Why would this site run a re-review by a new reviewer with no apparent knowledge of the first review or the game in general?
You make an excellent point. I think if this review had been titled instead: "A first time DDO Noob's view on playing through the new starter area" people would have read the review in a different light.
When I opened it up, I was looking forward to a detailed comparison of Then vs. Now and how things have (and haven't) changed. Instead, what I got was "I have never seen this game before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you how its different now anyway."
I am sure Stephanie can do a fine job on something for which she is qualified....but MMORPG.com maybe should have farmed out this re-review to someone who had actually played DDO before the changes.
The correct term for this is: "duh"
She clearly tells that she is reviewing from a new player's perspective about the early game. Your highlighted comment is completely uncalled for, because she never claimed to review the differences between now and release. The title also says 'DDO Early game review'.
After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game.
Originally posted by Darkjinxter A downside is there's no option to skip this island should you create new characters, as you likely will just to try out new builds. So, more switches and that now familar dragon to free yet again, and again, and again. Perhaps Turbine will change this approach soon. I hope so.
ô_ô ? i don't know how it is on us server, but on codemaster's, you can skip it when you have done it once.
Originally posted by someforumguy Originally posted by Tyrranosaur Originally posted by Unicorns_Pwn Why would this site run a re-review by a new reviewer with no apparent knowledge of the first review or the game in general?
You make an excellent point. I think if this review had been titled instead: "A first time DDO Noob's view on playing through the new starter area" people would have read the review in a different light. When I opened it up, I was looking forward to a detailed comparison of Then vs. Now and how things have (and haven't) changed. Instead, what I got was "I have never seen this game before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you how its different now anyway." I am sure Stephanie can do a fine job on something for which she is qualified....but MMORPG.com maybe should have farmed out this re-review to someone who had actually played DDO before the changes. The correct term for this is: "duh"
She clearly tells that she is reviewing from a new player's perspective about the early game. Your highlighted comment is completely uncalled for, because she never claimed to review the differences between now and release. The title also says 'DDO Early game review'. After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game. But you didn't read this:
Originally posted by Stradden *enters thread with head bowed low* Hey guys, I'm jumping in here to face the music and let everyone know that I screwed up. This article was submitted to me should have been labelled as an early game review and not with the weight of a re-review. I've corrected the mistake, and a full review, taking more elements of the game into account, will be forthcoming. So, if you're all going to be mad at someone. That should probably be me and not the writer who was just completing the assignment I gave her. So, as Optimus Prime would say in a moment that negated my childhood love of his cartoon... my bad.
This is from MMORPG.COM Managing Editor. This post is on page 5. He changed the article title to what it is now, and change the problem with rating - it was lowered to 6.5 because of this article, but now it's returned to previous state.
Sadly, as you too can see now, most people are still confused and think that those who defend DDO and complain about poor review, are fanboys or very biased.
But in my opinion, that review is still poor even for an "Early game review". While I can see where some of reviewers complaints come from, and I think NPE should be further improved, it's just poorly written and very amateurish article. But nothing that could case such reaction if it wasn't a "DDO Re-Review" of the whole game at first... which it was presented as. And you can still see some links saying "DDO Re-review". Can you change it Stradden?
PS: Thank you Stradden for your post, that's very nice from you. I'm glad you're in charge here, because you're clearly a man (or elf? heheh) of honor.
Yes you can skip the tutorial once ONE PC on the server finishes the quest. And YES, that means you could just run the required quests solo and leave, and all future PC's could skip that tutorial.
No, it's not multiserver, just like favor rewards.
And for the love of DDO, the "finished Misery's Peak" vs the "Not finished Misery's Peak" unable to group together REALLY needs to be fixed...how are NEW players supposed to understand the progress of village quests/island quests/Misery's Peak finale quest progression differentation?! Try explaining to them what "Sunny Korthos Village vs Snowy Korthos Village" means when they can't join with another player and some LFM's are greyed out while others aren't for the tutorial line.
Not a very good or balanced review, but then I have come to the conclusion DDO is a bit like marmite you either like it or you hate it. That is the problem with being different, although the reviewer should have at least have been able to spot the difference.
For those that needed a specific setting to play D&D or were rule lawyers (I really hated them), they so missed the spirit of D&D. Just the people you didn't want in a PnP game, so can't say I am not happy to see them somewhere else.
Maybe if the reviewer hasn't been scared off by the feedback, some people from the US servers could offer to team up and show what a really social and deep game DDO can be. DDO really shines when in a great group, and can feel very lonely without one.
And for the love of DDO, the "finished Misery's Peak" vs the "Not finished Misery's Peak" unable to group together REALLY needs to be fixed...how are NEW players supposed to understand the progress of village quests/island quests/Misery's Peak finale quest progression differentation?! Try explaining to them what "Sunny Korthos Village vs Snowy Korthos Village" means when they can't join with another player and some LFM's are greyed out while others aren't for the tutorial line.
That wasn't their smartest move. Yes the idea of an environment that changes around you sounds good on paper, but the delivery was more than a tadge flawed, especially in such a heavily group focused game.
Turbine have never been afraid to go back and revisit existing content, so hopefully they will improve it.
My feelings are hurt. This is not a valid review of DDO. It only looks at part of the game, and does so myopically, with all hope of insight decided, most likely, before your review even began.
There are many comments to your review, and I have not read them all. But here are some insights from someone who has played most of the “mainstream” games out there (SWG, WoW, LotR, EQII, EVE, CoH, etc.):
1. DDO's graphics are amazing with even a decent system. You can actually see the rings on the chain mail, for example. The world is lush, the environment detailed. As you walk around Stormreach, there are hanging pillars supported by some sort of magic, there are ruins of an older city and, as you go through different areas, the architecture evolves and takes on varied qualities and styles. From a character's gear to the world, there is no other game that I have played that is this detailed and meticulously wrought.
