The latest Producers letter for Dungeon & Dragons Online details some interesting changes to come.

Greetings,

It has been a busy couple of weeks since we announced our transition to Standing Stone Games. We appreciate the patience you've shown as we continue to work on this transition, and your help in identifying various nooks and crannies that might still need attention. We all thank you! The coming year promises to bring lots of new content, so I wanted to talk about at some things you can look for in 2017.

We are currently working hard on Update 34, which will feature a new, free dungeon, a champion revamp, and the debut of Reaper difficulty. Champions are creatures that have been tainted or empowered by the Manual of the Planes with bits of planar energy to make them more powerful. To reflect this lore, and to allow you to better identify the threat they pose, champions have been revamped so they are marked with a specific plane, and gain powers from that mark. Each champion has a planar title and a crown icon to reflect the level of its empowerment, so you can identify the challenge ahead of you more easily.

One of the joys of playing Dungeons and Dragons Online is the vast amount of build customization the game offers, and many of you have told us that want more challenge for your top builds as you refine your characters and gear them up. Reaper difficulty will offer new challenges for you. Some characters cheat death so often that even Reapers take notice! In this mode the dungeons you play are much more dangerous, and Reapers roam halls that might otherwise seem familiar. In the Reaper difficulty denizens from the planes aligned with Death are actively trying to kill you, and so is the Dungeon Master! Not for the faint of heart. Reaper difficulty brings 10 Skulls worth of difficulty so you can find the challenge that is most fun for you.

At the end of February we will be celebrating the 11th anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons Online! We'll have special gifts, and the anniversary dungeon will be coming back for an encore. We are also working on Update 35, and hope to have it ready in that timeframe. It will debut several new adventures, a new raid, and a new playable race with the Dragonborn!

After Update 35, we will continue our focus on new content, with an adventure pack set in the Forgotten Realms. The Stonelands are located north of The Stormhorns, and are known as a rocky and hilly region where legend states a castle built above the clouds crashed to Earth. The Stonelands' frequent storms may indeed come from a battle against a magical realm of old. Expect Update 36 sometime in late Spring/early Summer.

After Update 36, we still have two more updates in 2017, and we have already teased that one of those will be our expansion! We are very excited about Ravenloft, which has long been a fan favorite. We are planning lots of new content, Sentient Weapons, and other surprises.

We will continue to target game performance improvements and squash bugs, like usual, and we'd like to look at Cleric, Favored Soul, Druid, and Artificer, and do other class work as necessary. We also want to hear from you! Listening carefully to your suggestions has always helped our game be its best, and we are expanding the roster of the DDO Players Council to get more feedback from more people more often.

This will be an incredible year for DDO, and we thank you for being a part of it!

~ Sev

Standing Stone games are the new owners of Dungeon & Dragons Online. This newly formed indie studio is made up of the veterans who developed D&D Online and LOTOR Online. This arrangement is in partnership with Daybreak Games to provide publishing services.

Standing Stone Games - A message from Rob Ciccolini
Greetings,

Today we have some momentous news! The game teams responsible for The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) and Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) are now moving from Turbine to Standing Stone Games, a newly formed indie game studio. In addition, we've partnered with Daybreak Games to provide global publishing services. They've had a long, successful history developing and publishing MMOs, and we're happy to lean on their expertise.

With the announcement out of the way, I wanted to talk to you about what all this means.

We're embarking on an exciting adventure as Standing Stone Games, a newly-independent studio staffed by people who have been working on DDO and LOTRO for many years. The teams remain very much committed to both games and are thrilled to continue development and operations of these games as an independent studio. This is an opportunity for us to bring about our dreams while still working on two of the biggest licenses in video games. It's a huge honor, and for you this means your games will continue to grow and improve. We love to focus on games with a high level of depth and scope, and we can't wait to show you what the future brings.

Although a great many exciting things are happening on our end, you'll be able to continue playing the game(s) you enjoy with as little interruption as possible. Our development continues on track, and the plans we have already announced remain firmly in our future view. Again, although we are a new studio, we are also the same developers who have been and will continue to work on our games.

Our success has always been possible because of your support. As we move forward, this is more important than ever. The ultimate goal of our new studio is to continue to bring you amazing experiences. We are excited for the future, and we're thrilled to have you with us on this journey.

Here's to great games, epic adventures, and memorable times with friends!

~Sev

Gamebanshee reports on the producers letter from Turbine which has annouced some ambitious plans for D&D Online. There are plans for an expansion in 2017 and a significant new content release for the 10 year old game. Now the producers letter details new features, character advancement options and quests.

Here's the list of Things We're Working On:

~ Updated Night Revels event: First up, we're working on an update to The Night Revels, our Halloween-themed event which debuted last year. We're planning to add a couple of new quests along with a handful of new items that will focus on cosmetic fun. We're expecting the updated Night Revels to debut later in October.

~ A new Questing hub: We've long wanted to help people figure out where to go and what to do when they come back to DDO from some time away, and this hub will help both them as well as anyone who'd like to get to quest entrances more quickly. We don't have a name for this new system yet, and we'll be talking a lot more about it in the coming weeks.

~ World Character Transfers: We've heard from many of you that our process to transfer characters from one world to another needs to be more intuitive and take less time. Our new launcher-based system will send a character or characters from one world to another in seconds, and players will be able to pay for their transfers directly with Turbine Points. We think you'll like this transfer system, which is already in place in our sister game Lord of the Rings Online. Expect to see it debut by the end of the year.

~ Deity feats: We'll be adding new Deities that players can follow, and new feats that can be unlocked by players who find favor with their deity of choice.

~ A new free dungeon: We're expecting to release a new free dungeon in December that we think fans of A Study in Sable will enjoy. This quest sends adventurers to a popular type of pen and paper location that hasn't had much representation in DDO. I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil it.

~ Character Bank Storage: We're working to take the user interface used for your Shared Account Bank and Crafting Storage and bring it to your personal character bank. Besides an improved look and functionality, this change will allow us to offer additional character bank storage space in the future.

~ Monks and Favored Soul updates: Continuing our class work, you can expect an overhaul of handwraps in addition to updated enhancement trees for both classes.

Looking beyond 2016, we know many of you have been hearing the rumors and teases about Ravenloft, so let's talk Strahd. We're 100% interested in bringing Ravenloft to DDO, and are working through the process to make it happen. We don't have an exact time frame in mind, although our current plan has it coming to DDO sometime towards the end of 2017. We can't wait to bring one of the most popular and classic adventures in Dungeons & Dragons history to the game.

Update #31 for Dungeons and Dragons Online launched yesterday.

Umber Hulks have officially reared their mandible-sporting heads in Dungeons & Dragons Online, as Turbine has released Update 31: Gnomework for the venerable MMORPG and ushered in the classic creature (within The Temple of Elemental Evil, no less), a handful of new quests, and a few other notable gameplay tweaks. I'll quote things directly from the release notes, while also sending you to the item list:

Of Special Note:

Free Quests!

• Search and Rescue - An adventurer in Eveningstar learns the hard way to "never split the party!" While exploring an ancient tomb, her group get separated, and she needs your help to find them. However, it turns out the tomb is just the beginning. The problems here are much deeper – and bigger – than they first seem.
• Memoirs of an Illusory Larcener - A DDO take on the classic choose-your-own adventure story. A Gnome Illusionist in the Harbor has a tale to tell, and brings the story to life using the power of his illusory magic. As the tale unfolds, your choices will affect the outcome. Is his story just for good ol' amusement - or does he have something else up his sleeve?
• Good Intentions - Find out why good intentions can lead to bad results! A mysterious enchanter's greatest invention creates an instant workforce to repair damaged sections of Stormreach, and you are there to see its debut. What could possibly go wrong?

Fighter Kensei

The Fighter Kensei enhancement line has been updated. See the full details below in the Release Notes.
News and Notes: Daily Dice

• The Daily Dice reward tables have been updated. No items have been removed, and Invisible Stalker Creature Companion Certificates, Treasure Hunter's Elixirs, and Bigby's Pointing Fingers have been added to both the Silver and Gold tables.

DDO Store

• Fixed an issue that could cause the DDO Store to crash when being opened.

Enhancements

• Fixed an issue with the DC of Vanguard's Shield Charge.
• The Fighter Kensei has been updated:
  • ​Core Abilities:
    • ​Strike With No Thought: Gain a +1 competence bonus to critical multiplier.
    • Power Surge now gains a +8 Psionic bonus to all attributes for 60 seconds. If you possess the ability to generate Ki, you gain on hit +2 Ki.
    • Alacrity now provides a +2 to all ability scores, and the additional action boosts have been increased to four.
  • ​Tier One:
    • ​Action Boost's Attack Boost now adds +4/6/8 to hit and damage for 20 seconds.
    • Haste Boost's third tier no longer erroneously lists its duration as 30 seconds, and now states its proper 20 seconds.
    • Reed in the Wind's cooldown is reduced to 15 seconds, and now does +1/2/3[W].
  • ​Tier Two:
    • ​Improved Dodge's AP cost has been changed to 1/1/1.
    • Improved Dodge now has a multiselector.
    • Weapon Meditation has been removed.
    • Ascetic Training's AP cost has been reduced to 1/1/1.
    • Conditioning has been changed to +1/2/3 Fortitude saving throws, +5/10/15 hit points, and +5/10/15 Fortification.
    • Weapon Group Specialization: Gain +1 to hit and +2 damage with one handed weapons and repeating crossbows, and +1 to hit and +3 damage with two-handed weapons and non-repeating crossbows.
  • ​Tier Three:
    • ​Critical Accuracy has been changed to Critical Mastery: +1/2/3 bonus to critical damage and to confirm critical hits.
    • Improved Mobility has been removed and replaced with Athletic Mastery: +1/2/3 Maximum Dexterity Bonus and Dodge Cap, -1/2/3 Armor Check Penalty. Works in any armor. Cost: 1/1/1
    • Shattering Strike's cooldown has been reduced to 10 seconds. Fortification loss no longer has a saving throw, and no longer requires Weapon Mediation.
    • Weapon Group Specialization: Gain +1 to hit and +2 damage with one handed weapons and repeating crossbows, and +1 to hit and +4 damage with two-handed weapons and non-repeating crossbows.
  • ​Tier Four:
    • ​Critical Damage has been removed and combined into Tier Three's Critical Mastery.
    • Weapon Group Specialization: Gain +1 to hit and +2 damage with one handed weapons and repeating crossbows, and +1 to hit and +4 damage with two-handed weapons and non-repeating crossbows.
  • ​Tier Five:
    • ​A Good Death: Cooldown has been reduced to 15 seconds. Extra damage now activates if the target is below 30% health. Extra damage scales with 400% Melee or Ranged Power. Requirements have been removed.
    • One with the Blade: Passive: Gain +20 Melee and Ranged Power. Requirements have been removed.
    • Deadly Shot/Strike: No longer requires an action boost. Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds. Change the vorpal ability to cause an extra 500 damage which scales with Melee or Ranged Power.
    • Weapon Master: You gain +3 to hit and damage with all weapons.
    • NOTE: We expect to add two additional enhancement options in the fourth tier of Kensei soon.

