DDO Unlimited released as F2P MMO

I remember the first time I heard about DDO. I tried out the Turbine 10-day trial key and made a Paladin which I eventually leveled past its level 3 status, which was pretty good because leveling in DDO is much slower than in traditional MMOs and I was mostly doing instances and soloing, with a rare exception here and there.

I recall being impressed by the game's mechanics and its graphics and I enjoyed the fact it was so much different than WOW, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It is just nice to have some diversity. Soon however, I got bored of killing kobolds and didn't explore it at a deeper level. With today's launch of DDO Unlimited, the game goes f2p and much fanfare has been given to it, but how are things going with the MMO that claims to have the best combat system of them all?

Well, The updated content includes a new class, an increased level cap (up to 96), a new 12-player raid, new adventure packs and “major combat improvements” to the game’s real-time combat, according to the company. Turbine says the game is “easier than ever” and that “creating a new character is incredibly simple with guides and templates that speed you through the process.”

However, there are stability issues being experienced by players. This was posted earlier today by Marketroid:
"We're currently experiencing stability issues with many of our websites due to excessive amounts of inbound traffic tied to the launch of DDO Unlimited. We're working to stabilize the websites and will continue to do so overnight. The games and downloads are unaffected by these web issues."
We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to seeing you in Stormreach! "

aren't some connectivity issues expected when a game undergoes a massive relaunch such as DDO Online?

yesterday Turbine announced the launch of the beta release of myddo.com
The marketing copy reads: This new site offers players a place to share the experience of playing DDO. Blogs, galleries, character info, and guild functions all combine to bring the world of DDO to life on the web!

...but as of 7:06 PST the site was down for maintenance...an omen of things to come? or are servers just overloaded with players wanting to try it out? Hopefully the latter.

other issues: (posted on the official site)
"Please be aware that there is a known issue with the Difficulty Scaling system which is causing players to take more damage than intended in some game situations. The issue is most severe for large parties of players, especially in the first five levels of the game. Unfortunately this issue can affect quests in Normal, Hard and Elite difficulties; Solo and Raid quests are not affected."

"We are working on a fix to the problem which will go live in an upcoming patch. Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvenience"

Some players are not very patient and get frustrated easily. User Whitey posted this earlier today:

"im gettin very annoyed paying for a game i can never use i want some free months outta this ****.seriously any1 find it annoyin when ever u try 2 play u cant when u payin 4 it ?"

It remains to be seen wether these issues will be fixed with upcoming patches, but I for one am avoiding the download until some of the kinks are all worked out. After all, I've got a level 10 warrior on ROM awaiting his second class.