I've stated in at least one thread that I'm not a D&D player. I was heavy into 2nd Ed. AD&D back in its day but I remember the adventures not the game and class mechanics.
I'll look forward to the monk and half-orc race. Druids? I dunno. In other MMORPGs I love druids, and in WoW my druid was the first class I raided with, I love the hybrid aspect and the utility. But even then, look how many dungeons in WoW pretty much gimps their druid class because so many abilities only work outside. The majority of DDO is dungeon crawling, and if D&D druids are anything like I (vaguely) remember them, I'm not sure how useful they'll be overall in a dungeon crawling group. At least with the current classes we have, it is possible to have too many of a certain class, but there's a place for every class in every situation. That's my only concern with druids, and as I said, I really don't know how the class works in modern D&D so I'm probably way off-base.
Adding the Shifters and other Eberron races would be a great touch, but how useful would their racial abilities be, especially when they'll be plopped into the existing content? I don't see Turbine going back and retrofitting all the existing dungeons to give the new races an opportunity to use any custom racial abilities they have. If they're going to retrofit anything at all, I'd rather see them go back and add randomization for traps, etc.
If you are playing with real life friends, there is no better game, you can multiclass and use your full range of spells/abilities and build your character the way you want to. Which is how pnp players have always experienced D&D.
If you are playing with the intention of Pugging all the way then the game can be really horrible. Clerics and Bards are reduced to healbots, as will Druids when they arrive. ALL pug's race through the dungeons in groups of 6 even though the dungeons are designed for a party of 4. Pugger's are also critical of certain builds and will EXPECT you to have certain spells or abilities etc.Though DDO easily has the best LFG functions of any mmo, trying to get together a party of less than 6 is nigh on impossible. The game is also very Monty Haul.
So to recap:
Play with a group of real life friends and I think it is the best MMO out there.
Play with the Pugger's and its awful beyond words.
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
No, it's absolutely not hard to do anything at all without a healer in this game, btw. There are a number of ways to be completely self sufficient.
My 10th level paladin, 2nd level rogue, 2nd level fighter can raise dead, stoneskin himself, give himself greater heroism, use heal scrolls, and on and on.
ONLY lazy players believe that a healbot is necessary to run a party.
No, it's absolutely not hard to do anything at all without a healer in this game, btw. There are a number of ways to be completely self sufficient. My 10th level paladin, 2nd level rogue, 2nd level fighter can raise dead, stoneskin himself, give himself greater heroism, use heal scrolls, and on and on. ONLY lazy players believe that a healbot is necessary to run a party.
i agree. Everything can be done without a healer, but to say its absolutely not hard, is wrong. But then again i dont think this is what We3ster i getting at. Even though you feel its easy to group without a healer, the majority of players still scream after healer classes and refuses to quest without them. Therefore, a Druid may very much end up as his Cleric friend.
On a side note...I cant understand why everyone likes the Monk class, i absolutely hate it!
Taking psionics out of the game sounds likea goof since some of the more intresting things to do in the game involve Psioncs..as far as druids go well i guess it depends on who you play with. As far as the good tribes as orcs and goblins My bad i didnt clarify what i meant. It would have been nice to be able to play as an orc or a goblin.. add a little more spice to play a member of the goblin tribe. BTW if you dont get monks heres my take on em MONK= no reliance on gear... means you dont have to buy weapons and armor just an amulet and bracers....maybe a cloak. If they stay true to the pnp monk (ive played many a monk to 20 in pnp campaigns) The monk will be slightly less powerfull than other classes until around 7 or 8 then they can just about surpass all of them (psionics would have evened it out with feats like psonic fist and what not) Anyways just started to play again and think i will reactivate my subscription beacuse they are doing theyre best to add content every month..Also In pnp D&D a good party has a cleric..he doesnt have to be a healbot but its nice to have him there just in case things go really wrong.
