Two ideas for improving the game

[callis777]

1) let blue xp baubles drop as quest end rewards. Make the baubles 100xp per lvl of the quest, so a lvl 10 quest is 1000xp bauble. The baubles would be used as soon as taken like saga baubles. I feel this could be easily coded and cut down on "vendor trash" as a lot of loot is called.

This will slowly reduce the amount of plat in the game and help restore the economy. Also it will give a small incentive for questing.

2) Code a quest agent who opens at random time.

1) The agent could send a global tell for their region. So a market agent would be "heard" as a cry in the market chat.
2) The agent would close after 15 min.
3) The quest would be open to up to 12 people entering, like a raid, at a fixed lvl of difficulty.
4) The loot could be dynamic like looting a chest or be a flat xp.
5) This dynamic quest could be a first step to pvp or sem-pvp quests like two parties enter a quest, but only one team gets a reward, especially if the chest is the objective.

[Eantarus]

This will slowly reduce the amount of plat in the game and help restore the economy.

The problems with the economy are two-fold: 1)too much plat 2)too few things to spend that plat on.

[boredGamer]

The problems with the economy are two-fold: 1)too much plat 2)too few things to spend that plat on.

Yup, and two is especially exacerbated by a dev team that thinks a "plat sink" is just putting plat costs on resetting your UI, instead of giving you things in the game you might actually spend plat on, that benefit your character in some way.

[adamkatt]

I was plat capped 2 days ago, i made bids on a bunch of med and small eb frags. now im not plat capped and i have a lot of xp potions. :) Also reaper wings cost a lot. see easy plat sinks!

[Oxarhamar]

Yup, and two is especially exacerbated by a dev team that thinks a "plat sink" is just putting plat costs on resetting your UI, instead of giving you things in the game you might actually spend plat on, that benefit your character in some way.

bound loot
Sentient weapon xp
Reaper crafting

All compound the problem

Haunted Halls was the last time we had decent trade-able loot

[fatherpirate]

so you want to experience even faster?
what ever

[Oxarhamar]

1) let blue xp baubles drop as quest end rewards. Make the baubles 100xp per lvl of the quest, so a lvl 10 quest is 1000xp bauble. The baubles would be used as soon as taken like saga baubles. I feel this could be easily coded and cut down on "vendor trash" as a lot of loot is called.

This will slowly reduce the amount of plat in the game and help restore the economy. Also it will give a small incentive for questing.

2) Code a quest agent who opens at random time.

1) The agent could send a global tell for their region. So a market agent would be "heard" as a cry in the market chat.
2) The agent would close after 15 min.
3) The quest would be open to up to 12 people entering, like a raid, at a fixed lvl of difficulty.
4) The loot could be dynamic like looting a chest or be a flat xp.
5) This dynamic quest could be a first step to pvp or sem-pvp quests like two parties enter a quest, but only one team gets a reward, especially if the chest is the objective.

No thanks to PVP keep it in the tavern

[fatherpirate]

catch 22
with the economy problem.

The very best type of in game money sink is something cool
every wants that requires additional in game cash to maintain.
(what ever it is)

That would require SSG to INVEST a bunch of man/women power
to get that done ... and it would greatly help the players by balancing the economy.
........... AND provide almost no -direct- financial compensation
to SSG (no mater how heavily tinted your rose colored glasses are).

so it has ZERO chance of even being considered.

at this point, any 'new' Idea at SSG must include a full report on
how much money it will gross and how quickly.

Any ideas that do not make SSG cash are DOA.

[adamkatt]

No thanks to PVP keep it in the tavern

I agree , if someone wants pvp they can go play wow or swg....

