So a lot of talk has been bantered about recently in the MMO commmunity about the upcoming Dungeons and Dragons Online. I think it goes without saying that Dungeons and Dragons is near and dear to my heart. It was the first Pen and Paper RPG that I ever played, and I started when I was like 10. There have been a lot of changes to the game since then, and I haven’t played on a regular basis for years, but I still get a bit nostalgic whenever I think of it.

Now I love WoW, but there are quite a few aspects of the game that do not appeal to me at all. PVP, for one. The focus on huge raids at end game is another. The new expansion, due out sometime next year, primarily focuses on those two aspects. Outland, the new zone, is a PVP zone – regardless of what kind of server you play on. Most of the new instances (including the instances designed for smaller groups) are in this zone.

The following items are from the D&D Online FAQ.

Will I be able to solo in this game?
Solo content will be available in our game, especially at the lower levels. However, the majority of the content in DDO focuses on party-based adventures. D&D has always been about playing with a group of friends, and this will be reflected by DDO.

Will there be Player vs. Player (PvP) Combat?
Not at release. Cooperative gameplay has always been the main focus of Dungeons & Dragons, and it is the main focus of DDO as well.

Small groups of adventurers. No PVP.

Yeah.

I have a prediction – If they don’t screw up DDO I will most likely be jumping ship when it is released, unless they make some major changes to the WoW expansion. I’m sure that I’ll carry both for a while, but supporting two MMO’s when I’m only playing one really isn’t what I consider to be a fiscally responsible choice. That’s why I left City of Heroes.

Perhaps a non-pixelated update later…

Edited because it’s in the same vein…

Apparently, The Matrix Online is getting a new combat system. Our big complaint about MxO was the combat. It was horrid.

Hrm.