2. The combat system is top-notch, and get this, different! You can swing/shoot per mouse click; or, if you don't care the this twitchiness, you can attack by holding down the mouse or turning auto-attack on. You can move freely during battle. You can block attacks, with a shield or without, and you can jump and tumble (or even do flips--front, back, and side at higher levels) your way through enemies. If you're a mage of some sort, you have a huge range of spells tailored to fit any situation you might face--if you've prepared them! No other game out there has the unique strategy you use to become a master at this game at higher levels.
3. Though not a sandbox game, your choices for advancing your character as you level beat out any mainstream MMO. Each class is unique, and you can choose up to three classes. You put skill points where you want (jump, swim, tumble, use magic device, haggle, etc), and you choose feats that give you expanded and heroic abilities. DDO has also split a bit from p&p D&D, and you get "enhancements" four times between levels. Though the enhancements are controversial (too powerful, not D&D rule's set), you have a wide range of choices to make your character unique.
4. The questing system is a penultimate achievement in modern MMOs. There are puzzles, interactive switches and levers to advance the quest, traps that can be disabled or ran through (with proper consequences), spanning gaps to jump, and ladders to climb. This isn't the "go out and kill 15 gnolls" game. This is "accomplish this objective" using not only fighting skills, but your mind and wit. Many don't like that most of the game is in instances (which I didn't at first coming primarily from SWG and EQII at the time), but there are advantages in being the only party in a dungeon/landscape/etc.
5. The LFM and LFG features are the best out there. You can specify, down to the quest, level, and class/classes you seek. You can write a comment for all to see, specifying if you're going to take the quest slow, zerg it, or if you're new and need help (or experienced and rather not deal with newbies--there are those types in every game).
6. There is built-in voice chat. The system has its issues (no individual volume levels being the main), but this feature sure makes using voice chat easier.
Not to mention "free updates" (new content comes out every few months, which isn't fast enough for some folks, but I've been playing a long time and there are still things I haven't done!), a usually great and helpfull player-base, the D&D "feel", a plethora of skills, feats and enhancments, and Module 9 just around the corner, which is supposed to bring the level cap to 20 (as in pnp D&D) and a lot of new content.
Is the game perfect? No. As alluded to, there are too few players at the early levels. This is a game where guilds are almost a necessity at the early levels, which is unfortunate since brand new players haven't had a chance to find a guild. Perhaps DDO should have a "default newbie" guild as in EVE, and the player can leave when he/she is ready (heck--I like that idea so much I'm gonna post that on the DDO boards!). Instances mean you can't just happen on other players (in quests) to group with. The choices for your character’s looks at creation are limited (though each weapon, piece of armor, robe, shield, and helmet have unique designs). The auction house has poor sorting features. There is no player housing or guild halls. The only crafting is odd, intricate, complex and only available to higher level characters (though there are some enhancements to add to gear at any level).
This may not be the "best" game out there, BUT it is the mostunderatedgame on the market. If you tried it before and didn't like it, try again as the game has evolved. If you can't find someone to group with at early (or any) levels, my guild (and many others) love to help newbies--I'm on the server Thelanis--private message me and we'll form a group.
I hope this MMORPG review isn't too damaging. DDO already has an black-eyed/red-headed stephchild aura about it in the industry, and while some of it was once founded, almost all of those concerns have been addressed. Give it a try or come back and see what makes this game different and really special.
After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game.
I agree. As someone who has played DDO since start (with a 3 month break), I think the reviewer did a good job of assessing the problems with the game. People in this thread are getting too defensive about personal negative experiences the reviewer was likely to have (if they weren't one particular thing, they would be another). An example of this is the grouping. Lots of people are claiming that it is easy to find groups in DDO. That really isn't true, but even if it were it would have probably just made the reviewer come up with a whole lot more to mention about the negative side of DDO. The community of DDO is not mature (whatever that is supposed to mean - it is inaccurate) and is quite frankly the worst playerbase I have ever experienced in 2 decades of online gaming.
The other biased opinion item that I think needs addressed here is the concept that DDO is somehow unique among MMOs because of character customization and realtime, FPS-style combat. First of all, the reviewer did mention that character customization was noteworthy. Second, the game is simply following many of the rules of the D&D tabletop game, and as the granddaddy of most MMOs that doesn't necessarily set it apart as a unique feature. Also, as a FPS-style game DDO is merely adequate, and you can't simply call the fact that it has FPS-style gameplay a unique feature simply because it is in a MMO. Lots of MMOs have actually had FPS-style action, and many core FPS games have had online lobbies for cooperative and head-to-head play. These aren't unique features of games in general, and most people reading the review would probably be able to find these same features in a game that suits them better.
Thirdly, the game does indeed hiccup on swirling blizzards in the snowy areas. I have 3 different computers with the DDO client installed in my house using 3 different graphics cards and 2 different operating systems. All 3 computers have issues with the blizzard gusts that are a part of some of the new snowy areas. I think the reviewer was fully justified in mentioning it, as it will be an annoyance for just about anyone who plays the game.
If I were to write a review of my 3-year experience with DDO it would have been somewhat similar, though perhaps slightly more scathing. DDO has a lot of potential, but the game design has simply never lived up to it. Personally I think it is now too late to go back and fix it.
