The NPD Group's recent annual poll of MMO fans' favorite online titles seems to indicate a pretty substantial power shift in the MMORPG space -- one that heavily favors Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online. The D20-friendly game, which went free-to-play last September, managed to wrestle the number three spot in the survey out of Guild Wars' hands. The percentage of participants who claim to be active DDO players doubled from four to eight since last year's survey.
The survey also inquired what MMOs former World of Warcraft players have switched over to in the past year. Though fellow free-to-play title Runescape fell from 20 percent to 13 percent in this category, DDO jumped from five percent to 11 percent year-over-year. That just goes to show: People don't just like free stuff, they like free stuff that didn't used to be quite so free. Also, they like dragons. And occasionally dungeons.
Reader Comments (13)
Posted: May 14th 2010 1:09PM Spike Spiegel Humble Bounty Hun said
That's a pretty nice hike for D&D Online. Nice to see another MMO gaining popularity.
Posted: May 14th 2010 1:49PM RudyHuxtable said
I was recently given Guild Wars as a gift for my birthday, and enjoy the hell out of it, but I can see why DDO is gaining in popularity. I'm arriving to the GW party 5 years late, heh.
I'll download DDO and check it out! You should too, and we shall have glorious adventures.
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I'll download DDO and check it out! You should too, and we shall have glorious adventures.
Posted: May 14th 2010 2:32PM RudyHuxtable said
Guild Wars or DDO? 'Cause I'm liking Guild Wars.
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Posted: May 14th 2010 1:10PM RogueJedi86 said
I'm sure all those DDO commercials on tv that have made the game more publicly seen haven't hurt either. I've seen several lately on Adult Swim at least, whose viewers are a key demographic for MMOs(male, 18-34, etc).
Posted: May 14th 2010 1:38PM Prince David said
I tried DDO, and I just couldn't get into it. It is a more disconnected feeling that you get when you compare it to World of Warcraft.
Posted: May 14th 2010 1:41PM BigD145 said
Gotta get that fix. More and more WoW ain't cutting it, so it's time to switch to a new drug.
Posted: May 14th 2010 2:57PM ArkAngel said
I tried a free trial of DDO back when it wasn't free twice... and hated it both times. Now DDO Unlimited apparently has made a lot of changes especially in the starting area. I like the Dungeon Master narrations, makes it feel more like D&D. My one BIG problem with the game is the controls.. it's so hard to just simply walk to where you want to go and you fall off of everything if not extremely careful. But for free.. it's not bad.
if done right, a D&D MMO would be EXTREMELY FANTASTIC. However, Wizard's dropped the ball with DDO. I still recommend everyone to at least try it though.. I mean it's free.. doesn't hurt.
if done right, a D&D MMO would be EXTREMELY FANTASTIC. However, Wizard's dropped the ball with DDO. I still recommend everyone to at least try it though.. I mean it's free.. doesn't hurt.
Posted: May 14th 2010 3:44PM Arkanaloth said
DDO's improved a lot over when it was a pay title.. but GuildWars is my crack.
Posted: May 14th 2010 3:48PM VioletArrows said
Thing about DDO is, you need to have a good guild and groups, and it's very possible to overdo it (show up too much and you find yourself sick of it all after a few weeks). You can solo for a little while, but then it's boring as hell, just as a one man p&p campaign would be. If you settle into an active guild and show up a few times a week, then it's great.
Posted: May 14th 2010 4:20PM Bubbameister33 said
Cool.
Posted: May 14th 2010 7:26PM SirUrza said
And then Cataclysm comes out and all those "former" WoW players go back to playing WoW. Things are slow in WoW right now with nothing new coming out immediately, companies shouldn't get excited when people have spare time to use playing their FREE product. :P
Posted: May 15th 2010 4:25AM Rika said
Yeah, there's some truth to that. Personally, my actions on WoW right now are largely to put myself in the position I want to be in when Cataclysm comes out. I'd probably be able to be seduced away from WoW right now, but when Cataclysm comes out, all bets are off.
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