Neverwinter vs. DDO

chaderickrax

I know this is like going to a Ford convention and asking how they feel about Chevy, but, I'm genuinely curious whether anyone here plays both Neverwinter and D&D Online?

For a long time I actually thought these were the same game. I just downloaded DDO recently and tried it out, and...was not impressed. I saw that they're celebrating their fifteenth anniversary, and I think that explains it, because the interface feels very dated. My main takeaway was, "People on the Neverwinter forums keep saying that the Neverwinter engine is outdated...they should try this!"

But, I can see the appeal of playing D&D by something that resembles actual D&D rules, too. Neverwinter may have started close to D&D 4e, but these days it doesn't much emulate any set of rules. There are just some very familiar terms, like "level" and...well, maybe that's about it. But we get to see familiar faces, which is amazing, and travel through some absolutely gorgeous territory--I have zero complaints about the look of Neverwinter, the art group nails it every time in my opinion--and fight bad guys that I've never seen in such three-dimensional glory.

Does anyone here play DDO, also? I'm curious what your takeaways have been, and how you see the two games stack up.

I mean, the most obvious thing in DDO's favor is "No Demogorgon Trial," but I have a very hard time seeing myself leaving Neverwinter for it's elderly cousin any time soon.

(Note: I apologize if this is deemed inappropriate and must be deleted. I've been playing Neverwinter for a year, and until recently it has seemed like a very open, inviting place with an equally open and inviting team of developers. Recently, with the word "ban" coming up, and posts that "This topic is forbidden on these forums," (about the Knock Box) I'm not really sure whether I'm going to get myself in trouble with something like this. I hate couching my words in this way, but...I'm not trying to be offensive. I just learned that there is another D&D MMO out there, I and I'm looking for other people's takes.)

arazith07

I tried out DDO around the time that NW was in closed Beta, even then the interface of DDO was pretty outdated. I was turned off by 2 things at the time, poor graphics/interface, and also by the time my trial was over, I just was not drawn in enough to consider paying the subscription. At the time I was playing Aion and EVE pretty heavily and both games were just far superior at the time. Aion has died due to bad game changes and HEAVY monetization. But EVE has continued to stay relevant, although I haven't played it as much. For the most part NW has been a casual game for me, it's mechanics and 'hard' content just never matched up with other games, and I've basically played the game for the past 8+ years as a solo game with the occasional dungeon or trial with guild/alliance mates.

chaderickrax

arazith07 said:

I tried out DDO around the time that NW was in closed Beta, even then the interface of DDO was pretty outdated. I was turned off by 2 things at the time, poor graphics/interface, and also by the time my trial was over, I just was not drawn in enough to consider paying the subscription. At the time I was playing Aion and EVE pretty heavily and both games were just far superior at the time. Aion has died due to bad game changes and HEAVY monetization. But EVE has continued to stay relevant, although I haven't played it as much. For the most part NW has been a casual game for me, it's mechanics and 'hard' content just never matched up with other games, and I've basically played the game for the past 8+ years as a solo game with the occasional dungeon or trial with guild/alliance mates.

Thanks for the insight - Neverwinter is the only MMO I've ever tried (at least until downloading DDO the other day), but the description you give seems pretty fitting. I like the fact that I can log in whenever I want and enjoy what is basically a solo game with the occasional team effort for some AD. It's crazy to think that you're first reaction to DDO, even back then, was that it seemed pretty outdated, but I can totally believe it. I was shocked by the interface.

I also agree that the pay structure--even now that they've moved away from subscription on DDO--is pretty steep for what it looks like I'd be getting.

sandukutupu

I played some of DDO years ago, DDO has some pros that NW doesn't.
More classes to play, they had bard available many years ago. The downside is many of better classes require payment to unlock them. Another cool factor is the quality voice over narrative throughout most of the game. This makes the tutorial easy to follow and gives the player that feel you are sitting at the table listening to a well spoken dungeon master. The mechanics of the game are very realistic with 4 points damage and not 40,000.

But then that is where the pros end, the game client is basic, a WoW-like engine that never has been upgraded. Character creation is pointless, since you look like a clone of everyone else no matter which head you select. The game universe is not based in Swordcoast or even on the same realm as Neverwinter. The steampunk universe of Eberron is not every player's cup of tea. They have warforged (magic robots or androids), trains, and space travel. When Cryptic attempted to add Stardock to Neverwinter, it was very unpopular, to the best of my knowledge, Stardock remains a broom closet in the Undermountain. Generally speaking people don't care to mix science and fantasy up that often.

DDO has players last I heard, playing the game is up to the individual's taste. You are allowed to play for free, unless you desire additional end game content, or the locked classes.

callumf

I tried DDO many years ago and was shocked at the crude graphics [could have been my settings tbh] and how clunky it felt. I think I played for about 20 minutes before I deleted it. I am very hard to entertain and NW just about manages it most of the time, you can play almost totally solo in NW. And there is always something to do.

AS LONG AS YOU avoid chasing RNG and avoid Grind, NW is a very good game for a casual player.

chaderickrax

sandukutupu said:

I played some of DDO years ago, DDO has some pros that NW doesn't.
More classes to play, they had bard available many years ago. The downside is many of better classes require payment to unlock them. Another cool factor is the quality voice over narrative throughout most of the game. This makes the tutorial easy to follow and gives the player that feel you are sitting at the table listening to a well spoken dungeon master. The mechanics of the game are very realistic with 4 points damage and not 40,000.

Thanks! I always appreciate your insight!!!

I forgot to mention both of those things standing out to me, too. First, the fact that the voiceover narrative was pretty cool, but also the fact that anything even a little bit creative required cash to unlock. I've sunk more money into Neverwinter than I'd care to admit (almost 3/4 of it because I misunderstood how Companions and Mounts worked when I first started playing and bought a ridiculous amount of garbage...and then upgraded it with tokens purchased using zen)...I don't intend to sink a mountain of cash into unlocking basic D&D features in DDO...