DDO First Impressions

It was with some reservations that I picked up Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach. I've played a handful of MMOs and have been disappointed at some point with each:

• Planetside: Massive battles (hundreds of participants) in a scifi environment was great fun, but lack of unique characters and repetitious "siege, fall-back, defend, siege" scenarios made the game pretty limited in scope. Massive changes (like BFRs and drastically changing the virtual world) didn't help add variety, it simply changed the game and drove away long-time players.
• World of Warcraft: I've never been into the Warcraft universe/games, but was willing to give this a try. The world is vast, the battles epic, and seems to be everything a fantasy-loving player would want. Except for the massive grind required to build and sustain a character--find a trade, work the trade to provide goods, sell goods for gold, repeat (or find a monster, kill, find a ...). WoW is also a very social game (in the spirit of EverCrack which I'm not into (action, baby, that's why I play). In short, the game was way too slow for me.
• City of Heroes: Who, as a child, didn't tie a towel around their neck and pretend they were a superhero? CoH lets you create and play as a superhero, complete with superpowers like ice blasts, retractable claws, and flying. However, the game is pretty shallow--create a character, do missions to get experience, improve character (more powers, etc), do missions... The launch and integration of City of Villains brought new dynamics to the game (like Player-vs-Player), but also caused a massive reduction in powers (with the focus on balancing PvP play), making your hero far less heroic. Instead of playing Superman (with all his powers), you'd play a guy who was pretty strong and could fly. The shallowness of the game and massive CoV-related changes made the game much less palatable to me.

(Sorry about all the background, but I think it helps to see where I'm coming from regarding DDO and MMOs in general.)

So, why was I excited about DDO?

• It's D&D, the purest form of fantasy-based RPGing
• It's very Diablo-like, dungeon and character building, no over-the-top arcing storyline or grind need apply
• Some reviews have been very positive

So, why was my purchase tentative?

• It's D&D, a paper-based game. Previous attempts to bring the game to the electronic age haven't been altogether successful
• It's very Diablo-like, and therefore game play will probably be very shallow (dungeon crawl, improve character, dungeon crawl)
• Some reviews have been very negative

The issue that caused me the most pause was having to PRY the monthly fee out of the DDO site. (It's now listed as an article on the news page.) The packaging didn't have any information outside, or inside, about the fee. Still, I figured it couldn't be much more (or less) than the standard $15/mon. (It is $14.99/month when purchased monthly.)

So, without further ado, here's my impressions. Be sure to visit the gallery too.

At first blush, DDO is much like any other MMO. You install the game (4 CDs), patch to the latest version, establish an online account, and then link your game and paid account. There are ~16 different servers you can select from. There isn't any information on the server's location or its latency to your connection--the status of the server is only shown as up or down.

Character creation is straight-forward:

• Pick a race (dwarf, elf, halfling, human, warforged), sex, and character class (Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, or Wizard).
• You then customize your character's look (facial features, eye/hair color, etc)
• Lastly you can optionally customize your character's attributes. (You can accept the default based on your character's race and class or start with basic attributes and a pool of point to add as you see fit.)
• After finishing your character you are deposited on the outskirts of Stormreach where you can progress into the city or stop at a nearby tavern for training. (Necessary, IMO.)

One thing lacking in the character creation process is the ability to customize your character's wardrobe. The different classes each have a different look, but every rogue starts out with the same outfit. (While adventuring you can gather unique clothing quick enough.)

Adventuring is much like other games, but is presented in third person. Actions are performed by double-clicking on the item you wish to act upon. A unique cursor appears when placed over certain items to tell you that you can act on that item (a door icon appears when you mouse over an unlocked door, for example). The double-click is different from most other games--most games use a single-click. Although more intuitive (since Windows also uses dual-clicks), it did take some getting used to.

Play is quest-based--you visit NPCs in Stormreach and get quests to perform for them. Such quests take you into a nearby dungeon--each an instanced dungeon existing just for your party. If your party exits a dungeon without completing the quest at hand, the dungeon will continue to exist for up to five minutes. If no one from the dungeon makes it back to the dungeon, the instance is removed and the quest lost. Different areas of the city present quests of varying difficulty.

Some other items of interest:

• Experience is given for finishing quests, not for killing enemies--it therefore becomes important to work toward getting to the end of the dungeon, not clearing it of monsters
• Injured characters can regain health and spell force by spells/potions/items, spending time in tavern (optionally hastening their healing by buying food and drink), or by resting in rest shrines within the quest
• When a player dies he/she leaves behind a soul stone and can only stray (in spirit form) a little ways away from the stone. Dead characters can be resurrected by the usual spells/items, by reaching a resurrection shrine in spirit form (sometimes needing a party member to carry their soul stone closer to the shrine, or by releasing their spirit and respawning at Stormreach.
• Some quests contain special items reserved for certain characters in the party--this helps reduce hoarding by certain players
• Quests have been balanced to reward team play. For example, if you walk into a dungeon without a rogue, you best be ready for a lot of trap damage.
• There are many tools to promote team play--tools for finding parties, advertising that you are looking for one, forming guilds, etc

Although I've only gone through the tutorial, I can see the potential in the game. It is D&D and very Diablo-like. Those looking for depth might be better off in WoW, but those looking for action and straightforward character development with a touch of story, pick up a copy of DDO and I'll see you online.