DDO Interview

[NoName]

Over at GamerGod they have an interview (http://www.gamergod.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=304) up with Alex Rodberg and Dave Eckleberry from the Dungeons and Dragons Online team. It's a good read for anyone keeping an eye on this game.
While there is some solo content, D&D is traditionally a game you play with a group of friends, and we're following that model. That doesn't mean you need to have a group to play with before you start. You can meet other players in town, or you can go into a danger zone that lets individuals and parties cooperate on a larger objective. But the primary experience is still about a party of characters with complimentary abilities.

[Ernst_Jager]

This is the only part of the game that I am unsure of. I hate pickup groups with the fire of a thousand suns. Forcing me to always group (regardless of if my friends are on) or forcing me to make new friends is a downside.

[Rangoth]

I have yet to decide if this game will suck or not. I'm still on the fence

[Orphiuchus]

With the level cap at 10 I think the game falls off the fence and gets eaten by vicious dogs in the great backyard of suck.

[Blue]

Yeah, the whole instanced thing coupled with the group focus and cap sort of had this one D.O.A. for me. Not a fan of any of those statistics at all.

[Rangoth]

I talked to some of the people working on DDO at the after hours party at PAX and they seemed to have a good head on their shoulders but it just seems so wonkey to me

[balamoor]

Meh just read one of my previouse post on the subject.

the game falls off the fence and gets eaten by vicious dogs in the great backyard of suck.

Pretty much sums it up.

[vornskr]

I am cautiously optimistic. Being forced into grouping doesn't mean anything to me anymore, especially having been weaned on EverQuest for nearly 5 years.. The level cap seems like such a trivial thing to me, I don't understand why such a large fuss is being raised..

The true test for me will be how well they implement the 3.5 rules into a digital, large population arena. I am especially aprehensive about spell implementation, since no one digital D&D game has ever gotten the spell lists exactly right. How would you even implement something as basic as Magic Missle correctly, let alone Animate Dead or Limited Wish. How much relavancy will skill checks have? Will it be impossible for some people to access areas because they can't overcome their Climb checks? These are the kinds of questions I want to see answered.

[Chris_D]

The forced into grouping thing seems fairly common across a lot of games. So far it sounds promising but I don't know where i'd find the time for it.

At the very least it sounds like there will be quite a bit to distinguish it from other games.