I played DDO for a while, but I also got sick of it after a while. A couple of my complaints...
1) There's nothing wrong with Eberron as a setting, but if they're gonna make a D&D MMORPG, then it really should've been set in a setting which is more quintessentially D&D, like Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. I don't know about anyone else, but when I think of D&D, Eberron isn't what my mind comes up with. It feels a bit to sci-fi, what with the Warforged and all.
2) Setting everything in just the one city. It felt claustrophobic. Like playing World of Warcraft in just Stormwind. Sure, it's bigger then Stormwind, but the game world is nowhere near as big as WoW. Not to mention that all the wildernesses were instances, which also made it feel lonely. You never ran across anyone else, there.
3) I didn't like the lack of mounts/pets/etc. A Druid's and Ranger's Animal Companions are pretty important things, as is the Wizard and Sorcerer's Familiar, and the Paladin's Special Mount, yet none of these were in the game. I wanted to see Druids padding around with a whole menagerie of animals behind them, but no such luck. And of course, thanks to the claustrophobic nature of the game world, there really wasn't much of a use for mounts, which would've been nice. Not to mention mounted combat. They could've done something which most other MMO's, as far as I know, don't have. Mounted combat. But they decided to pass the buck on that one (Fortunately Age of Conan will deliver in that regard).
4) It would've been nice if it allowed more solo play. When I first started playing, it was great for solo play. But as I started levelling, it was harder and harder finding a quest that I could successfully solo. I don't mind teaming, but I don't like feeling like I have to team in order to progress in the game. Because if I can't find a team, then I'm stuck, and unable to do anything else in the game until I do find a game. If a DM wanted to, he could run a one player campaign. I'd like the same in D&D Online. Have a real option for solo play in all levels.
5) The avatars weren't as detailed as I would've liked. I was looking forward to getting my first magic cloak, but you can imagine my disappointment when I finally got one only to find out that cloaks don't appear on the character. Neither do any magic boots, gloves, belts, or anything else your character wears. The only thing that appears is his armor, helmet, and weapons. That's it. While I like that the weapons look a lot more realistic and reasonable than the weapons in WoW, they could really do to take a page from WoW and model all those items so that they appear on the character, as they do on WoW characters, where even Bracers show up on the character, nevermind Boots, Gloves, etc. Oh yeah, and options for regular clothing would've been nice, too. Mundane cloaks, shirts, boots, etc, would've all been nice.
6) It also would've been nice if they'd found a use for Detect Evil. I want to see how that power would look like. How does the Paladin see people when he uses Detect Evil? That's a question that could've been answered had they done something with Detect Evil and similar Detect Alignment powers, but instead, they decided to just skip over that stuff (Even though they did include Alignment).
7) Where were the Prestige Classes?
There were some good things about it, like built-in voice chat, and more intelligent monsters who don't run at you in a straight line and just stand there. But overall, I thought it was a pretty disappointing experience. If it were up to me, they'd make a new DDO, and this time base it around Forgotten Realms. It'd include the following:
- Expansive game world which stretches from Waterdeep to the Vast. Zones would include: Waterdeep, Undermountain, The North, The Silver Marches, Silverymoon, The High Forest, Anauroch, The City of Shade, The Western Heartlands, Cormyr, Suzail, The Dalelands, Shadowdale, Myth Drannor, Sembia, The Ride, The Moonsea, Zhentil Keep, The Vast, Raven's Bluff. As they expanded, they'd add more areas like the Moonshaes and Evermeet, as well as adding in more cities, like Tantras, Mithral Hall, and so on.
- With an expansive and wide-open game world, they've have mounts so people can better get around the world. The mounts would range from horses, warponies, and riding dogs, to griffons, dire lions, pegasi, and unicorns. With horses and the like being relatively easy to procure, while the rarer animals are a bit harder to get, especially the flying mounts (With the exception of classes like the Paladin, which would simply be able to designate such mounts as their Special Mount). Mounted combat would also be included, from mounted melee to mounted archery, and we'd also have lances and the like. We'd be able to give our mounts barding and other protection, and they'd function as a pet and fight when mounted or dismounted (Not in all cases. Only with some mounts, like Warhorses. Riding Horses and Ponies wouldn't fight), but of course, you run the risk of them getting killed and having to get a new mount.
- There'd be roving monsters in all the zones, so not all encounters would be restricted to only instances.
- Avatars would be more indepth, like WoW, showing all the various articles of clothing you're wearing, from cloaks and tabards, to boots, gloves, bracers, belts, and so on. There'd also be an option for changing the physique of the player, to make them short or tall, skinny or fat, as well as a lot more options for modelling the face and hair then what WoW provides.
- Aside from mounts, there'd be other pets, like Familiars and Animal Companions.
- Prestige Classes would be included, including setting specific ones.
- Crafting would be included from the start. So Wizards/Sorcerers would be able to start making Potions and Scrolls pretty much from the word go.
- There would be in-game games, like going to a tavern and playing Three-Dragon Ante, or Dragon Dice with other bar patrons.
- Every instance would scale up or down depending on the strength of the players taking it on. So if there's a group of six, then it'd be a fair challenge for them. But against a group of three, it'd scale down to be a more appropriate challenge for them. And it'd scale down even further when it's just one player soloing it.
- Players would have the option of playing any alignment, from Lawful Good to Chaotic Evil, and PVP would be allowed, although there'd be an option for players to avoid PVPing if they don't like it. Either by making PVP servers or giving a player the option to turn PVP on or off at will. Players would also be able to join both good and evil organizations, like the Harpers or the Zhentarim (Possibly through Prestige Classes and the like).
Just a couple of ideas, of course. One can only hope, though, that they one day do release a good D&D MMO.