An E3 Debriefing

by Shayalyn

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Okay, get your minds out of the gutters...I didn't debrief anyone at E3. I'm a happily married woman with a couple of cute kids and an annoying cat. No, I'm just using the military term, probably a remnant of having spent 7 days with Phil Comeau, Ten Ton Hammer's communities manager, bossing us around with military precision. (His other full time job is with the Canadian army. And yes, they really do have one! Surprised me, too.) If you'd like to read more about my experiences at E3, you can check out my blog.

And by the way, Phil, if you're reading this--I hate military time. I hate having to figure out that 1530 hours really means 3:30 p.m. I had to go through my entire Phil-produced E3 schedule and change the military time to civilian time just to make sure I didn't screw anything up and arrive an hour late or early for one of my interviews. (I can hear Phil saying it now: "Wah wah wah!")

Speaking of interviews, the one interview glaringly absent from my schedule at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo was Turbine and Dungeons & Dragons Online. While I did see Turbine regarding The Lord of the Rings Online, I only managed to get a quick glance at what they were showing for DDO. Launched games aren't a huge priority at E3--the honors tend to go to the up-and-coming.

Had I managed to talk to anyone about DDO, I would have liked to have asked them what possessed them to make drow the new playable race for the Twilight Forge module, due in July. I can make a character that looks like a drow right now if I want to, given the variety of skin tone variations for elves. In fact, I already do have a character that looks drow. I can roleplay her as a drow, too. This new playable race seems like a very easy way for Turbine to add a new race with minimal effort. Sadly, I'm not impressed. The limited fan feedback I've seen so far reflects the same sentiments--try harder next time, Turbine.

While I'm happy to see some solo content coming to the game (it never should have been absent in the first place, in my humble opinion), I'm not thrilled about PvP. The addition of PvP feels like nothing more than a bit of player ass kissing to make the game more commercially viable. The problem with trying to cater to the masses is that by trying to be all things to all players, Turbine risks losing the focus of DDO, which has always been its engaging quests. Why not work on making what's already in the game better (and more plentiful), rather than adding completely new and unnecessary elements?

It's getting late, and I'm very tired from a long week of trudging the halls of the Los Angeles Convention Center. I'll certainly be more coherent after a solid 8 hours of sleep and a good hot shower. But despite the sleep deprivation and the general travel weariness, the concerns I have over the direction of DDO come to me with complete clarity. I want to see this game do well. I want to see it reach its considerable potential. I just don't think the Twilight Forge module is the thing to take the game where it needs to go. As major E3 announcements go, this one was a let-down.

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