D&D Online

[ghost_warlock]

I didn't see another thread about this game (either here or in d20 games) so either I'm blind or there isn't one...

I'm thinking about downloading it and giving it a whirl, but I have a few questions I'd like answered, first:

* Is anyone here is playing D&D Online? If so, what do you think of it?
* Is there a monthly subscription cost?
* How would you compare it to other MMORPGs?
* The screenshots on the website are pretty and all that, but they don't really show much of the in-game display. Is it pretty, too, or crowded?
* How do you like the spell points system?

I currently play W.o.W. and I experimented with City of Heroes/Villains but I'm looking at expanding my options. I thought a D&D-based MMORPG might be fun. :smallsmile:

I really enjoy W.o.W. but it's nice to have something else to play on my days off and when Blizzard is doing their server maintenance. FYI - I primarily play on Bladefist (my primary character is a human rogue named Cyanblade, though I have several Alliance alts) but I have a few horde characters on Quel'Dorei as well. :smallamused:

I only played City of Heroes/Villains for a few days, unfortunately. Though I liked the game, in general, and loved character creation/costume design, I thought the display seemed a bit crowded and I had issues actually playing the game. For instance, when I tried to start it the game would frequently freeze/stop responding. Then, if I tried a re-start, it would run through its "verifying files" engine. This happened whether or not I ran in "Safe Mode." Eventually, I just got frustrated and gave up on it. :smallfrown: I've never had problems anything like this with W.o.W. or the other games on my computer.

[Bryn]

I have it, although my subscription has expired: yes, unfortunately you do have to pay monthly.

It's a fun game, but I can't tell you if it's any good compared to other MMORPGs since I haven't played any (except RubbishScape RuneTrash RuneScape, but that doesn't really count). The combat system is real time, with one click being one swing of your sword or whatever. The ruleset is pretty much the same as that of DnD, but there are numerous differences: there's no grid, and facing matters, for example.

Roleplaying is perfectly possible, and I've come across several RPers in my time there. There's also a built-in voice chat system, as well as systems for parties and guilds in there.

Quests, although they have background, are generally just "Go in the dungeon and kill everything", usually coupled with "Kill somebody special" or "Find the item". It's not just killing monsters: there are traps and things as well, but that's the gist of most quests. The environments are usually fairly interesting, with ladders, water, pitfalls, and several levels.

Class-wise, they have most of the core classes, and they're periodically adding more. There are no prestige classes, but you can multiclass, and most of the classes keep their mechanics with some modifications.

It's set in Eberron, which is good, although they haven't incorporated a lot of material from the setting: you have warforged, and you can see various familiar (if you like Eberron) things such as airships, the Dragonmarked Houses (although you can't have a Dragonmark), etc., but Changelings, Shifters, Kalashtar, and various other stuff doesn't exist.

Anyway, it's a fairly good game, but I didn't feel that I was enjoying it enough to pay monthly.

[Erloas]

I only played it for a little while, as long as the free trial to be exact. It was pretty good but nothing all that special.
I found the melee combat to be a bit lacking, which was a problem since I was playing a fighter. It seems to follow the D&D rules pretty well, and while it might be great for a turn based P&P RPG it was missing some more reactive styles of combat I'm used to in MMOs.

I wanted to try a second trial with a more diverse class but never got around to it. If I hadn't been busy with other stuff at the time I probably would have liked it a bit more. I've heard they added PvP but I never got to try that. The later dungeons seems to be getting better (longer and more in-depth) but I did stay around long enough to see many of them.

The community did seem pretty good when I was playing, but that probably varies between servers and I couldn't say overall. I found the integrated voice chat rather annoying, but I'm not a fan of voice chat at all. I know other people think it is great. The implementation of the voice chat was fine, its the non-mechanical aspects of the voice chat I don't like.

I say download the demo though and give it a try. All you have to loose is a couple hours of download time.

[Tom_Violence]

I only played the trial as well, but here were my views for the sake of things:

Melee combat was indeed a pain. With things darting around all over the place it was a bit of nuisance even to feel like you might possibly be in a position to hit anything. It annoyed me majorly.

Things like traps and secret doors, while a good idea in principle, quickly become just another nuisance since everyone else has played every single level to death. If you're a rogue, don't really expect to have anything to do as the entire rest of your party will be well aware of each and every obstacle much before you get near them.

When I was there, pretty much every other character in the world was a drow, which kinda sucks the atmosphere out of things just a little bit. Dunno if that's changed much though.

But apart from that, its pretty alright. I liked the quests and graphics and general feel to the whole thing, and I've no doubt its good fun if you have a good group to play with. As already suggested, give the trial a whirl, with some mates if they're up for it.

[Ronsian]

1. Never played it. My friend has tried out many MMORPGS, and said it stunk.

2. Yes, it is the standard monthly fee (15 US dollars or the equivelent).

3,4,5. I can't say because I haven't played it. I believe it is click to attack, so click fest. I have only played WoW, which so far has satisfied all my MMO needs.

