Retaining Casual Players

[PrinceMyshkin]

Some time ago there was a thread with suggestions for retaining players. Rather than finding that thread and necroing it, I'm starting a new thread with my thoughts on the subject. I have often wondered why MMORPGs are not more casual player friendly. I would think that companies would want more casual players since they take up less system resources. One problem is that, in general, casual players don't have a "voice"--because of limited playing time, they'd rather be playing than spending time on the boards. As a game matures, the high powered veterans with uber equipment begin complaining that the game is too easy and so new content is usually much harder, usually far too hard for first-lifers. ToEE and Slavers are good examples of that. I recognize that they have to retain existing players also, but, generally, hard core players are going to stick around if they've liked the game enough to get to that point. Thus, it seems to me that a significant amount of effort should go into improving low/mid level play. I don't even pay attention to updates for there's never anything in them for me. They are mostly just an annoyance. Think about that. So, what's to be done?

It seems to me that there are probably two kinds of casual players, 1) those who can infrequently set aside blocks of time, like a few hours on Saturday every other week or so (call this C1); and 2) those who can play a few minutes at a time, but more frequently (C2). I'm in the latter camp so my thoughts are mainly in that direction, but I have no idea which is more common. I also think the latter would tend to solo more since they have less time to wait for a group. Additionally, those of the C1 type may want to try to keep up with their friends who play more frequently.

My thinking is that at least in one respect, both would benefit by experiencing as much of the game's content as soon as possible. However, if the changes also can be taken advantage of by more frequent players, then nothing is gained. So, I'm throwing this out as an idea. As a programmer, I don't think it would be too hard to implement, but, also as a programmer, I know all too well how often those words have come back to bite me. Still, I think this could benefit SSG and may be worth the investment. The more players, the more likely some will become VIP and/or buy stuff.

1. Create a new type of character called Casual (I know this term is used for something else, but I can't think of a better one.) Since it would be hard to define exactly what makes a Casual character, it would be the player's choice. To avoid abuse, only one character on an account could be a Casual character.

2. Benefits of being Casual:
a. Permanent buff to xps, I'm thinking somewhere from 25% to 50%. All other bonuses (VIP, elixirs, etc.) would stack with this.
b. Permanent loot buff, the one that gives higher quality, not a higher level. Equipment needs to keep up with leveling. It is difficult for a casual player to get decent equipment. Edit: Bad idea. It would be better to make the low level BTC/BTA stuff better.
c. This may be going overboard, but a permanent Heroic boost (say, +2 at lower levels, +4 at higher). This might make the character more acceptable in a group--the buff to make up for lack of skill/experience.
d. A once a week ability to mark a flagging quest as completed. This would work exactly like the ability to flag a saga quest as completed. Tomb of the Burning Heart and Hidden in Plain Sight come to mind. The first is practically impossible for a new player to solo and the boss fight of the latter is frustratingly difficult compared to the rest of the very long quest. From SSG's perspective, this would also encourage VIP subscriptions and/or shard sales.

3. Disadvantages--there needs to be a disincentive as a trade-off. This can't be in xp's or loot for that would defeat the purpose. The best I can come up with is that the character could not level more than once a week (or some other time frame). Excess xp's would be lost. Leveling would not be automatic; this is a limit, not a guarantee. A true casual player wouldn't level more than this anyway, at least those of the C2 type, but it would discourage hard-core players (I think). This may hurt the C1 group but, as I said, I haven't been able to come up with any other deterrent.

4. Also, to prevent abuse, the only way to remove the Casual flag is to reincarnate in some way. Selling hearts is also good for SSG.

I have more ideas, but this post is long enough and I want to throw this out to see if it might be feasible.

[Satyriasys]

the high powered veterans with uber equipment begin complaining that the game is too easy and so new content is usually much harder, usually far too hard for first-lifers. ToEE and Slavers are good examples of that.

The thing is we already have a solution to this and it's called difficulty levels. If casuals insist on playing elite and then complain it's too hard what is to be done? Making elite easier is not the answer since it will alienate vets. If a casual has too much pride to focus on a difficulty that they can handle then it is probably normal for them to feel discouraged.

Your solution seems way overly designed for a problem that doesn't exists. Plenty of casuals are playing this game on a daily basis and enjoying it immensely.

[SerPounce]

I think this game is really pretty casual friendly in it's mechanics. A casual player can level up and play 95% of the game's content without any problem. Giving numerical bonuses to "causal" players just reinforces the false notion that you need past lives and such to play the game to it's fullest. You just don't. A first life toon with cannith crafted and random gear can do just fine.

The problem for casual players it it can be hard for them to find groups of like minded players to play the content they want to play due to low server populations, a big level spread, and tons of content. Not much is going to help that though other than server mergers, which appears to not be on the table for technical reasons.

[zehnvhex]

Retention has little to do with difficulty levels and far more to do with the dinosaur that is this games interface. DDO is a chore to play with absolutely no guidance, no direction, no anything. If you can get past that it's a very rewarding experience at times, sure. But some days I spend more time fighting the UI then I do monsters.

[SpartanKiller13]

A first life toon with cannith crafted...

I don't disagree disagree with the rest of your post, but what kind of casual player on a first life toon has Cannith Crafting? How many even know how it works? Or where to get collectibles? Or where to deconstruct?

While even 50 levels of it allows you to make some nice gear, did you have 50 levels on your first life fresh toon? I guarantee I have never, across the 70+ toons I've played.
I have maybe two toons with levels in CCrafting, and one I haven't played in years. The other is my main, who has >300, but that took a few lives worth of saved Essence which isn't exactly available to a fresh casual first life.

Obviously if it's an alt on an account where you have shared bank and a crafter you'd have no issue, but those players aren't the casual ones this post is about.

[SerPounce]

I don't disagree disagree with the rest of your post, but what kind of casual player on a first life toon has Cannith Crafting? How many even know how it works? Or where to get collectibles? Or where to deconstruct?

While even 50 levels of it allows you to make some nice gear, did you have 50 levels on your first life fresh toon? I guarantee I have never, across the 70+ toons I've played.
I have maybe two toons with levels in CCrafting, and one I haven't played in years. The other is my main, who has >300, but that took a few lives worth of saved Essence which isn't exactly available to a fresh casual first life.

Obviously if it's an alt on an account where you have shared bank and a crafter you'd have no issue, but those players aren't the casual ones this post is about.

The account I'm playing on is only 9 months old, and I've had lvl 320 cannith crafting for months. I play maybe 10-15 hours a week (only two toons though: one second life, one with 3 heroic and 3 epic PLs). So maybe not on the first life of your first toon, but by your second life or second toon I think you can get crafted stuff. Until then random gear can work fine for many new player friendly builds (e.g. warlock).

You realize you only need one toon with crafting right? Everything is BtA. Throw random loot in the shared bank, then when it fills go to the crafter and deconstruct. Once you have 10-50K essences buy a 100% bonus xp pot and some success boosters and level it up using the highest ML shard you can make. Takes about 15 minutes.

As far as where to get collectibles this guide is great: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/478811-This-is-How-To-Farm-the-New-Collectables-System-Efficiently . It's kind of obnoxious to farm the stuff, but it's not that bad time wise (especially if you're careful to hit all the nodes during regular questing).

I probably am more likely to "do my homework" on stuff like this than some casual players though, and I had a lot of game knowledge coming in from playing the game on a different account from 2010-13.

[Astoroth]

Retention has little to do with difficulty levels and far more to do with the dinosaur that is this games interface. DDO is a chore to play with absolutely no guidance, no direction, no anything. If you can get past that it's a very rewarding experience at times, sure. But some days I spend more time fighting the UI then I do monsters.

I have to agree especially with the default builds being so comically bad. What true casual or new player is going to stick around when they get to the harbor group with some vets and see their character is complete rubbish, that they have to buy warlock to be any good as a first lifer or grind it out to 20 and tr? Or perhaps they try to group and all the lfms are blank and the dead groups they click on never accept them? How is this acceptable for a game that is based on the idea of being multiplayer?

Assuming you get the rare player that sticks it out through that. As the OP indicates the true casual player isn't likely to partake of the forums. So they won't get character build advice or know about things like PRR, because in game documentation ( or even official website) and explanations are next to nil.

If you're going to balance things for characters with past lives, it's always going to be a problem for your most valuable customers; the ones that still need to buy everything. No one is going to stick around if they perceive themselves as gimp and see that it will take years of grinding to be competitive.

Unlike the OP I don't see experience for a first lifer as the issue though, just that the game is presently driving everyone into reaper bravery bonus, by providing 45% more experience there. Even the old bravery bonus wasn't very casual friendly. A retooling of bravery bonus is in order so the divide in exp given is not so extreme that it forces players into only the highest difficulties.

[KoobTheProud]

The thing is we already have a solution to this and it's called difficulty levels. If casuals insist on playing elite and then complain it's too hard what is to be done? Making elite easier is not the answer since it will alienate vets. If a casual has too much pride to focus on a difficulty that they can handle then it is probably normal for them to feel discouraged.

Your solution seems way overly designed for a problem that doesn't exists. Plenty of casuals are playing this game on a daily basis and enjoying it immensely.

All the XP bonuses are tied to streaks on harder difficulty levels except for VIP, Guild and bonus weekends. That's a huge handicap for truly casual players.

[KoobTheProud]

Retention has little to do with difficulty levels and far more to do with the dinosaur that is this games interface. DDO is a chore to play with absolutely no guidance, no direction, no anything. If you can get past that it's a very rewarding experience at times, sure. But some days I spend more time fighting the UI then I do monsters.

