[ddo] OMG

Wed Oct 11 14:19:22 IST 2006

2 cents 

there's a lot of puzzle quests in later intances in DDO - good fun and a bit
like russian roulette.

So what quest are we doing tonight? 
Trying last weeks one again or going for some new content?

For anyone on early - Sashkia will be on to do some giant cave loot runs
while we wait. Brian and I did this on "normal" last weds after ye all
logged off - so any combination of Sashkia and a melee person should be good
to go.

-----Original Message-----
From: ddo-bounces at dspsrv.com [mailto:ddo-bounces at dspsrv.com]On Behalf Of
Mike Kelly
Sent: 11 October 2006 13:59
To: ddo at dspsrv.com
Subject: Re: [ddo] OMG

Hmmm, you raise interesting points Joe, you've given me a lot to think about
and while I agree with most of what you say let me just offer this
rejoindre: you suck and I hate you. ;)

Like I said, I agree with most of what you say, CM and Turbine are far, far,
far, far (repeating) better at tending to and including the community.
Blizzard were and are pathetic at even informing the community about service
loss, they always seemed scared sh!tless at the prospect of going back on
their "word". This is IMHO the lamest reason ever. 

However, when it comes to quests I think that if you look beyond the quest
plotlines (which are genereally excellent vary in quality) to the actual
structure then you'll see that nearly every quest we've done is a variation
of the same kill, collect and rescue quest types you see in WoW (in fact WoW
has 4 quests: kill, collect, rescue and FEDEX). That said, the depth and
variation in the plotlines make the quests in DDO far more rewarding that
WoW; in WoW they don't really attempt to give a meaning to your quests it's
more like "I hate bears, kill 10 bears and return to me to get a [Shite
Piece of Shaman Armour]". Basically when it comes to quests the differences
between the two are in the presentation and locations and there DDO
definitately win out. 

All in all I agree that DDO is a "better" game than WoW (or at least has
potential to be a better game) and allows a hell of a lot more character
customisation and room for different strategies. However, I think that WoW
is a lot more accessable in that you can log on and do something for half an
hour to an hour, in the same time in DDO you'd be hard pushed to get a
group, much less a quest done (that said, I haven't tried PUGs all that much
in DDO so I might be talking through my boxers ;) ). 

Oh and good luck pulling Stephen Fry, I knew there was a reason for you
moving to England you sly, sexually-ambigous dog, you!

On 10/10/06, Joe Vaughan < joev at jarhedz.com <mailto:joev at jarhedz.com> >
wrote: 

You misunderstand me Mike. I wasn't talking about the game (even though I
would disagree with some of your assertions about WoW itself. It's a 3 quest
game with pretty much 0 variety)  

I'm talking about the customer experience from Turbine versus Blizzard. The
latter, frankly, treated me like shit for the whole year that I stupidly let
them. Turbine, on the other hand make me feel like they actually care about
my gaming experience and improving it. I had nothing but criticism for
Blizzard *literally* from day one. I haven't a single bad thing to say about
CM and Turbine. They've been top notch. 

As for the content issue, true, since we're not rushing through the amount
of content is not an issue for me. But then again, as I say, WoW is hardly a
shining example of content. There isn't a single quest in the game (that I
can think of) that requires you to use any other skill besides your ability
to slash, bash or burn your enemies. Doom (1) with Swords != content... it's
just window dressing over an incredibly hollow gaming experience (only made
bearable by the company you keep) - For me, once Leigh quit playing (we were
like the WoW siamese twins joined at the hip) I realised there was 0 content
in that game and without the social side I quit not long after.  

I'm sure it would be the same with DDO if you all quit tomorrow, my interest
would wane immediately, but the point is that the quests continue to excite
us all with their variety and the fact that there is no
uber-formula-that-works-every-dungeon means we all get to play different
styles and stretch various abilites on a regular basis.  Again, something
that cannot be said of WoW.  

Altogether, having played WoW (compulsively) for a year (over 60 days online
time in that period) and DDO now for six months I am convinced that at core,
DDO is a better game being run and improved by people who are not (only)
driven by the "bottom line" but with a genuine interest in creating a better
gaming experience, contrasting strongly by Vivendi....er... sorry I mean
Blizzard... who are run totally by french bean-counters now. WoW is soulless
commercialism. DDO is at least tempered with an element of pride in their
work.   

A nice shiny paint job and fancy chrome do not a great car make (just look
at the performance of American "supercars" versus European ones). Slick
though it is, WoW is the vapid blonde bimbo of the MMO world.  

Me... I'm seduced by the sultry, intelligent brunette that is DDO. 

Joe.

On 10 Oct 2006, at 11:50, Mike Kelly wrote:

On 10/10/06, Joe Vaughan <  <mailto:joev at jarhedz.com> joev at jarhedz.com>
wrote: 

God almighty the amount and scope of all the changes, along with a very 
large new area in the next module.... These guys (Turbine) make me feel
like it's more than worth paying them my monthly fee (if they keep this 
up, I'd pay more/month tbh!).... contrasting starkly with Blizzard who I 
wish to hell now I had never given a bloody penny to.

On this note, I still play WoW and I think it's still well worth paying for,
I still have a ball playing the game, I'm really enjoying BWL, I'm looking
forward to Naxx soon and I'm really looking forward to the Burning Crusade.
Whatever problems you have with the game, it's still a hell of a game.
Slick, polished and largely trouble free at this stage. 

With DDO Turbine are doing very well however IMO they have a hell of a long
way to go (druids and monks are still missing for example). The game suits
our style of play (one night a week with a fixed group) however you *need* a
group to play, for a awful lot of players the game is far too short (largely
because the game released with a level cap of 10), levelling itself is quick
and too easy and there's absolutely nothing to do (except possibly grind for
loot) once you hit level 10. The system itself rocks but the content has
serious problems (mostly of the, "there's too little of it" variety). 

Lets be honest here, it's a whole lot of fun but I play it because of the
people I play it with (I love you guys! Eh, screw you guys.) if we played
DDO the way I/we played WoW we'd have been at level 10 after the first
couple of weeks and we'd probably have quit shortly afterwards. 

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