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MMO ReRoll - Dungeons & Dragons Online | MMORPG.com
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MMO ReRoll - Dungeons & Dragons Online | MMORPG.com
Mitch is back with his latest MMO ReRoll column, this time taking a look at Dungeons & Dragons Online. How does the starting experience - and the MMO in general - hold up in 2021?
Comments
The inclusion of traps and secret doors was a nod to the concept of MMO's as being RPG's which were multiplayer online. Back then they added stuff like that, now days players would no doubt be complaining they can't just run past everything to the next mob when there are traps and secret doors. Sigh.
If I remember right there were group quests at lower levels, though I can't be sure how necessary they were to play. These days grouping is something to be avoided at all costs in MMOs unless you are in a PvP zerg.
Not really a an old favourite of mine, but I still enjoyed my stay. It just did not feel open world enough and there was no PvP at least I can't remember any.
Well it wasn't really Turbine's call. Wizards of the Coast was pushing Ebberon when Turbine came asking for a license and WoTC linked the 2 together, 'you want to create a game, fine, here's the setting you'll use'.
WoTC has loosened up since then and has allowed Forgotten Realms and Ravenloft settings to be used.
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All in all a good review. The game does have problems and I too played it pretty heavy for awhile, but now I just go in when I want to do some dungeon crawling and will play off and on for a few months before rotating to something else.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Pvp was always restricted to the fighting areas inside some of the Taverns and was more of a 'test out your build' type of thing.
I'm told Pvp fights were fairly common for the first couple of years, and while you can still do Pvp, not many do now.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
Fishing on Gilgamesh since 2013
Fishing on Bronzebeard since 2005
Fishing in RL since 1992
Born with a fishing rod in my hand in 1979
The community is so brainwashed they just think this a game play feature to die to lag, then buy a cake to rez you.... That's not even getting into the stat, exp, and skill times you can buy in the cash shop.
This game is what I call a nipple milking game.
I don't remember the exact timing, but they gave the code out before they ended the "play all content for free because of Covid." I found the original post by SSG and tried the code a few weeks ago but it didn't work.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter
No, it's not even close to the best character creation in a MMORPG. One could argue DDO has the best character development but the generation itself has been eclipsed many times over.
DDO is akin to silver both polished and tarnished, like most MMORPGs. If the areas that shine happen to be those cared about it can be a uniquely pleasing experience. If dark, there really isn't anything for you.
Optional purchases are optional. The cash shop is as intrusive as you choose to make it. I do think their f2p mode is quite lacking as it more restrictive than the norm these days. It is best played with a subscription in my opinion.
All ongoing for profit ventures milk their customers for ongoing revenue so they can pay for their own ongoing costs and have an ongoing profit stream remaining. Only the method by which their customers are milked varies.
If you don't want to be milked by a MMORPG you must play a non-profit one, and even then players are often asked to help cover server costs.
I wish I could do more with the game. But FF14 and EQ2 are ultimately my two "yeah, it's worth the subs" games. Perhaps part of the issue with DDO is that I really don't have anyone to play it with lol.
Where to start? The money sink content packs. Crafting is the worst system I have ever seen. Lots of key systems are paywalled behind expansions. Epic Destinies are a terrible post-cap advancement scheme. The less said about mounts, the better. Only one class is decent for solo play: Artificer, because only Artys and Rogies can disarm traps. Artificers are SO OP. Events like Crystal Cove and the holiday events are terrible.
Good points to DDO besides the close adherence to 3.x edition tabletop: Hirelings. Of course, Rogue hirelings are available for shop points. Updates are frequent. The test server is available to f2p when it is up. Content updates are frequent. There is almost no PvP, which is true to what happens in a good tabletop campaign.
I think you meant "Elite" difficulty. Epic (and now Legendary) quests are level 20+ and I think, but I'm not positive (haven't tried it), inaccessible to toons still in the "Heroic" zone (levels 1-20).
I just picked DDO back up after a 6-7 year hiatus during which I tried and quit pretty much every D&D-like MMO that didn't have that annoying anime aesthetic (I just can't stand that art style, it's an irrational aversion that I can't pin to anything in particular). So about a month ago I installed DDO, found my toons still waiting there for me resplendent in their woefully out of date gear, and dug in.
I really do enjoy this game. It can be confusing at times; Which random NPC was it that teleports me to X area? Why are there like a thousand different crafting/enhancement systems? What on Earth is up with the lag? It's been 15 years! Did nobody ever overhaul the net code since 2006? I know it's not as glamorous as a new adventure pack/expansion replete with a whole 'nother crafting system but a lot has improved in available software libs for network code over the past 15 years. Maybe it's time to sideline the Agile methodology for a quarter or two and invest some effort and time into updating and improving the foundational systems that make the game an MMO? And the Epic leveling and Destinies are still kindof a wonky context shift from the close-enough to D&D (3rd ed.) leveling of the "Heroic" levels, though EDs are getting an overhaul next update, for better or worse. I have no idea what's changing there so I won't opine on something I lack enough knowledge about to even form an opinion. And the party/grouping system needs _something_. It works, mostly, but seems like it could be better.
