A Letter From the DDO Community Team

Hello all,

As we finish up the first month of DDO, I wanted to send a letter to the community to talk about the Community Relations Team, what we do and what you can expect from us in the future.

Now that the flurry of launch is done and we’re looking to the future of the game, we want to make sure that we are sharing our plans with you and that we are acting on the feedback that you give us. We can’t guarantee that we’ll answer every post – or even half of them – and we can’t guarantee that we make changes based on every piece of feedback. But over time, we want to make it apparent that we listen to our customers when they share it.

Who Are We?
Samera, Gelatinous Cube and I are the team responsible for monitoring the DDO community, through forums, web sites and other activities that involve our customers. Samera and I are your main forum contacts. We’re the ones who will most often be responding to posts and communicating with the Dev Team about your feedback.

Gelatinous Cube is the bad cop around here. He deals with moderation tasks, consuming posts that don’t meet our Code of Conduct and dropping the pseudopod smack on those he deems worthy. He can be found slurping around the forums, dispensing his brand of muculent justice.

What Happens When You Post?
When you post, we read it. We compile feedback reports to the Dev Team to let them know what our community is talking about and meet to discuss where these issues fall in our schedule and priorities. For example, last week’s meeting covered topics such as the Ruins of Threnal changes, Healing Warforged, helmet toggles and more. We also submit feature request from our customers, such as a recent request from the forums for more effects on weapons.

When these things are reported, it does not represent a guarantee that the team will work on any of these particular issues. However, it is our tool for giving the Dev Team insight into the things are customers are discussing, their opinions and their desire for future directions of the game. Often, however, there is agreement and plans are set in motion based on customer feedback. In any business situation, there is even disagreement within the team, in which case we debate the issue – but the primary concern from all parties in the debate is what serves our customers the best.

How Would I Know This?
That’s our biggest issue right now. Despite the efforts we go to in order to represent the community, you have no way of knowing this. So, the hurdle remains for us to better communicate our internal efforts back out to you. We’ve got plans that we are working to follow through on, and you should start seeing us deliver on the feedback soon. In the meantime, we’re doing what we can to step up our efforts every day to communicate back to you.

We’re looking forward to working with you to continue supporting the game and helping this community grow. We hope that you enjoy being a part of it!

__________________
Victor Wachter
Community Relations Manager

Originally Posted by Ziegler Von StrahnSuggstion: When posting fixes, give an explanation behind the fix. Such as with threnal, suddenly deciding that requiring 1 class from the game to finish it, when design philisophy has been the opposite of such.

That's exactly the point we want to get to. The main issue with the Ruins of Threnal change is that we (Community peeps) didn't understand the change as well as we should have before the change went out. We discussed this internally and now we all agree on the need to explain decisions like this. I am not sure it would have made the change any more popular if we had described and explained the decision anymore, but would have reduced the level of angst that ran through community if they knew the reasons it was determined to be a suitable adjustment.

Samera is fixing that right now. She is currently getting the release notes ready for Module 1, and is calling Designers and Engineers over to her desk one-by-one to make sure she writes accurate notes and that we can talk about the update with the knowledge and understanding we need.

__________________
Victor Wachter
Community Relations Manager

Release Notes: March 30, 2006

A game-crashing exploit was fixed.

If you are in the Kidnapper's Refuge immediately prior to a server downtime, you will no longer be locked out of the quest when the server comes back online.

The vast majority of today's downtime was to fix the game crashing exploit. Did you expect me to detail how to do it? 'Cuz I'm not about to do that.

Originally Posted by smaisch
Samera, is DDO planning on placing the patch notes on a pop up when you launch the game any time soon, or are people going to be required to go to the web site to read them?

When the patch notes are short, like today, they will be placed directly in the launcher. When the patch notes are long, like they will be for Module 1, there will be a link in the launcher that directs people to the forum post.

Originally Posted by Sayntfuu
Were you planning on including the changes to dungeons you made as well? Or is this a new form of the guessing game?

The patch notes include everything that happened today. There were no changes made to any dungeons.

As I said above, the patch today mainly dealt with correcting an exploit that would allow players to crash the servers if they did a certain set of things (and no, I am not going to tell you what that set of things was).

WoW Stratics Looking for Movie Maker

Are you talented at making WoW movies? Do you enjoy getting out there and capturing in game events? If so then WoW Stratics is looking for you!

