This is news about new screenshots on mmorpg.com... not new quests in DDO. That's what is written above.

Game is worth it : ). So give it some time. Population is still amazing, so DDO re-launch was really successful, that's not only press talk. 5+ instances of Harbor and Marketplace on entirely new server means lots of players enjoy it.

I can tell you for sure, that there are *huge* news coming for DDO, as Update 1 hits Lamannia test server. Especially one feature which people asked for since 3+ years of this game's history.

Plus, new player experience areas are getting some fine-tunning, more customization options are coming, and some unique things like more epic items and... new quest versions may come as well. It's certainly a good time for DDO.

Originally posted by Bleakmage

Originally posted by moorewr

Originally posted by Czanrei

 

I was all for listening to your input on the game changes until you called my statement about my character being turned to lvl 1 a lie. You have no means of remotely being able to make such a flame and I suggest you rethink further posts. I know what level my character was and is now, regardless of your opinion.

 One: I never called you a liar. I said you were wrong. Two: if your character really was de-levelled, it would be the ONLY ONE on all the servers. But that is irrelevant; nobody changed the level of your character. I haven't flamed you yet, and wont if you behave yourself, so mind your manners.

Now, on to why you might have made this mistake: Each server is a separate world, so perhaps you were confused about the characters you had in beta on Lamannia, or if these are old characters, perhaps you've failed to look at the correct server that your character was merged unto.

 

That you're saying that its not possible for such a thing to occur in the world of buggy coding strikes me as a bit inexperienced. :D

Nope, you're the one inexperienced here, I'm afraid : ). No one on the DDO forums has such problem, and Moorewr is a frequent reader and poster there, if I reckon well. I am frequent reader too, and there's no such issue.

This is obviously a mistake of the obove poster, not Moorewr's. There's 1/100000000000 chance for a 1 instance of such bug, or rather no chance at all. Accounts aren't that different to produce such bug for only 1 account with such problem documented. Simply impossible.

If you read Massively's article, you'd know it's new IP so not DDO nor LotrO, obviously. It's just better to do an mmo from scratch for consoles.

Plus, they've acquired some "big new IP". I wonder what IP can be left and so big, that they say it equals D&D and LotR.

Absolutely agreed Sanya. You can print it out, you're doing a great job here by letting people know about how MMO reality works.

You smash completely untrue stereotypes, and give us a down-to-earth, really human-like examples. Plus, you're really good at writing. It's interesting, it's thrilling, and it's "revolutional" in those dark times of MMO games - we all read what people think, and that's really unbelievable how so many people could be SO damn foolish.

Such a multi-million crowd of people who don't really know what they're talking about is simply destructive, or at least, is counter-productive if we want to see any progress in the MMO genre.

People are so easy to manipulate, that they have a hard time seeing what is quality, and what is PR and the power of "everybody's playing it, so it must be the best!". Which is BS.

It all changes now - I see more and more maturity in MMO communities. But still those are dark times, where lack of player's knowledge is used to promote shitty features or expansions. There's still to many mindless lemmings or sheep who vote with their cash, yest - but vote only because others voted that way too.

What you wrote in this article isn't anything new to me. But I often argued about it, until I realized I have 100% right way of thinking about it, and I'm right anyway, so why should I agrue about obvious facts. Not understanding it is not my problem, but a problem of those who don't see reality. That's sad, not understanding it and fighting for some made up pile of shit. But that's sad for them, not me.

Keep up the good work!

Originally posted by toord

For better or for worse, due to lack of foresight or planning or due to very strong demand ALL DDO-related websites have been down twice today. I guess this could be a good sign, right? right? right? =D

Peace.

This is official - Korthos is under siege, surround by new players! Mayday, mayday!

Houston, we've got a problem here.

Well, not exactly much of a problem, some acceptable lag because all want to start in the same time. We won't have a problem to group though! 

I wonder how will it look months from now - it will all depend on that. Come in people, try it. It's free, and still hot, if you consider taking a look at Succubi ; ).

Originally posted by Papadam

If you read the filing you will se that the lawsuit is indeed about the Free to play version and that the old contract issues are just extra fluff to show that Atari have a long histury of screwing with Turbine. Atari wanted more money from Turinbe or trying to breake their contract, thats why the are being sued.
 

"On information and belief, even as Atari was accepting hundreds of thousands of
dollars of payments from Turbine in connection with the May 13 Agreements, Atari unveiled a
course of action-started months earlier in or about November 2008-to manufacture a trumped
up and false basis to threaten to terminate the contractual relationship between Atari and
Turbine. On information and belief, Atari knew, even as it extended the parties’ relationship
under Amendment Number Five (This is making the game Free to play) and took hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments from
Turbine, that it planned to immediately threaten to terminate the Agreement in an effort to extort
more money from Turbine or, alternately, to free itself from its obligations under the contracts in
order to clear the way for the launch of its own competing MMO service based on the D&D’ and
Advanced D&D@ intellectual properties"

The most fun pat of this is Atari saying:

"This action can ultimately do a great disservice to D&D fans and to the MMO community at large."

