WarCry editor Suzie Ford recently had the chance for an in-game tour of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, Turbine's redesigned free-to-play game. Find out all there is to know about the DDOU store, new content and more!
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The best kept secret in the MMO universe was unveiled by Turbine today when it was announced that Dungeons & Dragons Online would become "free to play", following the model of many of the Asian MMOs on the market today. The DDO community and D&D fans around the world were rocked by the news.
To help give some perspective to the announcement, WarCry editor Suzie Ford and columnist Jim Moreno had a chance to sit down with Turbine's Adam Mersky, Kate Paiz and Fernando Paiz.
Turbine's published the next in their series of diaries regarding Module 9 for Dungeons and Dragons Online:
Our developers and artists discuss the players' impending trip to the Plane of Battle! Read on for a look behind the scenes at the conceptual art and story-telling of the Turbine team in this multi-part Dev Diary! This week's feature: Amrath!
They include a very interesting piece of concept artwork, so head on over and check it out!
Turbine's published a new Developer Diary for Dungeons and Dragons Online, at least the first part of one:
Our developers and artists discuss the players' impending trip to the Plane of Battle! Read on for a look behind the scenes at the conceptual art and story-telling of the Turbine team in this multi-part Dev Diary! This week's feature: The Lands of Shavarath!
Head on over and check it out!
The good folks over at DDOCast have hit their 100th episode, and this one's chock full of Dungeons and Dragons Online goodness.
Most of the DDOcast crew gets together with Tolero to chat about all sorts of stuff, and things continue with our third section which includes some of the DDOcast crew and some of the great folks at Turbine!
Congratulations to Jerry and the gang! Head on over to DDOCast and have a listen!
WarCry Editor John "Can't Fake the" Funk gets a chat to sit down with a group from the Dungeons & Dragons Online developer team for a walkthrough of some of the new content in the upcoming Module 8, Prisoners of Prophecy.
Currently scheduled for free release on June 3, Module 7 offers a new playable class, improvements to existing areas to ease leveling, new Fog of War functionality not to mention a buyback feature at vendors. Other features include new quests in Three Barrel Cove and the 12-man raid zone under the Marketplace Tent site, and quiver bags for archers.
Turbine's posted another Dev Diary, this time focusing on the Monk:
Monks are a distinct new character class that you will be able to choose when Module 7: The Way of the Monk goes live. A Monk's role is that of high speed, control, and discipline. Your senses and wisdom of the elements will be challenged. Becoming a Monk will be very different than anything you've experienced in Eberron, and you'll need to learn to accommodate any situation. An old Monk proverb tells of a young student, who asks his Master; "Teacher, why are teacups made so thin and fragile that they break so easily?" The teacher smiled and replied: "It is not that they are too delicate, but that you do not yet know how to handle them. You must learn to adjust yourself to the environment, and not vice versa." As it will be, to learn The Way of The Monk.
You can read more about the Monk after the jump!
Codemasters marked D&D Online's 2nd anniversary this year at Connect 08, and Donna Desborough of MMORPG.com was there to gather the yummy bits of new information on the future of D&D Online; most notably, the upcoming Module 7 update, which will include a new class: the Monk.
Celebrations for the 2nd Anniversary were also had in game, though they were tempered by a somber note, as we all know, Gary Gygax the co-creator of D&D has passed this year. As a tribute to him, the developers have implemented a new item called the Voice of the Master which gives an experience boost while equipped. According to Donna's report there will also be some sort of tribute within one of the graveyards present in the game.
Some details on the monk:
The Monk will mostly be a hand to hand combat character with proficiencies in quarter staff and exotic weapons, such as the shuriken. Attacks will include both single target and area of affect damage. Good news comes in the form of the lack of restrictions. Any race will have the option of playing the Monk, but there may be mandatory alignments. The Monk class is still in the pre-Alpha stages at the moment, so much could change as decisions are made and the class further developed.
You can get the full report here.
This Monday, Jonathan Steinhauer begins a look at a new issue in his bi-weekly column. In "To Be A Hero" asks the fundamental question that we all face when it comes to our time, our darkness and MMOs: why do we play?
Why do we play MMOs (or adventure style games of any sort)? Fundamentally, one would hope, because they are fun. Aside from that, there are a myriad of reasons, but a major one is that it gives us a chance to be heroic in a way we really can't in real life (and if we could, probably wouldn't want to given the massive death rate our avatars suffer). Games give us the chance to be "the hero." Yet how can we truly be the hero in a world where 100% of the world's population are hero-aspirants and each step down the road to renown is identical for everyone?
Read more after the jump.
