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Not a real MMO? You're probably right!
Ashkael
Member Posts: 166
I hear a lot of bashing of DDO because it's not a "real" MMO. The main arguement seems to be that the fully instanced world kills the feeling of being in a vast landscape populated by thousands of other players looking for an adventure. Thus, many would choose to call DDO a "network game" and not an "MMORPG" as it does not deserve such a lengthy and revered acronym.
You know what?
You're right!
DDO, like the PnP game, is not about searching the uncharted wilderness for a specific magical tree that you can chop down for wood to make your house in the mountains a little bit bigger. D&D has always been about plumbing the depths of some ultimate evils lair so you can both wipe its dark taint from the world and reap quite a bit of swag. DDO is not pretending to be anything but that. So why, then, is it categorized as an MMORPG? Indeed, why does it have it's own little space here on MMORPG.com if it isn't an MMO at all? It's simple really. It's here for the same reason that "Battlezone 2" is classified as an action game. Or, for those of you too young to remember Battlezone 2, why "Black & White" is classified as an RTS.
So sit back, relax, and enjoy the game for what it is. Don't try and bring it down for what it isn't.
Comments
I think the point is, some people wanted a D&D MMORPG. I know I did and not all of my PnP D&D time was spent in dungeons. I mean killing orcs, goblins, and ogers in dark dank caves gets dull. Sometimes we had to break out of jails because we were arressted, sometimes we joined up with highwaymen and robbed travelling merchants, and ect...
PnP D&D was not restricted like this game will be.
--When you resubscribe to SWG, an 18 yearold Stripper finds Jesus, gives up stripping, and moves with a rolex reverend to Hawaii.
--In MMORPG's l007 is the opiate of the masses.
--The absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence!
--CCP could cut off an Eve player's fun bits, and that player would say that it was good CCP did that.
I have heard from "reliable" sources that it is not all about dungeon crawls, there are quite a few outdoor zones, quests taking place outdoors in large and open areas.
There are "adventure zones", that are not really tied to a quest and you do not need one to enter, these zones have encounters just like in real DD were you get XP after defeating that encounter, as an example.
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Originally posted by Jerek_
I wonder if you honestly even believe what you type, or if you live in a made up world of facts.
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I have played the beta and without giving too much away I'm afraid that you will all be dissappointed. I first played D&D twenty something years ago and even now run the odd campaign or two when I'm asked to, this game has none of that feel, roleplay or interactivity.
The original poster stated that D&D is about delving into dungeons and grabbing the loot & for some I suppose he is right. For the majority however D&D is about building a character that becomes more than just a few ink marks on a sheet, a character that becomes an alter-ego engaged in epic quests across vast stretches of wilderness to eventually achieve a goal that could sometimes take months of real time. A character that evolves into something more than just a hack 'n' slash full time adventurer, perhaps one day owning his own tavern or buiding a tower in some remote spot so he can continue his research in peace without some holier than thou paladin trying to seperate his head from his shoulders, a character that one day can retire as a legend with a full back story and that from that day on will be used as a major npc in an ever changing world. DDO offers none of it.
What then does it offer?
Simple really. DDO offers a guildwars like experience but without the PvP and with a monthly fee, all neatly packaged with a D&D name. D&D in name only.
Just my 2 cents.
I agree with everything you mentioned on what D&D is about. However, if you look at all those requirements within the context of adding them to an MMO, that's a pretty tall order to ask. Maybe someday down the line as the game ages they will slowly add in more D&Dish things, but to have all that from the get go is a tall order to say the least. They have a starting point--let's just see where they go from here.
Having played the game myself, I do agree though the game is a tad too simplistic for it's own good right now. The quests are waaayy to much of the monty hall hack n' slash variety. However, my biggest gripe would be the extreme lack of content right now.
My only problem is that, as you have pointed out, this game is more of a network game than an MMO and, being posted on MMORPG.com I expect it to be an MMORPG, not a network based game like Diablo. If D&D Online and Guild Wars can call themselves MMORPGs and get posted space on MMORPG.com, what is stopping all network games (such as Diablo 2, Mechwarrior, Battlefield 2 etc.) from claiming the same? Don't get me wrong, I like all those games, but I do not think they belong on this site. When I see games on this site I expect them to be MMOs where I interact with many players at once. But that's my opinion.
-W.
Exactly. Well said.
