Dungeons and Dragons Goes Online, For Free!

Turbine has recently announced that their latest version of Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO): Eberron Unlimited, is going to be free-to-play version of the popular Massive Multiplayer Online (MMO) game.

This is a closed beta test for now, and this free version of Eberron Unlimited has some limits. The level cap has been raised to a level of 20, and if the player wants more, they will have to go to VIP status. There are also limitations on specific races, classes, auctions, and mail capabilities. Also, if a player goes to the city of Stormreach, a player will have blocked access unless you whip out the credit card.

You want help playing your free version? The only help you will receive is automated only unless you pay. All players can use the DDO store to pay for upgrades.

I had a hard time believing in Dungeons and Dragons Online when it first came out. I guess it seems natural that one of the best-selling Role-Playing Games (RPGs) online, but I think the real question is: why in the world did it take so long for them to release it online. Why wasn’t it the first MMORPG?

In other words, why is it that World of Warcraft and other online fantasy games are dominating the market? I suppose that it is truly a sign of the times that online gaming RPGs have taken over the traditional pencil, paper, and dice role-playing.

Does anyone think that it is odd that Dungeons and Dragons is offering its game for free? Or that they must use this demonic babe from the image to get customers? I think that definitely shows how much people are playing the original RPG.

Or it shows how much times have changed. I suppose we can’t have the good old days of playing RPGs with the Dungeonmaster, paper, and dice and the camaraderie of meeting in a group. Of course, if a group of gamers really wanted to meet together and play D&D old school, there is nothing preventing them. However, if meeting online is simipler, and keeping a computer data record is easier than paper, then one might ask why bother meeting?

Perhaps this is what killed the old eighties video arcades. I mean, if you can play a video game at home, sitting down, that has better graphics, and doesn’t require a diet of quarters, then why bother getting up and going anywhere? The pragmatism doesn’t exactly promote social skills, though.

However, as D&D has gone online for free, I couldn’t help but wonder if this era of traditional RPGs is coming to an end without us even knowing it. I can’t help but think of a keynote speech by Wil Wheaton two years ago at the Penny Arcade Expo. The actor who played Wesley Crusher reminisced about his time at the arcade, and how that era has somehow been lost.

Gaming is changing, and we are losing the D&D era. Oddly enough, the conservatives in the eighties that were speaking out against Dungeons and Dragons didn’t bring it down. I suppose you could call D&D a victim of its own success, as its role-playing business model was imitated, and then changed.

Of course, it has not been perfected, and I can imagine that gaming is about to go into new levels.