As far as "messing with my characters"... that's the nature of MMOs. DDO does it to theirs as well. One would think that with the tried and true 3.5 rules as it's base that there wouldn't be much in the way of "messing" but you would be wrong.
Lot of difference between a set of PnP rules where a human DM can adapt them as required to give an enjoyable experience, and a computer DM.
p.s. Please don't quote me NWN, I thought it was pretty awful and really showed up how bad something can be if you try and translate literally.
Comparing D&DO to Wow is comparing : the local athletics competition club with 3 competitons: sprint - long jump - high jump with the Olympic Games. MUCH more you can do in Wow, MUCH bigger world, MUCH more of everything. Also: by the zillions amount of Arena data (now even a complete e-sports game) Blizzard constantly fine tunes the classes under a microscope, hereby supported by massive amounts of websites and pro players. The only thing missing in Wow today is use these data in "organised" world PvP with universal rules, but WotLK will have this as a first ever with complete air strikes, mounted tank combat, siege artillery. So please, of course if you watch the Olympics for 2 years each day, it's nice to go downtown and have a look at your local club, but don't compare.
so basically you are getting to the point of.... you are damned for leaving wow for ddo and damned for liking it....
As far as "messing with my characters"... that's the nature of MMOs. DDO does it to theirs as well. One would think that with the tried and true 3.5 rules as it's base that there wouldn't be much in the way of "messing" but you would be wrong.
Lot of difference between a set of PnP rules where a human DM can adapt them as required to give an enjoyable experience, and a computer DM.
p.s. Please don't quote me NWN, I thought it was pretty awful and really showed up how bad something can be if you try and translate literally.
I played and ran a DM campaign in NWN for several years and can say it was one of my most enjoyable PC Gaming experiences.
MMO Played-EQ, EQ2, WOW, DDO, GW, COH, Vanguard, WAR
As far as "messing with my characters"... that's the nature of MMOs. DDO does it to theirs as well. One would think that with the tried and true 3.5 rules as it's base that there wouldn't be much in the way of "messing" but you would be wrong.
Lot of difference between a set of PnP rules where a human DM can adapt them as required to give an enjoyable experience, and a computer DM.
p.s. Please don't quote me NWN, I thought it was pretty awful and really showed up how bad something can be if you try and translate literally.
I played and ran a DM campaign in NWN for several years and can say it was one of my most enjoyable PC Gaming experiences.
That isn't the game, that is using a tool to assist you to DM. I know people liked NWN, I thought it was clunky and the story was piss poor. The expansion was worse, the second expansion had some redeeming qualities.
The game itself was plain awful, creating tools so that people could create their own was clever.
I too came from WoW after numerous 70s and enjoy the increase of interaction within the game.
All brought to you by instancing. IMO the direction of quests that DDO is taking is the way the genre should be going in terms of PvE centric mmo's.
(Not saying the below is WoW based, actually it has a tolerable mixture, but korean's for example)
Honestly who finds looking for the next pasture for the best xp mobs to fight? They just stand there, they show you their toughness via a color code, you pick them off because you know you will win, then you wait for respawns to get 10 somethings off of your kill, which only drop whatever 50% of the time?
How in the hell did that ever work as solid game play to begin with? What dev actaully see that as fun and said "lets make that a game!"? What have players stooped to, to except that? Sort of like an addict doing unmoral favors for their next hit, because they are addicts.
I stopped playing WoW for various reasons. 1) They kept messing with my characters, giving evidence to the theory that they don't know what they are doing in the first place when designing classes and abilities. But the more important reason was 2) that there are limited group quests that have any meaning, and a limited amount of people who like to group who don't require you to be in a hardcore guild. I was bored. Soloing is boring. On my last day, I even ganked lowbies. I never did that before. In DDO, people HAVE to quest with at least one other person, for the most part. Forced grouping is bad? Nah.
Yes DDO basically forces you to group beyond level 3 or so. I don't really consider that a plus because outside of quests there is _nothing_ to do in DDO. Granted the quests in DDO are superb, but there really is only one set of them... every character you roll up will be running the exact same set.
As far as "messing with my characters"... that's the nature of MMOs. DDO does it to theirs as well. One would think that with the tried and true 3.5 rules as it's base that there wouldn't be much in the way of "messing" but you would be wrong.
As I continue to say DDO is what they advertised, for some that is exactly what they want, for others it maybe too limiting. In terms of the content, there is a lot there, yes runing through another char means running the quests again. What I like to think is perhaps a game isn't meant to be played forever... yet. You can get several hundred hours out of DDO (some can play forever), but in general all the quests will take you some time. If when you have reached maximum level, played them all, perhaps one may want to look for another game to learn and enjoy. Are we realy at a point where we want to have our final game? I'd like to think there are better things coming in the future.
