My rogue detects traces that nerds are afoot

Before I discuss anything, I want you to know where I’m coming from. I’ve never played Dungeons & Dragons. I’ve never understood pen & paper D&D or how it translates to fun. The closest I’ve come to playing a D&D game to date has been Knights of the Old Republic, which used the Star Wars license, an amazing presentation, and a glossy veneer to cover up the dice rolls which were taking place in the background. Talking with some of my compatriots, I think it is this unfamiliarity with the source material that is making D&D Online: StormReach a much more confusing experience for me than it may be for someone else. I find myself missing a lot of the conventions I’ve grown accustomed to in WoW, yet enjoying the real-time physics based combat (to a degree).

D&D Online begins by holding your hand too much, and then abruptly drops you altogether. After playing for 2 hours, I’m pretty sure I still don’t understand much about effectively using my rogue-specific skills such as Sap, Trip, or Bluff in combat. I know that I’m still confused as to why fellow party member Ruckus still had quest items in his inventory after completion while I did not. If it’s all because I’m supposed to be reading the manual, I’ve glanced at it. It looks like a whole bunch of tables and math. There’s a slight chance that I might print out a few pages to leave on my nightstand in case I ever have trouble sleeping.

That being said the dungeons themselves are very entertaining. A Dungeon Master narrator is present for your adventures and will occasionally chime in with such lines as “You hear an ominous skittering from just beyond the sealed door” or “A foul stench descends upon you as the ancient vault is unsealed”. While awkward and silly at first, you quickly grow to like the subtle touch it adds to your experience. There are actual puzzles to be solved, riddles to answer, enemies, traps, and obstacles to bypass.  The feel of teamwork and the necessity for a diverse and complementary party come across very well. Unfortunately, this is not a game where you will solo for any length of time. Either you will have a good group of friends to play with or you will gather eager adventurers from town, because heading into a dungeon as the lone savior for humanity is a quick and easy way to end up as a steaming corpse. Since there is no player-based economy, professions, or PVP combat, it’s the dungeons or nothing at all.

All told, at the moment I still stand by my initial impression that this should not be a subscription-based game. With every bit of combat instanced for only your party and no outside player interaction beyond idle chat and group gathering, why is this Massively Multiplayer? Why doesn’t it take a page out of Guild Wars’ book, which is just that…instanced worlds which give the impression of a MMO game? I don’t know how the loot tables break down and whether or not you’ll be repeatedly grinding dungeons for items or XP, but so far it seems as though you’ll go through a dungeon, beat it, and move on. Problem solved, threat vanquished. At the moment, Turbine is releasing an update which will add another 15 or so dungeons to the game. If their plan is to do so monthly, then I can see where that fee is going. Otherwise, I’m not sure the game won’t go the way of Majestic. Still, I’ve got 6 days left on my free trial and I hope to gather a few more willing participants to tackle some more complex areas before that time is up.