That said, I really don't agree with any complaining about the limitations of a F2P account over a VIP/subscription account. Developers, designers, writers, animators, voice actors, the sales staff, the office staff, they all need paychecks. And a sub is pretty cheap IMO. The DDO store is fine, and in many cases helps to narrow the power gap between the players who can afford to invest massive amounts of time and effort into a game and the players who can't so much because of jobs/family/whatever. Nothing there is an automatic God-mode or even necessary, and aside from expansions and a few conveniences, nothing there isn't also available in-game as loot or rewards. Nobody has to buy those rez stones to complete a quest if they die, one could always just recall out, reset the quest, and try again. Or group up with other players and watch each other's backs/cast rez spells or scrolls, etc. The game is primarily oriented towards group play and as such it kinda taxes solo players. Early on, you couldn't even enter most dungeons solo. Community whining eventually softened that, but they (the game devs) almost always work in subtle "hints" encouraging group play. It's still a D&D game after all. There's plenty of single player D&D games available.
Informative first post, hope we see more.
Love the dungeon narration and mechanics. Great game and you can disarm most traps with a few points in rogue.
There is a huge difference between subbing and what ddo is. Ryzom is a sub game, you pay per month that is it. This is a sub game, plus 200 in expansions, then over 500 in the cash shop for tomes, and various other things. Then with things like lag deaths they sell you instant rez.
O yes I've heard your kinds nonsense about if you grind for 75 years 10 hours a day you will one day be able to get the stuff from the cash shop with out paying.........
You are just being willfully ignorant to their horrid milking practices, like a lot of the people that play this game. Which makes the game horrid, because now the developers don't actually do anything, because they know the addicts that play will still buy the cash shop addictions, the latest game breaking expansion and be fine with lag galore.
People being milked by day break always seem to have to defend day breaks out right bad management, cash shops, and bad servers. Seems suspect too me.
Don't get me wrong I love ddo, I was a sucker my self and dumped over 500 in the cash shop. I got the instant level 7, all the stat tomes, 32 stat point start, all the skill boosters, all expansions, I didn't buy cakes tho. It's strength are it's the only game with such a extensive character creator, and level designs with hard traps.
I saw the lag when I first started, but they all told me don't worry about it, it's not bad, it's just you getting unlucky. Then I started to get stuck on loading screens. Every path made the game worse not better. I also completely gave up when I said how do you guys play the hard core server with this lag, they said we build our characters with lag in mind......
I finally quit, after lie upon lie about how they were going to fix the lag, and it just got worse. You cannot play this game for more than 3 mins with out getting a skip, the monsters jump all over lagging,weapons don't hit, weapon procs delayed, spells are delayed some times up too 2 seconds.
No it's not my computer or internet. I have 150 down 150 up fiber to my house. My computer is 10700k 5ghz, 2080, 16gb 3200mhz, a 860 evo ssd. This is not me flexing, I said it because every time some one talks about how the game lags, their is a religious zelot that pops on every time,and goes it's your computer.
I'm not sure if it's because they are so ignorant they just see it and pretend it's not real. My better guess is, they are literally too slow too see the skips. I mean there are a lot of people who say they can't even see 120hz, and have the reaction times of over a second, so yep I don't know if they can actually see the 200 to 2000ms skips in weapons, spells, ect. It all happens quite fast.
There was a period where there was bad lag. I remember that and I stopped playing then. Didn't play through the lag. I went back when it got better. Don't understand why one would play through such bad lag. Since I don't play when it is lagging I haven't died from it. There was a time it was pretty dreadful I agree though.
I bought bank space and shared space. I also bought some of the trees. I don't have a problem spending on games I am playing.
BTW no need to be hostile towards people who don't have the issues you do and no necessity to call them ignorant either. That was uncalled for.
Yes, I did mean elite.
The what now?
Obviously I don't have a problem spending money on games either, Ive probably spent 150 grand on games over the last 25 years, from PCs, to cash shops, to losing diablo 2 CDs and rebuying them.
I have a problem with spending money on a game that takes all my money and gives it too share holders, and doesn't make the game any better. The equal would be you at a town meeting saying to me I'm hostile, and mean because I was complaining the mayor took all the taxes and made him self a pool.
So it is not uncalled for to call the people supporting that kind of thing ignorant. They don't know what they are doing, and it's making the game get worse and worse, because they live in la la land. When they could force day break too make the servers better, and actually put money into the game.
The only counter they got too that is, well I'm scared they are gonna shut down the game hahaha. So they live in a constant state of battling with they know the game is getting worse and worse, but keep giving them money with a hope they will use it too fix the game, but know they won't. Which leaves nothing but a bad game, a broken community, and milking profits for the games masters. That is ddo.
The gamers are too blame for that though, they bought millions in illegal leveling, items, and cheats. So the profit seekers said hold on, let us milk all that dry. It's so bad now that some people won't even play a game if money isn't tied too it. I think it gives them some kind of weird satisfaction I can't explain. Maybe it's power in their heads. As for this game it is a cash sink, they target and exploit parts of the game. They got me with it, it had too do with making the perfect character, with the stats and skills I wanted, which is what dnd is. Which lead me too buy a bunch of cash shop stuff that boost's the characters power by extremes. A non cash shop character vs a stock is the stock character is useless in comparison. Which I'm fine with in this game because you can solo it, if they actually used the money to fix the game.
Now it's just about how to get weak minded people addicted too something, which is linked too a cash shop. They have got me with their bastard gambling nonsense when I was younger. There hasn't been a good game that was based on nothing but love for the game, and the person making it cause they actually wanted to play the game they were making, that has been popular in so long I couldn't tell you.
You want to buy Tomes that's on YOU, totally optional. In fact with the exception of the dungeon packs and expansions EVERYTHING in the store is optional and not needed to play the game.
SWG (pre-cu) - AoC (pre-f2p) - PotBS (pre-boarder) - DDO - LotRO (pre-f2p) - STO (pre-f2p) - GnH (beta tester) - SWTOR - Neverwinter