Dungeons & Dragons Online Unlimited

[elethea]

Don't forget the spunky bun! ;D

[Morreion]

Fans have strong reaction to Dungeons and Dragons Online Offer Wall (Massively)

The DDO Offer Wall launched yesterday, and was met with a very enthusiastic reaction from fans of Dungeons and Dragons Online. Unfortunately, a lot of it was negative.

Players greatest concerns stem from the fact that Turbine is working with SuperRewards, a third party lead generator, for these point opportunities. Giving personal information to an unknown is worrisome, of course, and concerns have grown to the point where some players claim that just looking at the offers page will infect your computer. On the other hand, many players are reporting that they checked out the offers, received their points, and moved on with a computer that was completely unaffected.

Update: Turbine has since added an update post to their forums, giving further information about the program. The Offer Wall has been temporarily removed while Turbine investigates player concerns over email and username security.

D&D Online: Eberron Unlimited : New DDO Offer Wall Sparks Fan Outrage (MMORPG.com)

One user reported that on a new computer and new email address he received 27 spam e-mails and 4 phishing attempts within 24 hours for simply completing one of the "FREE" surveys on the Offer Wall:

"I went on a created email account on a brand new computer just to "see" what would happen.

27 spam emails in 24 hours and 4 phishing attacks from looking at and participating in 1 "FREE" survey."

DDO Senior Community Manager Patience has since responded to the feedback in a new post outlining Turbine's committments to provide the Offer Wall as a safe service, and admitting that they unfortunately did allow some "questionable offers" to get through the initial listing. They have since filtered the offers appropriately, and according to users there are no longer any "FREE" offers available on the Offer Wall.

Patience also shared with users the set of rules that sponsors must abide by if they wish to see their offers on the DDO Offer Wall, read them below:

Offer Wall Rules

Any offer to be published on the Offer Wall must meet the following criteria:

1. 1No unapproved required downloads – ever. This includes toolbars, helper applications, plug-ins, and ActiveX Controls. Player security is our top priority.
2. All offers must be certified spyware-clean and confirmed in internal testing against a cleanroom environment.
3. Surveys must be legit. No lengthy prequalification surveys followed by a disqualification and no points. If the pre-qualification is more than 20 questions for our test cases, we won’t host the survey.
4. Surveys must not ask for game account information or information which could be used to discover a player’s credentials.
5. No deceptive offers – i.e. take this IQ test and get the results via SMS (free IQ test, SMS costs $).
6. Partners must display a privacy policy in a public location that can be checked.
7. Offers must pay out as expected. All offers must deliver the points promised in a clear and straightforward fashion.

Not a good idea IMHO. Trust is a fragile thing.

[Morreion]

DDO jumps to third-most-popular spot in MMO survey (Massively)

D&D Online: Eberron Unlimited : Third Most Popular MMO Says NPD Survey (MMORPG.com)

DDO has also enjoyed a surge in popularity when the NPD asked what former WoW players were playing, knocking Guild Wars out once again and becoming the second most popular choice behind RuneScape. The number of former WoW players playing DDO has more than doubled since 2008, and most gamers probably won't be surprised to know why DDO has enjoyed the surge in popularity. As it would turn out, the popularity of the traditional subscription model has declined sharply, from 30% in 2008 as the preferred model, to just 18% this year, while the free-to-play model is on the rise. DDO gets to have their cake and eat it too as they offer both.

Exploring Eberron: Six things to do on your first day in game (Massively)

1. Put aside your MMO expectations

I'm betting that, for most people, DDO is not their first MMORPG. And because of that, we have a parade of gamers rushing into this title with flawed (for DDO) training, reflexes and expectations. I believe that this is the primary reason why some gamers have such an adverse reaction to DDO at the start -- it's really not like other MMOs, and it takes a little time to get the hang of it.

For example, your mouse buttons are swapped from the normal MMO setup to allow for manual attacks (trust me, everyone spends their first day swinging her weapon into empty air when they're trying to click on something). Your health and spell points don't regenerate in dungeons. You don't get XP for each mob killed. Mobs don't drop loot (well, collectibles, but not loot in the conventional sense). Most of the world is instanced. And you're going to need to group, a lot, and be OK with that.