Ok I just want to put in my two bits for good measure. I have been playing ddo since alpha. I was also one of the beta testers for the game and I have really enjoyed much of my time with the game. The game it self has a lot to offer a mmo player. It has amazing graphics for a mmo. It has some of the best dungeons I have ever seen in an mmo. Also for the most part it does stick to a very familiar set of game rules that may of us are very familiar with. However… the way that turbine has released the game, the way they manage the game, and how they are planning on continuing the game are so far off base that it will be the end of the game. People are leaving ddo in high numbers ever day. Since I have been playing I have seen server populations almost completely die out. Before the “server merge” I would log on during the day to find less than 30 players online. Just to be faire I loged into my old ultima online account to find more than 100 people just hanging out by the brit bank. But like I said turbine is the monster that is destroying the game. They are spending way to much time trying to keep people from finding exploits that they have pushed back an update to the game to release new content and fix bugs. They kick people off of there fourms if they post complaints about the game. If you do have a problem in the game the last thing you do is call a GM because they more often than not tell you to leave the dungeon and restart it from the beginning. If you loose items in there mail system they have no way to get them back to you. If you loose an item because of a bug you can forget ever getting it back. I think the biggest problem they are having is that turbine is a very small company trying to keep two games going at once and they really don’t have the staff for it. Then what staff they have all don’t care about keeping players. I had a GM once tell me that if I didn’t like the way the game worked I should just cancel my account. If you are going to try out a new mmo this is not really the one you want to look at. Now I am not saying which one to go to I just know that this one is really a waste of time. I don’t see it surviving much longer anyway. After the last server merge they are down to one third the number of servers they started the game.
Ok I just want to put in my two bits for good measure. I have been playing ddo since alpha. I was also one of the beta testers for the game and I have really enjoyed much of my time with the game. The game it self has a lot to offer a mmo player. It has amazing graphics for a mmo. It has some of the best dungeons I have ever seen in an mmo. Also for the most part it does stick to a very familiar set of game rules that may of us are very familiar with. However… the way that turbine has released the game, the way they manage the game, and how they are planning on continuing the game are so far off base that it will be the end of the game. People are leaving ddo in high numbers ever day. Since I have been playing I have seen server populations almost completely die out. Before the “server merge” I would log on during the day to find less than 30 players online. Just to be faire I loged into my old ultima online account to find more than 100 people just hanging out by the brit bank. But like I said turbine is the monster that is destroying the game. They are spending way to much time trying to keep people from finding exploits that they have pushed back an update to the game to release new content and fix bugs. They kick people off of there fourms if they post complaints about the game. If you do have a problem in the game the last thing you do is call a GM because they more often than not tell you to leave the dungeon and restart it from the beginning. If you loose items in there mail system they have no way to get them back to you. If you loose an item because of a bug you can forget ever getting it back. I think the biggest problem they are having is that turbine is a very small company trying to keep two games going at once and they really don’t have the staff for it. Then what staff they have all don’t care about keeping players. I had a GM once tell me that if I didn’t like the way the game worked I should just cancel my account. If you are going to try out a new mmo this is not really the one you want to look at. Now I am not saying which one to go to I just know that this one is really a waste of time. I don’t see it surviving much longer anyway. After the last server merge they are down to one third the number of servers they started the game.
This is a lie. I never had a problem with their customer support. They always arrived in a few minutes after I opened a ticket and resolved any bugged issue INCLUDING restoring a lost item from mailbox.
Deleting players from forums if they post complains? Why don't you go over on DDo forums and create a complain there by yourself to find out they will keep it there and won't delete you.
Well I hate to say it but Turbine has really screwed up the DDO game as a whole. It is going on 4 months now and there has not been any content update. Sure they have merged the server worlds down to 5 and the next content update was suppose to happen this past August. Well hate to break it to everyone but it is now September and there is still no new content.
I am letting my account go inactive here in 7 days. Why??? Funny that you should ask....The content has been non-existent and also the DM Support has really gone down the toilet with the content. I have to agree with scottishgoth's post about the in game GM's and telling a group that they are going to have to start the quest over again because they (the GM's) don't want to do their flippin jobs.
I have been playing PnP D&D since 1st edition and all the way up to 3.5. With the upcoming release of 4.0 in March / April 2008 I think that I am going to stop playing the PnP as well and stick to 3.5 rules. Since Wizards of the Coast bought the D&D game system they have totally ruined the game as a whole. If you don't believe me look at the stuff that they are going to produce in 4.0....you are going to have to pay a monthly fee to get access to the expanded on-line materials on top of the physical books.
I am sorely disappointed with the way that the PnP D&D has come and equally disappointed on how Turbine has handled the DDO game.
It is going on 4 months now and there has not been any content update. Sure they have merged the server worlds down to 5 and the next content update was suppose to happen this past August. Well hate to break it to everyone but it is now September and there is still no new content.
