DDO: The Digital Table Top

Dungeons and Dragons conjures many images for many different people. What stirs in me when I hear those words is the memories of me, and three or four of my best friends sitting around a large wooden table eating frosting and drinking coffee. The lure of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks drove us onward to sleep deprivation, but the stories that were woven around that table made it worth the loss of sleep. I first touched those dice and books in 1981 at the age of 14 and have had a set of dice around from that day. I am now much older, as is Dungeons & Dragons but there are still times I and those friends sit about a table and talk about the days in Greyhalk. I now mostly play MMORPGs and beta test games as life's fast pace makes it hard to find that table top very often. This beta testing is how I found Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) and the new digital table top.

With out a doubt the most controversial thing in the MMORPG industry right now is Instancing. We have all heard the arguments against it which include; no people to run into and role-play with, empty hub areas, and cold feeling environments. I understand all these issues, but wanted to hopefully show some reasons why Turbine went the road they did. Think back to your Pen & Paper (PnP) roots and remember the campaigns and modules you experienced. You and your party were the heroes and well above the average. Most MMORPGs these days that are not instancing encounters are quite different than the lessons that the old table top taught us. In these new games you're not the hero, everyone is the hero. In these non-instanced games, often time you could be standing there waiting for the quest monster to respawn because the guy in front of you got there first. This wait is just a piece of the great design that provides you with the game you pay to play, but is it a piece you want to see? By instancing encounters and adventures (Modules) you can again recreate the feeling that you and your friends are the heroes and that event does revolve around you. I don't think that instancing is the answer to everything, but I do feel that it will allow Turbine and Alchemic Dream (AD) to utilize sections of Stormreach in new and creative ways while making the mechanics of the world less visible to you the player. Keeping the mechanics of a game invisible to the player helps to build immersion and excitement. I well remember Keep on the boarder lands, and how horrible it was as party members were picked off by the kobolds. All time we were playing, I was forgetting I was sitting in a grade school lunch room. This is but an example of the immersion the old table top gave me, and what I feel the new table top will give also.

The graphics are beautiful and tastefully done, during my time in DDO I have found my self just gazing at the city in amazement. The graphical engine is quiet configurable and can be adapted to almost and system that meet the minimum requirements. Environments are rich and detailed, from the background noise of patrons in the pub to the vendors offering you there wares on the street sides. I do recommend a strong graphic card, but this is only to see all that can be seen, as this is a great setting for high adventure. Some things I would have liked to have seen are chairs you can sit in and more social clothing. I do however understand that DDO was meant to be more about the adventure and less about the day to day of life. I do not feel that the things DDO does not have will stop it from being great. I personally feel Role-Play is something you bring with you, if you don't bring any you will not find any. I how ever bring role-play, and have found role-play in DDO. I even had one group that role-played through the in-game voice chat, which was a special treat.

I see great thing down the road for DDO new cities, great adventures, and new friends. I know all MMORPGs have there bad points, but what Turbine got right far out weighs what they didn't for me. I would hope that someday they even recreate some of the special modules from the old days of D&D, so I can relive them with my friends old and new. DDO is well worth a second look and I for one will be there to bring life to the great city of Stormreach.

See you all in Eberron.