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!
WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND WIZARDS OF THE COAST UNVEIL DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®: MENACE OF THE UNDERDARK™
First Expansion to Dungeons & Dragons Online™ Launching Summer 2012
January 19, 2012 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast unveiled today Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Menace of the Underdark™, the first expansion to the award-winning free-to-play massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) developed by Turbine. Menace of the Underdark launches in the Summer of 2012 expanding for the first time into the beloved Forgotten Realms setting and the vast subterranean world of the Underdark, an increased level cap, the new Druid class and much more!
“2011 was a year of growth for Dungeons & Dragons Online as we celebrated our fifth anniversary and completed a successful launch of the game in Europe,” said Fernando Paiz, Executive Producer of Dungeons & Dragons Online. “2012 is going to be our biggest year yet with a wealth of new content throughout the year including the launch of our first expansion pack. We are very excited to expand into the Forgotten Realms setting with a whole new storyline, level cap increase and the new Druid class!”
NEW FEATURES:
Ø Journey to the Forgotten Realms- Experience the classic fantasy and adventure of D&D’s most imaginative and renowned setting. Arrive in the village of Eveningstar and adventure through the surrounding King’s Forest wilderness area where the citizens of the nation of Cormyr must unite to face a new threat to the Realms.
Ø Brave the caverns of the Underdark- Come face to face with the Underdark Drow and Lolth, their Queen and goddess, as you explore this vast and twisted, subterranean world. Infiltrate the Drow stronghold of Shindylryn – the city of portals – where Lolth’s forces work to further her schemes.
Ø Attain Epic levels to 25! Forge your Epic Destiny and create a unique Epic hero with powerful character customization options as you advance beyond level 20 to epic level 25.
Ø Play the Druid Class- Play as the all new shape-shifting Druid class! Wield nature’s magic or transform into a powerful animal form with this classic D&D class.