Currently we are looking for individuals that will go out there and capture these new instances, events, or even silly little things that happen in the world of Azeroth.

If this is something that you would be interested in, please feel free to fill out our online application located HERE.

Please remember that all positions are voluntary, you must be at least 18 years old and have the ability to dedicate at least 8 hours a week to Stratics.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Stratics Auto Assault Pre-Order Giveaway

It's that time again and we have some goodies to give away in the second stage of our prize giveaway, the first of this is aimed towards the NA community.

What are we giving away? Glad you asked! For 4 lucky winners we have a Pre-Order box to give away along with some other goodies one being a poster signed by the Dev team!. Whats included in the Pre-Order? Feast your eyes on these:

• An exclusive in game weapon to Pre-Order Pack Owners.
• Exclusive access to final weeks of beta
• Loot bonus - 'Loot' is the spoils of war - weapons, armor, engines and more - stuff that you can use to make your vehicle cooler and meaner!
• Head start – Play days before official release

On top of that, the pre-order box contains a disc which is absolutely loaded to the brim with movies, exclusive screenshots, music, concept art, and more!

To enter all you need to do is answer this simple question: On one weekend in 2075, thousands of families received which code phrase?

All information can be found at http://www.autoassault.com/gameinfo/history.html

To enter just email to aacontests@stratics.com with your answers, it's that simple.

Rules for entry are:

1. Must be 18 yrs and over to enter
2. Stratics has the right, unpon you entering, to pass your full address to NCsoft for the sole purpose of sending the prize(s) listed in this competition.
3. All entries must be received before Midnight PST on April 4th

Winners will be picked at random and will be contacted by email so please have a valid email address, all all entrants must be willing to provide full address details so the prizes can be sent

RELEASE NOTES: March 22, 2006

Caverns of Koromar have been reopened. There is no longer a puzzle to solve in the western dig site, however, the area has become more hazardous and we recommend that you watch your back.

Ruins of Threnal - Southern Ruins:

• New enemies and objectives have been added to the Ruins of Threnal.
• Players will now find locked doors that will impede their progress. Keys can be found in the nearby chests. Be sure to bring a rogue to help you unlock and access them.

Please join us on Wednesday, Mar 29th, for a House of Commons with the developers of Star Wars Galaxies at 5pm PsT / 8pm EsT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado
irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germany
stratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlanta
irc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the Java homepage.

General chat relating to SWG will take place before, during, and after the chat in room #starwars. We hope to see you there!

Signup for the DDO Newsletter!
22-Mar-2006

This month's DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ newsletter contains exclusive content about the Dragon's Vault Module, as well as the new quests coming your way in Turbine's first content update!

If you opted in for contact from Turbine when you signed up for your account or for the forums, just kick back and watch for the newsletter coming soon! If you didn't sign up or are unsure, you can choose to receive it by visiting the signup page! Don't miss out on our first newsletter since launch!

How have DDO fans reacted to the world so far?

Victor: Response has really been great so far. It can be hard to tell from the official forums sometimes, but our interactions with players in the world (incognito, mostly – maybe you grouped with me!) have really been enlightening. Our game is substantially different from the MMOG’s that many are used to but we’re seeing an overwhelmingly positive response from the people actually playing. We took a risk in order to break out of some of the well known constraints of the genre. Right now, that looks like a gamble that’s paying off. We’re proud that we developed a game that doesn’t play like any other MMOG on the market and we’re enjoying seeing thousands of players getting involved in a whole new kind of MMO experience.

In addition, make sure to check out their first installment of in-game fiction based on their own adventures - A Wizard's Tale: Passage to Stormreach - It's a great read, so make sure to check it out!

Dungeons & Dragons Online has been a very long time coming. One could argue that the reason MMOs even exist is because many of today's game developers were yesterday's pen and paper D&D players. The game's legacy is all-pervasive. Its rules and conventions are nigh iconic in the world of RPGs, and the bestiaries of its myriad campaign settings are second only to perhaps Tolkien in defining what we expect from a fantasy world.

All of this makes it very disappointing that D&D Online doesn't have the impact that it should or could have. Turbine, the game's developer (and no newcomer to the MMO field), has attempted to strike close to mark in regards to the game's pen-and-paper legacy, and by doing so seems to have compromised much of what makes modern MMOs compelling and attractive.

