2011 State of the Game Producer Letter

[Tolero]

A letter from our Executive Producer, Fernando Paiz to all DDO players! Click here (http://www.ddo.com/us/news/1433-2011-state-of-the-game-producer-letter)! (DE (http://www.ddo.com/de/news/1433-2011-state-of-the-game-producer-letter)) (FR (http://www.ddo.com/fr/news/1433-2011-state-of-the-game-producer-letter))

[ArkoHighStar]

No druids sad

Endgame raid happy

[Cyr]

End game raid!

No mention of more epic content...

So one new adventure pack at level cap for the whole year?

One third less updates then last year (if they hit the 4 they seem to be talking about)...

Wow, that is not a good sign of things to come. Would have thought that more money for Turbine due to F2P would mean more content over time not less...

[Sirea]

No druids sad

Endgame raid happy

He did mention a new class towards the end.

[Alektronic]

new class in 2011?....

mysterious...

...
...
...

but not druid? suspense is killing me.

[Lithic]

New class in 2011? Sigh. It better not be Commoner!

[MrkGrismer]

We are giving casters more viable spell choices to use in combat situations and a better balance between the spell point cost and the impact of each spell. And best of all, spell point costs have generally gone down which means you should have more mana to burn in your adventuring.

Well, except for Bards. But hopefully Thoon™

[ArkoHighStar]

I took several things away from this letter


1. Fernando is really excited
2. Fernando hasn't really been following the crafting thread
3. Looks like 4 more updates this year bringing us to update 12 by year end
4. Fernando really hasn't been following the Savant comments cause his sorc really won't be roasting all that much more after U9
5. New House
6. New wilderness area with endgame raid(not sure which update but this year. I am guessing U11)
7. No Druid this year
8. No lvls past 20 this year
9. New class(but not druid)
10. Crystal cove type quests will be made for new type of gameplay

[ArkoHighStar]

He did mention a new class towards the end.

he also stated it wouldn't be druids

[Cetus]

Well, a new house with new high level content and a raid, a mention of a new class in addition to druids and epic levels on the docket?

I just got excited.

[SableShadow]

New class in 2011? Sigh. It better not be Commoner!

Not that bad, really. TRing a max level lvl 0 class would be something like:
1) Login
2) Kill a single kobold (who still hates you even moar!).
3) ?
4) Re-TR (or profit)

[Anneliese]

I would guess that we get a spontaneous casting druid - since it involves no shape-shifting - so its sort of easy to add like FVS.

Probably Spirit Shaman.

[Sirea]

he also stated it wouldn't be druids

I miss one line in the whole letter and it had to be that one :o

[dkyle]

4. Fernando really hasn't been following the Savant comments cause his sorc really won't be roasting all that much more after U9

His excitement over special attack animations that only serve to nerf those special attacks (especially for TWFers), is similarly eyebrow-raising.

[ArkoHighStar]

I miss one line in the whole letter and it had to be that one :o

your forgiven:D

[redspecter23]

A good guess for the new class would be Artificer to coincide with the opening of the Cannith House in Stormreach.

[Requiro]

New class... :rolleyes:

Warlock? = Inherent Spell Like abilities, that not require much work for Turbine?

Or maybe Druids, but he try to confused us ;)

[Bilger]

End game raid!

No mention of more epic content...

So one new adventure pack at level cap for the whole year?

One third less updates then last year (if they hit the 4 they seem to be talking about)...

Wow, that is not a good sign of things to come. Would have thought that more money for Turbine due to F2P would mean more content over time not less...

I agree a lil disapointing but he did just give highlights. So one pack may not be it at cap. I have hopes.

A new raid, class and such excited for but no druids that sux.

O well will just have to wait and see what happens it was just highlights so not a full disclosure. So more content can be coming. Then again it is Turbine so we shall see :)

[ArkoHighStar]

New class in 2011? Sigh. It better not be Commoner!

so how many lives is this going to add to the total?

[junior_w]

...Our next two adventure packs are both Xoriat themed and will introduce cool new monsters and major villains from the Plane of Madness.
I like this..

Those that prefer the insanity dialed up to 11 can look forward to the next update which will kick off with an appropriately zany sequel to our popular “Delirium” quest.
...and this...

House Cannith is also responsible for the creation of the Warforged and we are working on a great new adventure pack which will show you some of this history
... I'm starting to get excited...

By popular request it will also include a new wilderness and raid for characters at the level cap!
... It's official, I'm really excited for the next updates.

new class in 2011 that we’ll talk about later on, so stay tuned!
Artificiers ?

If the next updates are really nice as it's looks, I'm starting to save money now.

[Gkar]

New class in 2011? Sigh. It better not be Commoner!

You aren't supposed to release what we know from Mournlands!

****, I've said too much now...

[Starspawn]

I'm betting the new class will be some kind of an Artificer that will specialize in crafting for resale in the market. Less an adventuring character than one who is into economics, trading and crafting.

[Thrudh]

New class in 2011? Sigh. It better not be Commoner!

Better change your sig.... on life x of 37

[rest]

lol @ fire savant sorc.

[Lithic]

so how many lives is this going to add to the total?

At least one more. Probably 3 more. Tink's never going to let me stop TRing.

I hope the new class has firewall at least.

[Memnir]

1. Fernando is really excited
Fernando was also really excited about how Half-Elves look... so yeah. Grain of salt.
2. Fernando hasn't really been following the crafting thread
4. Fernando really hasn't been following the Savant comments cause his sorc really won't be roasting all that much more after U9Again, I have to harken back to Half-Elves, and all the public requests for their graphical appeal to be enhanced. Of course he's not following it - or if he is, he is dismissing what is being said.

. No Druid this year
9. New class(but not druid)
Not happy

[mournbladereigns]

D0o0oo0oom!!!!!!!! (cause it had to be done.)

But new class good, House Cannith good (cannith and WF are the most Eberronian features of Eberron, next to Sharn, hint hint)

New class not being Druid in 2011 bad, no Epic character levels in 2011 bad.

speaking of Epics


There are other improvements I’m personally excited for, including the changes to make non-boss Epic monsters feel… well… like non-bosses! It’s one step of many as we continue to revamp our Epic content.

More Epic nerfs, tweaks zomg!

Moar Beholder drinking contest action good!

Challenge quests sound like a cool deal



hallenge quests will all have some things in common: they can be completed in a fixed time window, they offer support to a broad range of player levels, they are meant to be repeatable, and they will let you track your high score and reward your progress. ...

. We will endeavor to make challenges rewarding to play and they will offer unique treasure rewards, XP, favor and guild renown to players of all levels. I look forward to sharing more details as we get closer to release!


can you beat my high score!

[somenewnoob]

I hope the challenge quests include making Crystal Cove a permanent new landmass in 3BC!

[ArkoHighStar]

Fernando was also really excited about how Half-Elves look... so yeah. Grain of salt. Again, I have to harken back to Half-Elves, and all the public requests for their graphical appeal to be enhanced. Of course he's not following it - or if he is, he is dismissing what is being said.
God **** it.

Yes Fernando's excitement does not necessarily translate into something actually exciting. It just seems in everything he does he is extremely excited to be a part of it

[tihocan]

Always nice to hear about those more long-term plans.

Looking forward to hear about the new class... was hoping for druid but maybe you got better in stock? :rolleyes:

[sweez]

I also can’t wait for the improved animations to many of our combat actions, like trip and sunder, so it’s easier to see when you’ve triggered those abilities.

Lol, does he even play the game? What's wrong with the ease of "seeing" when you've triggered those abilities by a) being aware if you actually clicked on them or not; b) seeing the monster tripped/sundered OR a blue hexagon appearing over their head?

SO TOUGH.

[Alexandryte]

Color me intrigued.

I'm also interested why certain pieces are being played close to the vest and other parts being tossed in the open, albeit, with limited info.

[Winter_storm]

New Class secret word is ...... Drunk Monk :D

[NoAI_64]

A good guess for the new class would be Artificer to coincide with the opening of the Cannith House in Stormreach.

Seconded. It is a fairly safe bet. The question of how they will be implemented. And several of the artificer's skills just wouldn't work in translation due to minute long casting times; and those are some of their most desired abilities like the Weapon Augmentation line and Adamantine Weapon. Also a lot of their other powerful abilities like Spell Storing Device and Power Surge look lackluster in a Spell Point environment. Their going to have to throw the PnP version out the window on how it's implemented; I'd expect a lot of infusions taking place in taverns and rest shrines, personally.

We will get it, the Artificer was literally made for Eberron and this is the perfect timing for it's arrival.

[walkingwolfmike]

STILL waiting on some cleric love.

[Coldin]

*sigh* No druids...even looking a half year out into the future. That's disheartening.

[AZgreentea]

Seconded. It is a fairly safe bet. The question of how they will be implemented. And several of the artificer's skills just wouldn't work in translation due to minute long casting times; and those are some of their most desired abilities like the Weapon Augmentation line and Adamantine Weapon. Also a lot of their other powerful abilities like Spell Storing Device and Power Surge look lackluster in a Spell Point environment. Their going to have to throw the PnP version out the window on how it's implemented; I'd expect a lot of infusions taking place in taverns and rest shrines, personally.

We will get it, the Artificer was literally made for Eberron and this is the perfect timing for it's arrival.
Maybe something like a pure bard SS? They dont help as directly in combat but they are great to have around.

I wonder how many upset completionists there are after reading his state of the game? :p It would be hard to get too upset, since it is a new class to play....

[Coldin]

Fernando was also really excited about how Half-Elves look... so yeah. Grain of salt. Again, I have to harken back to Half-Elves, and all the public requests for their graphical appeal to be enhanced. Of course he's not following it - or if he is, he is dismissing what is being said.
Gosh darn it.

Being a Producer, he has to at least act excited.

But yeah. Half-elves still make me cringe every time I see one. Of course, with them being released into the wild now, how would they even go about redoing their models?

And concurr. Gosh darn it on still no druids, or even hope for druids this year. Devs, I humbly request some sort of Dev Diary on the complications behind druids, and why we can't see coming in 2011.

[Alexandryte]

Being a Producer, he has to at least act excited.

But yeah. Half-elves still make me cringe every time I see one. Of course, with them being released into the wild now, how would they even go about redoing their models?

And concurr. Gosh darn it on still no druids, or even hope for druids this year. Devs, I humbly request some sort of Dev Diary on the complications behind druids, and why we can't see coming in 2011.

Simple answer from PAX east: the engine

[MrkGrismer]

Gosh darn it on still no druids, or even hope for druids this year. Devs, I humbly request some sort of Dev Diary on the complications behind druids, and why we can't see coming in 2011.

The last I read on it there was an issue with the huge amount of overhead involved in keeping all the models in memory for shapechanging.

Nevermind that Druid shapechanging need not be instaneous and that the delay that occurs when summoning a pet would be just fine, in my opinion, for a druid wildshape change.

Heck, i don't even think a shape change would be necessary, a 'shroud' form like pale masters use would be just fine (again IMO).

