Originally posted by Visero  

(...)  Far as MMO's go , DDO might not be the best looking but there is one thing you get from DDO that no other MMO offers with its PVE in today's market. The ability to make a instance hard on purpose for higher gains and better loot rewards. Even most mmo's that have an elite setting are still a joke for challenge or the loot table for the challenge is a joke. (...)

Good post overall, but about that fragment - DDO in Update 3 will look simply amazing. If you've not seen it yet, prepare to be amazed. AAA+ looks, for certain.

Originally posted by uncus

Originally posted by Sarr

PS: Install Lammania in different folder, then it won't mess anything up .

Thanks for the info!
 

I did and it did! [It DID mess up the original install, that is :( ] I think it was the way it set the program pointer - BOTH installs ran the Lama version.  I may try again by just copying an install from my other machine and then updating lama via TDM. <fingers crossed>

Good luck : ). Somehow, for me both installs work fine, with 2 separate Turibne Download Managers.

Here's the best Update 3 Preview I've seen yet:

www.massively.com/2010/01/28/massivelys-tour-through-ddo-update-3/

Worth checking out.

Hello there folks.

Here's really good preview of Update 3, which is coming February 3rd:

www.massively.com/2010/01/28/massivelys-tour-through-ddo-update-3/

I think it's the best of Update 3 previews, written with really light hand and informative.

Here are all Update 3 Previews I've read yet, for reference. If you find more, post links in this topic.

www.massively.com/2010/01/28/massivelys-tour-through-ddo-update-3/

www.tentonhammer.com/node/79897

www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/163/feature/3958/page/1

Originally posted by uncus

Excuse my not being able to play on Lamannia [it wrecked my Live install when I tried it, deleting both then re-installing Live worked but I'm not trying Lama again!] but does that mean that now ALL quests have a "Casual" option???

If so, SWEET!

I play either solo or duo with a [now] 6yr old, so some of the level 6-8 quests have been fails on Normal [at level - once 1-2 levels above, they are doable].

 

Any info on "Epic"?  Does it refer to level 21 and up as it does in PnP?

First question - yes, all the way up to 20 : ). With some exceptions with "solo-only" quests, but they are few.

No, epic Levels may come in future. Epic is the new difficulty of some hardest dungeons, with better rewards etc. Good for "lite" gamers.

PS: Install Lammania in different folder, then it won't mess anything up .

Originally posted by uncus

I'm guessing that "Casual" was added because "Solo" didn't allow you to use hirelings.  This way a caster without charm person or a non-selfhealing type can do the "Solo" missions more easily.

"Epic" only refers to levels above 20, correct?  So it would only be available on dungeons with a normal CR of 18+ ?

 

Not only this. Previously "Solo" option was disappearing about 6th-8th level of dungeons. Now, Casual offers more streamlined solo / casual play up to level 20. Of course, loot and XP is pretty laughable, so no real good player would choose "Casual" as his "lite" option.

So I don't see the reason for all this whining. I'm happy this this new diff, and I'm a good player who knows what to do.

Originally posted by Skuz

I understand your "dumbing down" sentiments, but really, it doesn't affect the game for anyone but the player choosing the easier difficulty, I expect that it just serves to engage them & feed them into harder difficulty levels later once they have improved rather than get stuck & discouraged.

 

After all we can't all be highly skilled dungeon crawlers, I consider myself experienced & skilled yet there are players who put my skills to shame, a good game can cater to both the elite & the lesser skilled, just because someone isn't very good at a game shouldn't necessariy mean they can't enjoy it if the game caters for it, after all I expect that lesser difficulty = lesser reward, so who loses out? nobody.

Wow, finally someone who has similar opinion . Well said. I'd like to add more, but you've said everything I wanted to. Agreed completely.

Plus, I've played House Kundarak quest on Casual (and I consider myself rather good player), and it was really fun, not dumbed down from what I've seen. I've failed because I went in expecting easy run, and that I didn't need to prepare even a bit. I was wrong .

Here's video from Lamannia, Casual difficulty:

www.youtube.com/House_Kundarak_Quest

This is hopeless . No, you guys will need to wait and see how wrong you are about DDO and F2P genre.