So the sooner you get past your bias and expectations and allow the game to properly train you in the ways of DDO, the happier you'll be. Every DDO player goes through this readjustment, and he'll tell you that it's not too bad and goes faster than you'd think.

You never know -- you may actually end up liking how DDO handles the genre over your typical MMOs!

Recent DDO Bannings Bring into question Turbine's Staff (TTH Forums)

Recently there were many players who received a 30 day ban for a "guild leveling exploit" (I was not banned myself but know many who were.) All evidence points to this exploit existing solely in one quest. Turbine in the past has shut down quests but instead they left this one open while being fully aware of this opportunity. Nowhere in the list of bannable offenses is anything that could be connected with this. Just figured I'd bring this to the attention in a forum not moderated by turbine, and for the record I will keep playing DDO for the time being. It is still an enjoyable game for me.

the primary discussion on this is going on here: forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=263404

Exploring Eberron: The great dice notation debate (Massively)

There is a significant gap between two sides of the community. On one side you have the people who have been playing for years. They know DDO inside and out, most likely played DnD, and love the game because it's so much more than your standard stick-it-with-the-sharp-end-until-it-dies, tank-heal-DPS game. As the game evolves to entice new players to stay, they feel that it's losing sight of what DDO is supposed to be, and that's terribly frustrating.

Now let's look at the other side. New players come in because they hear about this cool new game that's free. They download it and begin checking out the forums. They find players amusing themselves by devising derogatory names for updates, mechanics they dislike, and even for Turbine. They find people expressing outrage over every aspect of the game and contempt for anyone outside of their little circle of knowledge. If someone not in the know ventures to suggest that maybe things aren't so bad, he's greeted with howls of "GTFO TROLL!" The new players react defensively, of course, and nobody gains anything. (This of course doesn't represent the entire community -- because there is a very large and very helpful part to the community. But the anger and frustration is out there in a pretty big way.)

[elethea]

We'll probably be playing on Thelanis a fair bit this weekend if anyone want's to join us, here are some the names of my characters in case you can't find any of Popoe's. By the way, I still say it should have been Poopoo (for I do have my evil moments ;D)

Adah the Paladin

Halwen the Favoured Soul

Sylmirha the Cleric

[Morreion]

PAX 2010: DDO Update 7 bringing half-elves, half-orcs, more [Updated] (Massively)

Half Elves, Time Travel, and a DDO Vultron? - A PAX 2010 Video Preview of Dungeons & Dragons Update 7 (Ten Ton Hammer)

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: PAX Update
At the recent PAX Prime convention, MMORPG.com writer Carolyn Koh had the opportunity to talk with Adam Mersky, Director of Communication at Turbine about Update 7 scheduled to arrive in October. Update 7 will bring Half-Elves and Half-Orcs online as playable races as well as the Devil Assault 12-man raid. Update 7 will be released on the public test server very soon. Check out Carolyn's update and then let us know what you're thinking on our forums.

Exploring Eberron: The sum of their parts (Massively)

"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."

Exploring Eberron: Community and community division (Massively)

[Morreion]

Exploring Eberron: Which race should I play? (Massively)

For example, what if you find you really love the Barbarian class as a Human and want to see what more you can do with it? Check out the Dwarf race. Dwarves are lacking in the area of charisma, but a Barbarian usually doesn't need it, so it's a loss that you probably won't even notice. On the other hand, Barbarians have got a higher constitution score, something that benefits them immensely. It's a great trade -- choosing a Dwarf will make you a more effective Barbarian thanks to the racial advantages.

Exploring Eberron: Which class should I play? (Massively)

The Bard is generally considered a support class, buffing and healing the team as needed, but bards are much more than that. Bards use Bardic Music, gathering the group at the beginning of an outing and playing a few tunes to offer some enhancements to help increase power and decrease incoming damage. The job doesn't stop there, though. Bardic Music is very versatile -- it can be used to hinder enemies just as easily as it can help allies. The Bard can also serve as a handy scout as well, sneaking ahead to see what's in store for the team.

