GDC '08: Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach Updated Impressions

SAN FRANCISCO--It's always a milestone when a massively multiplayer online role-playing game reaches its second anniversary. After all, it's a crowded genre, and quite a number of games aren't fortunate enough to last that long. Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach hasn't exactly set the world on fire, but it's been plugging along steadily. Now with its second anniversary looming, we got an update from senior producer Kate Paiz.

To mark the game's birthday on February 26, Paiz said that one of the initiatives planned is something called price-and-lock. Basically, it's a way to offer players a discount. They can sign up for six-month blocks at $59.94, which breaks down to $9.99 per month, about three dollars less per month than a regular subscription. Both new players and veteran ones can sign up with this package, and they can renew the subscription at that discounted price every six months, so long as they remain an active subscriber.

Paiz also said that the developers are going to shake things up with a "world-changing" live event, though what that will be remains a mystery. She did note that the game has grown and evolved considerably since its launch two years ago. There's twice as much content now than at launch. The level cap was recently bumped to 16, and there are plans to increase it to 20 by year's end.

Future plans include the addition of the monk class. That unarmed fighter is highly popular with players of the pen-and-paper game, as well as other D&D RPGs. The monk is due out in May as part of a new module. In all, the message at GDC is that Dungeons & Dragons Online is still evolving, and D&D fans might want to give it a fresh look soon.