DDO - PROS and CONS

Bramson

Dungeon and Dragons Online ( DDO )

From my first experience with DDO was wow this is pretty darn fun. Going through the missions and story's you do feel like a good DnD session. I just want to say now, that I think DDO is a good mmorpg. The game play is pretty fun, it really does bring back into mmorpgs the overall value of a good group. Without a rogue you cannot disable traps or unlock doors, without a cleric or bard you have little to no healing power, without a fighter, barbarian, paladin you dont have a good meeler who can take the dmg. What makes it stand out most than traditional mmorpgs is you dont get awarded EXP for bashing mobs. There are certain missions and submissions that you can complete per quest and once those are complete you get exp based off your performance. Bashing barrels, slaying all monsters, disable trap will all get you exp bonus before you accomplish the last mission. Most missions there are many ways to finish the same objective depending on the classes and players you have.

The first PRO is customer service. I have made about 10 petitions now, and between those 10 I have not waited more than 3 minutes before I got a game master level 1 to msg me about my issue. During the first day I played I made a petition and I pressed enter and I got a msg seriously 4 seconds after I pressed enter and that was maybe a few days after release. Game master level 1 can do basic things for you in my experience. They are able to move you around a dungeon if you get stuck, they can investigate problems with your character ( basic ), they can answer basic questions regarding DnD, and when it comes down to they dont have a single clue they will forward you to a game master level 2. Game masters level 2 are much more experienced with the game and code. I had a big problem with my Dwarf Bard ( yes dwarf LOL ) not getting the dwarven racial skill of using a dwarven waraxe as a martial weapon. They investigated it and said that I should have received it and must be a bug so they will need to correct it and see it in a patch in 1 to 3 weeks. Another issue I had was the bards lack of ability to be a master of none but the ability to do all. ( aka not being able to pick locks, disable traps ). I was very quickly moved on to a game master level 2 who explained that it wasnt broken or anything but that they are currently only allowing rogues the ability to do that. I explained my frustration about the point of the whole dnd skill system and class skills and cross class skills and how the point was if someone wanted to branch away from class specific skills that is why it takes 2x the training to get a skill you think might be useful. Also, about the point of a bard who can substitute a rogue when you just cant find a rogue to do the job. The gm explained that I can write an email to the company about this suggestion as well as go onto the forums and create a post about this issue to see if I cant get the community support on the issue and it could be possibly changed. I got the feeling that the GM's are really there to help you out compared to most MMORPG's where they just want to get on by you as fast as they can and really dont give you fulfilling answers.  With every experience with a GM they will not stop talking to you until you decide you have no more questions or dont require their assistance anymore. Even through some arguements/or game balance issues the GM would tell their side/opinion and listen to mine and wouldnt say " I dont have time to argue/talk to you about this " it was more like " I see you issue, here is my view on it and here is what you can do if you dont like it ".

The first CON that I could see was just the state of the game as a whole. It so far has been fun, but some things are missing. There is no druid or monk currently in game. The pet controls needs some work to be more controlable and also the lack of ranger animal companion, paladin mount, druid and companion. Rangers combat improvement levels ( 2 and 6 if I remember correctly ) they are suppose to choose either a ranged or meele route but they get both instead. Semi lack of a lot of DnD skills. Even though it might take more time to develope what about mounts?!?! and mounted combat . I can see mounts not able to go into houses or sewers etc ( which they could not in pen and paper version if your gm was smart ) but there are still areas like moving through town faster, all the outdoor events/raids/encounters which you could still bring your loyal mount. I also thought I read before purchasing the game that all the prestige classes would be in game. From what I can tell maybe that is just future plans because they are not in game yet. And most prestige classes u can aquire at level 5 and have a max level of 5 so wouldnt push through the max levels if you met all the requirements fast. Just from the prospective of this is the game is fun but there is just a lack of content.The game has great potential they just need to work on some things.

This game at current state is not really for those hardcore power gamers. If you rush to 10, you will be one of the small few who are 10 currently and I dont see many of them doing those high level raids as of yet. So you either have to create a new character or redo missions/finish off missions to get new equipment etc. Since DDO is not the only MMORPG I play currrently, I have only been placing an hour or two a day ( sometimes every other day ) into it and I have not lost interest. I think if I was playing it non stop, or if thats all I played, I might lose interest faster than normal not because of the game isnt fun but because of the above CON of lack of content. But when you look at most MMORPG game histories a lot of them start out with a semi lack of content, the only difference is DDO is not a grind game where you have to play it like a 2nd job to get anywhere so you notice some of content stuff before the developers have the chance to make changes. The good news is we are already getting our first free module coming up soon. Which adds more content, 1 more level, dragon encounter, etc.

Overall, I see great potential. For the average gamer you will have fun playing this game. The hardcore gamers ( who play a lot during a day ) you might find yourself waiting a little longer to get some content added versus the average gamer which you can then decide to create a new character, maybe make some changes now that you understand the DnD system, or whatever to buy time until more players of max level so you can do raids or wait for more modules to come out for more content. If you are a DnD fan you wont be disappointed, this is by far the only mmorpg that offers you more of a dnd feel than anything else and is a lot of fun.

Cheers

EDIT: I just wanted to point out that there is a lot of replayability in this game. There are so many different racial class combo's depending on your play style. You can be a fighter level 2 sorceror level 1 rogue level 1 if you wanted or just fouc on one class only. I'm glad that it doesnt take ages to level up or how would you find a combination that you really enjoyed to play and use

brihtwulf

PRO - The community.  There are a lot less foul-mouthed kiddes than WoW, and the game is designed more for the mature crowd.  It's not to say you still don't get some immature people, but they are much fewer than some other MMOs.

CON - It can be difficult to find a group during off-peak times, which makes the game nearly impossible to play.  In the morning and early afternoon EST there seem to be few people around, and without any solo content, players are quite out of luck.

grimjakk

One small correction to the OP... there won't be any raise in the level cap with Module 1.  That's been confirmed by the devs on the official boards.

Frankly, I don't expect to see much of a level cap increase until we get the first major expansion with new races/classes, but that's just my opinion.

The game really isn't for powergamers... once you hit cap, like in the old school games I used to play, its best to (temporarily) retire the character and start a new one. 

Ah...

PRO:  RP community - On Thelanis, I've seen more random folks actually roleplaying than I have in any game since... um.  Well, I've been playing MMORPG's since UO, and I don't think I've EVER run into this many roleplayers.   Last night I joined a group in House "K" that advertised itself as "RP Only - no rushing" and had a blast. 

CON:  Elves.  Too many dang "Ears" runnin' around.  Whole damn place smells o' Elderberries...