Items

• Fixed an issue where equipped quivers were not automatically gathering items correctly.
• Fixed some end reward lists that could still have +0 items appear in them.
• Fixed some item properties that could still appear with a +0 benefit.

Quests and Adventure Areas

• Temple of Elemental Evil
  • ​Flying Griffons and Umber Hulks can now be found in this dungeon.

​Races

• Two new hairstyles are now available for human male characters.
• Six new beards are now available for gnomes.
• Several new beards are now available for human male characters.
• Fixed an issue where the projectile offset was incorrect for gnomes.
• Deep Gnome Iconic tattoos now display correctly.

UI

• A Default Group Volume preference has been added to the Voice section of the Audio options UI. This volume slider sets the default voice volume level of new group members.
• The default group volume slider and party UI slider is now 75% by default.

More.

Jeff Francis of MMO-Play published his thoughts about why he still loves playing Dungeons and Dragons Online. Here is a short sample of one of his reasons why.

D&D 3.5 Rules

One of the main reasons why I love Dungeons and Dragons Online is that its system is loosely based on the 3.5 edition of the D&D pen-and-paper rpg. I've been playing D&D for over thirty years, starting back with the 1st edition Advanced Dungeons and Dragons as well as the Basic and Expert boxed sets. I really like the 3.5 rules for the game, so I feel incredibly at ease within DDO as their in-game systems are based upon it. When I read that a ring is +5 of Protection, I know exactly what the game is talking about. The gaming group I had for about a decade broke up as we moved to different parts of the country, but we still got together to play DDO. So, the nostalgia factor is a big reason why I love DDO.

Seems another MMO game got a Producers Letter this time it's for D&D Online from
Executive Producer Robert Ciccolini. I still play the game but it has a been a while.

My name is Robert Ciccolini, although many of you might know me as “Severlin” on the forums or from podcasts. I am the Executive Producer for Dungeons and Dragons Online. I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on our previous year and look forward to the year ahead.

Thanks go to Gamebanshee for this one as I missed it today.

Dungeons & Dragons Online just got its latest update.  It enhances the Tyranny of Dragons storyline and updates the Barbarian class.

New Quests

• A new adventure pack is now available that continues the Xoriat story line in DDO!
• A new free quest is now available that is linked to the Tyranny of Dragons story line!

Mirror of Glamering: Weapons and Auras

• Weapons can now be created using the Mirror of Glamering! NOTE: The item from which the cosmetic copy is being made from is not consumed, nor altered. The created cosmetic item is Bound to Account. Items which have special racial requirements will create a cosmetic item with the same racial requirements. Items that appear and remain in the quest upon exit cannot be Glamered. The Mirror of Glamering can be purchased in the DDO Store, and can also rarely appear in Daily Dice.
• The Mirror of Glamering will make a copy of the base look of a weapon, and will retain the weapon's particle effects (such as flaming.)
• The weapon cosmetic will only display on your character when you are wielding a weapon with the same combat style. The current combat styles are one-handed, two-handed, quarterstaff, great axe, crossbow, repeating crossbow, bow, rune arm, orb, and shield-only. Handwraps, and thrown weapons are not able to be made into cosmetics.
• A Glamered Weapon Aura can be used to create a cosmetic "look" on a weapon (such as flaming.) An Aura recipe also exists that allows someone to remove the visual effect of their weapon (such as flaming.) Glamered Weapon Auras do not function on bows, crossbows, or repeating crossbows.

Airships

• Airship Captains now give players the option to be dropped off in the Hall of Heroes in Eberron.
• The Farshifter and Captain (with the Farshifter Amenity) now offer to take players to Three Barrel Cove.

Classes

• Druid Fire and Water elemental forms have been buffed. The casting penalties to other damage types have been reduced to only the opposing type, and the bonus for the corresponding element has been increased. New text:
  • Wild Shape: Fire Elemental - Form: Transform into a Fire Elemental. While in fire elemental form, you have a +3 bonus to caster level and max caster level for fire spells, but your water spells have a -3 penalty to caster level and max caster level. You also gain a +10 racial bonus to Fire resistance, and a -10 penalty to cold resistance. While in Fire Elemental form you gain access to a number of spells that require it. You are considered an Elemental. You gain a +10 racial bonus to your saving throws against magical poisons, and racial immunity to natural poisons, sleep, paralysis, and stun, and a 100% bonus to fortification. If you are a warforged, you are no longer considered a Living Construct, and can now be healed normally by positive energy spells, and you become immune to repair spells.
  • Wild Shape: Water Elemental - Form: Transform into a Water Elemental. While in water elemental form, you have a +3 bonus to caster level and max caster level for water and cold spells, but your fire spells have a -3 penalty to caster level and max caster level. You also gain a +10 racial bonus to Cold resistance, a large bonus to your swim skill, and a -10 penalty to Electricity resistance. While in Water Elemental form you gain access to a number of spells that require it. You are considered an Elemental. You gain a +10 racial bonus to your saving throws against magical poisons, and racial immunity to natural poisons, sleep, paralysis, and stun, and a 100% bonus to fortification. If you are a warforged, you are no longer considered a Living Construct, and can now be healed normally by positive energy spells, and you become immune to repair spells.
• Tireless Rage, granted with 17 Barbarian levels, now grants a stacking +2 Strength and Constitution Bonus along with a +1 Morale Bonus to Will Saving Throws while raging. The benefit still prevents Fatigue from Barbarian rage.

More information.

In an interview with Turbine's Craig Alexander,  the new Free-To-Play Dungeons & Dragons Online,  Lord of the Rings Online, and moving MMOs to the console space are discussed.

In regards to the future plans of DDO, Turbine is looking to provide players with the full offering of D&D classes and races. Some of the classic classes are still not in the game, Craig pointed out the Druid as an example. The plans are to eventually provide these classes to players so that the online experience matches the pen and paper experience with all of the options. I asked if he could put half-orcs in the game as a playable race. Craig smiled and said they are working to bring the races into the game as well. Hopefully we will see DDO expand its content in the free-to-play space and grow as a game. DDO had a fantastic combat system that is much more interactive than just a hot bar. The game has always been worth checking out. Now that it is free-to-play it may be a good time to give it a try, if you are not a fan of subscription models.

Eurogamer re-review DDO - 8/10.

While those who understand the DDO rulebook (3.5, detail-fans) may flourish, those who just like a good old RPG romp will too, appreciating the new character facilities and the ability to survive without the need to stake out Craigslist for like-minded men and women to play with. Though it may lack the glamour of some of its peers, it makes up for it in sheer complexity and size, and those with a head for numbers (and the time to read) will be able to create the most individual RPG characters in an online game.

The question is, ultimately, what kind of gamer you are. If you're very much part of the casual RPG crowd you may want to play DDO Unlimited and pay (and play) piecemeal. In bite-sized chunks, DDO's new model flourishes, with a few casual hours here and there and the occasional $5 investment into a content pack proving a fun diversion. If you have the time to invest - and we're not talking 1999-era-EverQuest, but just a little more than WOW's current demands - learning and questing in DDO is worthy of your attention and a subscription fee.

DDO is an easy taste to acquire, but an acquired taste nonetheless. Anyone looking for the sense of wonderment and exploration that your EverQuests and LOTROs provide will be disappointed. However, those who want their experience distilled to raw adventure itself will find a door-to-door dungeon crawl that satisfies if not elates, and continues to entertain far longer than many competitors, free-to-play or otherwise.

Turbine sent out the message that Dungeon & Dragons Online Unlimted is now live.

TURBINE LAUNCHES FREE-TO-PLAY DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®: EBERRON UNLIMITED

First Premium Free-to-Play Game Now Open For Business

WESTWOOD, MA - September 9, 2009 - Turbine, Inc. announced today the launch of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited (DDO Unlimited), a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) which delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industry's best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found in premium subscription-based MMOs. DDO Unlimited introduces an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game's content. Starting today, players can download and play DDO Unlimited for free by visiting http://www.ddo.com.

"Today Turbine changes the way gamers experience their online entertainment by providing them with a choice in how they pay and play for a premium MMO," said Jim Crowley, CEO of Turbine, Inc. "The DDO Unlimited Beta program has been a huge success and the initial response to the game from both press and players has been nothing short of phenomenal. In response, we have already more than doubled our capacity to handle the increased demand."

"DDO Unlimited is the most innovative, exciting and feature rich MMO to ever hit the free to play market," said Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of DDO Unlimited. "We've come a long way since our launch and it has been very rewarding to see the positive response to the game from players and reporters alike. DDO Unlimited's future is very bright and we're already getting more adventures ready to introduce to the game later in the year."

DDO Unlimited delivers the best combat of any MMO and the most heart-pounding action this side of a keyboard, plus a lot more!

• DDO Unlimited's New Content & Features - DDO Unlimited delivers a new class, increases the level cap to 96 ranks, introduces new adventure packs including a new 12-player raid, and features major combat improvements.
• The Fiercest Combat of any MMO - DDO Unlimited features an extraordinary heart- pounding combat experience that requires players to fully engage in the battle by relying on their wits and reflexes in real time. No more clicking skills and watching the action from the sideline. 
• Mind-blowing Visuals - Explore a vast and dangerous online world that features the most advanced graphics in the industry and is stuffed with the legendary monsters, glorious treasures, devious traps, mind-bending puzzles and endless adventures from the world's best known RPG.
• Full-featured MMO - Experience sophisticated systems found only in the best games including auctions, NPC hirelings, arena death matches (Player versus Player), crafting, and powerful social tools for finding a group, forming a guild or planning an epic raid! 
• Easier Than Ever! - DDO Unlimited gets you playing in minutes instead of hours, using new proprietary Turbine technology. Creating a new character is incredibly simple with guides and templates that speed you through the process. Features an all-new new player experience that gives gamers their first taste of excitement quickly while teaching them how to play solo or with a group of fellow adventurers.

