Read more about our plans for the year in a new Producer's Letter!

[Cordovan]

Read the letter and see the road map on DDO.com (https://www.ddo.com/news/ddo-producer-letter-january-2023). Thank you and have fun! Feel free to offer your feedback in this thread.


Producers Letter: January 2023

https://assets-cdn.daybreakgames.com/uploads/dcsclient/000/000/259/101.jpg?v=1.0

Greetings! I’m Producer Amanda “Tolero” Grow, and today I’ll be giving you a look at what’s coming up for DDO in 2023. I hope that your New Years has been off to a wonderful start, and we’re looking forward to more fun and excitement in DDO this year.

If you’re new to DDO or coming back after a long break, here’s a recap of the latest things that have been added to the game: Last year our story took us to the Isle of Dread, where in addition to fighting dinosaurs, players came face to face with the infamous D&D villain Vecna! We had an exciting Hardcore Season in the summer, as players were hunted down by deadly Hounds throughout the game. We added Archetypes to the game, bringing new ways to play and build our D&D classes. And we introduced a major overhaul of the Character Bank, with filters, customizable tabs, and expanded amounts of storage there. Towards the end of 2022 we debuted our latest Adventure Pack which brought players back to Sharn to continue thwarting Vecna and others over the fate of the Planar Eyes.

Now that I’ve covered the big beats of where we’ve been, let’s talk about where we are going next. Our game will be celebrating its 17th anniversary this year with fun free content! We’ll introduce three new free Archetypes as well as a free Dungeon for all players to play.

https://assets-cdn.daybreakgames.com/uploads/dcsclient/000/000/259/142.png?v=1.0

Work in progress rendering of our upcoming 17th Anniversary armor!

The free quest will set the stage for the upcoming Mini Expansion in the spring, where players will help Morgrave University try and neutralize the threat posed by Vecna. Our long-running story will reach a peak we know you'll want to be a part of! We’ll have a lot more information about the story and content of our mini-expansion as we get closer to it. After that we’ll be kicking off a new Hardcore season this summer with another rules change up, but we’ll release more details about that later.

We spoke last year about work being done to reduce lag and improve game performance, and you saw some elements of that work get deployed in 2022. This work will continue in 2023! We've been focusing on the way the game communicates with itself, along with making some of our more complex systems more efficient behind the scenes. One reason for this focus is that we are able to measure the impact it has, before and after, and while no one fix will banish lag for good, we are able to see the benefits of these small but steady improvements over time. We know you want us to make lag reduction a focus, and we agree!

There are more features and content happening later in the year, such as a Legendary revamp of Droaam content and another Hardcore redux season, but this should give you a good sense of what is in store for the first part of 2023 and beyond. We can’t wait to see you in game!

Tolero

[Captain_Wizbang]

What about ViP?

[ahpook]

No complaints about what is there but it seems pretty lacking to this reader. Are we to assume


No level increase this year?
No changes to VIP benefits?
No improvements to processes that saw some of the worst updates in DDO history?
No further changes to banking even though what is there is insufficient and not working?
...


Basically, so much not mentioned and nothing to address the drama that has cropped up in the past few months. It is a marketing brochure more than a producers letter, IMO.

[Dandonk]

Lag has been reduced? Where?

Enlarged bank, yay! But very minor and for outrageous prices, it's still buggy, and it's still more annoying to use. So... not quite yay?

Not a word about VIPs, but hey, we can get to pay for a "mini-expansion" - aka rebranded adventure pack that we used to get included in the VIP subscription.

No mention of new classes or races or levels, but more archetypes that have so far been fairly meh. Hopefully the new ones are better.

[Gordo]

This can't be possible. What an underwhelming letter.
Does anyone know another game worth investing 15 years in?

Unbelievably weak.

[Tap4black]

Justifies canceling my VIP even more. Producers "letter" what a Friggen JOKE.

[Valerianus]

what's this?

any of us could have written something like this, if being told that the mini-expansion (it was alredy clear that this year we would have the 2nd ddo mini-expansion) was about Vecna and that the yearly revamp was about Drooam.

and also told to write this thing from lotro forum but changing the words a little, like when we used to cheat some homework when we were kids

https://forums.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?&postid=8173135#post8173135

(copypaste)
We have spent a lot of time and energy investigating and resolving sources of degraded game performance over the past two years, and that work will continue in 2023. Much of the work is centering on how the game communicates with itself, to become as efficient as possible, and to improve the various game systems when we can in cases where older design perhaps didn't fully consider the ramifications of a game entering its 16th year and the amount of things that would be added to it. You've already seen some of this work, including things like land block loading and the way some deeds query the system, well, also the updated Legendary Item system really, but there is always more work to do. While no one change or fix will permanently remove lag from the game, our ongoing work will chip away at it.
(end copypaste)


all the rest is hardcore and festivals, yeah we know they are going to be a thing. what is this, seriously.


and about vip? i don't care, i don't pay for vip, and i love the fact that ddo lets you play with zero hassle even if you don't subscribe, unlike other games, please go on by this path it's cool and you did and doing the right thing....but i feel so sorry for my dear fellow players who paid and are paying for...what exactly? would you please tell em something?

[GoldyGopher]

At first I thought "you know maybe because I clicked on the link so fast after Cordovan posted it, the real letter wasn't available yet." That was my first thought, honest.

I am shell shocked at how tone deaf this letter is to the requests and comments from the player base.

1 free quest and 1 Adventure pack?
A Mini Expansion?

No comments on VIP.

It would have been better to not release a Producer's Letter than to release this.

[Assassination]

Wow. Really, really bad. Wow.

Looks like the other thread has it right, giving the number one sign to VIP's.

ON a positive note, that armor might be the best thing you guys have done over the last 3 years.

[Gordo]

Justifies canceling my VIP even more. Producers "letter" what a Friggen JOKE.

Other than those that praise anything that comes out of SSG's mouths, everyone else prefers not to be gaslit. The writing has been on the wall for years.

This "update" is the culmination of ever more aggressive means to monetize the game (which I have ZERO problem with as it is a business) but provide incrementally less and less value in return. The constant shard and Otto box sales are a clear indication that SSG wants quantity (money) over quality (content). The value proposition is eroding - fast.

Everyone who is of open mind and has a modicum of critical thought should realize this is a game in slow demise. It happens to businesses all of the time and to pretend SSG is somehow immune to profit/investor expectations is folly.

[cadaverash]

Wasn't there talk of a Ravenloft mini expansion this year?

I still haven't gotten the furries & dinosaurs expansion, but it doesn't interest me as much as Ravenloft.

I'm okay if you forgo the Ravenloft mini expansion for a Ravenloft full expansion next year.

[rabidfox]

No level increase this year?

I assume no level jump with this mini-expansion as it wasn't mentioned; but that would be a big question that would nice to hear officially if we are/aren't getting a bump with it.

[Captain_Wizbang]

Wow. Really, really bad. Wow.

Looks like the other thread has it right, giving the number one sign to VIP's.

ON a positive note, that armor might be the best thing you guys have done over the last 3 years.

A cosmetic armor is NOTHING I will spend money on. So... I'll just go with the rest of your post. +1

[Arkat]

only one update? 58 is it?

4 updates like always.

https://i.imgur.com/QyroLd8.jpg

[WaxLyrical]

You can see the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the production of this epic tome. The effort of slaving over the keyboard for several months, meticulously composing this masterful narrative shines through!

[systemshaker1941]

Anyone wanna go to PAX and ask them point-blank why they are ignoring us? Would be funny.

[systemshaker1941]

You can see the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the production of this epic tome. The effort of slaving over the keyboard for several months, meticulously composing this masterful narrative shines through!

Someone nat20'd their sarcasm role.

[amessi1]

I don't wanna harsh anyone's VIP pitch-fork rally...but, I'm excited about this year.

there's free content for all. new dungeons new archetypes!

i'm most curious as to what the Raid Update bullet is about...anticipation building. :)

[mbartol]

You can see the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into the production of this epic tome. The effort of slaving over the keyboard for several months, meticulously composing this masterful narrative shines through!

Uhh, I think you misspelled “minutes.” :D

[WiseFreelancer]

I’m not as doom and gloom about this, but it is a weirdly vague letter. The roadmap contains as many updates as normal, and a ‘spring’ mini x-pack is earlier than expected.

What is super noticeable is the lack of character content detailed. Nothing on archetype plans beyond next updates, nothing on the missing three destinies. And I find that weird because there’s no evidence that content is less important - the Druid archetype on lamania looks more involved than the usual 1x universal tree we got per x-pack in the past. Clearly they still have ideas!

The lotro one was more specific and most of their big stuff is longer away. IDK?

Anyway, a strange letter, and bad hype building, but I’m not going to read too much into that.

Sev stream will be interesting after this…

[Gordo]

4 updates like always.



Arkat. If you believe three of those four are "updates" instead of rinse/wash/repeat of old content, I can't help you.
Respectfully.

[Gordo]

Anyone wanna go to PAX and ask them point-blank why they are ignoring us? Would be funny.

100% if we can also find another game to invest time and money in as well.

[mrfantastic1]

I’m not as doom and gloom about this, but it is a weirdly vague letter. The roadmap contains as many updates as normal, and a ‘spring’ mini x-pack is earlier than expected.

What is super noticeable is the lack of character content detailed. Nothing on archetype plans beyond next updates, nothing on the missing three destinies. And I find that weird because there’s no evidence that content is less important - the Druid archetype on lamania looks more involved than the usual 1x universal tree we got per x-pack in the past. Clearly they still have ideas!

The lotro one was more specific and most of their big stuff is longer away. IDK?

Anyway, a strange letter, and bad hype building, but I’m not going to read too much into that.

Sev stream will be interesting after this…

Your response is tempered, thoughtful, and is good example to the rest of us. It is hard to ignore the disappointment I feel.

[Belnavar]

I'll be honest: this letter is a bit underwhelming -- and a far cry from what we got on the LOTRO side (which was excellent across the board, bar the lack of mention of lag updates, which DDO has, at least, addressed). I appreciate the roadmap, and credit Tolero with giving us the first roadmap last year when LOTRO had none.

But this letter is very spartan and lacking in any detail. Why not a mention of a new Iconic or Race with the new expansion? You don't even need to give details, like LOTRO's "New Class" for Q4.

We also really need additions to VIP, and I was kind of expecting that this would be addressed in the letter.

I'm looking forward to the new content regardless, but this letter should make me super excited for the year ahead. Instead, I feel a little let down.

-Bel

[Nickodeamous]

I was so excited when I got the notification that the Producers letter was out! I really couldn't concentrate on meetings ai was in. Then my meetings ended...and I read it...

Ok, 4 updates. Typical.

Honestly, nothing screamed off the page to me. I really love this game, but there could have been more to hype me for 2023. I read this as, rinse and repeat.

Oh well.

[Epicsoul]

Why am I always disappointed playing this game? Tolero's letter last year was much more impressive, and this roadmap of information we already knew does nothing to excite me for the coming year. And noticeably missing is ANYTHING to do with VIP improvements.

If I tried to intentionally sabotage this game, I don't think I could do any better than the developers.

