DDO’s much-anticipated Module 8: Prisoners of Prophecy was released this morning!
I’ll just list a few of the highlights rather than quoting the rather lengthy full release notes.
- Prisoners of Prophecy continues the epic end-game story of the Stormreaver and the dragons of Argonessen who find themselves in a fragile alliance with an undead dragon. The story is told in four new dungeons, four new wilderness landscapes and a new two-part public quest hub.
- New Player Experience combines an all-new character creation screen with template paths for new players along with a completely new tutorial experience with adventures on the island of Korthos prior to journeying to Stormreach.
- Beta DX10 Support is finally in-game. I’ve seen screenshots comparing the same scene in DX9 and DX10 and it’s pretty! The shots of LOTRO and DDO are almost enough to make me consider finally downgrading to Vista just so I can upgrade to DX10.
- Hirelings are not included with Module 8, but will be introduced via a series of live events afterward.
- Stormreach remodeling is still underway, the Harbor and entrance to the Subterrane seeing some changes.
- Collectibles see a nice change. Defeated foes that drop collectibles now drop them in bags which remain even if the mob’s body is destroyed or despawns. Also collectors will now automatically take the collectibles directly from your inventory as well as your collectible bags.
- More character slots! All players now have 10 character slots which are immediately available and no longer have to be unlocked.
Good stuff! I plan on spending some time tomorrow with the new character creation and tutorial. Hopefully I’ll keep my wits about me and remember to take plenty of screenshots and notes to write a comprehensive article of my experiences.
Tags: DDO, MMO Gaming
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Very interesting thanks for the heads up
No hirelings yet?…awww man.
That was one reason for me to try it.
I guess I will keep an eye out on your blog, and please let us know when they arrive.
DX10 is on my plate though as I already “upgraded” (the secret is to get 64 bit Vista Ultimate…then it IS an upgrade!)
Thanks
If what I saw in the initial solo section before Korthos is any indication, the hirelings will be similar to Guild Wars’ Heroes, where they each have their own name and class, but you interact with them much like normal NPC’s and select a custom action if you need them to do something special, such as having a rogue disarm a trap. Otherwise they fight with you and do their own thing.
I’ve never done a 64-bit OS yet, is there a performance hit when gaming since most/all games are 32-bit?
Just finished the New Player Experience in it’s entirety. Whew! I have a raid in 20 minutes so the writeup will have to wait until tomorrow.