Being a dyed-in-the-wool fan of Dungeons and Dragons (D&D), I knew I was going to buy Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) when it came out, so I preordered a copy when it was available. I received the 10-Day Beta pass, and after installing the client, logged on to play.

Wow, the fun I had! I have played 3 other Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) to date, and in my opinion DDO was easily the best. Part of my enjoyment of the game stemmed from my love of the D&D system itself. I always had looked at other, similar games as “something like D&D”, and finally playing a game meant to be as like it as a MMOG could be was great fun. Another key to fun in DDO, at least for me, was the combat system: no longer a button push and an animation, but alive and exciting; no longer simple administration of a button bar. And finally, the amazing detail of the landscape, foes and characters won me over. Writing about it now, frankly, it’s hard to restrain myself (not that I am doing a particularly good job).