[Gratch]

Simple answer from PAX east: the engine

You mean the engine that has big crazy crafting window and diablo-style watered down level-neutral questing recently added? Yes... I know those are mostly UI and systems and it's probably the shapeshifting causing them headaches.

But FERNANDO did state that DRUIDS were NEXT of any class/race at the release of Half-Races.

And we've been promised Druids by this company going on 5 years NOW. Engine remechanicing should have already been in the pipe and smoked by NOW.

*Sad Panda*

[Alexandryte]

The last I read on it there was an issue with the huge amount of overhead involved in keeping all the models in memory for shapechanging.

Nevermind that Druid shapechanging need not be instaneous and that the delay that occurs when summoning a pet would be just fine, in my opinion, for a druid wildshape change.

Heck, i don't even think a shape change would be necessary, a 'shroud' form like pale masters use would be just fine (again IMO).

Keep in mind this is the druid class we are talking about.

People already have high expectations....wildshape being one of them.

If druids don't look physically different (aka not some super imposed particle effects) the whining on the forums might reach catastrophic levels.

[Coldin]

You mean the engine that has big crazy crafting window and diablo-style watered down level-neutral questing recently added? Yes... I know those are mostly UI and systems and it's probably the shapeshifting causing them headaches.

But FERNANDO did state that DRUIDS were NEXT of any class/race at the release of Half-Races.

And we've been promised Druids by this company going on 5 years NOW. Engine fixes should have already been in the pipe and smoked by NOW.

*Sad Panda*

Which is why I want a more detailed answer why Druids are still vague looking 6+ months into the future.

[centuar1963]

A good guess for the new class would be Artificer to coincide with the opening of the Cannith House in Stormreach.

im gonna guess thiefling.... a reason to build TWF ( again) and max dex scores with dex based feats...

[ArkoHighStar]

im gonna guess thiefling.... a reason to build TWF ( again) and max dex scores with dex based feats...

tiefling is a race

[Alexandryte]

You mean the engine that has big crazy crafting window and diablo-style watered down level-neutral questing recently added? Yes... I know those are mostly UI and systems and it's probably the shapeshifting causing them headaches.

But FERNANDO did state that DRUIDS were NEXT of any class/race at the release of Half-Races.

And we've been promised Druids by this company going on 5 years NOW. Engine remechanicing should have already been in the pipe and smoked by NOW.

*Sad Panda*

Shape changing involves greatly increased memory overhead. The way the engine currently does it (as it was explained to me) is that ALL character models are loaded all the time. For something that is just a one time quick swap, this might be easier memory wise. When you add a bunch of alternate models for the same character that everyone has to load....theres an issue.

[Teech]

tiefling is a race

Yeah, but he said 'thiefling'. I'm guessing that's a little thief. Like a halfling rogue... :p

[centuar1963]

tiefling is a race

HA!.. i took them to be a class of bad guys.... evry time i saw them... hey, thanks for setting me straight.. gonna view them differentaly next time i C them

[Vengeance777]

My guess for new class is Spirit Shaman. That would add a class to the game that can use the new Druid spells that currently exist in game as cookies. Most of the abilities, mechanics, and spells already exist in game for them so should be an easy addition.


I really wish they would add Scout as a new class. Would be an easy way to make a true ranged dps class. Basically rogue + ranger, no spells or animal companions but lots of damage. Their Skirmish ability is fun as hell in pen and paper 1d6 extra damage while moving 2d6 with improved skirmish. Greater Manyshot + Improved skirmish would rock. Would actually give those archers that already circle Harry while firing arrows in Shroud some great DPS. Another class with Open Lock and Disable Device would be nice as well, instead of always having to take rouge levels.

[danotmano1998]

Well, for whatever it's worth..

I'm glad we're getting updates.. Meaning the ones that add to, not remove or nerf.

Thanks to the devs, Fernando, Admins, and anyone else not specifically mentioned..
Yeah, even the wierd guy in his isolated cubicle that is ceaselessly working on the new all-nude models. :p

Seriously, thanks to everyone who is a part of making this whole thing work.

[MrkGrismer]

Keep in mind this is the druid class we are talking about.

People already have high expectations....wildshape being one of them.

If druids don't look physically different (aka not some super imposed particle effects) the whining on the forums might reach catastrophic levels.

Personally I say let them whine. I also think the happiest 'medium' would be to load a semi-transparent model of the 'changed into' creature over the top of the druid's character. Although I would be happy with 'apprpriate' armor/helmet 'skins' (bear helmet, hawk helmet, ape helmet, etc). It's the abilities that matter, not so much the 'looks' at least in this game. Otherwise our vorpal weapons would send heads skittering across the landscape. :D

[Seliana]

3rd edition D&D has about 300 or so classes given all its sourcebooks and about 50% of them are campaign specific such as Jedi's from the Starwars d20, and Samurai from the Oriental d20 and so on...

The other 50% tend to be specializations of existing standard classes such as Feral Druid for Druids or Rampager for Barbarians.

Source: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/All_Base_Classes


The 4th edition classes currently not in game are:

Divine: Avenger, Invoker, Runepriest
Primal: Druid, Seeker, Shaman, Warden
Psionic: Ardent, Battlemind, Psion
Arcane: Artificer, Swordmage, Warlock
Martial: Warlord, Assassin

Currently we have several martial, two arcane, and two divine classes. Based on the classes left and considering our prestiges and given the difficulty of incorporation new game mechanics to support psionics and shapechanging classes; I would suspect to see Warlock, Artificer, or Shaman next. Those would be the easiest implementations for Turbine that didn't already conflict with in game prestiges or current class roles.

I'm hoping for Warlock myself.

[CeltEireson]

Personally I say let them whine. I also think the happiest 'medium' would be to load a semi-transparent model of the 'changed into' creature over the top of the druid's character. Although I would be happy with 'apprpriate' armor/helmet 'skins' (bear helmet, hawk helmet, ape helmet, etc). It's the abilities that matter, not so much the 'looks' at least in this game. Otherwise our vorpal weapons would send heads skittering across the landscape. :D

Ach now youve done it - now they'll all be clarmouring for actual decapitations ;)

[Henrieta]

I wonder what's going on with the Wild Mage concept. Spirit shaman or warlock would be cool though.

[Alexandryte]

Personally I say let them whine. I also think the happiest 'medium' would be to load a semi-transparent model of the 'changed into' creature over the top of the druid's character. Although I would be happy with 'apprpriate' armor/helmet 'skins' (bear helmet, hawk helmet, ape helmet, etc). It's the abilities that matter, not so much the 'looks' at least in this game. Otherwise our vorpal weapons would send heads skittering across the landscape. :D

Just because I may personally agree with you on the aspect of appearance versus functionality doesn't mean the forums will.


And yea....they thought of possibly doing that. Still had some problem.

[NoAI_64]

Maybe something like a pure bard SS? They don't help as directly in combat but they are great to have around.

It shouldn't be that bad. At the very least they can disable traps and open locks, they just lack trap sense and evasion so they better get it right the first time. As for fighting... three options.
One: Make a golem to due to fighting for you. Not really expecting this to be an option for DDO, but you might by default be a Warforged's best friend. Intelligence is the main stat to increase the potency of your infusions.
Two: You have the battle potential of a cleric. Make Strength your focus stat and direct some of those infusions towards your own armor.
Three: Use Magic Device opens new worlds under your hands. You can eventually apply metamagic to scrolls and wands. Maximize Charisma under this route and be ready to use some of your infusions for Power Surge.

So you have two viable options for being something other than a buff bot. I'd also put money down on the craft reserve being represented as a stock of BTC consumables they can create. In PnP, the only reason Artificers where the best crafters was because part of their design required them to create so much stuff just to remain viable; for obvious reasons DDO will be different.


I wonder how many upset completionists there are after reading his state of the game? :p It would be hard to get too upset, since it is a new class to play....

They were already forewarned. In the feat's description no less.

[Sillk]

Otherwise our vorpal weapons would send heads skittering across the landscape. :D

After you get them down to 1,000 hp

[Duagrim]

Well, for whatever it's worth..

I'm glad we're getting updates.. Meaning the ones that add to, not remove or nerf.

Thanks to the devs, Fernando, Admins, and anyone else not specifically mentioned..
Yeah, even the wierd guy in his isolated cubicle that is ceaselessly working on the new all-nude models. :p

Seriously, thanks to everyone who is a part of making this whole thing work.

.......wait, all nude models? The mind reels. "Hey Devs, my 1/2 orc is hung like a hamster- DO SOMETHING!! DDDOO00OO0ooOOMMM!!

[PopeJual]

tiefling is a race

Fernando also mentioned the Half Orc class in his last state of the game speech, I believe. :)

[Tolero]

.......wait, all nude models? The mind reels...

You know this reminds me of a funny story about the way character models are made... but I think I'll save it for my blog :D

[DevHead]

Good update, good news. Another raid, more loot.

Challenge quests...oh man.

I'm so excited! ^_^

[Shade]

So no epics ever again?

or did he just forget that question?

or that ddo still has a couple veteran players left that like them?

[Aganthor]

New crafting system... check!
New class.... ???

I'm sure they are going to roll out the artificer class. It would mesh really good with the new crafting system.

[ArkoHighStar]

So no epics ever again?

or did he just forget that question?

or that ddo still has a couple veteran players left that like them?

My guess Shade is that U11 will finish the epic pass, and then and only then will we see new epic content. But with a lvl 20 raid coming epic is not as important to me at least anymore. Also I imagine the challenge stuff will scale till lvl 25 like CC did.

[AMDarkwolf]

and STILL no epic gianthold(LMAO, hold onto it for another year guys, we ALL know how much u guys like doing work on NEW not needed stuff, why not release some of the OLD stuff u have DONE and WAITING?)

Also, does anyone else kinda think this 'new class' is the sole reason behind all the spell changes, adding in echo's, and the liberal swinging of the nerfbat on generally everything?

Way to go guys, do a complete rehaul of the 'slightly damaged' system to balance echo's of power, which NO ONE WANTED in the first place.


All negatives aside, its good to see more content, lets just hope the 'new mechanics' don't prevent me from enjoying it.


But again, thats ok if us 1+ year players who have supported you till now ditch, eh? U get millions more from facebook and twitter. Next update: DDO is now available as a facebook App.

[Henrieta]

So no epics ever again?

or did he just forget that question?

or that ddo still has a couple veteran players left that like them?


The new high level quests will probably be on the same difficulty scale as an epic quest, just not called epic.

I think they will continue lowering the difficulty of Epic quests, if any more are made, steering them further away from their original purpose of being a challenge for the best of the best.

[PopeJual]

I'm disappointed that Druid is going to suffer another delay, but I do think that the Psionicist class has some potential.

Let's see how the implementation goes.

[Culver.Civello]

Artificers are meh....

O.o I wonder how the cap raise will work though, specially for TRs.

