It's been five years since Turbine opened the port of Smuggler's Rest to adventurers heeding the call of Dungeons & Dragons Online, and to Smuggler's Rest they'll return for the new quests and special gifts of a special anniversary event.
If you've been playing Dungeons & Dragons Online for five years, you've been through quite a lot. The past 1,825 days have seen massive fluctuations in the player base, first at launch, then a post-launch slump, and then an all-new massive influx of players when the game became free-to-play.
Fans have also had to deal with the deaths of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson, the co-creators of the original pen-and-paper role-playing game, both of whom acted as voiceover dungeon masters for some of the game's quests.
But enough sadness, now is a time for celebration, and pirates! Players revisiting Smuggler's Rest in Dungeons & Dragons Online during the 5th Anniversary event will be able to participate in a server-wide search for pieces of a pirate treasure map, earning a special pirate hat that will aid them in their search while battling plenty of pirate-themed creatures.
Completing the map will open up a special area called Crystal Cove, where they'll protect a team of kobold miners from invading pirates as they mine valuable resources that can be traded for fabulous in-game gear.
If you're not a DDO player, just head over to the game's website to start playing for free. If you are a DDO player, watch out for scurvy.
Happy five years, Turbine!