This is also true. The UI could use an overhaul with a simple set created for casual players to use as a default. However for casters no simple set is possible due to the number of spells potentially available.

Just narrowing down the number of options in the keymapping interface would be valuable. A dozen plus options on that all seem to do similar things but no clear idea why they are all available to choose. Maybe cut that in half with better explanations and add in a section for game controllers below the keymapping?

[Satyriasys]

All the XP bonuses are tied to streaks on harder difficulty levels except for VIP, Guild and bonus weekends. That's a huge handicap for truly casual players.

BB are for powergamers farming out their 1000th life. I guess it's sort of difficult for you to see what a casual's goals are from way up there.

[KoobTheProud]

BB are for powergamers farming out their 1000th life. I guess it's sort of difficult for you to see what a casual's goals are from way up there.

I have been playing off and on since 2006. I have one character on her 6th life. I am the definition of casual in as much as I play some weeks not at all and some months not at all and never for more than a few hours at a time. :)

My point on bravery bonus is that for people who start the game and just play casual and normal diff levels they will get to level 9 and be gone and it will take a year of really casual play to get there. Raising XP at Normal level would be the best thing that SSG could do right now. It wouldn't benefit long-term casuals at all because we all play Elite mostly, but it would hook the newbies who do not.

[Satyriasys]

I have been playing off and on since 2006. I have one character on her 6th life. I am the definition of casual in as much as I play some weeks not at all and some months not at all and never for more than a few hours at a time. :)

My point on bravery bonus is that for people who start the game and just play casual and normal diff levels they will get to level 9 and be gone and it will take a year of really casual play to get there. Raising XP at Normal level would be the best thing that SSG could do right now. It wouldn't benefit long-term casuals at all because we all play Elite mostly, but it would hook the newbies who do not.

We played for several years with no BB or need for it. It was included to speed the TR wheel. I would not say a casual is at a "huge handicap" without them. The game plays just fine and there is plenty of xp to be had. There is nothing stopping them from purchasing xp pots or tomes off the store if they hit a plateau. If they are not making purchases than the point is moot since they will have too little content anyway.

[KoobTheProud]

There's a point in the game around level 9 where it gets really slow for a new player. Anything around there until 12 (Menachturun) where it speeds up again would be helpful.

[SpartanKiller13]

The account I'm playing on is only 9 months old, and I've had lvl 320 cannith crafting for months. I play maybe 10-15 hours a week (only two toons though: one second life, one with 3 heroic and 3 epic PLs). So maybe not on the first life of your first toon, but by your second life or second toon I think you can get crafted stuff. Until then random gear can work fine for many new player friendly builds (e.g. warlock).

You realize you only need one toon with crafting right? Everything is BtA. Throw random loot in the shared bank, then when it fills go to the crafter and deconstruct. Once you have 10-50K essences buy a 100% bonus xp pot and some success boosters and level it up using the highest ML shard you can make. Takes about 15 minutes.

As far as where to get collectibles this guide is great: https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/478811-This-is-How-To-Farm-the-New-Collectables-System-Efficiently . It's kind of obnoxious to farm the stuff, but it's not that bad time wise (especially if you're careful to hit all the nodes during regular questing).

I probably am more likely to "do my homework" on stuff like this than some casual players though, and I had a lot of game knowledge coming in from playing the game on a different account from 2010-13.

Only 6 PL's lol. Even with a few hundred TP investment (basically required unless you want to grind a ton more) it's still at least 50k essences, which is probably more than you make in your first 1-30 run, if you are deconstructing nearly everything (first few lives plat is still quite valuable).

Certainly it's a lot cheaper to get to level 50, and even 300 isn't with a bit of research and investment. I'm just saying that neither of those are new player friendly.
I farm from the forum guides, use EllisDee37's tool, etc. However, those aren't obvious for a new person looking to craft some specialty gear, who is likely to be turned off by the "high collectible costs" especially if they haven't been storing collectibles for the last 7 years.

[SerPounce]

Seems like folks are conflating "new players" and "casual" players. I've always thought those are two pretty separate groups. A "casual" could be someone who's played for years, but doesn't put in a lot of hours a week and doesn't have ambitious in game goals. A new player is someone who hasn't been playing very long, but might be playing a lot or have a lot of powergamer goals and skills and from other games.

I think DDO is in a good place for casual players. Less of a good place for new players.

[Satyriasys]

I think DDO is in a good place for casual players. Less of a good place for new players.

Exactly. I just watched a stream today from some guy called Cordovan. The poor bloke had no idea what he was doing but was having a great time.

[Annex]

In my opinion, the original post left one premise unstated--almost all players wish to create a 'viable' character within their time constraints. By 'viable', I mean a character capable of meaningfully contributing to group activities AND performing well at harder difficulties. The original poster seeks a way to speed along one character, per account, to that magical point where he or she becomes 'viable'.

Again in my opinion, the developers at Standing Stone attempted to resolve this very issue by introducing Warlocks. That class basically covers all the bases for someone seeking to quickly create a 'viable' character--tons of damage, tons of area damage, great defenses, a gigantic hit point shield, very easy attack rotation, basically no cost for using offensive abilities, ranged damage, and spell access for utility. The numerous threads asking the developers to reduce Warlock power illustrate just how effectively they met the unstated design goal.

I am on a semi-break while I wait for Ravenloft and find it interesting how different games approach this problem. About two weeks ago I decided to retry Star Wars, the Old Republic. That game ran a +250% experience boost for the month leading up to their next expansion. I took a L12 character to L70 (the cap) in 4 days without trying! Within 8 days my character was 'viable' with decent equipment. Due to the structure of the game I can join all sorts of groups and effectively contribute. Due to level scaling, I can go back and play all the stuff I skipped and still get good rewards at decent difficulty while doing it.

The developers of The Secret World went a completely different route. They completely rebuilt the game for Free To Play and will soon relaunch it side-by-side with the old version! In a very bold move they intend to force every single player to start over in the new version, minus some account based cosmetic stuff that will transfer. How is that for a catch-up mechanism!!!

The "reincarnation" system in DDO, basically a gigantic, extremely time intensive lateral advancement system, makes it really hard to build in any kind of "catch-up" mechanism. Adding a new equipment tier offers no help. Adding a new class offers some help but veterans will just use it to further rush ahead in lateral advancement systems, just as they did with Warlocks. Adding more past lives makes the problem worse. Adding another lateral advancement system like Reaper Trees makes the problem worse. The developers cannot throw out existing lateral advancement systems because that punishes the most loyal, most dedicated, and presumably most financially important players.

In Star Wars they also gave subscribers free tokens to make L65 characters, thus catapulting new and casual players towards a 'viable' character. The developers at DDO cannot do that because they make money selling Experience Potions and Pills.

As people have stated in other threads, a dozen Past Life Feats will make just about any character of any race and any class with a competent build 'viable'. Arguably, some really good builds with proper equipment can reach 'viable' status with zero to three Past Life Feats. If so, why fret?

DDO really throws an immense gauntlet at new and casual players wanting to get anywhere--Byzantine rules, poor in-game help, poor in-game direction, group mechanics that spread everyone out, lateral advancement systems that make it almost impossible to 'catch-up' to veterans, complicated character construction mechanics that make hitting upon a low hour 'viable' build extremely unlikely, and so forth.

In the end, I would try a few different things to help new and casual players:
1) Offer strong in-game direction for new players in the form of a story driven Saga taking them from 1 all the way to 20 at an easy difficulty. Have it award useful equipment. Other games do this for good reason.
2) Offer low hour 'viable' builds specifically for new and casual players. Take the guess work and pitfalls out of character creation and leveling.
3) Normalize experience in such a way that new and casual players gain an experience catapult but the catapult offers absolutely zero help to veterans. Basically, normalize experience such that Normal and Hard difficulty pay out experience almost as well as an Elite or Reaper streak. Leave Bravery Bonus alone but push up Normal and Hard experience so high that Bravery Bonus becomes moot.
4) Stop adding power based lateral advancement systems. They absolutely ruin game balance in every single game that offers them.

I don't know. Reading my own list I am not sure that would do it. DDO spreads people out so badly, over so many levels, over so many difficulties, over such a wide range of character power. It's a tough nut to crack.

[Drekisen]

Experience is kind of lame in heroics, but once you hit epic...even casual is great xp/minute for most quests.

But I mean yeah if it was someones choice it would probably be ok, I don't think it is necessary at all and the dev's could spend time on much more important things though.

[Chai]

True casual players do not have a need for "higher tier" loot or buffed XP rates. They just want to play the game. Most of the time casuals get thrown under the bus in order to keep other agendas out of the discussion.

[zehnvhex]

True casual players do not have a need for "higher tier" loot or buffed XP rates. They just want to play the game. Most of the time casuals get thrown under the bus in order to keep other agendas out of the discussion.

Isn't that the most fun part of these discussions? It's like saying, "My...uh...friend has erectile dysfunctions. Where could I...I mean my friend...get some of those boner pills?"

Boosting first life XP or giving them a flat universal +50% damage boost so that they can feel like they 'compete' with multi-TR veterans isn't going to suddenly make them play more. Thinking that way in any shape/form is just...ugh. It's so off point it's not even funny.

Here's some things they could do to -actually- boost player retention.

1 - All non-epic quests up to hard difficulty are now free. Yup. The 'paid for' content like GH, Vale, etc...are only for pay if you do it on elite or higher. People are gun shy about new content because they never know if they'll like it or not. Guest passes are prohibitively expensive for what you get and 99% of players don't even really know they exist/how they're used.

However, if they could do the content on hard and then they can be like, "I enjoyed it! I'm going to buy it!" Seriously, the first time you run into one of those 'red' quest givers you get a sour taste in your mouth.

