Has it gotten better?

Dabble · September 2006

When it was released it got a lot of poor reviews. Most said stay away until they add some content. Well, has it improved?

we3ster · September 2006

I don't know what the game was like when it was first launched as I have only been playing for about 6 weeks, however, I really like it. So much so, that i cancelled my EQ2 account to pay for this instead.

In the 6 weeks I have played, there have been 2 lots of content added, they add new content every month which is good, a lot of new content is being added in Oct including pvp, auction house and more soloing options.

For me, RPG's are about character creation and development and this has the best system so far, the options are virtually limitless. I play a caster and the spell choices are amazing, no fireball rank 1, 2 etc as you progress but a choice of different spells. Multiclassing too helps with the diversity, yes, you can gimp a character but hey, it least if you want, you could make a wizard/rogue or even a wiz/rogue/ranger, you really can make quite a unique character. Weapons also, any class can use any weapon, you may get penalties for using a ceratin weapon but you can then always tailor your class around the usage of certain weapons if you wished

The dungeons are for the most part excellent and require teamwork and strategy.

The graphics in my mind are the best I have seen in terms of artwork, atmospherics etc. Case in point, I have burning hands, a fire spell, when I cast the area around me glows red and my white robes also reflect the colour. The sound too is amazing, I have an X-Fi soundcard and 5.1 surround system, I can hear things behind me or beside me very clearly, the sound effects too for the spells and buffs ect is wicked, my burning hands spell sounds like an inferno and the bards songs are particularly good and clear, it sounds like someone is really strumming a lute beside you, the DM voiceovers in the dungeons are also great and really set an atmosphere.

The community is really good and respectful, especially with new people.

There is no killing 20 spiders or 20 bears laziness that most games seem to offer as quests.

The variety of monsters is also far beyond what you would normally face in most MMO's, I have faced, Kobolds, Oozes, Hobgoblins, Spiders, Scorpions, Drow, Flensers, Elementals, Zombies, Skeletons, Wights, Ghouls, Wraith's, Golems, Iron Defenders, Vampires and on and on................

People always go on about what this game has not got like crafting or armour dyeing, instead of what it has got that others may not have like the multiclassing, instant delivery of mail to alts and the excellent LFG/LFM feature. By the way, I don't know which games have armour dyeing, certainly WoW nor EQ2 have, as for the crafting, I loved it in EQ2 but don't miss it here at all.

If you are a person who goes by reviews, this site gave it 7.4 I think, which is only 0.5 behind EQ2 and 0.7 behind WoW and those two are I think the biggest.

One thing I like is, if an enemy casts a spell on you, it lasts until it either runs out or is dispelled etc. I was with a group of 5 and 3 of us were blinded for a good 10 mins, even after exiting the dungeon, we had to be led to an inn for a brother to dispell, was funny.

There are a lot of events in the game, there was one last night and it seems there is one at least once a week, I play on the Euro servers so they are organised by Codemasters I believe, so not sure if they are as frequent on US servers.

Overall, i think the game is excellent, yes, content may have been lacking and for some, still lacking but with the rate of new content being added, given a few months, this will be an excellent game and I feel a real dark horse. Try the free trial, you may shock yourself.

About the solo content, I like to solo and group and yes, soloing some dungeons is difficult, though certainly not impossible, especially if you multiclass, besides, I like the challenge of completing a dungeon desgined for 4 on my own.

Give it a go, you have nothing to lose.

Prismaticus · September 2006

I am a newcomer (3 weeks of playing) to DDO and am also a PnP player. There is not much DnD rules here, more like DnD flavor grafted onto a video game. All in all, DDO is not wow-ing me but it is fun. Reminds me lookwise and playwise of Neverwinter Nights except with real people running around.

The Good:
- Good sound FX, great use of stereo in game.
- New content monthly. Love this idea. I haven't experienced the repeated content at all. I have so many quests right now, I don't see how I could repeat anything.
- Lots of character options for spell choices, weapons, and armor.
- Voice option. It's cool to hear people talk and be able to speak to others.
- Spell effects are fun. They did a good job with the verbal components.

The Bad (easily fixable):
- Not a full DnD experience. Not all core classes, races or prestige classes are offered. This would SO make the game that much more engaging.
- No regen of hit points or spell points. The return to the Inn to heal/get spells back just plain old sucks. CoH/CoV does this much better. One should return to an Inn only in times of death. This part is actually annoying as it is quite an interrupt for my wizard when going solo.
- Weird targeting system. If I power up an offensive spell and have no target selected, the spell does not go off. The game should just choose the closest target rather than do nothing. Again CoH/CoV targets for you if you want to attack and have not selected a target.
- Graphics are sometimes very good, other times bland (your toon is goofy looking). I do not feel like I am walking around in a fantasy city (Again when navigating CoV/CoH, there is a realistic feel that "I'm there"). DDO is sort of cartoonish in its city environment.

chriswsm · October 2006

I have just returned after being absent for 7 months. Up to leaving I had Beta tested DDO and played for about a month after release gaining a level 7 cleric / lvl 4 Ranger / Lvl 4 Barbarian

It has taken a while to reconfig my controls and there appear to be a great deal of changes. I will study this properly over the next week or so and feedback here if the game has indeed improved or not. By then NWN2 will be out which, although not an MMORPG, should make an interesting comparison.

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