I just got off the Guild Wars free trial and onto the Dungeons & Dragons Online free trial and I'm finding I preferred Guild Wars for a number of reasons. Not enough to buy it, but there you go.

 

[Rhob Anybody]

sneakthief KVB and Rhob make several good points. I would emphasize:
1) Unlike many other MMOs, your loot is your loot. No one can ninja it.
2) there are lots of common areas, but your party quests in its own private instance. No one can steal your kills or hog the monsters.
3) each party member gets xp for any quest objective completed by the party, not for who gets the first strike or the killing blow. Xp comes from finishing quests, not killing X number of monster Y or running pointless errands.
4) tactics matter: positioning, weapon and spell choice, thinking about what to do next. You can hack-and-slash, or you devise alternate strategies to complete quest objectives (stealth, charm, speed, selective engagement); you can use the ideal party makeup (healer, caster(s), rogue, fighters), or go with what you have. Cooperative play wins.

also,
5) character design matters: because of the customization available, you can make uber builds, niche builds, and concept builds, pure class or multi-class builds, or whatever makes you happy (instructions, suggestions and discussion all available on the forums). Feats and enhancements matter, but your choices are reversible, if you really need to. You have 10 character slots. Per server. There is plenty of opportunity to experiment, to try a character and save it to come back to later.

6) most good xp and loot comes from quests which are best completed in a small group (4-6). There are quest chains at all levels which give chances at named items (good level-appropriate loot); regular chests drop randomly-generated items, most of which are only good to sell, some of which can be very useful. Starting about level 10, there are 12-man raids with unique items of varying usefulness, but these are not essential to gaining xp. You can repeat specific quests to try to get specific items, but you don't have to.

7) each quest has a 3-4 level range for best xp, and there is a power-level penalty for a 4-or-higher level diference between party members. Turbine implemented several encounter areas at various levels where a greater range of players can group without penalty.

8) encounter areas: un-structured, non-quest wide-open outdoor playing (also instanced; no loot or xp stealing) that give xp for killcount milestones, finding non-repeatable explorer points, and defeating rare-ish, repeatable named encounters for chests. They are a great place when you have some time to kill but not enough for a full quest, and to practice soloing, combat and tactics.

9) people use the LFM system (group is Looking For Members) to fill their group. Don't be shy about playing with total strangers, that's the best way to meet people and learn things. However, a number of people solo or duo quests, especially at first when learning the game or later to test the limits of their abilities and ingenuity. If you are patient, realistic, and go slowly, if you don't mind using more pots and wands, if you have a good solo character, and especially if you have FPS experience, you can successfully solo quite a lot. There are helpful guides on the forums.

10) there is PvP in specific, segregated and designated areas, but it's a sideshow. It's fun for messing around with friends, and useful for testing weapons, tactics, character builds and equipment. The main public areas are not PvP; you won't get PK'ed.

11) I know there are a number of players from Down Under, and their peak playtimes are different from the U.S. player base. If one server seems sparse when you are usually on, try one of the others.

However, if you really, truly need your character to look completely unique (face, body, or equipment) DDO does not satisfy that. If you get the most enjoyment out of pwning all comers, DDO will probably not satisfy that. If you need time to plan your response, DDO does not allow that; combat is in real-time. If you want complete unpredictability, DDO will not satisfy that; especially in the beginning, monster and trap placement is mostly static (when you repeat a quest, the only major variable is how you decide to handle it.)

I hope this gives a good picture of DDO, but there is no substitute for your own opinion. I hope you have a positive experience!

Probably one of the most balanced and well informed posts on this subject I've read. Nicely summarised and covers just about every major point. Have you considered doing a review in the review section lol?

 

[SchnorriS]

Thank you Rhob!

To share credit: I think just about every point I've made has been mentioned already by one DDO player or another here within the last week. Also, DDO players with WoW experience have given their thoughts in the DDO forums from time to time.

I know there are many people who love PK-ing, PvP, and the sense of accomplishment that comes from besting other players. For those who don't, who prefer PvE, try DDO. One person's success at DDO doesn't come at the expense of someone else.

(ntomlin, good point, and hang in there! In 2 1/2 years I have pulled some nice things, but many others came from generous friends (my first paralyzer bow), party companions who put their named raid item up for roll because they have one already or can't use it (Reaver gloves), and sometimes from complete strangers (Greater Potency 7 scepter). I've also pulled countless Efficacy scepters, Thundering weapons of Useless Ability or Small Skill Boost, ugly robes, and outfits with the porcupine-looking thingy on the back of the neck!).