IMO WoW could have been a lot better for me at the start, IF they had a lot more instances right off the bat. My mind numbs from x of x quests something bad and that is how WoW starts.
I'm glad I found this thread while searching for a new MMO. I just created this account to comment here. I've been playing WoW for a couple of years now and have 3 lvl 70's and am almost done with my 4th. I've done lots of raiding and pvp, and of course like any game after so much time it has become painfully boring. From the very beginning I was somewhat frusterated with WoW content, but after getting into it the game became more and more addicting. I guess I just wanted to fill all my gear slots with epics....but now that I've done that, I'm bored. I also hate how everyone ends up looking the same end-game.
Like many of you gamers, I played the pen and paper D&D before the advent of MMO's, and the biggest thing I long for is an actual storyline and a community where people actually RP. I've tried every type of WoW server (PVP, RP, Normal), and even in the RP servers no one talks in char. I guess my questions are:
1. Does DDO have an actual/good storyline?
2. Do most players actually RP or is it another grind, grind, and more grind?
From the comments I've read here, DDO sounds like a good alternative to WoW, but I'm afraid I'll miss the amount of content WoW had. One thing I love about WoW is that I can log on any time of any day, and even if none of my friends or guildies are on, I can always queue for a BG, farm, or solo something to keep me entertained. From what I'm reading, it sounds like DDO requires grps to do anything. Does this keep the wheels from turning if you feel like logging on at 3 A.M.?
I'm glad I found this thread while searching for a new MMO. I just created this account to comment here. I've been playing WoW for a couple of years now and have 3 lvl 70's and am almost done with my 4th. I've done lots of raiding and pvp, and of course like any game after so much time it has become painfully boring. From the very beginning I was somewhat frusterated with WoW content, but after getting into it the game became more and more addicting. I guess I just wanted to fill all my gear slots with epics....but now that I've done that, I'm bored. I also hate how everyone ends up looking the same end-game. Like many of you gamers, I played the pen and paper D&D before the advent of MMO's, and the biggest thing I long for is an actual storyline and a community where people actually RP. I've tried every type of WoW server (PVP, RP, Normal), and even in the RP servers no one talks in char. I guess my questions are: 1. Does DDO have an actual/good storyline? 2. Do most players actually RP or is it another grind, grind, and more grind? From the comments I've read here, DDO sounds like a good alternative to WoW, but I'm afraid I'll miss the amount of content WoW had. One thing I love about WoW is that I can log on any time of any day, and even if none of my friends or guildies are on, I can always queue for a BG, farm, or solo something to keep me entertained. From what I'm reading, it sounds like DDO requires grps to do anything. Does this keep the wheels from turning if you feel like logging on at 3 A.M.?
It's a free trial.
Give the UI some patience and drop auto-attack are my first two tips to all new players.
IMO there is a lot of content. If you get through all of it and have seen it all and your getting tired then find another game at that time.
Finding groups usually isn't a big problem, although they are usually rapid paced in their questing since there are a lot of vets in game.
Story line is ok, some may think it's better then that.
I'm glad I found this thread while searching for a new MMO. I just created this account to comment here. I've been playing WoW for a couple of years now and have 3 lvl 70's and am almost done with my 4th. I've done lots of raiding and pvp, and of course like any game after so much time it has become painfully boring. From the very beginning I was somewhat frusterated with WoW content, but after getting into it the game became more and more addicting. I guess I just wanted to fill all my gear slots with epics....but now that I've done that, I'm bored. I also hate how everyone ends up looking the same end-game. Like many of you gamers, I played the pen and paper D&D before the advent of MMO's, and the biggest thing I long for is an actual storyline and a community where people actually RP. I've tried every type of WoW server (PVP, RP, Normal), and even in the RP servers no one talks in char. I guess my questions are: 1. Does DDO have an actual/good storyline? 2. Do most players actually RP or is it another grind, grind, and more grind? From the comments I've read here, DDO sounds like a good alternative to WoW, but I'm afraid I'll miss the amount of content WoW had. One thing I love about WoW is that I can log on any time of any day, and even if none of my friends or guildies are on, I can always queue for a BG, farm, or solo something to keep me entertained. From what I'm reading, it sounds like DDO requires grps to do anything. Does this keep the wheels from turning if you feel like logging on at 3 A.M.?
It's a free trial.
Give the UI some patience and drop auto-attack are my first two tips to all new players.
IMO there is a lot of content. If you get through all of it and have seen it all and your getting tired then find another game at that time.
Finding groups usually isn't a big problem, although they are usually rapid paced in their questing since there are a lot of vets in game.
Story line is ok, some may think it's better then that.
Zero grind imo.
