I found another early player experience review that might be fun to put here. It talks about pros and cons of the new player experience etc. The internet is super for getting a wide variety of perspectives on the game.
When I was in 3rd or 4th grade... maybe 5th I picked up the red box Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set. Within the next couple years had gone through all of that stuff including Greyhawk (still one of the best old school settings I have ever had the joy of adventuring in) and the AD&D stuff, before the censorship nazi's got their mits all over it with the release of Mazes and Monsters and some of the weird crap that went on in the 80's.
When I first heard about DDO I was excited. I expected to play an AD&D based game. Unfortunately a couple of things happened that pretty much screwed the pooch. First was the Eberron setting. Completely throwing out some of the core parts of what made D&D special really hurt the game in general. Then was the new ruleset that released around the time the game was either in development, ending beta oe releasing. Still don't like hte new ruleset and do not know many people that still play the pen and paper game that can stand the new rules... but thats one of hte great things about D&D the rules were a guideline, not carved in stone
Unfortunately, as far as I was concerned, everything that a D&D based mmo should be was left out of DDO. I did my best as a beta tester and even gave the game a spin with launch. But there was too much I couldn't and didn't want to adapt to. Then the very closed atmosphere, the lack of any countryside (I heard this has since been adjusted a bit?) and the god awful Eberron setting just killed the game completely.
Now here above is what I respect about posters on this site. Measured, unassuming and totally honest. I feel for you laddie. I hope one day you'll find an MMO which suits you.
You do all realise dont you that 6.5 out of 10 means that its above average right? The reviewer did not say the game was bad. In fact she made a point of saying it was a reasonably good game which is what her score reflects. I know most other reviewers for games treat an 8 as being average (?!) but this reviewer marked the game in a sensible way for a change.
She simply concluded that it probably isnt worth a monthly fee. If she reviewed other mmos then she may well draw a similar conclusion......and thats a good thing because very few of these mmos are actually worth paying extra money for each month considering the state of most of them. People can bash her review as much as they like but she was simply giving her honest opinion of the game.
what is the reviewer conveying over and over ? "this game sucks"
And I would agree with that sentiment. It is not a great game...it is mediocre. It has such a small player base, and the game feels like less than an MMO, and thus does not deserve a monthly fee.
Just because someone does not agree with how you feel about a game does not make their review wrong or crap. They gave an honest opinion of how they felt...and I agree.
That is what reviews are anyways...personal opinions. Go ahead and write up a clear and concise review yourself. Check punctuation and spelling as well please, then present your review as an alternating viewpoint...
It seems to me the Reviewer did skip quite a portion of content and probably logged 12 to 14 hours without actually grouping with anyone. I believe the LFG & Community tool was not utilized to find players. The reviewer may or may not have played during peak hours or weekends, which also may have cited to the low level of activity within the harbor (Korthos is a starter area, most regulars are not hanging out there nor in the initial Harbor Zone).
I would contend that the graphical amazement IS better than what the author mentioned as well. A quick review of arms and armors, not to mention varying elements within dungeons (traps, effects, monsters, etc) would reveal much-better than average graphics. Korthos in particular is a graphical wonderland, but the true graphical awe of this game is brought out in higher-level quests. If the reviewer had run Tempest Spine to the top (levels 6-10), The Vault of the Night and met Vellah, The Great Red Dragon on The Plane of the Night (Levels 8+), or gone to any of the other zones like The Desert, Gianthold, Meridia, The Restless Isles, etc; then they may have actually seen all the impressiveness of this game. Did they look up into the sky and see the varying lights? Did they stand on top of a roof overlooking the harbor, scan the lighthouse and realize the water is amazingly realistic?
The Tavern sounds and music also lend to a heavy RP element within the game. The music certainly does set the tone if the reveiwer had left the Harbor! Many of the songs and sounds found in DDO are directly ported with modifications to LOTRO, a multi-winning GAME OF THE YEAR. The sound effects and music in DDO are very well done, although once in awhile I do agree a few of the "Dungeon Masters" can shut their yap.
