Some questions from a new player

[Calius]

First of all, thank you for your answers :)

1) Is this game group friendly? I really want a game where grouping and dungeon crawls is a big part of it.
a. if yes, is there a class or classes that are easier to get groups with?

2) Is using a F2P account to "trial" the game fair, or will it be too restrictive as to not give the best first impression?

3) Any server better for a true newbie to start out?

4) Some games are great, but if you missed the boat starting new is not much fun because everyone is max level, is starting out new right now going to be viable and let me find others to group with hopefully?

Again thanks for your time.

[Quetzacoala]

1. Yes, this is the most friendly MMORPG I have ever heard of
a. Healers, but all classes are welcomed

2. It is very fair! I started off f2p, and enjoyed it greatly

3. No idea... I play on Sarlona, seems Khyber is the biggest. I would ask someone who plays on many servers

4. Yes, very easy to start from scratch due to the fact that everyone is running alts or TRs. Easy to find groups for all levels

If you have any additional questions, just ask

Enjoy your time playing, and best of luck!

[Memnir]

1) Is this game group friendly? I really want a game where grouping and dungeon crawls is a big part of it.
a. if yes, is there a class or classes that are easier to get groups with?
Yes, grouping is a very central component to this game. While one can still solo quite a bit, it's very group-friendly, and there are a fair number of quests that can only be done in a group.

Healing classes tend to find groups easily, but most classes have little trouble as most LFMs are looking for anyone.


2) Is using a F2P account to "trial" the game fair, or will it be too restrictive as to not give the best first impression?
F2P gives you a very genuine taste for the game, as most of the early game is free to play. If you enjoy the game enough to stick with it, that justifies buying optional content like adventure packs and races.

But, don't spend money on the game unless you like it enough to keep playing for a while.


3) Any server better for a true newbie to start out?
Not really. Poke about on the various servers till you find one you find you have more fun on then the others. :)


4) Some games are great, but if you missed the boat starting new is not much fun because everyone is max level, is starting out new right now going to be viable and let me find others to group with hopefully?
This game is also very new-player friendly. Jump on in, have fun.



Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. :) And, I hope you have as much fun with the game as I've had over the years.

[Gavman]

To answer your questions:
1) Yes. While you occasionally end up in a group that is not fun to play with, most other players are happy to help anyone else and usually you have a great time.
a. Healers (Cleric or Favoured Soul) are always in demand, so much so that the group leader will often hold a slot open in the group just to find awilling healer.

2)I have used a F2P account for most of my characters life. there is something of a difficult spot about lvl 9 where there is a dearth of good f2p adventures that are suitable (that was when I splashed out on new adventure packs - a move I have not regretted as some of them are totally awesome), but you can get round that by playing higher or lower levels for a while.

3) I don't know but I don't think so.

4)When you get to Max level you get the chance to "True reincarnate" as a new (slightly improved) beginning character with all the same equipment. This means there are always new characters being created and played. In addition, the people who run this game occasionally produce updates with new character cllasses or races, meaning that many people want to start a new character of this class/race to "test drive" it. (we just had the artificier class introduced and for a while half the party members were artificiers), so there are always opportunities at every level.

Hope this answers your questions.

[Arel]

First of all, thank you for your answers :)

1) Is this game group friendly? I really want a game where grouping and dungeon crawls is a big part of it.
a. if yes, is there a class or classes that are easier to get groups with?

2) Is using a F2P account to "trial" the game fair, or will it be too restrictive as to not give the best first impression?

3) Any server better for a true newbie to start out?

4) Some games are great, but if you missed the boat starting new is not much fun because everyone is max level, is starting out new right now going to be viable and let me find others to group with hopefully?

Again thanks for your time.

1. DDO is literally entirely dungeon crawling! (well, excluding the explorable areas) You shouldn't have much trouble finding groups, the LFM window (looking for more, accessed with the 'O' key) is usually pretty busy, at least for the lower level/f2p stuff.
a. Healers (Clerics and Favored Souls) are always in demand, but most experienced players will typically take the first however many people that show up, at least till the last spot. If it's not red, and the description text doesn't say P2P, you're good to go.

2. There's definitely some things that paying characters get that give you more options, but not so much that starting F2P is going to kill your enjoyment.

3. I'd say Thelanis, but I'm a little biased there :P

4. DDO has a mechanic called True Reincarnation, where you can make your maxed level character level 1 again and play through again with some (relatively minor) bonuses, and there's no hard cap on doing so. Between that, the relatively low level cap (you can hit max level in a week if you're dedicated), and a few other things, there's absolutely no reason you would be left out... but...

(5). Do some research before making your character(s)! DDO is VERY free-form in it's level up system, it follows the pen and paper Dungeons and Dragons rules pretty well there. You can easily screw up a character and make it too weak to be viable by mid-game, especially if you don't know what you're doing. Check the character builds forums, ask some questions, whatever, just don't fly off and gimp yourself. (It's worth noting that the 'character paths' given as options when your character is created are pretty much universally agreed to be ****. Just saying.)

