Gameplay Reviews DDO

How does the parent of all MMOs translate into an it's own online adventure? Keep reading to find out what Gameplay thinks...

Turbine really got itself into a bit of a challenge this time. How do you translate the direct ancestor of every video game RPG into an MMORPG? One original game which was a social experience to begin with, and thus a very direct father of the MMORPG genre? Simple, they throw away pretty much -every- preconceived notion of what an MMORPG is supposed to be and start from scratch, using the D&D rules as a framework to bolster its design.

So let's get a few points set first: there is no endless kill-grinding, there is no crafting, and there aren't even any cohesive outdoor regions that you will travel to get from territory to territory. Just like playing D&D with friends, this is about getting together in a tavern, plotting the adventure to undertake and go for it. No experience gained unless the adventure is completed. It's a bit of a shock in this genre which is overpopulated with games that consist of killing rats, pigs, and small birds so you can proceed to kill bigger rats, bigger pigs, and bigger birds until you can kill a meaner, bigger rat, a bigger, meaner pig, and hopefully raid a dragon in a month or two. Oh yea, don't expect to craft either. It's a surprising omission, since even if D&D isn't big on it, there ARE rules for crafting in the DM guide and players could take advantage of them. Maybe they'll add them later, but so far I do not fault DDO for not including them as the experience, as is right now, is quite focused, and works as a tremendous asset of the game.

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