[Valerianus]

there is no plat economy to restore, it cannot be restored, back at that time they killed it out of greed with astral shard premium currency auction. plat will never ever have worth again.


and i heavily dislike the idea of having to click up my exp from the ground.



also questing needs no incentive, it's the only thing you can do in this game.....whatever you do you end up in an "instanced quest"



but hey, this is the point, in this game you can do nothing except instances, and eventually some pvp, (no housing, no minigames, events are quests and badly suffering from the insane challenge system, and so on) but luckily this game is extremely good at char building, classes are not all the same, so pvp can't be balanced and organized (they could try a pvp server with it's own classes and rules...but ddo population is too low i think) so you are proposing an alternative way of running something. it's cool as long as it is not mandatory, and not disrupting the game flow, like, what if i am running a chain and that quest gets called out for this special run and i don't care, what a hassle....

but in principle variety\alternatives\options are always good!

[Weemadarthur]

No thanks to PVP keep it in the tavern

1st up I agree completely as far as PVP goes. Other games support this much better than DDO ever could and one of the reasons that DDO appeals to a lot of its playerbase is that it is purely PVE focused. That said I do think that DDO could do competetive and co-operative play very well and that is something I would like to see introduced.

As an example of what I mean by competitive here lets take the Babba raid. Instead of the 2 groups taking separate paths to assist the other have the 2 groups actively compete against each other. Each has its own path through the quest/raid but instead of opening the door for the other side the puzzle completion would slow down the other side. Have the quickest completion of each part award an extra chest at the end for that group and you have a quest that is still purely PVE but has a competitive element that could be expanded for guild versus guild on top of party versus party. It would still play to the strengths of this game but with a different aspect.

By co-operative play I mean not just like we have in the Babba raid currently but rather having a goal for the server as a whole. As an example after the events of MOTU we could start a quest for the PDK's to make a stronghold in the underdark to hold back the drow menace and make sure they don't invade again. The initial quest would be to take supplies through the underdark to where the base is setting up. Every set amount of supplies taken on the server would upgrade the outpost adding new buildings, npc's and introduce new quests. The quests themselves would work more like challenges so could be completed at any level range and all count toward the next milestone. Give the 1st server to reach each milestone a purely cosmetic award and you would create a new gameplay mode that would bring whole servers together to compete against each other without ever having to entertain the PVP aspect.

[Syrrah]

5) This dynamic quest could be a first step to pvp or sem-pvp quests like two parties enter a quest, but only one team gets a reward, especially if the chest is the objective.

OP, it was not a good idea to pick the word "PVP" to describe your idea. As above discussion shows, if someone doesn't carefully read your post they will think of PVP in the classic sence. Maybe a good idea to edit the post and remove the word alltoghether before it leads to even more spam?

I understand that it is no player versus player combat you are promoting, but two teams competing against each other to reach a certain goal, where the winnig teams gets a reward.

In itself a good idea but it won't work without perfect execution. Honestly, I fear that it will not be possible to overcome the problems that I see:

- this game is practically dead as far as a multiplayer game goes: 2 teams of of up to 12 people entering the same quest at the same time? The playerbase is spread out way too much over 30 levels and 8 servers, it's a miracle you can even find 2 other players of the same level who want to group up. Getting 2 teams for the same quest is unrealistic unless you find a way to scale every player to the same level.

- only one team gets a reward, so the XP/minute peeps won't care about it.

- either the pro-reaper players will complain it is too easy, or the contra-reaper players will refuse to run the race alltogether. This is DDO, so players are going to complain either way or the other.

- it would promote zerging even more that is already the case. This is basically the deal-braker, it would be one more massive drop in the already filling up bucket that, when it overflows, demonstrates how this once-RPG has become Diablo IV.

- it would alienate the one new player DDO gets every month or so and even the not-so-new players: your idea basically caters to the 1% strongest players.

- after the novelty wears of after about a week, nobody is going to bother anymore unless the reward is insanely good (like a free gold dice roll). And what incentive does SSG have to give away owerpowered items or services away without getting a monterary benefit out of it?


[Disclaimer: I'm not going to read replies because I don't really care about them.]

