How I'm interpreting this: (1) they like DDO; (2) day in and day out they make a deliberate choice to spend some of their time to play DDO; yet despite (1) and (2) they wont recommend someone else try the game and allow for the possibility that a new player, just like them, might end up liking and playing DDO despite whatever collection of grievances they have and that the new player might also end up with. Makes no sense at all. Sounds like a drug addict - "yeah I'm hooked on heroin but for gods sake please don't try it too".
I'm skeptical; I think whats fueling most of this is players using this as another opportunity to register displeasure over whatever issues are diminishing their enjoyment. "Sure, I just played DDO for four hours but I'm angry about X, Y and Z so hell no, I refuse to recommend the game".
Now if there are some posters here who legitimately quit the game and stopped playing over a sustained period of time (yet can't quit the forums) who are declaring a non-recommendation, that makes sense to me.
It's not that. We are already established players, but starting now in this game is much harder than it was when we started.
In fact, I have brought many players to the game and many in that old times stayed. For a few years now, retention has been atrocious and I have stopped bringing in new players. In the old days my advice was "buy VIP for a few months, and as soon as you have cash, buy Menace." Menace gave turbine points, gave xp tome, gave a lot of useful things for a new player. For a very reasonable investment, newcomers managed to enter the game. Now the entry paywall is brutal.
The coupon is not permanent, so very soon they have to pay for packs, many xpacks all at ridiculous prices (in other games those prices are only maintained by the last, or at most the last two xpacks!), and all the millions of extras which has DDO in tomes, storage, extra races, etc. DDO doesn't even have the courtesy of giving the basic shaed bank like all games do nowadays. If you don't have VIP because you have the coupon, then you can't open hard or elite either. This is a common complaint among new players, who do not understand why they have to have VIP to be able to open a difficulty that is more difficult than normal, which quickly becomes trivial (and in addtion they need purchase the shared bank)
The difference with the veterans in power is also much larger, and it requires much more time to close the gap.
The game is good. But it is poorly run, with many more problems besides the constant nerfs that irritate people. Yes, when you are angry and thinking about quitting the game it is difficult to recommend it. But when you also see what awaits the new ones... well, if they're your friends, you'll want to be honest with them at least. And if, like in my case, you also have the opportunity to communicate with a broader audience... well, I have a reputation to maintain lol.
When I talk about this game now, I am very sincere about what it is. Of the good and the bad and I refrain from encouraging them to come or not trying it. If they want to come, at least they do it with their eyes open.