Dungeons & Dragons Online

Plot

Setting

Centered in the city of Stormreach, DDO is set on the fictional continent of Xen’drik, in the world of Eberron, a setting from the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role-playing game. Xen’drik is a vastly unexplored local, once the center of the Giant Civilization , destroyed thousands of years before. Stormreach is a giant-scaled city, recently settled by humans. Areas in Stormreach are the Harbor, the Marketplace, and five Dragonmarked Houses : Cannith, Deneith, Jorasco, Kundarak and Phiarlan. Adventures and quests are available beyond the city ​​walls , across the continent.

Players set their characters following the revised edition of D & D 3.5 rule-set fashion, for play in both indoor and outdoor environments . The game has some differences from the D & D 3.5 rule set, some of which are due to differences in the dynamics of video game versus tabletop gaming. For example, Turbine wanted DDO to use a real-time fight engine, a winner in tabletop D & D uses a turn-based system. This meant considerable changes in the handling of combat and character skills; differences include increased hit possibilities in a round, increased spell casting resources, and the use of a spell point system instead of spell slots. Other differences, not mandated by the differences by real-time versus turn-based systems include: magical items are at a lower cost (averaging 1/8 of the tabletop D & D prices), characters-have Higher stats , and offensive effects created by characters do not harm their allies.

Story

After creating a player character (PC), a player begins shipwrecked on the shores of Korthos Island. The people of the Sahuagin on Korthos Island. Jeets, Cellimas, and Talbron The White Dragon Aussircaex is being controlled by a Mindflayer Creature through the use of a Mindsunder Artifact, and is plaguing the island. Once the PC destroys the Mindsunder Artifact, Aussircaex destroys the Mindflayer and frees Korthos Island, ending Sahuagin rule. After achieving success in Korthos Island, the player is sent to Stormreach.

From that point, Stormreach revolves around the game. The player has to save the city from many threats, including:

• Giants attempt to regain mastery over the city of Stormreach and the continent of Xen’drik.
• The reopening of the gate to Xoriat .
• The Black Abbot and his minions of Khyber (Eberron) and other undead attempt to gain power over Xen’drik.
• Devils from Shavarath attempt to invade and conquer Eberron.
• Pirates attempt to gain a foothold in House Deneith before conquering Stormreach.
• Droaam (an army of Medusas, orcs, kobolds, and gnolls) is trying to play games with the lords of Stormreach.
• Quori, from the Plane of Nightmares, invades peoples’ minds and uses them as hosts on the material plane.
• The Lord of Blades takes over a quori creation forge under Stormreach and tries to wipe out all living breeds.
• The Master Artificer Toven tries to destroy the souls of all warforged in Xen’drik.

Gameplay

DDO is an action role-playing game with real-time combat. The camera follows the player and can be adjusted to view surroundings, or can be changed to a first-person perspective. The game can be controlled by keyboard or gamepad , with the ability to remap actions to suit the player. Items and actions on the screen. Characters move in 3D via directional keys and may dodge long range attacks. A party system emphasizes multiple players forming groups, by accessing the grouping panel. Players interact via screen chat windows, or by voice chat among party members.

Progression

Progress is defined by completing questions and leveling up . After creating a character, players are required to go through a tutorial, and then receive quests from non-player characters. After accumulating enough experience points through quests, the character gains a level, which grants access to feats, spells, and skills. The game initially limited to a maximum level of 10. ^[1] Each module has added quests and areas. Unlike most other RPGs, experience points are not gained by killing monsters, but rather by completing quests. ^[1] [2] Another difference is that characters do not automatically heal from damage, but instead must visit.^[3]

Quests

Quests in DDO are organized by character level, difficulty, length, and pattern. Each quest has a base level, with the XP reward lessened if any of the members are above that level. They are not able to start a quest, but they are able to join a party. The ability to be “powerleveled”, and get significantly less XP. ^{[ quote needed ]}

Most quests have an item or monetary reward when completed, and the character needs to be rewarded. Some dungeons require several visits to the quest to complete the entire quest chain. Speaking to the quest giver allows players to repeat the quest, and each time to reduce the amount of XP and loot awarded. Once again, they are completed, the character will attract the attention of the bosses, who will give special rewards, such as long-lasting spells or exclusive items, and in some cases, unlocking special races or classes (which can also be purchased through the DDO Store ). ^{[ quote needed ]}

