Phil Vlasak asked me to pass this onto the list, as he cannot currently post, so here it is:
Heard about this on the news today but I still can't post to BlindGamers. Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach, the long awaited PC MMORPG from developer Turbine. This game promises to bring the pen-and-paper RPG to life through a more action oriented gameplay idea along with twists like a "Dungeon Master" who let's you know what's ahead just like in the classic game. http://www.turbinegames.com/ new website for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: http://www.ddo.com/ Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach written by Jason G. on Thursday, February 23, 2006 An effervescent world encompasses you. The thrill of life as you adventure through a seemingly endless expanse of terrain baffles even the most brilliant of minds. You find yourself caught in the midst of a key role in possibly the most important event of your life. You raise your keen dagger as slowly you approach your only victim, knowing a successful execution could perhaps change the tides of war in your favour. You move slowly, quietly, and in a blink of an eye it's over. A large majority of 'hype' factor, as I will call it, has followed D&D Online: Stormreach since the second it was even thought of. I myself have been a member of their community for a long time, well over a year at least. I've played Pencil and Paper (PnP) Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) for about 9 years now, and this is how I remember it. That being said, it is definitely not how I see D&D Online: Stormreach. The highly anticipated game laying claim to the 3.5 rule set from Wizards of the Coast is in my opinion, a majority hype, and very little follow-through. It does have a few strong cards, but the true D&D feeling is lost in the game. Some of the most crucial aspects of the 3.5 D&D world are missing, so let's take a look. The first thing you'll come to in D&D Online: Stormreach is character creation. This is perhaps one of the biggest parts in any MMORPG, and the importance of having great character customization is a must. This, in my opinion, is one section that D&D Online: Stormreach pulls through. There is a vast array of options for your character. In a purely physical aspect, the change in appearance from one halfling to the next is startling, but in a good way. Initially you will need to choose your race. Following with the 3.5 rule set the standard races include humans, elves, dwarves, halflings and a new race known as Warforged. I believe this race to be, the developer, Turbine's equivalent to the orc and half-orc that were left out. After selecting a race, you will then get to alter the specifics. Hair, eye, and skin colour and style can all be altered during this phase. It adds a lot of your own creative side to the game, and gives your character a feel during the game. Now that you've chosen a race you will need to pick a class. The classes themselves are covered well in D&D Online: Stormreach. The available classes are barbarian, bard, cleric, fighter, paladin, ranger, rogue, sorcerer, and wizard. Of course there are a few classes left out in this such as monk and druid, but both are planned for later on, perhaps in an expansion or patch, but not on release. I'll refrain from breaking down the classes as if you've followed this game, you'll know all about them. I am inclined to comment about one thing, the rogue. In all my nine years of playing PnP D&D I played a rogue, every single time. This game was supposed to have tons of work on the rogue class finally appeasing rogue gamers everywhere. In my expert opinion, and yes I believe it to be expert based on my experience, the rogue is not done justice once again. The essentials of the class are there, but still it seems to be lacking. Now that you have a character, welcome to the world. Er, scratch that, welcome to what would be a world if a world existed of portals and taverns, oh and a city. This is my hugest gripe with D&D Online: Stormreach. The last time I checked, D&D was all about the world your character lived in, and how it interacted with its surroundings. Here we find a scripted world, as I will call it, where all you do is grind out boring quest lines. I myself particularly enjoy scenery and travel and the world around me. I find, however, that during my time playing D&D Online: Stormreach, I did quests in places that were of course in the world, but to get there, I merely walked through a door or portal. This bothered me greatly, as I know D&D to be a world immersing game, where half the battle is playing your cards right around town, or traversing a path or cliff to the right area. Now comes level progression. It's slow; very, very slow. If you are looking for a game that doesn't take long to attain the highest level, D&D Online: Stormreach is definitely not for you. This combined with the real time combat do however make for an interesting twist in the MMORPG world. Left click to block, right click to swing your sword, -4 penalty for moving around when swinging. It sounds fun at first, having full control of your action, but after a while playing you find out that it pretty much just makes the boring parts of combat even more boring. If you had recently planned on playing an archer, you should take into account that you won't be firing as many arrows as someone swinging their sword; this is just how the game was designed. A semi-fun part of combat is playing a caster and not using the auto targeting. You might think you are aimed at the enemy but, lo and behold, that fireball goes careening into oblivion. Fun for a while, annoying in the long run, and I highly doubt to see many people use it. One of the most apparent things I noticed is that after the first few levels, you say goodbye to solo-ing. If you can't find a competent party or have a group of close friends to play this game with, then don't bother. Solo-ing past level 2 is practically impossible, and results in a lot of wasted time. Of course this wasn't what Turbine was aiming for, and so I suppose they did a good job creating what they were going for. In the end, D&D Online: Stormreach isn't a game I'm going to buy. In fact, I don't even plan on thinking about it, or referencing it, or even mentioning it in any D&D session I play again. I'll take my PnP over your PC D&D any day. If you don't have an imagination and can't play PnP, that's cool and to each their own. If you do however possess the X-factor known as imagination, and play D&D Online: Stormreach over regular PnP D&D, you are killing your inner child. D&D Online Head Start Begins Today While Dungeons and Dragons Online isn't set to officially launch until the game ships to stores next week, people who pre-ordered the Turbine MMORPG can get a head start via (natch) the D&D Online Head Start program which begins later today. If you have already beta tested the game you only need to update your client to begin plaiying while people who havent't played the beta but have pre-ordered the game have to download the full client from Turbine. People who play the game during the Head Start program get some in-game and community extras as well. Here is a snip: Block quote start When you and your guild play in the Head Start Event you could be immortalized as founders and inspire future adventurers.All characters that log into the game during the Head Start Event will be commemorated by having their name engraved in an in-game marker and be listed in a special founders section of the official web site at http://www.ddo.com ! Guilds that are created during the Head Start Event and have ten or more members at the end of the Head Start Event, will gain a special in-game item for their characters - a founder's helmet that will grant its wearer an additional five hit points* (and it looks really cool too!)* Helmet will be available as part of a post-launch update. Guilds that have 25 or more members at the end of the Head Start Event will be commemorated by having their guild name engraved in an in-game marker and be listed in a special founders section of the official web site at http://www.ddo.com ! Players who preorder and register for the subscriber forums during the Head Start Event will also be recognized as founders and be honored with a special Founder's Forum Title and Forum Avatar Block quote end shepherds are the best beasts [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] to leave send a blank Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can contact the list owners/moderators by Emailing [EMAIL PROTECTED] to go nomail send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] change "nomail" to "normal" to resume messages. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindgamers/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
