A Player's Critique

9Dragons has the potential to be a very enjoyable game, rather than the mind numbing waste of time that it presently is.  The graphics are well done, the sheer size of the adventuring area is epic in scope;  but, With Acclaim's ads so prominently displayed, interfering with the most basic functions because of the unnecessary size of the ad and it's placement on the screen, death often becomes a multiple occurrance event.

Common sense dictates that when your character's back is to an object, it is VERY unlikely that you would be selecting that object with your mouse, such as a band of mobs chasing your nearly dead carcass...why for pity sake, would your character, in mid-stride, running for their life from a bad situation, suddenly do an about face and attack the very pursuers he or she had been fleeing in the first place?  It's not an issue of mousing skill...it's logic, especially when the pursurers 'selectable target area'  grows disproportionately to fill your screen. of course that means that any click anywhere, will turn your toon around to attack.  It is this players opinion that Acclaim has opted for a far too simplistic control interface.   

When confronted with an issue regarding a simple stats reset, necessary because of extreme laggyness and some sort of server problem, the response this player got from 'the powers that be' was ' Don't worry, you can redo it when you reach the next plateau of levels...or you can buy a 'special (in game) device that will let you change your stats...  for real world currancy, of course.  I have allowed more than enough time to honor my request with absolutely no action having been taken by the staff to correct the situation.  You can read it in the positng for technical issues in the 9Dragon's forum...look for 'lag monster'  in the subject.



With these issues and more, based on playing time that can be counted in months (real time in years)  in scores of other MMORPGs, 9Dragons sadly must rate as one of the worst games I've ever played.  It's only redeeming feature is the price to play, free.  Of course we all know that acclaim is in the business to make money, that's the whole point in running a business after all,  so while you can play for free, to really play well, or get the full benefit from the game one must invest not just one's time; but cold hard cash.  Fortunately for me, but not for Acclaim, my cash will be invested elsewhere, as well as my time.

To everyone that reads this posting, I wish you the best of luck and much success with whatever you decide your are going to do with your time.  I plan on retaining the sotware for 2 weeks from this posting so I can see what other people ar saying in any replies to my posting in the 9Fragons forum, and then I'll delete 9Dragons from my system entirely.  I won't be back to play  On the standard 10 scale, this game rates a 2...just above pong.  I can't decide between 9Dragons and Hero Online which is worse.