D&D Online No Challenge to WoW's Supremacy
by Mike D'Anna 
Mar 15th 2006 at 6:00PM
Well, the most
anticipated fantasy MMORPG since WoW has been out for almost a month now...and it looks like the status quo will remain
the same.Turbine launched Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach late last month to generally positive reviews, but so far, the numbers don't look good. As this article from Canadian Press states, D&D Online simply doesn't seem to have the same drawing power as Blizzard's juggernaut. With it's stripped-down version of an MMORPG environment & emphasis on instanced quests & dungeons, Turbine's game seems to have little to offer the seasoned WoW veteran that they haven't already got in spades.
The game is a solid effort, and does hold some interests for D&D purists, as it does a fair job of capturing the feel of the old pen & paper game, but for younger players raised on the new generation of online games, there's simply not enough to draw them away from the much richer, more varied & populated world of Azeroth. Looks like WoW is going to be the big fish in the pond for some time yet to come...
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Pinwiz Mar 15th 2006 6:39PM
Does the game have to be a WoW-killer? I've found myself logging into D&D much more than WoW, and if they have enough players to sustain the game then that's all that matters.
There can be more than one good MMO out there.
jakk on the blackrock server Mar 15th 2006 7:52PM
i believe that i just laughed out loud.
Leshrac Mar 15th 2006 7:57PM
Umm... this article doesn't give any numbers... it's simply another review of the game. I haven't played it yet and since I'm already playing (and paying for) WoW, I have no intention of trying it any time soon, but this article does not say anything about the subscriber base.
RighteousDork Mar 15th 2006 8:27PM
If anyone can make a great MMORPG, I believe it's Turbine. They may never have the same numbers WoW has but I have my doubts as to whether any game will be able to recreate Blizzard's success. That's not the point though. I think Turbine knows what they're doing and as long as they have enough people to support the game, more power to them. Personally, I'm waiting for Middle-Earth Online. That may just pull me away from WoW. We'll wait and see though. Right now I have no intentions of playing D&D Online. My friend's review pretty much put summed up why I won't be in the game: http://joeferg.blogspot.com/2006/03/dungeons-dragons-online-review.html
No crafting...no soloing...No thanks!
Embrace Oct 30th 2006 5:17PM
...Its not meant to compete...
PodMonkeys Mar 16th 2006 9:21AM
I'm definately not a younger gamer, but I won't be putting any money into DDO. I've played D&D since the 80's, MUDs, played UO, and a bunch of others, but I just didn't like the feel of DDO. It did have some neat features/style, but not enough to pull me and my limited money from other endevors.
boneyard Mar 16th 2006 10:08AM
indeed, from the start it was clear ddo is targetting another public then wow does, it's different game for sure.
not every mmorpg being launched tries to be wow killer or try to take away everyone from wow. sure they wouldn't mind but you can't say that if they don't reach the same ammount of people are wow it failed or such.
kelly Mar 16th 2006 9:35PM
I tried it for 2 days in beta not long ago. my issue was it seriously felt like gigantic grinding to get out of noobville. being locked into what was basically an instance and going through multiple meaningless quests, plus training instances, i didn't even last past the noob part, i gave up. it was like, you need to do the following 5000-things-that-are-completely-the-same-for-everyone before you get to the actual world. the point was? i would have to go through that torture to create an alt? I'll pass. nice beta experience.