 

MMORPG asks some questions about D&D online to the game's Executive Producer Fernando Paiz.

MMORPG.com: Tell us about the choice to make DDO Free-to-Play? How did Turbine come to this decision?

Fernando Paiz: Turbine has been exploring Free-to-Play and micro-transactions based business models for several years now. We have seen the growing popularity of these models, particularly in the Asian markets, and we've been on the lookout for the right opportunity to bring a compelling offering to the West. We didn't know if that would mean importing and operating a game from another developer, applying the model to a new game, or something else.

About 2 years ago we started to seriously look at the possibility of converting one of our existing franchises to Free-to-Play. As we prepared some analysis on what this would entail for each of our major franchises, we quickly came to see that DDO was a great fit. Although some big design changes were needed to make this work, we found that we were able to make a new model which fit cleanly with the existing core game play mechanics and the game world. Many people have remarked that this also feels like a great fit for the D&D IP. After all, when D&D got started this was the model: you bought the base rule book and then you would buy incremental content and miniatures and other ways to enhance your game play when you were ready.

 

Ten Ton Hammer has news that Turbine is sueing Atari for $30 millions claiming that Atari "breached agreements by accepting payments - including future royalty payments - in return for extending their relationship and paving the way for the launch of Turbine's free-to-play DDO: Unlimited service, though Atari knew it would not perform its obligations under the agreements and knew it would pretextually seek to declare Turbine in breach of the agreements."

Read more here.

Another Gold announcement - this time for DDO Unlimited.  VIP members can play from September 1st and everyone else from the 9th:

Turbine, Inc. announced today Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ (DDO Unlimited), a free digital upgrade for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™, has successfully completed beta and has now gone gold. Turbine will provide DDO VIPs early access to the game beginning September 1, 2009 prior to the official North American launch on September 9, 2009.

DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap, introduce a new player class and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone. The new DDO Unlimited delivers heart-pounding gameplay featuring the industry’s best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found in premium subscription-based MMOs. DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content.

DDO Unlimited is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® franchise of Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.® (NYSE: HAS), under license to Infogrames Entertainment S.A.® Published by Atari, Inc.®, DDO has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more. For the latest information, please visit www.ddo.com.

Ten Ton Hammer has lined up 10 facts that should make your time in beta when playing D&D Online more enjoyable. I might be mistaken, but it looks like these 'facts' can be applied to most MMOs.
As DDO is moving to a F2P concept you might as well try the game out anyway based on 'fact' 11: It's free.

1. It's a great time to be a new or veteran DDO player. The DDO developers will also be introducing a new class (the Favored Soul), raising the level cap to 20, and introducing a new area known as the Plane of Battle. This is also a big step in the process, as the "natural" level cap for D&D was always 20 and the Favored Soul was a staple among D&D vets. As a healer class, the Favored Soul will definitely be needed in any higher level content the developer continue to produce.

2. If you plan on actively playing DDOU more than two hours a day, it's probably worth your money to invest in the VIP program.

3. Don't be afraid to select a pre-made path.

4.  DDO has one of the most active combat systems you'll find in any MMO.

5. Be wary of your race/class combinations.

6. Don't be afraid to repeat a quest.

7. Enhancements are important, so don't pick silly options.

8. The DDO Store is your best friend, especially the conveniences section.

9. Be social.

10. Try out the beta.

The releasedate of the F2P update to Dungeons & Dragons Online is set for August 6th.

TURBINE ANNOUNCES LAUNCH DATE FOR DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®: EBERRON UNLIMITED™

Free Digital Upgrade Goes Live on August 6th

Turbine, Inc. announced today Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ (DDO Unlimited), a free digital upgrade for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™ will launch on August 4, 2009 in North America. DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap, introduce a new player class and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone. The new DDO Unlimited delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industry's best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found only in premium subscription-based MMOs. DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game's content. Turbine will provide DDO VIPs early access to the game to beginning August 4, 2009 and will provide free, unlimited access to everyone on August 6, 2009.

"The DDO Unlimited Beta has been a huge success and we want to thank all of our players who have participated to help us make this the best free-to-play game on the market," said Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of DDO Unlimited. "On August 6th we are going to change what it means to be free-to-play with the most immersive, action-packed and full-featured MMO that provides players with a choice in how they play and pay for the game."

DDO Unlimited delivers the best combat of any MMO and the most heart-pounding action this side of a keyboard, plus a lot more!

• Brand New Content & Features - DDO Unlimited will deliver a new class - favored soul, increase the level cap, introduce new adventure packs including a new 12-player raid, major combat improvements and more!
• The Fiercest Combat - DDO Unlimited features an extraordinary heart-pounding combat experience that requires players to fully engage in the battle by relying on their wits and reflexes in real time. No more clicking skills and watching the action from the sideline.
• Mind-blowing Visuals - Explore a vast and dangerous online world that features the most advanced graphics in the industry and is stuffed with the legendary monsters, glorious treasures, devious traps, mind-bending puzzles and endless adventures from the world's best known RPG.
• Full-featured MMO - Experience sophisticated systems found only in the best games including auctions, NPC hirelings, arena death matches (Player versus Player), crafting, and powerful social tools for finding a group, forming a guild or planning an epic raid!
• Easier Than Ever! - DDO Unlimited gets you playing in minutes instead of hours, using new proprietary Turbine technology. Creating a new character is incredibly simple with guides and templates that speed you through the process. Features an all-new new player experience that gives gamers their first taste of excitement quickly while teaching them how to play solo or with a group of fellow adventurers.

DDO Unlimited is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® franchise of Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.® (NYSE: HAS), under license to Infogrames Entertainment S.A.® Published by Atari, Inc.®, DDO has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more. For the latest information, please visit www.ddo.com.

A description of the developer tour of Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited can be found on both Massively and Ten Ton Hammer.

MMORPG spoke with the husband and wife team of Fernando and Kate Piaz from Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online to talk about the game's transition from a subscription based title to the free to play model. Formerly known as Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, the new incarnation of the game will be called Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited.

The DDO Dynamic Duo explained that they felt it was necessary to rename DDO due to the new business model. "It's also to reflect," he elaborated, "just how far the game has come since launch." He went on to list a number of major elements that are present in today's game that weren't around at launch: soloable, PvP elements, outdoor adventures, a higher level cap, and more.

Dungeons and Dragons will be among the first major subscription based MMORPG to make the move to an item shop model. While this may seem like a good idea on the surface, industry insiders have warned that the key to the success of an item shop game is that the store not be "tacked on" at the end, but rather be fully incorporated into the game's original design.

"I think we're really fortunate with DDO,' answered Kate Piaz, "in the sense that D&D has always followed the notion that you would buy a module and play it and when you were ready to move beyond it you would go down to the hobby shop and you would expand your experience... It's not that it's a big change for us. We've always been the different MMO. We've always had mechanics that were more diverse than the other more classic MMOs so for us, this felt like a relatively easy migration because we're not trying to sell the endgame, we're not selling raid loot, we're enhancing the overall experience by providing conveniences, luxury items, cosmetic items and stuff like that that's really going to enhance the kind of gameplay that you have but don't in any way change that moment to moment gameplay."

After the announcement of Dungeon & Dragons going to the Fre to Play model (when you not live in Europe) there were plenty of questions and plenty of answers from Turbine. Some more questions and answers from DDO Executive Producer Fernando Paiz, Senior Producer Kate Paiz and Turbine PR Director Adam Mersky on the subject can be found here.

Ten Ton Hammer: There seems to be a big ruckus going on over the “sexy” avatar that you’re using to promote DDOU. Why’d you go with the big-chested succubus?

Kate Paiz: The succubus came out so well when we created her that it sort of felt like a real natural fit for what we were doing. Obviously she's provocative. The whole lore basis for what she is and what she does; it really took course from that rendering. What you see on all the marketing materials and the website is the same character that you're going to play against in game. And this is really about reaching out to a new audience, getting some new attention, generating some new buzz, and it felt like the succubus really helps us do that.

The Armchair Empire writes in with another interview on DDO's move to free-to-play:

Why did you decide to switch to a Free-to-Play model for DDO?

We launched DDO over 3 years ago and LOTRO just over 2 years ago.  Since then we’ve launched the games across Asia where they were competing with very successful free-to-play games.  For several years we have had plans to enter this space.  After looking at titles to import and even new games to create based on this model, we realized that DDO was very well suited due to unique form of gameplay.  D&D was always marketed in this way where players could buy a series of adventures and then when they were ready, they could head down to the hobby store and pick up some new ones and enhance their game experience with new dice, minis and other items.  Everything just clicked, and a little over a year ago we went to work re-engineering the game to create a unique model that provided players with a choice in how they pay and play our game.

Turbine's Adam Mersky lines up to explain the DDO changes to Gamasutra:

Looking at DDO having moderate success, but definitely a niche game, it was definitely well-suited," he says. Just the nature of Dungeons & Dragons as a property lends itself well, Mersky adds -- players of the pen-and-paper game know what it’s like to visit the hobby store regularly for new dice, miniatures and modules to add onto their existing play set.

"We’re always trying to lead and do things interesting in the market as it evolves, and it made sense for this product," he says.

And far from a last-ditch decision in response to subscriber levels, Mersky stresses the transition for DDO has been carefully planned for over a year, from both a roll-out and a game design perspective.

After the announcement of D&D Online going free to play the guys from Ten Ton Hammer interviewed developers Adam Mersky, Fernando Paiz and Kate Paiz to find out more.

Ten Ton Hammer: Why go free to play? What drove you to make this decision? Why do it now? Why not three months earlier or later?

Adam Mersky: We were just as E3, and there were all these free to play games on the show floor this year. We’ve been in Asia for awhile now with our product, and we’ve seen the power of this model. As leaders in this space, we needed to do something with the free to play model.

After examining things, we realized that DDO was actually a pretty good fit for it. If you look, you can go back and examine how the original D&D IP was marketed: As you went through your adventures and wanted more options with your group, you just hopped down to the hobby store and picked up another book, better dice, or better miniatures.

