The last thing Turbine (and their inspirational partners, Wizards of the Coast) wanted to do was to give the gaming world yet another generic, aimless, newbie-snubbing, player-griefing, stat-grinding MMORPG and stuff it into a vaguely D&D-ish skin. Lead designer Ken Troop likened the experience of MMORPG grief to having a gaggle of jerks barge into a tabletop D&D session, bellowing profanity and scattering the group¡®s dice and figures.
No, the goal was always to give PC gamers a game that truly emulates the imaginative, transporting experience of the classic pen-and-paper RPG, complete with personality-rich locales, carefully balanced party-based adventure/combat, and a meaningful story. Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, takes some promising, heroic strides down that noble, if nerdy, road.
Based on the 3.5 Edition Dungeons & Dragons rules (and set in the Wizards of the Coast campaign fantasy realm of Eberron), Stormreach is rooted in party-based exploration, in the vein of Guild Wars. It also aims to streamline the sometimes alienating experience of the first-time D&Der.
The combat, while taking place in elaborately crafted settings and using a range of unique, fully realized character classes, couldn¡®t be much simpler; at heart, it¡®s hardly more complex or offputting than the click-and-bash mechanics of a Diablo, except that it factors in some timing-based parry/critical-hit aspects... if you care about that kind of thing. If you don¡®t, you needn¡®t sweat it.
Stormreach is all about accessibility, so newcomers needn¡®t fear the dry, sometimes numbing "roll up a character" logjam. The various available character-classes make a difference with their unique skills and spells of course, but they¡®re based on a system akin to charged batteries -- part of the challenge is deciding how and when to use these finite applications, until such time as a rejuvenating shrine can be found in any given area.??? More...
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