2 - Overhaul the 'path' system in DDO so that players can make/upload/download builds and plug them into DDO. You know how many people I've recommended one of Strimtoms good builds to? How much more awesome would it be if a new players could click a button in the character creation screen to load up a list of recommended builds, voted on by players, rated by recent popularity etc...

Let's be honest. SSG is pretty bad at this game. Just watch some of their streams. Steel or Sev or whoever recently tried out a zombie Shiradi and they were hilariously bad at it. You don't want these guys suggesting builds. Let the pro's do it.

3 - Complete UI overhaul. This is so ridiculously necessary. The UI of many modern games are minimalist and pretty or heavy but functional. DDO's UI is neither pretty, minimalist or functional. It is however, extremely heavy. The fact that you pick enhancements and THEN have to go to your character window to put the abilities on your hot bar is just...I dunno. Dumb? Yeah, dumb. There's tons of 'wasted' zero space in the UI. The mouseovers for items, spells and more are all horrendously inconsistent. The quest LFM system is hilariously brokenly bad.

4 - The game also doesn't explain -anything-. You know how many new people are straight up confused why a +2 str item and a +4 str item only gives them +4 strength total? Reincarnating is like...the cornerstone of DDO and you know where it's mentioned in the game? The reincarnation grove. Know where else? Nowhere. There isn't a single mention of it anywhere else in the game -period.-

5 - Finally...fix hireling AI. I know this is unpopular around here because we're all super swag gods but all players should have permanent hirelings that levels up with them. One cleric, one fighter, one rogue and one wizard. Only one can be out at a time and provide different services. Fix the AI so they are somewhat dependable if arguably weaker then a PC counterpart.

Start with fixing that stuff. Don't worry about little Timmy with his +1 longsword sucks even in normal difficulty vs. my character Johnny Thunderwang is immune to death in R4 up to level 12 thanks to sploit gear and past lives. That's not what causes him to quit. Timmy wants to be like me, that's what keeps him going and giving him a huge boost in early game xp isn't going to suddenly make him not want to rage quit the first time his cleric hireling sits there with it's thumb up his butt while he dies helplessly thanks to the hireling AI being terrible.

Little Timmy is far more likely to quit because he has 30 collectibles sitting in his inventory and he has no idea what to do with them and it's getting annoying. Or because he picked the 'athletics' feat thinking it would make him run faster in game but now he has to restart because he figured out that at no point in DDO's history has that been a good feat to pick. Or because he finished all the harbor quests and now he has no idea where he's supposed to go.

Little Timmy does not quit because I walk by and have all 36 epic past lives already while he has none.

[Avocado]

In my opinion, the original post left one premise unstated--almost all players wish to create a 'viable' character within their time constraints. By 'viable', I mean a character capable of meaningfully contributing to group activities AND performing well at harder difficulties. The original poster seeks a way to speed along one character, per account, to that magical point where he or she becomes 'viable'.

Again in my opinion, the developers at Standing Stone attempted to resolve this very issue by introducing Warlocks. That class basically covers all the bases for someone seeking to quickly create a 'viable' character--tons of damage, tons of area damage, great defenses, a gigantic hit point shield, very easy attack rotation, basically no cost for using offensive abilities, ranged damage, and spell access for utility. The numerous threads asking the developers to reduce Warlock power illustrate just how effectively they met the unstated design goal.

I am on a semi-break while I wait for Ravenloft and find it interesting how different games approach this problem. About two weeks ago I decided to retry Star Wars, the Old Republic. That game ran a +250% experience boost for the month leading up to their next expansion. I took a L12 character to L70 (the cap) in 4 days without trying! Within 8 days my character was 'viable' with decent equipment. Due to the structure of the game I can join all sorts of groups and effectively contribute. Due to level scaling, I can go back and play all the stuff I skipped and still get good rewards at decent difficulty while doing it.

The developers of The Secret World went a completely different route. They completely rebuilt the game for Free To Play and will soon relaunch it side-by-side with the old version! In a very bold move they intend to force every single player to start over in the new version, minus some account based cosmetic stuff that will transfer. How is that for a catch-up mechanism!!!

The "reincarnation" system in DDO, basically a gigantic, extremely time intensive lateral advancement system, makes it really hard to build in any kind of "catch-up" mechanism. Adding a new equipment tier offers no help. Adding a new class offers some help but veterans will just use it to further rush ahead in lateral advancement systems, just as they did with Warlocks. Adding more past lives makes the problem worse. Adding another lateral advancement system like Reaper Trees makes the problem worse. The developers cannot throw out existing lateral advancement systems because that punishes the most loyal, most dedicated, and presumably most financially important players.

In Star Wars they also gave subscribers free tokens to make L65 characters, thus catapulting new and casual players towards a 'viable' character. The developers at DDO cannot do that because they make money selling Experience Potions and Pills.

As people have stated in other threads, a dozen Past Life Feats will make just about any character of any race and any class with a competent build 'viable'. Arguably, some really good builds with proper equipment can reach 'viable' status with zero to three Past Life Feats. If so, why fret?

DDO really throws an immense gauntlet at new and casual players wanting to get anywhere--Byzantine rules, poor in-game help, poor in-game direction, group mechanics that spread everyone out, lateral advancement systems that make it almost impossible to 'catch-up' to veterans, complicated character construction mechanics that make hitting upon a low hour 'viable' build extremely unlikely, and so forth.

In the end, I would try a few different things to help new and casual players:
1) Offer strong in-game direction for new players in the form of a story driven Saga taking them from 1 all the way to 20 at an easy difficulty. Have it award useful equipment. Other games do this for good reason.
2) Offer low hour 'viable' builds specifically for new and casual players. Take the guess work and pitfalls out of character creation and leveling.
3) Normalize experience in such a way that new and casual players gain an experience catapult but the catapult offers absolutely zero help to veterans. Basically, normalize experience such that Normal and Hard difficulty pay out experience almost as well as an Elite or Reaper streak. Leave Bravery Bonus alone but push up Normal and Hard experience so high that Bravery Bonus becomes moot.
4) Stop adding power based lateral advancement systems. They absolutely ruin game balance in every single game that offers them.

I don't know. Reading my own list I am not sure that would do it. DDO spreads people out so badly, over so many levels, over so many difficulties, over such a wide range of character power. It's a tough nut to crack.

Wow! This might be the best post anyone has every made in the history of the forums. Sums up my feelings as well.

Stop catering to veterans. Focus on beginning game for NEW players. Like making pre-set paths actually useful. Like you said, make a serious of progressions so new players know where to go at what level. Explain in-game mechanics like saves, stats (kinda have this already), skills, spells.

I am on the fence about wanting 3x pls and racial pls. In some cases I wish i had them, then i think about the time investment needed for them and it unmotivates (word?) me. I think i might just say screw it and enjoy the game w/o all that grindy non-sense.

[Satyriasys]

Casuals are casual not idiots. They shouldn't get any benefits for playing infrequently aside from a rested xp bonus.

New players are going to have a hard time in this game, but not as hard as some of us did back in the day when blindness and level drains were permanent until you found someone to remove them, or when you lost xp from dying. but somehow we managed. If they wanted to modernize this game and make it easier to get into they should start by making paths viable builds instead of cruel traps but they cannot even be bothered to do something as simple as that. Korthos also needs to be completely redesigned. I guess their solution is the upcoming quest hub so we'll see how that goes but I am not optimistic.

[kanordog]

a. Permanent buff to xps, I'm thinking somewhere from 25% to 50%. All other bonuses (VIP, elixirs, etc.) would stack with this.
b. Permanent loot buff, the one that gives higher quality, not a higher level. Equipment needs to keep up with leveling. It is difficult for a casual player to get decent equipment.
c. This may be going overboard, but a permanent Heroic boost (say, +2 at lower levels, +4 at higher). This might make the character more acceptable in a group--the buff to make up for lack of skill/experience.
d. A once a week ability to mark a flagging quest as completed. This would work exactly like the ability to flag a saga quest as completed. Tomb of the Burning Heart and Hidden in Plain Sight come to mind. The first is practically impossible for a new player to solo and the boss fight of the latter is frustratingly difficult compared to the rest of the very long quest. From SSG's perspective, this would also encourage VIP subscriptions and/or shard sales.

3. Disadvantages--there needs to be a disincentive as a trade-off. This can't be in xp's or loot for that would defeat the purpose. The best I can come up with is that the character could not level more than once a week (or some other time frame). Excess xp's would be lost. Leveling would not be automatic; this is a limit, not a guarantee. A true casual player wouldn't level more than this anyway, at least those of the C2 type, but it would discourage hard-core players (I think). This may hurt the C1 group but, as I said, I haven't been able to come up with any other deterrent.



Very good idea, I need another Raid toon at cap so I can run the same raid without buying bypasses, quick leveling - got to play the toon like 30 mins/week, extra skill points and free buffs and skip on flagging and better loot. Yes please!
So I can spend more time with my main travelling on the TR train(s).


Sorry, it is this easy to abuse the idea...