[Ladoran]

I've played it for over a year now, though on the european servers. I really like the game, but be aware that it is very different from WoW and things like that. As people have said this is a more fps approach to combat than most mmos which I really like, it makes the battles seem more alive and frantic. I also really like the fact that you can't just wait around inside a quest to get all your spellpoints and hp back like you can in most other mmos. It adds something.

It should be added that this is really not a singleplayer game. Most of the content is only fully available if you go in a varied group, and therefore it would probably be most fun if you found someone else who was new to the game, so you could figure out the quests for yourself. It's usually not a problem finding groups I think but as has already been said many lowlevels will probably be alts and therefore have a tendency to rush trough the quests as everything is known about them.

With the upcoming mod 4 (this thursday) they will add two large outdoor areas for exploration. Everything is instanced and as such you will only meet other players while in Stormreach. The large amount of travel that you find i e.g. WoW is not present here as everything takes place in the same city. For me that is really perfect as I hate spending playing time flying from one place to another, but I've seen plenty of people complain about the fact that you can't really explore like in many other mmos.

I like the GUI, it's not really crowded I think, but opinions might vary.

Try the free account and see if this game suits you. It's not for everyone but there's a lot to like, especially if you are bored with the usual mmos.

And if I missed something feel free to ask :smallsmile:

[Midnight Son]

I love the game. I've played EQII and Guildwars in addition to DDO and DDO is by far my favorite. As others have said, it's $15/month. I have it auto-withdrawn from my checking acct and never even notice it.

As to the gameplay. The monsters do move around a lot, which makes them harder to hit. This is a GOOD thing. One of the things I dislike of other games is that the monsters just run up and let you hit them. With DDO, you have to react to them as they react to you. The kobold moves left, you have to turn to face it. As a Sorcerer, if I hit them with a particularly strong spell, they charge me, rather than letting me pick them off while they're busy with the fighters. In this game, you actually have to use tactics (gasp!). There are instances where you just go in and kill everything, but there are also harder instances where that method is a guaranteed TPK.

The graphics are really good, but to get the best out of them, you will need a very good video card. They really took the time to make it a world in which you can believe.

My only complaint is that there are times when you're just sitting around waiting to hook up with a group. In some cases I've sat for a good half hour while attempting to group up. It helps to be in a guild, but even then, you don't always have enough people in your guild on and at your level. On the plus side, when in that situation, roleplay can be quite entertaining.

[valadil]

I enjoy it quite a bit. I haven't played any other MMO games so I can't comment on how it compares to them from personal experience. People say it is its own niche though as far as that time of game goes. One big thing keeping me in DDO is that the community is nice and helpful. There aren't a lot of l33t d00ds trying to out do each other.

In response to some other posters who found the demo boring, yes the beginning of the game is full of kobolds who run around in an effort to give melee players carpal tunnel syndrome. The game isn't all like that. Just levels 1-4 or so. Also, as you level up the casters start getting better crowd control which helps make the enemies stay put a little better.

Also, playing a melee class can be dull if you go for straight DPS. If you go for tactical feats (and believe me you should because you certainly get enough feats to spare) like improved trip, imp sunder, stunning blow, cleave, etc you'll have more than enough to do.

The one caveat I'd reinforce here is that a majority of the people playing low level characters are not newbies, but experienced players who are trying to raise another character to level 12. I guess this is a big difference between DDO and other MMOs - you don't need to dedicate as much time to one character; most players have several high level alts. I'm a casual player so I only have 2 capped characters and one thats close. Anyway, what this means is that people will assume you've already played content. You may get scolded for cautiously looking for traps by players who memorized where the trap boxes are. It's not a problem for everyone, but I've seen some players get fed up with other players not letting them discover the game on their own by taking them on a guided tour through quests.

[Arlanthe]

There's another thread somewhere: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32828

Boring. Flat. Stale. Used my free month and then ditched it. No crafting, limited quest types, closed world. Bah.

And I was so sad, because I am a big fan of D&D.

[Mc. Lovin']

I'm thinking about downloading it and giving it a whirl, but I have a few questions I'd like answered, first:

Good Idea

* Is anyone here is playing D&D Online? If so, what do you think of it?
I currently play DDo, and can say I fully enjoy it.
* Is there a monthly subscription cost?
Im pretty sure it's £8 a month
* How would you compare it to other MMORPGs?
Here i would like to say the only other MMORPG I have is WoW, which I have a very low opinion of (Let us no descend into a WoW rlz debate please).

