DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95% ?

[zeonardo]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

[karl_k0ch]

yyyy.

change is healthy.

Some questions are convoluted. If I constantly* enjoy the game, and plan to stay for another year, should I answer Yes, or No?

*: i.e. my enjoyment is not growing, but also not declining.

[Scrabie]

Y Y N N
Enough updates already let us enjoy what we have before you make major overhauls AGAIN to a system most non 12hour per day players are still learning.

[Zenako]

YYYY

Probably here until the servers go dead....

[Geonis]

1 - Y, been here since April '06 with no breaks. Went "Premium" in spring '10, and bought pretty much everything.

2 - Y, Went "Premium" in spring '10, and bought pretty much everything, and bought all packs since, plus a ton of other stuff.

3 - N, rehashing old content is still old content.

4 - N, I do not join guilds after having my initial guild here dissolve due to real life issues between the leader and his wife/another member. All the changes recently have made pugging extremely difficult at higher levels.

I would also suggest asking if the respondent is part of a guild.

I think the trouble with these changes, is that they are made to accommodate those in guilds/semi static groups/those who play with the same core group of people all the time.

If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.

Keep it up Turbine, I'm sure I will find something else to play. I don't have an issue dropping $50+ for something I enjoy. Check into what your "hardcore" gamers spend a month. :rolleyes:

[Tholar]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

A: January 2007, so almost 5 years.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

A: Yes, been VIP the entire time with 2 accounts.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

A: I like some changes, dislike others. Overall, I would say yes. Yes because it means they are still thinking about the game and not just letting it become stagnant.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

A: I plan on staying, every update I just adjust my tactics to compensate. This is first and foremost a game, not worth getting upset about.

Answers above.

[Tholar]

If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.



I don't agree, I pug a lot. I also run with guildies, both are fun and both have their place. I was in a pug shroud that completed last night, no myddo needed.

That being said, everybody should enjoy the game, and play it the way they want. Myddo away if it makes you happy.

[Geonis]

I don't agree, I pug a lot. I also run with guildies, both are fun and both have their place. I was in a pug shroud that completed last night, no myddo needed.

That being said, everybody should enjoy the game, and play it the way they want. Myddo away if it makes you happy.

Did you lead the pug?

Was this a real pug, or a group where the leader knew almost all and just opened a couple spots to puggers?

How do you know the leader didn't myddo everyone?

[TDarkchylde]

1. Yes - Almost two years
2. Yes - Two VIP accounts of my own, and spent some money on a game card to make my roommate's account Premium
3. Mostly no - the Reaver's new debuff is a rare example of how they should have been approaching things all along, not just blindly increasing the bosses' HP or damage output
4. No - I'm getting annoyed with most of the other changes. Seems like every pack where they're changing the raid at the end is becoming one I'd be much less likely to buy if I downgraded to Premium. At that rate, I wouldn't buy Necro 4, Devil Assault or Vale. Yes, Vale.

[Thrudh]

YYYY

If you've been here more than a year, then you should be used to change.

But remember, if it's not fun for you anymore, then quit or take a break.

[Aztek]

1 - Y
2 - Y
3- Disagree with the all-or-nothing options of Yes or No. Some of the balancing is fine. Some of the balancing really didn't overpower the game and, while I get what they did, was kind of annoying, like completely nerfing my not-Overpowered Batman healing amp paladin by making the monk heal finishing move appropriate to the actual level of monks you have. it's not like they've ever prevented someone with 1 level of rogue from being a good trapsmith, just makes it harder in skill points. Other things they change make sense to me (but maybe not others)
4 - Again, not a clear Y or N. some updates I've enjoyed, others... eh. But if I had to pick an answer, I would say overall Yes.

*I am in 2 guilds, one is small and I end up pugging a lot for lack of activity. The other I usually run with the guildies and/or allied guilds.

Another good question for anyone replying (although You can't actually talk about IT) is whether you have tested on Lammania (ok that one you can answer) or applied/been accepted to Mournlands (that you cannot talk about as I understand it)..
so ... I think you should also answer if you've tested any changes on Lammania ... my answer is "a little" i played artificer to level 2 or 3 recently but haven't been that interested, so I am in part to blame if stuff got through and I didn't complain about it prior to live. That could impact the alleged 5/95 split (which we know is made up) more than forums, etc.

[Lyranda]

YYNN

But what's the point? They will still think we're just not the majority (37 people in my guild, not one thinking differently but I suppose we're same-minded people)

[Thrudh]

If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.

Not true on Thelanis... I PUG all the time... I ALWAYS take the first 5 when I'm leading (which is most of the time) and have the following experience...

85% Zero problems... quick easy run (only takes 1 other good player to make this so)
12% The other 5 are dead weight, and I have to basically solo the quest, but at least I get to play the hero...
3% Party wipe.. I'm not good enough to pull them through, or the other party members are inadvertenly working AGAINST me.

Those odds are pretty good, and I still have plenty of fun PUGging without checking myddo or questioning people's gear.

I don't usually lead raids or epics though, and I can understand why those leaders would be more picky.

[Tholar]

Did you lead the pug?

Was this a real pug, or a group where the leader knew almost all and just opened a couple spots to puggers?

How do you know the leader didn't myddo everyone?

I did not lead this pug, he did not seem to know everybody, lots of different guilds represented. I don't think he used myddo because he accepted me quickly after I applied. I was the 4th person in the party.

[katz]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

1. yes

2. yes, plenty. both a VIP and many points purchased. several hundred dollars all told. and that's just me, my husband did the same. we both had VIP, and we both bought points at the same time, so the actual effect is double the amount.

3. yes and no. some changes (like upgrading old loot, freshening old dungeons) are good, some changes (like slanting a level 14, 16, or 17 raid to be a challenge for a group of geared 20s) are BAD

4. undecided. as i said, some changes i like, some i don't. we shall see what the year brings

[pal_sch]

NYYY

Premium thanks to one small purchase and only started last Christmas.

I almost exclusively PUG, despite being in a guild. I have one T3 GS accessory (single shard) and two T2 LitIIs that need finishing. I'm looking forwards to more challenging and more rewarding Shroud runs once people get used to the changes. My experience running it last night on normal suggest it's more than possible to PUG with a little patience and effort.

[crimsonknights2]

YYYN

Change is good. Change that introduces new things that are broken and that breaks old things is bad.

The last several updates have introduced all new content that was riddled with bugs. In addition, a lot of the existing functionality that was "improved" was broken or bugged.

That, is bad.

[Sarisa]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes. Started just after update 4 (Zombie Pirates! ads)


2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes, but if the game continues at this pace, I will not spend any more.


3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Improving or adjusting items (Genasi's epic item updates) that are completely undesirable is good. Fixing bugs or adjusting an encounter up or down to match similar quest/raid difficulty is acceptable.

Changing quests or raids in a way to cater towards the elite few, and further make the gap between the long-time players and newer players is unhealthy for the game. Listening to the vocal minority in such a huge way that newer players are unable to effectively run entry level raids like Reaver's Fate and The Shroud is a very bad thing.

A large portion of the added "costs" and "effort" have to be paid by the healers. Healers are already a party role that is being played less and less (at least in public PUG's), and will continue to become harder to find.

Mostly No.


4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

No.

As for my player demographics, I have three characters, and prefer end-game play. Raiding and Epics. I do not really enjoy the TR process and levelling, and will only do so when there is some past life I would like to have; or I really need a break from end-game play. I dislike the equipping process for a new character, so I strongly doubt I will make a new character.

My Cleric is my main, and I have gone from being able to do almost everything without much trouble, down to avoiding a large portion of players and raids due to almost all the added costs and efforts being placed on me. I was favour capped pre-u11, and strongly doubt I could cap my favour if I were trying to do so now.

[zeonardo]

Thanks a lot for the responses and keep it coming!
Those are indeed good answers no matter wich they are!
They prove my point.
I don't expect to see much 1N or 2N here...

Did you guys get my point? Did you read the Title?

[HPL]

1- y
2- y
3- y
4- y

I like the evolution of this game and I think those who can't adapt their style to this new reality are the first to cry on the forum that their game is not what it was.

I'm playing now for over a year as a VIP and this game is becoming more and more interesting: it changes, takes us by surprise, we must adapt, finding new strategies to fight a boss we fought 100 times, and so on.

[hunh08]

^^

[SoloPhalanx]

NYYY

I think evon6 was a drain being pretty hard to finish without pots. now it should be much easier (haven't ran it yet since). Update 12 is marvelous imo

[Vint]

1. Been here since Beta

2. Was VIP up until 6 months ago
.
3. The only challenge left is for Turbine to figure out how to make even more money while compromising the game.

4. Update 11 wasn’t terrible, but this garbage they just released is crazy. I am Premium so I dictate what I PLAY. I will still be here, because it is free. If they give me decent content I will pay.

[dTarkanan]

We are the 95%!
#OccupyStormreach

[KillEveryone]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

1) My forum join date is the same I started playing.

2) Yes. Getting a point bundle for the plat bank tonight.

3) Some changes I don't like, some I do. Didn't care for the THF feat changes but that didn't stop me from playing. Really didn't like the UI so I just didn't play till they fixed it. In the THF changes, I had to modify my character because those feats were useless to my character no since I move a lot when I'm fighting but it didn't stop me from playing. In the UI changes, I just couldn't stand to look at it so I waited till they fixed it.

Overall, I'm quite happy with some of the changes...spell pass for example...but I'm also quite disappointed that many bugs...quicken bug for example...doesn't let me fully enjoy my expierence since I'm still limited to what I have been doing but would really like to use the new way if it worked correctly.

4) Not more or less, still the same. I'm happy with the game overall. It could use improvements in some areas...bugs for example...and I would rather the slow down the content a little bit if that ment that they could fully polish the updates so they don't add in more bugs. Overall though, I'll probably be here till the servers go down.

[in4theride75]

Yes
Yes
Some-All things have to be readjusted to keep up with power creep. Some things are done correctly, some incorrectly
Some-Some updates are enjoyable, some are not. Staying, yes

[Airgeadlam]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

* Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

* Yes

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

* No. My opinion is: fix what is broken, leave what is not. Adjusting old raids to challenge multiTR overgeared 20's makes no sense, for it prevents new players to play them. No play, no fun, no pay. Game eventually dies.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

* Staying maybe. Enjoying more and more, no. There are raids I won't pug anymore as healer. And I believe this game shouldn't been focused on elite guilds/channels. If you kills PuGs, bad thing.

As for the % thing, I'm still at the 95%.

[DeafeningWhisper]

1. Nope, just shy of 11 months now
2. Yes VIP for about a month after I started playing
3. Yes and no, LoB for example is lots of fun with cool mechanics for next to no rewards for healers/casters. Every new update brings something new and fun, but at the same time makes me wonder why the Hell I main a Cleric when healing is getting tougher and tougher every time, melee can still just auto-attack I feel like I'm the only one with a harder job every update.
4. I'll stay, if only because I like making builds and gearing my main and alts, now I may put my Cleric in a closet for a while thou...

P.S. Seen how we can post on the forum, aren't we already all part of the 5%? I mean the larger masses (new players) that will eventually keep the game alive can't even have their voices hear since they are f2p. I mean, for example: challenges are said to be harder now because someone on the forum said they could get a full optional run in all of them at Epic solo, I'm betting he wasn't a 1st lifer with looted gear and only once GS accessory...

[diamabel]

YYNY


I've been playing DDO since 2007 (European Refuge and in general a D&D fan). The game is good enough, but still I need to take breaks because of motivational issues (item hunting galore ,( ).


If I wanted to play a D&D game with the features and rules I like then I'd have to sit down and make it on my own. So DDO is a good compromise for the time being.

[llyrnionfor]

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. No.

4. No.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Different servers for different playstiles. As long as everyone's playing on the same playground, there's no solution.

[Elixxer]

Y 30 months or so :D.

Y but in my defense it was a target gift card I got from my grandparents and they didn't have DeadSpace so... Yeah.

Y I have yet to go to the desert and deal with those scrolls but even house P, scrolls are a silly grind. I personally only got 3 with over 80 runs(unknown amount of monsters killed really). Change is good.

N I have been thinking about leaving. I just can't like the company who owns the game I love, I tried, I can't. Unless they change. Change is good! :D.




If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.

What server do you play on? My latest pugs are fine on Sarlona, Will be doing more today!

