How do you play the game?

[Cyr]

So I found myself reflecting the other day upon how much my playstyle has changed over the years and thought it would be interesting to hear from others on the subject as of this point in time.

I started out semi-casual and became a pretty hardcore gamer about a year into the game. I remained that way until the content crisis period (left and returned with amarath). After that I became a more casual player, but still mostly played end game (about 75% of my play time). Then mabar hit and I left for a few more months and came back. Again I went more casual and more lowbie oriented.

Now I have an array of TRs placed throughout the level range so I can hit up guild groups whenever I hop on. It has been a blast and honestly the best idea I have had for some time when it comes to intentionally altering my playstyle as it has allowed me to group consistently with people I actually like (as opposed to the grab bag of pugs) when I hop on after work.

That said I also found that my decision to alter my playstyle was entirely centered around my guild's own play habits. Tons of people are running TRs, but end game groups are not as common (like 4 to 1 or so atm when I am on).

It is interesting that despite my strong preference (very strong) for end game, I am still having a blast with TRs with guildies. I am finding out that this has alot to do with knocking everything out on elite as prior to the bravery bonus I was getting extremly bored with the game (doing the normal old school TR grind with guildies).

So, how are you playing the game now and has it changed dramatically over time?

[Vint]

I am in the same boat as you op. Started beta as casual, went pretty hardcore after a year, and over the last year have really cut back in time. I have taken a few months here or there off, but not missed much.

The main reason I log in every day now is the people I play with. I have been fortunate enough to have been in a solid guild for over half my ddo playtime. I have everything I need to hold my own in any quest. I dont feel the need to farm anything, just to have it nerfed (as has happened every time I do decide to do something). I'll spend a whole evening just flagging guildies for tod, or getting sigil pieces for them. Helping guildies and a few friends I have picked up along the way is one of the few things I enjoy anymore.

[Arianrhod]

Always been casual. Really casual, not "would be hardcore if I had the time" :)

Keep a variety of characters parked at different levels to play with my friends, occasionally make some effort to level up whichever is highest so as to open up more quests to experience. Would like to see some raids someday, but only if I can get enough friends on at the same time to go through them slowly and enjoy the sights from a "first-timer" perspective. Play almost exclusively alone or with friends. I used to PUG a fair amount, but that has dropped off in the past couple of years. Also spend way too much time hanging out in advice chat in Harbor & Korthos ;)

[Mark_G]

I'm a consistent, casual gamer. Played most days since I first logged on 5+ years ago. I'm also an alto-holic. I love the levelling process. That being said, the highest level character I've ever had currently sits at 17th level. My playstyle has changed only so much as I know what quests I can solo at what level with what character type. I've got characters on nearly every server. Currently running every version of warforged sorcerer savant...just to see. I'll solo, I'll pug, I'll do guild runs if I feel confident I can contribute.

Bottom line--I'm still having fun without intentionally being detrimental to anyone else enjoying the game.

[Captain_Wizbang]

much the same as Arian & Vint.

I have characters at a lot levels, just to help people out & run with different guildies.

Im Tring my SD III tomorrow, and Im looking forward to running everything! Its a one-off TR, so Im going to get max favor & xp using the bravery bonus when worth while.

Taking 6 months off, really changed my perspective. The game is fun once again, and Im going to make sure it stays that way,.

Thanks for the thread.

+1

[LOOON375]

Casual and don't take stuff too serious. Mostly play with 2 real life, life long friends. When they aren't around, I PUG when I can and try to help new people learn the game when the opportunity arises.

[dkyle]

I think my playstyle is effectively casual-playtime, but powergamer-playstyle. I don't spend a huge amount of time in-game, but when I do, I focus on end-game Raids. I run a lot of the same stuff that the hardcore elites do, just less of it. My limited playtime does mean that I prioritize towards the "most bang for my grind". I haven't worked on an ESoS much, for example, because I think the grind is excessive, and I feel I can improve my stable of characters more efficiently pursuing other things.

At least, that's how I would say my pre U11 playstyle was. It's changed pretty dramatically recently, since I cancelled VIP, and bought what I could with the TP I already had (I have the Amrath and Cannith packs). So I'm exclusively playing that content. I don't have open character slots, so I haven't been doing any leveling either.

