My Wife

[Trugaard]

Yes I play DDO and I'm married, so don't lose hope. The fact that she was face down in her own vomit and the alley was dimly lit means nothing. She married me and she's forever trapped.....err, bonded with me. That said I married outside my Nerdilogical Idealist Psuedo Religious (only for games not actual religion) culture and she doesn't have the same feeling of obligation to spend every waking hour in Stormreach.

This is solely for selfish reasons mind you but I must find a good first character for her that would not require full comprehension, for you see this is not her milieu. She is more comfortable with a "Tartini" in hand than she is a keyboard. I need something that is fairly simple at low levels and not a threat to jeopardize the group. My intention is that she will grow to love the game as I have and she will then learn very quickly with my help how to be a more than competant player.

I have a few ideas; Bard, Rogue or Ranger and I think I am leaning most towards Ranger. I think she may become bored with the Rogue since all the Pugs I'm in just run through the doggone traps and that would make her wonder why she was there. Bards may not be offensive enough to provide that steady diet of action and if she does hit something may not be strong enough to handle the aggro.

Anyhoo, I would mostly like to hear from the guys who got their wives into it and/or the ladies who may know a secret Jedi mind trick to get her playing. Preferably a wife who didn't already play games avidly prior to now.

Anyway let me know and thanks in advance.

[Impaqt]

Definatly Bard.......

Good ROgues are Priceless, Meidcore/Bad rogues are scorned. (Not saying she would be bad.. But if there isa chance thatshe would end up inthe later catagory, better to avoid such route)

Ranger? Hmmm.. Maybe... But again... Good Rangers---> Awesome, Bad to medicure ranger and hasta la vista Invites....

Bards.... Now THERE is a newbie class....

Bad to Mediocure bards can make ANY run better. WHo doesnt like Bard Buffs? Who doesnt like Haste? Who doesnt like a nice song to cheer em up...

and if ya get a Great bard. Watch out.. Add all those buffs with the ability to hold there own in combat... Maybe even heal a bit here and there.... Just plain awesome....

Basically, what I'm saying is that a bard, no matter how its played can contribute and enhance a group. the other 2.. Its hit or miss... THats why you always see so many Rogues and Rangers Crying on the forums about no one loving them.

[Borrigain]

For a first character......Go pally man!

It's what I did for my wife. Survivable, yet can fight and heal. It was during playing Diva that she found she liked the healing part more than the fighting.

So now she has a cleric that she loves to play......it's like a puzzle for her to "keep all the red bars full". I've talked to a few others who've said the same.....the motherly instinct that women have lend them to be fantastic healers whereas guys are usually more "bangum, smashum, destroy, destroy, destroy...nuke em till they glow! :D

However, I don't recommend starting her with a cleric, as that can be quite taxing until she's got a feel of the game. Especially if you get a group that makes healing a chore in itself. But as a Paladin, she can fight/heal/buff without having to be seen as the "primary" healer. This will give her time to practice the game and determine what "style" of combatant she enjoys.

Welcome to the husband/wives gaming club, :)
Borr.

PS. and it has made "spending time together" much more enjoyable for me! (completely selfish I know, but I don't know how much more Oxygen network I can take.......unless Xena is on....lol...:D)

[ChaelaAnne]

I play with my husband (DDO YOU PERVES!!!!!) and I LOVE my straight fighter. I play with two handed weapons, and beat the ever lovin' junk outta stuff.

[Nitestalker]

To be honest my wife got me into this game. I was nto a big MMO fan (hated the idea of buying a game, then paying monthly for it). However, my knoledge shined because I am a PnP player (or was till firends moved away, and can't find a decnt group to save my life). My wife started fighter to get used to playing, she tried cleric and loved it, then she went Sorcere and never looked back. My issue is getting her to want to play again lol

[adamkatt]

Yes I play DDO and I'm married, so don't lose hope. The fact that she was face down in her own vomit and the alley was dimly lit means nothing. She married me and she's forever trapped.....err, bonded with me. That said I married outside my Nerdilogical Idealist Psuedo Religious (only for games not actual religion) culture and she doesn't have the same feeling of obligation to spend every waking hour in Stormreach.

This is solely for selfish reasons mind you but I must find a good first character for her that would not require full comprehension, for you see this is not her milieu. She is more comfortable with a "Tartini" in hand than she is a keyboard. I need something that is fairly simple at low levels and not a threat to jeopardize the group. My intention is that she will grow to love the game as I have and she will then learn very quickly with my help how to be a more than competant player.