[Crazyfruit]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Hundreds

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
No

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
No. I quit with update 9's changes. Came back for a visit with update 10 after enjoying the quests on Llama, but then quit playing again days later. I raided to be social. The new raids+raid changes are very anti-social unless you're a very dedicated player & like the company of people who take the game very seriously. As far as I'm concerned they removed content I've purchased from the game. But if I was still playing I'd have bought that challenge pack in a heartbeat, even at $18 - that's the kind of stuff I'd love.

[TheSwamper]

1 - Y, been here since April '06 with no breaks. Went "Premium" in spring '10, and bought pretty much everything.

2 - Y, Went "Premium" in spring '10, and bought pretty much everything, and bought all packs since, plus a ton of other stuff.

3 - N, rehashing old content is still old content.

4 - N, I do not join guilds after having my initial guild here dissolve due to real life issues between the leader and his wife/another member. All the changes recently have made pugging extremely difficult at higher levels.

I would also suggest asking if the respondent is part of a guild.

I think the trouble with these changes, is that they are made to accommodate those in guilds/semi static groups/those who play with the same core group of people all the time.

If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.

Keep it up Turbine, I'm sure I will find something else to play. I don't have an issue dropping $50+ for something I enjoy. Check into what your "hardcore" gamers spend a month. :rolleyes:

I'm gonna agree with this post. IMO, the hardest content in the game needs to be doable with a PUG of first-lifers. Requiring people to guild up or reincarnate is the wrong way to go.

[Dandonk]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

----------------

1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Some things yes, most no.
4) I find I'm mostly playing for the company, and not really exploring the new content anymore. So mostly no.

[Failedlegend]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?


Some of those aren't Yes/No questions

1 = Yes

2 = Yes

3 = The thing is I like alot of what their doing but some of it I don't...nothing I'm going to get bent out of shape about though so I can mostly ignore it...recently the Dev to community communication has gotten alot better and frankly has always been 1000x better than most companies. Overall I'd say most of the complaints towards the updates/devs are valid but WAY overblown.

4 = Most likely unless something unrelated to the game happens or there's a drastic change to the game...although as of the 11th I will be granted with the greatness that is Skyrim so my presence will be less during the next few months :P

[brian14]

1. Yes, two years.

2. Yes, several packs and many convenience items and guest passes.

3. On the balance, no. Like some changes like new Heyton's Rest, but mostly wish existing quests were left the way they are.

4. Yes, but mainly because of NEW content. Loved "Madness" quests and Droaam/Attack on Stormreach. Not sure yet about Challenges. Definite no on tweaks to existing raids and epics.

[Rawel_San]

Y,Y,Y,Y

I'm a big fan of many of the changes, I like the fact that raids are becoming again a little more about
thinking/tactics like they used to be vs. pure stand there and heal which they devolved into.

One of my most favorite raids is Titan and if there weren't a few irritating bugs and extremely bad drop rates
I'd say it's one of the best raids in game.

I like the change to shroud that will again mean we have to move out when blades come in the way it
was intended all along. I remember the times when we ran with casters with 200-300 hp and rogues in the same
ball park when cap was 16 and lvl 13-14 in shroud were usual. Almost no one stayed in blades back then unless
you knew he was under a pixel pretty much. We learned to evade his DBF's/meteor swarms on casters/clerics and
move out of the way of blades. We also learned to have healer rotation instead of spamming away all out all the
time. Worked like a charm. I'm sure once we actually learn to do that again it will be no problem again. The
problem isn't the difficulty even a lvl 13 new player these days is as or more powerful then a lvl 16 when I started
playing with lvl cap 16. The amount of PRE's incredibly good twink loot and lately the overabundance of DR
breakers (with an arti in party anything is a DR breaker and you can get crafted ones for a song).

I like the fact that the hp's of velah/DQ got reduced back to reasonable levels and instead they got extra
tricks. In general other then the challenges which I haven't tried much yet I really like U12.

One more thing I'd like to say kudos to turbine about is the strengthening of plat through the crafting plat sink.

For once I fell like Turbine has done a number of things pretty much right.

The real trouble atm is the amount of players who decided that you need x hps for shroud or abbot or what not,
and don't actually understand the mechanics of the raids or the game properly, but hey I can always just lead
my own parties so not that worried really.:)

[Elaril]

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 No
4 No I'm enjoying the game less and less with every update, but I'll stick around due to the people I know in game. The game in its current incarnation is much better in some ways, but it is far less enjoyable than it was when I started playing.

[Cyr]

YYNN

Of course some cavaets always apply, but in general there are my answers.

I don't think the problem with the game is making things harder. I think the problem with the game is that there is no consistent vision and the developers try and cater specifically to every different type of player depending seemingly at random. So we end up with IQ and DD which are jokes, dungeon scaling, new (but not really new) raids, epics, challenges, crystal cove, mabar, casters for everyone, and the wow-ification of raids to include standard tanking ideas.

In the end we just end up with a game with a loss of focus and stuff which does not make sense for it's level.

[Aurora1979]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

Y
Y
Not really because it feels like they are catering to the minority.
No Im playing less and less and spending less each month that goes by.

As Ive always said though, this game has a life expectancy for me... if its coming soon then fair play... Ive been here long enough and had lots of fun.... The rides gota end sometime :)

[MaximumCharisma]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes, since f2p started

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes, both as VIP and buying stuff like shared bank/+5 hearts as desired

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Yes, and no. Some of the challenges do seem to be aimed at the elite players when before they were more entry level content. Bugs/Lag seems to have gotten worse. But over all count me as a yes here. For the first time in a while I have been excited about raiding (ev6, abbot in particular)

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

Yes and no. Lag/bugs are annoying me and they need to be fixed. Aside from that the game seems to be keeping me interested. But 1 year is a long time when it comes to video games as far as i'm concerned.


So overall...YYYY

[Thalmor]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

1. Yes, orginall started playing as part of the 10 day free trial, but did't go VIP, returned with the FTP release.

2. Yes, usually buy when there are bonus points, and I buy things from the DDO store when they are on sale.

3. 85% Yes, as with anything, that are always thing you really like ( Crystal Cove, Cannith Crafting), things your so-so about (Mabar), and things you really don't like ( Artificer Class).

4. Yes, as this is the closes game to an actual DnD expericence on the Web.

[dunklezhan]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN


Yup, sept 09, came in with the F2P crowd, quickly went Premium then VIP about a year later.
Yup, tons, in addition to my sub.
Yup. They haven't done any content since F2P that I haven't liked - I haven't yet made a real attempt at challenges however.
Yup. But it has nothing to do with the pace. I wish they'd slow the pace down a little and work exclusively on the bugs and PrEs.

Wow. I never realised I was such a fanboi :)

[barecm]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Some yes, some no. I do like when they go back and fix things to work as intended. I don't like when they nerf builds or strategies because they want us to conform to one way of playing.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

This depends on how good Guild Wars 2 and/or Diablo 3 are assuming they are both out within a year.

[In_Like_Flynn]

YYYY

Change renews interest.

[nayozz]

YYYY



i would like a desert raid item upgrade same mechanic as gh and necro :)

[Krell]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

4 is really two questions.
4a: Are you enjoying the game more and more each update
4b: planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

I'd have to answer based on a majority because there might be 2 things they balanced that I liked and 4 that I didn't for example. Based on this my answer might be something like YYNNY

[PpalP]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?


1.- Yes, one an a half years
2.- Yes, first as FP but after 3 months go VIP
3.- Yes and No; changes are ok, but when they're good; the problem, as I see, is the back and forth attitude, sometimes I think Turbine (or the BIG Boss) marketing dpt. gone crazy.
4.- No. I give Turbine time while my subscription ends, then I hope to see something in the game that change the answer to Yes

I consider myself in that 95%. My apologies for my bad english, I'm spanish.

[zeonardo]

Talking about balance...

Wonder why they never nerf the eSoS (http://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Sword_of_Shadow)... *

Do you YYYY guys have one?
Do you have any Epic item?
Do you guys have Torc+Concopp(s)?

Would you guys roll a 28pt build and wear what you loot untill lvl20 and then try those Raids? (No plat from alts, pls)
Can't downgrade? Easy: Roll a 32 and dump the extra 4.

So many questions...

*I can aswer this: Because it's basicaly the 5% signature weapon! with a few exceptions.

[Kmnh]

Yes Yes Yes Yes

If I wanted a game that was about grinding and not skill, I would be playing farmville

[Cauthey]

YYYY.

I have a lot of respect for the Turbine team responsible for delivering the game. It is an incredibly beautiful world. I also respect that Turbine staff, much like any professional, likes to be paid for a job well done. I also appreciate and support much of the direction that Devs have been taking in trying to improve their little "baby."

[Aelonwy]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN



YY%N

%= on the fence.

IMHO, really feels like they are rebalancing some older content as it is played by those who already have top gear and/or are multi-TR's, and/or are playing under level 20 content with lvl20's. I fully understand and accept that some rebalancing of older content must continuously happen as our gear access outstrips what we previously had access to, or a game mechanic changes our characters' powers relative to the powers of the various mobs or environment. But along with some of that is the idea that a brandnew 28 pt build with only gear that they find/buy/or make should be able to complete the content on normal at the level the quest claims to be. I'm just not certain thats absolutely true anymore... I hope its true but its starting to feel iffy.

And the No is reserved mainly for the first part of the last question. No, I am not enjoying the game more and more each update... but I do plan on playing awhile longer.

[Magictones]

YYNN

VIP since join date, the fact that CC was a hit and I enjoyed it does not mean I want half an update exactly like it.

Improving or changing dead spells and useless feats is nice, but changing things that work just to change them I'm not seeing.

[Cauthey]

Talking about balance...

Wonder why they never nerf the eSoS (http://ddowiki.com/page/Epic_Sword_of_Shadow)... *

Do you YYYY guys have one?
Do you have any Epic item?
Do you guys have Torc+Concopp(s)?

Would you guys roll a 28pt build and wear what you loot untill lvl20 and then try those Raids? (No plat from alts, pls)
Can't downgrade? Easy: Roll a 32 and dump the extra 4.

So many questions...

*I can aswer this: Because it's basicaly the 5% signature weapon! with a few exceptions.

I don't have an eSOS.
Yes, I do have an Epic item. Several, in fact.
I have 50% of the Torc+Con-Op. (Specifically, I have the Con-Op. Darned ellusive Torc!)

[Dragonela]

1- Y
2- Y
3- N
4- N
------
Unsubbed and probably uninstall after my sub is over.

[zeonardo]

YYYY.

I have a lot of respect for the Turbine team responsible for delivering the game. It is an incredibly beautiful world. I also respect that Turbine staff, much like any professional, likes to be paid for a job well done. I also appreciate and support much of the direction that Devs have been taking in trying to improve their little "baby."

There's nothing here regarding any issues with developers or Turbine staff itself.

I have a lot of respect for the Turbine team and specialy Devs, because I'm a Dev myself.
I know what it's like when people think you wake up by the morning, and while you chew your cereal you have the brilliant idea to mess with some random code for no reason just to generate some random effect.

Turbine is not two or three guys we see here in the forums. They didn't make DDO ONLY for our entertainment, so we all could have fun playing some DnD style MMO and be happy.
It's about money, guys. It's business! And you gotta keep your customers happy and paying.

[Darkrok]

Yes to all.

That said, I feel terribly behind the curve right now and can't keep up with the farming involved. That's not a bad thing necessarily but it's the truth. I've run Fens like 2 times, nothing after Assault on Summerfield at all, have done very limited amounts in epics, and probably play 10-15 hours a week if not more. If I were OCD about things I'd be passing out from the amount of content added. As it is I don't sweat it and realize there's a ton of stuff to do in the game.

[cwfergtx]

1. Y
2. Y
3. N
4. N

Would like to see more realignment back toward the basics of AD&D on crafting. i.e. had to have the proper feats to craft items, scrolls, and potions. So crafting would be limited to the Arcane and Divination classes.

[gloopygloop]

YYYY.

I know that a lot of people are upset about the Shroud changes, but most players who went into the Shroud were sleepwalking through it.

Weapons Shipment is also more challenging than it used to be, but I can now compelte it because my character no longer dies after I fall asleep at the keyboard.

I think that the Shroud changes are going to have a similar effect after people get used to it.

[Lord_Thanatos]

YYYY.

I know that a lot of people are upset about the Shroud changes, but most players who went into the Shroud were sleepwalking through it.

Weapons Shipment is also more challenging than it used to be, but I can now compelte it because my character no longer dies after I fall asleep at the keyboard.

I think that the Shroud changes are going to have a similar effect after people get used to it.

