Dungeons & Dragons Online Preview

The guys at Gamecloud have written up a preview of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach, after spending some firsthand time in the MMORPG's ongoing beta test. Here's a taste:
Fans of the pen-and-paper game will have a smile on their face when they hear narration as they go on quest from an unseen Dungon Master. Characters have unseen virtual dice rolls for the game as well. Finally gaining experience in the game is not done the way many other MMORPGs handle it. Instead of killing monsters or gaining loot to build up points, the game simply ups your experience when you actually complete each quest which makes the typical "level grinding" and need to keep killing monsters eliminated. As D&D fans know it's all about exploring and questing for their game, including searching for hidden doors and sections. Even though you don;t gain experience simply through killing creatures, the game's combat system is far more action packed than normal MMORPG's, and battles in dungeons with the classic D&D creatures are very fast paced. Veteran MMORPG players will have to learn some new tricks in order to operate well in Stormreach.