[ArkoHighStar]

and STILL no epic gianthold(LMAO, hold onto it for another year guys, we ALL know how much u guys like doing work on NEW not needed stuff, why not release some of the OLD stuff u have DONE and WAITING?)

Also, does anyone else kinda think this 'new class' is the sole reason behind all the spell changes, adding in echo's, and the liberal swinging of the nerfbat on generally everything?

Way to go guys, do a complete rehaul of the 'slightly damaged' system to balance echo's of power, which NO ONE WANTED in the first place.


All negatives aside, its good to see more content, lets just hope the 'new mechanics' don't prevent me from enjoying it.


But again, thats ok if us 1+ year players who have supported you till now ditch, eh? U get millions more from facebook and twitter. Next update: DDO is now available as a facebook App.

The devs have stated categorically that Epic GH is not done. It was used as the internal testbed for epic mechanics
http://forums.ddo.com/showpost.php?p=3671119&postcount=54

And yes as long time player and raider I would love a new lvl 20 raid more than I would more rehashing of old quests

[PopeJual]

Artificiers ?


With the addition of crafting in U9, we'll all be artificers. No need for that as a class.

[Shade]

My guess Shade is that U11 will finish the epic pass, and then and only then will we see new epic content. But with a lvl 20 raid coming epic is not as important to me at least anymore. Also I imagine the challenge stuff will scale till lvl 25 like CC did.

eh I'd guess against you and make a huge wager too. That seems ultra unlikely. The huge focus for U11 is seems to be ultra likely to house cannith, new adveture area/raid, more crafting additions, and possibly the new class. Doesn't leave any time for more epic changes.

And i disagree with epic being less important. Thats your opinon. I think with a new raid, having an epic option for said raid is ULTRA IMPORTANT.

Far as that lvl scaling nonsese that CC did, No. That has nothing to do with epic. Thats about making more casual content you can do if you only have 5 minutes like fernando said. It wont be of any interest to high lvl players.

Nor can I accept such flawed logic. We gota change stuff before we can make new stuff, does not compute to me.

The logic is obvious: New players = more money. Hardcore epic players = not more money, so dont make them content.


The new high level quests will probably be on the same difficulty scale as an epic quest, just not called epic.
???
How did you infer that?
I don't see anything at all remotely resembling that or any hints thats ever going to happen. Epic was always intended to be a difficulty setting well beyond elite. And still will be after the changes.
Easier trash mobs wont make for epic = elite. It will make epic trash = elite sorta (tho still far harder, elite trash mobs dont use max/emp like many epic ones do),

Named epic enemies will be as hard as ever, if not harder due to the spell nerfs.

The box still says "For the best of the best"
It's still meant to be far harder then elite, and still will be.
So omitting epic for such a illlogical reason wont happen.

Besides the challenge, theres thing likes tokens and loot we'd like to see anyways.

[Seamonkeysix]

With the addition of crafting in U9, we'll all be artificers. No need for that as a class.

If it is articifer, I am guessing it will look like a cleric/wizard/rogue hybrid. Arcane and divine "spells"/ infusions, sprinkled with the ability to open locks and disable traps. I have a feeling it will be artificers, but without knowing how they intend to implement it, I have a sort of meh feeling.

Let's hope I'm wrong.

[Shade]

New class..

Yea probably will be a core class from 4th edition.

So:
Artificer (makes the most sense for house cannith)
Warlock (will all the spell changes, maybe)
Warlord (probably not)

[Gratch]

Tolero,

Any chance you can have the engine dev team (or one of its members) post a DDO Blog as to the specifics on the DRUID DELAY? One sentence from Fernando has many of us in the "DISGUST, RAGE, TEETH-NASHING, ANGSTY" sort of mood. And we're gonna take it out on pug'ers. One blog entry from engine devs may sooth some of that savage beast (though if we had wildshape, we'd actually have savage beasts to play instead of be).

[cdbd3rd]

You know this reminds me of a funny story about the way character models are made... but I think I'll save it for my blog :D


You know, this reminds me that there are some screenies I'd actually...

erm, hehheh. :o I *am* CD. ;)



Now meanwhile. Fun letter & all, but what about the important stuff - like if Turbine is gonna 'officially' be at Gen-Con.

:cool: :)

[mournbladereigns]

.......wait, all nude models? The mind reels. "Hey Devs, my 1/2 orc is hung like a hamster- DO SOMETHING!! DDDOO00OO0ooOOMMM!!

Yeah,a Miniature Giant Space Hamster!

go for the eyes, boo, the eyes!

[mournbladereigns]

New class..

Yea probably will be a core class from 4th edition.

So:
Artificer (makes the most sense for house cannith)
Warlock (will all the spell changes, maybe)
Warlord (probably not)

Eww NO to 4 ed, Aritificer class specific to Eberron sure.

Warlock only if can multiclass as a High Priest Vatican Asssasin Warlock, with the Tiger's Blood and Adonis DNA feats and Duh... Winning enhancement line.

As to Epics Fernando said:


There are other improvements I’m personally excited for, including the changes to make non-boss Epic monsters feel… well… like non-bosses! It’s one step of many as we continue to revamp our Epic content.


So I'm guessing maybe update 12, but more likely 2012.

[Cleanincubus]

It'd be nice if they took the time they are using to develop a new class, that no one asked for, and used that time to work on making Druids a reality.

[Fernando]

Hey everyone-

Just wanted to jump on and address a few points that have come up in the thread.

One question I know many are asking is why Druids are not the next class that will come to DDO. It is true they have been a long time coming. We know you want them! And we want to add them to the game but we want the class to be done right so we are taking the time to be able to do that. As mentioned above the issue comes down to engine technology needed for shape-shifting into different natural forms. I can confirm that this technology is coming to our engine this year, but it was delayed and it is still a few months out so we can’t bank on it or we risk not getting a new class out this year at all!

As far as speculation about the new class, although I can’t divulge too many details, I can say that this class will be a pretty big addition to the game! In terms of new functionality created for it, this is a lot closer in size to Monk than to Favored Soul. It is a big undertaking for us and will include some unique abilities that we think you will enjoy.

On the topic of more Epic quests, it isn’t that we don’t ever intend to do these again. Creating Epics takes more work than you might think and we’ve received a lot of feedback that the current version is not appealing enough to many of our players. Since we know the system is in flux, and we are currently focused on developing adventure packs which are playable for level 20 characters, we are not currently giving Epic a lot of focus. Our content this year is pretty much increasing in level as we go, so once we get the level 20 House Cannith content further underway, it will be time to start thinking about more Epics.

Finally, to touch on a couple comments on U9 stuff, I won’t dive into the details but I will make a few general points: We try to add things for as many types of players as we can, and not all of our players share the same goals or playstyles. If you see something you don’t like, by all means tell us, but keep in mind that very often other players with conflicting playstyles, and we have to regard everybody’s feedback. I also wanted to mention that the team (myself included) spends a lot of time reading and discussing feedback threads around the studio. Just because we can’t always participate in the conversations or address all points with build changes right away doesn’t mean we aren’t taking in the feedback. So, for example, I remain very optimistic about Crafting even though I know where the system still need tweaks to be better.

I’ll try to check in a few more times in the next few days to post more if possible. Only 6 more days until U9! I can’t wait!

Cheers,
-Fernando.

PS Of course I’m always excited … how can a person who gets to work on this game all day not be? :)

[Zenthalas]

Hey everyone-

Just wanted to jump on and address a few points that have come up in the thread.

One question I know many are asking is why Druids are not the next class that will come to DDO. It is true they have been a long time coming. We know you want them! And we want to add them to the game but we want the class to be done right so we are taking the time to be able to do that. As mentioned above the issue comes down to engine technology needed for shape-shifting into different natural forms. I can confirm that this technology is coming to our engine this year, but it was delayed and it is still a few months out so we can’t bank on it or we risk not getting a new class out this year at all!

As far as speculation about the new class, although I can’t divulge too many details, I can say that this class will be a pretty big addition to the game! In terms of new functionality created for it, this is a lot closer in size to Monk than to Favored Soul. It is a big undertaking for us and will include some unique abilities that we think you will enjoy.

On the topic of more Epic quests, it isn’t that we don’t ever intend to do these again. Creating Epics takes more work than you might think and we’ve received a lot of feedback that the current version is not appealing enough to many of our players. Since we know the system is in flux, and we are currently focused on developing adventure packs which are playable for level 20 characters, we are not currently giving Epic a lot of focus. Our content this year is pretty much increasing in level as we go, so once we get the level 20 House Cannith content further underway, it will be time to start thinking about more Epics.

Finally, to touch on a couple comments on U9 stuff, I won’t dive into the details but I will make a few general points: We try to add things for as many types of players as we can, and not all of our players share the same goals or playstyles. If you see something you don’t like, by all means tell us, but keep in mind that very often other players with conflicting playstyles, and we have to regard everybody’s feedback. I also wanted to mention that the team (myself included) spends a lot of time reading and discussing feedback threads around the studio. Just because we can’t always participate in the conversations or address all points with build changes right away doesn’t mean we aren’t taking in the feedback. So, for example, I remain very optimistic about Crafting even though I know where the system still need tweaks to be better.

I’ll try to check in a few more times in the next few days to post more if possible. Only 6 more days until U9! I can’t wait!

Cheers,
-Fernando.

PS Of course I’m always excited … how can a person who gets to work on this game all day not be? :)

yayyy we have a release date!!!

[SaisMatters]

Hey everyone-

One question I know many are asking is why Druids are not the next class that will come to DDO. It is true they have been a long time coming. We know you want them! And we want to add them to the game but we want the class to be done right so we are taking the time to be able to do that. As mentioned above the issue comes down to engine technology needed for shape-shifting into different natural forms. I can confirm that this technology is coming to our engine this year, but it was delayed and it is still a few months out so we can’t bank on it or we risk not getting a new class out this year at all!

AsCheers,
-Fernando. :)

Have you ever heard of the story about the boy who cried wolf?? For us Vets, the Druid is your wolf. Alot of us just don't believe anymore.

[mournbladereigns]

Have you ever heard of the story about the boy who cried wolf?? For us Vets, the Druid is your wolf. Alot of us just don't believe anymore.

I see what you did thar, they were delaying it so it could shapeshift into some wolves!

also


As far as speculation about the new class, although I can’t divulge too many details, I can say that this class will be a pretty big addition to the game! In terms of new functionality created for it, this is a lot closer in size to Monk than to Favored Soul. It is a big undertaking for us and will include some unique abilities that we think you will enjoy.


It doesn't take a kalashtar to know. This makes me think Psionicist. Color me surprised.

[die]

Dooooooom :).... OH well we still get a new update in a few days, and im on my 4th server , and im only lv 12 i better get back too the Desert.

[Zorack00]

Have you ever heard of the story about the boy who cried wolf?? For us Vets, the Druid is your wolf. Alot of us just don't believe anymore.

So based on your analogy, you're then implying in the future that the Druid will come and eat the Devs because of your said lack of belief...