I do not have much to say but have to admit that after I started reading the review and reached the part about performance issue then I knew that this review was done without any follow up to that particular point. This game runs fatastic on many rigs well below the specs of the reviewers machine, I would ask around a bit before I posted that. It was hard to feel fully involved with the article after that, although I do realize a "review" is just a printed "opinion" of which many forum posters have, I do feel that a more mainstream opinion (review) has a bit more reponsibility to be thorough (research) in its opinions, just my review of the review.
This is the worst review I have ever read. The reviewer even admits they did not read the documentation but then rags on how they can't figure out the controls.
Mind boggling.
If any people are thinking of trying DDO, please use the free trail and try it out for yourself. Reading this review does not give you a real sense of how good the gameplay is.
You guys are incredible. First you flame the reviewer cause she didn't play to endgame, then you flame Stradden for letting what you call a noob write it, then you say the community is a nice one? You come around as frenetic fanboys, nothing more than that. It's even worse on the official forum that some dude linked earlier in this thread. This review may hurt the game a little bit since some people can't seem to make up their own minds and need to listen to other people to figure out what is good or not, but your responses and attitude is hurting it more. You remind me of the Eve'ers.
Why would this site run a re-review by a new reviewer with no apparent knowledge of the first review or the game in general?
You make an excellent point. I think if this review had been titled instead: "A first time DDO Noob's view on playing through the new starter area" people would have read the review in a different light.
When I opened it up, I was looking forward to a detailed comparison of Then vs. Now and how things have (and haven't) changed. Instead, what I got was "I have never seen this game before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you how its different now anyway."
I am sure Stephanie can do a fine job on something for which she is qualified....but MMORPG.com maybe should have farmed out this re-review to someone who had actually played DDO before the changes.
The correct term for this is: "duh"
She clearly tells that she is reviewing from a new player's perspective about the early game. Your highlighted comment is completely uncalled for, because she never claimed to review the differences between now and release. The title also says 'DDO Early game review'.
After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game.
Problem is the original title was re-review of DDO which from that title sounds like a review from someone with knowledge of the game previously. The title was changed and now makes more sense. The reviewer still seems to have spent little time trying to interact as I have never had her community problems, not to mention her computer problems all sound like they are on her end. A review that includes your poor system performance can not be taken all the seriously. This would be like me doing a poor review of my car because I ran out of gas on the highway.
I was thinking of trying DDO, but now i seriously doubt it due only to the responses this review has gotten
Seriously your gonna make up your mind on the fact people don't agree with a bad review. Try the game out and ask for help and you will see that the DDO community is a good one. If you find the right group/guild you may even realize the game is great.
If you make a acct on Khyber add Almerel to your friends list and I will come help you if I'm on.
You guys are incredible. First you flame the reviewer cause she didn't play to endgame, then you flame Stradden for letting what you call a noob write it, then you say the community is a nice one? You come around as frenetic fanboys, nothing more than that. It's even worse on the official forum that some dude linked earlier in this thread. This review may hurt the game a little bit since some people can't seem to make up their own minds and need to listen to other people to figure out what is good or not, but your responses and attitude is hurting it more. You remind me of the Eve'ers.
People flamed the reviewer true but there is also some good responses as well. How can you expect a lot of people who've played the game on a lesser rig to take the review seriously though? If you started off with comp issues from the go then your entire experience is going to be jaded. I know I would be able to stay non-biased if my entire game experience was laggy.
Maybe I'm just use to the DF fanboys and how psycho they are but I think the responses here aren't very aggressive at all lol.
Is actually nice to see the DDO players speak up for once.
As for flaming, I think people in general have been quite constructive going to great lengths to list why they think the review is not balanced. Like to see a review get posted for 6.5 for one of the more mainstream MMOs, and watch the reaction.
I tried this game when it came out and I have to agree somewhat with the reviewer. Its not a bad game but its not really all that good either. I didn't like the group heavy content and the fps style combat really turned me off (I had just left swg after the nge fiasco and the combat in DDO reminded too much of the nge combat).
Its funny, whenever someone writes something negative about a game here, the fanbots come scurrying out from the corners and flame the reviewer. Trust me, this review isn't going to effect the game in any way. No one cared about DDO before and once people finish reading this review they can go back to not caring again.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
My goodness, if it weren't for the other unintelligent reviews written by people who probably portray themselves as the lowest denominator I would think this was game is bad. Luckily I can see through it, but what about others?
"Keeping in mind that I'm running an Intel® Core™2 CPU 6400@2.13 GHz with a NVIDIA 8800 GeForce GT, I was disappointed with how the game ran on my system. On Korthos Island which is the new starter area there are snowstorms that blow through, and every time one happened to come across (outside the instanced dungeons) my computer would completely freeze up for 30 seconds. Any time I went directly to exit instead of log out my system would also freeze and I would have to restart it. Inside the dungeons, things ran smooth, and there was no lag at all that I noticed in either the starter area or in Stormreach once I'd completed the tutorials. I managed to convince some friends to play along with me, and as we all ran around there were no issues. In the open towns where players were running about performance was stable, on average 170fps.
Default settings had my graphics set pretty low, but boosting them up seemed to make no difference in performance."
the writter is clueless.
Seriously, did she get to write this becuase of nepotism? This is one of the most least informed pieces I've yet to read. Then to continue her phallacy of knowing how to write a review she decides to blatantly make things up or present fiction as fact - in her defense she understood many of the Armor skins are present throughout the varrying levels in game, but there's no way she would have known that unless someone told her. The following quote proves she's ill informed:
"Shield graphics are one way to tell what is 'nicer' the something else "
At least she hints at being dim witted:
"This graphic setting seemed to have me walking around in a land that was constantly covered in a layer of fog and required some tweaking. I realize this is a personal preference and not so much of a game mechanic, but it was just frustrating."
