Long time players: What keeps you interested in DDO?

[Carpone]

Looking for feedback from long time DDO players, especially those that have been playing since release in 2006. What keeps you logging in every day?

[KoboldKiller]

The people I run with.

The want to create items for my alts from the Shroud (only made weapons so far).

Addiction.

[ArloOne]

Here are some of my reason's.
1. Great people.
2. Great Graphics and game mechanics.
3. Diversity in character choices and growth.
4. Cool quests and story lines.
5. Quick play. I can jump on and run a desert or vale loot run real quick and get my fix.
6. Updates and New content. Turbine does try and satisfy.
7. Bacon

There are surely far more reasons I continue to play, these are just a few.

[Mark_G]

I keep trying out different builds, and have been playing almost since launch. Still need to get a toon to 20th....or to craft something. :)

[zeeker]

What keeps me playing is the promise of druids. Which if I correctly recall was started last quarter of 2007. Actually done with promises at this point. I'm gonna go try out FFXIV till some of them start to materialize :)

[Lithic]

A way to keep improving my main character. With TR in the mix, I should be around another year at least :D

[Fomori]

I'm mainly interested in DDO because while there is a late game mentality, there is no 'end game' effect like the other major MMO's where its ONLY about raids.

There are times where things get dull but then I take a break and realize that even the flaws DDO has are much more palatable than the flaws of the other games I dabble in.

[Junts]

I'm a perfectionist. I'm driven to get the very best out of my characters, which to my perspective involves a lot of raiding. Having +2 ac or significant damage bonuses or radical character adjustments (eg, self-healing paladin builds) available through specific pieces of raidloot makes me constitutionally incapable of not going for them: I time myself out on the raids that can drop what I need before I do anything else, and prioritize based on what improves my characters most.

This means I spend a lot of time in epic dragon and epic demon queen.


It helps to do these things with good, enjoyable people who are pleasant to be around.


I don't find TRing to be satisfying character growth because I spend so much time doing things I've already done and could already do better before. A post-tr character is another story, of course, but its a lot of time spent re-doing stuff you were already capable of doing better, and it feels like a massive time sink.

[hecate355]

1: dnd game mechanics, one of best iv seen in any games, baldurs gate falls into same category, lots of games out there give very little feedback on how certain hit, skill, tactics worked, dnd is different, you get detailed information about what is going on. i wish there would be more games adapting this

2: i like building and improving chars

3: things done quick/hard quests are still quite nice adrenaline rush, some builds have lots of coordinated buttons to push and lots of insight to put in how you execute things

its far from being finished list... those were that sprung in mind

PS: came to ddo at some point 2006, just found out 1 of my oldest trial accounts was 2006, else i wouldnt really remember when, all i remember was mod4 splash screen.

[ThePage311]

I've been around from launch except I come and go every few months or so. Its usually the game I play between games, if that makes sence. Played FFXI for a while, then DDO. Tried out WoW for a while, then back to DDO. LOTRO, then back to DDO. Age of Conan, then back to DDO. Global Agenda, then back to DDO. My next planned break is the end of September when FFXIV goes live.

... expect me back mid 2011 though!

[Chazzie]

Tip of the hat,

Being a old school AD&D Pnp Player~It's Seeing things with my eye's and ripping it apart. Those years of sitting around a table with friends in our mountain of books and note books looking for the big d20 on a roll was fun. Now what took 6 hours I can do in 1/2 hour with friends and on top of that I can See with my own eyes that Beholder at my Knee's Dead :)

[Racalin]

Hiya All

What keeps me around
Questing with Friends made on here
Makin some new friends
Playing DnD in a visual atmosphere
Seeing what Turbine can come out

[GreenGurgler]

The REAL answer that most will never admit (or will only admit it jokingly) is addiction pure and simple. No, I am serious. :(

Keep pulling that loot lever.... come on 7-7-7 ... **** another +1 item. Oh well, maybe the next slot... er ... chest will have the Über item I want.

And a desire to bury our heads in the sand from the real world around us for whatever personal reason we have. Gaming (especially MMO's) allow us to lose ourselves in a fantasy world where we feel we have more control over our successes than we have in the real world. We are constantly getting positive reinforcement to keep us coming back and at a rate that is far faster than our real world lives.