So I won't argue with you, as you will be proven wrong in 2010. Just wait and see, but if you'll stay out of this move, you'll just miss out.

Even funnier are all the misconceptions by those who clearly don't understand what is DDO and how it works, how it plays and why so many players love to stay there, and even waste their time to grind Turbine Points if they don't have enough money .

Time is money, yet so many people love to spend time instead of money just because they fell in love with the game. Not it's model, but the game itself and what it offers.

So, cheers to you and prepare for a change. Not straight forward, but just wait some time, and you'll see how DDO, F2P and opinions about it change and evolve. And nay-sayers? They will exist forever.

Originally posted by Bael13

Sigh.......... DDO isn't free to play ........ It's Free to Trial.

It will never be free to play to me unless i can play through the whole game. Any dungeon, Any place in the whole game unrestricted and not have to pay a cent or stupid in game coins things..

If they remove that crap i'll call it free to play.

Well, and get used to that! That's how Free to Play games work. There's no real 100% free MMO game. Welcome to reality!

Though DDO is the most free of them, I guess. As you're really able to grind Turbine Points and buy everything out yourself just for the time you invested in playing. In our Polish DDO portal we have groups, or rather "events" where people group together only to earn Turbine Points on different servers (as it counts for your account, not only one server). So they can play for free a loong time : ).

Though many people buy content, because it's great & cheap too. Just look there and check it, adventure packs are really cheap.

Guys, please try to understand the term "Free to Play" again. It means:

"You can jump in without paying for anything, and play for free, for how long you want, but with some restrictions". So the term is accurate, as it's not "Free Game" but you're "Free to Play".

It's just the common understanding that the game is 100% free that is wrong. And VERY naive too, but that's not my business why people want to believe in miracles.

Originally posted by Scot

It seems fitting that a MMO that was designed on a P2P triple ‘A’ wins Best F2P MMO of the year? I think not, it just serves to make people think F2P is far better than it actually is.

It is hardly surprising that a gaming journalist who makes his money from writing about F2P thinks this is all wonderful and shows the way ahead.

It is way too early to call the move a success, but it seems to be going well. As with any companies finance you will only get a vague idea of how much extra revenue going to a hybrid P2P/F2P model has actually made them. You can find out how much profit Turbine is making but you won’t find a section that says ‘Extra Profit from DDO new revenue model’.

For all we know the new revenue system has caused an increase in subscription players and that alone is generating the new revenue. We just can’t be sure.

Industry journalists seem to be falling over themselves to convince us of how wonderful the F2P model or some variation of it is. They get this enthusiasm from corporate types at MMO companies, not from the players who post on these forums. No matter how hard they try a cash shop is only ever going to be an El Dorado for MMO companies, not the players who will get fleeced by them.

DDO may show a way forward in which P2P and F2P work, but hailing it as an outstanding success so soon shows how desperate they are to convince us that F2P options are the way forward.

Well, I think you just can't accept the obvious. That F2P is a really good model, not worse than subscription. And that F2P games, as shown by DDO, don't need to be worse than subscription-based MMO games.

What I read here very often is some kinds of conspiracy theories, which are absolutely fake. If I loved, for example, horses - I'd like to write about them with passion, and concentrate on good sides of that hobby.

People, why can't you understand that good Journalists AREN'T writing objectively. They are writing their opinions, which are bound to be controversial, as everyone likes different things. It's News that can be "objective" (well, everything is subjective but news often present only the facts, not opinions).

Journalists should write how they like, what they like, why they like it or not, etc. Richard Aihoshi is doing a good job - he writes whatever he wants how he wants, and does it with light pen, it's an interesting read every time.

Though, the F2P is still kind of a weird taboo it seems. Whoever writes about F2P in a positive way will be slacked and criticized. So even more respect Richard Aihoshi here, he has a tough job here. And I completely agree, becuase I've already learned that - F2P games can and most likely will be the future of MMO games. And it started thanks to Turbine and DDO's switch. This game will be a part of MMO history now, vital point of the evolution of this genre. Whether you like it or not, it will stay that way forever. Especially when we all see that DDO is only growing - faster and faster.

