Letter from Executive Producer Rob Ciccolini - January 2018

[Severlin]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~

[Lonnbeimnech]

Druids finally getting fixed, nice.

[PsychoBlonde]

Sounds awesome!

Who's going to narrate White Plume Mountain?

[DaveyCrockett]

I smell..... TOMB OF HORRORS!!!!! :D

[FrozenNova]

Cool.
Is first life unfunded 1-20 playable with just LFG yet? Maybe I should reinstall.

[Avenir]

Thank you!

[Qhualor]

As far as the events, all I ask is not make them so grindy. It gets old and boring real fast running the same dungeon or couple dungeons over and over again. It's one of the bigger reasons why I don't participate in them. 20 runs is bad enough for me just to get a cosmetic.

[Xaxx]

something we've wanted for years???

undermountain??? undermountain??? maybe its undermountain????

though tomb or horrors or dragonmountain would be plainly acceptable also....

[ThrakThor]

All of that sounds great. I’m looking forward to it all.

[Jasparion]

Please make it Isle of the Ape, where all our gear dissolves !

[Xanthrawl]

something we've wanted for years...

More BtC storage space?!

[Starla70]

Curious about the Crystal cove items, will we still be bale to update the ones we have? Enjoy the night revels, always like new dungeons. Love the updates to classes.

[GramercyRiff]

Tomb of Horrors is the most diabolical dungeon I ever experienced in DnD. I haven't run all the classic stuff though so maybe there is one that is worse. I hope this is what's being hinted at toward the end of the Producer's Letter.

I can't wait to have more options for Artificer, FvS, an actual Warpriest, and of course the Druid being more versatile.

Most of all I hope dungeons are designed more like the Ravenloft stuff going forward. You guys made some instant classics, and I'm of the opinion Death House, Invitation to Dinner, and Sealed in Amber are the best quests in the entire game.


Also please bring back Lani Minella as DM if possible. She's amazing.

[Annex]

YAY!!!

Congratulations to all of you working at Standing Stone Games and thank you for bringing us some really fun adventures in your first year of business. I hope you have many, many fun, successful, and profitable years to come. :D

Thank you for taking time to work on events and festivals. Thank you for continuing to add new dungeons including White Plume Mountain. Exploring exciting new dungeons and finding neat new stuff are at the heart of Dungeons & Dragons.

I am betting on Tomb of Horrors for the mystery dungeon. :)

[Ballrus]

Undermountain pls!

[Memnir]

I am... cautiously optimistic about all those things.

[DoctorHopeless]

i smell..... Tomb of horrors!!!!! :d

I too, smell
TOMB
OF
HORRORS

[Mofus]

Good stuff guys. Looking forward to playing more DDO in 2018.

[FranOhmsford]

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?

[Dangeroustvc]

Awesome! :D

looking forward to all of the above, Great job,
and i see a lot of returned players lately, hard to stay away from the Best Game Ever!

really got my fingers crossed for some Spectral Dragon action in the graveyard, sure was fun back in the day :)

thanks all

[Claver]

It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book.


I have DM'd this quest many times. You couldn't have chosen a better D&D module for me - one of my all time favorites...filled with nostolgia. I'm extremely excited about this



a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel f and create a Dragon-themed jewel The kobold gem is sure to be a hit. I hope the dragon jewel is impossibly arrogant. Does Benedict Cumberbatch play DDO by any chance :cool:


I'm so excited about the third druid tree and the druid changes in general. This promises to be an amazing year...perhaps the best year for DDO since launch

[Claver]

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?

My 3rd favorite dungeon after White Plume Mountain (1st) and Tomb of Horrors (2nd)

[Tom116]

Nice stuff! Looking forward to the coming year :)

A couple things I noticed:

-Magic is failing and a plague is going around. Smells like the Spellplague (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Spellplague) to me, which already has been referenced (http://ddowiki.com/page/Eveningstar_Challenge_Pack#Item_Deconstruction) in DDO so isn't impossible. Not in the FR, but still :)

-"Cleric Warpriest" being updated. Sounds like not FvS Warpriest, so 3rd tree is a melee one?

Any chance of an order in which the class updates are coming? The way it's worded it sounds like 3rd Arti tree first, then at some point the cleric/FvS and the druid rework in no particular order.

[Livmo]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~

Very well done for 1st year. Strong work! Thank you for making the game our favorite past time. I really like Ravenloft. I can't wait for the rest in the letter. Lastly you have good taste. I really like White Plume Mountain. I'm very excited to run the anniv. event, for the 3rd arty tree, and woo hoo White Plume Mountain!

[QuantumFX]

Updated Crystal Cove loot? Can you guys make it where we can add Kobold Buffs to cosmetic hats?

[edrein]

We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class.
Sev~

Please tell me Angel of Vengeance is going to get an update; and that both Warpriest and Warsoul are getting further tweaks/updates and FVS isn't getting left with the tweaks that were in update 36.

Additionally, can we please get the religious feats updated? It'd be great that any of the transformation/buff level 6 feats were turned into toggles like the Sylvanas one. If the power of them is too strong to be toggles purely at level 6, then take the features within each one and tie them to Religious Lore feats to prevent multiclass abuse. For example take The Blood is the Life: At level 6 give the vampirism portion. Then if the player has 12 religious lore feats, give them the saves, PPR/MRR, and fortification. If they've got 18 religious lore feats, then give them the final bonus of +4 con. Essentially turn the idea similar to monk elemental or defender stances.

Finally; can we please get epic undead shroud form feats: with the ability for clerics and FVS to take the appropriate ones per tabletop prestiges. IE: Vampire and Lich. (We also wouldn't mind if you slipped in a few tweaks to PM forms to hold us over before a full wizard pass.)

Additionally; please do not forget that The Blood is The Life does not apply vampirism for undead players, it requires the universe vampirism code from The Scion of Shadowfell feat.

Edit: And keep up the good work, looking pretty strong for your first year on your own!

[Livmo]

Sounds awesome!

Who's going to narrate White Plume Mountain?

I nominate Vin Diesel, Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, and Sam Houston.

[Michaelaz2]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit I7 with 16G Ram , 4G Video ram on my ISP's fastest line, there's nothing else I can do. Are you looking at switching hosting again or be honest is it simply too cost prohibitive.
You cannot contact any GM as they refer you to customer service and you are given the age old standby , "Must be on your end , We never heard of issues"
Personally I love the new content and pre-purchased the ultimate Ravenloft, But I would like to see some new content put on hold while we fix some issues playing.

Thanks for time.

Michael

[Kamode_Corebasher]

Please add some form of a dissolver where we turn in an old Crystal Cove item and it destroys said item in exchange for 1/2 of the ingredients used to create it.

[NobleKnight]

I love the Sentient Weapons, but is it possible for you guys to add a "volume" control to the Jem's Speech? I like the comments, but its to loud and drowns out some of the gameplay or party chat. Anything you can do would help.

[Slazinger1]

Slavers Jewelers kits please.

[Svartelric]

Great stuff! Thanks Rob!

[Hilltrot]

"Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel"


You have my sub.

[Thumbed_Servant]

Greetings!

...
Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list.
.....
Sev~

Hello, ty for the game and ty for Ravenloft, a fantastic expansion.

I would like to put one issue onto your radar regarding Crystal Cove: Mithral Heavy Armor. Being made of Mithral is supposed to be an advantage but the PRR system gives it the PRR of medium armor. If possible could you please patch the PRR system to recognize Mithhral Cavalry Plate and any other armors made of mithral in the game for their base armor type?

Thank you

[Miranova]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit I7 with 16G Ram , 4G Video ram on my ISP's fastest line, there's nothing else I can do. Are you looking at switching hosting again or be honest is it simply too cost prohibitive.
You cannot contact any GM as they refer you to customer service and you are given the age old standby , "Must be on your end , We never heard of issues"
Personally I love the new content and pre-purchased the ultimate Ravenloft, But I would like to see some new content put on hold while we fix some issues playing.

Thanks for time.

Michael

I'll chime in with my two cents about the lag. It's making the game nigh unplayable some nights. A run which normally takes me 12 minutes through Lords of Death just took me 38 minutes with all the lag. Swing, swing, lag...swing, lag...you get the drift. Forget about getting spells off...

Please, point me to where I can find and defeat the lag monster of Ghallanda...

[geoffhanna]

White Plume Mountain? Holy ****!

Those three words make this the best Producer's Letter ever!

White Plume Mountain!

[wyrm_pilot]

Undermountain would be great, but that's not a dungeon, it's as big as everything that's currently connected to Eveningstar (and should include Waterdeep). It's a whole year's worth of updates. I'd love to see it happen, but it has to happen right.

Tomb of Horrors would be great. A lot of classic adventures would be great. Expedition to the Barrier Peaks would be horrible.

What're the odds of seeing the Dragonmarks of Detection and Hospitality? How about kobolds, warforged scouts, shifters, and/or changelings as PCs?

Thanks for all the great work!

[grahamedo]

Thank you!

[Cantor]

Cool.
Is first life unfunded 1-20 playable with just LFG yet? Maybe I should reinstall.

LFM is spotty at best. Get a friend and you can easily duo everything. I'm running a first life now doing only FTP quests with only what I find just to see how hard the xp grind is/isn't.

[Neo-Masamune]

Please tell me Angel of Vengeance is going to get an update; and that both Warpriest and Warsoul are getting further tweaks/updates and FVS isn't getting left with the tweaks that were in update 36.

Additionally, can we please get the religious feats updated? It'd be great that any of the transformation/buff level 6 feats were turned into toggles like the Sylvanas one. If the power of them is too strong to be toggles purely at level 6, then take the features within each one and tie them to Religious Lore feats to prevent multiclass abuse. For example take The Blood is the Life: At level 6 give the vampirism portion. Then if the player has 12 religious lore feats, give them the saves, PPR/MRR, and fortification. If they've got 18 religious lore feats, then give them the final bonus of +4 con. Essentially turn the idea similar to monk elemental or defender stances.

Finally; can we please get epic undead shroud form feats: with the ability for clerics and FVS to take the appropriate ones per tabletop prestiges. IE: Vampire and Lich. (We also wouldn't mind if you slipped in a few tweaks to PM forms to hold us over before a full wizard pass.)

Additionally; please do not forget that The Blood is The Life does not apply vampirism for undead players, it requires the universe vampirism code from The Scion of Shadowfell feat.

Edit: And keep up the good work, looking pretty strong for your first year on your own!


They need to do Warsoul as well... will it happen? I Have toon waiting for it...

[Saekee]

good letter, thx—am pumped about White Plume Mountain! Congratz to SSG on great work on Ravenloft.

Don’t forget to add raids for endgame players

[Fivetigers33]

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list.

Whatever you do, please make the weapons accept sentience. Otherwise, why bother?

[acdccod]

Sounds awesome. Congrats on a great first year guys keep up the good work!

[Nubom70]

I'd love to have admixtures NOT need a potion. They're supposed to be making stuff on the fly. Why can I build a 3' turret, without a 50 pound crate of turret parts, but I can't craft/conjure one potion as part of the actual spell?

[Brandall]

something we've wanted for years???

undermountain??? undermountain??? maybe its undermountain????

though tomb or horrors or dragonmountain would be plainly acceptable also....

Is it the Ruins of Myth Drannor?

[ghostwheel77]

Is it the ability to resize the ui? PLEASE!! I want to play but I can not read it well.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

...and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

You heard it here first! They're bringing back the Spectral Dragon dungeon (reworked to go in as a raid group and without all the lag-goyles) and releasing a dragon jewel as a reward!

[The_Human_Cypher]

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

Severlin, did SSG take my suggestion from this recent post on the forums?

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/491848-White-Plume-Mountain

White Plume Mountain was my pick for the 2018 classic adventure, and you also mention both of my reasons for choosing that module in this Producer's Letter:

"It's not too early to discuss the next classic module for 2018! 'White Plume Mountain' (Module S2) is a good choice for two reasons:

1) This module includes Sentient Weapons: a trident, a war hammer and a sword;

2) The module, originally written for 1st edition AD&D was recently updated for the 5th edition in 'Tales from the Yawning Portal;'"

I have to know!!

[Jandric]

White Plume Mountain? I wholeheartedly approve and can't wait to see what you do with Blackrazor, Whelm, and Wave.

[spyyder976]

Thanks for continuing to work on the game on a regular rate and also for bringing us more classic PnP adventures! The only problem I have with the Halloween event is that I want the old dragon raid back, which was FUN and EXCITING! Doing challenges for Halloween of tired old quests with new undead mobs is NOT FUN AT ALL! Surely the dragon raid still works, although someone said it bugged with some old update. I can't see why it couldn't be fixed. It can't be that difficult.

[Sarkastik]

I too, smell
TOMB
OF
HORRORS

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think Tomb of Horrors would translate well to DDO.

[fmalfeas]

Hrm. Tomb of Horrors would likely cause so much forum whinging and shrieks of 'unfair'!!!

Particularly since we can't purchase a herd of cattle to drive in before us.

Undermountain, however...there is no real map for it, because even in tabletop, the bloody thing is basically procedurally generated. There are some things you can expect at certain floors, but otherwise, the thing has a habit of changing layouts without any input from Halaster. He put a bit TOO much magic in it. This would, however, make for an endlessly repeatable dungeon where you never know how hosed you're gonna be, or if it's gonna be a cakewalk, or some deranged admixture of the two.

Keep on the Borderlands could make an outstanding alternative/followup for Korthos.

And then there's the things with DINOSAURS!!!

Yeah, there's quite a few options for classic modules that would be popular.

