Is solo play possible now?

Garfunkel

I like a balance of solo and group play, I guess I am the typical casual gamer.

I beta tested DDO but found it too group-restrictive at that stage to suit my tastes. Has it changed much?

Typically I play about 20 hours a week but only really group at weekends when I can spend more time online in one go. Through the week I like to pop on for an hour or so at a time as a filler with no group restraints. Basically just do my own thing, chat to mates, do a few quests - that kind of thing.

So, is DDO for me or should I give it a miss for a while longer.

 

Thanks

 

N.B. I did search for an answer before posting but all the threads apart from one were from August last year or before. I expect there's been some content updates since then?

 

Odysses

The answer is yes and no.   The game is far more solo friendly now then it was at launch and beta when you last played.  With the most recent game update their should be solo content up through lvl 6 and 7 to play.   But the fact remains DDO was designed from the ground up to be a group game.   Now you will not always need full groups to do alot of the quests but soloing quests higher then lvl 7 will be very challenging until they add more solo content and modify existing content for solo play.   I personally think the LFG and LFM tools in game do make this a very time friendly grouping game.   Playing in a guild is also a must if you want to minimize downtime LFG's to play.  So if you have 2 hours to play you should be able to log in group up and get something fun done.   

I think the best bet is to download the Free Trial and give it a go.   If you wait till after the latest patch which should be going in at the end of Feb or early March their will be even more solo content available to test.

mbblade

well not as friendly as you may think but yuo can kill by yourself. This game was and is mainly made for grouping but not sur how much grouping your gona do

grinreaper

It seems like they still havent addressed the basic issue...the risk of soloing is not balanced by the reward given...in, fact quite the opposite!!!

Shoal

DDO was doomed at launch with broken mechanics and very little content.   That they *chose* to not support Solo players at the core design level sealed their final doom.

No, there is still no real Solo game in DDO. 

Perhaps it will someday be a Free-To-Play game and support itself with in-game advertising ("The Coke Dungeon of Death").

But until that day, there are many better MMORPGs to play.

Probably after that day too.

Odysses

I don't ever see DDO having advertising in game.    They could always go free to play in a worse case scenario and charge for content updates but more then likely it will be able to hitch its wagon to the juggernaught of LoTRO with a package deal if it ever is looking for more outside support.    DDO's population is still very healthy so I don't think Free to play will be on option for a very long time until the game population drops significantly.

Also now that LoTRO is just about finished and ready to launch this should free up alot of extra Devs that can now help make the modules much bigger with more system updates such as crafting and possible housing etc.

 

Valvanya

Has solo play been improved in the latest Module?

docminus

not sure what you mean with improved, it's there as it was before the latest module.

personnally i find solo already at level 3 tough. but that is maybe just me.

Valvanya

Sorry, I wasn't clear.

I'm specifically curious about:

How far can you solo the game? (level -- i have seen comments ranging from 3 to 7)

How many hours of solo content are in the game? (approximately)

 

Talyn

I've never seen exact numbers for how many quests have solo difficulty (but I've never looked either) but they seem to be working on it still. Last week's Module 4.1 added solo difficulty to 4 more quests. I don't recognize the quest names so they must be higher level than me (lvl 4) or just ones I haven't gotten to yet. I think (not 100% sure) that there are solo quests all the way up to lvl 6 or possibly even lvl 7?

elvenangel

Originally posted by Shoal


DDO was doomed at launch with broken mechanics and very little content.   That they *chose* to not support Solo players at the core design level sealed their final doom.
No, there is still no real Solo game in DDO. 
Perhaps it will someday be a Free-To-Play game and support itself with in-game advertising ("The Coke Dungeon of Death").
But until that day, there are many better MMORPGs to play.
Probably after that day too.

What mechanics are broken? I beta tested it and I'm playing it now and I haven't noticed any.    

D&D games were (not even NWN you still had to have some NPCs with you) never a solo game before why should the online version have it?  Yea it has some even more now since Launch, but the more epic challenges as you get more 'famous' or higher level in the city are not.   (alot of games add or change minor mechanics as the game ages from listening to their community)

I doubt it'll ever be Free to Play since there's a healthy population with as far as i've noticed on the servers I play on a friendly community.   Plus they put out plenty of content to keep people interested in playing.

If you want a soloable game then go play WoW, just don't expect to get anything uber that way.

Valvanya

I played pen & paper D&D back in the 70s to the 90s.

I do agree that most official modules have been designed for groups, but you always had a DM that would adjust for the group.

If you needed help, you would hire henchmen. (e.g., Guild Wars).

Essentially, there is nothing in the original rules or game content that precludes solo play.