Quests are narrated by a Dungeon Master , with some voiceover work done by D & D co-creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson . ^[4] Gygax narrated the “Delera’s Tomb” quest chain, and a special shrine area of ​​the graveyard was added in his memory. A mid-level quest chain features Arneson. In March 2014, Ed Greenwood , the creator of Forgotten Realms, became the narrator for DDO’s version of his Forgotten Realms module Haunted Halls of Eveningstar. ^[5]

The six difficulty levels for quests are: solo, casual, normal, hard, elite, and epic. Epic quests are further divided into normal epic, epic hard and Epic Elite. Solo and epic are only available on a small number of quests; These are the only questions you have to answer. All difficulty levels give an XP bonus the first time the elite gives a much higher bonus. Higher difficulty levels provide a more powerful experience with the players, with more powerful spells and traps. The quality of the loot (items, equipment, etc.) ^{[ quote needed ]}

Casual level offers decreased XP and loot, with some powerful items not appearing in casual at all. Is is is is,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,. ^{[ quote needed ]}

Sagas

Added with Update 19, provide extra experience or item bonuses just for completing the required quests. There are 6 sagas, ^[6] with different bonuses depending on what difficulty setting they are attempted on. Provide an incentive for complete questlines. ^[7]

Monster manual

Added with Update 15, the Monster Manual provides bonuses for killing a certain number of monsters as well as new types of monsters. Character deeds give bonuses of experience depending on the number of monsters killed of a certain type, while account deeds provide bonuses of Astral Shards for use in the Shard Exchange, or Jewels of Fortune which increase the level of loot you get from quest chests. Once all accounts have been accomplished for a certain type of creature, players are allowed to see the total amount of Hit Points that type of creature has. The Monster Manual is exclusive to VIP members, or can be purchased from the DDO store. ^[8]

Features

DDO is an instanced game, where each party receives a private “copy” of a dungeon for their own use. Marketing, socializing, and questing are done in community areas.

The game is available in English. The French and German localized versions have been discontinued. ^[9]

On September 9, 2009, DDO became free to play, with a micro-transaction store; can gain VIP status by paying a subscription fee, which will be added every month. A free player’s first micro-transaction converts them to a “Premium player” with additional perks (though less than those of a “VIP”). ^[10]

There are eight DDO game servers , named after geographical aspects or organizations of Eberron. Standing Stone Games deploys the game and monitors daily operations of all servers.

The servers used to be geographically distributed, with 14 in North America, 5 in Europe, with others in China and Japan. There were no servers for the Southern Hemisphere market. The game distributed in Australia by Atari was the US version. The servers in North America were operated by Turbine, while those in Europe were maintained by Codemasters and Alchemic Dream. In China, the game was operated by Shanda , and Japan by Sakura Internet. When the European servers went offline in 2010, they were able to transfer their characters to the American servers.

Characters

Races and classes

PC races include: Drow , Dwarves , Gnomes , ^[11] Half-Elves , Half-orcs , Halflings , Elves , Humans , Dragonborn , and Warforged . ^[12] The Drow must be unlocked in the game via earning favor by questing, or purchased. Aasimar, Dragonborn, Gnome, Half-elf, Half-orc, and Warforged races are available for subscribers, or can be purchased.

The Shadowfell Conspiracy Expansion introduced 4 variant races called Iconic Heroes: Bladeforged, Purple Dragon Knight, Shadar-kai, and Sun Elf. ^[13] Deep Gnome and Aasimar Scourge were added later. ^[11] These races must be purchased. They require the player to start a certain class. If the PC decides to follow the path Iconic Hero is designed for, all 15 levels will be taken in this class. After level 1, however, they are free.

There are 14 playable classes open to all races. ^[14] Players choose an initial class, but do not have to remain in that class. The Favored Souls and Artificers must be unlocked or purchased, while Monks, Warlocks and Druids are premium classes.

