Archive for August, 2011
DDO Staff Picks: September
Read more…
Crafting with…Courtney! DDOcast 11
Courtney makes a great shield!
Day 3: PAX Prime 2011 Media Mix
A picture is worth a thousand words. Enjoy!
[pe2-gallery]
[/pe2-gallery]
Day 2 PAX Prime 2011 Report: Expo Hall Adventures, Interviews, and Artificers
Day 2: Expo Hall, Uber Mice, Interviews and Boardgames!
In the morning we left to have brunch at the Hurricane Café at Keith Baker’s Eberron meet’n’greet along with Marcy Rockwell and her hubby, Alex. I’m really a shy person, so I didn’t talk much and Sig was far more interested in food! Marcy formally introduced us to Keith, who is a really nice guy and very talented. I’m very glad to have met him; maybe I’ll have more courage to talk next time. We set up an appointment with Keith to interview him later that day, and then quickly left to take Marcy to her book signing at the Turbine/WB booth.
We wandered the Expo Hall looking for new games and boy did we find games! After all, we had to make up for lost time due to yesterday’s camera machinations.
- Desus Ex, which is now on sale on Steam
- Borderlands 2
- Fire Fall
- Orcs Must Die
- Batman Arkham City
- Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. SKYRIM! OMG SKYRIM!
- Guild Wars 2
- Gotham City Impostors
- Bioshock Infinity
- Prey 2
Sig also walked away with an Uber gaming mouse that looks like it could double as a futuristic death weapon. This one is called Cyborg R.A.T. 9 gaming mouse by MadCatz. This mouse is rated the best mouse by Maximum PC magazine because of its highly customizable body and programmable buttons. Sig got it for that same reason why MaxPC loved it.
Following that, we had a quick interview with Keith Baker who was just fresh from viewing Artificers and the Lord of Blades raid in the DDO section of the WB/Turbine Booth with Fernando. We also caught Marcy Rockwell signing her new book, The Shard Axe. While at the Turbine boot we saw a few people running the Crystal Cove test to win a DDO Lifetime Membership prize. It’s a 4 Player contest and the winners all get the Lifetime Membership. After Marcy was done signing her books at the booth, we met up again to do a quick interview with her.
We got to touring more of PAX areas, which took longer because it’s spread out over all floors of the convention center, the convention annex across the street, the Sharaton hotel to the west, and the Paramount Theater to the north.
Most notable area was the Paramount Theater: this year PAX did a smart thing for its main attraction events and took over the whole theater. The city actually blocked out a whole street just for the line for events at the theater. A freaking whole street just for A LINE! People tell me that the wait was up to 2 hours just to get in for these crazy super popular events.
The Convention center’s Annex is actually another building across the street and was taken over by Halo Fest and Table Top games run by Wizards of the Coast. Halo Fest is amazing! They turned a single floor into a museum of Halo and mini lecture hall. And of course there were kiosks where you could play all versions and variations of Halo. Wizards took over 2 floors and dedicated one to Magic: The Gathering and the other to D&D. In the afternoon, we played a D&D encounter and The Legend of Drizzt Boardgame.
Floor Six of the convention center is where we found PC-Consoles-Tourny-Freeplay in addition to Mini-Dealers/Expo Hall and the PAX 10 indie games booth. I was really looking forward to trying out all the PAX 10 games, but I twisted my ankle trying to avoid crashing into other people. We did find a strange booth called “Church Games,” which I think is a religious gaming group (I think I’ll leave this one to Sig to explain).
Somewhere along the way I sprained my ankle, and decided to call it early and head home to play some video games. I was kind of sad to miss my friends I had planned to see at PAX, and I really wanted to take a look at the Guild Wars 2 panels and attend the party. There’s always next year though!
Artificers & Update 11 Dungeons and Dragons Online News
By now you’ve probably heard that Artificers will not be free nor “earnable” through favor for VIP account holders. This is true and Fernando did tell us this during our interview with him. I can totally see why people would be pretty annoyed by this and feel like they are being strong armed into paying for something they would otherwise expected to get for free (such as the Monk class or Favored Soul). Now if you are budget minded, then waiting 3 or more months for a new toy while others play for it will suck a lot of the fun out of the thing and leave you feeling cheated.
