There are many tales in Dungeons and Dragons Online. In Return to Gianthold, the 17th expansion for Turbine’s veteran MMO, it starts with a betrayal between two powerful races.

Long ago, a dragon leader known as The Truthful One slew the Stormreaver, leader of the giants. Seizing the moment, he transformed himself into an undead dracolich, sundering the giants’ civilization. Though several ages have passed, the Stormreaver has returned, thirsting for vengeance on The Truthful one and seeking adventurers to lend their aid.

Dungeons and Dragons Online has been around for seven years! Erik Boyer, the Senior Producer for DDO, took to the threads to wish everyone a Happy DDO Birthday. While there he gave a state of the game with what has been added recently before getting into what is yet to come.

February 19th was the release of the eagerly anticipated "Update 17" patch for Dungeons & Dragons Online.

Dungeons and Dragons Online is going through its 17th update, containing a brand new Heroic story with an Epic difficulty version in the Ruins of Gianthold. During a great war, when the giants and the dragons fought, they agreed to truce to protect their home, Xen'drik. The Truthful One, leader of the dragons, betrayed the giant ruler known as the Stormreaver, turned himself into a dracolich, and cursed the giants forever.

But now the Stormreaver is back. What does this mean? Why would this happen? Players will discover for themselves in the ruins.

Julian "Mirai" Williams

Turbine is releasing the latest expansion for Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO) this week with Menace of the Underdark. We had first been told of the expansion and its setting with the last content update, update 13, but this time we had a walkthrough with Executive Producer Fernando Paiz and a chance to view a lot of the content that is to be released on Monday. Interested in seeing what surprises await players in the Forgotten Realms? Read on!

A month back during PAX East, I got the opportunity to interview Turbine's Fernando Paiz on Dungeons & Dragons Online's Menace of the Underdark (MotU) expansion, set to launch June 25th, 2012. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance for some hands-on experience with the content so, when guided developer tours were being set up, I made sure to get in line. Joining me for this particular tour was DDO's Senior Producer Eric Boyer, as well as Design Director Ian Currie, so read on for my first experiences with DDO's Menace of the Underdark!

Turbine confirmed a lot of things for excited DDO players today. Not only is the beta taking off May 10th, but it's exclusively to people who pre-ordered. That gives you who haven't less than a week to catch up. It's okay - I'll wait. Just hurry up.

The Menace of the Underdark expansion wouldn't be very menacing without monsters, so here you go - a gallery full of them. Meet the Monsters! The dire bear, the Green Dragon, the draegloth, the drider, the bebilith, the purple worm, and the werewolf!

ZAM is also having a small twitter contest to give away Winter Wolf Pup Pet Codes! Just tweet / follow @ZAMOfficial or @Pwyff with why you should have a Winter Wolf Pup, and we'll select some lucky winners throughout today! You may enter once per twitter account for a total of two entries! Be sure to follow us, or we can't directly message you with your winning code!

If you win a Winter Wolf Pup code, just go to myaccount.turbine.com, and enter the code we give you. Then, log into the DDO game client and receive an item in your character inventory. You can then redeem this in-game item to Caypenn Drop-Axe near the Leaky Dinghy in the Stormreach Harbor to receive your swag bag and Winter Wolf Pup!

While the Turbine booth - a subset of the WB Games booth - at PAX East 2012 was a little understated in comparison to the huge, sprawling behemoths of other developer booths (I'm looking at you, 2K Games), the content they were showcasing was anything but. In focus this time around was, of course, the Dungeons & Dragons Online team with their Menace of the Underdark expansion set to launch June 25th, 2012. While my interview with Fernando Paiz covers most of the big features coming in Menace of the Underdark, I can't stress enough how great these graphical additions are looking in the game. After my interview with Fernando, I sat down for a brief guided tour through Eveningstar and the King's Forest, and I can easily say this is an expansion done right. Not only is the DDO team pursuing new concepts and themes with Forgotten Realms, but the whole thing just looks sharp. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what the DDO team can do with Forgotten Realms. Now on with the interview!

Turbine has released a brand new behind-the-scenes trailer for their first expansion, Menace of the Underdark, in Dungeons & Dragons Online. With players leaving Eberron and making their way to the Forgotten Realms universe, we can expect some new gameplay themes, new mobs, new graphics, and a whole slew of new zones to explore. We got the chance to check out DDO's Menace of the Underdark at PAX East, so be sure to tune in next week for our preview article!