Combat is the heart and soul of many massively multiplayer games. “Go whack the foozle” is the jist of many quests, combat proficiency is very much required to make it through some of the higher level areas, and bragging rights often center around how much damage you can do in a single strike. With combat playing such a central role, it’s interesting that we haven’t seen more variety in combat design.

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One trip to the Origins Gamefest and the wedding of a good friend later, I’m going to be back on the regular with the Random Dialogue column. Assuming that moving to a new apartment and Gen Con don’t get to me this coming month. Ahem. Anyway, before I left for Origins I picked up the main book for the new Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting, Eberron. As you may or may not already be aware, Eberron is going to be the setting for the Dungeons and Dragons Online game being developed by Turbine. The campaign setting is set on the continent of Khorvaire, which just recently finished up a century-long war between the former members of a great nation. The MMOG is going to take place on the continent to the south of Khorvaire, known as X’endrik. You know all of this, of course. Both the MMOG and the RTS are going to be centered in X’endrik, as Wizards of the Coast enjoys the profits it can snag from Keith Baker’s new campaign setting. Without the hangups that come with doing a Forgotten Realms or Greyhawk game, these forays into digital media can be as great or as poor as the designers want them to be, and there will be a minimum of expectations going into the experience.

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