Sig himself didn’t like this idea, and he too knew fans would be up in arms about it. Design wise, it makes sense that Cannith favor would unlock the class, but making it unavailable when the class comes out is not a good call in his opinion – at least not long term.
I have to be honest with you though, I will be buying the Artificer when it comes out and had planned so before I won my Lifetime membership. When I heard the news, I wasn’t annoyed personally, but I knew many DDO fans would be. Both Sig and I have Turbine points saved up and the 1K points that we’ve gotten for a couple months have been great. We’ve easily gotten our money’s worth in points and it’s nice to unlock on all servers.
I also have to say that knowing both Tolero and Jerry now works for Turbine really changes things for me. There are fans of DDO working as employees of Turbine. Jerry and his wife are expecting a new baby. Knowing that the money I spend on DDO will go to them in some way and that makes me really happy. Also meeting the talented developers makes me want to give money to them, so I can see what new stuff they can come up with. Heck, if I had enough capital I would invest in Turbine.
There’s a saying: “Its OK to not like things, just don’t be a jerk about it.”
Overall, I would say if you don’t like it let them know and why, but don’t be a douche bag about it. Tell them what you were expecting as a DDO VIP player. Heck, tell them what you were expecting as premium or free player. But don’t forget to tell them what you did like about what they’ve done in the past and why you liked it. Perhaps if you ask nicely enough, they’ll do it again.
Stay Tuned for Day 3 Report!
Okay I think I’m done for now. I’ll do another write up tomorrow on PAX, for now I have to take some meds and put ice on my ankle.
66% Done: A PAX Prime 2011 Report
Day 1: Destroying Plans & Having Fun Doing it!
One of the few hottest days of the year in Seattle also happened to coincide with the first day of PAX Prime 2011. Outside the Washington State Convention Center it was 82°F (28°C), but it felt like near 90°F (32°F) due to humidity.
Failed horridly at trying to get to the Key Note this year; I should have stopped and RTFM! But on the plus side all huge lectures are now at the Paramount Theater. Yes, I do not miss the days when it was held in a cement hall. I hope to the Live D&D Game on Day 2 of PAX.
I also got the day wrong on Marcy Rockwell’s book The Shard Axe signing wrong. (Ouch! That’s like two gutter balls in a row, if I was bowling.) It’s on Sat @ 11:30am in the Warner Brothers / Turbine Booth #932, not Friday! Ugh.
At Noon we had our interview Fernando and as usual he was on par with all the tidbits we were looking for as DDO fans! I won’t say too much here because I want to save it for the show, but I think with the new digital voice recorder & HD mic I got really did a better job than last year’s setup! I hope to have it all edited out for Ep 231 of DDOcast. Here are a few teasers:
- Talked about Update 11
- New technologies implemented in DDO
- Inspirations for Update 11 and Artificers
- House Cannith Quests and Raid Previews
- Fairness in the DDO Stores and Online Transactions
- And Of course some more screen images of DDO U11
As a side note, I have to say that Turbine was combined with the with WB games booth, so it wasn’t the total Turbine booth as it was last year. Understandably, PAX East in Boston is gonna be their main stay since it’s in their back yard. Regardless, I want to thank the Turbine Crew for taking the time to see us at PAX! You guys are awesome!
During the interview with Fernando, my digital camera started taking mutant pictures and died! You know when GS or Icy Regiments perma break? Well that’s what it feels like when your camera breaks at PAX. So we spent our Expo Hall touring time out getting a new camera.
Armed with a new camera, we met for our happy hours DDOcast meet-up in the TAP House Bar. We saw up with Marcy Rockwell and her hubby; And Marcy gifted us with a signed copy of The Shard Axe! I can’t wait to read! We also met with Phite & Ms. Phite, and Shamgar. We drank, ate tasty foods, talked DDO, games, writing, and PAX. Chatting went well beyond 6pm! Ahh the best laid plans of Mice and Men often go awry! Of course I didn’t go to the panel on Journalism!