[AZgreentea]

Have you ever heard of the story about the boy who cried wolf?? For us Vets, the Druid is your wolf. Alot of us just don't believe anymore.
Druids are like global warming. Not everyone will believe they are real until it/they show up one day. If they never show up, then the discussion will never end.

[Shade]

Creating Epics takes more work than you might think and we’ve received a lot of feedback that the current version is not appealing enough to many of our players.



We try to add things for as many types of players as we can, and not all of our players share the same goals or playstyles. )

To me these 2 sentences directly conflict.

You say your not making epics becaue they are "not appearling enough to many of our players"

yet, you recognize not all players share the same goals. The many players that complain about epics, enjoy other parts of the game, so why does it need to change?

You've been focused on giving the lower lvl/casual players content for the last couple years, and by the sounds of it, intend to the let the game go a full year if not longer without ever releasing a new epic.

Doesn't sound to me like you care to cater to multiple playstyles, but rather just the most vocal ones on the forums.

Tons of playrs enjoy epic, just log on the khyber at any given moment and look at all the lfms. While that may not be reflected in the forums as much, the forums dont always tell the whole story, remember players will come here to complain and lot more ofen they will come here to say how great a job you did on epics.

So I'll let ya know:
Epics are great. Epics were great, even your initial vision. A ton of players do enjoy them, and we'd like to see more. We don't care about the changes, we just want more.

Far as "Creating Epics takes more work than you might think"

I can't really see that as the roadblock for releasing ones we know for a fact that are at least mostly complete already, such as giannthold tor. Seems like time was never an issue there, so much as desire to focus more on casual players and less on those who like epic.

Thoon showed us that you have every boss properly scaled and working, same for Shroud epic. It's not some kinda secret. We know there mostly done, what we don't know is why you can never let us play them.

[Bodic]

Lets face facts. Druids will never happen. Proof shiny new carrot of distraction 6 days tell the worst update ever.

the new class will be something OP that we dont want or need.

Why not fix bugs instead of developing new things that are not desired or needed.

[Xyfiel]

From 2 years ago...

17:02 :: Kate on introducing Eberron only races: "The Eberron only stuff is definitely of interest to us and of interest to the design team. We certainly talked in the past about the druid, the half-orc and the half-elf as well and I will be perfectly honest - given the 4.0 rules release and the fact that the druid and the half-orc moved to a supplemental player's handbook, we are reevaluating a lot of these choices right now. We are also looking at the favored soul, at the warlock, at the warlord - things like that - to make sure we are making the best choice. <mic clips - but I think she says Druids> are very popular.


Today...

As far as speculation about the new class, although I can’t divulge too many details, I can say that this class will be a pretty big addition to the game! In terms of new functionality created for it, this is a lot closer in size to Monk than to Favored Soul. It is a big undertaking for us and will include some unique abilities that we think you will enjoy.



Druid delayed+Spell like abilities added+Spell pass+above quotes=Warlock?

[Shade]

the new class will be something OP that we dont want or need.

Why not fix bugs instead of developing new things that are not desired or needed.

They haven't figured out a good way to charge for bug fixes yet.

Maybe add a potion of bug fixing to the ddo store?
Drink this potion to fix any bugs currently effecting your character! 1 use, 225 TP

New class?
Proven people are willing to pay 15-20 to bucks a pop for classes.. So yea you can be sure there working hard on those.

[maddmatt70]

Fernando thank you for commenting in this thread. I just want to say that there are still a fair number of end game players in DDO, people that play DDO because they enjoy playing an end game that has some challenges in it. Without new epics then these level 20 quests you refer to hopefully will have some unique challenges. Hopefully they will be at least as challenging as Amarath if not more challenging otherwise 6 months to a year is a long time to wait for something new for the end game players.

[donfilibuster]

Hope The-Class-That-Is-Not-Druid is indeed the Artificer.

House Cannith seems to be a good hint on that.
Not a lot of the other classes seems worthy of being The-Class-That-Is-Not-Druid.
Warlock might be easy to pull with the existing way to do SLAs, and dun forget they have umd and crafting bonuses.

There's other classes but some might be better done via PrE like they did with Ninja.
Like the Scout, which would make a good rogue or ranger PrE.

[Ralmeth]

They should make the new class a Swashbuckler!!! They could even add in Muskateer-type of outfits, real fencing combat animations, and could fit well with their introduction of support of DDO in France. Of course, this is from a long-time saber fencer...Well, I can dream at least.

[Teech]

They should make the new class a Swashbuckler!!! They could even add in Muskateer-type of outfits, real fencing combat animations, and could fit well with their introduction of support of DDO in France. Of course, this is from a long-time saber fencer...Well, I can dream at least.

Does it bother you when you see slash animations for piercing weapons such as the rapier? I know random question, but still...:o

[Vernah]

They haven't figured out a good way to charge for bug fixes yet.

Maybe add a potion of bug fixing to the ddo store?
Drink this potion to fix any bugs currently effecting your character! 1 use, 225 TP

New class?
Proven people are willing to pay 15-20 to bucks a pop for classes.. So yea you can be sure there working hard on those.

What's sad is that I would actually probably pay 15-20 for bugs to be fixed...

[Auran82]

They haven't figured out a good way to charge for bug fixes yet.

Maybe add a potion of bug fixing to the ddo store?
Drink this potion to fix any bugs currently effecting your character! 1 use, 225 TP

New class?
Proven people are willing to pay 15-20 to bucks a pop for classes.. So yea you can be sure there working hard on those.

Sadly Shade I can only assume that epics don't make alot of money because most decent players who play them are good enough to not have to use a ton of store mana pots, and most of them are easy enough that 5 experienced players can drag a new person through as long as they listen. Sadly the only feedback they really get is people complaining on the forums and the exit surveys from people cancelling VIP subs.

As you said though, new classes/races would have to almost instantly generate a heap of revenue.

[Angelus_dead]

Source: http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/All_Base_Classes
Homebrew is homebrew. The real number of D&D 3.5 base classes is closer to 30 than 300.

[Ganak]

...we are not currently giving Epic a lot of focus.


All the work that is put into developing an epic, you can only sell one adventure pack at the end of the day right?

Does corralling players towards TR'ing increase revenue because of the sales of xp pots/true hearts/adventure packs?

Does market data from DDO store sales drive the development of the game?

What do people spend the most money on?

Does turbine have a responsibility to do the most they can for their employees, famlies and shareholders who risk much, namely earn the best profit possible?

Can I argue that the long neglect of end game content is bad for DDO?






I hope so.

[Henrieta]

Arrrr pirates coming?

[donfilibuster]

The halfbloods seemed easy to market and easy to appeal.

Please everyone give ideas on druid, gnome, artificer, illusions, etc. because they don't look as easy to bundle.
These must be able to fill the spring's big update, something you'd show at PAX and be happily reviewed by ten-ton-hammer.
Otherwise they will be skipped again next year.

e.g. it might work if they bundle Gnome vs. Kobolds, and while it is not too original it is classic of d&d.

[axebender]

psionisist pleassssse

[oradafu]

If we're only getting 4 packs this year, is there a chance that the prestige classes can be finished up then? Especially if you are balancing a whole class around a single full prestige... I see that the Devs keep tinkering with Pale Master since it was introduced. How about tinkering with the prestige classes that only have one or two tiers before you start giving more stuff to fully tiered prestige classes? Especially when the tinkering is for a prestige class that most people agree is balanced or powerful enough not to need more tinkering compared to others.

[Gkar]

Hey everyone-

Just wanted to jump on and address a few points that have come up in the thread.


Thank you for the state of the game...and for coming here. Communcation is much apprecaited, even if we do give you a hard time :)



One question I know many are asking is why Druids are not the next class that will come to DDO. It is true they have been a long time coming. We know you want them! And we want to add them to the game but we want the class to be done right so we are taking the time to be able to do that. As mentioned above the issue comes down to engine technology needed for shape-shifting into different natural forms. I can confirm that this technology is coming to our engine this year, but it was delayed and it is still a few months out so we can’t bank on it or we risk not getting a new class out this year at all!

So Shifters at the same time might be a reasonable expectation?

[Sirea]

I for one welcome non-epic high level content, especially another high-level raid. I'm curious to see what sort of strategy the new raid entails or if it'll just be another hack 'n' slash fest. And if the fact that it'll be House Cannith based means no more devils, then I'm even more for it.

[Tsuarok]

Sadly Shade I can only assume that epics don't make alot of money because most decent players who play them are good enough to not have to use a ton of store mana pots, and most of them are easy enough that 5 experienced players can drag a new person through as long as they listen. Sadly the only feedback they really get is people complaining on the forums and the exit surveys from people cancelling VIP subs.

As you said though, new classes/races would have to almost instantly generate a heap of revenue.

Actually, the only time I ever see anyone using Rest of Eladrin's is in epics. And if things are going south, I, as the healer, am much more likely to chug a pot for an EVON completion than, say, a Shroud.

In short, if they design quests that actually challenge players, and provide rewards that are worth it, sales of sp potions and similar items will increase.

@Shade

I'm pretty sure you are the most vocal forum member. :D

As for Fernando's comments contradicting, he was just trying to politely say that he's working on other stuff.

[Gkar]

I for one welcome non-epic high level content, especially another high-level raid. I'm curious to see what sort of strategy the new raid entails or if it'll just be another hack 'n' slash fest. And if the fact that it'll be House Cannith based means no more devils, then I'm even more for it.

I just hope it includes 4-6 pre-quests at L17-19. We are in serious need of high level non epic xp generating content.

[Tolero]

...Sadly the only feedback they really get is people complaining on the forums and the exit surveys from people cancelling VIP subs....

This is incorrect. Feedback is taken from users across the spectrum. We monitor what players say in the forums, the social network communities, exit surveys, targetted and random surveys of existing players, organic "foot work" (i.e. we grab our dinner and pop in the world to take a pulse from users on what they're chatting about), and numerical data points. If we relied expressly on forum/cancellation feedback it would not give very effective results.

[Auran82]

This is incorrect. Feedback is taken from users across the spectrum. We monitor what players say in the forums, the social network communities, exit surveys, targetted and random surveys of existing players, organic "foot work" (i.e. we grab our dinner and pop in the world to take a pulse from users on what they're chatting about), and numerical data points. If we relied expressly on forum/cancellation feedback it would not give very effective results.

I can guarantee you that more people complain about something they don't like as opposed to saying how awesome something is, it's human nature.

Its one of the reasons I have always thought that having epic as a difficulty above elite was a bad idea, it probably should have been a checkbox that worked along with the usual normal/hard/elite so you didn't have to make it one size fits all.

[oradafu]

This is incorrect. Feedback is taken from users across the spectrum. We monitor what players say in the forums, the social network communities, exit surveys, targetted and random surveys of existing players, organic "foot work" (i.e. we grab our dinner and pop in the world to take a pulse from users on what they're chatting about), and numerical data points. If we relied expressly on forum/cancellation feedback it would not give very effective results.

