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One Shots: Our DM never told us the Catacombs looked cool
Today's image comes from Queinai, who sends us an image of the Catacombs from Dungeons & Dragons Online. While some may not care for the idea of transferring the vista of the imagination to an online game, you have to admit, this is a fantastic-looking place to quest in. (I know my DMs didn't generally describe places half this cool!) Have you ever seen an area in an MMO that just made you stop and stare? Perhaps what gets your eye going isn't a lovely building, but a battlefield full of your enemies! Whatever it is that makes you stop and go "cool" -- We want to see those screenshots! Just send 'em to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com, along with a quick description of what we're looking at, and we'll show them off to the rest of the world for you. %Gallery-9798%
DDO receives +6 Patch of Awesome: Module 6 is live
Dungeons & Dragons Online's Module 6 has quietly gone live! The impressively large update comes with about ten pages worth of patch notes.There are UI improvements, new quests, a ton of new mid-level spells, the ability to bind valuables to your person for a price (thank God), item-making altars, new character creation options and feats for various classes ( including a lot of love for Rangers especially), about a million balance changes and general gameplay enhancements, new encounters, and more.Our own Mike Schramm got his hands some of the new content in Module 6 a few days back and was impressed. In spite of what Penny Arcade's Tycho said about World of Warcraft being the 800 (or 10 million) pound gorilla, the DDO team has produced a quality update that should please the game's player-base.[Thanks, Schad!]
Penny Arcade digs on DDO, encapsulates modern MMO industry
Monday's comic strip and commentary over at the popular Penny Arcade comic site was all about Massively Multiplayer games and the genre in general. They specifically called out Dungeons and Dragons Online for being kind of terrible at launch. A year after Burning Crusade's explosively successful launch, non-players must see DDO's tiny subscriber base as comparatively irrelevant. In analyzing the preview video for the game's sixth module, Tycho describes the views of a jade visage leading to a below-ground adventuring scenario:"Your dungeon entrance says something about you as a subterranean civilization, and this one said that I could avoid it altogether, and not miss much."The problem, as he goes on, is that it doesn't actually matter how good DDO is. With World of Warcraft now having several years of game updates, a highly successful expansion, and (oh yeah) ten MILLION players, any game that will draw away a significant number of players from Blizzard will have to be substantially better than WoW. The thought occurred to me that even then there's a danger if the game's improvements are simply subtle tweaks on the industry standard. If 'feature X' is the big draw for a game, there's absolutely no reason Blizzard couldn't work all or part of X into their game. Then you get "feature X, plus ten million players!" Warhammer Online's RvR-centered gameplay and Age of Conan's unique combat mark them as real competitors ... but will they be good enough?That, as we've talked about again and again, is the real crux of WoW's success: it has reached critical mass. As Mr. Brahe concludes, "They have set up a system that allows me to rent my friends on a monthly basis." It's hard to argue with the convenience of pre-packaged acquaintances.
Massively goes Hands-on with DDO and the Shroud
It's pretty fair to say that Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online has never been one of the biggest players in the MMO space-- it was released with relatively little fanfare, and though the setting (Wizards of the Coast's Eberron setting from the pen-and-paper D&D game) appealed to a lot of roleplayers, Turbine's choice to make the game a real-time combat experience turned off many of the hardcore D&D crowd.But since release, DDO has definitely forged a small but strong fanbase. In the game's just under two short years of existence, they've already released fourteen major updates. The latest, Module 6, is due out next week, and Turbine offered us a chance to take a spin in the new content, and join Senior Producer Kate Paiz, Lead Designer Stephen Murray, and Quest Designer Joe Barry in a run through the brand new raid instance, The Shroud. Read on to learn where they took me and what it was like to take down a big red demon in the newest raid.%Gallery-14446%
New trial program for Dungeons & Dragons Online
For anyone looking to maybe try out a new MMO or just wanting to kill some time, DDO has a brand spanking new 10 day trial page up and running with some nice screenshots for those of us who enjoy looking at shiny things. Of course, the trial itself is a "limited time" offer according to the website. It's been a couple of years since the game launched, so now may be the perfect time for some people to check back in and see what's happening. In fact, with the upcoming sixth module and live events happening here and there it seems like a great time to investigate the game. It's really always nice to see a game doing well with the community it has. Hopefully this trial will give players who have been giving thought to buying the game a chance to try it out first. Don't forget that the two-year anniversary is coming up in February and it's likely that players can expect some fun and surprising events.
