Reviews

Jim Moreno tackles the difficult task of roleplaying a merchant in this edition of RoleCraft: "Even roleplayers are known to struggle with this cookie cutter gameplay, and with keeping their characters from looking and acting just like every other character in game. What to do? One sure way to avoid the pitfalls of routine is to realize that there are many other classes in game besides adventurer. It's time to become a professional roleplayer!"

Turbine announced that they will be bringing down the DDO Game servers for a hotfix on Thursday:

The DDO Game Servers will be brought down on Thursday, May 1st from 7am - 10am Eastern (-5 GMT) for a hotfix.

This hotfix should address the severe lag issues and some monster misbehavior caused by lag, that has been experienced by players this week.

Turbine would like to thank everyone for their patience! See you in the game soon.

I hadn't seen severe lag, so maybe I've been lucky. Still, fixing it is better!

Sean Bulger's periodic community column today looks at the concept of Open PvP (player vs. player) and what it does to games and their communities.

A while back we talked about conflict between players and what sort of a role that it can play in a game and for communities. During this, it was noted that player competition can be implemented in numerous different ways. This week, I would like to revisit this discussion and talk about one of those particular methods: the open PvP world.

Open PvP is one of the more controversial topics in MMO circles and plenty of people have fairly strong opinions one way or the other on the subject. That said, I would like to explore both the positive impacts and negative ones on the player community. Open PvP has the potential to help bond a community fairly tightly, but it also has the potential to truly tear it apart as well.

Read more after the leap.

Last week, Jonathan Steinhauer's column looked at the design of outdoor areas in The Dangerous Wilderness, Part 1. In Part 2, he continues his thoughts on the basic challenge most every MMO faces.

The easiest solution, though it avoids the root of the problem, is to disperse the ground spawns to a more realistic population level. There are areas where one would expect to encounter monsters, and that is where the heavy concentrations should be. Hard core hunting should occur in the fortresses and camps of the various villains, monsters, and animals that are the bane of the adventurer, not every time you step off the path. This opens up the wilderness for travel and casual hunting while giving players the kind of combat that exist in epic stories: battle in the lairs.

Read more after the leap.

Turbine published an update to Module 6 for Dungeons and Dragons Online, consisting of various fixes:

• Portals have been added at the end of The Thirteenth Eclipse [The Shroud] to allow party members to return to previous parts of the raid for access to the eldritch device stations. These portals will only appear after the Pit Fiend has been defeated.
• "Create Undead" scrolls now share a timer with Summon Monster VI scrolls.
• Charmed monsters should be less indecisive about picking out enemies. Likewise, your foes will be less indecisive about who they focus aggression toward when a summoned or charmed monster is near them.
• Some breakables that were required to advance your quests were unbreakable. This has been fixed.
• Area of Effect spells cast on full groups will no longer result in lag spikes.
• Auto-attack will now properly activate when used from shortcut bars.

And as with nearly all games and patches, there were a few issues with the update. You can find a complete list of the known issues at the official site, here.

Jim Moreno looks at the biggest question for the modern MMO roleplayer: how do you keep in character in an instance? They're here to stay, so it's time to learn how to deal with them.

Hear me now and believe me later, there is no reason why roleplayers cannot and should not engage in the same high quality RP within an instance as without. Personally, I'm not at all knowledgeable as to where the notion started from, but I absolutely aim to crush it here and henceforth. More than that, I want to share with fellow roleplayers why I think instances are the best places for RP, and provide some tips on how to take on these adventures with RP in mind. I hope they help!

Read more after the leap.

Turbine's posted an update to the items in development for Mod 7 (still untitled). Some previously discussed enhancements have been updated, and other tweaks have been made, such as:

• The bartenders of Stormreach have become tired of watching the lucrative business of item repair going to other shopkeepers, and have enrolled in an item repair courses. Barkeeps will now be able to repair items.
• New items have been added to the Catacombs and Waterworks end reward lists! These Eternal Wands are geared towards aiding low level clerics, sorcerers, and wizards.

You can read the entire list after the jump!

In a new editorial, columnist Jonathan Steinhauer embarks into "The Dangerous Wilderness". He looks at the concept of pf the wild and how it's presented in MMOs.

As I've wandered through the wilds of various games, I've been stunned by the panoramic vistas that have opened out before me. Trees sway in the light breeze, their leaves rustling softly through my speakers. A stream trickles by, the sunlight gleaming of the whorls and eddies of the current while in the distance, purple mountains capped with white glaciers scrape the billowing clouds. The imagery is so detailed, I could almost believe it is real.

Read more after the leap.

AlwaysOn has named Turbine one of their 100 Top Private Companies in the Northeastern United States, according to a press release from Turbine. They of course developed and operate Asheron's Call, Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online.

Details after the leap.

Turbine's offered a sneak peak at a new feature coming to DDO, called "Pimp My Warforged":

Module 7 Feature Preview: Pimp My Warforged

Does your Warforged need some extra flash? We're proud to introduce the new Mod 7 feature: "Pimp My Warforged" - letting playahs take their Warforged to the next level of style! Here's a look at some of the exciting new features:

• New Skills
  • Fly
    • Description: All other players want to be like you
  • Pneumatics
    • Description: Enables your character to go up and down
• New Feat
  • Super Fly
    • Prerequisite: Must have a 15 Fly
    • Description: All other players want to be like you, but automatically fail a Fly skill check
• New enhancements
  • Follower of the Lord of Bling
    • Prerequisite: 15 Fly skill; Feat: Super Fly
    • Description: Use your Fly skill to blind your opponents whenever you have Bling equipped
  • Slow Your Roll
    • Description: Adds a bonus to keep your d20 from rolling off the 20 onto a 1
• Help the new Researcher of the Twelve, Exhibit d'Bling, to unlock special Eldritch Device recipes!
  • New Crafted Items
    • Bling
    • Spinners
    • Fins
    • Ground Effects
    • Chrome Rims

Watch the Video Dev Diary about Pimp My Warforged!

Check it out, and give your feedback here!