The title for this game is a bit misleading.  I've played the pen and paper version of D&D for years and with the new 3rd edition rules, was excited that it ports over so well into a computer game.

However, D&D Online StormReach diverts quite a bit from what makes D&D fun.

First off, they have taken levels and adjusted it so that you have to gain the experience of 5 levels before you actually level and tried to make it exciting by granting you an 'enhancement' at each of these intervals.

75% of the time, the enhancements that are available are not ones that would help my character.  I've skipped 'leveling' these enhancements 2 or 3 out of the 4 available per level and I'm 7th level.  This is partly due to the fact that you only get 4 of these at a time, but honestly if I am 'leveling' I should be able to increase my character in some fashion.

While I can get over the fake leveling system and the lack of quality magic items, I'm sorely disappointed with the dungeons in this game.  The marketing made the game appear as if you wouldn't have to fight through the same missions and 'dungeon crawl' to level, however this is certainly not the case.  Forget doing any of the dungeons solo and even with a small party many are impossible.

Many of the dungeons suffer from a lack of being labelled correctly by the game designer as well. Several 'level 3' missions took a friend and I till level 6 to complete, while a few level 9s were easy at level 6.  The worst part however is having to do the same mission 4, 5 or even 6 times in order to gain enough experience to attempt higher level missions or even gain access to certain places.  Some of the quests even force you back into the same dungeon, only to dig through the same forces until you unlock another part of the dungeon.

One mission comes to mind that required that my party go into the exact dungeon 7 times before completing the series of quests for this mission and the level of difficulty ranged from 3 to 7!  You're not going to level once on this series of quests either!

My advice, is to skip this one and play something like World of Warcraft!
The title for this game is a bit misleading. I've played the pen and paper version of D&D for years and with the new 3rd edition rules, was excited that it ports over so well into a computer game. However, D&D Online StormReach diverts quite a bit from what makes D&D fun. First off, they have taken levels and adjusted it so that you have to gain the experience of 5 levels before you actually level and tried to make it exciting by granting you an 'enhancement' at each of these intervals. 75% of the time, the enhancements that are available are not ones that would help my character. I've skipped 'leveling' these enhancements 2 or 3 out of the 4 available per level and I'm 7th level. This is partly due to the fact that you only get 4 of these at a time, but honestly if I am 'leveling' I should be able to increase my character in some fashion. While I can get over the fake leveling system and the lack of quality magic items, I'm sorely disappointed with the dungeons in this game. The marketing made the game appear as if you wouldn't have to fight through the same missions and 'dungeon crawl' to level, however this is certainly not the case. Forget doing any of the dungeons solo and even with a small party many are impossible. Many of the dungeons suffer from a lack of being labelled correctly by the game designer as well. Several 'level 3' missions took a friend and I till level 6 to complete, while a few level 9s were easy at level 6. The worst part however is having to do the same mission 4, 5 or even 6 times in order to gain enough experience to attempt higher level missions or even gain access to certain places. Some of the quests even force you back into the same dungeon, only to dig through the same forces until you unlock another part of the dungeon. One mission comes to mind that required that my party go into the exact dungeon 7 times before completing the series of quests for this mission and the level of difficulty ranged from 3 to 7! You're not going to level once on this series of quests either! My advice, is to skip this one and play something like World of Warcraft!