Hey thanks for the reply! I'm looking forward to DL'ing the free trial, and I think I may bring a few of my WoW friends over to aid in the grping. I've been reading up on these threads, looking at the DDO website, and watching some videos on youtube. The graphics look amazing ,and I can't wait to try it out.
Only thing you may be dissapointed in is the RP element. To RP you are basically going to have to find a guild or some such. On the U.S. servers Thelanis is the unofficial RP server, don't know about EU version. Most the players are MMO'ers.
Try the trial however, the gameplay is fantastic and so long as you get in with the right group of people you should enjoy yourself.
Hey thanks for the reply! I'm looking forward to DL'ing the free trial, and I think I may bring a few of my WoW friends over to aid in the grping. I've been reading up on these threads, looking at the DDO website, and watching some videos on youtube. The graphics look amazing ,and I can't wait to try it out.
I haven't seen much IC style RP'ing, as mentioned you will need to find a guild (EU doesn't have a RP server, although Keeper is probably the closer), however because DDO is a real group game, the instancing again as mentioned makes it feel a lot more like a group, even if it is only while you are in the quest. 100s of people running around an open area, with everyone treating each other like NPCs does not make a community.
Take your friends, do the quests together as a PnP group. The first time with nobody knowing the quests will knock your socks off, or I will give you your money back (it being a free trial that would actually be nothing ).
Well, I went ahead and started my 10 day trial. Made a dwarf barbarian on Thelanis or w/e it is called. I'm really impressed with the graphics and detail, but the content seems to be lacking a bit. Maybe I just haven't figured it out yet... I did a bunch of quests and got to lvl 2, but now finding new quests is becoming hard. I think my quest log is full of incomplete quests, and I guess I just don't know where to go yet. But from the looks of it, I'm just going to have to repeat the same quests over and over for more XP (not sure if i like this). I was lucky enough to find a good grp of guildies who took me thru some instances, but they were blazing thru everything (like mentioned above). So far it's pretty fun, but I don't know if there's enough content. Then again, maybe my quest log is just full, and I don't know where to go. I see what you guys mean about it being a niche game. But at the moment, I really have no idea where I should be going/questing, and I don't know if I should be LFM yet or not.
The quest log will only show quests from level 1 to your level +2, it will expand as you level up.
There are more than enough quests that you won't have to repeat anything for quite a while unless you want to. The low level quests are pretty simple to help you get used to the game, once you get out of the harbor the quests get a little more interesting.
If you don't have a lot of time to play you can also go into the adventure areas and get XP for exploring and fighting rare mobs (the area is still instanced to just your group).
Comments
Lot of difference between a set of PnP rules where a human DM can adapt them as required to give an enjoyable experience, and a computer DM.
p.s. Please don't quote me NWN, I thought it was pretty awful and really showed up how bad something can be if you try and translate literally.
the term "e sports" made me fall out of my chair laughing.
People need to go outside more.
I played and ran a DM campaign in NWN for several years and can say it was one of my most enjoyable PC Gaming experiences.
MMO Played-EQ, EQ2, WOW, DDO, GW, COH, Vanguard, WAR
MMOs Playing-LOTRO
Lot of difference between a set of PnP rules where a human DM can adapt them as required to give an enjoyable experience, and a computer DM.
p.s. Please don't quote me NWN, I thought it was pretty awful and really showed up how bad something can be if you try and translate literally.
I played and ran a DM campaign in NWN for several years and can say it was one of my most enjoyable PC Gaming experiences.
That isn't the game, that is using a tool to assist you to DM. I know people liked NWN, I thought it was clunky and the story was piss poor. The expansion was worse, the second expansion had some redeeming qualities.
The game itself was plain awful, creating tools so that people could create their own was clever.
All brought to you by instancing. IMO the direction of quests that DDO is taking is the way the genre should be going in terms of PvE centric mmo's.
(Not saying the below is WoW based, actually it has a tolerable mixture, but korean's for example)
Honestly who finds looking for the next pasture for the best xp mobs to fight? They just stand there, they show you their toughness via a color code, you pick them off because you know you will win, then you wait for respawns to get 10 somethings off of your kill, which only drop whatever 50% of the time?
How in the hell did that ever work as solid game play to begin with? What dev actaully see that as fun and said "lets make that a game!"? What have players stooped to, to except that? Sort of like an addict doing unmoral favors for their next hit, because they are addicts.
As far as "messing with my characters"... that's the nature of MMOs. DDO does it to theirs as well. One would think that with the tried and true 3.5 rules as it's base that there wouldn't be much in the way of "messing" but you would be wrong.