Ah, I nearly forgot. Leveling Sigils will be removed in Update 3, which is just few weeks ahead. So, players will be able to level up without any restrictions.

Originally posted by TribeofOne

you have to register to see these patch notes?... lame

Because that's not the Release Notes, but Release Notes for a test server, Lamannia ; ). The same mistake here, as on Massively.com.

You can watch the new night effect and House Deneith redesign here:

www.youtube.com/update3_lamannia

That's my vid from Lamannia - it's rather empty, as it's only a test server of pretty big game now.

Originally posted by Airspell

  Popular or not, DDO is a pretty mediocre game at the core. The core being it's combat mechanics and how they balanced it.

Completely disagreed. DDO is a unique, one of a kind MMO which offers probably the best dungeons / quests of all MMO games out there. Also, its mechanics are probably the most versatile, most active / dynamic of all other MMOs, and include many trainable skill you won't find anywhere else --> looking for secret doors, trap noticing / finding / disarming (3 different skills!), jumping, tumbling, swimming (trainable), etc.

Nothing mediocre in this game. To me it's not about combat, but the atmosphere of playing an impressive adventure with other party members, taking, joking or light-roleplaying all the time.

That's how real D&D works, and that's how DDO works too. How can one call such a one-of-a-kind game "mediocre title", is beyond me. That's probably the most original fantasy MMO you can find, and trust me - for me it plays better than WoW during that 3 years that I've played it. And I played WoW in it's best, first 3 years... then left it for DDO.

Originally posted by eludajae

You're going to run into a lot of that in American MMO players, for years SOE (owners of EQ/EQ2/Vanguard/SWG) Have created a solid market share of nay sayers and support, but they successful kept their own Asian competition out of the Western Market by giving the illusion that you get more for your money with a paid account. Paid subscribers have always been given more in the Western world, doesn't matter if its a website, game or a club.  We have been indoctrinated that this foriegn lesser medium of membership is just that lesser. DDO is doing great and the old school MMO players are having fits, but you know what they say about veteran MMO players right? They can Whine with the best of them, I call it the WoW the World of Whiners.  I have played free to play games before myself Cabal Online and several others, Ruins of Magic is an excellent game, if Blizzard isn't careful it will start to edge in on its market share, because I can not tell the different in them one bit, except my pocket book is fuller playing Ruins of Magic.  DDO, Ruins of Magic and all other more western type MMO's are headed for a huge change over the next few years. And nothing makes Westerners whine and bitch more than change, even if they like the change, its still an ordeal.

 

~Ludy

Starr,

 

Yes, what can I say - people don't like changes, and especially being proved wrong. But that's how it is, that's how evolution works.

Originally posted by Daffid011

I love how Richard always tries to spin everything F2P as some huge positive.  As if DDO was a really successful game and the months of deep silence leading up to the switch to F2P model was the result of how well DDO was doing.

It doesn't even sound like turbine has a solid grasp on how to make F2P work yet.  Talking about it being "a learning experience" and not really knowing how much to charge or give away doesn't sound like something someone would do to a game that is doing well, but as with all things in the Free Zone, everything free to play is a victory. 

Somehow DDO having 7 current servers is "unprecedented response" to a game that once had 14 servers, but I guess that is the spin when a failed subscription mmo is crowned king of the F2P mmos.  What a mess.

 

I'd love to see an article that talks about why free realms isn't free anymore or anything that doesn't try to make everything look like roses in the f2p market.

 

 

 

Bu you know, you simply lack knowledge. Are you reading only MMORPG.COM? Look at any other sites, they praise DDO for many reasons. And they were also pretty pessimistic about the switch when the news was out.

DDO is a success now, which is obvious for a regular player. Nothing happens instantly, but the huge number of players on servers say something. Also, DDO servers have much more capacity now, there are multiple instances in every hub - sometimes 5-8 of them. 2 servers were added since the game turned free to play, so there is now 8 of them, containing more players than ever before.

