DDO: What's On the Horizon

By Shayalyn

I've flown on a plane all of 4
times in my life, but already I recognize that familiar dip a jet
takes, and the way the engines seem to wind down, just before the
captain says, “We're about to make our final approach…” As we sailed
over Los Angeles, we broke through the veil of cloud cover and the L.A.
skyline came into view. That's when it hit me—I'm going to be walking
the show floor at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in a day or
so.



For those of you who've been living in a yurt in the desert for the
past several years, E3 is the granddaddy of gaming conventions. And as
a media person, I'm going to be among 13 Ten Ton Hammer editors getting
a first look at what's new, and what's news.



Naturally, as I make my rounds on the show floor, I'll be heading off
to visit Turbine's booth to find out what's happening with Dungeons
& Dragons Online. I expect we'll be hearing something about Module
2 and its contents. It's difficult to predict what's going to be
announced, but already the rumors are flying…some of them originating
right here at DDO Ten Ton Hammer.



With a little luck, Module 2, the next free content update from DDO,
will include either a new race, or new classes, or both. It's rumored
that the druid and monk are both upcoming, and perhaps the next module
will see those two unveiled. There are also rumors of a new playable
race—the shifter. (More than one of my guildmates has commented on how
phenomenally cool it would be to play a druid shifter.) Will Turbine
opt to do both the new race and two new classes with the next module?
We'll have to wait and see. I'll do my best to keep you informed as the
news breaks.



When it comes to MMOs, I'm a hardcore druid. The character I fell in
love with in my first MMO, EverQuest, was a druid; and even though the
Dungeons & Dragons druid is a completely different sort of
treehugger from the one I knew and loved in EQ, I'm hopelessly addicted
to the class. It's the whole feel of it; the idea of wielding powers as
the result of being one with natural forces. The hippie vibe appeals to
me. I'm definitely hoping for druids.



Another tidbit we've managed to learn recently, and again, it's just a
rumor…is that we'll be seeing a new city added to DDO. I can't say I'm
as excited about that news as I am about the druids, but it's still
big. Perhaps even bigger than a red dragon. A new city means many new
quests, something that gamers who've begun to find DDO long on fun but
short on content, crave. I think it's likely that a new city will only
appear in the form of an expansion, but we'll just have to wait and see
what route Turbine opts to take.



It'll be another 24 hours or so before the news of what's next for DDO
actually appears on the horizon in the form of an E3 media blitz. Until
then, it's fun to speculate. Media are allowed early access to the E3
show floor on Tuesday, and so that's where I'll be, trying to get some
early leads.



 “Ladies and gentlemen, we're about to make our final approach…”