Multiclassing: A character can take levels in up to 3 different classes. There are no experience penalties for multiclass characters. Apart from alignment, there are no restrictions on multi-class combinations.

At the character creation screen, the player is allowed to choose a path to customize their stats . Choosing a path automatically Gives the character feats When They gain level. “Veteran Status” (purchased or unlocked via gameplay) allows a player to start a character at level 4 or level 7 instead of level 1. ^[15] Iconic Heroes can start at level 15.

Feat, skill, and enhancement system

Progressive systems are in place in DDO providing a variety of characters. Feats are special abilities that grant an additional character actions or abilities. Can be increased to give higher bonuses or satisfy prerequisites. Enhancements can be chosen to increase feats and class-based abilities.

Feats are divided into regular and class feats. Regular feats are available to any class, but classifies by specific classes. Every class is granted at least one feat during character creation, as well as one every third level.

Skills , such as one’s ability to jump or find secret doors, are increased when a new level is gained. Each skill has a ruling attribute, which may apply to a bonus or penalty. Some skills are limited to success or failure, while others give incremental bonuses to each skill point. A character’s skills are based on class, with cross-class skills costing twice as much to increase. The number of skill points can be distributed by the intelligence attribute.

Enhancements, a mechanic which does not exist in the tabletop version, further customize characters. Levels have five-thirds, and each tier reaches grants on “action point”, for a total of four points per level. These can be used in enhancement trees to provide bonuses to skills or special abilities. Each class has a certain number of enhancement trees to further enhance the PC. A player is given a total of 80 enhancement points through level 20. ^[16]

Epic levels / destinies

Epic levels and Destinies are added with Update 14.

Epic destinies XP equivalent of XP Epic Levels. In the case of a particular destiny, an action point is given that can only be spent in that epic destiny. A player can earn a total of 24 action points in a tree, with only one destiny active at one time. A player may choose to switch to an adjacent destiny on the epic destiny map to a certain number of levels have been achieved, or by purchasing a special item from the DDO . A player is given 3 total of 3 Epic Destiny is not longer active, providing more than that. ^[17]

Reincarnation

Reincarnation is a game mechanic Allowing PCs to Either respective Their Existing character (select different feats skills gold) gold to sacrifice experience and start the character anew was lower level (new life) in return for an extra Ability (a bonus past-life feat). Players have access to several types of reincarnation: lesser, true (heroic or iconic), and epic. ^[18]

Lesser reincarnation allows players to change the appearance of their character, re-spend their ability points, change their feats, reallocate skill points, redo their spell selection, or select a new path. They do not lose any experience or levels through lesser reincarnation. After re-leveling, the player can re-allocate earned enhancement points. Lesser Reincarnation also increases the starting build points from 28 to 32 for non-Drow characters. ^{[ quote needed ]}

True reincarnation is only available for level 20 characters for standard races or level 30 for iconic races. It completely erases the character as it was. A special reincarnation bank cache is created to hold anything from the PC’s backpack or equipment, to be retrieved whenever the player wishes. This reincarnation upgrades the character’s build from the previous build point (eg from 28 or 32 to 34, and 34 to 36), allowing higher starting ability points. The player is free to select a new race. Ultimately, this allows the player to make an entirely new, stronger character. ^{[ quote needed ]}

Epic reincarnation is only available at the cap level. Characters lose their epic experience and start at level 20, receiving an epic past life feat.

Development

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach was developed by Turbine over two years. The first prototype and concept were done by Jason Booth, Dan Ogles, Cardell Kerr, Ken Troop, and Michael Sheidow, in coordination with Wizards of the Coast , the publisher of Dungeons & Dragons . Gary Gygax provided some narration before his death. ^[19]

On August 1, 2005, Turbine feels invitations to people interested in participating in the public alpha test . On November 1, 2005, Turbine announced that the public beta test was open. ^[20] On November 22, 2005, Turbine announced that each copy of the January 2006 issue of PC gamer magazine would contain a key to gain access to the beta. Turbine, in association with Fileplanet and IGN , completed three public stress tests of the game, with the last ending on February 12, 2006.