As I continue to say DDO is what they advertised, for some that is exactly what they want, for others it maybe too limiting. In terms of the content, there is a lot there, yes runing through another char means running the quests again. What I like to think is perhaps a game isn't meant to be played forever... yet. You can get several hundred hours out of DDO (some can play forever), but in general all the quests will take you some time. If when you have reached maximum level, played them all, perhaps one may want to look for another game to learn and enjoy. Are we realy at a point where we want to have our final game? I'd like to think there are better things coming in the future.
IMO WoW could have been a lot better for me at the start, IF they had a lot more instances right off the bat. My mind numbs from x of x quests something bad and that is how WoW starts.
I'm glad I found this thread while searching for a new MMO. I just created this account to comment here. I've been playing WoW for a couple of years now and have 3 lvl 70's and am almost done with my 4th. I've done lots of raiding and pvp, and of course like any game after so much time it has become painfully boring. From the very beginning I was somewhat frusterated with WoW content, but after getting into it the game became more and more addicting. I guess I just wanted to fill all my gear slots with epics....but now that I've done that, I'm bored. I also hate how everyone ends up looking the same end-game.
Like many of you gamers, I played the pen and paper D&D before the advent of MMO's, and the biggest thing I long for is an actual storyline and a community where people actually RP. I've tried every type of WoW server (PVP, RP, Normal), and even in the RP servers no one talks in char. I guess my questions are:
1. Does DDO have an actual/good storyline?
2. Do most players actually RP or is it another grind, grind, and more grind?
From the comments I've read here, DDO sounds like a good alternative to WoW, but I'm afraid I'll miss the amount of content WoW had. One thing I love about WoW is that I can log on any time of any day, and even if none of my friends or guildies are on, I can always queue for a BG, farm, or solo something to keep me entertained. From what I'm reading, it sounds like DDO requires grps to do anything. Does this keep the wheels from turning if you feel like logging on at 3 A.M.?
It's a free trial.
Give the UI some patience and drop auto-attack are my first two tips to all new players.
IMO there is a lot of content. If you get through all of it and have seen it all and your getting tired then find another game at that time.
Finding groups usually isn't a big problem, although they are usually rapid paced in their questing since there are a lot of vets in game.
Story line is ok, some may think it's better then that.
Zero grind imo.
It's a free trial.
Give the UI some patience and drop auto-attack are my first two tips to all new players.
IMO there is a lot of content. If you get through all of it and have seen it all and your getting tired then find another game at that time.
Finding groups usually isn't a big problem, although they are usually rapid paced in their questing since there are a lot of vets in game.
Story line is ok, some may think it's better then that.
Zero grind imo.
Hey thanks for the reply! I'm looking forward to DL'ing the free trial, and I think I may bring a few of my WoW friends over to aid in the grping. I've been reading up on these threads, looking at the DDO website, and watching some videos on youtube. The graphics look amazing ,and I can't wait to try it out.
Only thing you may be dissapointed in is the RP element. To RP you are basically going to have to find a guild or some such. On the U.S. servers Thelanis is the unofficial RP server, don't know about EU version. Most the players are MMO'ers.
Try the trial however, the gameplay is fantastic and so long as you get in with the right group of people you should enjoy yourself.
I haven't seen much IC style RP'ing, as mentioned you will need to find a guild (EU doesn't have a RP server, although Keeper is probably the closer), however because DDO is a real group game, the instancing again as mentioned makes it feel a lot more like a group, even if it is only while you are in the quest. 100s of people running around an open area, with everyone treating each other like NPCs does not make a community.
Take your friends, do the quests together as a PnP group. The first time with nobody knowing the quests will knock your socks off, or I will give you your money back (it being a free trial that would actually be nothing
).
Well, I went ahead and started my 10 day trial. Made a dwarf barbarian on Thelanis or w/e it is called. I'm really impressed with the graphics and detail, but the content seems to be lacking a bit. Maybe I just haven't figured it out yet... I did a bunch of quests and got to lvl 2, but now finding new quests is becoming hard. I think my quest log is full of incomplete quests, and I guess I just don't know where to go yet. But from the looks of it, I'm just going to have to repeat the same quests over and over for more XP (not sure if i like this). I was lucky enough to find a good grp of guildies who took me thru some instances, but they were blazing thru everything (like mentioned above). So far it's pretty fun, but I don't know if there's enough content. Then again, maybe my quest log is just full, and I don't know where to go. I see what you guys mean about it being a niche game. But at the moment, I really have no idea where I should be going/questing, and I don't know if I should be LFM yet or not.
The quest log will only show quests from level 1 to your level +2, it will expand as you level up.
There are more than enough quests that you won't have to repeat anything for quite a while unless you want to. The low level quests are pretty simple to help you get used to the game, once you get out of the harbor the quests get a little more interesting.
If you don't have a lot of time to play you can also go into the adventure areas and get XP for exploring and fighting rare mobs (the area is still instanced to just your group).
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DDO Permadeath guilds