D&D Online to gradually transfer from 3.5 to 4e

[Family]

According to [Kate] Paiz [the producer], the transition to 4th Edition isn't going to be particularly abrupt. This is as much to not jar their passionate fan base as a tacit acknowledgement of the absolutely huge undertaking converting DDO to 4th Edition would be. That being said, the plan is to eventually move the game over.

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/dungeons-dragons-online/899114p1.html

 

[Ruin Explorer]

This is pretty much the worst possible news on the 4E computer gaming front.

DDO is a failed MMORPG, that hangs on with a truly tiny population (under 50k). I could enumerate it's many flaws and serious mistakes (from horrible visual design that does no justice whatsoever to Eberron, to extremely claustrophobic environments and unfriendly-ness to solo players), but it'd be a waste of time.

For anyone who cares, this line should show you how doomed this is:

"We are starting to roll out some of the 4th Edition rule set where it makes sense, though."

So basically they're trying to convert a game that works on significantly different basic principles, piecemeal. I have no idea why Atari continues to support this, frankly, apart from as a kind of IP-squatting.

If they completely reworked the game, and re-released it, they might have a chance of doing something decent and getting people back (it sold a very large number of copies, but had subscriber retention levels that make AoC look like WoW). Instead they're just going to fiddle here and there and "slowly transition". Ugh.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I agree that it is very hard to see how a gradual transition of DDO to 4e rules could be made.

 

[Kez Darksun]

While I don't play DDO, having gone through gameplay tinkering twice before in another MMO, I'd much rather prefer to see them develop DDO 2.0 with the 4th edition ruleset and relaunch it. Its a cleaner break than trying to mash it together and hope it works properly.

 

[Aristotle]

While I don't play DDO, having gone through gameplay tinkering twice before in another MMO, I'd much rather prefer to see them develop DDO 2.0 with the 4th edition ruleset and relaunch it. Its a cleaner break than trying to mash it together and hope it works properly.

I think it's too early for a sequal, and the game doesn't have the fanbase to support the investment. Sad... so sad. Role playing might be a niche market, but its been proven now that fantasy can sell and the D&D brand has name recognition. That game should've been the surefire WoW-killer. The brand should have boxoffice franchises of movies based on the original Dragonlance novels and the Dark Elf books (say what you will, they sell) and maybe others. I just don't get it.

I actually really like eberron, having read the books but not played it, but it was the wrong choice for the game. It should've been set in greyhawk. We should be getting 5 man groups together to run the moathouse, or a 10 man raid for ToEE. We should be chewing glass in the 25 man raids in the demonweb pits, or chatting with guildmates about how cool it would be if the next expansion opened up Sigil and the outer planes for some demigod and lesser god killing action, and maybe some of the greater gods in the expansion after that... Okay, maybe that last bit is overkill. I dunno.

I just know that I don't care what D&D ruleset it uses, if it just doesn't really feel like D&D to me in the first place.

 

[That One Guy]

Soo... DDO. I tried it when it first came out. Terriblebadawful. One of the worst purchases of my life? yes. The worst? Not sure. ...but probably.

Over the summer a friend said that they had made a bunch of patches that made the game more... fun. My response was, "Fun at all?" ...turns out, they did add a lot. There is some solo game. Enhancement points are no longer stupidtastic beyond belief (If anyone wishes to contest this and defend the original release form of Enhancement points... you're welcome. I actually would be interested.), and the game is fun. The worst thing about it (IMO) is that it still works off of 3.5 based rules. I was talking to my DM (who also got convinced to try the demo and play for a bit) and all we could talk about was how much more fun the game would be if they used the 4e rules. So... I actually think that it might drive away the current fanbase. BUT, in a few years once all the new rules are put in, I might actually play (assuming DDI isn't up).

So, I actually see this as good news. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

That game should've been the surefire WoW-killer.

No, it shouldn't have been. Blizzard's success with WoW had not been its brand -- WoW has vastly outsold any of the previous Blizzard games, including Warcraft III. It's succeeded on substance: All the bad stuff about previous MMOs was filed down or replaced with something better.

DDO, on the other hand, came at MMOs saying "hey, that EverQuest I seemed like a pretty good game, let's fiddle around with it a little bit, make it conform a little more with 3.5, make it nominally Eberron and wait for the trucks full of money to show up!"

People don't want to pick up EQ1 nowadays -- the catastrophe that was Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, even before all of the interoffice politics began was proof of that -- no matter what the brand is.

The D&D MMO that's a big hit will be a big hit because of the game play, not because someone put name brand lipstick on what was still ultimately a pig.

 

[Merlin the Tuna]

The D&D MMO that's a big hit will be a big hit because of the game play, not because someone put name brand lipstick on what was still ultimately a pig.

And to be honest, I think the D&D brand is more of an issue than an advantage in cases like this; it has the problem of both being a greater step of nerd-dom for non-RPGers, and has the automatic stink of "licensed shovelware taking advantage of people who don't know any better." The latter point I say not as a potshot at DDO; my point is just that movie cash-in games are near-universally awful, and D&D games are only half a step away from that.

 

[Aristotle]

No, it shouldn't have been.

So, the game has to be good? I absolutely agree. WoW is a good game. DDO is not. That merit makes or breaks it, because in the end you need more than just the people who already know and love you to pay for your game. I didn't mean to infer the game engine could stand as-is. But I do stand by my belief that capitolizing more on the brand would have helped, had the game been better.

I've got no proof of that, but I've logged a lot of hours on WoW (averaged 40 hours a week the first two years) and a lot of the folks I've played with are really into the lore. I guess that's where I was coming from... but I'll concede that a bad game with a great story will do a whole lot worse than a really good game with a really bad story likely would.

 

[ProfessorCirno]

DDO

Holy crap, that thing's still around? I can't help but wonder how the ten people who still play it are going to react to these changes.