Release

After testing full WAS a special Head Start event Began on February 24, For Those Who pre-ordered, with the game opening to the public on February 28. ^[21] As of April 2008, There Were less than 100,000 Subscribers for the game. ^[22] In June 2009, DDO reopened beta testing, in preparation for their new free-to-play subscription structure. ^[23]

Post-release modules

Turbine Originally released major updates have happy modules, in keeping with the Module concept in D & D . Additional content was released between modules as updates. Responding to player feedback that the interim updates did not provide enough new content, the development team stopped releasing them, beginning with Module 5, instead focusing on creating larger modules. Prior to the launch of DDO: Eberron Unlimited , there was a 10-month content gap. ^{[ quote needed ]}

On June 9, 2009, the official D & D Online website annoncé That Dungeons & Dragons Online Would subscriptionless convert to a “free to play” game for players in North America, under the new name Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited . The level cap would be increased to level 20 and free users would have access to the majority of game content; some features would have been purchased with Turbine gold points unlocked through play. There would be more points, Turbine points. Closed beta registration opened on June 9, 2009. The game and contents were free to download on September 1 for members and September 9 for the general North American public. ^[24]

On December 19, 2016, it was announced that Turbine would be developed, rather than being developed under the name Standing Stone Games, the staff of which would be ex-Turbine. The publishing of the game would transfer from Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to Daybreak Game Company . While a reason was not given for the transition, it was assured that the game would continue with new development. ^[25]

expansions

• Turbine presented its first “Menace of the Underdark” expansion module at the PAX East Convention in April 2012, ^[26] before releasing it in June. ^[27] The expansion has the highest status and the druid class. ^[28]

• Shadowfell Conspiracy, DDO’s second expansion, was announced in February 2013, ^[29] and released in August. It has been expanded to a new level, added 4 new races (iconic heroes) and new adventure pack located in Cormyr .

• With the third expansion, Mists of Ravenloft , released in December 2017, ^[30] players venture to the lands of Barovia and ultimately fight Strahd von Zarovich . Additional features include the Aasimar race in two flavors, the Vistani knife fighter, or Sentient weapons .

Awards and reception

• IGN ranked Dungeons & Dragons Online No. 11 on their list of “The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time” in 2014. ^[46]Freebie Award: Best Free-to-Play-MMORPG (2009) – RPGLand.com RPGs of the Year 2009 ^[38]
• Best Free to Play MMO (2009) – MMORPG.com 2009 Awards ^[39]
• Best Free to Play Game (2009) – Tentonhammer.com Best of 2009 Awards ^[40]
• Best Multiplayer Game – 2006 British Academy Video Games Awards ^[41]
• Most Anticipated Game – 2005 MMORPG.COM Reader’s Choice Awards ^[42]
• Best Persistent World Game – IGN.com Best of 2006 Awards ^[43]
• Nominee – Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year – 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards ^[44]
• Third Prize, Best Graphics (Golden JOL 2006) ^[45]
• Third Prize – Public’s Award (Golden JOL 2006) ^[45]

Lawsuits

Turbine vs Atari lawsuit

On August 24, 2009, Turbine, Inc. filed lawsuit against Atari claiming a breach of a licensing agreement for Dungeons & Dragons . The book is six years over six years, including contract breaches, a lack of promotion and distribution, and an attempt to gain additional revenue from Turbine’s licensing of the D & D properties. In addition, Turbine claims that many of the maneuvers by Atari were designed to either undercut the launch of Dungeons & Dragons: Eberron Unlimited or help Atari launch its own competing MMO. ^[47] Atari filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and also filed a separate complaint to recover money from the independent third party audit of Turbine. ^[48]The case was settled out of court in 2011. ^[49]

Treehouse Avatar Technologies Patent Lawsuit

Ontario-based web services company Treehouse Avatar Technologies Inc. filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Turbine, Inc., which claimed Dungeons & Dragons Online had violated United States Patent No. 8,180,858 (Method And System For Presenting Data Over A Network Based On Network User Choices And Collecting Real-Time Related Data To Said Choices), which was awarded on May 15, 2012 to Treehouse’s parent company WiLAN . ^[50] [51] Turbine settled the lawsuit by licensing WiLAN’s technology. ^{[52] [53] [54]}

References