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Taking the high road with DDO's Update 16
You know how the saying goes: Neither wind nor rain nor hurricane will keep Turbine from its appointed rounds. While the studio lost power due to this past week's Hurricane Sandy, all of its games kept on ticking. Dungeons and Dragons Online Senior Producer Eric Boyer said the studio is generally hurricane-proof. "The servers are in a secret location powered by magic and are not affected by anything," he laughed. "Well, most anything." We spoke with Boyer on the phone about DDO's second post-expansion update, which is loosely scheduled to hit the game in a couple of weeks. Update 16: The Netherese Legacy will continue the Forgotten Realms storyline that began with Menace of the Underdark and Update 15. It's an update that takes us down a famous path, introduces a new enemy faction, and gives additional love to the fledgling Druid class.%Gallery-170124%
Druids, Drow, and destinies in an epic DDO expansion tour
On Thursday, Turbine will take the wraps off of Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark and commence with the closed beta. It's a heady time for both the team and playerbase, as this 2007 title steps into the big leagues of expansion-holding MMOs. And because we know you hate waiting for all the goods, we joined Turbine on the test server for an advance look at some of the hottest features coming with June's launch. On the phone with us was Senior Producer Eric Boyer, Community Specialist Amanda Grove, and Design Director Ian Currie. "We want to show players how big the expansion pack is and how much it'll be changing the game," Boyer began, telling us that levels one through 20 were merely "heroic" -- now it'll be time to make the move into epic territory. From a look at the much-anticipated Druid and the previously vague Epic Destinies to a lightning tour of your first day in the Forgotten Realms, the team was out to convince us that Menace of the Underdark is fully worthy of the "expansion" moniker. How's it looking so far? Take a look for yourself!
PAX East 2012: Menace of the Underdark brings big changes to Dungeons and Dragons Online
Dungeons and Dragons Online players are in for a whole new world of adventure when Menace of the Underdark launches this summer. The expansion, due to release on June 25th, will send players into the Forgotten Realms to fight against the Queen of Spiders, Lolth. Executive Producer Fernando Paiz and Senior Producer Eric Boyer welcomed us into their lair... er, Turbine's booth... to talk about the upcoming expansion at this year's PAX East. Read on for our preview!
Unraveling DDO's Web of Chaos: Turbine talks Update 13
The vanguard of the free-to-play MMO movement is bearing down on the industry this spring, as Dungeons and Dragons Online prepares for its sixth birthday, its 13th update, and its first expansion. We sat down with Turbine Executive Producer Fernando Paiz and Senior Producer Eric Boyer to talk about this coming Monday's Update 13 and what players have to look forward to once it goes live. Update 13 comes at what could be seen as a renaissance in the game's history. Following DDO's transition to F2P, Turbine saw an upsurge in players and profits that continues to this day. Paiz said that "the game is doing very well," and while he did not disclose numbers, he feels that DDO's status as one of the first F2P adaptations gave it a lead that others have yet to overtake. Even so, with only five updates in 2011, it's hard to deny that DDO has faded into the background somewhat as newer titles and more recent F2P transitions hogged the spotlight. Turbine means to rectify this: "I think it's safe to say that this year we're making some noise again," Paiz said confidently. He went on to share just why this Monday's patch will be one of the most pivitol in DDO's history.
Turbine makes 'biggest announcement since free-to-play' for Dungeons and Dragons Online
The Dungeons and Dragons Online developers have been enjoying the game's success, and things are running smoothly, but fans know that doesn't mean the team's been kicking back and relaxing. We've had content updates regularly, and not just little token patches but rather new adventure packs, new races and classes, the addition of crafting, and much more. Have you enjoyed the past year or so in DDO? Well, hang on to your hats because we spent some time chatting with Eric Boyer and Fernando Paiz and... well, those updates aren't the only thing the developers have been working on. Click past the break to see what's about to take DDO by storm.