[Gremmlynn]

As people have stated in other threads, a dozen Past Life Feats will make just about any character of any race and any class with a competent build 'viable'. Arguably, some really good builds with proper equipment can reach 'viable' status with zero to three Past Life Feats. If so, why fret?I would say **** near any decent build is viable with none. Really, anything outside of extreme builds that need the extra build points to meet diverse stat feat requirements or such, or one trick DC caster builds.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks for the feedback. Some good points and some that made no sense. It is true that I sort of confused new and casual but some of that is because casual players are "new" for a much longer time than others. Heh, after 7 years I still consider myself a new player for there is so much of the game I've never experienced. Obviously, there are casual players that enjoy the game; I am one or I wouldn't have bothered to make the post. It's the only game I play. However, I've been playing off and on for several years and quit several times. If AC hadn't shut down, I wouldn't be here. There are quite a few games out there that I would be playing instead of DDO if they had more control over character development. That's a thin thread to hang on. The fact that there are some casual players that enjoy the game immensely is irrelevant. I suspect that for each of them, there are dozens who played for a while and quit. If your guild doesn't boot inactives, look at your roster and see how many quit in the early levels.

FWIW, none of these things would make any difference to me now (other than being able to do Bloody Crypt and perhaps a few others). I'm over the hump, now VIP, on my third life, and have HE'd everything in this life through level 8, but that's mainly because I was able to accumulate some decent equipment in my last life. I'm trying to think of things that would have encouraged me to stick it out years ago (6 years on first life, 9 months on second). I didn't say anything about playing elite as a newbie. I'm assuming that the vast majority of new and casual players are f2p which means both elite difficulty and BB are irrelevant. As for a newbie with some CC gear, how does that work? Did I miss something in the character creation screen? :-) Most new players aren't going to grind. That's when I would quit--when there was nothing new that I could do. (Matter of fact, I still don't grind. Other than to earn favor through a higher difficulty, I've never repeated a quest with the same character.) That's not my idea of fun. I don't think I'm alone. Please don't miss the fact that I said it was only for one character on an account.

Being able to experience 95% of content may be about right if you are VIP and have at least a splash of rogue. A new/casual player doesn't have the trap locations memorized and many of them can one-shot you so that %age drops considerably. (I just know someone is going to say how easy it is to get around traps and imply I'm an idiot, but I'm quite certain that person will not be a new/casual player; besides, you have to know the trap is there to get around it.) Also, the f2p new/casual player will have a hard time earning points to buy packs if they can only play on normal. As someone else pointed out, the graveyard for levels 8-10 is huge. That's when there is very little f2p stuff and all that is left to do is repeat quests you've already done. Making all HN content below level 20 available would certainly help solve the problem. Anyway, for the typical new/casual player, the percent of content is much, much lower than 95%.

@Karnodog, thanks for pointing out that unintended feature. I've never made it past L23 before TRing. Would making the flag go away at level 20 solve that? Actually, it could probably go away at 15. In general, I've found that the hardest levels are 8-15. I think that is largely because equipment and defense become more important. I had already decided after posting that the loot buff was a bad idea. A much better solution would be to make the low level BTC/BTA stuff useful. IMO, Oladren's Great Xbow is the only decent newbie item and it may even be a bit overpowered. I didn't find anything better until level 8 and it's very marginally better. Almost all the other newbie stuff is replaced by the first thing I find.

I don't buy the argument of veterans that "we went through it so you should also." When the game was newer there were more players online, much less level spread, no one was "uber", and it was much, much easier to find a group.

[Gremmlynn]

FWIW, none of these things would make any difference to me now (other than being able to do Bloody Crypt and perhaps a few others). I'm over the hump, now VIP, on my third life, and have HE'd everything in this life through level 8, but that's mainly because I was able to accumulate some decent equipment in my last life. I'm trying to think of things that would have encouraged me to stick it out years ago (6 years on first life, 9 months on second). I didn't say anything about playing elite as a newbie. I'm assuming that the vast majority of new and casual players are f2p which means both elite difficulty and BB are irrelevant. As for a newbie with some CC gear, how does that work? Did I miss something in the character creation screen? :-) Most new players aren't going to grind. That's when I would quit--when there was nothing new that I could do. (Matter of fact, I still don't grind. Other than to earn favor through a higher difficulty, I've never repeated a quest with the same character.) That's not my idea of fun. I don't think I'm alone. Please don't miss the fact that I said it was only for one character on an account.CC gear is gear made from breaking down random loot items and the essences found in any quest as well as collectables also found in pretty much all quests. Their are crafting halls in both house K and house C to do this, as well as being an option for guild ships.

Leveling it is rather fast and not really what I would consider a grind (just a few minutes to break down junk at the end of a play session, with even gives some crafting xp, and then making minimum level shards when they pile up which also takes little time).

[PrinceMyshkin]

CC gear is gear made from breaking down random loot items and the essences found in any quest as well as collectables also found in pretty much all quests. Their are crafting halls in both house K and house C to do this, as well as being an option for guild ships.

Leveling it is rather fast and not really what I would consider a grind (just a few minutes to break down junk at the end of a play session, with even gives some crafting xp, and then making minimum level shards when they pile up which also takes little time).

Sorry, I was being sarcastic (note the smiley). I know how CC works. Someone said "A first life toon with cannith crafted and random gear can do just fine." My point was that a first life toon doesn't have access to CC gear for quite a long time if at all. I bought a huge bag in my first life and saved everything before I even knew what they would be used for. Yet, even on my third life, I don't have the collectibles to make what I want. But, let's not get off on crafting. It is definitely not newbie friendly.

[FranOhmsford]

The "reincarnation" system in DDO, basically a gigantic, extremely time intensive lateral advancement system, makes it really hard to build in any kind of "catch-up" mechanism. Adding a new equipment tier offers no help. Adding a new class offers some help but veterans will just use it to further rush ahead in lateral advancement systems, just as they did with Warlocks. Adding more past lives makes the problem worse. Adding another lateral advancement system like Reaper Trees makes the problem worse. The developers cannot throw out existing lateral advancement systems because that punishes the most loyal, most dedicated, and presumably most financially important players.

As people have stated in other threads, a dozen Past Life Feats will make just about any character of any race and any class with a competent build 'viable'. Arguably, some really good builds with proper equipment can reach 'viable' status with zero to three Past Life Feats. If so, why fret?

DDO really throws an immense gauntlet at new and casual players wanting to get anywhere--Byzantine rules, poor in-game help, poor in-game direction, group mechanics that spread everyone out, lateral advancement systems that make it almost impossible to 'catch-up' to veterans, complicated character construction mechanics that make hitting upon a low hour 'viable' build extremely unlikely, and so forth.

In the end, I would try a few different things to help new and casual players:
1) Offer strong in-game direction for new players in the form of a story driven Saga taking them from 1 all the way to 20 at an easy difficulty. Have it award useful equipment. Other games do this for good reason.
2) Offer low hour 'viable' builds specifically for new and casual players. Take the guess work and pitfalls out of character creation and leveling.
3) Normalize experience in such a way that new and casual players gain an experience catapult but the catapult offers absolutely zero help to veterans. Basically, normalize experience such that Normal and Hard difficulty pay out experience almost as well as an Elite or Reaper streak. Leave Bravery Bonus alone but push up Normal and Hard experience so high that Bravery Bonus becomes moot.
4) Stop adding power based lateral advancement systems. They absolutely ruin game balance in every single game that offers them.

I don't know. Reading my own list I am not sure that would do it. DDO spreads people out so badly, over so many levels, over so many difficulties, over such a wide range of character power. It's a tough nut to crack.


There is a way the Devs could do something pretty major to help and that is:

1) Change the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Life XP system to be 1st-5th Life = current 1st Life, 6th-9th Life = current 2nd Life, 10 Life+ = Current 3rd Life+

This way characters who already have 10 lives or more would gain no benefit but characters of 1st through 9th Lives would gain a pretty major benefit.

2) Remove Hearts of Blood and merge Racial+Heroic Past Lives - 1 Heart of Wood gives BOTH!

This way Completionists/Triple Completionists would still get the Racial Past Life and if they don't have that particular Heroic Past Life they'd get that too BUT the new guy he gets BOTH at the same time, He doesn't get left even further in the completionist's dust!



One thing the Devs forget is that those players at the leading edge of the curve are generally going to be those players who not only have done the entire grind so far but also and more importantly will have no trouble completing the new grind.
At a 3 day turnover rate of 1-20 heroic lives a triple completionist can get racial completionist as well in 128 days or roughly 4 months - I expect we will see MULTIPLE Racial completionists before this year is out!
99% of new players will not even get 3 lives done in that time - 75% of new players will quit before they get even one heroic life completed! {and I'd say those estimates are on the low side!}.

[PrinceMyshkin]

In my opinion, the original post left one premise unstated--almost all players wish to create a 'viable' character within their time constraints. By 'viable', I mean a character capable of meaningfully contributing to group activities AND performing well at harder difficulties. The original poster seeks a way to speed along one character, per account, to that magical point where he or she becomes 'viable'.
Yeah. I thought that would be stating the obvious.


Again in my opinion, the developers at Standing Stone attempted to resolve this very issue by introducing Warlocks. That class basically covers all the bases for someone seeking to quickly create a 'viable' character--tons of damage, tons of area damage, great defenses, a gigantic hit point shield, very easy attack rotation, basically no cost for using offensive abilities, ranged damage, and spell access for utility. The numerous threads asking the developers to reduce Warlock power illustrate just how effectively they met the unstated design goal.
But it is not f2p. Someone trying out the game isn't likely to buy it or know how powerful it is.


1) Offer strong in-game direction for new players in the form of a story driven Saga taking them from 1 all the way to 20 at an easy difficulty. Have it award useful equipment. Other games do this for good reason.
I agree, but I think this would require a lot more programming than my proposal. Even to level 15 would be sufficient, I think.


2) Offer low hour 'viable' builds specifically for new and casual players. Take the guess work and pitfalls out of character creation and leveling.
Again, I agree. I thought about saying it but figured everyone was already aware of this problem. Thankfully, I did do a little research before creating my first character and knew I needed to do a custom build.