As if Atari have benn doing anything good for the D&D franchise or MMO gaming at all. I think Turibne is doing us a favor if they kill this scaming company.

Completely agreed here. Atari screwed from the start - if there was ANY advertisement, which in fact only Atari could do (and they insisted on it!), this game might be huge now.

ATARI sent their auditors to Turbine's offices about a month before the launch of new DDO, without any warning, seeking some "unpaid bills" or "hidden information". Turbine opened their archives, and ATARI's staff didn't find a thing that's not right. Yet, they tried over and over...

This was the last indication for Turbine, that's something's going on. That ATARI's trying to break their agreements. On May 13th they've signed a license for a D&D MMO valid until 2016 (ATARI's rights for D&D last until 2017...). ATARI acted as happy to see D&D F2P Project, and they've promised their marketing and PR support. But they haven't done a thing yet - and DDO launches on the 9th of September. Champions Online got some well-recorded videos and banners, DDO got nada. All what is done is thanks to Turbine - booth on GenCon, and now DDO booth at PAX.

ATARI insisted on having exlusive rights to promote DDO in Europe, even while Turbine was and still is trying to buy them out. ATARI insists on having them, though they're in fact not promoting DDO in Europe in any way since more than 3 years. Isn't this case getting obvious?

Now we know why BioWare isn't going to do D&D games anymore - ATARI (=Ubisoft) is holding the license.

Originally posted by mindspat

Originally posted by TheStarheart

Originally posted by Rokurgepta

Originally posted by Sarr

 So we'll probably see the smoothest launch (a relaunch) of an MMO in history .

Very well thought out move Turibne, can't say much else than congrats. This game really bursts with life even now, one can only try to imagine what will happen on 9th .

 

Sarr this does not count as the smoothest launch in history. A game gets one launch. TO date it may be the smoothest adding of a server for a relaunch, but its simply not a launch. DDO had that 3.5 years ago.

He's just saying that the new server is fresh and is doing really well, lay off man.

Rok is simply pointing out a factual error made by Sarrs.  This is not a "smoothest launch of an MMO in history" but in fact just an update and/or the addition of a new server.  DDO in fact did launch 3.5 years ago.
 

hell - for how often Rok is mistaken at least give him some credit when he's spot on.  ;)

There's no factual error mate, though I was sure it will be brought in by some friendly individual, so I wrote:
""launch (a relaunch)"

I guess it wasn't accented enough . Ah, well.

But anyway, what does matter for new players isn't whether it's launch or relaunch. It's how it is going run when they finally log in, will there be game breaking bugs, much waiting, server crashes, etc. or not.

Here's a big chance we won't have such issues this time. Still anything can happen, but well, game is pretty stable and works blazing fast now. On Cannith it seems this game never responded so quick. That's good, now lets see if that's just about server population or is it new general performance.

Originally posted by Rabenwolf

Im sorry but all that sounded incredibly cheesy, and in fact I didnt see anything D&D about it. IN the first part you try to explain the Warforged... with comes across as something you would see in a mech focused japanese anime. Magical robots that got ai and used magic and were suddenly people. And the big giant robots were laying waste until Neo showed up...er wait.

Do you know that D&D, even the first edition of it, had them? They're called Golems . Here, just less powerful.

Matrix? Do you know that Eberron was created before the Matrix film came? Plain ignorance, my friend, and plenty of ill will.

 

Then there are the people who wake up with tattoos and are like "hey look now im an inventor magic dude thing". In the cities which seem to be the main focus of Eberron, everything is conveniently floating and super magical. Oohhh Aaahh.Then you hint at other planar aliens.

If that's how you think, well, congrats : ). Cities AREN'T the main focus in Eberron, anyway. Most of the land is rather rural or even nomadic - halflings are mostly nomads, which is a trait very original to Eberron Setting.

Everything conveniently floating and super magic? You didn't read it here, probably saw Stormreach screenshots? That's the biggest city on Xen'Drik, built upon ruins and still there's much left of these ruins. Giants lived there. Pioneers who discovered Xen'Drik used ruins of this giant city to build their own, but Xen'Drik is a novum, like America was in Columbus times.

Honestly, i really cannot see anything original that can be considered good in Eberron. Eberron is a world created by some guy that wanted to win a contest ( i also participated in that event). It is not the product of a brilliant author and pnp player, fans so to speak, such as the creators of Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk...ect but rather a world picked because the latest owners of the D&D franchise thought they could market it better. This is a good case of "when business gets in the way of creativity". If D&D were still under TSR, something like Eberon wouldnt have been allowed to exist as an official campaign, especially in its current form.

You don't seem to know a thing about Eberron, and what you say isn't even backed by facts, so I think you should consider to learn about something before you speak your opinion : ).

