Trifur
07-03-2007, 11:13 PM
I preordered DDO long before many of the free play weeks and weekends and I was disappointed in what I saw. I felt many important aspects of D&D had been left out and I really disliked the combat implementation. So I played for a short while and quit. I came back to see how the game was doing and found many neat changes. But the basics problems are still there for me. Changing combat would be too big of a thing to do so I have come to accept it. But my first fix addresses what I think is an important issue.
Drop the penalty for moving while attacking. Simple at that. In PnP you move and attack in the same turn so it is a poor reflection of the game. A more accurate reflection would be to slow attacks or movement representing the splitting of action. Spring attack and shot on the run could be changed to allow full movement or attacks.
The magic item crafting feats should be impemented. The system should be simple and reflect the PnP version. That means the creation feats should be put in the game. There should be a gold and xp cost for each item. These costs should be proportional to the increased xp cost for leveling in DDO. Hand in hand with this the availability of magic items from NPC vendors should be limited to brokers who resell items sold by PCs. If the material components are made to be similar to the spell inscription components I would think creation of this system should not be too difficult. The game can already handle the concept of prerequisites so entering in each item from the DM's guide and its requirements should not be difficult.
In terms of how long it takes to craft an item I think it should take 30 minutes real time per 1000gp market price. This time can be served offline while the player runs another character. Come back a few hours later and your wand is done. This will make the auction houses useful and could give new dimensions to quests. I would also make wizards really worthwhile as they could get all the spells needed for item creation. It could also (finally) allow implementation of the Eberron specific class the Artificer. It could also serve as a real money sink as items get really expensive at the higher levels.
Make hit points more in line with the PnP game. This counts for both PCs and monsters/npcs. The first step could be to have the bonus 20 pts at first level paid off as the person levels.(I understand the need for the bonus points at first) So wizards may take 5 levels to gain hp and fighters could take only 3. e.g. wiz starts with 20hp, gets say 3-4 per level with a con bonus. Once his earned hit points exceed his bonus ones then he can gain hit points. This also means the monster damage needs to be more in line with the game.
Red mob immunities should head to the trash pile. It is just poor design. the encounters should be designed so that the bosses have many helpers who help him along. Some should be cannon fodder and others strategically useful (e.g. a cleric healing the boss mob or a wizard shaping the battle field/ dispel magic on player spells) Blanket immunities are strongly against the spirit of the game and represent lazy development.
With these helpers a boss mob could be buffed up if the party fails to be stealthy enough. This would make stealth and scouting useful in missions.
I am a bit tired so I can't remember all my points right now so I may edit this later.
Drop the penalty for moving while attacking. Simple at that. In PnP you move and attack in the same turn so it is a poor reflection of the game. A more accurate reflection would be to slow attacks or movement representing the splitting of action. Spring attack and shot on the run could be changed to allow full movement or attacks.
The magic item crafting feats should be impemented. The system should be simple and reflect the PnP version. That means the creation feats should be put in the game. There should be a gold and xp cost for each item. These costs should be proportional to the increased xp cost for leveling in DDO. Hand in hand with this the availability of magic items from NPC vendors should be limited to brokers who resell items sold by PCs. If the material components are made to be similar to the spell inscription components I would think creation of this system should not be too difficult. The game can already handle the concept of prerequisites so entering in each item from the DM's guide and its requirements should not be difficult.
In terms of how long it takes to craft an item I think it should take 30 minutes real time per 1000gp market price. This time can be served offline while the player runs another character. Come back a few hours later and your wand is done. This will make the auction houses useful and could give new dimensions to quests. I would also make wizards really worthwhile as they could get all the spells needed for item creation. It could also (finally) allow implementation of the Eberron specific class the Artificer. It could also serve as a real money sink as items get really expensive at the higher levels.
Make hit points more in line with the PnP game. This counts for both PCs and monsters/npcs. The first step could be to have the bonus 20 pts at first level paid off as the person levels.(I understand the need for the bonus points at first) So wizards may take 5 levels to gain hp and fighters could take only 3. e.g. wiz starts with 20hp, gets say 3-4 per level with a con bonus. Once his earned hit points exceed his bonus ones then he can gain hit points. This also means the monster damage needs to be more in line with the game.
Red mob immunities should head to the trash pile. It is just poor design. the encounters should be designed so that the bosses have many helpers who help him along. Some should be cannon fodder and others strategically useful (e.g. a cleric healing the boss mob or a wizard shaping the battle field/ dispel magic on player spells) Blanket immunities are strongly against the spirit of the game and represent lazy development.
With these helpers a boss mob could be buffed up if the party fails to be stealthy enough. This would make stealth and scouting useful in missions.
I am a bit tired so I can't remember all my points right now so I may edit this later.