Gaming on a Budget Ep. 9: MMORPG's, DDO Stormreach

[TheRetroZombie]

So far I liked this review until you gave it a thumbs down. This is by far the best MMORPG in my opinion. You don't see any like this anymore. This game has puzzles, obstacles to come by, traps, and a really good combat system where you don't just go click click click on the enemy. Not to mention that each class plays an important role so you can help each other out in the dungeons.

[TheAshblood]

What game is at 1:14?

[thebgbb]

@TheAshblood That was Tabula Rasa. I was there when the game shut down last year. It's kind of sad; it wasn't a bad game at all, and part of me wishes that I had played it earlier on.

[yocharles235]

This game recently became free, and a lot of the problems you had are fixed. You can get some sweet armor, rogues can unlock doors in 5 seconds at max, and you can right click on someone instead of doubleclick. On the whole, this game only got good until it became free, you should give it another shot if you would like to, but the core gameplay is still the same.

[kaipakta]

aye, a good review, but DDO is free now and you can prevent the double clicking on NPCs and suck simply by going to the main menu and selecting the proper tool (IE a hotkey) to select the NPC), the problem is, there are so many different options that this can be difficult. In addition, i do agree to Korthos Island (noob island) being a little dreary, they should put a couple of great mountain expase scenes in there.

[Whisperflow]

This is a very decent game, any of the criticiism in this review has no merit imo. If waiting for a door to open bothers you, I would hate to see your patience run out in the table top game. How about comparing it to WoW for example.. maybe mention that this game is actually somewhat of a challange and upgrading your players gear actually feels rewarding? It seems to me that you should spend more time getting into the innards of a game and less time dancing and chatting with each other.

[matrixinterface]

Yeah so when you say on your credits that "All music is from DDO blah blah" that's not true as 2:09 through 2:45 is from the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack (track 6 if memory serves), as I mentioned in my other comment.

[thebgbb]

@matrixinterface Ah. You are correct. Thanks a lot for pointing that mistake out. When I wrote those credits, I wasn't originally going to include that other video.

I appreciate your feedback, and hope you enjoyed the game.

[matrixinterface]

I clicked on this link because I thought it would have something to do with the title, specifically the part about gaming on a budget. But I saw and heard nothing that would indicate a way to save money while gaming. Waste of my time.

P.S. Don't agree with a single one of your critiques of the game.

P.P.S. I always wonder if it's legal to use the Last of the Mohicans soundtrack in a video like this or if that's a violation of copyright, but that's youtube for you.

[thebgbb]

@matrixinterface I appreciate your disagreement, and would be happy to approve a response video disputing my points.

The purpose of the show is to inform people about games that can deliver a good gaming experience despite a money constraint. We review games that deliver a lot of value for their price.

As it turns out, though I gave this game a thumbs down at full price, I think it's a solid free-to-play title. I'm going to address this in a future video.

Again, thanks for responding.

[pokemonkiller20]

@matrixinterface wow your an asshole what are you some kind of a fan boy for this game you know if you don't like his review try to make a video of your own and learn to respect others opinion

[matrixinterface]

@pokemonkiller20 wow so first I get called a "fan boy" by someone with pokemon in their name. But that's after he calls me an asshole and before he tells me to respect other people's opinions. Apparently he doesn't believe in doing this himself. Hey, here's an idea, go look up the phrase "double standard", and then you'll learn something and maybe stop wasting everyone's time with your QQing.

[pokemonkiller20]

@matrixinterface lol i knew you'd make fun of my user name (ps i didn't make this account so shut the fuck) man you know what i hate to restate things but really you need to learn respect other peoples work good god man the bgbb is making this show for fun and you come in and bash his show if you don't like his show then don't watch oh and yes all his points were valid about dnd online i thinks its an all right game but i don't go onto to peoples videos and leave bull shit comments

[pokemonkiller20]

@matrixinterface lol i love how the bgbb tried to be nice to you yet you just post more bull shit (ps least i have videos unlike your bitch ass) oh yeah lmao i didn't make this channel a friend did so call him a fan boy and yes your still an asshole

[matrixinterface]

Look you're obviously some teenage kid that loves to troll and flame. And since I'm an adult I've really got better things to do with my time so I'll just yawn and ignore you. But hey, if it makes you feel like a tough guy to use "big boy language" on the internet and call people 'fan boy', go right ahead. And someday maybe you'll grow up. If you feel like sending another flaming response, feel free to do it in a private message so others won't be bored by it.