 

[Squarewave]

Whats with all the DDO talk lately, the game went like 3 years without anyone talking about it, now a day doesn't go by without a new thread.

I bought the game at launch and stopped playing after a month. I don't know how things have changed but at the time the game catered to hardcore pen and paper D&D players. I never played the pnp D&D before so I spent most of the time completely lost. Not having any clue what the stats and rolls meant, even the character creater was screwed, was easy to screw up resulting in a character that would be very gimp at the max level (10 at the time). For example my first guy was a dwarf pally that if I were to take him to level 10 I wouldn't have enough chr to cast the highest level pally spells.

The community itself didn't help this as they would only speak in DnD terms and would shun anyone who didn't.

The game itself had some of the best combat Ive seen in an online rpg is all I really remember about the gameplay. It was actually possible for tanks to block the passage of a monster to protect caster, having the casters in a corner then making a shield wall by standing in the way with shields at the ready preventing the boss from getting to them

 

[Weaver]

why don't you just try it for 10 days free?
http://trial.ddo.com/

It's pretty hard to say if someone will like a game or not, so just try it out.
I personally found it pretty "meh". Ragnarok Online was (and still is) much better, imo of course.

 

[Rhob Anybody]

Whats with all the DDO talk lately, the game went like 3 years without anyone talking about it, now a day doesn't go by without a new thread.

I bought the game at launch and stopped playing after a month. I don't know how things have changed but at the time the game catered to hardcore pen and paper D&D players. I never played the pnp D&D before so I spent most of the time completely lost. Not having any clue what the stats and rolls meant, even the character creater was screwed, was easy to screw up resulting in a character that would be very gimp at the max level (10 at the time). For example my first guy was a dwarf pally that if I were to take him to level 10 I wouldn't have enough chr to cast the highest level pally spells.

The community itself didn't help this as they would only speak in DnD terms and would shun anyone who didn't.

The game itself had some of the best combat Ive seen in an online rpg is all I really remember about the gameplay. It was actually possible for tanks to block the passage of a monster to protect caster, having the casters in a corner then making a shield wall by standing in the way with shields at the ready preventing the boss from getting to them

As I've mentioned to others allready I would recomend a comeback for you aswell. The game has almost completely changed to what you remember with a much more user friendly character creation to start with and a community that now has several guilds set up specifically to help new players.

As to why there are so many DDO posts a lot of that is due to a huge influx of Turbine groupies (myself included lol) who came here to vote for Turbine in the MM. There was a lot of flaming and arguing on the forums from people who were either a) pushing DDO as the greatest game ever or b) attacking it for varying reasons. This then prompted a lot of people to ask others that were condemning the game to give it a try. This has then led onto about 4 or 5 threads where people are either giving their views on the game having tried it, offering help to those that would like to try it or just explaining why they are playing a game that a lot of people have never heard of.

So apologies for the DDO overkill atm (I'm sure it will settle down in a week or so lol) but I for one have been very suprised by the amount of interest this game has recieved and am making as much effort as possible to help anyone who is having trouble or just wants to know what all the fuss is about.

 

[lerincho]

Ok, so, moving on from the March Mayhem (and boy, some of the threads deserved that title this year), I got the impression that there are alot of DDO fans around now (or where here before but only 'come out' lately).

Anywho, onto my topic: Would I like DDO? I don't play WoW or any MMO (I did play Guild Wars for a time, but not done that for a long while). My work time is set on GMT, so I'm largely available between 6 and 8, and 9 to 11 (typically, I need to surrender the computer for an hour). Also, I'm not the sort of player who'll generally stick to 1 game for a whole week (like, I'll play alittle BF2142, alittle TF2, etc).

So, a) do I need to grind alot in DDO? And b) do you think I'll actually like the thing?

As someone that has played DDO for 4 years, that includes beta, and never wanted to play MMOs in the first place, I can tell you I shared some of your same concerns while I read the concept of DDO prior to alpha testing.

All I heard was friend talk about the grind, doing stupid tasks in order to do something else (i.e. crafting); well a few of them tried DDO when I first started and they stated that it was not a grindfest. Does it have some grind? Yes. Is it grinding that can be fun and very beneficial? Absolutely. There are generally a few quests that are considered the grind: 1, Shroud and 2, Stealer of Souls.