DDO: Endless night or endless bannings? (Massively)

One thread concerning the bannings was deleted, although another persists. Players express disbelief over what they see as punishment for rules they didn't know existed. One player, Madmonkey2, summed up the collective disbelief: "If the player has no idea what is going on, how can they be guilty of abusing an exploit? I personally did not gain one single benefit from that event, yet I am accused to doing something (unknown) repeatedly to benefit somehow?"

Exploring Eberron: The race discussion has been banned (Massively)

As far as the fanbase, I counsel patience as always. Cursing, raging, and demanding that something be done right this instant does not help matters -- in many cases it actually hinders the process because someone has to stop dealing with the issue at hand and deal with the torches and pitchforks. I understand player frustration, but given the timing people probably should have just submitted their support tickets and waited patiently until Turbine had a chance to come to work the next morning and deal with things.

Stormreach under attack: Massively's tour of DDO's newest adventure pack

This quest took us back to Lordsmarch Plaza to investigate some strange noises. We arrived just in time for the ground to shake beneath our feet and a corner of the Plaza to collapse, revealing a group of Droaam soldiers who announced, "We have made it past their pitiful walls!" Of course we fought them off -- them, and all of their buddies who kept leaping out of the newly made giant hole in the ground until there were no more emerging.

Exploring Eberron: Getting the most from the DDO Character Planner (Massively)

Remember when I said that the Character Planner will highlight errors quickly? Continue the tutorial into the "Handling Creation Errors" section -- Ron will teach you how to deal with errors by having you change your sample character and give him an "illegal" build component. It's good to know exactly what the interface looks like when you do something wrong, as well as how to undo it, because you're probably going to make mistakes as you go in the future. It's simply part of the learning process.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: Update 8 Tour
MMORPG.com columnist Jaime Skelton recently had the opportunity to tour Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 8 with Turbine developers. Update 8 is scheduled to launch today, Monday, December 13th with a new adventure pack and new store items. Jaime's got a full report on Update 8 so check it out and leave us a comment or two when you're finished reading!

Exploring Eberron: Playtime over the holidays (Massively)

One of the things I absolutely love about DDO is the Adventure Compendium. Log in, press "P", and it's all laid out in front of you. You can sort by adventure length, level, patron, amount of favor, or progress. It's the quickest way to choose a brief and productive gameplay session. Do you need a little more favor with one house or another? Haven't done a particular dungeon on solo difficulty? The panel makes it easy to scan through and pick out the short dungeons, and the game's geography gets you to your chosen location quickly.

Exploring Eberron: A look back at the six updates of 2010 (Massively)

Update 4 delighted fans with the introduction of zombie pirates in the Sentinels adventure pack. Seriously, how can you not love content that gives you zombie pirates? Sentinels also gave us Spies in the House, an optional dungeon that turned out to be Rogue heaven -- full of traps to be disabled and platforming to conquer.

[Morreion]

Exploring Eberron: You can go home again (Massively)

I've heard people say that they don't like the "lobby with instances" style of DDO, and while I'll admit it's not for everyone, it's got one stellar advantage. If you find that real life has eaten your time and your gameplay has suffered for a while, this game is ready to welcome you back with open arms at any time.

Too many MMOs inadvertently punish you for staying away for more than a week or so. You might come back and find that friends and guildies have kept playing during that time and have progressed to a point that you can't possibly reach without some serious work to catch up. It's physically impossible because they've actually moved on to a different geographical location in the game.

Exploring Eberron: DDO for the solo player (Massively)

The addition of casual difficulty in dungeons flung the gates open wide to soloers and was a huge advantage for them. Before that, a limited number of adventures offered solo difficulty. That number got smaller and smaller as players reached higher levels, effectively shutting solo players out of high-level content after a certain point. Casual difficulty let players regain that access and enjoy so much more of DDO than they could before.

