4th Edition may be D&D, but it sure as hell isn't AD&D!  Wizards may have well just re-released the old Elf is a class/dwarf is a class original D&D.  Simple is fine for starting a game or playing with novices or children, but the complexity of AD&D is what made it fun - and it still required MORE rules because intelligent players came up with things not even close to covered by the rules.  DMing was a fulltime job! Miniatures and hex terrain made things better [as the online program may  in some respects - IFF it allows the DM to use whatever rules he wishes], as did programs like DMGenie, but characters had depth.

3rd Edition was dumbed down, 4th Edition is fully lobotomised!  No more D&D for me, thanks.

LOTRO's is good because the quests fit very well into the storyline; AO's is good because it gives you the coordinates of the quest objective.  Putting both those features in: priceless!

Somebody above mentioned hoping whatever it is, that it be a "next generation" MMO.  What makes an MMO "next gen?"  With the Sci-fi channel supposedly creating an MMO that influences a TV show, I began to wonder about the timing here...

Release "Clone Wars" cartoon - sets up the backstory

Release MMO - whatever happens in the game becomes the next week's [month's?] episode of the cartoon

The question that comes to mind is:  How much would that PO the second, third and fourth tier characters - the ones who aren't in the TV show because they aren't uber enough?  While it would be great to see Guild X rid planet Y of all Empirical presence, how slighted would all other guilds feel?  How could they make it so that everyone feels that they were "on TV!"?

Just tossing the idea out there...

Originally posted by EbonHawk

Say what ya want about Turbine, but they sure are good about giving "free" expansions (updates)... DDO & LoTRO.

And don't forget AC!  AC's been running for what 10 years, I think?  AC2 was a major miscalculation [though most features went into LOTRO, so for them the development wasn't wasted], but overall Turbine has been excellent at episodic content.

LOTRO hands down - the open beta was as good as the release - no lag, no game-breaking bugs, ran fine on a mid-range PC.  Best release I've seen in the last 10 years.

Heh, I almost posted a "Thank you for the retro- D&D v1.0 Weekend"  where Elven fighter/Magic users don't suffer arcane failure, because Elf is a Class, not a Race :)

They listed this morning for a patch, no doubt to fix that...

With the Fear Potions, can't you now use them on others?  THEY may be feared, but you can still use your potion on them, can't you?  [Before you flame me - notice the question marks!  I haven't tried to use them on myself or anyone else, so I am asking if they work that way]

Perhaps TW is doing this as a way to save/expand AOL...

In the beginning, AOL was the only way to play some games online [the original Neverwinter NIghts for example].  Perhaps they intend to make AOL a portal again - rather like a $OE Station pass - go through AOL and pay $5/month per title instead of the "normal" monthly fee, then sell advertising on the launch page?

Interesting development, we'll have to see how it pans out...

Dr. Rock summed it up pretty well [although I personally always DID like just randomly exploring, both in PnP and in MMOs like Ryzom].

I think the main "problem" with the game was that they launched with far too little content in the game.  It seems that games nowadays live and die by their launch - DDO, bad launch [in terms of content and some gameplay elements - all fixed now] - small population; LOTRO, smooth launch, much larger population; Vanguard, horrible launch, minute population. 

I'd suggest to the MMORPG staff that they allow another game rating one year after launch [or one that is just "current rating"]  They have the hype-meter for before launch and ratings at launch, but all games should have a "how is it now?" rating also, so that people who are considering trying a game can have up to date information.

Originally posted by oronisi

DDO is a failure because it has been abandoned.  Turbine was forced to use the Eberron setting by WotC, then WotC promptly moved on from Eberron and wanted to refocus on FR, while also revamping their entire rules set.  Turbine itself abandoned DDO in favor of Lotro.  It's sad, but that's where DDO is.  At least the DDO fans have good developers even though they are a small team....other games like SWG just have complete crap for devs.

I'm hoping a new D&D MMO gets made that holds true to PnP and does not get abandoned so easily by its backers.

I will agree that I'd also love to see another MMO that uses the D&D, or better yet, d20 ruleset.  Best would be a game that let you create a d20 character that could shuttle between genres - fantasy today, wild west tomorrow, space opera the next day, modern but with magic [ala Shadowrun] after that.  While Turbine no doubt has a lock on the D&D trademark [for how long?], d20 is open source...

Originally posted by AgtSmith

 

Originally posted by uncus

On my laptop, which has 1.5G memory and a 9600/9800 card running XP, I have no lag at all unless I'm dual boxing with my old desktop which only has 512M memmory and a 4600 card.  Even on the desktop, I usually only experience lag when entering a crowded area [10+ persons at short range - like near the mailbox in the harbor].  OTOH, my nephew's POS HP with 1G memory and a dx10 card with 256M [forgot the card number] but running VISTA and on a wireless network, lags frequently in town and rarely inside an instance.  So, to the OP - while your machine looks to be up to spec, your lag may be due to memory hogging Vista, dx10 driver problems or running on a wireless network [or worse yet, all three!]

 

Turbine has pushed out 3 fixes in just the last few weeks for the system wide lag issues they themselves acknowledge exist- their boards are full of complaints - yet people here still deny it is an issue, amazing. 

 

Duh!  They accidentally created a bug which caused a lot of lag when patching an exploit.  They fixed it in about 10 days.  That lag has been gone for at least 2-3 weeks.  It is no longer an issue, nor was it an issue before that patch.  If you are actually experiencing lag - and not just trolling - it's on your end.  I would never deny that you have issues.