Regardless of the writters lack of skill or understanding it appears she did like playing with dolls. Maybe barbie dolls or action figures and not writting "reviews" for mmo's is something she should stick to?
"Character customization is quite in depth - though not exactly from a graphic standpoint. My first character was a spell caster, cleric, the front of healing, their race? Elf. You do have quite a few colours you can choose for hair skin and eyes, and a few selections of hair styles, face, and eyes. You can further customize by adding a scar or other marking. You can make your character as complex or simple as you'd like, taking their pre-determined settings, or mixing and matching for a combination all your own."
And please, can someone tell me what a "zone line is" or is this just more made up nonsense by the writter?
" Zone lines and dungeon instances are also clearly marked. "
Did this person play more then 5 minutes total before writting this review!?! Almost ever quest delivers additional EXP in the form of Optionals as well there are various tiers of EXP rewards for defeating foes in the wilderness areas of DDO.
"Your experience is gained through quest completion, and discovery which may seem a little off the 'regular' path as you do not gain anything from actually slaughtering encounters. "
Ok, I am now convinced the writter NEVER played the game. the proof is in the statement that there's nothing unique about the game.
'Some of the more unique game play involves puzzles that you've got to solve within dungeons, traps to disarm, and some of the more intricate and fun parts of the original D&D game. These are the aspects that bring the game to life, and make it fun (and not just an endless grind). Whether or not these things have the staying power required in order to warrant paying the monthly fee, I'm not personally convinced. The game runs nice, and has great concepts and the huge nostalgia factor - but there's nothing that really stood out as making it unique from any other MMO out there, especially when there are games that are free to play that offer players the same things I found in this specific one. That's not to say the game is bad by any means, but that I personally could not see myself playing it as my main game of choice."
She's never played the game. Any person who spends an hour playing it should be able to clearly identify that it's a VERY tactile game that greatly involves personal player skill besides the character's. When all other MMO's share/borrow a point &click WASD that exists only in 2 cooridinates it's impossible, unless ignorant, to notice how DDO's combat mechanics are manifested in 3; you can jump over traps and addionionally avoid mob's attacks!
And becuase the writter is completely clueless I think we should explain to her a few things she obviously doesn't grasp. If you are playing in a personlized instance you will not see others who are not in your group. most people who play DDO are very respectful and do not send spam. Communities are strong and populated with most conversasations being held in Guild Chat, Party Chat or strictly Voice Communications.
"Community - This was the main aspect where the game lacked for me personally. It is a community that holds a game together, a player base where you can interact and talk to people. In the time I played I saw a small handful of other players, and received one spam message about guild recruitment, other then that, the game was quiet and almost devoid of life."
sad, a very sad attempt at trying to be a writter reviewing a game when you don't understand simple concepts of PC performance settings and game play mechanics. This should get put into the golden book of reviews as to the type of people who are incapable of identifying features and setting graphics which would be appropriate for an aging PC.
MMORPG, its previews like this which are making this site less credible.
p.s. the Freeze/lockup issue is concerning, but I've never experianced anything like that nor am I familar with anyone else who has. Being the writer has proved they are less then informed I suspect they had broke their machine in some fassion prior to cranking up the graphics without understanding what they were doing.
If someone just started the game, they would see the same thing. No matter how long you play a game, your impressions off the bat shape the rest of the game.
I just started playing DDO a month ago. It took about 1 hour to realize that its nothing like any other MMOG. As soon as I hit the gong and the icy floor broke, I knew that DDO was nothing like any other MMOG that I have played before. How is this not clear to the author of the review? Have they even played other MMOG's?
Same here, also the sfx in the crypts is awesome. I am new and only level 2.7, but the immersion in the dungeons is top notch, have been gaming for 10 years and the immersionin the quests is the best I have seen, no kill 6 goblins, then kill 10 more
You guys are incredible. First you flame the reviewer cause she didn't play to endgame, then you flame Stradden for letting what you call a noob write it, then you say the community is a nice one? You come around as frenetic fanboys, nothing more than that. It's even worse on the official forum that some dude linked earlier in this thread. This review may hurt the game a little bit since some people can't seem to make up their own minds and need to listen to other people to figure out what is good or not, but your responses and attitude is hurting it more. You remind me of the Eve'ers.
Yeah, awesome community DDO has with the people responding here. And people call the WoW community childish and rude. Not as bad as the Darkfall fanbots, but thats not really saying much.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Amongst several points made above, I liked the fact that the OP knocks the BEST Customer Service in the entire MMO universe - with petition response times of 1-5 seconds - as one of the worst!
I sincerely doubt the OPs credentials as a MMO player and/or a reviewer.
You guys are incredible. First you flame the reviewer cause she didn't play to endgame, then you flame Stradden for letting what you call a noob write it, then you say the community is a nice one? You come around as frenetic fanboys, nothing more than that. It's even worse on the official forum that some dude linked earlier in this thread. This review may hurt the game a little bit since some people can't seem to make up their own minds and need to listen to other people to figure out what is good or not, but your responses and attitude is hurting it more. You remind me of the Eve'ers.
When you review games for a popular website such as mmorg, or other places like gamespot you HAVE to have a thick skin. I find that there is less flames when the reviewer actually plays the game more than a few minutes. Anyone who has played the game for more than a few minutes can tell that the reviewer did not actually give the game a chance and barely played the game at all. That is not how you review a game. Especially when some of the info listed by the reviewer is just incorrect, which has been covered enough.
