NCSoft is Proud to Present.... DDO! (sort of)

[Signe]

Dungeon Runners sounds rather like it, no?

[sinij]

For maximum effect they should put naked, instead of barely clothed, babes on the front page. Is this what become out of Tabula Rasha?

[Yegolev]

Sounds kinda like what I thought GuildWars was going to be like.

[Trippy]

Dungeon Runners sounds rather like it, no?

Interesting. Sounds more like their version of Diablo since it has random dungeons. I wonder if this is what Lum is working on.

Edit: Looks like they are still taking beta signups here:

http://www.dungeonrunners.com/news/2006/04/dungeon_runners.html

[Venkman]

Yet again proving the genre has no clear definition. Which is good. The genre would never have grown if every game was going to be XP for $14.99 a month now that WoW has capped that noise.

Quench your deepest dungeon crawling thirst in this multiplayer online role-playing game that’s home to an exciting realm of magic, terror and adventure

Doesn't sound MMO-with-fee to me.

Dungeon levels are randomly generated and may contain any number of special rooms, shrines, altars, and more!

Diablo remixed. Some other game just talked this up too, either in CGW or one of those. Probably not WAR or AoC, but whatever. It could work just as well as it has for D2. Persistence static content is overrated to many.

[Engels]

Holy Recycled City of Heroes Engine batman!

[Arthur_Parker]

Applied for the Beta, if you can solo well it might suit me.

[schild]

This game has nothing to do with City of Heroes. NCSoft apparently acquired the game. That's all I can say.

[Lum]

I'm not working on it but I'm just down the hall from the guys who are.

I'm not sure I can say that much about it as it's currently in closed alpha getting ready for E3. I know a lot of publicity is coming out on it then (as is true for most things). It should be on the show floor to mess with.

[Trippy]

Holy Recycled City of Heroes Engine batman!

It looks more like WoW than CoH to me:

http://www.playfuls.com/picview_2_game_1277_Dungeon_Runners.html

Original post from Arthur_Parker:

http://forums.f13.net/index.php?topic=6082.msg163131#msg163131


Edit: A preview of the game:

http://pc.gamedaily.com/game/preview/?gameid=5086

It does sound a lot like Diablo except with a 3D engine.

[Strazos]

Looks like a cross between WoW and Dungeon Siege 2.

Also, the marks above the heads of NPCs is a BLATENT rip-off of WoW - if you want to denote NPCs who have quests/whatever for you, do it Some Other Way. Make them glow, or wave and yell at the player....Do something besides rip off of WoW.


And speaking of CoH...have they decided to chop down the grind at all yet?

[Engels]

Oh, my CoH comment came from the little status bar up on the left hand side of the screen on the screen shots. Its the same bar that's used in CoH, except in CoH its on the right hand side.

You're right, it looks very much like WoW artwork which to my personal tastes is unfortunate, since I do not care for excessively cartoonish games. Lum, give the boys down the hall a holler and tell them to put down the flourescent green and hot pink magic markers , kthx.

[Yoru]

I'm not sure I can say that much about it as it's currently in closed alpha getting ready for E3. I know a lot of publicity is coming out on it then (as is true for most things). It should be on the show floor to mess with.

Oh boy, more toys to play with!

Don't worry, we'll warm up the rotisserie beforehand. Gotta get a nice even cookin'.

[WindupAtheist]

Something as fun as Diablo 2, but with 3D graphics and a little more MMOness, would be interesting indeed.  When I was playing WoW I found myself wishing it were more Diablo 2 and less Everquest.

[Llava]

Oh, my CoH comment came from the little status bar up on the left hand side of the screen on the screen shots. Its the same bar that's used in CoH, except in CoH its on the right hand side.

And except that it's a completely different bar.  I like CoH as much as (probably more than) the next guy, but they didn't exactly invent the "let's put a bar on the screen that shows the player's health!" mechanic.

But I'm just giving you a hard time for no real reason.

And speaking of CoH...have they decided to chop down the grind at all yet?

Not to an extent where you'll notice, no.  But if you wanted to see without spending money, head over to the CoH board and click the "SWEET JESUS ANOTHER FREE TRIAL" thread.

It's a grindy game, though, if you're the type to view it as a grind.  You can't be in a rush to advance or you'll go nuts.  I stopped worrying about it with my Dominator and I just realized he's coming up on his pet soon.  With my Controller, I was counting the experience points until I got my pet from the moment I got out of the tutorial.  The grind is all in your mind, man.

[stray]

if you're the type to view it as a grind

It's OK to say "Yes" and still admit to liking the game, y'know..

[Venkman]

Nothing is ever a grind until the raw enjoyment begins to wane. Then advancement becomes the gate to some future rediscovery/renewal of fun.

[Engels]

Too true. I personally find CoH/V grindy. My partner on the other hand keeps playing it, and badgers me to play it from time to time. If I say its 'grindy' she gets really offended since for her the game is still fun. I ask her how she can stand doing yet another Tsoo mission, even if she's doing it with her Corruptor or whatever. She doesn't see this as a grind, since for her its all about the toon, the new story arcs and the social aspect. To Cryptic's credit, their writing is good and have gotten away with rehashing content because of it.

 I've hoped that Cryptic would take their CoH engine and make a Fantasy MMORPG, since I think CoH's combat mechanics are excellent.  Unfortunately it looks like NCSoft is just spewing out a WoW clone, which is sad, since it suggests that the management has $$ in their eyes rather than creativity.

[sarius]

Is this just another EQ2 rewrap?  Any reviewers?

