I think that the really striking thing about the Dungeons and Dragons Online launch period has been just how dramatically split opinions are. The people that hate it, really hate it. No, really. The first real reviews of it from generalist gaming publications - at Gamedaily (4.5 out of 5) and Eurogamer (8 out of 10) - are far more positive than I expected, and I can't help but thing some really low marks will balance these. MMO forums, on the other hand, already have a fairly even split between those who like it a lot and those who hate it. F13, for instance, is a notorious geek-rant-fest - although also a great source of info - and is universally, mob-lynching-negative amongst those who are posting.
A balanced view is rarer, but you can see one at
The comments I see from those who detest DDO tend to reflect that it expects things of the players.
"And combat was annoying... i hated needing to block and attack." (Anandtech)
OK, if you want easy-mode, character-skill-centric combat then D&DO isn't for you. This requires you to watch the opposition for the tell-tale swing of their attack, or keep an eye open for their special attacks. It's less classic MMO, and more FPS - First Person Slasher.
"got my ranger to 4 today. Thought i can use spells finally, then i realize, oh 11 points in wisdom = you no get spell points. Becoming more dissapointing by the day" (Anandtech)
Yes, it is possible to build any legal D&D character you like, and that means sub-optimal ones. This is not World of Warcraft. Yes, you can gimp yourself, so either read the manual or the D&D rulebook.
And so on. The biggest complaint is that the game is not really solo-able: you have to group. Yes, you have to group. Dungeons and Dragons is a group, social activity. I can only imagine the mockery if the system had been changed to make the solo-to-60 playstyle of WoW (which I also love) possible. Another big complaint is that the health and mana pools take time to regenerate. Huh? You just got slashed with a sword, and you are complaining that spending 4 minutes in a tavern is too high a price to pay for healing?
I can't wait to start using the built-in voice communications to play as a group with others: all I've done is same-room play at the moment. I'm intrigued, in that I always thought that that would be immersion-breaking. But in this context, recreating a D&D session, it seems more natural: Marina the roguish mage is always voiced by my mate Cakes. that's how it is, and doesn't stop me enjoying pen and paper D&D.
Something in the game's favour that I should have made more of in my previous post is the scripting. The adventures are far more interactive, with people behind doors hearing and reacting to you; fiddling with secret altars leading to caverns collapsing around you; other (npc) parties wandering the same dungeons as you are, looting happily, and so on. There is nothing in Warcraft, even in the instanced areas, that matches the complexity of the DDO scripting. I am actively noting stuff for use in my PnP campaign.