Outright flaming is never the right way to handle things. But it is the nature of being on the internet. Perhaps Stephanie should look at her review and learn from it. As I don't feel that she has done a good or complete job on this review of the game.
Well I think the problem with any review of a MMO is that you just can't play it for a week or so and understand it. I think some of the posters over reacted to the review. We all are allowed our opinion.
I don't currently play DDO, but have in the past and for what it offers it is one of the better MMO's out there as long as you recognize it is a niche game. I think Turbine did a wonderful job with it considering they had to do it with a board game ruleset and the limitations imposed by such.
But because of the ruleset, it was never intended to be played solo even though they have modified it somewhat to allow some of that type of play.
Hmm. Where do you people see the flames in this thread? It's absolutely minority of posts, most are long and constructive, or short and constructive.
Personally, I'm impressed. Most other major games out there, with strong communities, would bury this thread in personall attacks (which are called "flame") forgetting about constructiveness. Here, we can see numerous mature people, sometimes pointing at things which are as sure as 2+2=4, but still review says otherwise.
Ok, the reviewer has his right to write (in my opinion) very poor review, but whole site loses credibility because of her. Trust me, play the game now, and try to understand why most of us here think this way. It's really simple, very easy to notice.
Comments
You make an excellent point. I think if this review had been titled instead: "A first time DDO Noob's view on playing through the new starter area" people would have read the review in a different light.
When I opened it up, I was looking forward to a detailed comparison of Then vs. Now and how things have (and haven't) changed. Instead, what I got was "I have never seen this game before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you how its different now anyway."
I am sure Stephanie can do a fine job on something for which she is qualified....but MMORPG.com maybe should have farmed out this re-review to someone who had actually played DDO before the changes.
The correct term for this is: "duh"
She clearly tells that she is reviewing from a new player's perspective about the early game. Your highlighted comment is completely uncalled for, because she never claimed to review the differences between now and release. The title also says 'DDO Early game review'.
After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game.
ô_ô ? i don't know how it is on us server, but on codemaster's, you can skip it when you have done it once.
You make an excellent point. I think if this review had been titled instead: "A first time DDO Noob's view on playing through the new starter area" people would have read the review in a different light.
When I opened it up, I was looking forward to a detailed comparison of Then vs. Now and how things have (and haven't) changed. Instead, what I got was "I have never seen this game before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you how its different now anyway."
I am sure Stephanie can do a fine job on something for which she is qualified....but MMORPG.com maybe should have farmed out this re-review to someone who had actually played DDO before the changes.
The correct term for this is: "duh"
She clearly tells that she is reviewing from a new player's perspective about the early game. Your highlighted comment is completely uncalled for, because she never claimed to review the differences between now and release. The title also says 'DDO Early game review'.
After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game.
But you didn't read this: This is from MMORPG.COM Managing Editor. This post is on page 5. He changed the article title to what it is now, and change the problem with rating - it was lowered to 6.5 because of this article, but now it's returned to previous state.
Sadly, as you too can see now, most people are still confused and think that those who defend DDO and complain about poor review, are fanboys or very biased.
But in my opinion, that review is still poor even for an "Early game review". While I can see where some of reviewers complaints come from, and I think NPE should be further improved, it's just poorly written and very amateurish article.
But nothing that could case such reaction if it wasn't a "DDO Re-Review" of the whole game at first... which it was presented as. And you can still see some links saying "DDO Re-review". Can you change it Stradden?
PS: Thank you Stradden for your post, that's very nice from you. I'm glad you're in charge here, because you're clearly a man (or elf? heheh) of honor.
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Korthos:
Yes you can skip the tutorial once ONE PC on the server finishes the quest. And YES, that means you could just run the required quests solo and leave, and all future PC's could skip that tutorial.
No, it's not multiserver, just like favor rewards.
And for the love of DDO, the "finished Misery's Peak" vs the "Not finished Misery's Peak" unable to group together REALLY needs to be fixed...how are NEW players supposed to understand the progress of village quests/island quests/Misery's Peak finale quest progression differentation?! Try explaining to them what "Sunny Korthos Village vs Snowy Korthos Village" means when they can't join with another player and some LFM's are greyed out while others aren't for the tutorial line.
GameVeteran
Not a very good or balanced review, but then I have come to the conclusion DDO is a bit like marmite you either like it or you hate it. That is the problem with being different, although the reviewer should have at least have been able to spot the difference.
For those that needed a specific setting to play D&D or were rule lawyers (I really hated them), they so missed the spirit of D&D. Just the people you didn't want in a PnP game, so can't say I am not happy to see them somewhere else.
Maybe if the reviewer hasn't been scared off by the feedback, some people from the US servers could offer to team up and show what a really social and deep game DDO can be. DDO really shines when in a great group, and can feel very lonely without one.
That wasn't their smartest move. Yes the idea of an environment that changes around you sounds good on paper, but the delivery was more than a tadge flawed, especially in such a heavily group focused game.
Turbine have never been afraid to go back and revisit existing content, so hopefully they will improve it.
My feelings are hurt. This is not a valid review of DDO. It only looks at part of the game, and does so myopically, with all hope of insight decided, most likely, before your review even began.
There are many comments to your review, and I have not read them all. But here are some insights from someone who has played most of the “mainstream” games out there (SWG, WoW, LotR, EQII, EVE, CoH, etc.):
1. DDO's graphics are amazing with even a decent system. You can actually see the rings on the chain mail, for example. The world is lush, the environment detailed. As you walk around Stormreach, there are hanging pillars supported by some sort of magic, there are ruins of an older city and, as you go through different areas, the architecture evolves and takes on varied qualities and styles. From a character's gear to the world, there is no other game that I have played that is this detailed and meticulously wrought.