Adding to that, each 2 months we have pretty big content updates. New Update, Update 3, will be probably the biggest. I'm testing it on test server right now, you can watch video of Stormreach redesign here:

www.youtube.com/update3

Obviously, DDO is a success now, and I have some pretty good reasons to say that it's only starting to grow now ; ).

Originally posted by toord

 If you're interested in leveling fast and are short on TPs ... I highly recommend the STK and Tangleroot. The rest can be skipped as the XP/play-minute yield in those other adventure packs is horrible. However, if you got the TPs tho, go ahead and get them all.

Absolutely agreed. Get them now 50% cheaper, great adv. packs. The rest if fun too, but just too quick, or with too low rewards / XP to be taken before those.

Originally posted by brenth

there trying to keep alive a flawed game.

people get tired of hack and slash quickly   DDO was built to be a shallow arena combat  it will probably die out as such.

I'm afraid DDO is now getting a bigger and bigger success every month ; ).

Here are changes in graphics / Stormreach city design for the upcoming Update 3 (video taken from a test server Lamannia):

www.youtube.com/update3_night_effect_preview

Originally posted by Netbrat

MMORPG is loosing all credibility with me now. First they choose Aion as best new game and now this. I guess the publisher with the deepest pockets gets points on this site and not really the game.

You don't know even know new D&D Online, don't you? Just look at user rating of the game, and then think again ; ).

User rating is totally independent of mmorpg.com.

www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/163/view/ratings

Originally posted by Papadam

Not only is DDO by far the best F2P MMO but its easily in the top 5 of best MMOs overall.

Grats Turbine, its nice to see that a MMO with some challenge can be sucesfull aswell ;)

Exactly : ). But this game is just too hard for many people, who are used to Blizzard's spoon feeding. So they leave it and return to their simple MMOs. Yup, there's no carebears and no spoon feeding in DDO! You're on your own, beware!

I guess that's the reason it has user rating of 8.1 now, 0.1 more than its MMORPG rating here. Those who aren't able / are too lazy to learn DDO generally don't even trouble themselves with writing an honest review...

Originally posted by zaylin

LOL almost 85% of the content is locked unless you buy it or go VIP. hontestly this is why i quit,because it is NOT a true F2P mmo imo. A true f2p mmo has 75% of the content already unlocked at least if not all to be f2p...just goes to show that Video games are going the way of hollywood movies HA!.

Ah, do you people know a thing about Free to Play MMOs? Do you really think there are MMO games which are 100% free?

No, there's none. And there won't be any. But "Free to Play" is an accurate term - it means just that: you are able to play for free. Get used to it, it's not like developers depend on charity or donations for their hard, daily and past-time work.

And when it comes to being "free", DDO does it best - it's actually the only F2P MMO in which playing 100% for free is possible at all. On our portal we're even organizing events which help people earn Turbine Points for free on, all servers.

Originally posted by minix2poo

DDO is free to play?? Not for us in Europe.

And why RoM is not on the list? I think a big factor in choosing the games are the graphics besides of the gameplay. At least all of the listed games have 1 of the best graphics compared to other games in their genres. And also mostly unique. But RoM graphics are neither unique nor beautifull in any meanings. The chars are looking as if they were made of modeling clay. Simply its not on an up to date standard of 2009. In best case its a 2006 standard graphic.

Ok, I post here too often, going to stop now... Only one thing: I'm from Europe, and I not only play Turbine's Free to Play DDO, but I run big, Polish D&D Online Portal : ). Please don't make a false impression that Europeans cannot play F2P DDO.

Originally posted by Phall

While DDO is OK as the winner in this rather useless "Best of the Worst" category, it escapes me how only one single F2P MMO could have been nominated for the "Best New MMO of 2009" category but at the same time NOT for the "Best New F2P MMO of 2009" category. Did I miss something?

There is nothing "worse" in F2P. I've left WoW, LotrO, WAR and AoC for DDO - or rather, as a former WoWer I find DDO much better game in many aspects than those titles. There's only a matter of taste. DDO isn't worse or better - but I prefer it to those P2P games.

Obviously, "best of the worst" category ceased to exist when D&D Online went free to play.