That about sums it up IMHO.

[Montrose]

1) Soloing. I've soloed just about every solo-able quest in the game, including some that require stupid hireling tricks (I'm looking at you Necro quests with your multi-platform goofiness and your lever-unlocking-stand-around-and-wait-a-long-time-for-door-to-open lameness), and it's fun to just try and get it done.

2) Trying to get one of every class to 20 (alts, not TR'ing). Hardly an accomplishment, but I don't play that much, and when I do it's usually in small chunks. So that's taking me awhile and keeping me in the game. [ so far I've got a capped: fighter, sorc, wizard, barb, cleric. I had a capped pally but I TR'd him into the fighter. The rest are all 17+ except for FvS, which I just can't get into ]

3) Belonging to a great guild of cool people.

4) Love of the source material. I grew up on d&d and I just like the source material a lot

[Charlemagne2]

I agree with most of the previous post's, but really its all about the loot. As long as cool loot falls I am there.

[Giantsbane]

The REAL answer that most will never admit (or will only admit it jokingly) is addiction pure and simple. No, I am serious. :(

Keep pulling that loot lever.... come on 7-7-7 ... **** another +1 item. Oh well, maybe the next slot... er ... chest will have the Über item I want.

And a desire to bury our heads in the sand from the real world around us for whatever personal reason we have. Gaming (especially MMO's) allow us to lose ourselves in a fantasy world where we feel we have more control over our successes than we have in the real world. We are constantly getting positive reinforcement to keep us coming back and at a rate that is far faster than our real world lives.

That about sums it up IMHO.

Ditto! Plus, my guildies. This is the only MMO that I've played. The only reason I started playing was the D&D aspect. Other than a 2 month break this year, I've been here since the first Stress Test.

[LordLotate]

Here are some of my reason's.
1. Great people.
2. Great Graphics and game mechanics.
3. Diversity in character choices and growth.
4. Cool quests and story lines.
5. Quick play. I can jump on and run a desert or vale loot run real quick and get my fix.
6. Updates and New content. Turbine does try and satisfy.
7. Bacon

There are surely far more reasons I continue to play, these are just a few.



agrees +1

[Dex800]

I like the twitch gameplay combined with the endless custom builds you can make for fun. It's about replay value for me, I don't mind running the same quests over with new builds and new people.

[Kalari]

1. Good friends
2. Have not yet finished doing every quest availible
3. Have not yet capped every class though im only missing a pure fighter and pure monk now.

once I get 2 and 3 done it will basically only be good friends and a great set of Guilds on Sarlona and Thelanis that will be the reason to log on.

[cwfergtx]

Here are some of my reason's.
1. Great people.
2. Great Graphics and game mechanics.
3. Diversity in character choices and growth.
4. Cool quests and story lines.
5. Quick play. I can jump on and run a desert or vale loot run real quick and get my fix.
6. Updates and New content. Turbine does try and satisfy.
7. Bacon

There are surely far more reasons I continue to play, these are just a few.

The above is what keeps me running. Plus
8. Being able to get on at any time I want to run a few hours.

[dragonlo]

I havent since the desert was the new area had a toon capped. will get within 1 or 2 levs or cap then will leave for 3-6 months come back and re roll a toon ^^. always feel like I havent finished with the game that way

[Bilger]

The People is my main reason.

If didn't have the friends I do here would of been gone to LOTRO or somewhere else a long time ago.

Not saying the game isn't great it is awesome the mechanics by far are best out there.

Just saying content wise without the people here would of been gone by now.

[Phidius]

The REAL answer that most will never admit (or will only admit it jokingly) is addiction pure and simple. No, I am serious. :(

Keep pulling that loot lever.... come on 7-7-7 ... **** another +1 item. Oh well, maybe the next slot... er ... chest will have the Über item I want.

And a desire to bury our heads in the sand from the real world around us for whatever personal reason we have. Gaming (especially MMO's) allow us to lose ourselves in a fantasy world where we feel we have more control over our successes than we have in the real world. We are constantly getting positive reinforcement to keep us coming back and at a rate that is far faster than our real world lives.