2. The combat system is top-notch, and get this, different! You can swing/shoot per mouse click; or, if you don't care the this twitchiness, you can attack by holding down the mouse or turning auto-attack on. You can move freely during battle. You can block attacks, with a shield or without, and you can jump and tumble (or even do flips--front, back, and side at higher levels) your way through enemies. If you're a mage of some sort, you have a huge range of spells tailored to fit any situation you might face--if you've prepared them! No other game out there has the unique strategy you use to become a master at this game at higher levels.
3. Though not a sandbox game, your choices for advancing your character as you level beat out any mainstream MMO. Each class is unique, and you can choose up to three classes. You put skill points where you want (jump, swim, tumble, use magic device, haggle, etc), and you choose feats that give you expanded and heroic abilities. DDO has also split a bit from p&p D&D, and you get "enhancements" four times between levels. Though the enhancements are controversial (too powerful, not D&D rule's set), you have a wide range of choices to make your character unique.
4. The questing system is a penultimate achievement in modern MMOs. There are puzzles, interactive switches and levers to advance the quest, traps that can be disabled or ran through (with proper consequences), spanning gaps to jump, and ladders to climb. This isn't the "go out and kill 15 gnolls" game. This is "accomplish this objective" using not only fighting skills, but your mind and wit. Many don't like that most of the game is in instances (which I didn't at first coming primarily from SWG and EQII at the time), but there are advantages in being the only party in a dungeon/landscape/etc.
5. The LFM and LFG features are the best out there. You can specify, down to the quest, level, and class/classes you seek. You can write a comment for all to see, specifying if you're going to take the quest slow, zerg it, or if you're new and need help (or experienced and rather not deal with newbies--there are those types in every game).
6. There is built-in voice chat. The system has its issues (no individual volume levels being the main), but this feature sure makes using voice chat easier.
Not to mention "free updates" (new content comes out every few months, which isn't fast enough for some folks, but I've been playing a long time and there are still things I haven't done!), a usually great and helpfull player-base, the D&D "feel", a plethora of skills, feats and enhancments, and Module 9 just around the corner, which is supposed to bring the level cap to 20 (as in pnp D&D) and a lot of new content.
Is the game perfect? No. As alluded to, there are too few players at the early levels. This is a game where guilds are almost a necessity at the early levels, which is unfortunate since brand new players haven't had a chance to find a guild. Perhaps DDO should have a "default newbie" guild as in EVE, and the player can leave when he/she is ready (heck--I like that idea so much I'm gonna post that on the DDO boards!). Instances mean you can't just happen on other players (in quests) to group with. The choices for your character’s looks at creation are limited (though each weapon, piece of armor, robe, shield, and helmet have unique designs). The auction house has poor sorting features. There is no player housing or guild halls. The only crafting is odd, intricate, complex and only available to higher level characters (though there are some enhancements to add to gear at any level).
This may not be the "best" game out there, BUT it is the most underated game on the market. If you tried it before and didn't like it, try again as the game has evolved. If you can't find someone to group with at early (or any) levels, my guild (and many others) love to help newbies--I'm on the server Thelanis--private message me and we'll form a group.
I hope this MMORPG review isn't too damaging. DDO already has an black-eyed/red-headed stephchild aura about it in the industry
, and while some of it was once founded, almost all of those concerns have been addressed. Give it a try or come back and see what makes this game different and really special.
Verv of DDO et. al., Gawl of SWG, etc.
I agree. As someone who has played DDO since start (with a 3 month break), I think the reviewer did a good job of assessing the problems with the game. People in this thread are getting too defensive about personal negative experiences the reviewer was likely to have (if they weren't one particular thing, they would be another). An example of this is the grouping. Lots of people are claiming that it is easy to find groups in DDO. That really isn't true, but even if it were it would have probably just made the reviewer come up with a whole lot more to mention about the negative side of DDO. The community of DDO is not mature (whatever that is supposed to mean - it is inaccurate) and is quite frankly the worst playerbase I have ever experienced in 2 decades of online gaming.
The other biased opinion item that I think needs addressed here is the concept that DDO is somehow unique among MMOs because of character customization and realtime, FPS-style combat. First of all, the reviewer did mention that character customization was noteworthy. Second, the game is simply following many of the rules of the D&D tabletop game, and as the granddaddy of most MMOs that doesn't necessarily set it apart as a unique feature. Also, as a FPS-style game DDO is merely adequate, and you can't simply call the fact that it has FPS-style gameplay a unique feature simply because it is in a MMO. Lots of MMOs have actually had FPS-style action, and many core FPS games have had online lobbies for cooperative and head-to-head play. These aren't unique features of games in general, and most people reading the review would probably be able to find these same features in a game that suits them better.
Thirdly, the game does indeed hiccup on swirling blizzards in the snowy areas. I have 3 different computers with the DDO client installed in my house using 3 different graphics cards and 2 different operating systems. All 3 computers have issues with the blizzard gusts that are a part of some of the new snowy areas. I think the reviewer was fully justified in mentioning it, as it will be an annoyance for just about anyone who plays the game.
If I were to write a review of my 3-year experience with DDO it would have been somewhat similar, though perhaps slightly more scathing. DDO has a lot of potential, but the game design has simply never lived up to it. Personally I think it is now too late to go back and fix it.