[droid327]

Yeah this feels like a non-letter....like it's just a bunch of fluff just to have "a letter" but doesn't actually convey any info that hasn't already been said for a while

Also I'm still fuzzy on what a mini expansion means, besides "we're going to do less but still charge you full price"

[Dandonk]

Also I'm still fuzzy on what a mini expansion means, besides "we're going to do less but still charge you full price"

This is not true. You're not fuzzy at all about what it means, you just wrote precisely the meaning of it.

[Gordo]

This is not true. You're not fuzzy at all about what it means, you just wrote precisely the meaning of it.

Correct. The letter is just cringe. SSG holds its customers in very low regard. That this would pass as a business announcement without ANYONE inside SSG saying "wait a sec" is dumbfounding.

[WaxLyrical]

Uhh, I think you misspelled “minutes.” :D

this is what happens when you leave your magnum opus to ChatGPT

[Impaqt]

Yeah this feels like a non-letter....like it's just a bunch of fluff just to have "a letter" but doesn't actually convey any info that hasn't already been said for a while

Also I'm still fuzzy on what a mini expansion means, besides "we're going to do less but still charge you full price"


They have been less expensive than the full expansions, but they really are along the lines of

" Here's a pack that used to be free for VIP'S, But were going to charge you anyway" expansion.

[Meat-Head]

No no no. You guys aren't seeing what I'm seeing.

That "raid" update is going to be legendary T.o.D.

RIGHT DEVS?!

So, like, THAT would be cool, imo. So.... I'm choosing to be optimistic.


As-is, there really isn't enough info here to be excited or not. It's just a skelly, and the devil will be in the details. Also, there's devils in T.o.D... JUST SAYIN'!

[Matsu_Ieyasu]

Read MORE about our plans for the year in a new Producer's Letter!

I might be confused where is the “MORE” part of the letter.

There is virtually nothing in here we couldn’t already surmise.
Okay not entirely true the Mini Expansion is a quarter earlier than expected, there is only one new adventure pack when we were expecting two.

No classic D&D module. No comment on race or universal trees or epic destinies.

No comment on VIP, nothing on transfer issues, nothing on anything.

[apocaladle]

Please add cosmetic wings in the mini expansion ultimate pack.

[karatemack]

No no no. You guys aren't seeing what I'm seeing.

That "raid" update is going to be legendary T.o.D.

RIGHT DEVS?!

So, like, THAT would be cool, imo. So.... I'm choosing to be optimistic.


As-is, there really isn't enough info here to be excited or not. It's just a skelly, and the devil will be in the details. Also, there's devils in T.o.D... JUST SAYIN'!


It MUST be Legendary ToD. This will make me happy.

[Belnavar]

Yeah this feels like a non-letter....like it's just a bunch of fluff just to have "a letter" but doesn't actually convey any info that hasn't already been said for a while

Also I'm still fuzzy on what a mini expansion means, besides "we're going to do less but still charge you full price"

While I agree on the disappointment about the letter (and I can't really understate how disappointing it is), I think many should know what a mini-expansion is by now (we've had one before for DDO and two before for LOTRO): a somewhat smaller scope expansion with a lower price tag. For example, the base edition of Saltmarsh (our previous mini-expansion, which was pretty good overall, and arguably better than what LOTRO got) is $20 compared to $40 for others, and we got a 10% discount for VIPs to boot (a small gesture, and not enough to address VIP's lacklustre offering, but still appreciated). I think it's fair to criticise SSG for this letter and the treatment of VIPs, but not to say that we're being charged the same for less for a mini-expansion.

-Bel

[Cordovan]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

[rabidfox]

I hope there's plans for improving quality assurance. So much stuff has slipped thru and gone live that shouldn't have as of late. Plenty of good content and releases too, but some nightmare level bad QA work seems to be going on amongst it all.

[Captain_Wizbang]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.


sorry ghostrider, SSG has had an entire year to address this. total fail.
I can't make this sound any nicer, SSG has screwed over the ViP's
Good luck in 2023

[systemshaker1941]

100% if we can also find another game to invest time and money in as well.

I'm open to suggestions.

[systemshaker1941]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

You've had an entire year. And you still can't even answer yes or no to "Are you improving VIP?".

[ahpook]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

And yet, Tolero couldn't add that message to the producers letter? Its not like it was so jam packed with details that something had to be cut for space...

But thank you Cordovan for sharing that.

[Dandonk]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

You had a year. Not even a single line about VIPs in the Producer's Letter, and nothing more concrete than "we're discussing it". You had a year. Seriously.

Also.... "providing more information in the future". +1 for the least concrete reply possible. "more information": Well, no info at all so far, so I guess 0 >= 0, so this statement is true no matter what if anything is happening. And it doesn't actually promise that anything will change. Good one.

Second, "in the future". Also nice cop out. Some time between now and the heat death of the universe? OK? A year passed since last time, so are we talking years, decades, centuries or millennia?

Color me not impressed at all.

[ahpook]

I’m not as doom and gloom about this, but it is a weirdly vague letter.
It like it was sent in by telegraph where you have to pay by the word and have to use them sparingly.

[Dandonk]

And yet, Tolero couldn't add that message to the producers letter? Its not like it was so jam packed with details that something had to be cut for space...

To be fair, that message would not really have impressed me. It's the one we had last year, and so far nothing has happened. So based on past experience, I am ready to be disappointed again.

[systemshaker1941]

You had a year. Not even a single line about VIPs in the Producer's Letter, and nothing more concrete than "we're discussing it". You had a year. Seriously.

Also.... "providing more information in the future". +1 for the least concrete reply possible. "more information": Well, no info at all so far, so I guess 0 >= 0, so this statement is true no matter what if anything is happening. And it doesn't actually promise that anything will change. Good one.

Second, "in the future". Also nice cop out. Some time between now and the heat death of the universe? OK? A year passed since last time, so are we talking years, decades, centuries or millennia?

Color me not impressed at all.

The only really impressive part is that no-answer answer.

[Monkey_Archer]

I don't want to add to the doom and gloom... so I wont.

I do have a question though, since this letter is somewhat vague.

Is SSG aware that the endgame has become trivially easy and many endgame players are getting bored due to lack of challenge? Are there any plans to increase difficulty either through higher difficulty settings or system wide nerfs?

[systemshaker1941]

Is SSG aware that the endgame has become trivially easy and many endgame players are getting bored due to lack of challenge? Are there any plans to increase difficulty either through higher difficulty settings or system wide nerfs?

...are you legitimately complaining that R10 pug raids are too easy?

[amessi1]

perhaps a depressing thought, but if we are comparing LoTR to DDO and and if LoTR is winning hands down on marketing/development/communication, then I'm led to believe that LoTR is the better profit center for SSG and therefore the executives believe their return on investment is better spent there. i have no idea how far off I am here, pure guessing. but, if i'm correct, then this is a product on decline, and mgmt is only giving us enough to keep us floating. I'm becoming more and more interested in Sev's live call in a bit.

[Monkey_Archer]

...are you legitimately complaining that R10 pug raids are too easy?
If the plan was to increase DDO's population by 10x and merge all the servers, then one of those might be possible to fill :rolleyes:

No, I'm talking about questing. Sure you can create artificial challenges by soloing or attempting to find enough people to raid push, but most players would prefer to play in ~6 person groups. R10, which is supposed to be the hardest difficulty, does not provide a real challenge for 6 person groups at all.

[systemshaker1941]

If the plan was to increase DDO's population by 10x and merge all the servers, then one of those might be possible to fill :rolleyes:

No, I'm talking about questing. Sure you can create artificial challenges by soloing or attempting to find enough people to raid push, but most players would prefer to play in ~6 person groups. R10, which is supposed to be the hardest difficulty, does not provide a real challenge for 6 person groups at all.

Its too bad SSG can't make alts viable. Otherwise you could just work on an alt.

[Monkey_Archer]

Its too bad SSG can't make alts viable. Otherwise you could just work on an alt.
Oh I already have 6...

I'm not really speaking for myself here, I am the person that will create my own challenge if SSG cant offer one.

Most people don't though, they just slowly stop logging in.

[xaxaeb]

If the plan was to increase DDO's population by 10x and merge all the servers, then one of those might be possible to fill :rolleyes:

No, I'm talking about questing. Sure you can create artificial challenges by soloing or attempting to find enough people to raid push, but most players would prefer to play in ~6 person groups. R10, which is supposed to be the hardest difficulty, does not provide a real challenge for 6 person groups at all.

Fact.... we're in the middle of running an R10 life right now (lvl 4 borderlands to lvl 32 end game questing). It's fairly smooth, even with 2 of us being on low-PL (3-10) and mid reaper point (pre-wings) alts.
There need to be new challenging mechanics. A raw increase of monster damage won't change the difficulty. I don't care if at lvl 5 a famine reaper hits me with a Niac's Cold Ray for 1k dmg or 5k dmg. The only difference between them is how negative my HP goes.

[ahpook]

To be fair, that message would not really have impressed me. It's the one we had last year, and so far nothing has happened. So based on past experience, I am ready to be disappointed again.

Agree that it wouldn't impress. Though I would have expected that Tolero would have the authority to add a couple more sentences to color or justify the statement. And as unimpressive as it would be what's even less impressive is not mentioning it all and having an employee drop a vague (and deniable) mention as damage control.

[ShifterThePirate]

Maybe ask some questions here :rolleyes:


Join Executive Producer Severlin for some Q&A shortly on http://Twitch.tv/DDOstream! Starts at 4:00pm Eastern. #DDO

[Dandonk]

Agree that it wouldn't impress. Though I would have expected that Tolero would have the authority to add a couple more sentences to color or justify the statement. And as unimpressive as it would be what's even less impressive is not mentioning it all and having an employee drop a vague (and deniable) mention as damage control.

True enough.

Now to see if we get anything more out of the twitch thing...

[TitusOvid]

I might be poster #57 and I have yet to read a positive response to this letter.
It lacks in style and content itself and in innovation for game changes. It would have been wiser to just post the graphic or to not post at all.

Totally wasted 5 min coffee break.

Titus.

[Impaqt]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

It's been almost a year since you gave us the free daily gold rolls. It's been almost a month since you took them away with the promise that new perks would come.

We're not asking for a lot.

Would it be so difficult to just turn the gold rolls back on until you do come up with a more permanent perk?

[QuantumFX]

This letter really feels like you're saving a lot of the excitement sizzle for later in the year, but not telling us that there's more details to come.

17th Anniversary and U58 - OK, our yearly cosmetic looks good. I'm assuming the Party challenge is returning with Cordovan reincarnating into a Formorian or something. We've known about the Archetypes for a couple weeks. Will there be any big subscription announcements? (ex. New VIP benefit?, Updated content coupon?)

Will any of the systems work be player facing? (ex. 4K UI? Updated textures for the hairstyles? PDK character models finally being something better than a tall dwarf? A solid date for the Argo/Cannith/Sarlona transfer fixes?)

Will the Mini Expansion feature any new, non-archetype toys for the players? (ex. New Race, New Class, New Universal Enhancement tree)

What do you mean by "Raid Update"? Is it another "You're going to pay for a raid in Q2, but not get it until Q3" situation? New raids that don't tie into anything? Or revamps of dead raids to make the content worth playing?

[GramercyRiff]

This is about what was expected. The bar is so low for this game. What is surprising is that people still put up with this. Seriously folks, move on. You can retain all relationships you've developed through this game quite easily in the 21st century. There is no other reason to play this game anymore.