That about sums it up IMHO.

/signed

[QuantumFX]

My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

[KoboldKiller]

The REAL answer that most will never admit (or will only admit it jokingly) is addiction pure and simple. No, I am serious. :(

Keep pulling that loot lever.... come on 7-7-7 ... **** another +1 item. Oh well, maybe the next slot... er ... chest will have the Über item I want.

And a desire to bury our heads in the sand from the real world around us for whatever personal reason we have. Gaming (especially MMO's) allow us to lose ourselves in a fantasy world where we feel we have more control over our successes than we have in the real world. We are constantly getting positive reinforcement to keep us coming back and at a rate that is far faster than our real world lives.

That about sums it up IMHO.

Not to pat my own back but I did list addiction. :D

however the rest of your post pretty much sums it up.

[biggin]

The people and my familiarity with the game. This is my first MMO, and having watched it evolve from the 1st year, I wasn't very far behind the power curve.

Plus I like my server, for better or worse. My guildies and friends are top notch and you get to be around people who you would normally throw bricks at in RL. All types of personalities, levels of drunkeness, etc. You run into people over the years that may have taken a break, had a baby, etc, and it's good to catch back up and have a few laughs.

[sigtrent]

For starters... I don't play every day. I tend to go in spurts. I took a year off at one point and only logged in every month or so at best. Ive also had times (like now) where I am on most nights for 2 hours at the least.

1. What makes playing the most fun is the other players. Especially when talking about doing the same quests over and over. Playing with others really helps that. The cooperation and the helping one another, and just talking about the game. The thing that most often gets me jazzed about logging in is talking about the game with others.

2. Character building. I love building characters in any game I plan and DDO is one of the best for this. The level of options and complexity and impact of your choices blows away any other MMO and rivals many great single player games. The D&D rules have a few flaws, but they are good rules that make for interesting choices and thats what a game is really about; making choices and feeling the impact that they have. To many games give you few choices or many choices that have no impact.

3. The nice mix of a numbers game with twitchy game play. Your character matters, your gear matters, and the technique of play matters. So when I play I am engaged mind and body most of the time. When idle I am either fiddling around with my gear, or I am randomly jumping on things. I just like the 3d feel and tactile interaction of the game world. Other MMO's always felt kind of missing that where objects that were not level ground were simply off limits or felt like geometry rather than rooms and objects. While the AI is not amazing, the critters feel more alive than in most games where most monsters stand in one spot and do the same animation over and over. That happens here too, but most fights are faster and many monsters do scoot around or charge forward or what have you.

4. Great gear. Many MMO's loose the fun of getting gear because each new item is only a small difference than the one you already have. In DDO you get lots of **** gear but it is clearly different in a measurable and significant way. When you find something better it feels significantly better. You notice the difference in using it both in the numbers and in the play. A few other MMOs get this right, but many do not.

5. Cool dungeons. The quests are really cool looking. When I solo sometimes I will just stop and look at stuff or go into first person and take pictures of pretty scenes. Other games have this too, but it helps that DDO is at least on par in this area.

Thats most of it. I also like the item shopping but other games do that better.

[diamabel]

My join date is misleading, as I was playing on the european servers before.

I'm no friend of the MMO paradigm that content equates to gear acquisition. But here are my motivations:

1) It's D&D.
2) I like the quests more than what i met in other MMOs
3) The combat system
4) Most important. The possibility to experiment with builds. Some builds might not be tailored for "end game", but they are quite fun during the "voyage".
5) some of my in-game aquaintances keep me playing

[Therigar]

When you are my age you begin to realize that the only people playing PnP are either groups of friends who have known each other for 30 years or a bunch of unwashed, disaffected children who gather at the local book store or game shop. In either case, if you are not of the same type you have difficulty fitting in.

Social, religous and family expectations create an unfriendly atmosphere when you are retired and approaching your 60's but you want to spend every afternoon with high school kids playing fantasy games. Bottom line is, PnP gaming simply doesn't exist in my world any more.

DDO allows me to enjoy a game that has been among my favorites for almost half of my life. Along with Ancient & Medieval miniature wargaming it probably defines the vast bulk of my "me" time. I can play without the recriminations, having met my responsibilities as a dad and husband, setting my gaming time to match my free time.