I have a few ideas; Bard, Rogue or Ranger and I think I am leaning most towards Ranger. I think she may become bored with the Rogue since all the Pugs I'm in just run through the doggone traps and that would make her wonder why she was there. Bards may not be offensive enough to provide that steady diet of action and if she does hit something may not be strong enough to handle the aggro.

Anyhoo, I would mostly like to hear from the guys who got their wives into it and/or the ladies who may know a secret Jedi mind trick to get her playing. Preferably a wife who didn't already play games avidly prior to now.

Anyway let me know and thanks in advance.


New class, married guy 32 pointer!

[wiglin]

I agree Bard is good way to go. That way until she gets the hang of casting her buffs and backup heals will contribute.

[Cayrie]

A bard would be very newbie-friendly. Nice haggle, can play with some spells, a few weapons (if she chooses), bard songs will always be a hit, self-healing/sufficient...I think that would be the best route to go. And like a previous poster said, even a bard who isn't the most experienced can still be extremely helpful to the party, via bardsongs and the like.

[Cuchilo]

DDO was the first PC game I could get my wife(to be) to play. Solitaire was it before DDO. She started with a straight fighter, and learned how to kill stuff. Then we rolled her a pally to get her into using more than the right mouse button and numbers 1-10. She still plays her original fighter, but has since rolled up a 32 point Bard which she is enjoying.

Make sure that whatever she plays she can master and feel that she has done so. We all like feeling that we are doing well at something. Fighter was the easiest to me to help her build well, minimised the number of clickies/skills etc she needed to remember to use at start. Now that we both play, its great. She totally understands all my time spent in game, especially when I use the excuse that I'm farming for something for one of HER characters. :))

[Therbjorn]

Well...I actually just got my mom into the game and she plays a paladin. She gets to use the simple melee combat all she wants, but as she progresses in-game she can expand her powers and use spells and the like.

[markymarksta]

Go Pally,

Make sure you build it for her. Give it good saves (CHA), reasonable Strength and some Con. She is immune to annoying things like disease and fear. Highly resistant to other annoying spells like hold person. Self reliant with resists. When she gets low on hit points, lay on hands. You wan't to make her first experience as pain free as possible. With a pally there is less likelyhood for complaining and confusion.

[Spookykid]

Mine just started playing, not the best hand-eye cordination so i thought this game might be a bit much.
Made her an elf ranger, told her she had to pick up the evil artifact in the basement, then she basically soloed the whole harbor.
I was kinda stunned since i didnt twink her at all, didnt want to spoil the begining fun parts, like to swiming.

[cdbd3rd]

I play with my husband (DDO YOU PERVES!!!!!) and I LOVE my straight fighter. I play with two handed weapons, and beat the ever lovin' junk outta stuff.

/Skips the first one, tooe asy, and already defended against, moves to the second...

Sooo.... We can make fighters that are, ummm... NOT straight?!?
:D

[CavernDragon]

My wife likes to just swing and kill, she dont care about spells, So I would say a fighter or pally to start off with, They get the action and this keeps it fun. Make her an uber tank or pally and this will keep her in.

[Bekki]

My wife Just started playing as well.

made her a Halfling Ranger, but will seriously consider the bard thing...

I figured the ranger would survive better and as she got more experiance
she could start with the spells.

[jarlaxle_dourden]

Good luck ...

I tried to get my wife interested in the game but we have just decided that she watches the boob tube and I play video games ... never the twain shall meet.

It works out ok ... every now and then we plan a night together but for the most part we just do our own thing.

Again ... best of luck and I hope you have more success than I did.

[Darth_Sizzle]

Her 1st character should be a Fighter, as others have said, this is the easiest class to build and play.

Once she is familar with the game she will know what she wants to try next.

Any class with a spell points should probably wait until a good understanding of the game has developed.

[Rathji]

My hubby got me started with a fighter. Easy. Simple. Point and shoot... er... swing. I loved it, and still play her occasionally, when not messing around with all 17 other toons I play. As a first one, make it simple. Giver her damage dealing, not funky **** like trip and sunder. That's too much as a beginner.

We then got our kids playing, and found that fighters/barbs were again, the easiest for a beginner to mmo to handle. Clerics are just not a good idea, and bards are... not the easiest if you've never gamed before. Actually, anything with spell points is prolly a good idea to stay away from as a 'starter toon'. Oh, and let her customize the look! (it's all about the look!)

As for hubby, he quit the game, but I'm still here. He'll visit me in Stormreach every once in a while, but then quickly runs away. So be careful! She may actually like it!