Yes normal shroud needed to be balanced like it was an epic raid around max capped toons. /sarcasm.

[Urist]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
No; just 11 months noob.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes (I haven't seen any "no"s to this one yet...)

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
Yes, but none of the things people have really been raging about have really affected me. I've exclusively solo'd so far (Mabar not withstanding), and my highest level character is just 12 (and only got that high to farm CR13 CC more easily >_> ).

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
'Spose to the former; As most of my play is sub level 10 ATM, I only really see relatively small changes; tweaks and bug fixes (yes, they do exist). Cannith Crafting, which is nice except for the unnecessary grind, was the only thing that really changed things up a great deal for me, that I remember.
Eh to the latter; I never plan that far ahead. The only reason I'm still playing DDO is that the lack of monthly fee means I feel no time pressure to play. No previous MMO has kept me past... about four months, at most.

[adsecula]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

After 5 years i just ended my sub. i have 28 days and then.. well already looking for a new home as we speak.

[Xenostrata]

YYNN.

It's not so much the increase of "difficulty", but the total absence of fixes. The new shroud wouldn't be HALF as hard as it is now if those stupid blades A) had appropriate hitboxes and B) were coded appropriately to deal with movement (moving in the same direction of a blade should NOT mean 10+ hits a second). There are other issues as well, like False Game Balance - making the Abbot almost immune to all spells except Black Dragon Bolt is ridiculous.

[azrael4h]

1 - Y - I've been here nearly 2 years now. I've capped 3 characters, TRed one to cap, and a second is a good chunk of the way there. On top of that, I'm a rare divine caster player, and have capped a cleric and favored soul.

2 - Y - At one point I was buying points at $50/mo, though this has fallen away completely in the last several months.

3 - N - Rebalancing things to account for people who live on DDO 18 hours a day is the height of incompetence. To make matters worse, these trolls will ostracize and ridicule anyone who complains, and the forum mods refuse to ban them for it. If they had to work real jobs, and pay bills, then they'd not like these changes either.

4 - N - At this rate, the only thing keeping me on DDO is my guild. Which is discussing, as we speak, via Skype call, leaving. I'll be checking out different MMOs later tonight.

[wolfy42]

It's not easy to simply answer the last two questions with a yes or no.

I guess I'd say YYNY for now....but my no needs some explanation.


I don't like many of the changes that have happened. I'm not thrilled with the constant lag, and I really want some of the bugs to get cleared up. I like some of the new changes...like making ranged combat actually decent (or more decent)....but I feel like there is becoming a wider gap between new players and long term players and it's taking away alot of the fun in the game.

I plan on playing DDO for more then another year...although with plenty of breaks along the way. I'll probably continue to be a VIP even during those breaks (I've probably payed for over a year of VIP or subscription fee's that I have not played DDO at all) mainly to support the game. I've also bought many things from the DDO store over the years and will probably continue to do so.

I would like druids to come out.......mainly because it's been promised for so long and I have been looking forward to them. I like artificers though and am very happy with that class...and the changes to the game that came with it.

Few things I would like:

Streamline the quests to 20 for a first time character. So many players still stop playing or create a new character in the low to mid teens....it's been a long term problem and still has not been fixed. More mid level quests are needed badly...especially quests that can be completed by new players.

I know this sounds silly considering how many we have...but i'd like a new/interesting outdoor area as well. It's been awhile and those are always fun.

Another thing that might be useful/nice is to change the exp penalty for doing quests that are a lower level then you....tweaking it to give new players a bit more leeway. Wouldn't make a huge difference to a majority of the player base...but would help new players level up initially...and give them more incentive to do all the quests at least once etc. Would also make it more likely for people to buy multiple adventure packs in the same level range.

Over all I'm happy with DDO...but I have been getting bored easier lately as well. Artificer didn't last through U12...I'm bored with them already and don't have anything I'm really looking forward to do in U12 at all. I sense a break coming up for Skyrim luckily so I'll probably be ready to play again after that. It's sad though to have an update without anything that interests me at all. I'm hoping U13 is going to have something really interesting:)

[wax_on_wax_off]

If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.

I too don't agree with this. I have absolutely no pugging and pugged with an elite streak through most of a first life, (mostly) untwinked character. If you are struggling to complete quests then perhaps look to improve your own playstyle/leadership rather than blaming the game at large.

I pugged some really tough quests too; pugging elite Inferno of the Damned was fun when no one knew the quest and I lead it off ddowiki guide (45 minute completion), elite Against the Demon Queen was a bit intimidating but surprisingly easy and many others ...

In response to the questions ... YYYY, I guess.

There are some changes that I feel questionable, particularly p2w aspects which I feel could ruin the game but these don't affect me directly (until they REALLY affect me, but then the game is ruined so it's too late). In general though I like where the game is heading.

[Montoya]

yyyy

[Urjak]

1.) Y ... started just before monks came out ... so quite a while ;)
2.) Y ... spent well above 500 euroes on DDO:EU and DDO:Unlimited together
3.) Y/N ... some things were awesome, but just lately the quality seems to drop for me hugely: I don't need artificers, lag increased over the last half year to neigh implayability of some raids, handwraps are still bugged, many other bugs are still in the game and nowhere near being addressed finally. Totally overprized challenges that do not offer any kind of reasonably xp don't make me happy either
4.) N ... if Turbine doesn't fix some of their broken stuff SOON I guess I might actually really leave this game. For now I have stopped putting any money on Turbine until they finally fix the most important stuff

[Urjak]

considering pugging ... pugging quests: no problem here at all. I m currently TRing with a continous bravery streak and I only pug and now and then solo ... I ALWAYS accept the first 4 ppl applying (5th spot I normally reserve for either a hireling or real healer)

pugging raids: until U12 just the same ... I never kicked someone out of a group because he was low on hp, and I rarely wiped when leading such groups (although we sometimes had tough completions lol xD) ... with U12 this might change ... <350 hp toon in the new shroud seem to be dying way too fast

[Shallowain]

1 Y, since early 2010

2 Y a few hundred bucks, VIP since beginning of this year, the 3 month deal

3 N The game is currently being rebalanced around the group of overgeared multi TR's that simply have no business complaining about old and low level content being not challenged anymore since they have run these quests already to hell and back and have acquired gear most people can only dream of, and as it stands currently will only dream of. The last and worst offender is the shroud, which was, *was* the only reliable source of good equipment for new players. As it stands Raids are getting more and more an "elite" only show, reagardless of difficulty. Why exactly do we have again different difficulty settings? And why do we have any raids still listed below lvl 20/epic as base level? This is killing the game.

want to challenge that overgeard people? then make changes to elite/epic or since they always say they just want the challenge make a new difficulty, lets say "insane" which is just like epic but twice as hard with same loot. should make them happy.

But oh I forgot, it wouldn't, since then they couldn't bask in their glory of epic and rare loot of overpowerdness with which they demand worship from the lowlifes that can't acquire them anymore for themselves...

4 N/Maybe I am NOT enjoying it more, rather less. For every dozen or so of good new additions their seems to be one giant FUBAR that significantly outweighs the good parts. Add to that the more and more blatant cashgrab thats going on infuriates me (the pricing of the shared plat bank, which should have been basic functionality of the shared bank to begin with is just beyond outrageous if you want the full upgrade)

I probably will not leave right now, and I probably let the VIP subscription renew at least one more time (end of this month) but if this ******** persists I'm done with it. I might take a look at some upcoming MMO's but I don't have much hope in any of them. I might just go back to single player games then. or if the outrageous insistance on online services with unbearable conditions and TOS like EA's Origin or UBI's game launcher continue unchallenged I might be done with gaming altogether.

Yes, I am seriously frustrated and as of recently DDO decided to add to it by a significant margin.

[Ungood]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?


Yes. Been playing for a little over 2 years.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Was a VIP 2 years running.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Not one Bit. In fact I do not see it as an improvement in any way shape or form. If they want to add challenge they could add it into the new content.


4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?


Planning on Staying? Not really. I thought I would. But with the changes they are making. I honestly do not think I will last with their new direction to try and take the fun out of the game making it less enjoyable to just log in and play. But as I see it. when I spend my money on this game. I expect things to get fixed, like Hand-warps, Lag, Working Meta's, etc, etc. I expect that my money goes to fixing the game, and making it more play-worthy. What I do not appreciate it when they take my money and then go mess around with older content, that never needed to be messed with to start with.

[LucidLTS]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes, just barely


2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes, about $400 counting my personal account plus accounts for my family that I paid for. I'm currently sitting on 10,000 TP that I bought this spring. I've purchased content, account options, and consumables.


3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
No. A qualified no. There have been some good changes, but negative + indifferent > > good. I do agree that experienced and equipped players can be a huge asset for the game (and a fair number have helped me personally), so I'm willing to take some lumps so everybody can have fun, but it just seems like ways chosen to help them weren't thought out well and cause unnecessary pain for newer players.



4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?[/B]
No. Again, a qualified no - I've paid for a lot of content and I don't lose anything from taking a break to play something else and coming back occasionally. I still play some of my old PS2 and even PS1 games, so I imagine I'll play at least some DDO until the servers shut down or I can't work a keyboard :)

But I'm already frustrated enough that I'm actively looking for alternatives, and my play time and enthusiasm are significantly below their levels of 4 or 5 months ago. I've recruited at least 4 other players (and at least one spent > $100), but with U11 I told 2 friends I'd sent referrals to to hold off until they fix it, and they are still holding.

I want to love this game, it's got a lot going for it, but it's got a lot of baggage too.

[S0rdmasta]

If I have to choose between yes and no. It would be YYNN

And that doesn't mean I hate everything they have done. It simply means on balance, I don't feel that my player experiance has been improved of late.

I guess I would rather see some time spent on the substantial known bugs list, rather than having over priced updates riddled with new bugs and content nobody asked for being forced out of the pipeline before they're ready.
It astounds me how many glaringly obvious issues manage to sneak past Devs, in house testers, a live public test server then the QA team to land in the wild.

Additionally, while its not too bad yet. The increasing focus on increasingly pushy DDO store sales does make me wonder what the game become over the next year or so.

(For one example)I'm already a vip who buys a substantial amount of extra TP each year as well. Am I supposed to be excited about the opportunity to pay extra for the ability to put a reasonable amount of money in my newly shrunken account bank with the broken sales button on it?

And do they really think that festival style challenges which offer daily grinding are the drawcard that will get more people into our already lagging servers?

If I could say one thing to Turbine, it would be Quality over Quantity. And to WB, I would say don't be greedy.

[countfitz]

1. Y
2. Y
3. N - Shroud changes, seriously? Maybe it's just this week, but DO0oo0OOO0ooOM.
4. Y - I actually love the new challenges and the fact that its semi f2p, though the cost otherwise... 1450?!? If fully plan to play for 1 more year, minimum, just with what is already out there, and 2 if updates are as frequent and fun. 3 if they fix the bugs at the same time. Dare I say 4 if they give us Druids, Shifters, Gnomes, Psionics and Kalashtar?

[zeonardo]

Even if we, the 4N, are staying for a while, it won't be long when we finaly quit. First we lose some fun factor, then a few friends/guildmates, then interest fades and when you realize, there's nothing holding you anymore.

I see some Oldschool DDO players here, back from 2010-2009 and ealier, and they are not happy. This "fixes" are killing the game. Make it fun for all/most of us, don't make it "Custom" for a handful of powergamers out there.

It can change, yeah! But I'm not talking about "any" and "every" change! Read the OP! I'm talking about the ones YOU care! The ones that have any impact on YOUR game experience! If others are complaining about it, they surely have a point! If they think it's fine, they have a point too!

I just wanted to know how you guys feel, and let some of you know how others feel too!

Thanks for all the replies.

[nibel]

YYYN

I love changes. I love new things out of the box. Nothing on those questions answer why I'm leaving DDO soon if things keep the way it is.

What is getting on my nerves is because, back some months ago, DDO was a game that you could be completelly casual about it, and still play much of "endgame". Sure, my no-GS first life rogue will not be doing much on elite ToD or Epic OoB. But I can play epics (D, P, and Fens), I can Shroud a lot, I can run on Amrath, and so on.

The last updates, however, has been changing the game into something that is not casual-friendly. Tons of crafting that requires farming (I couldn't even finish my U10 robe before House C arrived) and non-compatible with previous farming you had in sister packs (like U9 and U10, or Lordsmarch free and paid quests).