Most notable is the game's reliance on group play: the solo game is paper thin, and D&D or not, the MMO genre as a whole has benefited immensely from the inclusion of this kind of content in recent times. To be fair, many of the decisions have overwhelmingly positive effects on the game as a whole -- class roles, for instance, are unique and quite well defined, compared to other MMOs, and when they're at their best, the game's instanced dungeons are more fast paced and engaging than anything you've ever played. But the unyielding adherence to D&D conventions has stricken the game with several shortcomings previously believed to have been done away with in this generation of MMOs.

EVERQUEST HOC CHAT - WEDNESDAY

Please join us on Wednesday, Mar 22nd, for a House of Commons with the developers of EverQuest at 5pm PsT / 8pm EsT in the #StraticsHoC channel on Stratics IRC.

You can connect to one of our IRC servers through the use of your favorite IRC client, such as mIRC, ircle, xchat, or whichever you prefer. Connect to irc.stratics.com port 6668 or whichever server is closest to you:

stratics.frws.com port 6668, USA - Colorado irc.glowfish.de port 6668, EU - Germanystratics.afraidyet.net 6668, USA - Atlantairc.epaxsys.net port 6668, USA - Colorado

You may also connect through our handy Java link which may be found http://chat.stratics.com/content/java/HoC/hoc1start.php" target="_blank" >right here. You must have Java installed to use this which can be downloaded from the http://www.java.com/en/index.jsp" target="_blank" >Java homepage.

General chat relating to EQ will take place before, during, and after the chat in room #EverQuest. We hope to see you there!

Rising Force Online Contest!

Codemasters and RF Online Stratics happily present you our exclusive Rising Force Online (RFO) Contest! We have 5 copies of the game - with all the pre-order extras and signatures of Codemasters' RFO team - to give away. One lucky person will also receive an exclusive limited edition Accretian model with his copy of the game.

The best news is that it's quite easy to enter this contest! All you have to do is tell us in 200 words or less why you should win this contest. Interested to hear more? Then rush over to our Contest Entry page.

RFO is a sci-fi fantasy MMORPG that puts you in the middle of a massive war between three races: Accretia, Bellato and Cora. Accretians are a robot race who exist for the sole purpose of serving their Empire. Bellato are a breed of small humans, renown for their affinity with technology. They can specialise in riding their huge Mechs to the battlefield. Cora are a tall elflike race, honouring their god Decem and making use of their magic and summoning powers. These races wage war against eachother three times a day over the Crag Mines, which provide highly valuable materials imperative to the race's economies.

If you're curious to hear more about RF Online, please do check out RFO Stratics. Our dedicated team there provides you with all the latest news and information about RF Online. You can of course also poke us with any questions you may have at our RF Online Stratics Forums.

Auto Assault Contest

It's that time again and we have some goodies to give away in the first stage of our prize giveaway, the first of this is aimed towards the European community.

What are we giving away? Glad you asked! For 2 lucky winners we have 2 European Pre-Order boxes to give away along with 2 pieces of signed art. Whats included in the Pre-Order? Feast your eyes on these:

• An exclusive in game weapon – The Railgun.


• Exclusive access to final weeks of beta


• Loot bonus


• Head start – Play days before official release

On top of that, the pre-order box contains a disc which is absolutely loaded to the brim with movies, exclusive screenshots, music, concept art, and more!

To enter all you need to do is answer this simple question:

OCD and INC are littered throughout the game but what do they stand for?

All information can be found at http://eu.autoassault.com/game

To enter just email to aacontests@stratics.com with your answers, it's that simple.

Rules for entry are:

1. You can only enter from the EU.

2. Must be over 12 yrs of age, 18 and over if applying from Germany

3. Stratics has the right, unpon you entering, to pass your full address to NCsoft Europe for the sole purpose of sending the prize(s) listed in this competition.

4. All entries must be received before Midnight on March 27th

Winners will be picked at random and will be contacted by email so please have a valid email address, all all entrants must be willing to provide full address details so the prizes can be sent

Monster Profile: The Flesh Render
17-Mar-2006

From the personal journal of Azalai Korias, Elven Wizard

5 Barrakas, 998:

Today we set out to deal with a hobgoblin tribe that has been harassing House Kundarak's operations in the area. We were to broker a peace treaty if possible, in effect bribing the hobgoblins to help guard the Kundarak workers, or eliminate the threat they posed if talks went poorly.

