Top 10 reasons that DDO is better than other MMORPGs

[AyumiAmakusa]

I had a laptop incident recently so was unable to play DDO. I miss it so much.

This, however, gave me a few weeks to appreciate DDO.

DDO truly is a unique game that is so much better than other MMOs. Here are some of my opinions on why.

1) Getting to level 20 is not a grind and is relatively easy (for your first life).

2) There is no such thing as a botter in DDO (quests require some form of human thinking, pikers do not count).

3) You can own the whole game and its content (theoretically possible through TP farming though not usually feasible).

4) Everyone gets their own share of loot (no hogging of loot, no kill-stealing, no 'map camping'. Loot drama does not count).

5) XP system is amazing. XP is given to everyone in the party regardless of their role and not 'the majority is given to the one that deals the most damage leaving support characters with nothing' (No comments here).

6) Cooperation is key to success (I have not seen another MMORPG where players needed this much detail in cooperation, just think of HoX).

7) Crafting is always 100% successful (Other games make you grind over and over again for the ingredients just so you can have a 50% chance or lower to actually craft the items while DDO rewards your hard work with the item you want).

8) The DDO Store is not essential to gaming (Other than the adventure packs, shared bank etc, the rest of the items are either for cosmetic purposes, are items that are not better than in-game versions or things that we can get by without).

9) Infinite build possibilities (Multiclassing, 'nuff said).

10) Variety (Every quest is fresh and not you killing a kobold for the millionth time in the millionth quest. One moment you're beating on giants and the next you're fighting against devils/demons, sry can't tell the difference, in another plane)

Extra: Nat Gann. (He's a real mystery and he keeps me playing this game because I want to know what happened to him. He has left several traces in several quests and this makes me believe that he will be in future quests)

What's your top ten?

P.S. This post is just my way of saying thanks for being such a great game. Also, everytime I see someone whine about the game, I get incredibly jealous that you can still actually play the game. So intead of whining, enjoy it!

[Spoprockel]

That's pretty much it, except for one point:

10.a) You can use your environment and tactical movement in combat.
In other mmorpgs spells hit you, no matter how far you run. Enemies swords hit you, no matter if you run out of reach.
In DDO you can jump behind a pillar to block out that [insert nasty spell]. That's awsome.

[Maxelcat]

my top 10.

#1 I play this game. I do not have subscriptions to any other, nor have I felt tempted with free trials.

that says about enough really.

there are things i love about the game, and things i would change if i had my way, but that is the nature of a system that is in place.

[Zharfie]

5) XP system is amazing. XP is given to everyone in the party regardless of their role and not 'the majority is given to the one that deals the most damage leaving support characters with nothing' (No comments here).

a certain MMO I used to play a lot discouraged partying by dividing given XP by the amount of players in the party... people only cared about classes and party combinations that allowed maximum XP/h -> most of the people were wizards and priests, duoing almost everything and the rest just leeched the XP (often paying in-game money for it)... DDO encourages partying much more, and this is why I like DDO

[Diyon]

8) The DDO Store is not essential to gaming (Other than the adventure packs, shared bank etc, the rest of the items are either for cosmetic purposes, are items that are not better than in-game versions or things that we can get by without).

This. This is one of the things that makes DDO stand out from other f2p games. I don't have to cough up cash ever phew levels and/or ever character just to be good enough. Especially for the aforementioned crafting stuff that has a chance to fail (still, since its usually giving me a way better chance than NOT buying it). This consequently doesn't make it so people with money to burn so much ahead of the game than those who aren't, which is one thing that keeps me around, as well as making me more willing to pay some money occasionally.

[wax_on_wax_off]

Some reasons that I like DDO:

1. Twitch combat. This is the reason that I love DDO so much.
2. D&D rules. I first played D&D when I was 10 which is 15 years ago now.
3. Loose character roles, if I don't want to heal on my cleric I can carry everyones soul stone and finish the quest myself.
4. Mature player base (not many kids around).
5. Gear grind is not very important (sure, I can run Shroud a million times to have all the loots but I can still run most content without it)
6. XP grind is not important (sure, I can have a hell of a grind to get multiple past lives but it doesn't really make your character all that much more powerful, comparatively).
7. I can make a character build that no one has ever done before AND IT MIGHT BE GOOD.
8. Dungeon Alert Red is fun.
9. I <3 my Mario skillz (The Pit is one of my favourite quests).
10. I like that the game isn't balanced. D&D has evolved over decades and it isn't supposed to be balanced, let alone balanced for an MMO, it just is, and that is why we love it.

and 1 more for good measure:

11. Quests are good: traps, puzzles, riddles, mobs with an array of defenses and attacks, mazes, storylines that I actually take an interest in (occasionally, usually when the repetition is making my head ache I'll stop to read the dialogue)

[Serakan]

oh it's so great. DDO has some major flaws however. I'll make my list half as long because I only care half as much

1) The end game is static, unexpansive, and eventually monotamous. Most end-game MMOs expand the end-game once a year now on average.

2) Optimal builds for ddo's end game are as limited as any other game if you are serious about making acceptable, viable, and optimized characters for your guild's raids (which 99% of raiders are). MCing is interesting though, especially to noobies.

3) The traditional "main" character of MMOs takes a backseat in DDO. Many raiders build multiple toons to raid with, mostly because they'll get bored and have a lot less to do otherwise. See (1).

4) no pvp worth mentioning. just a few WF arcanes with evasion going at it for kicks. certainly no dedicated pvp servers.

5) ddo store not "all good". Endless 20% exp pots and especially endless spell point pots are not "balanced." I'm more old school in that I don't believe a person should be able to "buy" some kind of special "ezmode path" through the game. Such gimmicks detract from what MMOs have been about for the last 15 years--making your mark on a virtual world from *within* that world.

Most gamers I know that have played many MMOs and that play to raid in MMOs usually burn out on DDO after about a year and go back to their old raid games because unlike DDO those raid games have since expanded with new content and experiences. I play it "inbetween the cracks" of my favorite games personally.

For casual gamers though that don't care about pvp, this game is cream of the crop material fo sho.

[Vellrad]

That's pretty much it, except for one point:

You can jump behind a pillar to block out that [insert nasty spell]. That's awsome.

But you're still going to take damage from meele attack then.

IMO the most important thing is quest system- the whole game is about finding group of adventurers like yourself, forming a party, and solving dungeon toghether just like in classic tabletop RPGs.