I hope after the Monster Madness that Social network communities has been moved down as a primary source on players feelings about the game.

[Cetus]

This is incorrect. Feedback is taken from users across the spectrum. We monitor what players say in the forums, the social network communities, exit surveys, targetted and random surveys of existing players, organic "foot work" (i.e. we grab our dinner and pop in the world to take a pulse from users on what they're chatting about), and numerical data points. If we relied expressly on forum/cancellation feedback it would not give very effective results.

Well, every player will eventually make their way towards end game content- THAT is where the game is most interesting, motivating, and worthy of the most attention.

The problem is, less worthy content populates the lower levels across the board. We simply have no challenge. The lack of challenge in the current end game results in widespread loss of motivation for the end game player base in the long run, and this will continue as more players leave the learning process and enter this stage of the game- we all still remain stagnant, unchallenged, and bored with running the same simple content.

I mean, you're saying that our pleas are seen and the forums are monitored in the quoted post above, but just to provide a personal example, I've been yelling and screaming on here for like the last half a year almost asking to let us retain raid acquired tomes through the TR process- I even asked to do something as insignificant to most of the population as free up a completionist feat- just so that the hard working players get a better sense of accomplishment than what it is now. Not a peep from a dev.

Instead of renaming the bloodstone to "The Blood Stone," how about you folks recode the way action boost granting equipment operates so they don't drain every boost from simply swapping em or getting disjuncted.

The horned devil in part 4 of epic devils assault has been bugging out to no end, you folks couldn't patch that up when it was first announced? We had to do that for months til we finally figured out a way to unbug him on our own- these examples work contrary to your claim that the players are heard.


The end game keeps the players. And this is where every single player is heading toward. We need more epics, we need more stuff to do. Period.

[Aeolwind]

This is incorrect. Feedback is taken from users across the spectrum. We monitor what players say in the forums, the social network communities, exit surveys, targetted and random surveys of existing players, organic "foot work" (i.e. we grab our dinner and pop in the world to take a pulse from users on what they're chatting about), and numerical data points. If we relied expressly on forum/cancellation feedback it would not give very effective results.

Well, rely on this. I was excited enough about the changes that I saw coming at the end of last summer that I resub'd after 4 years of languishing what might have been. I also convinced 2 friends to join me. And after testing u9, we're not looking forward to the next 9 months as eagerly as we did the last 9.

The crafting is... I can't even come up with a word that won't be censored.
The Sorc PrE is weaker than not taking a PrE.
Spell point costs deviation.
Helpless change.
And the quests and storyline are lackluster at best with the Halo Flood clones.

[vVAnjilaVv]

Might I mention adding a prescription to the store for tunnel vision.

OMG......sometimes I wonder if the DEVS/Fernando dread posting here or if they were trained at the Turbine academy to withstand such lashings.

Everyone knew the game was gonna go thru major changes when it went to F2P...if it's that unbearable........the cancel sub feature and going F2P to "hit Turbine in the wallet" is very easy to activate....or you could just leave altogether.....with a nice...sorry to see you go note from Turbine...and a private snicker at their desks with the thought......who cares...don't let the cyber-door hit you on the way out.

I think honestly the only issues I have ever had with this game were technical issues in the 4 1/2 years of playing......not the inability to adapt to game changes.

WOW...I mean suggestive feedback is great.......raking people over the coals because your jaded, old, bitter, and/or angry is just ugly.

[Cetus]

Well, rely on this. I was excited enough about the changes that I saw coming at the end of last summer that I resub'd after 4 years of languishing what might have been. I also convinced 2 friends to join me. And after testing u9, we're not looking forward to the next 9 months as eagerly as we did the last 9.

The crafting is... I can't even come up with a word that won't be censored.
The Sorc PrE is weaker than not taking a PrE.
Spell point costs deviation.
Helpless change.
And the quests and storyline are lackluster at best with the Halo Flood clones.

And to piggy back on this post, the very name of this game is contrary to our content. Where are the dragons? We have NO dragons. Velah, the 3 mini- "dragons" from gianthold tor, we have the *opportunity* to fight 2 of em in prey, and theres 1 at the very end of one of those quests in the twelve.

Only one of the above is actually a real end game situation- epic velah.

I don't even like how fernando said how the new raid in the upcoming house cannith has a thing regarding the history of the warforged. That theme is so played out, I'm sick of it. We've had a warforged titan years ago, we fight warforged everywhere in Von4 years ago, we continued to fight them in von5 with the aurum, then we had more warforged as part of a storyline in the dreaming dark line with eye of the titan. Enough with the warforged. Versatility is a good thing. Embrace it.

[PNellesen]

STILL waiting on some cleric love.

This. They're taking Extend from our Blade Barriers, Auto-crits from our Dreamspitters, and making Heal cost more. Other than lowering the SP on some spells (mostly lower-level if I recall correctly), is there anything else they did in a Cleric's favor? It's a serious question - I've not had a chance at all to go play on Lammania, and I've searched the various threads but haven't seen much discussion at all regarding changes that BENEFIT Clerics. I suppose the decreased animation time for Blade Barriers (and Mass Heal, maybe?) comes under that heading, but I'd trade that back for Extend in a heartbeat...

[Myrddinman]

Might I mention adding a prescription to the store for tunnel vision.

OMG......sometimes I wonder if the DEVS/Fernando dread posting here or if they were trained at the Turbine academy to withstand such lashings.

Everyone knew the game was gonna go thru major changes when it went to F2P...if it's that unbearable........the cancel sub feature and going F2P to "hit Turbine in the wallet" is very easy to activate....or you could just leave altogether.....with a nice...sorry to see you go note from Turbine...and a private snicker at their desks with the thought......who cares...don't let the cyber-door hit you on the way out.

I think honestly the only issues I have ever had with this game were technical issues in the 4 1/2 years of playing......not the inability to adapt to game changes.

WOW...I mean suggestive feedback is great.......raking people over the coals because your jaded, old, bitter, and/or angry is just ugly.

Even though it won't show...+1

[Xenus_Paradox]

I think it's a safe bet that Artificer is coming. House Cannith enclave and crafting points towards it, so any other class would be basically shoehorned in. "Here's a house that's all about artifice, and a crafting system, which Artificers have multiple class features for in PnP, and your new class, the Warlock!" Cohesive theme fail.

Re: new raid- It's almost guaranteed that it'll feature lots (and lots and lots) of Constructs, both of the Living and non-Living variety. So get your smiters and GCB weapons out and blow the dust off your Mechanic II Rogues.

Also interested in seeing how Challenge quests play out. Set time sounds like a "Defeat as many mobs in 10 minutes as you can" type of deal, and the scoring system plus unique items means you might actually (gasp) get a SKILL-BASED reward for these adventures!

[Vengeance777]

I was really hoping the new raid would finish the Amrath Demon side or Truthful one storylines. What is in the Yugoloth Jail and what is up with the Mad Archon. Balar and Drocolich; add them to the game, please.

Hard to get excited about a House Cannith based raid, with Cannith its either stolen/rogue technology, old technology, or the Quori. I hope its not another Warforged Titan end boss. Quori based raid could be interesting though. I'd like a raid level rematch with the Dreaming Dark. He was such a weak boss to be head of the Quori, maybe that was just an avatar.

Really disappointing by the lack of epic content. I love epic content, even if its not perfect. It was fun and challenging, especially early on, finding the best ways to do the quests.

I really want to see old packs epic'd especially Restless Isles and Gianthold. Heck I'd even love to see Korthos/Misery's Peak and harbor epic, those would be fun. Lot of named items in those that would be fun to see new epic versions of. You guys started out great 2 epic old quest packs came out fast, then nothing.

With the lack of epic content coming to the game any chance you can make it so +3 and +4 tomes stay with you when you TR. If nothing else I could TR my epic toons until more epics come out.

Really looking forward to more Xoriat content though. Love those quests. So far all of the Xoriat themed quests, with the exception of the new warehouse quest, have been great. Delirium, Hound Of Xoriat, the waterworks invasion, Xorian Cipher, Dreams of Insanity, etc... all awesome.

[axan]

Well very very sad to see no Druid this year as we have been asking for it for 5 years now, and dont know why they keeping the Artificer class a secret for now, adding House Canith and crafting, would be extremely surprised if it wasnt, nice to see a new house ward added to stormreach, shame they focussing on plane of madness, i would rather move to a new area of eberron or xendrick, but guess its easier and quicker to use existing themes. each update does make the game better and they are adding new features races classes etc although the later at a slower pace its just a real shame Druids are missing, but at least when we do get them they should ahve the tech to add shifters too which would be nice. Also any chance on more dx 11 features have just upgraded and to be honest you cat really tell the difference apart from the water, i expected more would be great to add tesselation etc, but who knows what the future will bring. Good news and nice new features but shame artificers won over druids.

[PopeJual]

Might I mention adding a prescription to the store for tunnel vision.

OMG......sometimes I wonder if the DEVS/Fernando dread posting here or if they were trained at the Turbine academy to withstand such lashings.

Everyone knew the game was gonna go thru major changes when it went to F2P...if it's that unbearable........the cancel sub feature and going F2P to "hit Turbine in the wallet" is very easy to activate

So you're saying that Turbine would care that people left.


....or you could just leave altogether.....with a nice...sorry to see you go note from Turbine...and a private snicker at their desks with the thought......who cares...don't let the cyber-door hit you on the way out.

...or not.

Pick one. You only get to be snarky on one side of an argument at a time.


I think honestly the only issues I have ever had with this game were technical issues in the 4 1/2 years of playing......not the inability to adapt to game changes.

WOW...I mean suggestive feedback is great.......raking people over the coals because your jaded, old, bitter, and/or angry is just ugly.

The fact that I'm old has nothing to do with how jaded, bitter and angry I am.

Mostly, I get angry with the blatantly cheap shortcuts that I see and the occasional horrific PR nightmare that blows up.

The game itself has a lot of outstanding features. I like the game. I wouldn't get upset if someone did something stupid or shortsighted with a game that I didn't like.

[Angelus_dead]

is there anything else they did in a Cleric's favor? It's a serious question
Divine Punishment.

[knightgf]

The one thing that interested me the most was the new class that was coming out before druid...I swear, why didn't this class become mentioned a while ago? I would personally see the effort from that new class be put in druid instead, but either way, I like seeing new classes. If the new class is monk-like in ability, I will have to take a few guesses then...could it be the:



Beguiler? (Rogue with spellcasting ability)
Duskblade? (Bardlike character)
Sohei? (Barbarian-like monk)

A dev response as to if any of these are the correct 'mystery' class would be great.

[moorewr]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm

My money's on the soulknife... :cool:

[Ystradmynach]

The one thing that interested me the most was the new class that was coming out before druid...I swear, why didn't this class become mentioned a while ago?

I guessing the developers at Turbine realized recently that druids weren't going to be ready this year so they pushed up the release date of an easier class to the end of this year so they would have something new to keep player's interest.

