Thanks Phil and charles for this information. Unfortunatly it doesn't look like an accesible game, and really this makes me mourn the loss of castle quest... I know that USA games is thinking of making a fantasy type game with rpg elements, but is there any developer interested in making a good old fashioned classic turn based adventure? I am not complaining, I realize the huge task something like that would take. But I can always hope. allan
The truth will set you free... Jesus of Nazareth 33 AD ----- Original Message ----- From: "Charles Rivard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "audyssey gamers list" <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2006 10:32 AM Subject: audyssey: dungeons and dragons online? > Phil Vlasak asked me to pass this onto the list, as he cannot currently > post, so here it is: > > Heard about this on the news today but I still can't post to BlindGamers. > > Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, the long > awaited PC MMORPG from developer > Turbine. This game promises to bring the pen-and-paper RPG to life through > a > more action oriented gameplay idea along with twists like a "Dungeon > Master" > who let's you know what's ahead just like in the classic game. > > http://www.turbinegames.com/ > new website for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: > http://www.ddo.com/ > > Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach > written by Jason G. > on Thursday, February 23, 2006 > > An effervescent world encompasses you. The thrill of life as you adventure > through a seemingly endless expanse of terrain baffles even the most > brilliant > of minds. You find yourself caught in the midst of a key role in possibly > the most important event of your life. You raise your keen dagger as > slowly > you > approach your only victim, knowing a successful execution could perhaps > change the tides of war in your favour. You move slowly, quietly, and in a > blink > of an eye it's over. > > A large majority of 'hype' factor, as I will call it, has followed D&D > Online: Stormreach since the second it was even thought of. I myself have > been a > member of their > community > for a long time, well over a year at least. I've played Pencil and Paper > (PnP) Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) for about 9 years now, and this is how I > remember > it. That being said, it is definitely not how I see D&D Online: > Stormreach. > The highly anticipated game laying claim to the 3.5 rule set from Wizards > of > the Coast is in my opinion, a majority hype, and very little > follow-through. > It does have a few strong cards, but the true D&D feeling is lost in the > game. > Some of the most crucial aspects of the 3.5 D&D world are missing, so > let's > take a look. > > The first thing you'll come to in D&D Online: Stormreach is character > creation. This is perhaps one of the biggest parts in any > MMORPG, > and the importance of having great character customization is a must. > This, > in my opinion, is one section that D&D Online: Stormreach pulls through. > There > is a vast > array > of options for your character. In a purely physical aspect, the change in > appearance from one halfling to the next is startling, but in a good way. > > Initially you will need to choose your race. Following with the 3.5 rule > set > the standard races include humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and a new > race > known as Warforged. I believe this race to be, the > developer, > Turbine's equivalent to the orc and half-orc that were left out. After > selecting a race, you will then get to alter the specifics. Hair, eye, and > skin colour > and style can all be altered during this phase. It adds a lot of your own > creative side to the game, and gives your character a feel during the > game. > > Now that you've chosen a race you will need to pick a class. The classes > themselves are covered well in D&D Online: Stormreach. The available > classes > are > barbarian, bard, cleric, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and > wizard. Of course there are a few classes left out in this such as monk > and > druid, > but both are planned for later on, perhaps in an expansion or > patch, > but not on release. I'll refrain from breaking down the classes as if > you've > followed this game, you'll know all about them. > > I am inclined to comment about one thing, the rogue. In all my nine years > of > playing PnP D&D I played a rogue, every single time. This game was > supposed > to have tons of work on the rogue class finally appeasing rogue gamers > everywhere. In my expert opinion, and yes I believe it to be expert based > on > my > experience, the rogue is not done justice once again. The essentials of > the > class are there, but still it seems to be lacking. > > Now that you have a character, welcome to the world. Er, scratch that, > welcome to what would be a world if a world existed of > portals > and taverns, oh and a city. This is my hugest gripe with D&D Online: > Stormreach. The last time I checked, D&D was all about the world your > character lived > in, and how it interacted with its surroundings. Here we find a scripted > world, as I will call it, where all you do is grind out boring quest > lines. > I > myself particularly enjoy scenery and travel and the world around me. I > find, however, that during my time playing D&D Online: Stormreach, I did > quests > in places that were of course in the world, but to get there, I merely > walked through a door or > portal. > This bothered me greatly, as I know D&D to be a world immersing game, > where > half the battle is playing your cards right around town, or traversing a > path > or cliff to the right area. > > Now comes level progression. It's slow; very, very slow. If you are > looking > for a game that doesn't take long to attain the highest level, D&D Online: > Stormreach > is definitely not for you. This combined with the real time combat do > however make for an interesting twist in the > MMORPG > world. Left click to block, right click to swing your sword, -4 penalty > for > moving around when swinging. It > sounds > fun at first, having full control of your action, but after a while > playing > you find out that it pretty much just makes the boring parts of combat > even > more boring. > > If you had recently planned on playing an archer, you should take into > account that you won't be firing as many arrows as someone swinging their > sword; > this is just how the game was designed. A semi-fun part of combat is > playing > a caster and not using the auto targeting. You might think you are aimed > at > the enemy but, lo and behold, that fireball goes careening into oblivion. > Fun for a while, annoying in the long run, and I highly doubt to see many > people > use it. > > One of the most apparent things I noticed is that after the first few > levels, you say goodbye to solo-ing. If you can't find a competent party > or > have a > group of close friends to play this game with, then don't bother. Solo-ing > past level 2 is practically impossible, and results in a lot of wasted > time. > Of course this wasn't what Turbine was aiming for, and so I suppose they > did > a good job creating what they were going for. > > In the end, D&D Online: Stormreach isn't a game I'm going to buy. In fact, > I > don't even plan on thinking about it, or referencing it, or even > mentioning > it in any D&D session I play again. I'll take my PnP over your > PC > D&D any day. If you don't have an imagination and can't play PnP, that's > cool and to each their own. If you do however possess the X-factor known > as > imagination, > and play D&D Online: Stormreach over regular PnP D&D, you are killing your > inner child. > > D&D Online Head Start Begins Today > > While Dungeons and Dragons Online isn't set to officially launch until the > game ships to stores next week, people who pre-ordered the Turbine MMORPG > can > get a head start via (natch) the D&D Online Head Start program which > begins > later today. If you have already beta tested the game you only need to > update > your client to begin plaiying while people who havent't played the beta > but > have pre-ordered the game have to download the full client from Turbine. > People > who play the game during the Head Start program get some in-game and > community extras as well. Here is a snip: > Block quote start > When you and your guild play in the Head Start Event you could be > immortalized as founders and inspire future adventurers.All characters > that > log into the > game during the Head Start Event will be commemorated by having their name > engraved in an in-game marker and be listed in a special founders section > of > the official web site at > http://www.ddo.com > ! > Guilds that are created during the Head Start Event and have ten or more > members at the end of the Head Start Event, will gain a special in-game > item > for > their characters - a founder's helmet that will grant its wearer an > additional five hit points* (and it looks really cool too!)* Helmet will > be > available > as part of a post-launch update. > Guilds that have 25 or more members at the end of the Head Start Event > will > be commemorated by having their guild name engraved in an in-game marker > and > be listed in a special founders section of the official web site at > http://www.ddo.com > ! > Players who preorder and register for the subscriber forums during the > Head > Start Event will also be recognized as founders and be honored with a > special > Founder's Forum Title and Forum Avatar > Block quote end > > > shepherds are the best beasts > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > to leave send a blank Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. > Yahoo! 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