The WB Games/Turbine PAX Party was really packed! We got VIP tickets and cut the lines into Gamesworks. Free food, Xbox game stations, shirts, buttons, cos-players, in-game swag cards, bags, free-play arcade game cards, and (thanks to Phite) I ended up with more booze tickets then they were given out! They also held a raffle for some bigger prizes. Both Phite and I ended up with a Lifetime Membership to DDO!
Overall, day one felt like a hurricane (whoops! poor choice of words for the East coast folk! I hope everyone is doing okay out there!) It was a very busy day wandering around and chatting up with friends, I learned later from a friend that the panels were packed and the lines were long. Though its super crowded, the best part about PAX is everyone is super friendly; sure we bump into each other but everyone is happy. After “sorries” are said, its a good reason to start talking games with another PAXite!
DDOcast PAX Prime 2011 Schedule
Hey #DDOcast Listeners! Here’s our Schedule for PAX this year!
Friday, Aug 26th:
- 10:30am – 11:30am >> PAX Keynote w/ David Jaff
- 11:30am – 12:00pm >> At the Turbine Booth Hanging out while Marcy Rockwell signs her new book, The Shard Axe!
- 12:00pm – 1:00pm >> Interview with Fernando Paiz on DDO on the WB/Turbine Booth #932
- 1:30pm – 2:30pm >> IGN: GameScoop Live Podcast
- 2:30pm – 3:30pm >> Roam the Expo Floor & Look for new games!
- 4:00pm – 6:00pm >> DDOcast Meetup @ Taps Bar & Grill on 6th & Pine
- 7:30pm – 8:30pm >> Movin’ On Up: How to Make It in Video games Journalism
- 9:00pm – Late >> Warner Brothers/Turbine PAX Party!
Saturday, Aug 27th
- 10:00am – Noon Brunch with Keith Baker!
- 12:00pm – 1:00pm >> The Agony and Ecstasy of RPG Writing
- 1:00pm – 2:00pm >> Guild Wars 2: Designing a Cooperative Experience
- 2:00pm – 3:00pm >> Irrational Games
- 3:30pm – 4:30pm >> The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- 3:30pm – 8:30pm >> Play a game with anyone
- 9:00pm – Late >> Arena.Net GW2 Party @ their new pad!
Sunday, Aug 28th
- 10:00am – 12:00pm >> Roam the Expo Floor & test out new games!
- 12:00pm – 1:00pm >> G4, X-Play
- 1:30pm – 2:30pm >> Pitch your Game Idea
- 3:00pm – 4:00pm >> D&D Through the Ages
- 4:00pm – 5:00pm >> Gaming is a Lifestyle
- 6:00pm – 8:00pm >> St. Andrews Bar & Grill @ 7406 Aurora Ave
- 8:00pm – 9:00pm >> Try and record DDOcast Episode 231
Crafting with…Courtney! DDOcast 10
Courtney crafts a weapon to deal with even the toughest Constructs!
DDOcast 230
DDOcast is a weekly DDO podcast created by fans for fans! We discuss nearly everything related to Dungeons and Dragons Online – Eberron Unlimited.
Episode 230 is ready! Here’s a LINK to the episode – just left-click to play, right-click and ‘save as’ to download as an mp3. You can find DDOcast on iTunes, the Zune Marketplace and Cyberears.com.
Ep 230 is actually early! We need to get ready for PAX so here’s the latest episode!
This week Sig and Anne talk DDO news, Artificers for U11, Community news, and PAX Prime 2011 . We also have segments Eberronian Chef and Premium Perspective!
Today’s Music is D&D by 3OH!3 (THREE-OH-THREE) and is a bonus track from their first album. 3OH!3 is an American electronic musical duo from Boulder, Colorado, made up of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte. They’re famous for their song “DONT TRUST ME” and working with Katy Perry’s remixes. You can find more info at their site http://www.3oh3music.com/ and buy their albums on iTunes.
Join Us for the DDOcast @ PAX Happy Hour Meetup
- DATE: FRIDAY, AUG 26TH
- TIME: 4:00pm – 6:00pm
- WHERE: Seattle Tap House Grill, 1506 Sixth Avenue, Seattle, Washington 98101 (click on the map below to enlarge)
- DETAILS: Look for the Man in the Lime Green Pith hat with a yellow wooden parrot on top. We’ll be in the bar section.
