Woe is me

[Pojodan]

Little background first:

My first MMOG was Diablo, having been in on computers since the Commodore 64, but didn't get Internet access till about 1996.

Was really into Diablo II as well as Starcraft.

Discovered MMORPGs in 2001 with Everquest and got to play it at it's best Pre-Luclin, quit shortly afterwards only to return and get a Beastlord to 65 w/ 240 AAs until the Froggy Era in which I quit for good.

Played DAoC from shortly after release to about 6 months in, quit

Played WoW in beta to about 6 months in after release, quit

Played Shadowbane for about 2 days and.. yeah.

Played EQ2 beta, never bought retail

Played Auto Assault Beta, never bought retail

Played Vangard beta for about a week then never touched it again.

Currently I 'play' EvE, though with courier missions nerfed I find myself hardly running it at all as combat just doesn't appeal to me so much in that game.


Current situation:

Lately I swap between Flatout 2 and Starcraft UMS games and am getting bored quick.

So, what did I do last weekend? I downloaded Trial of the Isle for EQ2. Now I have 10 lvl 7-9 characters and find myself actually considering buying the game.


My dilema:

Should I buy EQ2 and see if it's what it should've been after beta? Or should I try one of the other MMOs out there that I've not yet touched (DnD, Horizons, etc)?

[DemonMage]

You obviously seem to enjoy EQ2, so it certainly wouldn't be a bad buy. Might as well go for it =-p DDO is an awesome game too, though it'll prolly end up being a short run for you unless you like maxing out lots of different characters. Here's to hoping Module 3 does add supposedly 30% more content.

[Pojodan]

Hmm.. I'm a little warry aboud DDO, but am tempted to give it a 'dive right in and give it a try' opportunity. I'm just unsure if I'll get my money's worth out of it.

As far as EQ2 goes, I just feel all funny playing anything that says 'Everquest' on it after that 3 year period of total submission to EQ1

[DemonMage]

I maxed out my cleric in a month or two, and had some of the better loot you could get back then. However there is now a lot more to do.. running all the quests on elite gets you rewards (favor) now rather than just satisifaction. There is more loot, there are three "raid" instances (12 man cap) that have nice loot in them. There is the Drow race to unlock via favor, which might be incentive to unlock and then level one up. Module 3 due in October adds a lot of content, supposedly, and it also raises the level cap to 12. A month or three (more if Module 3 is as awesome as it sounds) really isn't a bad buy, and you can always go back to it with later patches.

[Pojodan]

Alright, I'll intend to pick up DDO when Module 3 debuts. Thanks.

For now.. Eeergggh

[Tsu]

If you were going to get eq2 I might suggest waiting until echoes of faydwer comes out and buying the retail addition of that since it will come with the original game and all current expansions. No adventure packs though.

[barrelOfgoblins]

I maxed out my cleric in a month or two, and had some of the better loot you could get back then. However there is now a lot more to do.. running all the quests on elite gets you rewards (favor) now rather than just satisifaction. There is more loot, there are three "raid" instances (12 man cap) that have nice loot in them. There is the Drow race to unlock via favor, which might be incentive to unlock and then level one up. Module 3 due in October adds a lot of content, supposedly, and it also raises the level cap to 12. A month or three (more if Module 3 is as awesome as it sounds) really isn't a bad buy, and you can always go back to it with later patches.

hey i got a question for you about DDO which im guessing is dungeons and dragons online right? would it be a good game to play if your in an area where theres hardly anyone to play the pen and paper version? oh and is it a casual friendly game in the beginning levels and end game? Thanks :P

[DemonMage]

Uhm, it's not really that close to PnP. It's a lot better than you know, nothing, but there's not enough emphasis on story to get your roleplay on =-p It's fairly casual friendly, most quests don't take very long to do (30~ minute per instance), though some of the quest chains (Cult of the Six, Waterworks) can take a few hours to get through -- especially without a competent group. DDO being more action based gives you, the player, more impact on how combat and quests turn out. Combine it with the lack of regeneration and only a single shrine, if any, for restoration in any given quest and the difference between and good and bad player is pretty evident.