[Oxarhamar]

catch 22
with the economy problem.

The very best type of in game money sink is something cool
every wants that requires additional in game cash to maintain.
(what ever it is)

That would require SSG to INVEST a bunch of man/women power
to get that done ... and it would greatly help the players by balancing the economy.
........... AND provide almost no -direct- financial compensation
to SSG (no mater how heavily tinted your rose colored glasses are).

no it has ZERO chance of even being considered.

at this point, any 'new' Idea at SSG must include a full report on
how much money it will gross and how quickly.

Any ideas that do not make SSG cash are DOA.

No coloring on those glasses TY

Lack of Tradeable items is why the economy is dead the course was to sell packs where players were required to buy them to get the loot over having an in game economy.

[KoobTheProud]

so you want to experience even faster?
what ever

There are players out there who have forgotten that this is a game meant to be played for fun.

[Weemadarthur]

There are players out there who have forgotten that this is a game meant to be played for fun.

Just because peoples definition of fun is different from yours doesn't mean they are not having it. Some players enjoy zerg play, some enjoy being OP, others like role play. They are all having fun whether you enjoy it or not. Personally since U51 I despise epic leveling. It doesn't mean I don't enjoy my time in heroics or at cap. Extra xp is just a way of getting through the parts you don't like faster so you can get to the parts you do. You know, so you can get through the part that isn't fun as fast as possible.

As for FP and his infinite words of derision as far as this game goes. Note he's still here and not playing those "better" games he keeps harping on about. Food for thought that lol.

[Arthuvin]

There are players out there who have forgotten that this is a game meant to be played for fun.

Agreed.

My suggestion for improve the game is to make questgivers in adventureareas to give tasks to player solve in the adventure area. Less rewarding than the dungeons though.
Just for the story and completion.

For example: It would be cool if that giant Barovia land has some tasks out there given by questgivers in those small villages and vistani camps, besides the common slayer, random encounters, explorer and journal quests.

[fatherpirate]

Some of the best ideas for this game will be DOA. (Dead on Arrival)

Because the game is in it's later life and SSG has just enough staff to keep it running
and pump out a bit of new content to sell.
There is a team for everything, nobody extra.

There is nobody left to do anything that does not fit their current pipeline.
So, yes --- there will be new dungeons and raids.
yes, new classes and races and new cosmetics.

New game systems? no
Unnecessary overhauls of major systems? no (necessary means they had to fix something that broke the game, and they likely borrow staff from LOTRO to help fix it.)

So if your looking for xxxx dungeon?, sure ask ... they can do that.
Looking for a new way to craft? don't hold your breath.

Curb your expectations and you will be much happier.

[Eantarus]

Looking for a new way to craft? don't hold your breath.


Are you kidding? There will be a brand new crafting system with every xpac.

[Aelonwy]

Are you kidding? There will be a brand new crafting system with every xpac.

*nods vigorously*

I still maintain having a guide in each public zone would help new/returning players. An NPC with lore reason to be in the area like the Harbormaster in the Harbor that explains to new players about the main storyline of the harbor (when you first reach it) and the accessible zones off the harbor with a general direction. E.G. "You may want to cut your teeth here in the harbor either in the warehouse district (Baudry Cartamon area) or east side docks (Haverdasher, Durk, Garrison) when you've finished lending a hand here you might want to check out the Cerulean Hills, the Waterworks (main sewer system) or if you're up to it prove your mettle to the Coinlords (insert name of future Coinlord guide here) in the Marketplace."

The dialogue could have various topic cues and always be repeatable or check off the cues as the quests are completed until the guide says "well you've solved all the problems here for the time being why don't you check out... The Marketplace, House Deneith, House Phiarlan, The Feywild, etc. maybe come back and check with me for further adventures later." With cues for 3BC, HiPS, Inspired Quarter showing up at appropriate levels.