###
DDOcast Episode 230 (08-20-11)
0:37 Intro
1:45 DDO News: Artificers, New German servers!
7:29 DDOcast News: PAX 2011, Skagtraviganza, Gtalk
12:27 Sponser Break
14:16 U11’s Artifcers
43:07 Eberronian Chef with Adan
45:41 Premium Perspective with ECGric
49:39 What’s New in DDO with Us!
52:14 DDO Community News
54:50 Crunchy Bits Live
1:10:36 DDOcast Mail + Anne’s OldSchool Monster Contest
1:14:04 Voice Mail
1:15:03 Closing
END
TOTAL TIME: 1:17:01
###
LINK for Update 11 Release Date set to Sept 12th
LINK for BUG: MyDDO characters not updating since last Maintenance Downtime
LINK for New German Server: Wayfinder (EN)
LINK for Wayfinder FAQ (EN)
LINK for New German Server: Wayfinder (DE)
LINK for Wayfinder FAQ (DE)
LINK for Myaccount.turbine.com Scheduled Downtime Monday, Aug 22nd from 9:00 to 11:00 AM EST (GMT -4)
LINK for Login Servers and Forum access Hickups
LINK for DDO Store Sales
LINK for GTalk Client
LINK for DDOCast on Justin.TV
LINK for Skagtraviganza is up! its the DDO Poetry Corner 30 Min Special with Skaggy!
LINK for U11 Artificer Notes on Lamannia
LINK for Narsil_Shard’s Online DDO Character Generator
LINK for The Eberron Chronicle
LINK for Crafting with Courtney 9
LINK for Anne’s MyDDO Blog: Guess the OldSkool Monster
LINK for PAX Prime 2011 Schedule
LINK for PAX Schedule Grid
LINK for PAX Gaming Schedule Grid
LINK for PAX Map 1
LINK for PAX Map 2
Dungeons & Dragons Online, Update 11: Secrets of the Artificers to launch Sept 12!
Dungeons & Dragons Online, Update 11: Secrets of the Artificers to launch September 12th
Update 11: Secrets of the Artificers will feature:
- New Artificer Class: A blend of Rogue and Arcane classes, the Artificer uses specially created weapons and mechanical pets to challenge their foes
- New House Cannith Enclave: Home of the Artificers, House Cannith is a new high level quest hub where magic and mechanics converge.
- New Content: Born in war, forged in fury, Stormreach faces its most terrible foe yet.
- New Crafting Levels: Craft all the way to level 150. Plus, craft Draconic Runestones, a new magical weapon available to all classes.
The Secrets of the Artificers Premium Adventure Pack will be available in the DDO Store and Free to VIPs, and includes:
- Two new high level Raids
- New wilderness area
- 3 new dungeons
Dungeons & Dragons Online Brings you Artificers on Lamannia!
Looks like tomorrow’s Lamannia, open beta server event will bring us Artificers! Turbine’s official Lamannia Coordinator, KookieKobold invites us to play around:
Wednesday’s Event will be held at 7pm to 10pm EST (GMT-4).
This event’s focus will be on the new class, the Artificer! Once Lamannia is live, Artificer will be available from the DDO store in game for a small amount of turbine points (Which can be gotten from Lord Poincealot).
From there, we ask for you to play your way through the levels of Artificer! Experience will be drastically increased starting on Wednesday and ending on Monday of next week. Devs will be on hand searching for those of you who are adventuring through quests. Those Devs will be granting levels to the people they find in quests.
Yark Yark!
See you all there!>
Read the offical event notice on the DDO forums >>
Related Links:
Crafting with…Courtney! DDOcast 9
Courtney makes a helmet that will dramatically increase your ability to Turn Undead!
Hasbro and Atari Resolve Dungeons & Dragons Rights Dispute
Just got this one in today! Looks like Hasbro/Wizards of the Coast got the Digital licensing rights for Dungeons & Dragons back from Atari! This is really BIG news for the D&D brand name! Hasbro is working hard to pulling back in its IP rights.
