MMORPG.com reviewer Stephanie Morrow takes her first look at Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online.

At the time of this re-review, DDO will have almost met its three year release mark, being brought to the general public February 28th 2006. Over the course of time many changes have been implemented, one of which was a revamp to the starter area on November 6th 2008. I'd love to say that I was one of the many who started playing from the start and to be able to explain the changes in great detail as they've occurred but the truth of the matter is that DDO was not one of the games I picked up, so this re-review will be a new players perspective of the game and the starter areas. Hopefully readers count this as a good thing, fresh gamers on scene can bring about a perspective that you may not have looked at before and shine a little light.

Read the DDO Re-Review

If your gonna review the game, make sure your PC works... mine isystem AMD 3.0ghz 4gig ram 4830hd  blows the game away... you have a pc well enough to run this game smoothly.. maybe try some virus scans.. sounds like your videocard might actually be overheating .. check your fans as well..

Lol you make me laugh...

No wait, you make me a SAD panda.. who laughs at your review

http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?p=2062727#p2062727

here is what DDO players think of your "Review"

I played DDO for two months a year or so ago. I loved the combat system, LFG tool, and class/skill customization. But I found that once I got to level 6 or so everything really spread out and it became pretty tough to find groups for all those quests in my log. At that point I got pretty bored and unsubbed, but I think if you have a regular play group or a good guild it's probably a lot more entertaining.

Wow! You completely failed to notice...

-A level of interactivity found in the dungeons that is simply not found in any other MMOG on the market today

-A character development system that is more complex and flexible than any other MMOG on the market today

-A gear system that has more variety of attributes and abilities than any other MMOG on the market today

-A combat system that is much much more involved than the "stand still and click abilities" that every other popular MMOG uses.

-AI that reacts to sight and sound rather than a simple agro radius

-A stealth system that works

Wait, let me guess. You played Korthos Island then ran Durk's and the Butcher's Path and then decided to write a review? Pathetic.

I would like to add that the author of this review made one of the worst mistakes that the author of any MMOG can do. She didn't experience enough of the game to fully understand what makes the game compelling. It would be much more fitting if the "review" were renamed "impressions".

I just started DDO about a month ago. I've been playing MMOG's in all my spare time since the release of Ultima Online and have been playing D&D CRPG's since '91. I can tell you for a fact that the author's comments of "nothing specific that I could name as being unique to this particular MMO" are so far off base that its like some practical joke. DDO is a deep and intelligent MMOG that many people simply won't be able to fully understand. It has its share of flaws for sure, but for anyone looking for a game that goes beyond the mundane aspects of mainstream MMOG's will find a lot of like in DDO.

Originally posted by Aganazer

Wow! You completely failed to notice...

-A level of interactivity found in the dungeons that is simply not found in any other MMOG on the market today

-A character development system that is more complex and flexible than any other MMOG on the market today

-A gear system that has more variety of attributes and abilities than any other MMOG on the market today

-A combat system that is much much more involved than the "stand still and click abilities" that every other popular MMOG uses.

-AI that reacts to sight and sound rather than a simple agro radius

-A stealth system that works

 

Wait, let me guess. You played Korthos Island then ran Durk's and the Butcher's Path and then decided to write a review? Pathetic.

But, think about this...

If someone just started the game, they would see the same thing. No matter how long you play a game, your impressions off the bat shape the rest of the game.

As to the comment about performamce. I have a 4870, Dual Core 6mb cache, 4 gigs and yes, it does not run well. But, maybe you are happy with skippy performance for a game that is 3 years old. I would prefer better.

Now, the DX10 does add some flavor, and they have enhanced the game some...but there is no doubt in my mind that this should be a free to play title like Guild Wars. It does not offer the "world" feel of a real MMO.

Cheers

Originally posted by Aganazer

Wow! You completely failed to notice...

-A level of interactivity found in the dungeons that is simply not found in any other MMOG on the market today

-A character development system that is more complex and flexible than any other MMOG on the market today

-A gear system that has more variety of attributes and abilities than any other MMOG on the market today

-A combat system that is much much more involved than the "stand still and click abilities" that every other popular MMOG uses.

-AI that reacts to sight and sound rather than a simple agro radius

-A stealth system that works

 

Wait, let me guess. You played Korthos Island then ran Durk's and the Butcher's Path and then decided to write a review? Pathetic.

Agreed.

