Customer Reviews

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Limited Edition

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) is an above average dungeon crawler that has the potential to be a lot of fun for a while with enjoyable instanced quests and lively gameplay. Unfortunately, there are a lot of little things that will likely make the value of the subscription fee here questionable in a month or two, and even early on many will have issues with forced grouping. Having actually purchased the headstart, I am having a blast - but take a star off of fun for the grouping issue, and two stars off of overall for the rule implementations, lack of PvP, and value proposition, leaving this at 4 fun/3 overall, or 3.5 stars. Finally, because you can get an equivalent 5% running boost item with about 45 minutes of work very early on, the LE special item (boots of striding) is worthless, meaning you should buy the regular edition rather than LE.

With Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) having spawned literally tens of thousands of imitations at the top of the family tree of RPGs, MUDs, and MMORPGS, publisher Turbine has both the blessing of an eager audience and curse of a really tough comparison. The good news is that they've done an enjoyable job of implementing the heart of the D&D experience, which is the dungeon crawl. Unlike many MMORPGs, support classes like rogues are a requirement for almost all dungeons - there's no uber single class build here - and a well designed group and careful gameplay is a more important than any particular player, item, or spell.

However, the group aspect is double-edged. Outside of the first 5 or 6 early dungeons (even less for certain weak combat classes), solo play simply doesn't work - meaning your entire gaming experience will depend on finding a suitable group or guild. The support for this isn't bad, with ingame voice chat and being able to select exactly what you want in terms of a class and level in group search, but even players within a good guild can have significant waiting times while everyone gets ready. Turbine could and should have come up with a way for solo players to do something to advance. All adventure is instanced, which in this implementation makes sense but does mean like Guild Wars the only 'massive multiplayer' aspect of the MMORPG feel is when you're at the taverns.

D&D purists will probably not like the rule implementations either. Monks, druids, and several races are left out as are any number of skills, but the biggest wildcard is adding 4 class and race 'enhancements' which provide benefits far above even the best feats (like +5 to all skills or +3 in a certain statistic). Given how the game is set up, it doesn't really affect balance much - can't solo anyway - but between that and loot drops that rival the taj mahal (down a bit from beta, but not much), it does annoyingly throw traditional character builds out the window. Why bother making an especially stout fighter with high constitution if you're going to get 25 free hit points from the start?

More significant is longer term viability. Advancement is quick enough so the current level cap (10) was actually reached by any number of people in the 10 day beta. This will shortly be raised to 12 and eventually to 20, but the real issue is the lack of any alternative to the dungeon crawl - PvP, crafting, or anything else - that encourages people to stick around to pay the $14.95 monthly fee.

Don't get me wrong. I'm having more fun playing this now than any game in a long time. The issue is that I can also easily see not playing this in 30 or 60 days from now, which is a real shame. Hence, why this is rated 3.5 stars, and why I hope Turbine thinks carefully about how to improve it.

I was hooked to the DDO craze lately because I'm a big Fan of LOTRO, and decided to check out DDO since some of my friends play there.

Decided to buy the boxed game, despite the game being F2P and free to download since I knew the old box would include extra items if I associated with my turbine account and the game was/is dirt cheap if you decide to buy it boxed.

Unfortunately, I'm already used to LOTRO's look on MMO's and I'm the kind of person that finds WOW to look crappy and hate it, it's simply not a game for me. LOTRO's interface, and ability to mod the UI with Lua scripting make it ideal for my fantasy fix. You can do the same on DDO, but there's one thing that simply made me steer away from the game and pack the box away (ity has a nice poster and package is very nice looking tho)... The game to my eyes looks like crap.

I'm honest, it makes my eyes hurt.

But if you the type of person that cares more about gameplay and almost unlimited F2P with the optional ability to buy ingame items/xpacs/classes/races using real life money this game will be a blast. The whoel mechanic is based on the original tabletop DnD using a d20 to check if you hit or not. You gain Xp by completing adventures and grouping up and the world of Eberron is interesting to explore.

If you just want a game to explore and level up without having to pay anything DDO is your game, buy this special edition boxed set for some nifty ingame items and the monk class unlocked already and you set, it also has a nice looking poster :D

My brother and I ordered this game to take a break from another MMO we were playing.

It was fun for a couple of months, we mostly worked through the missions with just the two of us (this became much easier when they updated the Resurrection shrines). It felt a lot like I wanted dungeons and dragons to feel, and I really enjoyed most of the missions.