As we approached the hobgoblin encampment, we were surprised when no sentries barred our way. There were no scouts with their wolf packs to announce our presence, and the normal busy hum of a humanoid outpost was conspicuously absent.

The air was still and tainted with the scent of blood - every living thing in the village was dead. Within the main hut, we found the body of their tribal shaman next to a crude summoning circle. The inhabitants of the village had died fighting, but their weapons and armor seemed to have been of little use to them. The reagents and runes used lead me to believe that the shaman foolishly summoned a demon from Shavarath to aid them in their battles, but had lacked the ability to control the creature.

It seems this village no longer poses a threat to House Kundarak, but the creature they summoned still may.

***********************

Fleshrender
Creature Type: Outsider (Evil)
Environment: Any
Attack: Claw, tail, spells, poison
Special Qualities: Damage reduction, fire and cold resistance, poison immunity, spell resistance
Organization: Solitary or pair

Fleshrender. The name does it justice. I remember the first time I saw one, summoned forth from some nether pit of Fernia or Mabar. Actually, my memory of the encounter was brief; most of it centered around the long recovery period in a temple of the Silver Flame. But enough about that. Trust me when I say that I've conducted extensive interviews with those who've dealt with these foes and lived to talk about it. And I'm sure that Polocles, the most forthcoming of my subjects, continues to have a fulfilling life as a counselor to fellow maimed adventurers.

The fleshrender presents a threat that any single man, woman, or warforged of this city would be hard-pressed to survive, much less conquer. The creature's demonic origin offers it a host of protections against spells and magical attacks. Arcane spellcasters are advised to rely on electrical effects such as ball lightning and lightning bolt. Fighters who prefer to use a sword or mace will have no easier time dealing with the render, thanks to its magically tough skin...or hide, or whatever it is that contains its evil spirit. Even worse, should the combatants prove sufficiently skilled or strong to strike the demon, the creature's evil origin also renders it immune to most physical attacks, unless those attacks are blessed by the holy power. In other words, unless your blade or mace is capable of dealing holy damage to the target, the fleshrender will ignore your blows. There are rumors that toughest of these fleshrenders, their dukes and other royalty, can only be wounded by holy cold iron weapons. As with many extraplanar creatures, dismissal and banishment are other options, if you are successful at overcoming the creature's spell resistance and excellent saving throws. Of course, it's an instantaneous victory should the spell succeed.

But what you need to worry most about are its claw attacks: they strike with deadly accuracy, and have a chance to infect the victim with a deadly poison. Even some of the toughest dwarves have fallen victim to it, though to my mind that says as much about the overrated dwarven constitution as it does the efficacy of the fleshrender venom. Then there's the fact that fleshrenders have been known to cast spells as diverse as inflict spells and flame strike. Many different fleshrenders, with titles, names, and authority over some underworld domain, have a variety of puissant arcana at their disposal.

Jeff Anderson Interview with New England Cable News Network
16-Mar-2006

Jeff Anderson, CEO of Turbine, Inc., spoke with the New England Cable News Network shortly after the launch of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™. To see the full interview CLICK HERE.

Dungeons & Dragons Online are four words that go great together, and yet this recently released online role-playing game isn't necessarily the dream come true its name suggests. That's not because D&D Online doesn't do a generally good job in its specific areas of concentration; it does. However, the game's focus on group-based hack-and-slash dungeon crawls comes at the expense of a lot of other elements you might reasonably expect either from a Dungeons & Dragons game or from an online RPG.

D&D Online isn't the sprawling, complicated game that you get in a lot of other online RPGs. It's set in and around the city of Stormreach, so rather than travel to the far corners of a fantasy world, you'll spend a lot of time in dungeons and sewers hidden beneath this seemingly civilized place. It's structured around combat-intensive quests, so rather than blindly exploring an expansive world or countryside, you'll be spending most of your time undertaking meaningful missions with specific objectives. There's no player-versus-player combat and all of the different character classes are combat oriented, as is the gameplay. The combat itself is fairly simple, fast paced, and action packed, occasionally but not usually tactical or strategic. You aren't constantly gaining new skills and abilities, especially since you gain experience points slowly. The point of the game is to play through and enjoy successive quests together with several other players like you. This isn't a game for those who prefer or expect the option to be able to play solo, though it makes quickly finding a player group quite easy.

