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NDA Lifted
TookyG
Warhammer Online CorrespondentMember UncommonPosts: 1,115
The NDA has been lifted for DDO. Discuss. 
I'll start, the game is horrid.
- Combat is way too clunky, in a group people are just swinging wildly until the mob hits the ground.
- Horrible character customization, very limited options.
- Far too much grouping is required. Don't get me wrong, I understand P&P D&D entirely group oriented but for an MMO there is far far too much of a reliance on groups to get anything done.
Until you cancel your subscription, you are only helping to continue the cycle of mediocrity.
Comments
NDA lifted...
Most posts on the official forums are "Negative" ( based on my definition of Negative )... Tons of people have been saying that DDO still needs this or still needs that to be a good enough game... And Nothing's going to change from now til launch...
Here's my dislikes...
In other words, I'm not digging this game
... Only plus is graphics and the ability to fight in twitch combat...
OK, so the NDA has been lifted...
I want to hear from all of the people who said they couldn't say anything because of the NDA.
Good and bad. Especially the Good.
I want to hear the good side. Heard enough of the bad.
Postmortem Studios
Roleplaying games to DIE for
Shop here
All instances, nuff said.
I want a refund, and I didn't even pre-order the game! I cringe thinking of the time I spent downloading the stress test. This game is a total waste.
But not to be purely negative for those who DID pre-order it. The cd's will make wonderfully colored coasters that will brighten any living room.
Sorry GRIM, you're not gonna hear much that is good about this game.
http://aion.24-hrgaming.net
Here is a question for anyone who cares to answer...
Why is it if you choose to customize your character you cannot get the same stats that you had before you decicded to customize your character? An example... I was going to create an Human Sorcerer. Her starting stats were, in order... 12str, 18dex, 13con, 10int, 10wis, 17cha. Now when I went to cuntomize... There was no way I could get every stat up as high as that. Not enough points. Why? The reason why I wanted to customize was to see if I could get better feats and the like
Imagine creating a character similar to the character creation in WoW; relatively few selections available for faces, body types, shapes, clothing, hair, etc. The biggest available options are the color selections.
Now, imagine selecting skills that are split into two categories; "passive" and "active (meaning you have to activate them)" but imagine that there doesn't appear to be any real difference between them. If passive skills are having any effect, you can't tell and the same goes basically for your active skills.
Imagine that there are so few quests in the game that you will have to repeat many of them over and over again to "level". Now imagine that there are artificial layers of "level" in between those that any D&D PnP player is familiar with, to artificially slow the rate at which you "finish" the game.
Imagine D&D PnP with no random encounters, no travelling outside of cities, no camping, no pack animals (or animals of any kind), no crafting and no free will.
Imagine adventuring in D&D PnP without an actual storyline of any consistency or import. If you care about levelling, the skimpy backstories that mask the "kill everything" quests won't bother you at all.
Imagine playing D&D PnP but you have no idea what the numerical values of any of your skills or abilities are (for the most part) and so it's a constant guessing game that you play with the DM about whether you can succeed in any given action attempt... sometimes you can, sometimes you can't, but you may as well try it because you don't really know what you need to be successful.
Imagine D&D PnP and gaining new weapons, armor and skills but they have no real meaning because any dungeon you go into has NPCs who are artificially modded to meet or exceed your abilities. Put your dice away, because they are meaningless.
Imagine D&D PnP where you go into a dungeon and fight your way nearly to the end, killing multiple named lieutenants and hordes of henchmen but having to retreat to escape death. Then go back in and do it all over again... killing Jimmy Joe McSpellcaster for the second time.. then the third... and the fourth.
Finally;
Imagine playing D&D PnP where someone keeps tearing up your character sheet, where you have to find the right size table for your game maps every single time you log in, where your DM won't let you get up to go to the bathroom and makes you sit in your chair all night, where sometimes the DM won't even let you into the game because s/he says you've already been there for a couple of hours.