[AnubisPrime]

Bravo!

[The_Human_Cypher]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think Tomb of Horrors would translate well to DDO.

Tomb of Horrors is unlikely to happen as Neverwinter Online already did a version of this module recently with its "Tomb of Annihilation" update.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCNhIK47TX8

Instead, the 2019 classic adventure pack should be Module S4 'The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.' The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth directly follows White Plume Mountain and would be an opportunity to introduce some cool monsters such as the Behir to DDO.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUrOBQUX9kA/WPYzu65J1CI/AAAAAAAAbSE/dNMExn0QNrcOLTZvZaUq0PJfQrbRll6owCLcB/s640/cover.jpg

[streep101]

Greetings!

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!


It's obviously Castle Greyhawk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Greyhawk_(module)).

[The_Human_Cypher]

It's obviously Castle Greyhawk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Greyhawk_(module)).

I think you may be right. DDO has finally gotten permission to use the Greyhawk campaign world license and will make a separate Greyhawk area for its classic adventure packs such as Slavers and TOEE.

[Draculetta]

Severlin, did SSG take my suggestion from this recent post on the forums?

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/491848-White-Plume-Mountain

I have to know!!

http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/dracula.gif

[Silverleafeon]

:) :) :)

Sounds Great!

Very Much Enjoying Ravenloft.

Looking forward to Kobold & Dragon Gems.

Happy that the Lost Tree Project is moving forward,
looking forward to your ideas on the subject.

[Carrie67]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~


What I dont understand is how these people say they doing us a favor but yet never fix what is already broken all they do is come along and break other things. Why cant they decide to fix the whole game they have first then worry about new stuff. They made enough money to do this with ravenloft. But they are best at breaking things.

[zehnvhex]

Well I'm a little disappointed.

I was hoping for 4k support, ui enhancements, sorely needed LFM overhauls, mentoring, a fix for the grouping problem, something, anything.

I guess "We're gonna keep doing class passes, a few new content packs and lvl 28 versions of cove items" is okay?

[Goro69]

Well i'm one that will never have Mists of Ravenloft because im just one of many that cant because of fixed income or dont spend money so what ever is in there i'll never get. but i am happy to see yall gonna update the stuff in CC and Nite thats kool but i know the new packs yall coming out with will cost people hundreds of dollars and lot of players cant afford that or on fixed incomes. so when you gonna come out with a couple free packs that has nice things in it for f2p players. oh thats right its all about money but yet its a Free to play game. but i will say the game is good but you gotta give your free to play players something to. charging 130 bucks for a pack isnt bring people in it ****es people off. since yall took over the game has improved alittle not alot but alittle thanx

[Stern_Bright]

It's good. I get to kill more stuff that is different. I was kind of getting tired of killing the same old stuff. Except Kobalds. er tire of killing them

[vegabond1969]

Is it the Ruins of Myth Drannor?

That would be awesome, I ran this the other night with my daughter and a few of her friends, using the original FR box set. Would be nice to see more Toril stuff added, but they seem to be piling more stuff into Stormreach, so doubtful.

[bracelet]

Could you take a second look at whether you want to make the new pack level 14? There is an extremely rich set of quests at 14 already -GH, Orchard, The Grim and Barret chain. It is effortless to find something to do at that level. Level 15, on the other hand, is rough. Mines of Tethmayer did not help because it is unbalanced for that level and the XP isn't remotely reflective of the difficulty or duration. The Madness chain is just excruciating for those of us that have had to run it every life because there is so little else to do at that level. I save up all my sagas and take them just to get through the horror that is level 15. I'll even dip back into 14s to get through it.

tl;dr Level 14 is saturated with great quests. Level 15 needs some help.

And to end on a positive note: RavenLoft is fantastic. It is very well balanced and very welcome for the heroic levels they are at. 10 and 11 in particular desperately needed more material. Keep up that kind of work. It is impressive.

Edit -I forgot the pre-Wheloon chain at 15. I rather like those. But they aren't enough even with sagas to get through 15. I also forgot To Curse The Sky and Creeping Death. But if I never have to do either of those again it will be too soon.

[PsychoBlonde]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit

Mainstream support for Windows 7 ended in 2015. SSG can't fix your software/hardware mismatches because you're using an outdated OS on hardware it was never designed to support.

What's the first thing that people tell you whenever you have a computer problem? "Have you updated everything?"

[lyrecono]

Greetings!
The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.
well, you did ask for feedback, i hope this time it won't be ignored
Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city.
i hope you're not copying neverwinter's spellplague, lorewise the impact on eberron would be devestating. More so then in every other realm.
You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space. do ee need this? Precious dev time wasted on what could easily be solved by pugs?

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies.
why?
We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.
who are asking for these? All the devs that play arties? Why not some fixes for dps based melees? The barbs need some desperate fixes.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list.
add some lv 28 bracers and cloacks to the remnant trader while you're at it.

Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.big in japan?

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments. so actual puzzles and not "join the dots"? Considering ddo's track record with underwater combat, will this pack be a watered down version ?
No pun intended

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.
sentient weapons? All you did was introduce an upgrade system that this time requires exp to open up slots and randomly spouts voices, something the endgame population has shut off after its initial release. I rather had some unique, high level augments to put in the gear. Or a fix to the 2hf ravenlof raidloot, it's pretty weak compared to the rest. Unless you're a paly

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!
don't expect us to hold our breath, we're still waiting for things that were prommised more then half a decade ago

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~

What about melee fixes?
What about 4k support?
What about new endgame augments?
What about consolidating gear? Having saves on 1 ench instead of 3? Have mrr and prr be on 1 ench, like the sheltering on slavelord gear. Figering out a gearset for ravenloft was a huge hassle.
What about fixing the bug reporting proces and dev to player communication. I dropped 17 reports last week, having cordovan making those statements was insulting to the playerbase.
What about fixing the mithrill armors for crystal cove?

[math92]

interesting...i feel like druids is one of the most popular classes in any other rpgs but seeing druid in ddo is quite rare.at least from my experience.ppl definitely have a reasons why to not play druid.rework the tree and maybe add new one, might bring some love.

im very suprised, i havent see more bank spaces in your letter.its 2018 ppl have tons of items that they wont get away...ppl create new characters specially for item storage...and thats not a new thing, it has been discussed for many years.is it really that hard add some more bank spaces? you can make some obtainable thru favor maybe some for ddo points.my invetory and bank space is totally full and i have no idea what to do...


2018 and im still asked in every remnant chest whether i really wanna loot it...getting really annoying


but what REALLY gets me off and still dont get it is the reaper thing in heroics...you added reaper its cool but you separeted lfm in big way.elites are run up to 2 over levels and reapers has to be on exact level...


things doesnt have to be complicated to make them be good...
but i wish you good luck and hopefully your updates will be on spot!


edit : but its obvious you dont play the game very much, cause if you did...you knew all the things, that must to be done wayy back...

btw when is aasimar going to ddo store? i really wanna get it!

[die]

Greetings!



We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!


Sev~

How I am reading this, is DDO 2!!! That would be the best adventure, DDO Ui and mechanics on a brand new updated engine !! hell yea.

No Doom and Gloom please... I can dream can't I?

[Arkat]

Isle of Dread

'nuff said.

[phoenixrizen]

Hello, I have been playing ddo from almost the beginning and find the game very entertaining, but I would like to make a suggestion to the Executive branch, For many years now I have played with only a few problems that I can see and one is the upgrade of the Completionist. It would be nice if the executive producer would take into account the older players that have been around awhile. Some have toons that are double and even triple completionist. Instead of giving no upgrades after the first completionist, can't we improve this for older players who have stuck around and helped the game out thru the years by allowing upgrades for each time you go up on your completionist? Like from First completionist to second and third completionist and so on to show your appreciation for the years that they have stayed around and supported the game? I just think its unfair that these people can't improve their rewards after the first completionist. All help in this matter would be deeply appreciated, thank you

[NabeGewell]

Regarding Crystal Cove(and also the older Halloween event items) - please narrow down the required crafting material number for items to 1 or 2 types total. Talking specificly about gems, no need to have 14 different ones and different number required on different levels so you could upgrade it with a trinket that also requires upgrading with different amount of types of ingredients with different numbers. It's bad design.

Oh, and connection related issues like LAG and RUBBERBANDING during those very special events is unbearable at times, DESPITE IF YOU TAKE PART IN THEM OR NOT.

[voxson5]

Well i'm one that will never have Mists of Ravenloft because im just one of many that cant because of fixed income or dont spend money so what ever is in there i'll never get. but i am happy to see yall gonna update the stuff in CC and Nite thats kool but i know the new packs yall coming out with will cost people hundreds of dollars and lot of players cant afford that or on fixed incomes. so when you gonna come out with a couple free packs that has nice things in it for f2p players. oh thats right its all about money but yet its a Free to play game. but i will say the game is good but you gotta give your free to play players something to. charging 130 bucks for a pack isnt bring people in it ****es people off. since yall took over the game has improved alittle not alot but alittle thanx

What I take from this is the fact that Ravenloft was the first expansion where we did not get a f2p intro pack, which I was quite surprised with.

I thought it would have made far more economical sense to have a little taster, to entice more people to then buy into the expansion.

[fmalfeas]

Well i'm one that will never have Mists of Ravenloft because im just one of many that cant because of fixed income or dont spend money so what ever is in there i'll never get. but i am happy to see yall gonna update the stuff in CC and Nite thats kool but i know the new packs yall coming out with will cost people hundreds of dollars and lot of players cant afford that or on fixed incomes. so when you gonna come out with a couple free packs that has nice things in it for f2p players. oh thats right its all about money but yet its a Free to play game. but i will say the game is good but you gotta give your free to play players something to. charging 130 bucks for a pack isnt bring people in it ****es people off. since yall took over the game has improved alittle not alot but alittle thanx

You are aware that there's a /much/ cheaper ravenloft purchase, right? Not the 100+ USD one, but normal expansion price?

It's the one I have. The basic expansion. I'll get Aasimar Scourge later, when it's on the store and as money allows.

So many people seem to think the 'Ultimate Fan Bundle' is the only one.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

Well i'm one that will never have Mists of Ravenloft because im just one of many that cant because of fixed income or dont spend money so what ever is in there i'll never get. but i am happy to see yall gonna update the stuff in CC and Nite thats kool but i know the new packs yall coming out with will cost people hundreds of dollars and lot of players cant afford that or on fixed incomes. so when you gonna come out with a couple free packs that has nice things in it for f2p players. oh thats right its all about money but yet its a Free to play game. but i will say the game is good but you gotta give your free to play players something to. charging 130 bucks for a pack isnt bring people in it ****es people off. since yall took over the game has improved alittle not alot but alittle thanx

While I get where you're coming from on a fixed income, it's rather disingenuous at best to compare the top-tier price of an expansion with the average quest pack, most of which can be purchased for $8 (or less) if you don't have enough DDO points earned in-game (and the base expansion itself is $40, and will be available for DDO Points this spring/early summer). But by no stretch of the imagination will the stuff coming out this year cost people "hundreds of dollars". And in the past 2 years or so they've had four free quests, a free legendary raid, and two quests and two legendary raids added to a pack that I would venture the vast majority of players has already purchased. And I'd put money on at least one of this year's updates including free content.

[Adrea]

HOLY SWEET CHEEKS BATMAN! I just bought Druid Class and its getting redone! Guess I'll just wait for spring to roll a dru then. White Plume Mountain sounds amazing. I intend to purchase this one at least.

[silisav]

2018 seems quite promising, especially the druid pass and the white plume mountain! Thanks for the information and keeping the game awesome! Greetings from a returning player!

[kuzka111]

What about melee fixes?
What about 4k support?
What about new endgame augments?
What about consolidating gear? Having saves on 1 ench instead of 3? Have mrr and prr be on 1 ench, like the sheltering on slavelord gear. Figering out a gearset for ravenloft was a huge hassle.
What about fixing the bug reporting proces and dev to player communication. I dropped 17 reports last week, having cordovan making those statements was insulting to the playerbase.
What about fixing the mithrill armors for crystal cove?

THIS!

and many more

what with rxp at cap?
when will you add endgame?
when will be caster update or maybe there will be only warlock now ?
when meele will get some love at reaper? just compare meele tree and caster tree on reaper ( and by caster i mean warlock bc 95% casters are warlocks now)

and many many more but im to tired to set theads and write only to froum palladins say that im whining...

[Tarinia]

Greetings!

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!


Sev~

I would prefer undermountain or ruins of myth drannor and waterdeep as an module for FR

And would wish for a expansion "planescape"- sigil because the "torment" computergame was one of the best of all times- so look forward to give us something like that, please.

Best regards
Tarinia

[whosoever]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~

I am still hoping for Castle Amber, My all time favorite.

[Wizza]

So you will release more adventure packs and keep doing class passes that will bring more imbalance.

And I bet endgame is coming in 2018, for real this time. Like no joke. Serious. Promise.

[Revolted]

Personaly I see all of that as great news, working on those classes is good/great, new adventures are always welcome. And if I was a bit underwhelmed by most of the content released by the last years of Turbine, Ravenloft brought me hope for SSG! Make all the new content a bit like it: immersive, plausible, beautiful, artsy, fun! I won't even care if it is in Eberron, or Dark Sun or New Mexico!

Keep up with the great work.

[janave]

Good plans so far,
Congrats and thanks for your work.

[Cambo]

Keep on the Borderlands...BreeYark

[Fenix93]

Finally! it was time! I could not wait to discover the new contents of this year on DDO! and I must admit that in part it turns out to be very interesting, at first glance it would seem that there are no new races or classes, positive for me and for all the others who are trying to do the Completionist objective, every time you add classes or races this implies + time and + things to buy.

but let's go in order...



Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

Please ... just with pack on eberron! do something more in the Frogotten Realsm ... that universe needs a little love you do not find?But anyway the update 38 seems very interesting ... more than anything else I'm curious about the Revamp of Jorasco ... (in fact the quests are a bit dispersive and you have to go back in the area to go you have various ingresi - this applies to Ftp quests and not to premium HJ packages)So it would seem that in HJ we would have a new package ... (but if we think about HJ and bring it to Ravenloft ... it may be that this bad ... no no I do not think there will be a crosover with Ravenloft in this package ... but if there was ... well ... it would be great. : D


We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

I really hope that the anniversaries this year will be more rewarding with the gift ... in short ... not that I did not like that last year ... on the contrary, it gave me the chance to redeem 2 2 pack items that I did not have and that have been very useful for the course of my next past lives .. but this year I really want to have something more exciting and useful for the purpose of And-game ... I do not say give me a weapon of CiTW's choice ... no ... it will never happen ... but let's see ... let's see that it will happen.


One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

This point was known for some time but had not yet been revealed many details about the new branches of the classes coming ... for now we know only the artficer that is called..."the Renegade Mastermaker"... apparently it seems interesting ... and it gives an extra gear on the bullies and the defenses (it will turn out to be an extra gear for end-game and Reaper? or it will be a complete failure? this is to see), to the rest be ... FvS I'm curious to see the 3rd branch ... cleric perhaps needs even more love ... and then ... the druid ... then on the druid premise that I have not yet tried anything, but those few druids that I see in play almost all use the wolf or the elementary form ... this said I have no idea what to expect from this revamping of the class.


Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Yes ... it was more than obvious that they would update this event, I think they will raise the level of objects from 25 to 28 or so ... I hope ... but I hope ... that they make me a cosmetic version of the hats. They are very beautiful and have to use every time a mirrow and a spend of time and money ... that I do not like ... I love cosmetics but I would like for some outfits of the events also have their cosmetic version.On Halloween ... it is clear that it is the flagship event of DDO ... as is the YuleFest in LOTRO at the end ... but ... it would not be better if in the Festival sector there is a bit of love in general for DDO? there ... in short, the DDO festivals are so boring except Halloween and cristal cove ... but it goes well they are thoughts.


Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

I finally got to the interesting part of the letter! a new classic adventure! ... for some time I thought that with the launch of last year of "Tales from the Yawning Portal" of D & D 5th edition, SSG would have thought something to be implemented in DDO concerns these classic adventures...and in fact..."White Plume Mountain"

I think it will be a truly epic pack under many notes of view (hopefully), look at the maps and reading on Wikipedia this classic adventure and really huge, full of salt and traps to overcome, in short ... an adventure of real intriguing, I have loved very much slaver lord I know by heart that pack and 'and now so simple to do that you could do with your eyes closed you have level of game play now, but on one side Slaver lords from the point of view of the maps was a bit of a disappointment and did not faithfully reproduce the maps of the PNP (as per the plot of the pack does not fully resume the plot of the campaign Pnp) ... so I really hope that for "White Plume Mountain" there is a bit of love, I do not say something like ToEE (that few people play it or if they play it and only for the items and not XP),I really love the work done on Ravenloft, I hope you put the same work and commitment done in this expansion even in the packages to come, the Ravenloft Castle was a great success for me, and I would like to see that level of gameplay and immersion of D & D lore to..."White Plume Mountain"! ;)


An image of the classic adventure cover of 1979

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/519RgnXwovL._SX258_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

How nice and so we will have a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel that everyone wanted to start Ravenloft ... well that say "cheers"? This shows once again that SSG listens to us ... repeat with "SSG hears us" ... "LISTEN" then for who knows that "and but SSG does not listen to us" is not true because if SSG does these things it means that he cares about our feadback ... who unque is contrary with my judgment, that and the door.Returning to the speech ... I hope that in addition to new jewels (which are purely aesthetic) there are also new watermarks to ensure that there is more and more choice in the bonus segment in the arms, and to promote a variety of choices and end strategies. game ... in the end I hope that at the end of 2018 do not stop the development of this feature and the abandonment ... sentient weapons for me to add much to the game ... and see this function overwhelmed by a system much more beneficial and a bit sad.

A preview of the new 3 sentient weapons taken from the manual of the 5th edition

https://dfep0xlbws1ys.cloudfront.net/thumbsef/66/ef66319f82417867cb03f0fca59f82f5.jpg?response-cache-control=max-age=2628000


We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

And here we are at the interesting point or the "final surprise" or as he calls it..."announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years"Now I have no idea what it may be ... there are several thoughts in this post that everyone goes to fall on "Labyrinth of horrors",but I do not know what else to say ... but many ... ask also a new starting area in the forgotten realms ... but who knows ... it could also be the umpteenth Ebberon pack set in an iconic place that everyone Did they want to visit? in any case, I sincerely hope that it is linked to Forgotten Realms or anything that is not related to They ... I say enough with these packs and do something more substantial for the Forgotten Realms who need love ... a lot but a lot love.

In other words, this year we will have:


2 new packs (+1)



Continuous support for clerical, FvS and fireworks classes with new trees for each class, and Druid revamping.



Continuous support for sentient weapons and new content for this system



Revamping of the Crystal Cove prizes and new public event dungeon & revamping of the Halloween event.



What can I say ... it's not bad I'm satisfied, I really hope that in the years to come SSG can improve more and more the game and always add new adventures, DDO for me now in my heart for almost 2 years, keep it up guys.

[Mindos]

Hello, I have been playing ddo from almost the beginning and find the game very entertaining, but I would like to make a suggestion to the Executive branch, For many years now I have played with only a few problems that I can see and one is the upgrade of the Completionist. It would be nice if the executive producer would take into account the older players that have been around awhile. Some have toons that are double and even triple completionist. Instead of giving no upgrades after the first completionist, can't we improve this for older players who have stuck around and helped the game out thru the years by allowing upgrades for each time you go up on your completionist? Like from First completionist to second and third completionist and so on to show your appreciation for the years that they have stayed around and supported the game? I just think its unfair that these people can't improve their rewards after the first completionist. All help in this matter would be deeply appreciated, thank you

Happy first post ever!

I could see a cosmetic for each "level" of completionist. Something flashy, to show off. Maybe the same outfit, but different colors for each "tier"?

[thedip]

Planescape!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2Qkx3lN5s

[Son_of_the_South]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fLgCjHC6iA

[Son_of_the_South]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit I7 with 16G Ram , 4G Video ram on my ISP's fastest line, there's nothing else I can do. Are you looking at switching hosting again or be honest is it simply too cost prohibitive.
You cannot contact any GM as they refer you to customer service and you are given the age old standby , "Must be on your end , We never heard of issues"
Personally I love the new content and pre-purchased the ultimate Ravenloft, But I would like to see some new content put on hold while we fix some issues playing.

Thanks for time.

Michael

Must be on your end though. I'm running and AMD FX8350, 16GB RAM and a 1070. I get well over 60fps on ultra. There are some lag issues, sure, but no fps issues.

[Ballrus]

Don't forget the triple bonus point!

[janave]

Must be on your end though. I'm running and AMD FX8350, 16GB RAM and a 1070. I get well over 60fps on ultra. There are some lag issues, sure, but no fps issues.

It is about consistency, if a single (type of) area drops FPS by 75-90%, that is a bug - stronger configurations probably make it feel less impactful.

Into the Mist,
Yester Hill,
Berez quests (inc Baba Raid outside areas)

All the above quests do the super FPS drop on my IGP only PC. Other areas play perfectly fine 30-45 FPS, consistently.

[Greantun]

It is about consistency, if a single (type of) area drops FPS by 75-90%, that is a bug - stronger configurations probably make it feel less impactful.

Into the Mist,
Yester Hill,
Berez quests (inc Baba Raid outside areas)

All the above quests do the super FPS drop on my IGP only PC. Other areas play perfectly fine 30-45 FPS, consistently.

I don't think this is a bug. The devs stated in the release notes (or forum posts after) that they added way more "grass" (my term) in certain areas, but also added a new setting to lower the amount if your computer couldn't handle it.

Obviously you need to reduce those settings.

[janave]

I don't think this is a bug. The devs stated in the release notes (or forum posts after) that they added way more "grass" (my term) in certain areas, but also added a new setting to lower the amount if your computer couldn't handle it.

Obviously you need to reduce those settings.

Nop. the settings are all low, and the frills are disabled, double checked in the userconf ini file.
You can disqualify this as a bug because you are unaffected, but that does not help us much.

[sudzz]

Must be on your end though. I'm running and AMD FX8350, 16GB RAM and a 1070. I get well over 60fps on ultra. There are some lag issues, sure, but no fps issues.

He maybe means Wrath of Earth, running a dual hex cored Xeon e5 rig with 32 gig ram and AMD 56 8 gig HBM2 card off ssd and I see low frames of 8-20 in Wrath and I'm only running at 1440p so I can see the icons else would be 1600p/4k on a 44 inch screen, 220 meg down 20 up internet pings of 100ms with no loss, even the explorer before entering gets 50-60 fps so that tesla tower is sapping the life out of everything to run it's volts.

[1SickDude]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~The game has come a long way. Look forward to the continued journey...

[Vish]

Sev,
Thanks for job well done last year.
Looks like thanks for this year to.

Divines getting some love, that's happy news
Look forward to warpriest, a revamp I hope
And third tree fvs, something is needed
And Druids don't need much? But third tree and bears

So happy white plum
Loved that one many years ago
What are you going to do about the trident?
New weapon??
Or make it a quarter staff? A spear would be cool too,
Too bad we don't have those.

The rest all looks like its in the works,
Guess that means producers letter in summer?
Because this was only half a year...

But you got me hooked for another six months,
Unless you nerf duality,
Then I prob protest quit.
Haha, I can't explain it either
Was hoping for one
But guess I got is it's reaper payback for melee
So anyways, keep up the good work
Thanks for fixing the freeze issue

Ps
Maybe make that a trident but gotta use quarter staff proficiency
Because that Gulthias staff sucks for dps
Oh ya, and make it like 15w
Thanks
;)

[SirShen]

Does this mean we are getting trident as a weapon?

[Casareena]

Thank you for all your hard work. Ravenloft, the mists just everything about it is amazing!

This letter is full of interesting and exciting news, that I can't wait to come to fruition.

As for the people who continually look for ways to cheat their way through the game ugh. I can understand the one-upmanship feeling you get, but all your doing really is spoiling the game for everyone else as the worlds have to be taken down to sort out the loop-holes you've found. It is also taking time away that could be spent on fixing any issues or working on new content so your hurting yourselves too in the long run so grow-up and play the game like a gentleman instead of a spoilt brat.

P.S. Mr. Ciccolini could you bring back the raid with the spectral dragon in some form for Halloween, that raid was just awesome and is sorely missed!

[TakeItToTheLimit]

I too, smell
TOMB
OF
HORRORS

The problem with S1: Tomb of Horrors is it is basically a trapfest with too many "instadeath if you make the wrong choice" options throughout. This means it will have no longevity. Once you know which way to go there is no challenge.
S5: Barrier Peaks is a wonderful module but has the capacity to completely break DDO. Imagine players with a laser in one hand and a blaster in the other...they'd be warlocks on steroids!

The Giant trilogy would be a useful addition as a prelude to Slavelords.
Ghost Tower of Inverness
Keep on the Borderlands
Castle Amber
Castle Greyhawk

all good choices

Undermountain and Myth Drannor are really whole worlds rather than modules as is Sigil

What I'd really like to see though, is another Monster Manual covering the inexplicable holes like Vampire, Wight and Spectre, amongst others.

[Aelonwy]

Plague and House Jorasco? Sounds interesting. Will there be a hospital setup anywhere in the city?

More Easter Eggs for the Anniversary? Yay! I would love to know if any of the suggestions made it in? Lynnabel? Mimic chest in library? Yaulthoon & Fred at the party with or without a Taken date? Cake Djinn by the anniversary cake? Meatshield, a shield that looks like a slab of ham? Brussel Sprout Beater (a finessable Broccoli)? Exploding Pork Barrels on the reward list? Party cookies going in the Store Bought Cookie Jar? Nibbles appearing in random locations?

Yay Artificier Revamp! Yay Druid work! Really looking forward to it. New Favored Soul tree, Woo hoo! Please Don't forget to rebalance the enhancement costs for Cleric trees too. Divine Disciple and Radiant Servant are still some of the most expensive trees in AP costs at 79 and 80 respectively, by contrast Warpriest costs 64, Eldritch Knight costs 66, any of the Elemental Savants cost 73, Pale Master 69. Please update the Cleric enhancement trees at the same time as Favored Soul trees. Thank you.

Updates to Crystal Cove - Awesome. New Night Revels dungeon - cool.

White Plume Mountain... Shut up and take my money!

Yes MORE sentient gems please.



We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

Sev~

Tease.

[Captain_Wizbang]

You heard it here first! They're bringing back the Spectral Dragon dungeon (reworked to go in as a raid group and without all the lag-goyles) and releasing a dragon jewel as a reward!

That would be cool.


Severlin, did SSG take my suggestion from this recent post on the forums?
I have to know!!

Relax pal, the cameras and mics are turned off, no one will ever know it was you that gave them the idea. :o


It's obviously Castle Greyhawk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castle_Greyhawk_(module)).


