In a little under a month Runes of Magic will have its first challenge.  It’s not a new game from Nexon, or Webzen, but a mutated pay-to-play title.  Perhaps you have heard of the company Turbine Entertainment?  Yes folks, Dungeons and Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited will be the first major challenger to Runes of Magic, and the hold the WoW-a-like has over the WoW-a-like market.  And Frogster should be scared, very scared.

Despite the recent delay to early AugustSeptember, DDO:EU has been drumming up swaths of media.  Some of it focuses on the negatives, such as the poorly timed delay, or the titles “fall” into the F2P market, but most of it remains positive.  The positive coverage covers numerous topics including the steps Turbine is taking to convert the title from one business model to another, the upcoming content patch that will be launched alongside the revised title, the renewed interest in a forgotten game, and the title’s deep connection with instancing and grouping.  Don’t believe me?  Peruse any blog or site dedicated toMMO titles and I gurantee that you will find numerous mentions of DDO : EU in the last few weeks.  Turbine’s other project, Lord of the Rings Online, would die for this kind of excitement when it reaches the troublesome three year mark.

Considering DDO’s full head of steam, and its roots as a pay-to-play title, Frogster better be preparing some distractions to keep RoM’s members from wondering what Eberron may offer.  As evidenced in my recent microtransactions post, Western gamers continue to pair F2P titles with negative connotations.  However, DDO’s model change will put the added credibility, whether perceived or actual, of pay-to-play titles against Runes of Magic.

Some of these assumptions include:

• A extremely high level of polish.  This mainly describes the gameplay, but also includes graphics, optimization and stability issues.
• Deeper and more unique classes.
• Larger amount of content in-game, and in the works.
• More fulfilling story lines.
• Playing the title is what gets one ahead in the game.
• A tighter, more dedicated community.

Sadly Frogster/Runewaker (the developer) hasn’t done much to change the perceptions players have about F2P titles.  As of this writing little has been detailed as to the improvements thatRoM’s upcoming content patch, Chapter II - The Elven Prophecy, will deliver.  Don’t get me wrong, new content is fantastic, but with server issues, connection stability problems, poor localization and bland quest design being rampant inRoM, one would hope for a long list of bug fixes to accommodate the introductions of Elves.

It remains to be seen how much of an impact DDO will have on RoM’s recent success, especially with the recent delay.  I can tell you that it’s kept this dedicated gamer, and player of RoM, from dropping additional money on Diamonds until I can give DDO a full test drive.  Appears that Frogster has given Turbine a chance that the company would be stupid to pass up.