"After Venril Sathir's curse was released into the Nest and destroyed the dragon eggs, it was clear that the future of dragonkind was in danger...Six dragons who were children of the Nest proposed a plan to their elders -- the creation of a race to protect dragons and the Wyrmqueen's bloodline, something they had seen done once before.

"In human form, the dragons traveled to Freeport, looking for the right humans to suit this new race. The honorable dragons found many who sympathized with their plight and plans and agreed to help right the wrongs that mortals inflicted on dragons of the Nest by unleashing Venril's curse. Many humans considered it a great honor. The darker dragons were not so willing to negotiate and simply took the human subjects they desired..."

That, in a nutshell, is the story of the Drakkin, Everquest's first new race in seven expansions. We brought you news about this last month, and the expansion in which they will appear, Serpent's Spine, is scheduled for a September release.

Today, however, we got word of these very cool screenshots, giving us our first up-close and personal look at those who are the future of EQ's dragon-kind.

Everquest is from Sony Online Entertainment.

   

Let's sum up this Archlord article in one word.

Dragons.

Big, flying, killer dragons.

You can get epic mounts like epic "wolvies" and "horsies" and "rhinocerousinies" and the like, if you want. What it all comes down to though is a matter of sheer coolness, and dragon mounts are cooler than mounts that look like crossbred rhinocerous-armadillo hybrids by a wide margin. In any case, here's a vid released by Codemasters to show off these prized possessions. Remember to keep watching till the end for the fun part. Enjoy!

Change is always a good thing. Although, sometimes tedious, the rewards of changing makes up for all the trouble one has gone through for it. This maybe what the developers of Dungeons and Dragons Online have in mind everytime they dish out their consistent weekly updates just to satisfy the cravings of their gaming community. So, here are the new things you could expect from DDO.

Performance

• We are making some changes to the Twilight Forge to improve performance.

General

• NEW - The House Kundarak banking system will be opening a new branch in the harbor inside the Harbormaster's House.
• NEW - Tell messages will be displayed in all chat windows by default (for new characters and new chat tabs).
• NEW - Fixing a problem with the Mail UI that causes attached items to not display.
• Loot messages from other players will be tagged as loot messages and can be filtered out.
• Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders.

Monsters

• NEW - Wildmen will apply the feeblemind effect less often, generally on critical hits and/or their special leap attack.
• NEW - The effects caused by the warforged quori humanoids in the WFT area will no longer produce FX. Previously this on-damage effect could slow down performance due to the spam of visualized effects.
• Improved the dragon's spellcasting AI and line of sight recognition. For more information on possible changes to the dragon, please read this thread.
• Melee oriented Troglodytes will move closer to their targets - they should no longer attempt to make melee attacks from out of range.

The full list of DDO weekly development updates await after the jump!

Since its launch last February, DDO (Dungeons and Dragons Online) is on a roll. In fact, its Executive Producer James Jones says that plans to expand to Japan and China are already underway. Speaking of plans, they are working on major game updates, but Jones has kept mum on the full-fledged expansion which is rumored to be out this year.

Hardcore Dungeons and Dragons fans will be quite pleased to know that DDO has remained true to its D&D roots. According to Jones, "this game is different. If you like D&D, you’ll really enjoy DDO, If you like RPG’s, you’ll really enjoy DDO, if you like action adventure, you’ll really enjoy DDO, and if you like MMOs, you really have to try this – you will find it hard to play any other MMO combat after you’ve played DDO." Interestingly, Jones says that the community of players helps dictate where the game is going to go. Which is neat, really. DDO players have the choice to shape how the story goes, instead of just waiting for the story to unfold.

If you can recall, the Solo option was featured in D&D last month, where players can spend more quality time with their characters before joining in group quests. The Solo mode could also be configured according to each player's expertise (Normal, Hard and Elite), such that beginners wouldn't be faced with really intimidating monsters. And you may be acquainted with the Twilight Forge module already, as we have featured it recently in one of our articles.

Although Jones had kept us in the dark regarding future plans for the game, we could expect that those plans are gonna blow our minds. And don't worry, we'll keep you abreast on DDO news and updates the minute we get our hands on them.

It's a good thing that developers are constantly trying to make Dungeons and Dragons Online better via the numerous updates they make on the game. Even though players have encountered (many) downtime because of several updates, the game's all good.

