Man do I miss the old days.

[Mithran]

Honestly, I've had good luck with pugs where there's a name or a guild name in the party that I respect. If worst comes to worst, he/she and I can finish it with the two of us.

[Uska]

Back in the old days where a rogue literally could not beat the tutorial level. Unless you had insane luck...

I never had trouble with any class beating the tutorial and I have the worst luck going

[EdsanDarkbane]

I miss the days when u could actually solo raids and get 2 pieces of loot.

[Uska]

I miss the days when u could actually solo raids and get 2 pieces of loot.

I miss the old raid loot system zero. though I do think a full raid group should get a min of two pieces of loot.

[stille_nacht]

those days were because, truth be told, people were paying 15$/month for something that quite honestly was not really worth it. When the level cap was still 14 or so, the only ppl who played were serious about ddo, and probably experienced to... not like nowadays, you still have good people, but those good people are offset by the large large number of people more used to korean grind "kill X number of creature" mmos.

[Solanin]

I tried this game when it first came out and loved the graphics and puzzles, but honestly it didn't hold my interest. I ended up on a horrible mmo that I wish I never went back to. After playing some pnp and hearing about all of the content that's been added my husband and I came back to give it another try.
I have to say that I really like the game as it is now! I started for real back in Dec. and played for free..well not free for long, because I LOVE it! I do only play with my husband; So I don't know what the pug life is about on this game, but it's interesting learning from the veterans about grouping and what the game's gone through over the years.

[flynnjsw]

but it's interesting learning from the veterans about grouping and what the game's gone through over the years.

This is primarily what this thread is all about. It's about what how the game has changed, and how it hasn't. You can read all you want to into anything else, but this is the core.

[Eistander]

This is primarily what this thread is all about. It's about what how the game has changed, and how it hasn't. You can read all you want to into anything else, but this is the core.

I completely agree with this statement; sure, the mechanics and such have changed and blah blah blah, but the biggest difference for me, is not so much the skill of the groups I run into these days, but rather the mentality of the groups I run into.. I'm all for having flawless runs, with no problems/all speed and all that stuff, but there is one thing I genuinely miss.

To put things into perspective, when the Vault series was first released, I remember literally spending -hours- in VoN 3.. only to get to the Marut, and pretty near losing 2 levels worth of xp along the way.. I don't miss the masochistic tendencies that used to follow in exploring the newest quests/raids, but rather the quality of the players in the sense that we all went into the group, and stuck it out to the end, no matter what it took.. and death was just a part of the run. I've met some supremely superb players, both in game and people through those proverbial trials of attrition. Nowadays, you can't have anything go wrong without someone rage quitting, or blowing their top over the simplest things.

Then again, with those of us that have been playing as long as we have, I think it would be near-impossible to recapture that magic that was there from going through the ringer with total strangers who end up as friends at the end. Between the gear, and overall knowledge of the game nearly leads me to think we'd almost have to "fake it".. of course there are self-imposed rules you can use to spice up the game, but its not the same.

So yeah, I miss the old days too, if only for the camaraderie that was shared (Reidra FTW!).

[gallion]

My favorite memory was when invaders came out and we all wanted to say we ran it on elite. Finally finnishing the quest with 200.000 exp debt. It was definately worth it lol.

[Tuney]

Invaders was the quest where you expected to come out with a red bar of exp. If you didn't , somehow the stars aligned them selves and the gods came down to show you the path.

Like for Reaver's fate, it was a race to get to the rez lever and/or not die or you'd be getting killed as fast as the puller can throw that switch!

[Emili]

My favorite memory was when invaders came out and we all wanted to say we ran it on elite. Finally finnishing the quest with 200.000 exp debt. It was definately worth it lol.

Akkira - Rudy (my hot latino stud muffin ) as I liked to call him... We were capped at time and I wanted the favour cap. Rudy had been soloing invaders on normal for some time and our group consisted of three of us - of which Rudy asked the other person and myself to stay back and allow him to solo - elite - I did so out of respect, one of the few if only time I remember actually piking. After's I took him and helped clear him of 60+k of xp debt he had been mounting up from his many prior solo runs...

[IbeatonU]

Akkira - Rudy (my hot latino stud muffin ) as I liked to call him... We were capped at time and I wanted the favour cap. Rudy had been soloing invaders on normal for some time and our group consisted of three of us - of which Rudy asked the other person and myself to stay back and allow him to solo - elite - I did so out of respect, one of the few if only time I remember actually piking. After's I took him and helped clear him of 60+k of xp debt he had been mounting up from his many prior solo runs...

I miss exp debt they need to bring that back

[Tuney]

Exp Debt was nice , it worked well for the lower levels... but it like the TR exp needed... Curved up extreamly quickly at the higher ends making it more of a pain that it should.

[plural]

I miss the days that I could count on one hand the folks that had a banisher, vorpal, or disrupter.

The loot runs of the fire giant caves in the threnal explorer zone. That was the place to go when you were looking to pull something like +5 mithril fp, or wounding of puncturing rapier.

I wish Turbine never released the +1 loot day and watered down the rare stuff. Although in the overall scheme it really didn't matter with the crafting to come later on and the eventual state that we live in now. Epics, TR's, and bears o my.

For the most part though this game for me is the game that I will probably never leave until they pull the power plug at Turbine headquarters. I have left for games like AoC, LOTRO, and Warhammer and somehow wind up back here grinding out the flavor of the week.

[Thrudh]

those days were because, truth be told, people were paying 15$/month for something that quite honestly was not really worth it. When the level cap was still 14 or so, the only ppl who played were serious about ddo, and probably experienced to... not like nowadays, you still have good people, but those good people are offset by the large large number of people more used to korean grind "kill X number of creature" mmos.

Heh, this brings back memories...

I used to play a MUD called Gemstone III.... When I first start playing it cost $3 an HOUR to play (yes, youngsters, you're reading that right)

Small community, all mature players... loads of fun.... However, I was going to have to quit... $100 bills each month were killing me... Then Internet went $20 a month unlimited...

We all rejoiced... I was happy, I could keep playing...

Then all the kids showed up in our MUD... overwhelmed it... Things were never the same again...

[NeutronStar]

Heh, this brings back memories...

I used to play a MUD called Gemstone III.... When I first start playing it cost $3 an HOUR to play (yes, youngsters, you're reading that right)

Small community, all mature players... loads of fun.... However, I was going to have to quit... $100 bills each month were killing me... Then Internet went $20 a month unlimited...

We all rejoiced... I was happy, I could keep playing...

Then all the kids showed up in our MUD... overwhelmed it... Things were never the same again...

Ahhh...the days when AOL was king. I remember the hourly charge on AOL and my addiction to Neverwinter Nights on AOL. Man, was that expensive! When they went to the flat rate it was a Godsend for a short time. That is, until Neverwinter Nights was shut down shortly afterward. Sad times then.

[hityawithastick]

I never do anything but PuG, and I can cut off my left arm and still have enough fingers left to count the number of PuGs that have had (a) griefers (b) ragequitters or (c) party-wiping newbies. When I group a quest, I finish it.

[Disavowed]

I never do anything but PuG, and I can cut off my left arm and still have enough fingers left to count the number of PuGs that have had (a) griefers (b) ragequitters or (c) party-wiping newbies. When I group a quest, I finish it.

Once you've played long enough to leave Korthos you may see a difference.

[Schmoe]

Once you've played long enough to leave Korthos you may see a difference.

And you need a lawn. You have to have a lawn.

[Shaamis]

And you need a lawn. You have to have a lawn.

get off my lawn.