Senior Editor Chris Tom went on an in-game tour with Turbine's Dungeons & Dragons Online team as they rolled out one of their biggest updates yet in Update 7: Half-Bloods.

Also set to come out with Update 7 is DDO's new free adventure pack, called the "Droaam" Adventure Pack. Featuring the "Lordsmarch Plaza," players will need to investigate the monster kingdom of Droaam, which has sent a Medusa as an ambassador to the Coin Lords of Stormreach. In one part of the storyline, players attempt to frame the Droaam Ambassador by sneaking into the base of a nearby minotaur tribe, petrifying several minotaurs with a special wand, to discredit the Droaam Medusa.

Finally, and what is most pleasantly surprising about Update 7 is the incredible amount of new user interface updates. Not only has Turbine managed to implement a new inventory system, complete with different item categories and a quick-search function (this is incredibly useful), but they've also gone ahead and revamped their ancient Auction House UI, in addition to a pile of bug and UI fixes. Typically speaking, significant UI revamps usually get bundled into an update of their own, to give the illusion of constant updates, so it's always nice to get it all in one go.

Ultimately, Turbine's Update 7 is one of those few MMO updates that manages to have something for everyone. If you're not interested in the new level 12 Droamm Adventure Pack, you can always check out the new 12-player Raid Adventure, "The Chronoscope," or you can try out DDO's two new half-blood races for some alt-leveling fun. First it was the commitment to bring out a significant content update at least once every two months (with a smaller update on the months in between), and now, with Update 7, Turbine has once more set the standard for what a real MMO update should be. Let's hope they can keep it up for 2010 and beyond!