'Dungeons & Dragons' goes virtual

When Turbine Games releases "Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach" early next year, executives there are hoping the new creation can reach the untold millions who played and loved the original, paper-based role-playing game.

Turbine's game developers say D&D Online is designed to stay as true as possible to the paper-based version and offers a reasonable online alternative to the more than 4.6 million people still playing D&D just in the United States. The game--in which players create imaginary characters and adventure through fantasy forests, castles and other environs--has been around for more than three decades.

The company has built the online version specifically around the teams of fantasy adventurers that made the original D&D so popular. John Foster, Turbine's director of public relations, said D&D Online requires players to quickly find others with whom to join forces and set out to complete quests.

News.context

What's new:
"Dungeons & Dragons," a decades-old fantasy romp that has attracted millions of players over the years, is getting an online makeover.

Bottom line:
Makers of D&D Online say the game is designed to stay as true as possible to the paper-based version. But some old-timers wonder if the updated D&D can capture the open-ended, imaginative play of the original.

More stories on virtual worlds

That's a sharp contrast from many online games like "EverQuest," "World of Warcraft" and others. They are built with sophisticated socialization features, but they also make it possible for players to spend large amounts of time on their own.

"I think it's a tremendous interpretation of the conventional D&D (role-playing game) experience into an electronic form," said Charles Ryan, the D&D brand manager for the publisher of the paper-based game, a company called Wizards of the Coast.

"Mechanically, it's pretty darned true," Ryan said.

There are no guarantees, of course, that old D&D fans will glom onto the virtual version. For many 20- and 30-somethings, D&D brings up memories of years of regular long evenings spent with friends rolling 20-sided dice, eating bad takeout food and trying to slay the oddest of fantasy beasts.

D&D first came onto the scene in 1974. Originally published by Tactical Studies Rules, or TSR, and called "The Fantasy Game," it sold out its entire hand-built print run of 1,000 games, according to Wizards of the Coast.

In a typical D&D game, a group of players would create imaginary characters such as paladins and thieves in a pretend world managed by a so-called dungeon master. Games would often take place a few hours at a time over months or even years.

It didn't take long before the fantasy role-playing game genre had grown big enough to warrant its own magazine, and in 1976, "Dragon," the first such title, hit newsstands. The first D&D tournament took place the same year.

To players, especially those who grew up with the game, D&D is a trip down memory lane.

"I remember, when the Oakland hills caught on fire (in 1991), driving down to play (D&D) and it was already kind of a weird day," said Larry Edelstein, a San Francisco software engineer. "It was good to go down to the boys and do the same thing we would do every Sunday. It was comforting."

In Edelstein's case, weekly games would last from around 4 in the afternoon until at least 11 p.m. They were run, he said, by a "meticulous" dungeon master, who felt it was important to maintain a storyline the players followed week after week.

Nearly 15 years later, Edelstein said he gets regular reminders of those weekly games, held long before widespread use of the Internet and virtual realities.

"He put notes from the campaigns online," Edelstein said, "and I still find them every time I do a vanity search."

These days, fantasy role-playing is dominated by online games like "World of Warcraft"--which has more than 4 million regular players paying $15 a month for the privilege of regular access to fantasy environments like those D&D popularized.

Yet, as D&D's own 4.6 million users demonstrate, the paper-based game is far from dead.

[Ucidalin]

Pretty True to Game

I have seen a friend play his Beta of DDO. It was pretty cool. Sometimes too true to game there is no instant healing after battle like in DAoC or WoW, this will probably be the biggest challenge for MMO players to deal with. The only other downside I seen was the over use of zoning. With those two issues aside it looks pretty sweet.

[just_some_guy]

Probably won't draw a large audience

I played D&D back in the day, but I don't imagine the online version will draw a large audience.

Looking at the potential players, on the one hand you have the hardcore D&D players who like the completely open-ended table-top game. You cannot provide that sort of experience online, without opening up the game to all kinds of hacks and cheats. There are also class balance issues to sort out (for example, D&D magic users start off weak, but eventually become godly).

On the other hand, you have the players of World of Warcraft and similar games. The big appeal of WoW, compared to previous MMORPGs, is the solo play. While waiting for your friends to login for a big raid, or if you don't have time for the big raid, you can still play the game by yourself. It seems that DDO won't allow this.

[Marcus Westrup]

Don't forget the 40 somethings...

Spent way too much of my college time in the 80's playing this game (instead of homework). I always wondered what the game would look like if "computers" ever became big. ;-)

Maybe I'll send a copy to some of the old gang - now we're spread out over the country there's no way to have a sit-down game anymore.

