Fans of the Dungeon Master Column, Dungeons and Dragons and its online version can rejoice, the latest information is out on Update 13. Turbine has released some new media for the next update to Dungeons And Dragons Online. In addition, the company released some information about the next update which – in the words of Turbine – is going to be a prequel to the next expansion.

Players will be able to see some new quests that involve a cult called ‘The Lords Of Dust.’ Besides fighting this cult mob, the player will work their way up the chain, assaulting those in control of  the hive mind, the cat-like Rakshasa. While this is new material for a F2P title, the three extra quests are free.

Pushing the F2P note further, the DDO store itself received an update. The virtual general store for adventurers will see new items lining its shelves, the Cloak of Resistance, an Amulet of Protection and a full suite of +1 Elemental Touch Weapons. Players with spellcaster avatars are bestowed a double dose, as Turbine is going to add two items for them; the Omnispell Stone and Omnispell Dust. Both are  material components that can be used for any spell needing material components, freeing up player bag space. Last, but certainly not the least, a new veteran status, allowing players to start at level 7. The status can be earned by gaining enough favor or - of course - by buying it in the in-game store.

You can read the official update after the jump. And don’t forget the extra screenshots. Continue Reading

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!

Continue Reading

If you have been living under a rock you may not have noticed that the newest update has hit the live servers of Dungeons and Dragons Online. Naturally, I bought the currently-pay-only Artificer class and created an elf artificer that is based on the mighty repeating crossbow. After the first couple of dungeons, I noticed one thing that stuck with me till the end – the new class is a pretty power-playing class. At least, that is what I have noticed from it in my build that I did. The build focuses on the crossbow and supporting it. My feats were selected to maximize crossbows, and are support by healing spells and/or buffing spells. Let’s not forget my little Iron Defender – the first pet available in DDO – you get as an Artificer. He handles the tanking aspect of battle. This combination is quite the power full one. As of this posting – knocks on wood – I haven’t died once. In some dungeons the pitiful monsters haven’t even scratched my armor!

Continue Reading

Over the past week, Turbine has posted over a dozen job opportunities for those in the Boston area. As part of the growing stable of video game companies under the umbrella of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and with two well-received and highly successful F2P products under its belt, it comes as no surprise that the company continues to flourish.

However, two of the recent job postings point towards Turbine spreading its wings and attempting something new. To date, Turbine has been a steadfast PC developer, creating nothing but persistent world PC titles since the original Asheron’s Call in 1999. That will be changing soon.

The company is currently looking for two Software Engineers capable of working “closely with game designers and artists to understand the goals for a console game system.” Furthermore, candidates are asked to have “Shipped at least one console game for the XBox 360 or PlayStation 3” and to have been a part of the entire title’s lifecycle.

Basically, Turbine is looking for a pair of staffers that have been through the highs and lows of console development.

Why? Well, no one is sure at this juncture. We do know that Turbine has been working on a console product with Twisted Pixel for some time. That being said, specifics remain scarce, even after 2+ years of work. It’s safe to assume that hiring of console devs, gameplay specialists at that, mean the project is progressing smoothly.

The job postings do not specify which product the future employees will be working on. Nor does it incline us to believe it’s even a new product, rather than a port of Turbine’s back catalog of titles. Today’s consoles can easily handle DDO or LotRO, five and four year old titles, respectively (assuming Turbine can work out a pay system with Sony/Microsoft, a notoriously difficult proposition). Ports seem unlikely though. Good money is on the Twisted Pixel joint project. It’s all speculation at this point.

We’ll likely never know if the decision to investigate the console viability of its products came at the company’s own prerogative, or the suggestion of WBIE. It’s a question we, as humans, can’t help pondering after acquisitions. Actually, we do know. The original announcement of the console project was made before the acquisition.

See a screen capture of the Job Summary and Responsibilities behind the cut. Continue Reading