DDO: What's On the Horizon

By Shayalyn

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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…”