The joke is that Wizards of the Coast and TSR actually pioneered micro-transactions. They always made you want to go back and buy more.

That right there fit in with the game, but the way DDO is set up also was a…

Kate Paiz: A natural fit.

Adam: I think it’s important to note that this isn’t a bolted on solution. We didn’t just want to toss an item mall into the game and see what happens. We’ve put well over a years worth of work into this to sort of “re-engineer” the game and fit this model.

We didn’t want people’s worse nightmares to happen, i.e. “I have a bigger wallet, therefore I’m going to be the best player in the game.” We’re going to have distinct types of players – VIPs, casual purchasers, and free players – all be able to interact together in the same world in a balanced and entertaining way.

That was really the fit. We would have done a free to play game no matter what the circumstance, but the best part was that DDO was a perfect fit.

From GamesIndustry:

While Turbine intends to turn MMORPG Dungeons & Dragons Online into a free-to-play title in the US, there are no current plans to do the same in Europe, according to regional publisher Codemasters.

A digital upgrade for the game titled Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited will go live this summer in North America, allowing new users to play for free and purchase content via micro-transactions.

"To clarify, for the time being, DDO Europe will not be assuming this new business model and the European DDO game service will remain a monthly subscription-based game with all new content created available to all subscribers, as has been the model up until now," said Codemasters in a statement.

Turbine has announced Dungeons & Dragons Online will soon offer a free-to-play model, although subscriptions will buy a VIP level service.  Billed as an upgrade, the official name has also been changed to Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited.  Here's the PR:

TURBINE® ANNOUNCES DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®: EBERRON UNLIMITED™

Free Digital Upgrade Introduces Unlimited Free Play and Raises Level Cap; Beta Begins Today

 

WESTWOOD, MA – June 9, 2009 – Turbine, Inc. announced today the start of the Beta program for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™ (DDO Unlimited), a free digital upgrade for Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™. DDO Unlimited will raise the level cap and add major new content, as well as make the game free to play for everyone. The new DDO Unlimited delivers heart-pounding game play featuring the industry’s best combat system, a massive world with state-of-the-art graphics and gameplay, and a rich set of features that until now could only be found only in premium subscription-based MMOs. Launching later this summer, DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content. Players interested in getting a sneak peak of the new DDO Unlimited can sign up for a chance to participate in the Beta program at http://www.ddo.com.

 

“Our team has spent years crafting DDO Unlimited into a powerhouse experience featuring cutting-edge graphics, a kick-ass combat system, high level content, and cutting-edge social tools. Today marks a major milestone as we prepare to launch the world’s most exciting free MMO,” said Kate Paiz, Senior Producer. 

 

“Turbine is blazing a new trail with an innovative new pricing structure that will deliver a new era of choice for the growing market of online gamers, and we are very excited to invite players to work with us in the DDO Unlimited Beta program as we redefine how people play and pay for MMOs,” added Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer.

 

DDO Unlimited delivers the best combat of any MMO and the most heart-pounding action this side of a keyboard, plus a lot more!

Brand New Content & Features – DDO Unlimited will deliver a new class, increase the level cap, introduce new adventure packs including a new 12-player raid, major combat improvements and more!

The Fiercest Combat – DDO Unlimited features an extraordinary and heart stopping combat experience that requires players to fully engage in the battle by relying on their wits and reflexes in real time. No more clicking skills and watching the action from the sideline.

Mind-blowing Visuals – Explore a vast and dangerous online world that features the most advanced graphics in the industry and is stuffed with the legendary monsters, glorious treasures, devious traps, mind-bending puzzles and endless adventures from the world’s best known RPG.

Full-featured MMO – Experience sophisticated systems found only in the best games including auctions, arena death matches (Player versus Player), NPC hirelings, gambling, crafting, and powerful social tools for finding a group, forming a guild or planning an epic raid!

Easier Than Ever! – DDO Unlimited gets you playing in minutes instead of hours, using new proprietary Turbine technology. Creating a new character is incredibly simple with guides and templates that speed you through the process. Features an all-new new player experience that gives gamers their first taste of excitement quickly while teaching them how to play solo or with a group of fellow adventurers.
 

DDO Unlimited is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® franchise of Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.® (NYSE: HAS), under license to Infogrames Entertainment S.A.® Published by Atari, Inc.®, DDO has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more. For the latest information, please visit www.ddo.com.

The game, set to launch this summer, will be renamed D&D Online: Eberron Unlimited (or simply DDO Unlimited). Available as a digital upgrade to existing subscribers, newcomers will be able to download and start playing the game for free. A new DDO store, instantly accessible anywhere within the game itself, will sell equipment, new adventures, added character content (including the brand new monk class), hirelings and a host of other things. All the new items are loaded within the client, so once a player purchases an item, it's immediately available.

Bonuses for Dungeons & Dragons Online's 3rd birthday:

DDO is celebrating its 3rd Birthday! As part of the celebration, we're giving out bonus XP and Loot!

Starting this Friday, February 27th, and running through March 1st, DDO Players will gain a 50% XP bonus and +1 tier bonus to loot quality! But the fun doesn't stop there! Once 50% XP and +1 loot are over with on Sunday March 1st, starting Monday March 2nd, enjoy 10% bonus XP for 2 weeks!

Be on the look out for more fun and previews as we celebrate DDO's 3rd Anniversary together! Happy Birthday DDO!

GameBanshee dropped us a line about a new interview they have with executive producer Kate Paiz to catch up on D&DO updates.  Here's a partial snip from a loooong answer:

GB: For those who haven't followed DDO for awhile, can you give us an overview of what you've added to the game over the past year and what we can expect from Module 8: Prisoners of Prophecy?

Kate: You bet. We’ve added a tremendous amount of new game features and content over the course of the year, starting with Module 6, The Thirteenth Eclipse. Mod 6 was released in January, and included a new content module, the Vale of Twilight, and increased the Level cap to 16. The level cap included new feats, enhancements and level 8 spells. My favorite 8th level spell introduced was Trap the Soul, which allows a Sorcerer or Wizard to force a particularly nasty monster’s life force and its body into a gem on a failed Will save. This gem can then be used as an ingredient in an Eldritch Device for certain crafting rituals.

The Vale of Twilight brought to life a storyline which has dominated our playerbase this year – the invasion of the Devils Armies of Shavarath, the Plane of Battle. In this first chapter, players had to go to the Vale of Twilight and defend against the Pit Fiend General Arraetrikos, who was aligning the power of Shavarath with Xen’drik in an attempt to open a permanent, coterminous gateway between them.

Very positive article on the upcoming module 7: Way of The Monk.

In combat the monk lives up to your expectations, being very hard to take down, being effective in combat, having great saves.  There will be a lot of pleased players when the monk is released, and  so many monks will be made that Stormreach will be better named  “Monkreach” or a similar catchphrase, the fun will be well worth it.  The monk abilities are well done.   I note that some of the monk abilities are missing, and have been replaced with similar abilities.  These abilities blend seamlessly with the concept of the monk, not being out of place of feeling artificial.  I can't go into too much detail, but trust me, your going to love it.

Kate Paiz answers questions about the new Monk class and Module 7 in a Q&A session with Ten Ton Hammer:

Ten Ton Hammer: Looking in the past a bit, what kind of response was there to the anniversary event? Was it a big success with lots of people starting up their subscriptions again?

Kate: We certainly had a lot of really enthusiastic players that were certainly excited about the whole thing. If you look on YouTube,  there are a bunch of neat videos uploaded that highlight players experience of the event.

It also drew a lot of attention because of the type of event it was – one with a permanent effect on the world. In the end, we just went for it to see how the players would react, and I think the response has been positive enough to warrant similar types of events in the future. We want to bring more of these live events into our worlds, and I think this is the first step on innovating in that department.

RPG Vault features an interview with Senior Producer of Turbine Kate Paiz. The interview gives a fine summary of the past, present and future of Dungeons & Dragons Online. Worth reading even if you aren't interested in the game:

Jonric: Are there any common misconceptions held by MMOG fans who aren't familiar with the current state of this particular game?

Kate Paiz: I think some players believe that Dungeons & Dragons Online is only for people who have played D&D in the past, but I believe it is a rich, online RPG that any MMO player will find appealing. We're redoing our tutorial and character generation (for release this summer) to make it easier to create satisfying characters for those players unversed in the D&D rules. In addition, the solo experience in the early third of the game helps MMO players know how to play their respective classes and to know what their special skills are, which is a must when joining parties to engage the tougher adventures that are available.

Massively has a Q&A with Kate Paiz, senior producer of Dugeons & Dragons Online. She talks about the new Monk class that is going to be introduced in Module 7 and some other questions too:

The aim while developing the Monk was to keep the class authentic but add a touch of style at the same time. Kung-fu inspired moves and clothing combine with a special power called Qi, which can be built up while fighting and then released in powerful targeted attacks. The Monk will have enhancements in four directions -- earth, water, air and fire. Earth provides toughness, air speed, fire power and water "other special abilities". These can be combined for a customisable spiritual journey.

It seems Turbine has some old fashioned pen and paper goodness in store for players of DDO with the upcoming release of module 6.

The dungeons are interesting in that you must find the dungeons while exploring the landscape of the Vale of Twilight. No NPC to send you to the dungeon. In each of the dungeons you are working on finding one of the missing members of the Twelve. Now I remember in my old Pen & Paper games, we always had to walk through a dungeon carrying a torch. This was a feature the developers always wanted to implement, well they grinded out the code and the content to make this happen and on enter the dungeon "Rainbow in the Dark" one member needs to carry a torch (well a scepter that has a light spell on it). I was the lucky one to pick up the scepter and off I went. Our party was fighting a group of rust monsters and I ran forward to fight the next one near me. All of the sudden I hear "Get back here! I can't see". Yep, I had gone too far with the light and our Wizard was in the dark. It was funny as all get out.

The Dungeons and Dragons Online development team field questions from the WarCry community.

WarCry: DaveyCrockett: Is there any real consideration to introducing PRCs through the enhancement system per MT's thread, as the new Ranger enhancements would indicate?
Quarion: Eladrin, type faster!!
Eladrin: We've been introducing enhancements in the theme of various prestige classes for some time now, beginning with the Way of the Assassin and Way of the Thief-Acrobat enhancements that the Rogues received now so long ago. We do intend on continuing to expand the enhancement system as time goes on...
Eladrin: I'll break it into lines, fine. :)
Eladrin: The Rangers received Deepwood Sniper, Tempest, and Arcane Archer this time around. There'll be more iconic prestige classes getting enhancement treatment as well.