[pokemonkiller20]

@matrixinterface well you know nothing of trolling and i'm about 18 ( i doubt your older than maybe 15 cosdering that your geting jealous over this guys videos) try to learn how the internet works and shut up stop pretending your mature your not when you have to call someone a troll ( your still an asshole by the way and if you saw me in real life you wouldn't be saying half this shit to me)

[KKDragonLord]

Long introduction for:

"Turning levers takes forever!1!!, This Game is Killing My Youth!!"

"The interface is Bad, I was incapable of learning the hotkeys and HAD to click on stuff"

"The Posturing of the characters are so bad it gives me back pain!"

"I dont think The noob isle is pretty enough!" (This has been fixed on the current mod)

Mistake 1:

Its not necessary to leave the dungeon to invite people.

Mistake 2:

Spellpoint from DDO is based on the optional system from PnP, not Guild Wars.

[thebgbb]

Thank you for the constructive feedback. I'll take it into consideration in future videos.

[KKDragonLord]

A reply., Interesting. Well if i were you id revisit the game now that its free (read up some reviews that are popping up too) And would try to speak about more relevant aspects of gameplay comparing it to other mmos on what makes it unique on more of the Big things. you stepped on a puddle and verbosely wasted long periods of time explaining relatively irrelevant things. Tab lets you select enemies and the F# keys your party members. not knowing this show lack of depth on the review as well.

[ZeroTakenaka]

It's totally free now. Kind of.

[SATANICMAN101]

its free now so i play all you have to do is download

[adem44a]

What is the footage at 1:24 from?

[Myiasis2006]

The footage at 1:24 is one of the cinematics from Tabula Rasa; which is no longer running.

[thebgbb]

Yup. At the time that I was pulling this video together, I was prepping for the Tabula Rasa Invasion.

If you want to take part in the NoobToob MMO Invasions, head on over to the site!

[mykmmc]

YOU MISSED NWN NWN2

[197Callum]

eberron is f2p but stormreach is the same game but is still p2p???!!! HELP

[jilloplo]

F2P NOW! YAY!

[Iivaitte]

is there a way that I can be apart of your team?

I want to be a part of your group.

[thebgbb]

You mean Noobtoob?

Just go to the channel called Tobin00 OR do a quick Google search for NoobToob and sign up on the forums. You'd better hurry, though; we're going to invade Age of Conan starting September 15th.

[thebgbb]

I appreciate the feedback, CherryTerri.

I'm actually going to come back to this game later, as it is free now. I gave it a thumbs down when it had a fee, but it is probably the best FREE MMO on the market today (take that how you will). Since the show is about budget gaming, it warrants re-evaluation.

Regarding one of your comments:

"Many MMOs have the wait timers..."

I don't like it in them, either. The fact that a bad mechanic is used across multiple games isn't a good justification.

[Zarkagine]

Justifaction on the wait timers is so a fighter cant just run though the dungeons with 100 monsters chasing him and reach the goal at the end. 2nd How would someone open a gaint hatch with ogres beating on him?there are plenty of reasons for the timers thats just a few of them.

[flip3213]

its going free to play

[Borror0]

I realize that this is an old review for you, but I am curious about one of the comment you've made in the video. You said that the game designers didn't show off enough about in the tutorial. What did you mean by that? What do you think they should have shown?

[thebgbb]

I was talking about the aesthetics. You left out one important word from what I said:

"...it does little to show off the BEAUTY of the product to potential gamers."

The topic at hand was the dreariness of the tutorial area. Notice, however, that at 6:33 that I said:

"That said, once I got away from the noobie island, the game was quite beautiful."

