Dungeons and Dragons Online Goes Free To Play August 6 (and it's far from a bad MMORPG)

Dungeons and Dragons Online looked interesting when it was announced a few years ago, with some unique puzzles and fun combat. When I had played the trial when it was released, it seemed fun combining a platformer, an action game, and turning it into a MMORPG. The problem with it was that it just didn't feel like a MMORPG. The game's depth is incredibly small for a MMORPG, though the graphics still look pretty modern. I figured that this would be better off being sold for $40-$50 without a monthly fee, since it was more like a singleplayer game lacking depth with multiplayer features than a MMORPG. It's even better that DDO is going to be free to play (without ads) on August 6. DDO is definitely the most polished free to play MMORPG out, and new content is still being added.



http://www.ddo.com/index.php

 

I was listening to either a recent Rebel FM or Gamer's With Jobs podcast about the DDO move to free-play. There is a caveat about it, tho'. There will be purchasable items and modules (adventure scenarios) for sale. So it might be free for the most part there will be an element of those who pay will gain.

Still, I might give it a shot.

 

Turbine said that you can earn points in the free version from quests, etc. to purchase content from the store. You can get everything for free with effort.

 

When I played it near release it was far from good MMORPG. In fact, at the time I remember thinking "I wouldn't play this if it were free". Granted, it may have changed since then, but it was bad.

 

The co-op combat was great, but it was lacking in all the other aspects normally attached to a MMORPG, other than gear. It was like paying to play Guild Wars or Phantasy Star Online. Free to play sounds about right since it is just a instance/co-op combat RPG.

 

Hmm if it is indeed like PSO I may like it, though half of why I liked pso was the JP touch, and costumes, weapons etc that this game looks like it wont have.

 

DDO had the best dungeons of any MMO I've played and I've played most of them. The dungeons were very challenging, well-designed and looked great.

The negative is there was no real open world where people could get to know each other. You'd just go LFG, hop in a dungeon group, finish a couple of dungeons and do the same thing over again.

 

If it was far from bad it wouldn't be going free to play.

 

The best things in this life are FREE

 

Not if you're trying to run a business they aren't.

 

Many free MMORPGs are making a really, really good profit. I've heard that Free Realms has been making a great profit. Funcom says that they've done really well when they turned Anarchy Online into a free game, and that they see free-to-play MMORPGs as profitable. Most MMORPGs have been going to free to play after a few years, unless they're extremely successful. Blizzard has even said that making WoW free to play in the future is something that they would consider, and Funcom has said the same thing about Age of Conan.

 

I beta tested ddo and i personally thought it sucked but thats just me.

 

Free-to-play AoC should be happening now, imo.

 

i loved PSO so i think i can see myself trying this out, it wont hurt.

 

The biggest complaints about DDO at the start were:

1. No PvP....implemented
2. No crafting...implemented, in it's own way
3. Not enough content...I agreed but there is more than enough now.

DDO, IMO, has well thought out quests, dungeons, gameplay, combat, plenty of class/race/build combos, regular content updates and a fantastic community. Guilds are the way to go. Some are raid based, some are RP based, some are permadeath, some are 'let's just get together and have a good time'.

The thing is, if a game, particularly an MMO, doesn't "set the hook" from the onset, then there is generally no turning back for a lot of folks. The 3 things I mentioned, and a few other lesser issues had this effect on a lot of gamers, either that actually tried it, or that heard bad things and never tried it. Then there is the fact that it is a D&D game, which historically doesn't attract a big crowd anyway.

I would be willing to bet though, that about 70-80% or so that tried it, and stuck with with it more than a few hours/days would NOW find it a very satisfying game. This is probably why Turbine is offering the free2play gig, as their sunscription base hasn't fallen off terribly in the last year or so. There is still a full subscription as well, which I have no intention of dropping, and they probably hope that getting folks in for free, with small fee bene's, will entice others to go for the full sub.

 

Not going to happen. There's too much money invested into Conan at this point to make it free to play.

No, it's not just you. I, too, beta'd DDO and thought the game was nothing more but a waste of time.

 

Absolutely...

In 10 years when that game no longer has 11 million people paying $15 a month.

Every F2P game has a catch, a caveat. There is either absolutely no support for the game or they find a way to squeeze money out of you if you intend to play the game like it was meant to be played.

I've tried several of these F2P games and quickly decide my $15 subscription is a bargain.

 

Good, for some reason i dont know what it is but i dont like PVP games.......maybe playing phatasy Star for long helped that. I also liked monster hunter too. So i guess id probably like this as well

 

Yeah, once nobody is willing to pay for it.

MMOs going free to play just means they were a failure as a profitable game, hardly the best sign.

 

I agree. Although I still would rather pay 9.99 a month for lotro rather than play AOC.