Every fan of The Dungeon Master Column, Dungeons And Dragons and its online version have been waiting for this moment for  ages. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast announced a new expansion – the first one, in fact – to the growing community of Dungeons and Dragons Online. The title is currently slated with the open moniker of “summer,” meaning we’ll see it at the early parts of the convention season.

The new expansion is called Menace of the Underdark and will bring the player base to the Forgotten Realms, the first of the different areas of Dungeons and Dragons. Not only will we go back, Turbine will add in the master of different forms, the Druid. Besides these two exciting points, the level cap will rise to level 25, which gives the players five epic levels, with that of course comes the epic feats and epic magic.

Color this writer excited for this new expansion. I really wanna see the village in Forgotten Realms called Eveningstar. I truly wanna see how Turbine made the Druid, especially the shapeshifting aspect of the character. Is the Druid going to have just several forms and will it work the same as in World of Warcraft, or is the Druid going to have loads of different forms and the player can only choose just some of them which they think will work the best.We can only wait and see.

The announcement brought some concept art and a new logo (right). The concept art you can see after the button, a little spoiler, along with the official announcement; it is really good!

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The industry is young, and 2011 was a mark of success throughout when the Court System ruled that video games indeed are a form of art, and therefore, protected by the first amendment. That strengthened the industry as a whole, giving reinforcement to everyone that video games are indeed as practical a source of entertainment as movies, comics or books are.

However, just as our year of a great victory came to an end, two blocks of legislation came to the industry’s attention that threaten all we have gained in respect and strength in the years past: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and its sister bill, PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act).

Many companies and websites have banded together to combat the dangerous measures the U.S. government is investigating to combat the cyberworld in the name of “piracy protection”. While, yes, piracy is bad (and we do not support it at Lore Hound), these recent proposed acts have far more reaching effects than just piracy prevention.

Red 5 Studios, makers of the upcoming FireFall made an official announcement this morning, declaring itself as an endorser of a new legislative movement group on behalf of the gaming industry: League For Gamers, properly acronymed as LFG.

Laguna Hills, CA – January 17, 2012 – Red 5 Studios™ today announced the League For Gamers (LFG), an organization with the lifelong mission of promoting games in a positive way, spreading the passion of gaming and protecting gaming interests in politics. Red 5 will shut down Firefall and its website on January 18^th in a 24 hour show of solidarity, encouraging gamers, developers and all industry supporters to join LFG and stand together against misguided and overbearing legislative initiatives such as SOPA, (Stop Online Privacy Act), and PIPA, (Protect IP), in order to perpetuate and continue industry growth.

The League For Gamers was founded on January 14, 2012 by Red 5 Studios and its CEO, Mark Kern, through a $50,000 pledge. It was established as a true alternative to the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and its subsidiary organization, the Video Game Voter’s Network (VGVN).

“The VGVN and the ESA claim to represent gamers and developers, but they have turned their backs on them by supporting and funding legislation such as SOPA and PIPA,” said Mark Kern. “Developers such as Red 5 Studios and other game makers no longer have an organization to represent their true position on this kind of destructive legislation. LFG’s first action will be to petition the ESA to withdraw their support from PIPA, which still looms large in the Senate.”

While it was announced on Monday that SOPA has been “shelved” – for the time being – its sister bill PIPA is still an immediate threat to the gaming industry and online freedom. The Senate is scheduled to vote on PIPA January 24^th, leaving one week for gamers and developers to add their support and get the attention of representatives. Interested parties can join LFG and its ESA petition at the following link: http://www.leagueforgamers.org/2012/01/17/help-lfg-join-now/

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Star Wars: The Old Republic has a lot of things going for it, but there is one complaint I’ve heard from quite a few  people; “The economy is in need of some work.” I’ve constantly seen and heard players saying things like “You’re going to want to not buy anything for a few levels if you want to get that” or “New abilities are way over priced in later levels”. With The Old Republic being so new it still constantly having things patched and changed to try and meet the demands of the players so maybe we will see some changes to the credit system over time, but for now I have a few tips on how to make your credits grow.

First off, one of the most important things you can do is always sell those gray items you loot off of NPCs. It’s a really simple tip that many players already know, yet it can make a big difference in the end. Here’s a secondary tip to make this chore a little easier. If you’re currently avoiding looting gray items off of NPCs, then you should really consider going to “Preferences” and turning on “Auto Loot” even though you think they may be a waste of space in your bag. You will be surprised at how much money you can get from some of these grey items for such a small slice of your time and bagspace. Finding yourself with a bug full of grey items? Don’t forget that you can send your current companion away to sell all of your grey items. This is something you should constantly be doing, especially when your questing. It’s quick, easy and it helps clear up bag space and generate a steady stream of credits in the process.

Hit the jump for additional tips and tricks.

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