My Halfling Rogue at Level 2
I’ve been very casually playing Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited for a couple of weeks. I elected to play a rogue because DDO is one of those games where thiefly skills are useful outside of combat. I detect and disable traps, unlock chests and doors, and scout, sneak, hide, and sap to my heart’s content. In combat I do a fair amount of damage, can tumble and take positional advantage of opponents, and generally be content to let my cleric partner get soundly beat upon while I avoid notice. In situations where clerical tanking isn’t sufficient we can use hirelings and summoned celestial creatures to help us out.
DDO’s structure is extraordinarily appealing to me–essentially, each area has a series of adventures available, some of which may be completed in minutes while others may take hours. This information is readily available in the game’s interface, allowing us to match the time we have available to an appropriate adventure. There is no experience for killing monsters–at least, not directly–and so advancement is linked more to our ability to complete an area and not the amount of time we have to grind xp. Once an adventure has been completed on normal difficulty players have the option to return and complete it on higher difficulties, earning more experience and loot in the process.
The game is reasonably attractive but rather “generic fantasy” in terms of tone, design, and color palette. Some of the dungeon design has been extraordinary, and players are rewarded for looking up as well as from side to side. Player characters are fairly customizable, but generally unattractive, in my opinion. The models are fine (for the most part–halflings have an incomprehensibly shaped skull), but the texture maps could have borne further attention. Money may be spent on various cosmetic options as well as access to drow and warforged. The environmental texture maps are unremarkable but successful in that they do not detract from my enjoyment of the game’s mechanics and depth.
So far I haven’t spent a dime on the game, but I expect to purchase a few adventure packs in the near future.