I'n not trying to be an ass, but if you want to know what others think of the game, just try reading a few of the other threads here.  You'll see Hvymetal and Mindspat are supporters of the gameplay, as am I now that I have begun playing again.  Most posters tend to be on the fence usually having played at one time [many quit quite a while ago] and just found it not be their "cup of tea" so to speak.  There are even a few rabid haters, but they are usually shown to be misinformed or just trolling [like in the post just below this one atm].

I am at work now, but I can forward you a buddy key in a few hours [before 11 GMT].  Don't need the LOTRO key, I've got two lifetime subs :)

Edit:  I am in the US, so if you need an EU key, then I guess that I can't help you.  If you are ok with playing on a US server - at least for the trial period - then I'll send it.  PM me - I'll check when I get home [about 9-9:30 GMT]

Guess I missed the part about it being a cash shop game before :(

I'll try it anyway just because it has a different setting.

What I'd REALLY love to see is an MMO that transcends genre by allowing the character to jump from setting to setting [World 1 is fantasy, World 2 is "modern", World 3 is Modern + Magic, World 5 is a space opera, etc]  A GURPS or generic d20 skill set could form the backbone of the system with particular rules for each world [magic works here, but not there, etc]

On my laptop, which has 1.5G memory and a 9600/9800 card running XP, I have no lag at all unless I'm dual boxing with my old desktop which only has 512M memmory and a 4600 card.  Even on the desktop, I usually only experience lag when entering a crowded area [10+ persons at short range - like near the mailbox in the harbor].  OTOH, my nephew's POS HP with 1G memory and a dx10 card with 256M [forgot the card number] but running VISTA and on a wireless network, lags frequently in town and rarely inside an instance.  So, to the OP - while your machine looks to be up to spec, your lag may be due to memory hogging Vista, dx10 driver problems or running on a wireless network [or worse yet, all three!]

As pointed out above, if you are reading this thread because you are interesting in trying DDO - get off your ass and download the trial!  Most of the issues that the OP mentions wre fixed long ago; a few as mentioned by others still remain, but are far from game-breaking for most people.  Is it very item centric - yes, but you don't HAVE TO raid to get what you need.  Is it relatively easy to learn - again, yes - my 4 year old nephew plays with me, but that doesn't make it any less fun.

Originally posted by Kyleran

 

 

Someday you'll understand, free time is the most precious commodity most working adults have, and its worth really can't be measured in dollars.

First, to the OP:  Are you a non-native English speaker [well, writer actually] or just a slacker?  If you wish to be taken seriously in the English reading world, you need to learn proper grammar.  I realise that even with spell check available errors happen, but your errors are of common usage and not typos.  As an example, the topic of this thread should be: "If you're a pc gamer, then you should have a good pc."  Hopefully, you will learn something at the university that you are attending.

On Topic:  I think Vanguard is a great example of how letting the hardware drive the software is foolish.  They concentrated too much on style and not enough on substance - it may have looked great on bleeding edge pc's, but it still ran like crap, even on those same pc's.   WoW and LOTRO did much better by releasing with specs that were capable of running on a "last year's" pc.  Both of the MMO's that I currently play [DDO & LOTRO] run fine on my 2002 desktop - 2.2Gb Pentium 2[3?] with 1G RAM and an nVidia 4400 card.  There are many other games - even some currently released like <doh!  Brain fart! - the newish game from Stardock> - that play well on older, lower spec pc's.  Hell, some can even be played on Macs!

The fun is in how a game plays, not how high the specs are for it nor how pretty it looks.   Just like women...

Originally posted by Wrender

Might be nice to actually add something to the game that is actually challenging. My 3 yr old daughter could easily play this and eat sloppy joes at the same time and prob never even get killed in game ....

Actually, my 4 year old nephew prefers D&D Online [calls it "the OTHER Ring game" since he tried LOTRO first].  As long as the kids have fun playing, and we have fun playing with them, what's the problem?

If you want a challenge, teach her to play chess!

DDO & LOTRO are definite.  Will probably try AoC and Warhammer [though like WoW, Warhammer's graphics seem a bit too cartoony - at least on the Ork side].

Not an MMO, but I'm very impatiently waiting for Fallout 3 [and a Fallout MMO!]

Hell, I'm more disturbed at the reviewer's lack of English proficiency!  Wtf are "pur" and "elevn"?  Is that "Pure" or "Your"; is it "eleven" or "Elven?" And.  the.  fragments. are Shatner-worthy!

I don't know about anyone else, but I can't take that reviewer seriously with those glaring grammatical mistakes!

So the OP f-ed up and forgot to check the specs first - maybe he can redeem himself by PMing someone who HAS a rig that can support those specs with his user name/password for the beta.  OP should change it to something harmless first, then transfer it.  NOT to me - I play mostly on a rig with a GF 4600 [and it plays LOTRO & DDO wonderfully!] - so I don't qualify either.

Well one penalty the Dev's have added is that you cannot make Drow [or 32 point build] characters when you start - you need to unlock them via favor.  That said, I believe that many people have original 28 point builds that they still play - although changes to the game has made "optimum" builds change, causing min-max'ers to reroll.

Since you are a self-described elitist, you will probably be able to get into the game, get hooked up with an uber guild, and power-level to max in a week or so [unlocking the drow and 32pt builds along the way.]  On the other hand, if you decide to play casual, there are a few good guilds for that, too.

Advice noone should need:  Download and play the trial - see if you like the basic mechanics, and go from there!

Couldn't vote because to re-do the entire site is probably just too much.  However, there should be updates - elimination of games not released/development dropped, original game vs expansions should be differentiated [if they already aren't], and games with episodic updates [like COH/COV, LOTRO, DDO, Eve...] should have an updated review at least yearly.  There could be either release score vs present score or if they are really ambitious, yearly scores...