And what can you tell me about Spelljamer, if you think Eberron wouldn't be allowed by TSR? 

Or Mystara? Or Dark Sun?

In fact, if they wanted to use an already created campaign with some science involved, they should have just used Spelljammer. Also, better campaigns such as Ravenloft, Darksun, Birthright, and planescape continue to be ignored.


On a final note, in DDO's Eberron, there is a dungeon with all sorts of enemies every few feet you walk in the city, which is just bad. "oh yes adventurer, please slay the army of undead in my basement", add that line or one version of it, to every NPC in the game and you have DDO.

 

Either you're trying to be funny, or have a really pale idea about D&D.

Want to read a review, smarty? : )

www.critical-hits.com/2009/07/22/review-eberron-campaign-guide/

www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/10/10455.phtml

www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/opinions/review-eberron.html

www.sfsite.com/09b/ec184.htm

www.d20source.com/2009/07/product-review-eberron-player%E2%80%99s-guide

dungeonsmaster.com/2009/06/review-eberron-players-guide/

I haven't tried to write a real review, just wanted to hint some things. So above you have plenty of lecture, and no single opinion like yours. Written by good writers on respected PnP sites, at least most of the links.

I can find you much more, those were just picked fast from the top of google for "eberron review". You can check it.

Generally no review says it's a bad setting, or cheesy, or not D&Dish - you can even find people writing it's very oldschool D&D Settting. Most reviews are very positive, and those people (at least somo of them) are seasons veterans and writers.

Originally posted by Papadam

Originally posted by DrWalnut

My new character is a Human Barbarian if that helps. I am part of the head start program, so I can play right now. Is the new server, Cannith, very populated in comparison to other servers? My new character is on Khyber because I believe that used to be the most popular server. Does Cannith beat Khyber population wise right now during the head start?

 

I dont know what Khyber is like but since Cannith is new and almost only old players can play now its not that populated yet. But  everyone there is low level there seems to be easy to get groups. Also nice to not play with alot of veterans with twinked alts, so there is not much rushing going on.

It will be interesting to see how Cannith develops when more people joins the server, seems to be alot of Europeans joining.

Cannith is new and for *new* players, not old. A typo? : )

That's why there's absolutely a legion of players on Korthos, first public instance. Well, multiple instances of it most of the time.

Really strange when you look at "WHO" panel. Highest level player yesterday was level 4, multiclassed - 3 classes of something and one of something.
Great to be there. No problems to find a group at all, constant guild recruitments, etc. I've seen one player asking for an RPG guild, and he got an invite in seconds.

People from all the world recruit for their guilds. I've even seen a latino guild looking for members and getting them.

Whan else? New, clear economy. I wonder what Auction House prices will be. No character transfers are allowed to Cannith, so everybody is forced to start anew, even vets.

Great fun to date. General response in game? Well, overwhelmingly good and positive. Absolute revival of the game, but it's only 2 days after headstart, so we'll see.

Another VERY smart thing is that when the game will officially launch, it probably won't have any issues! Why? Becasue it's already running and working.

So we'll probably see the smoothest launch (a relaunch) of an MMO in history .

Very well thought out move Turibne, can't say much else than congrats. This game really bursts with life even now, one can only try to imagine what will happen on 9th .

Eberron is all-in-one? Popular opinion, because it's the newest popular setting (after FR). Yet, very untrue.

FR is still the ultimate All-in-one solution if you seek one. And I don't say I don't like it, I've played long in that setting. But, let's imagine for a second we're open for something new, yet ultimately oldschool in D&D terms.

This will be my attempt at Eberron's lore (from memory). I tried to mark important or very original things with some color, for better scanning.

About Eberron:

Well, we can try to say it's a bad setting, but that's just not true. It's very original, D&D to the core at the same time, has better "technology", though this technology is very interesting factor here --> in our world we know mechanical and technical progress. In Eberron, ships are driven by enslaved Elementals, there are everburing lights in richer cities, etc. A lot of intrigue, complicated stories, Dragonmarked Houses, Last War (resembling our World War II), etc.

In Eberron during Last War (the one mentioned in the intro to DDO), one nation was destroyed in something looking like a Nuclear blast. It all started when Great Kingdom of Galifar's ruler died, and his sons couldn't agree who'll be the next king. This great war laster more than one generation. People were born during the war, and died during the war.

One of Dragonmarked Houses, House Cannith, was supplying... all sides of the conflict. They are and were the organization of inventors, artificers and mages. When they've managed to create and produce magical-mechanical warriors without own will, the Warforged, got only even more terrible. All sides bought them.

Then, Cannith created Warforged Titans - colossal mechanical warriors laying death and destruction on the battlefields. Regular Warforged got better and better AI (sic!), so finally they were able to cast spells, allowing them fry whole armies with their lightings and fireballs.

