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Lepidus  8/12/05 5:55:49 PM

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Ken Troop of Turbine Entertainment drops in to answer five more questions from us in the third installment of this bi-weekly series which continues on August 26th.

MMORPG.com: How does the combat system differ from other games?

Ken Troop: The combat system of pen and paper D&D® does a great job of taking both the capabilities of a character and the real-time decisions of a player into account to simulate the immediacy of action combat. So in Dungeons & Dragons® Online: Stormreach™ we worked hard to make sure the experience was both genuine and fun to play. The result is a unique combat system where player decisions and character stats are equally important.

On screen, you see monsters lunge and attack, maneuver and position. As the player, you can try to stay beyond the reach of a sword or press the off-hand of an opponent. You make the call on whether you attack, defend, prepare to parry, or tumble out of the way. But in the background, dice are still being rolled (you can actually see the d20!), saving throws are being made and damage is being calculated. The movement and animations are fluid and interactive so while there’s a give and take, you’re never counting rounds. Meaningful controls and feedback allow a player to rely on their reflexes or count on their character’s skills. Of course the most successful combatants will be ones who can master both.

You can read the full Q&A here.

 
Anofalye  8/12/05 7:42:00 PM

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The enemy is so dumb! They believe that WE are the enemy! - A famous orc commander.

Well...the StormTrooper (city name is Stormreach, last name of the guy is Troop) didnt slip this time.

 

All he said feel and breath like D&D...for this time.

 

But my anti-raid focus (hey, a wet cat fear water) cant forget his last comment about raiding: Yes.

 

Still, no clarification.

 

I am looking forward to try DDO, not as a professional, not as a beta tester...but as a player, after the official release.  In the past they raise many questions they didnt answers "properly", and those questions are not going to become quieter with passing time...atm the first thing I think when someone bring DDO on topic is about raiding...and yesterday I dream about Warhammer online...*sigh*  Damnit, I start dreaming about game that are due for 2007!  I am going to go insane!

If the StormTrooper think I may forget his YES answer about raiding, everytime someone bring the very name of DDO, it is on my mind...everytime...I guess I still have a wound from Kunark, and another from the Hamidon...and they dont seem like they are going to heal.

 

Still...I cant help myself...and let the children in my hope...Onward we march!  (ouchy, I fear it is gonna hurt).

- "If I understand you well, you are telling me until next time. " - René Levesque about the denial NO on the poll to his dream, project and goal. (Free translation)

darquenblade  8/12/05 7:56:46 PM

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Originally posted by Anofalye

Well...the StormTrooper (city name is Stormreach, last name of the guy is Troop) didnt slip this time.

 

All he said feel and breath like D&D...for this time.

 

But my anti-raid focus (hey, a wet cat fear water) cant forget his last comment about raiding: Yes.

 

Still, no clarification.

 

I am looking forward to try DDO, not as a professional, not as a beta tester...but as a player, after the official release.  In the past they raise many questions they didnt answers "properly", and those questions are not going to become quieter with passing time...atm the first thing I think when someone bring DDO on topic is about raiding...and yesterday I dream about Warhammer online...*sigh*  Damnit, I start dreaming about game that are due for 2007!  I am going to go insane!

If the StormTrooper think I may forget his YES answer about raiding, everytime someone bring the very name of DDO, it is on my mind...everytime...I guess I still have a wound from Kunark, and another from the Hamidon...and they dont seem like they are going to heal.

 

Still...I cant help myself...and let the children in my hope...Onward we march!  (ouchy, I fear it is gonna hurt).


I'll agree Anofalye; although certain things just don't 'feel' right about this game, I still have to try it just for the sake of it being D&D. I've devoted so much time to the PnP game over the years that I consider it my 'obligation' to play it =)

As for me, I'm still a little upset about the 'difficulty levels' mentioned for the quests/adventures (can't remember if it was the last Q&A or the first one that the feature was brought up). C'mon now, they are actually promoting going through dungeons multiple times by adding varying levels of difficulty to them. That feature alone tells me they might be hurting for content. "We don't need a crapload of quests at launch--we'll just give them incentive to play the ones we have in the game multiple times over again! Genius!"

I went from totally psyched for this game, to "Yeah, I'll try it."

