Monday, December 5, 2011

why still no PvP system in DDO??

Jackson Laws in my DDO server usually does not lead to fun and intersting PvP
I have been having fun lately running through dungeons as a solo player in DDO, assisted by my hirelings, and sometimes in a group running through level 4 and higher instances. However, while chilling in the taverns one day I ran into the Jackson Laws NPCs and I wondered why the PvP in DDO is not a greater part of the game?

I came across this old thread on the subject and came to the conclusion that many players feel it is missing from the game, while others feel since DDO is based on pen and paper D&D, and since PvP is not a big focus on traditional D&D, the devs haven’t made it a big part of DDO either.

Personally, I tried dueling with a few players, and they being more familiar with their classes, handed me a pretty convincing beating every time. I would like to round up a group of players just so that I can check out the battle arenas, but I can never find enough players wanting to do so.

According to an entry in the DDO wiki, PVP in DDO is considered to be Fluff: There are no rewards, and therefore there is no incentive other than personal enjoyment to compete in PVP.  I would have to agree with that statement, it seems like it was more of an afterthought than a fully robust or fully fleshed out system.

I found this eloquent and well written editorial about pvp or DDO’s lack of it and though it is dated (written prior to Guild Wars’ launch by Arena Net) It still makes a lot of valid points. Some players want PvP in DDo just to be jerks, or to grief on other players, while others believe that a legitimate system of competing against each other under certain formats which bring them excitement and a lot of fun should be implemented in the game. I happen to fall under the latter camp. I think Turbine could implement a system which would take advantage of the inherent role playing possibilities in the game, the system in place now for dueling is not nearly as fun as dueling with players in other games.

Now, back to leveling my Barbarian!

Friday, December 2, 2011

Happy winter in the dungeons

It's been a long time since I blogged, let alone stepped into the world of Stormreach. What's been the hold up you ask?

Well I have discovered that I get bored playing just one game, even if it's an engrossing game like DDO.

My plan for a static group didn't pan out, somehow all the members stopped logging on, so I was back to square one, no static group, no set date to play DDO, but you know what I discovered? It doesn't even matter.

 Grouping for this game is so easy and so great, there is no need to go LFG, or rather, it's no effort to find one. Hence I fired up my launcher and soon enough I was doing some instances with a big balanced group again (seen here.) Winter break is coming and when I am not leveling up my Guardian in EQ2, I am going to be dissecting the nuances of DDO once more. It is cold, it is winter time, it is the perfect time for mmos and especially DDO, but like I said, I enjoy EQ2 as well, now it's also f2p and I have dinged 16 with my toon in hopes of checking out how they do battlegrounds.

Still, DDO may lack the pvp, but what it lacks in pvp it more than makes up in its rich instanced based group quests and unique approach to gaming with an emphasis on D&D 3.5 edition rules. Until the Neverwinter RPG drops, you will find me collecting loot and fighting kobolds and other assorted creatures here in Stormreach.  My toon is Doomar in Orien server. Come say hello sometime!! I will be on at least twice a week this winter every week.