And then homeland of Cannith, the Kingom of Cyre (in the center of previous Gallifar - center of the War!)... Exploded!

No one knows what really happened, because no one survived the gigantic explosion. Now "former Cyre", even while being in the center of mostly human continent, is a wasteland. Not only that, but there's not breathable air in it. Former Cyre is filled with deadly gased and smokes. No breathing creature can survive there (hint - warforged do not breath).

So, most of the Warforged lost mental links to their masters. Since then, they're pretty lost, as they can think not worse than humans, but they're constructs and don't have much of a history of their race. They were created for War, now War is no more.

Last War ended after destruction of Cyre. Other self-proclaimed Kingdoms agree that's it, that's enough. Name "Last War" is due to it being so terrible, that all of the world hopes it won't happen again... but situation isn't as stable, as it could look.

There are even gossips, that some Warforged God (or his Avatar) was born during the explosion. People call him "Lord of the Blades" and say that he seeks to make the whole Eberron look like Cyre - where only Warforged can survive.

This is for continent of Khorvaire, but D&D Online takes place mostly on Xen'Drik, as of yet - newfound continent, which previously belonged to Giants. Giants disappeared, and their slaves - the Drow - are now a free race, like they were millennia ago.

Why Eberron is Eberron?

That's, according to legend, a name of one of the 3 Giant Dragons which created the world.

There was Siberys, Eberron and Khyber. Siberys was of all that is good, Eberron was more neutral, down to earth, and Khyber - an incarnation of evil.

One day Siberys and Khyber started to fight. Siberys was defeated, and when she died, her body made the skies, stars, planets and trail of meteors which surrounds the planet. Eberron stepped in to stop Khyber, but he managed to do is to trap Khyber within itself - this way Eberron created whole surface of the world, while under it, in dark corridors of Khyber (something like Underdark in GH and FR) lurk many evil secrets and creatures of the night.

Now, to this day in Eberron rains of meteors happen from time to time. What falls from the skies are either stones, or crystals - named Siberys Dragonshards. Those have pretty big value, because they hold significant magical power.

There are also Eberron Dragonshards to be found on the surface, and Khyber Dragonshards which are native to the tunnels and caves deep beneath in.

Those shards help to create _very rare_ high level magic items in Eberron. Because while low-level magic is popular in Eberron, higher levels are even more rare than in other Settings.

Dragonmarked Houses? What the crap?

They are mainly trading organizations. Dragonmarks are "magical tattoos" which started to appear thousand of years ago on some particular individuals of every civilized race. One day you could go to sleep without them, the next you woke with them.

Once people got to see and learn that those strange marks grant people some strange magical powers, they tried to categorize Dragonmarks. There are different types of them.

That was the beginning of Dragonmarked Houses. Dragomarks were and are still very rare, and tend to appear in certain families, which led to think they were carried in blood. Still, most people born in those families don't have the marks.

Most dwarfs got similar marks, most elves different, most humans different. And while they're not entirely exclusive to any race, they tend to stick with them.

House Cannith (Cannith is the name of new DDO server) was founded by humans bearing the Mark of Making.
Dragomarked Dwarfs created House Kundarak, which specializes in Banking, powerful sealing of valuable goods and similar services. They're the masters of Protection.
Dragomakred Elves created House Phiarlan. Their Mark allowed them to perform complicated illusion, scry, perform divinations and deceive.
One of halfling enclaves with specific Dragonmark created House Jorasco, which specializes in complex healing and regenerations.

But there are more than 13 official Dragonmarked Houses, and a few illegal, like House of Vol - which deals in Death.

And to that very mysterious race, which most likely isn't native to Eberron's plane, shapechangers, intrigues, and you have plenty do and of places / hooks for adventures.

I really encourage to try it, read about it and play it! That's really fun place play in for a D&D fan PnP fan.

PS: Sorry for typos, this was a lot of writing...

Originally posted by Loke666

I am a D&D vet too. Which setting is better than FR? Greyhawk? Ravenloft?

Dragonlance is good also I give you that but FR is the most popular D&D setting ever. All previous RPG games are either in FR or DL, at least anyone I ever seen and there is a reason for that. I BTW loved the old "Champions of Krynn" serie.

I agree about the other thing however, it sounds like the OP got banned.

But I think Turbine could have made DDO better, they did get some things right but others are a bit odd to me. I don't think it stinks but I don't think it is great either. That they only got so few players for the online version of one of the most popular pen and paper RPGs ever do tells us that things could have gone better.

I would say that DDO is 3/5 but that is my personal opinion.

No Setting isbetter than the other. It's matter of taste. But FR is the most popular, however, it's not very interesting to me. If not hundreds of good, fast novels in there - written mainly by R.A. Salvatore - and vast marketing, FR could get under, IMHO.

R.A. Salvatore invented Drizzt and his storyline. Bruenor Battlehamer. Detailed Khelben Blackstaff. Etc.

