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Count me as one of those diehard fans of Massively Multiplayer Roleplaying Games (aka MMORPGs) that has been following the genre since its widespread popularity originated (pun intended) with Ultima Online, and to some extent Meridian 59. I've played nearly every one of the MMORPG games that's come out over the last 8+ years and have in-depth knowledge of what most of the acronyms stand for, from UO to DAoC to SWG to EQ2, and now finally to DDO….

Like most of you out there, I grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. I can still distinctly remember that moment in the bookstore when I was 10 years old and holding out a purple box to my mom, begging her to get me a game that few people had even heard of at that point. And to be honest, I knew very little about it myself. But it wasn't long before I was slaying hobgoblins with the best of them. And it became a regular dream of mine to one day be big and bad enough to take down a red dragon just like the one I read about in The Hobbit. Then came the inevitable birthday presents of the AD&D Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. Not to mention the subscription to Dragon Magazine and the books later on like Unearthed Arcana and Deities & Demigods. These were the tools that allowed me to spend entire Saturday afternoons researching and developing dozens of new characters for the campaigns that I would eventually play. Not to mention the entire world that I developed myself called Ethengar, which I couldn't wait to send my friends into on a regular basis. Everything was there to fuel my imagination and creativity.

Having said all that, it isn't much of stretch to realize that when I eventually heard about a new MMORPG called Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO), I was beyond frenzied about the idea. I became one of those people who would religiously watch for new screenshots from Turbine and look for any comment at all from the Developers on what the game was going to be about. Simply put, I turned into a "fanboi" even without ever playing the game itself. So when I finally got the opportunity to play the game at this summer's PAX Event in Bellevue, WA, and then later in the Beta Test, it was an experience that I knew I wouldn't forget.

Being such a big fan of the Pencil & Paper D&D, I did have my concerns about DDO. For one, I was a bit leary of the fact that they had chosen a fairly unknown world called "Eberron" (I was frankly surprised they hadn't chosen the much more popular Forgotten Realms world). However, after reading "The City of Towers" by Keith Bakern (a review of this excellent novel can be found HERE if you are interested), I realized exactly WHY they had chosen it - because it was so much cooler in a steampunk sort of way than anything else out there. Not only that, but it had unique cultures, races, magic, monsters, and environments that were ripe for Turbine to be a part of developing over the coming years (unlike the fully developed worlds that so many other games had exhaustively covered already). It wasn't long before I had accepted the ideas behind Eberron and learned to appreciate the new world that DDO would be taking place in. More than appreciate actually - one that I now prefer, even when playing a tabletop campaign.

My next concern focused mostly on Turbine's ability to really make this game FEEL like a Dungeons & Dragons experience. Some computer games in the past had managed to make the transition well, such as the old Gold Box Edition games from the late 80's and early 90's, and even Baldur's Gate and more recently Neverwinter Nights. But so many others (I won't name names) proved just how difficult it could be to use the D&D license by creating what can only be described as torturous examples of games that should have never been made. This was in the back of my head when I first started installing the beta version of DDO to my computer. Could Turbine actually pull this off? Was there a good chance that I would be enjoying my time in DDO? Or would I soon be helping to test a game that I would hate and never play when it came time to paying for that monthly subscription?

Thankfully, from the very beginning I can assure all of you that this turned out not to be the case. For me, the most important aspect of DDO had to be that the game would remind me of those good old days with my friends, that it would make me FEEL like I was playing a pencil & paper Dungeons & Dragons Campaign. And this is exactly what I got from the very first screens after loading the game up. Character Creation alone became an area that I found myself spending hours playing around with. Many of the races were there (noted exceptions being the Gnome, Half Elf, and Half Orc, all of which I hope we'll see in an expansion), and the same goes for the D&D Classes that we all know and love (again with the exceptions of the Druid and Monk that I hope to see someday).

At this stage of DDO's development, the creation of your character can be as simple or as complicated as you like - As a default in the current version of beta (3.5), they essentially create a "pre-rolled" character for you, complete with Abilities (Strength, Dexterity, etc), Feats & Skills, and even an Appearance & Name Randomizer (first and last name!). However, if you are anything like me, going this route is practically the same thing as blasphemy, so you'll be glad to know that you can easily go the exact opposite route as well by defining for yourself every single Ability Score, choose every feat, assign every point (based on your Intelligence) to your Skills, and choose the appearance of your character all the way down to the ridge in their nose and the color of their skin (perfect for those that are looking for a Dark Elf).

Playing the game itself is unlike any other MMORPG out on the market today. As you'll quickly discover upon first entering the city of Stormreach (the place where most of DDO takes place), the game has absolutely nothing to do with beating on monsters in one random encounter after another and has everything to do with completing QUESTS. In fact, other than a couple exceptions to the rule, this is actually the ONLY way for your character to even gain experience and levels. From your very first moments, you will find that the entire purpose is to hunt down NPC's that will be willing to give you tasks and jobs. Turbine has even developed their tutorials around the concept by teaching you how to play the game via these quests. Although the majority of activities seem to be centered around classic "dungeons" (at least in the early levels), you'll also find yourself trudging through wilderness environments, warehouses, and many sewers. All of it definitely giving you that authentic D&D feeling because of the amount of thought that Turbine has put into every little detail, even when it comes to the basic things like environmental sounds and music.

Another area that you'll find DDO being completely different from than many other MMORPG's out there is the extreme emphasis on GROUP PLAY - Turbine has taken the roots of their game to heart (i.e. Tabletop D&D) and focused almost every aspect of their game on requiring you to find others to play with. This is clearly not going to be another game that allows you to max out your characters by soloing the entire time. In fact, you'll be hard pressed to find anything to do as a solo player even with the very beginning dungeons (some exceptions are out there, especially in the training dungeons). The entire purpose of this game is to encourage players to join forces as a Cleric and Fighter, or a Rogue and a Bard, or a Wizard and a Barbarian, etc, etc. And with the incredibly fast action-oriented combat that you'll find in DDO, you'll quickly discover exactly why it is important to have a wide variety of classes in your party. Even as a 1st Level Fighter, it doesn't take long for your 33 Hit Points to drop to nothing when you have 4 or 5 (or more) Kobolds beating down on you from all directions (positioning and shields are a critical part of your defense in this game). So knowing that you have a Cleric in your party can make a world of difference in how you approach every encounter. And you'll never look at a Trap or Treasure Chest the same way again once you convince a Rogue to join you for a night under the city.

In the end though, it all comes down to AUTHENTICITY. Does Dungeons & Dragons Online actually look, feel, and play like a game of Dungeons & Dragons? Or is it is just one more cookie-cutter Fantasy MMORPG that could have any name slapped on top of it and not really have anything to do with those experiences and dreams that you had as a kid? My answer to you, at least from my earliest sessions, is that this game could never be mistaken for anything other than D&D, tabletop or otherwise. And that is a good thing, a very good thing.

~Joshua Rowan