It keeps surprising me how many people already have a set opinion after maybe playing to lv 2~3 or not playing at all. The low lv quests are boring yes, and there wasn't any roleplay in the stress test yes. The quests will get better later on and people d
My only problem is that, as you have pointed out, this game is more of a network game than an MMO and, being posted on MMORPG.com I expect it to be an MMORPG, not a network based game like Diablo. If D&D Online and Guild Wars can call themselves MMORPGs and get posted space on MMORPG.com, what is stopping all network games (such as Diablo 2, Mechwarrior, Battlefield 2 etc.) from claiming the same? Don't get me wrong, I like all those games, but I do not think they belong on this site. When I see games on this site I expect them to be MMOs where I interact with many players at once. But that's my opinion.
the difference with guildwars & d&d:O on one side & lets say battlefield & others on the other side
is that on side 1 you have a big world, you have a more detailed quest in that world then just shoot the others, hack & slash your way to the next lvl, ... & inside that big world you encounter other people & can chat with over 1000 other people playing the game, which is not possible in lets say battlefield wher you get to chat to a maximum of 64 other people...
on the otherhand the difference between guildwars, d&d:O on side 1 & other mmorpgs like WoW & lineage2 is that in the last mentioned you do play in a big world running from 1 side to the other comming across other players as well, seeing them fight, run, die, ...
while in guildwars (i don't really know for DDO since i did not play, but getting my gounds in this thread it is more or less the same) you can only encounter those other people in the big cities from where you then go private with a small bunch of people in a party & go fight the enemies, do quests with that party, (still able to chat to the other 1000 if you want to, but not able to meet them unless you go back to a city or outpost)...
thats why they call it a semi mmorpg since you don't run into the other players in all 100% of the world.
Nice comments everyone. I have the following questions:
- Is this game soloable all the way?
- Is it casual friendly?
- What percentage of monster grind and quest grind is there in the game? (monster grind is when u kill same level monsters over and over to level and quest grind is when u use quest exp to level. In WoW for example, grind would be somewhere around 60% while quest grind around 40%)
- What percentage of the world is instanced and what is not?
- How much loot is there? Is it like WoW, with wide range of quality and number of drops or like GW with very few different types of weapons?
- How dynamic combat is? Is it fast paced or slow hack/slash?
- How many combat skills are there? (lots like in WoW or EQ2 or very few like in EQ?)
- Any more info on tradeskills (if they exist)?
Thank you in advance for any info
I am the type of player where I like to do everything and anything from time to time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor - pre-WW2 genocide.
[quote]Originally posted by jimmyman99
Quests are supposed to take 30 minutes to 2 hours at most. Quests are also defined as short, medium or long so I'd say it's casual friendly. Only issue is how easy will it be to get a group, or a solo-friendly dungeon, if you play a less popular class or are behind/ahead of the leveling curve or play on off-peak hours (given the 1000 person soft cap a low population server could be killer for grouping) You don't get XP for monsters, so 100% quest grind. Pretty much everything. Combat areas are instanced for your party and city instances, while public, have a limit on the number of players in one area, so there could be a Harbor 1, Harbor 2...Harbor 99. From what I've seen the loot is similar to D&D loot. That means there won't be too many WoW style purple or blue epics lying around. Rather you'll get something like Flaming Broadsword +5 be the top weapon for warriors (as an example) or Intelligent Tiara of Brightness for mages (as another example). From what I also heard, armor graphics are disturbingly similar at level 1 and level 10, but I'm hoping that's a beta issue. I'd liken the loot system closer to Guild Wars, but with a larger variety of weapons, armor and mods available. Fast paced, real-time combat. I've heard it likened to whack-a-mole where everyone just piles on an enemy and smacks hit for 3 seconds before it dies. Skills and feats are similar to D&D, so depending on how you build your character, you may be a fighter who just uses auto-attack and block or be a sorcerer with 3 or 4 full hotbars loaded with spells, skills and feats Coming in an expansion at best. Never coming at worst.[b]Nice comments everyone. I have the following questions:
- Is this game soloable all the way?[/quote]
Supposedly you can solo the entire game if you have the right class and do dungeons a level or two below you - assuming the diminishing quest XP doesn't hit 0. Don't know if anyone has tested to make sure there is a way to hit max level by yourself or how much of the total content you'll see by soloing.
Thank you in advance for any info[/b][/quote]
No problem