FR is just a world where you can find or put everything, and it fits. Something like radio today - there are a few stations which we can listen to, but still if it's mainstream, it's still mainstream. Everybody get listen to it, because it's simple and catchy.

In FR we have some NPC, which resemble celebrities of real worlds. I grew tired of Elminster that, Elminster this. Drow swarms are mainly because of Drizzt novels. I loved them, but can't say they are anything else than pop-novels.

This way Greyhawk is more interesting, in my opinion. It has more distinct stories, less copying from LotR. For example, in Faerun elves are dying, decided to Retreat to their "Home Land" (not exactly home). The same is in LotR, so people loving LotR have better change they'll feel at home in FR.

In Greyhawk however, you can see elves as a pretty strong race. And that's logical too, they're usually wiser, better skilled and more intelligent. Of course Humans have more land, but tell me, is there any Elven Kingdom in FR? On the main land, there's none.

Not only elves are dying in FR, but also dwarfs. Look at Shield dwarfs, which have problems with their procreation. Well, that's not very fun or heroic to me. When I play other race than human, I don't like to be a curiosity, I like to be able to feel the glory.

That's why I'd prefer Greyhawk above FR, which I like too. And there's this Empire of Iuz, half-demon half-human, born from a necromancer. Vecna - the Lich which is famous in all D&D editions for artifact "Vecna's Hand" or similar.

There's Circle of Eight, with mages Bigby (don't we love "Bigby's Hand" spells?), Tenser, Otiluke, and very grim and powerful wizard, Mordenkainen ("Mordenkainen's Disjunction" spell). In fact, when you read about Mordenkainen, he seems to be an archetype of Khelben Blackstaff - even looks almost the same.

In Greyhwak there's also a Cataclysm thing, which later went to Dragonlance - it happened to only 2 Empired in Greyhawk, however.

And Suel Empire, fascist organization operating behind the scenes, and breeding foul monsters, enslaving people. There's a lot to do, there's plenty of great and lesser gods with interesting stories.

Greyhawk is darker and closer to our medieval than pretty shiny and fluffy FR. Of course, that fluff is everywhere in Greyhawk too, but GH is just more mature.

Dragonlance? Great setting too. Especially War of the Lance era. Dark Sun? Fantastic too, but pretty much post-apocalyptic, wouldn't translate into mass MMO too well.

And there's this new (since 3th Edition) Eberron.

About Eberron:

Well, we can try to say it's a bad setting, but that's just not true. It's very original, D&D to the core at the same time, has better "technology", though this technology is very interesting factor here --> in our world we know mechanical and technical progress. In Eberron, ships are driven by enslaved Elementals, there are everburing lights in richer cities, etc. A lot of intrigue, complicated stories, Dragonmarked Houses, Last War (resembling our World War II), etc.

In Eberron during Last War (the one mentioned in the intro to DDO), one nation was destroyed in something looking like a Nuclear blast. It all started when Great Kingdom of Galifar's ruler died, and his sons couldn't agree who'll be the next king. This great war laster more than one generation. People were born during the war, and died during the war.

One of Dragonmarked Houses, House Cannith, was supplying... all sides of the conflict. They are and were the organization of inventors, artificers and mages. When they've managed to create and produce magical-mechanical warriors without own will, the Warforged, got only even more terrible. All sides bought them.

Then, Cannith created Warforged Titans - colossal mechanical warriors laying death and destruction on the battlefields. Regular Warforged got better and better AI (sic!), so finally they were able to cast spells, allowing them fry whole armies with their lightings and fireballs.

And then homeland of Cannith, the Kingom of Cyre (in the center of previous Gallifar - center of the War!)... Exploded!

No one knows what really happened, because no one survived the gigantic explosion. Now "former Cyre", even while being in the center of mostly human continent, is a wasteland. Not only that, but there's not breathable air in it. Former Cyre is filled with deadly gased and smokes. No breathing creature can survive there (hint - warforged do not breath).

So, most of the Warforged lost mental links to their masters. Since then, they're pretty lost, as they can think not worse than humans, but they're constructs and don't have much of a history of their race. They were created for War, now War is no more.

Last War ended after destruction of Cyre. Other self-proclaimed Kingdoms agree that's it, that's enough. Name "Last War" is due to it being so terrible, that all of the world hopes it won't happen again... but situation isn't as stable, as it could look.

There are even gossips, that some Warforged God (or his Avatar) was born during the explosion. People call him "Lord of the Blades" and say that he seeks to make the whole Eberron look like Cyre - where only Warforged can survive.

This is for continent of Khorvaire, but D&D Online takes place mostly on Xen'Drik - new found continent, which previously belonged to Giants. Giants disappeared, and their slaves - the Drow - are now a free race, like they were millennia ago.

Why Eberron is called Eberron?

That's, according to legend, a name of one of the 3 Giant Dragons which created the world.