March 14, 2006 - Turbine is pleased to announce the first module for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO). The Dragon's Vault module will provide players the opportunity to battle the dangerous Vault of Night that is protected by a ferocious guardian – the red dragon! This module, scheduled for release in April, is the first in a series of planned modules that will provide new content and features for DDO, the hit MMOG that launched February 28th and quickly became the fastest growing MMOG in North America.

The Dragon's Vault module contains 15 compelling dungeons and a new large-scale raid feature focusing on a vicious red dragon. The new dungeons provide a variety of additional content for players of all levels in the game. Turbine also declared its plans to release additional modules over time that include new content, features, and other improvements to the hit MMOG.

Early reviews for DDO are enthusiastic. GameDaily.com called it "the newest and best contender for the MMO king title since the release of World of Warcraft" and early impressions from GameSpot.com say the game "combines the beloved, tried-and-true D&D rules in an action-oriented massively multiplayer environment" that "looks and sounds quite impressive."

Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach is currently available in retail stores for $49.99. Additional information and assets can be found at www.ddo.com.

We have a lot of great changes in this update – we’re sure you’ll be pleased to see the return or Redwillow’s Ruins and Tempest Spine, increased guild membership caps, and performance optimizations! Take note though: some of the dungeons have become more challenging, adding to the danger and intrigue of Stomreach. Read on to learn all of the details, and be sure to keep watching for our first content update coming in April.

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• The Guild cap has been increased!
• We have made some changes in Redwillow’s Ruins. The quest is once again available.
• We have made some changes in Tempest Spine. The quest is once again available.

Performance and Stability

• Implemented various server performance optimizations.
• Made some changes to address an issue that would cause characters to rubberband when first trying to move after entering a crowded instance, such as a tavern.
• Your instance should now be your own! Other groups of adventurers should no longer be able to invade your instance.
• Fixed a client crash that could occur when playing in windowed mode.
• Several bugs within the launcher have been resolved. The launcher should also no longer get stuck on “Examine Programs.”
• Settable connection speed for 56k modem users. This update contains some initial network optimizations which will improve the play experience of users without broadband connections. These optimizations can now be enabled by explicitly setting your connection speed in your user preferences. A knowledgebase article with detailed instructions will be posted soon. Please note: we are still working on improving performance for 56k modem users. For the time being players with 56k modems should still avoid resource heavy content.
• Players should now be able to use all of the in-game help request forms and will be notified that their help request has been accepted into the system.
• The Microphone Test in the Audio Options will properly terminate when exiting the Options UI. Some players will still experience a display issue when opening the options panel from the ‘ESC’ pop-up menu: the mic test will sometimes still be shown as on. This is just a display issue and not a functionality issue.

Spells

• Flame Arrow spell will now only be castable inside a dungeon. The arrows produced will also drop from your inventory on exiting the dungeon.

Quests

• The Warforged servant in Gerald Goodblade’s Steal the Healing Elixir quest will now always give you the cask of elixirs once you’ve solved his puzzle.
• Guard Heorogar now has better communication with Gerald Goodblade. He will now be able to accurately determine if you have completed enough tasks for Goodblade to be allowed into the Harbor. Unfortunately this will not help players who have already experienced this.
• Waterworks Quest, Lost Seekers: Venn’s Fate. We have removed the “gather your party safely at the exit” requirement to prevent some players from not receiving credit for quest completion.
• The altar in the Caverns of Korromar will not trigger monsters and open the gate unless you are a Cleric or a Paladin.
• We have made some changes in the Caverns of Korromar - take caution on your next adventure there.
• Some of the optional objectives in the Caverns of Korromar are now required objectives.
• Fixed an issue where certain quest NPCs would only speak to one player at a time.
• Fixed an issue that would prevent quest items from being dropped upon exiting a dungeon.
• Improvements have been made to the way monsters handle movement in outdoor landscapes.

General

• Cloud Spell effects: In a few cases, if you were standing in a cloud spell’s radius the spell’s effect would persist indefinitely. This should no longer be the case.
• All printable characters (for example, punctuation or numbers) are now allowed in the guild Message of the Day.
• We have implemented a potential fix for some of the problems that people have been having with Guild Chat. Please share your feedback on Guild Chat in our forums.

Be sure to keep an eye out for our first content update coming in April!