Greyhawk

Tomb of Horrors, Isle of Dread, Greyhawk............. I vote yes to any & all.

SSG GRATZ on year 1, MoR was the best content since Vale & GH. Great job

[ChicagoChris]

Hello, ty for the game and ty for Ravenloft, a fantastic expansion.

I would like to put one issue onto your radar regarding Crystal Cove: Mithral Heavy Armor. Being made of Mithral is supposed to be an advantage but the PRR system gives it the PRR of medium armor. If possible could you please patch the PRR system to recognize Mithhral Cavalry Plate and any other armors made of mithral in the game for their base armor type?

Thank you

THIS!!!

Would it be possible to have a permanent Sheltering added to mithral and adamantine? It would have to be coded as a "Base" effect, not enhancement so it would stack. The other option would be to add Insightful PPR to mithral and Insightful MRR to adamantine from a lore standpoint to reflect each metal's effect on physical and magical harm.

[QueenOfTheHook]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit I7 with 16G Ram , 4G Video ram on my ISP's fastest line, there's nothing else I can do. Are you looking at switching hosting again or be honest is it simply too cost prohibitive.
You cannot contact any GM as they refer you to customer service and you are given the age old standby , "Must be on your end , We never heard of issues"
Personally I love the new content and pre-purchased the ultimate Ravenloft, But I would like to see some new content put on hold while we fix some issues playing.

Thanks for time.

Michael

Is it Sunrise giving you trouble or Wrath of Earth (druid one with all the electricity)? It's not an ideal fix, but if it is indeed Wrath of Earth, try restarting your client right before going into the quest. Do not just log out and back in, close the whole program and reopen. I went from 4-10 FPS on a brand new computer to a functional 40-60 fps with just a few dips into the 20s using this technique. If it is indeed Sunrise you are thinking of, try the same thing and see if it helps.

[Niminae]

Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event.

Ahhh, it all becomes clear. I listened to the "ask the devs" DDOCast, and when they said something about making Night Revels act more like Challenges I was confused, because all of the dungeons in there already act exactly like Challenges. So this is a change to the public space, gotcha. Hopefully those changes will allow the raft of spells and abilities that cannot be cast or used in public spaces to be cast there during the festival.


One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

This is all good news. I just hope that this time the intent can be made a reality. The third FvS enhancement tree was promised in the May, 2016 Producers letter. That didn't happen that year, and it's running right up on being two years without being fulfilled.

I hope that you'll keep the two good things from the Warpriest tree: Ameliorating Strike and Magic Backlash, and either jettison entirely or give a major overhaul to the rest of the tree. We all know the argument against a decent melee Cleric: A full casting rank class shouldn't have the same melee capabilities as a Paladin or Fighter or whatever. And yet Druids exist as a full casting class with a strong melee capability (and please don't screw that up during the Druid pass). Perhaps look into the same sort of mechanics that you've attached to Druid animal forms: Slower casting/cooldowns as the drawback to effective melee capabilities. This would model the Cleric Prestige classes in PnP which have 1/2 or 3/4 spell progression. Maybe tie it to the second or third core or tiers, so players could dip into Warpriest a bit without suffering any casting penalties, but if a character is more "all in" to the tree then their casting suffers due to the focus on the martial skills.


Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book.

This is awesome! I was at the Gencon or wherever this was launched back in the day and participated in the tournament. My group didn't win, but it was a pug so what do you expect. :-P This module has always had a lot of nostalgia for me due to that. It certainly isn't a typical dungeon, but it has some quirky bits that make it funny and fun. I will look forward to running this module in DDO with anticipation.

[OfElectricMen]

Hi!

For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms
You do realize that the core of the Druid class is not the animal forms, right? The core of the Druid class is, wait for it . . . Spellcasting!


We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons Happy about it, I believe. Responsive to it? Nothing you've said here indicates that is the case.

Thanks!

[Vooduspyce]

Congrats to SSG on a successful first year! What started out slow and a little bumpy just kept getting better. 2017 was better than at least the previous 2 years for me and this letter has me looking forward to 2018!

What is conspicuously missing is any mention of new player races. I thought kobold and tiefling were a shoe in for 2018 but no mention. Can you please speak to new races for 2018?

[Graedyn_Jaxx]

[QUOTE=What is conspicuously missing is any mention of new player races. I thought kobold and tiefling were a shoe in for 2018 but no mention. Can you please speak to new races for 2018?[/QUOTE]

About as likely as the Flumph as a pc race or Blackguard as an Iconic Class. Just not going to happen.

As for quests Castle Amber or Bloodstone pass have some good arc potential.

[QueenOfTheHook]

Congrats to SSG on a successful first year! What started out slow and a little bumpy just kept getting better. 2017 was better than at least the previous 2 years for me and this letter has me looking forward to 2018!

What is conspicuously missing is any mention of new player races. I thought kobold and tiefling were a shoe in for 2018 but no mention. Can you please speak to new races for 2018?

Maybe they are going to let the racial completionist have a break from that grind? Every new race means another 4 lives to grind, 3 to get racial completionist back, and 1 to get their actual build back.

[Chacka_DDO]

just some quotes:


Must be on your end though. I'm running and AMD FX8350, 16GB RAM and a 1070. I get well over 60fps on ultra. There are some lag issues, sure, but no fps issues.


It is about consistency, if a single (type of) area drops FPS by 75-90%, that is a bug - stronger configurations probably make it feel less impactful.

Into the Mist,
Yester Hill,
Berez quests (inc Baba Raid outside areas)

All the above quests do the super FPS drop on my IGP only PC. Other areas play perfectly fine 30-45 FPS, consistently.


He maybe means Wrath of Earth, running a dual hex cored Xeon e5 rig with 32 gig ram and AMD 56 8 gig HBM2 card off ssd and I see low frames of 8-20 in Wrath and I'm only running at 1440p so I can see the icons else would be 1600p/4k on a 44 inch screen, 220 meg down 20 up internet pings of 100ms with no loss, even the explorer before entering gets 50-60 fps so that tesla tower is sapping the life out of everything to run it's volts.


I run a system with a v3 3.5Ghz Xeon CPU and 32GB ECC memory my Graphic is an R9 Fury Nano.
As I bought my system my goal was a stable running system to get as least as possible problems.
That's why ECC RAM because it completely eliminated the sudden DDO client shut downs for me (caused by the low-quality RAM I had before, but the ECC completely eliminate all one-bit errors now) and I use an AMD card, because the Nvidia drivers have always caused bugs for me no matter what Nvidia card I tried with DDO.

But now to the subject. my experience is that with my NON-high end system I am used to see above 100 fps in most quests. in Some old areas even above 200 fps.
In the quest Wrath of Earth the fps drops for me to like 40 fps, maybe I'm just spoiled but this is already noticeable and too low because if you got an average of 40 fps this includes some spikes to like 80 fps but too bad also some spikes down to very low fps and very noticeable graphical lag.
My tip for this quest is to restart your DDO client if you do this quest (or another one you may experience an unusual fps drop) for me a fresh DDO client greatly improves the performance and I have almost no really annoying graphical lag then. And this might be also the reason why the developer who creates this is/was not aware of this issue, if he always tested his newest creation on a freshly started DDO client (just a thought of course).

So what does this tell me and why fits this to this thread?
Based on my own experiences on my Computer system and from reports I read here in the Forum it is obvious that the System requirements are very different in different quests.
And this cause some major problems formost for users with not the best hardware.
But the question is what is wrong and what can be done?
I don't think the solution is only to tell the players have to buy the newest graphical cards and CPUs etc. just to make ONE quest running as it should be.
Sure the quest works also "WAI" but this reminds me on the Spectre & Meltdown problem almost all CPU have now, the CPUs also work as intended but this makes exploits possible so it is not really helpful for the users that they work as intended :eek:.
My expectation for the future would be that developers and game designers actually test what they do on a recommended system for DDO.
And the currently recommended system (https://help.standingstonegames.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002040207-What-are-the-system-requirements-for-DDO-) would have major issues in the quest wrath of earth!
So the player knows if he got this system (or a better one) he can expect all quests are actually working for him.
And this is another example for me that the developers do insufficient tests.
DDO doesn't have to run only on a high-end system with 20ms latency smoothly, it has to run on a currently recommended system (https://help.standingstonegames.com/hc/en-us/articles/115002040207-What-are-the-system-requirements-for-DDO-) also in Australia with 200ms latency (or so).
But of course, this is just an opinion based on an assumption.
Not everyone has to share it even if I believe that's a quite reasonable demand.

[adrian69]

I'll chime in with my two cents about the lag. It's making the game nigh unplayable some nights. A run which normally takes me 12 minutes through Lords of Death just took me 38 minutes with all the lag. Swing, swing, lag...swing, lag...you get the drift. Forget about getting spells off...

Please, point me to where I can find and defeat the lag monster of Ghallanda...

I've not* noticed any lag since the maintenance fix last week. We have a couple of people that have atrocious lag who found out in the last week Windows and related apps were constantly updating in the background. I know one of them set their updater to a weekly time and lag has stopped for the most part, not sure about the other guy, but it may be something to look into.

edit*

[swadesblynx]

I love this game & ty bunches for keeping it a challenge; however, will help tickets get answered now that Ravenloft is up & running????

[Maquist]

You do realize that the core of the Druid class is not the animal forms, right? The core of the Druid class is, wait for it . . . Spellcasting!

When I read that section of the letter, I didn't read it as implying that the animal forms are the core of the class. I read it as a list of the components that will be reworked. In essence, they will be reworking 1-the core of the class, 2-the animal forms, and 3-the enhancement trees.

Now I wonder which one is the intended message?

[Chacka_DDO]

What do I wish for DDO? (because this seems to be a "wünsch dir was" thread)
More content is of course always nice (more races, classes, quests etc.) but please quality over quantity so make the new content as good as we are used to it from you.

My currently biggest Issues with DDO "gameplay" are space problems and the need to deal with the TR cache.
So I would wish you completely remove the TR cache from the game because this is NOT need. A TR can work like an ER/LR!
Just leave us the bank and inventory space we got from favor and you dont have any need for such a TR cache!
And at the end, this might be also less work for you because you also had to deal with some big issues with this stupid and unneeded TR cache in the past.

Besides that, more space is always better! ;)

In my opinion, you should also consider to completely drop the BTC property on items and make items either BTA or not bankable. I think it basically never needs to make an item BTC or nonbankable because you can completely avoid the need for such a property.
Basically the need for anything that inhibits free trading of items in a game is quite artificial and not really need if you do things "smart" enough.
But I think that at least BTA is maybe really need for DDO, but I wonder if I only think this because I'm used to it.
If we would not have a BTC, there is basically no need for a character bank and you can drop this old and also basically outdated system.
Then we could have only ONE BIG account bank! :D

And the next thing that also concerns the space and item handling problem.
one of my biggest wishes for DDO are items that scale with your level, this means you can equip such an item from level one to level 30 and it provides its power based on your current charater level (e.g. 2 strength at level one and 20 strength at level 30).
In my opinion, also an example of something we all are used to have in an MMO are the minimum level property of items.
But we are used to having something that is basically not needed and quite stupid if you think about it, but it is very hard to drop old habits.

And another thing is that I expect that you stop this stupid power creep, also this is something we are just used to have, even if it is stupid and even harmful for the game at the end!
Make item different and not stronger!

Therefore if you update the item rewards e.g. for Crystal Cove, you might consider to introduce items that scale with your level because they do this anyway, you just need like 5 inventory spaces for an item that should only use one space, with all the negative consequences for the player!
And don't make the new items too strong. Make them as strong as Ravenloft items not more and not less.
And if you keep this line you don't have to fear that you have to change this item again and again because of they were outdated by your own senseless power creeping item policy.
The reason why you are going to change this item now is foremost the power creep in the past but you should finally start to learn from the past.

And if you do class passes the same, be careful to not overdo it because this cause the need of class passes in the future only to solve balance problems caused by power creep too.

[Kwansai]

I've had a ticket in for over 3 months on not being able to enter Kings Forrest in the Underdark package. You don't even sell the package right now but you haven't done anything for those that are effected by this. Not even a reply to the ticket. Any feedback would be expected by a paying customer.

[Gapp]

Sounds awesome!

Who's going to narrate White Plume Mountain?

I would like Christopher Walken to narrate a dungeon would be great.

[Spadedragon]

I'm glad to see my idea of a kobold sentient jewel will be implemented for the anniversary event.

On another note can they add new types of festival augments to Night Revels this year. It would be nice to see charisma and constitution festival augments added.

[Tamryn]

I smell..... TOMB OF HORRORS!!!!! :D


LOL! That is exactly what came first to my mind as well! :cool:

[PSU_Lion]

Please let the expansion be Isle of Dread!!!!!!!!

[Stev69]

All good stuff. However banking, inventory and the ui in general all need to be brought up to date. A server wide search tool would be awesome, nothing worse than looking through a whole bunch of toons for an item you think you might have. On that server wide note server wide trading would also be welcome rather than on a per character basis. I know I personally spend to much time sorting through stuff.

[HungarianRhapsody]

An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them.

What does that mean? Most named weapons that are ML 20 or above can be Sentient. Are these weapons already Sentient? Or are they three new jewels? I'm interested, but confused.

[Arkat]

Does this mean we are getting trident as a weapon?

I'll bet it's a quarterstaff that just looks like a trident.

[MeliCat]

I'll bet it's a quarterstaff that just looks like a trident.

But maybe comes with like 1000x the durability?

Yeah. That'd be good.

[Clematis]

More BtC storage space?!
Don't get my hopes up! The whole storage system needs to be reworked, anyway. The game does not support at all the management of long-time players collections of thousands of items.