August 15, 2011 (Renton, WA) – Wizards of the Coast LLC, Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) and Atari, S.A. announced today the settlement and resolution of the complaint against Atari, S.A. and the counterclaims filed by Atari, S.A. against Hasbro, Inc. filed in December 2009 in regards to the Dungeons & Dragons brand.
Digital licensing rights for Dungeons & Dragons have been returned to Hasbro. Atari will continue to develop and market several games under license from Hasbro and Wizards, including the #1 Xbox LIVE® hit Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale and the upcoming Heroes of Neverwinter for Facebook. Additional settlement details remain private.
In addition, the acquisition of Cryptic Studios by Perfect World Entertainment Inc. from Atari in July 2011 has delayed the Neverwinter PC Game scheduled for release later this year. Perfect World will be investing in a more immersive experience for release in late 2012.
DDOcast 229
DDOcast is a weekly DDO podcast created by fans for fans! We discuss nearly everything related to Dungeons and Dragons Online – Eberron Unlimited.
Episode 229 is ready! Here’s a LINK to the episode – just left-click to play, right-click and ‘save as’ to download as an mp3. You can find DDOcast on iTunes, the Zune Marketplace and Cyberears.com.
This week Sig and guests, Coldin and Ecgric talk a ton about U11, but we also have DDO Community news and some General Gaming News.Our segment authors really pulled out the creative chops and provided us with some bonus material! Two DDO parody ballads: “Sig & Anne” by Skaggy and “Zerger” by Ecgric. We also have the last DDO Poetry Corner before the big Skagtraviganza. Plus a new segment by Adan Maskery called Eberrionian Chef.
Today’s Music is “Dugeon Master Gurls” by The Second City Network. The Second City Network is the New Media branch of The Second City, the biggest sketch & improv school in the world! Many of the biggest stars from the last 50 years got their start at The Second City! Their website is http://www.secondcitynetwork.com and you can download a free MP3 of this song at their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/TheSecondCityNetwork/
###
DDOcast Episode 229 (08-13-11)
0:31 INTRO
2:51 DDO News: U11 PR, Maint, Lam Live events, etc
17:17 DOOcast news
18:31 Song Break: Sig&Anne by Skaggy
23:10 Sponsor Break
24:05 Update 11 Bonanza! Lamannia Notes, Dev Diary, Talk!
1:16:50 Eberronian Chef with Aden Maskery
1:19:32 DDO Poetry Corner with Skaggy the Poet
1:26:02 Lighting Post: DDO players respond to (G+) U11
1:28:85 Whatcha been doing on DDO?
1:32:85 Song Break: Zerger by EcGric
1:37:15 DDO Community News
1:41:09 General Gaming News
1:42:24 Last Call
1:43:04 Closing
END
TOTAL TIME: 1:44:02
###
LINK for Official U11 Press Release
LINK for U11 Live events on Lamania: Aug 17th
LINK for Devs Talk Trap Intentions & the New Bravery Bonus slated for Update 11
LINK for Articifer pets have new cool pet features
LINK for BUG: Alchemical Dodge Bonus Adds to Armor Min Lvl
LINK for Zombies with Evasion
LINK for DDO Store Sales
LINK for U11 Release Notes On Lamannia
LINK for Encircle us on Google+ we have U11 pics and updates!
LINK for Eberron Chronicle
LINK for JJFlanigan’s Monestary of the Scorpion puzzle
LINK for DDOcast interview with The Grey Area podcast!
LINK for Crafting with Courney Ep 8
LINK for GamesCom 2011 coverage
LINK for PAX 10 Indie Games are Up!
Save the Date: Aug 13 & 17 DDO Lamannia Events with the Devs
KookieKobold, Lamannia Coordinator writes:
In the next few weeks, there will be a number of different dev events here on Lamannia! Each of these events will focus in on specific portions of the content available.
The first event will be this Saturday, August 13th, from 12 noon until 4pm EST (GMT-4). During this event we will be granting experience and getting everyone into the three new quests (premium/free-to-play included)
The second event will be Wednesday, August 17th, from 7pm to 10pm EST (GMT-4). The specific focus of this event will be announced at a later time!