Also, they wanted to frustrate players who had gotten completionist.:)

[Saaluta]

So, I have mostly no problem with the SOTGA2011...the one thing I have a problem with is the Crystal Cove type quests...yes, the quest was on a 20 minute timer, but more than often groups were finishing in 10 minutes and then just sitting around with our thumbs up our....noses waiting for it to end. There needs to be some way to end the quest early with all rewards(xp, loot, end rewards, etc.) without having to wait til the timer ends.

Pretty much figured that druids wouldn't be out. Would like more epics, especially in some of the f2p areas(more high level f2p content would be nice as well, but you guys have to make a buck somewhere).

Saal :)

[Cetus]

Also, they wanted to frustrate players who had gotten completionist.:)

The past lives better be worth it!

[ArkoHighStar]

So, I have mostly no problem with the SOTGA2011...the one thing I have a problem with is the Crystal Cove type quests...yes, the quest was on a 20 minute timer, but more than often groups were finishing in 10 minutes and then just sitting around with our thumbs up our....noses waiting for it to end. There needs to be some way to end the quest early with all rewards(xp, loot, end rewards, etc.) without having to wait til the timer ends.

Pretty much figured that druids wouldn't be out. Would like more epics, especially in some of the f2p areas(more high level f2p content would be nice as well, but you guys have to make a buck somewhere).

Saal :)

the 20 minute timer was so that you would only be able to do 2 rounds in the 40 minute open door window. I doubt the non event versions of these quests will have this limitation, so I imagine they will end based on whatever the quest objectives are

[bfmurf201]

Ahhhh im still happy with the new high level content that will be coming . So what stuff got nerfed suck it up . The game is going too continually change just like all other aspects of life . The changes now are making way for changes and additions in the future . It's probably not in turbines best interest to give away there secrets and there plans . From what i heard other top mmo's get have nerfs on a week to month basis . Insatiable much ?

[bfmurf201]

Update 10 better be the ranged pass like you guys said .

[red_cardinal]

Hey everyone-

Just wanted to jump on and address a few points that have come up in the thread.

One question I know many are asking is why Druids are not the next class that will come to DDO. It is true they have been a long time coming. We know you want them! And we want to add them to the game but we want the class to be done right so we are taking the time to be able to do that. As mentioned above the issue comes down to engine technology needed for shape-shifting into different natural forms. I can confirm that this technology is coming to our engine this year, but it was delayed and it is still a few months out so we can’t bank on it or we risk not getting a new class out this year at all!


Ask Blizzard for help if you're having trouble. :D Seriously, I agree with you. It is very important to introduce novelty, but you still have loads of old things unfinished, like lots of PrEs for existing classes (ranger deepwood sniper, cleric warpriest,...). Why not get them done first?



As far as speculation about the new class, although I can’t divulge too many details, I can say that this class will be a pretty big addition to the game! In terms of new functionality created for it, this is a lot closer in size to Monk than to Favored Soul. It is a big undertaking for us and will include some unique abilities that we think you will enjoy.


Samurai? :P There's only druid as a base class in 3.5 D&D if I'm not mistaking. What are you up to? Well, you don't say it's a BASE class. So it must be a prestige one so it will be a multiclass class. :\ But you don't say that it's a prestige class so we have nothing. :P



On the topic of more Epic quests, it isn’t that we don’t ever intend to do these again. Creating Epics takes more work than you might think and we’ve received a lot of feedback that the current version is not appealing enough to many of our players. Since we know the system is in flux, and we are currently focused on developing adventure packs which are playable for level 20 characters, we are not currently giving Epic a lot of focus. Our content this year is pretty much increasing in level as we go, so once we get the level 20 House Cannith content further underway, it will be time to start thinking about more Epics.


The way epics were done is changed now. That's good. Monsters have less HP and that's good too. Sorcerers are viable in epic content as dps. That's nice.



Finally, to touch on a couple comments on U9 stuff, I won’t dive into the details but I will make a few general points: We try to add things for as many types of players as we can, and not all of our players share the same goals or playstyles. If you see something you don’t like, by all means tell us, but keep in mind that very often other players with conflicting playstyles, and we have to regard everybody’s feedback. I also wanted to mention that the team (myself included) spends a lot of time reading and discussing feedback threads around the studio. Just because we can’t always participate in the conversations or address all points with build changes right away doesn’t mean we aren’t taking in the feedback. So, for example, I remain very optimistic about Crafting even though I know where the system still need tweaks to be better.


Why do devs do your PR? You overextended them. Devs do BAD PR if they have to read forums, read submitted bugs, discuss them internally, fix bugs, develop new code, test, compile, do versioning, quality assurance, etc. Find a mediator which will do PR for them. Another Tolero if she's overburdened. Devs should only do development, nothing else. Perhaps you have some kind of focus distortion over there. Or, better yet, turn a dev into a PR and have him only chat with users. Don't let the guy code! :)



I’ll try to check in a few more times in the next few days to post more if possible. Only 6 more days until U9! I can’t wait!

Cheers,
-Fernando.


Cheers.



PS Of course I’m always excited … how can a person who gets to work on this game all day not be? :)

Maybe because you're not working. Maybe you're just an optimistic twit running around the studio yelling in ecstasy: "New stuff, good stuff!" :) But behind you, old stuff, bad stuff. Finish what you started. :(

[Requiro]

(...)

Thoon showed us that you have every boss properly scaled and working, same for Shroud epic. It's not some kinda secret. We know there mostly done, what we don't know is why you can never let us play them.

One word: Money :)

If they give us too much, they will lost opportunity to earn more money over the time. And this way, every update you buy some adventure because you are boring with the old one (or paying for them by VIP)

Every update you can use new stuff (like New PrE) and you are still in the game (and probably paying). When you are not interested with new stuff anymore, they give you some more. And again, and again…

In the other word: We are the cows, the Turbine know how milk us :)

And I'm ok with that, if they are not milk us too fast ;)

[Auran82]

I can only assume they were hoping to have the tech for Druids ready either for update 9 or very soon after (along with shifters maybe, the tech would be pretty closely tied). Now they are trying to get another class in the meantime because new classes/races would have to be one of the biggest moneymakers (I obviously don't have figures, but I can only imagine how many people bought half-orcs/half-elves, and at what, $25 for the pair? That would be a big chunk of money)

What is the new class? Well, it shouldn't take a Kalashtar to work it out...

[Auran82]

One word: Money :)

If you put together a list of packs people should buy, Vale and GH would be pretty close to the top if not 1 and 2 (maybe beaten by deleras?)

Therefore making epic versions of these quests is the same as flushing time/money down the toilet for them, its not like people are going to suddenly buy GH and Vale who didn't have it already.

If Epic in it's original version didn't feel like such an afterthought to keep long time players playing (and to be honest, I would say that epic versions of DQ and Von would have resulted in a heap more sales) they might have planned this out a little better (like made epic versions of packs be a small extra purchase instead of being included) then we might have seen epic GH by now.

[mystafyi]

Agree... there is no monetary reason atm for turbine to work on epics as they currently are implemented. If epics required a seperate purchase from the ddo store this would change things.

when turbine took ddo f2p it changed the development dynamics of the game.

[fearlossPhiction]

might be just me but i see nothing to get excited about in this state of the game, update 9 has taken to long already , i'm slowly beginning to think that turbine have killed ddo for me.

[mystafyi]

update 9 has taken to long already

Turbine thinks so too... hence rushing U9 release even though the spell pass isnt fully fleshed out and the crafting system is in 'beta' as per turbine even ;)

[Argila]

This is incorrect. Feedback is taken from users across the spectrum. We monitor what players say in the forums, the social network communities, exit surveys, targetted and random surveys of existing players, organic "foot work" (i.e. we grab our dinner and pop in the world to take a pulse from users on what they're chatting about), and numerical data points. If we relied expressly on forum/cancellation feedback it would not give very effective results.

Sure, we just need to look at the VAT case in European TP sell to see how that is working...

[Maren_Vond]

Finally we get House Cannith!
And a new class too!

...

Wait.
I think it's a trap. :eek:

[phillymiket]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm

My money's on the soulknife... :cool:

That would be fun. :)

It's also a good guess.

I figure it would need to be something that doesn't include a whole new game mechanic.
Soul knife would be pretty easy. They just need to make a psionic damage type for the class to use. (or maybe even make it force I guess :P)

Psionicist, Shaman and Warlock would need a whole new casting mechanic and new "spell" lists so that kind of eliminates them.
I assume the new spell list is what is among the delays for Druid.

I doubt it would be another melee class.
Cavalier, Scout, Swashbuckler etc are just too close to existing classes

Artificer make the most sense. It's House Cannith, it's Ebberon and would tie in with their new crafting.
But it would have to be kind a different. The crafting would need to be downplayed for a more spell casting rogue type class that has some bonuses to crafting as well.
This is what I think it will be.

Maybe a melee caster class like Hexblade.

[Ganak]

Upon further reflection on the non-focus on epic...

Why not still work on what you plan to work on, plus continue to develop higher level end game contant? Why one or the other?


Also, I will echo the sentiment that we need an enhanced TR that will allow us to keep raid tomes. It can be justified to allow it (our whole TR and game experience cannot help but drift from pnp). More importantly, we will pay for it. This could soften the blow from the neglect of end game content. Neglect is a harsh word, but am I being unjust in using it?


Running up to the launch of F2P, I staunchly defended the model because it would lengthen the lifespan of DDO and lead to more content, particularly end game. I was wrong in that the end game content since F2P launch just hasn't hit reasonable expectations. And we are looking at perhaps up to a year? Poo.

[donblas]

Thanks fernando

Nice to see some information, and some feedback from you on our feed back :)

I'm really excited about the state of the game at the moment and your sneak previews have just enhanced that.

Keep up the good work.

[moorewr]

That would be fun. :)

It's also a good guess.

I figure it would need to be something that doesn't include a whole new game mechanic.
Soul knife would be pretty easy. They just need to make a psionic damage type for the class to use. (or maybe even make it force I guess :P)

Psionicist, Shaman and Warlock would need a whole new casting mechanic and new "spell" lists so that kind of eliminates them.
I assume the new spell list is what is among the delays for Druid.

Semi-informed observation: I think the sticking point for druids is Wild Shape.

[cdbd3rd]

...
Why do devs do your PR? You overextended them. Devs do BAD PR if they have to read forums, read submitted bugs, discuss them internally, fix bugs, develop new code, test, compile, do versioning, quality assurance, etc. Find a mediator which will do PR for them. Another Tolero if she's overburdened. Devs should only do development, nothing else. Perhaps you have some kind of focus distortion over there. Or, better yet, turn a dev into a PR and have him only chat with users. Don't let the guy code! :)


At this point here, I was just gonna jab at the above nonsense with a, "Glad you ain't my boss."

But then....



Maybe because you're not working. Maybe you're just an optimistic twit running around the studio yelling in ecstasy: "New stuff, good stuff!" :) But behind you, old stuff, bad stuff. Finish what you started. :(

.... Yeah, so.