If you are going to review the game... you should actually do so.

You're card is overheating, it happened to my 8800GT so I got my old ATI 1950 and game runs as smooth as ever.

Your review of the community is also terrible. I don't think you even mentioned the LFG tool that is the best in any MMORPG out today. You probably were playing on a non-populated server, but on the populated ones, say Argonessen, the community is the best in any game I've ever played. I found a guild within a few days of playing after a month post-release and still talk with them for an hour or two once in a while.

I don't know what you were thinking when you wrote this review, because it wasn't about the DDO that I play(ed).

Originally posted by openedge1

Now, the DX10 does add some flavor, and they have enhanced the game some...but there is no doubt in my mind that this should be a free to play title like Guild Wars. It does not offer the "world" feel of a boring mainstream MMO.

Cheers

no worries, fixed.

Originally posted by Murdus

Originally posted by openedge1

Now, the DX10 does add some flavor, and they have enhanced the game some...but there is no doubt in my mind that this should be a free to play title like Guild Wars. It does not offer the "world" feel of a boring mainstream MMO.

Cheers

 

no worries, fixed.

What is funny is...I agree with that sentiment.

Most MMO's today are pretty boring, and have you doing the same thing over ...almost kinda like running a dungeon over and over.

Still does not change the fact that DDO is not worth a monthly fee.

Why so much hate over a review?  A review is nothing more than the reviewer's opinion of the game.  To disagree is fine, but to flame her just because you don't agree with her?  Immature.

The reason that I left DDO was one of the issues she had with the game and that was the lack of people to group with.  After the first few dungeons, you have to have a group to continue playing.  Yes, the LFG system is nice, but if there are no people your level playing, it doesn't do any good.  The low level areas are essentially empty.

I would love to still be playing DDO, but I'm not going to waste my time and money sitting around trying to find someone to group with.

Ion

Originally posted by openedge1

Originally posted by Murdus

Originally posted by openedge1

Now, the DX10 does add some flavor, and they have enhanced the game some...but there is no doubt in my mind that this should be a free to play title like Guild Wars. It does not offer the "world" feel of a boring mainstream MMO.

Cheers

 

no worries, fixed.

What is funny is...I agree with that sentiment.

Most MMO's today are pretty boring, and have you doing the same thing over ...almost kinda like running a dungeon over and over.

Still does not change the fact that DDO is not worth a monthly fee.

The updates to DDO, which used to happen every month (monthly new content, every three months extra super more content with a level increase) are included in the monthly fee. So when gameX releases an expansion that gives 10 more levels for $50, DDO offers that for free. Just because it does not offer a world feeling doesn't mean anything regarding a monthly fee, thats crazy talk. AoC doesn't feel worldy either, but that also deserves a mothly fee.

well, maybe not AoC. but you catch my drift maybe.

I actually enjoyed the GM voice-over while in the dungeons, to me it added a great deal to the whole experience of the place.

Have to agree with the other posters, sounds like your PC has issues as my own PC never suffered any lag issues whatsoever in the game, dual core/3 gig of ram/8800 gtx/vista 32.

I found the pace of the game quite refreshing aswell, no more grinding on endless mobs to lvl up, I actually had to do quests which had real stories attached to them to progress further.

However the one thing I didn't enjoy was grping up with veteran players who just wanted to rush through the dungeon to get the exp, I enjoy taking my time, even if I've run the dungeon multiple times, then again I'm that guy on Titan Quest who has to explore every single bit of the map just to see if there is something to kill or some goodies hiding there.

Also please name those F2P games that offer the same as DDO as I'd love to give those a shot aswell  as I'm a bit low on funds right now and haven't been able to find any game that offers anything like DDO for quite sometime.

Funny, i play the game regularly, and i have to turn down groups left and right, it's actually super-easy to find groups, i have never had the luck 'or lack of it' of not  finding groups..

Originally posted by Ionselon

Why so much hate over a review?  A review is nothing more than the reviewer's opinion of the game.  To disagree is fine, but to flame her just because you don't agree with her?  Immature.

The reason that I left DDO was one of the issues she had with the game and that was the lack of people to group with.  After the first few dungeons, you have to have a group to continue playing.  Yes, the LFG system is nice, but if there are no people your level playing, it doesn't do any good.  The low level areas are essentially empty.

I would love to still be playing DDO, but I'm not going to waste my time and money sitting around trying to find someone to group with.

