Is low-repetition DDO possible?

[Uskathoth]

I'm a pretty new player and am running several different characters. My highest is bard10/fighter2 and so far I really enjoy DDO. However, reading the forums, especially in regards to loot and high end content, it sound like DDO becomes very boring as you get to higher levels. I know if I repeat a quest twice I'm over it and looking for something else to do. It sounds like high level DDO is focused on slogging through the same stuff over and over and over again to get such and such a reward; is it really mostly a farming game at the high end?

I guess I'll see for myself but in other games I play till I hit the cap and then semi-retire toons and focus on newer, lower level toons and I may repeat quests but there are enough different quests that each toon can have some unique experiences (in addition to unique perspectives). I think in DDO I may just switch games (based on what I read on the forums which admittedly may be skewed to elite gamers) but hopefully it will stay fun for a long time before leaving becomes attractive.

Is DDO basically just farming at the high end? Are there enough different quests that you don't have to repeat things ad nauseum to get to 20?

[Gnorbert]

Every game becomes repetition and farming at some point. You eventually run out of quests that are new because there are not an infinite number of quests to do. You can certainly play for good bit at the high levels before it feels like farming, but yes, there are farming type activities implemented at the top.

The Vale you have to farm ingredients in order to craft greensteel.
Reaver's refuge is all about farming a few quests and adventure areas for runes. (craft dragon touched armor)

There are more than enough things to do though that you don't need to do the same things over and over if you don't want. But if you want to craft anything then yes, you'll need to farm a bit.

[Sir_Chonas]

I'm a pretty new player and am running several different characters. My highest is bard10/fighter2 and so far I really enjoy DDO. However, reading the forums, especially in regards to loot and high end content, it sound like DDO becomes very boring as you get to higher levels. I know if I repeat a quest twice I'm over it and looking for something else to do. It sounds like high level DDO is focused on slogging through the same stuff over and over and over again to get such and such a reward; is it really mostly a farming game at the high end?

I guess I'll see for myself but in other games I play till I hit the cap and then semi-retire toons and focus on newer, lower level toons and I may repeat quests but there are enough different quests that each toon can have some unique experiences (in addition to unique perspectives). I think in DDO I may just switch games (based on what I read on the forums which admittedly may be skewed to elite gamers) but hopefully it will stay fun for a long time before leaving becomes attractive.

Is DDO basically just farming at the high end? Are there enough different quests that you don't have to repeat things ad nauseum to get to 20?

You can get to 20 without repeating quests, but it won't be as fast.

The higher level quests are more fun than the lower level ones.

[grodon9999]

Is DDO basically just farming at the high end? Are there enough different quests that you don't have to repeat things ad nauseum to get to 20?

To get to 20 no, you don't have to grind too much and you may actually be able to do it without repeating missions too often. The closest thing to a grind leveling-up is getting the relics in Gianthold to get into TOR. It only takes about 3 days to do so and TOR might be the best mission in the game so it's worth it.

We grind for the loot, we run raids and IQ over and over again to get betting toys. It's still fun but it's optional. You don't NEED all the toys to play the game, it's just fun to have them.

[TheGreatEye]

If you want high end gear, greensteel for example, be prepared for at least 20 runs through the Shroud. Dragontouched armor can be similar to get the desired effects.

The TOD raid has 4 different ingredients to construct boots that will prevent you from getting banished out of the quest. None of the ingredients drop regularly, but can be purchased on the AH.

To answer your question though, I believe end game really is grinding a few quests and raids. The hope is however that new content will be added on a regular basis given DDO's new business model.

[Crazyfruit]

Repeating quests is a choice. None of the items people farm repeatedly to get or make are at all required to enjoy the game at any level. It just gives people with too much time on their hands something to do once they've already done every quest in the game

* Boots of anchoring are optional before someone mentions them

[elraido]

The first couple years the game was out, there was almost no grinding at all. Then the Shroud hit....and every major mod since then all they have done is add is ingreadiants grinding instead of missions

[maddmatt70]

OP you are correct. High end DDO focuses on repeating raids and repeating epic and other quests. They actually have a mechanic which gives a reward for the 20th completion of a specifc raid run. The high end content's focus on content repitition is definitely a weakness of DDO. In some other mmo there is less of a focus on repitition, although you will find repitition there as well.