The game is far better than a 6.5. I would have rated 7.8-9.3
Wow. Lot's of hate on the OP here. Tbh re-review or first time through, she had more good to say about DDO than I did when I played it. Graphics, "Meh". Character creation, terrible. Armor designs look like they were done by the brain-damaged chimp that made the costumes for the "Dungeons & Dragons" movie. No community to speak of.
And Eberron? F*ing EBERRON? I wouldn't use the term nostalgia anywhere near that. Why not Greyhawk? Why not Forgotten Realms or Krynn? Oh yeah, because then royalties would have to be paid. But at least we could have decent races to choose from instead of fricken Warforged. Garbage. Another sad game effort hoping to ride the coattails of an established IP. Move along.
a little harsh woulndt you say?
character creation is more complex than any other mmorpg out there as of yet. the armor sets don't bother me, they look like any other game. (except wow's fisher price shoulder pads), and the community is the best ive seen in a game also, you were probably on a low populated server in which case its not your fault, but that is probably why.
dont have anything to say about it being Eberron since i never got a chance to play pnp.
Ok, perhaps a bit harsh. Sorry.
When I speak of "character creation" I'm talking about the models. And they're bad IMO. Especially the dwarf with no beard and the pornstache. And the armors are really bad from what I saw.
I will say that I played this game at launch, so a lot of things may (and I'm sure) have changed since then. I think Severius' post sums up my feelings from the perspective of a long-time PnP player who was hoping to get some of that enjoyment out of this game and didn't.
Wow. Lot's of hate on the OP here. Tbh re-review or first time through, she had more good to say about DDO than I did when I played it. Graphics, "Meh". Character creation, terrible. Armor designs look like they were done by the brain-damaged chimp that made the costumes for the "Dungeons & Dragons" movie. No community to speak of.
And Eberron? F*ing EBERRON? I wouldn't use the term nostalgia anywhere near that. Why not Greyhawk? Why not Forgotten Realms or Krynn? Oh yeah, because then royalties would have to be paid. But at least we could have decent races to choose from instead of fricken Warforged. Garbage. Another sad game effort hoping to ride the coattails of an established IP. Move along.
a little harsh woulndt you say?
character creation is more complex than any other mmorpg out there as of yet. the armor sets don't bother me, they look like any other game. (except wow's fisher price shoulder pads), and the community is the best ive seen in a game also, you were probably on a low populated server in which case its not your fault, but that is probably why.
dont have anything to say about it being Eberron since i never got a chance to play pnp.
Ok, perhaps a bit harsh. Sorry.
When I speak of "character creation" I'm talking about the models. And they're bad IMO. Especially the dwarf with no beard and the pornstache. And the armors are really bad from what I saw.
I will say that I played this game at launch, so a lot of things may (and I'm sure) have changed since then. I think Severius' post sums up my feelings from the perspective of a long-time PnP player who was hoping to get some of that enjoyment out of this game and didn't.
And Eberron still blows.
A dwarf with no beard?! Hmph! Blasphemy! Any game that depicts dwarves with short or no beards doesnt have dwarves in it at all......it has stumpy humans instead "pretending" to be dwarves. No real dwarf would ever set forth on any adventure without a long swishy beard.
This game clearly isnt based on the good old D&D that I know.
while i never really got past level 4 myself i can say this review fails hard. Even i managed to notice all the unique features this game offers and my machine was beyond crap (6600 ,2.4 single core and 1 gig ram).
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds -Solid non level based game -Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
what the hell... what a terrible review. Out of the MANY mmos I have played, this game is one of the few that actually stands out as different and is really fun to play. The game finally gets some attention (which it deserved).. and it turns out some moron who probably prefers WoW-clones who reviews it. god damn...
As some1 who returned to play the game after 2 years & can't stop playing it right now, all i have to say of the review is: how mmorpg.com publishes a review based on 1-2 hours playing?