The new raids needing new learning? I'm totally ok with that. Some items and mechanics getting nerfed? No problem (and that is someone who capped 2 toons in 4 years): just rebuild it, or deal with it. The new challenges? It's new, I like new things (even risia games was something positive, and I dont like the ramps mechanic), bring more new things.

Just please, stop pushing the bar higher. The day I need farmed items to farm those exact items is the day i'm leaving the game for good.

[LOOON375]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN1) Yes
2) Yes
3) Some yes, and some no (normal shroud shouldn't have been messed with)
4) Yes overall

[Barashkukor]

Y
Y
Y
4. Varies from update to update.

Installing Skyrim as we speak, so ddo-worries will be on the backburner for a few months.

Will be back around U14 I reckon :p

[ddoplayer064]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

1) Yes, a little over 2 years off and on

2) Yeppers

3) No. No game should be balance based on geared out, capped, and multi-TR'd players.

4) No. I am playing less and less with each update. I don't see myself playing this game a year from now if Turbine continues in the direction they are headed now.

[DakotanSky]

1) Yes, just over a year.
2) Yes, I am F2P but have spent enough to cover a 4 year sub.
3) No, just got up to par for Epics just to have them raise the bar.
4) No, I will probably not be spending anymore money on this game. Time to find the next green pasture.

[Bufo_Alvarius]

Y
Y
N
Undecided

Up the challenge with new quests turbine.

[BitkaCK2]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
Some yes, some no.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
I will be around, off and on, however I doubt I will be spending anymore money for points.



bitkaCK2

[Bisounours]

YYNN

Changes and new challenges are ok if they are really NEW ones , stop messing with all requirement for everyone who bought a pack when it was PLAYABLE for all class . Anyone bothered to think about all these excluded class that you , over geared multi TR pple keep excluding from the main content by your min max this and that ?
I can complete shroud on some class , but i'll prolly not even have a chance to go on some other. What about the ones who are just playing "low hp " class ? Turbine just took the content they bought back from them .
If you want to challenge the big ones , put them a place just for them , let the other ones playing the game as it was designed.

[SilkofDrasnia]

1 - Y, been here since April '06 with no breaks. Went "Premium" in spring '10, and bought pretty much everything.

2 - Y, Went "Premium" in spring '10, and bought pretty much everything, and bought all packs since, plus a ton of other stuff.

3 - N, rehashing old content is still old content.

4 - N, I do not join guilds after having my initial guild here dissolve due to real life issues between the leader and his wife/another member. All the changes recently have made pugging extremely difficult at higher levels.

I would also suggest asking if the respondent is part of a guild.

I think the trouble with these changes, is that they are made to accommodate those in guilds/semi static groups/those who play with the same core group of people all the time.

If you try pugging, true pugging, putting up an open lfm and taking the first 5/11 roel appropriate people, you are screwed. You need to surf myddo, question people's gear, etc... and to me that is a losing scenario.

Keep it up Turbine, I'm sure I will find something else to play. I don't have an issue dropping $50+ for something I enjoy. Check into what your "hardcore" gamers spend a month. :rolleyes:

i agree with this especially the puggin, im in guild but rarely run guild riads as it daytime for most of my guildies when its night time for me

for me its
y
y
n
undecided will depend on if Neverwinter is any good, i would be really keen to play in FR setting, so it depends on turbine really and how they do thing in the future will just have to see how it goes

[grgurius]

yyyy

[peetrs]

1 - Been around since 2006, with few breaks (caused by lack of content / lack of bug fixes)
2 - Yes, but after U11 and U12 I'm constantly asking myself if it was good idea.
3 - No, then have no idea what to do with game and it looks like they have no concept at all.
4 - No, quite opposite, while combat system and general gameplay is still good and I enjoy it, as whole I enjoy game less and less.

[Valakai]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes. On and off since beginnig - on Euro servers.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes. Going between VIP and Premium as mood and time fits.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Ok. Some of the changes are good and some of them are bad. Have to be more specific.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

I am enjoying the game. I am not a big fan of the new challenges so far and I really wish they would finish the PRCs SOON. But yes I am still enjoying it even though some things are worse and some are better. I will be gone when certain MMO in a galaxy far far away launches but I am predicting I will return again at some point.

[Ugumagre]

NYYY

Having lots of fun, sorry.

[sirgog]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

1 - Yes
2 - Yes
3 - Yes, even if one or two changes I feel are mistakes (such as the U11 changes to the elite Judge/Jailer fight which was already the hardest encounter in the game pre-U11 and even with U12 cutting their HP 30% they are still IMO tougher than epic LOB). I hate running really easy content over and over, and now most raids other than the Reaver have at least one difficulty setting that caters to people like me.
4- Yes.

I'm really liking the changes that make a bigger gap from Normal to Elite.

[Deathdefy]

Y
Y
Y-In particular, I like the challenges a lot. Even the ones with kobold pathing issues just mean a tactics change of clearing more trash than you'd think. Actually trying out new strategies and stuff before there's an accepted way to do things is fun. And, despite the scenery, they're all sufficiently different that it really is 12 new strategies.
Y

[Arnhelm]

1 - have you been playing ddo for more than 1 year?

2 - have you spent real life money on ddo or ddo store?

3 - do you like how they are changing some long-established things in ddo to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

my answer is: Yynn
yynn

[Demeron]

Y- 3.5 Yeahrs startet in EU

Y- to much as it seams now

Y/N but 75% for a N

N- Sub canceld 2H afther U12 was live

[Lalangamena]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

No, just four months

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

cant say

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

cant say, but i do like the game very much.

I know that since i am new, so my opinion might not matter but:

the truth is when the game is hard (or insane hard) and only 5% of the high end players are succesfull,
there is a sense of competition cause most of the guilds want to be in the 5% so they try harder and invest in the game, they also look at the 5% as example, copy them, read their guides etc.
accomplishment means something.

when the content is easy, the 5% are not playing, but contrary to the "common sense" the 95% are not playing either, because there no real worth in beating the content. also nobody write guides/ posting movies/ nobody to look up to.
this is a fine example of cognitive dissonance, if it hard its good, if its not hard its not worth it.

you can take an example of the "other" game, the one that should not be named, (rhimes with blow).

when it was hard, catered the 5% they had increase in player base, since they started to cater the 95% their player base dropped....

now they even give free diablo if you buy long subscription to the game...

and i was never ever in the 5%... not even close.
I am perfectly fine with the fact that i will not see half of the EPIC raids...
it is much more appealing to me than pugging all the content and get bored with it.

just my 2c.

[Rian]

Y, I've been playing for 6 years.
Y
Varies, sometimes they're cool, sometimes they're not
Varies, there are aspects to updates I enjoy, then the others just throw me into a nerd rage.

[Vormaerin]

1) Yes, since 2006.

2) Yes, subscriber all along.

3) The changes don't bother me. I adapt to what the gameplay asks for. A few of the raids are harder, but so what? Overall, the game has gotten consistently better (and generally easier) over the last five years. A little tightening on some of the content to restore it to the difficulty it used to have is fine. Contrary to popular forum belief, raids aren't that big a deal for most players.

4) I've always liked the game. I like it more now than I did say, two or three years ago. Since I'm a subscriber, U12 is more stuff to do even if its nothing that makes me say "wow" like some of the content in the other updates over the last year or so.

[morticianjohn]

Yes
Yes
Kinda
I think so.

More than any changes to old content or influx of new content I am concerned about lag. Change is fine by me. If it stayed the same each update the game would likely grow stale for many players. So even if I complain about some changes overall I think that they are good. The one thing that is crushing my motivation and excitement is the lag. If that doesn't change soon my answer will be different.

[Viltijen]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes
2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes
3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
Yes. The improved challenge is for ALL players, change prevents stagnation!
4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?[/B]
Yes

Most of this anger is because the loot pinata that was shroud has been made more difficult. Personally I think that challenging players by mixing things up like this is good for the game. Greensteel should be hard to make, after all, look at how many players use it in end game content. Adapting tactics to overcome challenges like the blades and such is a "game within the game." The way I see it the so called "95%" have two realistic options:
1 - Adapt and overcome
2 - Go play something else

[katana_one]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes


2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes


3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Yes


4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

Yes

[Xeraphim]

1) Y

2) Y

3) N... with severity

4) Y

I have personally seen many of my suggestions (at least 18 of them) implemented in the game over the years. One suggestion that was not implemented, for example, was Elemental Substitution for arcane blasters (i.e. Fire Wall becomes Electric Wall, Ball Lightning becomes Sonic Ball, Acid Arrow becomes Fire Arrow).

I am part of the 5% that has been discouraged by the 1% from even trying to continue to contribute. There are some people on these forums who are clearly Chaotic Evil. A clue as to who they are would be a large green bar where their Reputation goes.

You can thank me for the End Reward list idea. I proposed it at 6 completions, not 10 or 20. It took off from there.

[xandariant]

1) Yes, I just hit 2,5 year.

2) Yes, Qyute a lot: all packs (expect challanges that show that rubine wants to rob me), full items bank, some hearts, and a lot more.

3) No. I dont enjoy nerfing everything. Doing something great for players to nerf it in another update or 2 after ppl go for it, not knowing when I will be ok or when I will be nerfed or everything scalled over my reach. Also I don't enjoy a lot of pugs vanishing and many of my firends borred to tiers before leaving this game. Turbine seems to nbever think of any balence before they release something and nerfing is way to go in last 4 or more updates. I don't even enjoy this game.

4) Definitly NO. I don't plan to stick around. Maybe i will check in few months, but I'm too disapointed in Turbine for milking money, for never repearing content, with playing with ppls toons by making them worthless form update to update (intimitanks, some arcanes and soon will probably be artificers when they are finally sold).
I already bought Guild Wars 1 (awaiting 2 after seeing how it will look), and I paid for it the amound of money new grind, I mean challanges cost. I feel way better spending my money like that and I already found fun in GW1 that Turbine killed in my playing DDO.

Way to go Turbine!
Huppy grinding.

[Willibold]

Y
Y
N
Maybe

[Algreg]

Y

Y, quite a few bucks.

N. Its not really the things getting tougher, but the total lack of any perceivable concept. Remove Epic Wards, put them back into challenges, take away this, reintroduce that. I am also kinda annoyed they just cannot leave old content alone - yeah, shroud is a terrible job-like grind, but what the heck. Make new content, make it so hard even vets speak of "the horror... the horror", but stop wasting precious dev time on stuff that has been there for years. Especially as this is the most bug-ridden game I have ever encountered, and I have been playing games for over two decades now - I think fixing those would be a better employment of Turbine´s ressources.

N, probably: Last time I logged on has been weeks ago. As I was putting some epic components into the altar, suddenly I thought, what the heck, you don´t really enjoy this anymore, do you? Guess I am halfway out allready. I haven´t logged on since and found/rediscovered other games I enjoy a lot more.

Edit: In all fairness, I had to add I don´t think the people we refer to as devs are really the core of the issue, I imagine it´s rather a scenario somewhat similar to this: http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/working-conditions

[Rizzia]

Y/Y/?*/Y

* Yes and No,
The difficulty changes in shroud/evon6 I actually quite like. I enjoy helping to create new stratergies (evon6 3 tries 1 tried old tactics = fail at "the new trick", 2nd server wide lag + breath did us in, 3rd = completion with no problems.) (I wouldnt class any of my toons to be "well geared" tbh, some event epics, but no real epics yet, I can hold my own, adapt and learn)

Theres afew things that really annoy me =
Air eles, and their no save pinballing me all over the place.
The price of the challenge pack = although Im VIP, theres next to no groups going for them (in-guild or pugs)
BtC ingredients/bags
Lack of endgame palemaster/necromancy equipment = outside of a rarely run raid and a once yearly event (that I missed this year)
*ok that last one is maybe just me not seeing the right gear but theres definatley more endgame gear for all the other types (except maybe force/untyped)*

[Philibusta]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes, playing since Dec 09.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yep, been paying a sub since Jan 2010.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

You must be talking about the raids. I don't raid. The leets wont let me in to raids cause I've never done it, and I don't have any raid gear. (makes a lot of sense, eh?:rolleyes:)

Dont know why we need 400 different crafting systems.

The more I play in an Eberron setting, the less I like it. And I didnt like it that much to begin with. So adding Artificers and their metal mutts....meh. IMO time and money could have been better spent developing something else.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

Nope. When Neverwinter comes out I'm off to check it out. I know, it's 4e and yuck. But 4e may succeed as an MMO where it's utter fail as a PnP game. If it's anything close to playable, I'm outta DDO. They can keep their robots and airships and lightning mail. Ima go play D&D.