Important News about the Battlestar Galactica Season Finale

Will Starbuck survive the attack on Caprica? Will Baltar win the election? We don’t know, but we can’t wait to find out! What we do know is DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ will be part of the action! Ads for DDO will run at three different times during the 90 minute broadcast, so set your TiVo for the SciFi channel, 10:00 PM Eastern/Pacific 9:00 PM Central/Mountain, this Friday night, March 10th. Tell your friends to tune in and watch the exciting season finale and the commercial for DDO! Cylons versus Warforged: who would win?

WoW Stratics is currently looking for Content Editors & Reporters!

WoW Stratics News Reporter:

We are looking for people who have a real eye for news. If you enjoy going from website to website, looking for new information about World of WarCraft, then there is a good chance this is the job for you. As a news reporter, you would be responsible for keeping an eye on the official boards for developer posts, or other information that is relevant to World of WarCraft. As well, you should like to check out other World of WarCraft websites for information in which readers have an interest. Applicants should be able to post when the news is made and have basic HTML knowledge.

Reporting not for you? How about A rock and roll star... err a ContentEditor:

With so much being added to WoW every day, we have need for people who are experienced in writing and developing content for a gaming site. All applicants need to be able to work with a schedule, as part of a team, and be able to deliver quality work on time. We need players to help us gather images and descriptions of creatures, NPCs, and items in the game, to write up profession/skill guides, and any other content that might be needed. With all these new instances being released we need to try out these out and gather as much information about them as possible.

HTML knowledge, while not required, would be a great plus.

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Please remember these positions are voluntary and you must be at least 18 years old with the ability to dedicated at least 5 hours a week to WoW Stratics.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in, feel free to fill out our online application located HERE.

In short, there's a whole lot riding on this -- the first D&D MMO.

So... how is it looking? Well, if you come into it expecting a fairly modern MMO experience, you're probably going to be pretty taken aback, and this isn't because it's "old school" in the EverQuest sense. D&D Online is a whole different beast. It's casual-friendly in many regards -- many of the excursions that you and your friends can embark on are fairly short and easy to surmount -- but at the same time, the fact that you seem to be required to have a group to do much of anything is tantamount to a slap in the face to modern MMO design. But again, this isn't because Turbine is trying to take things back to the good ol' days. They're just trying to capture the feel of D&D, and not counting the scant "solo-adventure" modules published by TSR back in the day, D&D is a communal experience.

The more you look at the game's structure, in fact, the less, you realize, it resembles the MMOs that we're used to playing today. At the center of everything, literally and figuratively, is the city of Stormreach. It's the game's only persistent area, and the springboard for all adventures, not to mention the setting for a quite a few. This is where you'll interact with other players, purchase equipment, and acquire quests. The way that it works is interesting; only certain areas of the city are open to you at any one time, requiring you to complete certain quests in order to access other districts. This seems to give the game a definite sense of progression, and has allowed the designers to keep all the quests for each level range within easy reach of the players who need them. The fact that virtually every adventure area is instanced (meaning private to you and your party) makes the game's distinctions even starker. Just like how you'll seldom have someone barge into your living room during a pen-and-paper D&D session, you'll only ever play with those you've chosen to associate with.

It’s impossible not to compare DDO with WoW: after all, the latter game has six million subscribers. The choice for me between the two games is pretty simple. In order to... “enjoy”... the raid endgame of WoW, I had to return home a full hour and a half before regularly scheduled raid times. Then, I’d have to get on a line to enter the game for an hour and a half – likely missing the scheduled raid by five minutes, leaving either waiting another hour on yet another line for a watered-down game of Battlefield 2 or going through the tedious process of leveling an alt. It’s like a [bleep] job, but one you only have a 0.25% chance of getting paid for.

Individual quests in DDO take a maximum of 45 minutes to complete, with most quests (even at higher levels) clocking in at around 15 minutes. Sequences of quests can take a few hours to complete, but if you need to leave in the middle of one, you can pick it up from where you left off.

Travel time is negligible, and finding groups is very easy thanks to the simple and functional group-matching tool and the fact that there is no penalty for grouping. Completing quests is the only way to gain experience, and you will receive the same reward whether you completed it alone or with a full group. This helps to emphasize DDO’s strength – small group co-op play.

DAoC Stratics is very pleased to offer an interview with the community representative for Mythic Entertainment, Sanya!

