Why I play Dungeons and Dragons Online

[Lorichie]

You know, as an aside, there seems to be enough interest in this thread and the other once you weed thru all the junk. If it were me, and this is just my opinion, i would mebbe get in touch with all of your fellow escapists, pick a server together and form an "escapist" guild. let everyone know on the server forums, their and here for that matter, that you are new and while you've formed a guild, you still could use some help. A great many folks have offered to help, forming your own guild does several things, you folks are familiar with each other, can learn together, but it also lets us know immediately when we see you who you are and where you came from and that you'll be looking for us too.

just a thought,

R

 

[lerincho]

too much hate from this community for me to agree to that Lorichie

 

[Lorichie]

too much hate from this community for me to agree to that Lorichie

while there is some, it wont be the hate that makes it to our servers

 

[Imat]

Not to say anything against DDO, because I have no right to poke an unplayed game, but I have a theory about why the DDO community is so "good:" DDO is relatively unheard of. Compared to WoW, which gets every online player and their mother, DDO is tiny. That's why WoW gets the jerks and those of questionable intelligence (Not to mention the "Srs Gamers") while DDO gets the good'uns.

My advice therefore is to not advertise it too openly. I think you're safe in a community like the Escapist, but giving out trials abroad may attract the jerks of MMO society...And I mean that in the best way possible (The warning, not the jerks...They really do have some jerks...).

 

[dirte]

Not to say anything against DDO, because I have no right to poke an unplayed game, but I have a theory about why the DDO community is so "good:" DDO is relatively unheard of. Compared to WoW, which gets every online player and their mother, DDO is tiny. That's why WoW gets the jerks and those of questionable intelligence (Not to mention the "Srs Gamers") while DDO gets the good'uns.

My advice therefore is to not advertise it too openly. I think you're safe in a community like the Escapist, but giving out trials abroad may attract the jerks of MMO society...And I mean that in the best way possible (The warning, not the jerks...They really do have some jerks...).

oh no, DDO has its share of "not good guys" but, even they need to fill out a party to play most quests.makes it hard with a bad rep. so if you do wrong(mean,rude) you wont have others that will be happy their in a group with you. you may choose who you play with 100%.

 

[Jay2o3]

Not to say anything against DDO, because I have no right to poke an unplayed game, but I have a theory about why the DDO community is so "good:" DDO is relatively unheard of. Compared to WoW, which gets every online player and their mother, DDO is tiny. That's why WoW gets the jerks and those of questionable intelligence (Not to mention the "Srs Gamers") while DDO gets the good'uns.

My advice therefore is to not advertise it too openly. I think you're safe in a community like the Escapist, but giving out trials abroad may attract the jerks of MMO society...And I mean that in the best way possible (The warning, not the jerks...They really do have some jerks...).

actually, here's my take on that
WoW is very simplistic compared to DDO, and most childish "elitists" prefer that sort of game
as for DDO, most player who enjoys it are better able to plan out their characters and really get the whole deal out of the game. most of these players are adults/mature players, then some of them get their kids invovled
in essence, the simpler the game, the more likely you're going to have these "jerks" as it's easier for them to handle the game
for me, the "jerks" in MMOs are nothing more than simpletons that can't handle anything complicated

PS: i think we had a couple WoW fanboys tried out DDO before and they stormed off when they couldn't grasp the game

 

[Imat]

Not to say anything against DDO, because I have no right to poke an unplayed game, but I have a theory about why the DDO community is so "good:" DDO is relatively unheard of. Compared to WoW, which gets every online player and their mother, DDO is tiny. That's why WoW gets the jerks and those of questionable intelligence (Not to mention the "Srs Gamers") while DDO gets the good'uns.

My advice therefore is to not advertise it too openly. I think you're safe in a community like the Escapist, but giving out trials abroad may attract the jerks of MMO society...And I mean that in the best way possible (The warning, not the jerks...They really do have some jerks...).

oh no, DDO has its share of "not good guys" but, even they need to fill out a party to play most quests.makes it hard with a bad rep. so if you do wrong(mean,rude) you wont have others that will be happy their in a group with you. you may choose who you play with 100%.

Really? I keep getting the impression that the DDO community is like the Amish: Really nice and only knowledgeable in the ways of teamwork (Oversimplification FTW!).

Also, I like the avatar.

 

[samuel1380]

Good summary. What are the system requirements?

Also how varied are the missions? Assassin/bughunt/Retrieve/escort?

Are there puzzles? Item creation? PvP? None combat skills? How balanced are the classes? In a hack and slash surely the fighter is the daddy

Im not picking fault, just interested.

At lower levels fighter types are easily the most survivable, level cap your sorcs are where the real power is at

 

[Meemoo]

Another thing to hit upon is the fact that a quest will be different depending on the class you take. For instance, I think running; lets say Water works, will be a different experience if you are a Ranger then if you were a Spell Caster or Tank. Your strategy in taking out mobs will be a bit different. I think DDO basically has infinite replay value; thus you see proof in this with people with umpteen different capped characters and still not bored with the game.

