MMO Week 1: DDO

Dungeons & Dragons Online is as the name suggests based on the D&D 3.5 ruleset.

This game has a heads up to the rest of the MMO market, because it used to be a pay to play MMO. Because of this, is has a lot more work put into it than many of the Korean ones.

Graphics - 9.5
The graphics are NICE. It has a sense of realism that I appreciate opposed to the heavy stylization that many other games have. It doesn't get a 10 however, as I do notice a couple little things that detract from its splendor. Not all equipment shows up on your character, making it impossible to tell exactly how equipped they are. Also, the Magical weapons have particle effects over them, which can be quite the eyesore really. I mean, sure, your sword of lightning constantly flashing might be cool for a while, but It's hard to look at all day. I'd much rather be able to SEE the sword.

Interface: 5
The interface is workable. It lacks easy access to things other than shortcuts however. I don't like having to spend so much time searching through the tiny inventory screen to find the object that I'm looking for that has the same icon as half of the other objects in my inventory.

Gameplay: 7.5
One of the very nice features of this game, is the fact that it doesn't have "Point and Click" gameplay. Which is to say, you don't click on the monster to attack it etc. You actually move your character around, and click to swing your sword, which if it hits based on your roll, will effect the monsters in range. It's very refreshing. One thing to notice, however, is that this game is not open world truly. Everything is instanced. All of the quests, and dungeons, etc. It's all instanced.
Meaning you will never encounter other adventurers while doing a quest. (Unless you have a quest party)

Community: 6.5
The problem with DDO, is that it works so well as a solo MMO. The Multiplayer element doesn't really feel required. This might be a good thing to some, but... why would I play an MMO instead of a game like Oblivion by myself?

XP Grind: 8
On a higher note, the XP grind is NICE. It balances almost perfectly. There are Levels, and Ranks. A rank is about the same as a WoW level. The level cap is "20" which means that the grind goes on for my estimate of what would be "level 100" in WoW. I always had a new quest I could do with the growth of my character, so I never felt like I had to do the same thing over and over either.

Pros:
Nice Graphics, Almost no "grinding", D&D rules.
Cons:
Not open world, Mildly unbalancing Item "store"
(As in you spend real world money to get points for the "store" )

Final Score: 7.5
This is staying on my computer, and is going to be in the Next round.