3) Normalize experience in such a way that new and casual players gain an experience catapult but the catapult offers absolutely zero help to veterans. Basically, normalize experience such that Normal and Hard difficulty pay out experience almost as well as an Elite or Reaper streak. Leave Bravery Bonus alone but push up Normal and Hard experience so high that Bravery Bonus becomes moot.
But how? There really isn't that big of an xp difference between the difficulty levels. Picking a random quest, DT: N:1742, H:1860, E:1977. Elite has about 13.5% more xps than normal. That's not much. And how do you make it benefit new/casual and not veterans? That's the whole point of my "Casual" character type. Limiting the leveling was the only way I could figure out to discourage veterans from using it. And if they did use my system, it doesn't seem to me they gain much, if anything by it. Don't they claim to be able to reach cap in 2 or 3 weeks?


4) Stop adding power based lateral advancement systems. They absolutely ruin game balance in every single game that offers them.
I don't really understand what you mean. Perhaps an example of a non-lateral advancement system would help. Don't just refer to another game for I haven't played many others and I have to pay for bandwidth so I can't easily download just anything. Edit: Ah, I think you are referring to the reincarnation system. From a business POV, it makes a lot of sense. If you raise the level cap, you have to develop all the quests, feats, and other content which is a huge investment. Adding something like Racial Reincarnation doesn't take anywhere near as much development time. I think at some point, SSG needs to say, if you've maxed your character, it's time to create and play an alt. Which, I think, is also a good argument for more development on the low and mid range content to attract new players.

[KoobTheProud]

Little Timmy does not quit because I walk by and have all 36 epic past lives already while he has none.

Are you afraid to make Normal quest XP more rewarding?

If as you suggest it will have no effect on Little Timmy at all why not try it? It certainly will have no effect anywhere else in the population at this point beyond maybe retaining some longterm casuals who have never gotten to the point of playing Elite or Hard for BB anyway.

It can't be anything but a win-win for new players and real casuals and SSG at this point. It will let them experience parts of the game they're unlikely to see otherwise and likely spend some cash along the way.

We now have Reaper mode with +20% XP for the elites who have to have some form of bonus to keep playing because otherwise it just isn't fair somehow, right? So no problem there.

[Shavron]

Ok i consider myself causal so if i may add things that makes me want to tear my hair out and should be solved.

1- XP on heroic "most heroic" is abysmal at best with the exception of some select quests....please up this even by a little.

2- UI and inventory management is one of the most frustrating things to deal with in this game and every one knows why.

3- once you get high level enough to do say green steel crafting good luck finding a shroud raid....i don't care if you just did one now but i can't find it and i play 3 hours a day.
Something like GS items which many people here use and think that it's impossible that some people can't find the ingredients for it is very very hard to come by for any one he is casual and his guild isn't running shroud that much.
Because you know every one got their stuff and tons of ingredients when this raid was popular but not any more.
Add the ingredients to chests in vale wilderness and quests.
Same with other stuff like Thunder craft even up to T2.
I don't have 4 M Plats to buy the stuff and no one runs the raid any more.

4- Anti solo mechanics in some quests like the necro chains is very anti casual because you don't have that much time to organize a team or be a part in a static group....you also being causal means that you are not super powerful to zerg a dungeon like most old timers do.
Though this is an MMO i don't find any use of forcing people to join in a quest and for those who want to play in a party you can also do it like the rest of the solo quests.
How is that going to affect you any way?...it will make things better for others that's all.

5- Guild vendors should be in the guild ships.

6- Add everbright to the loot table please.
Why is it Epic crafting?

7- Fix bugs.

[Chai]

Isn't that the most fun part of these discussions? It's like saying, "My...uh...friend has erectile dysfunctions. Where could I...I mean my friend...get some of those boner pills?"

Boosting first life XP or giving them a flat universal +50% damage boost so that they can feel like they 'compete' with multi-TR veterans isn't going to suddenly make them play more. Thinking that way in any shape/form is just...ugh. It's so off point it's not even funny.

Here's some things they could do to -actually- boost player retention.

1 - All non-epic quests up to hard difficulty are now free. Yup. The 'paid for' content like GH, Vale, etc...are only for pay if you do it on elite or higher. People are gun shy about new content because they never know if they'll like it or not. Guest passes are prohibitively expensive for what you get and 99% of players don't even really know they exist/how they're used.

However, if they could do the content on hard and then they can be like, "I enjoyed it! I'm going to buy it!" Seriously, the first time you run into one of those 'red' quest givers you get a sour taste in your mouth.

2 - Overhaul the 'path' system in DDO so that players can make/upload/download builds and plug them into DDO. You know how many people I've recommended one of Strimtoms good builds to? How much more awesome would it be if a new players could click a button in the character creation screen to load up a list of recommended builds, voted on by players, rated by recent popularity etc...

Let's be honest. SSG is pretty bad at this game. Just watch some of their streams. Steel or Sev or whoever recently tried out a zombie Shiradi and they were hilariously bad at it. You don't want these guys suggesting builds. Let the pro's do it.

3 - Complete UI overhaul. This is so ridiculously necessary. The UI of many modern games are minimalist and pretty or heavy but functional. DDO's UI is neither pretty, minimalist or functional. It is however, extremely heavy. The fact that you pick enhancements and THEN have to go to your character window to put the abilities on your hot bar is just...I dunno. Dumb? Yeah, dumb. There's tons of 'wasted' zero space in the UI. The mouseovers for items, spells and more are all horrendously inconsistent. The quest LFM system is hilariously brokenly bad.

4 - The game also doesn't explain -anything-. You know how many new people are straight up confused why a +2 str item and a +4 str item only gives them +4 strength total? Reincarnating is like...the cornerstone of DDO and you know where it's mentioned in the game? The reincarnation grove. Know where else? Nowhere. There isn't a single mention of it anywhere else in the game -period.-

5 - Finally...fix hireling AI. I know this is unpopular around here because we're all super swag gods but all players should have permanent hirelings that levels up with them. One cleric, one fighter, one rogue and one wizard. Only one can be out at a time and provide different services. Fix the AI so they are somewhat dependable if arguably weaker then a PC counterpart.

Start with fixing that stuff. Don't worry about little Timmy with his +1 longsword sucks even in normal difficulty vs. my character Johnny Thunderwang is immune to death in R4 up to level 12 thanks to sploit gear and past lives. That's not what causes him to quit. Timmy wants to be like me, that's what keeps him going and giving him a huge boost in early game xp isn't going to suddenly make him not want to rage quit the first time his cleric hireling sits there with it's thumb up his butt while he dies helplessly thanks to the hireling AI being terrible.

Little Timmy is far more likely to quit because he has 30 collectibles sitting in his inventory and he has no idea what to do with them and it's getting annoying. Or because he picked the 'athletics' feat thinking it would make him run faster in game but now he has to restart because he figured out that at no point in DDO's history has that been a good feat to pick. Or because he finished all the harbor quests and now he has no idea where he's supposed to go.

Little Timmy does not quit because I walk by and have all 36 epic past lives already while he has none.

While this is all good game system strategy which I agree with as a player, it doesnt synergize with the revenue system Turbine chose, many players supported, and SSG now uses. They use a monetization strategy that leverages paying to circumvent time consumption. This strategy does not hinge on retaining the majority of people and giving them free content. It hinges on retaining a minority of players who are willing to spend on stuff other MMOs give away for free, such as quest content, player race content, and character respec. It also sells character power in the form of getting TRs done much faster. In order for that strategy to work and generate revenue, those things which irritate players by consuming inordinate and arbitrary amounts of time to "catch up" have to be kept in game. The feedback culture is also not based on "what will keep the majority playing" but "what will keep the minority spending".

The system you describe is common in most modern MMOs, where the monetization strategy hinges more on a majority who each spends smaller amounts for optional stuff than a minority who spends much more per person on getting character power much faster. In modern games, players can respec a build any time they are out of combat, for free. The vast majority, if not all content, is free. While many do sell XP pots, they dont have you re-level the character over and over again for minor gains in character power each time. They can then concentrate on the game being the product which retains players, and do whats in their power to keep it up to date, rather than the game merely being the environment in which players use the real products being sold.

[PrinceMyshkin]

While this is all good game system strategy which I agree with as a player, it doesnt synergize with the revenue system Turbine chose, many players supported, and SSG now uses. They use a monetization strategy ...

You may very well be correct. That would explain a lot. Yet, they still need to attract new players due to inevitable attrition.

[Satyriasys]

Thanks for the feedback. Some good points and some that made no sense. It is true that I sort of confused new and casual but some of that is because casual players are "new" for a much longer time than others. Heh, after 7 years I still consider myself a new player for there is so much of the game I've never experienced. Obviously, there are casual players that enjoy the game; I am one or I wouldn't have bothered to make the post. It's the only game I play. However, I've been playing off and on for several years and quit several times. If AC hadn't shut down, I wouldn't be here. There are quite a few games out there that I would be playing instead of DDO if they had more control over character development. That's a thin thread to hang on. The fact that there are some casual players that enjoy the game immensely is irrelevant. I suspect that for each of them, there are dozens who played for a while and quit. If your guild doesn't boot inactives, look at your roster and see how many quit in the early levels.

