Quick newsflash for the morning...

http://content.turbine.com/pages/www.ddo.com/beta_signup/index.php?utm_source=ddo_com


Anyone want to place a wager that it will be revamped for 4.0?


My opinion... they are devaluing the hard work of their MMORPG designers. This will result in them pulling the plug on it down the road, unless they have a really great complimentary product marketing and sublicensing plan attached to the re-release.

WoW succeeds on it's ingame/rewards + large scale social network model.

Eve Online uses a mix of game/rewards and rewards the long term players that have invested the most into it. Having first rate art & music helped tremendously, but DDO has this as well.

Second Life works on a large scale social network, and derives its income from trade, and by leasing virtual real estate. They call it a sale, but its actually a virtual lease, This model works though.

Yet more WotC bad market decisions.

Maybe they're just completing the circle. After all, the mantra "4e plays like an MMO" might have more than a grain of truth to it, especially if they use the mechanics to produce a new version of DDO.

That's great I rather enjoy DDO as a game but it wasn't something that I felt was worth paying for.  It's one of the more entertaining RPG's around in that it feels more like your playing your character then almost any other game.  Sweet!

Won't be going 4e, and WotC have nothing to do with it.  The buzz going is Atari's hired Cryptic to do a NWN 4e MMO.  Turbine probably just saw the writing on the wall for 3e and decided to take drastic action to keep their audience.

Quote from: GameDaddy;308041Quick newsflash for the morning...

My opinion... they are devaluing the hard work of their MMORPG designers. This will result in them pulling the plug on it down the road, unless they have a really great complimentary product marketing and sublicensing plan attached to the re-release.
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They've been working towards getting out from under the fiasco of DDO since almost the moment it was released, once it was so obviously a failure.  This seems very reasonably positioned to let them drop it and claim victory.

If you read it carefully, it's more like limited free:)

It's an interesting model actually.  The free editions is lacking some options, like races, classes and access to certain areas of the game.  You can spend money to get those items.  But you can also earn points through play that allow you to unlock them as well, it just takes a good long time to rack up those points.

The game fills a niche for me that no other MMO has.  I really like it.  It's just a hells a lot of fun.  The game no longer is having to compete with WoW and it never should have in the first place with it's instanced and small group format.  This game has always had much more in comparison with Guild Wars and from the beginning I thought they should have followed it's pricing model as well.  Buy the game, no monthly and pay for periodic expansions.  I think had DDO gone that route it would have been much more successful and gotten far better press then it did.

In any event though it goes Free play August 6th and I'll be there kicking down the door.

Don't get me wrong, I will be trying it out too.

I should be interested, and I am genuinely surprised to find out that I have zero interest in DDO at this point.