There was Siberys, Eberron and Khyber. Siberys was of all that is good, Eberron was more neutral, down to earth, and Khyber - an incarnation of evil.

One day Siberys and Khyber started to fight. Siberys was defeated, and when she died, her body made the skies, stars, planets and trail of meteors which surrounds the planet. Eberron stepped in to stop Khyber, and he managed to trap Khyber into itself - this way Eberron created whole surface of the world, while under it, in dark corridors of Khyber (something like Underdark in GH and FR) lurk many evil secrets and creatures of the night.

Now, to this day in Eberron rains of meteors happen from time to time. What falls from the skies are either stones, or crystals - named Siberys Dragonshards. Those have pretty big value, because they hold significant magical power.

There are also Eberron Dragonshards to be found on the surface, and Khyber Dragonshards which are native to tunnels and caves deep beneath in.

Those shards help to create _very rare_ high level magic items in Eberron. Because while low-level magic is popular in Eberron, higher levels are even more rare than in other Settings.

Dragonmarked Houses?

They are mainly trading organizations. Dragonmarks are "magical tattoos" which started to appear thousand of years ago on some particular individuals of every civilized race. One day you could go to sleep without them, the next you woke with them.

Once people got to see and learn that those strange marks grant people some strange magical powers, they tried to categorize Dragonmarks. There are different types of them.

That was the beginning of Dragonmarked Houses. Dragomarks were and are still very rare, and tend to appear in certain families, which led to think they were carried in blood. Still, most people born in those families don't have the marks.

Most dwarfs got similar marks, most elves different, most humans different. And while they're not entirely exclusive to any race, they tend to stick with them.

House Cannith (Cannith is the name of new DDO server) was founded by humans bearing the Mark of Making.
Dragomarked Dwarfs created House Kundarak, which specializes in Banking, powerful sealing of valuable goods and similar services. They're masters of Protection.
Dragomakred Elves created House Phiarlan. Their Mark allowed them to perform complicated illusion, scry, perform divinations and deceive.
One of halfling enclaves with specific Dragonmark created House Jorasco, which specializes in complex healing and regenerations.

But there are more than 13 official Dragonmarked Houses, and a few illegal, like House of Vol - which deals in Death.

And to that very mysterious race, which most likely isn't native to Eberron's plane, shapechangers, intrigues, and you have plenty do and of places / hooks for adventures.

I really encourage to try it, read about it and play it! That's really fun place play in for a D&D fan PnP fan.

PS: Sorry for typos, this was a lot of writing...

Originally posted by urbanmonkey

I am not going to argue with your detailed reasons of why you hate Turbine. I am not a fan so I don't really care.

However, I was a big D&D fan spending most of my youth playing pen and paper D&D and later computer games (mostly the SSI Curse of the Azure Bonds and Pool of Radiance).

I played many different campaign settings including Dark Sun, Ravenloft, Dragonlance and even Planescape. However, I spent 90% of my gametime in The Forgotten Realms, anywhere from Al-Qadim to Kara-Tur.

When I first heard of DDO I immediately imagined how Waterdeep would look like in an online environment. Sadly the chosen game setting was Eberon, a setting I knew nothing about. So it instantly nullifed any positive effect D&D as an IP had. I knew the map of Faerûn, the cities, the gods, everything. Eberron was just a name.

So as a D&D player, what else could draw me ttowards DDO? The D&D game mechanics? The mechanics may be great for P&P sessions and also quite good for turn based games so popular early 90's. But and MMORPG? Horrible system that just does not work, even with the few changes introduced by Turbine late in development.

My point? Well to all those people saying "Turbine suck for taking one of the most famous RPG IPs and turning that into garbage!" or "I want Turbine to fail so that some other company can develop DDO2!" I am just going to say this:

1. The D&D system will never be anything better than acceptable for an online real time MMO game. It was just not designed for that. It doesn't really have balance, it doesn't support PVP well. And in Turbine's case, it was mostly a curse rather than a blessing during development.

2. If anyone will ever create a new D&D online game please stick to one of the more famous and popular settings like Dark Sun or Planescape. Using the Eberron setting is not better than let's say Runes of Magic Generic fantasy world. And then abandon the classic D&D mechanics. Use the classes, maybe the attibute names but that's it. Develop and change it freely in order to make the game work online, not to please some old D&D players who will most likely just stick to the P&P version for obvious reasons.

IMHO

 

That's pretty good and well written post here. Congrats, not many people write like that here.

Though, I really encourage you to get into Eberron. Either buy Campaign Setting, Player's Guide to Eberron, or view some pdf and consider buying it later ; ).

I was thinking like you. But once I got to know Eberron, I was amazed. This world is really fantastic. Very original, but still in the style of old Settings, especially like Dark Sun, Greyhawk or Spelljammer.