But for this to do its job properly guides in each region need to direct to each other at appropriate levels such as a Guide in the Gatekeeper's Grove with cues for its various adventures and their appropriate levels maybe greyed out until the player is high enough level but also a cue to go back to the Harbormaster if the player is of sufficiently low level.

[Eantarus]

*nods vigorously*

I still maintain having a guide in each public zone would help new/returning players. An NPC with lore reason to be in the area like the Harbormaster in the Harbor that explains to new players about the main storyline of the harbor (when you first reach it) and the accessible zones off the harbor with a general direction. E.G. "You may want to cut your teeth here in the harbor either in the warehouse district (Baudry Cartamon area) or east side docks (Haverdasher, Durk, Garrison) when you've finished lending a hand here you might want to check out the Cerulean Hills, the Waterworks (main sewer system) or if you're up to it prove your mettle to the Coinlords (insert name of future Coinlord guide here) in the Marketplace."

The dialogue could have various topic cues and always be repeatable or check off the cues as the quests are completed until the guide says "well you've solved all the problems here for the time being why don't you check out... The Marketplace, House Deneith, House Phiarlan, The Feywild, etc. maybe come back and check with me for further adventures later." With cues for 3BC, HiPS, Inspired Quarter showing up at appropriate levels.

But for this to do its job properly guides in each region need to direct to each other at appropriate levels such as a Guide in the Gatekeeper's Grove with cues for its various adventures and their appropriate levels maybe greyed out until the player is high enough level but also a cue to go back to the Harbormaster if the player is of sufficiently low level.

Certainly wouldn't be that tough to create, but I'm unsure what difference it would make. To me the walls of text are just background noise. I don't talk to NPCs when I don't have to, but I am also not a new or returning player. I like DM Narrations and stories being told through level design best.

That's one of the really neat things in DDO - the fact that Stormreach is a human-sized city build in the ruins of a giant one makes it really interesting to me. I also really enjoyed MOTU at the time because it created a whole story about crossing a rift between worlds. All the stuff since has felt really lackluster and hacked together. Like we had a whole huge storyline to create the bridge between Stormreach and Eveningstar, and then along comes Ravenloft. Where you just... click on a portal.

[fatherpirate]

Are you kidding? There will be a brand new crafting system with every xpac.

it will be just like a current system ...

new as is COMPLETELY new.
Remember - the current crafting system was also 'new'
but when they put out the 'new' system ... it was not new.
they just simplified some of it.

I could be wrong ... but not as often as my detractors claim.

[Oxarhamar]

Some of the best ideas for this game will be DOA. (Dead on Arrival)

Because the game is in it's later life and SSG has just enough staff to keep it running
and pump out a bit of new content to sell.
There is a team for everything, nobody extra.

There is nobody left to do anything that does not fit their current pipeline.
So, yes --- there will be new dungeons and raids.
yes, new classes and races and new cosmetics.

New game systems? no
Unnecessary overhauls of major systems? no (necessary means they had to fix something that broke the game, and they likely borrow staff from LOTRO to help fix it.)

So if your looking for xxxx dungeon?, sure ask ... they can do that.
Looking for a new way to craft? don't hold your breath.

Curb your expectations and you will be much happier.

We just got an overhaul of the Epic Destiny & SSS system so the doom post far off

[Artos_Fabril]

Like we had a whole huge storyline to create the bridge between Stormreach and Eveningstar, and then along comes Ravenloft. Where you just... click on a portal.They had to work really hard to shoehorn in a portal between Eberron and Toril, trying to excite people to leave a relatively unique environment for the most bland medieval fantasy in the WotC catalog. To get people on board with Ravenloft, all they had to do was say, "It's Ravenloft" and then deliver decent gameplay in the expected theme. Player reception was certainly improved by also delivering significant character power at the same time.

[SoVeryBelgian]

I'd really just like a Map-Lift, added detail and more focus on Eberron Lore.