Tovin: How do you feel instances affect an otherwise persistant world? Will Mythic continue to make extensive use of instances in future expansions?

Sanya: Well, the PR flack in me loves 'em. Players often say that the worst things about MMORPGs are the other players, and they are right. Sometimes you just want to hunt and not be bothered by kill stealing, petty annoyances, d00ds, and other forms of grief.

After you've read it all, head on over to our forums and tell us what you think!

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: STORMREACH
WIN A GAME JUST FOR WATCHING THE TRAILER

The time has come for you to shelve your Dungeon Master's Guide.Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach has finally launched and tocelebrate Xfire is giving away ten copies of the game. To enter,all you have to do is visit the Official Xfire DDO page anddownload the trailer.

Check out the giveaway, details about the upcoming developerchat and all other D & D content here:

Official Xfire Dungeons & Dragons Page:
http://www.xfire.com/xf/modules.php?name=XFire&file=cmspage&body=xf_ddo

Stratics is pleased to announce that we have joined forces with Eurekster, the leading provider of community powered search results to offer dramatically enhanced search capabilities across each of our sites.

The new search boxes are “community powered,” meaning that the order in which they return results will be optimized over time based on each result’s demonstrated relevance to Stratics’ users. Additionally, each search will also query a custom index of MMOG related sites across the web, representing the world’s first MMO specific search engine.

In order to make this new technology as readily accessible as possible, we have also launched a dedicated Stratics Search portal at http://search.stratics.com.

Stratics Central opens its Signatures and Avatars Forum!

That's right! We now have our very own forum for signature and avatar sharing, requesting a personal image, or learning how to create these beautiful works of art!

Here at Stratics Central, we believe in self-expression. And in an online community, there are only two ways to do so:

1. In the discussions you have; and
2. By the signatures you display.

Now, we have described our new forum as such:

Enjoy creating personal banners? Are you a collector of signatures? Then this is the forum for you! Share, discuss, teach, learn... it's all about signatures and avatars, personal banners of all types. Come inside and see the works that help individualize you and make our network more beautiful!

So now... we want to see what is out there! Each and every community has its own style and flair, and it can be seen through your works of art that you create, build, and display. So come show us. Come share and let us see who you are!

This forum is not only for the showing of your pieces, but also for discussing them. Where did the idea come from? What lead you to this image or that? Why this style? What is behind your art, and what do you hope people see? We want to discuss and share the ideas, the thoughts, the reasons behind the images you create. Or behind the images you wear. Do you request certain styles, types, themes? If so, why? Is there a history behind it, or just a vision you see of yourself? Tell us...

Let's discuss the online community forum signatures that become a part of who we are and how other people recognize us behind our keyboards.

Welcome... to Stratics Central. Where we bring the Stratics Network together as one community.

AutumnKiss
Project Manager
Stratics Central

To put it another way: You know those big instanced dungeons that World of Warcraft players spend all their time in? D&D Online consists almost exclusively of this type of content. Secret basement strongholds, elaborate dungeons, ancient catacombs, dank sewers, and much more await you. These each are rated for level, length (short, medium, or long), and difficulty (normal, hard, and elite), and many of them may be repeated successive times at higher difficulty levels. One nice touch is that the quests are interspersed with atmospheric narration from a dungeon master--it sets the mood quite well. Initially you'll have few options for which types of quests you can undertake, but it isn't long before the vastness of Stormreach reveals itself to you, and suddenly there are tons of nonplayer characters willing to send you on their wild goose chases. Quests can be undertaken solo or in groups, and finding a willing group for any quest is pretty simple.

Don't blink or you're dead. D&D combat is fast and action-packed. The basics of the gameplay are easy to get into. You control your character from a third-person perspective and can swing your weapon or defend at the touch of a button. While the combat doesn't necessarily have an ultrasolid feel to it, it's fast-paced and action oriented, so it's not the slow and plodding stuff that's notorious to online RPGs. Some other action-style elements are in here, such as the ability to jump up and mantle over obstacles, and characters run around (and even swim) at a nice, quick pace. While there are a lot of different icons and menus onscreen at first, pop-up help displays and a few basic quests effectively help you get your bearings. Eventually you wind up in a tavern filled with other players (and D&D Online seems to have a healthy player population in it already), and of course, these players can be a good source of information. Possibly because this is a cooperative game by nature, thus far we've found the game's populace to be quite friendly and helpful on the whole.

