Dungeons & Dragons Online Going Free-to-Play - UPDATED

[dochmbi]

Well, pretty cool... I played it for the trial + 2 weeks from the free 30 days (I paid $6 for the CD-Key, so I guess I had a nice deal). It's just that... It's too boring. No exp for monsters is a joke, since one of the main points of DnD is killing monsters and getting EXP points for them.

Well, in the campaign that I played you didn't get exp for killing monsters directly, instead you got xp at the end of a module and the amount depended on how well you did in general.

I don't want to play it because well, when leveling I need something to look forward to, I need there to be a very good endgame and with the limitations I presume most of that stuff would be left out so I don't think the grind is worth it.
That's the thing with MMOs, it isn't just money you are spending, you are also asked to put a lot of effort in it, and yes, while leveling is fun, it's only so because you know what awaits you when you are done.

 

[olicon]

I have heard lots of good things about this game, and I'm absolutely thrilled to try it out. I don't think I mind the restrictions, since I'm not familiar at all with DnD universe. Monk class or whatever..that means absolutely nothing for me.

I think it is a great way to draw in newcomers to the series. I just want a good intro into the DnD universe. And I'm sure the community will be much better than most other games anyway.

 

[jhowerto]

The problem with DDO was it was way too hard for beginning players. Recently, they've added content at lower levels and a whole new tutorial. They've done a great job catering to newer players.

As to the higher level stuff there's a lot more of it than when the cap was 10. I'm pretty sure you'll still get to do a ton of the raids and content even on a free trial.

The combat is the best aspect of this game by far. No click....wait.....click, it's all realtime.

As to complaining about it being a glamorized demo, gimmie a break......FREE. I guess everyone has to complain about something.

 

[Ancientgamer]

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to complain about something that's free, I'm just saying the "WHOOP!" I felt when I read the thread title turned into a "Hrmm..." After I read the OP.

 

[The Shade]

Yay! Now if only I had a computer capable of playing it!

Is it Mac-compatible?

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

This isn't free to play. This is a never-ending demo. There is a difference.

So demos aren't free to play?

 

[Pigeon_Grenade]

ive seen this Tactic before, go it?

 

[IrrelevantTangent]

Wow, sounds great. I might give this game a try, if my computer can handle it. I just hope there's enough content available to make it worth my while.

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

Your welcome Malygris.

For what?

There's an awful lot of complaining here over something that's free. You want the "whole game" free? Turbine says free game content will be plentiful at lower levels and then become sparser as you move through the game, so why not try it out and see what happens? I really don't see how this is anything but a win for MMOG fans.

/facepalm

I was referring to me breaking the story over an hour before you posted your "news". But w/e! I for one am grateful that it's going f2p. Pretty sure I never complained but yeah....you act like I kicked your damn dog or something. Color me confused.

I'm pretty sure the "For what?" was the only part of his post aimed at you, cause he didn't know why you "you're welcome"-ed him.

His comment about the complaints was for all the other people after your post that were complaining.

 

[charliesauce]

So answer me this neigh sayers....If I already bought DnD Online and paid for it monthly for a while before being pulled away by World of Warcraft. Can I now just log back on after re-installing it and play to my hearts content without them eating chunks of my moneyz each month?

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

I would get this, but the land limitations is too much. Its like getting WoW and only having access to Durotar.

Well, to be clear they said "Stormreach and vicinity" which if I remember right was the whole game at release anyway. Unless my memory is bad, when the game came out, the city of Stormreach was all there was to the game...it was just a really big city with tons of instanced dungeans/quests.

So this is kind of like saying "You can play WoW for free but are limited to the original Horde/Alliance continents". Granted Stormreach is not as big as those two continents, my point is you get most everything from the original game. The stuff you don't have free access to is stuff that either didn't exist in the original release (monk class, areas/quests outside the city) or content that you had to unlock through achievements (Drow, Warforged, etc.).

As for some of the other posts complaining about free players not getting everything the paying players get, what would be the point of even being a paying player if you can get it all for free? It's a company, not a charity.

I swear, if a company doesn't go out of business by giving all their products away for free, some people just won't be happy.

I'll tell ya what. Tomorrow when you go into work, tell your boss/payroll department that you'll work for free from now on and see how long that lasts before you lose your house and starve to death.

It's unfortunate how many players these days live in a place called La-La-Land, where game companies magically don't need money to operate, and where their employees out of the goodness of their hearts volunteer to go in and work for 8-12 hours a day, free of charge, to answer Customer Support calls, work on the servers, fix bugs, and develop new content.

I don't much care for the free-to-play-buy-the-extras approach myself. I prefer monthly memberships. But, I can see the benefits for some games to go the RMT route. DDO is really a very good, high quality MMO...much better than the typical free ones out there...and if this move can keep the game up and running for a lot longer then I can only see that as a good thing for it's players.

And it's really no different than the tabletop version of D&D where you can get by on the original game alone, but the players had to go out and buy pre-made campaigns and extra armor/weapons/monster/special classes books if they wanted a more richly detailed gaming experience.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Yeah, the part about complaining was directed at other posts. And for the record, I was well aware of why you posted it, the "for what" crack was a zing, perhaps a bit too gentle, about the fact that, as we've said numerous times before, there are plenty of people who read the news forum without bothering with any of the others and we generally don't encourage "lol beat the news team" types of posts.

On topic: Oh, how I wish this was AD&DO.

 

[Jandau]

I'm sad to see that it'll only be for North America, but I hope I'll be able to get onto the US servers...

 

[Kuala BangoDango]

On topic: Oh, how I wish this was AD&DO.

Heh, maybe sometime in the future, if this style ends up working for Turbine, they can make a new game based on an actually popular AD&D setting, like a Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance setting.

Seriously, what made them think they'd have a wide mass-market appeal using Eberron...a setting most people, even casual D&D'ers, have never heard of. My understanding is that only the hard-core D&D fans knew what Eberron was.

 

[Octorok]

So, everyone but the US gets the shove, eh? How entirely and utterly unlike the game industry.

 

[Orange Monkey]

UHHH, Just when i thought i'd have something new and interesting to play for free this summer, WHAM, the European restriction. This has happened so many freaking times, and not just with video games, Videos on the internet ''Not available outside the USA/ In your region'' Supposed world wide events never showing their faces anywhere near my dingy little country, I mean i don't expect them to come to Malta itself but at the very least Sicily or Italy.

 

[Andy Chalk]

Heh, maybe sometime in the future, if this style ends up working for Turbine, they can make a new game based on an actually popular AD&D setting, like a Forgotten Realms or Dragonlance setting.

The best adventures I've ever had, both PnP and CPRG, were basic, low-level stuff. Honestly, give me a level one starting character in an old-time AD&D environment and a level seven cap and I'll be happy as hell. I've recently been replaying Eye of the Beholder 2 (works great with Dosbox) and it's a goddamn brilliant game, just an outstanding D&D experience. (Harder than hell, too.) Epic levels and exotic worlds are nice, I suppose, but there's something pure and, as much as I hate to use this term, authentic about roaming the countryside with a level two fighter.

 

[KeyMaster45]

It sound to me like this is more of an unlimited free trial BS that some games are starting to try now "Sure you don't HAVE to pay the monthly fee, but we're going to make sure your gaming experience is shit for being such a cheap bastard" I call shenanigans on this F2P change, and see it more as a desperate cry for players to their game......and its working, excuse me while I go make an account *poof*

EDIT: Jumped the gun on that one....it still appears to be in the beta phases.