You still need a group for the quests past the newbie ones, but generally it's not that hard to find a group I believe. I tend to statically group with a friend or two, so I have a harder time knowing about the random group scene. Also you don't need a full group for most quests, but chances are high you'll need a cleric. Bard and paladin can vaguely fill in those roles, but the other "main" healer the Druid, is not in DDO yet (they are working on getting those and Monks in "Soon"). Other than that, 3 or 4 people can finish most of the quests in the game on Normal, doing Hard or Elite for your level will be rough but doable with a skilled group (varies heavily depending on the quest too).

[Pojodan]

Egh, The EQ2 expansion won't be for another 2 months.

I'm talking feeding this fix I'm building right now, darn it!

Hmm.. as I do not know anyone that plays DDO, how screwed would I be in terms of getting decents groups on a regular basis?

Also, how fast is the action compaired to how often/long the breaks are. I tend to like having significant pauses now and then to chat on my other computer with my non-gaming online friends.

[DemonMage]

Action is pretty constant, shrine resting takes 30 seconds or so. Other than that, and the minute or three rebuffing after that, you're probably moving pretty rapidly. There's no med or health breaks other than the brief shrine ones, so unless your group is afking for some reason you're just moving through the quest. Usually people do a few quests in a row if they're short ones, until they're loaded up with stuff or need to repair, then they head out and sell/repair/restock, which gives you 5 or 15 minutes before diving back into the quests.

[barrelOfgoblins]

whats the class balance like is there a useless class or an overpowered class?

[DemonMage]

Rangers are kinda blah. Arcane casters need help, their main use is utility, but damage is more important in MMORPG. Clerics are overpowered by design, it's a D&D thing =-p

[barrelOfgoblins]

is the monthly fee like the same with other online games? and is there PVP?

[Darkov]

Can I have your Vanguard slot! :p

DDO is pretty good, but like others have said it can be a little on the short side. The power curve is pretty much straight out of the PnP version atm, with melee being initially strong and leveling out as magic starts off weak and gets stronger. Though it's likely to be totally messed up by the time they get to lvl 20 cause of how powerful they have been making items in it. Though I suspect this likely to make the classes more balanced from an MMO point of view than a DnD point of view. Clerics as always rule, Bard is a good character too, and Rogue are very useful because of all the traps.

Combat is a little awkward, not quite being true MMO and not quite being true action either. But it's not enough to put someone off I don't think, the whole world outside the city (every quest), is instanced, thats a gripe I have, but not a major one.

EQ2 is a different beast, from what I've read on Vanguard, I'd be suprised if you liked EQ2 in the long run, it's not EQ, it's nothing like EQ, but it seems to have a lot of the ideas Vanguard has been advertising (which isn't suprising), though with a different twist, and perhaps being a lot more basic over all.

EQ2 is, average in every respect I think, nothing really shines in it. And I could never stand being in Norrath when it's not the Norrath I grew to love in EQ.

The combat in EQ2 is fun, I'll give it that, and the community is pretty nice.

I believe DDO has a trial too, might be worth downloading before you buy.

[DemonMage]

Yeah, there is a DDO trial (http://trial.ddo.com/?utm_source=www.ddo.com&utm_medium=Frontpage&utm_campaign=Trial). I forgot about that.

And yes, standard $15 fee. PvP either just went live, or is doing so with Module 3. But it'll never be anything of consequence, it's just tavern brawls (in a specific part of the tavern you wouldnt normally wander into).

[barrelOfgoblins]

hey i just downloaded it but it keeps telling my firewall is blocking it how do i fix it?

[DemonMage]

Allow it through your firewall? Or open the proper ports on your router if you have one.

[Pojodan]

Well, I downloaded the DDO trial and can't say I like it so much.

The loot system is quite nice, if a little annoying with how small things are on the ground to click on and how easy it is to miss an opened chest while in a group that's running all over the place.

I found myself quite lost with all the stuff I needed to understand such as the dozens of skills, talents, etc that I had to select from without any real certainty of which would help me the most.

I just didn't have fun with it.

As it turned out Fry's Electronics had EQ2 on sale for $10 so I picked it up.. see how I feel in a month.