This review degradates the work of other regular reviewers who doesn't just solo for 10 hours and then write a review. This is even worse than the first 10 levels comparison by eurogamer between Vanguard and EQ2.
The reviewer was unable to point out original ideas in DDo and original concepts and rather focused on mentioning the features that are not in DDO present and that the reviewer probably expected after playing WOW for 4 years. He or she is clearly unable to appreciate different approach to gaming.
This review rather looks like it was clearly meant to be negative from the beginning. Like this site is already very positive about another Turbine game (lotro) and they do not want to look like favouring Turbine or being accused of being payed.
I was looking forward to read a good review about DDO but this is by far the sadest attempt on writing a review i have ever seen.
i don´t see any point to drag this out, there are many players who have made thier voices heard and hopefully made the reviewer think once or twice befor making such a ingorant and lousy review of a game he/she obviously didn´t like even b4 he/she had tried it out and mabye keep an open mind and acctually try it for atleast the full free trail period b4 making a review.
I´ve played the game and liked it very much, but it´s not at all something like WoW (thank god for that) so my suggestion to anyone who is interested in playing it: don´t let a reviwe made by a scare you off. Ofc the game has it flaws but name one game who hasn´t , imo it´s THE BEST dungeon based game out there. If you think you will be repeating same quests over and over again you´r utterly wrong, that´s what veteran players do to make the exp grind less of a hustle, you will have 200+ dungeons (iirc) alot of encounter-areas. And if you are more or less skilled player you could easly solo you´r self up to lvl12.
The problem some people seem to have is they think it´s abandoned as they may not see all thoose players that are online. Newsflash to all of you it´s a dungeon based game not everyone will stand around in the middle of "The Marketplace" not doing anything they will be questing no doubt .
The problem some people seem to have is they think it´s abandoned as they may not see all thoose players that are online. Newsflash to all of you it´s a dungeon based game not everyone will stand around in the middle of "The Marketplace" not doing anything they will be questing no doubt .
Oh yes, that's the reason most new players think the game is "deserted" . No, it's not . Just look at the player list, or write /who. People are just busy grouping, doing quests, etc. Not much to do in cities than socializing between quests, selling / repairing, buying and driking in the tavern .
I felt that way too, but it's just utterly untrue. Right now we have large population on EU servers, it's getting better even now.
I'm also the uploader of DDO EU Module 8 client on some "torrent bay" , so I can see how many people will be new for that source. Each day there are about 5-10 new people downloading the free client. That's much.
I you like, check that torrent - it's free client, but the game requires trial or subscription on account. The client is packed from 7GB to 3,4GB, and it's completely updated Module 8 client.
They moved so far away from D&D core rules that it is not even D&D anymore.. just a mess with outdated graphics, a bad engine, laggy cheap servers, bad comunity relations and support.
Total crappy game.. at least the reviewer was honest in several points and that is rare nowadays. Well done.
DDo is dead long ago... They moved so far away from D&D core rules that it is not even D&D anymore.. just a mess with outdated graphics, a bad engine, laggy cheap servers, bad comunity relations and support.
Total crappy game.. at least the reviewer was honest in several points and that is rare nowadays. Well done.
I remember people saying it was dead a few months after it launched, that was coming up for 3 years ago. DDO isn't going anywhere, sorry to disappoint.
DDo is dead long ago... They moved so far away from D&D core rules that it is not even D&D anymore.. just a mess with outdated graphics, a bad engine, laggy cheap servers, bad comunity relations and support.
Total crappy game.. at least the reviewer was honest in several points and that is rare nowadays. Well done.
What game are you talking about? Certainly not DDO . Rules are really close to D&D, I mean, it's exactly D&D with a changes in numbers, not rules. Almost entirely that way, and that's because this is MMORPG, not a tabletop game, and MMO playstyle is demanding.
The graphics are probably the best I've seen, and I've seen many other games, including LotrO and WotLK, Guild Wars. So nothing outdated.