[Jobu]

It seems very telling that all their screenshots, the player is alone. No other people grouped up with him or anything. Maybe it's geared towards the solo-to-60 crowd from Warcraft?

[Kenrick]

Looks like MMO Dungeon Siege to me.

[Azazel]

Something as fun as Diablo 2, but with 3D graphics and a little more MMOness, would be interesting indeed.  When I was playing WoW I found myself wishing it were more Diablo 2 and less Everquest.

That's interesting. When my mates and I stopped playing Everquest, we found WoW to be much like EQ combined with Diablo 2.

Still, I signed up for the beta. I'm not playing WoW or EQ at the moment, after all.

[Soukyan]

Looks like MMO Dungeon Siege to me.

Ding! Winner!

That's exactly what it looks like and I have a hunch that's exactly how it will play. In any case, NCSoft made me sign up for the beta, so we shall see.

[WindupAtheist]

That's interesting. When my mates and I stopped playing Everquest, we found WoW to be much like EQ combined with Diablo 2.

Still, I signed up for the beta. I'm not playing WoW or EQ at the moment, after all.

I'll go running back to WoW the day they give their paladins Zeal.

Diablo 2:

*chop chop chop chop* *chop chop chop chop* *chop chop chop chop* *chop chop chop chop*  Oh shit drink a potion! *chop chop chop chop* *chop chop chop chop*  Fuck me, ten more monsters incoming! *chop chop chop chop* Muahaha, Fanatcism pwns!  *chop chop chop chop* *chop chop chop chop* *chop chop chop chop*

WoW:

*thump*  Oh look, that was sort of cool.  *pause*  Wonder when the next one comes.  *thump*  Yeah, there we go.  *pause*  This is getting a little tedious.  *whiff*  Oh Jesus.  *pause*  I'll need to heal in another minute or two.  *thump*  Zzzz....

[schild]

WoW never felt like Diablo 2 to me. Everyone knew exactly which shinies to start chasing near immediately. When you KNOW what equipment you're looking for, it's not Diablo 2. That's the allure of Diablo 2. The whole point. It was a game that existed to many people on it's own, in a vacuum, without spoilers. Where any monster could drop the next piece of awesome loot and you'd want to use it. That doesn't happen in MMOGs these days and it probably won't for a while and unless NCSoft can cook up a kickass loot system, it probably won't happen in DR either. Is it ok to start calling it DR yet? The DR is calling. Heh. I'll stop.

[stray]

Looks pretty drab to me.

[Azazel]

Having played D2 through once 6 months or so after it came out, versus 5 years of Everquest. Beginning in WoW felt like they'd crossed EQ with Diablo.
The words to emphasise here are "beginning" and "felt like" and "crossed".

I didn't say it was D2, despite whatever entertaining misinterpretation you might be having. Like EQ with the following D-esque differences:

(pulled back) 3rd-person default instead of 1st person
click-to-move
Paladin Auras
much faster paced than EQ1
encouragement to keep moving rather than find a nice warm camp spot to grind in
Multi-pulls = mass melee/casting as a standard thing as opposed to carefully selecting singles, kill, rinse, repeat.
The fact that regular mobs can drop nice, great upgrade loot.
Soloability!

And at release, we weren't going through allakhazam or thottbot to walk us through all of the quests. So the knowing which shinies to go for from the start wasn't a factor in my own personal experience of starting up in WoW. Your own experience may of course vary.

Remember, this is coming from the perspective of a longtime EQ1 player, not a constant-Diablo 2 player. To us, what stood out were the Diablo elements. What stood out to you may well have been the EQ elements. It's like if you came to Australia you'd be struck my how "British" is all seems to you while someone from the UK would notice how "American" we seem.

Certainly, at release, I'm sure none of us had seen firsthand the giant ball of suck that WoW is at 60.

[Mesozoic]

.Do something besides rip off of WoW.

So now Blizzard is the paragon of originality?  Yeah, I'm gonna feel bad that someone copied Warhammer er, Warcraft.

[Ironwood]

WoW never felt like Diablo 2 to me. Everyone knew exactly which shinies to start chasing near immediately. When you KNOW what equipment you're looking for, it's not Diablo 2. That's the allure of Diablo 2. The whole point. It was a game that existed to many people on it's own, in a vacuum, without spoilers. Where any monster could drop the next piece of awesome loot and you'd want to use it. That doesn't happen in MMOGs these days and it probably won't for a while and unless NCSoft can cook up a kickass loot system, it probably won't happen in DR either. Is it ok to start calling it DR yet? The DR is calling. Heh. I'll stop.

You never farmed Pindleskin ?

[Modern Angel]

.Do something besides rip off of WoW.

So now Blizzard is the paragon of originality?  Yeah, I'm gonna feel bad that someone copied Warhammer er, Warcraft.

More that it LOOKS exactly like WoW. That one screenshot of the chick in the pumpkin patch looks like it could have been lifted straight from Elwynn Forest.

[HaemishM]

Looks like a 3D Diablo. /meh

I signed up for beta anyway. I am a sucker for free shit.

[Mesozoic]

Poking around here, it seems odd that nowhere do they explicitly state that there is no monthly fee.  GW was all over that marketing angle.  Also it looks like there is only one race (human) and three classes (Warrior, Warlock and Ranger).  Diablo 1 ver 2.0 indeed. 

[Pococurante]

/recedes back to his non-MMO games

[Rhonstet]

What does it say when NCSoft competes with Turbine by ripping off a game sold by Blizzard six years ago? 

[Yegolev]

What does it say when NCSoft competes with Turbine by ripping off a game sold by Blizzard six years ago? 

It says... wait for Hellgate: London.