Dungeon Runners: Dev Journal

Stradden · June 2007

When talking about the subject of this developer journal, MMORPG.com asked the Dungeon Runners Development Team one simple question: What's so great about Dungeon Runners? As you can see, the development team has a very enthusiastic take on the answer.

When you compare Dungeon Runners with many of the other online games currently available in the market today, you instantly see its accessibility, easy-to-play design and brand of humor that sets it apart as a unique, fun gaming experience. Developed internally at NCsoft, Dungeon Runners' was intended to let anyone have an enjoyable fast-paced massively multiplayer experience, with no extra cost to the player.

This free aspect of Dungeon Runners is just part of its overall charm. Unlike most other massively multiplayer online games, Dungeon Runners does not require an online fee to play, nor does it cost anything to acquire initially. All a potential player has to do is download the game, create a free account, and start playing. It's that easy. On top of that, you can create as many game accounts as you want, so in essence you can have as many characters as you want. System requirements are low and the game runs on most modern machines easily.

Read the whole developer journal here.

the_chosen_1 · June 2007

hmm i don't think its worth playing cause of the non-member stuff.

that's just like in runescape and to be honest runescape sucks

first of all you start the game you know at the beginning you think the game is good pretty sweet

but then it gets boring... but there is nothing we cant solve so you subcribe to jagex and make yourlself a sweet member account

but a member account is like the only way to actually play runescape cause

as a "free player" you dont even get to see a quarter of the game.

so what i think now is that dungeon runners is just like runescape,

the developers even said that for "some" items you need to have a member account

so i advice that you keep your hands of games like this, if you dont want pay the monthly fee

this is just an advice!!!!!

Phantazam · June 2007

This game becomes very, very, very boring after the 1st couple of days. And it was a pain in the rear to sign up for also, if i remember right.

fansede · June 2007

This game is great for a lunch break or something to do while waiting for some of the newer titles. Of course the more you commit to it the better the rewards, but you can play at your own pace without the overbearing feeling you are not getting your monies worth.

I put in 3 months of paid play time. So far I am satisfied with what I expect. The spoofy names do give me a chuckle now and then.

I am glad it just takes "the work" aspect of MMO gaming. No need to grind to level, just hop in and whack a virutal mob, grab loot, etc.

Phantazam · June 2007

No its not. It still gets boring very, very, very quickly. oh, i mean..there is ALOT of roleplaying here, in fact this is the one true haven left for us roleplayers on the internet.

We have a great time here, fighting monsters and roleplaying..never get's old. come join us.

knowom · June 2007

It's good till about 50 as a non member then it just gets horribly slow and tedious like every other mmo plus members have a huge huge advantage it can be rather difficult for a non member by comparison

luciferxxx · June 2007

I remember quitting this game very early. Not because of slow leveling or anything, but because of the restrictions that apply to non-members. I find a lot of superior weapons, but I could never use them because I wasn't a member. I was also unable to stack potions. At that point, it was just ridiculous. Trust me, Dungeon Runners may seem fun for a day or two, but after that, you either have to pull out some cash from your wallet or you'll barely even be playing a game.

Many ideas in this game have been heavily based on other MMORPGs such as WoW. They even use the same terms such as instances, soulbound, etc.

Bottom line, avoid this game - it's a waste of precious time.

Anofalye · June 2007

The game look interesting. I dunno why, I didn't try it in the past...

Paying $5 a month isn't problematic, I use to pay $15 after all...

My question, if I am an evil hardcore player with:

- Subpar reflexes (not horrible, but under average)

- Allergic to raiding (medical proofs to follow shortly)

- Grouping fanatic

How would I find the game? Okay, let compare with other games on the market and what I think of them:

100%: CoV/CoH: Best MMO I tried so far, it isn't perfect, but it is pointless to have no game at 100%. I hate the nerfs and the overall imbalance between some sets (which make you wanted/tolerated by groups, depending on your choices).

85%: AA: Honestly, I can't say anything bad about it except maybe the endgame, but I was lacking the motivation to log in.

80%: SoR: Many good ideas. I didn't like the fact you have to do everything in order to be good, but beside that, I like most of the game (I don't like that tradeskillers are betters, to get components you have to raid in a PvP zone, etc. etc.).