The introductory area should show the best and brightest elements of the game. I didn't feel that DDO's did that.

[Borror0]

Oh, ok. I think I get your position better now.

To be sure, when you say "The introductory area should show the best and brightest elements of the game", I assume that where DDO's introduction failed was that it was that is was too dark/snowy?

If I am getting it wrong, do you have a few quick examples of how the game designers could have improved the visual on Korthos island?

[thebgbb]

They could have brightened it up. Why not show the world in a good light first, and then create the conflict by having the characters see the darkness come over the city? That is, show the darkness coming AFTER the noob area is complete. Give the player something worth fighting for.

They could have also spanned the introductory area across several environments. Korthos Island was static throughout.

Or they could have ditched it altogether and thrown you into the big city.

[Borror0]

"Or they could have ditched it altogether and thrown you into the big city."

That's how it used to be before. You used to do a short intro in solo and then you were dropped into the harbor. They added Korthos because they wanted a more impressive introduction to show off what the game was about.

I think it worked but, as you said, it's a bit too dark. It gets depressing over time if you repeat it too much. It could show a greater range of dungeon style, too, I agree.

[eyeofthecrow]

They haven't fixed the characters look, but then I had never noticed the things you mentioned, and my human bard definately looks like a badass right now.

At some point a character graphics overhaul would certainly be in order, and since Turbine is very good about keeping their graphics up to date or better, I'd be willing to stake money that it will happen.

Good review, that's just my 2 copper.

[eyeofthecrow]

for anyone that's interested, the upcoming mod 9, Ebberon Unlimited, has fixed many of the UI problems mentioned in the review, and enhanced the general UI customization options greatly. Also, not sure if this was the case before, but now you can go straight to Stormreach by selecting the skip tutorial dialogue option in the beginning, and then going to the first mate of the ship in korthos, who will take you to Stormreach.

[TheAwesomeJayandGray]

Excellent review though.

[TheAwesomeJayandGray]

Man thats dissapointing. I love the D&D community, and its a bit of a letdown to hear that this game wasnt that great. But I still have fun with Neverwinter Nights =D

[nilsyoo7]

a good looking review

thought id point out something.

opening doors is a tool the developers use. the max possible run speed of a character far out paces any monster, doors/levers are there to make it harder to run all the way to "end" of a quest without any stopping to fight enemies on the way. not sure how many doors are for this purpose.

your opinion is emotional based so its valid just pointing out what a developer said being the reason for current system.

[thebgbb]

Thanks for the insight, and thanks for watching. This is the kind of feedback that makes the show better.

[jcrawford123]

and budget? its like 15 a month to play

[thebgbb]

That's an excellent question!

When you can, check out the money saving rules on the Gaming on a Budget site. Rule #2 talks about seeking value, not just price.

MMOs are usually great budget games. Many buy the latest XBox/PS3 games as they come out. Even if you only buy 1 game per month, that's $40-$60 per month for even less game time. The $15 monthly fee is quite reasonable in comparison, especially given the hundreds of hours of enjoyment that it can deliver.

Thanks for watching!

[jcrawford123]

you cant click on an npc ? Noob toob is the perfect name:) Oh and forget about the new korthos island. It was just put there to get rid of plat spammers. Really this game takes off around level 8ish but most guys i know who play try other games like wow and lotro or anything. but keep coming back. think real action combined with ultimate toon customization

[dkrustyklown]

Actually, now I think about it, you do have to double-click on the NPC's in order to talk to them, so I take back what I said earlier, although I never had a problem double-clicking on the NPCs.

I am surprised that you did not delve more deeply into an aspect of character creation that ddo excels at but that most other mmo's completely lack, multiclassing.

Multiclassing adds an incredibly fun dimension to character creation.

[volt445]

Dumb idiot, 'duh' MMORPG doesn't stand for Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game it stands for: Massive Multiplayer Online Role- Playing Game "You tweedle dumdi"

[thebgbb]

Thank you for the constructive feedback. I'll be sure to QA future videos.