Main differences that i can think of.
GRAPHICS the graphics on DDo (In my opinion) are better quality that those of WoW, and mine was on the lowest setting possible. When I want to Z-Axis house (who has an uber graphics card) I thought that the graphics were stunning
COMBAT SYSTEYM
Right click - You attack with your weapon. Simple as. I find this was better than click on the enemy to die, as it lets you attack many at once.
CAMERA
Always over the shoulder
LAG
Im my experience DDo has bad Lag sometimes, and when I consulted Z-Axis on this he said he did not have a bad experience with this.
DOWNLOAD TIMES
DDo has the longest download times I have ever seen. When all were trying to download at the same time it took ... 3 days (must be good if so many people will wait 3 days), however the downloads provided are huge. It's not just 'mending random glitch 3' it's adding a whole new area to the game every time, and sometimes new mechanics.
CLASSES
At the moment it only has fighter, rouge, paladin, sorcerer, wizard, barbarian, cleric, bard (that’s all I can remember atm)
RACES
Human, Elf, Halfling, Dwarf, Warforged, Drow elf (unlockable)
They are adding half orc, half elf and monk later in the year
* The screenshots on the website are pretty and all that, but they don't really show much of the in-game display. Is it pretty, too, or crowded?
* How do you like the spell points system?
I like the systeym, it works well with the game. Although hardcore DnD fans may cringe at the fluff in the first (newbie) quest ('I just cast a spell to grant you free exp), and the lack of some current DnD stuff may be ... well ... bad.


I would say check over the site one more time to see what you think about the rules, and see if they fir with you. Also look at the screenshot contest, as they are taken in game if you are unsure about grapics


There's another thread somewhere: http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32828

No crafting,And I was so sad, because I am a big fan of D&D.


Letr on in the year they are bringing in a crafting Systeym, and as i said, if you are a hardcore DnD fan this is probaly not the game for you

[Arlanthe]

Adding crafting will help, but I still have a problem with the "world". There is no real world. Just a bunch of quests in a big city.

Graphics don't make a game- depth and content do. You can see all there is to see in DDO in six weeks. And yes, definitely not for hard core D&D players.

[ChristopherDK]

i've played DDO for more than a year now and i really really like it. i've played WoW and other mmorpg before, but has never been caught by the setting or worlds.

DDO is imo a great game, they've had to modify a bit of the core rules going from turns to realtime and to make the game high paced enough in combats.

the combat system is one of the best i've tried, e.g. even though you target something else, you hit what your weapon hits on the screen (if you succeed your attack roll ofc).

the basic feel of DnD imo has been brought online.

the game looks great, but well, graphics isn't everything. the quests are all seperate areas, don't expect any of that, go there and kill 40 red mobs and come back here. ohh the red mobs are scared now, go kil 40 blue mobs in the same area etc etc etc.

the quests looks great and the different locations are very different.

also the looting is a bit different, only the raid loot on the high level raids differ from this. but when you come across a chest, every person that opens it get their own loot rolled randomly.

today on the US servers, mod 4 arrieved with level cap rising to level 14, new quests, new dragons and everything.

Dragonmarks are coming in mod 4.1 for those who want more eberron feeling.

i'm kind of addicted to DDO atm, so i'm very biased.

but give the trial a try, and when you look for groups, just mention that you are a newcomer, most people will slow down then and give you some space to enjoy the areas.

(the seal of Shan-to-kor quest series, really hooked me to this game, they felt and looked awesome when i first saw them)

but as said, DDO isn't a singleplayer game, it's DnD and as such should be explored in a party.

remember, friends don't let friends play solo :)

[ChristopherDK]

ohh. btw.. mod3 did have a bit of bad luck with the update in the US. but usually updates are fairly quick and without efforts.

i don't have a problem with lag at all.

and well the city might not be as living as it could be, but imo the players are among the best i've played with. there's very few of the Leet-kiddies seen in other games.

my own guild in europe has around 80 members and our average age is around 30 i'd guess. makes for a very mature gaming community.

[ghost_warlock]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I downloaded the demo and I've been playing in it a bit. I have a pretty fast connection so the download only took an hour or two. Today's update to 4.0 took about 45 min.

I really enjoy what I've seen of the game so far, I'd have to say! :smallsmile:

So far I've got two characters, but I've only really played one (Bolleireon Denele, elf rogue on Aundair). Maybe I'll see someone on sometime to quest with. :smallcool:

[Midnight Son]

Thanks for all the feedback!

I downloaded the demo and I've been playing in it a bit. I have a pretty fast connection so the download only took an hour or two. Today's update to 4.0 took about 45 min.

I really enjoy what I've seen of the game so far, I'd have to say! :smallsmile:

So far I've got two characters, but I've only really played one (Bolleireon Denele, elf rogue on Aundair). Maybe I'll see someone on sometime to quest with. :smallcool:Awww, I'm on Ghallanda. No luck questing with the Midnight Son.

PS. If you do log onto Ghallanda, look for Draghkanya. I'm on most Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays during the daytime. I'll pull up another char to quest with you.

Edit. or I could always start one on Aundair. If I do It'll either be Draghkan the Dreadshrike or Joscelin De Rocaille.

Edit Edit. Okay, some yahoo stole Joscelin, so I did make Draghkan.

[valadil]

Hey, I'm on Ghallanda too. I usually play evenings on weekdays plus one day out of the weekend. I'll be on all of monday too (hurray for meaningless holidays). I'll probably be on as Spoot or Delicious. Maybe Macaca.