You can trust me to that. I know probably every setting, and played most of them in the past. And I thought: "Eberron? Warforged robots? Flying ships? That's a crap!"

And then I've read it and honestly needed to rethink my attitude. Now I want to start a campaign in Eberron, this setting is no average - it shines and is very well thought-out. But most importantly, feels like old-school D&D in every bit.

Check for a preview here ; )

www.theebooksbay.com/index.php

Originally posted by codejack

Which bugs are those?

 (TEXT)

Now, aren't you sorry you asked? :)

I'm not : ). Don't have the time now, but just wanted to say - you just speak your opinions! And most of us would surely disagree.

Other than that, you don't seem to understand many technical aspects of the game. For example, tell me, where did you find a sticky ladder? I've never found such in present game. But that's not a global fix!

Devs ASKED you to report such ladder for a quick fix. Such bugs AREN'T global, but instead need to be fixed MANUALLY for that buggy ladder somewhere. Just report it if you really found such.

Where is it exactly, so I can check it and maybe report?

Anyway, since beta I don't see any buggy ladder anywhere.

Originally posted by Dave08

I play like you do.  I like to create a few characters and stick with them. 

Unfortunately, DDO has some of the worst mechanics I've ever seen in an MMO in regards to character.   Rerolling because I'd like to adjust stats, try different things is fine with me.  But in DDO, they use this thing called favor solely to get you to repeat content over and over.   You run a character through most of the content, and as a reward get to create a new character with better stats and START ALL OVER AGAIN on a new character.  It's what drove me away from the game.  I enjoyed playing lots of characters until they implemented this.  After that, they just felt worthless.   You're penalized by playstyle.   If you enjoy playing with multiple character builds as I did, you're screwed.  If you're a zerger who doesn't mind rerunning content ad nauseum and starting over again and again, it's not as bad.

With F2P, I'd think this is even worse.  Example:

Your only option initially is to either buy drow or start with a 28 point character. 

If you start with a 28 pointer, at 400 favor, you now have earned the option of having a drow.  I personally never cared for drow, but drow's startup points are 32 points and has starting attribute differences that make it an excellent choice for some classes.  For others where the attribute deficiencies hit the core stats for the class, it's not so great.

So now you have your starter character and the option to roll a 'newer better' character as a drow.  If you roll a drow, then eventually after 1750 favor (not a small feat for a casual player), you get the option to roll yet another character.  This time, much better, any of the original starting races will have 32 points instead of 28 points.  So now if you'd like your character to be all that you can be, you can reroll a brand new player yet again and repeat all the content, again.  If you're F2P, you only have two slots, so you either have to buy a slot to take advantage of this or delete one of the two toons you originally ran with.  Just not appealing imo.

Assuming a brand new player decided to buy drow from the get go, at least they'd have an available slot when they open 32 point builds.

If you start out and make the mistake of creating two classes you enjoy playing, then when you have the option for 32 point builds, both characters (and more if you bought additional slots) will always be 28 pointers unless you reroll.  So you ONLY get the reward if you reroll. 

A very broken mechanic, imo.   I'm going to play some F2P with friends who've been bugging me to come back, and I'm sure I'll enjoy it for a bit, if only to play it with them again.  But I really hate the way DDO makes you feel like you're wasting your time.  Wouldn't surprise me if they add a 36 point build some day for 5000 favor.   They don't have much content (although there's alot more than there used to be), so it seems they go out of their way to make you redo it all.   Sad thing is, if they didn't have this ridiculous mechanic, I'm the type that would probably create a lot of characters with different class combinations for fun.  

I play a game to spend time creating a character I enjoy, trying to build them up, not spend time on them so I can throw them away and reroll.

  

That's your opinion. For me Favor is a thing which allows me to unlock many nice benefits, like larger backpack, new race, long lasting buffs, a new class, etc.

I don't need to grind it and never do it. Just because someone wants to grind for something, it doesn't mean it's built for grinding.

For me, it's a logical system which rewards me for my accomplishments in the game. Pretty nice - WoW faction system rewards very rarely, here - Favor system - rather often. I like it.

Originally posted by eight675309

Originally posted by Thillian

This could be the absolute worst trolling attempt on DDo. Seriously, all you had to do was to read the announcement. At least until the sentence - no new accounts can be created until 09/09. Instead you came here, raving about how bad the game is in about 30 lines. Incredible.

 

All I had to do is read the announcements? Dude that post is in the forum, not the main website. Further, I emailed their customer service days ago and still haven't heard back from them. Even if it were true that this is the actual issue, the error should not be "your session has expired", it should say something completely different. You know, like "new players cannot create aqccounts unil 09/09". And, like I said, they have known about this for awhile now and done nothing about it. I wouldn't have been looking in "account management", I'd be looking specifically account registration. You can't manage what you don't have. Incredible, I know!

Sorry, but you're hopeless:

www.ddo.com/news/597-get-into-ddo-unlimited-early-head-start-begins-on-september-1st

All you needed to do is to SCROLL DOWN a little bit to see this big headline.

