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DDOcast: Wednesday Update

Wednesday Update

Hi everyone!  Been busy this week, so just now getting to update the web site.

But, this is also probably the first day I've actually had some stuff to pass along!  It appears that my concerns over communication post-Eberron-Unlimited-announcement is coming true...those forums are looking pretty quiet when it comes to news publicly disclosed by Turbine.

However, we've got a couple of biggies today!

Favored Soul:

Probably the "biggest announcement" is that the next class coming to DDO is indeed the Favored Soul!  Think of the FvS as the Sorcerer of the healing class, with limited spell choices but more spell points and other benefits.  Word comes in an official Eberron Unlimited update from Turbine released to the press today and posted on DDO.com (LINK):

Turbine unveils new content!


TURBINE unveils new content coming to Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Eberron Unlimited™

Turbine, Inc. today unveiled the new content coming to Dungeons & Dragons Online®:  Eberron Unlimited™ (DDO Unlimited). Launching later this summer, DDO Unlimited will introduce an innovative new pricing model that allows players to download and play for free, purchasing adventure packs, items, and account services a la carte from the new DDO Store, or to subscribe to get unlimited access to all of the game’s content. Players interested in getting a sneak peak of the new DDO Unlimited can sign up for a chance to participate in the Beta program at http://www.ddo.com.

The new upgrades to DDO Unlimited include:

New Player Class:  Players can now create characters using DDO Unlimited’s newest class, Favored Soul.  Favored souls draw on divine magic to both heal and destroy.  Like clerics, favored souls have access to powerful healing spells, but they are also more skilled with weapons than any other spell caster.   Like sorcerers, they get a larger number of spell points than other spell casters and cannot freely switch spells at taverns or rest shrines.

Raised Level Cap: Players can now advance to 20th-level under the D&D® rules. This includes access to new arcane and divine spells, new character abilities, feats, and skills.

New Adventure Packs:

The Plane of Battle -- Players can now travel to the Plane of Shavarath and explore a large wilderness area as they try to infiltrate several fortresses and upset the carefully laid plans of the Devils.

The Crime Syndicate -- Coin Lord Yorrick Amanatu, who controls the Stormreach Guard, wants players to help him eliminate the growing Sharn Syndicate presence in Stormreach.

The Fiercest Combat – This update introduces some exciting enhancements to DDO’s extraordinary combat experience including a new combat feedback and smart targeting system that gives players even more information and control that lets them fully engage in the battle by relying on their wits and reflexes in real time.

Mind-blowing Visuals – Explore DDO’s vivid and dangerous online world featuring some of the most advanced graphics in the industry with the fully deployed DX10 technology that brings the world to life. 

The Return of the Marketplace! – Last year, Turbine held a spectacular live in-game event that resulted in the complete destruction of the Stormreach Marketplace.  The Coin Lords have completed their beautification project and the once desolated Market has been restored to its days as a center for trade, entertainment, and welcome to all who come to Stormreach!

DDO Unlimited is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® franchise of  Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.® (NYSE: HAS),  under license to Infogrames Entertainment S.A.®  Published by Atari, Inc.®, DDO has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more. For the latest information, please visit www.ddo.com.

Dungeons & Dragons Online, Eberron Unlimited, Stormreach, Dungeons & Dragons, D&D, Magic: The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast LLC in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.


The other interesting bit is the additional details about the new Marketplace adventure pack coming in DDO:U.  The Sharn Syndicate, huh?  Sounds good!

So, what the heck is the Favored Soul?  Granted, it'll definitely be changed up some for DDO, but here's a LINK to information about the class on the official Wizards of the Coast web site.

Today's announcement has also received a lot of press writeups.  I can't include all of them here, especially since they are all mostly the same, but here's a few links that you might want to consider leaving comments on to let them know you care!

Kotaku

Massively

Gaming Today

Also, IGN.com mentions DDO in a new writeup about MMO's going Free to Play and trying to find new revenue streams.  Here's a LINK.

Finally, TenTonHammer had an interesting chat on June 19th with the Paizes.  I'm not sure I gave this one as much attention as it deserves, since TTH asks some really "tough" questions and gets some very good answers from them.  Here's a LINK to the article.

Beta Talk:

Here's the latest word from Tolero on DDO.com about the Beta invite process, for those of you still waiting for an invite:

Waves are still being sent out. In particular, it seems there are users who had either outdated or incorrect contact info in their billing account. Make sure you keep this up to date, as this is our primary method of contacting you with account problems (or opportunities like the beta).

Also, please note that if you signed up using the website, you may receive a "free to play" key. This is not the same as a VIP invite, and if you beta with the "free to play" invite, you may not have access to your VIP characters.

The Status of Europe:

VERY interesting news from Codemasters today...looks like they will not be getting the DDO Store (well, unless they are, heh).  Basically, Codemasters copied the same announcement seen above by Turbine, but replaced a bunch of Eberron Unlimited wordage with Mod 9 (remember that? It's the mod coming out in February 2009...)

EN

Turbine and Codemasters Online unveil new content coming to Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™

Turbine, Inc. and Codemasters Online today unveiled the new content coming to Dungeons & Dragons Online®: Stormreach™ (DDO). Launching later this summer, Module 9, “The Plane of Battle” will introduce new free content to the world of Eberron for DDO subscribers to experience.




Here's a LINK to the announcement on DDO-Europe.com.  Now, this might not mean all that much, since we've already been told that they plan at the moment to stick with calling the update Mod 9 and not going with the DDO Store.  They're definitely discussing things with Turbine, so this could just be more PR stuff that will change once they work out a deal, but today's announcement further makes it seem like DDO-Europe will NOT be getting the DDO Store. 

To back this up, DNote also says:

Okay, I can't answer all the questions because the NDA is still in effect as far as I'm aware, this was a planned announcement for Mod 9 and in the case of the NA service, Eberron Unlimited as well.

This is the terminology we've been using internally...

Eberron Unlimited (DDO:U) - The new store and the free player experience

Stormreach (DDO) - The complete game minus DDO:U, so what you have now and what subscribers in Europe will have when Mod 9 comes out

Module 9 - The Plane of Battle, the new class and some other things that not directly part of DDO:U

Also, I thought this was an interesting quote provided this week on the DDO-Europe forums from DNote:

The NA beta server currently has Module 9 on it, along with the Eberron Unlimited experience (store). There is more content that will be added, which from our notes are labelled as 9.1 and no matter how much more they add between now and live, it will still be Module 9 that goes live on both the EU and NA servers.

I just think that ultimately Codemasters and Turbine are playing business with each other over profit rights to things and Europe will get Eberron Unlimited, including the DDO Store.  But - I could be wrong, and if I am, not having a Free to Play option over on the European servers could (will?) be a kiss of death.  Just my two cents, we'll have to see.

Jerry

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