I don't see OP's suggestion being viable or even considered by Devs.

[Oxarhamar]

I'd really just like a Map-Lift, added detail and more focus on Eberron Lore.


I don't see OP's suggestion being viable or even considered by Devs.

On maps I liked how they added new quests to Cerulean Hills

They could do a lot more of this & it would be great

[Arthuvin]

On maps I liked how they added new quests to Cerulean Hills

They could do a lot more of this & it would be great

Addind more quests to the Searing Heights would be cool too.

Quests to be solved in those adventure areas would be cool too.

For example: saving those farmers from orcs in Cerulean Hills.

[Aelonwy]

On maps I liked how they added new quests to Cerulean Hills

They could do a lot more of this & it would be great

The issue is they seem to only be comfortable adding new quests to F2P wilderness zones. But the overwhelming majority of wilderness zones are P2P. They need to take a step back and either make the oldest content prior to a certain threshold always F2P thus opening up their design space for new content in previous areas... or just specifically make more wilderness zones F2P separate from the adventure packs to which they previously belonged or find an alternative solution like more than one adventure pack granting access to the same wilderness zone. For instance how awesome would it be to have more adventures in the Underdark? Actually accessible while running around the zone? What about more adventures in Menechtarun? Stormhorns? These are enormous areas which have plenty of space for more adventures but are hog-tied by the F2P - P2P dilemma.

[tankhealer]

They had to work really hard to shoehorn in a portal between Eberron and Toril, trying to excite people to leave a relatively unique environment for the most bland medieval fantasy in the WotC catalog. To get people on board with Ravenloft, all they had to do was say, "It's Ravenloft" and then deliver decent gameplay in the expected theme. Player reception was certainly improved by also delivering significant character power at the same time.

Well technically you do have to do a quest "Into the mists" to get to Ravenloft... the fact it can be done in 3 mins or less aside. Yes, there was multiple quests for the underdark expansion and they did a pretty good job with it, but the items from MoTU are so outdated now, and the quest for the most part even need an exp boost. Does anyone even run the raids from it? It takes forever to get flagged, and run all the demonweb stuff etc. They need to open those raids up to non-flag to bring some life back to them at least and update the items with some type of set bonuses etc and make them on par with other expansions.

[SoVeryBelgian]

The issue is they seem to only be comfortable adding new quests to F2P wilderness zones. But the overwhelming majority of wilderness zones are P2P. They need to take a step back and either make the oldest content prior to a certain threshold always F2P thus opening up their design space for new content in previous areas... or just specifically make more wilderness zones F2P separate from the adventure packs to which they previously belonged or find an alternative solution like more than one adventure pack granting access to the same wilderness zone. For instance how awesome would it be to have more adventures in the Underdark? Actually accessible while running around the zone? What about more adventures in Menechtarun? Stormhorns? These are enormous areas which have plenty of space for more adventures but are hog-tied by the F2P - P2P dilemma.

Ooh I'd definitely like to see more from the Underdark. Or Khyber, really. That wilderness below the market is HEAVILY underused.

And a continuation of the FR Netherese plot could def make more use of Storm Horns. Or maybe they finally finish Desert of Aunaroch.

[Oxarhamar]

The issue is they seem to only be comfortable adding new quests to F2P wilderness zones. But the overwhelming majority of wilderness zones are P2P. They need to take a step back and either make the oldest content prior to a certain threshold always F2P thus opening up their design space for new content in previous areas... or just specifically make more wilderness zones F2P separate from the adventure packs to which they previously belonged or find an alternative solution like more than one adventure pack granting access to the same wilderness zone. For instance how awesome would it be to have more adventures in the Underdark? Actually accessible while running around the zone? What about more adventures in Menechtarun? Stormhorns? These are enormous areas which have plenty of space for more adventures but are hog-tied by the F2P - P2P dilemma.

Indeed

Making the slayer zones free would be great

+1