Meh, nvm.

[cdbd3rd]

Thanks fernando

Nice to see some information, and some feedback from you on our feed back :)

....


Except for that one really inportant question burnning a hole in my keyboard:

Gen.

Con.

D&D game. D&D+ convention.

Just DO it.

[Cyr]

Thanks for the confirmation that epics are dead for the year Fernando. That will make any discussions I have with my buddies thinking about returning to the game alot shorter. Very few will see a reason to return to the game if the only real end game content in over a years time is one raid and whatever pack it is included in. If the new end game stuff is anything like the last 'new end game stuff' we got in IQ and DD then it will be only worth playing while leveling and not truly end game content.

[Yazzman]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/class

List of all D&D 3.5E classes (including NPC classes and other stuff, but you get the idea).

Lots of possibilitites. Artificiers from the Eberron lore, Shamans with the druid spell-list but no shape change, Hexblade for arcane melees (my personal guess), or maybe some psionic class.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

Yay! Druids are coming!

Boo! Another year without Druids. :mad:


Seriously, what is the hold up with Druids? Why do they keep getting pushed back?

And why another new class first?



Don't get me wrong... Love the game. Glad you at least said (again) that Druids are being worked on.

Glad to hear that Epic levels are being worked on. (Glad we are getting these, but also not in a hurry for them.)


I've been waiting five years for Druids. :(

[Hokiewa]

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/lists/class

List of all D&D 3.5E classes (including NPC classes and other stuff, but you get the idea).

Lots of possibilitites. Artificiers from the Eberron lore, Shamans with the druid spell-list but no shape change, Hexblade for arcane melees (my personal guess), or maybe some psionic class.

It may very well be in this list but it's not the one you are thinking it is....;)

[Gkar]

Isn't it obvious? In order to bring in the broader audience the answer is ... Jedi

[danotmano1998]

This thread is a very interesting one..

You've got the devs involved, Fernando himself, and the two different groups of people.
Sadly, those that want to complain are more prevalent than the rest!!!

I love the game, been playing it now for 6 months when I can find time.
HUGE thanks to Fernando for taking the time to reply in this thread of mostly bitterness.
HUGE thanks to the devs that are working on content, no matter what it is. New stuff keeps the game from getting old.

There's a quote I know that fits this..
Something about pleasing some folks some of the time but not all folks all of the time.
Holds very true here.

Don't let the gripes get you down, do the best you can with what you've got, and know that there are LOTS of folks that love the work you do, most of which will probably never post about it.

As far as being excited about working on DDO all the time? Yeah, who wouldn't be?
I mean jeez, that would be a great career!
Far better than the drudgery most people face going to work, eh?


Kudos to those who deserve it.

[MrkGrismer]

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/psionic/psionicPowersOverview.htm

My money's on the soulknife... :cool:

That would be cool but it would introduce a 'monk-level' issue as well. Instead of all the problems they have been having with handwraps there would be all the same problems with the 'hilts' for the mindblade (or similar). In a game as gear-intensive as ddo the soulknife would need to have something like the handwraps.

[stoerm]

HUGE thanks to Fernando for taking the time to reply in this thread of mostly bitterness.
HUGE thanks to the devs that are working on content, no matter what it is. New stuff keeps the game from getting old.

This.

[Seikojin]

I can guarantee you that more people complain about something they don't like as opposed to saying how awesome something is, it's human nature.

Its one of the reasons I have always thought that having epic as a difficulty above elite was a bad idea, it probably should have been a checkbox that worked along with the usual normal/hard/elite so you didn't have to make it one size fits all.

Uh... Datamining? It is pretty easy to compare results from a datamine chart to comments to determine exactly how the community as a whole feels about something.

Of course people complain about what they don't like. They were raised that way. I also see a lot of people complimenting and saying what they do like. Forums and in game. Like Tolero said, they do a lot to find out how things are going.

[Carpone]

I appreciate that the producer letter is focused more on the "good stuff" to come. However, many of us would like to hear what Turbine is doing to fix two persistent, fundamental problems with DDO:

1. Lag. The problem went from "unplayable" to "we can deal with it most of the time" last year with the TWF changes. Lately, "most of the time" has turned into "screw raiding, it's not fun in this lag" for my guild. If we are't raiding, we aren't playing. This is such a fundamental issue with DDO and needs alot more attention than it's getting.

2. Client memory leaks. Swap characters a couple of times and the DDO client starts hogging too much memory. There's an obviously memory leak or lack of garbage collection going on. There are plenty of software developer tools to assist with debugging this issue, but the problem hasn't even been publicly acknowledged by Turbine developers!

[JarvisW]

^this

And nightly lag around 3:30-5:30am Eastern.. Vendors and banks unusable EVERY NIGHT. Friend lost a huge stack of XP pots because of it starting just as they were transfering from bank to inv...


Also, no mention of Ranged speed..

Animal Companions/ Familiars..

AC is worthless..

Etc etc..

I don't mean to be a stick in the mud, most of whats coming up is GREAT, but I was hoping things needed since Beta would at least be addressed..

Oh well, I know there is a MMO coming soon with plenty of ranged fun, along with companions. ;) ;)

[oradafu]

This thread is a very interesting one..

You've got the devs involved, Fernando himself, and the two different groups of people.
Sadly, those that want to complain are more prevalent than the rest!!!

I love the game, been playing it now for 6 months when I can find time.
HUGE thanks to Fernando for taking the time to reply in this thread of mostly bitterness.
HUGE thanks to the devs that are working on content, no matter what it is. New stuff keeps the game from getting old.

There's a quote I know that fits this..
Something about pleasing some folks some of the time but not all folks all of the time.
Holds very true here.

If we're using quotes, there's also this quote: “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”

Since the update 8, we've had the forums re-arranged so that information is near impossible to find anymore. The reason this change was because "people were asking for it," yet nearly everyone who has commented on the forums hate it and want it changed back so that classes don't have to wade through other classes information to get a simple answer.

Last year, it was pretty much promised that Druid would be out this year and the next class to be released. Instead, we learn that Druid is being pushed back another year again and a new class will be introduced. Not only is the new going to be introduced, they've hinted that's slightly more complicated class than average. On top of this, there are several incomplete and never started Prestige Classes.

We were promised a new update every two or three months. It's almost the fifth month of the year and only now the first update is hitting. So for six months, no update except for a quest that ran for a limited time.

There have been several people vocally asking for more Epics. Now we get word that there most likely won't be any new Epics this year. Instead we get a Challenge system so people can keep score. Haven't most of the players vocally condemned PvP and the kill count? Why would you add something that keeps score if the base players are against such things?

We've had French and German languages added to the game. Instead of using the original English names for items, spells, etc, everything has been converted into French and German. This segregates players even more. If the original names were left in place but the descriptions were in place, German and French speaking (or writing) players could still interact with English speaking players because "Haste" will always mean "haste" and "A Cry for Help" will always be "A Cry for Help." The German and French players even said as much.

We were told the crafting system would consist of removing a single effect from an item and placing it on another item. Instead, we are getting a system that destroys the item completely and gives a miniscule portion of the effect so we have to destroy several items to achieve what was presented. And this wasn't something present a year ago or so...it was presented less than a month before it popped up on Lammania.

I could go on and on...
And you wonder why people aren't happy with what is being presented to the players.

[Shade]

What is the new class? Well, it shouldn't take a Kalashtar to work it out...

hehe nice reference, always liked that line in grey moon.

So you think Psyonics? mm guess that would line up with what he said about it being very different.

[Kza]

Lovely we get new classes etc, and you cant make all happy i guess. But to get all that development time and put out 30 or so short to extremely long lvl 18+ quests and some raids had been more important methinks. It really needs a huge boost of endgame content right now. (top priority of everything imho). Even that a new class quite fun also!

[M_orGoth]

HEAL is going to cost more sp? BB gets a shorter duration, are you serious? It was bad enough THEY nerfed my tempest. And THEN nerfed my Necromancer. Clerics and rogs get enough grief as it is, so make it more costly to use HEAL? Thanks. I see this as nothing more than a ploy to sell more SP pots. Another strike against buying the new packs.

Fixing broken content, uhyeah, how tough could it be to fix in quest maps?

I took a hiatus for a couple of months before the cross breeds were introduced, only to find that along with ugly new charmaps, my wizzie, and my tempest ranger had suffered severe NERF 'updates'. Needless to say I haven't spent any money on the game since, why should I?

But it's whatever, pander to the two or three week players as usual. Not to those of us who have been around, and suffered through your abuse, and control freak NERF crusades. Suffered through your 'special event' in game economy wrecking circuses, and the like. And who have suffered through your little advertising gimmicks like the pay to play bank slots, and the UI 'blue' line on the boot interface. Nicely played.

*****On the other hand things that make me burst with joy: AH search feature, backpack interface changes (ftw)

Furthermore, I couldn't care less about Druid class. I'm with all the cynics who KNOW it will never happen, so I just stopped believing.

Let the slobbering Trolls feast!

New Class should be: NERF HERDER.....>:C

[Kilawpilath]

As far as speculation about the new class, although I can’t divulge too many details, I can say that this class will be a pretty big addition to the game! In terms of new functionality created for it, this is a lot closer in size to Monk than to Favored Soul. It is a big undertaking for us and will include some unique abilities that we think you will enjoy.

When I see information like this, the following classes come to mind for being "unique" in effects in of Monk more then Favored Soul:

Divine Mind (Complete Psionic)
Lurk (Complete Psionic)
Ardent (Complete Psionic)
Soulknife with the Soul Bow prestige Enhancement (Expanded Psionic Handbook)
Artificer (Ebberon Campaign Setting) (Probobly)
Warlock (Complete Arcane) (Maybe)
Dragon Shaman (PHB 2)
Knight (PHB 2)
Spell Thief (Complete Adventurer)
Samurai (Complete Warrior)
Anything from Magic of Incarnum would be awesome and unique.
And lastly Dragonfire Adept. (Dragon Magic)

As far as Druid, I expect the first Prestige Enhancement they'd get would be Master of Many Forms (Complete Adventurer) as it would just make sense to me to see that on their Enhancement List.

[Hambo]

HA!.. i took them to be a class of bad guys.... evry time i saw them... hey, thanks for setting me straight.. gonna view them differentaly next time i C them

Note: The horns in the forehead may be a dead giveaway :D

[Raiderone]

Well here's to hoping that Druid and Epic levels arent a Carrot to keep us going.
Whats the old saying, "three strikes and you are out".
I can understand the difficulties with shape shifting. As far as EPic Levels, I think they are a real long shot... Probably see DDO2 before Epic Lvls...

It is sad news that we are probably looking at no new Epic Quest additions this year.
Turbine needs to seriously re-think this position in the coming quarters.

As far as the new class, my guess would be Warlord, Artificier or Warlock.
Leaning more towards Artificier...unbound crafting anyone???