[Greantun]

I've had a ticket in for over 3 months on not being able to enter Kings Forrest in the Underdark package. You don't even sell the package right now but you haven't done anything for those that are effected by this. Not even a reply to the ticket. Any feedback would be expected by a paying customer.

You can by MOTU, with underdark, kings forest, etc via the ddo Market (https://store.standingstonegames.com/store/ssg/en_US/pd/ThemeID.4823088000/productID.246618300/categoryID.58733100/parentCategoryID.58516100), just not with DDOPoints in game.

They added that back in around the time Ravenloft was released.

[Arkat]

What does that mean? Most named weapons that are ML 20 or above can be Sentient. Are these weapons already Sentient? Or are they three new jewels? I'm interested, but confused.

In the classic module, White Plume Mountain, the three weapons in question, Wave, Whelm, and Blackrazor, are already senitient.

Whether they'll already be sentient in the new DDO pack is anyone's guess.

[Arkat]

But maybe comes with like 1000x the durability?

Yeah. That'd be good.

LOL!

It should at least come with the same Hardness and Durability of the cloth-made Softsole Slippers - 49/390!

[gabbatastic]

Greetings!
We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!


Hope it's Tomb of Horrors

[Akiraa]

Sounds awesome!

Who's going to narrate White Plume Mountain?

Morgan Freeman

[edgarallanpoe]

Hope it's Tomb of Horrors

I keep seeing this and every time I read it I scratch my head. Tomb of Horrors is one of the all time great modules, of that there is no argument. However, IMHO it would be the absolute worst module to translate over to DDO and here is why. The thing that made ToH such a great module was the abundance of deadly traps and the fact that it made players seriously think and work together. That might sound like a great idea but where would the replay value be? Once you know the location of the trap and the solution to the puzzles and the way to kill the demi-litch the dungeon would lack any type of challenge. There are *very* few monsters to fight...in fact I can only think of a couple...the gargoyle and the demi-lich obviously. I am also unaware of any unique loot, massive XP though.

Maybe Return to ToH would make for a better for DDO...it's obviously inferior to the original but might translate to DDO better.

[mons]

Who's going to narrate White Plume Mountain?

SSG should have a contest and let one or several members of the community narrate it. Would be really cool.

[MeliCat]

SSG should have a contest and let one or several members of the community narrate it. Would be really cool.

Oooh! Id love to!

Except I have this stupid Aussie accent which would ne jarringly incongruous :D

[Thrudh]

I keep seeing this and every time I read it I scratch my head. Tomb of Horrors is one of the all time great modules, of that there is no argument. However, IMHO it would be the absolute worst module to translate over to DDO and here is why. The thing that made ToH such a great module was the abundance of deadly traps and the fact that it made players seriously think and work together. That might sound like a great idea but where would the replay value be? Once you know the location of the trap and the solution to the puzzles and the way to kill the demi-litch the dungeon would lack any type of challenge. There are *very* few monsters to fight...in fact I can only think of a couple...the gargoyle and the demi-lich obviously. I am also unaware of any unique loot, massive XP though.

Maybe Return to ToH would make for a better for DDO...it's obviously inferior to the original but might translate to DDO better.

Yep, I keep thinking this too.

Tomb of Horrors would not translate well to DDO at all. Why do people keep bringing it up?

Now, Against the Giants (G1-G3) would be fun.

[LightB]

I will vote for that a "voic-actor contest." I want to participate in that, too,
so please announce it for several days and also give the opportunities to
those who live overseas.

Anyways, I am so happy that new stuff is coming every year!
Kudos to the team and their efforts!
I really do appriciate what you do to keep us entertained!

[cdbd3rd]

...Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!...

Expedition To The Barrier Peaks!!! :D

Or maybe just Tomb Of Horrors. ;)




White Plume Mountain? Holy ****! ....

http://i.imgur.com/4hO1wdh.jpg

Heya stranger!! :)

[CutItUp]

Whoever narrated Fresh Baked Dreams is one of my favorite DM voices, sounds a lot like Christopher Lee (Count Dooku / Saruman)

I bet Michael Cristofer (Phillip Price in Mr. Robot) could do a decent narration

[edgarallanpoe]

Yep, I keep thinking this too.

Tomb of Horrors would not translate well to DDO at all. Why do people keep bringing it up?

Now, Against the Giants (G1-G3) would be fun.

Indeed...that would rock. And it could even tie into another series with the Drow.

[Silverleafeon]

Nice stuff! Looking forward to the coming year :)

A couple things I noticed:

-Magic is failing and a plague is going around. Smells like the Spellplague (http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Spellplague) to me, which already has been referenced (http://ddowiki.com/page/Eveningstar_Challenge_Pack#Item_Deconstruction) in DDO so isn't impossible...

+1 Good thinking. Sometimes its good to remember that DDO resides in one of the wildest parts of Eberron.

http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Xen%27Drik

Lots there to read including

"...A conclave of the greatest Arcanists in all of Xen’Drik was assembled and a weapon of cataclysmic power was unleashed severing the connection from Dal Quor, the plane of dreams, and the primal plane. The power of the weapon was so devastating that the cataclysmic result was nearly as bad as the war itself..."


"...For thirty-five thousand years the echoes of the conflict between the Dragons and Giants have distorted the lands of Xen’Drik. The unleashed echoes of eldritch power have created bizarre monsters and twisted landscape in its path..."


"...The Traveler's Curse alters Xen'Drik temporally and spatially. The effect is that adventurers will find that maps sometimes fail them..."


https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/eberron/images/e/ee/XenDrik.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20070826215833

[Mindos]

Whoever narrated Fresh Baked Dreams is one of my favorite DM voices, sounds a lot like Christopher Lee (Count Dooku / Saruman)

I bet Michael Cristofer (Phillip Price in Mr. Robot) could do a decent narration

James Flynn

http://ddowiki.com/page/Category:DDO_voice_actors

[apacheizm23]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~

Thank you and it sounds like fun to me! I recently played a Druid just to get through a few lives and it didn't take long for me to figure out that the class is broken and needs a lot of fixing/help! Also my fellow companions and I recently spoke on Favored Soul class definitely needing a fix. Low and behold I find you're thread today telling us that is exactly what you guys are going to do. Bravo!!

[Silverleafeon]

SSG should have a contest and let one or several members of the community narrate it. Would be really cool.

Cordovan mentioned that DDO has to use a member of the actor's guild (or something of that nature) for voice actors.
Likely some contract(s) they signed?
Which is why Cordovan joined the actor's guild awhile back to help out.

[cdbd3rd]

SSG should have a contest and let one or several members of the community narrate it. Would be really cool.


I will vote for that a "voic-actor contest." I want to participate in that, too,
...


IIRC, they explained in the past that to do even voice-acting on a video game, one must be a member of the SAG.

Now. I dunno how much it costs, but I do know where my local office of the SAG is... ;)


edit:


We thank you for your interest in joining SAG-AFTRA. All new members pay a one-time-only initiation fee, plus the first semiannual dues at the time of joining. The national initiation fee rate is currently $3000.00 (initiation fees may be lower in some states). Annual Base dues are $210.12.

Plus there's some mumbo-jumbo about eligibilty requirements that I didn't read further in to.

[GoldyGopher]

+1 Good thinking. Sometimes its good to remember that DDO resides in one of the wildest parts of Eberron.

http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Xen%27Drik

Lots there to read including

"...A conclave of the greatest Arcanists in all of Xen’Drik was assembled and a weapon of cataclysmic power was unleashed severing the connection from Dal Quor, the plane of dreams, and the primal plane. The power of the weapon was so devastating that the cataclysmic result was nearly as bad as the war itself..."


"...For thirty-five thousand years the echoes of the conflict between the Dragons and Giants have distorted the lands of Xen’Drik. The unleashed echoes of eldritch power have created bizarre monsters and twisted landscape in its path..."


"...The Traveler's Curse alters Xen'Drik temporally and spatially. The effect is that adventurers will find that maps sometimes fail them..."





Thank You! I have spent a lot of time attempting to improve the information on the eberron wiki to include not only DDO but fill in the gaps where the official information has not yet been entered.

[Stevonovich]

Since my wife and I started playing DDO a few years ago this has been our Saturday thing and we have been very happy with it ever since.

Ravenloft: AWESOME WORK GUYS!! the atmosphere was well carried off and visuals are beautiful. When will it branch out past Barovia to the other lands or is this supposed to be post conjunction? Lord Soth Please!!!

[Krell]

These sound like nice updates. Things I would add to the wish list - updated art and animations for avatars, scaling UI, more incentive to play at cap.

[Paladin_of_Power]

I nominate Vin Diesel, Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, and Sam Houston.

Those are all great choices, I'd just like to add: Tyrion Lannister.

[Gralhota]

I play only with Wizard and waited on 2016, 2017, 2018.

But apparently, wizards will only have some love in 2020.

It was good while it lasted.

:>(

[Mhandz]

Those are all great choices, I'd just like to add: Tyrion Lannister.

i would have too add that since DnD 2.0 ive been a huge fan or the Psion/psionic Warrior classes. I am hoping they will make an introduction soon if at all possible. considering they already work thier craft on a point system, it shouldnt be too hard to add them into our adventures.

[Teeaaa]

Standing Stone Games

Thank you so much for being the ones keeping my new favorite game, despite me still being new to the game (almost 2 years of playing :D )

I am really excited to changes being made to FVS, Druid, AND Artificer..
Will be sure to not TR any of them right now...

PLEASE OF PLEASE LET THIS KOBOLD SENTIENT JEWEL LEAD TO KOBOLD RACE... I WANNA BE A KOBOLD :D

Thank You
~Creeper_Math

[ThrakThor]

Greetings!

An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

Sev~

Severlin, a couple of times in there you reference 'sentient weapons' from White Plume Mountains as separate things. Can I clarify if there is something new coming in the pack where there is a weapon that is in itself sentient and does not require a gem/uses a specific, static gem only or should one read it as new, cool, named item that can take a gem and become sentient?

Cheers

[Arramis]

Very excited for all the things listed in the letter. I just hope the new adventures ( White Plume Mountain ) aren't just stuck in the Hall of Heroes like the ToEE and The Slave series. One of the things I always liked about paper and pen was the journey to the module, in DDO we almost never go anywhere. Almost every quest is in, or adjacent to, the marketplace. Eveningstar is the closest thing to an epic journey we have. You have to navigate the Demonweb to get there, initially. But, even there, all the quests are adjacent to the marketplace. Maybe it's just me. That's why Three Barrel Cove, The Menectaran Desert, Gianthold and The Red Fens are my favorite areas. You journey, a little bit, to the quest. Thanks for the constant support over the past 12 years and thanks for all you do to continue adding to this great game.

[NXPlasmid]

In the classic module, White Plume Mountain, the three weapons in question, Wave, Whelm, and Blackrazor, are already senitient.

Whether they'll already be sentient in the new DDO pack is anyone's guess.

my guess is that they'll be somehow "broken" or unusable, but you can remove the gem... but they could be sentient on their own and have filigree slots.

[UurlockYgmeov]

I nominate Vin Diesel, Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, and Sam Houston.

How about a set up like sentient weapons: earn multiple DM personality jewels, and the DM voice dependS upon which one you have/choose to use. :p Dragon, Sean Connery, Kobold oh mY!

As far as something players have asked for since nearly the beginning - A REAL, FULLY FORMED G.M.S. (Guild Management System) AND Leomund"s Secret Chest. Okay, the 2nd one just wishful thinking.

All-in-all, a good year for DDO - and I am hoping for another expansion by this time next year.

[superperun]

I just wish that humanoid monsters like for example hobgoblins have few more animations of falling down while being killed.

[Stoner81]

Druids finally getting fixed, nice.

I haz a sad in my feelz :(

Stoner81.

[Dulcimerist]

Druids finally getting fixed, nice.

The fix to Druid pets is what I'm most looking forward to! :)

[Chaimberland]

Greetings!



We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!


Sev~

Teifling as a playable class perhaps?

[wolf6312]

Congratz!!! Thank you for all you guys do to keep this game running! Here's to another year of success...

[BoundByChains]

Who's going to narrate White Plume Mountain?

I realize I'm a little late when it comes to how quickly I responded, but...

I CALL DIBS!

[sleeksilver]

Absolutely awesome! Thank you to you and the rest of the team for all of your efforts. Love this game!

[sleeksilver]

Since my wife and I started playing DDO a few years ago this has been our Saturday thing and we have been very happy with it ever since.

Ravenloft: AWESOME WORK GUYS!! the atmosphere was well carried off and visuals are beautiful. When will it branch out past Barovia to the other lands or is this supposed to be post conjunction? Lord Soth Please!!!

That would be so rad! Lord Soth indeed! Also, Dance of the Dead!

[Del]

Thanks for the letter! After playing a few months at launch, I came back early 2017 for the solo-player experience. Please keep the game solo-player friendly and I'll keep playing! Growing up with D&D in the early 80s, I especially look forward to more classic adventures! Cheers!

[Gramico]

I smell..... TOMB OF HORRORS!!!!! :D

That would be so cool!

[Gratch]

Tease.

The thinking is they wanted to announce it and it was holding the letter up, but it hasn't gotten through THEM THAT HAS THE FINAL SAY ON HOW THE LICENSE MAY BE USED FOR D&D's. So we got the letter w/o that final info while it is being reviewed.

[Stingae]

White plume isn't one I played so will be interested to see.

Pumped about cove BUT v nervous that all my hard won and saved mats will be cancelled/invalidated.

