Another problem with prestige classes is sheer volume - how many are there now?  Not all of them are balanced, nor are some of them particularly useful at the current level cap of DDO.

Originally posted by uncus

Another problem with prestige classes is sheer volume - how many are there now?  Not all of them are balanced, nor are some of them particularly useful at the current level cap of DDO.

Balancing just involves modifying values for the prestige classes. Besides, I've always been of the opinion that MMORPGs don't need balancing for anything but PvP. PvE encounters should be challenging for all and that only takes tweaking numbers on the encounter.

Guess we all have different tastes, I was really disappointed with NWN, I felt the combat was clunky (almost felt like I was rolling dice in a painfully slow PnP way), graphics were far too tiled, and the main story was just plain thrown together with no imagination at all.

I happen to like DDO because the quests actually have had some thought put in to them, just not mass produced quantity over quality, yes it reduces content, but at least it is decent content. I like the fact I have to concentrate to stay alive, I have to control my character, not just sit there pressing the odd button at the right time, against foes that stand still. I like the fact I can jump and grab a ledge and pull myself up, dodge behind a rock and see arrows bounce off it.

I wouldn't say other MMOS are dumbed down, they are just more like playing trumps, than any real action. Oh and for the person that asked, in CoH you don't have to face your enemy, it will turn you around itself, which is pretty dumbed down.

We all need different things, I for one can't play any MMO where projectiles home in on you for no particular reason (often even through obstacles), or your feet are glued to the ground, or you can't hit something next to you unless you have it targetted, or every fight is just a sequence of the same old key presses, akin to chopping wood. To be honest I can't understand how anyone can, but they do, so what do I know.

Originally posted by Dr.Rock

Guess we all have different tastes, I was really disappointed with NWN, I felt the combat was clunky (almost felt like I was rolling dice in a painfully slow PnP way), graphics were far too tiled, and the main story was just plain thrown together with no imagination at all.

I happen to like DDO because the quests actually have had some thought put in to them, just not mass produced quantity over quality, yes it reduces content, but at least it is decent content. I like the fact I have to concentrate to stay alive, I have to control my character, not just sit there pressing the odd button at the right time, against foes that stand still. I like the fact I can jump and grab a ledge and pull myself up, dodge behind a rock and see arrows bounce off it.

I wouldn't say other MMOS are dumbed down, they are just more like playing trumps, than any real action. Oh and for the person that asked, in CoH you don't have to face your enemy, it will turn you around itself, which is pretty dumbed down.

We all need different things, I for one can't play any MMO where projectiles home in on you for no particular reason (often even through obstacles), or your feet are glued to the ground, or you can't hit something next to you unless you have it targetted, or every fight is just a sequence of the same old key presses, akin to chopping wood. To be honest I can't understand how anyone can, but they do, so what do I know.

I do like the combat in DDO as I do in NWN. I wasn't really referring to the graphics in NWN, because that is just a visual problem that doesn't say anything about the actual mechanics of a game. Graphics are important, don't get me wrong, but I am discussing gameplay and features, not graphics.

DDO plays like a series of D&D modules, some of them follow the main storyline, some are a small series in their own right and some are just standalone. It doesn't have the story driven focus of a single player game, but the plots are starting to draw together, although I would like to see more of the riddles and plot building that happened before Gianthold, backed up with more in game events.

The main storyline in NWN had no imagination at all, it was the sort of stuff you'd expect from a DM writing their first campaign, the first expansion was worse, the second expansion was better, it at least seemed to have a bit of a point. The puzzles were painfully simple, the twists (what little there was of them) were so obvious you need to be asleep not to see them coming. Items in NWN were very restricted and very unvaried. The fact it was based around a single character plus henchmen really restricted what they could do to the point there was really no strategy in any of the combat. The graphics were really very poor, I put that down to the limitations of a mass appeal design tool. Don't get me started on the idiocy of letting you just rest outside rooms full of monsters without at least being disturbed.

I felt it was a very mediocre game, and not a patch on something like BG. I am sure some people used the design tool to make better content, but that is hardly NWN. I wanted to like NWN because of the good things I heard, it just was unfortunately all hype, backed up by a lot of people getting off on their own stuff.

Happy to agree to disagree on it though, just felt someone needed to stick a pin in all this NWN was great stuff.

You gotta love when devs and/or publishers defend their failing and/or failed games by blaming the PLAYERS for "not getting it."

I have tried and retried DDO, and it just isn't fun to me.  There are bits of it that are fun-ish, parts that would be a great addition to a game with better overall creative direction, but as a whole, DDO just isn't entertaining to most people.

If "coming back" to DDO were as mind-blowing as some people say, people would be coming back and staying.  We're not that stubborn.  If something really is good, we will give it a fair chance.  DDO just isn't that good.

On the other hand, I do see the appeal in LotRO.  It's not awful -- I might even still be playing if I didn't like other games better.  It's a decent attempt and fully deserves its modest degree of success.

Originally posted by Hexxeity

You gotta love when devs and/or publishers defend their failing and/or failed games by blaming the PLAYERS for "not getting it."

I have tried and retried DDO, and it just isn't fun to me.  There are bits of it that are fun-ish, parts that would be a great addition to a game with better overall creative direction, but as a whole, DDO just isn't entertaining to most people.

If "coming back" to DDO were as mind-blowing as some people say, people would be coming back and staying.  We're not that stubborn.  If something really is good, we will give it a fair chance.  DDO just isn't that good.

On the other hand, I do see the appeal in LotRO.  It's not awful -- I might even still be playing if I didn't like other games better.  It's a decent attempt and fully deserves its modest degree of success.

So you don't like it, so what, why should you doubt someone elses experience. If they thinking it is mind-blowing then it is, for them.

Originally posted by Jirel

I have to agree with the inteviewer, I THINK he was quietly referencing the fact that so many gamers feel that every released game has to have as much content in it at release as an established game has.  LoTRO's approach has been great, yet they still had a lot of people at release complaining because it wasn't as big as WoW.  Personally, I think the developers and staff have done a FANTASTIC job.

I did immensly enjoy what zones they did have they have great visuals. 

They have a sequal to the AC line, it is LoTR. Sad,isn't it ?