WRUP: Deep freeze edition
Finally, the weekend has arrived! Maybe it's the freezing temps here in Chicago this week (Saturday is supposed to be a brain-solidifying seven degrees here), but this week has seemed longer than most others to me, and so I'm doubly glad that it's time once again to find out What You, our dear readers, aRe Playing.This week, I'm a little tired of telling you just what I've been playing (although this weekend it'll be more WoW and lots of Rock Band-- our band, Fel and the Boatmen, is having a game night on Saturday), so I asked a few more Massively-ers what they're playing this weekend. Michael Zenke is aiming to finally finish Bioshock (would you kindly get it done already, man!) and will be revisiting his Warforged Fighter in DDO (he's excited about Module 6 after covering that preview). And Matt Warner says he'll be back in WoW leveling an alt, though he'd be happy to leave it for WAR or Age of Conan, if those ever come out. He also just finished up Heavy Drones V after 30 days of training in EVE Online. Grats on that!So what are you playing this weekend?Previously on WRUP...
A preview of D&D Online's sixth module
While the focus on much of the MMO community is on the reigning champ or the upcoming hotness, loyal fans keep smaller games not only afloat but flourishing. Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online is one such game tirelessly continuing development , despite the lack of mainstream media attention or general community buzz. Gamespy has coverage of the next release slated for the game, Module Six: "The Thirteenth Eclipse". It should be patched in before the end of the month.The video above nicely encapsulates the highlights of the next publish, which will offer the beginnings of a crafting system and the introduction of a demonic struggle to the continent of Xen'drick. The demon attack is especially interesting for fans of the Eberron setting; the fiends are invading from one of the mysterious outer planes, slipping into the world through a collision between the prime material plane and the Shavarath Battleground. Great stuff, reaching deep into the setting's lore. For a full look at the publish make sure you check out the written article. It's worth noting that this piece is just another in GameSpy's pattern of giving quality coverage to MMOs. Whether it's an interview with the FFXI team or a peak at Project Entropia's 2008 plans, they're doing top-notch work over there.
Codemasters to reveal new MMO in March
Codemasters -- the U.K. company that runs DDO, LotRO, RF Online, and ArchLord in the European market -- has announced a coming announcement. Is that anything like having a meeting to talk about having a meeting?Wisecracks aside, here's what the folks at Codemasters want every one to know: they will be announcing a new MMO at the Connect 2008 event in March. Connect 2008 is Codemasters' own online gaming expo of sorts. It will take place in Birmingham. Oh, and the game will be playable at the event, too. If you're in the U.K. and you're an avid player of one of Codemasters' games, it might be worth a trip.So mark your calendars for March 14th; then and only then will we know what this mysterious European release is! There's a sign-up sheet for event-related news alerts in case you want to be really, really on top of this, but rest assured that we'll bring you all the info as soon as it comes.
Dungeons and Dragons Online PvP video
Shot in-game by a guild called The Black Plague, this video is sure to change some impressions people might have about Dungeons and Dragons Online. I have to admit, because my last interaction with D&D at all was the original sit-down-and-roll-some-dodecahedral-dice version, I was totally unprepared for the level of action inherent in DDO PvP.This is sheer lunacy. Watching this video gives the impression you're actually watching an Unreal Tournament mod -- this is the PvP that Fury wanted to be. The meleé combat alone is worth the price of admisison; it's fast, it's hectic, it's sloppy, just like real life! Except with CTF elements thrown in. Check it out after the jump -- it's DivX, so make sure you have the plugin installed.[Thanks, Schad!]