[Michaelaz2]

Is it Sunrise giving you trouble or Wrath of Earth (druid one with all the electricity)? It's not an ideal fix, but if it is indeed Wrath of Earth, try restarting your client right before going into the quest. Do not just log out and back in, close the whole program and reopen. I went from 4-10 FPS on a brand new computer to a functional 40-60 fps with just a few dips into the 20s using this technique. If it is indeed Sunrise you are thinking of, try the same thing and see if it helps.

Thanks , and yes I stand corrected , it was Wrath , no issues with sunrise. I will try that .

[Vasax]

Greetings!
Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us
(stuff)
Sev~

Would be nice to see some quality of life improvements. Here we are, # years down the road, there still isn't a named returning arrow or bolt. We got sentient weapons, but require feeding them, why couldn't they just be based on Reaper xp, like the Reaper tree is or some combination of both. Filigree's are awesome set bonuses, but you could have taken it a bit further and let people create their own Filigrees from named items, you know, drop a Named item with a small percent chance to extract a weapon effect, fail, you lose the item. When are we going to get a scroll/potion clickie crafting system... Why can't we Dye our Armors, Helms, etc. Why do summoned arrows/bolts have to vanish on exit, and not go in quivers.

Trust us, the little things add up and can make people just as happy.

[GramercyRiff]

Severlin, a couple of times in there you reference 'sentient weapons' from White Plume Mountains as separate things. Can I clarify if there is something new coming in the pack where there is a weapon that is in itself sentient and does not require a gem/uses a specific, static gem only or should one read it as new, cool, named item that can take a gem and become sentient?

Cheers

I noticed this too and some clarity here would be nice. We'll probably just have to wait until White Plume Mountain is closer.

[shores11]

Any hope on the horizon for FR expanding from level 1 to 14?

[Sarkastik]

Tomb of Horrors is unlikely to happen as Neverwinter Online already did a version of this module recently with its "Tomb of Annihilation" update.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCNhIK47TX8

Instead, the 2019 classic adventure pack should be Module S4 'The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.' The Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth directly follows White Plume Mountain and would be an opportunity to introduce some cool monsters such as the Behir to DDO.

https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TUrOBQUX9kA/WPYzu65J1CI/AAAAAAAAbSE/dNMExn0QNrcOLTZvZaUq0PJfQrbRll6owCLcB/s640/cover.jpg

I used to own this module, along with dozens of others that I never actually played. Hmmm, would you believe that I'm a packrat in DDO as well?

[Sarkastik]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit I7 with 16G Ram , 4G Video ram on my ISP's fastest line, there's nothing else I can do. Are you looking at switching hosting again or be honest is it simply too cost prohibitive.
You cannot contact any GM as they refer you to customer service and you are given the age old standby , "Must be on your end , We never heard of issues"
Personally I love the new content and pre-purchased the ultimate Ravenloft, But I would like to see some new content put on hold while we fix some issues playing.

Thanks for time.

Michael

I agree I think this has to be a problem (likely with other software) on your system. DDO is most certainly *not* one of the most GPU intensive (excepting maybe the Black Loch quest) games out there, and it sounds like you have a decent system. You say your video card is 4G so I assume it has a relatively powerful GPU. You only need middle-of-the-road equipment to run DDO well (this is a 12 year old game with some basic graphic updates), so it definitely sounds like you have other issues (i.e. software, drivers) interfering here.

[helgaarde]

Expedition to the Barrier Peaks?

Expedition to the barrier peaks would be awesome, but then again so would the tomb of horrors or the sinister secret of saltmarsh

[Sarkastik]

I nominate Vin Diesel, Morgan Freeman, James Earl Jones, and Sam Houston.

Scott Brick

[The_Human_Cypher]

The Giant Crab guardian and manticores need to be in White Plume Mountain. The adventure wouldn't be the same without those monsters. Manticores are on the covers of both versions of the original module.

http://i.somethingawful.com/u/elpintogrande/july10/whiteplumemountain/manticore.gif

https://geekdad.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2013/05/DMS2-White-Plume-Mountain-Crop.jpg

[PsychoBlonde]

Expedition to the barrier peaks would be awesome, but then again so would the tomb of horrors or the sinister secret of saltmarsh

Honestly, if they could do it, I would LOVE to see the whole Sunless Citadel chain done. It's more recent, but some good adventures with a fair bit of variety (and funny kobolds) were in those modules.

[PsychoBlonde]

The Giant Crab guardian and manticores need to be in White Plume Mountain. The adventure wouldn't be the same without those monsters. Manticores are on the covers of both versions of the original module.

Manticores absolutely. Yes.

[PsychoBlonde]

More specific stuff:



Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

My suggestions:

1. Put Mirra of Mirra's Sleepless Nights fame and Anabele of The Enemy Within directly outside the Parthilcar Tower Crypt.
2. Move Acolyte Hestair directly outside the entrance to Dead Predators.
3. Rename the House J favor vendor so that there isn't an Anabele d'Jorasco and Anabelle d'Jorasco on two completely different parts of the map! WHO decided to give these two VIRTUALLY THE SAME NAME ZOMG.
4. Maybe remove the floating platform jump up to the no-longer-existing reincarnation guy who isn't there any more and hasn't been for literally years now. Alternately, move Fred here.
5. Move ALL of the quest givers who give quests that are inside Delera's Graveyard INTO Delera's Graveyard, and put them in front of their respective quests instead of using them as decorations on the House J facade. Make it so that you don't have to do The Haunted Library in order to take the quest for the Keeper's Sanctuary. The quests are not connected in any real way, one of them is in a p2p pack and one of them is f2p and they're in completely different zones.
6. Move Tempest Spine where Xorian Cipher is and put Xorian Cipher where Tempest Spine is. Xorian Cipher relates directly to Dreams of Insanity (the Dreams of Insanity questgiver even has dialog that directly references Xorian Cipher). It makes more sense that these should be placed together. And that way Tempest Spine will be more prominent by itself.
7. Move Thaddeus d'Jorasco from the island in the pond to right next to the door to The Graverobber.
8. Put the Questgiver for The Haunted Library right outside the DOOR for The Haunted Library.


One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies.

Needs a battlefist. Or, an effect that applies to your runearm that makes it a "battlefist". My idea: your runearm counts as a shield, applies a shield bonus, and can bash like a shield. MAYBE make this a modal toggle that is exclusive with charging your runearm (so you can either charge and fire it, or use it as a battlefist, not both.) This would basically mimic the effect of the "battlefist" listed under the Renegade Mastermaker. No idea how difficult this would be to implement re: animations and other issues.

Suggest adding an ability that lets you use the highest of your Repair or Positive spellpower for your curative admixtures AND repair spells.

Consider moving Palliative Admixture (which is terrible--improve it if you move it) and Critical Admixture to the new tree and putting something else on Arcanotechnician.

Improved trapmaking plz thx.

Grenades pretty plz. :D


We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

PET. ENHANCEMENTS.

MAKE ARTI PET STOP GOING BRAIN-DEAD.

[Skorj1]

Congrats to SSG for making it a year. Here's to many more.

I'd love to see Tomb of Horrors, but only if we can to it properly: by stampeding a herd of Kobolds though it to find all the traps.

Who's up for Crystal Cove meets Tomb of Horrors?

[Erokir]

It does such little dps that few people use it.

I'm looking forward to the update.

[PsychoBlonde]

I noticed this too and some clarity here would be nice. We'll probably just have to wait until White Plume Mountain is closer.

There's a 3rd option, also--new sentient filigree sets.

I'm assuming that since they mention the weapon types there are at the least going to be some nice new endgame weapons that accept sentience.

[Silverleafeon]

More specific stuff:.


+1 nice

My general thoughts on House J are:

1) Quest Givers are very hidden, making it more difficult for a new player to find.
{The Halfling sneak theme here is not working.}

2) The House is maze-like, resulting in some confusion on how to transverse from front to back.
{Have gotten lost many times going from the middle to find the exit into the Marketplace.}


Cutting a few hole in the walls would help a lot.

Moving Quest Givers out of the Bushes and perferably in front of their quests would help a lot.

[Silverleafeon]

It does such little dps that few people use it.

I'm looking forward to the update.

+1 agreed

Hope to see a bit more distinction between the Favored Soul and the Cleric version as well.

Likely needs a Crit Bonus, some Melee Power, a few more attacks etc...

[Silverleafeon]

When I read that section of the letter, I didn't read it as implying that the animal forms are the core of the class. I read it as a list of the components that will be reworked. In essence, they will be reworking 1-the core of the class, 2-the animal forms, and 3-the enhancement trees.

Now I wonder which one is the intended message?

There are gramatical rules for list including unity of theme, same structure, equal/ascending/descending order,
placing me/I at the back, etc...

Given that #3 is obviously part of a list, one must assume #2 is also a separate part of a list.
If #1 & #2 were listed alone, the possibilities would be multiple.


When Sev talks about Core, I am reminded of the recent Cleric Domains & Favor Soul Changes.
Taking the Base Class and changing thus:


The Druid
Preparable Spells
Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Spell points*
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
1st
+0/+0
+2
+0
+2
Call Wolf Companion, Druidic Oath, Goodberry, Wild Empathy,
Druid: Spontaneous Casting
130
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2nd
+1/+1/+6
+3
+0
+3
Wild Shape: Bear or Wolf
155
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3rd
+2/+2/+7
+3
+1
+3

180
4
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4th
+3/+3/+8
+4
+1
+4

205
5
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5th
+3/+3/+8
+4
+1
+4
Wild Shape: Bear or Wolf
230
5
4
3
-
-
-
-
-
-
6th
+4/+4/+9
+5
+2
+5

260
5
5
4
-
-
-
-
-
-
7th
+5/+5/+10/+15
+5
+2
+5
Improved Wild Empathy
295
5
5
4
3
-
-
-
-
-
8th
+6/+6/+11/+16
+6
+2
+6
Wild Shape: Dire Bear or Winter Wolf
335
6
5
5
4
-
-
-
-
-
9th
+6/+6/+11/+16
+6
+3
+6
Venom Immunity
380
6
6
5
4
3
-
-
-
-
10th
+7/+7/+12/+17
+7
+3
+7

430
6
6
5
5
4
-
-
-
-
11th
+8/+8/+13/+18
+7
+3
+7
Wild Shape: Dire Bear or Winter Wolf
485
6
6
6
5
4
3
-
-
-
12th
+9/+9/+14/+19
+8
+4
+8

545
6
6
6
5
5
4
-
-
-
13th
+9/+9/+14/+19
+8
+4
+8
Wild Shape: Fire Elemental or Water Elemental
610
6
6
6
6
5
4
3
-
-
14th
+10/+10/+15/+20
+9
+4
+9

680
6
6
6
6
5
5
4
-
-
15th
+11/+11/+16/+21
+9
+5
+9
Timeless Body
755
6
6
6
6
6
5
4
3
-
16th
+12/+12/+17/+22
+10
+5
+10

835
6
6
6
6
6
5
5
4
-
17th
+12/+12/+17/+22
+10
+5
+10
Wild Shape: Fire Elemental or Water Elemental
920
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
4
3
18th
+13/+13/+18/+23
+11
+6
+11

1010
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
5
4
19th
+14/+14/+19/+24
+11
+6
+11

1105
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
5
5
20th
+15/+15/+20/+25
+12
+6
+12

1205
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6
6

All that stuff.

Its possible that we will see the Druid have some piecemeal improvements at times instead of all at once.

There are things one could do here.

Add Earth & Air forms along with stealing twoish Acid Spells from the arcane list?
Black Dragon Bolt?

Decrease the cooldown penalty of spells cast while in animal form?

Improve Flame Blade to function reasonably competatively in Epic Levels?

Grant elemental fighting abilities to all elemental forms?

Grant more nature like bonuses to druids?
Maybe Elemental Damage is more defended against.

Possibly upgrade the benefits and penalties of all wild shapes?

Possibly add one or more Epic Wild Shape Feats (Epic Destiny Feat Group?)?


Elemental Forms could have a base basic elemental blade and dart base on wisdom.






2) Animal Forms are not working as intended (including Tree Form Primal).

Animal Forms could have their own set of Melee Feat Group with bonuses.
EI: Natural Fighting #1, #2, #3 would become more distinctive with upgrades.
Possibly there could be two groups: defensive and offensive variations.

Eliminate the normal two handed/two weapon/single/shield groups from benefiting Animal forms.

Apply Animal Form variations to all existing Feat Attack & Enhancement Attack forms properly.

Possibly make Wild Shape #1 a requirement of Tree Form Primal?

Obviously this is going to take a lot of work to get it right....and might come out after some of these other changes.




3) Enhancements


The Wolf and Arty Dog trees are way outdated.
They still use the original system from long ago.


There could be a lot of strong changes done to the Nature's Warrior to support removing all melee feat groups from animal form besides natural fighting. This is why is such a big deal to convert.

Season's Herald Capstone does not work.
Changes of Season seems to stack on itself possibly creating more in game lag for everyone.

A third tree would greatly increase functionability of the Season's Herald tree and likely should be caster orientated, because most melee druid multiclass. If this tree included healing and support, that would help pure melee druid builds.

[Silverleafeon]

But apparently, wizards will only have some love in 2020.

Arcanes are Right after Druids last information.
So depending on how things go...

Then a polish pass looking over everything to fix the stuff that is broken/unbalance....

[Gralhota]

Arcanes are Right after Druids last information.
So depending on how things go...

Then a polish pass looking over everything to fix the stuff that is broken/unbalance....