Answers in box.

[Templarion]

Y
N
Y
Y

I like the direction developers are looking at.

[grgurius]

Hm, according to this thread its not 95% - 5%, more like 50% - 50%.

[Infant]

3 - N - Rebalancing things to account for people who live on DDO 18 hours a day is the height of incompetence. To make matters worse, these trolls will ostracize and ridicule anyone who complains, and the forum mods refuse to ban them for it. If they had to work real jobs, and pay bills, then they'd not like these changes either.


Easy here, ok? I have to pay bills and I do have a job. I play DDO for fun and surely don't belong to the epic-geared multi-TR Vets. I played the new Shroud and liked it (not often enough to give a statistically significant answer though). Some people simply don't cry "DOOOOOM" few hours after an update gets released, they rather wait and see what the changes are about. No need to insult these people.

For me it's

Y
Y

Mostly Yes. Welcome the changes which make things less "stand there and beat the boss for several minutes". Don't like increased HP, Fort and immunities (Higher Fort would be good to make people care about their Fort-reducing abilities, but hurts Rogues most, so meh.

Yes, planning to stay. That is, if they attack the lag in the next months... otherwise this game might become too frustrating.

Don't have eSoS, don't have epic gear except CC stuff. Just crafted my first GS conc Opp item. No Torc here.

@OP: I think you draw a wrong image here. This is not about vets/powergamers/multi-TRs vs. "normal"/casual people. This is about people who welcome learning and adapting to new things and those who don't. Those who don't like new things clutch to their gear/builds/quests/raids/loot tables/raid rituals/grind, feel insulted and "cheated" if these things are taken away. But these things are entirely unnecessary to enjoy this game. If you feel that grinding the new challenges or alchemical gear isn't fun, don't do it programatically, these things aren't needed. Learn and adapt to overcome the challenges. The most fun I had in this game was when I was on my 28 pts and had to figure out how to gear/play my toons to beat those crazy difficult quests like Tear :).

With the new Shroud, I hope I am still right about this game being great fun to first-lifers and new players. So far it seems ok (Except for the lag. Did I mention this already?). We will see in the next weeks.

Infant

[Jennariel]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Not yet, but getting close.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes, I'm VIP and have purchased points.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Yes and No. I like change, it prevents the game from becoming stale. But also no as the changes in difficultly are often too extreme, and not friendly to players who are inexperienced, or who are not max/min players. Turbine needs to consider all their players, not just the ones that scream the most.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

That is still up in the air. If Turbine keeps making normal difficulty so difficult, probably not. I don't want to have to max/min my characters or give up playing the classes I like because the quests absolutely require something more. I still have a few quests / raids to learn, and it's not looking like I will unless they create a training difficulty. Not that I'm afraid my toons will die. That happens. I'm afraid of just wiping repeatedly with no chance of success.

[MRMechMan]

Yes

Yes, but not hundreds and hundreds. Haven't in over a year.

Yes and no. Shroud normal should have stayed how it was. It is supposed to be a stepping stone to higher difficulty content...and more than just greensteel. That was probably one of the only places that complete newbs and ultra geared TRs paths cross...no more it seems. It is not a level 17 raid at the moment on normal...we'll see how people adapt, but atm, ToD is easier. That's not right. Could an at level group complete a normal shroud? Sure, but probably if they are mostly TRs with greensteel. Ironic, huh? First lifers at lvl 17? Doubt it, unless they do an incredible job. And even then, I doubt it. Getting mown down by lag+blades with a hitbox the size of an elephant that don't have a save, hit several times a second, don't have an attack roll and no 100s of damage is NO FUN.

Yes...I am enjoying the game more and more each update, but not because of the updates...have bought very little of the new content. What I have bought hasn't impressed me, at all. The new cannith packs XP/min is shameful...it's worse than shav and that xp is pretty bad. High difficulty high level content should give MORE XP/MIN THAN THE HARBOR OR KORTHOS. Cool loot, sure, but some of it is really buggy...hell the game in general is buggy. It doesn't feel polished AT ALL. Poorly cut and pasted descriptions, items not dropping, and the lag...it's so bad sometimes. Wiping a raid with solid players purely because of lag is the one thing that makes me want to stop playing.


I enjoy playing more and more because I have met many people I like and care about and have fun with, even if the content is rubbish, the play is laggy, the items are bugged and the customer service is awful.

But...many of them play less and less though. Many have left for good I fear. The more that leave, the less I want to play...many that I talk to are in a similar situation.

[BurnerD]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes - 5+
2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes
3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
Yes - I am ok with changes that try to improve challenge as long as they are well thought out. I do think the devs take a "from 1 to 11" mentality and may want to try and scale difficulty a little less severely.
4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
Yes and No - I enjoy the new content, but the performance issues are crushing the life out of my enjoyment for the game. Nothing I have tried on my end has helped. For the first time in five years I am actually considering dropping my VIP status....

My answer is: YYNN
..

[Elfvyra]

For me. it's : Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes. But I still don't see a 95%/5% split on anything.

[FlimsyFirewood]

Skimmed by dev... is there a tally?

Y = 1 point, N = 0 points, Maybe = 0.5 points?

Would be nice to see something like X/Y format, where X is the score and Y is the total participants.

In any case, thanks for feedback.

[Taimasan]

Skimmed by dev... is there a tally?

Y = 1 point, N = 0 points, Maybe = 0.5 points?

Would be nice to see something like X/Y format, where X is the score and Y is the total participants.

In any case, thanks for feedback.

From my quick skimming I believe it was far more negative than positive. But a official tally would be nice.

[GoldyGopher]

Yynn

[Elaril]

Hm, according to this thread its not 95% - 5%, more like 50% - 50%.

Yeah, but that's only people on the forums. I'm not sure that forum poster's opinions should be considered the concensus opinion one way or the other. Which way non forum posters opinions would shift the numbers, I wouldn't be presumptious enough to suggest. But, I'd bet the numbers would be considerably different considering the majority of DDO players do not post on the forums. I know quite a few people, both power gamer and very casual, who have never posted on the forums, or have posted so rarely that they might as well not even have bothered.

[Dozen_Black_Roses]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year? Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store? Yes

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players? Yes but certainly not everything. Some changes are helpful, some are too easy button, and some changes to gear/builds/mobs are damaging to the playerbase. I believe their ears are attuned to a small percentage of the game, whether that be the yes folks on mournlands or currently some top powergamers who are turning some parts of the old/new game in a way that is of a significant negative impact to the larger playerbase. And I say that as a powergamer who can look back and see the larger picture. It's good they are listening to us powergamers but dont throw the baby out with the bath water either.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace. No, can't say I am enjoying it more, the answer would be about the same. I certainly like the game enough to stay and play as often as I do, but I get more disheartened each update.

[RandomKeypress]

For what it's worth,

Y
Y
Maybe
N

I liked the update 8, 9 wasn't bad, 10 was good, I didn't play 11 much - not much time, few pugs for the raids and too many events on at the same time. Update 12 I can't fairly comment on - it's only been a few days. Ask me again after I've finished Skyrim and can decide if I want to come back to DDO or not...

The last 'No' is simply that I am pug-only and I like to raid. The last few updates have made pug-raiding no fun at all. I'm playing the wrong game. That message is slowly sinking in, and when it does I'll be able to quit.

[Vyder]

yynn

[Tharlak]

Y - Just shy of 4 years

Y - VIP but dont mind getting some extras here and there.

N - Can't say that I value the work to go back and make old content more challenging. I don't need or want low level raids to be challenging to fully geared 20's.

Maybe - Still has the "it's the only D&D game in town" niche going for it. I enjoy many aspects about the game, but as the frustrations of more bugs, more lag, and unnecessary changes build, who's to say.

[Terminus-Est]

yymy

[sephiroth1084]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year? Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store? Yes (VIP, never on Turbine Points)

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players? Yes, I like that they are working to improve old, problematic systems, balance and quests/raids, but No, I am not happy with all of their changes.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace? Maybe. I like some of what they are doing, but dislike a lot of the other stuff.

My answer is: YYNN
Answers in that bluish color.

Edit, to expand:

I like that the devs are revisiting old content that has become dated or boring, to make it more worth running (from a rewards perspective) and a challenge/fun perspective), but feel like they've updated many of these things in ways that make them less fun (Reaver with more annoying air elementals, for example) or too difficult for the concurrent rewards (Shroud normal), or have made the thing more challenging, but in an uninteresting way (Shroud, kind of...the blades being dangerous is good, but I think they went overboard and could have made other, more thoughtful improvements in addition to a smaller bump in blade damage).

I dislike that major, problematic systems still haven't gotten addressed (epic token grind, AC to name a couple), and that we keep getting content that feels half-finished, like seals to upgrade items from The Reaver and Abbot, but a delay (who knows for how long?) on being able to upgrade items that had been acquired prior to this release, or the new Divine Avenger being rather detrimental to use within a party environment because it strips the party's debuffs and DoTs, and the fact that the thing has both an incredibly narrow niche and an incredibly limited lifespan--why release the thing if it isn't going to be something significant?


As for how I like the updates...I still haven't caught up with everything I missed between April and August, but the new quests and raids have been, or look, enjoyable, and they have had some pretty sweet-looking loot. I don't like Crystal Cove coming back so frequently, and with the same problems that it had before (grants epic items, with a compacted, but significant grind, without granting epic tokens; doesn't grant renown so exists as a major drain on guild progression; heavily favors casters and highly self-sufficient, big DPS melees, resulting in a rather dull/unpleasant experience for everyone else), or Mabar with its lopsided reward system, focus on casters, crushing lag and narrow rewards list. I've completely abstained from Cannith crafting, not because I don't need it, but because the idea of having to accumulate all of my random loot on one character and spend hours smashing the stuff and crafting junk just to get anything useful out of it is daunting in its mindnumbing derailment from what's enjoyable in DDO.

I like that some characters archetypes have been getting some love (particularly AC toons) in the form of buffed abilities, more gear options, and new, relevant feats, but the system that these changes are aimed at still remains broken and the only word we've had from the devs on this is that they are talking/thinking about it.

[Mithis]

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Yes (change is good...adapt!)
4. Yes

The only thing that has annoyed me over the last year of updates is Cannith Crafting but since that is (very) optional it has little affect on my desire to play and continue playing. It just seems like a big waste of dev time but maybe there are way more people participating than I believe.

I will also say that the Challenge pack for U12 is a bit pricey but at least you can still do the challenges without buying.

[Jastron]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Yes, since 2005 actually in Closed Beta. Been an officer of same guild since 2005.

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Yes, over $1,000.00 over those years, with two boxes (collectors and normal), subs, and point purchases. This is way more than I have ever spent, with any other game developer.

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

No, I feel the older content should be left alone. Turbine should have free reign for new content, but to change a pack after so many FTP/Premium players have purchased it, or even make things more challenging than some VIP's want to deal with, I am opposed to. Bugfixes are fine but major changes should be carefully considered as to why they are needed.
Having extremely difficult content is fine, but why tamper with older content that less skilled players, or players with little time on their hands were enjoying?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

Strongly no to first part, but I am staying as I lead a good sized good of awesome people, and I have given them my word I will not abandon them.
I actually have lost so much interest that this weekend I just went on a partial hiatus (logging in only a couple times a week for events) for a couple of months, something I had never considered in the past. Understand it takes a lot for me to do that as I care deeply about the fun and success of my guildmates, being a very unselfish person. If it wasn't for my guild, if I was alone, I would have left DDO this weekend, and still might in less than a year if my guild declines significantly for the same reason (dislike of changes). So, you can count me as a No for the last question.

In closing, I do want to say that out of the MMO's out there, I still feel DDO is one of the better ones, and the Devs are great, and we likely just need some small changes to the way changes are conceived at Turbine. I may just be totally burnt out on it and despite a hectic pace of new content by Turbine, which should be applauded, they are not managing to capture my interest lately. I played a new single player RPG that just came out on Friday, and I had fun, and realized I have not been having fun in DDO. I really don't know what to suggest and I sincerely hope I will be more optimistic in January when I try to return to playing DDO on a daily basis.

