Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Goes Gold

[Melbosa]

Source: http://ve3d.ign.com/articles/688/688257p1.html

February 13, 2006 - The latest contender in the massively overcrowded massively multiplayer online gaming market, Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, has now gone gold and should be going live at the end of this month:



   Turbine, Inc. announced today that DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach has gone gold and is in final production. The world's first online roleplaying game based on the legendary pen and paper DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game, and voted the "most-anticipated MMO," by IGN.com readers, is currently scheduled to ship on February 28, 2006. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc.



   Customers who preorder DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach will receive exclusive access to the game days ahead of the official release and a free Beta pass for up to 10 days to try the game (the Beta will be officially ending February 20, 2006). Customers will also be given a +1 in-game amulet for added defense during combat and a special limited-edition poster featuring the red dragon.



   "We're thrilled to have developed a game that appeals to massively multiplayer players, as well as fans of the original pen-and-paper game," said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "We also want to thank the 300,000 players that registered for the Beta. We could not have done this without their support."



   "We're extremely excited to see the anticipation building for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE, and with the upcoming launch, old and new fans will be able to experience the magic of this extraordinary game," said Jeff Burdeen, vice president for the Hasbro Properties Group.



   Developed by Turbine and published by Atari Inc., DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach is the first and only online roleplaying game based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS brand from Wizards of the Coast, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. This unique online world features highly customizable characters built from authentic D&D races, abilities, skills, and feats; real-time action combat; dangerous dungeons with devious traps; hand-crafted, private adventures; monsters and stories from the action-packed and intrigue-laced Eberron campaign setting; and award-winning visuals.



One could easily see and do all there was to see and do in the beta in under three weeks, so here's hoping the retail version has dramatically more content.

-- Andrew Burnes

[Shayne]

I cant help but shudder at this.  Their just isnt a "large" market for another MMORPG.  WoW has a monopoly

[Mr. Analog]

I can't help but notice a growing number of people who are fed bored with the lack of content after level 60, I know a few players now who are considering cancelling their subscriptions because after multiple level 60 characters there isn't a lot of content for them to hit anymore.



I agree that the MMO market is well beyond the saturation point and has hit the status of FPS or RTS games, the only new place to go is the only new place other genres have hit: player generated content. But that is a long way away from current game design.



$0.02

[Shayne]

The only content being added to the game is for level 60s.



Concider this though, it probably takes a development team 6 months from concept to reality for a new dungeon (after balancing, programming, textures, etc) and then its beaten to death a week after release.



I am suprised at the staying power of MMORPGs.  I predicted a quick death, how wrong i was.

[Mr. Analog]

Some of them have staying power (think EverCrack) but I think it's due to the same reasons MUDs are still around:



Creative Human interaction == fun.