One Shots: Looking over Atraxia's Haven
We're not very familiar with Dungeons & Dragons Online, but when reader Schad sent in this shot of an unusual vista in DDO, we had to show it off. Schad explains the location for us: This is a shot along the beach of Atraxia's Haven. It's looking up at a lighthouse which has been disconnected via a broken bridge. The only way up is a dungeon under the island, followed by a stressful fight up a far too large spiral staircase.So how many of you have visited Atraxia's Haven yourselves? And have you picked up any interesting screenshots for us in the process? Send 'em our way so we can feature your screenshot and story for tomorrow's One Shots! It's easy to participate -- just send your screenshots and stories to oneshots@massively.com. %Gallery-9798%
Massively's Massive Giveaways: Turbine winners!
Ah, Turbine. The MMO company that has the titles that make lore-lovers and tabletop players happy. For those of you who were around in the earliest days here at Massively, you'll be glad to know that we've finally gotten all responses back from our Turbine contests, and are pleased to be able to announce the winners in our Turbine giveaways! Each of the following folks won the goodies noted next to their names: A copy of Lord of the Rings Online went out to both TypicalJeff and Red Graz1026 and Gemki both landed copies of Dungeons & Dragons Online Jan and erthwjim got a copy of Asheron's Call each. Lord of the Ming and Robert H. managed to score fantastic Turbine t-shirts TypicalJeff got the love of the random number generator and landed a copy of the LotRO game guide to go along with the copy of the game he got. (See? you should enter every time! You never know what will happen.) Reverseshoe made off like a mad bandit, winning the highly coveted Lifetime LotRO subscription we were giving away! A hearty congrats to all of our winners, and a reminder to everyone to be sure and white-list both massively.com and weblogsinc.com so you don't miss out on prize mails! There's nothing quite as disappointing as realizing too late that you missed a prize mail, and thus missed a killer prize. Don't let it be you!
Under The Hood: Going Live
Live events. Where developer interacts with players. Traditionally, this has been a pretty contested battlefield, ranging from forums, to chat rooms, to game masters. Where it really comes together, however, is in the classic legacy of live events, where developers and game masters interact with the players in-game. But not only that, they assist in furthering the story, or fleshing out the game world. But where did live events come from?
Festival (and the Jester of Festivult) returns to DDO: Stormreach
Reader Schad, who seems to have become our de facto DDO representative (remember that you're free to send us news about your favorite game on our tipline anytime), reminds us that they're celebrating the holidays in Eberron, too. Turbine has posted on their forums about the comings and goings of Festivult, a time when the Jester of Festivult (not to be confused with) runs around Stormreach and trades Festival coins for presents from the dragonmarked houses of Cannith and Ghallanda. Man I love this D&D 3rd edition lore!In game terms, there'll be a dwarf NPC wandering around Stormreach that will trade buff food for special coins that have a chance of dropping from treasure chests all over the world. But if that's too technical for you, you can bask in the light of not one but two Festivult poems over on the Turbine forums. Merry Festivult to us all, Warforged and Human alike!
One Shots: The flame of Turian
This screenshot, sent in by reader Gregory, may not be the most impressive we've featured thus far, but it was sent in with a bit of interesting backstory to explain what we're seeing. We're looking at the flame of Turian in the Caverns of Korromor in Dungeons and Dragons Online. By activating the flame, as the group above is about to do, you draw the attention of some folk who aren't pleased to see you there and unlock another piece of the puzzle of the caverns. Says Gregory, "This dungeon has the standard LOTR 'they dug too deep' thing going on..." But much like the Matrix -- you can't be told what the game is, sometimes you just have to see it for yourself.Have you snapped a shot lately that highlights an important moment in the story of your game? One Shots wants to see them! We only post what you send us -- so send your screenshots and stories to oneshots@massively.com. You may see it featured here tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel! %Gallery-9798%
Monks, Half-Orcs, and Half-Elves coming to DDO
The folks at TenTonHammer tend to get some great interviews done, and a recent chat between managing editor Cody Bye and members of the Dungeons and Dragons Online development team is no exception. Kate Paiz and Steve Muray took some time out of the dev cycle to talk about plans for the upcoming Module Six update. This is going to be another massive content update, centered around an invasion of devils into the prime material realm of Eberron.The module is called the Thirteenth Eclipse, and it's scheduled to release sometime in January. In this update we're going to be introducing a completely new storyline centered around the invasion of an army of devils into Eberron. The players are going to have to combat the devils on an all new landscape called the Veil of Twilight as the Plane Shavarath is being interwoven into the very fabric of the player landscape.