Engine works good for me, and I play on Ultra High details with overclocked C2D 6750 and crappy GF 8600 DDR3. Onle few settings (draw distance, frill distance) aren't set ultra high, but very high or high.
I love DDO community, and support works for me even better.
The following link takes me to a list of DDO Podcast episodes dealing with Mod 8 content. Some of the links will deal with the New Player experience, while others discuss other features of the Module.
Comments
I found another early player experience review that might be fun to put here. It talks about pros and cons of the new player experience etc. The internet is super for getting a wide variety of perspectives on the game.
http://pumpingirony.net/2008/11/06/ddo-module-8-hands-on-new-player-experience-phase-iv/
DivaGamer
DDO turns 3! Happy Birthday!!
Now that's a review
.
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"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
When I was in 3rd or 4th grade... maybe 5th I picked up the red box Dungeons and Dragons Basic Set. Within the next couple years had gone through all of that stuff including Greyhawk (still one of the best old school settings I have ever had the joy of adventuring in) and the AD&D stuff, before the censorship nazi's got their mits all over it with the release of Mazes and Monsters and some of the weird crap that went on in the 80's.
When I first heard about DDO I was excited. I expected to play an AD&D based game. Unfortunately a couple of things happened that pretty much screwed the pooch. First was the Eberron setting. Completely throwing out some of the core parts of what made D&D special really hurt the game in general. Then was the new ruleset that released around the time the game was either in development, ending beta oe releasing. Still don't like hte new ruleset and do not know many people that still play the pen and paper game that can stand the new rules... but thats one of hte great things about D&D the rules were a guideline, not carved in stone
Unfortunately, as far as I was concerned, everything that a D&D based mmo should be was left out of DDO. I did my best as a beta tester and even gave the game a spin with launch. But there was too much I couldn't and didn't want to adapt to. Then the very closed atmosphere, the lack of any countryside (I heard this has since been adjusted a bit?) and the god awful Eberron setting just killed the game completely.
Now here above is what I respect about posters on this site. Measured, unassuming and totally honest. I feel for you laddie. I hope one day you'll find an MMO which suits you.
You do all realise dont you that 6.5 out of 10 means that its above average right? The reviewer did not say the game was bad. In fact she made a point of saying it was a reasonably good game which is what her score reflects. I know most other reviewers for games treat an 8 as being average (?!) but this reviewer marked the game in a sensible way for a change.
She simply concluded that it probably isnt worth a monthly fee. If she reviewed other mmos then she may well draw a similar conclusion......and thats a good thing because very few of these mmos are actually worth paying extra money for each month considering the state of most of them. People can bash her review as much as they like but she was simply giving her honest opinion of the game.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
And I would agree with that sentiment. It is not a great game...it is mediocre. It has such a small player base, and the game feels like less than an MMO, and thus does not deserve a monthly fee.
Just because someone does not agree with how you feel about a game does not make their review wrong or crap. They gave an honest opinion of how they felt...and I agree.
That is what reviews are anyways...personal opinions. Go ahead and write up a clear and concise review yourself. Check punctuation and spelling as well please, then present your review as an alternating viewpoint...
Sound cool?
Cheers
It seems to me the Reviewer did skip quite a portion of content and probably logged 12 to 14 hours without actually grouping with anyone. I believe the LFG & Community tool was not utilized to find players. The reviewer may or may not have played during peak hours or weekends, which also may have cited to the low level of activity within the harbor (Korthos is a starter area, most regulars are not hanging out there nor in the initial Harbor Zone).
I would contend that the graphical amazement IS better than what the author mentioned as well. A quick review of arms and armors, not to mention varying elements within dungeons (traps, effects, monsters, etc) would reveal much-better than average graphics. Korthos in particular is a graphical wonderland, but the true graphical awe of this game is brought out in higher-level quests. If the reviewer had run Tempest Spine to the top (levels 6-10), The Vault of the Night and met Vellah, The Great Red Dragon on The Plane of the Night (Levels 8+), or gone to any of the other zones like The Desert, Gianthold, Meridia, The Restless Isles, etc; then they may have actually seen all the impressiveness of this game. Did they look up into the sky and see the varying lights? Did they stand on top of a roof overlooking the harbor, scan the lighthouse and realize the water is amazingly realistic?