[Rathji]

...Sooo.... We can make fighters that are, ummm... NOT straight?!?
:D

...have you SEEN the human male run in this game????
;)

[Caelan]

i disagree with you building it for her. sit with her and give pointers, but don't do it for her.

the perfect build is not necessary. have her do the beginning stuff without you. let her read everything.

my first inclination is palladin. can heal self in a pinch. saves help her out of surprise situations. but still is pretty simple to just fight.

fighter/barbarian would be my second choice. there is less to learn. less to focus on simultaneously.

i would not recommend bard, though i love my bard. i would not have if i had played her first.

she is not going to want to die a lot. so melee would be less likely to do that. dying will be more frustrating than if some random person doesn't think her playing is up to snuff.

she will be learning controls, hotbars, quests, buying, selling, gear usefulness, monster lore, all at once. might not want to add in songs and casting spells and material components etc.

i would also recommend you get your guildies or whoever to group with her at lower levels with the express goal of helping her learn. not zerg through. not just level up. not do it all for her. let her learn it. it is a fun game but unless you give her the chance to really experience it she will only get frustrated and be constantly reminded that you are better than she is in this game. which i'm sure i don't have to tell you, that is a big no-no. :D

[Osharan_Tregarth]

Well, for my gf's first character, I did enough duoing to unlock the drow on her account, and then went with an evasion paladin build. She says it spoiled her forever, with how easy it was to level up.

[EKKM]

Going to go with the majority and suggest a paladin or fighter. Pally gives durability, can self heal, good at melee and is very resistant to annoying things like fear. If a fighter, try to minimize the clickable feats like trip, stunning etc at first. Maybe take power attack as it is easy to explain (press this to smash things good).

I think a bard or rogue just has to many options and that can be overwhelming. Not sure about ranger as they can generate a lot of agro.

[sblmike]

Fighters at low levels are easy to run. They have good HP and I am sure you can help twink her out. All they need to do is Hack and Slash and if they get in trouble they take care of themselves. I don't know but I look at Rogues, Rangers and Bards and great when they are good and disasterous when they are not. You want people to want to play with her and really ... who can't play a lobie tank.

[Redd]

DDO was the first PC game I could get my wife(to be) to play. Solitaire was it before DDO. She started with a straight fighter, and learned how to kill stuff. Then we rolled her a pally to get her into using more than the right mouse button and numbers 1-10. She still plays her original fighter, but has since rolled up a 32 point Bard which she is enjoying.

Make sure that whatever she plays she can master and feel that she has done so. We all like feeling that we are doing well at something. Fighter was the easiest to me to help her build well, minimised the number of clickies/skills etc she needed to remember to use at start. Now that we both play, its great. She totally understands all my time spent in game, especially when I use the excuse that I'm farming for something for one of HER characters. :))


What Cuchilo hasnt mentioned is that she pawns him consistantly, therefore hes actually farming for himself, still seeking the +5 greater wife bane rapier :D

You might have to do the rinse and redo approach, make a class, try it out and if it works, great!. Imo, keep it simple, but allow her to build her own toon; women love to feel empowered (ducks). If all else fails, just have lots of sex!

[Trugaard]

I appreciate all the input it was very helpful. For the guy who said have more sex....I'm pretty sure I said I was married...hello?

I ended up helping her build a Drow/Paladin and she acted like she hated it the whole time we were in Goodblades, but later she confessed she had fun. So looks good for me, she is not really into repeating quests tho, so her leveling may be stagnant for a while.

[Ironforge_Clan]

Go straight fighter!

I am in the same situation and luckily my wife agreed to try it out. I helped her create a female elven fighter (hey can't have her playing some dumpy ugly dwarf now can I). Other than her affliction to video games and complete nervousness to doing something wrong she is actually quite capable. You might try, like I did, creating a character that you play only while she is on. In my case I rolled up a rogue so we had some minor healing, trap finding, and some fighting capabilities to help her along. Just take it slow and be mindful of letting your wife explore everything since it is new to her.

Good luck.

[jkkeller914]

My wife's first alt was an evasion Pally / Rogue. She built her all the way up to level cap (14th at the time) and started working on a variety of other classes. Favorites so far have definitely been Clerics and Bards. She despised playing a Barbarian and a Ranger. She feels fairly competent on her Wizard (but didn't like Sorceror).

I guess the questions would be whether your wife is a 'gamer' and if she's familiar with D&D at all. My wife was neither, so seeing how much she is enjoying this game really surprised me.