Gamespy doing feature on D&D Online

[Krug]

http://archive.gamespy.com/landing/ddonline/

 

[Henry]

One thing in the Interview that got my attention:

Things are bubbling at that steadily growing, Boston-based [Turbine] studio. With two of its teams working on what are arguably the hottest fantasy properties available -- namely, D&D and Middle-earth -- the position it's in seems quite enviable. I got to visit the studio recently to check out D&D Online, and I got the distinct impression that the guys there live and breathe this stuff. Rulebooks were strewn about, talk of their in-office D&D campaign was vivid and animated, and their enthusiasm for working directly with Wizards of the Coast was hard to hide. Much like it would be to any group of hardcore D&D players, working on D&D Online is a dream come true, to many of the team members. If the final product can reflect this, then we're in for a treat.

This simple paragraph really helped get me interested. If they take a lot of care in it, and given the new paradigms they're going for, I'm hoping for it to be interesting indeed.

 

[Krug]

Playing D&D all day... man what a great job.

 

[Drengy]

Playing D&D all day... man what a great job.

I went to the Turbine Nation event yesterday, and that's exactly what the devs said during the D&D Online session. Most of them have been playing D&D for many years (some back to the red & blue boxed sets) and they are incredibly passionate about the game. After the session, I came out extremely excited about the game, and can hardly wait to play it. Gonna be out by end of 2005 (which, IMO, probably means first half 2006).

The thing they showed-off the most was the combat system. Significantly different than most MMRPGs, where you basically hit auto attack and wait for the monster to die, there is an element of player skill involved - you can aim arrows, dodge, block, etc. Not so fast as to be a twitch game, but not your standard MMRPG either. Should be an excellent differentiator.

There should be a movie posted online soon of the combat action, I'll post here again once I see the link.