The Tavern sounds and music also lend to a heavy RP element within the game. The music certainly does set the tone if the reveiwer had left the Harbor! Many of the songs and sounds found in DDO are directly ported with modifications to LOTRO, a multi-winning GAME OF THE YEAR. The sound effects and music in DDO are very well done, although once in awhile I do agree a few of the "Dungeon Masters" can shut their yap.
The game is far better than a 6.5. I would have rated 7.8-9.3
-k¥§tì£æñ-
a little harsh woulndt you say?
character creation is more complex than any other mmorpg out there as of yet. the armor sets don't bother me, they look like any other game. (except wow's fisher price shoulder pads), and the community is the best ive seen in a game also, you were probably on a low populated server in which case its not your fault, but that is probably why.
dont have anything to say about it being Eberron since i never got a chance to play pnp.
Ok, perhaps a bit harsh. Sorry.
When I speak of "character creation" I'm talking about the models. And they're bad IMO. Especially the dwarf with no beard and the pornstache. And the armors are really bad from what I saw.
I will say that I played this game at launch, so a lot of things may (and I'm sure) have changed since then. I think Severius' post sums up my feelings from the perspective of a long-time PnP player who was hoping to get some of that enjoyment out of this game and didn't.
And Eberron still blows.
Also:
Heheh. You said phallus.
a little harsh woulndt you say?
character creation is more complex than any other mmorpg out there as of yet. the armor sets don't bother me, they look like any other game. (except wow's fisher price shoulder pads), and the community is the best ive seen in a game also, you were probably on a low populated server in which case its not your fault, but that is probably why.
dont have anything to say about it being Eberron since i never got a chance to play pnp.
Ok, perhaps a bit harsh. Sorry.
When I speak of "character creation" I'm talking about the models. And they're bad IMO. Especially the dwarf with no beard and the pornstache. And the armors are really bad from what I saw.
I will say that I played this game at launch, so a lot of things may (and I'm sure) have changed since then. I think Severius' post sums up my feelings from the perspective of a long-time PnP player who was hoping to get some of that enjoyment out of this game and didn't.
And Eberron still blows.
A dwarf with no beard?! Hmph! Blasphemy! Any game that depicts dwarves with short or no beards doesnt have dwarves in it at all......it has stumpy humans instead "pretending" to be dwarves. No real dwarf would ever set forth on any adventure without a long swishy beard.
This game clearly isnt based on the good old D&D that I know.
"Freedom is just another name for nothing left to lose" - Janis Joplin
.jpg)
Too bad it is just window dressing and serves no purpose as you spend a majority of your time underground anyways...
And, we all know, this is what Turbine does best...all show, no filling. Landscapes are their #1 strength.
Not a quality review of this game at all.
while i never really got past level 4 myself i can say this review fails hard. Even i managed to notice all the unique features this game offers and my machine was beyond crap (6600 ,2.4 single core and 1 gig ram).
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
what the hell... what a terrible review. Out of the MANY mmos I have played, this game is one of the few that actually stands out as different and is really fun to play. The game finally gets some attention (which it deserved).. and it turns out some moron who probably prefers WoW-clones who reviews it. god damn...
As some1 who returned to play the game after 2 years & can't stop playing it right now, all i have to say of the review is: how mmorpg.com publishes a review based on 1-2 hours playing?
till now i thought highly of this site...
This review degradates the work of other regular reviewers who doesn't just solo for 10 hours and then write a review. This is even worse than the first 10 levels comparison by eurogamer between Vanguard and EQ2.