I've been playing significantly less since the +3 tomes went into the store. Originally, I thought I'd re-up VIP when U12 came out, but now I'm not so sure. Pay2Win is extremely toxic to my interest in games. Hopefully, U12 will include whatever changes to +3 Tomes we were promised.

[Pape_27]

started f2p

learned the game some, getting to about level 18 on my first toon that way. Went vip after that.

at first I was in a pretty static group within my guild. It got broken apart by infighting and petty jealousies etc. Statred running with a few other people and began to play on a regular basis.

Nowadays, I basically group when i need mats or the guild wants to do some guild runs or when friends need what I can bring to the table. Otherwise, I mostly solo things. However, now that my wiz in in the vale, I have started pugging a bit more then normal.

Not a true power gamer. Not driven by want of epic items either, but I am not what I would consider a casual gamer any more.

_

[Chaos000]

I used to be a hardcore gamer back since beta and my habits were affected most when I got married and had to re-prioritize where I spent my time.

Now, I pretty much play when my wife will let me. Limited game time affected my gamestyle.

Less time to waste made me more results oriented (spending x amount of time *should* net y) and the results is what drives my enjoyment of the game.

Successful speed runs with little to no resources used is the ideal because I don't have the gratuitous amount of time to plat grind (to spend on resources), wait for a straggler to catch up, or "enjoy the journey"/challenge/puzzles that often results in a total party wipe.

Helping out a guild mate or a friend is enjoyable in and of itself, but pugs? yeah, handholding is not my thing.

[Memnir]

I can't speak to my 'hardcore"ness or not - but I used to play a lot more then I do now. A lot more. I also used to care more about the grindable carrots dangled in front of the cart, like Greensteel or Tor scales, a lot more. These days, I just play for fun. If a grind, quest, item, etc is not fun - I give it a pass. This is a game I play to unwind and escape RL frustrations with for a while - not to find new things to frustrate myself over.


I play less, and I grind even less then that. And I'm happier for it.

[sebastianosmith]

The wife got me started (:eek:) when F2P came along. I spent endless hours of my youth rolling dice and arguing with DMs - to little or no avail. When I "discovered" DDO I suppose I wanted to recapture some of that old wonder. After wandering around Korthos for a month, getting damned frustrated and quitting the game for a while, I finally started reading the forum and exploring DDOWiki. That's when everything came into focus.

Now I play casually. Consistently but very casually. Mostly with the wife and boy. I joined a static group on Thelanis several months ago which has been enlightening - mostly from the aspect of how static groups are anything but. I post on the forum. Read up on custom builds. Design characters in Ron's excellent app that will never be created let alone played. Generally, I piddle about and argue with those that take things too seriously. :D

[Sarisa]

I started the game after a couple months of searching for a new game to play. My previous game, I left under very bitter circumstances. I ran a fairly large fansite for the game, that included a monster and item database that's source was the non-encrypted client files. The Korean devs didn't like that and sent me a Cease and Desist notice.

After a couple months, and trying various games, I decided to try DDO. I had a little PnP background, and the PvE centred gameplay here attracted me to it. My sister and I started together, and we would just play when we had free time (I work days, she worked nights). She loved Korthos, but hated the Harbor and quit not long after that. I stuck around and enjoyed playing well enough to purchase Delera's when a group I was in decided to run it.

I capped my first character purely by PUG'ing. I didn't meet my current guildmates until I was level 19, and joined them not too long after that. I enjoyed levelling mostly then, the raids not so much.

I then TR'ed, and got to 17 via pure PUG'ing. The rest of the way was done via raids and running with guildmate's capped characters. This life, I learned the raids a lot better, got far more experience at healing, and essentially became a less casual and more "hardcore" player. This is also around the time that I taught and equipped myself for better solo'ing.

I then got into running every raid, and have completed every epic except Spies and the new House C raids. I did have capped favour before u11 came out, and am close to it again. I would definitely consider myself a bit more "hardcore". I no longer enjoy carrying people through something, though I don't mind teaching a quest/raid provided that the group is willing to learn. I've come to be a lot more picky about healing difficult or potentially resource intensive raids/epics because I don't feel like paying for a groups success.