[EarlofPain]

The game is the most fun when there is a social aspect and groups are the way to go. Just be warned there are idiots, rudes, elitest, and the plain silly out in the world. As for healer classes. You are going to get into more groups playing one but I wouldn't recommend it to someone just starting. It's hard enough to keep yourself alive when you just start let alone being responsible for keeping five others alive.

The free to play aspect is perfectly designed. You can get 99.9% of the game feel with no cash down.

No server is designated as a New server so it's all about luck in meeting people. If you are free to play there is also a built in game "bonus" for trying each server out. No point into going into the full story on this thread. If interested about it look up favor on the wiki.

There is a minor population that is the "best of the best" and you will not meet them for a long time. However everyone else is playing multiple characters at different levels so you should always have people out there to run with.

[zex95966]

1. yeah - and bards and clerics are pretty sought-after group members. I recommend bard as they are literally a jack of all trades and can specialize in whatever you like, melee or spellcasting etc.

2. When I started new, I was frustrated only having 2 character slots, and a really small bank. I would upgrade those if you run into the same frustration.

3. I've only been on 3 servers, thelanis, argo and sarlona. I recommend Thelanis or Sarlona - but it might have more to do with timezones and where you live and when you will be on.

4. You do run into a lot of TR's who know a lot more about the game and expect new players to be able to keep up and play as good as they do. My advice is to find a friendly guild as soon as possible.

[Quetzacoala]

I recommend Thelanis or Sarlona

Yeah, I am on Sarlona, and it is very friendly. If you choose to make it your home server send me a tell if I am on and I will give you some starter equipment (Micaril, Shokuro, Gavrok, Korvag, Phaerak, Lerziak)

[stille_nacht]

First of all, thank you for your answers :)

1) Is this game group friendly? I really want a game where grouping and dungeon crawls is a big part of it.
a. if yes, is there a class or classes that are easier to get groups with?

2) Is using a F2P account to "trial" the game fair, or will it be too restrictive as to not give the best first impression?

3) Any server better for a true newbie to start out?

4) Some games are great, but if you missed the boat starting new is not much fun because everyone is max level, is starting out new right now going to be viable and let me find others to group with hopefully?

Again thanks for your time.

1) groups are easier to find after level 5 or so, but they are available throughout the game, after level 12, you pretty much have to group most of the time
a. healers are the most welcome usually (cleric)

2) its sort of fair, though the harbor can be lackluster at times, the market quests are pretty decent

3) khyber has probably the most LFMs (press "o" to see the parties forming), and it has a really noob-friendly environment

4) starting out new is very viable, ddo has new players as well as vets doing something called "true resurrecting" all the time.

[Calius]

thanks a lot, if the responses (both quality and quantity) are an indication of the DOD community in general then I am very excited to get started.

[Calius]

1) does the group finder tool take you to the dungeon like in WOW? or had you better know how to get there before joining a party?

2) I assume it will be a good idea to tell a group leader ahead of time (before joining that I am a noob and make sure he is cool with that?

[Sleepsalot]

You can find them on your map also if you have a quest there will be a arrow to guide you if that quest is selected on your quest list.. And you are not a noob.. You are a Newb.. Noob are ones that never ask and think they know every thing... Welcome to the game I hope you have a good time..


Sleeps :D :) :D


1) does the group finder tool take you to the dungeon like in WOW? or had you better know how to get there before joining a party?

2) I assume it will be a good idea to tell a group leader ahead of time (before joining that I am a noob and make sure he is cool with that?

[blkcat1028]

1) Is this game group friendly? I really want a game where grouping and dungeon crawls is a big part of it.
a. if yes, is there a class or classes that are easier to get groups with?
Yes, grouping is a very central component to this game. While one can still solo quite a bit, it's very group-friendly, and there are a fair number of quests that can only be done in a group.

Healing classes tend to find groups easily, but most classes have little trouble as most LFMs are looking for anyone.


2) Is using a F2P account to "trial" the game fair, or will it be too restrictive as to not give the best first impression?
F2P gives you a very genuine taste for the game, as most of the early game is free to play. If you enjoy the game enough to stick with it, that justifies buying optional content like adventure packs and races.

But, don't spend money on the game unless you like it enough to keep playing for a while.


3) Any server better for a true newbie to start out?
Not really. Poke about on the various servers till you find one you find you have more fun on then the others. :)


4) Some games are great, but if you missed the boat starting new is not much fun because everyone is max level, is starting out new right now going to be viable and let me find others to group with hopefully?
This game is also very new-player friendly. Jump on in, have fun.



Any other questions, don't hesitate to ask. :) And, I hope you have as much fun with the game as I've had over the years.

This pretty much sums it up.

The only thing I can add is if you end up on Thelanis, send me a pm here and I can pass you some some gear as well.

Cheers and welcome to the game! :)

[Galeria]

You kinda need to know where are you are going before you hit the LFM (Looking For Members.) Joining a group and immediately typing in "What house?" tends to annoy people.