The reviewer was unable to point out original ideas in DDo and original concepts and rather focused on mentioning the features that are not in DDO present and that the reviewer probably expected after playing WOW for 4 years. He or she is clearly unable to appreciate different approach to gaming.
REALITY CHECK
This review rather looks like it was clearly meant to be negative from the beginning. Like this site is already very positive about another Turbine game (lotro) and they do not want to look like favouring Turbine or being accused of being payed.
REALITY CHECK
I was looking forward to read a good review about DDO but this is by far the sadest attempt on writing a review i have ever seen.
i don´t see any point to drag this out, there are many players who have made thier voices heard and hopefully made the reviewer think once or twice befor making such a ingorant and lousy review of a game he/she obviously didn´t like even b4 he/she had tried it out and mabye keep an open mind and acctually try it for atleast the full free trail period b4 making a review.
I´ve played the game and liked it very much, but it´s not at all something like WoW (thank god for that) so my suggestion to anyone who is interested in playing it: don´t let a reviwe made by a
scare you off. Ofc the game has it flaws but name one game who hasn´t 
, imo it´s THE BEST dungeon based game out there. If you think you will be repeating same quests over and over again you´r utterly wrong, that´s what veteran players do to make the exp grind less of a hustle, you will have 200+ dungeons (iirc) alot of encounter-areas. And if you are more or less skilled player you could easly solo you´r self up to lvl12.
The problem some people seem to have is they think it´s abandoned as they may not see all thoose players that are online. Newsflash to all of you it´s a dungeon based game not everyone will stand around in the middle of "The Marketplace" not doing anything they will be questing no doubt
.
Oh yes, that's the reason most new players think the game is "deserted"
. No, it's not 
. Just look at the player list, or write /who. People are just busy grouping, doing quests, etc. Not much to do in cities than socializing between quests, selling / repairing, buying and driking in the tavern 
.
I felt that way too, but it's just utterly untrue. Right now we have large population on EU servers, it's getting better even now.
I'm also the uploader of DDO EU Module 8 client on some "torrent bay"
, so I can see how many people will be new for that source. Each day there are about 5-10 new people downloading the free client. That's much.
I you like, check that torrent - it's free client, but the game requires trial or subscription on account. The client is packed from 7GB to 3,4GB, and it's completely updated Module 8 client.
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DDo is dead long ago...
They moved so far away from D&D core rules that it is not even D&D anymore.. just a mess with outdated graphics, a bad engine, laggy cheap servers, bad comunity relations and support.
Total crappy game.. at least the reviewer was honest in several points and that is rare nowadays. Well done.
I remember people saying it was dead a few months after it launched, that was coming up for 3 years ago. DDO isn't going anywhere, sorry to disappoint.
What game are you talking about?
Certainly not DDO 
. Rules are really close to D&D, I mean, it's exactly D&D with a changes in numbers, not rules. Almost entirely that way, and that's because this is MMORPG, not a tabletop game, and MMO playstyle is demanding.
The graphics are probably the best I've seen, and I've seen many other games, including LotrO and WotLK, Guild Wars. So nothing outdated.
Engine works good for me, and I play on Ultra High details with overclocked C2D 6750 and crappy GF 8600 DDR3. Onle few settings (draw distance, frill distance) aren't set ultra high, but very high or high.
I love DDO community, and support works for me even better.
Polish Sword Coast Legends Portal http://www.swordcoast.pl/
SwordCoast.pl Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SwordCoastPL/
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Polish Neverwinter Portal http://www.neverwinter.com.pl/
Polish D&D Online Portal http://www.ddopl.com
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Great DDO PodCast by Jerry & co. http://www.ddocast.com
The following link takes me to a list of DDO Podcast episodes dealing with Mod 8 content. Some of the links will deal with the New Player experience, while others discuss other features of the Module.
http://ddocast.com/categories/bfl84gSWU-ViG20GYcnXiehZXHrLqozUhUwwiX97BOg=.aspx
DivaGamer
DDO turns 3! Happy Birthday!!