[mrfantastic1]

This is about what was expected. The bar is so low for this game. What is surprising is that people still put up with this. Seriously folks, move on. You can retain all relationships you've developed through this game quite easily in the 21st century. There is no other reason to play this game anymore.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the letter I crafted here:

https://forums.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php/536794-What-I-was-Expecting-From-the-Producers-Letter

I am interested if the letter was more in this direction what your thoughts would be. I realize I did not cover all issues.

Humbly,

Fellow Player1

[Baahb3]

If the plan was to increase DDO's population by 10x and merge all the servers, then one of those might be possible to fill :rolleyes:

No, I'm talking about questing. Sure you can create artificial challenges by soloing or attempting to find enough people to raid push, but most players would prefer to play in ~6 person groups. R10, which is supposed to be the hardest difficulty, does not provide a real challenge for 6 person groups at all.

You want your challenge back? Get rid of the Reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

It baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.

[Kelledren]

I might be poster #57 and I have yet to read a positive response to this letter.
It lacks in style and content itself and in innovation for game changes. It would have been wiser to just post the graphic or to not post at all.

Totally wasted 5 min coffee break.

Titus.

There is nothing positive because there is nothing to this letter except for the festivals and that there will be 4 updates, one of which is a mini expansion on Vecna… which we already knew. I’ll write next years Producers letter right now: There will be four updates in 2024- one will be either a mini expansion or expansion early in the year, an adventure pack later in 2024, a couple hardcore seasons, and all the normal DDO festivals. It’s really not that much less information than what we just got.

For some reason they are holding future plans so tight to the vest, which is providing ZERO excitement. Yeah it took a couple years to deliver IoD from when it was first mentioned, but that gave the community something to be excited about. Yeah things happen and sometimes plans are delivered late or even canned completely, but right now your asking us to be excited about a black void of nothingness. Live on the edge and tell us your current ideas on the raid or adventure pack at a minimum. Create some enthusiasm. Last year’s Producers letter I remember thinking was fun and created enthusiasm. This one….

[thebeast1985]

HOLY CANNOLI.

This letter is such a luckuster.

SSG did NOTHING to even try to win leaving players back.

This is not an epic fail. its of such much bigger proportions that I can't even find the right words to describe such INCOMMENSURABLE fail.

And as for you, dear Cordovan, instead of replying trying to make up for the laughable mistake your company did for VIP...

Do as Hasbro is doing for D&D.

SAY NOTHING...

Things will stettle and fix by itself (if you believe it frimly enough)

HAPPY 2023!


EDIT P.S: Placing "seasonal events" to thicken the things you are putting on the plate... for real? this is not a Battle Royale, we know how to read and to think...

[Monkey_Archer]

You want your challenge back? Get rid of the Reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

It baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.
The problem with this is a matter of incentive. The number of people that will intentionally challenge themselves for no reward are a small minority. Players also want to see real progress, not only challenge.

So the reward incentive needs to be there. The issue is that the rewards vastly out pace the challenge available. Why does reaper difficulty arbitrarily stop at 10? Getting small increments in power is good, we just need much larger increments in difficulty to keep up with the power creep.

[Dandonk]

MY take-away from the twitch: They would like to do something for VIPs, but don't know if their idea is doable, and no idea when it might appear. Joy. Marginably more concrete, but still disappointing result after they had an entire year to look at it.

[Memnir]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.Isn't this pretty much what y'all said last year?


*sigh*

Really glad I didn't try the "wait and see what the PL says" route. This and the Producer's Letter is simply anemic, to put it as nicely and politely as possible.

[rabidfox]

I just want to see "Q2 Ravenloft ultimate is coming back to the store so you can finally buy your bottle of mist" added to that timeline.

[Gljosh]

Legendary Droaam with a raid-ok I like those quest packs.

No increase to the Level Cap-AWESOME!

Mini X-pac, well I haven't played the older mini x-pac, so I guess I can same some money there.

Quarterly Festivals-cool

More Archetypes-ok, I still haven't played the ones that were released.

I am whelmed.

[mikarddo]

I am not amused and I am certainly not impressed. Where is the hype?

Ok, the good part - a raid update. I am looking forward to that. But just one raid the entire year, or does the mini-expansion atleast include a raid as well?

Now for the meh to bad stuff:

1) More archtypes without also adding more epic lives does not work well for me. Now, if archtypes worked with iconics that would be fine but seeing they dont we need more epic lives in equal measure to archtypes for it to work.

2) Why are archtypes free to all? These should be free to VIP and come at a price to others.

3) Another mini-expansion? These packs should be free to VIP! Either make a full expansion and charge for that - or make it free for VIP.

4) More of the same HCL and Festivals. Ok, thats fine, but thats nothing to write about. Those are fully expected and nothing great.

5) ONE actual pack for VIPs.... /sadface

6) Nothing more on banking? The inventory system is very poor - finding anything is a chore. Which items across my characters has those Master Gifts augments? The banking update we did get was far from a real solution.

[ahpook]

No increase to the Level Cap-AWESOME!

They didn't actually say there would be no cap increase. They didn't actually say much. Your statement would be making assumptions based on what wasn't said.



I am whelmed.

I think you just won the most positive review of the producer's letter. Congrats. ("Congrats" is your prize. It is agreed that your prize is less than what is deserved and there are ongoing discussions about improving your prize. At some point in the future an announcement will be provided about any improvements in your prize.)

[rabidfox]

They didn't actually say there would be no cap increase. They didn't actually say much. Your statement would be making assumptions based on what wasn't said.

They said 2 level increase every other year with full expansions on the stream; with a mini-expansion and no level bump on the years in-between.

[ahpook]

They said 2 level increase every other year with full expansions on the stream; with a mini-expansion and no level bump on the years in-between.

I came late to the stream and missed that. Or maybe it was mentioned after I got on but while I was distracted.

If only they had a letter from the producer or something where they could put cool info like that. Someplace where anyone could easily read it at their convenience. If only....

[thegreatcthulhu]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

Thank you for the time you took to make this reply.

I am not trying to read too much into Rob's words on the stream when he made reference to macro-economic woes, but I think I see why there's more to this story than you can say. That aside, I think there are enough patient people.

[Valerianus]

We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.


thank you for saying that. i personally don't care, i'm no vip, but i thank you for communicating.

you know, thinking about communication, i feel bad for this post of yours, it will be quoted with a lot of follow-up bashing. i mean, you are doing your job, but i'm thinking, i can't help it, this is a thread about the producer's letter. can't the producer, like, write a nice(r) letter and than stay online just a couple of hours, like, something that happens once a year, like, staying online just a couple of hours once a year, i mean, it would be cool if after a nice(r) producer's letter, wrote by the producer, the producer maybe can stay online to answer the follow-up. like, spark some interest while withholding some info on purpose, and use said withholded info in the answers. a simple game. you write 80% of the info in the letter with the intent to share 100% of the planned info while answering the follow-up by the community. win-win on a lot of levels with minimal effort. we would be fooled into thinking you are reading and listening and communicating and we would be even happy about it.

but no.

after the myth "ddo has no marketing" you are giving birth to another myth, "ddo has no producer"

respectfully speaking, read this whole post as a sort of my personal stream of consciousness, born from reading this thread.

i mean, look, the letter talks about a raid and it got 0% interest, but the epic communication fail this letter represent, it would have been better no letter at all, 100% negative feedback. tomorrow i don't know how Severlin will repeat the same "we are working on vip stuff" again with a straight face. bad situaton, bad position to be into. yeah part of the job, but bad nonetheless. if really this letter was supposed to be so bad, was it that hard to at least to publish it after the interview with the executive producer and not just one day before? couldn't ssg forsee the backleash? we know ssg is a small team, and we accept that a small team can do only so much, and we are grateful for your job. i personally am aware what means to push forward a (in my case a really small) business with limited manpower. the sacrifices you have to do. but you are basically showing us that your business is not functioning. your producer letter, it was not written by the producer. it's a placeholder in lieu of...nothing. with a pic of a roadmap in some tredyish style that if you take out the obvious stuff what's left is nothing. as i was saying, even in my personal case of a really really really small small small business, the projection to the customers that we have control, concept, organization, it's critical, and it happens. why can't you do the same? i don't mean the real thing, it's difficult, i mean the projection of it.

this producer letter looks like an epitaph on a gravestone, no one in office realize it? you are showing us you have no control. we are in no position to really know if you have it or not, i mean you are showing us that you have no control on your chance to fool us into thinking that you have control instead of not having it.

i think Cordovan realize it, community manager, why should the community manager do damage control on producer letter...what about the others? like, e.g. the producer?


this is not intended as an attack to ssg as a whole or to any ssg employee. i am not attacking anyone. i am not attacking the producer, i have zero interst in doing so. actually, eventually i have only to lose in doing so. i am just looking at the elephant in the room, please, think about it, i'm just saying out loud what i see and what i hear, what a lot of players are saying, writing, thinking, seeing, considering.......and that is:

dear ssg, if you are not even able to fool us, locked-up players eager to be fooled, what are you thinking you are doing?

[Captain_Wizbang]

you want your challenge back? get rid of the reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

it baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.

/\ /\ /\
this

[systemshaker1941]

They said 2 level increase every other year with full expansions on the stream; with a mini-expansion and no level bump on the years in-between.

So its going to take 10 years to get the cap raised to level 40?

At the rate people are leaving this game, it does not have 10 years.

[systemshaker1941]

i think Cordovan realize it, community manager, why should the community manager do damage control on producer letter...what about the others? like, e.g. the producer?


This was not damage control. More like casual damage observation. Ain't nobody on damage control.

2023 is going to be a dumpster fire for DDO.

[Annex]

In my opinion, this very conservative document reflects a desire to avoid the problems of last year.

When Tolero openly talked about expanding subscriber benefits she created a huge amount of player expectation. She continues to pay for that rookie move in player dissatisfaction. When the people at Standing Stone Games do get around to adjusting subscriber benefits, it will very probably not be enough and more complaining will follow. Giving out gold rolls every day for the better part of a year without charging for it was super unwise, setting player expectations way too high.

The very aggressive release schedule last year resulted in a tidal wave of bugs and many unhappy players. A more conservative release schedule will probably result in more time to polish and less bugs. However, only a fool would promise less bugs. The result is a bunch of players complaining about the more sparse release schedule they asked for.

Hardcore seems to make more players happy than unhappy and probably generates a lot of revenue so we get more Hardcore. They are following the money.

Many players asked for more Vecna so we are getting more Vecna. No surprise there.

Many players like Archetypes so we are getting more Archetypes. No surprise there.

The level cap raise is contentious so they are rolling it out slowly. No surprise there.

They release about 20 quests a year. This schedule includes about 20 quests. No surprise there.

A fair number of players want all development to stop to fix bugs. This schedule is a step in that direction.

Only a fool would make a concrete promise about lag. The answer to all lag questions is, "we are working on it". No surprise there.

If things go well, this schedule leaves them room to push for a surprise or two. They cannot talk about such things because if they promise and fail, players will attack them.

Many of you complain that this document contains no surprises. You also complain that the people at Standing Stone Games never communicate with you. Well, apparently, they communicated their plans so completely that this document reflects what they already communicated because their is nothing left to communicate. You got your wish.