 
BillTanner  8/13/05 12:42:21 AM

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I don't know what it is, but with each passing article about DDO, it is just exciting me less and less. I spent many a year in wide-open campigns with the PnP version, this just seems so limiting and cramped. An MMORPG should offer people either chances to meet lots of new people to help you on your way, or to kill them; with instanced dungeons and no PvP, it seems like DDO won't offer either....what, then, does it offer a player?

 
-Jaguar-  8/13/05 3:39:02 AM

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Originally posted by BillTanner
I don't know what it is, but with each passing article about DDO, it is just exciting me less and less. I spent many a year in wide-open campigns with the PnP version, this just seems so limiting and cramped. An MMORPG should offer people either chances to meet lots of new people to help you on your way, or to kill them; with instanced dungeons and no PvP, it seems like DDO won't offer either....what, then, does it offer a player?

This article is fine, the other one basically answering the questions about PvP and crafting was the really uninspiring one, "nope don't have that, nope no plan for that, nope, nope..."

DDOs main attraction is the setting, twitch combat, and hopefully extremely high quality quests the likes of which most people have never seen. Basically the game is centered around quests from what I can tell, so Turbine better have something completely awesome up their sleeve to keep the game engaging. Or maybe they are just banking on the name... ::::30::

 
Vizier  8/13/05 9:16:59 AM

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No matter how subtle the wizard, a knife in his back will seriously cramp his style.



Originally posted by - Jaguar - DDOs main attraction is the ..... and hopefully extremely high quality quests the likes of which most people have never seen. Basically the game is centered around quests from what I can tell, so Turbine better have something completely awesome up their sleeve to keep the game engaging. Or maybe they are just banking on the name... ::::30::

Don't most pre-release mmorpgs brag about their amazing quests? I think about all of them did except Shadowbane.

DDO appears to have an innovative combat system with a veneer of D&D added to it. Beyond that, the game seems to be coming up short on features and content. Certainly the lack of roleplaying incentives and tools are going to seriously dissappoint a lot of fanbois.


 
Sovrath  8/13/05 11:50:43 PM

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Well... as I've said before, the instanced dungeons might be more like the modules of old.

How many of you played through "Queen of the Demon Web Pit"s more than once? Or "Descent into the Depths of the Earth"?

Difference was that the Dungeon Master might make changes into the story a bit.

It might be that the Dungeons will incorporate more than just harder monsters at each lvl.

As far as PvP... not fair. D&D, as far as any of my old books indicate, never had PvP. This is supposed to be D&D transposed for an online setting. Like a book that is turned into a movie, certain things need to be tweaked to fit the medium involved. So, they are changing the spell system a bit, etc.

But there is no Crafting system in D&D and no PvP.

Doesn't mean that they couldn't add an arena or whatnot, but they are not making a pvp game. There are pvp games out there. I do know that most of them are much more about PvP than actual quest content. Seems that these games excel in one or the other.

So, let's not forget, D&D online will not be some sort of super savior game. it is what it is... some people WILL like (Love?) it.. some will hate it... but this should go without being said. You can't expect every game to incorporate EVERYTHING. Otherwise you are just getting the same game with a different veneer.

 
netboyz  8/16/05 1:02:42 PM

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Oh boy has Ken Troop really laid on the fluff this time!  Love his explanation about combat; it's so pie-in-the-sky.  Combat, for any of you who tried it at E3, is a spamming click fest of mouse button mashing.  How fast can you click to spam your fighter's sword swing?  How fast can you spam your dwarf to swing his axe?

That is all. 

Yes there is tumbling and rolling, but everything happens so quickly I guarantee you that you won't be taking time to tumble and roll.  Why do that when another swing of the sword might kill the mob sooner?  This game is all about offense; bring the damage on faster than the mobs and you will win.  Doesn't matter really, though, since their AI is so stupid so it's not like they will go after the healers or weak spell casters.  The mobs just barrel in and attack the first guy they meet (the fighter, of course).

Too bad for the other non-melee classes.  The class dynamic in DDO is terrible.  It's hard to target your fellow group members to heal or buff and even if you did, they would most likely be on of range of your very limited ranged spells.  Wizards and sorcerers cast a few spells then just have to sit back and hope there's a rest area nearby where they can recharge their spellpoints.  Otherwise have fun sitting back hoping no monsters get close enough to kill you with 1 or 2 hits.

Just want until you get into the beta.  You'll laugh then wonder why Turbine fucked up D&D so badly.

 
Sovrath  8/16/05 3:36:57 PM

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