Count me as one of those diehard fans of Massively Multiplayer Roleplaying Games (aka MMORPGs) that has been following the genre since its widespread popularity originated (pun intended) with Ultima Online, and to some extent Meridian 59. I've played nearly every one of the MMORPG games that's come out over the last 8+ years and have in-depth knowledge of what most of the acronyms stand for, from UO to DAoC to SWG to EQ2, and now finally to DDO….

Like most of you out there, I grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons with my friends. I can still distinctly remember that moment in the bookstore when I was 10 years old and holding out a purple box to my mom, begging her to get me a game that few people had even heard of at that point. And to be honest, I knew very little about it myself. But it wasn't long before I was slaying hobgoblins with the best of them. And it became a regular dream of mine to one day be big and bad enough to take down a red dragon just like the one I read about in The Hobbit. Then came the inevitable birthday presents of the AD&D Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual. Not to mention the subscription to Dragon Magazine and the books later on like Unearthed Arcana and Deities & Demigods. These were the tools that allowed me to spend entire Saturday afternoons researching and developing dozens of new characters for the campaigns that I would eventually play. Not to mention the entire world that I developed myself called Ethengar, which I couldn't wait to send my friends into on a regular basis. Everything was there to fuel my imagination and creativity.

Having said all that, it isn't much of stretch to realize that when I eventually heard about a new MMORPG called Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO), I was beyond frenzied about the idea. I became one of those people who would religiously watch for new screenshots from Turbine and look for any comment at all from the Developers on what the game was going to be about. Simply put, I turned into a "fanboi" even without ever playing the game itself. So when I finally got the opportunity to play the game at this summer's PAX Event in Bellevue, WA, and then later in the Beta Test, it was an experience that I knew I wouldn't forget.