In 2022, the people at Standing Stone Games delivered many major updates to game systems. A lot of complaints ensured. Now they want to settle things down in 2023, which is exactly what many players asked for.

Very conservative. Very sedate. Follow through on things already started. Get that done before tearing up more stuff.

Now a bunch of you will tell me the problem is that the people at Standing Stone Games never work on the right things. You are right, because players as a body do not agree on anything accept lag.

I wish the people at Standing Stone Games much good luck in 2023. I hope players enjoy the new archetypes and quests and festival prizes and Hardcore rewards and Raid updates. I hope you are able to kill more bugs and win some victories against the lag monster. I hope you find a way to make players happy, even when they do not agree with one another. I hope a star of supreme good lights your path to wisdom, prosperity, and success.

[ahpook]

.... we know ssg is a small team, and we accept that a small team can do only so much, and we are grateful for your job. i personally am aware what means to push forward a (in my case a really small) business with limited manpower. the sacrifices you have to do. but you are basically showing us that your business is not functioning. your producer letter, it was not written by the producer. it's a placeholder in lieu of...nothing. ...

Good note. On this point I will say that a small team is restricted on what it can do. It cannot rewrite the engine. It cannot not dump out new content every month. It cannot solve all the rule problems that have crept in over the year. One thing it can do is have good communication with its players, sharing what it can and cannot do and why things can be a challenge. Yet SSG chooses not to. Its like they never recovered from their year in hiding leading up to the Free to Play transition. They would rather have a p-o'ed player base than the occasional difficult conversation.

[ahpook]

In my opinion, this very conservative document reflects a desire to avoid the problems of last year.

When Tolero openly talked about expanding subscriber benefits she created a huge amount of player expectation. She continues to pay for that rookie move in player dissatisfaction. When the people at Standing Stone Games do get around to adjusting subscriber benefits, it will very probably not be enough and more complaining will follow. Giving out gold rolls every day for the better part of a year without charging for it was super unwise, setting player expectations way too high.

The very aggressive release schedule last year resulted in a tidal wave of bugs and many unhappy players. A more conservative release schedule will probably result in more time to polish and less bugs. However, only a fool would promise less bugs. The result is a bunch of players complaining about the more sparse release schedule they asked for.

...
Many of you complain that this document contains no surprises. You also complain that the people at Standing Stone Games never communicate with you. Well, apparently, they communicated their plans so completely that this document reflects what they already communicated because their is nothing left to communicate. You got your wish.

In 2022, the people at Standing Stone Games delivered many major updates to game systems. A lot of complaints ensured. Now they want to settle things down in 2023, which is exactly what many players asked for.
... .
And if most of this was in the producer letter it would have been a far more satisfying letter. Why does a player come and need to do the job of filling in the blanks of an underwritten producer letter? I am thinking right now that you, Annex, have done more thinking about this game than the producer.

[Captain_Wizbang]

I watched maybe 5 minutes of stream until I heard the answer about ViP.
As I predicted in Aeol's thread ... "Announcement in Jan, with the new perk in March."

well, AFTER ONE YEAR. YOU DON'T HAVE AN ANSWER?

I can't give you any grade, not even an F. To earn an F, you would have had to produced some type/ ANY answer to our requests (not demands) for some type of new or improved ViP perk, no answer no grade, COMPLETE FAIL.

You want to take content I already own, and sell it back it back to me? FAIL.

You have seen the last of any money from this player, Boot me from here, do whatever, I don't care anymore about a tiny social media site than you do about any of our collective gripes.

Way to go SSG, can't even score an F.

I don't see this game making it past Q3 of 2023'.

[Kelledren]

Legendary Droaam with a raid-ok I like those quest packs.

No increase to the Level Cap-AWESOME!

Mini X-pac, well I haven't played the older mini x-pac, so I guess I can same some money there.

Quarterly Festivals-cool

More Archetypes-ok, I still haven't played the ones that were released.

I am whelmed.

Is the raid related to legendary Droam? I’m not sure we even know that. It’s just in the same quarter. Is the raid related to the mini-expansion (doubt it), or is it just a refurbished ToD or Titan? This is the kind of information missing from the PL.

[xaxaeb]

When Tolero openly talked about expanding subscriber benefits she created a huge amount of player expectation. She continues to pay for that rookie move in player dissatisfaction. When the people at Standing Stone Games do get around to adjusting subscriber benefits, it will very probably not be enough and more complaining will follow. Giving out gold rolls every day for the better part of a year without charging for it was super unwise, setting player expectations way too high.


Not charging? What is $15/mo for VIP if not charging?
Brother, are you high right now?
There used to be content "free for VIP". We haven't had any of that in a long time. All the content lately is either free for all, or buy for all.
We get 500 TPs per month.... mind you, 600 of them cost $8 Let's consider being able to skip a quest for sagas the difference here.
Tiny exp boost, which isn't all that relevant with the amount of quests available.

The moment SSG moved away from adventure packs and toward "mini expansions" - VIP lost its value.
We're essentially being charged double for what's still left. So don't tell me that we were getting gold rolls and not being charged for them.

Did Tolero make a mistake? Yeah, I've been in her shoes and made similar mistakes at work.
But there would still be dissatisfaction with the current state of VIP regardless of her statement.

[Assassination]

If you think the producers letter is bad, watch Cordo and Sev muck it up for 45 minutes.... lol... hysterical. No wonder this game is in the tiolet.

[cmecu]

Cant believe SSG is just glossing over our inventory issues. We have no bank space .. and you all are making more expansions and quests , which means even more items.. Come on all ready... Why are you all being so quiet about this, when people are complaining about it. Its a complete disrespect to us as players, when you give us so many items in the game and we have no space to put it and then you dont acknowledge the issue and say your all working on it. Its really sad.

[systemshaker1941]

When Tolero openly talked about expanding subscriber benefits she created a huge amount of player expectation. She continues to pay for that rookie move in player dissatisfaction. When the people at Standing Stone Games do get around to adjusting subscriber benefits, it will very probably not be enough and more complaining will follow. Giving out gold rolls every day for the better part of a year without charging for it was super unwise, setting player expectations way too high.


Literally all she had to do was follow through on time, even if it was just something simple. If the end of daily gold roles coincided with "We're up VIP XP to 25% and the monthly point allowance to 750" ALLLL of this ire could have been avoided. If she took one of the 100 other easily implementable suggestions. Hell, even if she just came right out and said "We don't have a plan yet, but we are working on it" the same day the gold roles ended.

This is the worst handling of anything in the game's history.

[Villefere]

Event we do every year
New pack
New Hardcore Season
Event we do every year

Could this roadmap be anymore vague, boring and unexciting?

[capsela]

What no full price expansion??? You have to do that every year you know to maximize whale harvest.

https://i.ibb.co/GR17n47/22e2eNa.png (https://imgbb.com/)

Make sure you nerf everything in the new expansion before I even get a chance to play it.

[Roberdt]

I feel like if we would have gotten pictures of, I don't know giant robots, or spaceships in this year's producer letter; like we got dinosaurs in last year's, there would have been more positive feedback.

[Damian]

anything done with reaper cap?

[capsela]

Yeah this feels like a non-letter....like it's just a bunch of fluff just to have "a letter" but doesn't actually convey any info that hasn't already been said for a while

Also I'm still fuzzy on what a mini expansion means, besides "we're going to do less but still charge you full price"

DDO is the most expensive game to play ever. I'm sorry but I don't know what it is about DDO that makes you think you can justify higher prices than almost ANY MMO. It makes me think you are abusing your playerbase with these prices. No wonder [redacted] exploits are rampant, at the "other forum". Nobody can afford even basic QOL stuff from the DDO store. I'm actually sorry for the VIPs. I've NEVER subscribed, but I know how much VIPs have been used and abused. I can't believe they have stayed this long. A sizeable amount of the playerbase is clearly codependent. But, can't leave their abuser. DDO prices are abuse.

[dunklezhan]

a Legendary revamp of Droaam content

Is there any chance - any chance at all - of actually finishing that storyline off for us? I know I know I know you want and need to pad out* the high level content, but I've been waiting for you to tell more of the story of the sisters of Sora Kell, and the invasion of one of the most interesting Khorvarian civilisations for what, ten years now? Pleeeeeeeease.

Come on we've got a whole triple pack of Xoriat (and very enjoyable it is too) the least you could do is give the monster nation its due :)

*"Pad out" isn't really a criticism, just recognition of what you inevitably will need to do in order to raise the cap. Repetition of existing content used to be 100% of epic+ play so it's an improvement on circa 2012 for sure, and I of course understand why "polish what we've got" rather than make new is how you have to proceed most of the time. But epic/legendary is my least favourite content area for that same reason.

[dunklezhan]

DDO is the most expensive game to play ever. I'm sorry but I don't know what it is about DDO that makes you think you can justify higher prices than almost ANY MMO. It makes me think you are abusing your playerbase with these prices. No wonder [redacted] exploits are rampant, at the "other forum". Nobody can afford even basic QOL stuff from the DDO store. I'm actually sorry for the VIPs. I've NEVER subscribed, but I know how much VIPs have been used and abused. I can't believe they have stayed this long. A sizeable amount of the playerbase is clearly codependent. But, can't leave their abuser. DDO prices are abuse.

I mean I just don't think that's true*.

I do think that, like LARP, it's expensive enough that it's mostly suited for middle earners, which makes folk who want to spend their disposable on more than one thing feel like there's a huge barrier to entry.

But you know, SSG could be a worse corporation. *sideeyes at WOTC*.

*(I mean, I think the codependency suggestion is true, but that's how it is with any game- video games are addictive and that's been the entire point of making them since about 2001, so why would anyone be surprised if players become co-dependent if they play something for a long time? Might as well be surprised that the stuff that falls out of the sky tastes like that stuff you find in streams. For my part, it just helps kill another few hours of my life between work and bed as a healthier alternative to drinking whilst I wait for the old biochemistry to stop. At least DDO quests are legitimately laugh out loud funny from time to time. I suspect DDO is just where middle aged & older gamers come to put down roots really - after all the excitement hope and fight is beaten out of you, you conclude "well I might as well be comfortable". And of course, all of this supposition is as much speculation and projection as your view that the prices are abuse, we can, neither of us, make an evidence based case for it other than 'well *I* feel that way').

[Anurakh]

The information is too minimalist, each point would have needed to be explained a little with news, etc.

What's that raid update, Cordovan? What are you going to change in the raids?

Isn't there going to be more work on the storage problem? The crafting bank needs larger and more standardized stack sizes and filters. The regular storage still needs improvements, the minimal space increase you gave us last time (at an exorbitant price) doesn't solve anything, and it came with a more cumbersome interface to use. I wouldn't have cared about the interface if the extra space had been plentiful, but so...

No wonder they have nothing to say about VIP. When they said last year that there would be improvements, it seemed to me that it was a simple way of placating people without a real will to do anything. And so it has been, so they have met with the wrath of the people, who did believe them, by surprise. I really don't understand how SSG can't see how much mini-expansion and annual expansions have devalued their subscription, not to mention the proliferation of iconic ones. If they want the content to not be a fundamental part of the VIP membership, then they have to increase the other perks, it's obvious to anyone who thinks about it for a moment.

