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A quick review of DDo
jadeia
Member Posts: 11
Ok, I played DDO for about 7 hours in total - must say I actually really enjoyed it. This is a quick review of the game for those teetering on the fence and not sure whether to try it or not. I say go for it - its a lot of fun.
DDO sets itself apart from other MMO WoW clones in the following main ways:
1) No XP for killing monsters (so no grinding spawns)
2) No travelling overland for hours and hours - its more of a Baldurs Gate/NWN2 travel system
3) No PvP - the whole point of DDO is party based questing
4) Combat is a hybrid twitch/dice based system semi-FPS system (lots of fun)
5) Most of the Quest locations are instanced based, so you dont have plot objects/boss monsters stolen from your party by unscrupulous players - and can play at your own speed
They have tweaked the 3.5 rules somewhat to make it more compatable with computerised play, and some of the changes are controversial (spell casting system comes to mind) - but overall this is a very well balanced, and enjoyable game.
DDO has been designed with the party in mind. The guild systems are strong and the game continually encourages you to party up. In recent months, the designers have eased down on this somewhat, and added content that can be done solo, but the main part of the game requires that you travel with friends.
The twitch based combat system is a lot of fun. You aim with your bow just like you do in Oblivion, you can roll, dodge, duck, hold up your shield, parry and thrust all with the keyboard. Once you do actually make contact the dice system seems to come into play. This point alone will probably turn away some folks, but I encourage you to try it (as I did).
Graphics and sounds are fantastic. Its much less cartoony than WoW, and the characters reflect more the drawings and artwork from earlier PHB and DMGs. There is a naration too, when you enter rooms and quests. The "james earl jones - style" narration really adds a lot of atmosphere to the game, and makes you feel like you have your own personal DM - even though you do not.
Its a fun game - no major niggles in my opinion. The lack of PvP is a little disappointing, but in the end, it completely removes a lot of the uber-elite grief players you find in WoW. There's an overarcing plot aswell, and the setting is based in Eberron, so it opens up some interesting new ideas and conventions.
I really like the quests (hell thats the whole point to this game) - they are well thought out, include traps, mazes, puzzles galore and lots of baddies to kill. Because the whole XP system is based on quests - you'd want to make sure they are fun - and they are.
All in all, I really enjoyed this game. Its come a long way since beta and even the initial release - so much so I bought myself a three month access pass.
Definately better than WoW and LOTR, if not for the unique levelling system (Levels and Ranks and no Monster XP) and the focus on team play, then for everything else.
8/10
DDO sets itself apart from other MMO WoW clones in the following main ways:
1) No XP for killing monsters (so no grinding spawns)
2) No travelling overland for hours and hours - its more of a Baldurs Gate/NWN2 travel system
3) No PvP - the whole point of DDO is party based questing
4) Combat is a hybrid twitch/dice based system semi-FPS system (lots of fun)
5) Most of the Quest locations are instanced based, so you dont have plot objects/boss monsters stolen from your party by unscrupulous players - and can play at your own speed
They have tweaked the 3.5 rules somewhat to make it more compatable with computerised play, and some of the changes are controversial (spell casting system comes to mind) - but overall this is a very well balanced, and enjoyable game.
DDO has been designed with the party in mind. The guild systems are strong and the game continually encourages you to party up. In recent months, the designers have eased down on this somewhat, and added content that can be done solo, but the main part of the game requires that you travel with friends.
The twitch based combat system is a lot of fun. You aim with your bow just like you do in Oblivion, you can roll, dodge, duck, hold up your shield, parry and thrust all with the keyboard. Once you do actually make contact the dice system seems to come into play. This point alone will probably turn away some folks, but I encourage you to try it (as I did).
Graphics and sounds are fantastic. Its much less cartoony than WoW, and the characters reflect more the drawings and artwork from earlier PHB and DMGs. There is a naration too, when you enter rooms and quests. The "james earl jones - style" narration really adds a lot of atmosphere to the game, and makes you feel like you have your own personal DM - even though you do not.
Its a fun game - no major niggles in my opinion. The lack of PvP is a little disappointing, but in the end, it completely removes a lot of the uber-elite grief players you find in WoW. There's an overarcing plot aswell, and the setting is based in Eberron, so it opens up some interesting new ideas and conventions.
I really like the quests (hell thats the whole point to this game) - they are well thought out, include traps, mazes, puzzles galore and lots of baddies to kill. Because the whole XP system is based on quests - you'd want to make sure they are fun - and they are.
All in all, I really enjoyed this game. Its come a long way since beta and even the initial release - so much so I bought myself a three month access pass.
Definately better than WoW and LOTR, if not for the unique levelling system (Levels and Ranks and no Monster XP) and the focus on team play, then for everything else.
8/10
Comments
The "PvP Leaderboard" on the official DDO page would leave me to believe there is PvP, which is what I want to know more about.
DDO does have a "kind of" PvP - but it's a small aside to the game for some extra fun whilst your having breaks in between quests. In most taverns you can find an "arena" style area. Once you enter this arena, you enter a pseudo-PvP mode and can fight other people who also enter the arena.
It's no where near as polished or refined as say PvP in Eve, or even WoW but it's there if you want to try it.
It wont satisfy the hard core pvP'er but again, that's not what DDOs about.
Hope that helps.
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