In the past 4 full months -- April to August -- there have been two full content updates. During one of the maintenance sessions they did put up a new splash screen for Accursed Ascension (the next update) which says coming in September rather than August like the previous spash screen said. I don't read the official forums enough to know if the CM said why it was being pushed back. Sure, I'm disappointed too, but unless this is the first videogame you've ever played, this stuff happens. I'd rather the new dungeons and raid pass their QA dept.
I believe the August update got pushed back because it had some critical bugs. It is a pretty big patch, I think it is Mod 5 isn't it? Those are pretty big if I remember. I loaded up Risia and there is tons of new stuff. A lot of tweaks to the UI it looks a little different, collectable bags so you have more inv space!
I agree with Talyn I hate it being pushed back but I'd want them to fix the critical bugs. It seems their staff is not as big as LOTRO.
In the past 4 full months -- April to August -- there have been two full content updates. During one of the maintenance sessions they did put up a new splash screen for Accursed Ascension (the next update) which says coming in September rather than August like the previous spash screen said. I don't read the official forums enough to know if the CM said why it was being pushed back. Sure, I'm disappointed too, but unless this is the first videogame you've ever played, this stuff happens. I'd rather the new dungeons and raid pass their QA dept.
If you call a new splash screen a content up date then I really missed something. Content to me is things in game. Not the information that they are going to have an update coming. The second update I think you are talking about Talyn is when they did the server merge down to 5 working servers. Even that update has issues.
If I offended you with my reply post I apologize in advance. According to those that I guild with in DDO the update 5 should be out next week, but by then my account will be in an inactive status.
If it is something worth getting again, I might payout the $15.00 USD for a 30-day access and look at if it is worth playing again.
I believe the August update got pushed back because it had some critical bugs. It is a pretty big patch, I think it is Mod 5 isn't it? Those are pretty big if I remember. I loaded up Risia and there is tons of new stuff. A lot of tweaks to the UI it looks a little different, collectable bags so you have more inv space! I agree with Talyn I hate it being pushed back but I'd want them to fix the critical bugs. It seems their staff is not as big as LOTRO. BTW Talyn how is the barrel/crate smashing going?
The DDO staff got re-flagged to work on LOTRO since that is the newest project that they have on the burner atm. But I do agree with you about the critical bugs and that they wanted to make sure that when the update is done that they don't have to go back and try to fix something that they are going to have to pull dev's off of the LOTRO project. So you can figure out that most of the man hours for getting that game working is going to be placed there and have their working cash cow sit on the back burner.
I keep coming back for a few weeks every few months, and then I'm reminded of why I just don't enjoy myself while playing. I REALLY want to enjoy this game. Essentially, it just comes down to hunting down a full party to do something...anything, in this game.
I also enjoy RP'ing while in a party, and it seems that like-minded adventurers are getting to few and far between.
Although, if they decided to add henchmen and hirelings into the mix, I know that I would come running back pushing old ladies and children out of my way. One trick about this would be getting the AI to behave like a rogue or whatever. How would we get the rogue to disable a trap or pick a lock? How do you get the cleric henchman to turn undead at an advantageous point, instead of using the ability when you're up against a group of three skeletons?
Oh well, it just goes to show that you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Currently Playing: Nothing...I'm developing. Looking Forward To:
If you call a new splash screen a content up date then I really missed something.
No, I simply said Turbine changed the splash screen with the new date. So they "kinda" announced it without officially sticking up a news article on the DDO site. That's all I was getting at.
Originally posted by Sevenwind
BTW Talyn how is the barrel/crate smashing going?
Smashingly, my friend, simply smashingly! Unless I login my wizard, then I let the rest of the group smash 'em, it's just too much trouble always switching from wands and scepters to staves and back.
Comments
I've stated in at least one thread that I'm not a D&D player. I was heavy into 2nd Ed. AD&D back in its day but I remember the adventures not the game and class mechanics.
I'll look forward to the monk and half-orc race. Druids? I dunno. In other MMORPGs I love druids, and in WoW my druid was the first class I raided with, I love the hybrid aspect and the utility. But even then, look how many dungeons in WoW pretty much gimps their druid class because so many abilities only work outside. The majority of DDO is dungeon crawling, and if D&D druids are anything like I (vaguely) remember them, I'm not sure how useful they'll be overall in a dungeon crawling group. At least with the current classes we have, it is possible to have too many of a certain class, but there's a place for every class in every situation. That's my only concern with druids, and as I said, I really don't know how the class works in modern D&D so I'm probably way off-base.