75%: EQ: Could have a higher score, honestly I really loves that game, especially LDoN...but raiding ruins it all.

Horizons: 65%: Many interesting ideas...but...wasn't enought.

Unrated (below 50%): EQ2, WoW, Vanguard, DAoC, DDO, FFXI. These games where not designed for players like me in mind, they have no appeal whatsoever. It doesn't make them bad games, and they may indeed be good (DAoC is neat for peoples who like to RvR...), for OTHER peoples...for me they are not even worthy of the title: game.

I didn't even bother to try GW...leveling up seem quite fast, and the focus is on PvP...so the fun is short if at all, then boring forever...at least, this is the reading I made when I see it...I assume some players will love it, but not me. I didn't even bother to try LotR either...I don't want to raid...

LadySerenity · June 2007

No mmo is created to cater to "everyone". Most people that have whined and say it sucks or is so boring has only played the game less than a day, was banned for their behavior, is looking for a game that can bot or hack into, or thinks hardcore total pvp is the only fun mmo. Dungeon Runners was not created to make everyone happy. It was made for players who are sick and tired of all the b.s. that goes on in the other mmo's and the lack of policy enforcement. I think of it this way; if this game is too boring for you, then you aren't the kind of player we want in Dungeon Runners. A true hack n slash comedy that has a very friendly community as long as you are respectful to others. The people who can't behave - don't last in this game, and is perfectly fine with the rest of us Runners.

So instead of insulting a game that you know very little about, just simply say that the game wasn't your style (politely) and move on.

DrSpanky · June 2007

I'm a big fan of this game. It isn't designed to be a in-depth MMORPG. It's light hearted and easy going. The community is, for the most part, great.

It is what most mmos are at the very core: kill, loot, repeat. Only this game gets rid of all the other stuff that makes mmos end up being a job.

Flame if you will

Ant

edit: for those complaining about the fact that you gotta pay for some of the content...relax...it's only 5 bucks....

Mastaccolli · June 2007

as other posters have said, not a bad game, but the $5.00 price suits it well. If it were anything mre than that, it would not be worth it one bit. However, BORING Runner is a better title. There isnt enough to do. Its kill, loot, sell, repeat.

For those people that have played this game, is it me or is there a whole lot of ranger love in this game? Seems to cater to rangers in a blatant way.

Eh just my 2 cents

Alcuin · June 2007

In my opinion, NCSoft has to be given credit for shaking things up a bit.

Guild Wars - No monthly fee

CoH/CoV - First MMORPG set in a super-hero setting

Tabula Rasa- Sci-Fi shooter/MMORPG

And now Dungeon Runners - a FREE game with a minimal pay,ent option for those who really get into it.

At least they're not bent on doing the same old thing. I like creativity.

turnipz · June 2007

Pros:

No auto attack

Aimable spells

Characters appearances are very unique

Combat is fun

Great community

Lots of potential

Cons:

Way to easy

Lack of skills

Lack of enemies

Lack of environments

Its been said this game is a cross between diablo 2 and diablo 1. However unfortunately they took the small enemy numbers from diablo 1 and mixed it with the weak enemies from diablo 2. This makes it lack the nerve racking feeling diablo 1 had where an enemy can take 1/5 your hp in 1 blow, and also makes it lack the large mass battles of diablo 2.

Also the main problem with the game seems to be that they listen to the playerbase to much, this means a lot of the devs time is spent on things like voice chat and camera rotation rather than content suck as skills, enemies, and levels.

All in all Its still worth checking out if your not that good at games or hate the skill-less auto attack crap they are pumping out now a days. If you want to actually have to aim that fireball then this games for you.

Actually what the hell am i talking about; its free, you dont have any reason not to at least try it...

Centhan · June 2007

I agree with Alcuin. I defintely like how NC Soft is going and has gone against the grain of the typical MMOs out there. Kudos for trying different things (Auto Assault, CoH), and I'm eagerly awaiting Tabula Rasa

However, this may be the fastest I've ever installed and uninstalled a game in my life. I created my character (forget even what class I picked), heard the first quest NPC speak, chuckled at the ridiculousness of his voice, logged out, and uninstalled the game.

