03-07-2007, 12:06 AM
I installed the DDO trial that came with my copy of Neverwinter Nights 2 on a whim (as a sidenote, I found NWN2 underwhelming, the interface feels clunkier than NWN1 and it runs fairly poorly) and was extremely surprised.
I can't remember the last time I played an MMO that actually had traps in dungeons - or at least ones that were bad enough that I thought to myself 'Man, we really need a rogue.' And instead of having large zones of wandering monsters a la the EQ/WoW mold, DDO has city 'hubs' with instanced adventures you go into, complete with Dungeon Master narration (one of the coolest additions to the genre, IMO). You can actually play a REAL rogue-type character in it, stealthing through to objectives rather than being forced to kill everything.
Combat is nice though, don't get me wrong. Unlike mainstream MMOs where you might have to hack at a single mob for a minute to drop it, most monsters in DDO go down in 3 to 4 hits (at least up to where I am at level 4) but come at you in groups, so you've got to manouver to keep your flanks protected, maybe block those kobolds up in a doorway for the wizard in the group to drop a Web, or pull back behind the fighters long enough for the cleric to heal you. Heck, the other night I was in a group that ran into a giant (and I mean 12-foot+) on an adventure and the only way we could kill it was to have the fighters and my cleric shield-blocking in front of the sorceror (keeping the giant from reaching him) while he nuked it down. Built-in voice chat is another nice touch.
It's really refreshing coming from other MMOs, and there's a ton of variety in the adventures. If anyone is already playing or wants to try it, I have two buddy trial codes (though you'll need to get the client somewhere) and play on the Sarlona server as Weylan Tor.
I can't remember the last time I played an MMO that actually had traps in dungeons - or at least ones that were bad enough that I thought to myself 'Man, we really need a rogue.' And instead of having large zones of wandering monsters a la the EQ/WoW mold, DDO has city 'hubs' with instanced adventures you go into, complete with Dungeon Master narration (one of the coolest additions to the genre, IMO). You can actually play a REAL rogue-type character in it, stealthing through to objectives rather than being forced to kill everything.
Combat is nice though, don't get me wrong. Unlike mainstream MMOs where you might have to hack at a single mob for a minute to drop it, most monsters in DDO go down in 3 to 4 hits (at least up to where I am at level 4) but come at you in groups, so you've got to manouver to keep your flanks protected, maybe block those kobolds up in a doorway for the wizard in the group to drop a Web, or pull back behind the fighters long enough for the cleric to heal you. Heck, the other night I was in a group that ran into a giant (and I mean 12-foot+) on an adventure and the only way we could kill it was to have the fighters and my cleric shield-blocking in front of the sorceror (keeping the giant from reaching him) while he nuked it down. Built-in voice chat is another nice touch.
It's really refreshing coming from other MMOs, and there's a ton of variety in the adventures. If anyone is already playing or wants to try it, I have two buddy trial codes (though you'll need to get the client somewhere) and play on the Sarlona server as Weylan Tor.
![[Image: 9426697EGZMV.png]](http://sigs.guildlaunch.net/wsig.php/9426697EGZMV.png)