Dungeons and Dragons Online has been recently released online and is now free for anyone to play

Pros: Good graphics, Free, keeps true to the original game

Cons: Very glitchy, social interaction is limited

Stars: 3 out of 5

Finally, the game that started all role playing games has made its big re-entry into the online gaming world. Unfortunately, it is not as grand as one would hope.

Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) originally was a tabletop role-playing game (RPG) created by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Most of the games we play today have their origins in D&D. It was the first game ever made where you could play as a single character in an interactive world. D&D has been around for a while and intends to stay around by going online in conjunction with the release of the tabletop version’s fourth edition.

Just to be clear: D&D Online is not like the tabletop version where you roll dice. It actually plays like a computer game.

D&D Online has good graphics in comparison to many other massively multiplayer online games (MMOs). For a free game it is very good, even though it was not free until very recently. The game used to be by subscription but it had fallen by the wayside because of the huge popularity of World of Warcraft, the largest MMO. As a fan of D&D even before it became an MMO, I can honestly say that the MMO keeps true to the traditions of tabletop D&D.

However, this game is not the great game in all aspects. The game is very, very glitchy. For some reason D&D does not run so well on computers that have Vista. It can be very frustrating, for example, when every time you try to play the game, the computer makes you reinstall it. It is truly annoying. Also, unlike in the tabletop game, player interaction does not seem to be the focus of the MMO. I usually find myself running dungeons alone or, on rare occasions, with a group.

Typically, almost no one talks to each other. I may as well be playing with robots.

I love D&D and I would love to give this game a five out of five; however, the glitchyness is so bad that it brings it down two stars. It is very disappointing. However, if you don’t have Vista and don’t care about interacting with other players, then maybe you will have a better time than me.

Dungeons and Dragons can be found on http://www.ddo.com/.

Dungeons and Dragons Online has great graphics but little player interaction