Well what do you think ?

Me and my gf stopped WoW and looking for a nice game to play together...

Any opportunities for decent duo content ?

I d/led the trial and I am gonna give it a try but wanted to see what you peeps think :)

DDO is great for small groups of friends/couples. There is one Husband/Wife team in my guild that play together...as the same character, one has the keyboard the other uses the mouse and microphone . Always a blast grouping with the Jacqs  (they recently got a permadeath character to level 10!)

I would recommend posting in the Class Discussion forums at DDO.com to get ideas from players on what builds would fit your playstyles and allow you to be effective through most of the content:

http://forums.ddo.com/forumdisplay.php?f=46

Lol never thought of playing on one character:D

But it seems quite group based and we pretty much group up from the moment we login till we logout and DDO seems quite smooth to play...

I'm on trial, and I kinda like the dungeon / instanced kind of thing, I can imagine it's nice with a partner or a group...

Don't know how deep this game goes tho since for some reason it doesn't get much publicity

DDO arguably plays the best when you have your own preformed group (which you can add people if needed to do certain quests). Most of the content can be played duo with a bit of planning, and quests play really well when you are all first timers and the group is small.

I guess a trial would show us if it works for us or not :)

we're between DDO, LOTRO and maybe Guild Wars hehe

Well first off DDO is different than other MMOs.  You need to play the trial, which is currently disabled but should be up soon.  Really seriously play the trial.  This is one of the very very few fundamentally different MMOs out there.

For the duo thing.  Alot of DDO content can be done by a good duo, however you have to be quite good to do so.  That is good and bad.  If you just want to log on and do whatever then meh.  But doing something like the Pit as a Duo would be a pretty rewarding feeling IMO.  More reqarding than most MMOs outside of PvP.

Mod 8 is now live and hirelings are supposed to be a part of Mod 8.  They are not in yet, but probably in the next month.  Each character can take a hireling.  That means you can turn your Duo into a quartet if you so desire.

Also finding groups is not that hard on a decent server like thelanis or whatever.  Well except in the dead zone of levels 7-11.  That is just kind of a weird phenomenon so meh.

Anyway DDO is not solo firendly.  Not at all.  By extension it is not all that Duo friendly but having a tank and a cleric or two warforged Arcane is far more powerful than double a good solo character because of the way the game works.

People will tell you that you can solo all sorts of stuff  therefore the game is solo friendly but that is a bunch of BS.  I have watched a video of someone solo a level 52 Arch-nemesis (raid boss) in LOTRO.  It took them 3.5 hours to do it and amazing skills at CC.  Doesn't mean that boss is "solo friendly".  SAme thing with DDO.  I have seen a lvl 12 Arcane Warforged solo the pit.  The Pit is NOT solo friendly, not at all.  Also its a level 7 dungeon.

However DDO offers, IMO, rewarding and fun gameplay.  Give plaeys a lot of room to excel even to soloing hard stuff.  And is offering more flexibility soon.  And I think you should be able to do a lot.  I will warn you DDO is wonky.  Things like respecs and such are not user-friendly and some things can never be respecced.  It is possible to have to re roll a character build if you really want to min max or completely messed up your skill points.  And certain parts of the leveling experience namely level 7 to about 10 or 11 is not so great.  In fact it is probably easier to level from 12-15 than 7-10 because that content was added later.

So do the trial when they fix it up.  They just changed the "New Player Experience" for mod 8 I think that is why they temporarily took down the trial.

Originally posted by zspawn

I guess a trial would show us if it works for us or not :)

 

we're between DDO, LOTRO and maybe Guild Wars hehe

I personally have all three subbed.  GW has no sub, so its just nice to have.

DDO and LOTRO offer a very different experience.  DDO is more "busy".  Is the best way I can describe it.  More intense.   Sometimes if I want to kick back I play the DIKU MMO of LOTRO instead.

