Comments on: DDO Module 7 Released!

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:15:54 +0000

I had hoped to do this myself, but I can’t solo Three-Barrel Cove at level 7 with a Wizard and during the early afternoon didn’t have any guildmates to go snapping screenshots, so…

Here’s a DDO forum thread with screenies of the old Three-Barrel Cove taken just prior to Module 7.

Here’s a Module 7 gallery on WarCry with the new Three-Barrel Cove (and other stuff).

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 15:17:11 +0000

They’ve actually gone through a large chunk of the quests and added a solo mode to them. But D&D was always a group-based RPG, thus DDO is best played in a group as well.

I love DDO’s real-time combat, but I wish the melee people would pay attention. They’re just click-click-clicking away for like 10 seconds after the mob is dead. It ain’t Diablo, folks. But it’s fun having collision detection and “tanks” (D&D doesn’t technically have tanks but whatever) can shield block to prevent mobs from running through to the casters, etc. Most importantly, I LOVE the casting in DDO. The only D&D character I ever had was a Wizard (I was normally a GM, very rarely got to actually be a player) and I’ve been major disappointed with casting in every MMORPG. I mean seriously, click a button and wait on a progress bar? I don’t see Harry Potter waiting around for several seconds, he just waves his wand and says a word and BLAMMO! DDO finally gives me that feel — I want to cast a spell, I just cast it, none of this standing around waiting on progress bars crap.

By: Hudson

Hudson — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:42:52 +0000

This looks really cool not sure why I cant get into DDO its just odd the way combat works. But the monk looks cool and I kinda wish they would add this class to WoW. For example in Scarlet Monastery, the monks there. Make it a human class and make them super proficient in hand and blunt weapons. Something like that.

I seem to be missing something in DDO though that stops me from playing it maybe the lack of solo content? Not sure

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 22:05:47 +0000

The water was the first in your face obvious thing I noticed they updated several months ago. They added some anti-hitch code which may have been graphic-related. Basically it seems they make tiny leapfrogs with the Turbine Engine. They’ll make an improvement in LOTRO then it shows up in DDO a few months later. DDO gets an engine improvement and it shows up in LOTRO, and so on. For the most part they seem to keep the engine builds close in parity with each other. I do wish they’d re-work the trees in DDO however; get those things blowing in the breeze and such…

What I’m really curious about will be if the DDO engine will get the new enhancements that the Mines of Moria expansion are bringing such as dynamic lighting and the dual height-map technology? DDO already makes great use of lighting, shading, and particle effects for spells and traps. Dynamic lighting would up the ante on eye candy.

By: SmakenDahed

SmakenDahed — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:49:58 +0000

So the graphical enhancements were just to the water textures? That’s disappointing. I thought they were doing a huge overhaul or something.

Ah well. I might still give it a look as I thrash around looking for a MMO to play.

I might be wrong, but I think I had a (Halfling) Ranger on that server.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:45:55 +0000

No idea if I will actually play the monk I made or not. I only did it to see the class creation and new tutorial area (which apparently didn’t make it?) for the game. I rolled a drow monk, but after running around town I must admit the absolute coolest monks of all are the dwarves! They’re hilarious! More so than Guild Wars’ Mhenlo NPC, dwarf monks in DDO truly deserve the title Chunky Monky. I can’t wait to group up with a fat little dwarf monk and watch them kick kneecaps!

Edit: Apparently dwarves also get a feat bonus, so they actually make the best monks? I just thought they looked awesome (in a funny way) but I guess there’s a legit min/max reason to choose a dwarf.

By: Scott

Scott — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:26:00 +0000

They updated the water textures to the same that LOTRO uses, so water looks sweet in Eberron. They’ve also made some new skies for some of the places, and the outdoor wilderness areas (have to specify since the Waterworks *dungeon* is now a wilderness area) have day/night cycles just like you’d see in a real MMO.

I’m on the Thelanis server. Fire off an IM or something if you give it a try. I play DDO extremely casually, but I’d love to actually make some progress. I do plan on making a bit of a return (minor guild drama or no) this month.

By: SmakenDahed

SmakenDahed — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 11:53:30 +0000

Neat. Didn’t they upgrade the graphics engine and stuff not too long ago either?

I admit, I’m tempted to try it again since I’m sort of ‘blah’ on AoC and WoW is losing its appeal… somewhat.

What server are you on? (just in case)