[vesavius]

this isnt RPing :(

MMOs are a lot of things, but they simply arnt role-playing, and they make a really bad substitute for it imho.

You would be better looking at something like www.ghostorb.com if you want to play PnP RPGs through your PC :)

[Chris Baumgardt]

I will play DDO and WoW

I think this game can be a great addition to both WoW and pen and paper D&D. WoW definitely has a great formula for someone to play solo and have some fun whenever they want without worrying about getting a group together. D&D provides truly open-ended play that is guided by your own group and can be tailored to be exactly what you want it to be. It is also a good way to get a bunch of friends together, face-to-face having a good time.

DDO will be great for all the older D&D players who all have families, jobs, and other interests that make it hard to get together physically and play. I personally have a group that is now scattered across the west coast and DDO looks to be great way for us to get together for a couple hours here and there. Will it replace regular D&D ? No. Will I be spend as much time playing as I do on WoW? No. But, if it gives me a chance to meet up with my friends once in awhile and have some fun like we used to, then I am all for it. I am willing to bet that there is a large percentage of D&D players that are in similar circumstances to myself.

[Junkie Man of Machine]

Big Gap...

It is said that there is over 4.6 million D&D players, but that number for the States, not worldwide.

WOW has worldwide appeal and attention. And the majority of them do have PCs.

The majority or minority of D&D players, don't have a PC.

Second, paying for news books, almost every month, to playing online. Will not draw a lot. Cause you have fight against other influences in the market.

But anyway, good luck.

[vesavius]

dont be silly...

*every* D&D/ RPer I know owns a PC, this is the quintessential geek hobby and geeks = PCs, though whether they will be at all any more interested in DDO then EQ2, WoW, Guild Wars etc I have no idea...

This is a late entry into a saturated market. To be honest the player/ DM created material will be the thing that sells this game in the end. I love this idea and Turbine need to get on it asap if this game is to have any chance of survival against the big guns.

I fully expect DDO to have a slow start but in a year or so to go big.

[vesavius]

This *has* to be a 360 title to survive

In a saturated market, DDO offers nothing new...

It's a bastardisation of Guild Wars and EQ2 and does neither as well as it's parents. It has no cfating, no PvP, a large reliance on numerous seperated instances (a model which has impacted heavily on the community of both GW and City of Heroes)

Two things that will save this in the long run...

1) Player/ DM created material/ dungeons

2) Xbox 360 as a platform. It's already been proven that the 360 will be sharing certain PC game servers, it certainly has the muscle to cope, and it will even have a keyboard for those MMO players who cant let the written word go. Lets face it, DDO could have been made for the 360 generation and it's this system that will bring MMOs into the mainstream. It would be criminal to let WoW steal the flag on this one and get launched first on this platform.

DDO ON THE 360 PLZ :)

[techguy83]

umm sorry

Final Fantasy XI has the title of being the MMORPG on the 360. I have been playing it on my ps2 for a year now, and it rocks. The only downside i see for the 360 is that its Harddrive is only 20GB. My FFXI uses almost hlaf my 40GB now, and that is with a future expansion coming out.

There are other options

I played Neverwinter Nights, from Bioware, for a few years, beginning the day it was released. I played D&D as a kid, and NWN actually re-sparked my interest in the PnP game. I have been buying up books and miniatures ever since.

NWN allows users to create custom content, using a toolset actually built into the game, and even allows DMs to weild godlike powers on public servers. I played on the Social servers where the RPing was pretty good most of the time. The game really held to the basic principles of the D&D game. (The big deal behind DDO, over NWN is that DDO is the first MMORPG to use the 3.5 version PnP rules.)

NWN2 is in development right now by Obsidian. Bioware is developing a new IP called Dragon Age, which though it doesn't use D&D rules, given their fanatic fanbase from NWN2, Baldur's Gate, Jade Empire, etc. is poised to be a major MMORPG player.

I don't know what the story with it is yet, but I am assuming Turbine will attempt to capitalize on the same premise as Everquest and its peers, by charging monthly fees. If so, I will never play it. NWN is, and always has been, free to play. You purchase the CDs for the game, and your expenditure is over. NWN2 is scheduled to be the same. I'm not positive about Dragon Age.

Like I said in the subject, there are other options, and even some that actually feature the elements of the D&D PnP experience.

[bkraut]

Finally!

I haven't seen the beta, but the idea of creating adventures and content, just as in the tabletop is an awesome idea. I have friends all over the country that will be able to play. I tried MMORPGs but IMHO they suck. I want to play a game with a real, live person as DM who can respond on the fly to what my characters do. I can't wait to play!