That's exactly what I'm saying and what's been going on for years. At this rate, love for wizards only in 2020.

Good for those who like, but particularly, the wheel of Ramster (TR) is something ******** to which I refuse to do and there is no end game.

Can put 300x updates, expansion packs, etc... Without at least one revamp in the Magister and the Eldricth Knight, this game is over for me.

But who cares about a guy who feels pleasure just playing with a class?

At least you're happy with Schedule, let's move on.

[luste]

Its so nice to see DDO is alive and kicking, I have read the letter just one thing is missing. As I spend a lot of TP on hirelings it would be nice for a upgrade on the levels as highest healer is 27 and rogue is 24 cant even find hidden doors could this also be looked into please as I am a solo player most of the time.:cool:

[edrein]

An additional thought after rereading the letter a few times; why not delay the content portion of U38 to the summer release slot? Let's start this year off on a strong foot and finish the enhancement pass; hunker down on cleric, fvs, druid, arti, and squeeze in the arcanes. Right now we're still rich with content from Ravenloft and the expansion will be available soon for points, so even more people will be running the content. Let's not split the playerbase further with the additional chain for now, instead wait to deploy that during summer.

However, finishing the enhancement pass before it rolls around to year three would be amazing and great, it'd restore a lot of confidence from folks that have left but have been waiting to return. And in general it'd help lessen the pains and gripings of various groups.

[changelingamuck]

Quite disappointed to not see more content in the Ravenloft setting planned, especially considering that we have heard that the expansion was very successful and seems so popular. I hope this isn't an indication that the setting will be abandoned and we'll only have the expansion when it comes to Ravenloft content. Barovia isn't the only domain in the setting. The Ravenloft setting has had over 100 products released for it (https://index.rpg.net/display-search.phtml?key=background&value=Ravenloft&sort=system), a minority of which were set in Barovia despite it being the most famous domain.

The first new campaign setting that was introduced to DDO in an expansion, Forgotten Realms, has received additional content, including a second expansion even. Part of the reason that my interest in DDO was renewed and part of the reason that I purchased the Mists of Ravenloft expansion was because I anticipated that Ravenloft would also receive additional content occasionally after the Mists of Ravenloft expansion was released.

Are there really no plans for additional Ravenloft content? Ever?


Please add some form of a dissolver where we turn in an old Crystal Cove item and it destroys said item in exchange for 1/2 of the ingredients used to create it.

^This.

It would be very, very irksome to find out that our current versions of Cove items couldn't be exchanged for the new versions or at least be exchanged for a partial return of ingredients. Although I disagree with this poster on the suggestion that getting back 1/2 of the ingredients would be high enough of a return. I would say 75% would be more reasonable.

Many of us have run Crystal Cove for years spending a very large amount of time acquiring different ML versions of the items for all of our alts. We didn't create the power creep that made those items obsolete and we shouldn't have to pay for it by having to start re-grinding many years worth of Cove farming from scratch in order to re-acquire versions of those items that aren't obsolete.

There are more than enough carrots to chase in this game. We have enough grind. We don't need re-grind added on top of it thanks to power creep.

[Cordovan]

At this time we are not committing to a time frame for arcane work, but it is highly likely it will be before 2020.

[Cordovan]

Severlin, a couple of times in there you reference 'sentient weapons' from White Plume Mountains as separate things. Can I clarify if there is something new coming in the pack where there is a weapon that is in itself sentient and does not require a gem/uses a specific, static gem only or should one read it as new, cool, named item that can take a gem and become sentient?

Cheers

We haven't yet locked down how they will be implemented, but I would assume it'll be basically using the existing Sentient Weapon system.

[WraithfaceMacabre]

12 year anniversary reward? Please be a D12 pet!

[Aelonwy]

Are there really no plans for additional Ravenloft content? Ever?


While Strahd was the most popular Ravenloft baddie, I would certainly be willing to purchase a future Ravenloft expansion visiting a different Ravenloft Domain. The quest and story quality and artwork of this last expansion was incredible.

[changelingamuck]

While Strahd was the most popular Ravenloft baddie, I would certainly be willing to purchase a future Ravenloft expansion visiting a different Ravenloft Domain. The quest and story quality and artwork of this last expansion was incredible.

Yeah... the Mists expansion definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm consistently hearing people say that they loved it too. I'll just cross my fingers and hope that this producer's letter doesn't mean SSG is closing up shop on the Ravenloft setting forever...

[fmalfeas]

Yeah... the Mists expansion definitely exceeded my expectations and I'm consistently hearing people say that they loved it too. I'll just cross my fingers and hope that this producer's letter doesn't mean SSG is closing up shop on the Ravenloft setting forever...

I figure it's like this - they don't want to add packs for an expansion that has 9+ entries in both heroic and epic immediately, making the people who didn't buy it instantly be completely left out in the cold as more and more players time is taken up in the mists.

So they're making sure they diversify the content without locking anybody out from the new entries.

[changelingamuck]

I figure it's like this - they don't want to add packs for an expansion that has 9+ entries in both heroic and epic immediately, making the people who didn't buy it instantly be completely left out in the cold as more and more players time is taken up in the mists.

So they're making sure they diversify the content without locking anybody out from the new entries.

That's a good point... I sort of had it in my head though that they'd add more Ravenloft around the end of 2018... But maybe they're giving themselves extra breathing room before introducing more RL (hopefully not too much, IMO, lol).

They could use the mist portal in House J to transport players to any domain in the setting though and in that way separate non-expansion buyers from newly added Ravenloft content. It's even in the source material that the domain darklords like Strahd each have a power to close their domain's borders (http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/wiki/Category:Darklord) (like Strahd's choking fog is one of those powers). So, the source material even contains the ultimate invisible wall so they don't even have to explain Barovia being off-limits to non-expansion buyers even if they set a quest chain in a domain that directly borders Barovia.

But yeah, I'm probably jumping to premature conclusions by seeing a red flag that there will be no more RL setting. Hopefully.

[Seikojin]

12 year anniversary reward? Please be a D12 pet!

Only if it rolls off randomly. :D

[Sanader]

Can you atleast mention fixing lag issues in the letter?


In last 60 minutes I:
1) got booted to desktop out of the game twice (that btw like never happend before, must be connected with the new patch)
2) got stuck on loadscreen (fun fact: you can hear other people talking and even type in chat while stuck in load screen). After 5 min i decided to alt tab and end ddo proces
3) died on some stupidly easy quest with my OP warlock cause of 1 min ddo freeze after i opened the doors leading to mobs

So, basicly, 60 minutes wasted.

So could you please atleast give the impression that you are doing something to fix all the lag problems and game issues.

[Nonesuch2008]

I think the coming year sounds like a good balance of adding to the game & enhancing what we already have in place. Plus, I am counting on a few more surprise changes that generally aren't widely announced until right before they happen, there has been a pattern of this before & I expect it to continue. And the fixes that get implemented along the way are welcome changes as well, please keep up the good work on all fronts.

[lyrecono]

12 year anniversary reward? Please be a D12 pet!

What about some love for the d12 class, to bring up to par with fighters, monks or stradh forbid even arties and locks....

[Silverleafeon]

LOL +1 to the twelve sided dice pet gift idea.
Would likely be purchasing a multicolored pack from the DDO store.


;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


A Druid (or any other casting class) has 20 +5 (or +0) druidic caster levels.
This is a bug since logically any Spellcasting Class with 20 class levels and 10 epic levels has 30 spellcaster levels.


This could be easily solved by increasing Epic Destiny Levels from level 6 minus 1 xp upward to level 10.
The fact that the MotU creators left Epic Destinies at 1 xp short of level 6 instead of at the beginning of level 5 indicates their intention to increase Epic Destiny Levels at a future date.
The fact that the MotU creators granted players 24 epic destiny points which is the value of having level 6 in epic destinies (4 x 6 = 24) indicates their intention to increase Epic Destiny Levels at a future date.


By adding power +4 epic destiny points to spend per four additional levels, the Devs would be justified in correcting the error of granting all epic destinies points to spend as soon as a player hit level 20.
Epic Destiny points could be awarded to spend (yes trees would get reset upon reincarnations) at the rate of 4 per Epic Level earned (provided Epic Levels >= Epic Destiny Levels.
Caster Levels would need the same to be the Lesser of Epic Destiny Levels Earned or Epic Levels Earned.


This would make leveling up less boring, the end game more rewarding, more epic destiny xp to earn, more fate points to spend towards twists, and more challenge at lower epic levels where dungeons actually seem less challenging.



Who would gain the most from this improvement?
Frankly Arcanes stand to gain the most.
One of the problems of Magistar and Draconic is simply not enough epic destiny points to spend in the tree.
Arcanes would become significantly funner to play with the extra 16 points to spend.

There would need to be a rewrite of the Core Arcane Innates changing to "...you gain +1 arcane caster levels for the lesser of each epic destiny level gained or each epic level gained..."
Plus you would need to restrict Caster Levels like Epic Destiny points to be the Lesser of Epic Destiny Levels Earned or Epic Levels Earned.

[Silverleafeon]

Are there really no plans for additional Ravenloft content? Ever?

Rule of 007 and DDO Devs ~ "Never say Never!"



PS Lag seems improved for my Druid.
Please consider asking DDO to use more memory as I never even come close to using what my computer has even with multiple graphic software programs running.

[JamesNiels]

Dear devs,

Please fix the epic purifying quiver by update 38? It currently fails to add "blunt" as an additional damage type to my ranged attacks.

Thanks in advance,


Jamesniels

[HE_C_R]

Greetings!


One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Sev~

The third tree for Favored Soul should be the Blackguard. While it would be limited to Neutral and Chaotic Neutral, I see a lot of potential in this, if done right. I am happy to be getting another tree for my Artificer. I think the third Druid tree should be based on the Avenger kit from 2nd edition Complete books of Druids.

As for classes, I know there was nothing mentioned about adding more classes this year, which is fine. If you do decide at a later time to add more classes, can you please add more specialist and stay away from adding more pure spell-casters? Growing up in the 70's and 80's playing D&D, there are a ton of classes to choose from. I personally think the "Jester" would be fun. A buffing bard that specializes in not only throwing daggers, but also catching items throw at him and throwing them back. The "Kender" (from Dragonlance) would be another idea, if you want a another class that get get traps and yet be different enough from a standard rogue. If creative enough you could combine the 2 into a very unique class. A trapper that catches missile objects and throws them back at the sender who pulls random **** out of his pockets.... I like odd characters :)

Keep up the good work. I love the game.

[Tscheuss]

I, for one, will feel better knowing that all the classes will have an even three trees each.

Nice and even.

Three is an odd number (just sayin' :o).

[Dirtywyrm]

We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class.

This is a lot of changes. Any chance you could throw in the Eldritch Knight tree from Wizard and Sorcerer. Having the cores not tied to spell power makes no sense imho. Outside of giving arcanes the opportunity to wear certain armors and shields, this tree does jack diddly in the way of making anything even remotely knight like...

[Tom116]

We also intend to...update the Cleric Warpriest...

For the Warpriest tree, how to you intend to keep it competitive with other melees without making the War Domain lose its main draw? The Warpriest tree will certainly need a critical profile boost (presumably competence bonus, like all basic class crit profile boosts) to have melee clerics do any real damage, but the only real reason to take the War Domain is for Holy Sword. Might I suggest removing Holy Sword and adding a choice of +1 Sacred Bonus to Critical Range OR +1 Sacred Bonus to Critical Multiplier? It allows a choice, and also doesn't defeat the Blessing of Silvanus feat.

It does technically allow for a +2/+2 Maul user if they happen to be an non-Bladeforged or Sun Elf iconic character, choose the War Domain, choose to be a follower of Silvanus, take at least 6 levels of a divine class, and go deep into the Warpriest tree, but if you put one of the Warpriest crit boosts at the level 20 core then it's basically making the same play for money as the Amaunator FvS capstone. Doing that would both significantly reduce the amount of players running the "perfect warpriest" build and increase revenue both due to the fact that a +1 heart would be required to make it.

[edrein]

For the Warpriest tree, how to you intend to keep it competitive with other melees without making the War Domain lose its main draw? The Warpriest tree will certainly need a critical profile boost (presumably competence bonus, like all basic class crit profile boosts) to have melee clerics do any real damage, but the only real reason to take the War Domain is for Holy Sword. Might I suggest removing Holy Sword and adding a choice of +1 Sacred Bonus to Critical Range OR +1 Sacred Bonus to Critical Multiplier? It allows a choice, and also doesn't defeat the Blessing of Silvanus feat.

It does technically allow for a +2/+2 Maul user if they happen to be an non-Bladeforged or Sun Elf iconic character, choose the War Domain, choose to be a follower of Silvanus, take at least 6 levels of a divine class, and go deep into the Warpriest tree, but if you put one of the Warpriest crit boosts at the level 20 core then it's basically making the same play for money as the Amaunator FvS capstone. Doing that would both significantly reduce the amount of players running the "perfect warpriest" build and increase revenue both due to the fact that a +1 heart would be required to make it.

This was the literal argument I brought up while still a member of the player's council, it went on deaf ears back then as well. It seems the general consensus was that the immediate gains of giving War Domain Holy Sword won out against the longterm consideration of Warpriest; or perhaps this is why Warpriest and Warsoul are now separate trees with minuscule alterations between them. I'd still like to see Warpriest in general get a buff in the crit department, and really believe Holy Sword should be left for the paladins and something else entirely could go to War Domain, but we shall see.

[Iriale]

Plans not entirely satisfactory for me, because I expected designers to face some problems that they have created in recent years with their design policy, and the eternal problem of storage in this game.