Kate Paiz and Stephen Muray chat to Ten Ton Hammer about the future of Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Ten Ton Hammer: Your two year anniversary is coming up very soon (late February). Should players expect anything big to be released around that time?

Kate Paiz: We’ve got a few things that we’re very excited about in the works, but we’re not really ready to talk about them just yet. There are a number of items that we’re very enthusiastic about; we’re hoping to release a new system along with new content for the players. The anniversary period should be pretty fun.

DDOcast talks to Jerry Snook about what's in store for Dungeons and Dragons Online, including "Monks, Level Caps Increases, and how things work behind the scenes". 

A new Dungeons and Dragons Online live event entitled The Emerald Conspiracy is underway.  The official forums have the details.

There have recently been a rising number of reports around Stormreach of +Tchurvul the Vulture and the Emerald Claw. The Coin Lords and I believe that the two may be planning a partnership which will bode ill toward our city and its surrounding allies.

Overburdened adventurers will be pleased to know that Turbine has added bags to Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Adventurers like shiny things, and what shines more then gems? So, why are so many gems left lying on the sewer floors? No more! Gems can now be placed into gem bags and then sold to vendors in a snap by telling vendors to go ahead and take all the gems they can find in player's packs, including their new gem bags. Gem bags are available in three sizes and each back only takes up one space in your backpack!

WarCry heads back to Stormreach to see what, if anything, has changed since its initial review of Dungeons and Dragons Online.

As I'm writing this, the servers are being merged from a total of fourteen into five servers that will be left after August 6th. I don't see this as a sign that DDO is in trouble, I see it as the same number of people that were playing 4 or 5 months ago are still playing. They are just spread out on fourteen servers. I think that consolidating the players will make finding groups much easier and make the game more enjoyable for everyone who logs in.

Undead rats and carcass eaters put in a rather grisly appearance in this week's Monster Profile at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

The rats can get pretty big in a typical city, but they usually stay out of view and mind their own business, cleaning up refuse in the dumps or the sewers - or chasing the odd cat. Unfortunately, adventurers not too far from Stormreach recently sighted something altogether different, something they have taken to calling an undead giant rat. As this name implies, these rodents seem to be undead and have been described as larger than large dogs and twice as heavy.

An announcement at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site indicates that a server merge is imminent.

Dungeons & Dragons® has always been about having a good time with a party of your friends. With DDO, we bring that experience to life online for the first time, and appreciate all the time you, the players, spend inside Stormreach fulfilling the promise of D&D®.

Over the last few months we have seen an increase in the number of players asking us to make it easier to find groups. Since grouping is such a core part of the DDO experience we looked at a variety of ways to make the grouping process easier for players of all levels. Various options were considered, but the best way to make a change that improves the situation for everyone is to concentrate active players on a smaller number of servers.

To this end we have developed a plan to merge the game’s servers which will greatly improve player experience across the board while also improving the performance of the game by upgrading to a stronger infrastructure on the back end.

A new monster profile featuring razor cats is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Razor cats have great strength and dexterity, and can claw and bite their enemies with incredible accuracy. They do, however, have an additional secret weapon that is even more lethal, and especially so to those ignorant of the threat. A razor cat’s coat bristles with a combination of sharp spines, bone-like blades, and fine quills. As a result, anyone who hits a razor cat in melee combat risks being injured by these spiky projections. For every successful melee hit, the attacker must rely on his reflexes to avoid being injured by the spikes. This was one reason the hill giants faired so poorly.

Turbine has posted a preview of the spells and enhancements being developed for Update 4.2: Searing Heights. 

A new monster profile featuring the stone giants is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Stone giants are difficult to generalize about. When in battle, a stone giant can hurl great boulders with devastating effect. When back in the friendly confines of their mountain abodes and feeling playful, they throw rocks directly at each other for fun, and a wonderful time is had by all. They have an interesting culture, and almost all stone giants have a great fondness for stone and stonework, and use the material in art and architecture, as well as in combat.

Turbine has posted a preview of the release notes for Update 4.1: Mark of the Dragon at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Three thousand years ago the first dragonmarks appeared in the elven kingdom of Aerenal. Strange patterns on the skin, more an elaborate birthmark than a tattoo, they gave their bearers magical abilities that have been a source of power and conflict for centuries. Nobody knows the origins of dragonmarks or when and why they appear, yet some of the citizens of Stormreach have recently begun to manifest these strange and powerful markings.

A transcript of the recent European dev chat is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Ryan] When are AoO's going to be implented?

[Eladrin_DDO] Attacks of Opportunity are meant to simulate active combat in a turn based environment.  Since DDO already possesses an active combat system, we do not have plans to add them.

The official Dungeons and Dragons Online site has details about the upcoming Dragonmark system.

Dragonmarks are feats that come in three tiers of power, Least, Lesser, and Greater. These are restricted by race and neither Drow nor Warforged can be dragonmarked.

Least Dragonmarks grant a (passive) +2 bonus on a single associated skill and the ability to use a single spell-like ability three times per day. When this feat is purchased, a dragonmark will appear on the player’s skin (the mark can be removed from your character’s face by unchecking the relevant box in the Options Menu). The caster level for your dragonmark is equal to your character level, and the saving throw DC is 10 + the level of the spell + your Charisma modifier. Once a least dragonmark is chosen, a player can no longer purchase any other least dragonmarks. The player must unlock the ability to purchase a dragonmark, but once unlocked, any character of any race (except Drow or Warforged) on that account of any level can purchase a dragonmark.

Orcs are the subject of the latest Monster Profile at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

If you face these evil orcs in combat, there are a few things you should know. Through prolonged intensive training, orcs can amplify their already high natural strength and constitution. They often become barbarians and tap into the raw energy and wildness of nature. Orcs prefer offense over defense and almost always wield large two-handed weapons in battle. They wear little armor and attempt to overwhelm opponents before they can meaningfully fight back. When struck in battle, orcs often erupt into a violent rage, further enhancing their offensive abilities. Shamans, though somewhat rare, can be powerful, drawing on dark and twisted versions of their ancestors’ magical traditions.

A new developer diary at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online forums takes a look at the revamp of the friends list.

The first thing you will likely notice about the new Friends panel is that the information you see for each friend now looks a lot like what you find in the Who panel. When viewing your friends list you will see all the relevant information about your friend: race, gender, class, level, guild, and party status (when they are online). Looking for a rogue? You can now sort your friends list for each of these categories.

Turbine has announced the release of Dungeons and Dragons Online Module 4, Reaver's Bane.  Head on over to the official site for the full patch notes and background lore .

40,000 years ago, Gianthold was the capital of the Lost Empire of the giants on Xen'drik. Protected by the fortress of Gianthold Tor, the giants of Gianthold learned mighty magics, trained fearsome soldiers, and created great works of art. But Gianthold was destroyed by the dragons of Argonnessen. Only the dragons themselves remember this event well, and their historians believe that the giants brought about their own downfall by misusing the magical secrets entrusted to them by the dragons. This is true -- but it is only part of the story…

MMORPG.com talks to James Jones, the Executive Producer of Dungeons and Dragons Online and Kate Paiz, the game's Producer.

Enhancements are stronger than both Feats and Skills, providing bonuses in a number of different areas. They can offer: resistances to things like cold and fire, increases to your abilities (like strength and dexterity), damage increases, feat increases and the like.

Under the old Enhancement system, you were only able to have four active enhancements on your character at any given time. You could then, as Jones said, "swap it out for another one."

The new system was described to me as "more of a tree", meaning that now that Module 4 has launched, Enhancements will function more like a skill tree. Not only that, but you can now hold as many as you like. Each enhancement carries a different cost, depending on its power.

The Wizards of the Coast website previews the changes that Module 4 will bring to Dungeons and Dragons Online.

As a player of the D&D game, you know that levels in DDO are completely unlike levels in other massively multiplayer online (MMO) games. Instead of getting a more powerful version of your fire-based spell, you’re getting completely new spells that change the dynamic of the game. The latest update to the game brings new spells and abilities, such as crippling strike, destruction, freedom of movement, indomitable will, summon nature’s ally, Tenser’s transformation, and more!

The latest developer dungeon article, "The Storm Gathers", follows on from the story begun in "A Pact Between Two Souls".

The Thunder Sea was oddly calm this afternoon. Usually storms rage constantly across the ocean that connects Xen'drik with Khorvaire, but at this moment, the clouds parted and the sun lit the gently rolling waves. Suddenly, it was if the gods had flipped a switch. In an instant the waves rise up to the heavens and deep black storm clouds darken the once bright scene. Thunder and lightning violently tear the sky apart. The surface begins to part and open as a body slowly ascends out of the maelstrom. The storm's intensity impatiently grows as the creature makes his way towards the cliffs of Xen'drik. The Stormreaver has returned.

A new game journal entitled Beyond the Gates of Stormreach is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

 The guards are not to my liking.  I had heard of adventures elsewhere in the confines of this stodgy city, and being a short term resident of Stormreach, I have come to learn that no greater gossip is left unspoken – or unsung by the lips of a bard. Luckily, and to my utter dismay, there was an obnoxious singing bard across the way.

The official Dungeons and Dragons Online site has word that the Risia test server will now be online full time , giving players an opportunity to try out forthcoming changes to the game. 

A new monster profile featuring the blue dragon is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

The blue dragon is certainly among the most intelligent and dangerous of the dragons. In combat, a blue dragon uses its breath weapon, a powerful line of lightning, with lethal precision and has fearsome bite and claw attacks. Along with the universal dragon qualities, like immunity to sleep and paralysis, blues have immunity to electricity. Like all dragons, blues gain spell resistance and their draconic frightful presence once they become young adults. They generally prefer to dwell in arid desert areas and often use hallucination inducing spell-like abilities to confound trespassers in their jealously guarded territory. 

A new developer dungeon article ventures into the depths of Gianthold at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

40,000 years ago, Gianthold was the capital of the Lost Empire of the giants on Xen'drik. Protected by the fortress of Gianthold Tor, the giants of Gianthold learned mighty magics, trained fearsome soldiers, and created great works of art. But Gianthold was destroyed by the dragons of Argonnessen. Only the dragons themselves remember this event well, and their historians believe that the giants brought about their own downfall by misusing the magical secrets entrusted to them by the dragons. This is true -- but it is only part of the story…

Ten Ton Hammer speaks with James Jones, the Executive Producer of Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Darkgolem:  Now that DDO has been around for a year, what are you happy about and unhappy about with what Turbine has done so far in the development of the game?