Exploring Eberron: The calm before the storm (Massively)

There have been ups and downs and things that undoubtedly could have been done better, but I view that as part of the learning curve. Turbine has made some enormous changes in a well-established game, and a shakeup on that scale is bound to have a few bumps here and there. In the end, revenue is up, which is good for Turbine. Every game community has a loud contingent of naysayers, and sometimes it has felt like Turbine had more than its share as players weathered the changes, but players voted with their wallets and hopefully things are beginning to settle down.

Exploring Eberron: Back in the day (Massively)

"The first thing that grabbed me was the Dungeon Master voiceover. It appealed to my little D&D heart, even if it's a bit cheesy. That said, the key element that makes DDO great is the character building, and that is something that comes from its D&D roots. It doesn't just give you a handful of pre-imagined paths; it lets you get under the hood and create an infinite range of interesting strategies. One thing that sets DDO apart is that the game rules are mostly transparent, and you can open a D&D manual and see how much of the game works, what percentages you are dealing with, and so on. It's complicated, but you actually know how good any given choice you make is. You know exactly how much more damage a given sword or spell does and how you can leverage it best. Meaningful choice is a key to good game design that other games lack."

Exploring Eberron: Turbine is having a birthday party, Kobold-style (Massively)

Smuggler's Rest is now a public area that you can reach by speaking to Sailor Calatin on the Harbor docks while the event is active. Players run around the area taking on pirates not unlike the undead in Delara's. You'll be wearing a snazzy pirate hat (which I'll talk more about shortly), so the pirates in the area will take you for one of their own and continue to hang out and dance until you run up and smack them. Since they're not hostile until you engage them, you won't be able to see their levels. Thankfully, they've got a short aggro range, so you can flee if you find yourself in over your head.

Exclusive: Massively's interview with the author of the first DDO novel

"A writer's first and foremost goal should always be to tell a compelling story, so I hope The Shard Axe does that and that it will appeal to people who love to read, regardless of the setting and maybe even regardless of genre. But beyond that, my hope is that the book will appeal to both DDO players and fans of the PnP game, especially since it incorporates places and people that are familiar to and loved by both groups. Consistency between the two "versions" of Eberron is something that I worked hard to achieve with this first DDO book, so hopefully I've succeeded in writing something that will get DDO players interested in the PnP setting (and the other Eberron novels) and that will get the PnP players interested in trying DDO. Otherwise known as the elusive "win-win" scenario, heh."

Exploring Eberron: Our interview with DDO community members (Massively)

"There are so many different things that I keep wanting to try. I tried a few different builds and settled on a Fighter Cleric that I took up to level 20; with that character, I tried some of the endgame content. I haven't done any epics yet as I am not a big fan of the ubergrind. The character wasn't perfect, so I've TR'd him and am heading up in FVS at the moment. I'm also trying a Warforged Archmage at the moment and running a Clonk up as well. I also want to try Bards and Paladins and then all sorts of other things as well. There are so many different builds to try, and I guess that's what keeps me coming back ."

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: The Quiz: DDOU Edition
In The Quiz this week, MMORPG.com Quizmaster Drew Wood celebrates Dungeons and Dragons Online and its fifth birthday while wearing elf ears. Calling DDOU "the Comeback Kid of Gaming", Drew challenges would-be orcs and half-elves to test their mettle against his challenging questions. Game on!

[url=http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/163/feature/5002/Fifth-Birthday-Event-Tour.html/page/1
]Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited: Fifth Birthday Event Tour
With the arrival of the fifth anniversary of Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited, devs wanted to give members of the press a chance to check out the birthday events the team has implemented. MMORPG.com's Jaime Skelton took the tour with Turbine's Ian Currie and Fernando Paiz to check out the special two week event to celebrate an epic anniversary. Read on![/url]

February 28, 2006 marked the first day of official Dungeons and Dragons Online history. Five years have almost passed for the MMORPG from Turbine, years that have seen significant changes including a historical shift from a pay-to-play to free-to-play model. Although Update 9 is still in the works, Turbine is preparing to launch a celebration of this five year birthday with a special release on February 22, introducing a new anniversary event on top of a small patch. The DDO team, including Ian Currie and Fernando Paiz, gave us a brief tour of this special event, which will last about two weeks.