Impressions?

[Faust]

Now that the NDA has been lifted, I'd love to hear more about the game from those who actually played beta.

[dchaples]

The graphics are nice, the game is pretty cool. Worth playing although I think that it doesn't have long term replay value. I think you'll like it but you'll get burned out in a month or two.

[dec1m8]

is there any (PVP) play in the game?

[swcarter]

Originally Posted by dec1m8

is there any (PVP) play in the game?

Nope.

SWC

[Frek]

Impressions:

I was one of the lucky few who got into the early alpha. I played for about 8 days and then stopped due to boredom/repetativeness. Giving them the benefit of the doubt because it was only alpha I again gave them a second chance during the late beta.

I've decided not to buy DDO. Before you make a descion I suggest you go and seek out positive reviews (although they are a bit harder to find).

1.) Clear lack of content. Ken Troop is quoted as saying that to really enjoy the dungeons you need to play through them several times. If that isn't putting a spin on trying to get you to ignore the lack of content then you're a real sucker.

2.) It takes forever to gain a level. When I say forever I really mean forever. I am by no means a powergamer. Some people on the beta boards reported that they could reach level 3 in as little as 8 hours playtime. I simply don't know how they did it. As a casual player I found the amount of effort required to just attain level 2 is atrocious. They added in "ranks" between level so that you would feel like your making some sort of progress. Overall though you will feel like gaining a level is the biggest grind ever in any MMO ever released. Some will counter argue that it's D&D so you shouldn't be focused on your level. IMO that's just more spin trying to gloss over the lack of content. I literally had nights where I played where I felt like I never made any progress whatsoever. For me this was unacceptable, it turns the game into a grind.

3.) Instancing is great for reducing lag and it also gives the game that table top feel to it. However there are also some negatives as well. This is supposed to be a "MMO" after all. You won't find that "MMO" feeling in this game. If you plan to play DDO with a select pre-set group of friends than this won't have any effect on you at all.

4.) I'll add this point in but I will admit this is sort of a silly point in that this is supposed to be a "D&D" game. The game very quickly turns into a forced grouping game. If you are a casual player and expect that you can only log in for an hour or so this game won't be for you. There is literally absolutely nothing for the solo player to do unless you can find a group. Unless you can devout at minimum 2-3 hours of playtime uninterrupted don't even bother trying to play this game. This game isn't like other MMO's where you can log in for an hour and accomplish something. After playing the introduction stuff you will have no choice but to find groups to do anything.

5.) Repetative gameplay. As I alluded to above, there are several dungeons that you will do over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over (get the point yet?). The only thing that will change is as you level up the monsters will change in difficulty. Again I guess one could argue that this really isn't different from other MMO's where you do the same content over and over. The difference here though is that with other MMO's you usually have new areas to look forward to as you gain in levels. With DDO though you can expect to see the same dungeons throughout your entire career. To use an illustration try to imagine playing EQII on the starter island from level 1-6. Then when you hit level 6 you play on an exact replica of the starter island again but just with harder monsters from level 6-12. Then at level 13 you go to yet another exact replica of the starter island.....This is what you have to look forward to in DDO.

6.) The world feels extremely small and stagnant. Mostly due to the instancing. If your one that really enjoyed the games with wide open spaces (ala AC1) then this won't be the game for you. For the most part the DDO game world consists of a town and market area with a few dungeon tilesets tossed in.

Final Thoughts: I also beta'd Asheron's Call 2 and I can't help but draw comparisons to it. DDO has almost exactly the same problems that AC2 did. Specifically those are: lack of content, high % of beta testers who either quit beta or gave negative feedback about the game, and server stability problems. I guess one could argue that those are problems in every beta but in this situation I can't help but have a sense of deja-vu. I'm not going to try and make a prediction here but my "gut" feeling is DDO isn't going to do as well as Turbine had probably hoped.

My last comment will be that I simply do not see how DDO is worth paying $15/month for. Not when you can go purchase NWN Diamond edition for $30 and join pretty much any decent persistent world out there which literally has 100 times the content of DDO and it's completely free. I suppose one could argue that the graphics in DDO are much better but when NWN 2 is released I would pretty much bet the farm that a NWN 2 persistant world will have way more to offer in the true "D&D" feel than DDO ever will have.

EDIT: I should also mention this because it is quite important to anyone who might be deciding on this game. You should be aware that DDO plays very different from typical MMORPG's. It is very twitch based. Making your character with a high DEX means absolutely nothing as you have to use your own manual dexterity to dodge, block, tumble etc etc. People who disagree with me will be quick to point out that the game features an "auto-attack". However, just be aware that the higher level you get the more "twitch-based" the game becomes. Now this will appeal to some people who prefer more of an FPS feel to their MMO's but to others it will leave a very bad taste in their mouth.

Also I'll throw in that the polls at IGN and the official DDO beta boards both had approx. a ratio of 3 out of 4 people saying they weren't going to buy DDO. You heard me right, 3 out of 4 people who tried beta say they don't like DDO. DDO will still appeal to certain people though so it will probably be around for awhile.

Now I've been pretty negative with my review but that's because DDO didn't turn out to be anything like I had hoped. I'm your typical D&D geek who immensely enjoyed games like BG 1 & II, IWD I & II, TOEE(when it worked), NWN, and I also enjoyed MMO's like DAOC, EQ, and AC1(but not II). If your expecting DDO to be a game that would appeal to someone who likes the games I listed above I STRONGLY URGE you to skip DDO. If your looking for an MMO with an FPS feel to it then DOO might be the game for you.

[Patrick]

I just seen the game today and was courious for review so I will use this post in replace of my thread, please carry-on.
I seen the graphic on the box look better than any other. I wonder is like turn based or what. What engion would you say it is modled after, maybe Ever QUest?

[Rass F.]

Note: I have not -played- this game, however, I have seen one of my good friends playing it.

No, it is -not- turn based, it is live action. You are in control of when your character attacks, and if your character blocks, and if you manuever your character out of the way of an attack, they will not be hit by it. Games it's close to are not other MMORPG's, it is in fact closer to a 3rd person doom 1, with melee weapons, but ALOT prettier.

From what I saw of the island, if thats all there is too it as mentioned above, then it is a fairly small place. I can't say anything about that, but only having achieved level 2, it is quite possible the previous poster missed out on higher end content. Then again... maybe not... (Ancient Red Dragon, and Beholders are basically promised as enemies you can face...)

[icex48x]

id recomend tryin the free trial before you buy it.. im doing that now.. but im personally not impressed... but thats just me..