When you get to the harbor, take some time to look around. Go into the Market and wander around til you have a good idea where all the different houses are.

When you see an LFM up you want to join, look it up before you join. Click P to see all the quests, listed by level and find the name of the quest in the group board that you want to join. It will tell you which house it's in and if you click it, it will give you a little more information, like who the quest giver is.

Try to get to the house as you are clicking join. Get someone to share the quest and once you are in the right house, you'll see a yellow arrow pointing you to a yellow door on your mini map. Pretty easy!

By the time you get more complicated places (like Necropolis) you should be more familiar with how the map system works. Some quests do require you to walk through a wilderness area to reach them... tell the leader you haven't been there before and ask for someone to wait to walk out with you.

It's really frustrating when you are new and no one will tell you how to get to the quest. If you can, look up the quest on DDOWiki.com as most quest listings have more detail on how to get to them.

Avoid any LFM's that say zerg or no noobs until you know the game/quests better. Good luck and have fun!

[Battery]

First of all, thank you for your answers :)

1) Is this game group friendly? I really want a game where grouping and dungeon crawls is a big part of it.
a. if yes, is there a class or classes that are easier to get groups with?

2) Is using a F2P account to "trial" the game fair, or will it be too restrictive as to not give the best first impression?

3) Any server better for a true newbie to start out?

4) Some games are great, but if you missed the boat starting new is not much fun because everyone is max level, is starting out new right now going to be viable and let me find others to group with hopefully?

Again thanks for your time.

1 yes it's a very group oriented game, it's also very soloable if you want that route. Clerics always are needed for groups but play what you like you'll get groups in any class

2 some people play nothing but F2p and do quite well

3 Orien or Wayfinder (german server) are the newest and thus have the cheapest economy but every server has good, helpful players on it.

4 the greatest thing about this game is the repeatability of it. You will alway find people at all levels because people like trying out alts, not to mention true reincarnating their capped characters.

[rebelxzar]

1) does the group finder tool take you to the dungeon like in WOW? or had you better know how to get there before joining a party?

2) I assume it will be a good idea to tell a group leader ahead of time (before joining that I am a noob and make sure he is cool with that?

For #1, press the "o" button and look at the grouping tabs. As long as your not playing really off hours there should be something for you, although sometimes mid levels can be thin on some servers.

#2. Sure, cant hurt. Make a healing cleric and they will often beg to teach you the quest! Most low level quests are fairly noob friendly, but there are exceptions (proof in the poison for example).

[Calius]

Ended up on Kyber, lvl 2 "WarPriest" so far built from a template I found on these forums, not the starter template which I read a lot of places were "gimped" in the long run. Thanks all for the responses, I started playing last night and before I knew it I was in a group, at freaking lvl one I was in groups! Normally (in other games) people laugh at the thought of grouping and you have to kill rats and do boring fetch quests. I started a group and we ran all the starter area quests on Hard and Elite.

I kept people alive, hopefully this template is viable. The "battle cleric" always appealed to me. Mostly healer, but able to mix it up when needed and can take a hit. I picked Dwarf:

http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=2847871&postcount=75

[BOgre]

congrats on a successful first day ;)

As for knowing your way around, Korthos will give you a good idea of 'how' you get around and how DDO structures their quest layout. You gotcher town area, with some quest givers scattered about and the entrances close by, and you gotcher Wilderness with stuff to explore, quest entrances that may have been bestowed in town, and even a walk up quests inside the wilderness itself. It also gives you an idea of how story arcs work, in that all those quests are related and then they sort of cap off at the Misery's Peak quest.

You'll find that when you get to Stormreach (where all this more or less centers), that it's structured the same way. One great thing about DDO is that everything is VERY close together, with really minimal travel time between quests and between areas. Once you get to know the handful of 'Houses', you'll find that you can be on the opposite side of the world from someone you want to group with, seemingly forever away from a quest you want to get to, but it really only takes a couple clicks and a minute of running to boogie on over there.

The toughest places to find (for the 1st time at least) are quests inside of explorer areas, since the map will be dark (Fog of War). If you're having a really tough time finding a certain quest giver or quest entrance, don't be shy to pull up ddowiki.com. Easily the best game resource for DDO and by far the best game resource I've seen for ANY game. A real testament to the solidity of the community here.

Good Hunting.

[Dandonk]

1) does the group finder tool take you to the dungeon like in WOW? or had you better know how to get there before joining a party?

2) I assume it will be a good idea to tell a group leader ahead of time (before joining that I am a noob and make sure he is cool with that?

1) No, the group finder tool does not teleport you to the quest instance. The travel distances within the game are fairly short, for the most part, so it's not a huge problem.
It can never hurt to learn to find your way around, but most groups I've been in are happy to direct you. Avoid LFMs with "know the way", "zerg IP" and other variations on the theme. These are likely not new player friendly.

2) Many players at low and mid levels are new so you are not alone. Don't feel bad about being new. Sure, it never hurts telling the leader that you're new but it really should't be an issue (as long as you avoid the "zerg" type groups).