The only game close to DDO for pure ass kicking is CoX and CoX does not have the sorts of things you see in some dungeons even though it is one of the only other games that offers true 3D play.  Such as being launched into the air by steam vents and running across like three teirs of pipes until you are like 100 feet in the air to get to a chest or lever for a shrine.

Most DIKU MMO like LOTRO or WoW you often just tab target stand still or run through and root and blast or whatever.  Dodging an arrow or Cold Ray in DDO just offers something you can't have in those types of games and makes the gameplay a bit faster and more interesting.

But sometimes I don't want faster :).

I'm actually on the EU trial...

The way the game works is lovely...It feels like an RPG action game which is nice, I played for 2 days and never felt the game being "slow" if you know what I mean...

Anyone has any screenshots of the game however ? or videos ? Showing off some armor / weapons / beasts etc. I wanna get a feel of the game and in the trial so far you only see peeps in their starting outfits :)

DDO is quite advanced in terms of dynamics and strategy.  It works very well when you have people who communicate well.  The environments are challenging and provide for a well scripted and immersive enivronment which is second to none.  Character dynamics are incredibally nebulous - I mean, there's a plethora of ways to build a character that are only limited by your playstyle and imagination - although the new player experiance does present new players with the option to create a character from a predesigned template with the option to chose your own direction any point during leveling up.

There's quite a few husband/wife duo's in my guild and I've encountered even more over the couse of playing DDO.  It's not rare to be playing with others who are relatives, neghbors or old school buddies from yesteryears. One thing you'll notice about DDO is it has a pretty good community which could be related to the fact that almost everyone uses the ingame voice chat to communicate while playing and there's more of an intellectual approach to the game environment rather then button mashing. 

DDO has a steeper learning curve then WoW, but it also grants a tremendous amount of flexibiilty and dynamics. And combat, oh boy - you two are in for a treat - forget everything you thought you knew about gaming and come play DDO with us!  ;)

Originally posted by gestalt11

 Also finding groups is not that hard on a decent server like thelanis or whatever.  Well except in the dead zone of levels 7-11.  That is just kind of a weird phenomenon so meh.

 

I totally agree with you on this. My highest is lvl 9 with a lot of alts just because of this "dead zone".

What are some good dungeons between 7-11?

Sorry to derail the thread.

Originally posted by Sevenwind

Originally posted by gestalt11

 Also finding groups is not that hard on a decent server like thelanis or whatever.  Well except in the dead zone of levels 7-11.  That is just kind of a weird phenomenon so meh. 

I totally agree with you on this. My highest is lvl 9 with a lot of alts just because of this "dead zone".

What are some good dungeons between 7-11?

Tangleroot Gorge, Threnal, erh..VoN.  You can sort quests by level which would also help you get favor for the qeusts while getting exp.  . 

Originally posted by mindspat

Originally posted by Sevenwind

I totally agree with you on this. My highest is lvl 9 with a lot of alts just because of this "dead zone".

What are some good dungeons between 7-11?

Tangleroot Gorge, Threnal, erh..VoN.  You can sort quests by level which would also help you get favor for the qeusts while getting exp.  . 

Ok I did one long one I can't remember the name. A series of caves, then it contines outside and you go up the mountain and it finishes up top. It took all night to complete and I got a batfang earring. Has perm feather fall on it.

What dungeon was that? Does that ring a bell?

Originally posted by Sevenwind

Originally posted by mindspat

Originally posted by Sevenwind

I totally agree with you on this. My highest is lvl 9 with a lot of alts just because of this "dead zone".

What are some good dungeons between 7-11?

Tangleroot Gorge, Threnal, erh..VoN.  You can sort quests by level which would also help you get favor for the qeusts while getting exp.  . 

 

Ok I did one long one I can't remember the name. A series of caves, then it contines outside and you go up the mountain and it finishes up top. It took all night to complete and I got a batfang earring. Has perm feather fall on it.

What dungeon was that? Does that ring a bell?

Basically the solution is also the problem.

