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Solo content announced - Along with a new race !!!!
porgie
Member Posts: 1,516
For everyone complaining that there isn't enough solo content, Turbine has announced they're going to add some for ya.
They're also going to add a new race and change the experience system. Sounds pretty cool to me.
TURBINE ADDS NEW SOLO CONTENT TO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: STORMREACH™
---------------------------------------------
Turbine, Inc. announced today plans for a range
of expanded player features and content, including more solo-friendly
game play, to be included in the second content module for DUNGEONS
& DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO), the hit game that has quickly
become one of the fastest-growing MMOGs (massively multiplayer online
games) in North America.
Free to all current DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™ subscribers, the
Twilight Forge module is slated for release in July and will include
the new drow race, new content for players of all levels, an improved
new player experience, and enhanced replayability. Following on the
heels of the successful retail launch with over 300,000 units sold
worldwide, the Twilight Forge module is the second in a series of
planned updates that will provide new content and features for DDO.
They're also going to add a new race and change the experience system. Sounds pretty cool to me.
TURBINE ADDS NEW SOLO CONTENT TO DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: STORMREACH™
---------------------------------------------
Turbine, Inc. announced today plans for a range
of expanded player features and content, including more solo-friendly
game play, to be included in the second content module for DUNGEONS
& DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO), the hit game that has quickly
become one of the fastest-growing MMOGs (massively multiplayer online
games) in North America.
Free to all current DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™ subscribers, the
Twilight Forge module is slated for release in July and will include
the new drow race, new content for players of all levels, an improved
new player experience, and enhanced replayability. Following on the
heels of the successful retail launch with over 300,000 units sold
worldwide, the Twilight Forge module is the second in a series of
planned updates that will provide new content and features for DDO.
-----------------------
</OBAMA>
Comments
I remember with Asheron's Call 2 Turbine was putting out tons of new content all the time. So maybe they're going to stick with that model. It's great that they're listening to people's complaints too.
I think this game has a lot of potential. I hope they can keep the momentum going with updates like this one.
I still don't understand why they don't work on finishing out the core races, then the Eberron races, before adding in supplemental races with level adjustments.
The Eberron drow is different than FR drow. I just hope Turbine actually implements them the Eberron way instead of what happened to the Warforged.
I can only bow to Turbines for those 2 great choices.
Solo and Drow are among the TOP stuff their players base want.
I just wonder...even if they can reach ACTION fans, is this fanbase really grabable for a monthly fee and all? Maybe, I dunno. ACTION fans might not follow the same rules then RPGs fans and since I am no action fan myself, I can't start saying if this is right or wrong, I have no idea. I just raise the question, are ACTION fans likely to play a MMO and pay monthly fees? So far, all MMOs who attains a significant fanbase seem to definitely fit as RPG (no matter how much action-oriented they are), while I still don't think DDO fit under the rpg label.
Anyway, 2 brights decisions for sure and I can only bow to them.
- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - Ren
I like the game because of the fast pace and instant action you can get from it. Being able to solo now more will be a plus. I can do some of the quests by myself with my bard, but more would be nice.
Can't wait!!!!
=============================
It all seems so stupid
It makes me want to give up
But why should I give up
When it all seems so stupid
So um... exactly how many ways are there to spell Drizzt?
And, they can add all the dungeons they want. It still won't draw in the players who are complaining about:
1) Lack of explorable world
2) Lack of crafting
3) Lack of player housing
4) Lack of variety in character models. More races isn't going to eliminate the 'every elf looks like every other elf' scenario.
5) Lack of ability to customize your armor / clothing. Which just makes the lack of variety in character models even worse.
More dungeons... WOOHOOO!!!!! Who cares. The only people that are really going to care about that are people who liked the game already and just needed more quests. They're doing nothing to expand their appeal. Same exact mistake they made with AC2.
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
I wish they would have added the other core Eberron races and regular D&D core races before the drow. I knew it wouldn't take long.
Solo is something I fought for during BETA and for all those people who fought me and said it would never be added because D&D is about groups. LOL.
Qui Chi
back in the day thru all the books and the Baldur's Gate series. I
don't know jack about Eberron though.
So my question is, are drow in Eberron like, I dunno, not evil
anymore? How can they be walking around a major city like Stormreach
LFG, shouldnt they be killed on sight? Or blinded for that matter,
cause they live underground and plot world domination. I'm an old DND
lore fan who got into it because of the setting, I havent kept up with
the times but the inclusion of drow seems incredibly lore-breaking to
me. I can only think of 2 things, 1.) its different in Eberron, drow
are friendly/tolerated at least or 2.) it really IS lore-breaking
Im hoping for #1, can anyone enlighten an old foggy?
I don''t really know when Humankind will die out but i''m guessing about 6 years before WOW.
-BarCrow
It's a desparation move from the folks who brought you the "Friends Don't Let Friends Solo" video campaign (which, btw, is no longer available on their web site).
The only thing this announcement made me do is *sigh*. I guess they have decided to completely ignore the PnP and just go with what people want as far as races. The ones they haven't implemented:
- Gnomes
- Half-Elves
- Half-Orcs
- Khalastar
- Changelings
All playable races in the Eberron setting. What did they do instead?
- Drow
A race that probably has the least impact in the entire realm. They only poke around on Xen'Drik and they have next to no real power in Eberron compared to the other races. They don't even have a dragonmark house.
I have no problem with the fact that they implemented Drow characters, but I do have a big problem with the fact that they keep neglecting the Eberron setting. Why the heck did they even bother picking it?
