News Manager Keith Cross recently had the opportunity to take an early look at Module 6: The Thirteenth Eclipse for Turbine's Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach. Today, he files this report on the new module as well as a quick look at the game since launch.

My journey through the world of Dungeons & Dragons Online began with a picture book tour of the game as it stands right now, up to module 5. I was briefly teleported to a number of different regions to see a snapshot of what each previous module added to the game, and how the game has evolved into its current incarnation. When DDO first launched, there were several things that seemed like they were missing. The game had plenty of dungeons, but where were the dragons? ‘Dragons’ is right there in the title, so one would think they should be there. And there’s an ampersand in the title too but I didn’t see any of those running around in the game either.

My guides explained the reasoning for the lack of dragons at first. Dragons are tough. They’re not really a fair challenge to lower level characters unless you water them down a bit. But watering down wasn’t an option for Turbine because they had decided to go with the 3rd Edition D&D philosophy that dragons were special. You won’t meet a dragon in a random encounter, and each dragon is unique, with their own name and powers. Their name is in the title after all, so it makes sense that they’re among the fiercest foes in the game. The first dragons that players could battle were added with module 4. A trio of young chromatic dragons that looked like they’d jumped straight from the pages of the Monster Manual.

Capturing the look and flavor of 3rd Edition D&D is something Turbine has done very well. During the initial tour we ran into several other classic D&D opponents, such as the Marilith and a Beholder with a spectral template, and they each looked exactly like pen and paper counterparts. The artistic devotion to D&D’s core books continues in Module 6, and I was excited to see Gnolls (a personal favorite) and a variety of Devils done in a style so true to the original sources.

Read the whole thing here.

So will there be explorable, open wilderness adventuring? I didn't catch that in the article.

I didn't write the article, so I can't say with certainty, but I'm pretty sure they already have some of that...

Sounds good, I think it's time to get my hands on one of those trials and check this game out again.

Any Idea when this upgrade will launch? Sorry if I missed it in the article ...?

It launches tomorrow, January 30th.

Best MMO in the market so far, and it keeps getting better, I encourage everyone to check out the trial and see for yourself .  All of those complaints that people had at launch of this game have been long resolved and the player is now left with an mmo experience unlike any other.

So what server has the biggest and friendliest population (roleplaying or otherwise)? With such a group oreinted game, I'd like there to be a big population to commune with.

Originally posted by Puuk

So what server has the biggest and friendliest population (roleplaying or otherwise)? With such a group oreinted game, I'd like there to be a big population to commune with.

With the server merge last summer, there is no more dead (or, on the other side, signficantly bigger) servers. So pick whichever you like. You can check guild listings on the ddo forums as finding a guild is the best way to enjoy DDO's grouping experience.

I know for a fact Thelanis has a few RP guilds, and at least one friendly player (me :p)

I personally would have to say Thelanis is the most friendly server, but I am of course biased. I met folks from that server in a different game (it was not a game that inspired friendliness, but it was a very fun guild to smash other players with) and they pestered me very nicely to play DDO with them. So now I'm in a very friendly guild on Thelanis in DDO.

If I'm allowed to name the guild in the bargain, look up The Exploration Society on the DDO forums. It's a very fun group that's into some other games too.

There are already a number of open adventuring zones, Searing Heights and Tangleroot Gorge to name 2. Each have a series of quests you can do solo or in a group. Explorer quests where you find points of interest around the landscape, slayer quests where you do the kill so many monsters etc. and rare named bad guys to discover and defeat.

If you haven't tried, download the trial, its a great game and I love it. If you are waiting for Age of Conan because of its combat, come and try DDO's and hope Conan's is at least as good!

Originally posted by crmznoutlw16

Best MMO in the market so far, and it keeps getting better, I encourage everyone to check out the trial and see for yourself .  All of those complaints that people had at launch of this game have been long resolved and the player is now left with an mmo experience unlike any other.

/sign

was a founder, I might come back to check this out, all the changes sound good. I did like the narrator thou, added to the fun immersion, is that still in with most new additions of quest?

Originally posted by chaintm

was a founder, I might come back to check this out, all the changes sound good. I did like the narrator thou, added to the fun immersion, is that still in with most new additions of quest?

Yes they still have DM voice overs onmost (if not all, I really can;t recall right now, and honestly although I have much respect for Mr. Gygax, Delera's made me turn the DM voiceovers way down) oof the new quests.

Im not sure why the reviewer is concerned about the future once they run out of the PHB. He could know there is PHB II also released. The amount of races and classes they can add is nearly infinite. The game also doesn't stop at level 20, there are rules for epic characters (20-40) and Eberron is a huge world. Xendrik is only one of the four large continents. The amount of spells, feats, items are almost infinite as well even if they would follow just the official D&D book releases.

Huh, I tired to retrieve my account info (I know my user name) but I never got the email.  Do they delete your account after a while of inactivity?

Originally posted by Zakavar

Huh, I tired to retrieve my account info (I know my user name) but I never got the email.  Do they delete your account after a while of inactivity?

Best bet would be go back and try again or contact someone.

Oh when you do get it fixed,  you may find your characters elsewhere as their was a server merge several months ago.

Originally posted by Zakavar

Huh, I tired to retrieve my account info (I know my user name) but I never got the email.  Do they delete your account after a while of inactivity?

Also to the other poster that said the narrator is still in ( NICE :) ) I get why you turned it off, being you probably did allot of repeats, for me thou it will be a whole new experiance so this is nice to know. Thnx for informing, looking forward to diving into this new stuff.

Originally posted by chaintm

 

 

Also to the other poster that said the narrator is still in ( NICE :) ) I get why you turned it off, being you probably did allot of repeats, for me thou it will be a whole new experiance so this is nice to know. Thnx for informing, looking forward to diving into this new stuff.

 

They added a womans voice as a DM to the new Necropolis areas and a lot of the DDO players enjoyed her voice. I haven't made it that high yet to see. But the original guy is very good at what he does in DMing a dungeon.

Originally posted by Zakavar

Huh, I tired to retrieve my account info (I know my user name) but I never got the email.  Do they delete your account after a while of inactivity?

Maybe the email address you had on file was not correct? Try http://support.turbine.com and put in a ticket for DDO, they should be able to help you out. I am sure they would do what they can for a potential reactivation :)

I played DDO for a while and got to level 7. It's a good game, but a lot like CoH it's completely group based, and everything is instanced.  Many days I sat around trying to find a group, but everyone was too busy standing around at the auctioneer.  You have to repeat the same quests so many times that you get sick of them, and I found that the clerics either felt like they were the most important members of the team and you HAD to listen to them, or they were battle clerics and couldn't be bothered to heal anyone. The people all seemed pretty friendly, except for the clerics who, for the most part, were a bunch of elitist snobs. Mages do too much damage for a fighter to keep aggro off of them, and fighter taunts are almost completely ineffective.  It's an issue of the GM's trying to make each class capable of soloing, in a game where no one solos, and no one even knows the definition of 'support' class. That and the PvP is a joke. If you aren't a Mage or a Cleric, don't bother. Turbine should have stuck by AC2 rather than ripping it's costumers off, then making a bunch of niche' games. DDO has already done a server merge, and I feel it is headed for the recycle bin with AC2 pretty soon.