If that is your idea of Dungeons and Dragons as an online multiplayer game, then you will have spent your $50 plus $15 a month wisely. Plus, you will be providing Turbine with further capital for the development of LotR. Which of course means that DDO will be seeing little or no attention.
If this sounds nothing like the D&D PnP that you have previously enjoyed; save your money. You won't enjoy this game long enough to validate the expenditure.
Turbine; someone in your company needs to learn how to make multiplayer games again. I don't know who that should be, but you need at least one person there who knows something about making a good multiplayer game, because it is extremely clear that your present development staff doesn't know jack about it.
If I were Turbine, I would put everything I had in LotR. It's make or break time for this company.
Abbatoir / Abbatoir Cinq
Adnihilo
Beorn Judge's Edge
Somnulus
Perfect Black
----------------------
Asheron's Call / Asheron's Call 2
Everquest / Everquest 2
Anarchy Online
Shadowbane
Dark Age of Camelot
Star Wars Galaxies
Matrix Online
World of Warcraft
Guild Wars
City of Heroes
this thread = depressing, I was thinking when I saw this game, wow, this could be one of the few MMO's out there that has a GREAT story and a lot of backround / lore! This could be an amazing game with really deep rich content!
<--- me now 
MMORPG's just seem to be a major dissapointment which you eventually get over and enjoy the game for what it is, we must all accept this, it seems
Originally posted by Ian_Hawkmoon
OK, so the NDA has been lifted...
I want to hear from all of the people who said they couldn't say anything because of the NDA.
Good and bad. Especially the Good.
And the silence is deafening. Guess that blows your theory that the people that like it are bound by the NDA.
I'm surprised Turbine lifted the NDA so early lol..If they would have read the boards concerning everyone's dislike for DDO,they would have waited a couple weeks to lift the NDA.. Maybe this is a good thing..Perhaps the DEV's will take every person's negative feedback and work on implementing the main features that should be in DDO in the first place..
Give us a world to explore and more fredom to make our own destiny.. Give us content that doesn't just include questing and dungeon hopping.. Give us a MMORPG that will hold our intrest for more than a month,,please..
Rallithon Oakthornn
(Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
Dear Jeremy,
Turbine is pleased to announce that the confidentiality obligations in the Preview and Non-disclosure Agreement for the Dungeons and Dragons, Stormreach Beta have been lifted earlier than anticipated. This means players in the Beta Program and those who took part in the Stress Test Events are free to talk about the game on public forums. After getting so much positive feedback from our Beta players, we felt it was time to let you share your opinions and praise for DDO with the rest of the MMOG community.
Preorders are now available online as well as in many retail stores. Click here to learn more about the preorder, get access to the Beta, and get a head start building your character once the game ships!
Dungeons and Dragons, Stormreach is currently scheduled to shipon February 28.
Yay, now I can say this game sucks ass legally.
There is nothing Turbine can do now to make DDO good (IMO of course). They were completely doomed the minute they decided to make it 100% instanced.
Does Turbine remind anyone of a top 40 Boy Band? Just taking any of the new fads and copying it for the sole reason of "That's what is hot right now". How about using that squishy thing you keep stored in your skulls once and a while guys...
DDO = Guild Wars
LOTRO = WoW (just watch)
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
Very well said in your post Somnulus. The only thing DDO and D&D have in common is the name.
However, I know of one Turbine DEV that is great at what he does...but one man cannot feed an army.
Allan, you're the man.
Joined 2004 - I can't believe I've been a MMORPG.com member for 20 years! Get off my lawn!
Questions: I really liked the PvE in Guild Wars (yes, I'm a freak). Would you say the PvE gameplay in DDO is similar enough to warrant picking this game up when (I refuse to belief there's an if) they do away with this multiple servers and monthly fee junk?
Also, I played the stress test, but all my complaints about early-game combat were met with cries of "It gets better in the later levels" followed by "Don't get to a high-level so fast you power-gaming, immature, ADD kiddie" (gotta love the fanbois). Anyways, I'm wondering if the former comment. Does the gameplay improve or does it hit a wall as some beta testers have claimed?
