Deadlock
09-21-2015, 04:52 AM
I'm often critical of the perceived lack of support from Wizards of the Coast for DDO. We get a mention on their digital games page (http://dnd.wizards.com/products/digital-games) and you can draw your own conclusions about the order they have chosen to list these. It's not alphabetic.
I was disappointed that DDO got absolutely no mention of their inclusion of Temple of Elemental Evil even though I'm sure there was a meeting between Turbine and Wizards that influenced the schedule for releasing this to coincide with their board game release and Neverwinter. I know that the official reason for this is that the new board game and Neverwinter take place in a different timeline but there was a missed opportunity to showcase DDO's ToEE as the "classic" adventure pack that it is, especially as we had a guest DM to narrate the whole thing. So did WotC and Turbine sit down and agree the timescales for ToEE without agreeing the licensor support for their efforts? If so, then surely lessons have to be learned.
So now we have the Rage of Demons storyline. So what could our tie-in with that be? If only we had an Underdark area that we could use to tie in with it. If only our Underdark area had a source of demon infestation. Oh wait ... something like ...
http://imageshack.com/a/img673/646/5cgLZT.jpg
Our tie-in doesn't have to be a major amount of development work either. For example, for the next 6 months, our Underdark is corrupted by the madness pervading the Underdark in general (we're free to ignore the timeline differences if we choose to, ours can just as easily be a precursor isloated to a specific region without breaking canon). Increase the number of creatures spawning in the area and have them respawning as we do with Epic Orchard. Enable all rares in every instance for some added red named action while providing additional XP and additional loot. Throw in a 20% XP event boost to that area if it's a trivial development task, go as far as 50% if you really must. Throw in some extra random rares if development time allows as we have with the Kings Forest. I have no issue with someone choosing to spend some hours in the Underdark and gaining a couple of levels.
Because, let's face it, right now the Underdark isn't really a dangerous area to explore. I get that it's supposed to be sparcely populated so an Underdark where you bump into a pack of mobs around every corner might be a bit meh.
The Underdark is undoubtedly one of the most atmospheric areas to explore. My first time through it took me back to the sense of awe that I had many years ago when I first stepped into Gianthold. I have no problem with such iconic areas evolving with time, rather than a sense of "that's done, move onto next new shiny thing".
I would go as far as asking for a deeper layer of the Underdark in a future update, one where even more dangerous creatures exist. But that's a separate topic.
To avoid the potential problem of new players being pummelled in their first encounter in the madness afflicted iteration of the Underdark, you could simply add a selector as we have with Stormhorns and Wheloon but instead of "Heroic" and "Epic", offer "Epic" or "Reaver" difficulty. Sure it's a bit of blatant copy-and-paste development, but big deal, it offers added danger and added rewards.
More importantly, it allows Turbine and WotC to throw out a joint press release announcing that the Underdark in DDO has fallen victim to the Rage of Demons and that adventurers now enter at their own peril. Now I appreciate that the bigger the corporate wheel the slower it turns, so this is a conversation that would have to have taken place 6 to 9 months ago, but we are where we are. I know we currently have some Epic Shavarath quests and the next two updates have demon content, but that has absolutely no tie-in with what else is happening in D&D land. I see no reason why we can't have both.
I was disappointed that DDO got absolutely no mention of their inclusion of Temple of Elemental Evil even though I'm sure there was a meeting between Turbine and Wizards that influenced the schedule for releasing this to coincide with their board game release and Neverwinter. I know that the official reason for this is that the new board game and Neverwinter take place in a different timeline but there was a missed opportunity to showcase DDO's ToEE as the "classic" adventure pack that it is, especially as we had a guest DM to narrate the whole thing. So did WotC and Turbine sit down and agree the timescales for ToEE without agreeing the licensor support for their efforts? If so, then surely lessons have to be learned.
So now we have the Rage of Demons storyline. So what could our tie-in with that be? If only we had an Underdark area that we could use to tie in with it. If only our Underdark area had a source of demon infestation. Oh wait ... something like ...
http://imageshack.com/a/img673/646/5cgLZT.jpg
Our tie-in doesn't have to be a major amount of development work either. For example, for the next 6 months, our Underdark is corrupted by the madness pervading the Underdark in general (we're free to ignore the timeline differences if we choose to, ours can just as easily be a precursor isloated to a specific region without breaking canon). Increase the number of creatures spawning in the area and have them respawning as we do with Epic Orchard. Enable all rares in every instance for some added red named action while providing additional XP and additional loot. Throw in a 20% XP event boost to that area if it's a trivial development task, go as far as 50% if you really must. Throw in some extra random rares if development time allows as we have with the Kings Forest. I have no issue with someone choosing to spend some hours in the Underdark and gaining a couple of levels.
Because, let's face it, right now the Underdark isn't really a dangerous area to explore. I get that it's supposed to be sparcely populated so an Underdark where you bump into a pack of mobs around every corner might be a bit meh.
The Underdark is undoubtedly one of the most atmospheric areas to explore. My first time through it took me back to the sense of awe that I had many years ago when I first stepped into Gianthold. I have no problem with such iconic areas evolving with time, rather than a sense of "that's done, move onto next new shiny thing".
I would go as far as asking for a deeper layer of the Underdark in a future update, one where even more dangerous creatures exist. But that's a separate topic.
To avoid the potential problem of new players being pummelled in their first encounter in the madness afflicted iteration of the Underdark, you could simply add a selector as we have with Stormhorns and Wheloon but instead of "Heroic" and "Epic", offer "Epic" or "Reaver" difficulty. Sure it's a bit of blatant copy-and-paste development, but big deal, it offers added danger and added rewards.
More importantly, it allows Turbine and WotC to throw out a joint press release announcing that the Underdark in DDO has fallen victim to the Rage of Demons and that adventurers now enter at their own peril. Now I appreciate that the bigger the corporate wheel the slower it turns, so this is a conversation that would have to have taken place 6 to 9 months ago, but we are where we are. I know we currently have some Epic Shavarath quests and the next two updates have demon content, but that has absolutely no tie-in with what else is happening in D&D land. I see no reason why we can't have both.