[johnbonham1980]

How DARE he forget the "ive"!!!

[Kremont]

Well, I would have to agree with the rest of the DDO crew (having browsed the comments) that you clearly missed out on loads of things that DDO have to offer.

I am suprised that you didn't even try to interact with other people in the game, and to be honest that you found it hard to play a level 3 cleric - using hotkeys and such. But thats your experience and based on the resolution and screen size you would never get the full benefit

Advise: play a simpler game to manage/master like LOTRO

[thebgbb]

I appreciate the characterization.

There was actually a sizable group of us in the trial together; most of my time was spent with a full or near full party. Also, understand that I could have made the review 20 minutes long, but I decided to only hit on the key differentiating points.

Thanks for the advice. The Noobtoob Army invades a new MMO every month. When you get a chance, check out the video of our invasion of Tabula Rasa.

fMGWP0tvUFw

You are welcome to join us in the future!

[Kremont]

It was just some of the remarks made earlier about how the game does not sell it self within the 10 day trial. My experience is that when you begin playing most of the seasoned players help out, you never experienced this and never got the advice that would have made your learningcurve steep, and so you end up finding the game difficult to handle. To bad.

Ok point about the differentiating points, but help from players would have allowed you to find more, than you on your own unearthed.

[thebgbb]

You might appreciate this: my overall impression of the game was a thumbs down, I give Turbine a big thumbs up on their methodology in the trial; we had full access while we were there, with no restrictions.

I bring this up because I am current reviewing a neutered MMO whose trial period:

1) allows no group/partying

2) allows no guild-like memberships, and,

3) limits you to level 14 (out of a possible 50).

That isn't selling the game at all. At least DDO let you really taste the product.

[Kremont]

I am not trying to change your personal view on the game at all. What I am trying if anything, is to point out for people that I belive your general view of the game is hindered by the way you approached it. Hence you give it a bad review that I don't agree with and my hope is that people get a more nuanced view of the game before trying it out.

Thing is that DDO has the best combat system out there, a great community, massive char costumisation - and older players than the avg WoW player ;-)

[bentonstein]

I always liked D&D as a table-top game. However, I do find that video game based versions of the game are much faster paced and much more easily controlled. I think that a review of World of Warcraft would be much warranted. World of Warcraft is one of if not *the* most played MMO on the market. On top of that constant updates to create a large expase that would be good to post a video on.

[TheFiretiger]

Floor puzzles in this game tend to be the lightest of puzzles to master, and are the segways to the wheel, light, mastermind, and more classically dnd puzzles

While I can see the pointing out of the problems, they compared to the real problems are very minor to point out.

The new player base, is so verry small, and new subscribers are at a massive low, and the end game content is stagnating, and game design is both terrible and amazing at the same time, making some classes, almost unplayable

[thebgbb]

"Terrible and amazing at the same time."

I like that characterization. This is a thumbs-up or thumbs-down show, so there is no way for me to grade in between. I try to be careful to point out good things and bad things in all games, but when it comes down to it, it has to be a gut decision. For me, the terrible outweighed the amazing, but only slightly.

That said, I wish more MMO's had puzzles like these.

Thanks for watching, and tell a friend!

[TheFiretiger]

the Door/chest time, was to keep looting down, running to a chest, avoiding the fight for the chest, and running away....with a real time engine, its a blessing and a curse, with a pseudo turn based system, like most other games, its not necessary

As far as double clicking is concerned, its all on how controls are mapped. DDO encourages different mapping styles, personally, I single click the game

was wondering how a new player would view korthos, since I've not heard a new player's view on it

[dkrustyklown]

Hi.

I agree that ten days is not long enough to gain a true appreciation for DDO, but I must point out a few differences of opinion that I have with your review.

Firstly, I don't recall EVER having to double click on anything, but then again I have a Logitech MX518 Gaming mouse with 3 extra buttons that I have bound to my target closest, target next, target previous commands...meh.

Secondly, you did not mention that DDO has one of the best combat systems around.

[thebgbb]

Thank you for your feedback.