[Cauthey]

I'd like to personally thank all of the "yes and nos," the "maybes," the "kindas," and the "<long exposition>s" for making this tricky to tally. Nonetheless, I have tried to do so. :)


Here is the tally as of this post:


Generally Negative: 42
YYNN: 34
YYYN: 4
YY*N: 4

Generally Positive: 41
YYYY: 27
YY*Y: 5
NYYY: 3
YNYY: 1
YYNY: 5

Generally On The Fence: 23
YYY*: 3
YY**: 9
NYY*: 1
NY**: 3
YYN*: 7


Total with answers: 116


* = Undecided, "yes and no," <long exposition>, or otherwise unclear


No attempt to skew the data with the subcategories - they are keyed off of the answer to question #4. Take the data as you will. :D

[Xgemina]

I'd like to personally thank all of the "yes and nos," the "maybes," the "kindas," and the "<long exposition>s" for making this tricky to tally. Nonetheless, I have tried to do so. :)

<tally coming soon!>

I'll keep it simple for ya then:

YYNY

[Yarrrrr]

YYYY

This is a second account, so the year is wrong, but im here since 2009.

I really like the feeling of the new changes. Usually im in a shroud with auto-attack and I watch TV, but now I must concentrate to try to not get killed by blades, wich make it more interesting. It suck when you get wiped, but when you sucessfully finish it, you are happy!
And the new challenges offer the opportunity to level up lvl 1 to 20 for 15$, yes its a lot, but if it was too low f2p could stack points and lvl up to 20 without buying anything else -- and the quest are really fun and different everytime so IMO you can replay the quests for a while!

[zeonardo]

Skimmed by dev... is there a tally?

Y = 1 point, N = 0 points, Maybe = 0.5 points?

Would be nice to see something like X/Y format, where X is the score and Y is the total participants.

In any case, thanks for feedback.

As stated in my signature, I left the forums a while back. Making this exception for clear reasons.

I was just trying to figure out some reason about what kind of players come to the forums and voice their oppinions.

It's something like: Older players (= more playing time) usualy spend real money on DDO and plan to stay longer but get annoyed by changes to some stabilished rules/gears/contents and while most won't give up hope, it clearly wears them off.

New players usualy don't come to the forums to voice their thoughts and while they are probably larger in number than the forumites, they don't know or contribute to the game enough to have any consideration. If they did, they would end up here on the forums too.

They need old players so they can become old players themselves. No new player would run the raids that have been changing if there wasn't a chaperone behind them. 100% sure (factoid). When there are no longer older players to teach...

There's no equal points per question, as each one has a simple goal to explain to me some questions about what they (old players) usualy offer to the game and what they expect from it.

1 = Been playing long enough to notice changes.
2 = Invested in the game by spending real money. They keep the business running, but they did it for themselves and expect it to be some well spent money.
3 = Do they like it when they have to adapt to some change? I mean't changes to things long-established and that they have spent their time on, via grinding system or just questing.
4 = Do this wear them off to the point of abandoning the game or at least don't investing so much on it?

That's it. There's no real pool here. It was just my curiosity and it allowed players see what the others think about it too.

I play only Divines and I used to like healing in pugs but not anymore. I will finish my GS from drops soloing Amrath and not running anything I can't solo, as I've bought this pack and all the other packs/races/classes in the game. I'm a soloer now, and my main character name is Heall on Thellanis. You could see me often openning random trades on low level areas giving plat or item at random to new players as a warm welcome or doing whatever those crazy lfm posted asking for help. Ship altars, favor runs, Healers wanted, guide needed and so on. Not anymore. I'm one more jaded.

I gave up posting any thoughts here. It's clear that some voices are louder than others, thus the thread title, and I'm not the kind who scream. I will only play the game for now on and enjoy whatever come my way while I still have fun. And I really hope this fun lasts.

I will use to forums as I use the wiki. It's read-only for me now.

Forgive any typos. I'm brazilian and I don't have English as my native language.

So long and thanks for the lemons.

[MRMechMan]

Here are the totals in % form-added up the Y/N/M and had similar data as Cauthey...

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

93% YES 7% NO
2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

99% YES 1% NO

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
47% YES 53% NO

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

50% YES 50% NO

[Tyrande]

Y Y * Y

here.

[PurpleTimb]

Y-Y-N-Sort of Yes

I like that there is change and the devs are trying to bring new life and new ideas to the game.

I don't like that content I paid money for has been changed drastically, moving some of it beyond my ability to complete as a more casual gamer. But I have faith that Turbine will listen to player feedback and find a compromise where casual gamers are again capable of completing raids on normal at level at least half the time.

I'm sure there will be fixes coming Soon(TM).

[FlimsyFirewood]

Very interesting thoughts, folks. Thank you for your opinions and the math.

It's often said that only people who have something to say go to the forums, the rest are having fun playing the game. If you have nothing to complain about you're too busy playing, right?

Which makes this a good venue for providing feedback to developers.

Keep in mind, though, if your feedback is an actual bug, you want to submit a bug report instead of posting on the forum, because these bugs get put into a database while single posts can get lost in the forum archives.

That aside, thanks to the OP and all the contributors.

From a developer perspective, it's hard to make a game better without making any changes to it. From a player perspective, change is scary, especially if it affects my favorite class or build. It follows that we can't please everyone no matter how hard we try. But we have to.

That's all I got. Wish there was something else I could say but I got bugs to fix. Peace.

[Cyr]

From a developer perspective, it's hard to make a game better without making any changes to it. From a player perspective, change is scary, especially if it affects my favorite class or build. It follows that we can't please everyone no matter how hard we try. But we have to.


Additions to a game often make the game better.

Changes to a game often are less clear cut on their benefits.

In other words...

New quests, classes, races, items, and PrE's often make the game better.

While changes to existing classes, PrE's, items, quests, and new systems (changing the basic game rules) have much more mixed results.

I think it is a no brainer which one should be persued more rigorously with that in mind.

[Propane]

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year? Y

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store? Y

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players? Y

I feel like it is two steps forward and one step back... wish it was more like 5 or 10 to one.... If we had a better view of the "master plan", maybe more of these changes would make more sense...

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace? I like the new content (have lots I haven't touched). I like building charactors and love the fact we have all the hard choices to make (gear, classes splits, stats, etc).

[HAL]

No need to insult these people.


@OP: I think you draw a wrong image here. This is not about vets/powergamers/multi-TRs vs. "normal"/casual people. This is about people who welcome learning and adapting to new things and those who don't. Those who don't like new things clutch to their gear/builds/quests/raids/loot tables/raid rituals/grind, feel insulted and "cheated" if these things are taken away.

You are absolutely wrong (and should take your own advice about insulting people). I know plenty of people who love learning new things but the new changes just make things too difficult. Maybe some people don't have the twitch skills of others. Maybe they don't enjoy constantly worrying that the least little thing will cause a wipe (some people don't have a lot of time to spend on a game). There are all kinds of reasons why casual players might not like things to be made more difficult. I personally play games to relax. I am not the type who likes to be on the edge of their seat 100% of the time. That is not enjoyable to me. That is why I don't play FPS games.

On topic:
YYNN

[BoBo2020]

Y, y, y/n (some good, some silly), y

[blkcat1028]

Yyyy

[BurnerD]

Yes changes are good.

If the changes are affecting game stability/playability then not so good. It may be that you have reached a point where fixing performance > new content.

Over the last 5 years I've never been a doomsayer on these forums and try to keep problems in perspective. It appears the performance of this game is moving to an out-of-control state.

You guys can release an update every 30 minutes with new content, but if the game performance is poor it won't matter.

I've been playing this game with a couple of dozen people on a regular basis for the last 5 years. Our guild's core is fairly stable. With one or two exceptions these guys are good at keeping up on technology. Historically the majority of us (meaning 90%) have experienced little to no lag while playing. the lag we did experience was reasonable for an online game. Now we are all seeing increased lag. This happens whether we are grouped together, or grouped in pugs. lag is happening at various times in various quests. Geographically we are spread about the country, and a couple outside of the US.


different computers
different isp's
different geographical locations
different play times

I know it is a small sample base, but there are enough variables to eliminate client side as the only cause. I know you have admitted there are lag issues, but you need to know they seem to be getting worse. Dumping new content on top of the problem is not helping.

Perhaps a group of developers need to go off site for a few days and run some of these raids during peak times. Maybe you will get a better perspective and what at least some of us are seeing in regards to game performance.

Game performance is a show stopper. This needs to be priority #1 with a bullet.



Very interesting thoughts, folks. Thank you for your opinions and the math.

It's often said that only people who have something to say go to the forums, the rest are having fun playing the game. If you have nothing to complain about you're too busy playing, right?

Which makes this a good venue for providing feedback to developers.

Keep in mind, though, if your feedback is an actual bug, you want to submit a bug report instead of posting on the forum, because these bugs get put into a database while single posts can get lost in the forum archives.

That aside, thanks to the OP and all the contributors.

From a developer perspective, it's hard to make a game better without making any changes to it. From a player perspective, change is scary, especially if it affects my favorite class or build. It follows that we can't please everyone no matter how hard we try. But we have to.

That's all I got. Wish there was something else I could say but I got bugs to fix. Peace.

[maddmatt70]

I would say y,y,y/n,y. I liked the changes to epic dragon for e.g. but not to some of the other content for question 3. In general though its a question of dev resource time and cranking out new content is a better way for the devs to spend their time then working on old content of course this calls into question cost/benefit sort of thing where a small amount of time spent on old content which makes it much more replayable might be worthwhile.

The sidebar conversation on forum polls is interesting. I wonder about the prestige enhancements in regards to this. It seems like there is overwhelming support for more prestige enhancements on the forums, but I am not as sure this is true in game. New players/non forum users may not want the devs to spend their time on prestige enhancements when they could devote their time to a fancy new class/race or system like crafting instead.

That maybe more attractive investments of developer time to gain new players. I just wonder why the devs have seemingly not put more emphasis on prestige enhancements since their inception in update 1. My guess is for newer players having a choice between a ravager and frenzied berserker prestige enhancements is something they are not as interested in then say the opportunity to craft or for evoker spells to be enhanced and work comparitively to other mmos..

[Aashrym]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year? yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store? yes but not sure now much that is relevant tbh

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players? some yes some no, it's vague so I'll go with 0.75

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace? These are 2 separate questions. Yes I plan on staying at least one more year. Enjoying the game more and more is pretty hard to quantify and I enjoy some changes, others not so much.

My answer is: YYNN

replied

[quiescent]

It's often said that only people who have something to say go to the forums, the rest are having fun playing the game. If you have nothing to complain about you're too busy playing, right?


Not true. I don't care for Crystal Cove:Redux but I don't really feel that my feedback is listened to or considered, so I don't bother anymore. You can ask my guildies how I feel about running these challenges (I hate em) because I give them the same answer every time they post up in guild chat: no thanks I'd rather do basically ANYTHING except for these challenges.

EDIT: Yes, Yes, Yes, No.

[Vengeance777]

1. Y

2. Y

3. N

4. N

[Orratti]

YYYN

#3 yes to because of power creep. If you introduce something like the charged gauntlets that you can use from lvl 6 to cap like I'm doing on several toons and many other powerful pieces of loot along with things like ship buffs and do nothing to adjust for that fact then you make the game a turkeyshoot. That would be fine for the short term player who enjoys shooting turkeys but not so good for a long term player who wants to use some tactics or some strategy and have the turkeys be actually dangerous.

The lastest content releases both the quests and the raid changes are able to keep that player interested. In the flesh has been driving me nuts for days trying to get it done and that end fight is a killer on elite. Have come up with a tactic I believe will win now just have to have time to form a group for it. LoB is a killer. I've only done it once so far and didn't even got close to completing. Would love to be able to pull up a ringside seat and watch those who have completed epics. That would be useful and a worthy possibility of something added to game. A watcher's seat for groups. I've sat and watched other's play spades or chess on Pogo how much more fun would it be to sit in on a raid.

I have also been in a position where something was so difficult that I never wanted to do it again. It never stopped me from wanting to play and didn't keep me from enjoying the game but then again I didn't have people constantly linking their loot from it to increase my annoyance. That little addition to the game I could have lived without. That is the most elitist thing I've seen added yet. It's one thing to link something when asked to but another to just start up a conversation all about your character and just start linking all your loot in the hopes that someone out there is getting green with envy. On the 100th congrats or cool item reply that is inevetibly expected, really you just want to say dude, I really don't care what you have.

I don't like each new update. I think the game needs to be updated as a whole unit. The way it is now you have very old material mixed in with very new material. It gives the game a scenario of the past existing at the same time as the present. I realize that with packs being sold that you cannot just drop old content as that would eliminate certain packs entirely but there is another option for that. You could update the storylines of those areas and change their maps to bring them to the present. Create a new map and quest in the steam tunnels dealing with a new threat that has developed since the defeat of shan to kor for example. You don't have to make it more difficult as that area is ran before any decent loot is gotten. A new threat and storyline to waterworks, tangleroot, etc. Those areas have been defeated 1000s of times lets make them permanently defeated and create something else there. Something that evolved after the defeat.