I am not a fan of mini-xpacs. To me, mini-xpacks are the old packs that you used to make, absurdly overpriced and not available in the store until six months after they were released. I don't like your new sales policy at all.

And every year you put out more and more past lives, and you do nothing to help alts and new players. Absurd.

[Gordo]

You want your challenge back? Get rid of the Reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

It baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.

If you don't want to use the reaper points, just don't use them. Nobody is forcing you. There - you nerfed yourself.
You're welcome.

[xaxaeb]

You want your challenge back? Get rid of the Reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

It baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.

It baffles me to this day why we need better gear..... We want challenge, we should just run from 1 to 32 R10 naked..... Gear just makes the said content easier
Now that I think about it.... why even get levels? Can we just run legendary raids as lvl 1 toons, pls?

How many reaper points do you have? Do you even play r10?
The only thing reaper points do is MAYBE, in some situations let you survive 1 hit. I mean when mobs hit you for 3k, does it matter if you bring a 1.5k hp toon or 2.5k hp toon into the quest? Fatter melees will go from like 3k to 4k hp (obviously tanks will do better) and survive 1 hit, so that healers can at least try to heal. HP/damage scaling past a certain point doesn't make the content any more difficult.... challenging mechanics in a quest do. What does it matter if I'm dead with -1k hp, -2k hp or -20k hp? I was dead in 1 hit anyway.

[Belnavar]

You want your challenge back? Get rid of the Reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

It baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.

I, and many others I know, love the reaper trees and the benefits we get from there (in and outside of Reaper mode). Instead of nuking that, or rebalancing the ten existing Reaper levels, why not simply add another 5, much harder, ranks? And then, when we get Legendary Reincarnation and all the power creep from there, add another 5 even harder ranks. That way you don't take anything away from those enjoying the existing progression, but give more challenge to those much further along. Best of both worlds.

-Bel

[Belnavar]

There is nothing positive because there is nothing to this letter except for the festivals and that there will be 4 updates, one of which is a mini expansion on Vecna… which we already knew. I’ll write next years Producers letter right now: There will be four updates in 2024- one will be either a mini expansion or expansion early in the year, an adventure pack later in 2024, a couple hardcore seasons, and all the normal DDO festivals. It’s really not that much less information than what we just got.

For some reason they are holding future plans so tight to the vest, which is providing ZERO excitement. Yeah it took a couple years to deliver IoD from when it was first mentioned, but that gave the community something to be excited about. Yeah things happen and sometimes plans are delivered late or even canned completely, but right now your asking us to be excited about a black void of nothingness. Live on the edge and tell us your current ideas on the raid or adventure pack at a minimum. Create some enthusiasm. Last year’s Producers letter I remember thinking was fun and created enthusiasm. This one….

I agree (except we can almost certainly predict a full expansion next year, as that alternating pattern seems well-established for both games now -- and I don't personally have an issue with it).

The Producer's Letter is probably the biggest opportunity to create excitement and enthusiasm for the game, and as much as I liked what Tolero delivered last year, and appreciate the roadmap (however skeletal), this letter hugely underperformed on that front.

I get that there may be some hesitancy to share about all upcoming plans, especially ones that are less concrete or might get canned or postponed, but we learned a tonne more from Severlin on the stream (which mostly made up for how lacking the letter is for me), bit that info should really have been in the letter. Just emphasise that some things may not make it (the roadmap already has a disclaimer) and most players will be understanding. Saying as little as possible isn't a good way forward though, and I think that was learned quite strongly on the LOTRO side.

-Bel

[Captain_Wizbang]

, this letter hugely underperformed on that front.
Laughable is a better term

[Belnavar]

Re: VIP, we know from the Q&A with Sev (and not from the letter, which is a major failing) that they're looking at doing some kind of system that gives VIPs rewards over time, but they don't know how long that would take. Fair enough.

It's been deemed that daily gold rolls for VIPs has a negative impact on SSG's finances (I think that is short-sighted, given how reliable VIP income is, and how clear VIPs are about "add value or we unsub," which seems to have taken SSG by surprise [I don't know why, when Tolero admitted a year ago they were worried about VIP value even before the pandemic, which was before they severely devalued VIP]). Okay, fair enough.

I agree with others that words are not enough anymore. SSG did indeed have a year to come up with something for VIP -- anything -- and there's nothing to show for that time. It seems the new plans are only in response to the huge backlash over the past month.

But let's put all the bad will, disappointment, and (very justified) player anger aside for a moment to think about a temporary/interim solution:

Grant VIPs one-off gifts every month or two until the new VIP system is in. Month 1 = 5 XP elixirs. Month 2 = a new cosmetic. Month 3 = 5 Slayer elixirs. Month 4 = a new pet. You get the idea. Maybe every three months give something bigger, with more value, but give something -- anything -- to show that you are at least trying.

When VIP was devalued on the LOTRO side by the free codes, we got a free pet and carry-all (very high value item). We then later got the Town Services feature and other buffs. They made an effort. Now, VIP still needs more value there, and I thought daily gold rolls would've helped on that side too, but DDO needs even a single VIP gift very soon to show you care. Because "we're looking at it" just isn't enough anymore.

-Bel

[Kelledren]

I agree (except we can almost certainly predict a full expansion next year, as that alternating pattern seems well-established for both games now -- and I don't personally have an issue with it).

The Producer's Letter is probably the biggest opportunity to create excitement and enthusiasm for the game, and as much as I liked what Tolero delivered last year, and appreciate the roadmap (however skeletal), this letter hugely underperformed on that front.

I get that there may be some hesitancy to share about all upcoming plans, especially ones that are less concrete or might get canned or postponed, but we learned a tonne more from Severlin on the stream (which mostly made up for how lacking the letter is for me), bit that info should really have been in the letter. Just emphasise that some things may not make it (the roadmap already has a disclaimer) and most players will be understanding. Saying as little as possible isn't a good way forward though, and I think that was learned quite strongly on the LOTRO side.

-Bel

I still haven’t watched the video from the live stream yet, but if that info was in the letter and then there would not have been so much negative feedback. If they have these future plans laid out enough to talk about in a live stream put those in the annual PL. Or at least say- see livestream for more details on this bare bones plan. That
live stream should be for answering questions not already planned out.. VIP changes for example. From the summary of the video I read on Reddit it seems like some decent info was given, I just cannot comprehend why it wasn’t in the Producers letter. I guess what I’m saying is that I would rather be disappointed by a lack of info in a livestream about the PL than the official DDO Producers Letter.

[capsela]

I mean I just don't think that's true*.

I do think that, like LARP, it's expensive enough that it's mostly suited for middle earners, which makes folk who want to spend their disposable on more than one thing feel like there's a huge barrier to entry.

But you know, SSG could be a worse corporation. *sideeyes at WOTC*.

*(I mean, I think the codependency suggestion is true, but that's how it is with any game- video games are addictive and that's been the entire point of making them since about 2001, so why would anyone be surprised if players become co-dependent if they play something for a long time? Might as well be surprised that the stuff that falls out of the sky tastes like that stuff you find in streams. For my part, it just helps kill another few hours of my life between work and bed as a healthier alternative to drinking whilst I wait for the old biochemistry to stop. At least DDO quests are legitimately laugh out loud funny from time to time. I suspect DDO is just where middle aged & older gamers come to put down roots really - after all the excitement hope and fight is beaten out of you, you conclude "well I might as well be comfortable". And of course, all of this supposition is as much speculation and projection as your view that the prices are abuse, we can, neither of us, make an evidence based case for it other than 'well *I* feel that way').

So it's ok to overcharge your players if they are old? I know you didn't say that but that's what I got from what you said. You could say the DDO devs are engaged in elder abuse. Ba dum tish. As far as value proposition for $100 I can buy Rimworld, a game that arguable has more replay-ability and stories in it than DDO. Paradox publishing offers a $5 a month sub for Europa Universalis, and $5 for Hearts of Iron 4 both amazing games. Meanwhile you can spend $500 on DDO and not even own all the packs and have low quality of life. Is this what late state capitalism looks like? I admire their chutzpah. Caveat emptor. Gordon Gecko loves SSG.

https://media.giphy.com/media/fBM4ruLmB2pZHsgwtQ/giphy.gif

[DoctorOfLiterature]

Severlin, I was not impressed by your comments on Ddo stream nor by the Producers Letter. I am not one to complain here. I have been patient on the promised vip upgrade. But I am going to cancel sub because I do not feel appreciated and the benefit is not there as Tolero admitted last year. You have had a year. There have been many suggestions to improve vip to compensate for eroded value and most would not cost SSG money. Giving vip a better exp snd or buddy exp bonus for example. Plans for 2023 continue to erode vip value as you require us to buy mini expansions that would have been packs in the past and you give away archetypes to f2p. There is nothing planned for the year to give me a reason to keep VIP.
That’s bad business.

[Belnavar]

I thought I'd share some of the highlights (in terms of upcoming stuff for 2023) from the Q&A with Severlin, as it fills a lot of gaps from the letter. I encourage folk to check out the Q&A directly for more details and nuance.

VIP

new system being looked at for VIPs
month to month claims like a loyalty programme, accumlate over the months
some one-time claims, some things free in game that make it less onerous (presumably things like XP elixirs, slayer elixirs, etc.), and other expanded things

requires engineering support, if it requires a year of engineering (doesn't look like it will) would require a rethink

engineering time is being prioritised for this over UI scaling

felt more comfortable sharing about this over stream, as things are still up in the air (my paraphrasing)

-

RAIDS

mini-expansion will have a new raid
in addition to existing raid to be updated in Q3

-

LEVEL CAP

no level cap increase
current plan is level cap increase every second year (this seems painfully slow to me, meaning we won't hit level 40 until 2030, assuming two levels each time)
mini-xpac year won't have one, xpac year will (this largely confirms the intent to keep rotating xpac/mini-xpac, which we also see on LOTRO side, and something I'm personally fine with)

-

UNIVERSAL TREE

probably see another universal tree (I presume with mini-xpac, but wasn't specified)

-

EPIC DESTINIES

we'll probably see another epic destiny this year (my guess is in Q3, but who knows)

-

CLASS

no new class this year, concentrating more on archetypes (this gave me the impression we're getting more archetypes this year beyond the 3 in U58, but this wasn't stated)

-

RACE

probably no new race this year (expensive, probably next year)

-

UI SCALING

looking into ui scaling soon
vip tech prioritised over ui scaling
don't know how hard ui scaling will be
ui scaling will result in icons being pixelated until they're ressed up (somehwat suggestive that this might not happen at the same time)
ui likely moved to hud, grey more modern look becaused it scales better (gold piping likely won't scale well)

-

AVATAR UPDATES

at some point we're gonna get avatar updates
if that happens, it'll be later this year (will try to get stuff in this year)
scope of avatar changes from a little to a lot

-

DROAAM UPDATE IN Q3

will at least be Attack on Stormreach adventure pack
unsure if free quest in Droaam (not sure which one this is, actually, so maybe others can clarify?) will be included, still being discussed

-

2FA & NEW LAUNCHER

new launcher tech required
store updates required for new launcher
through most of 2FA backend code
launcher tech being worked on
store updates planned, coming some time early summer
then new launcher and 2FA aimed for mid-to-late year

-

LAG

much of senior engineering working on lag
getting towards end of phase 2
then phase 3 will start

-

SUPPORTER PACK/S

actively working on supporter pack/s
would like to see one for anniversary, but not sure it's possible
will include sweet cosmetics, generous amount of astral shards, etc. (I'm hoping for one with points and elixirs too)

-

All of the above makes me feel a bit better about this year (so thank you Sev and Cord for the Q&A on the same day), so it may help others here too.

