Hello!

My name is Kate Paiz, Nereid on the Forums, and I am the Producer on DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO). I have worked in the MMO space as a Producer since the summer of 2002, and have been working on DDO since it was in early beta. Now that our one-year anniversary has come and gone, I wanted to introduce myself and reflect back on the amazing year we've had.

This was a huge year for us - we are incredibly proud of DDO. One of our goals was to make an MMO that stands out from the rest, and we really feel like we accomplished that. Our fast action combat allows you to tumble through traps and spin and slice your way through monsters in your search for loot and experience. The flickering torches, levers and runes, and the rumbling voice of the Dungeon Master escort you through treacherous adventures, and bring to life the heart of the Dungeons & Dragons® experience. We are very pleased with what we accomplished in 2006 to expand and enhance DDO. To see a timeline of our first year visit the end of this letter.

DDO is a unique experience with some of the best combat and action packed dungeons of any MMO to date. In 2007, we are going to continue to set ourselves apart by continuing to deliver game updates on regular cycle. Here is a partial list of the very cool features that we are hoping to release over the next year. Please keep in mind that while these are our goals, development often uncovers unexpected complexities, and there are bound to be changes as we go. We will also change our priorities based on the feedback that our fans provide, as we have done this past year.

Major Additions

• Level Cap Increases – We are raising the level cap to Level 14 in April, and are planning on raising it again in the fall.
• Monk Class – We have heard your clamor, and are hoping (fingers crossed) to have the Monks out for the fall.
• Half-Orc & Half-Elf Race – Were you hoping for a little more diversity in playable races, and perhaps a tusk or two? Keep an eye out towards the end of the year.
• Crafting – Are you wondering what to do with all your gold and merchant fodder items? Don’t worry, crafting is coming! Crafting will focus around letting players make useful items out of loot and other resources and we’re targeting late Fall of this year for its release.
• Guild Housing – Another often requested feature, Guild Housing is something we are working on for late this year or early next year. Housing will provide Guilds with a home base in the city, where they can display their accolades and possibly purchase conveniences for Guild members like a Tavern keep or a Guild Bank Manager.

Improvements on Existing Features

• Advancement Improvements – We will be releasing a new enhancement system in which you will be able to exchange action points for enhancements without ever having to give up any. You can choose to specialize in a few, powerful enhancements, or have lots of diversity with these changes.
• Collectibles Improvements – We really like the Collectables mechanic, but feel like it needs some work, especially around the rewards, so expect some revision this year.
• Landscape Quest System – We are revisiting the way our landscapes work, and are very excited about applying a new quest technology to our existing landscapes. There are 3 new types of landscape quests: Slayer, Explorer, and Rare Encounter, and we'll be telling you more about this soon.
• Titles – You’ll be able to unlock titles by doing the things you always do, to help differentiate you from all the others of your class –more details on this will be coming later in the summer.

New Content

• Gianthold Adventure Area – This Spring, you’ll explore the strange and hostile Gianthold area, and learn the secrets of the Stormreaver…
• New Dragons – Putting the “S” in Dungeons & DragonS Online – You’ll have to combat the new Named Juvenile Black, Blue and White Dragon in the Gianthold Adventure Area to unlock the Stormreaver.
• Litany of the Dead, Part III – At last, you can wage war against the final Vampire and the Black Abbot Lich himself!

Social / UI Improvements

• Guild & Friends Improvements – We have a lot of ideas for how to improve these features, and will take some time to focus on them and get you better social tools to make and keep friends.
• Item Accessibility – Tired of trying to unpuzzle which item bonuses stack with which? Unless you are a D&D® rules god, this revision should take some of the mystery out of our items, so you know which are great for you and which are merchant fodder.
• Expect a lot of tweaks, changes, and all out improvements over the year.

I will be updating you periodically over the course of the year as our plans firm up and let you know which features and content can be expected in which releases. It’s been a pleasure creating the game up to this point, and we’re looking forward to having another great year in 2007. DDO is one of the most exciting combat and dungeon MMOs there is and I hope you continue to enjoy DDO as much as we do. Thanks for taking the time to read this, and I’ll see you in game!

-Kate

Timeline of the last year in DDO:

• February 28, 2006 – LAUNCH!
• In April, we introduced the Vault of Night storyline and the Red Dragon Raid boss, along with a handful of other dungeons and 2 new monster species (Red Dragon & Vampire).
• In May, we began to respond to the community’s concern that we did not have enough Solo content, and so started our year-long focus on the solo experience by releasing three level 1 solo dungeons.
• In June, we greatly expanded on the solo-able experience by creating a new difficulty level of “Solo” and applied it to the Harbor dungeons.
• July saw the release of our second Module, which introduced the Restless Isles, Twilight Forge story arc, the Favor System, and a new playable race, the Drow. July also introduced 3 new monsters species (Mindflayer, Ogre Mage, and Wild Man), and the feared Warforged Titan Raid boss.
• The Litany of the Dead, Part 1 was released in August, and started the Necropolis story arc while introducing another 2 new monster species (Mummy, Lich).
• In September, we stayed true to our monthly releases of content with 5 new adventures throughout Stormreach and 1 new monster species (Mummy Soldier).
• On October 25^th, we released one of the largest free MMO updates in the industry. The Demon Sands Module included a huge Desert landscape area and a new city area called Zawabi’s Refuge, as well as a long list of new features and improvements. Some highlights include: the Marilith raid, level cap increased to level 12, 33 new spells, 6 new feats, 4 new monster species (Efreet, Djinni, Rakshasa, and Gnoll), the Auction House system, 2 types of Player versus Player combat (light-weight, free-for-all Tavern Brawls, and team-based Arena Battles), major combat system adjustments, and more solo dungeons.
• In November, we responded directly to community feedback and made changes to the Death Penalty system, to reduce the death penalty, especially at Levels 11 and 12, and to return more XP lost from death when using a resurrection shrine. We also adjusted the fees charged by the Auctions Systems, especially around using the Buyout feature.
• In December, we continued our monthly game releases, and introduced 6 new adventures in and around Stormreach.
• In January, we released Litany of the Dead Part 2 which included 5 new adventures and XP Debt Decay feature, which allows XP Debt accrued from dying to disappear slowly while in town or logged off.