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Dungeons & Dragons Online: Our DDO: Menace of the Underdark Review

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

Dungeons & Dragons Online recently expanded with the Menace of the Underdark addition. We've been playing MotU and have a full review for your reading pleasure. Read on and then let us know what you think!

Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark (DDO:MotU) is the newest expansion for DDO. It is also the first paid expansion for the game in DDO's six year history. There have been many highly acclaimed and very successful Dungeons and Dragons RPGs over the years but these games have had one another thing in common besides the D&D name brand: They all took place in the Forgotten Realms. The Forgotten Realms campaign setting is very expansive and familiar to pen and paper D&D players. This popularity is due to source guides and novels written by Ed Greenwood and R.A. Salvatore and the iconic characters they created to populate the realms such as Greenwood's Elminster and Salvatore's Companions of the Hall. The richness that the Forgotten Realms can provide as a backdrop is something that DDO never had, until now, and what many considered to be DDO's fatal flaw. Over the last 6 years DDO has taken place in Eberron. Eberron created a world that is inhabited by typical high fantasy creations but also has machines and airships that are powered by magic.

Read more of Rob Lashley's Dungeons & Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark Review.

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Comments

  • engellenengellen Member UncommonPosts: 83

    is this game still around?

    played a million mmo's

  • itchmonitchmon Member RarePosts: 1,999

    it's still around, the servers have plenty of people (even the lowest pop one, sarlona is full of people) and it's still fun.

    RIP Ribbitribbitt you are missed, kid.

    Currently Playing EVE, ESO

    Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and not clothed.

    Dwight D Eisenhower

    My optimism wears heavy boots and is loud.

    Henry Rollins

  • aspekxaspekx Member UncommonPosts: 2,167

    when they add starter areas and up to FR i'll consider it.

    "There are at least two kinds of games.
    One could be called finite, the other infinite.
    A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
    an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
    Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse

  • rygard49rygard49 Member UncommonPosts: 973

    Originally posted by chelan

    when they add starter areas and up to FR i'll consider it.




     

    Agreed. I would have tried it out had they made FR accessible from level 1. I don't enjoy the Eberron world at all.

  • eric_w66eric_w66 Member UncommonPosts: 1,006

    Eberron was a disaster. It was 'everything and the kitchen sink.' Dinosaurs and Dragons and Robots and Giants and.... halflings riding dinosaur robots...

     

    Ugh. The lore was horrible. After FR, it's hard to top. But even Greyhawk is more engaging than Eberron.

  • Storman1977Storman1977 Member Posts: 207

    All I can say is all the people who avoided the game because it was Eberron instead of FR have missed out on a great game.

  • RobsolfRobsolf Member RarePosts: 4,607

    FR Finally... I may have to have a look at this one...

  • Dreamo84Dreamo84 Member UncommonPosts: 3,713

    I'm with the others here, I would have tried this again if the Forgotten Realms was playable at level 1. I don't wanna have to do the awful Eberron stuff first.

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  • AthisioAthisio Member Posts: 72

    I tried this game awhile ago and thought it was pretty fun. What didn't click with me is how confined everything feels. your in 1 tiny zone that has multiple doors to "personal instances" so it never had the mmo feel for me. I guess it felt more like a rpg

  • NibsNibs Member UncommonPosts: 287

    DDO did not invent epic levels. AD&D 3rd Edition had them...

  • eddieg50eddieg50 Member UncommonPosts: 1,809

    yea it was fun for awhile, the combat was good, it was challenging, solo does become boring after awhile and grouping can be hard, especially if you are grouped with people who just want to run through the dungeon. Best played in a guild

  • Ambros123Ambros123 Member Posts: 877

    What very little influence they had of D&D was destroyed with the expanison.  Epic destinies utterly retarded as one can proc a 10d100 or 20d20 dmg and make absolute no sense... all it does it fuel the epeen, enhancments still not released (main reason I deccided to come back), many hate the new combat system dealing with AC which the core AC system has been destroyed, again it's grind grind grind now with Epic Destinies, hardly any epic feats were given, Epic levels my ass since you can't even level in a class past 20, bug ridden as usual, can't even do the "new" raid as it's bugged out.

    Was hoping to be able to be around for when the enhancements finally got released which are years past due and from the look of things GW2 and Neverwinter will be out before that happens.  DDO will be losing a shit ton of players when those two titles get released.  Only reason why there is any sort of high pop is because it's under the expansion shiney phase right now.

  • Ambros123Ambros123 Member Posts: 877

    Never experienced lag?  Bunch of horse shit, lag has ALWAYS been an issue and something Turbine refuses to fix and instead blames on the consumers internet provider even though one can play some of the most top notch MMOs flawlessly and yet get significant lag in DDO.

