Developer Turbine was graced with not one, but two seemingly sure-fire fantasy licenses for fantasy-based massively multiplayer gamers. Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormwatch, and Lord of the RIngs Online: Shadows of Angmar are both on show at the Turbine booth here in the West Hall, and while I had the opportunity to play both, I decided to focus more on DDO, mostly because it's the next in line to be released (LOTR is a 2006 title).

Before I talk about the gameplay, I have to mention one cool thing that Turbine is doing at their booth. They've got a four machines set up with clients playing a dungeon that was specially designed for E3. If the players can beat the end boss in the special dungeon, a spinning, golden disc appears, signifying that the players have secured a spot in the beta test. Only one group made it in yesterday (although they were only two strong, and thus, studly) but while I've been at the booth today two groups of four have already earned their spot.

But yeah, the gameplay!

The main idea behind DDO is to "remove the grind," something you hear a lot from the creators of massively-multiplayer RPGs these days. Turbine's trick is remove experience point gains from killing monsters entirely, instead rewarding players for completing mission goals and dungeons (although sometimes those goals include killing boss monsters, of course). It's a promising idea, but I also got the impression that it might make it easier for walkthroughs to affect the rate of leveling for power players.

For example, in the E3 test dungeon, there is a Pipe Dreamsesque tile puzzle, where players rotate power conduits to stream glowing energy to mystical runes, thereby activating a trap that slices up a bunch of zombies that would otherwise have to be defeated through combat. It's cool—a lot different than traditional MMORPG dungeons, where most strategy comes from coordinating the best way to clear out dungeons with your party, not from single-player-like puzzles and environment manipulation.

But that also makes it much easier for people to write down their plan of attack and share it with other adventurers ('10 Minutes a Day to Rock Hard Level 12!'). It may not be an issue, especially since there isn't a PVP plan for the initial release, but it might make it easier for people to rocket up the level ladder. World of Warcraft has shown that quick levelling might not be such a bad thing, though, as it encourages players to create another character and start all over again.

Graphically, it's solid, somewhat realistic in the slightly hulking way that most modern D&D art has been. It's seems bland and brown to me, but in a way I'm assuming is meant to be 'realistic.' That sounds worse than I mean it to; it looks nice. It's just not a bright, cartoony fantasy world.

Anyway, it looks good! Now I have to decide if I want to win a spot on that beta test.—JJ