It's not just the dungeons that are mazelike in this game.
The last time I compared Dungeons & Dragons Online to City of Heroes I was reflecting on how often, after reaching Stormreach, I found myself in warehouses. Now, at the halfway point of this run*, it's struck me that the two games share another feature that's uncommon in many MMOs - new content across all level ranges.
*My schedule has slipped over the last week or so.
In most MMOs new content is usually designed for characters at max level - whatever that is at the time - and it's rare to see a game offer up something for the lower levels, as CoH did throughout its live run (and still does on Homecoming, with the first new mission content being for mid-level characters) and DDO does the same thing. Far too many games in this genre seem to regard the lower levels as something to be avoided, raced through or skipped, so I always appreciate when developers do spend time on adding new content for the lower levels.
This does present its own peculiar problems, though perhaps 'problem' is too strong a word to use. One of the interesting aspects of levelling up through many games is seeing the changes that take place - in zone layout, in the visual design of environments and enemies, in the mechanics involved and in the writing - as a games develops. This is one of the reasons I did a run of CoH where I played only Issue 0 content, because it's fascinating to see how an MMO does change over time. It's also very noticeable in Neverwinter as that game has a steady upward curve in quality from the first updates all the way to Ravenloft.*
*Neverwinter may actually have peaked with Ravenloft given what's come since, but that's another topic.
So while it is undoubtedly a good thing that DDO gives attention to all levels of the game it's easy to get lost in among it all, and at times I do miss that experience of progression through changes in design philosophy that so often goes hand in hand with progression through the levels.
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