If Turbine keeps making high end content at some point they should revisit the 20th raid mechanic, favor awards, and other end game/high end mechanics. There should be a greater incentive for completing a multitude of different quests. Lets say a reward for completing 20 different epic quests on a character. We need more amarath areas and less IQ areas, but in general just more end game quests.

[GeneralDiomedes]

You are looking to do another quest because you haven't done them all yet. Once you have done them all, this desire will be replaced with other ones such as wanting to get better equipment, experiencing another character, or simply having fun.

If you find this is not the case, then MMOs are probably not your thing and you should stick to single player games like Dragonage (although there is far more content in MMOs). You could also try and play MMOs like a single player game .. if you found a static group of noobs who only played once a week you could probably stretch out the content over 6 months or even a year.

[Uskathoth]

Repeating quests is a choice. None of the items people farm repeatedly to get or make are at all required to enjoy the game at any level. It just gives people with too much time on their hands something to do once they've already done every quest in the game

* Boots of anchoring are optional before someone mentions them

Thanks for the answers. Good to know heavy repetition isn't "mandatory" to get to 20. Regarding gear, maybe I'll give the grindiness a spin once I'm up higher.

[maddmatt70]

The first couple years the game was out, there was almost no grinding at all. Then the Shroud hit....and every major mod since then all they have done is add is ingreadiants grinding instead of missions

This was actually a poor decision by Turbine to not have some grinding in the first year or so because they did not have the content to keep players - they ended up losing alot of players. As they get more content they should eventually stray from the grinding.

[Sir_Chonas]

I'd recommend you do one of the following 3 things as you approach end game.
1. Accept that you're going to "grind" for certain items of gear.
2. Turn the "grind" into a game (all ____ shroud, speed runs, so on).
3. Go permadeath (if you die once you have to restart so you probably won't make it to end game AND they rarely repeat quests for role playing purposes).

The end game to me is fun, so I don't mind repeating some of the quests. If I do get sick of it I go to epic, reroll, create a new character, or reincarnate.

Good luck on your journey young squire.

[GeneralDiomedes]

3. Go permadeath (if you die once you have to restart so you probably won't make it to end game AND they rarely repeat quests for role playing purposes).

Wrong. Permadeath merely replaces high end grinding with low end grinding.

[Cyr]

The first couple years the game was out, there was almost no grinding at all. Then the Shroud hit....and every major mod since then all they have done is add is ingreadiants grinding instead of missions

This would be a very misleading statement. There most certainly was grinding before the shroud. It was the same type of grinding the shroud has, repeating raids for items. Difference is that in the other raids you might get lucky and pull the item you want first time out where in the shroud you never will, but you get a small step towards that goal each time which is measurable.

[Ushurak]

I'm fairly new myself ... joined in November of '09.

I have a 20th level sorcbot and I can tell you that it is not only possible but quite easy to get to 20th level without ever doing same quests over as long as you can accept the fact that you will miss out on many great items that will make you experience much more fun and while at the same time make other players drool over what you are toting.

There is plenty of quests that I leveled right past and never saw them and still haven't seen them. I have only recently started what I call the grind (which btw a true grinder would say isn't even close to true grinding) by staying on a 3 day turn around for ADQ, Hound and Shroud.

I thought I would be soooo ready to TR when I reached level 20 but it is actually just the opposite. I don't want to TR..I want to tweak my sorcbot to uberness and during timer cool down level some alts.

I hated the grind also when I started (more so once I started feeling like that is what DDO geared for from the start).

Once I capped though all I can think about is how fast my timer is going to cool down so I can get one more completion closer to 20 or one more completion closer to my stone of cleansing or when that named loot of uberness will drop.

I think most people coming into this game feel the same way. It's a common discussion at lower levels but if you stick with it it will go away. Thankfully they did away with sigil farming so now you can focus on just having fun with other players of the same mindset.

My advice ...HAVE FUN!!!