-Bel

[mbartol]

Thanks for the info, Bel.

Some of this really belongs in the Producer’s Letter, and would have prevented at least some of the negative feedback. Sure, it’s not all fleshed out, but even including a section for “potential effort” or “ideas we’re exploring” would give the players something to get excited about—just reinforce that it’s not a promise. I mean, the Executive Producer is stating the information in a SSG outlet/platform, why not in the letter?

[Thar]

So a bunch of non news?

Q1 -snowpeaks and anniversary event which require little effort to add to and run.
pax event that few people visit from the game or care about.

Update 58 - 3 archtypes and... is that it? no content?

Q2 Forum revamp - who cares?

mini expansion cash grab... no raid???? whaaaat???

Q3 - crystal cove - see annual festival info above... takes what 5 min to code the event to turn on?

A raid!! what only one this year??? Revamp of existing quests... boring.

Q4 - night revels - festivault - see annual festival info above... takes what 5 min to code the event to turn on?

one new adventure pack 4-5 quests?


no classic dungeon for 2023??

no movie tie in???

no class updates - looking at wizard where you all stated that it needed archmage updated like 3 years ago

no new epic destinies?

only a total of like 6 quests not part of expansion which isn't a full but a mini expansion???

what are you all working on this year??

[capsela]

no class updates - looking at wizard where you all stated that it needed archmage updated like 3 years ago


From and including: Wednesday, October 30, 2019
To, but not including Saturday, January 28, 2023

Result: 1186 days
It is 1186 days from the start date to the end date, but not including the end date.

Or 3 years, 2 months, 29 days excluding the end date.

Or 38 months, 29 days excluding the end date.

But, who's counting?

[HuneyMunster]

Lag has been reduced? Where?

Enlarged bank, yay! But very minor and for outrageous prices, it's still buggy, and it's still more annoying to use. So... not quite yay?

Not a word about VIPs, but hey, we can get to pay for a "mini-expansion" - aka rebranded adventure pack that we used to get included in the VIP subscription.

No mention of new classes or races or levels, but more archetypes that have so far been fairly meh. Hopefully the new ones are better.

Banking is better than it was but still needs to be polished.

If you look at the recent patterns it's a new race every two years with a full-expansion followed by a mini-expansion. I doubt we will see a new class added due to Alchemist too so much resources. I would think melee and range classes would have been more easier to create. I like the idea of Archetypes as it add more to the current classes we have. I would be surprised if a new class was added before level 40 cap.

I would think new level will be next year with my guess increasing level to 34 or 35.

Would be good to have a bit more value for VIP. Daily Gold dice was not the answer to boost VIP.

[Lamassut]

Severlin, I was not impressed by your comments on Ddo stream nor by the Producers Letter. I am not one to complain here. I have been patient on the promised vip upgrade. But I am going to cancel sub because I do not feel appreciated and the benefit is not there as Tolero admitted last year. You have had a year. There have been many suggestions to improve vip to compensate for eroded value and most would not cost SSG money. Giving vip a better exp snd or buddy exp bonus for example. Plans for 2023 continue to erode vip value as you require us to buy mini expansions that would have been packs in the past and you give away archetypes to f2p. There is nothing planned for the year to give me a reason to keep VIP.
That’s bad business.
The problem is that if they think that gold rolls, terrible as they are, are a problem for their profits, they will think that an increase in experience will also hurt their potion sales. Any perk that is not useless will hurt their sales in their eyes, because they monetize EVERYTHING, and they have forgotten that to make money, you have to invest first.

They don't have enough charisma to sell smoke, sorry.

SSG, wake up. Decide if the money that your VIP clients give you with their subscription compensates what you think you have lost in sales in the store (because, believe me, many people would not buy those items in the store anyway xd), if you prefer sales from the store or the vip suscription. Because you can't expect VIPs to buy everything in the store and, on top of that, pay a subscription for nothing. You have a business, not an NGO.

And come on, we all know what has really hurt sales this year. And it has not been the gold dice, precisely.

[Gordo]

I thought I'd share some of the highlights (in terms of upcoming stuff for 2023) from the Q&A with Severlin, as it fills a lot of gaps from the letter:

VIP

new system being looked at for VIPs
month to month claims like a loyalty programme, accumlate over the months
some one-time claims, some things free in game that make it less onerous (presumably things like XP elixirs, slayer elixirs, etc.), and other expanded things

requires engineering support, if it requires a year of engineering (doesn't look like it will) would require a rethink

engineering time is being prioritised for this over UI scaling

felt more comfortable sharing about this over stream, as things are still up in the air

-

RAIDS

mini-expansion will have a new raid
in addition to existing raid to be updated in Q3

-

LEVEL CAP

no level cap increase
current plan is level cap increase every second year (this seems painfully slow to me, meaning we won't hit level 40 until 2030, assuming two levels each time)
mini-xpac year won't have one, xpac year will (this largely confirms the intent to keep rotating xpac/mini-xpac, which we also see on LOTRO side, and something I'm personally fine with)

-

UNIVERSAL TREE

probably see another universal tree (I presume with mini-xpac, but wasn't specified)

-

EPIC DESTINIES

we'll probably see another epic destiny this year (my guess is in Q3, but who knows)

-

CLASS

no new class this year, concentrating more on archetypes (this gave me the impression we're getting more archetypes this year beyond the 3 in U58, but this wasn't stated)

-

RACE

probably no new race this year (expensive, probably next year)

-

UI SCALING

looking into ui scaling soon
vip tech prioritised over ui scaling
don't know how hard ui scaling will be
ui scaling will result in icons being pixelated until they're ressed up (somehwat suggestive that this might not happen at the same time)
ui likely moved to hud, grey more modern look becaused it scales better (gold piping likely won't scale well)

-

AVATAR UPDATES

at some point we're gonna get avatar updates
if that happens, it'll be later this year (will try to get stuff in this year)
scope of avatar changes from a little to a lot

-

DROAAM UPDATE IN Q3

will at least be Attack on Stormreach adventure pack
unsure if free quest in Droaam (not sure which one this is, actually, so maybe others can clarify?) will be included, still being discussed

-

2FA & NEW LAUNCHER

new launcher tech required
store updates required for new launcher
through most of 2FA backend code
launcher tech being worked on
store updates planned, coming some time early summer
then new launcher and 2FA aimed for mid-to-late year

-

LAG

much of senior engineering working on lag
getting towards end of phase 2
then phase 3 will start

-

SUPPORTER PACK/S

actively working on supporter pack/s
would like to see one for anniversary, but not sure it's possible
will include sweet cosmetics, generous amount of astral shards, etc. (I'm hoping for one with points and elixirs too)

-

All of the above makes me feel a bit better about this year (so thank you Sev and Cord for the Q&A on the same day), so it may help others here too.

-Bel

"felt more comfortable sharing about this over stream, as things are still up in the air"
BS. They got caught with a negative response and played catch up. It's gaslighting and manipulative.

[Dandonk]

"felt more comfortable sharing about this over stream, as things are still up in the air"
BS. They got caught with a negative response and played catch up

Yep. They had a year, and after that time, "things are still up in the air". That's just not good enough. Combined with Cordovan's first comment that "VIP is good value" (or great, or whatever it was), it's clear that there was no plan at all to do anything for VIPs, and that they are indeed trying hard to pretend that they did in fact have a plan.... even if it's pretty clear that they had no such thing and the stuff mentioned in the stream was something gotten from a 15 minute "oh **** what do we do now" session right before the stream.

[Belnavar]

"felt more comfortable sharing about this over stream, as things are still up in the air"
BS. They got caught with a negative response and played catch up. It's gaslighting and manipulative.

Just to clarify: that's my paraphrasing of a longer explanation there, so I do encourage folk to check out the Q&A directly for more details and nuance.

That said, I do agree that not mentioning VIP at all in the letter was a major failing (to put it lightly).

-Bel

[Arkat]

Update 58 - 3 archtypes and... is that it? no content?



No, there will be one free dungeon in Update 58. It was mentioned in the Q&A with Severlin.

I'd guess it's some sort of "introductory dungeon" for the mini-expansion.

[MistaMagic]

No, there will be one free dungeon in Update 58. It was mentioned in the Q&A with Severlin.

I'd guess it's some sort of "introductory dungeon" for the mini-expansion.

It is

[Anurakh]

I still want to know what that "raid update" means. What will change in the raids?

[Kelledren]

I still want to know what that "raid update" means. What will change in the raids?

I think it means a current raid, maybe something along the lines of Tower of Despair, will be updated to legendary. Again all this should have been more clear in the PL and a lot less stink would have occurred. Some stink would’ve remained, but there would have been less.

My two hills are 1) more, and not crazy expensive, bank space. And 2) a revamp of VIP.
These can be two birds killed with one stone. But first give the first 30 shared bank spaces for free. It’s the decent thing to do.
I stayed on as VIP purely to support the game. Im really not getting much from it at this point- but the $10 a month is less than my wife’s Starbucks every few days. If I was an OG from 2006 then yeah I would’ve def dropped my VIP already. But as I’ve only been at this about 5 Years, and prob more casual than most, I would like to see it continue.
However I don’t like feeling I’m being taken advantage of either when I want to support something. Hopefully the plans mentioned will materialize into something soon- or at the very least put to a plan and discussed. It had been a year with little conversation on this and no movement. Sure daily golds were nice- but a band aid at best, not the solution.

[HoopleHeadMan]

DROAAM UPDATE IN Q3

will at least be Attack on Stormreach adventure pack
unsure if free quest in Droaam (not sure which one this is, actually, so maybe others can clarify?) will be included, still being discussed
l

Who here hasn't stood on that cliff at the mouth of the cave and looked down over the beach upon the forces of Droaam and felt that convulsive urge to jump down and just kill EVERYTHING arrayed before you?

[Arkat]

I still want to know what that "raid update" means. What will change in the raids?I think it means a current raid, maybe something along the lines of Tower of Despair, will be updated to legendary. Again all this should have been more clear in the PL and a lot less stink would have occurred. Some stink would’ve remained, but there would have been less.


It will either be a ToD (Tower of Despair) update to Legendary or a Titan (The Titan Awakes) update to Legendary.

[Oxarhamar]

No, there will be one free dungeon in Update 58. It was mentioned in the Q&A with Severlin.

I'd guess it's some sort of "introductory dungeon" for the mini-expansion.

These one dungeon update before expansion & mini expansions really feel like they should just be part of the xpack itself

They are free which is ok but it’s still a one quest update

[Oxarhamar]

Thanks for the info, Bel.

Some of this really belongs in the Producer’s Letter, and would have prevented at least some of the negative feedback. Sure, it’s not all fleshed out, but even including a section for “potential effort” or “ideas we’re exploring” would give the players something to get excited about—just reinforce that it’s not a promise. I mean, the Executive Producer is stating the information in a SSG outlet/platform, why not in the letter?

