Who is the audience?

Koltrane

Having played DDO for a couple of months, I'm not a fan, but I'm not here to bash it either.  I do have a question that I would like the forum's opinion on:  Who is the target audience for this game?

DDO qualifies as a MMORPG under the broadest of definitions, but it is so limited in many ways that I don't see the traditional MMO crowd going for it in a big way.  DDO has nice graphics and good teamplay, but it is lacking in free exploration, crafting, PvP, solo/small team options, discovery, and a decent economy, among other things...all of which traditional MMO gamers love.

I've heard PnP RPGers say that this is not the game they hoped for, even AD&D guys.  Most of them seem to be awaiting NWN2 which will allow them to be more creative without a monthly fee.

The casual computer gamer is not served well by DDO, because there is no option for a short session.  If you count the time it takes to log on, find a group, select a mission, run and complete a crawl, and turn it in, your talking a minimum of an hour - and that's if everything goes well.  I could play DAoC for 20 mins and accomplish a couple of quests or kill some mobs for exp.  That's almost impossible to do in DDO.

The worst thing going against DDO (imho) is that there is almost no replayability.  I've said it before and I'll say it again...why on earth pay a monthly fee for a game that has no alternate path?  All players, regardless of race or class, run the same missions that never change.  The normal version of a quest differs from the hard and elite versions only by the toughness of the opponents and, ostensibly, better loot.  The thing that truly made me want to quit DDO was when I logged on, got a group, and all they wanted to do were the same three quests I had run in my previous 4 or 5 sessions.

I know it sounds like I'm bashing, but I'm truly curious.  Who is the genral audience Turbine is shooting for?  I hate to say it, but I think they're about to find out that their target market is extremely limited.  If they have 30,000 subs in 6 months, I'll be surprised.

Ian_Hawkmoon

According to a Turbine interview...  The target audience is 20 to 25 year olds...  But there are mixed feeling as to what they are actually getting...  Some say the older more mauture players...  Some say other things...  Should be interesting as to what people/players actually post here...

Drgonzothx

I think that you have asked the best question in regards to DDO that can be asked.  To me it seems that the majority of players who are playing are much older then your usual mmo crowd, who also have very little spare time for playing.  I got the impression that Turbine was trying to go after all the people who were sick of WoW, but I think they missed the mark.  It seems right now that Turbine has no idea of what direction to take this game and are just sort of grasping trying to find a market.

Elnator

I said it in beta, I'll say it again:

If you want to charge a monthly fee you need to offer options.  DDO most emphatically does *not* offer options.  Other than endless dungeon grinds there is *nothing* to do in this "game".  It's just a giant online dungeon simulator.  It's not even a dungeon 'generator' because it doesn't even make random dungeons... just a fixed set of pre-canned adventures that never change or vary except if you choose a higher difficulty... and then it's just the same mobs with more hp and more dmg.  WHEE!  Oh... and slighly less pointless loot tables.

There's no world to explore

There's no crafting

There's no pvp, not even optional pvp duels.

There's no housing

There's no solo play whatsoever

There's no variety.

There's no customization of your character... a halfling is a halfling is a halfling... they alll look pretty much the same... buncha damn clones.  Same for every other race.

There's no customization of your clothing... the various armors/clothes/robes look pretty much the same... whee!!!  Why look that mage looks just like that one... and that one and that one.

That is why DDO won't survive.  It's not a bad engine, as far as engines go.  The combat isn't bad.  The quests aren't even bad.... there just aren't enough of them.  The big killer is other than the quests (which there are NOT enough of) there is *nothing* to do.

And yet.... Turbine, Atari and WotC expect players to pay a monthly fee..... truely mind boggling.

aaronmanzero

i think diablo 2 is less restrictive than this game actually. I played 1 week in D&D beta and unplugged it for good. asherons call was ok at first till they allowed to many cheats and ruinded it. asherons call 2 seemed alot like d&d veru cool landscapes with nothing else and linited areas you could go to. turbine has alot of good ideas they just need to reinvent them and EXPAND them. AC1 world with D&D graphics and a brand new toon creator. the missions and quests in AC 1 were long enjoyable with no stiff penalties unless u died and the announcer to global of hwo killed what was cool to.

Koltrane

I really don't see a lot of future for this game, fanboys notwithstanding.  If we can all put our biases aside and take an objective look at the basic design, then it just doesn't hold up.

Elnator gave a list of things this game doesn't have, and there are probably even more.  In fact, the only thing this game does have going for it is the Dungeons & Dragons name.  If you took the D&D name off the game and retitled it, "Kobold Attack!" (or something), no one would know it was D&D (even with the references to Eberron) and no one would play it.

DDO is like a subset of other MMOs.  It's like Turbine said, "Let's take the basic MMO formula, strip away everything except set dungeon crawls and grouping, and slap the Dungeons & Dragons name on it. 

Seriously, I just don't understand who the long-term (or even the short-term, for that matter) audience is.

Elnator

Minor correction Koltrane:

I have no bias against this game.  I really hope Turbine pulls a rabbit out of their hat and alters this game to where it's worth paying for.  But the bottom line is that the current iteration of the game is *not* worth the money.  Not even remotely.

I'm not even sure who the audience is or why it even has fans following it. Maybe they're just desperate for something decent to play because there's so little worth playing out there.  Personally the only thing I'm playing right now is DAoC and Guild Wars... Guild Wars is free so it's fun and worth it.  DAoC is actually a little over priced but it's the only MMO I currently feel is worth my money.  My next one after DAoC would probably be EQ2....

Maybe the fans of DDO just want it to succeed because they're desperate to get away from the EQ Clones and are blinded to it's short comings because it is at least a little different from 'the mold'.

Dunno... all I know is that I really hope Turbine makes some much needed alterations to the game.  Even just adding a world to explore would help this game dramatically.