Thanks in advance.
Very well said in your post Somnulus. The only thing DDO and D&D have in common is the name.
However, I know of one Turbine DEV that is great at what he does...but one man cannot feed an army.
Allan, you're the man.
My apologies, if that is indeed true, remyburke.
If I were your friend Allan, I would stride around the office with froth and spittle flying from my mouth as I rabidly beaned people with the D&D Player's Manual.
I wouldn't stop until they capitulated to my demands for more development time to produce actual content and to design some semblance of game mechanics that gave the customer the idea that someone on the staff had read the manuals at some point in their lives, even if not recently.
In all seriousness though. Turbine has produced one singular game in Asheron's Call. Although it had its flaws, one thing that could never be said about it was that it lacked content, an excellent and deep character development, awesome crafting, dynamic storytelling or rich, thorough lore.
Asheron's Call was closer to D&D than DDO is by an ENORMOUS margin. It is terrifying when you compare the two what is missing from DDO. All of this from a game over ten years old.
They managed to destroy that franchise with the ill-conceived Asheron's Call 2 (which could alternately be referred to as "Asheron's Call for Dummies") which lacked everything the original had. What should have been a full graphical upgrade to the original Asheron's Call came out as an almost completely different game, full of empty landscape, closed buildings and lackluster dungeons.
And now; DDO. It has managed to achieve almost less than Asheron's Call 2. I honestly did not think that was possible.
I would sincerely recommend to your friend that he seek another studio for employment, before his reputation is damaged by association. Turbine's reputation was severely tarnished following AC2, particularly after the expansion release (which should have never occurred) and the subsequent shutdown of the game. DDO in its current incomplete state cannot do anything but cause further damage, alienate even more potential customers and lower the profit potential for LotR.
The whole mess is actually very sad.
It's like watching a blind man wearing an MP3 player playing The Crystal Method at high volume try to navigate a hedge maze made of concertina wire. You keep yelling out directions, but they aren't listening to you and they just keep sticking themselves.
Any and all negative statements I make here are NOT for the purpose of denigrating Turbine. They are a sincere effort to warn my fellow gamers who have not had the opportunity to playtest DDO.
Abbatoir / Abbatoir Cinq
Adnihilo
Beorn Judge's Edge
Somnulus
Perfect Black
----------------------
Asheron's Call / Asheron's Call 2
Everquest / Everquest 2
Anarchy Online
Shadowbane
Dark Age of Camelot
Star Wars Galaxies
Matrix Online
World of Warcraft
Guild Wars
City of Heroes
This game sucks, I think it ranks next to SWG as my biggest disappointment.
Haven't they learned from EQ2 that instance succcccccccccccccccK??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
I don't know why I even try, because on the forums here in MMORPG.com you are not happy until you completely tear a game apart...
I played DDO in both Stress Tests very intensly and I thought it was a very good and interesting game. But then of course, I am not a WoW, uber-loot, power-gamer.
DDO is certainly NOT like WoW. It does not claim to be and still the forums are full of people whinig they want it the way they are used to. Then there are the experts who have decided (I don't know how - perhaps a message from the god of games?) that if a game is instanced it is not a proper MMORPG and have to spread this message on every DDO Forum.
Well, yes. DDO is instanced and the dungeons are much better for it. How do you want to include traps or riddles in a non-instanced dungeon? But, if you can't live with instancing then DDO is certainly not for you! (but what I am reading aboout other games that are developed right now about 70% will incorporate instancing. You can of course alway try DnL...)
While I was in the Stress Test I met a lot of people playing this the way they were used to. They were trying to rush through the dungeons and so actually loosing out on the main feature this game is build around. They were trying to farm quests (can you think of anything more boring) and complained that there were no uber-items...
You have to take your time with this game. It is supposed to re-create a feeling of sitting around with friends and having a nice evening together. That's why it is also not meant to be for Solo-gamers...
When I found a group, which took its time and explored a dungeon, the game was an absolute blast!