I do not have much to say but have to admit that after I started reading the review and reached the part about performance issue then I knew that this review was done without any follow up to that particular point. This game runs fatastic on many rigs well below the specs of the reviewers machine, I would ask around a bit before I posted that. It was hard to feel fully involved with the article after that, although I do realize a "review" is just a printed "opinion" of which many forum posters have, I do feel that a more mainstream opinion (review) has a bit more reponsibility to be thorough (research) in its opinions, just my review of the review.
This is the worst review I have ever read. The reviewer even admits they did not read the documentation but then rags on how they can't figure out the controls.
Mind boggling.
If any people are thinking of trying DDO, please use the free trail and try it out for yourself. Reading this review does not give you a real sense of how good the gameplay is.
I was thinking of trying DDO, but now i seriously doubt it due only to the responses this review has gotten
You guys are incredible. First you flame the reviewer cause she didn't play to endgame, then you flame Stradden for letting what you call a noob write it, then you say the community is a nice one? You come around as frenetic fanboys, nothing more than that. It's even worse on the official forum that some dude linked earlier in this thread. This review may hurt the game a little bit since some people can't seem to make up their own minds and need to listen to other people to figure out what is good or not, but your responses and attitude is hurting it more. You remind me of the Eve'ers.
---
Grammar nazi's. This one is for you.
You make an excellent point. I think if this review had been titled instead: "A first time DDO Noob's view on playing through the new starter area" people would have read the review in a different light.
When I opened it up, I was looking forward to a detailed comparison of Then vs. Now and how things have (and haven't) changed. Instead, what I got was "I have never seen this game before, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you how its different now anyway."
I am sure Stephanie can do a fine job on something for which she is qualified....but MMORPG.com maybe should have farmed out this re-review to someone who had actually played DDO before the changes.
The correct term for this is: "duh"
She clearly tells that she is reviewing from a new player's perspective about the early game. Your highlighted comment is completely uncalled for, because she never claimed to review the differences between now and release. The title also says 'DDO Early game review'.
After reading the first pages in this thread, Ive come to the conclusion that the reviewer is one of the few unbiased people giving an opinion about this game.
Problem is the original title was re-review of DDO which from that title sounds like a review from someone with knowledge of the game previously. The title was changed and now makes more sense. The reviewer still seems to have spent little time trying to interact as I have never had her community problems, not to mention her computer problems all sound like they are on her end. A review that includes your poor system performance can not be taken all the seriously. This would be like me doing a poor review of my car because I ran out of gas on the highway.
Seriously your gonna make up your mind on the fact people don't agree with a bad review. Try the game out and ask for help and you will see that the DDO community is a good one. If you find the right group/guild you may even realize the game is great.
If you make a acct on Khyber add Almerel to your friends list and I will come help you if I'm on.
-Almerel
Hello my old friend.
People flamed the reviewer true but there is also some good responses as well. How can you expect a lot of people who've played the game on a lesser rig to take the review seriously though? If you started off with comp issues from the go then your entire experience is going to be jaded. I know I would be able to stay non-biased if my entire game experience was laggy.
Maybe I'm just use to the DF fanboys and how psycho they are but I think the responses here aren't very aggressive at all lol.
-Almerel
Hello my old friend.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
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Is actually nice to see the DDO players speak up for once.
As for flaming, I think people in general have been quite constructive going to great lengths to list why they think the review is not balanced. Like to see a review get posted for 6.5 for one of the more mainstream MMOs, and watch the reaction.
I tried this game when it came out and I have to agree somewhat with the reviewer. Its not a bad game but its not really all that good either. I didn't like the group heavy content and the fps style combat really turned me off (I had just left swg after the nge fiasco and the combat in DDO reminded too much of the nge combat).
Its funny, whenever someone writes something negative about a game here, the fanbots come scurrying out from the corners and flame the reviewer. Trust me, this review isn't going to effect the game in any way. No one cared about DDO before and once people finish reading this review they can go back to not caring again.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
My goodness, if it weren't for the other unintelligent reviews written by people who probably portray themselves as the lowest denominator I would think this was game is bad. Luckily I can see through it, but what about others?
"Keeping in mind that I'm running an Intel® Core™2 CPU 6400@2.13 GHz with a NVIDIA 8800 GeForce GT, I was disappointed with how the game ran on my system. On Korthos Island which is the new starter area there are snowstorms that blow through, and every time one happened to come across (outside the instanced dungeons) my computer would completely freeze up for 30 seconds. Any time I went directly to exit instead of log out my system would also freeze and I would have to restart it. Inside the dungeons, things ran smooth, and there was no lag at all that I noticed in either the starter area or in Stormreach once I'd completed the tutorials. I managed to convince some friends to play along with me, and as we all ran around there were no issues. In the open towns where players were running about performance was stable, on average 170fps.
Default settings had my graphics set pretty low, but boosting them up seemed to make no difference in performance."
the writter is clueless.
Seriously, did she get to write this becuase of nepotism? This is one of the most least informed pieces I've yet to read. Then to continue her phallacy of knowing how to write a review she decides to blatantly make things up or present fiction as fact - in her defense she understood many of the Armor skins are present throughout the varrying levels in game, but there's no way she would have known that unless someone told her. The following quote proves she's ill informed:
"Shield graphics are one way to tell what is 'nicer' the something else "
At least she hints at being dim witted:
"This graphic setting seemed to have me walking around in a land that was constantly covered in a layer of fog and required some tweaking. I realize this is a personal preference and not so much of a game mechanic, but it was just frustrating."
Regardless of the writters lack of skill or understanding it appears she did like playing with dolls. Maybe barbie dolls or action figures and not writting "reviews" for mmo's is something she should stick to?