Adding the Shifters and other Eberron races would be a great touch, but how useful would their racial abilities be, especially when they'll be plopped into the existing content? I don't see Turbine going back and retrofitting all the existing dungeons to give the new races an opportunity to use any custom racial abilities they have. If they're going to retrofit anything at all, I'd rather see them go back and add randomization for traps, etc.
If you are playing with real life friends, there is no better game, you can multiclass and use your full range of spells/abilities and build your character the way you want to. Which is how pnp players have always experienced D&D.
If you are playing with the intention of Pugging all the way then the game can be really horrible. Clerics and Bards are reduced to healbots, as will Druids when they arrive. ALL pug's race through the dungeons in groups of 6 even though the dungeons are designed for a party of 4. Pugger's are also critical of certain builds and will EXPECT you to have certain spells or abilities etc.Though DDO easily has the best LFG functions of any mmo, trying to get together a party of less than 6 is nigh on impossible. The game is also very Monty Haul.
So to recap:
Play with a group of real life friends and I think it is the best MMO out there.
Play with the Pugger's and its awful beyond words.
You must not leave until you free Arlos and have gathered your party safely in this hallway.
No, it's absolutely not hard to do anything at all without a healer in this game, btw. There are a number of ways to be completely self sufficient.
My 10th level paladin, 2nd level rogue, 2nd level fighter can raise dead, stoneskin himself, give himself greater heroism, use heal scrolls, and on and on.
ONLY lazy players believe that a healbot is necessary to run a party.
On a side note...I cant understand why everyone likes the Monk class, i absolutely hate it!
Taking psionics out of the game sounds likea goof since some of the more intresting things to do in the game involve Psioncs..as far as druids go well i guess it depends on who you play with. As far as the good tribes as orcs and goblins My bad i didnt clarify what i meant. It would have been nice to be able to play as an orc or a goblin.. add a little more spice to play a member of the goblin tribe. BTW if you dont get monks heres my take on em MONK= no reliance on gear... means you dont have to buy weapons and armor just an amulet and bracers....maybe a cloak. If they stay true to the pnp monk (ive played many a monk to 20 in pnp campaigns) The monk will be slightly less powerfull than other classes until around 7 or 8 then they can just about surpass all of them (psionics would have evened it out with feats like psonic fist and what not) Anyways just started to play again and think i will reactivate my subscription beacuse they are doing theyre best to add content every month..Also In pnp D&D a good party has a cleric..he doesnt have to be a healbot but its nice to have him there just in case things go really wrong.
Ok I just want to put in my two bits for good measure. I have been playing ddo since alpha. I was also one of the beta testers for the game and I have really enjoyed much of my time with the game. The game it self has a lot to offer a mmo player. It has amazing graphics for a mmo. It has some of the best dungeons I have ever seen in an mmo. Also for the most part it does stick to a very familiar set of game rules that may of us are very familiar with. However… the way that turbine has released the game, the way they manage the game, and how they are planning on continuing the game are so far off base that it will be the end of the game. People are leaving ddo in high numbers ever day. Since I have been playing I have seen server populations almost completely die out. Before the “server merge” I would log on during the day to find less than 30 players online. Just to be faire I loged into my old ultima online account to find more than 100 people just hanging out by the brit bank. But like I said turbine is the monster that is destroying the game. They are spending way to much time trying to keep people from finding exploits that they have pushed back an update to the game to release new content and fix bugs. They kick people off of there fourms if they post complaints about the game. If you do have a problem in the game the last thing you do is call a GM because they more often than not tell you to leave the dungeon and restart it from the beginning. If you loose items in there mail system they have no way to get them back to you. If you loose an item because of a bug you can forget ever getting it back. I think the biggest problem they are having is that turbine is a very small company trying to keep two games going at once and they really don’t have the staff for it. Then what staff they have all don’t care about keeping players. I had a GM once tell me that if I didn’t like the way the game worked I should just cancel my account. If you are going to try out a new mmo this is not really the one you want to look at. Now I am not saying which one to go to I just know that this one is really a waste of time. I don’t see it surviving much longer anyway. After the last server merge they are down to one third the number of servers they started the game.
This is a lie. I never had a problem with their customer support. They always arrived in a few minutes after I opened a ticket and resolved any bugged issue INCLUDING restoring a lost item from mailbox.
