Happy 15th birthday DDO

Hanging out in the Harbor where all the Trainers are in Stormreach in good old DDO

 Dungeons and Dragons Online, originally from Turbine and now owned and operated by Standing Stone Games has turned 15 years old this year and that blows my mind seeing as how I have been playing it on and off for the better part of all those years.

This is the game I usually turn to when I need a break from all the others, specifically the sometimes torturous grind of Classic wow. I figured this was a good time to return to the game because of the anniversary but also because I am in the middle of a 3.5 zoom D&D session with a few friends and this mmorpg is the closest I can find to playing D&D outside of maybe Neverwinter, but DDO is a better game in my opinion than Neverwinter starting with its setting and its ties to the 3.5 rules set.

The Barbarian class from the D&D PHB 3.5 circa 2003.

I am playing a half orc barbarian in the zoom session so it seems appropriate that I am playing one in this mmo as well and it is a ton of fun. You can solo a lot of the dungeons with only a hireling (which technically is not really soloing, especially if you have a healer like a cleric along so that you can replenish hp and believe me, that makes a world of difference at higher levels.)

For those of you who have never played this great game but who are fans of high quality and stunning graphics, a word to the wise: You aren't going to like DDO if that is what you are looking for, I mean it's not realistic to do so when we are talking about a 15 year old game, but what you will find is a lot of atmosphere with the incredibly fun dungeons which are voice acted and very diverse depending what part of Stormreach you are exploring.

It was a bold (some would say even perhaps controversial) move for Turbine to have chosen the Eberron Campaign setting instead of the more well known D&D settings for the online game when the game released back in 2006, but I for one am glad they did because had they not, I would not have been as familiar with the steampunk and magic aesthetic associated with this setting. Expansions of the game over the years have brought with it the other settings, so you can always port out to The Forgotten Realms and even Ravenloft if you are high enough level to do so. Personally, I have not dabbled in DDO consistently so I have not really done the other settings, but that is also something to look forward to in the weeks and moths to come.

During the anniversary players can redeem items from the DDO store including a 15th anniversary cosmetic cloak and also partake of the anniversary event. Every year for the game's anniversary, players get the chance to fight with a member of the dev team in House Phiarlan. The anniversary event runs through March 31st. 

Players have reported on the game's official forums that this year's items are of higher quality than in previous years, which makes sense given the fact this is a landmark for DDO. Confessions of  Geek mom has a really great personal anecdote from a dedicated player detailing her experiences with a game and it made me so happy to read it because that is one of the best parts of playing mmos imo, the social and community aspect of sharing a virtual experience. 2020 was a terrible year for obvious reasons but at least people were able to share some love through their online and mmo communities. DDO is no different in this respect. 

So happy birthday DDO. I am glad this game is still around today. 

 

DDO is turning 15 and they give the players the gifts!