Read more on Lamannia Events here >>
Related Links:
DDO CtH ep 59, Trollers Gonna Troll
Welcome to the DDO Cocktail Hour where we discuss the social aspects of Dungeons and Dragons Online, Eberron Unlimited. This week we talk all about trolling, what it is and isnt and troll our way through DDO community forums and the internet in genera…
This post is syndicated from OurDDO Clean.
Skaggy Staves Off Retirement With a Song!
So we got this email from Skaggy this morning,
Sorry for messing you around but due to the emails and tweets of sadness I am postponing my retirement and turning it into a summer break here is a song you can put on the DDO site ASAP to celebrate!
Please enjoy! 🙂 And take it easy Skaggy! Rest and recoup your creative batteries! We’ll be here when you’re back!
Lammania: Dungeons and Dragons Online Update 11 – Secrets of the Artificer
Here’s a Sample of the Release Notes for Update 11 on Lamannia:
The biggest update of the year brings a new era of magic! Home of the Artificers, House Cannith is a new high level quest hub where magic and mechanics converge. House Cannith includes a new public area, a new Cannith Crafting Hall, a premium adventure pack (free to VIPs) featuring a new wilderness area, 3 new dungeons, and 2 new high level raids (raids currently not available for preview on Lammania.) Born in war, forged in fury, Stormreach faces its most terrible foe yet!
- Adventure Area: The Cannith Manufactury – In the center of the House Cannith enclave lies the soaring Manufactury – a vast complex that demonstrates the technical mastery of House Cannith. Battle two invading forces as you explore the Manufactury’s offices, workshops, and research facilities.
- Quest: Schemes of the Enemy – Negotiate with different rebel factions, infiltrate the depths of the Cannith Manufactury, and deal with its devious devices. Plus, field-test one of House Cannith’s new weapons prototypes – as the target.
- Quest: Blown to Bits – How do you stop powerful invading forces from turning House Cannith’s warehouse full of constructs into his own personal army? Explosives. Lots and lots of explosives.
- Quest: Power Play – A powerful enemy has disabled the Cannith Crystals that House Cannith’s artificers draw upon. Can you restore arcane power to the Manufactury and defeat the deadly enemy lieutenants?
New Class: Artificers (Coming soon to Lammania! You can preview them, but you can’t make them just yet!)
Read the Full Update 11 Notes for Lamannia Here >>
Download the Dungeons and Dragons Online Lamannia Client Here >>
Crafting with…Courtney! DDOcast 8
Courtney crafts a powerful weapon against devils, orthons and other baddies!
The Grey Area Podcast Interviews DDOcast!
Sig and I had a great time talking with Jenesee on The Grey Area Podcast. We talked about Dungeons & Dragons Online, DDOcast, running a podcast, gaming as a married couple, overcoming shyness. playing D&D, and writing for D&D.
The Grey Area Podcast features advice and interviews on relationships between Gamers. Players of MMORPS, role playing, Magic the gathering and other video games often have unique interactions with each other. This podcast addresses issues that occur between people who game and gives suggestions as to how to solve them.
Thanks for having us Jenesee! 🙂
Next Big Update for DDO: Update 11 Secret of the Artificers
Turbine just announced that Update 11, the next big update for Dungeons & Dragons Online, will be launching sometime in September. Update 11, called Secrets of the Artificers, will bring in a new Artificer class, a new high-level quest hub, new crafting levels and more.
The full rundown of features for Update 11: Secrets of the Artificers, is posted below.
New Artificer Class
A blend of Rogue and Arcane classes, the Artificer uses specially created weapons and mechanical pets to challenge their foes
New House Cannith Enclave
Home of the Artificers, House Cannith is a new high level quest hub where magic and mechanics converge.
New Content
Born in war, forged in fury, Stormreach faces its most terrible foe yet.
New Crafting Levels
Craft all the way to level 150. Plus, craft Draconic Runestones, a new magical weapon available to all classes.
The Secrets of the Artificers Premium Adventure Pack will be available in the DDO Store and Free to VIPs, and includes:
- Two new high level Raids
- New wilderness area
- 3 new dungeons
Resources: