14 DAY TRIAL // Turbine's massively multiplayer online role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons Online is celebrating its 8th anniversary, and the developers intend to grace their fans with another update to commemorate the event.
Teasing the game's fans about what's in store in upcoming Update 21: Legendary Halls, Franchise Director Athena Peters revealed that the patch would introduce the re-imagined Ed Greenwood classic Forgotten Realms module titled the Haunted Halls of Eveningstar, along with another continent.
Additionally, the Turbine team has also arranged for the iconic D&D writer Ed Greenwood to do the voiceover work for the upcoming module, acting as dungeon master, as the interview in the video reveals.
Ed Greenwood is a famous Canadian fantasy writer and the creator of the Forgotten Realms game world, a popular setting for tabletop and then video role-playing games. He has written numerous novels set in the Forgotten Realms universe, as well as a number of Dungeons & Dragons articles and game supplement books, and is one of the most prominent figures of D&D lore.
During the interview, he reveals some of the thoughts behind the creation of his campaigns and offers some specific details regarding how he approached the new dungeon and some of the difficulties of translating his content into Dungeons & Dragons Online and some of the limitations that come with experiencing a fantasy world in a computer game, as well as the way technological improvements over the years have impacted and enriched that experience.
He concludes by saying that the thing that drives him most is having new kids that have never experienced the content before go through their first dungeon crawl or discovering the new interactions and content, unveiling the new storylines and having a great time and sharing it with their friends, keeping the flame going.
The official announcement on the DDO forums states that the upcoming module will allow players to adventure in the huge dwarven ruins of Thunderholme and battle their way through two new raids, including facing a Shadow Dragon for the first time.
The announcement also informs that the devs are working closely with the Players Council to cement future plans for expanding Three Barrel Cove into the Epic levels in update 22, which will also introduce new Guild Airships and amenities, and points to the December Producer's Letter that outlines Turbine's plans for the rest of the year.
The Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 21 is currently scheduled for release on March 10, offering players access to the reinterpreted Haunted Halls of Eveningstar.