 

[CanadianWolverine]

I love to play NeverWinter Nights 2. What is the possibility of Player Strongholds in the future? It was one of the things when Obsidian was taking suggestions years back now that I was very determined to see happen. And now that I am finally playing it, I love every moment of act 3 and every bit of coin I am getting from loot is going into building my happy little Crossroads and I completely ignored the main story to find every NPC recruit that I could.

Oddly enough, I have been tracking the progress of a MMO called Love because of the player interactivity with its stylish enviroment built into the game.

It is one of those things that always struck me as very unique about D&D P&P in any version was that a DM would constantly be pulling their hair out because the players inevitably get totally deep into having their characters run a stronghold that they ignore the elaborate dungeons he set up before. Oh, does DDO have DMs?

Can you tell I played the heck out of Dungeon Keeper 2?

Other than that, please link me to some video of DDO monks doing some genuinely epic stuff, like doing parkour to accomplish a goal of a quest (or instance I think you called them) or something else that smacks of The Matrix or Jet Li/Jackie Chan stunts.

I guess, I am asking, does DDO do online play better than NWN2 (or NWN1)? Does it manage to still include the cool skills of swim, climb, jump, balance, and other skills that are the only reasons I care how stupid (INT score) my monk is? Even in regular D&D P&P it seems like some skills get big time ignored for the combat and don't seem to have good synergy with some stuff that could really make for some wow moments if they could be better worked out - only one I recall being synergistic was tumble. Oh and does the game allow for knock out/nonlethal damage? How about easier to grasp grappling rules?

Here's Monks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2mQRobbnBE&feature=related

Nice animations, quarter staff especially. That abundant step is good too, kept wishing for some slow fall on walls, wall running, tumbling, slides, rolls, flips... Hehe, IMHO, Jade Empire has the best monk animations I have seen so far but things like Assassin's Creed and this Freerunning game I saw on Youtube once do some really nice stuff as well. And anything is better than the basic monk animations of NWN1, totally had to find some fan made ones to replace those =P

So, anything on any of my other questions and comments?

 

[Redweaver]

Wrong! Well...okay fine, I guess that's true for some people. However, I love most DnD stuff, from tabletop to almost all the PC titles, from Baldur's Gate to NWN2, hell, I don't even hate The Temple of Elemental Evil. But DDO, no. I will admit, I didn't play past much of the opening content, and did only a few groups and dungeons. However, I dropped the whole thing once I began to realise how compartmentalised everything was. I mean, games like WoW and CoH/CoV and even UO can justify the monthly fee, they've got a big sprawling persistent world. What has DDO got? It's like they took the 'Massively' part out of MMO and left a tepid online multiplayer game instead. Skk...

Deliberately removing the timesink of running across that big, sprawling, persistant world is a feature not a flaw. It means we get to spend more time actually playing the game instead of running to where we get to play the game and then logging off because we've run out of time to play.

 

[Shamutanti]

And truth be told, I can't ever remember spending hours on table top DnD of just 'running' back and fore to places. Maybe a random encounter along the way but it was often Town (jump) Dungeon/Mansion/Forest, etc.

It took me 35 levels of WoW to realise they had an auto run button. It's now the first thing I look for in every other MMORPG I play. When I played that month of DDO I felt it sort of removed that need and it was, personally, quite refreshing.

 

[Redweaver]

It's the same reason why we don't have, or need mounts.

 

[Lorichie]

And truth be told, I can't ever remember spending hours on table top DnD of just 'running' back and fore to places. Maybe a random encounter along the way but it was often Town (jump) Dungeon/Mansion/Forest, etc.

It took me 35 levels of WoW to realise they had an auto run button. It's now the first thing I look for in every other MMORPG I play. When I played that month of DDO I felt it sort of removed that need and it was, personally, quite refreshing.

"R" is autorun ftw

R

 

[Raincloud]

The best part of DDO is the intelligence and maturity of the community. There is a willingness to help new and newly returning players on all the servers. This is not a game where you mindlessly run amok. It takes strategy, teamwork, and huztpah (spelling?). To give you an idea of what I mean, it is common for people to post character builds on the forums and have people poke holes in it as a way of advice. Here is a sample...

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=158960

Yes there is alot you may not understand, but that is what alot of veteran players provide help in learning. On Khyber, feel free to drop me a line. My name is Raincloud, Mystincloud, Mooncloud, Whispercloud and a few other clouds. The guild I am in is Adventure Inc. We are a casual and family guild. We love taking in new and newly returning people. We will coach, guide, and support you as you make your way through Korthos, the Harbor and Stormreach. Just let us know when you are coming and we will be there to help you. Also, feel free to browse our guild website.

http://adventureinc.guildportal.com/

 

[Jay2o3]

The best part of DDO is the intelligence and maturity of the community. There is a willingness to help new and newly returning players on all the servers. This is not a game where you mindlessly run amok. It takes strategy, teamwork, and huztpah (spelling?). To give you an idea of what I mean, it is common for people to post character builds on the forums and have people poke holes in it as a way of advice. Here is a sample...