  • jtobscurejtobscure Member Posts: 4

    Turbine did not invent epic levels. They've been around by the name for at least a decade with the 3E Epic Level Handbook, etc. And original D&D had "Immortal" rules for very high-level characters.

  • jtobscurejtobscure Member Posts: 4

    Originally posted by Storman1977

    All I can say is all the people who avoided the game because it was Eberron instead of FR have missed out on a great game.




     

    I didn't avoid it because of Eberron. I stopped playing it partly because of Eberron.

  • jtobscurejtobscure Member Posts: 4

    Originally posted by eric_w66

    Ugh. The lore was horrible. After FR, it's hard to top. But even Greyhawk is more engaging than Eberron.




     

    Agreed. Eberron felt like exactly what it was: a) creation of a new setting for no reason except to make prior expensive rulebooks obsolete and force you to buy new expensive rulebooks, and b) a misguided attempt to be darker or something. One of the great things about FR is that it developed over many years in part by incorporating changes from tournament games, etc. It was pretty democratic. It's also a kitchen sink in its own way, but in a better kitchen.

  • aspekxaspekx Member UncommonPosts: 2,167

    Originally posted by jtobscure



    Originally posted by eric_w66



    Ugh. The lore was horrible. After FR, it's hard to top. But even Greyhawk is more engaging than Eberron.










     

    Agreed. Eberron felt like exactly what it was: a) creation of a new setting for no reason except to make prior expensive rulebooks obsolete and force you to buy new expensive rulebooks, and b) a misguided attempt to be darker or something. One of the great things about FR is that it developed over many years in part by incorporating changes from tournament games, etc. It was pretty democratic. It's also a kitchen sink in its own way, but better than a toilet.




     

    fixed.

    "There are at least two kinds of games.
    One could be called finite, the other infinite.
    A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
    an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
    Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse

  • aspekxaspekx Member UncommonPosts: 2,167

    also, didn't they do away with the d20 combat for this game? if so there's no way in hell i'd go back.

    "There are at least two kinds of games.
    One could be called finite, the other infinite.
    A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
    an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
    Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse

  • KostKost Member CommonPosts: 1,975

    Robert Lashley needs a proofreader, it would seem.

     

  • GrakulenGrakulen Staff WriterMMORPG.COM Staff LegendaryPosts: 894

    Originally posted by Ambros123

    Never experienced lag?  Bunch of horse shit,




     

    I never ran into.  I don't doubt that you do.  I mentioned that people talked about it in the review.  I have no reason to lie about it.  

  • MMOGamer71MMOGamer71 Member UncommonPosts: 1,988
    Originally posted by Ambros123

    Never experienced lag?  Bunch of horse shit, lag has ALWAYS been an issue and something Turbine refuses to fix and instead blames on the consumers internet provider even though one can play some of the most top notch MMOs flawlessly and yet get significant lag in DDO.

    Lag is pretty bad as everyone is rolling a Druid.

     

    Other than that solid game.

  • Storman1977Storman1977 Member Posts: 207

    Originally posted by chelan

    also, didn't they do away with the d20 combat for this game? if so there's no way in hell i'd go back.




     

    Nope, d20 is still alive and kicking in DDO.  There was a Armor Class and Spell Casting revamp to make adjustments to the power creep that has occured over the last six years.  Not that the changes make a whole lot of sense on the surface, but playability wise, there's been little change as far as I've seen.

  • Storman1977Storman1977 Member Posts: 207

    Originally posted by Ambros123

    Never experienced lag?  Bunch of horse shit, lag has ALWAYS been an issue and something Turbine refuses to fix and instead blames on the consumers internet provider even though one can play some of the most top notch MMOs flawlessly and yet get significant lag in DDO.




     

    I've been playing for over six years and have yet to run into game breaking lag or latency issues.  Does lag occur?  Sure it does, name one game that it doesn't.  But, I've never had issues to the point where the game is unplayable, nor has anyone in my guild.

  • KostKost Member CommonPosts: 1,975

    Agreed about the latency, I've played on and off since launch and have never really had any serious issues with latency at all.

     

  • aspekxaspekx Member UncommonPosts: 2,167
    Originally posted by Storman1977

    Originally posted by chelan

    also, didn't they do away with the d20 combat for this game? if so there's no way in hell i'd go back.




     

    Nope, d20 is still alive and kicking in DDO.  There was a Armor Class and Spell Casting revamp to make adjustments to the power creep that has occured over the last six years.  Not that the changes make a whole lot of sense on the surface, but playability wise, there's been little change as far as I've seen.

    anywhere i can get more details on what that means for the game mechanics?

    "There are at least two kinds of games.
    One could be called finite, the other infinite.
    A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
    an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
    Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse

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