DDO - Don't buy it

[Trekari]

I would advise to steer entirely clear of this game. The following is a letter I wrote to their support department after their website update today. They made their forums require registration, which you can only do now if you are a paying customer.


I was on the fence regarding whether to purchase this game.

Then I noticed that you have made the forums require a subscription to post anything on, so questions cannot be asked of community members without buying the game first.

I have now decided to not purchase your game, and will recommend to everyone I know that they also stay clear of your product.

From the forum registration link, it says: "Forum Rules

Registration to this forum is free! We do insist that you abide by the rules and policies detailed below. If you agree to the terms, please check the 'I agree' checkbox and press the 'Register' button below. If you would like to cancel the registration, click here to return to the forums index."

Evidently your forum is NOT free and this is a blatant lie because in order to post in the forum, or even register, you must be paying for one of your games.

Good luck with your product, but I will do my best to inform everyone I know offline and online, that their money is best spent with one of your competitors.

-Jason Cavanaugh

 

[CKent]

Well with open PvP I wasn't planning on it anyway, that ruleset all but guarantees griefing, corpse camping, etc. This does cement the decision though, I remember when Star Wars: Galaxies was so bad Sony would only let subscribers view the forums (not that it got any better).

 

[cubby1223]

So you're judging the value of a game based on registration requirements of their separate, optional, non-value added website forum?

 

[Trekari]

The fact that they wish to censor and isolate what will be the biggest source of first-hand knowledge about the game from potential customers, yes.

To say that the official forum of a game has no value would be akin to saying these forums here have no value because the website is based off tech news, not forum use.

 

[AbAbber2k]

Originally posted by: RBachman
Well with open PvP I wasn't planning on it anyway, that ruleset all but guarantees griefing, corpse camping, etc. This does cement the decision though, I remember when Star Wars: Galaxies was so bad Sony would only let subscribers view the forums (not that it got any better).

I was under the impression that DDO didn't have ANY kind of PvP... let alone much of a global community considering the entire thing is instanced... like D&D Guild Wars without the "Wars."

I know a few people that are testing and they love it as far as a questing/mob bashing game. No matter how you dress it up, DDO isn't an MMO and there's no way in hell I'd drop money on a monthly fee for what amounts to multiplayer NWN.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k

Originally posted by: RBachman
Well with open PvP I wasn't planning on it anyway, that ruleset all but guarantees griefing, corpse camping, etc. This does cement the decision though, I remember when Star Wars: Galaxies was so bad Sony would only let subscribers view the forums (not that it got any better).

I was under the impression that DDO didn't have ANY kind of PvP... let alone much of a global community considering the entire thing is instanced... like D&D Guild Wars without the "Wars."

I know a few people that are testing and they love it as far as a questing/mob bashing game. No matter how you dress it up, DDO isn't an MMO and there's no way in hell I'd drop money on a monthly fee for what amounts to multiplayer NWN.

I might have my games mixed up, but I seem to remember someone saying it would be open pvp. At any rate, this approach to forum access can only be intended to hide something.

 

[xSkyDrAx]

:roll:

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: xSkyDrAx
:roll:

Thank you for your insightful contribution. Your ideas are intriguing, and I would like to subscribe to your newsletter.

 

[Feneant2]

Anything with the name 'Turbine' on it is garanteed to suck, I don't see why people would buy it anyways.

 

[TallBill]

Wow.. a whole boatfull of idiots in this thread who have no clue what they are talking about. OP is the leader of the pack.

 

[pontifex]

i thought everyone knew the game was crap by now because of the free weekends they had?

 

[VoodooU]

Lol, welcome to 2003-2004 where MMORPGs started only allowing registered users to post/view forums for their games. WWII Online, SWG, WoW, Shadowbane, etc. all function in very similar fashion. While I agree it does prevent the non-player from seeing what some players consider the negatives of a title, you can always use the forums on a variety of other sites to hear the same dribble.

Many developers/publishers realized long ago that the vast majority of players are self-centered whiners whose posts are usually aimed to make their individual lives easier, not for the betterment of the title. To avoid potentially bad press (though sometimes deserved) you have to have a paid subscription to post. No news there.

As to PvP, DDO has no FFA PvP nor PvP servers unless something has changes since their last pre-release announcement to the beta community.

That all said, DDO is, IMO, not worth the subscription rate based upon a number of longtime issues, but access to their forums is hardly one of them.

 

[imported_michealo]

closing the forum only to subscribers stops the "omg DDO is teh sux0r! lolololololerrhats!!!111" posts

 

[Joemonkey]

Originally posted by: VoodooU
Lol, welcome to 2003-2004 where MMORPGs started only allowing registered users to post/view forums for their games. WWII Online, SWG, WoW, Shadowbane, etc. all function in very similar fashion.

Anyone can view WoW's forums, but to post you must have an active account

 

[VoodooU]

Originally posted by: Joemonkey

Originally posted by: VoodooU
Lol, welcome to 2003-2004 where MMORPGs started only allowing registered users to post/view forums for their games. WWII Online, SWG, WoW, Shadowbane, etc. all function in very similar fashion.

Anyone can view WoW's forums, but to post you must have an active account

Perhaps I should have been clearer and stated post OR view, rather than post/view. /shrug

DDO, as far as I know, allows for the same and you only get access to other sections as part of being registered, though that also could have changed with release.

 

[CKent]

Originally posted by: TallBill
Wow.. a whole boatfull of idiots in this thread who have no clue what they are talking about. OP is the leader of the pack.

A few fanboys as well I see