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=158960

Yes there is alot you may not understand, but that is what alot of veteran players provide help in learning. On Khyber, feel free to drop me a line. My name is Raincloud, Mystincloud, Mooncloud, Whispercloud and a few other clouds. The guild I am in is Adventure Inc. We are a casual and family guild. We love taking in new and newly returning people. We will coach, guide, and support you as you make your way through Korthos, the Harbor and Stormreach. Just let us know when you are coming and we will be there to help you. Also, feel free to browse our guild website.

http://adventureinc.guildportal.com/

hey rain! ;P

 

[jboking]

Man, seeing all of the people who love DDO I now feel weird. I played DDO for a month and just couldn't get into it. I really dont know exactly what in the game kept me from that all important immersion factor, but it never came into play.

Also, MMO talk fits in pretty nicely over at Warcry.com

You can use your escapist username there too.

 

[Lorichie]

Man, seeing all of the people who love DDO I now feel weird. I played DDO for a month and just couldn't get into it. I really dont know exactly what in the game kept me from that all important immersion factor, but it never came into play.

Also, MMO talk fits in pretty nicely over at Warcry.com

You can use your escapist username there too.

To be fully honest, as my first post detailing my experiences with DDO show, i took first little while and simply got used to game mechanics. Most people dont do that, they want to just jump right in for instant gratification, hell, we all do. DDO is just not the game for that, the learning curve is really steep. What you'll want to do is one of two things, go in with the mindset of slow and easy. Force yourself to experience every little nook and cranny, every little button, every little step. Its better like this becuase once you get that under your belt, you've through listening and watching others, and reading the forums how to do other things. Voice chat, get quests, choose end rewards, visit shops, use auction house, etc and so on. The last aspect that you wont have learned is the most important one and thats grouping. Once you done this, and are comfortable with it, and use voice chat to hear as well as talk, you'll be hooked. Really, as has been said time and time again, its the community and the grouping factor that makes the game as great as it is.

fwiw,

R

 

[jboking]

Man, seeing all of the people who love DDO I now feel weird. I played DDO for a month and just couldn't get into it. I really dont know exactly what in the game kept me from that all important immersion factor, but it never came into play.

Also, MMO talk fits in pretty nicely over at Warcry.com

You can use your escapist username there too.

To be fully honest, as my first post detailing my experiences with DDO show, i took first little while and simply got used to game mechanics. Most people dont do that, they want to just jump right in for instant gratification, hell, we all do. DDO is just not the game for that, the learning curve is really steep. What you'll want to do is one of two things, go in with the mindset of slow and easy. Force yourself to experience every little nook and cranny, every little button, every little step. Its better like this becuase once you get that under your belt, you've through listening and watching others, and reading the forums how to do other things. Voice chat, get quests, choose end rewards, visit shops, use auction house, etc and so on. The last aspect that you wont have learned is the most important one and thats grouping. Once you done this, and are comfortable with it, and use voice chat to hear as well as talk, you'll be hooked. Really, as has been said time and time again, its the community and the grouping factor that makes the game as great as it is.

fwiw,

R

The thing is, I didn't run in for instant gratification. I have learned not to do that with MMO's and RPG's specifically. I took the time to learn the mechanics, even made some friends via chat(To be honest though, I dont know that you would have considered us a "group"). I just couldn't get into it.

Seriously though, you guys should check out Warcry.

 

[Swordsponge]

DDO is DnD game played online. if you like DnD you'll like DDO. i cant say it any more simple. its loosely based on 3.5 rules.char build its key,as well as working with your party.it covers all play types, from healer to pvp(solo if char is built to). Gear makes a diff depending on what you try to be.really, just find a spot you would like to fill and do best, its all we ask of are partys.you can always make a 2nd toon.gl and hope to see ya on DDO : }
Group for Buffs!

Wrong! Well...okay fine, I guess that's true for some people. However, I love most DnD stuff, from tabletop to almost all the PC titles, from Baldur's Gate to NWN2, hell, I don't
even hate The Temple of Elemental Evil. But DDO, no. I will admit, I didn't play past much of the opening content, and did only a few groups and dungeons. However, I dropped the whole thing once I began to realise how compartmentalised everything was. I mean, games like WoW and CoH/CoV and even UO can justify the monthly fee, they've got a big sprawling persistent world. What has DDO got? It's like they took the 'Massively' part out of MMO and left a tepid online multiplayer game instead. Skk...

this is well know and many have said lets make ddo bigger so we can run around a bit. then

they made the vale and everybody enstead of running out there to run the shroud simply took

the devil wayhigh to save TIME. in ddo you can /death to be ressed at your bined point.

people in ddo do not like spending a hour to get to a freaking quest. due to the fact a long

quest might take a hour or 3 to complete. unless you know the end and outs of it. we have

decided that we like the idea of not having a long run to do the quest we want to do. we

rather be questing. this is why ddo is like that some folk get a kick out of running around

a wide open space for hours i am told to do a quest. but i am not one of them. i work and

make a real living have better things to do. power to you bud