The combat was fun, and felt more action packed than most MMOs.

I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of D&D. For those that are not, character creation might be difficult.

I heard they recently switched to a free to play method, so I'm not sure if this box is useful anymore, but the game is fun, so if this box provides a subscription, than certainly try the free mode before you buy it.

This isn't a game that should be played solo, but if you know how to play the game and use the skillpoints/Feats and Enhancements that can be chosen to their best. You can actually solo quests very far into the game, but you will need to use your resources (potions, wands, scrolls...)

But the fun comes when you start to play and interact with other players. All quests, except for a very few ones, can be entered with 6 characters. So you can wait until you find 5 others to play with that you think will complement your character best. Or you can start earlier and do it with fewer persons. Often just 2-4 characters can safely complete the quests around your lvl if they play together.

Lvl cap is at lvl 20 now and you can choose between Fighter, Barbarian, Ranger, Paladin, Cleric, Favored Soul, Rogue, Bard, Wizard, Sorcerer, Monk or a combination thereof. Add to that the fact that you can choose between many different races (Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Warforged or Drow) that gives different benefits both at starting lvl and further up. All this gives you a huge variety of characters that you can create and play. Will you create a Warforged Sorcerer that can heal himself and blast enemies into flames or a more careful elven wizard that buffs his friends and just occasionally use offensive spells? Will your dwarven cleric become a battlecleric or be a pure healer keeping the others healthy? Will your drow ranger be the new Robin Hood or the new Drizzt? Will you give your human sorcerer a divine boost with a lvl of cleric to be able to use healing scrolls and wands to be of further use to the party? Will you combine your rogueskills with the music of the bard to be able to both remove possible traps and heal himself if a trap explodes while you tinker with it? The possibilities are endless. Only your imagination sets the limits. And since you can have 16 different characters on each server, you have alot of slots to experiment with.

Between each lvl you will reach 4 ranks. Each rank gives you one Action Point that you can use to improve your character by learning new enhancements from trainers. I like this feature since it gives the character a feel of continuing development instead of a sudden boom of knowledge when he reaches a new lvl.

I don't know how the majority is on all servers, but the one I play on have many helpful members and even a stupid question will be answered and new players will, for the most time, be able to find someone experienced to help them if they ask. I've found players to be much more helpful in this game than other MMO games I've played (like WoW). Since normal quests takes a while longer here you get to know other players as well, you learn which players can play and their strengths, and just as important you learn which characters that can't play or simply are there for their own sake and doesn't care about others.

There are downsides to this game and that comes when you reach the higher lvls. You need to repeat certain quests often to have a decent chance to get the good items you need to be able to be of much use in the tougher quests. Some quests takes more than 1 hour and doesn't guarantee that you get what you want in the end anyway. And most extraordinary items are bound to the character that picks them up first, so you can enter a long tough quest with your rogue and in the end find yourself with the ring that you've been hunting for with your ranger for weeks and with no chance to give it to him.

I've been playing this game on and off for almost 3 years now. I tire of it for a while, but I always find myself coming back after a month or three. I left WoW 6 months ago and don't miss it at all, and I did play a lot of characters up to around lvl 60 before I tired of it.

DDO also gives continues updates for free. Unlike WoW you don't need to buy each new add-on when it is released, when something new is added to this game you download it automatically and when it's done you have the new options available to you. No need to run to the store to buy the latest expansion just to be able to find the new powerful weapons or enter the new areas, you get them for your monthly fee.

I won't say this is a perfect game, because it isn't. But of the MMO I've played over the years, it is the best overall. At least if you enjoy playing with others more than play alone. And I, for one, think that is the point with a MMO. If I wanted to play a RPG solo there are other great games to play instead that doesn't cost money each month.

DDO is a great MMO. It's very unique and although it doesn't hit the actual Dungeons and Dragons on the nail, those who enjoy playing D&D will find this game very interesting. I was skeptical at first when I heard of an online version of D&D and thought, "that's stupid. You'll NEVER get the freedom of actual D&D". But despite those feelings, I absolutely LOVED the game. It's still updating every month or so and still gets better and better.