As far as the solo content thing, that was bound to happen. However, they said on thier forums that the "solo" content is only going to be in the Harbor area mainly anyway (so I don't think there's going to be a whole hell of a lot of soloable quests), and that the next module will also have raid content but this time a Warforged Titan. Sounds like exactly what they had in module 1, a few more quests (this time with emphasis on solo) and a raid.
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Played: Age of Conan, DDO, Saga of Ryzom, SWG, DaOC, MxO, EQ2, and so on...
Wish List: Jumpgate Evolution, Star Wars: TOR, Star Trek
Have played: CoH, DDO EQ2, FFXI, L2, HZ, SoR, and WW2 online
Just to quote directly from the forums over at DDO about the solo content:
"The group game is still there and still the most important part of DDO. We're adding solo content mainly for the early levels, to help new players get into the game easier so they can level up a little and be ready for the group challenges."
That was from Sporkfire himself in the announcement thread about the solo content. Plus, as someone also pointed out, it has been noted that the content will be mainly centered around the Harbor area. In my eyes, it really doesn't look like much has changed in regard to soloing. Have to wait until July to find out for sure, of course.
I think their plan is to make the lower levels as attractive as possible, in order to get at least a one month subscription from each box sale.
I don't see how they can implement solo content at higher levels without intrinsically changing the nature of the AD&D Class archetypes. VERY few classes in AD&D lend themselves to solo play without expensive potions, scrolls or wands. Since Turbine is trying to make this as "AD&D" like as possible I just don't see how they can implement high level solo play.
Dunno about you but for me 'solo play' doesn't necessarilly mean running around ganking mobs by myself. If I wanna do that I can go play doom or whatever. "Solo" content can be crafting, exploring, customizing your own home, etc. Turbine needs to stop focusing on combat. The combat is good! The Quests are even pretty good, there just aren't enough of those. What the game desperately needs is an explorable world. Trade professions and the ability to set up your own shops, etc.
If they would do that they'd have a winner. It baffles me that they don't grasp this simple concept. In fact AD&D already SUPPORTS all of those concepts in the rulesets. Why they don't just implement them is beyond me. Heck, the explorable world could even be relatively "safe" with very few encounters (just implement the 'random encounter' system outlined in the DMG) and allow people to harvest/mine/whatever resources for crafting. Make the world non-instanced. For the most part people will be in a dungeon anyway. The majority of people out in the wilderness will likely be crafters harvesting resources or a bored soloist. Add other cities besides Stormreach where NEW quests and NEW races can be placed. Then you can even implement a dynamic market where some races can make certain items and others make different items and you would need to travel to other cities to get those items.
In short: Make DDO into a REAL MMO instead of an online dungeon emulator.
I mean, c'mon now.... sticking an entire race of Drow in the same city where the elves live??? What genius thought that one up? What's next? Duergar and Orcs in the same city as Dwarves?
Currently Playing: Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Sig image Pending
Still in: A couple Betas
A thought pops to mind. A thought that's not original. It's the way single player D&D games do it and Guild Wars does it (or used to do it ... I haven't played GW in a while).
NPC Henchmen.
I wouldn't think they'd let you do raid content this way, but up to the houses ... yeah, I can see that. You're a cleric ... hire a rogue, DPS, and tank for a nominal fee. Money is practically useless in DDO anyway.
I agree about the explorable world, but I just don't see them having the dev staff to pull it off at this late date. They most likely sent the bulk of their dev staff over to work on LoTR:O. Of course, making NPC Henchmen with the sllightest bit of intelligence takes some time as well.
Anybody here old enough to have played original 1st edition AD&D? Remember when they introduced the drow? They appeared in two or three modules, and the Fiend Folio, and they were kind of cool because they were mysterious and no-one imagined elves being evil. But now....they're just every fanboi's favourites. They've had novels, computer games, supplements and so on.
And now, DDO is getting some bad press from the community, so presto! Let's put drow in it! <sigh>....
I'm trying not to be cynical about this, but it's hard. As people have already pointed out, if you're going to add a new race, why not one of the Eberron core player races? They're pretty cool and would be interesting to play.
And yes, more solo content is good, but the whole point of the continent of Xendrik in the PnP version of the game is exploration...so why not give us some territory to explore?
So, it's nice to see them adding additional content to the game, but I think this could have been thought out better.
auryx
The real kick in the pants is that the Drow in Eberron are tribalistic. They live in the wilds of Xen'Drik (the continent where Stormreach resides). Having a bunch of Drow roaming around Stormreach like it's no big deal (or like they came from some other continent in Eberron) is just dumb....real dumb.
On a side note, the Eberron setting isn't at fault here at all, Turbine's interpretation of Eberron (aka their DM'ing) is complete crap. Hopefully, now that they have the creator of the setting working for them (Keith Baker), they'll get on track with the lore and the setting...but I have my doubts.
--------------
Played: Age of Conan, DDO, Saga of Ryzom, SWG, DaOC, MxO, EQ2, and so on...
Wish List: Jumpgate Evolution, Star Wars: TOR, Star Trek
The real kick in the pants is that the Drow in Eberron are tribalistic. They live in the wilds of Xen'Drik (the continent where Stormreach resides). Having a bunch of Drow roaming around Stormreach like it's no big deal (or like they came from some other continent in Eberron) is just dumb....real dumb.
On a side note, the Eberron setting isn't at fault here at all, Turbine's interpretation of Eberron (aka their DM'ing) is complete crap. Hopefully, now that they have the creator of the setting working for them (Keith Baker), they'll get on track with the lore and the setting...but I have my doubts.
Don't worry. All the Drow will be named some variation of "well you know" and they will all claim to have come from the FR. One way or another.
I agree. The actual Eberron setting isn't at fault here at all. The setting is great. It's really about how Turbine made this game. You'd think they'd have learned their lesson from Asheron's Call 2 but guess now.