A Look Ahead: Producer’s Letter from Tolero 

Greetings! 

I’m Amanda “Tolero” Grow, the Senior Producer for Dungeons & Dragons Online. We have reached an exciting milestone: 2026 is our 20th Anniversary! 

It’s incredible to think there are now multiple generations of players enjoying DDO and we’re so grateful to you for making that possible! Before I talk about our Anniversary and other plans, let’s get new or newer people up to speed on what we’ve been doing recently: 

  • In the summer we returned to Ravenloft with the release of Chill of Ravenloft. This expansion introduced the playable Dhampir species to the game! 
  • Throughout last year we focused HEAVILY on upgrading infrastructure and improving game performance. Special thanks to all of you who helped in the forums and Discord, your work assisted tremendously! We are very happy with the progress made, which can be seen in these images showing a map of “lag spikes” before and after our work, with the “lag” being the red in the images: 

Above image: Before

Above image: After

  • We introduced new 64-bit game worlds, including a new server located in Europe! If you still have characters on the old 32-bit game worlds, make sure to transfer them for free before the 32-bit worlds are retired and closed in the summer of 2027. You can learn more about free transfers here. 
  • We introduced another Seasonal Event to the game called the Symphony of the Fey, where players can earn music and cosmetics in either a hardcore or non-hardcore mode from their home servers.  

Anniversary Chat: 

2026 is our 20th Anniversary and we want to go all out with gifts and things to do!  There’s going to be a new public area which will contain all of the new activities and gifts, including a “memento” cosmetic cloak, a newer version of the Raider’s Reward Box, the Djinni Discovery Boost, and a new way to get fabulous in-game rewards throughout the 20th Anniversary year! More details on that in the coming weeks. 

We’re also introducing a new Archetype called the Arcane Trickster during the anniversary! This is a beloved part of D&D books and we’re excited to bring it to life. Arcane Trickster will be free to VIPs and available in the Store BUT for the first month of its release everyone can come to the Anniversary party to claim it for free! Arcane Trickster hits Lamannia soon. 

The traditional Anniversary event challenge space returns this year, but we want to introduce a new space for a new decade that celebrates DDO’s twenty years of stories. Players will meet their old frienemy, Kor Kaza the Blue Dracolich, and find themselves traveling through time to battle iconic Bosses from the game’s history! This time, however, there’s something suspiciously different about the fights. This new dungeon will have its own rewards and can be played by characters of any level. 

Beyond the Anniversary: 

This Spring we will release a new Quest Pack centering on the story of Draconic interest in the infamous Deck of Many Things! We’ll also introduce a new year of VIP Loyalty Rewards. You can learn more about the VIP Loyalty Reward Program here. The new VIP year brings a very different kind of Mount that hearkens back to a classic and uniquely DDO quest...a memorable Xoriat moment. You’ll see. 

Our expansion this summer brings to life part of the Dungeons & Dragons book “Out of the Abyss”, particularly the latter half, as you tackle the Demon Lords escaping The Underdark. Players will go face-to-face with the absolute legend itself: the Demogorgon! Other iconic D&D creatures will also make an inaugural appearance along with the playable character race the Duergar, dwarves found in The Underdark. This next expansion brings the game to a level cap of 36! 

The Latter Half of the Year: 

In the fall we expect to debut another live event  similar to 2025’s Symphony of the Fey, including a “Hardcore” mode with leaderboards! The Order of the Guardians have returned and need your help dealing with a different Dreadlord trying to escape its Ravenloft Domain of Dread. 

Last but not least, Drow will get a visual update toward the end of the year to refresh their fidelity,  make small changes to their animations, along with new character creation options such as new hair styles and beyond. Players can expect this kind of refresh to happen to other older playable character races in the coming years, and we’ll let you know as each one gets slated for a revisit.

(Above: Intro cinematic concept art, 2005)

Personal thoughts on 20 Years: 

This was honestly the hardest part of my Producer’s letter to write this year! Like, where to begin talking about the game and community that’s been a part of my life for two whole decades!?  

I was like “what in particular should I talk about??” Should I talk about the little nostalgic things, like the way the big upright sarcophagus breakables have such a deeply satisfying feel when you smash them? Or about my all-time favorite quests (which are incidentally Rainbow in the Dark, Stormcleave, White Plume Mountain, An Invitation To Dinner, Missing, Needle in a Fey Stack, The Lords of Dust, The Five Fangs, and Prison of the Planes)? Or maybe behind the scenes memories of development -- like the fact that we had considered a plotline that never got carried out where Celimas turns into an Antipaladin? Or maybe unsolved mysteries, like how none of us at the office can figure out the identity of DDO’s original Dungeon Master?  But I think THE best part about DDO is its players! They mean everything to us.  

So, instead, I’d like to open the floor to YOU to talk about YOUR most important, nostalgic, and/or fond memories of DDO. The times playing with friends, family, and static groups. The guilds who have made a difference. The moments that stick with you. Hearing the joy from these many years is irreplaceable, and something we will always treasure. 

Thank you for being a part of DDO’s story! Hands down, the most important part of it. 

With Sincerity & Infinite Gratitude  

Amanda “Tolero” Grow