Here now is a rundown of what changes to expect in the next scheduled update of DDO:

Performance

• Changes are being made to the Twilight Forge Module to improve performance.

General

• Filtering out loot messages from other players will now be possible by tagging them as loot messages.
• Players won't get stuck dismounting from ladders anymore.

Monsters

• The dragon's line of sight recognition and spellcasting AI have improved.
• NEW - Melee-oriented Troglodytes will not make attacks from out of range; they'll be moving closer to their targets.

Combat

• NEW - The critical threat range will not be doubled on the 4th swing combo anymore.
• NEW - Wildmen bestowed feeblemind now curable by restoration.

Items

• As per the Players Handbook, vorpal weapons will behead monsters; players must roll a natural 20 and confirm crit to vorpal targets.
• NEW - Niac's Cold Ray and Knock scrolls will be available at Lorna Wyrmtouched, Arcane Scroll Vendor
• NEW - Featherfall-casting items will get usability upgrade. These items will use a self-only version of Featherfall and will be fast-casting.
• NEW - The "of Destruction" weapon effect will now reduce the target's AC by 4 on the first hit. No saving throw for this effect now.
• NEW - The names for Seeker +1, Seeker+2, etc. items will be changed to be consistent with effect naming conventions (those renamed will match the bonus they give, Seeker+2, Seeker+4, etc.).
• NEW - Laina the Excoriated will close her shop window properly now.
• The Freedom of Movement effect on the Kundarak Delving Boots won't ward the Mummy's Despair ability or the Beholder's petrify eye beam. It will ward the movement effects of Storm Giant weather control.

Spells

• NEW - Developers are currently fixing the dispel effects that cause much harder dispels from the Dispel Magic.

Quests

• NEW - Gnarl's Tomb - Old Gnarl's ghost will open his door after a fight if he dispatches any would-be thieves. This will allow parties to attempt him again without resetting the dungeon.
• NEW - Restless Isles - The Runetust Commander won't speak to players anymore when he dies; developers are also fixing the repetitive DM text of several encounters.

We'll keep you posted on the latest Dungeons and Dragons Online news.

We last gave you a serving of screenshots for EverQuest's newest expansion called the Serpent's Spine. In this expansion, a new race called the Drakkin is being introduced. It's the latest race since the Frogloks were added, about seven expansions ago.

Now that you've seen the potential environment that your characters are going to turn into their mystical playground, it is time to look at some creatures you are likely to meet and interact with through these lovely concept art for the game.

EverQuest is the story of six dragons who defied the Council of the Ancient Dragons of the Nest and decided to create an entirely new race to protect their future. The Drakkin are borne of humans with the tinge of a dragon's blood. They age and mature rapidly in a span of months. The Drakkin forget their human beginnings and start on a pilgrimage to Crescent Reach, home of their dragon creators and the rest of their kind.

The Serpent's Spine is the newest expansion to the original EverQuest and what we have here can be considered as first dibs on what it looks like. “In an ongoing commitment to introducing new features into EverQuest, The Serpent’s Spine introduces the Drakkin, the first new player race since the Frogloks were added to the game seven expansions ago,” said Chris Sturr, Senior Brand Manager, Sony Online Entertainment. “In addition to the new race, players of all levels will benefit from this expansion, as we are including content for levels 1 to 75.”

Nestled in a great ravine in the Serpent Spine Mountains is an ancient abandoned ogre city now called Crescent Reach, which is home to a new race born to protect the future of dragon kind, the Drakkin. Six dragons defied the council of the ancient dragons of the Nest and chose to create a new race to protect their future. The Drakkin are borne of humans touched by a dragon's blood and their colors and appearance represent the dragon that created them. Rapidly aging and reaching maturity in only months, the Drakkin forget their human beginnings and make their pilgrimage to Crescent Reach, the home of their dragon creators and the rest of their kind.

This week, we can expect a number of improvements and bug fixes in Turbine's Dungeons And Dragons Online. As far as the game in general is concerned,  loot messages from other players will now be tagged as such, allowing them to be filtered out. A bug that caused players to get stuck while dismounting ladders has been addressed as well.

Specific improvements include the following:

Monsters

• The dragon's spellcasting AI and line of sight recognition had been improved.