I'm also hesitant to join most PUG's when I TR as well. I just prefer running TR "zergs" with people I know. I very much prefer the end game, raids and epics, and do not really enjoy levelling anymore.

[lazylaz]

I've found I'm casually hardcore. Whenever I think I take things slowly and do a bit of flower sniffing, even in quests I've done a thousand times, I'll group with a RL mate who's very casual and find I've ramped up my questing speed since I started playing.

I've got some very good guildies but I don't often group. I like how I do my favourite quests and don't want much interference, even from a bunch of top guys and girls.

And lastly, I have an army of characters all on one server and until I get a lot of them up into the high levels I'm not going to know the high level content. Except when I tag along/get dragged along in a guild group and button mash as I freak out about not know what I'm doing. Good times!

And like life in general I think.

[Hafeal]

I think it is interesting to look at one's own playstyles. Hmmm, how do I play?

First, I have played fairly regularly and consistently. I have gone through fads and various trends: altoholicism, different servers, Lammania, PD, static group ... I have toyed with some grinding - but usually only when I am close to doing something (like crafting a greensteel item). It took me forever to GR my 28 pt cleric (my 1st character) and I have yet to TR any character though I have the Heart in my bank and the plan to do so for more than six months now.

More than anything, I feel I try more to enjoy the friends and the journey when I play. Sometimes failure has been more fun than success, well, at least since they rid the game of xp debt :p. I have found my guild to be a great group that keeps me going and the regular static group I have been running for more than 2 years now to be an event to look forward to every week.

Overall, I look at these years and different playstyles as a way to keep the game fresh and exciting. I still find I have goals for my characters and I do not rush to complete them necessarily. I am not and have never been a player to play solely to get better gear - although I do like it when I get it. Perhaps I have become inoculated to the fact that my luck does not allow me to pull a Bloodstone, Icy Raiments or the raid gear I want for the character I am on at the time! All that being said, I want to believe - even if it may not be as true as it once was - that with patience and skill, you can do anything in the game and have fun without the shiny; even if the whippersnappers don't think so. :)

[Airgeadlam]

Well, started 2 years ago as a casual ftp player. Very casual one. Came here, my first MMORPG for the sole reason that was D&D based and, since I played (well, and even do sometimes) pnp with my RL friends, I had at least an idea about how the game would work. Enjoyed quite a lot and started to play more and more often, creating and deleting several toons and trials till I capped my first toon (a gimpy clonk which at that time I found it amazing! xD) and it was then when I became VIP. Curiously, in my first days in the game I had a sort of a "static group", with some other puggers an I looking for each other to build a balanced party, since we firmly believe then in the "You need a rogue, a healer, a wizard and then warriors" dogma for every single quest. Too bad I lost touch with them, if it wasn't against the rules I'll ask here!

Anyway, after VIP and levelling some other toons, and under personal circumstances I now play more often, capped some more toons (others were deleted on the way) but my playstyle is kinda the same. I go into more guild runs than before, but still PuG even on my healers, have no problem with it. Don't know about other people's experience/luck, but I found the 90% of my PuGs enjoyable. For the first time I'm doing end game and even some epics here and there, for now I think I have one toon which is somewhat capable of being of some help in there XD, but consider myself still learning the game. Have no hurry at all to get the shinies, I believe I will eventually get them just playing so they will come when they come. Gotta consider myself lucky, since I found a great bunch of people to play with often, I find every single aspect of the game (levelling, raids, epics) fun, I still have most of the classes to discover, I have fun with guild runs and pug runs, I only added ONE player (not bad in 2 years) to my special list... Lucky me!

I TRd my first toon despite not having a lot of twink gear for him. From a monk20 he became a 8monk/12fighter wannabe (currently 7/8), just did it to get a taste on how levelling a TR would be aaaaaand... though I find it terribly slow, it is nice enough to make me think about TRing other toons (my gimpy clonk first, to create something good from there... then my FvS to improve him a little...) but you know.. in time, no hurries whatsoever.

So to resume: Everyday player, enjoying the game, having fun with almost everyone, multiple toons, no greed at all, trying to learn and improve, helping everyone when I can, doing whatever quest/raid/epic if I have a toon at level and ready.