FWIW, none of these things would make any difference to me now (other than being able to do Bloody Crypt and perhaps a few others). I'm over the hump, now VIP, on my third life, and have HE'd everything in this life through level 8, but that's mainly because I was able to accumulate some decent equipment in my last life. I'm trying to think of things that would have encouraged me to stick it out years ago (6 years on first life, 9 months on second). I didn't say anything about playing elite as a newbie. I'm assuming that the vast majority of new and casual players are f2p which means both elite difficulty and BB are irrelevant. As for a newbie with some CC gear, how does that work? Did I miss something in the character creation screen? :-) Most new players aren't going to grind. That's when I would quit--when there was nothing new that I could do. (Matter of fact, I still don't grind. Other than to earn favor through a higher difficulty, I've never repeated a quest with the same character.) That's not my idea of fun. I don't think I'm alone. Please don't miss the fact that I said it was only for one character on an account.

Being able to experience 95% of content may be about right if you are VIP and have at least a splash of rogue. A new/casual player doesn't have the trap locations memorized and many of them can one-shot you so that %age drops considerably. (I just know someone is going to say how easy it is to get around traps and imply I'm an idiot, but I'm quite certain that person will not be a new/casual player; besides, you have to know the trap is there to get around it.) Also, the f2p new/casual player will have a hard time earning points to buy packs if they can only play on normal. As someone else pointed out, the graveyard for levels 8-10 is huge. That's when there is very little f2p stuff and all that is left to do is repeat quests you've already done. Making all HN content below level 20 available would certainly help solve the problem. Anyway, for the typical new/casual player, the percent of content is much, much lower than 95%.

@Karnodog, thanks for pointing out that unintended feature. I've never made it past L23 before TRing. Would making the flag go away at level 20 solve that? Actually, it could probably go away at 15. In general, I've found that the hardest levels are 8-15. I think that is largely because equipment and defense become more important. I had already decided after posting that the loot buff was a bad idea. A much better solution would be to make the low level BTC/BTA stuff useful. IMO, Oladren's Great Xbow is the only decent newbie item and it may even be a bit overpowered. I didn't find anything better until level 8 and it's very marginally better. Almost all the other newbie stuff is replaced by the first thing I find.

I don't buy the argument of veterans that "we went through it so you should also." When the game was newer there were more players online, much less level spread, no one was "uber", and it was much, much easier to find a group.


Sometimes you just have to grind for a bit to hit your next power spike, we all had to do it. It seems like you have been watching some vets on the tr train and are a bit jealous of their power. (That didn't come over night)

If you are unwilling to do the work than this game isnt for you anyway. Grinding is a big part of this game. Honestly it sounds like you just want a free pass.

and btw traps are there to kill you.



3- once you get high level enough to do say green steel crafting good luck finding a shroud raid....i don't care if you just did one now but i can't find it and i play 3 hours a day.
Something like GS items which many people here use and think that it's impossible that some people can't find the ingredients for it is very very hard to come by for any one he is casual and his guild isn't running shroud that much.
Because you know every one got their stuff and tons of ingredients when this raid was popular but not any more.
Add the ingredients to chests in vale wilderness and quests.
Same with other stuff like Thunder craft even up to T2.
I don't have 4 M Plats to buy the stuff and no one runs the raid any more.



Wow entitled much? You cannot even be bothered with the crafting systems in this game and want a free pass for raid loot without ever having to step in a raid? Not going to happen.





4- Anti solo mechanics in some quests like the necro chains is very anti casual because you don't have that much time to organize a team or be a part in a static group....you also being causal means that you are not super powerful to zerg a dungeon like most old timers do.
Though this is an MMO i don't find any use of forcing people to join in a quest and for those who want to play in a party you can also do it like the rest of the solo quests.
How is that going to affect you any way?...it will make things better for others that's all.

So you want them to remove the last bit of teamwork left in this game so you can solo? Why don't you just play a single player game if you don't want to group with people and want easy gear with no time or work involved. It sounds as if an mmo is not for you.

[cdbd3rd]

Exactly. I just watched a stream today from some guy called Cordovan. The poor bloke had no idea what he was doing but was having a great time.


Oh, man... *chuckle* That's harsh. :p


Topic: I've been Casual'ing for quite a few years myself. I really cannot see any overwhelming purpose for changes as described in the OP. Casual, by it's very definition, means not being in a hurry to get anywhere. So be it character leveling, or craft leveling, or even filling the favor bars out - it's a stroll, not a sprint for us.

[Shavron]

Stuff....

.

Will yah if no one is doing the shroud raid any more "try looking for an LFM for it" then it's reasonable to ask for the ingredients to drop else where?
Not my fault that i joined the game a bit late after the duping and the raid craze had gone.
Or is it FU got mine mentality that is speaking here?

And for Team work you do understand that if you want to do any soloable quest as a team you can do it right?

Or the only quests you ever play with people are the ones that have anti solo mechanics?
Because that would be weird.

[Satyriasys]

Will yah if no one is doing the shroud raid any more "try looking for an LFM for it" then it's reasonable to ask for the ingredients to drop else where?
Not my fault that i joined the game a bit late after the duping and the raid craze had gone.
Or is it FU got mine mentality that is speaking here?

I see heroic shroud on the lfm all the time. I am personally trying to get the armor from Legendary Tempest Spine but I cannot ever find groups for it. Should I post on the forums that I want my raid loot free handed to me because I cannot be bothered to start my own raid group?



And for Team work you do understand that if you want to do any soloable quest as a team you can do it right?

Or the only quests you ever play with people are the ones that have anti solo mechanics?
Because that would be weird.

It's really quite simple. This is a multi player game. If all you want to do is solo than you can either 1. solo 98% of the quests in this game are solo friendly 2. Play a single player game.

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

When non casuals join into a discussion about whats good for casual players threads like this happen.

The one word answer is GUILD.

When I first started playing DDO I joined the Old Timers Guild, then a few years later launched Tyrs Paladium with Paks who became one of my best real life friends. Both the OTG and Tyrs have marched on as a bastion for casual, no drama folks who wish to play the game the way was intended and have fun.

Sadly many casual guilds havent made it to this point in DDOs lifespan. DDO is a UNIQUE GAME and I discovered early on that for ME that the true source longevity in DDO isnt knowledge. Its the discovery of a good group of people to run with. DDO would NEVER be functioning today had it not been for the creation of guilds. They are the heartbeat of DDO. And they always will be.

Now thats not to say Soloing or Pugging isnt also a viable direction. We can all play the way we want to play. But for me, and for thousands of "casual" gamers that have come through the Tyrs gates, our No Drama No Zerg, play Together philosophy has paid off quite well. For many casuals, Cameraderie is King.

So yeah, find a GOOD GUILD and make some friends. That's the D&D spirit. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson would be proud! :)

*** I have to make a point though to say we RARELY call ourselves a casual guild. Casual can mean anything from player skill or time commitment and many grey areas in between. Its too vast. We focus on the no drama no zerg part the most. We have players from BRAND NEW AND GREEN to accomplished build gurus who can write books (and some do!) on playing DDO. Thats WHY we can have "casuals" and "elites" playing WELL in the same guild. We dont focus on that. We focus on sharing game information on our forums and in game, and helping guildies get the MOST out of DDO.... NOT INSULT PEOPLE.

THAT I have found is the BEST bang for your buck for NEW players or casual players of many shapes and sizes... Find a good guild and make friends.

[Qhualor]

1- XP on heroic "most heroic" is abysmal at best with the exception of some select quests....please up this even by a little.

I think the opposite. there are some select few quests I think could use a bump, but I also think there are some quests that need a xp reduction. the challenge level vs the time to complete quests in todays game just doesn't line up very well. as a VIP that does one and done very rarely repeating content to 20 and doesn't really do any slayers, I end up skipping typically a 1/4 of the content. by something like level 5 or 6 I already start banking levels, but I also have max xp boosts going and I dont play xp/min preferring to get conquest/ransack/optionals and buying a rogue hire in some quests where its worth the trap xp.


2- UI and inventory management is one of the most frustrating things to deal with in this game and every one knows why.

that I can agree with it being frustrating.


3- once you get high level enough to do say green steel crafting good luck finding a shroud raid....i don't care if you just did one now but i can't find it and i play 3 hours a day.
Something like GS items which many people here use and think that it's impossible that some people can't find the ingredients for it is very very hard to come by for any one he is casual and his guild isn't running shroud that much.
Because you know every one got their stuff and tons of ingredients when this raid was popular but not any more.
Add the ingredients to chests in vale wilderness and quests.
Same with other stuff like Thunder craft even up to T2.
I don't have 4 M Plats to buy the stuff and no one runs the raid any more.

GS is still good and I do still use it, but with new named and random items, those can be good substitutes. select GS items are still better, but not so good that you are missing out when there are still viable options elsewhere and easier to acquire. as far as ingredients and shards, there are other options like the popular token farm Devil Assault and Amrath quests.

I have nothing from TF and have only run the raid maybe 5 times. I wish I did have TF gear, but I dont feel like I'm missing out on anything. still able to complete content with other gear. duping was a big part as to why it doesn't get run as much anymore, so thanks to that.


4- Anti solo mechanics in some quests like the necro chains is very anti casual because you don't have that much time to organize a team or be a part in a static group....you also being causal means that you are not super powerful to zerg a dungeon like most old timers do.
Though this is an MMO i don't find any use of forcing people to join in a quest and for those who want to play in a party you can also do it like the rest of the solo quests.
How is that going to affect you any way?...it will make things better for others that's all.

complaints like this was 1 thing that led to a more solo friendly game thus leading to less players wanting to group. casuals over the years have complained about quests like Necro that feel they require a party to complete. with Necro, there is only 1 quest that requires multiple players and 1 quest that can be done solo but very difficult because of the runes at the end. I buy hires for those, but I do prefer to group. these quests have just lost popularity over the years despite most having really good xp.


