DDO replacement?

[Bimbelbo]

I'm looking for an alternative to DDO, and I have this list here and it looks pretty long to work through.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/s...pe/sOrder/desc

I'm looking for a game the comes close to the old DDO.

Fantasy setting, NO anime style, NO cartoon style, can also be Sci-Fi or dark/hybrid fantasy setting. There should be a focus on charcater development and professions, crafting, etc, not action-combat so much.

I'm thinking about trying Conan next, maybe you know similar games?

[morkahn82]

elder scrolls online, lotro, neverwinter, guild wars 2

[Bimbelbo]

elder scrolls online

not released yet, no f2p

lotro

From Turbine? No thanks

neverwinter

Not my kind of game from what I've seen. Cartoonish graphics, action-oriented with only 4 (?) classes.

guild wars 2

Seen some vids, doesn't look that attractive to me.

Oh, I forgot: No monthly fee please, I prefer f2p-model.

[Stretchicus]

Lotro is very close, as it's made by turbine also. (nvm)

Warhammer Online? Not even sure if it's still going or not.

Elder Scrolls Online might be up your street, if you can get past the likelihood of it have more chars called "arrow2thaknee" than DnD games have "xXDrizztXx". (also nvm)

As far as Scifi goes, I've heard mixed things about Secret World from Funcom. The one off charge to buy is pretty nice, not sure how that pans out in the long run w/regards to microtransactions though.

[Khalesh]

I am just waiting on ESO - prior to U20 was going to be "a check it out and see" or "a small break from DDO"

Its turning more into - "I hope it blows DDO out the water"

Note - I have played most of the Elder Scroll games - and yes graphics ala Skyrim are amazing but I have always preferred DDO in all other ways

So please Turbine don't give me a reason to stop playing DDO!

[kuro_zero]

Completely different genre as its a PvP MMO but I've been spending more of my time blowing stuff up in MechWarrior Online.

[Memnir]

Haven't tried it myself, but I've heard Guild Wars 2 is pretty solid.

In the "And now for something completely different," category - I've been enjoying GTA Online in the past few days.

[Missing_Minds]

Everquest (Next?)

What you are wanting is just generic standard MMO that just sounds boring to me. LOTRO would be exactly what you are asking for and I find it boring because it is standard MMO vs having action to it.

[Shorlong]

not released yet, no f2p
From Turbine? No thanks
Not my kind of game from what I've seen. Cartoonish graphics, action-oriented with only 4 (?) classes.
Seen some vids, doesn't look that attractive to me.

Oh, I forgot: No monthly fee please, I prefer f2p-model.

TERA is ok. The only cartoonish thing there is the elin, which do look like little anime girls. But the graphics are amazing. Just...Bluehole caters to the japanime craze way too much, and you see things that really take you out of the world like french maid and schoolgirl outfits, etc. If it wasn't for that and the typical MMO quest style, it would probably be tied with DDO for my top game.

I recently picked up DC Universe Online. It isn't as in depth as DDO, but it is fast paced, action oriented combat, and you have a lot of control over your character. For example, you pick a power and a weapon, and both of those affect how your toon comes out. I picked Ice power and my weapon is Hand Blast. Essentially, I'm a wizard tank. I buff myself up insanely, my defense and health, then I unload some highpowered offense. There are MANY options on character loadout. With my current build, I can fully tank, or if I respec a few powers, I can be an off tank dps, or an pure, self healing dps.

It is F2P, but two big issues. You hit level cap quickly. My wife and I have played about 10 hours over three days. In that time, we created some toons and deleted them, finally landing on what we wanted. Those characters are now halfway to level cap. The good news, everything I have heard in game and on forums and websites is that the game REALLY starts at cap. There are a lot of quests leading to cap, but once you hit cap, there are tons of things to do. The other big issue lies in here though....most of the stuff to do at cap involves the DLC. Now, for 20 bucks, you can get four or five of the DLC, plus some extra stuff as well, or you can do the vip treatment. Your call.

That being said, I don't see me leaving DDO. There is NO other game out there like it.

[Shorlong]

Oh, and Rift. That's another one that has some pretty nice customization as far as your powers go. Game looks nice, but it's kind of standard fare and boring.

[Xenich]

I'm looking for an alternative to DDO, and I have this list here and it looks pretty long to work through.

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/s...pe/sOrder/desc

I'm looking for a game the comes close to the old DDO.

Fantasy setting, NO anime style, NO cartoon style, can also be Sci-Fi or dark/hybrid fantasy setting. There should be a focus on charcater development and professions, crafting, etc, not action-combat so much.

I'm thinking about trying Conan next, maybe you know similar games?

Really not much out there anymore. You are going to have some extreme trade offs if you are looking for something similar as an alternative of DDO.

DDO's Character development and management system is the most complex out there. Nothing even remotely comes close to it. There are some that have more selection than others, but they have been streamlining over the years and are pretty much just action/arcade games.

EQ2 isn't bad for a new player to the game (ie it is a vast game with enormous amounts of content, etc.. to focus on), but the later game and the changes they have made recently over the years may sour you and the later game is an obvious copy of the mainstream MMO cancer.

LOTRO is but a shadow of it former self as their continued simplified and WoW focused dungeons (run the dungeon over and over in quick 5-10 min runs) and homogenized character development has left it to be nothing more than a mirror of PTW/grind gimmicks often seen from companies like PWE and actiony combat like WoW.