James: You know, I think the thing I like about DDO the most centers around the active combat, and I really think that we have the best dungeons around there, the best player interaction around there.  On the other side there are a lot of features we wanted to put in the game, which we didn’t have a chance to add, which we plan to add later.

A new Dungeons and Dragons Online video developer diary is available at GameSpot.  Here's the official word from Turbine:

Gamespot.com has just posted an official Video Dev Diary, featuring DDO's producer, Kate Paiz. In the video, she talks about how the game has grown, whats coming in the next few weeks and gives a glimpse into the future, with first looks at the Stormreaver, guild housing and even previews the next release in player class: Monks! Click Here to watch.

A new monster profile is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

As strong and tough as lions are, their power cannot match two other large cat-like creatures. The bezekira and the jarilith are lion-like evil outsiders who attack ferociously and use their powerful jaws and sharp claws to ruthlessly rend prey and enemies alike. These beasts usually dwell on Shavarath, the plane of endless battle, but often prowl Eberron as well. Inexperienced adventuring parties have been completely wiped out by these maned menaces.

WarCry previews Gianthold Tor , one of the new areas to be added to Dungeons and Dragons Online with Module 4.

I recently had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at part of the upcoming Module 4 and the Gianthold Tor adventure. We logged in with our new level 14 characters, with new spells and abilities ready to go. First order of business was setting up my enhancements using the new enhancement system and getting my hotbar in order for battle. Our guide Narrel led us into the new wilderness area where we took a short tour of the area, gaining XP as we explored (one of the feature of the new landscape technology). We also ran across a few of the residents of the wilderness area and quickly made short order of them.

Creating a Dragon is an art dev diary for D&DO at Ten Ton Hammer, written by Turbine's Todd DeMelle:

While the world of Eberron® was chosen as the backdrop for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO) in part because its relative newness allows so much creative freedom, the campaign setting’s roots still lie in the traditional Dungeons and Dragons® core.  Many of us on the Turbine dev team have long histories exploring that core and a great appreciation and reverence for it.  As an opportunity to pay homage, the responsibility for bringing the dragons to life again in this new setting has been an honor and a privilege. 

Turbine's D&DO forums has a new dev diary from Sola on creating better wilderness areas and quests:

Prior to launching DDO we really focused on building great dungeons and I’m very happy with how the dungeons turned out. However, this left the wilderness areas of Xen’drik less well developed. A few months back, I set out to build a new, better kind of quest model for our outdoor areas.

What are wilderness areas?

When I talk about wilderness areas, I mean places like Tangleroot Gorge, Three Barrel cove, and the Menechtarun Desert. These outdoor areas usually lead to some dungeons – the way that Tangleroot leads to Splinterskull, for example. Wilderness areas don’t really have a true quest – just “encounters” which give a bit of XP. Unfortunately, they tend to be underplayed, because the XP and treasure for encounters are (in technical game design terms) crappy.

Turbine has posted a preview of the new spells in development for Module 4 at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online forums. 

The release notes for Litany of the Dead Part 2 are available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Several months ago the gates to the Blood Crypt opened and daring adventurers recovered The Heretical Path from the grasp of the vampire Brother Salasso. As a new moon rises over the hills of the Necropolis, Brother Nerezza, the second of the prophets, pens the final verses of The Twisted Apocrypha. The gates to the Shadow Crypt are preparing to open.

A new in-game event kicks off at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site with the release of the Journal of Dame Calla Swiftmare.

7 Aryth:
Through the grace of the Silver Flame, I have survived to write another entry in this journal. Always, I feel the gaze of Tira Miron watching me from afar, urging me to hold back nothing in my sacrifice for our faith, just as Tira gave herself to become the Flame that guides us all. 

 The official Dungeons and Dragons Online forums have a sneak preview of the new enhancement system.

1. Each action point is important.

As you level, you gain action points. As you spend your action points to buy enhancements, your old enhancements don’t go away. You never have to ‘unslot’ an enhancement in order to fit a new one in. Instead, enhancements build on each other. While before you got new, more powerful versions of old enhancements automatically as you leveled up, with the old ones disappearing, now your old versions stick around. You can then choose to spend more action points and buy the better version or buy an entirely new enhancement instead.

The latest monster profile to hit the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site is that of the Warforged Titan. 

Warforged are properly classified as Living Constructs – they possess free will and sentience, while combining aspects of both constructs and living creatures. In Khorvaire, they were perfected in 965 YK by House Cannith to fight in the Last War, and were based on earlier models that lacked true living construct qualities. These earlier models were often quite large, and included the massive titans.

The Risia test server will be open again this weekend.

Two weekends in a row! Risia will be open once again this weekend! We encourage everyone to take this opportunity to download the Risia client since Risia will be open again to preview a newer version of Litany of the Dead Part 2. To see a complete Risia schedule for this weekend please click here. So, give the new content a whirl and let us know what you think!

The official Dungeons and Dragons Online site has word that the Risia test server will be open this weekend.

Risia is up with the new Litany of the Dead Part 2 content! Five new quests, five new monsters, five times the fun!

Turbine has announced the release of Evil Resurgent, a new update for Dungeons and Dragons Online which includes six new dungeons.

Turbine, Inc. announced today the release of the latest update for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO), the first and only massively multiplayer online (MMO) roleplaying game based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® brand franchise from Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS). The Evil Resurgent update features six new handcrafted dungeon experiences for advanced players in the game. Turbine will offer the Evil Resurgent update free of charge for all current DDO subscribers. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro.

“DDO has always offered the best dungeon crawling experience and with the release of Evil Resurgent, we are continuing our aggressive push to provide new and compelling content for our fans,” said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “Evil Resurgent delivers six new dungeons that challenge players with fearsome monsters including mindflayers, a lich, ogre magi and a necromancer.”

Evil Resurgent delivers six new dungeons to DDO players:

· Parthilcar Tower Crypt - Mirra heard a noise in her basement. When she sent her brother to check it out, he discovered several mindflayers lurking in the crypt. The mindflayers have been secretly taking several members of each of the major houses of Stormreach and turning them into voidminds. The mindflayers are preparing to release their voidmind house members to take over the great houses of Stormreach from within, unless they are destroyed.

· From Beyond the Grave - Deathshadow is long in the ground, but his evil lives on. Through dark magics and sheer force of will, the necromancer haunts the convict cemetery called Penitent’s Rest, and is now summoning forth an army of the undead. With a legion of walking corpses and ethereal horrors at his command, he intends to break out from his pauper’s grave and invade Delera’s Graveyard, the resting place of Stormreach’s prosperous and elite. The players must meet his forces head-on in a fight to the death…again!

· Spire of Validus - The Spire of Validus was buried under the earth. The lich buried there used his magic to cause his tomb to grow like a beanstalk, causing it to burst forth and rise high into the sky. Players must journey to the top of the tower to discover that the lich has awakened, and defeat him.

· Whisperdoom - When Splinterskull fell, Whisperdoom found herself with a very large new lair. However, a group of ogre magi came upon Whisperdoom and captured her. They have taken her to a new lair, and have begun to imbue her with magical abilities, with the hopes of creating an army of magic wielding spawn of Whisperdoom to do their bidding.

· Haywire’s Grotto - Haywire has struck a deal with a tribe of duergar: they allow him to live in their caves and provide him with materials, and he makes golems. Things were going well for Haywire, until he became convinced that he should start replacing his body parts with those of a warforged. The Marut discovered this, and Haywire is again stuck, this time inside a panic room he fortunately had built, but who knows how long he’ll last against the combined might of the Marut, the golems, and the now quite upset Duergar.

· Gate of Nightmares - Long ago when the Dal Quor invaded Xen’drik, they built many temples that were attuned to the Plane of Dreams, and served as conduits for their soldiers. The Cult of Madness has found one of these temples, and has managed to alter its attunement to be aligned with Xoriat. Several of the smaller portals have been reopened, and the central gateway is not far from becoming fully operational.

The release notes for the Evil Resurgent update are available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Sir Lawrence's Scavenger Hunt is on again.  Swing past the official site for more information.

Located throughout Smuggler's Rest and Stormreach's various wards (Harbor, Marketplace, Houses Deneith, Phiarlan, Kundarak and Jorasco as well as the Cemetary), I have hidden rare collectibles in obscure corners, bushes and waters in the city.

My challenge to you, is to find the following:

50 Twelve-Sided Crystals collectibles
50 Tears of Vulkoor collectibles
50 Alchemist’s Chapbooks collectibles
Feel free to trade items with friends (or sell if you're an entrepreneur) to collect every collectible needed to win an exclusive Wayfinder Scepter! 

Turbine has announced that the Risia server will be open this weekend as a special Thanksgiving treat.

As a special treat for the Thanksgiving holiday we are bringing up the Risia Server to give you a chance to play and give feedback on the new dungeons we are adding in the "Evil Resurgent" update. We are using the same servers and character data that we used last time Risia was up, therefore we are giving out 10x the normal XP rate to help get you up and running on the Risia server faster. As a reminder, the servers that had character data copied to Risia last time were: Adar, Aerenal, Argonnessen, Aundair, Fernia, Ghallanda, Kyber, and Lhazaar, and the characters were copied at the beginning of October. Don't worry if your server isn't on this list or if your character has gained levels since the data was copied – the XP bonus will help you catch up in no time!

Head on over to the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site for the latest in release notes. 

Turbine has announced that changes to the Dungeons and Dragons Online in-game mail and auction house systems will be made in the next game update. 

Turbine has announced that changes to the Dungeons and Dragons Online death penalty will be made with the next update to the game.

For the next update we are adjusting the curve that defines the death penalty. You should see a much smoother progression from now on, and there shouldn't be any radical jumps in the death penalty as you level. You will notice that the death penalty for levels 11 and 12 have dropped significantly. We have also adjusted/lowered the rate for multiple deaths. You will find lower death penalties across the board – releasing will no longer be devastating to your XP bar.

More... 

GameBanshee has released on online equipment database for D&DO:

We're pleased to announce the launch of a new massive equipment database for Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. The database spans nearly 1300 static items (randomly generated items were intentionally left out) and features up-to-date statistics for new or modified Module 2 and Module 3 equipment.

