So, I just got my invite for one of the DDO Stress Test Beta events yesterday. After setting up a long 2.5 Gig download for the "High Resolution" client thismorning, (A 1.5 Gig version with lower-resolution textures was available) I was able to install and run the program for the first time earlier this evening.
My first impressions of the game were quite poor. I've heard nothing good about the game from previous Beta testers after the Disclosure Agreement was lifted, so I had little expectations going in. In fact, the strongest praise I'd heard was "It's really fun... for about ten hours of gameplay."
Character creation is simple. You pick from a selection of the standard PHB races, plus a new addition (which may be from the Ebberon campaign...) known as the Warforged. A golem-type race, that receives only half-benifit from healing spells, but can be repaired and mended. You can customize your feats and attributes using the point-buy system, with a minimum score of 8. (-6 with racial mods. You cannot "sell" under 8.)
The textures a nice, though customization at this point is very minimal. Like WoW, everyone uses the same core body, just with different hairstyles and skin tones. They did, however, abandon the "eye candy" races. The men look like men, and the women... look like slightly less blocky men. (A good Darfen woman, indeed!) This may change for release, or be expanded on, but not likely at this point.
Stumpwater Jack, Level 1 Dwarf Cleric was born.
I started off on a pier in some nondescript city, surrounded by hundreds of other identical-looking new adventurers swinging weapons and hitting air. The controls were basic - manuver with the keyboard, mouselook around. Left click targets items and enemies. Right click swings your weapon.
Now, I've never liked these kinds of combat systems. It wasn't the Diablo-like right-click-to-attack system, but instead the "Right-click and you swing your weapon in the air. If you're close enough to hit, you might..." system from the newer Legend of Zelda-like games. There was an "auto-attack" feature that could be clicked on once you made contact with an enemy that allowed you to just continue swinging. But, I moved on.
The path led to an inn. Because all adventureres start at the inn. That's what they do. The NPCs were obviously marked with a different color nametag, and the objective points illustrated with big blue arrows. The first objective was simple - go inside and talk to someone else.
In we go to a room that was packed full. (Again, expected. This is only a few hours into the Beta event's opening... it's not like anyone had places to go.) I found the target, and accepted another small training quest. It was your basic "first quest" like in any good console game, where you're introduced to all of your basic abilities one at a time. Jumping, climbing, opening doors, levers, chests, etc. And your first experience with breaking random world objects to steal the goodies hidden inside!
Crate? Break it. Barrel? Break it.
This is also where I experienced my first bugs. Not little, to-be-expected Beta bugs. These were game-halting terrain glitches. I got stuck on the crates we were expected to be climbing on and around in that area of the "Training Area." Lots of rubberbanding. The character would move forward a few steps, then glitch back to some invisible snag point. Jumping sometimes cleared it. Sometimes not.
I managed to get myself up on a ledge to open a hidden chest. Trying to jump down off the ledge back to the ground got me again, stuck on something. He'd hit the edge, then snap back a few steps. He again couldn't move from his spot. After a few more minutes of struggling, I managed to jump clear of whatever invisible terrain glitch I was snagged on, and fall towards the floor...
... I never landed. The poor Dwarf glitched back to the ledge, only to walk off and fall again. The character at this point was unresponsive, stuck in a non-stop fall-band-fall-again.
Logging out didn't work. So I had to quit the game. With a sigh, I loaded the client again and restarted. Logging back into Stumpwater, I found myself in the exact position I'd left off at before. The fall, this time, completed, and I finally touched floor.
"It's a Beta..." I told myself. "Some bugs should be expected." Taking two steps forward, I moved towards my next objective. Only to spring back to my original position again.
Gaah. I filled out a big report form, noting that there was no "unstuck" feature. It would be delt with by a GM. No. Not waiting for a GM literally 30 seconds from the starting zone. Quit again. Restart. Delete Stumpwater. Reroll Stumpwater II.
Stumpwater was run back to the inn to accept the quest. For the sake of simplicity, I avoided all exploring and just went straight to my goals. I collected a few stone things out of chests, and beat down a few spiders. Cast a few spells.
Magic is apparently handled by a "spell point" system. I wasn't able to play around with it long enough to understand it fully, and couldn't even get one of the spells to work, but... uh. I was immortal in training mode anyway. The spiders weren't doing any damage when they hit, so I just beat them down with my mace.
Sucess! For completing the first quest, you gain a level. Leveling up reminded me of City of Heroes. Skills are modified by various minor upgrades. I chose one that gave me a 20% bonus to my 1st level healing spells, and moved on.
I moved out back into the inn, with a few healing potions and some copper coin, ready to seek out my first adventure. I walked towards the door of the inn, towards the wilderness...
... and got stuck on a loose board on the inn floor. I ran forward a few steps, only to get glitched back to my place in the middle of open floor. Stuck again.
This should be expected from an early Beta. Not a public stress test this close to the release date. If they can't even properly debug the noobie zone, I'm afraid of what the rest of the world has to offer.
It's an EQ-style version of the Temple of Elemental Evil. Except between the long slowdowns and game freezes, you could actually play Temple.
Quit to Windows.
Program Files.
Uninstall.