For anyone else interested in DDO, some initial thoughts from my short time in beta (I've not been reading much about it either, so someone may come and shoot me down in flames
)I must admit, I did play and really enjoy D&D (and some traveller, runequest etc) for a time in my youth and have tried resurrecting that interest several times since (not least of which was playing NeverWinter Nights - still a great game), so my opinion may be a little biased
Those that have never played D&D may not be quite so enthused, and those that didn't like those P&P games or the later computer version probably wouldn't be interested anyway, let alone enjoy it. The closest comparison I can make to another game for reference is probably NWN - set in a persistent world with no editing tools and in beautiful 3D. The game seems to be, at least from the couple of beta hours I've spent so far, all about adventures that take place in instances. There's no crafting that I know of, no XP for killing, no real mob loot. None of which will surprise any players of the P&P variants, but may have some mmorpg players running for the exit already
The adventures are full of atmosphere, and narration at key points as you progress which reminds me a little of having a dungeon master describing what you see/smell etc. The adventures are made up of a main quest, and various sub-plots that develop along the way. Some are optional and others are required for you to achieve the goal and ultimately the reward (XP, also coin and items). The instances are full of puzzles and really remind me of some of the better single player adventures and RPGs I've played with much more needed to complete them than simply killing everything in sight, though that may still work from time to time for the die-hard warrior 
DDO is obviously tied into the D&D ruleset and there's only so much room for flexibility in the games make-up. Characters start with a little more HP (20 more if I remember correctly), but it retains the rigid class structures of the ruleset so I'm not sure how easy it would be to progress a great deal solo, for any class. D&D has always been a group game and requires that balance to succeed, as well as some strategy as you only get to use spells/skills a number of times between 'rests'. The classes really aren't balanced individually and I'm not sure how well received that will be by the general mmorpg playing community. Already I've seen posts complaining about class balance. For those of us with fond memories of sitting round the dining table or class desks while rolling their d20 will have no problems with it at all though.
It's a game I've been waiting a long time to see, interested in it's implementation as much as playing it, and I have to say I'm dead impressed. I expect it will work particularly well for a group of friends or guild, but time will tell how much fun or how reliable pick-up groups will be.
With no camping mobs for XP or uber loot it will work particularly well for my play style, and the adventures look varied and well thought out so far. Looks a winner for me and I hope plenty to keep me occupied for the foreseeable future. European release looks to be sometime in March, and with Codemasters exclusively handling the European distribution, I've a horrible feeling it's going to be regionalised so no playing on the US servers
hope I'm wrong.Official Euro site - http://www.ddo-europe.com/