Everybody felt important as her or his skills were needed. We had to use our brains to pass traps, find hidden doors or solve riddles. Our resources were limited. We could not just have a little break and our health would be restored. We had to find special resting places and they could only be used once by each player (in some dungeons there are several of these "shrines".) That sort of thing makes one cautious and actually think your way through.
In other games, a group just runs through an area, normally following the tank. You see a mob and everybody start hacking...You don't get a real feeling of working togther. That was where DDO shone for me. With the right people (and that is an absolute must!) you really get the feeling of team-work and achievement!
DDO is not a typically MMORPG. Once you get over this point and just enjoy the game for what it is, one can have a really nice time.
I am not totally blind to problems. I think for the type of player they are trying to attract (and it is not the power-gamer) there should be much more support of role-playing (not being able to sit down was a draw-back for me). The backround story only becomes clearer if you have some sort of idea about the Eberron setting, and it is very vague.
Still, the game is well worth a try, especially when you are open-minded and want to try an alternative to other game. I will certainly buy it!
Become a beta tester and slag the game off months later, all for free, sign up here!
Did anyone actually beta test or just played it going this sucks, that sucks? Who beta-testing gave real feedback, the idea is to make the game better. You guys wander why when people buy mmorpgs they scream it's still in beta. This rant is really directed at those who beta-test and had the privelege of doing so and not giving any feedback about parts they absolutely hated.
When taking time to explore and such, it can be fun like Renessa says... but that's assuming some things...
Reality Check
Btw, What people are complaining mostly about is the lack of content...
And the reason people plan to buy this game is mostly because...
So, apparently some people do enjoy it... but it doesn't seem like the reasons are complimenting much features of the game...( btw, those are the reasons I've got from reading some posts on the official forums )...
Note - None of the numbers indicate anything of more importance than any other
Do you suggest that any game available via an internet connection is an MMO? Battlefront is an MMO? Why not? It is 100% instanced, just no 3D chat room. Mechwarrior? Sure thing- it is 100% instanced, but you can still connect to people. MMO = Massively Multiplayer Online: that insinuates that players will have an experience playing online with a massive amount of players, not 1-64 players like any other network based game. It does not take an expert to realize that: unless 64 players is your idea of massive, or chatting with people is your idea of online gaming that 100% instancing is not MMO (or Massively Multiplayer Online). Simple, isn't it?
-W.
Do you suggest that any game available via an internet connection is an MMO? Battlefront is an MMO? Why not? It is 100% instanced, just no 3D chat room. Mechwarrior? Sure thing- it is 100% instanced, but you can still connect to people. MMO = Massively Multiplayer Online: that insinuates that players will have an experience playing online with a massive amount of players, not 1-64 players like any other network based game. It does not take an expert to realize that: unless 64 players is your idea of massive, or chatting with people is your idea of online gaming that 100% instancing is not MMO (or Massively Multiplayer Online). Simple, isn't it?
No. In order to be an MMO the game must be hosted on a central server and everyone must connect to that server. Battlefield or any other FPS besides Planetside does not fit that bill. They have a central server listing that your game connects to to find games, but once you connect to one of those you are connecting to another server in a different location. Being an MMO does not have arequirement that all players MUST have the ability to gather in one spot if they so choose. Besides that would likely make the server go supernova anyways.
I like DDO, I like the graphics, I like the combat system, I like the people I met playing. Their LFG system is awesome and sooo easy to use. The quests were fun and challenging.
The only thing I would do is add more lower level (or shorter) instances. I'd add a LOT. The only issue I really had was only having an hour or two to play (or 20 minutes sometimes) and not having anything to do because I didn't want to commit to a group only to have to leave or go AFK often.
I hated the WoW beta, but LoVe the game... I think people are jumping the gun here with negative comments. I plan to play the game on release and make my decisions then, based on the final product.
I look more forward to playing LOTR online more now than before the DDO beta just because I now see what Turbine is capable of and i'm impressed.
No bitchers.