Where I've been ...

[Theryon]

Hi, I'm David. It's been almost a year and a half since I last logged onto EQ.

Of course, the last 2 times I logged in were over a span of a year and a half so does that really count? Since I left EQ, I've tried City of Heroes and World of Warcraft. (The latter I was on two different servers. My son still plays the game so I keep it active.) Both were fun games but both got boring after a while. Then about a month and a half ago, a game came out that I've been waiting for since the first week I started playing Everquest.

I can remember sitting and talking with my friend, Scott, as my ranger Phinthalis and his paladin Estarion (or something like that) were running around Kelethin and the high elf city. I can remember when we finally made it to the Commonlands outside of Freeport and saw our first griffin. We enjoyed EQ but we wanted something more like Dungeons and Dragons. We wanted that feel. We wanted that type of play.

Enter DDO (Dungeons & Dragons Online). Finally, they've applied a good percentage (about 85-90%) of 3.5e to an online game. Yes, there are some changes like the use of Spell Points instead of spells/day. It works like mana. But it's a decent replacement. Wizards tend to be more like Sorcerers and Sorcerers are hybrided. Then you have magic items that really don't fit the standard D&D guidelines of generation. There are some things missing, too. But even with those flaws and changes, we're able to run around a city based in the Eberron Campaign Setting. And it's fun.

Classes aren't balanced. WOOHOO! There are clear roles for the classes and not blurred by player complaints (like EQ and WoW). And while you may be able to solo at 1st or 2nd level for a while, unless you have a group, you die. Just like D&D. Graphics are nice, sound is good and the play action is well done. The UI needs a bit of work especially compared to some of the games out there. There is no in-game email system but then again, there isn't one in D&D. But it would be nice to see the character levels on your group display. Minor things ... the hotkey bars are still a little clumsy.

But I finally feel like I'm playing D&D online ... moreso than with Neverwinter Nights. I finally can see the ruleset I've grown up with and played with paper-n-pencil applied to an online game. I can listen to idiots complaining that leveling is slow (it's supposed to be). I can listen to idiots complaining that clerics aren't good fighters; I explained that he's an armored healer. I can listen to people complaining that they can't cast divine spells when they're arcane casters and the reverse. And I laugh. Because I know this game is designed not to be balanced ... that the classes are there for a reason ... that not having a fighter or barbarian in the front is going to end up with a dead party ... or that without a cleric, the same thing. Without a rogue, those traps are going to be painful.

We're having fun. And we can't wait for them to expand the game. Eberron is a rich world full of magic and politics and mystery. And right now, the level limit is 10 so people are hitting that quickly.

So if you're out and about on DDO, we're over on the Khyber server. Dahrein (dwarven barbarian/rogue), Bonesnap (warforged fighter), Phinthalis (elven ranger) and my companions in the Order of the Weasel (Matyumbe, Ludditous, Gridley, Shieldmaiden).

[Xslia]

Theryon, come back to the dark side! We miss you!!!

[Vadian]

I'm playing DDO right now too. Aundair server, name is Vadster. So far its keeping my attention well enough, they better increase the level cap soon though >_<

Halfling Bard (Fascinate is a bit overpowered kk?, well from the 3.0 DnD rules it is, not sure if they changed it in 3.5 edition)

Oh, and the in-game voice chat is pretty kickass.

[Greig]

Is it a monthly fee like EQ?

[Highhealzorz]

nice to hear from you ther.

i'd play ddo but i'm too cool for that game. ;0 hee hee,

[insanetraveler]

To much zoning for my taste. I grew up with ADV DnD 1st addition I guess you would call it haha. Anyway I beta tested DDO and to say the least waiting every few sec to zone became a pita. Good luck meeting friends in passing cuz every zone is several of the same zone so you can be in city1, city2, city3 instance its really lame imo. Someday they will make a game like DnD thats not all chopped up I hope then Ill be there.

[Theryon]

Actually, I like the fact that they instance zones to cut down on lag from population. It's not like you're limited. If the people you are looking for are in Marketplace-2 then you simply select it on the drop-down on the map and you're there.

That's the big complaint? Also, I grew up with Dungeons and Dragons when it was printed in the blue and red manuals. Advanced D&D was later then they expanded 2nd edition with all these variations (which our group tried) with some success and some failure. It wasn't until TSR was bought by WotC (Wizards of the Coast; makers of Magic: The Gathering) that the rules were revamped into 3.0. I have to hand it to WotC that they know game mechanics. Redid it from the ground up and we've been pretty happy through today with 3.5e. And with the introduction of Eberron, a nice rich campaign setting was exposed. So this game is based on 3.5e ruleset (with variations from Unearthed Arcana) and Eberron setting.

But the zoning is minimal on today's machines. You have zoning all over the place in EQ and CoH. WoW was the first game that you had large areas with seemless zone transition. In fact, CoH and DDO are similar in their zoning habits except for the fact that DDO instances main zones as well.

I stayed away from the beta testing of DDO. I wanted to see it from a fresh perspective rather than see it being built and changed. I still think this game needed a few more months to expand it beyond what it is today. Eberron is very expansive and you're only seeing a slice of a small city. I'd love if they showed us Sharn (city of towers).

Also, one of the keys to DDO is the grouping screen. Since grouping is key to the advancement of your character, the ability to advertise yourself LFG along with what you're looking to quest is pretty good. Also, you're able to advertise your group LFP and what classes and levels you're looking for along with a comment. Like I said before, my only complaint with the "Social" window is that your party screen only shows the major class and no levels (you have to examine the people in your group to see if they are multiclass and what levels they are). You don't have to be in the same instance or zone for this to work. That's why instance zones don't make a difference.

