dungeons-and-dragons posts

Interplay continues to stay afloat even though the once huge publisher hasn't released a game since 2004. Indeed, the company's only major source of revenue since that time was selling their Fallout game rights to Bethesda Softworks (while retaining the rights to make a proposed Fallout MMO). Late last month, in a notice filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Interplay revealed that it has settled a long standing dispute with another financially troubled publisher Atari.

Under the terms of the agreement, Atari has agreed to purchase all rights that Interplay had on licensing games based on the Dungeons and Dragons franchise (One of Interplay's most popular games in the 1990s was the D&D themed RPG Baldur's Gate, developed by BioWare). In return, a previous agreement by Interplay to pay a promissory note of $1, 050,000 to Atari was cancelled.

Turbine, Inc. announced a substantial new update earlier this morning for Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach. The update, titled The Way of the Monk, introduces more playable areas, monsters, items, spells, dungeons, and most significantly, a brand new playable class - the titular Monk.

"We are really very excited with how far DDO has come and we have a tremendous amount planned for the game which we look forward to sharing as the year progresses," said Turbine, Inc. president and CEO Jim Crowley.

According to the press release Big Download received via email, the Monk "features a martial discipline of hand-to-hand combat and kicks, including special abilities that make the Monk even deadlier. Stun your foes, unleash a flurry of blows, and work up to the deadly quivering palm attack, which can kill enemies with a single strike!"

A complete rundown of all tweak, upgrades, and additions found in Way of the Monk can be found at Massively.com.