I also don't want even more new content that is more difficult to continue to come out with so many needing to farm old content. Continuing in that direction will absolutely splinter the servers into two or more groups. Those completely geared out, those partially geared out, and those ungeared. Not releasing new content every three months that only a smaller portion of a server is ready to run and pulling them even further ahead of those still gearing up would be a good thing. Everyone wants new material it really doesn't have to all be at the top. Having an update with vastly changed leveling material would make it a pleasure to tr and not a grind.

Plus the updates are turning into buy more points affairs. There's no money in fixing known issues, or updating already owned content, the only reason any of the changes to current material were introduced was to keep players that found it boring interested and that is a worthy pursuit. That is a pursuit I would suggest continuing. Keeping people interested.

[Rinnaldo]

Y
y
y
y

[slimkj]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
YYYN

Survey question writing is a bit of a skill, and Q3 & Q4 are not the clear Y or N that Q1 & Q2 are. I have put YN but there are many shades of detail missing from there, i.e. in answering Q3, I like some changes, but not others:

I like the difficulty tweaking in general quests but I don't like how unfriendly to solo / shortmanning times parts of the challenge system are.
I like new classes being introduced but I don't like the look of Artificer personally.
I like the fact the UI is being looked at after all these years, but I don't like the lack of customisation coming with the changes (see threads passim).
I like the idea of varied content types but I don't personally like more cove variants.
I liked the spell pass but I wish they'd add more spells.

Just a few examples of how many shades of grey are in Q3.

For Q4, my answer is not just "N" but "No, I don't like most of U12 but U11 was mainly ok, but yes I'll probably be around in a year, but not if they only put out challenges, and not if the cooldown flash isn't fixed, and god I'd love it if handwraps worked andandand". :)

Surveys are a quick but often superficial way to get a feel for customer satisfaction I find.

[Docarillames]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes Almost 2 years in a row now, and a bit way way back during beta and shortly after.


2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes more than I like to admit to.


3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
Meh I have not been playing in the raids, which seems to be most of the "long established" things that got changed. There were some spells that changed how they worked, and I just rolled with the changes.


4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
Yes I like the artificer class, and I like the challenges. yes there are improvements that are needed (the kobolds in extraplaner mining NEED to learn how to follow torches) but over all I have enjoyed every update this year, and I will continue to play DDO for the foreseeable future.

[grandeibra]

1 Y
2 Y
3 Y Most definitely
4 Y except u12

[Terebinthia]

YYNN

I want a PUG scene back.

[LightBear]

YYNN

As a hardcore PUG-er and a mediocre player (eg: as in time spend playing this game) I must say that the changes as of late have become to hard, reading that you must have over 800 HP to survive the thirteenth eclipse makes me doubt the defs mental abilities, I guess they've spend to much time on Xoriat. ;)

[Invalid_50]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

From the beginning

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

with subs and tb points, well over a grand. (money well spent while it was still fun)

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Not even a little bit (don't start with the whole "adapt" **** either, "Borg Cube" is not a class you can buy in the ddo store yet)

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

already cancelled, and havent even bothered logging in since, though I will say that the game was fantastic in its day. The reason it was so fantastic is because it wasnt like all those other crappy grindy mmo's that had monsters with a bazillion hit points (remember how much fun and different kobold assault was when the game was new? there was nothing else like it in any other game!). with every passing update, (starting with the shroud) it got more and more like them. (Hint: active combat is not active if you stand in one place for 10 minutes because the monster has so many hit points...you mineaswell toss active combat out the window because boring old "auto attack" will serve you just as well)




answers in quote

[sirgog]

YYNN

As a hardcore PUG-er and a mediocre player (eg: as in time spend playing this game) I must say that the changes as of late have become to hard, reading that you must have over 800 HP to survive the thirteenth eclipse makes me doubt the defs mental abilities, I guess they've spend to much time on Xoriat. ;)

Noone in my elite completion had over 600, IIRC, even after drinking Yugoloth potions.

Just like you don't fight mobs in the lava in Stealer of Souls, you don't want to fight in the blades in Shroud.


I do love the person that said 'active combat isn't active if you stand in one place for 10 minutes because the boss has so many HP', yet this person doesn't like the huge increase in active combat in the new Shroud... Less boss HP, more moving around is exactly what the new Shroud is.

[Infant]

You are absolutely wrong (and should take your own advice about insulting people). I know plenty of people who love learning new things but the new changes just make things too difficult. Maybe some people don't have the twitch skills of others. Maybe they don't enjoy constantly worrying that the least little thing will cause a wipe (some people don't have a lot of time to spend on a game). There are all kinds of reasons why casual players might not like things to be made more difficult. I personally play games to relax. I am not the type who likes to be on the edge of their seat 100% of the time. That is not enjoyable to me. That is why I don't play FPS games.

On topic:
YYNN

Maybe I am indeed wrong. And surely I want to apologize if I insulted someone.

As to your arguments, I don't see the need for twitch skills in the new Shroud. Besides, my main point is that we should wait and see. My guess is we are back to having PuG Shrouds as before, a month after the update.

Infant

P.S.: Indeedm, I worded things a bit too harsh. Sorry again. No insulting/flamewar intended
Infant

[Oakianus]

NYYY

I've only been here for about nine months, but I absolutely love the game and think that it's been moving in a direction of being even better since I joined. The only major problem that I have is that there seemed to be quite a lot of lag after U12, but I suspect that's something that's going to be addressed very soon, if it hasn't already, because the Turbine that I've seen over the last nine months recognizes when something's making their game unplayable and works to get it fixed pretty quickly.

I think that the new Shroud is friggin amazing. The fact that there are lag issues that came along with it, of course, makes it tremendously harder. I think that'll clear up fairly soon and we'll have a raid that takes more skill and thinking than it used to... and could that possibly be considered a bad thing?

[Hurak]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year? Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store? Yes

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players? Not really. If resetting your character was an easy (and free) task then base changes wouldn't be an issue. But I cant imagine anyone would be happy with spending significant time investment on a particular build to see it made redundant after an update, same with gear.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace? No. The released packs this year, except U12 have been great, good quests. But the level of bugs and memory leak issues has also increased to a point where you wonder what is going on. Still a lack of good end game content IMO (yeah yeah new pack doesn't go far enough) and dwindling server pop has me looking at the newer releases.

[Invalid_50]

I do love the person that said 'active combat isn't active if you stand in one place for 10 minutes because the boss has so many HP', yet this person doesn't like the huge increase in active combat in the new Shroud... Less boss HP, more moving around is exactly what the new Shroud is.

Thats not active combat, thats a glorified skinner box. Everyone beat on the pinata till the invisible string pulls it up and the deadly blades come in.

Active combat in the SAME RAID would be something like this.

Decrease Harry hp to like 1/3 of what he's got now. (would have to tweak of course)

Insert 10 gnolls, each with 2 orthon guardians. Gnolls blast Harry with healing magic (just like the do now except its far more potent). Orthons protect the healers and are dangerous enough that they cannot be ignored. Now you got a full on war going, with the same general raid mechanics you have now. Orthons and gnolls dont have a grip of hit points, and need to be dealt with quickly.

P.S. Harry CANNOT be killed while even one gnoll is shooting him with health rays, so you can't just out dps him to the ground.

Hard bump it up to 15 gnolls, and 3 orthons each (increase harry hp a bit) (any orthon alive gives harry 5% fortification bonus and 5dr)

Elite bump it up to 20 gnolls, and 5 orthons each (increase harry hp a bit). (any orthon alive gives harry 5% fortification bonus and 5dr)

Oh look what we did there! now those melee have something to do and are actually important to bring to the fight other than standing around till blades come; and the casters and ranged characters are still important to bring harry down! see that wasnt so hard was it?


P.P.S that took me about 5 minutes to think of that, and i'm no game designer. Imagine what those boys and girls with the big brains could do if they really put that dusty right side of their brain to work and stopped number crunching encounters.

Sorry for the slight derail btw, carry on with the discussion.

[Myrddinman]

1. Yes...I've been playing since it went live in about March of 2006 :D

2. Yes...More than I care to admit (either to the Forum, or myself) :o

3. Meh...It doesn't really affect me either way. I'm not power gamer (never did a Raid outside of Chrono (solo at level 17) and pretty much live at the lower to mid levels with a severe case of Altoholism. Sure, there are things that I don't like and I agree need to be changed regardless of how much it hurts my playstyle, but I adapt and move on.

4. Yes...I suppose I can say that I do enjoy the new updates.

[Backley]

Yynn

[Dark_Helmet]

DDO Changes: Are you 5% or 95%?

So, we have lots of changes lately and a lot of players positive and negative feedback on /rant, DOOM, and thankful threads.

Some say 5% influence the game the other 95% play. That is, of course, factoid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factoid) but does it make any sense? Is there really such a diference in the number of players affected negatively by those changes to the players that actualy enjoy them?
I don't need to put all the changes we're talking about here because some of them have more impact to some of us than others. Just pick what changes you have actualy noticed and that have any impact on your gameplay.

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

My answer is: YYNN

Y
Y (Subscribed since March 2006, but not anymore).
N
N

Disclaimer: As a subscriber, I had points in the store, but I had only used them on things they screwed VIPs out of (Hey, you pay $15 / month, we want you to pay more!) that I needed to play as well as what made sense that I wanted (TR, character slots). With all the nerfing and emphasis on non-D&D content (ice games - is this super mario brothers?) instead of fixing broken things, I quit paying. I was only using the points left on the account to re-buy what I got as VIP as I was levelling up TRs. Now that they screwed up those quests that were fun for average players, I don't expect to put anymore into the failtrain.

[Orratti]

Thats not active combat, thats a glorified skinner box. Everyone beat on the pinata till the invisible string pulls it up and the deadly blades come in.

Active combat in the SAME RAID would be something like this.

Decrease Harry hp to like 1/3 of what he's got now. (would have to tweak of course)

Insert 10 gnolls, each with 2 orthon guardians. Gnolls blast Harry with healing magic (just like the do now except its far more potent). Orthons protect the healers and are dangerous enough that they cannot be ignored. Now you got a full on war going, with the same general raid mechanics you have now. Orthons and gnolls dont have a grip of hit points, and need to be dealt with quickly.

P.S. Harry CANNOT be killed while even one gnoll is shooting him with health rays, so you can't just out dps him to the ground.

Hard bump it up to 15 gnolls, and 3 orthons each (increase harry hp a bit) (any orthon alive gives harry 5% fortification bonus and 5dr)

Elite bump it up to 20 gnolls, and 5 orthons each (increase harry hp a bit). (any orthon alive gives harry 5% fortification bonus and 5dr)

Oh look what we did there! now those melee have something to do and are actually important to bring to the fight other than standing around till blades come; and the casters and ranged characters are still important to bring harry down! see that wasnt so hard was it?


P.P.S that took me about 5 minutes to think of that, and i'm no game designer. Imagine what those boys and girls with the big brains could do if they really put that dusty right side of their brain to work and stopped number crunching encounters.

Sorry for the slight derail btw, carry on with the discussion.

The only problem I see with this is there are almost no monsters that are challenging in ddo. Only weapons shipment elite kind of spawning or something that can incapacitate the party like the mobs in In the Flesh are dangerous to characters and in shroud that would be 5 times worse then what we have now as unlike weapons shipment there is no accessable shrine and lag would be much worse. Were a monster introduced that had 4-10 attacks per round and was immune to enchantment and death spells that could move rapidly then you would be talking about something dangerous. I suppose you could do that by raising the damage Harry put out by 2 or 3x and remove the blades.

The reason the blades are a better way to go is they cannot be crowd controlled, meleed, instakilled, or charmed. They can only be avoided. Doing so takes group coordination and communication. If you were to introduce monters that were truly dangerous like the boss fight in LoB currently is it would become far worse and if you were to up the number of devil mobs and remove the blades it would be no more challenging than before. If you upped the damage of Harry to a more challenging level it would wipe entire parties even faster and that wouldn't be challenging just frustrating as the tactics would become nothing more than drop dots, run around, and range. Let's face it the hardest part of the shroud pre update was dropping the sub bosses all at the same time in pt 2.

[sirgog]

Let's face it the hardest part of the shroud pre update was dropping the sub bosses all at the same time in pt 2.