So yes, it's on the front page. And you should have known already what a word "headstart" means. It's doesn't mean "launch" I'm afraid. That's a different word.

So all was obvious to other players, as you can see in this thread. Even those new and wanting to try the game, exactly like you.

Originally posted by Papadam

The launch of DDO:Unlimited was very smooth and I had no problems at all. Was alot of fun to roll on a brand new server and the game seemed even smoother than on the beta server!

There is just som many great changes to the game with this update and everything seems very polished. By far the best dungeon crawling game to play.

Great job Turbine and good luck!

Yeah. Just a small correction for new people - yesterday was a headstart for beta testers and former subscribers.

Actual launch is scheduled for the 9th of September. See you in game!

Originally posted by Bleakmage

Originally posted by tro44_1

That wasnt my point. For many people, using a credit card online (If You have one, which a lot of kids wont) is a no no.

I was pointing out that most youth dont have a way to pay for online games without prepaid cards (X-box Live, WoW Cards, War Cards, ext)

 

I dunno, I've always felt that I've HAD to play a subscription game to get my money's worth. Some games I've played for multiple months before, but most I've played for about a month and quit because I did not think I was getting my money's worth.

 

With this new model, D&D IS like, in many ways, the old-school Pen and Paper days, but not only that, I wouldn't feel like I HAD to play. I feel like going further in the game? I just buy a module. They will make plenty of money that way, and I will not feel RUSHED. Not everybody has money to burn on something they can't dedicate their time to like their were living in mommy's garage. :D

That's how I feel as well. And I was playing and paying my sub in DDO before this F2P. F2P is going to make it a lot better experience to me.

I remember how I felt whan I've just paid my sub in advance for months, just to realize I won't have much time to play because of some "unpredictible event" or business matters. I felt like a fool, to say the least. Such times make you so angry, that you don't like to even think about paying a sub later.

I think I'm not alone here. Many people have pretty unpredictible or mobile life styles, so they want to have control. Even if F2P won't make me pay less, there's no stress in this model, so that's a good deal.

For comparisons subs vs. single player games. Yes, if you're sure you'll have the time and will like to play whole months, subs are very attractive. But if you happend to play a game and grow tired of it, but still have 6th months of time paid in advance, that's not a good deal. I'd rather buy some new game instead, but heck, I've paid my sub already!

So DDO F2P satisfies both parties. Subbers and those who need better control. Genius idea.

Originally posted by toord

Couple of months back, I gave my word to community member Sarr that I'd post giving Turbine some props if they released on time this time around (after the delay). Here I am, giving Turbine props for proving me wrong about delaying release once again :D Now go shake a leg and give this game a try.

Wow, that's nice from you toord : ). I'm really happy to see you writing such things, so take care pal! Hope you'll be around to play with ; ).

Honestly, I'm surprised - in a positive manner. Kudos.

PS: Codejack is clearly a troll now. Most likely one of those banned for XP exploits this summer. Beware.

Originally posted by codejack

The UI changes are horrendous, the "bug fixes" are the usual mix of issues that no one even notices and a$$-raping anyone who had even the slightest bit of imagination when creating their character, multitudes of long-standing issues have not been addressed, and the new "adventure" area is just another loot grind - but this time for useless crap! Basically, everything we have come to know and loathe from Turbine.

Before anyone accuses me of being negative, however, let me be clear: This could not have worked out better! For anyone appreciating the natural complement of D&D to the MMORPG genre, the prospect of the company with the worst quality control and customer service in the industry losing the franchise through staggering incompetence and mean-spirited punishment of their player-base, and necessarily opening up the market for a competitor to step in, must be greeted with all acclaim.

Hints for future D&D MMORPG developers: 

- D&D belongs in Faerun.

- The players are your customers, not blood enemies who traumatized you as a child that you should punish.

- The more classes the better.

- Class balance is not a sometimes thing.

- Changes to core rules affect players; let them change their character to adapt.

- Just because a player does something that you didn't anticipate does not make it "cheating".

 

Here's hoping that the next developer of a D&D MMORPG will choose not to hire hydrocephalic misanthropes who were rejected from the Marines for a lack of social skills.

Sorry, but this is total utter BS.

When someone tries to teach me, a D&D vet, that D&D belongs in FR, then... well, no words. FR is a pop-shit, period. You can like it, like I did, but please don't insist that you have the slightest idea about classic D&D in that way.

You're trying hard to sound like you had some good points and knowledge to back it up, but no, you haven't.

I'm sure others will comment better, use arguments. Well, I can't, and won't waste my time here.

And this:

"- Just because a player does something that you didn't anticipate does not make it "cheating"."

Well, you were banned in that last "event" when 200+ of vets were banned for XP exploits, am I right? Maybe talk to psychologist, that's not the place for such cries.