+1

[HoopleHeadMan]

DDO is the most expensive game to play ever [blah blah blah] I can't believe they have stayed this long. A sizeable amount of the playerbase is clearly codependent. But, can't leave their abuser. DDO prices are abuse.

Hi... I'm a game called Gemstone IV. I am *LITTERALLY* a text-only pathfinder style game that has been active for nearly 3 times as long as DDO, and Customers tend to spend $25 A MONTH to maintain their subscriptions, and most players have more then 1 subscription active

[Arkat]

Hi... I'm a game called Gemstone IV. I am *LITTERALLY* a text-only pathfinder style game that has been active for nearly 3 times as long as DDO, and Customers tend to spend $25 A MONTH to maintain their subscriptions, and most players have more then 1 subscription active

Well, to be fair, Gemstone IV has only been around since 2010.

The Gemstone series itself has been around since 1988, so 35 years.

[HoopleHeadMan]

Well, to be fair, Gemstone IV has only been around since 2010.

The Gemstone series itself has been around since 1988, so 35 years.

Fair enough.... I was playing back when Prodigy and Compuserve were duking it it out in competition to build the biggest user-base..

...fun times

[BurnerD]

Isn't this pretty much what y'all said last year?


*sigh*

Really glad I didn't try the "wait and see what the PL says" route. This and the Producer's Letter is simply anemic, to put it as nicely and politely as possible.


I think this producers letter fits the definition of "mailing it in"

[KoobTheProud]

It will either be a ToD (Tower of Despair) update to Legendary or a Titan (The Titan Awakes) update to Legendary.

A Devils of Shavarath upgrade to Legendary would be very cool. Some of the best quests in the game that are not run enough because they are at that really unfortunate Heroic/Epic divide. Make them level 33-34 and they'd get run a lot because they are entertaining to run and the loot would likely be very good.

[Arkat]

I think this producers letter fits the definition of "mailing it in"

It sure looked like something someone could have written with ChatGPT after a few mins.

[SocialRipple]

Fair enough.... I was playing back when Prodigy and Compuserve were duking it it out in competition to build the biggest user-base..

...fun times

I got into Gemstone III back on Prodigy, when gaming cost $3/hour. That's like a million bucks in today's money!

Kids these days don't know how good they have it. :)

[HoopleHeadMan]

I got into Gemstone III back on Prodigy, when gaming cost $3/hour. That's like a million bucks in today's money!

Kids these days don't know how good they have it. :)

Then AOL came along with better speeds and suddenly people were missing mortgage payments.... :eek:

Now people flip out over $100 a YEAR?!?!

Folks were shelling out 300-600 a month on AOL when they dumped charter accounts and started charging by the hour... with additional fees depending on how far away you were from the portal you were accessing...

It was a freaking bloodbath. People defaulting on their bills drove AOL from being THE service hub that bought AT&T and Time Warner... to utter financial collapse

[xaxaeb]

Then AOL came along with better speeds and suddenly people were missing mortgage payments.... :eek:

Now people flip out over $100 a YEAR?!?!

Folks were shelling out 300-600 a month on AOL when they dumped charter accounts and started charging by the hour... with additional fees depending on how far away you were from the portal you were accessing...

It was a freaking bloodbath. People defaulting on their bills drove AOL from being THE service hub that bought AT&T and Time Warner... to utter financial collapse

Just because things we bad back then, doesn't justify this treatment of people who pay SSG money.
If VIP was always this crappy and we suddenly start complaining - sure. But VIP used to have actual value. We had an option of paying for VIP monthly to get content, or paying upfront to buy the content. Now we need to buy all the content regardless of VIP status. None of the remaining bonuses are enough to justify the VIP price.

As you said it yourself, predatory behavior like this brought AOL to ruin. And that's where SSG is heading.

[Stradivarius]

The VIP thing could have been done a long time ago. There is no "engineering" involved bolting-on another Pay scheme onto the user interface.

What SSG is doing right now... is to try and see how their subs are doing and responding to potential VIP changes.


That is to say, they gained a whole lot of subs during the free gold dice rolls bonus last year, they are checking now how many of those VIP accounts gained are being retained and how many are dropping off.

This is basically SSG's version of the OGL 2.0 leak. If there is enough backlash (and account cancellations) they will quickly start adding on goodies to VIP to plug losses and get people back to subbing. If the subs continue as is they will be slower to respond if at all.

[Graedyn_Jaxx]

The VIP thing could have been done a long time ago. There is no "engineering" involved bolting-on another Pay scheme onto the user interface.

What SSG is doing right now... is to try and see how their subs are doing and responding to potential VIP changes.


That is to say, they gained a whole lot of subs during the free gold dice rolls bonus last year, they are checking now how many of those VIP accounts gained are being retained and how many are dropping off.

This is basically SSG's version of the OGL 2.0 leak. If there is enough backlash (and account cancellations) they will quickly start adding on goodies to VIP to plug losses and get people back to subbing. If the subs continue as is they will be slower to respond if at all.

I keep reading this and thinking subs must mean submissives. I does feel like that sometimes though.

[HoopleHeadMan]

I keep saying.... want to give value to 'VIP'?

Give VIP significantly reduced cost on items in-store like boxes & shards, and in-game chest re-rolls. Also let VIP have re-rolls on chests in Raids

[Captain_Wizbang]

As per EP Severlin,
Severlin said "the amount of items being accumulated is an inventory issue & not fiscally responsible"

ok, I get the inventory issue, but isn't that already an issue not being addressed? Not flaming him, just making an observation.

[Stradivarius]

As per EP Severlin,
Severlin said "the amount of items being accumulated is an inventory issue & not fiscally responsible"

ok, I get the inventory issue, but isn't that already an issue not being addressed? Not flaming him, just making an observation.

Not sure what he meant by the "fiscally responsible" portion because I bought a ton of extra inventory for the sheer fact that I had a ton of gold roll stuff coming in.

[GrrArgh]

1. I dip into the forums occasionally, mostly for reference.
2. I enjoy the Producer's letters, including this one, because, unlike the few posts I skimmed out of this thread, I exist in a vacuum of knowledge and now I know the projected timeline of the next few quarters. Even if all this information is "already known", it wasn't "already known" by me.
3. Refering back to point 1, here's the reason for me actually posting this time instead of just reading posts from what I assume are the "loud obnoxious minority". (And I say that because I disagree with almost every complaint and criticism I see. Almost.)

So, the forum revamp I heard about some time back is now on a roadmap. What exactly does this mean for my reference posts? The one reason I really use the forums? Do I need to make backups of all of them? I mean, honestly, I still reference builds from before the enhancement overhaul (don't ask me why if you don't already get it). I'm going to potentially have to back up a heckuva lot of stuff to word docs and excel spreadsheets.

Can anyone with credentials (looking at you devs) detail exactly what's coming in the way of the revamp? I don't want to waste precious gameplay time backing stuff up that doesn't need to be, but I also don't want to miss out on backing stuff up that is suddenly "gone" because I didn't start early enough.

Thanks, and as one of the "silent majority", keep up the good work! And thanks for keeping us in the loop!

[Arkat]

What about ViP?

SSG: "The first rule of VIP is we don't talk about VIP."

[Oxarhamar]

SSG: "The first rule of VIP is we don't talk about VIP."

Too late for that

[Arkat]

Too late for that

As far as I can tell, SSG is adhering to that rule quite well.

[Artos_Fabril]

I'm open to suggestions.

Are those allowed here? I could tell you what I've been playing instead of spending my time and money on a game that no longer respects either.

I pop in here from time to time to see if they're changing course, but I've yet to see any evidence that they will.

[Oxarhamar]

As far as I can tell, SSG is adhering to that rule quite well.

There’s been talk now & again on the forum & off & even some actions in game

Right in this thread even

[Antheal]

No complaints about what is there but it seems pretty lacking to this reader. Are we to assume


No level increase this year?
No changes to VIP benefits?
No improvements to processes that saw some of the worst updates in DDO history?
No further changes to banking even though what is there is insufficient and not working?
...


Basically, so much not mentioned and nothing to address the drama that has cropped up in the past few months. It is a marketing brochure more than a producers letter, IMO.

"Producer's letters" aren't for us, they're for the shareholders.

[Arkat]

Right in this thread even

Saying they "don't have anything to say about the VIP program at this time" isn't actually talking about the VIP Program.

If you keep that in mind, SSG is adhering to the rule.

[HoopleHeadMan]

Would the Producers Letter have been more exciting if I knew how to read?

Asking for a friend....

[mbartol]

Would the Producers Letter have been more exciting if I knew how to read?

Asking for a friend....

Nah, the picture of the anniversary armor is the only thing worthwhile in the Producer’s Letter.

[Jerevth]

I took six months off, thought I'd check in and see what the producer's letter said.

Maybe I'll check again in 2024. This year's offering is pretty anemic.

[Oxarhamar]

I took six months off, thought I'd check in and see what the producer's letter said.

Maybe I'll check again in 2024. This year's offering is pretty anemic.

There’s quite a bit they left out and put in a Q&A video which was disappointing as it should have just been in the letter then discussed in deeper detail in the video

[Oxarhamar]

Saying they "don't have anything to say about the VIP program at this time" isn't actually talking about the VIP Program.

If you keep that in mind, SSG is adhering to the rule.

Here is the quote for you & yes talking about it is talking about it


We know players are asking us to talk about our VIP program, and we'll have more to share when we can. We've been reading and discussing your feedback in recent weeks, and we look forward to providing more information in the future.

[Antheal]

Here is the quote for you & yes talking about it is talking about it

They may technically be talking about it, but they're not saying anything about it.

[Dandonk]

They may technically be talking about it, but they're not saying anything about it.

Indeed. Notably, they're not actually promising any changes, not giving any timeline for any possible changes, and in general saying as little as possible.

That's not communication. That's empty corpo-speak, hoping to placate the masses.

[Oxarhamar]

They may technically be talking about it, but they're not saying anything about it.

The “anything” was in the Q&A

[Dandonk]

The “anything” was in the Q&A

The "anything" there was nearly as vague. "We are thinking about doing something with a kind of monthly or something bonus for being VIP, if we can get the tech to work."

Very few details, not even sure it can work at all, and no timeline at all on when.

After nearly a year, that's just not good enough. It sounds more like a 5 minute-oh ****-what-do-we-do-brain storming session done right before the twitch, and not a real plan that's actually developed in any serious way.

[Impaqt]

There’s quite a bit they left out and put in a Q&A video which was disappointing as it should have just been in the letter then discussed in deeper detail in the video

thisi s another thing that bothers me about the current DDO. Information is scattered. you can go to the Forums, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, DDOCast, and who know how many more places and get different information from every source.

Nobody can keep up on every channel.

Put it all in one place.. or put everything in every place.

[Captain_Wizbang]

this is another thing that bothers me about the current DDO.

https://media.giphy.com/media/4xWGyVKoXqg2eVCiq9/giphy.gif

[carsonfball]

You want your challenge back? Get rid of the Reaper trees. Nuke 'em. They should never have been made. Reaper points should net you no character power, only cosmetics, titles, wings, special mounts, etc.