Shroud you are grinding/collecting ingredients to make top tier gear of almost any kind (weapons and items). Shroud gear is divided into 3 tiers with 1st and 3rd tier being the more time consuming. However, because of the raid mechanic you have a trade-off, contineous running without completions or waiting 2 days 19 hours in between Shroud runs. Completions matter because every 20th run you get YOUR selection of very rare items. All in all Shroud is a very diverse and fun quest.

Stealer of Souls, you are trying to customize armor. The downside to this customization is that the effects are generated randomly, so it can get tiresome (not in my opinion as I enjoy the quest) to get the amor exactly how you want it. There are list of effects for all 3 tiers, just when you turn in the item the effects are randomized. SO you can aim, but you are slightly blindfolded.


As someone that came from BF2, and RavenShield, I can tell you that this game has a definite FPS feel to it, and with the next major update will actually have first person camera view as well. In most MMOs you will click on something, and wait until it is dead. In DDO you have full control over who and how you are attacking; from instant weapon changes in mid combat to being able to spam through spells. There is even an option in the control panel that you can select that the camera angle will adjust with the terrain. There is a mouse look mode meaning your eyes are control by the direction you move your mouse.


I hope this info helps, need more info just let any oneof us DDO supports know and we'd be glad to welcome you to DDO and show you around.

 

[iain62a]

hhmmm...

I was a bit annoyed about turbine coming in here, and voting in our polls. However, this game intrigues me. I have some questions.

Does it have all the same classes as 3.5 edition d&d?

Can I multiclass in this game?

What about prestige classes?

I would just look on wikipedia, but I prefer the personal touch.

 

[HarlyHellbender]

I prefer the old fashion way. At least my nerdy friends and I will get out of the house and socialize =P

 

[ntomlin63]

hhmmm...

I was a bit annoyed about turbine coming in here, and voting in our polls. However, this game intrigues me. I have some questions.

Does it have all the same classes as 3.5 edition d&d?

Can I multiclass in this game?

What about prestige classes?

I would just look on wikipedia, but I prefer the personal touch.

Wow what a question I will take a stab at it.

DDO has the following races currently:

Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, War-Forged and upon reaching 400 favor Drow

The following classes:

Fighter, ranger, paladin, monk, barbarian, rogue, bard, cleric, wizard and sorceror.

You can multi-class although a few combos aren't doable due to alignment restrictions. The multi-classing is via the 3rd 3.5 edition D&D rules, not the old school way in 1st and 2nd edition.

Prestige classes are sort of represented via the enhancement system, there are enhancements you take that can make one an arcane archer or a tempest ranger and other various prstige classes. Not all of them by any stretch of the imagination but at least some are there. Now, the new expansion which is just around the corner takes the level cap to level 20 and I have heard it said that in future expansions epic levels will addressed at some point.

I hope this helped.

 

[iain62a]

hhmmm...

I was a bit annoyed about turbine coming in here, and voting in our polls. However, this game intrigues me. I have some questions.

Does it have all the same classes as 3.5 edition d&d?

Can I multiclass in this game?

What about prestige classes?

I would just look on wikipedia, but I prefer the personal touch.

Wow what a question I will take a stab at it.

DDO has the following races currently:

Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, War-Forged and upon reaching 400 favor Drow

The following classes:

Fighter, ranger, paladin, monk, barbarian, rogue, bard, cleric, wizard and sorceror.

You can multi-class although a few combos aren't doable due to alignment restrictions. The multi-classing is via the 3rd 3.5 edition D&D rules, not the old school way in 1st and 2nd edition.

Prestige classes are sort of represented via the enhancement system, there are enhancements you take that can make one an arcane archer or a tempest ranger and other various prstige classes. Not all of them by any stretch of the imagination but at least some are there. Now, the new expansion which is just around the corner takes the level cap to level 20 and I have heard it said that in future expansions epic levels will addressed at some point.

I hope this helped.

Thanks, it did. I was just wondering if it was like tabletop dungeons and dragons, rather than World of Warcraft.

 

[Doug]

Firstly, cheers to everyone who posted on this thread. Its been useful and I'll be downloading the trial tomorrow (I would download now, but given its about 1.7 Gb, thats a few hours - i.e. it'll be bedtime for myself when its done, and I like my multiplayer FPSs).

hhmmm...

I was a bit annoyed about turbine coming in here, and voting in our polls. However, this game intrigues me.

Same here, to be honest, but I figured it wasn't worth clinging onto the bitterness I'm guessing as your asking questions, neither are you. Might be crap still, but as some wise guy once said (probably) "If you never try, you never know" before joining Sun-Zi on his boat, beating the crap out of the animals. (+10 points if you get the reference)