I usually avoid calling a combat system "best" or "worst", as I have found that nearly every game has something to offer (there are a few exceptions; see my early Metric Ton game reviews). The combat system was OK, but did not really stand out. Managing an all-healing-cleric seemed more difficult than it needed to be, though.

There's an audience for the game, but I don't think I'm part of it.

Thanks for watching! I hope you enjoy my other videos.

[moorewr]

Interesting review. I agree that Korthos monotonous for a new player, and what's worse, cut off from the player base so DDO appears to be empty.

Other items in the review -- I flip between PCs with the function keys, and the short delay with doors, chests etc feels very realistic to me. Recall also that the game was based on v3.5, and no decision has been made about integrating 4e -- sure to be unpopular with current players.

[ustice]

I think that you may have missed something while playing. There is no need to double-click characters to select them. A single-click will suffice. Alternately, you can tab through mobs, use the F-keys to select party members, or click on their name in the party list UI.

In a situation where there are a lot of characters over-lapping it can be challenging to select a character by clicking on them, but that is the purpose of the keyboard shortcuts.

[fudge987654321]

I dont think i will listen to any more of your 'reviews'.

You havre clearly demonstrated absolutely no knowledge of what you are reviewing.

There are so many factual errors it is unforgivable. I would expect a good reviewer to at least get his facts right.

Please dont thank me for my feed back. Go away and come back with something that is actually accurate.

[thebgbb]

I appreciate your feedback, and I appreciate even more your modesty in asking that I not thank you. It's politeness like that that makes YouTube such a pleasant community.

I look forward to seeing your rebuttal review, and the discussions that will follow. Have a blessed day!

[nabowden]

2) "Waiting while doors and chests open is just plain annoying." Wow. You must get easily annoyed. We're talking a 2 second wait, which has a purpose.

3) "The newbie area is ugly." OMG! It's beautiful! Okay. Tastes differ but...dude. Snow! Textures! Maybe you should have played with your settings?

Basic facts you've missed:

* How group instances work

* No XP share. People work together.

* No standard class paths. Mix as you choose

* Groupfinder

* Quest optionals

* Outside areas

[thebgbb]

One thing I tried to point out was the differences between DDO and other MMO's, and whether I thought these differences were good or bad. Some of DDO's unique qualities, like floor puzzles and the DM's voice (which one commenter rightly pointed out that I omitted in the review) are great. Others...not so much. If a characteristic is shared by other MMO's, then I omitted them.

I encourage you to make a rebuttal video for the game and tell me what I missed. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

[albarclay]

Disappointingly shallow review, but then perhaps a clear representation of someone's experience on a ten day trial and a reason why the take up rate is not as high as I would expect for a game that I have landed on having been playing MMORPG's since before the term was coined. Amusingly done though, and partly the summation of "thumbs down" is all that bothers me, since I want good press for the game I love...

[thebgbb]

I appreciate your feedback, and specifically that you noticed that it was part of the 10 day trial.

The purpose of a trial is to sell the game. If that can't be done in the time given, then the trial has failed in this purpose. Given enough time, I am sure I could be convinced that the game is better, but there are thousands of games out there that don't take more than 10 days to "sell me" on the game.

Thanks for watching. I hope you enjoy other, less personal episodes of the show.

[Healgolem]

Wow, did you actually log into the game? Clueless.

[snakesonapram]

Yep, he made some factually incorrect statements in the video. 5 minutes in the game would have shown him the truth

[thebgbb]

Thank you for your elaborate and elegantly worded feedback. I will take your criticism into consideration in future videos.

[fudge987654321]

And wtf are you running around in those stupid helms for? There is no need, you are obvioulsly trying to take the piss.

Next time try: /showhelmet off

[fudge987654321]

Did you not take a second to think why that not be a good idea, and why certain actions do have times that can be interrupted.

Really, I would hope someone giving a review on mmo's would actually know what they are talking about... This is just absolute nonsense

You demonstrate a complete a lack of understanding of this game IMHO.