The ones Mindspat mentions are the only good XP quests along with some others like Gwylan's Stand and a couple others.  Although tangle root is probably a little to low.  And delara starts to skate the edge.  All the other quests in that range basically suck for XP. 

A few like The Pit are good xp but hard to do and long so getting a PUG for it is unlikely.

So only like 25% of the quests in that range get run regularly and they get run into the ground over and over.  So rerun those until you can do Gianthold and then you are mostly good.

But basically around level 9 you really hit the nadir of the deadzone and need to farm Gwylan and such.  IMO Turbine's biggest priority should be fixing this.  I think it is one of those well known but unsaid things that drives away most non-hardcore players.

The hard core farm through it on like 3 or 4 quests.  The non-hardcore try to do all the quests and feel like they are moving through molasses and the idea of farming 3 or 4 quests 5 times in a row just strikes them as dumb and unfun, not hard just dumb.

I have yet to do the pit. Everytime I get into a few groups and someone suggests it someone else recalls bad memories there and does not want to go.

But yes I agree those levels are absolutely dead levels. I logged in last night to see if anything around my level and nothing. I didn't feel like trying to form one so I went to Tabula Rasa for a little bit.

I need a good active guild I suppose. I'll have to some hunting on the official forums.

Oh and thanks for the advice you two.

Ty for derailing :)

Originally posted by zspawn

Ty for derailing :)

Strangly the Deadzone of DDO is one of the more important things to know about for whether or not you want to start the game.  That level range also happens to be right around when you get most of the cool powers such as Fire Wall or Blade Barrier or vraious Prestige enhancements (Arcobat, Assassin, tempest).

Basically if you want to make a rogue that goes the assassin path you will have solider through the entire Dead Zone to get your insta kill ability.

Also the game play changes in the dead zone and onwards.  Things like saves and death wards start to become really really important

There are quite an amazing number of current players who have never made it past the deadzone.  So they have never seen what happens when Stat damage becomes king or what it looks like to be able to flip with really high tumble skill.

You miss out on a lot of the coolness of various abilities.  Also some previous playstyes become either not so good or need some serious equipment.  For example AC can start to become very hard to maintain and getting a chattering ring is pretty awful IMO.  Some melee toon will start to get destroyed when they were great before the deadzone.

I understand the good intentions but to someone who has no idea about the game it sounds like gibberish hehehe

Anyone happens to have any ingame videos or screenshot of non-melee classes btw?

My gf isn't fond of melee so I gotta show her some casters :)

Try You-Tube

Originally posted by Sevenwind

But yes I agree those levels are absolutely dead levels. I logged in last night to see if anything around my level and nothing.I need a good active guild I suppose. I'll have to some hunting on the official forums.

Oh and thanks for the advice you two.

Sevenwind, the guild I'm currently in appears to be pretty active; 22 people were logged in yesterday around 3pm pacific which included some lowbies.  The make-up feels mostly like casual oriented players although there are a few who might fit into the Elite category.  either way, everyone tends to be laid back and I've never experianced anyoen taking anything too seriously other then the partie's enjoyment.  This would be Lifetakers and Heartbreakers on Ghallanda - send server mail or a pm to Mindspat and I'll get someone to invite you. 

I think the quest above with the Mumified Bat is from SorrowDusk Isle.  It's part of the 2 chapter quest that ends with The Cult of The Six.  This is a good quest series for exp and is good for levels 7-10.

Originally posted by zspawn

I understand the good intentions but to someone who has no idea about the game it sounds like gibberish hehehe

 

Anyone happens to have any ingame videos or screenshot of non-melee classes btw?

 

My gf isn't fond of melee so I gotta show her some casters :)

I suppose I can try to create a video of running through a couple different outdoor areas with my lvl 16 Sorcerer.  Unfortunately it's not going to be posted overnight. :(

I'll work on a solo Vale rare spawn loot run.  This area will also showcase some of the lushness of having DX10 while there's upwards of 16 rare boses each with their own chests!

Please be patient 'cs it might take me a few days, but I'll try to have it uploaded by Saturday the 8th.  ;)