It gave the impression of another typical hack/slash/grind game, one of among many currently out there. The graphics looked "grainy" and uninspiring. Yes, yes, I know it's free, what did I expect, but hey that was my impression.

towani · June 2007

I'd rather pay $5 a month for DR than $15 a month for WoW and games alike.

They're all the same. Kill, grind, level and get better loot along the way!

Jetrpg · June 2007

I played this game for a bit then i was like uhh D2 was better ill play that if i want a game like this.

Koja · June 2007

This sounds like graphic KoL. Are there pastamancers? My graphics card broke during beta, couldn't play

bob54386 · June 2007

I played it a fair bit for a couple weeks after it came out on the fileplanet free subscription thing, and when that ran out I put a bit of time in as a non-member. The hardest part of being a non-member was having space in the inventory: pots are used about as much as in Diablo, so not being able to stack them is bearable, but I usually went into the Dungeon of Legend or boss fights with a full inventory of em. So, being able to carry loot back was time consuming, and I usually only picked up the really good stuff to sell. That usually left me short of cash, relative to my stints as a member.

Non-member gear will buff stats and damage dealt, and that's about it. Member gear adds a bunch of elemental resistance some nice damage reflection, crit chance, all in all nice stuff, but they're only useful for maxing your character; it was a difference of 200 damage for mage spells, when i was hitting for about 1500 total. A fair amount, but things were dying in 2-3 hits anyways as a non member, not a big deal. Not only that, but as a mage, with a horrible defense rating, It wasn't a big deal to handle two groups of baddies at once; death shouldn't be a problem for anyone. Succinctly: as it is now, non-membership isn't that big a deal.

I gave up playing it because I hit level 50 and realized I had finished every dungeon in the game. I still had 50 levels to go (that was about a month ago, they might have added another but I haven't seen news about it). They didn't even have a Nightmare mode to play through all the dungeons again...

All in all, I think the easiest explanation of it is Diablo with a world chat in the corner of your screen for 100 fellow game players to rant. And yes there is an ignore feature.

Bleakmage · June 2007

I guess I played the game at just that moment when everything seemed perfect. Good timing for a few weeks, and the first few changes it went through weren't so bad. You might even say they were good changes. But then, inevitably, I suppose, the changes they made to the game started to suck ass. Short version: Imho, they took what was shaping up to be a great game (like I said, I think it was a matter of timing) and crapped all in it's mouth.

Fun while the fun lasted, though.

severius · July 2007

I had been in the very early beta test of this and tested/played it off and on for a good amount of time. IMO Dungeon Runners is exactly what I would expect from a Diablo MMO. It is as deep as any action rpg and more fun because it doesnt try to take itself so seriously. I think alot of bad press comes from people too wrapped up in their virtual selves and unable to laugh at themselves and the absurdity of mmo's in general.

lordtwisted · July 2007

Originally posted by luciferxxx

I remember quitting this game very early. Not because of slow leveling or anything, but because of the restrictions that apply to non-members. I find a lot of superior weapons, but I could never use them because I wasn't a member. I was also unable to stack potions. At that point, it was just ridiculous. Trust me, Dungeon Runners may seem fun for a day or two, but after that, you either have to pull out some cash from your wallet or you'll barely even be playing a game.

Many ideas in this game have been heavily based on other MMORPGs such as WoW. They even use the same terms such as instances, soulbound, etc.

Bottom line, avoid this game - it's a waste of precious time.

Since no one else is going to take the time for the easy bash, I will. Luciferxxx go back to watching demon porn and stay out of my games you WOW fanatic. Your comments imply that WOW coined the terms Soulbound and instances, well I will inform you now, Soulbound items were a part of the dungeons and dragons books in the late 70's and untill current. The first MMOs ever The realm, Meridian 59, Ultima Online, Everquest all dateing between 1993 and 2001 all included instances and souldbound items, it is part of the genre.

I am suprised you didn't claim they copied the classes right out of WOW oh my gods, they named them rangers, and mages, warriors, just like WOW! Sorry WOW did nothing new you fool, just because it introduced you to the games doesn't mean it was the first to do it, WOW has elements of all of the games that preceded it, so clear your head of your WOW blindness and do some reading.

The fact is that most of the terms used in MMO's came from books years before them.

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