Is Demogorgon the best pack
- Thread starter Slamandrak
- Start date
Torm
Well-known member
Ravenloft since it has a more coherent storyline for both expansions. Curse of Strahd felt like a new beginning for SSG with tons of TLC, attention to detail being very engaging, and very recognizable items. Chill of Ravenloft had a coherent storyline that also brought it all together, it was less engaging that Curse of Ravenloft (but Strahd is hard to top), the quests were very different and interesting, and items had the highest player agency I've seen so far. Terror of Demogorgon's storyline is very patchy and the player agency in terms of items was abysmal. If items had crafting slots like https://ddowiki.com/page/Item:Legendary_Gem_of_Many_Facets even if it was 1-2, it would have been so much better and aligned with the crafting system changes. Also, I lost trust in the what was being developed since the systems for Terror of Demogorgon were incomplete during all Lammania previews, thusly I've only ran the expansion a couple of times so far vs others.
Tumideon
Founder
It's still too early to call, but I guess it comes down to personal preference. That said, the fact that Mists of RL and ToDG are being compared is pretty huge.
When Mists came out, that was shortly after the Reaper inclusion and the last Expac at the time was Shadowfell Conspiracy which was absolutely terrible. We got a huge set piece in the Castle, massive explorer area, amazing music and voice acting talent, teleports to quests, great sets and loot (plus optionals could also drop named items), two raids, two tiers of named weapons, no goofy crafting system. That really made it shine for sure, and is still a TR train staple. I've never NOT ran Mists. Hell, SSG even came back to it a few years later to make Amber Temple less of slog.
I think Demogorgon is in kind of a similar spot. Not sure what corporate suit made SSG spin the Expansion crank so hard but aside from Feywild and Isle of Dread - we've had a run of really terrible ones: Saltmarsh, Vecna Unleashed (worse than Shadowfell) - and some folks *hate* Myth and/or Chill (I like them both, but that's besides the point).
We got a streamlined crafting system that's more like MOTU and Mists, other than Catalysts but those do help make old named loot relevant in a big way. Two classes of weapons, beautiful slayer zone with adjustable difficulty & overworld teleporters, great music and voice acting, pretty good story, but we just don't know what the raid will look like, let alone if we will get two of them. The loot is nice, not set bonuses, but more agency with Sun/Moon. I've ran the Saga 4 times so far and have enjoyed it more on different builds than others, but I hope we keep coming back to Dark Lake (and the Astral Plane) in future content.
When Mists came out, that was shortly after the Reaper inclusion and the last Expac at the time was Shadowfell Conspiracy which was absolutely terrible. We got a huge set piece in the Castle, massive explorer area, amazing music and voice acting talent, teleports to quests, great sets and loot (plus optionals could also drop named items), two raids, two tiers of named weapons, no goofy crafting system. That really made it shine for sure, and is still a TR train staple. I've never NOT ran Mists. Hell, SSG even came back to it a few years later to make Amber Temple less of slog.
I think Demogorgon is in kind of a similar spot. Not sure what corporate suit made SSG spin the Expansion crank so hard but aside from Feywild and Isle of Dread - we've had a run of really terrible ones: Saltmarsh, Vecna Unleashed (worse than Shadowfell) - and some folks *hate* Myth and/or Chill (I like them both, but that's besides the point).
We got a streamlined crafting system that's more like MOTU and Mists, other than Catalysts but those do help make old named loot relevant in a big way. Two classes of weapons, beautiful slayer zone with adjustable difficulty & overworld teleporters, great music and voice acting, pretty good story, but we just don't know what the raid will look like, let alone if we will get two of them. The loot is nice, not set bonuses, but more agency with Sun/Moon. I've ran the Saga 4 times so far and have enjoyed it more on different builds than others, but I hope we keep coming back to Dark Lake (and the Astral Plane) in future content.
Sarlona Raiding
Well-known member
Ravenloft is already out-leveled.
No xp for wilderness when grouping with a level 36 character.
Very few remnants for the entire chain with a level 36 character.
No bravery bonus for people leveling when grouping with a level 35 or 36 character.
Level 32 rather than level 36 augment drops
Level cap characters still get easy rxp and you can never have enough of some of the rare filigree so it will be worth running for some. But running the chain and getting virtually no remnants still feels bad.
Geezer
Well-known member
I like Ravenloft much better. I really dont like the graphics in the slayer area, but I know some people think theyre wonderful. The quests are fine, but kind of long to be running while leveling up in heroics. And finally, you cant port to the quests like Ravenloft. I dont know why the Devs dont seem to understand that a lot of ppl here dont like running to quests in the wild. Its one of the things that made Ravenloft so popular.
kmoustakas
Scourge of Xaos
These are not packs they are expansions.
RL was made 9 years ago so any comparison is unfair. RL was endgame when it appeared, now it's just fast RXP.
MaeveTuohy
Well-known member
See how you feel once Demogorgon is a decade old. I suspect people who are rating it so highly are doing so because it is new and fresh and their having fun, which is legit in its own way.
Jack Jarvis Esquire
Well-known member
Not so sure Maeve, that newness can apply to every new release after all.
i've not been this enthusiastic about a new pack and since RL.
I was for Sharn in anticipation, but was disappointed, and after that I've tempered my expectations and had them more or less met accordingly.
This is the first one to get my mojo back. Yeah bayybeee!
And I didn't anticipate that after relatively humdrum Lamordia and the only slightly better MD. Of course this is just my own personal subjective view. YMMV.
RangerOne
Well-known member
Ravenloft.
Ravenloft has a solid, emotional storyline with very good individual quests. Demogorgan just feels lacking in that regard. The quests are individually good but helping Ireena fight darkness is far more compelling than "Go find this stuff so I can make a spell."
Ravenloft has a solid, emotional storyline with very good individual quests. Demogorgan just feels lacking in that regard. The quests are individually good but helping Ireena fight darkness is far more compelling than "Go find this stuff so I can make a spell."
MaeveTuohy
Well-known member
That's greatNot so sure Maeve, that newness can apply to every new release after all.
i've not been this enthusiastic about a new pack and since RL.
I was for Sharn in anticipation, but was disappointed, and after that I've tempered my expectations and had them more or less met accordingly.
This is the first one to get my mojo back. Yeah bayybeee!
Of course this is just my own personal subjective view. YMMV.
Syrrah
Well-known member
Demogorgon is an automatic win if I have to chose between those 2.
RL's story is cliché and I don't like half of those quests: climb a hill? Just thinking about that bores me. Stairs climbing simulator 2000? Yech. Plus Strahd is a whiny ****.
The atmoshpere is awesome, but then again so is the atmosphere of all underdark-related content (2 expansions now+ 1 quest pack).
RL's story is cliché and I don't like half of those quests: climb a hill? Just thinking about that bores me. Stairs climbing simulator 2000? Yech. Plus Strahd is a whiny ****.
The atmoshpere is awesome, but then again so is the atmosphere of all underdark-related content (2 expansions now+ 1 quest pack).
songswrath
Well-known member
With rl ports right to quest. This will always make it number 1.