5- Guild vendors should be in the guild ships.

not sure what you mean by this. many things the guild vendors in House K can also be bought with on the ship by vendors as you progress in guild leveling. this is just more convenience than anything else.


6- Add everbright to the loot table please.
Why is it Epic crafting?

this goes without saying, but /shrug. the devs obviously view this way differently than the players.


7- Fix bugs.

this is obvious, but its a never ending process. every update and every patch has some kind of bug fixes.

[PrinceMyshkin]

Sometimes you just have to grind for a bit to hit your next power spike, we all had to do it. It seems like you have been watching some vets on the tr train and are a bit jealous of their power. (That didn't come over night)

Not at all. I'm a journey type, not destination and I'm not jealous of anyone. 100% solo so I've never seen vets in action. If you'd been paying attention, you would have seen that the proposal wouldn't benefit me now. It is based on things that caused me to quit in the past, none of which had anything to do with jealousy but simply with my own gaming experience. This was a theoretical idea of how I think the game could be more enjoyable for new players. I'm quite baffled by the hostility towards the idea of an easier ride through the first life for a single character on each account.

[Sam-u-r-eye]

I think DDO is in a good place for casual players. Less of a good place for new players.

+1

Casuals are often vets.
Time spent on the game,
and difficulty enjoyed,
tend to diverge at a certain point.

Some people love Dark Souls,
other people do not.
That doesn't mean we should penalize anyone by creating a game they won't enjoy.

If its a zero-sum game between "get rid of hard stuff so I don't feel scrubby" and "ZOMG LOLZ THIS GAME IS TOO HARD I GIVE UP" its better to be too hard for an absolute truck-ton of reasons.

[Holleyz]

Fix the healing hires. And if possible all the hires. Noobs and Casuals use hires. I'm a vet and I still sometimes will use a cleric hire depending on what class or build I am playing. I myself find it frustrating when all I want my hire to do is do what I hired them to do and that is heal me.
My healing hires do these things instead of heal me.
1. Stand in lava or a trap and die.
2. Heal a summons or another hire instead of healing me.
3. Run off trying to beat on a monster that they are no match for and die instead of healing me.
4. Heal a column that is holding up the ceiling instead of healing me.
5. Refuse to use the resurrection shrine. I have to manually command them to use it.

Green Steel the Shroud and other lesser run Raids.
I've never understood why the dev team hasn't or does not Form, Post on the Forums or Create a Raid Run or Tutorial for Noobs and Casuals. Like Cordovan does with the live streams Fridays @ 5 but instead of running with the popular kids or the power gamers why don't they do the same thing but for noobs and casuals?

Like a DDO company run Raid just for noobs and casuals.

[Annex]

Upon consideration, do we really know why players try the game and depart?

Perhaps someone at Standing Stone Games could create a questionnaire for departing players and ask them why they left. Send the questionnaire to all inactive accounts after three months. Something like this:

.....

At Standing Stone games we value our players very highly. We constantly strive to create the best possible games but sometimes we simply miss the mark. Our records show you have not signed in for three months. If you can spare a few moments, please complete the survey below and tell us how we may better serve your gaming needs.

When did you start playing Dungeons and Dragons Online?

When did you decide to leave Dungeons and Dragons Online?

Why did you leave the game? (Please select all that apply.)

1) [_] Character graphics and visual customization look dated and fail to meet my needs. Please list games that meet your character graphics needs so that we may strive for a higher standard.

2) [_] Character customization options such as Classes, Enhancements, and Feats failed to meet my needs. Please describe how we could improve character customization.

3) [_] Customer service failed to resolve one or more issues to my satisfaction. Please describe the issue(s) and the resolution you expected.

4) [_] Difficulty options do not meet my needs. Please tell us if the game was too easy, too hard, and how it could better meet your needs.

5) [_] Directions and help did not adequately explain how the game works. Please tell us what sort of help would better meet your needs.

6) [_] Fun and enjoyment failed to meet my expectations. If possible, please tell us what elements hampered your enjoyment of the game.

7) [_] Interface customization fails to meet my needs. Please describe what interface customization tools you require.

8) [_] Interface graphics look dated. Please tell us what elements of the game interface cause you the most trouble.

9) [_] Price of game time and perks do not provide sufficient benefit. Please tell us what items cost too much and what prices you expect for such items.

10) [_] Real life issues prevent me from playing.

11) [_] Technical problems prevent me from playing or playing in a satisfying way. Please describe your technical problems(s) in as much detail as possible.

12) [_] World graphics look dated and fail to meet my expectations. Please list games that meet your game world graphics expectations so that we may strive for a higher standard.

13) [_] Other. Please describe any game problem(s) that lead to your decision to stop playing Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Based on your input from the questions above, please list the three things that most impacted your decision to leave.

Thank you for playing Dungeons and Dragons online. We constantly strive to improve our game and will carefully consider your feedback. If a future update improves one or more issues that caused your departure, please consider giving our improved game another try.

Your friends at Standing Stone Games

.....

You get the idea. Written feedback from departing players would better identify problems than any debate here in the forums.

[Holleyz]

Upon consideration, do we really know why players try the game and depart?

Perhaps someone at Standing Stone Games could create a questionnaire for departing players and ask them why they left. Send the questionnaire to all inactive accounts after three months. Something like this:

.....

At Standing Stone games we value our players very highly. We constantly strive to create the best possible games but sometimes we simply miss the mark. Our records show you have not signed in for three months. If you can spare a few moments, please complete the survey below and tell us how we may better serve your gaming needs.

When did you start playing Dungeons and Dragons Online?

When did you decide to leave Dungeons and Dragons Online?

Why did you leave the game? (Please select all that apply.)

1) [_] Character graphics and visual customization look dated and fail to meet my needs. Please list games that meet your character graphics needs so that we may strive for a higher standard.

2) [_] Character customization options such as Classes, Enhancements, and Feats failed to meet my needs. Please describe how we could improve character customization.

3) [_] Customer service failed to resolve one or more issues to my satisfaction. Please describe the issue(s) and the resolution you expected.

4) [_] Difficulty options do not meet my needs. Please tell us if the game was too easy, too hard, and how it could better meet your needs.

5) [_] Directions and help did not adequately explain how the game works. Please tell us what sort of help would better meet your needs.

6) [_] Fun and enjoyment failed to meet my expectations. If possible, please tell us what elements hampered your enjoyment of the game.

7) [_] Interface customization fails to meet my needs. Please describe what interface customization tools you require.

8) [_] Interface graphics look dated. Please tell us what elements of the game interface cause you the most trouble.

9) [_] Price of game time and perks do not provide sufficient benefit. Please tell us what items cost too much and what prices you expect for such items.

10) [_] Real life issues prevent me from playing.

11) [_] Technical problems prevent me from playing or playing in a satisfying way. Please describe your technical problems(s) in as much detail as possible.

12) [_] World graphics look dated and fail to meet my expectations. Please list games that meet your game world graphics expectations so that we may strive for a higher standard.

13) [_] Other. Please describe any game problem(s) that lead to your decision to stop playing Dungeons and Dragons Online.

Based on your input from the questions above, please list the three things that most impacted your decision to leave.

Thank you for playing Dungeons and Dragons online. We constantly strive to improve our game and will carefully consider your feedback. If a future update improves one or more issues that caused your departure, please consider giving our improved game another try.

Your friends at Standing Stone Games

.....

You get the idea. Written feedback from departing players would better identify problems than any debate here in the forums.

+1 to this. This is the best idea in this thread.
Sadly though in the Community Guidlines Rule No #22 22. Goodbye and farewell

We appreciate that players have made meaningful personal connections while playing our games and we also appreciate that sometimes it’s time to say goodbye and move along to something else. We feel that heartfelt goodbyes are best done in private with personal messages to those who you will miss and who will miss you, not as missives to everyone who happens to read your post. Posts of that nature typically do not end well, and as a result we will close or remove goodbye/farewell threads.

Basically we dont care why you are leaving.

[Astoroth]

1) Change the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Life XP system to be 1st-5th Life = current 1st Life, 6th-9th Life = current 2nd Life, 10 Life+ = Current 3rd Life+

experience in heroic isn't really the issue even for a third life character. Its more about begin able to run what everyone else is running when you are trying to join lfms. Where I see the falling off is in epic tring for the casual and new player. Most uber ppls were finished with epic tring when the increase to 8+m was made, it was a change that flat out simply griefed those players that didn't need to be griefed. Epic reincarnation should be returned to 6m to match a destiny sphere, and allowed whenever a character is above level 20 and has a full 6m in a destiny sphere.



2) Remove Hearts of Blood and merge Racial+Heroic Past Lives - 1 Heart of Wood gives BOTH!

This way Completionists/Triple Completionists would still get the Racial Past Life and if they don't have that particular Heroic Past Life they'd get that too BUT the new guy he gets BOTH at the same time, He doesn't get left even further in the completionist's dust!

One thing the Devs forget is that those players at the leading edge of the curve are generally going to be those players who not only have done the entire grind so far but also and more importantly will have no trouble completing the new grind.


I agree with the your second idea, a twofer reincarnation would really help some of the player base. Just like the iconic reincarnation where 15 levels as an iconic gets you a twofer, 20 levels as a heroic should also get a twofer.

[Astoroth]

If its a zero-sum game between "get rid of hard stuff so I don't feel scrubby" and "ZOMG LOLZ THIS GAME IS TOO HARD I GIVE UP" its better to be too hard for an absolute truck-ton of reasons.

There will always be more casuals than your typical hardcore players. Just look at games like wow and gw2 that cater to the casual, they are wildly profitable and popular. A few guys that want some uber difficult experience isn't going to pay the bills, the lolz is your position that its a zero sum game.

