Dungeons & Dragons Online State of the Game

A long overdue “state of the game” article is up on the official Dungeons & Dragons Online website, and it primarily covers the enhancements headed to the game later this year. The first major changes will come via the Update 4: Sentinels patch in April, though there’s a lot more in store for us:

In addition to new content and items we are also working on some exciting new features for DDO. The team is currently busy working on some great additions to the guild system that will let guild members work together to earn valuable rewards and rival guilds compete for status on each server. One of the biggest rewards players will work towards is access to an all new guild housing system, which we are implementing in a cool and unique way. Suffice it to say, we think you will really want to be part of a guild that has earned access to this feature! I can’t say much more about it now, but look for more details in the coming weeks.

Many of you asked for status on new races and classes and I am pleased to be able to share a major announcement today. We are actively working on adding another race to DDO: The Half-Orc! Development is moving along well and as of today it looks very likely you will see a large influx of Half-Orcs into the world of Eberron towards the end of this year. At long last you will be able to play that appearance-challenged but awesomely strong character that you have longed to be. Plus 2 bonus to strength? Yes, Please! Now I know what I’m going to True Reincarnate into in my next life for my main.

On the topic of classes, we are still continuing work on new prestige enhancement to fill out all of the current classes. Our approach continues to be to focus on just one or two classes each cycle until we fill these out. I know you want these to all be done sooner but the logistics of testing and balancing the impact on a class is large so this is likely to continue. A few folks asked about Cleric Domains. I don’t have anything to announce for 2010, but I will say that when it gets to be the Cleric class’s turn to get a polish pass, that is when we will consider these types of additions to the class.

After three years, the Half-Orc has finally been given the green light. Good stuff.