[Dungeons & Dragons Online] A good while back I wrote down a small story about a quest, rather uninspired really, but I wanted to kind of show what one quest was like in DDO. This was from the Alpha testing phase and it was one of the first quests you did in the game. This particular quest is still in the game, somewhat revised, so don’t read if you are avoiding spoilers (not like this is much of a spoiler really).
If you read a line that begins “I notice” or “I hear” something, that is likely the DM text I read on my screen.
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I am on a ship in port. I leave the ship onto a dock. I look at at the ocean and notice the waves are pretty calm. I jump in and take a dip. Swim down to the bottom and look around a little. Swim back to shore and climb onto the dock again. I head into town where I am greeted by a man. He tells me I should head into the town tavern and talk to the bartender if I am looking to make some money.
I explore the town some first, taking note of a few sewer entrances and warehouses. Finally I head into the tavern. Music fills my ears as I enter. The bartender offers me some coin and food if I’m willing to head into the cellar and do an inventory of his barrels of ale and also to bring one barrel back up for him.
I agree and head down stairs. The cellar is dusty and dark, but I can see well enough to count the barrels. I pick up a barrel and hear a sound. I turn to see the wall has slid open. I decide to explore.
Behind the wall, I find a closed door and a lever. Pulling the lever opens the second door and I go inside. Immediately I can hear waves. I explore a bit and I eventually hear some snoring. Further inspection reveals a kobold sleeping on a treasure chest.
I slip into the shadows, moving silently towards him, he does not awaken. I pull out my bow and take careful aim. My shot hits him and he awakens angry. He charges me. I switch to my dagger and tumble to the right. His swing misses and I lunge in for the killing blow. He slumps to the ground.
I head over to the chest, checking it for traps. It is unlocked so I open it. Inside I find a talisman. Picking it up makes me feel ill. Sensing it might be important, I bring it back up to the tavern with me.
The bartender thanks me for the inventory and the barrel of ale. But when he sees the talisman he recoils. He tells me to show it to one of the religious leaders. When they see it, they immediately destroy it and ask me to venture back to where I found it and look for clues.
I head back down into the cellar. It is obvious from looking at the fresh footprints on the floor that there has been some more recent kobold activity. The first door is closed again so I reopen it with the lever. I am immediately attacked by a kobold but I am able to dispatch him.
At the next door, I listen first. Hearing more kobold sounds behind the door, I prepare for attack. I open the door and step back. Another kobold, another dead kobold.
Eventually I arrive at a larger room with 4 or 5 kobolds in it. The closest is sleeping on a bedroll by a bonfire. I sneak closer, staying to the shadows. I shoot an arrow at the sleeping kobold and kill him with one shot. I work my way through the remaining kobolds.
There is a big hole in the floor with a ladder leading down and another ladder leading up to a ledge. I climb the ladder to the ledge. On top there is another bonfire and a chest. I opened the chest and find a ladies’ necklace. Climb back down the ladder and then down into the hole.
At the bottom, there is mist on the ground. Lots of blood and body parts are scattered about, almost makes my stomach turn. I see an alter in the center of the next room.
I approach the alter carefully as the mist parts before me. I put my hand on the alter to see if there is anything unusual. A booming voice cries out that another sacrifice has been found, I can only assume it is me! The ground starts to shake and rocks fall from the ceiling.
I make a run for it. Back up the ladder and down the hallway. Coming upon a door that is closed again, I see no levers on this side. Suddenly the door opens.
On the other side is a very tall man, or something like a man. Evil no matter. Caught me by complete suprise. I manage to dispatch him anyway, and the ground tremors subside after his death.
I return to the tavern to explain what I had found. Soon after, I find a lady in the corner who just happened to be looking for a necklace, the very one I found.
– Ethic
Interesting, but now tell the story through the eyes of someone two weeks after launch.
You would need to insert 20 “hurry up and get here and check this for traps” or “would everyone get to XX point so we can get this done”… sad but true :(
It would be a shame, this was the first MMO I’ve played where I really enjoyed taking my time and did not rush through a quest. You actually do sit and think, like in PnP games, what should I do here? Traps, secret doors, etc. Run by them and you pay the price.
Spoiler sites will take all the fun out of DDO. If there is any game to not rush through, this is it. There is not enough content anyway. Take your time, get a group of friends together, and play every saturday night for 2 hours. Then go do something else. DDO would be a blast if played that way.
I’d seriously consider playing it, if I could arrange such a thing.
It is quite amazing to me how pen-and-paper like DDO is. They’ve managed to present a level of danger in the missions, and make the classes useful enough, that good teamwork for harder missions is more a requirement than an option. Really evokes the camaraderie of a table-top group.
The problem though Ethic is that most of the cotent requires a group… you won’t be doing much of it solo.
Therefore there is going to be a great number of times you run into an instance (which never changes) and Joe Blow one is going to be standing at the trap or secret door screaming “hurry up and come and detect this rogue”.
Unless you play 100% of the time with just your best friends… this is going to be something that is going to turn most people off of DDO. Spoiler sites suck.
Which is exactly why I said I’d only play this game with a few of my buddies on some sort of regular schedule like every Saturday night, and spoiler free. Otherwise, it’s not worth it.
In that case Ethic I would say… screw dumpin $15 a month on subscription costs and just play Neverwinter Nights. Nuff’ said.