[zehnvhex]

They use a monetization strategy that leverages paying to circumvent time consumption. This strategy does not hinge on retaining the majority of people and giving them free content.

Their monetization has always struck me as really strange. You would have thought by now they would have hired one guy whose sole job it is to create new skins for armor, classes, etc...and release that stuff on a bi-weekly basis or least once a month.

I'm sitting here on a pile of cash and I have absolutely nothing to spend it on anymore. I've bought all the content (except for the latest dungeon pack, it's a massive pile of garbage and will be the first dungeon I don't buy. And I bought -Threnal-.) I have all the tomes, bags, etc...etc...

I have nothing left to buy really. I earn enough free TP between content releases that I pretty much don't have to pay for anything anymore.

But if they released a new hair pack or something with some really nice new hairstyles? I'd be all over that like white on rice. Give me some formal wear to dress in around town so I can look like a proper lady. Hell, they could sell UI skins and I'd be all over that.

But maybe that's just me.

[slarden]

Their monetization has always struck me as really strange. You would have thought by now they would have hired one guy whose sole job it is to create new skins for armor, classes, etc...and release that stuff on a bi-weekly basis or least once a month.

I'm sitting here on a pile of cash and I have absolutely nothing to spend it on anymore. I've bought all the content (except for the latest dungeon pack, it's a massive pile of garbage and will be the first dungeon I don't buy. And I bought -Threnal-.) I have all the tomes, bags, etc...etc...

I have nothing left to buy really. I earn enough free TP between content releases that I pretty much don't have to pay for anything anymore.

But if they released a new hair pack or something with some really nice new hairstyles? I'd be all over that like white on rice. Give me some formal wear to dress in around town so I can look like a proper lady. Hell, they could sell UI skins and I'd be all over that.

But maybe that's just me. They've put quite a few cosmetic items in the store - I am guessing if that was the answer they would have figured it out by now and put more out. It's probably much like a local game/comic store where they have a few big sellers and sell a little bit of everything else.

The last time I purchased points was some time in 2016 and don't see making any purchases in 2017. XP potions, sp potions, etc. are more used by me now compared to pre-reaper, but I also try to run at a level where I use as few resources as possible which is R3. I used to stock up on points and staples and buy cosmetic things when on sale in part just to support the game I enjoyed, but over time I accumulated a large stockpile of things and more recently have been less enthusiastic about the hamster wheel direction and not buying points or things on sale. It's not to say my outlook won't change- but I doubt it will.


There will always be more casuals than your typical hardcore players. Just look at games like wow and gw2 that cater to the casual, they are wildly profitable and popular. A few guys that want some uber difficult experience isn't going to pay the bills, the lolz is your position that its a zero sum game.

I think the DDO casual niche has been soloists and real life friends that short man quests. It could be reaper and racial TR won't matter much to that crowd - not sure. I think from a monetary perspective things like tomes, boxes, xp pots are their big sellers - not sure how much interest casual players have in those. My opinion has always been that the big ticket items appealed to the hobbyist types (15+ hrs per week) vs casual players. Reaper clearly appeals to the hobbyist type and would potentially result in more consumable sales - total speculation though.

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

You would have thought by now they would have hired one guy whose sole job it is to create new skins for armor, classes, etc...and release that stuff on a bi-weekly basis or least once a month.

I'm sitting here on a pile of cash and I have absolutely nothing to spend it on anymore. I've bought all the content (except for the latest dungeon pack, it's a massive pile of garbage and will be the first dungeon I don't buy. And I bought -Threnal-.) I have all the tomes, bags, etc...etc...

I have nothing left to buy really. I earn enough free TP between content releases that I pretty much don't have to pay for anything anymore.

But if they released a new hair pack or something with some really nice new hairstyles? I'd be all over that like white on rice. Give me some formal wear to dress in around town so I can look like a proper lady. Hell, they could sell UI skins and I'd be all over that.

But maybe that's just me.

LOL! I agree 100%. New character cosmetics, and new guild airship cosmetics would definitely be profitable.

[LeslieWest_GuitarGod]

a. Permanent buff to xps, I'm thinking somewhere from 25% to 50%. All other bonuses (VIP, elixirs, etc.) would stack with this. b. Permanent loot buff, the one that gives higher quality, not a higher level. Equipment needs to keep up with leveling. It is difficult for a casual player to get decent equipment.

Joining a guild is the best solution for casuals as they can share in friendly adventures with others. Sometimes guildies will offer loot (or offer party members to roll for loot). Naturally if you play with others that know you, your percentage chance of scoring nice loot increases. Now, this isn't guaranteed of course. It's up to the person pulling the loot if they wish to part with it. This happens in PUGS too, but its much more prevalent in most well run guilds.


d. A once a week ability to mark a flagging quest as completed. This would work exactly like the ability to flag a saga quest as completed. Tomb of the Burning Heart and Hidden in Plain Sight come to mind. The first is practically impossible for a new player to solo and the boss fight of the latter is frustratingly difficult compared to the rest of the very long quest. From SSG's perspective, this would also encourage VIP subscriptions and/or shard sales.

If someone needs another party member, start a pug group, join a pug or join a guild. DDO was built from the ground up with this very need in mind. Giving even more reason not to group up is bad for everyone that either pugs (takes forever to find a group) and/or belongs to a guild. There's no harm putting that you've never led or run the content before and would like help. You'll probably get one or two people willing to get you through it. DDO is a great community.

[FranOhmsford]

experience in heroic isn't really the issue even for a third life character. Its more about begin able to run what everyone else is running when you are trying to join lfms. Where I see the falling off is in epic tring for the casual and new player. Most uber ppls were finished with epic tring when the increase to 8+m was made, it was a change that flat out simply griefed those players that didn't need to be griefed. Epic reincarnation should be returned to 6m to match a destiny sphere, and allowed whenever a character is above level 20 and has a full 6m in a destiny sphere.

I fully agree that the addition of 2 million more epic xp required to ER/IR AFTER the ubers had already done most {some all} of theirs was an absolute kick in the unmentionables to newbies, casuals and especially altoholics such as myself!

I apologise for forgetting that in my previous post - And yes it should change too.

BUT

Newbies run a lot more heroic than epic, most never even get to epic, heck most won't even get to Lvl 10!

Epic is pretty tough on a 1st life character with no past lives, weak gear, no destinies done etc. Especially now with Reaper having been added and EH/EN groups nowhere near as common and missing the top players.

And I'm currently levelling up an alt account character on second life - That character cannot open Elite and with the way the game is right now getting an opener is nigh on impossible unless I want to mess up my leveling and run certain quests multiple times because they're the only ones that get groups.
So I'm leveling up on Hard BB streak, I've been using xp pots and at Lvl 6 I'm still behind the XP curve, I'll have done every lvl 4 quest available to me {I do not have Sharn Syndicate on that account} before being able to take Lvl 7 so will either have to re-run some quests or start Lvl 5s early.
XP isn't as available as we who run everything on E-BB streak {or Reaper now} think.

And yes Newbies need a leg-up!
Less xp required to get to 20 means quicker TRing {I'd like for tokens to be more available too of course} and a quicker route to an at least somewhat viable character as the newbie learns how to play each character and which build style suits them best.

Also requiring 1st life xp for more lives and 2nd life xp for multiple lives after that before finally getting to 3rd life xp will allow new players and casuals and yes some vets on alts to pick and choose which quests they want to run, to not worry so much about streaking every single quest {though I probably still would for favour reasons!}.

[Chai]

Their monetization has always struck me as really strange. You would have thought by now they would have hired one guy whose sole job it is to create new skins for armor, classes, etc...and release that stuff on a bi-weekly basis or least once a month.

I'm sitting here on a pile of cash and I have absolutely nothing to spend it on anymore. I've bought all the content (except for the latest dungeon pack, it's a massive pile of garbage and will be the first dungeon I don't buy. And I bought -Threnal-.) I have all the tomes, bags, etc...etc...

I have nothing left to buy really. I earn enough free TP between content releases that I pretty much don't have to pay for anything anymore.

But if they released a new hair pack or something with some really nice new hairstyles? I'd be all over that like white on rice. Give me some formal wear to dress in around town so I can look like a proper lady. Hell, they could sell UI skins and I'd be all over that.

But maybe that's just me.

Yep, in a D&D game theres a huge space for this too. They already focus on the minority audience that spends alot, which is a staple in microtrans, but where is the focus on getting those who normally spend nothing to spend a little.

-Familiars that confer small bonus (like D&D familiars do) -no new power creep, as we already have cosmetic armor and items that provides 1-3 skill boost depending on the item, and only one can be active at a time.
-Armor Dye (I also saw the "bear march" threads recently for animal fur dye)
-Full cosmetic outfits (armors they used to have were overpriced, some near 1k TP)
-Cosmetic accessories (they already do this, but nowhere near as much as other MMOs and microtrans games)
-Henchmen (we already have hirelings, henchmen would level with the player character they are attached to, and be BTC)
-Permanent iconic character gold seal hirelings (characters such as Raistlyn, Drizzt, Danilo, etc...we practically already have Guen, its just not named Guen)
-Other animal and mythical creature gold seal hirelings. (NWO, the game DDO fans mock and deride, actually has this)
-Polymorph potions - play as a NPC race for X amount of time, for the lulz.
-Character makeover kit (allows you to choose a different look for the character, and has options regular character select doesnt have)

[Satyriasys]

There are many missed lucrative opportunities. The lack of so many obvious products on the store is extremely puzzling to me. They never even bothered to convert many of the old cosmetic armors over to the new system, if they paid for the work why not profit from it?