"Character customization is quite in depth - though not exactly from a graphic standpoint. My first character was a spell caster, cleric, the front of healing, their race? Elf. You do have quite a few colours you can choose for hair skin and eyes, and a few selections of hair styles, face, and eyes. You can further customize by adding a scar or other marking. You can make your character as complex or simple as you'd like, taking their pre-determined settings, or mixing and matching for a combination all your own."
And please, can someone tell me what a "zone line is" or is this just more made up nonsense by the writter?
" Zone lines and dungeon instances are also clearly marked. "
Did this person play more then 5 minutes total before writting this review!?! Almost ever quest delivers additional EXP in the form of Optionals as well there are various tiers of EXP rewards for defeating foes in the wilderness areas of DDO.
"Your experience is gained through quest completion, and discovery which may seem a little off the 'regular' path as you do not gain anything from actually slaughtering encounters. "
Ok, I am now convinced the writter NEVER played the game. the proof is in the statement that there's nothing unique about the game.
'Some of the more unique game play involves puzzles that you've got to solve within dungeons, traps to disarm, and some of the more intricate and fun parts of the original D&D game. These are the aspects that bring the game to life, and make it fun (and not just an endless grind). Whether or not these things have the staying power required in order to warrant paying the monthly fee, I'm not personally convinced. The game runs nice, and has great concepts and the huge nostalgia factor - but there's nothing that really stood out as making it unique from any other MMO out there, especially when there are games that are free to play that offer players the same things I found in this specific one. That's not to say the game is bad by any means, but that I personally could not see myself playing it as my main game of choice."
She's never played the game. Any person who spends an hour playing it should be able to clearly identify that it's a VERY tactile game that greatly involves personal player skill besides the character's. When all other MMO's share/borrow a point &click WASD that exists only in 2 cooridinates it's impossible, unless ignorant, to notice how DDO's combat mechanics are manifested in 3; you can jump over traps and addionionally avoid mob's attacks!
And becuase the writter is completely clueless I think we should explain to her a few things she obviously doesn't grasp. If you are playing in a personlized instance you will not see others who are not in your group. most people who play DDO are very respectful and do not send spam. Communities are strong and populated with most conversasations being held in Guild Chat, Party Chat or strictly Voice Communications.
"Community - This was the main aspect where the game lacked for me personally. It is a community that holds a game together, a player base where you can interact and talk to people. In the time I played I saw a small handful of other players, and received one spam message about guild recruitment, other then that, the game was quiet and almost devoid of life."
sad, a very sad attempt at trying to be a writter reviewing a game when you don't understand simple concepts of PC performance settings and game play mechanics. This should get put into the golden book of reviews as to the type of people who are incapable of identifying features and setting graphics which would be appropriate for an aging PC.
MMORPG, its previews like this which are making this site less credible.
p.s. the Freeze/lockup issue is concerning, but I've never experianced anything like that nor am I familar with anyone else who has. Being the writer has proved they are less then informed I suspect they had broke their machine in some fassion prior to cranking up the graphics without understanding what they were doing.
I just started playing DDO a month ago. It took about 1 hour to realize that its nothing like any other MMOG. As soon as I hit the gong and the icy floor broke, I knew that DDO was nothing like any other MMOG that I have played before. How is this not clear to the author of the review? Have they even played other MMOG's?
Same here, also the sfx in the crypts is awesome. I am new and only level 2.7, but the immersion in the dungeons is top notch, have been gaming for 10 years and the immersionin the quests is the best I have seen, no kill 6 goblins, then kill 10 more
Yeah, awesome community DDO has with the people responding here. And people call the WoW community childish and rude. Not as bad as the Darkfall fanbots, but thats not really saying much.
Is a man not entitled to the herp of his derp?
Remember, I live in a world where juggalos and yugioh players are real things.
Amongst several points made above, I liked the fact that the OP knocks the BEST Customer Service in the entire MMO universe - with petition response times of 1-5 seconds - as one of the worst!
I sincerely doubt the OPs credentials as a MMO player and/or a reviewer.
When you review games for a popular website such as mmorg, or other places like gamespot you HAVE to have a thick skin. I find that there is less flames when the reviewer actually plays the game more than a few minutes. Anyone who has played the game for more than a few minutes can tell that the reviewer did not actually give the game a chance and barely played the game at all. That is not how you review a game. Especially when some of the info listed by the reviewer is just incorrect, which has been covered enough.
Outright flaming is never the right way to handle things. But it is the nature of being on the internet. Perhaps Stephanie should look at her review and learn from it. As I don't feel that she has done a good or complete job on this review of the game.
Well I think the problem with any review of a MMO is that you just can't play it for a week or so and understand it. I think some of the posters over reacted to the review. We all are allowed our opinion.
I don't currently play DDO, but have in the past and for what it offers it is one of the better MMO's out there as long as you recognize it is a niche game. I think Turbine did a wonderful job with it considering they had to do it with a board game ruleset and the limitations imposed by such.
But because of the ruleset, it was never intended to be played solo even though they have modified it somewhat to allow some of that type of play.
Hmm. Where do you people see the flames in this thread? It's absolutely minority of posts, most are long and constructive, or short and constructive.
Personally, I'm impressed. Most other major games out there, with strong communities, would bury this thread in personall attacks (which are called "flame") forgetting about constructiveness. Here, we can see numerous mature people, sometimes pointing at things which are as sure as 2+2=4, but still review says otherwise.
Ok, the reviewer has his right to write (in my opinion) very poor review, but whole site loses credibility because of her. Trust me, play the game now, and try to understand why most of us here think this way. It's really simple, very easy to notice.
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