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Exploring Eberron: Endless Night and guild changes
Wow, there is so much to talk about this week! I wanted to focus exclusively on character stats and what to do with them, but a couple of other events have made me put that on the back burner until next week. OnedAwesome, the Massively Dungeons and Dragons Online guild, met last night as usual, but there are some big changes coming. Update 7 launched yesterday along with a special surprise: a preview of the "Endless Night" Halloween event. That preview was a bit of a surprise in more ways than one, as some severe bugs caused an early shutdown and an irate group of players. Follow along after the jump as I sort through these latest events!
Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 7 and Halloween event now live
Turbine is calling Update 7 the "biggest update yet" since Dungeons and Dragons Online went free-to-play last year. If you doubt the company's claim, you can now decide for yourself. Update 7 came to DDO today, bringing with it a huge amount of new content. There are two new races -- the Half-Orc and Half-Elf -- some exciting UI updates including a search string for the auction house, a brand-new 12-man raid, and a completely free adventure pack. Even better, the Halloween event that we peeked at on the first of the month arrives today as well. "Endless Night" is available in Delara's Graveyard now, so log into DDO to check it all out! %Gallery-105549%
Exploring Eberron: Closing the community gap
In last week's Exploring Eberron, I talked quite a bit about the community divide in Dungeons and Dragons Online and why it exists. Update 7 seems to be ushering in a new era of DDO, one in which the devs turn their attention back to the veteran and high-level players. I've been around DDO for about a year, and Exploring Eberron is geared toward the less experienced player, so I sincerely understand and appreciate Turbine's effort over the past year or so to provide plenty of content for the "new kids." It's something that made complete sense -- what good are thousands of new customers if you don't have a rich, in-depth game to keep them around? However, I can understand the frustration of the veteran players who are sort of sitting around saying, "But what about us?" Will the next year solve this? Follow along after the jump while I gaze into my crystal ball.
Exploring Eberron: Community and community division
It's been an interesting week for me in Dungeons and Dragons Online, and while that's obviously just a personal perspective, I've come away from it with some observations on the community. Executive Producer Fernando Paiz told me at PAX that Turbine will start turning its collective eye back to the veteran players, and it looks like Update 7 is the first step in that direction. My Update 7 tour set me thinking, as did Wednesday night's outing with OnedAwesome, Massively's DDO guild. Follow along after the jump as I take a look at what these factors have told me about the community in Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Massively's tour of Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 7
Last month at PAX, Dungeons and Dragons Online Executive Producer Fernando Paiz said that the development team has plans to start creating more content for higher-level players. Over the past year, the team has focused on constructing plenty of content for the huge influx of new free-to-play players, and now it's time to turn attention back to the +10 half of the playerbase. Update 7 is our first look at what's to come. The quest series is in the level 12 range, a bit higher than what we've seen in the past months. It's free-to-play, which makes it even more appealing, and heavily features the two new races, the half-elf and the half-orc. Fernando and Producer Erik Boyer were kind enough to spend some time showing off part of the new content and updates, so follow along after the jump for a first look at Update 7, titled Half Bloods.%Gallery-104048%
Exploring Eberron: One year of DDO free-to-play
Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons Online's switch to free-to-play, a move that worked out extremely well for Turbine. In the past 12 months, the developers have kept the content coming with six sizable updates, and they're now preparing for Update 7. We got our first peek at Update 7 at PAX last week, and I also got a chance to hang out with Executive Producer Fernando Paiz. We talked all about the past year's ups and downs as well as what he sees coming in the next year. So follow along after the cut and join me in wishing DDO free-to-play a happy first birthday. (And enjoy these retro screenshots that I couldn't resist including!)
PAX 2010: DDO Update 7 bringing half-elves, half-orcs, more [Updated]
DDO's Update 7 is coming sometime in October, and we spent some time at PAX this morning chatting with members of the Turbine crew. They had some extremely exciting things to tell about Update 7 and sprung more than a few surprises on us. First up were the new races. Yes, that was plural. Half-orcs, the resident tough guys of Stormreach, are the coming race that players have been looking forward to, but Update 7 will also bring half-elves. Half-elves will be a very versatile race, with some special feats that make them ideal for solo builds. Update 7 is bringing much more in addition to the two new races. There will be a 12-man raid at level 6, the first large raid suitable for players below level 10. It will be added to the Devil Assault Adventure Pack, so if you already own that one, you'll find it within that arc. Devil Assault will also gain epic mode with this update. The raid isn't the end of new content, of course. There's a new adventure pack coming, and this one's free! This level 12 quest arc will send you to solve the long-running mystery of Nat Gann's fate, and it may or may not involve time travel. There are some updates coming to the UI and basic game that players will definitely enjoy. You'll find a slight change to the UI color, but that's not the best part. The inventory UI has an upgrade that will allow you to sort your items by type, making it much easier to keep things organized. You'll find tabs for each gear type, ingredients, potions, and more. And finally, the auction house got an update that should have DDO fans jumping for joy: search. That's right, Update 7 will bring string search to the auction house. You'll be able to search across categories, choose exact phrases, or be a little more general. Engine upgrades to enable DX11 graphics, reactive water, hireling AI upgrades, bug fixes, and a few more special surprises round out this exciting update. Want to know more? Keep your eye on Massively -- we'll be taking an in-depth tour of Update 7 later this month! [Update: To clarify, both of the new races will be available for purchase in the DDO Store.]
