Review from Gamers Temple

Xenduli

http://www.gamerstemple.com/games6/000891/000891r01.asp

I have to say having been in the beta and currently in trial this is the most accurate review I've read. 76% is proably about right, average. Short review, but spot on with each word.

Kien

Overall it was a fair review. I especially agree with the last paragraph, where the reviewer states, "if you’re a casual gamer, prefer solo play, or want more
out of your MMORPG than dungeon crawling, then it’s probably not for you. If on
the other hand you have a group of friends looking to experience some adventure
together, you’ll probably thoroughly enjoy the game.".


On the negative side, I believe there was an inaccuracy in the review. The reviewer states, "it takes a ton of experience to level up in
the game". Simply not true. I am a casual player, and I got to level 9.5 before I knew it.

Matin61

I don't know about you, but my D&D experience had lots of play outdoors, lots of time spent designing dungeons, etc... if all you did while playing D&D was dungeon crawl on Wednesday night, you missed a lot of the game.

Koltrane

On the other hand, hardcore players will be able to rip through
the quests before they reach the end of the thirty trail period. These players
seem to keep themselves occupied by creating alternate characters and taking
them through the game all over again.

This sentence is very telling.  I met a few people in game that were on their third character and were just going through the motions.  Frankly, they didn't seen to be having a lot of fun.  As I said elsewhere, this game is the only MMO I know of that has just about no replayability.  I think that will utlimately kill it, no matter how much new content Turbine adds.

Broughden

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Originally posted by Koltrane

On the other hand, hardcore players will be able to rip through the quests before they reach the end of the thirty trail period. These players seem to keep themselves occupied by creating alternate characters and taking them through the game all over again.

This sentence is very telling.  I met a few people in game that were on their third character and were just going through the motions.  Frankly, they didn't seen to be having a lot of fun.  As I said elsewhere, this game is the only MMO I know of that has just about no replayability.  I think that will utlimately kill it, no matter how much new content Turbine adds.

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Koltrane,

Actually Turbine should consider themselves lucky right now. If Conan, Vanguard, or NWN2 was coming out next month........DDO will immediately flat line. Thats the only reason they still have ANY players left.

Elnator

IMO a 76% is too high.  If it didn't have a monthly fee 76% would be reasonable.  But being expected to pay $15 a month to play the game lowers it significantly in my book.  I'm surprised they didn't even mention the monthly fee in their review.  The fact that it's fee based and offers so little lowers it down by about 20% in my book.

The game caters to people who have a dedicated group of friends to play with.  And, honestly, if I have a dedicated group of friends to play AD&D with I'd rather play standard AD&D on IRC or around the Dinner Table

NONE of my friends, nor I, are willing to fork out $15 a month to play canned adventures over and over together.  We'd much rather have our DM generate new adventures for us each week.

Most of my friends play WoW or EQ2 or even EVE.  All of us play Guild Wars as well (now that a friend gave me a copy, I refused to buy it without a free trial).  I personally play DAoC and Guild Wars.  But we play those when we want to get a 'touch' of RPG between REAL gaming sessions.  DDO just doesn't appeal to us at all.

Elnator

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Originally posted by Broughden
If Conan, Vanguard, or NWN2 was coming out next month........DDO will immediately flat line. Thats the only reason they still have ANY players left.

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QFE

Koltrane

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Originally posted by Broughden


Actually Turbine should consider themselves lucky right now. If Conan, Vanguard, or NWN2 was coming out next month........DDO will immediately flat line. Thats the only reason they still have ANY players left.

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I agree...particularly NWN2.  It already has a huge player fanbase, it allows players to take on the DM role, it has almost unlimited replayability, and there's no monthly fee.  It's not a MMO in the traditional sense, but I think D&D fans are more interested in an immersive computer experience rather than a game world with a ton of players running around.

There may yet be a nice D&D MMO to come, but DDO isn't it.

Koltrane

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Originally posted by Elnator

IMO a 76% is too high.  If it didn't have a monthly fee 76% would be reasonable.  But being expected to pay $15 a month to play the game lowers it significantly in my book.  I'm surprised they didn't even mention the monthly fee in their review.  The fact that it's fee based and offers so little lowers it down by about 20% in my book.
The game caters to people who have a dedicated group of friends to play with.  And, honestly, if I have a dedicated group of friends to play AD&D with I'd rather play standard AD&D on IRC or around the Dinner Table
NONE of my friends, nor I, are willing to fork out $15 a month to play canned adventures over and over together.  We'd much rather have our DM generate new adventures for us each week.
Most of my friends play WoW or EQ2 or even EVE.  All of us play Guild Wars as well (now that a friend gave me a copy, I refused to buy it without a free trial).  I personally play DAoC and Guild Wars.  But we play those when we want to get a 'touch' of RPG between REAL gaming sessions.  DDO just doesn't appeal to us at all.

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See, here's the ultimate problem.  You and your friends are obviously pen and paper guys and this game doesn't appeal to you.  I would say that it appeals to very few old school AD&Ders.  Neither does it appeal to the MMO community, who love free exploration, some solo capability, crafting, an open ended environment, and even (dare I say it...) PvP. 

DDO is basically a game without a country.  There is no distinct player base that is going to flock to it long term.  I think most of the people who played in the first few months are those who wanted to find a new gaming experience.  Judging by the apparent exodus of players, DDO is not that for many players.  It's a shame, but I think Turbine is facing a tough future with only DDO and AC to support it until LOTRO comes out.

Elnator

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Originally posted by Koltrane

Originally posted by Elnator

IMO a 76% is too high.  If it didn't have a monthly fee 76% would be reasonable.  But being expected to pay $15 a month to play the game lowers it significantly in my book.  I'm surprised they didn't even mention the monthly fee in their review.  The fact that it's fee based and offers so little lowers it down by about 20% in my book.
The game caters to people who have a dedicated group of friends to play with.  And, honestly, if I have a dedicated group of friends to play AD&D with I'd rather play standard AD&D on IRC or around the Dinner Table
NONE of my friends, nor I, are willing to fork out $15 a month to play canned adventures over and over together.  We'd much rather have our DM generate new adventures for us each week.
Most of my friends play WoW or EQ2 or even EVE.  All of us play Guild Wars as well (now that a friend gave me a copy, I refused to buy it without a free trial).  I personally play DAoC and Guild Wars.  But we play those when we want to get a 'touch' of RPG between REAL gaming sessions.  DDO just doesn't appeal to us at all.

See, here's the ultimate problem.  You and your friends are obviously pen and paper guys and this game doesn't appeal to you.  I would say that it appeals to very few old school AD&Ders.  Neither does it appeal to the MMO community, who love free exploration, some solo capability, crafting, an open ended environment, and even (dare I say it...) PvP. 

DDO is basically a game without a country.  There is no distinct player base that is going to flock to it long term.  I think most of the people who played in the first few months are those who wanted to find a new gaming experience.  Judging by the apparent exodus of players, DDO is not that for many players.  It's a shame, but I think Turbine is facing a tough future with only DDO and AC to support it until LOTRO comes out.

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Oh trust me, I and all the other Beta Testers TRIED to warn them that they were making huge mistakes in it's design.  Lack of PVP isn't a big deal.  Lack of a world to explore, lack of crafting, lack of anythign to do besides dungeon grind?  bleh... who the hell would play that for any length of time while paying a monthly fee for the "priviledge"?

DDO was a huge mistake on Turbine's part.  What's sad is that highly experienced MMO players AND designers all warned them.  They chose to ignore us.