Dungeons & Dragons Online live event postponed
According to Quarion and Patience of the Turbine community team, the Dungeon & Dragons Online servers got unlucky and rolled a 1 earlier today. As any good Dungeon Master would, Turbine consulted the critical fail tables and it would appear that the servers will remain offline until at least 7PM Eastern. What this means is that the final chapter of the Emerald Claw Conspiracy event that has been eagerly anticipated will be postponed for the time being. As we'd stated before, live events in MMOs are sadly uncommon, so we're certain that this is something that the DDO player base will be keeping their eyes on. We know we were looking forward to seeing some screenshots of it for One Shots, as world events are a lot of fun to check out! Hopefully things will work out soon and the DDO servers can get some new dice with better roll mojo for the future.[Thanks, Schad!]
Tchurvul and Derneal battling openly in DDO
I don't even play the game, but I am digging the work of the live events team over at Dungeons and Dragons Online. Last time we heard that Emerald Claw smuggler Derneal was seen carrying some suspicious cargo around Sorrowdusk Isle, and it appears players did their job well there, because the Emerald Claw has been scattered to the wind. Unfortunately, desperation has driven Derneal and his former partner, Tchurvul, into open battle on the streets of Stormreach, and the live events team is warning players to watch out for their fighting. Reader Schad, who tipped us off to both of these events, says that this means an even bigger live event is probably coming soon.At a time when quality live MMO events are few and far between, it's awesome to see the game that's based on good ol' pen and paper roleplaying pulling off fun stuff like this. It's too bad there's not a wiki around anywhere tracking the entire campaign for players just getting started...
Megapublisher Shandra sees 66% profit increase
Shandra Interactive Entertainment, the Chinese operator of MapleStory, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Legend of Mir, and the positively ginormous Ragnarok Online let the world know that its profits for Q3 2007 are up 66% vs. last year and that it is expecting further growth in coming months.Shandra is the biggest publisher of online games in the Chinese market, and recently reached an agreement with NCsoft by which NCsoft will distribute its new title AION in China through Shandra instead of its old partner in the region, Sina (in which Shandra ironically holds a 20% stake).
Turbine apologizes for downtime with gifts
We reported yesterday that Turbine's login servers for The Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons & Dragons Online, and Asheron's Call were down all day. They've since come back online, and Turbine has apologized to the subscribers to those games by giving them some small gifts.Players of all three games will have their subscriptions extended by one day, essentially making yesterday free. Additionally, players will receive in-game items. DDO players will each receive one Candy Cane with 30 charges of Moderate Heal. LotRO players will receive five Hope-boosting Scented Candles. And AC players will get increased drop rates (that's the superior gift, we think).Listen, Turbine; you can't buy our love!Wait, increased drop rates? Okay, never mind, maybe you can.
D&D Online Game Guide winners announced
The anticipation is over, and for those of you eagerly awaiting the results, Dungeons & Dragons Online has finally released the list of winners for its Game Guide contest.Want to know the best way to acquire information in the game? Just use the lessons learned when MysticTheurge teaches you how to Ask a Loremaster. Need more assistance? SableShadow lands a sneak attack with Notes from a Dancing Rogue, and LostLeader helps you get to where you need to be with The Lost Quest Guide. As well, there are an additional seven runners up who will also have their game guides published in the DDO.com compendium. And don't forget that you're not limited to just these ten entries: the full list of top-rated and most useful guides is available in its own forum category, and they range from general information to quest-specific rewards.When Dungeons & Dragons Online first opened its contest on September 20, they stated that they were looking for the best guides from the most knowledgeable participants. The guides were posted to their online User-Written Guides forum, and participants were allowed to nominate their favorites.If you've ever needed a reason to learn more about Dungeons & Dragons Online, or to enjoy the wit and wisdom of other players, here's your excuse.