Hands-on with Dungeons and Dragons Online's Update 12: Vaults of the Artificers
Turbine has kept to a regular schedule of updates for Dungeons and Dragons Online for a long time now, which means that it's time for us to start preparing for Update 12. The updates have been pretty exciting, rolling out new adventure packs, bringing new races and classes, and introducing a detailed crafting system. The focus on Update 12 is the new adventure pack, one that is a sharp departure from the previous packs. While earlier adventure packs have been story-driven, some even serving as a continuing story arc from their predecessors, this one serves as pure fun for players to challenge themselves with. DDO devs Eric Boyer and Ian Currie were kind enough to invite me on a tour of the new content, so follow along after the jump to see all the details!
Massively's look at DDO's new crafting system
Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 9 has been anticipated for quite a while among its fanbase. It's bringing a creepy new adventure pack, a huge skill update that Wizards and Sorcerers are paying close attention to, and possibly best of all, a brand-new crafting system. We've had a look at some of the new content of Update 9, and we've pored over the skill changes, but our recent discussion with the Turbine crew was the icing on the cake. We sat down recently with Fernando Paiz and a few other members of the DDO team and jumped into the new crafting system with both feet. So what does this much-hyped system look like? We loved it, but follow along after the jump to see for yourself! %Gallery-121829%
Exploring Eberron: Turbine is having a birthday party, Kobold-style
Dungeons and Dragons Online is celebrating its fifth birthday at the end of this month, and while we've assumed some sort of event was in the works, it wasn't until Wednesday that we all got to experience the details. I spent some time with design director Ian Currie and producer Eric Boyer in a trip through an area that will be very familiar to veteran DDO players. It's a fun, fast-paced event that introduces some new features and guarantees that player groups will need to think fast, so without further ado, follow along after the jump and let's look at this new event! %Gallery-116266%
Massively's tour of Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 6
Turbine is bringing Update 6 to Dungeons and Dragons Online in less than a week, and the star of the show is the new Red Fens Adventure Pack. It brings a new wilderness area, four new quests, and the much-hyped addition of underwater combat. With the update just days away, Design Director Ian Currie and Producer Eric Boyer offered a guided tour of some of the new content, and I was more than happy to accept. Follow along after the jump for a look at the Red Fens, and check out the gallery at the end for a better view!
Massively's developer tour of DDO update 5: airships, evil carnivals, and bacon
Dungeons and Dragons Online's update 5 is just two weeks away, and we fans have been waiting impatiently with visions of airships dancing in our heads. We've been hearing quite a bit about the big additions, guild renown and the new adventure pack, gaining small details along the way. What about a firsthand look, though, you may ask? Screenshots and patch notes are nice, but is the execution just as good? We at Massively wanted to know too, so we sat down with the Turbine team for tour of update 5: Rise of the Guilds. Executive Producer Fernando Paiz, Producer Eric Boyer, Senior Content Designer Ricardo Liu spent some time showing off all the latest and greatest in this update. Follow along after the jump for Massively's developer tour of airships, evil carnivals, and bacon.
Massively's tour through DDO Update 3
Recently, we posted information about the current release notes for Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 3, the latest in a series of updates from Turbine since Dungeons and Dragons Online went free-to-play last summer. The update is scheduled to go live on February 3rd, and is only the tip of the iceberg for Turbine's plans, including six content updates for 2010, with a new one added every two months. For now though, Update 3 offers more than enough to keep players very busy exploring all of the new surprises that it brings. The team at Turbine was kind enough to take us on another extensive tour of the new content, and since we are kind as well, we decided to share it all with you! Follow along after the cut to see all that Turbine has in store for DDO.
Dungeons and Dragons Online developer tour: The Dreaming Dark
Back in October, the kind folks at Turbine invited us along on a tour of Dungeons and Dragons Online's Update One, where we enjoyed an introduction to the newest Adventure Pack: "The Path of Inspiration." This month, we got the same treatment for the Update Two, which is scheduled to arrive later this month. If you enjoyed the Inspired storyline, you'll love this one. The Path of Inspiration introduced us to the Plane of Dreams, and this time we'll revisit the area in the culmination to the storyline that we began in Update One. This new Adventure Pack -- The Dreaming Dark -- is named for the creatures controlling the Inspired cult. We defeated the citizens of Dar Qat in Update One and now it's time to take on their masters. Follow along after the jump to explore The Dreaming Dark with us in this exclusive early dev tour.