What I was expecting was something along the line of what I have gotten from other LE in the past. A NICE box (not a cardboard rubik's cube) made of metal, wood and/or gold plating<grin>. Some thing cool inside like a special book with artwork from the game, a set of limited dice, a CLOTH map of the town, a plastic figure, or a gold piece. An in game item would be cool but not something that would effect the overall game and not something that gets thrown out within an hour of play.
What DID I get:
The same box as everyone else (with a very lame LE cover on top)
A very cheesy poster that should have come with everyones copy of the game or no ones at all
A CD that had a Standard edition key that doesn't give me the benifit of an item I really don't want or need. (boots of running that can be found within 15-30 minutes of play)
A BROKEN CD JEWEL CASE!!!!
A waste of my time that could have been spent playing the game I paid for in order to send e-mails in to customer service get the item I don't really want or need.

The rating here is to show my total distaste for the Limited Edition of the game. ITS NOT WORTH ANY MORE THAN THE STANDARD EDITION. Frankly I am extreamly mad at Turbine/Atari for this and have canceled my account. The game is good... but buying a limited edition copy for the $20 more I paid for it left such a bad taste in my mouth that I won't be buying product from then again. Before you discredit this post... I urge you to check the www.ddo.com forums to verify that I am one of many to feel this way. Cheated by Atari and Turbine out of money for a Limited Edition copy of the game that wasn't worth a penny more than the standard version.

Let me first start by saying this is not World of Warcraft. If you like extensive solo play, this is not the game for you.

The Good: If you like playing with others, such as a guild or with friends, then this can be a VERY enjoyable game. The integrated voice chat is better than most and the graphics are a notch above what else is available in terms of MMORPGs. And thanks to the in-game DM narrating the scenes for you, and the robust character generation process, it certainly has the D&D flavor.

The Bad: There are some things that I don't like, namely being limited to only the one city, ranks, and the confining nature of the game. While this may lend itself well to dungeon crawling, its not what most are accustomed to, which probably has more to do with my playing WoW for a year or so before ever touching DDO. Being used to open environments, sprawling cityscapes, and a multitude of vendors, the world of DDO seems tiny.

Something else that took some getting used to, while not "bad", is the combat controls. There is a small learning curve to DDO, but its easily worked out by the first rank or two.

Summary:
Pros:
Graphics
Character generation
It actually feels like D&D
Grouping is easy once you get the hang of the interface
Integrated voice chat
Great game for friends to play if they like to group a lot

Cons:
Limited to a single city
Solo play is limited
Ranks instead of full levels
No large-scale outdoor exploration
Small learning curve for controls

Score: I docked it 1 star due to the limited availability of solo quests and their use of ranks in between levels. The rest of the game is a really good D&D experience.

The bottom line: If you're looking for a good translation of the pen & paper version of D&D to the PC, and you really like dungeon crawls, then you'll fully enjoy DDO.

Yep, if you think WOW, EQ2 and now LOTRO are the best thing since sliced bread you will hate this game. It is not zerg friendly, solo friendly or mindless. In short it is mature and lends itself to tactics and cooperation.
The graphics are cutting edge, if your rig can handle them you can dial in a superbly rendered world. Not the last generation cartoons of the older MMORPGS. You can let the computer fight for you if you are WOW lazy or you can twitch fight like the best first person shooter out there. Some of it is soloable for anyone, most of it is soloable by somebody who takes the time to figure out what is what. Because of the superb use of instances most of the quests are lag free if you have a 1/2 way decent machine to play with.

Problems? Sure, all games have them. The game company, Turbine, is treating it like a niche game so its new content expansion is not getting first priority like its whitebread cousin LOTROL. They figured out the WOW fanbois just want more of the same and went towards the money. It is not PnP D&D but is a reasonable facsimile. It can be laggy in the central game zones and when transferring between zones. If you don't understand how easy they have made voice chat you would think the game is unfriendly as few talk in the general channels. The world is limited, there is only limited exploration or random encounters (a hallmark of PnP).

I'm going to keep this short and to the point. There is very little solo content in this game. It reminds me much more of Guild Wars than WoW, DAoC, EQ or EQ II. The only MMO going on in this game is when your waiting for a group (which you must be a part of to quest in a practical manner). I joined up for the head start preorder but after playing the game, I'll probably never pay them a dime to play once my "free" 30 days is up. Honestly I feel like I just tossed $50 plus out the window. I can only hope Vanguard is better.

I sounded like the perfect blend of the Challange of an RPG and the Online Community of a Massive Roleplayer. Unfortunatly from a Roleplayers point of view it's just another massive multiplayer repeating the same quests over and over, grinding, farming, ect. ect. The only thing is it does have a nice D&D "Feel" about it with all the newly trademarked monsters, it's also got solid graphics and such but in reality it's not close to an RPG and the tech support for paying a monthly subscription service is terrible.