So, my questions for devs:

1- Are there plans to improve the storage system, or is it one more thing that you have forgotten? Because it is something very necessary. The amount of time lost in this game with that is absurd. And let me tell you, devs, that it's not fun. How about an interface like AH for the whole bank, bta and btc? Much more practical than what we currently have. What if you make the TR cache unnecessary? Much more comfortable for us players. How about a better filter for crafting storage? I find ridiculous that I do not have a way of visualizing just the filigrees, or only the heroic ingredients of slavers, or just the ingredients of Greensteel... and in the process, make the filigrees stack in the crafting storage!! And a cosmetic wardrove, too. The whole storage system needs improvement and soon!!

2- The previous year you mentioned plans to improve the avatars. Is it still something you plan to do? While not as important as the above, it would be nice an aesthetic improvement in this regard.

3- And finally, are there plans to create an end game and help the alts? Because honestly, this is reaching levels of shame in this game. And by the way, think of something to help the new players as well.


And after my questions to the designers, a request: this year stop doing nonsense with the loot, please. It is not fun to have to play tetris with the gear because there is no way to fit the essential bonuses for your character, and if you change classes suddenly you have to change the whole gear and not just the specific items for the class. Stop separating stats as resistance or sheltering in various stats; it's stupid! And no more brutal power creep, please; before increasing the numbers explore lateral growth of the loot and after increase slowly: the exponential growth we have seen in recent years was not necessary.

[Ozeanna]

White Plum Mountain!!!!!
Thank you... :)

[krimsonrane]

and the rogue class has been overlooked again.

[Yamani]

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.


Just want to throw this out there but Benedict Cumberpatch made for a great Smaug!!!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TSP_FxCe3E

[Annex]

1- Are there plans to improve the storage system ...
2- The previous year you mentioned plans to improve the avatars. Is it still something you plan to do? ...
3- And finally, are there plans to ... help the alts? ...

Those are great questions. Edited for brevity.

[SirValentine]

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.


Good. You should spend way more of your time bringing more adventures to DDO, classic or not. Even your least good adventure packs are pretty good.

And spend way less removing the "Dungeons and Dragons" from our "Dungeons and Dragons Online" game mechanics.



For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class

Hopefully you don't end up messing them more than they were before the work, the way you did with Cleric & FvS

- a bitter former Cleric player

[contantinos1990]

Hello everyone!
I rly enjoy all the cool new stuff. The game in general moves in the right direction. New content is great but IMO now we have lots and lots of stuff to do. Raids, racial reincarnation, reaper xp those things will keep us busy for a while so I'm glad SSG will add less content this year and revisit druids, artificers and fvs.
There are some things that I don't like in the game and I would love to see them revisit.
a) The optional's xp in all the quests of ddo is not as high as it would make sense even at the newer content. If a quest after 5 runs takes you 10 min to do and the optional takes 5 more min, the optional should give 50% of the xp of the quest.
b) The time you need in adventure areas compared to the xp they give is also very low even in the newer content. They should give more xp for journals and rares.
c) Older content's loot needs revisiting like what SSG did with red fens and sharn syndicate. Shard/seal/scroll mechanic has to go away. The Whelloon rewards need to be compatible with sentient weps.
d) Filigrees need to be compatible with sentient jewels for leveling even if they give low xp. I already got a ton of filigrees that dont sell and I dont have anything to do with them. A warning window message like "are you sure you wanna feed the x thing to the jewel" needs to be implemented to avoid missclicks since the slots and the feeding slot are so close.
e) Many players are epic completionists. (I'm not) Reaper xp and racial past lives make so many ppl run heroics. I would love to have heroic versions of the raids in the future.
Keep up the good work!?

[Urjak]

OMG Please let that big announcement be an adventure pack or even better expansion for Planescape. I would pay 200 bucks without blinking with an eye to finally go to Sigil experience all the craziness there, use portal to all sorts of weird planes, and, and, and ..... would also be a far more fitting environment for legendary characters than chasing wolves and rats .... just saying

[apacheizm23]

Artificer improvements are nice for a VERY small segment but what are you doing to fix the lag the and make the quests more playable. New Quest Sunrise runs around 4-7 FPS on a my Win7 64 bit I7 with 16G Ram , 4G Video ram on my ISP's fastest line, there's nothing else I can do. Are you looking at switching hosting again or be honest is it simply too cost prohibitive.
You cannot contact any GM as they refer you to customer service and you are given the age old standby , "Must be on your end , We never heard of issues"
Personally I love the new content and pre-purchased the ultimate Ravenloft, But I would like to see some new content put on hold while we fix some issues playing.

Thanks for time.

Michael

What server are you on? Here on Khyber I hardly experience lag, and If I'm lagging than everyone else is lagging/server which only happens once in a long while. I see the specs you posting on you're end, ahhhhhhh It'll do, but make sure you shutdown everything but the game. I see you're not running Windows 10 and its obvious at to why but I must say that Win 10 is much more game friendly than Win 7. Good Luck.

[apacheizm23]

What about melee fixes?
What about 4k support?
What about new endgame augments?
What about consolidating gear? Having saves on 1 ench instead of 3? Have mrr and prr be on 1 ench, like the sheltering on slavelord gear. Figering out a gearset for ravenloft was a huge hassle.
What about fixing the bug reporting process and dev to player communication. I dropped 17 reports last week, having cordovan making those statements was insulting to the playerbase.
What about fixing the mithrill armors for crystal cove?

Agreed!!!!!

[Lokeal_The_Flame]

Greetings!

Our first year as Standing Stone Games is behind us, and we want to thank our fans for being part of a wonderful year. We feel truly fortunate to have wonderful players, and we are excited for the upcoming year. I wanted to take some time to talk about our plans for the upcoming months. The reason we are here is because YOU are here, and we look forward to hearing from you.

Update 38 will arrive this Spring, and will return adventurers to Eberron. The magic that has long protected Stormreach is failing, and a strange plague is sweeping through the city. You'll join forces with the healers of House Jorasco to find a cure and save your adopted home. This new adventure pack will be level 14 on Heroic difficulty, and level 31 on Legendary difficulty. Part of this work will allow us to tweak House Jorasco as well, to help players get around the space.

We will also be doing a bit of work on the Anniversary Event, including some new event rewards, as we celebrate DDO's 12th year! We will have a special gift for players as well, but do not want to spoil the surprise.

One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

Next, we are pleased to announce our next classic adventure! An eccentric wizard has hidden three famous Sentient weapons inside of a volcano, and challenged all comers to try to retrieve them. Can you make it through fiendish obstacles and deadly traps? Have you guessed the pack yet? It's White Plume Mountain, a classic 1979 dungeon that was also recently brought to 5th Edition in the Tales from the Yawning Portal book. We'll be giving this intense test of skill the DDO treatment later this summer in an adventure pack that will also feature several other stand-alone dungeons themed around wizards and their arcane environments.

We are happy with the feedback we received about Sentient Weapons with the release of Mists of Ravenloft, and plan to continue to support that system in 2018. In addition to the Sentient Weapons available in White Plume Mountain, we intend to add a Kobold-themed Sentient Jewel for our 12th Anniversary, and create a Dragon-themed jewel for an as-yet unannounced release date.

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!

On behalf of everyone on the Dungeons & Dragons Online team, we thank you for your support. We've been humbled by the response to the Mists of Ravenloft, and we look forward to continuing our amazing tabletop-to-screen journey with you in 2018 and beyond!

Sev~

Please have a Bastard Sword designed specifically for Melee artificers........ (Minimum level 28)

Eternal Idol would eternally kill all complaints I have with the game as the viability it would create for Melee artificers would be substantial enough to allow me to freely go into any epic destiny tree I would want rather than always sticking to Divine Crusader (In which gets really boring really fast), it would also free up the points I use in the Harper tree so I can invest them all in the new upcoming tree and not be so squishy while on the front lines meleeing. Sure Eternal idol is fan made..... but it fixes a problem that would be much harder to fix via the creation of a new Epic Destiny tree for Artificers. Meanwhile ranged artificers are getting all the love (My main complaint with the game).

https://i.imgur.com/jRIND7B.jpg

[Hostyle]

Greetings!
Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list.
Sev~

Will we have an opportunity to grab items from Euphonia's Barter Box before you update the reward list or can we expect no existing items to be changed?

[SoVeryBelgian]

Hearing that we will be getting White Plume Mountain (And presumably Tomb of Horrors, Caverns of Tsojcanth) is great. Also looking forward to additional Stonelands content or maybe Underdark stuff (Like adding the Kuo-Tua storyline that followed the Deep Gnome one).

My major gripe with druid was the ineffective nature of the Bear form when I had so much fun with the idea of it, and that looks like it will be resolved, but honestly, the 3rd tree should have been some form of healer or pack booster/survivalist rather than an exclusive bear tree. I was expecting the melee tree to have a multiselector of some flavor, allowing you to choose to boost your bear form or wolf form relevant stuffus.

Animal companions definitely need work as well. And Rangers still do not have full-access to animal companions, stuck with ****-tier lowbie summons. That definitely needs a rework; along with other types of companion as well, like Spiders, Rats, Cats, Scorpions etc.

I'd have to say that the 2 biggest things on my wishlist (Outside of a storage rework) would be additional Druid forms (Razor Cat, typed for Dodge, animated like Wolf) and (Rat, typed for spellpower) as well as additional Eberron Content. Seeing the upcoming pack for the 'Mysterious Disease' in House J is definitely intriguing.

That said, I am eagerly looking forward to 2018 and what it brings.

[Arkitektonik]

Please can the Wayfinder's Scepter be part of the Anniversary rewards? Or a perma-confetti item?

DDO needs more confetti!!!

[Viconiax]

Sound awesome!

I love artificer :)

[Tizian]

For Duty and Deity, a forgotten realms adventure featuring Graz'zt.

The Mines of Tethyamar storyline ends with Graz'zt hinting at a future meeting while threatening Eveningstar.

[Isit]

Happy first post ever!

I could see a cosmetic for each "level" of completionist. Something flashy, to show off. Maybe the same outfit, but different colors for each "tier"?
This! This has My vote

[LucidLTS]

...
One of the things we have long heard from you about is the desire to have a third Artificer Enhancement tree, and we're pleased to be able to say that the Renegade Mastermaker will be coming in the near future. This tree will focus on improving your Repair spells, Curative Admixtures, personal Defense, and building things to buff both yourself and your allies. We also intend to add a third Favored Soul tree, update the Cleric Warpriest, and do extensive work on the Druid class. For Druid, we will be working on the core of the class, its animal forms, and both of its existing enhancement trees in addition to a brand new enhancement tree.

Another thing we have long wanted to do is update our Treasure of Crystal Cove event, and we intend to start doing that work in the coming months by updating the reward list. Speaking of events, we have plans for Night Revels to update the public space to work similar to the Challenge system its dungeons use, and add a new dungeon for our favorite Halloween event. October is historically one of our biggest months, and we think you'll love what we have in store.

This is great news, finishing and maintaining systems and content you already have is necessary for many of us to have the confidence to buy into new things you put out - why grind the hamster wheel for something that SSG is probably going to get bored with and not finish or update? Your new stuff may be interesting, but it's not really the asset that a huge block of valid and relevant content would be if you invested the time to finish it and keep it up to date.

And when you do work on Night Revels, please make it private instances for the graveyard - there is so little to be gained from a public instance, and so much to lose ("not allowed in a public area", people who run through and kill the monster you're fighting, etc) that it's mind boggling that you still have it public. I know everyone in my guild would play it more if it was private instances, I'm sure others would too.

But what really stands out in my mind is what you didn't say here. You didn't mention the problems with quality of life that you continue to flounder with. For example, the months of lag that continues, albeit somewhat abated, to this day. Or problems with hirelings and pets. Or targeting. Or spells/ranged attacks not going off.

Are these issues not perceived as important to you? They are important to many of us, and simply ignoring them does not give us great confidence in your company. I know you inherited many problems from Turbine, but glossing over the harsh reality doesn't boost morale, it destroys credibility.

Please, for our sake and your own, pay attention to these problems in the year ahead!

[Silverleafeon]

We have another big announcement to make later this year, but we're not ready to hint about that news yet, sorry. Stay tuned soon for an announcement about an adventure that has been on many of our players' wish lists for years. We can't wait to tell you about it!


Expansion???

featuring Sigil the City of Portals, Githzerai & Githyanki (possible iconic versions), Psionic System with 3ish classes (possible melee, possible classic Psionicis, possible specialist, cosmetics, another melee high level hire, connections to other worlds, 1~2 raids, 5~8 quests, new Epic Destinies (or Psionic Sphere), ect..???

[Sam-u-r-eye]

Expansion???

featuring Sigil the City of Portals, Githzerai & Githyanki (possible iconic versions), Psionic System with 3ish classes (possible melee, possible classic Psionicis, possible specialist, cosmetics, another melee high level hire, connections to other worlds, 1~2 raids, 5~8 quests, new Epic Destinies (or Psionic Sphere), ect..???

I'm drooling.

or is it just the mindflayer eating my brains

[FuryFlash]

Expansion???

featuring Sigil the City of Portals, Githzerai & Githyanki (possible iconic versions), Psionic System with 3ish classes (possible melee, possible classic Psionicis, possible specialist, cosmetics, another melee high level hire, connections to other worlds, 1~2 raids, 5~8 quests, new Epic Destinies (or Psionic Sphere), ect..???

Sometimes I wish you didn't post to these forums, just so I wouldn't have to read all the awesome ideas that will never come to be... :P