I Want It All

Who doesn't enjoy a bit of Queen?

So today I sort of felt I should explain while after so many years of playing ddo I am still here and enjoying it. I started playing when level 16 was the cap and us poor Europeans were not well served. Since the migration to Turbine with all the headaches and heartaches that went with it the game has grown and in general improved keeping a level of freshness other games have not. I have started other games over the years but DDO has remained the only constant in my life. Maybe if Konami had of kept Yugi Oh online going I would have played that but to be frank it was getting stale and I have avoided the unlicensed versions of it. So what has kept me coming back? What has seen me reincarnate 30 plus lives and run 25 character slots? Why am I such a glutton for punishment? I have maintained VIP since moving to Turbine and bought both expansion packs.

Gratuitous Dragon Pic

So there must be a reason that a game can keep a level of freshness that sees me play at least 20 minutes every day, 365 days a year for the last 7 years. Well I have barely scratched the surface in terms of different characters, I have run 47 different characters in terms of basic build. But when you consider Race, Class and Prestige Enhancement without the Iconics, Epic Destinies or the Patron tree like Harper or splashes there are over 320 possible combinations. I haven't seen that many Halfling Barbarians nor Half Orc Paladins but if you were to truly explore every heroic option with just the basic changes without adjusting for builds or skills you would need 320 character lives. Add in Iconic, splashes or true multi class and the numbers start frying brain cells. Yes some characters would be complete and utter gimps in the worst possible way but most would be somewhat viable and to truly understand the limits of a character, you should explore what some people would consider unplayable and find out just how realistic that is.

Next year we get Gnomes, so long as they all come with fishing rods and and silly hats I am sure we will all enjoy them. I will be watching for character references to Dragonlance and Shannara in Gnome names. But serious that just will increase the incredible amount of differences within this game I love (okay sometimes hate) but the fact is I still haven't built a Drow Barbarian nor a Half Orc Sorcerer but the option to is there for me. Just in terms of splashes I like rogue so I can get the assassin prestige tree opened for Venomed blades as it is always nice to do more damage. I have one toon that is based on a build from the ddo forums but whilst the character is a good multi class it doesn't feel mine so the intention is to reincarnate it as a support character for my guildie when she reincarnates her paladin as a Gnome... warlock or sorcerer I am guessing as they are her two favourite classes.

Old men can't dance

If I was coming to this game new the amount of options are a bit overwhelming especially if you have never played the desk top version. I have mentioned previously that simplistic option for you first character is good, human is always the safe race choice if you are not sure how a character will play but to truly enjoy the game you need to bury deep into the choices as no two players will be the same. Every sorcerer has the option of different spells, I always like knock as a level 2 spell but I can guess there would be quite a few players who would exercise a different spell choice. Some things you will automatically choose because they make sense and other things really come down to a personally preference. I wont add in the choices with gender and character appearance because it is enough to make my mind go boom. Besides I never could tell the difference between male and female warforged.

So from halfing rogue assassin to Half Orc Barbarian Frenzied Berserker the choice for us as players is immense but will any of us choose the crazy options just to say we have tried them?

Grouseman who is that halfling rogue assassin completionist 32 point build with +5 supreme tome