Dungeons and Dragons Online New Content Release
TURBINE REVEALS THE Way of the Monk FOR DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®New Playable Class, Landscapes, Raids and More!
WESTWOOD, MA – June 3, 2008 – Turbine, Inc. today announced the launch of the latest update for players of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE®: Stormreach® (DDO), The Way of the Monk. This major update to DDO introduces the first new playable class since launch, revamped adventure areas, more monsters, spells, magic items, and traditional dungeons to challenge. DDO is a unique online roleplaying experience where players must use their combat skills and wits to survive dangerous dungeons, fiendish traps, and foes that punish the foolish.
“This latest module offers players an incredible amount of fun and excitement and we are proud to introduce the long-awaited new class – the Monk,” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. “We are really very excited with how far DDO has come and we have a tremendous amount planned for the game which we look forward to sharing as the year progresses.”
The Way of the Monk continues Turbine’s commitment to delivering fun, engaging and exciting updates for players in our online worlds. This latest update provides a wealth of new features and experiences for players including two new raids, three new monsters, new raid crafting recipes and eldritch rituals, chat and UI enhancements and several new challenging adventure areas.
The Way of the Monk is filled with exciting new features including:
Ø DDO’s First New Player Class: The favorite class of many adventurers, the monk features a martial discipline of hand-to-hand combat and kicks, including special abilities that make the Monk even deadlier. Stun your foes, unleash a flurry of blows, and work up to the deadly quivering palm attack, which can kill enemies with a single strike!
Ø New Landscape: Players can now explore the all-new, much larger Three-Barrel Cove wilderness and the underground Black Loch outpost. Three new hand-crafted adventures have been added to make this an exciting and challenging area!
Ø New Raids: In the wake of the destruction of the Marketplace tent, the scholars of the Twelve have found that dangerous enemies lie below the city of Stormreach. Guilds must return to battle former raid bosses like Velah, the Red Dragon and the Black Abbot Lich to collect the keys needed to unlock the underground raid wilderness. Once unlocked, players will be able to battle Suulomades, the devil general responsible for the attack on the Marketplace.
Ø More Solo Adventures: Daily quests in the Harbor provide new adventuring opportunities for solo adventurers. Collect trophies from vanquished monsters, make deliveries, and collect bounties for the meanest enemies around!
Ø Gygax Memorial: Set in a wooded alcove near Delera’s Tomb, the adventure series Gary Gygax narrated, a symbolic memorial site has been erected for visitors to pay homage to Dungeon Master Gary Gygax.
DDO is the ultimate online roleplaying game that seamlessly combines the beautiful world of Eberron® and classic Dungeons & Dragons® v3.5 ruleset with the latest innovations in technology to create a breathtaking interactive experience. DDO represents a major step forward for the roleplaying game genre with many compelling features, including real-time active combat, quests that provide a unique, immersive experience for each player, integrated voice chat, PvP and award-winning graphics. Authentic D&D® features include customizable characters; handcrafted dungeons filled with devious traps; monsters and stories from the Eberron campaign setting; a dungeon master and an on-screen 20-sided die.
DDO is based on the world-renowned DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® franchise of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS), under license to Infogrames Entertainment S.A. Published by Atari, Inc., DDO has been enthusiastically received by many gaming critics, including The New York Times, PC Gamer, Game Informer and many more. For the latest information on DDO, please visit http://www.ddo.com.
About Turbine
Turbine, Inc. is the premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine has grown to become one of the largest privately-held online gaming studios in North America. Turbine has created some of the world’s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, Dungeons & Dragons Online® and Asheron's Call®. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com.
About Hasbro
Hasbro (NYSE:HAS) is a worldwide leader in children's and family leisure time entertainment products and services, including the design, manufacture and marketing of games and toys ranging from traditional to high-tech. Both internationally and in the U.S., its PLAYSKOOL, TONKA, MILTON BRADLEY, PARKER BROTHERS, TIGER, CRANIUM and WIZARDS OF THE COAST brands and products provide the highest quality and most recognizable play experiences in the world. (C)2008 Hasbro, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
About Wizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS), is a worldwide leader in the trading card game and tabletop role-playing game categories, and a leading developer and publisher of game-based entertainment products. The company holds an exclusive patent on trading card games (TCGs) and their method of play and produces the premier trading card game, Magic: The Gathering®, among many other trading card games and family card and board games. Wizards is also a leading publisher of role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons®, and publisher of fantasy series fiction with numerous New York Times best-sellers. For more information, visit the Wizards of the Coast website at www.wizards.com.
About Atari
New York-based Atari, Inc. develops interactive games for all platforms and is one of the largest third-party publishers of interactive entertainment software in the U.S. The Company's 1,000+ titles include hard-core, genre-defining franchises such as The Matrix™ (Enter The Matrix and The Matrix: Path of Neo) and Test Drive®; and mass-market and children's franchises such as Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues™ and Dora the Explorer™, and Dragon Ball Z®. Atari, Inc. is a majority-owned subsidiary of France-based Infogrames Entertainment SA (Euronext - ISIN: FR-0000052573), the largest interactive games publisher in Europe. For more information, visit www.atari.com.
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Dungeons & Dragons Online, Eberron, Stormreach, Dungeons & Dragons, D & D and Wizards of the Coast and related logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Wizards of the Coast Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Hasbro and its logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Hasbro, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions, and are used with permission. Atari and the Atari logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.