Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Developer: Turbine Games Publisher: Atari Home Page: www.DDO.com

It's important that I get one fact out in the open right off the bat. I'm not a Dungeons and Dragons player. I never, ever, even once rolled a die in a basement somewhere hoping that my pretend sword could hit a pretend monster. Pen and paper games were never my cup of tea and they remain a pastime that I take absolutely no part in. It was with this somewhat jaded preconception of Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach that I stepped into the Turbine booth and into the personal space of Jonathan Hanna.

Jonathan promptly introduced me to Judith Hoffman, the executive producer on DDO and as I awaited the onslaught of memorized press quotes and marketing schmooze I found that my preconceptions were flat out wrong. Judith is incredibly excited about her game and her answers to our questions were straight-forward and delivered with such enthusiasm that it infected everyone around her. There were times standing in the crowded Turbine booth, Fanboys and other press clamouring for a look at the game over our shoulders that we must have looked like nitwits with huge smiles on our faces as one of us recounted an experience in another game that DDO had just made better.

The game is D&D through and through with the following Eberron races available; Human, Elf, Halfling (mmm pie), Dwarf or Warforged. Class choices include; Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer and Wizard. Multi-classing will be available at release.

DDO: Stormreach doesn't fall into the normal MMORPG grind. In fact, I hesitate to even call it a MMORPG. The D&D background dictates that groups are the preferred method of adventuring and that multiple groups simply isn't an option. Players can meet up in taverns, form their groups and go questing, just like in the pen and paper game. There are many throw-backs to the pen and paper game that should give old school players the warm fuzzies.

What made me a believer in this title was the combat. First, there is no experience for killing monsters. Experience is gained by completing the quests or missions. Being a smart player will help you more than being a "grab and dash" player. Your mana and health pools don't regenerate. Managing your power and resources is of utmost importance. Using your high cost spells on those early monsters might look cool, but you won't have anything left in the tank for the bosses at the end of the mission. Perhaps you are smart enough to figure out a way to have the environment kill the monsters for you? Luring a baddie into a trap is every bit as effective as drilling a magic missile into his belly, and better yet, it doesn't use up any of your limited mana. Perhaps you prefer to use a sword and shield to dismember monsters up close and personal? If so, you are in for a treat. I watched as a giant reared back to take a swing at a player only to see the player simply step back out of the way avoiding the devastating blow. On the next swing the player raised his shield to block followed by a quick counter-attack. Awesome!

Travel, the bane of many massively multiplayer games should appeal to all but the most staunch explorer. There is exploratory travel where players are dropped into an area and part of the mission is to find the entrance to an dungeon, etc., but the long travel times found in many MMOs won't be found in Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach.

Segway to areas, all quest zones will be instanced, which means that you and your party have the place to yourselves. As you explore you will see text appear across the screen as if a dungeon master were whispering to you in the pen and paper game. Judith informed us that "Danger Zones" or areas that will allow many players, not just the ones in your group to co-exist will also be available.

[Boomjack: The original article stated that experience debt would be erased at the end of a mission/quest. This is not the case and I apologize from the bottom of my "wish that statement were true" heart.]

DDO: Stormreach will use a familiar Dungeons & Dragons ruleset painted with a Turbine Palette.

When asked where the game would sit on the scale of interest for casual to hardcore players, Judith said, "It's skewed more to the hardcore", but my impression was that with a quest system for experience, rather than grinding out kills it would appeal to the casual gamer as well. The learning curve is steeper than some other games in the genre, but the strategic combat is going to appeal to a lot of currently disgruntled gamers.

DDO has made me a believer. I'm excited to play this title when it launches and I couldn't have said that prior to E3. If you enjoyed D&D, strategic gameplay or even just MMOs in general you should give Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach a look.

- John "Boomjack" Hoskin