Turbine Taps Eberron Creator Keith Baker For DDO

[Trippy]

Turbine Taps Eberron Creator Keith Baker For Dungeons & Dragons Online

http://www.ddo.com/index.php?page_id=20&pagebuilder[module]=article&pagebuilder[display_item]=408

(@!#%$& Turbine uses non-spec characters in their URLs)

Turbine Taps Eberron Creator Keith Baker For Dungeons & Dragons Online

01-May-2006

Baker to Develop All-New Stories for Turbine's Popular MMOG

WESTWOOD, MA - May 1, 2006 - Turbine, Inc. announced today that Keith Baker, the original creator of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Eberron® campaign setting, will pen additional storylines and works of fiction for DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE™: Stormreach™ (DDO). The game is the first massively multiplayer online (MMO) roleplaying game based upon the iconic world of D&D®. DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach, developed by Turbine and published by Atari, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATAR), launched in North America on February 28th and quickly became one of the fastest growing MMOs in North America. The property is under license from the Hasbro Properties Group, the intellectual property development arm of Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE: HAS).

"Keith Baker is the creative genius behind Eberron, the setting for DDO. His fiction is sure to engage and entertain our players in the months to come," said Jeffrey Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "We are delighted to be working with him."

A longtime fantasy devotee and game designer, Keith Baker's breakthrough occurred when he entered a contest in 2002 held by Wizards of the Coast, maker of the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS roleplaying game and a subsidiary of Hasbro. The contest sought an innovative concept for a new world in which fans could play DUNGEONS & DRAGONS. Chosen from more than 11,000 submissions, Baker's Eberron world won the contest and became Wizards of the Coast's setting for the third edition of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, as well as the setting for DDO. Baker also published his first novel, City of Towers, which released in February 2005, to critical acclaim.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach brings the essence of the classic pen-and-paper roleplaying experience - with an emphasis on small party-based dungeon crawling adventures - to the PC. Authentic features in the game include customizable characters; dungeons filled with devious traps; monsters and stories from the Eberron campaign setting; an on-screen d20 (20-sided die) and a dungeon master. The unique online world of DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE represents a new paradigm for the MMO genre with unique features including party-based quests, integrated voice chat, real-time action combat, and award-winning graphics.

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE: Stormreach is currently available online and in retail stores for $49.99. Additional information can be found at www.ddo.com.

[schild]

This is a low blow but, genius behind Eberron? Methinks there are some THINGS that are wrong with that sentence.

[Miasma]

Most posts on their boards that include the word "Eberron" include "Why the hell" and "it's the worst D&D setting ever".  Maybe they're doing it so that they can legitimately change things without the hardcore D&D people screaming that it's not in Eberron lore.  They need to figure out how to put another city into that game at some point.

[Morfiend]

When I think Dungeons and Dragons, the first thing I think of is Iron Golems as player characters.

[Yegolev]

This is what happens when you move too slowly... Peter S. Beagle gets signed by Tulga and Turbine has to look elsewhere for someone to save their MMO.

[schild]

Tulga. Funny you mention Tulga.

I don't think they're a real company. I think they sprang forth from David Bowman's head fully funded.

[Yegolev]

It is easier to type "Tulga".

[schild]

It is easier to type "Tulga".

Probably.