A new Dungeons and Dragons Online developer diary video is available at MMORPG.com. 

MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh tours The Demon Sands with four of Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online developers.

The first area we explored were the sprawling dunes of Menechtarun, a desert landscape with towering pillars of rock, vast sand dunes and deep canyons. It is a completely new look and feel for DDO: Stormreach, which until now have been limited to the city of Stormreach and apart from the newbie practice zone of Kobold Island, were all in-door zones - sewers, warehouses, dungeons and basements. The area is peppered with different groups of Gnolls at war with each other, pockets of mummies lurking in the shifting sands and other dessert nasties. The Demon Sands lives up to its name.

More...

Turbine has announced a PvP Leaderboard for D&DO with the upcoming release of Demon Sands:

Hi Everyone!

So while you're excited for the impending launch of The Demon Sands, you've probably been thinking "Gee, as awesome as this PvP system sounds, I really hope I can track my progress as compared to my peers and contemporaries. Is Turbine adding some kind of PvP Leaderboard feature?"

The answer, my friends, is a resounding "Yes!"

It's our pleasure to announce the launch of a web-based PvP Leaderboard (and a redesigned website to boot) with the release of The Demon Sands. Gloat over the public display of your complete and utter dominance in the PvP arenas!

A new developer diary from Joe Barry discussing the development of The Demon Sands is available at the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site.

Hello all,

I'm jwb and I'm one of the quest designers here on DDO. I just wanted to take some time out of my day to explain to you some of the things we consider when we plan out a dungeon.

To preface, I'll give you a little background info on myself and what I've done on the project. I've been the quest designer for The Pit, Invasion, Jungle of Khyber, Xorian Cipher, Tear of Dhakaan, Graverobber, Arachnophobia, Scrag's Sewer, Sharpwood's Warehouse, Kobold Island, the Necropolis series, and half a dozen quests coming in Module 3: Demon Sands. As you can see, it's a wide variety of dungeons and quests covering a large level spread and showcasing a variety of playstyles.

For the rest of this dev diary, I'm going to specifically talk a bit about The Pit and then delve into how some of those decisions came forth in Demon Sands.

 More...

Turbine has published the release notes for The Demon Sands, the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons Online expansion, at the official forums.

The sprawling dunes of Menechtarun hide deadly secrets and are home to powerful new enemies. Beware – despite these new monsters your most dangerous enemy might now be another adventurer….

• Battle other players in tavern free-for-all brawls, compete to Capture the Flag, or fight team vs. team and player vs. player in Death Matches with the new PVP system.
• Learn amazing new spells, enhancements, and feats with the level cap increase to Level 12 (Rank 60).
• A new desert adventure with a massive landscape and 12 new high level dungeons.
• Visit the Auction House to buy and sell the magical treasures of Xen'drik with other players.
• Enjoy new favor rewards.
• Trade feats you no longer want with the new Feat Respec System.
• Benefit from improvements to the shop interface and treasure system.

Sir Lawrence D'Deneith has returned to Stormreach and his scavenger hunt is on again.  Head on over to the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site for further details.

Sir Lawrence D'Deneith is visiting Stormreach again, with another challenge for adventurers!

Located throughout Smuggler’s Rest and Stormreach’s various wards (Harbor, Marketplace, Houses Deneith, Phiarlan, Kundarak and Jorasco as well as the Cemetary), I have hidden rare collectibles in obscure corners, bushes and waters located throughout the city.

My challenge to you, is to find the following:

* 50 Alchemist's Chapbooks collectibles
* 50 Tears of Vulkoor collectibles
* 50 Twelve-Sided Crystals collectibles

Feel free to trade items with friends (or sell if you’re an entrepreneur) to collect every collectible needed to win an exclusive Wayfinder Scepter!

I'll be hiding the items for the duration of two bells, during that time, if you find the necessary amount of collectibles, send me a message and I will trade you for a Wayfinder Scepter!

Good luck, and sally forth!

-Sir Lawrence d’Deneith

Head over to the official Dungeons and Dragons Online site for a glimpse of the feat respec to be made available with the launch of Module 3: The Demon Sands.

Gaming Age has a review of D&DO that takes into account some of the changes made over time since the game's release:

The first thing to cover? Leveling. I could easily sum it up with one word: Slow. Seriously, if you come into this game after playing something like World of Warcraft, Everquest, or the like, you're going to wonder what the hell happened to your experience bar. Granted, there are only 10 levels so far in the game, but it's a long, long haul to those 10 levels, at least for the casual gamer. Each level is divided into 4 tiers, and once you complete a fourth of your experience bar, you gain a point to build up/attain a skill. However, you only get experience from quests, not from enemy kills. In each quest you encounter, there are a few optional goals that you can complete that will add a bonus to your overall experience, but its nothing substantial. Even though the dungeon layouts are well designed, it can become quite a long and slow grind if your goal is to hit level 10 as fast as possible. It nearly becomes impossible to do so later, as most of the quests you'll encounter require a group of some sort to complete.

GameSpy previews The Demon Sands and some of the new areas to be added to Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online with the forthcoming release of Module 3.

One of the complaints about Dungeons & Dragons Online is how claustrophobic the game feels with only one city to explore and adventures that take place mostly underground. As we sat down for our session, game designer David Eckelberry acknowledged that that was one of the issues the team hopes to address with The Demon Sands. "Menechtarun is only the first of several huge interconnected outdoor regions we'll be introducing going forward," he said as I familiarized myself with my 12th-level Dwarf Paladin. The desert of Menechtarun is a huge expanse of windblown sands, stark canyons and deep cave complexes chock full of forgotten tombs, deadly wildlife, warring gnoll tribes, restless mummies and a huge sleeping evil that's beginning to stir under the dunes.

This morning, Khovis showed some concern about the frequency with which we have been entering ancient tombs and disturbing the fallen. He compared our noble quest for knowledge to grave robbing and desecration. How ludicrous!

It finally happened. The interview you've been clamoring for became a reality. I was excited for more than the obvious reasons because the person who was calling me was none other than James Jones, Executive Producer at Turbine. When the call came, things only got better! Lead Designer for DDO David Eckelberry was in the room, too! I knew I'd be able to toss out my toughest questions and get an answer. This wasn't just somebody loosely associated with DDO. I had the go-to guys!

And let me just say that these guys were great. Talking with them was a comfortable experience. They willingly fielded all questions and didn't become annoyed with critical inquiries into design elements. Please note that I did not ask about player-vs-player (PvP) combat despite the negative views we have sometimes expressed about PvP here at DDO @ Ten Ton Hammer. That decision was mine and not any indication of a lack of cooperation from Turbine. We're at the point that we know PvP is coming to the game, and developers have continually stated that design for PvP will not negatively impact player-vs-environment (PvE) game play. I didn't want to insult them by making them repeat that position for the thousandth time. I'll wait and see how it plays out, and then I'll take them to task if need be!

Stormreach Under Siege will provide adventurers with 5 all new challenging dungeon adventures. Read on to see what dangers await you in Stormreach Under Siege.

The Third Module: The Demon Sands will be the largest update to DDO yet. As part of this big update, Auction Houses will be opened throughout Stormreach that will allow players to buy and sell their items with each other.

The Coin Lords representative for Trivia and Events, Sir Lawrence d'Deneith returns with his next round of events! Join him as he tests your knowledge, and you attempt to win great prizes!

Every Tuesday we will highlight certain threads from our forums. They will be helpful, positive threads started by our team or by our community that we feel the players would benefit from reading.

Check out the latest updates to the "Weekly Development Activities." The goal for this feature is to give solid expectations on what you can expect to see in future updates.

Necropolis (CR 5-6)

Several centuries ago, the Blood of Vol splintered, and a group of cultists formed an off-shoot that has, until now, remained a mystery. The abbot serving as the leader of this group had great aspirations and sought to usurp Vol's place and become a godlike being himself. In order to preserve his fragile existence through the ages, he invoked dark rituals to become an immortal lich. His goal was to create a powerful artifact, a "Litany of the Dead" that would herald a mythic age when the abbot would rule. To do this he enlisted the aid of his three most-faithful servants -- the vampires he called his Black Prophets.

Each vampire was tasked with the creation of a part of the Litany. Each chapter contained the magic necessary for the Abbot's ascension. Until the chapters are finished, he told them, you must remain locked away. But now, the first chapter (the "Heretical Path") is complete and the Black Prophet known as Brother Cuore is free to roam the night once more.

In QA
These items are in QA and should be a part of the next scheduled update.

Performance

* We are making some changes to the Twilight Forge to improve performance.

General

* NEW - The House Kundarak banking system will be opening a new branch in the harbor inside the Harbormaster's House.
* NEW - Tell messages will be displayed in all chat windows by default (for new characters and new chat tabs).
* NEW - Fixing a problem with the Mail UI that causes attached items to not display.
* Loot messages from other players will be tagged as loot messages and can be filtered out.
* Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders.

Die-hard fans of Dungeons & Dragons will probably enjoy DDO, taking it for the game that it is and forgetting about what every other MMOG is doing. But if you've played EverQuest, Anarchy Online (which is free for a year), World of Warcraft or Guild Wars, then you're already trained to think in a certain way, and DDO is outside the standard MMOG ruleset. In fact, and we hate to say this, we're not even sure why anyone would pay for a DDO subscription. Why do we say this? It goes back to content. Take Guild Wars for instance: you can travel across its massive world for free and still play with other gamers. In DDO, you're getting less of a game and actually paying for it. The principle of both games are basically the same: you're in a public area and then play in private "modules," either in solo or group settings. You acquire the party memebers and quests in the public area. But for DDO, you actually have to pay a monthly fee, wheras in Guild Wars you do not.

FiringSquad: What has been the most surprising thing that Turbine has encountered since launching the game?

James Jones: When we launched DDO we delivered a solid MMO that was true to the Dungeons and Dragons ruleset. Upon this foundation we are adding new features to make the game larger and more entertaining. The truth is that once a game is launched, the community of players helps dictate where the game is going to go. The biggest surprise to us was how many of our players wanted the ability to play the game in a solo mode. As a result of this feedback, we implemented this feature in June.

In QA
These items are in QA and should be a part of the next scheduled update.

Performance

* NEW - We are making some changes to the Twilight Forge to improve performance.