[thebgbb]

I assume here that you are talking about my criticism of the "time to activate" mechanic. I did think about it, and I disagree. But that is what makes the world go 'round. :-D

Once again, I appreciate your feedback. I can see that you feel strongly in your belief that my review was an unfair assessment. Why not make a response video? I will gladly approve a video response rebuts the statements that I have made or points out the gaps in my review.

[fudge987654321]

I have to reply to this drivel.

Firstly you say to get someone to join an instance the leader has to return to town to invite that person in?

NO....the leader can have the 'looking for more' up whilst in dungeon instance and not actually have to go anywhere to invite someone, just click on a button.

Absolute nonsense.

[fudge987654321]

The thing about some actions having (very small) 'wait times' like opening doors, levers, treasure chests are in place for a very important reason. Other wise you could simply run into a very high level adventure as a very low level character. Rape all the chests get all the loot and recall out with no interruption.

[thebgbb]

I agree that this was something that may have been overlooked, but understand the context of that portion of the review: I was pointing out that you actually CAN bring people into the instance after it has begun. This is a sharp contrast to Guild Wars, which does not allow you to bring people in.

I appreciate your feedback.

[sarrivin]

On the last note: please be more open next time, WoW or GW aren't definitions of MMORPG game. Especially speaking of RPG part, we can't even compare it with those game... DDO gives much, much more for demanding players.

For those seeking easy, brainless experience, that's really not one of those games :).

[thebgbb]

If you are not already a part of NoobToob, please sign up for the site and join us on our monthly MMO invasions. Each month we download and play the free trial for a new MMO. In January we did DDO, and this month we are doing Tabula Rasa. Next month is City of Heroes.

We try to mix it up to get a broad experience of what MMO's can offer. If you are seeking something other than an easy, brainless experience, I think you'll like it.

I look forward to seeing you in future invasions!

[sarrivin]

I think the reviewer missed very important sides of DDO. DDO for me is much better than WoW or WAR with their idiotic "open world" quests. Kill 10 bears, bring 20 hunks of meat. No match for DDOs story based quests.

Reviewer didn't even take note of Dungeon Master's voice who narrates quests. Nor the best combat system out there, nor environment (ladders, switches, traps, env. puzzles enyone?). Didn't cover the best character customization possibilities DDO has. Overall, 2/5 for me.

[sarrivin]

*anyone ;D. Sorry.

I'm of course WoW veteran, among many others, so I think I can express such personal opinion.

Though, I understand why reviewer had such negative opinions in some places. But that's not that common. Yes, I think NPE can be further improved (it's fresh), and that it will be. But review is still very irrelevant in my opinion, and makes bad impression of largely growing game, with population booming right now.

Just check the game for yourselves, bring your friends.

[thebgbb]

I appreciate your feedback.

A few notes:

*I have not played WoW, so I don't know what you mean about the "open world" quests. With the exception of the puzzles, I found the quests in DDO to be very similar to GW. "Go here, talk to this person, clear this area, get this item," etc.

*I DID discuss the puzzles; I thought they were great.

*Re the combat system: I played a cleric. As such, I did more healing than fighting, and I found it cumbersome trying to do this effectively.

[macnubnub]

Your on my top three favorite game reviewer here on the internet.

[salvo711]

World of Warcraft is the best MMO, hands down. I can't think of any other that even compares.

HEY, BGBB! I was gonna steal that from ya at 7:06 XD

[morph611]

thank you.

[salvo711]

YAAAY, MMOs!

just remember that theres another, real world outside the window XD

FOR THE HORDE!

[BloodyTomMorgan]

This is one of the most well done, professionaly written and delivered gaming series on the net. Period

[meteos32]

I really love the gaming on a budget Series

Any ideas what next month is going to focus on?

[thebgbb]

Thanks for watching. I actually have the themes for the remainder of the year planned out.

Re next month: you'll have to tune in to episode 10 to find out!

[CowlauncherX]

I remember trying DDO when it launched. I thought it was decent and the instances had a very cool narrative but i hated those f'n traps.

[solidsnake86sting]

Great vid!!! as always .........damn you know a lot