I have the flexibility to play when I want, not play when I don't want and nothing is hurt if I have to be responsible and do the laundrey or mow the lawn or take weeks off at a time for family vacations.

That is the real, bottom line reason I enjoy DDO. And, it is what keeps me logging in -- both here and in game.

[schroebj13]

I keep trying out different builds, and have been playing almost since launch. Still need to get a toon to 20th....or to craft something. :)

Same here. I like the story lines and playing for fun. I always have something to do or a goal to gain.

[Nahual]

Its either hang out with friends you make all over the world or watch tv.

[Samadhi]

Good question. Pls forgive the long answer but I want to be thorough because some of the things that did keep me here over the past 4 years are no longer relevant, sadly.

1) Initial Exploration: Obviously this hits everyone at first and, unless your budget is phenomenal, will always wear off at some point. For me, this took a solid 10 months (right about the time I capped my 3rd viable toon).

2) Friends: This has intermittently held me in game. At the moment, it is one of the largest motivating factors. However, there have been several times (my guild leaving as a group to check out AOC; my guild leaving as a group with no specific plans at all just because they were sick of Turbine) that this was actually a demotivating factor.

3) Combat: This used to be one of the highest points of the game IMO - the FPS-style of real time combat where keyboard skills counted (the reason I can't stand WOW). However, with targeting continually being screwed with, as well as the pace being slowed down, I really find myself playing almost exclusively casters these days, and it is not the draw it once was. It is still a plus, though, despite being a less positive plus.

4) Character Builds: After the initial exploration phase wore off, this was 100% the main thing that kept me interested in game. My goal was infinite character slots and infinite build nuances. I spent more time designing hypothetical builds then playing at times. This, however, is no longer a draw for me - and the loss of this is one of the main reasons I could see myself moving on outside of RL reasons. Gear is part of it (to be discussed in the next point - so skipped here for saving space). PRE's are another part of it. At one point in time, most abilities were granted gradually enough, that every level could be weighed against another to determine a unique but still relevant build decision. Now, with immense power being granted at specific tiers (6/12/18) and a lot of enhancement/feat requirements necessary for these power jumps - complex build decisions are at an all time low. Almost any flavor decision these days results in your build decreasing in power drastically. The loss of this factor in keeping me game interested is a huge detriment to destroying one of the most unique aspects of DDO.

5) Gear & Loot Runs: Another thing that, when the cap was 12-16, would keep me highly interested in the game was loot runs. Ransacking random chests in the fastest way possible could entertain me for hours. These days, there is no good loot that drops in random chests, at all. While I enjoy raiding too (mostly for #2 reasons), the uselessness of the random loot table in comparison to bigger and better raid loot took away what, at one point in time, had me playing 60hrs/wk. Bound loot is worse than non-bound; because I can't play whatever character I feel like playing, I have to play the one that needs loot. Crafting is worse than random loot; because I have a gambler type personality, and prefer the slim chance of getting lucky NOW (let's roll them dice!!) to the knowledge that I KNOW I will have to grind out XX shrouds or XX epic dungeons for the item I want.


So what keeps me here now? Mostly just friends, at the moment, as well as the lack of anything better to do instead. However, friends themselves would not have kept me here for four years without breaks, and the other reasons listed should really be reviewed as to some of the ways this game has really taken a turn for the worse, IMO.

(Although to not be completely negative, the graphical appearance of content has continued to be cooler and cooler, so there is one thing the devs have done right).

[78mackson]

I think that Burroughs explained it best in the book 'Junkie'

"Why does a junkie quit junk of his own will?
You never know the answer to that question.
No concious tabulation of the disadvantages
and horror of junk gives you the emotional drive to kick.
The decision to quit junk is a cellular decision, and once
you have decided to quit you cannot go back to junk permanently
any more than you could stay away from it before."

and...

"An addict may be 10 years off the junk,
but he can get a new habit in less then a week;
whereas someone who has never been addicted
would have to take two shots per day for two months
to get any habit at all."

[Cyr]

There are three main things that keep me logging in...