It baffles me to this day why people don't understand the absurdity of making a difficulty setting to challenge good/great players and then as a reward, a system to make said content easier.

You do realize that you don't have to spend your reaper points, right? That's a solution that works for everyone. You can refuse to spend your points to make the game more difficult, and I can choose to spend them.

[carsonfball]

Now we need to buy all the content regardless of VIP status.

That actually seems backwards. Now all of the content is free to everyone (except expansions). The last two summers, they released a coupon to give everyone the older content. I'm not complaining about that (as someone with a VIP account, Premium account, and Free account two of my three accounts were given a lot of content), but it certainly diminishes one of the main perks of being VIP.

[Phoenicis]

You do realize that you don't have to spend your reaper points, right? That's a solution that works for everyone. You can refuse to spend your points to make the game more difficult, and I can choose to spend them.

*blink*

Last time I made that suggestion people could make the game more difficult on their own I got so many people jumping down my throat I felt like a. . .

Nevermind, that's not an image that's appropriate for the forums.

[Oxarhamar]

thisi s another thing that bothers me about the current DDO. Information is scattered. you can go to the Forums, Twitch, Twitter, Facebook, DDOCast, and who know how many more places and get different information from every source.

Nobody can keep up on every channel.

Put it all in one place.. or put everything in every place.

Yep I always have & will say again

All information should be on the official forum any information put out on other places should be cross posted & all video content should have a posted transport on the forum.
Yeah

[Oxarhamar]

The "anything" there was nearly as vague. "We are thinking about doing something with a kind of monthly or something bonus for being VIP, if we can get the tech to work."

Very few details, not even sure it can work at all, and no timeline at all on when.

After nearly a year, that's just not good enough. It sounds more like a 5 minute-oh ****-what-do-we-do-brain storming session done right before the twitch, and not a real plan that's actually developed in any serious way.

So it was discussed & that’s pretty much par for how these things go just look at how HC is handled

[Dandonk]

So it was discussed & that’s pretty much par for how these things go just look at how HC is handled

Just because it's how they do things all too often doesn't mean it's acceptable.

[ahpook]

Just because it's how they do things all too often doesn't mean it's acceptable.

I think everybody but SSG is on that page. And the people least likely to see your comment is SSG, so ....

[Dandonk]

I think everybody but SSG is on that page. And the people least likely to see your comment is SSG, so ....

Heh, good point.

[Oxarhamar]

Just because it's how they do things all too often doesn't mean it's acceptable.

Sure however it’s what is to be expected

[Dandonk]

Sure however it’s what is to be expected

You're right. I should lower my expectations of SSG.

After that, lower them some more.

And a bit more.

[Antheal]

You're right. I should lower my expectations of SSG.

After that, lower them some more.

And a bit more.

You guys have expectations?

[Ryndwhyr]

Last year's Producer's Letter was great. It introduced the new producer, gave a reasonably full explanation of the upcoming features and releases, and a nice bonus to VIP with the daily Gold Dice.

This year's reads like it was written by a just hired secretary who really knew nothing about what was going on.This year nothing for VIP; like many others, I'm rethinking whether it is worth it to put $100+ into SSG's coffers every year for ???

[Oxarhamar]

You're right. I should lower my expectations of SSG.

After that, lower them some more.

And a bit more.

At least down to not expect expecting more than usually

[mpetrarca]

Last year's Producer's Letter was great. It introduced the new producer, gave a reasonably full explanation of the upcoming features and releases, and a nice bonus to VIP with the daily Gold Dice.

This year's reads like it was written by a just hired secretary who really knew nothing about what was going on.This year nothing for VIP; like many others, I'm rethinking whether it is worth it to put $100+ into SSG's coffers every year for ???

After listening to Severlin for years now, I totally believe he wrote it. Severlin has always been big on excuses and short on answers.

[Mindos]

Just think, they had to send this letter to Wizards of the Coast for approval lol!

[Captain_Wizbang]

Just think, they had to send this letter to Wizards of the Coast for approval lol!


What is postage on a napkin?

[dogbreath68]

100% if we can also find another game to invest time and money in as well.


Baldurs Gate 3 if fantastic. It will be releasing its update for more content. Its more in the line of pnp rules. But much better gameplay than this.

[dogbreath68]

I'm open to suggestions.



Baldurs Gate 3. Fantastic game.

[superevbully]

Baldurs Gate 3. Fantastic game.

but but .........have u been there from the start?

[dogbreath68]

This game is garbage. SSG is always vague in statements, never being fully open with their consumers. People always respond to my posts with negative attacking replies, because I have and always have spoke the truth about this company.
They do not care about you or me, in the slightest. Profit margin is the only line they do see,and as long as all of you are continuing to re up your subs is the reason why they keep ******** on us.

Since it went free to play this game has been noting but a cash grab and nothing more. VIP means nothing but the added income to them, what perks do we truly have? They gave out codes to use to get all quests for free, except the expansions. Those used to be called updates and were free.
After being here since pre launch, I have a very strong and educated opinion of the working of SSG. After Atari sold it, money grubbers took over.

Yes I still play, but will not pay them for anything further, I will like some others just quit playing and save my money for other things. This is not the only MMO, and certainly isn't even top 10 of the best, so I don't understand how a company can be so laxed in its judgement concerning its player base aka paying customers.

The truth does indeed hurt, addiction is a terrible disease, and being addicted to a game is the only reason all of us haven't all left yet.

[herigor]

Oh my. The negativity in this thread...
To any SSG guy that made it this far: Keep up the good work! You have made a lot of positive changes to the game over the last few years. Of special mention is the epic destiny overhaul, and the Achtypes are a blast. The avarage quality of the dungeons you put out now is also very high IMHO. And HC seasons are a blast!

[tabannon]

No complaints about what is there but it seems pretty lacking to this reader. Are we to assume


No level increase this year?
No changes to VIP benefits?
No improvements to processes that saw some of the worst updates in DDO history?
No further changes to banking even though what is there is insufficient and not working?
...


Basically, so much not mentioned and nothing to address the drama that has cropped up in the past few months. It is a marketing brochure more than a producers letter, IMO.

I agree that this producer's letter is a little... brief... and doesn't give us a ton of information. I'm excited about a mini-expansion to follow up on Isle of Dread. I would assume you're correct about the level increase not happening, at least not in the first three quarters of the year. But were we really planning on it? Or asking for it?

I would like to see more VIP benefits. That has been something we've been asking for at least three years and SSGs has acknowledged the fact without really giving us more. I still find VIP is worth it, but a lot of people have gone premium instead. Maybe if enough people switch their pay scheme, they will be motivated to make the changes. Then again, maybe they make more on premium than VIP anyway.

I'm curious which updates you consider to be the worst in DDO history. Especially considering some of the updates that occurred pre-SSG.

What changes in banking are you looking for?

I don't spend much time on the forums, so I am unaware of the drama. Which makes me think that maybe I should continue to stay off the forums. I've been really enjoying DDO for the past two years since returning from LOTRO. Whenever I peek in on the forums, however, I get the impression that people think DDO is the worst game ever and no one should play it. Either my personal game experience is rare or there are just a lot of angry people on the forums who expect not only perfection, but that the developers make the game exactly the way they want it.

I'm not saying there constructive criticism has its place, but it is literally impossible to make every person happy.

[tabannon]

This game is garbage. SSG is always vague in statements, never being fully open with their consumers. People always respond to my posts with negative attacking replies, because I have and always have spoke the truth about this company.
They do not care about you or me, in the slightest. Profit margin is the only line they do see,and as long as all of you are continuing to re up your subs is the reason why they keep ******** on us.

Since it went free to play this game has been noting but a cash grab and nothing more. VIP means nothing but the added income to them, what perks do we truly have? They gave out codes to use to get all quests for free, except the expansions. Those used to be called updates and were free.
After being here since pre launch, I have a very strong and educated opinion of the working of SSG. After Atari sold it, money grubbers took over.

Yes I still play, but will not pay them for anything further, I will like some others just quit playing and save my money for other things. This is not the only MMO, and certainly isn't even top 10 of the best, so I don't understand how a company can be so laxed in its judgement concerning its player base aka paying customers.

The truth does indeed hurt, addiction is a terrible disease, and being addicted to a game is the only reason all of us haven't all left yet.


1. If this game is garbage, I am not sure why you're still playing it. Surely there is some other game out there that would bring you more pleasure than DDO.

2. If DDO didn't go free to play, DDO would not be here today. It wouldn't have lasted another year. Let me tell you a little secret about companies: they have to make money in order to do things like pay the salaries of the people who work for them.

3. Atari was one of the big reasons that DDO wasn't as successful in the early years as it could have been. It did a horrible job marketing the game.

[Captain_Wizbang]

1. If this game is garbage, I am not sure why you're still playing it. Surely there is some other game out there that would bring you more pleasure than DDO.

2. If DDO didn't go free to play, DDO would not be here today. It wouldn't have lasted another year. Let me tell you a little secret about companies: they have to make money in order to do things like pay the salaries of the people who work for them.

3. Atari was one of the big reasons that DDO wasn't as successful in the early years as it could have been. It did a horrible job marketing the game.

DDO is a niche game, built on a custom* Havoc/ Turbine 3 engine. It will always have "issues" as a result, hence some people say it sucks.

I disagree with your F2P assessment. DDO gained customers but lost quite a few as well.

As for Atari/ marketing remark, tell me what has changed?

[tabannon]

DDO is a niche game, built on a custom* Havoc/ Turbine 3 engine. It will always have "issues" as a result, hence some people say it sucks.

I disagree with your F2P assessment. DDO gained customers but lost quite a few as well.

As for Atari/ marketing remark, tell me what has changed?

When DDO went free to play, they got millions of new accounts, plus people who had stopped playing returned. The new influx of money allowed DDO to continue existing. We would never have any of the major expansions if not for free to play. In fact, as I said earlier, DDO probably wouldn't have survived another year.

[ahpook]

I'm curious which updates you consider to be the worst in DDO history. Especially considering some of the updates that occurred pre-SSG.

Let me clarify, the recent expansions have all been great and the updates pretty good. I actually think that the ED pass was an improvement on epic play. My concern wasn't with the content but with the release of those updates getting dropped before they were ready. There seemed to be more broken stuff requiring immediate patching and even a roll back necessitated due to a serious bug. There has always been some broken stuff on release but this past year seemed significantly worse.



What changes in banking are you looking for?

The bugs fixed to allow items to maintain their ML. Items not storing incorrect descriptions for things in the bank. Increased space (and at a far better price). Consistent stack sizes of items in crafting. Windows not reopening on their own. And the ability to clear all the filters with a single click would be nice. The bank is an improvement but it seems like it gets put on the shelf before everything is working properly. Sometimes that is understandable but since it was significant enough to mention in the producers letter I thought I would call them on the "accomplishment" claim.



I don't spend much time on the forums, so I am unaware of the drama. Which makes me think that maybe I should continue to stay off the forums. ...

That may be wise. I should heed that advice as well. While there are those who complain about any change, more of the drama here has gotten worse as SSG seems to have abandoned its use as communication channel and that has left many frustrated and fruitlessly wanting SSG to change its ways. The lack of info on VIP benefits to replace gold rolls certainly put the drama over the top.

[Bartholomew456]

...so no mimic hunt?