View the movie

Right-click here to save the 1.8 MB Movie (WMV File) to your hard drive.

For future reference you can also always find this same video in the DDO STRATICS VIDEO GALLERY.

Enjoy!

MORE WoW STRATICS UPDATES!

We have yet another update for our WoW Stratics website!

The MERCHANDISE SECTION of WoW Stratics has been updated to keep you informed on all the latest and greatest WoW items available for purchase!

Heading on over into our forums you will see two new forums that have been added. We now have a USER TESTING FORUM, which gives our readers a spot to test out their signatures. Also a GUIDE RATING FORUM has been added so you, our readers will be able to give feedback on all our guides!

EQ2 Stratics Interviews Community Manager 'Blackguard'

EQ2 Stratics is pleased to present an interview with EQII community mananger, Ryan 'Blackguard' Shwayder!

The interview includes questions about Kingdom of Sky as well as the crafting plans of the future for this exciting game!

Stratics: The recent server mergers have caused some... dissatisfaction among many of the players, due to increased lag and overcrowding reducing the availability of named creatures needed for quests and raids. What are the plans to help alleviate these issues, if any?

Blackguard: We're working on zone performance issues now. Most of the lag issues have already been addressed, but we're continuing to work on them and will do so until we get them resolved. The increased population is a lot healthier for the server overall. As far as the current overcrowding that some people are seeing, we're still watching this one because we think it will alleviate itself as players spread out.

You can find this interview, along with others, on our http://eq2.stratics.com/content/interviews/article_toc.php" target="_blank">interview page. As always, we welcome your comments and input! Head to our forums to give your thoughts!

Win an EQII: Kingdom of Sky Expansion Pack!

What's in Your Backpack?

That's right! We here at Everquest II Stratics want to know what you're carrying around with you as you venture out into the Great Wilderness. Is it food? Clothing? Dry sticks for a warm fire? Rabbit traps? People traps?

Just what is it that you need so much darn space for?!?

Tell us... and you may win an official Everquest II: Kingdom of Sky Expansion Pack!

It's true! Everquest II Stratics is giving away an expansion pack for the top entries!

Send us your stories detailing the insides of your backpacks by email to eq2admin@stratics.com, with the subject line "Everquest II Stratics Contest Entry". Please remember to include your forum username (all entrants must be registered Stratics users). After the submission period ends, we will post the entries for voting by the community. The top two entries will each receive an unopened Everquest II: Kingdom of Sky Expansion Pack, complete with Carnivorous Vine houseplant, map of the Islands, Commemmorative Coin, and 30-day subscription!

So what are the rules? Simple!

• All stories are limited to 2000 words.
• You may include images, however please limit them to a size of 300x300.
• Images do not need to be actual screenshots of your backpacks, but all items must be legitimate gameplay items.
• All entries must abide by the Stratics Rules of Conduct. Any entries found not in compliance will be rejected.
• The deadline for entries is March 8, 2006.
• Beginning March 9, 2006, all entries will be posted for review and voting.
• Voting will end March 16, 2006.
• The winners will be announced on March 17, 2006.

We look forward to seeing what all you carry around with you on your travels... the tissue in case of a runny nose, the spare pair of socks in case your feet get wet, and the extra jelly sandwich in case your tank gets hungry... whatever it is, we want to hear about it!

The Everquest II Stratics Staff

*All ties will be decided by a vote of the Everquest II Stratics Staff
*Everquest II Stratics Staff are ineligible to participate
*This contest is governed under the Stratics Contest Rules, however participants need not be 18 to be eligible to win.

There has always been a feeling of something lost when a role-player must move to the PC to get into a game. A feeling that something is lost, and that they are somehow removed from the fun when it is displayed for them in digital display. In MMORPGs, the community element is there, but all of the high fantasy and deep plotline are lost to the wilds of grinding the same mobs for hours. With the release of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, role-players can breath a long-held sigh of relief. That rift between tabletop gaming and MMORPGs has just been bridged.

Those of you following the Official Forums may be familiar with Sanyi's little utility that lets you work out how you want to create a character withut actually having to reach level 10 and then reroll after realizing you messed up your feat choice at level 3 or something.

Well, now you can download that program here at DDO Stratics! Simply go here to access it, or click the "Downloadable Character Generator" link in the left-hand menu.