Ion

She left out what makes DDO so different than others, and to say she couldnt find anything that doesn stand out in this than any other MMO on the market... I don't think so.

We're not flaming either, its mere discussion about the review.

Originally posted by openedge1

If someone just started the game, they would see the same thing. No matter how long you play a game, your impressions off the bat shape the rest of the game.

I just started playing DDO a month ago. It took about 1 hour to realize that its nothing like any other MMOG. As soon as I hit the gong and the icy floor broke, I knew that DDO was nothing like any other MMOG that I have played before. How is this not clear to the author of the review? Have they even played other MMOG's?

I'm not even going to re-hash what others are saying, i'm only going to say the following:

Make up your own mind.  Even a 12 year old can read this and see that this review is poorly written, and quite honestly, if one cant take the time to write a review worth reading, one certainly didnt take the time to actually gather data to support their conclusions.

Say what you will, but make up your own mind about this game and every one out their for that matter.

R

Originally posted by Vaedur

Funny, i play the game regularly, and i have to turn down groups left and right, it's actually super-easy to find groups, i have never had the luck 'or lack of it' of not  finding groups..

You probably have a higher level toon.  I can assure you that groups in the newbie area are difficult at best to find.  

As an experiment, you might roll a new toon and see how easy it is to get into groups in the newbie area.  Remember, the reviewer was starting a new toon and this was the environment that she found.  So, you need to compare apples to apples.

Ion 

Personally I think the reviewer is either an idiot or incredibly biased towards another MMO.   DDO is nothing like any other MMO out there, as has been described in other posts above.

Just ignore this review and try the game, its better then anything else out there.

Vireche

I really didnt like DDO at all, and will never ever play it again.

But I must admit this reviewer is a serious noob...now im not sayig anything offensive about her....im trying to say that she obviously didnt take much time in the game, didnt hit high end content, and its obvius she wasnt in a guild....very very bad review

Originally posted by Murdus

Originally posted by Aganazer

Wow! You completely failed to notice...

-A level of interactivity found in the dungeons that is simply not found in any other MMOG on the market today

-A character development system that is more complex and flexible than any other MMOG on the market today

-A gear system that has more variety of attributes and abilities than any other MMOG on the market today

-A combat system that is much much more involved than the "stand still and click abilities" that every other popular MMOG uses.

-AI that reacts to sight and sound rather than a simple agro radius

-A stealth system that works

 

Wait, let me guess. You played Korthos Island then ran Durk's and the Butcher's Path and then decided to write a review? Pathetic.

Agreed.

 

If you are going to review the game... you should actually do so.

You're card is overheating, it happened to my 8800GT so I got my old ATI 1950 and game runs as smooth as ever.

Your review of the community is also terrible. I don't think you even mentioned the LFG tool that is the best in any MMORPG out today. You probably were playing on a non-populated server, but on the populated ones, say Argonessen, the community is the best in any game I've ever played. I found a guild within a few days of playing after a month post-release and still talk with them for an hour or two once in a while.

I don't know what you were thinking when you wrote this review, because it wasn't about the DDO that I play(ed).

 

Yeah she needs to play the game for an entire month before reviewing..... Also, the LFG tool was mentioned and it was also mentioned she would be forced to play  solo regardless whether the LFG tool was used because of non-population. I have tried this game more than once and tend to agree with what was said.
 

My computer specs was an AMD 64 3700 single core with a NVIDIA 7300 GT this was  nine months ago and when I use to play the game I never got any freeze ups when I ran it with high settings. That is a problem with your computer not the game.

Repeating dungeons is grindy, so Killing X amount of mobs to get drops is better. Not only that you contradict yourself with;

Pros:"Plenty of dungeons" with
Cons: Repeating dungeons is ‘grindy’

Your review barely mentions the dungeons.
Pick one or the other if you have plenty of dungeons than tell us how is it grindy. 200+ dungeons and its grindy how many did you complete 10, 20 over and over again.

Examining someone who was wearing plate at level 11 looked much the same as someone wearing plate at level 2. I have to agree on this part Turbine just reuses the same 2-3 yr old textures for high end armor most in my opinion are hideous.

Customer Service and numerous unexpected downtown is a problem the player base knows it , Turbine just seems to ignore it.
 

Another person who does not enen know how to properly write a review.

Back to fourm luker mode.....