Neverwinter... just don't. Really, this is basically Azods Online/Perfect world online trying to give the appearance of being like DDO but really just being a console focused arcade game with store grinds.

Elder Scrolls Online is yet another run of the mill arcade grind system designed to facilitate action oriented and PVP content that will remind of you WoW in many ways. There are gimmicks that are entertaining (neat quest interface dialogs that attempt to be like the single player games, but the character development system is like most of the arcade games these days. Options with no real control over your development as you are herded in the directions they design for you (ie character development is extremely limited and pre-conditioned).

Rift wasn't bad on release, though it was always an action based WoW like game, but it had merit in its soul system which allowed some interesting character development focuses that you could apply to difficult dungeons, but the game is really just a grind game now with easy dungeons and an development system that continues to be streamlined.

Secret World, also an action based game, and also like rift had promise with a completely open skill based development system, but has been forced into pointlessness with its content being designed for traditional models (tank, healer, DPS) rendering the open system really to be nothing more than flavor for select required themes of development.

Conan, never played it to be honest. I have heard its early game is quite entertaining, but I don't know much about their character development to really comment. Expect problems, how severe though... no idea.


To be honest, MMO's in my opinion are dying. They all are over simplifying their systems, applying FTP (which eventually becomes PTW entirely) and designing gimmick content/grinds of easy content with no real achievement purpose.

My friends and I ended up here, though we have not hit the wall like many long term players have yet. We can see elements of it as we play, but so far, as it is now, there is still plenty of content that we have yet to experience. It is the character development that is primarily our focus right now and until we hit that wall, we will play within our own means and can still enjoy the game, though I do see and understand the complaints of other long term players. This game won't last us long term as the signs are obvious. We have been down that road with all the older MMO's and this game will be no different with the signs it shows.

In my opinion, this is the best development system out there. Now as I said, some of the games above (and maybe some I am forgetting) could be entertaining for a short while, but eventually you will run into the same poor development gimmicks and my advice is that if you choose to play those other games, go in with a mindset that you are going to be dumping it at a certain point. There are no games out there that support long term development as much as this one has (or even does now). That doesn't excuse the problems with this game, but the grass is not greener over there, compared to this games character development, the grass is dead everywhere else.

Personally, I say save yourself the frustration if you have ran your limit with this game. Just quit MMO's altogether, they really have become a suckers bet these days.

[morkahn82]

In the "And now for something completely different," category

UFO/XCOM I hope for an online version

[Ausdoerrt]

Probably a good idea to be respectful and move this to the off-topic section.

If you don't like action-based games, then you're likely out of luck, as that's the current trend.

I've been giving AION another shot. It's a beautiful game, though a bit slow/grindy for my taste. It's free, and it's going strong. RIFT is also F2P, though I haven't personally tried it.

I'm also very much looking forward to the upcoming ArcheAge and Core Blaze. Many are also excited for EQ Next.

[Xenich]

Everquest (Next?)

What you are wanting is just generic standard MMO that just sounds boring to me. LOTRO would be exactly what you are asking for and I find it boring because it is standard MMO vs having action to it.

LOTRO I doubt will be. Originally I would have agreed (Release and "some" of Moria, not the dungeon design direction in Moria), but with their combat change several years ago, it is just a "wannabe" action game suffering from the change. The classes have been homogenized, skills have become bland, redundant often pointless. Dungeons are fast grinds for tokens as opposed to long crawls from the release of the game. Itemization has been streamlined into extreme grinds (legendary lotto grind system) and most of the development focuses in the game have been placed in the store making efforts to obtain through game play pointless grinds of time. Their end game is nothing more than daily quest grinds like WoW with limits where everyone gets end game gear if they are willing to grind them each day solo.

Honestly, the game is dead in that respect.

[Bimbelbo]

Really not much out there anymore. ...

Thank you for your elaboration. I will add it to my considerations.

[Darkrok]

If you have kids that you want to introduce to MMO's and still want to have something to play Wizard101 and Pirate101 are actually enjoyable enough for adults that you can play something with your kids that they'll enjoy more than DDO and at the same time fill in your personal game time with something other than DDO. The entire U20 tokens being removed killed the TR game for my kid (who really can't hack it in epics but enjoys the 1-18 game) so we're both switching over to those games until/if Turbine fixes the terrible removal of tokens of the twelve for hearts.

[rest]

Haven't tried it myself, but I've heard Guild Wars 2 is pretty solid.

In the "And now for something completely different," category - I've been enjoying GTA Online in the past few days.

xbox or ps3? (ps3 here) I just about hit rank 40. Having a TON of fun playing gta online. Man. So awesome.

[Hazelnut]

Realm of the Mad God!

[cave_diver]

Might give Elder Scrolls Online a try when/if I get my beta ap accepted or when it comes out in Q1 of 2014. It looks quite interesting

[MalkavianX]

Personally, I'll just bide my time here until World of Darkness Online comes out. It's supposed to be one big sandbox and what little is out there looks/sounds amazing so far. If you were to say that DDO was 90% combat and 10% socially driven, WoDO is supposed to be the exact opposite. Problem is that it's likey a few years away.

Oh well, if I can put up with all the carp I put up with at work and our "wonderful" union, I guess I can put up with this game for a while longer. I just have to be carful about dropping the soap around here...