Deleting players from forums if they post complains? Why don't you go over on DDo forums and create a complain there by yourself to find out they will keep it there and won't delete you.
REALITY CHECK
Well I hate to say it but Turbine has really screwed up the DDO game as a whole. It is going on 4 months now and there has not been any content update. Sure they have merged the server worlds down to 5 and the next content update was suppose to happen this past August. Well hate to break it to everyone but it is now September and there is still no new content.
I am letting my account go inactive here in 7 days. Why??? Funny that you should ask....The content has been non-existent and also the DM Support has really gone down the toilet with the content. I have to agree with scottishgoth's post about the in game GM's and telling a group that they are going to have to start the quest over again because they (the GM's) don't want to do their flippin jobs.
I have been playing PnP D&D since 1st edition and all the way up to 3.5. With the upcoming release of 4.0 in March / April 2008 I think that I am going to stop playing the PnP as well and stick to 3.5 rules. Since Wizards of the Coast bought the D&D game system they have totally ruined the game as a whole. If you don't believe me look at the stuff that they are going to produce in 4.0....you are going to have to pay a monthly fee to get access to the expanded on-line materials on top of the physical books.
I am sorely disappointed with the way that the PnP D&D has come and equally disappointed on how Turbine has handled the DDO game.
-John
Dalnans - lvl 14 wizard - Thelanis Server
Balaxe - lvl 14 Cleric - Thelanis Server
-Slider7
Looking for that next MMO
In the past 4 full months -- April to August -- there have been two full content updates. During one of the maintenance sessions they did put up a new splash screen for Accursed Ascension (the next update) which says coming in September rather than August like the previous spash screen said. I don't read the official forums enough to know if the CM said why it was being pushed back. Sure, I'm disappointed too, but unless this is the first videogame you've ever played, this stuff happens. I'd rather the new dungeons and raid pass their QA dept.
I believe the August update got pushed back because it had some critical bugs. It is a pretty big patch, I think it is Mod 5 isn't it? Those are pretty big if I remember. I loaded up Risia and there is tons of new stuff. A lot of tweaks to the UI it looks a little different, collectable bags so you have more inv space!
I agree with Talyn I hate it being pushed back but I'd want them to fix the critical bugs. It seems their staff is not as big as LOTRO.
BTW Talyn how is the barrel/crate smashing going?
.. .... .- - . - .-. --- .-.. .-.. ... .-- .... --- .-. . .--. --- .-. - .-.-.-
--------------------------------------------------------
Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.
If you call a new splash screen a content up date then I really missed something. Content to me is things in game. Not the information that they are going to have an update coming. The second update I think you are talking about Talyn is when they did the server merge down to 5 working servers. Even that update has issues.
If I offended you with my reply post I apologize in advance. According to those that I guild with in DDO the update 5 should be out next week, but by then my account will be in an inactive status.
If it is something worth getting again, I might payout the $15.00 USD for a 30-day access and look at if it is worth playing again.
-John
-Slider7
Looking for that next MMO
The DDO staff got re-flagged to work on LOTRO since that is the newest project that they have on the burner atm. But I do agree with you about the critical bugs and that they wanted to make sure that when the update is done that they don't have to go back and try to fix something that they are going to have to pull dev's off of the LOTRO project. So you can figure out that most of the man hours for getting that game working is going to be placed there and have their working cash cow sit on the back burner.
-John
-Slider7
Looking for that next MMO
I keep coming back for a few weeks every few months, and then I'm reminded of why I just don't enjoy myself while playing. I REALLY want to enjoy this game. Essentially, it just comes down to hunting down a full party to do something...anything, in this game.
I also enjoy RP'ing while in a party, and it seems that like-minded adventurers are getting to few and far between.
Although, if they decided to add henchmen and hirelings into the mix, I know that I would come running back pushing old ladies and children out of my way. One trick about this would be getting the AI to behave like a rogue or whatever. How would we get the rogue to disable a trap or pick a lock? How do you get the cleric henchman to turn undead at an advantageous point, instead of using the ability when you're up against a group of three skeletons?
Oh well, it just goes to show that you can't please all of the people all of the time.
Currently Playing: Nothing...I'm developing.
Looking Forward To:
No, I simply said Turbine changed the splash screen with the new date. So they "kinda" announced it without officially sticking up a news article on the DDO site. That's all I was getting at.
Smashingly, my friend, simply smashingly!