Dungeons & Dragons Online -- For Free!

[GM Mad]

There's a bit of a tale involved with this, so here goes. Several months ago I heard reports that the D&D MMO was going free to play. About 2 months ago on a bored Sunday I went and took a look and signed up. I didn't hear anything after that, and forgot about it.

About a month ago I got a mail out of the blue from them and found out what I had signed up for was actually for the Beta. The mail was my invite. So I played it for a couple of days and then forgot about it again. I wasn't all that impressed with the game and definitely wouldn't pay for it.

About a week ago I got another mail. The free version of DDO was going live on the Sept. 9th and because I was in the beta, I could get in early. And so once more I did. The game play was much improved from the beta and I actually felt like I knew what I was doing.

Is it a good game? Eh, that's up to each individual to decide. I personally do like it better than WOW, which I'm doing a free trial for right now. It's a bit more intimate than WOW. When you go into a wilderness area or a dungeon, you and your party, if you have one, are the only characters you run across. Any other players are in their own private areas, so you won't run into other adventurers in those settings. And you can choose how difficult the dungeons are depending on your party size and levels. Some dungeons do include a solo option.

So I've goofed around with this a bit and decided to throw this out if anyone else has any interest or not. Hey, the price is right-- Free! So if you want to try and hook up let me know.

If you do sign up, select the first download option. It'll download the stuff you need right away and you can start faster. The rest of the game will download in the background, but be warned: This is a very large download! The full game eats up 6.5 GB of hard drive space. You best bet is the let the download run when you're going to be away from the computer for a few hours.

You start out on an island and go through a small tutorial dungeon before you get the main village where the first part of the game takes place. Free accounts can create only 2 characters, although you can purchase more slots in the game store. I've got 1 character who just completed the island portion and left, and a 2nd that I haven't even started with yet.

Just an FYI for everyone!

[GM Mad]

Here's some sample pics...

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This is the main screen where you choose which character you're going to play. Free accounts are limited to 2 characters, but there are ways to get more character slots.

The character in question is a 3rd level ranger. What's strange that in addition to levels, you also have a rank. There are 5 ranks in each level, so you start out at level 1 rank 1. When you reach rank 6, you're then 2nd level. Right now she's level 3, rank 13 from strictly solo play.

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Here's a shot from the harbor of Stormreach, the major city you reach once you've gotten past the opening adventure on the island. The adventures and quest can be tough going solo, but they are not impossible either.