So I've been working at Turbine for about a year and a half now, and fiveish months of that have been as a systems designer for Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO). I figure it's about time I give the self-serving sales pitch!

DDO, for those unaware, is an MMO that originally launched in 2006 with a subscription model, and then became the first major western MMO to successfully move to the free-to-play model (so yes, you can go download and play the game for free). You can blame us for proving that such a model works, and works well.

Unlike most MMOs, we've got real-time combat: you click your mouse to swing your weapon. Our rule-set is based on 3.5 edition D&D rules, and it's actually somewhat faithful to them, especially for an MMO - you've got class progression heavily based on what's in the D&D books, many feats and character options translated directly from the books, multiclassing is alive and well, etc. If you know 3.5 D&D, then you'll understand most of DDO's mechanics right off the bat. If not, then there is a bit of a learning curve, but it shouldn't stop you from being able to play. Build flexibility is extremely important to our design: it's possible to stick to a single one of our 12 classes from level 1 to 20, or multiclass so that you have up to three different classes - meaning you could be a level 6/4/10 Rogue/Ranger/Sorcerer if you so desired.

There are no kill-thirty-boars quests - every single quest is an instanced dungeon, with DM narrator. XP is gained by completing quests, not by killing enemies. And yes, soloing is a viable option, due to NPC allies and lots of scaling based on the number of players in a party.


Today we announced our first expansion set, Menace of the Underdark. We're moving to the Forgotten Realms setting, raising the level cap from 20 to 25 (roughly the equivalent of your typical MMO going from 60 to 75), and introducing a new class, the Druid.

Check it out below.