That's so true - I'd go as far as to say that was even true on Hard.

Even if half the group weren't even in basic gear (Heavy Fort, +5 Con or better, Imp False Life or better), part 4 was a breeze - the geared toons just carried the others through it.

Part 2 I watched helplessly in several runs as I solo-prepped 2 Lieutenants down to 5-10%, then people came and killed them out of time. I'd try everything - asking them to stop, dispelling them, Greasing them - but they'd still manage to wreck it. Or on other occasions, you'd sit there kiting Fire and Orc, and ask over and over 'what's Cat at? What's Sagrata at?' and get no response until someone kills the Cat. Then you kill Orc and get ready to drop fire, only to find out that Sagrata is at 100%.

Part 4 pre-U11 normal hasn't been anything other than a boring surround-and-pound since the level cap hit 20 and people started building almost all toons with 400+ HP. That took the sting out of the Fireballs/Meteors (once they were deadly) and made the fight a joke. Now it's back to about the challenge it was when the cap was 16 and Shroud was new.

[MeliCat]

Y
Y
Y
Y

That said, while I am happy that there are greater levels of difficulty (not that *i* will ever get there) I am not happy how they have increased the difficulty of normal in things like Shroud and Abbot). And I have long maintained that for such a complex game, feeding information to new players at the right pace is done very poorly.

In short, I can see no reason why DDO can not have the flexibility and depth to cope with both the 5% power gamer as well as the entry level MMOer.

[nucphyschem]

y
y
NO
n with the clause if Old Republic is a fail I'll be back

[HernandoCortez]

YYNN.

I have 20 toons. Lost most of my guild's members already left the game. PUGs are tragedy nowadays. Either I disband and join a big guild or... How I am supposed to join a big guild with all my 20 toons?

My prediction?! DOOOOOOOOM!

[Phemt81]

YYNN

(We are the 99%...)

[Cogdoc]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

EU players
1- were sticking around usually after finding the game and were all playing based
2- on a sub, abandoned by the company who run DDO over there, didnt see much content for a while, so any
3- changes are welcome, as they are a true sign that the game is not dead.
4- Yush!

Cogdoc

[Cauthey]

(We are the 99%...)

Not true. You're more like the 50%.

[redspecter23]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?
Yes

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?
Yes

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?
No. I do agree with changes, but it's just changing faster than I can adapt and this is from someone that plays 3+ hours a night. Changes are good, but massive sweeping changes every few updates that force extreme regearing and regrinding = no fun.

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?
Yes, for now. Each new update should fill me with excitement over all the new content and features, instead my first thoughts are "did they nerf any of my main characters or their gear?", secondly I think "are any of my favorite quests nerfed/made harder?" and finally "wow, some new exciting content to try out"

In short, updates now fill me with concern and worry instead of joy and excitement. I'm far more concerned about how my gaming experience will be effected negatively and less about the positive aspects. This is something Turbine really has to get under control as I know I'm not the only one that feels this way lately. Nerfs for the sake of nerfs (abbot loot downgrades being the most recent) and incomplete content/buggy content (lack of reaver upgrades, monk wraps in general, missing Toven's Hammer parts) are an EXTREME turnoff.

[voodoogroves]

1 Yes
2 Yes
3 Yes I like they are trying, I don't always agree with the outcome
4 Likely yes, but there are some outliers that may send me one way or the other, specifically:

WARNING WALL OF TEXT BELOW


(A) There's too many different collectible/crafting/sorting/carrying junk. If you were a new player and started playing, picked up stuff from all the breakables, just had your 12 slot bags ... when would you run out of inventory space?
- Instead of always new stuff, let's re-use some old ones too ... Cannith crafting hit a bit of this with the use of older collectibles for some recipes
- Greater and lesser crafting essences at a strict ratio ... is this just to take up twice the space or make people disjunct essences?
- Turning in the old collectibles was fun ... for a bit ... now it's a chore if you want to actually bother. There is no central location, rewards are transitory and many basically not useful - just gold/plat in a different form. Maybe make the returns more predictable (smaller list) There are a few that are used still, more by newer players, but the rest are kinda junk.

SIMPLIFY



(B) New content is awesome. Old content needs a refresher from time to time as new classes/abilities get added that may change them, but I'd still rather the mix be on new than revamping old.

One way to make the entire game feel new is new classes and PREs ... I'm loving my recently TR into an artificer and I'm really enjoying hitting every quest on elite with him. Every quest. I'm playing the whole game AGAIN.

NEW IS GOOD. NEW PRES AND CLASSES IS LIKE WHOLE NEW PACKS ALL IN ONE TASTY PACKAGE.



(C) Content scaling / stratifying needs some work both in execution and our understanding and I think works to limit grouping

On the one hand, communities will develop their own guidelines. You'll have people here say things like "God Reaver elite is so much easier than Crucible normal" or other drivel. What does elite mean? Are the levels important? Should they be? I think the players don't always see the vision that Turbine has, and we get by through creating our own standards. Should Reaver Elite be a challenge for moderately geared 20s? Fresh 20s? Moderately geared 16s? Should "raids" be assumed to be harder than other quests at their level? "Epic" isn't a consistent difficulty - we already have community feel on that ... how does a player who just reached 20 know that he's ready to heal Epic Snitch versus Epic Chains of Flame? From the outside, the product looks the same.

Is that intentional? The community responds ... we'll make our own judgements, we'll mock and deride people who don't know that "Yes, this one is harder" and then kick the newb and group less.

Bravery bonus as well ... I find drives me to smaller level ranges AND skill ranges within groups. I think there are probably plenty of games with a solo mode I could run by myself, many with the D&D IP. If I find I'm doing more time solo or in very limited grouping, maybe I'll switch. The XP to TR is significant enough with limited time that taking big hits to the XP you could be getting is a difficult pill swallow.

There's an open-grouping aspect that I think is on the decline, and I think there's probably stuff Turbine can do to swing things the other way with the structure of the game, etc. Maybe it's more attention to the way multi-life XP is affected by non-multi-life people in the group (expanded leveling range, lessened death penalties for first/second life, etc.)

MAKE GROUPING FUN AND REWARDING AND HELP ALL THE PLAYERS (not just the forum readers) UNDERSTAND THE VARIOUS MECHANICS AND ASSUMPTIONS BEHIND THEM BETTER

[BadBuy]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?


1. No, but almost a year now.

2. Yes, I am a Premium player so I had to buy the classes, pack and such. A few hundred $.

3. Yes, I like that some things are more "special" and not just another "Daily dose". But occasionally some changes don't seem right (FoM no longer saving from Earthgrab makes no sence). Good that they are working at it, eventually they will find the right ballance.

4. It's hard to enjoy it "more and more". Updates are often just and infusion of stuff to keep the enjoyment from dropping. There are many things that I would like added to the game, many bugs that I would like fixed (like the Radiant Servant Burst). Also the lag has greatly increased since I started playing. The DDO data defragment tool would also be very welcome.
I can probably see myself playing DDO after a year. If I don't get bored of the endgame content, because that's what I play 99% of the time.
Hmm I liked the content of the of the last few updates before U12 that gave more lvl16-20 quests and raids. The last update? Not quite what I personally wanted and greatly overpriced for my taste. So no precise answer here.

[Cleanincubus]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?


1) Yes
2) Yes
3) No *
4) No **

* Just because some people can run difficult quests with speed, doesn't mean they should be catered to more than those who can't. Those few will likely be far ahead of the curve, while the rest will be further behind with the current strategy. If more of a challenge is needed, imo, the level cap should be raised and more content should be added for level 21+, not by altering existing content.

** I enjoyed it, for the most part, until Update 11. Update 7 was certainly the best update I have been around for. By comparison, Updates 11 & 12 have brought me little joy, and have even pushed me away from playing the game. Honestly, if they keep this pace, I won't be playing past U13, if things don't change.



It's often said that only people who have something to say go to the forums, the rest are having fun playing the game. If you have nothing to complain about you're too busy playing, right?

Ummmm... who exactly says that? Developers? Community managers? Certainly not actual players. The forum users are only a portion of the community. Just because a player doesn't frequent the forum, doesn't mean they aren't dissatisfied. I know plenty of players who have a passion for the game, but who don't regularly go to the forum. That doesn't mean they don't have major complaints. I also know many who have left DDO, because of major issues and changes, but didn't waste their time coming on here to make a thread about why they are leaving (people who do usually come right back & are just wanting to vent some drama, imo). So maybe it's not that they are too busy playing to complain, maybe it's that they are too busy LEAVING to complain. I hope the rest of Turbine, and all other game developers for that matter, don't actually believe that nonsense.


From a developer perspective, it's hard to make a game better without making any changes to it. From a player perspective, change is scary, especially if it affects my favorite class or build. It follows that we can't please everyone no matter how hard we try. But we have to.
Change is good. Nerfs and changes that destroy well known ways of building characters, are not.

[Arkadios]

I wanna see the feedback from the forumites here, since most players won't ever come to the forums to have their voices heard (read).

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

YYNM*

* M meaning maybe, i'm still unsure and it will likely largely depend on how well I like SWTOR.

[Philibusta]

The new cannith packs XP/min is shameful...it's worse than shav and that xp is pretty bad. High difficulty high level content should give MORE XP/MIN THAN THE HARBOR OR KORTHOS.

If you're actually concerned with XP per minute when playing a game...well, first of all, I feel for ya...

But really...if the XP/min isn't good enough....DO IT FASTER! :p

[redoubt]

yynn

[HernandoCortez]

Not true. You're more like the 50%.

In this thread or maybe in the forums, yes. Check the general chat in your server and we're 95%.

[QuantumFX]

1 - Have you been playing DDO for more than 1 year?

Let’s see… 2011 minus 2006… is it Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally or People Don’t Need To See Paula Abdul? Oh wait… the second one is Networking, not Math. So… 5… What does 5 mean? Oh Yeah! 5 years. Duh! Is 5 more than 1? Yes it is.

OK… Yes.


2 - Have you spent real life money on DDO or DDO Store?

Does paying for a Monthly/Bi-Annually/Annual subscription count? Might as well call that Yes.


3 - Do you like how they are changing some long-established things in DDO to balance or improve the challenge for some players?

Depends on what you’re talking about.

Converting Autocrit to a flat damage increase on helplessness? I would be totally OK with this if Turbine got off their duffs and made divorced ki generation from Sun Stance and made it based on monk levels.

Adding Fortification to mobs and giving us fortification bypass tools? Yes.

Making Hate increase/Hate Reduction meaningful? Yes.

Taking away the idiotic immunity to earthgrab on warforged? Yes.

Spellpass? Yes.

U12 change to the Monk Capstone and Earth Stance? Yes.

U12 changes to the Cleric Capstone and NinjaSpy II in the Abbot? No.

U12 changes to Shroud? Yes.

Adding Challenge quests? Yes.

Adding Upgrades to Abbott and Stormreaver loots? Yes.

Turbine’s over dependance on giving Mobs a bajillion hitpoints on the newer elites? No.

Attempting to increase the challenge of quests based on adding defenses/obsrtuctions and then nerfing the eff out of the bajillion HP bosses? Yes.

Adding more options to gear layouts with new gear? Yes.


4 - Are you enjoying the game more and more each update and planning on staying for at least 1 more year if they keep this pace?

Yes.

[ThePrisoner]

Yes x 5 (in theory. not sure I want to be playing any video games in a year, also the last question is more than one question)

I enjoy the new content. It's good to keep things fun and fresh. If they didn't change the balance or mix things up, I would have less of a reason to keep playing.

[Xufang]

Y-Y-Y-Y

I'm only in the forums when I'm in work hours occasionally. Rest of the time I'm a happy DDO'er :)

Much love to the Devs, keep up the great job you're doing! <3

[ShotByBothSides]

My answers are:
1) Y from original launch day
2) Y
3) N because the changes are often crude and not at all imaginative
4) N/Y even though I sub every month, I see more and more updates attempts at getting me to shell out more to gain something from the new content. E.G. Artis. I am likely to stay for there is still plenty for me to enjoy, but it is being eroded; so fingers crossed it does not get eroded enough to tip the balance.

[BrightAsh]

1. Y
2. Y
3. N
4. y/n (maybe)

[EllisDee37]

No (Started in Feb, so in my 10th month.)

Yes, spent real money several times.

I don't care a whit about "long-established things" being changed.

I am enjoying the game more and more and plann on staying for more than a year, but it has nothing to do with updates. I will also likely make several more real-life monetary purchases.