[Tsuarok]

Isn't it obvious? In order to bring in the broader audience the answer is ... Jedi

I was thinking cyborgs with laser blasters and jet packs myself. But call them artificers so that the DnD community doesn't get upset.


I vaguely recall elves getting artificial limbs in ADnD.

[fluffybunnywilson]

Next race: Sharks
Class: With Laser Beams.

[Kobayashi_Hatoko]

I'm going to preface this by saying I don't like to complain. I've said hardly anything on the forums for the last 11 months. I enjoy the game for the most part and want it to succeed. However when Turbine touches my dearest class of all, the sorcerer, and produces a half hearted attempt at a prestige class, I'm really bugged.


And we want to add them to the game but we want the class to be done right so we are taking the time to be able to do that.

We want the class to be done right? What about elemental savants. Looking nothing like an elemental? No elemental bolt or elemental blast or summon elemental or elemental form? Pale Master and Archmage look or act awesome but sorcerer does not? I guess PrCs just aren't as important as "for-sale" classes are so they settle for less. As far as I'm concerned they can just take elemental savants away and give them back when they are what they should be, awesome mechanically and cosmetically.

Maybe the new class is Dragon Disciple? But it probably wouldn't look like a dragon, because, well, that would look too cool. Neverwinter Nights at least had it right with the Red Dragon Disciple.

Does Turbine base all its future cosmetic plans off sales of the half-elf? If that is the case then we'll likely see no new cosmetic anything.

Please don't release Acolyte of the Skin until it looks something remotely like what its designed to be in Tome and Blood. I would rather have a carrot to chase in my dreams than a stick poking me in the eye like Elemental Savants.

Lastly I can't believe any developer plays a sorcerer. Maybe a wizard... but not a sorcerer. My lvl 8 archmage's "unlimited" magic missiles/arcane bolts put all my sorcerers to shame.

[Seliana]

Isn't it obvious? In order to bring in the broader audience the answer is ... Jedi

Of course! How did we not see it before?

Turbine knows what's coming in the MMO world, now they just have to beat the competition's release date. Maybe some mages in house Cannith just happened to open up a strange planar gate where other licensed Wizards of the Coast classes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Roleplaying_Game_%28Wizards_of_the_Coast %29) exist in an alternate universe and now they have accidentally connected it to Ebberon: "Gods help us! The horror! What have we done? We didn't know! Oh no! The Sith-huagin (http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5713/sithhuagin.png) found me!"

All I know is... I'm gonna start farming my Epic Lightsaber of Shadows (http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/887/blacklightsaber.png) now.

[Falco_Easts]

A good guess for the new class would be Artificer to coincide with the opening of the Cannith House in Stormreach.

Yup, I would think this as well.

[sirgog]

On the topic of more Epic quests, it isn’t that we don’t ever intend to do these again. Creating Epics takes more work than you might think and we’ve received a lot of feedback that the current version is not appealing enough to many of our players. Since we know the system is in flux, and we are currently focused on developing adventure packs which are playable for level 20 characters, we are not currently giving Epic a lot of focus. Our content this year is pretty much increasing in level as we go, so once we get the level 20 House Cannith content further underway, it will be time to start thinking about more Epics.


Any chance you can at least polish and release the two Epics (Gianthold Tor and Shroud) that have been partially developed? We know the boss monsters have been designed as they have been used in Lamannia server events.

Non-Epic high level content is generally tuned to be too easy to keep level 20 veterans entertained (like the Inspired Quarter), or is too unrewarding to be truly replayable (like Amrath Elite, except for ToD).

I want to see at least some content that, at least on its higher difficulties, is designed to wipe parties over and over and over again until they finally beat it, and that is not completed on any server for some weeks after release.

[Roziel_Longblade]

My initial thought about the new class was that it would be fairly easy since it was not Druid so I thought Hexblade or Swashbuckler.

After the mention of an implementation the size of monk I am betting it will be Psionicist or Warlock. Based on all the psionic enhancements in place, the launch of echoes of power, and the crystal items ingame, I am thinking Psionicist is most likely...

...with warlock a close second.

[izzuan356]

My hope is Warlock. An arcane who's primary purpose is to blow stuff up. Give them sustainable dps within 5% +/- of a barbarian. That way people (like me) who want to dps, but don't wanna do it swinging an axe have an option.

That's my request anyways.


-Izzuan Frozensoul, Water Savant (to be)

[DasLurch]

Since we've been waiting a year for this, I thought it felt a bit short.

Glad to hear about the new class. I'd bet artifacer since thatclass was quietly name dropped several years ago.

The excitement over the little things in the letter makes me think Fernando is still running around Korthos or slaying kobolds in the harbor.

Only 4 updates= weak, The 1st one only has 4 quests, so it's really more like 3.5 at best. Chances are only one update will have more than 5 quests. Guess I've been here too long to hope for more.

House Cannieth sounds interesting. I hope it fufills some of this promise.

Less isn't more. I want to say thanks for the letter, but really all I am thinking right now is that is all Fernando has to say for the next year? C'mon man. At least promise to drop in on the forums more often. You presence here is not taken lightly. It does the game a lot of good to have you speak up from time to time. I guess I was just hoping for a little new attitude or something. At least a few hints as to when we MIGHT be looking for the new content (don't say Wed. That one I can guess).

[Fafnir]

I want much more L20 content. That is epics and raids. I have no issues with the current epic system, just want more options.

I would also prefer content to be more difficult. At the moment, the difficulty is how fast you can run it and how much of it can you skip, not the challenge it presents.

[Truga]

I want much more L20 content. That is epics and raids. I have no issues with the current epic system, just want more options.

I would also prefer content to be more difficult. At the moment, the difficulty is how fast you can run it and how much of it can you skip, not the challenge it presents.

What I love about this game is that it's not always a game of DPS. Like soloing monastery with a rogue, the huge puzzle in ghost of a chance, etc. Now if puzzles were random (but always solvable), kinda like in the shroud where there's a random pattern of lights on that'd be cool.

The ultimate experience would be if quests had random layouts (think diablo or torchlight). Very hard to pull off though. And dunno if Turbine's engine could support it, but they keep dishing out awesome content with new mechanics... Maybe just a single experimental quest or pack to try it out first? This would fit well with xoriat stuff. Shifting dungeons!

[GoRinNoSho]

You know... there is an undead Cavalier in the Fear Factory quest behind the locked valve. Along with undead variants of existing classes.

[Phemt81]

I want much more L20 content. That is epics and raids. I have no issues with the current epic system, just want more options.

I would also prefer content to be more difficult. At the moment, the difficulty is how fast you can run it and how much of it can you skip, not the challenge it presents.

Please remember that you start the game with a 28 points build, and i can grant you it is not easy to run epics with those kind of characters.

Also, it can be a matter of what class are in a party, example: Claw of vulkoor can be highly challenging except if you have a good rogue who is willing to pacify all the scorpion guardians, or backpack the whole party.

[gamj]

Regarding druids, I think we'll see Polymorph spell before Druid so that they can try and show they shape mechanics before releasing Druid which will be using that mechanic all the time.

My guess for next class :

Artifier or Psion.

Both are very important Eberron. I dont think we'll see 4e classes.

[Ralmeth]

Does it bother you when you see slash animations for piercing weapons such as the rapier? I know random question, but still...:o

Ughh. You have no idea. ;)

[BinyaminTsadik]

New Race: Thrikreen (The Mantis Warrior)

+2 dex, +2 wisdom -4 charisma

no ring slots or armor slots but 4 weapon slots! (and a venomous bite) [or 2 handwrap slots but no ToD rings]
Cannot use rest shrines
+5 Carapace armor bonus
bonuses with all types of unarmed fighting

Gets abundant step as a racial ability (thrikreen leap)


New Class: Gladiator

Granted feats: blind fighting (blindness immunity); weapon improvisation (-2 on non-proficient weapons instead of -4); unarmed combat (wrestling moves); armor optimization (AC bonus every 5 levels);

Prestige Classes:
Grappler - specializes in bludgeoning weapons and gains various wrestling moves that can immobilize and cause DoT based on STR for the duration of the grapple. (2 handed fighting with fists)

Showman - specializes in slashing weapons and gains various blood spilling abilities that eliminate regeneration and cause DoT from bloodloss based on his CHA, and causes CON damage.

Precise killer - specializes in piercing weapons and gains various abilities that target the weakpoints on an enemy. Tendon slice, Weakening blow, bewilderment, crippling blow, Skill shot (bonus damage), immobilizing blow. DCs are based on DEX or on INT if Insightful reflexes has been taken as a feat.

[xtchizobr]

...

i want you guys to know that i respect and enjoy immensely all the work you put into DDO. i've only been playing since Unlimited, but i am confident when i say that DDO is the best-balanced, most interesting, boldest and cleverest MMO that is playable right now (which would basically mean it is being compared to every other MMO ever).

and this is certainly not my first MMO, not by a long shot.

i have my gripes and my pet peeves, but by and large, DDO wins more respect from me than any other MMO with the possible exception of EVE (who can say no to transhumanism??). except that EVE isn't really fun to PLAY.

so, hope you guys read this and feel encouraged, i know something about what it's like to sit in a computer lab working non-stop with little thanks and no recognition.

let's all give the DDO devs an extra Clever Internet of Many Puns +1...

[xtchizobr]

Of course! How did we not see it before?

Turbine knows what's coming in the MMO world, now they just have to beat the competition's release date. Maybe some mages in house Cannith just happened to open up a strange planar gate where other licensed Wizards of the Coast classes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Roleplaying_Game_%28Wizards_of_the_Coast %29) exist in an alternate universe and now they have accidentally connected it to Ebberon: "Gods help us! The horror! What have we done? We didn't know! Oh no! The Sith-huagin (http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/5713/sithhuagin.png) found me!"

All I know is... I'm gonna start farming my Epic Lightsaber of Shadows (http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/887/blacklightsaber.png) now.

i wanna know what you're smoking because SW:ToR is more commonly agreed upon to be a total, embarrassing failure even more certainly than Rift was.


Regarding druids, I think we'll see Polymorph spell before Druid so that they can try and show they shape mechanics before releasing Druid which will be using that mechanic all the time.

My guess for next class :

Artifier or Psion.

Both are very important Eberron. I dont think we'll see 4e classes.

how is Psion unlike a Sorcerer? and how is Artificer unlike a Wizard? if the new class is supposed to introduce a fundamentally new gameplay mechanic, it wouldn't be either of those two (though i'd love Psion provided they did manage to make Psionic Powers distinct from Arcane Spells. they'd need a lot of funky utility and an extra helping of flavor to do it). i'm not really up on all the many diverse classes, and i was never a fan of the Eberron setting, so i'm pretty much at a loss about what it might be if not Druid.

i really honestly would commit murder to have Mystic Theurges (don't ask me who i'd kill), and i am a bit of a nut for caster classes, but what the game really needs is a viable CC-oriented tank.

if i had my way, though, i'd still say "**** what the game needs! give me my Mystic Theurge!!"