1) The players. Lot's of good peps who play DDO.

2) Character optimization and advancement. TR's are about the limit of the easy grind that I can take. Epic gear aquisition is much more satisfying as it is much more of a challenge (gameplay wise not time wise). The new epics have been an enormous dispointment in this regard because of the very substandard loot in them.

3) The quests. DDO at it's heart is about how much fun the quests are to play. I have enjoyed the new quests on epic alot. The lack of new raids has been a huge dispoinment also.

[Twerpp]

Running a supertwink TR combat healer with a bunch of noobs, not healing them, oneshotting 134 kills to their 3 with a level 8 two handed greensteel, listening to them cry about missing the quest entirely, sitting back and drinking their F2P tears out of a 5 gallon jug.

[Memnir]

The friends I've made.
The combat is the best in any current MMO.
Build flexibility.

[Taimasan]

For me its the friends and community, the quests have just become boring and repetitive with no real new end game content added except the IQ and Dreaming Dark. Its basically become a huge chat engine and I can just zone out on any quest/raid be it normal, epic or elite.

[MrWizard]

Looking for feedback from long time DDO players, especially those that have been playing since release in 2006. What keeps you logging in every day?

1) don't log in everyday.

2) right now it is building a certain type of toon and pushing the build.

Once you play long enough, the quests are no longer vast and mysterious. You understand the underlying philosophy of the game and the content (which is not as fun as being new at all).

Each evolution of you still playing seems to require a different thought pattern. Zerg, many alts, raiding, new character builds, being a mentor, etc.. I find different times in my play over the years I would change and start doing a different aspect of the game.

Currently halfway to 20 on my second TR fighter. Probably my last fighter forever.
Once I am done with him I think I will be totally bored with fighters.

Probably take a break and then come back and reincarnate my old wiz and sorc.

[Lcdr_Swizzle]

- I got into the game during beta because I was a big pencil-and-paper player in the 70's and 80's. I wanted to see if they captured the best of that in this game.

- I entered with 2 of my children and my brother, and some friends.

- I met people along the way and can honestly say that if my friends all left, I would not stay either. My kids went to other things (my daughter has pretty much dropped out of gaming, my son onto other games) while my brother is the current leader of our guild. Both of us have seen a decrease in time available to play as life is pretty busy for us both.

Bottom line: I still enjoy the game and the quality time with people.

[ristretto93]

I think that Burroughs explained it best in the book 'Junkie'

"Why does a junkie quit junk of his own will?
You never know the answer to that question.
No concious tabulation of the disadvantages
and horror of junk gives you the emotional drive to kick.
The decision to quit junk is a cellular decision, and once
you have decided to quit you cannot go back to junk permanently
any more than you could stay away from it before."

and...

"An addict may be 10 years off the junk,
but he can get a new habit in less then a week;
whereas someone who has never been addicted
would have to take two shots per day for two months
to get any habit at all."

All this says is that you know nothing about heroin addiction. Not playing DDO doesn't make you sick...literally too sick to function. Weird that you make this comparison. Just weird.

[Midnightetak]

Hmm..

A)My guildmates and ddo buddies and their various guilds - jokes, drama, looting, more jokes, more looting.. etc

B)The promise of some cool loot in a chest.. maybe the next chest.. or maybe the chest after.. or the chest after.. or maybe this chest.. now im getting a good feeling with this chest.. dammit there has to be a chest somewhere with cool loot in it for me!!

C)Trying on various mithril armours to find an armour design that i can stand looking at for more than 20 minutes. Dont even get me started on the fashion crime Splint mail is. Ugh.. /facepalm

D)Novelty Server Events - festivals have been a lot of fun but im still waiting to see what they do next to try and beat the blowing up of the old marketplace tent.

E) Luring unsuspecting newbies (and some knowing oldies)into clicking on my Cake Djini in the harbour and watching them all dance. I get way too much amusement from that.

[sirgog]

Addiction, challenge, and perfectionism.

[moorewr]

Friends, addiction, build tinkering, infatuation with character progress.. (on the latter point once a character is capped I almost never login to them.. except for the occasional epic run..).

That said the impulse is fading.. need more high level content or my TRs will all die in the teens..