General

* Loot messages from other players will be tagged as loot messages and can be filtered out.
* Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders.

The Coin Lords would like to introduce their new representative to Stormreach: Sir Lawrence d'Deneith! As his first diplomatic outreach to the citizens of Stormreach, he will present an In-Game Trivia Event on the Riedra, Fernia and Aerenal servers! Starting at 7PM Eastern, you will have the chance to win prizes as you prove your expertise in all things related to DDO and pencil-and-paper D&D!

So let's get a few points set first: there is no endless kill-grinding, there is no crafting, and there aren't even any cohesive outdoor regions that you will travel to get from territory to territory. Just like playing D&D with friends, this is about getting together in a tavern, plotting the adventure to undertake and go for it. No experience gained unless the adventure is completed. It's a bit of a shock in this genre which is overpopulated with games that consist of killing rats, pigs, and small birds so you can proceed to kill bigger rats, bigger pigs, and bigger birds until you can kill a meaner, bigger rat, a bigger, meaner pig, and hopefully raid a dragon in a month or two. Oh yea, don't expect to craft either. It's a surprising omission, since even if D&D isn't big on it, there ARE rules for crafting in the DM guide and players could take advantage of them. Maybe they'll add them later, but so far I do not fault DDO for not including them as the experience, as is right now, is quite focused, and works as a tremendous asset of the game.

Every Tuesday we will highlight certain threads from our forums. They will be helpful, positive threads started by our team or by our community that we feel the players would benefit from reading.

In QA
These items are in QA and should be a part of the next scheduled update.

General

* Loot messages from other players will be tagged as loot messages and can be filtered out.
* Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders.


Monsters

* Improved the dragon's spellcasting AI and line of sight recognition.

Petra said the tunnel had been built by giants, and Shadow could see why. Even a team of ogres would have trouble working with the massive blocks of stone used in the ancient walls. And then there were the lightstones-orbs of cold fire much like those found in Sharn or Stormreach itself, but easily three times the size of the usual streetlamp. How many thousands of years have these been shining in the depths? she wondered.

The halfling stayed a short distance ahead of the others, clinging to any darkness she could find. As she crept forward, Shadow searched for any sort of trap that might lie in their path-pressure plates, tripwires, the vague shimmer that hinted at the presence of a magical glyph. She found nothing, and this made her even more uncomfortable.

Long ago, the Restless Isles were a chain of peaks linked by a labyrinth of tunnels and caverns. This natural fortress was transformed into a war foundry by the ancient lords of Dal Quor in their battle against the giants of Xen'drik. Known as the 'Twilight Forge,' this armory created warforged and other weapons for the cataclysmic war that ultimately ended in defeat for the quori and ruin for the giants.

Most Drow choose a life of adventure out of necessity, given the dangers of their homeland. Still, they greatly desire personal power, and many Drow take up the mantle of adventurer seeking to satisfy their ambitions. The majority of Drow follow the evil scorpion-god Vulkoor, though exposure to the cultures of Stormreach has brought a few of them to less malevolent deities.

The elves of Eberron were born on the mysterious southern continent of Xen'drik, where they were slaves of the giant kingdoms. Tens of thousands of years ago, Elf slaves rebelled against their masters. Unlike other Elf races who fled the continent, the Drow stayed behind on Xen'drik. Today most of the Drow live within the ancient giant ruins, hoping to take vengeance on their former masters and to learn the secrets of the giants' long-lost might. The Drow believe that they alone preserve the dignity and valor of the Elf race, dismissing the rebels who fled to Aerenal and their Valenar heirs.

New Spells for Players

Niac's Cold Ray
Shoots a ray of ice at your foes; does 1d10 per caster level, max 5d10 (Reflex save negates) cold damage to a single target. Niac's Cold Ray is a level 1 spell for wizards and sorcerers.

Knock
This spell unlocks locked doors and chests as if a rogue with a pick locks skill of caster level + ability modifier (where the ability is int for wizards and cha for sorcerers) was attempting to pick the lock. Knock is a level 2 spell for wizards and sorcerers.

Every Tuesday we will highlight certain threads from our forums. They will be helpful, positive threads started by our team or by our community that we feel the players would benefit from reading.

In Stormreach, a secret could be more valuable than gold, and more deadly than any sword.

Spike found Link in a dark corner of the Leaky Dinghy, talking with a dwarf merchant. Joy flowed through Spike as he charged the pair - the burning thrill that only came with battle. A swift, open-handed blow with his left hand sent the dwarf tumbling to the ground. His right hand locked around Link's throat. Spike pulled his victim out of his chair, lifting him into the air.

"Hello, Link," Spike said. "My little princess would like a word with you."

Just about every fantasy role-playing game in existence owes some debt to Dungeons & Dragons, and that probably goes double for those massively multiplayer online titles. So it's somewhat ironic that an officially-sanctioned D&D MMO took as long as it did to emerge. In February 2006, almost a decade after Ultima Online took the first steps towards making this sort of game a mainstream phenomenon, Wizards of the Coast, Turbine, and Atari unleashed Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach onto the world, and the reactions were mixed at best.

Far from a bad game, D&D Online's biggest weakness was that it was launched into a world spoiled by the accruements of the modern MMO -- solo-friendly gameplay, lenient death penalties, user-friendly designs and interface elements and the like. D&D Online, on the other hand, attempted to provide a decidedly "D&D" experience, one in which character advancement wasn't necessarily brisk, and one that forced players to join groups before embarking on anything of consequence.

Every week we will highlight certain threads from our forums. They will be helpful, positive threads started by our team or by our community that we feel the players would benefit from reading.

New Enhancements

Module 2 will be introducing a number of new enhancements (purchased with action points) that will let players further customize and specialize your characters. Almost everyone will be getting some new enhancements to choose from; over the next few weeks we will be posting in-depth descriptions of what these new enhancements are and how they work.

The air rushed from Shadow's lungs as her foe slammed her into the ground. His teeth flashed towards her throat.

I'm not going to be killed by a ... a ... white rat!

Adrenaline burned in Shadow's veins. She smashed her forehead into his nose, deflecting the bite and earning a surprised yelp. The strange creature was holding her wrists, but in that moment of distraction she was able to twist in his grip, digging a deep furrow along his arm with her sword.

The next batch of Player Screenshots are up! You can find them here

Have a look at the screenshots this week and vote for the one you like best. At the end of the week we will tally the votes and announce the winning screenshot. The winner at the end of each week will be awarded the forum title of "Stormreach Chronicler."

For more information regarding the Player Screenshots click here.

Brannoc *Guest23* What's the time frame for when module 2 will come out?
Nereid_DDO Hello - Module 2 "The Twilight Forge" will be coming out in July. We are accepting applications for our preview of Module 2 content in the DDO.com Forums.

Brannoc *Zaran* could you explain the solo option on the difficulty selection on the Quest Window.
Solas_DDO The solo option has two main goals: To improve the new player experience, and for something to do while waiting for a party.
Solas_DDO Only a single player can enter an adventure on solo. The monsters are scaled down, HP, AC, spells, etc. Most classes should be able to tackle a solo adventure appropriate for their level, although some classes are more powerful solo than others.
Solas_DDO Currently, solo mode is only available in the Harbor

For the most part, this "solo mode" consists of an option that allows low-level players the ability to run through some of the game's earliest dungeons without a group. Prior to this change, whenever a player or party would enter a quest area, they were allowed to specify the level of difficulty for that particular run: "Normal" by default, with "Hard" and "Elite" becoming available as you complete the preceding challenge levels. Now, all the quests in the Harbor area of Stormreach (which newbie players reach after, say, two or three hours of playtime), have a "Solo" difficulty level. As you would imagine, the content isn't at all different from what you'd experience in the other difficulty settings. Everything has just been sufficiently toned down, so as to be surmountable by a single low-level player. The rewards you find in the chests aren't as extravagant, obviously, and the traps are nowhere near as deadly (a good thing if you're not a rogue). In any case, the experience has been toned down in turn -- you'll net 50 percent of what you'd have gotten had you played through the quest in Normal difficulty.

Experience Table Adjustment

In conjunction with the new solo options for the Harbor, we have made some adjustments to the experience required to get from level 1-3. Advancing to level 2 will now require 5,000 experience points instead of 10,000, and advancing to level 3 will require 20,000 total experience points instead of 30,000, allowing you to visit the trainers even earlier.

As a result of this sliding experience, the experience point requirements for level 3-10 will be 10,000 points lower. The amount of experience required to move from level 3 to level 10 will remain the same, but will require less total experience, as a result of the changes made at levels 1 and 2. To balance this out for existing characters, all characters who are currently level 3 and above will see a one-time, 10,000 point, experience shift closer to their next level. Please note: this is NOT a gift of 10,000 xp, merely a shift however depending on your current xp total this may grant you a new level or rank.

Under Development

These items are currently in development and are scheduled for the Twilight Forge Module or later.

Please note: this is just the third installment in the extremely lengthy list of fixes and changes that we are working on for the Twilight Forge Module. This is just the beginning.

UI Improvements

* NEW - The latency meter will be located in the main menu bar. Also, the latency meter will no longer want to be on top of everything (tooltips, for example).
* NEW - Apostrophes and spaces will once again be allowed in player surnames and guild names.

In QA:
These items are in QA and should be a part of the next update.

UI

* NEW - The Guild message of the day will be able to contain punctuation.
* NEW - We have changed the text of the in-game help request for "Stuck" to reflect the best procedure to follow if you get stuck somewhere in-game. Previously the instructions directed players to log out of the game, which is not the best course of action. Instead you should submit a help request and wait for assistance.

The Couriers of House Orien, masters of transport and delivery, have begun a new effort to make inroads into the wealth held by Xen'drik and Stormreach. To that end, they have placed enchanted delivery devices throughout the city to allow citizens, for a small fee, to transport items quickly over short distances.

These devices will be found in the city wards of Stormreach when the Twilight Forge Module is released. A representative of House Orien will also be available in the city to talk to and answer the questions of those interested.

Vendors and NPC's

* The Jewelry and Clothing Pawnbrokers will be moving to the Marketplace Tent. Vendors selling non-magical consumable goods will take their place in the House shops.
* We will be correcting some of the (now) incorrect NPC dialogue following the recent relocation of several quest NPCs.
* NEW - Scrag the kobold will be fixed so that he can talk to more than one player at a time.