Oh, and yes, it's a monthly/quarterly/semi-annual fee just like all the other games.

And having voice-chat integrated with this game makes it so key. You can communicate so much faster. Calling out Trap or whatever makes you react that much quicker. Great feature!

Try different classes ... they do tend to be interesting. We just started rotating jobs so that my friend, Scott, is now a fighter and I broke my strike and created a cleric. They got spoiled last night. They had a cleric that not only healed them without asking but kept them alive the entire night through a very hairy situation (where they both said they were going to die before going into the adventure). I told them that 5 yrs as an EQ cleric taught me some things. I got the best compliment from Scott as we were going along. He said that he realized he didn't have to look at his HPs because I was taking care of him and he could trust me.

It must be the Theryon in me ...

ps-Kittie tried to talk me into coming back to the dark side but I'm sorry. My EQ days are long gone. My equipment, spells, AAs are so out-of-date that I'd never want to spend the time it would take to get back to the top of my game. But I do miss you guys.

[Velurian]

TSR lost me in the transition from original D&D (the box sets) to Advanced. Too many picky little rules getting in the way. (There's always one player in every group who insists on slavish adherence to the rules, so just saying that the DM should ignore stuff that doesn't work isn't a perfect solution.) The original sets always seemed like a good balance. (I've never played 3.5, though, so maybe WotC's intervention helped.)

[nimchip]

Theryon time to move this topic to the other game boards

[Theryon]

moved.

-the admin

ps-Renamed the Forum name.

[Theryon]

Since I've been playing since it's start with the basic set through Advanced and up through 3.5e, I know all the variations. We've played with all the rules and Player Options. Advanced 2nd edition had some serious flaws that all these little bumps and changes they tried to introduce just made it more confusing. I agree that it was running aground.

The other problem with TSR was they were lawsuit-happy. They tried to shut down anyone that created products that worked with D&D. And anything that was compatible with it. I can remember some stuff we used back then was pulled from the shelves. And after all the dust cleared and all the rules were tweaked, TSR was on shaky ground.

Then came WotC. I have to admit that my group was skeptical about the purchase of TSR. We thought that WotC would turn D&D into what happened with Magic: The Gathering ... a mess. (Now, we all loved the original MtG but after a couple years and several hundred cards, the game became watered down and nothing like it was originally ... which was fun.) But what they did to D&D was break it down to it's roots and apply the same game mechanics they did to MtG ... some balance of play. If there is one thing WotC knows is game mechanics and game theory. THAC0 was cumbersome. Armor Class was cumbersome. The anatomy of a Round was cumbersome along with movement. Magic item creation was cumbersome (for the most part). Psionics was wedged in and unbalanced. The core system had to be redesigned.

Enter 3rd Edition. 3rd Edition breathed new life into the game. There was balance. There were purer game mechanics. There were guidelines that allowed players to accomplish complicated moves and attacks. And they built a system that allowed the development and introduction of new material without upsetting everything before it. Of course, with every new model there is a shake-out period.

Enter 3.5e. This corrected some of the overpowered spells and skills, etc. that 3rd edition contained. Things that were broken were fixed. And now they've been able to expand the game with all sorts of material. (But my friends and I are feeling that the past couple of years, about 60% of the material is useless and simply out there to make money rather than be particularly useful.) They've introduced a new campaign setting, Eberron, which is extremely different from the Core setting (Greyhawk?) and from Faerun which has it's own set of source books on top of the Core.

And with 3rd Edition, WotC did another smart thing. They introduced the concept of d20 OGL system. Open Gaming License based on the d20. The mechanics behind D&D was opened for everyone to use. Dragonlance and Ravenloft and other settings were based on this. WotC welcomed companion sourcebooks and materials from other companies. (Unless they used copyrighted material, it's safe.) The game has flourished and grown. And is more popular than ever.

And this is what my friends and I have been waiting to play online since EQ came out. This is why we are liking DDO and playing the different classes.

I said to my group last night that I changed my wizard's spell lineup because I saw what they did in DDO and how useful some spells were.

[Xalatan]

EQ2 ftw!!!!

[Theryon]

EQ2 bored me immediately. I think the fact that they took Norrath and created an alternate reality ...

I've never been a big fan of a "reboot" and that's what I felt EQ2 was. If they didn't base it on Norrath; if they had created more of a difference from EQ then maybe it would have interested me.

I only tried it because of Mich and Frostwalker. And it didn't grab me right away. City of Heroes grabbed me (another one that Mich and Frostie got me to play); World of Warcraft really grabbed me. Unfortunately, I was trying to catch up in WoW and got burnt out. Also, PvP sometimes turns me off and that happened in WoW. We tried another server but by that time, Mich and Frostie were losing interest. Now, only my son plays (and loves) the game. He likes PvP and likes what he can do in the game. And that's what counts.

When my friend (who is our current DM) convinced me to try DDO, it grabbed me also. Probably because I could see the application of the PnP game to the online version. That I could go to a merchant and see a +3 longsword and the price was straight out of the Dungeon Master's Guide. That I can look at the character sheet and understand automatically how the numbers are calculated and how they are applied. And when I'm in a fight or trying to make a save, it's applying the same ruleset as when I play every week with my group. It's familiar and comfortable and fun (to me and my friends). I'm just worried about it's longevity.