DDO: Back Into The Breach

I couldn’t resist.  I mean, I tried.  I really did.  I lasted almost a week, which shouldn’t have been difficult, considering that I’ve had next to no spare gaming time whatsoever as I’m in the midst of planning a rather large mission trip with our church.  But ever since I heard the news that Dungeons & Dragons Online was going to become free-to-play, I knew I would be playing it, and I didn’t want to wait.

I tried.

I’m weak.

I resubscribed.  Resubscribed for a game that’s going to be free in a month or two.  And which has a beta that I could conceivably also play for free.

It wasn’t just the future knowledge and my lack of patience that prompted this decision, it was also the result of a bit of research on the forums.  Previous DDO subscribers (current or not) will be given more goodies as free players than folks who just start out cold turkey (such as four character slots vs. two).  Also, if you unlock a Drow now, you don’t have to pay to unlock it as a free player.  (Yes, that’s an elf, shut up, I know.  I will roll one only to murder it repeatedly.)

I also was incredibly curious as to how the game’s changed in the past year or so.  It certainly has a much more user- and casual-friendly character creator (which does allow you to tweak to your heart’s content if you’re an advanced player), as well as a completely new intro zone that does a far better job of introducing you to the game and its mechanics without making it feel as though it was a boring tutorial.

One of my big reservations about heading back to DDO — and a major peeve of mine ever since I found it out — is that somewhere along the line, Turbine decided that players would have to grind out a crapton of “Favor” in order to unlock 32-point characters.  You see, your typical player starts with 28 points for their stats, so 32 points gives you a definite edge with an extra 4 points for customization.  The unfortunate thing is that when you finally accrue enough favor to unlock 32 point builds, it’s not retroactive on your current character — that sucker is stuck with 28 points, effectively making him or her or it obsolete.

So, to recap, Turbine wants you to start by playing a character that you most likely will abandon in the future because it’s gimped compared to the more powerful builds you’ll eventually gain access to.  This is not a great selling point on their part.

I’m willing to wager, although we haven’t heard anything yet, that 32-point builds will be one of those purchasable items at the upcoming Turbine Store, which would be totally worth it in my opinion.  Yet for players who have put in the effort to unlock these builds, they severely chafe at the thought of others being able to skip right past that “rite of passage” that they and everyone else had to go through.  I can see their point, even if it is a stupid system.

Anyway, what the forums recommend for a new player is this:

1. Roll a Cleric.  Clerics are always wanted in groups (for their healing), and 28 point builds are still pretty powerful, so you could potentially keep your guy even after you unlock the 32 pointers.  I rolled a human cleric named Flotsam.
2. At 400 favor (or by purchasing them in the store), you can unlock the Drow race.  This is notable because Drow have better stat bonuses than everyone else: a net gain of 4 stat points.  So effectively, Drow are 32-point characters, except that you can’t fiddle with their stats as much as you can true 32-pointers.
3. Then use that Drow character to gain the 1750 favor needed for 32 point builds.

Anyway, I’m still in the beginning section, dusting off my old DDO skills (of which there are precious few), rearranging the UI into something similar to every other MMO I’ve played, and scouring the forums for tips, tricks and survival methods.