Items

• Vorpal weapons will behead monsters as outlined in the original Players Handbook. This means you must roll a natural 20 and confirm a crit in order to vorpal your target.

Spells

• The Fragment of the Silver Flame's Protection from Evil spell no longer protects the wearer from Neutral and Good casters who attempt to affect the wearer with Charm or Enchantment or Compulsion spells.

Future developments include increased bandwidth (about 2%) and improvements in some of the slow-moving areas when a player's client gets flooded with information about objects in his/her local area. Hopefully, players will see a speed increase of 20-50%. There will also be a "showhelmet" command which can be used to hide a player's helmet graphic. Some work is being done to improve the combat/damage feedback mechanism, eliminating "false" hits (where the target would flinch but no attack roll would take place)  and give more accurate feedback as to the strength of the hit.

On the subject of Monsters:

• Widow type spiders will again shoot functional webs.
• Elemental Empathy will work properly on Earth Elementals that have used their Earthgrab ability.
• Arcane Skeletons will no longer "eat collectibles" they should be creating.

Finally,  those of you who wear Kundrak Delving Boots will be able to ward the movement effects of Storm Giant weather control. they will no longer ward the Beholder's petrify eye beam or the Mummy's Despair ability, but the programmers are working on exempting the boots from the movement restrictions of Sleetstorm and IceStorm.

Keith Baker is D&D fan who wanted to go beyond the Forgotten Realms and Greyhawk. But since there's no place else to go he decided to create his own world and called it Eberron. It was so good Eberron became the official gameworld for Dungeons & Dragons' 3rd Edition and Dungeons & Dragon Online by winning the 2002 Wizards of the Coast contest.

That alone should tell you that when Baker picks up his pen (or boots his PC) and writes a story he ain't wasting ink and reading it won't be a waste of your time. As you know he was commissioned to do another D&D story called Stormreach and he just released Chapter six. Here are excerpts from that chapter:

Petra said the tunnel had been built by giants, and Shadow could see why. Even a team of ogres would have trouble working with the massive blocks of stone used in the ancient walls. And then there were the lightstones-orbs of cold fire much like those found in Sharn or Stormreach itself, but easily three times the size of the usual streetlamp. How many thousands of years have these been shining in the depths? she wondered.

Shadow could feel the creature's outrage, a crushing pressure in her mind. Its anger swept over her, a terrible barrage of alien thoughts, and it was all she could do to stay on her feet. Shadow staggered back a step, the voices mocking her, hinting at the terrible fate that awaited her. She tried to find the strength to signal her friends, to call them, but all strength had left her.

Read:[Shadows of Stormreach Chapter 6]

Finding a group in Dungeons & Dragons Online™: Stormreach™ has gotten much easier, thanks to new enhancements to the Social Panel. This has been redesigned with new options;  the Grouping Windows now contains three tabs to help you find a group or add teammates to your existing group. These tabs are LFG (Looking for Group), LFM (Looking for More) and Who (see images below - click thumbnails to see in detail).

The LFG panel displays all characters currently looking to join a group and head into the dungeons. When opened, it displays the character's name, class and level.  Players can sort them by these items. The LFG Panel shows the area and instance that the character is currently in, to allow players to gather in a common location more quickly. One can also see any LFG Notes that the player has left, in case they are looking for specific groups or just want to make something about themselves.

When a person who is LFG appears in the window, one clicks on their name in the LFG window followed by the "Invite" button to allow them into the party. To speak with them, one clicks on their name, followed by the "Tell" button.

Players can also flag themselves as Looking for Group by clicking the "Player Looking For Group" checkbox and update their own LFG Notes on this panel. Their LFG Note will also display under their name in the Who panel.

The LFM Panel allows a player to show others that s/he is forming a group, and let others know what types of characters they're are looking for. Party leaders can click on the LFM Tab and flag themselves as LFM by clicking the "Group Looking For More" checkbox. Comments can be added to the LFM Notes to let others know what the leader's  party is doing and what they are looking for. Through the Class Selection buttons, one can specify what types of characters you are looking for. If one is not picky, there is an  "Any" option.

Like the LFG Panel, the LFM Panel also displays the area and instance the Party Leader is, to help the party gather more quickly.

If a player sees a group s/he could join in the LFM window, s/he can click on that group, and then press the "Join" button to become a member. Clicking the "Tell" button will allow a player to send a message to the party leader.