ppl are changeing games

[Hendrik]

LOL says the guy who's been playing for how long?

/shrug

It's not something we should worry about. OMGZorrz the game!!!

LOL

Good one Asp. Might we suggest to jump ship now to avoid the doom?

[twix]

Ive also had several people i know quit .I love this game but turbine needs to be more customer responsive. Its like they dont care or dont read the forums either way they dont listen to their fan base.I agree within a year if something dont change w'ell be doomed.Please turbine put more time and effort into this.The best mmo can be made if you just listen and respond.And maybe advertise?Ive never seen this game for sale or seen any ads for it.I came across it by accident mostly.Oh well they havent listened yet and im sure they wont now.Either ill be here to see the rise to the top or the crash at the bottom.

[Hendrik]

Ive also had several people i know quit .I love this game but turbine needs to be more customer responsive. Its like they dont care or dont read the forums either way they dont listen to their fan base.I agree within a year if something dont change w'ell be doomed.Please turbine put more time and effort into this.The best mmo can be made if you just listen and respond.And maybe advertise?Ive never seen this game for sale or seen any ads for it.I came across it by accident mostly.Oh well they havent listened yet and im sure they wont now.Either ill be here to see the rise to the top or the crash at the bottom.

With all due respect twix, this is a blatantly false statement.

[Gornin]

Most of this is due to ADD/ADHD.

[Aspenor]

With all due respect twix, this is a blatantly false statement.

qft

The devs read the forums, they just don't choose to respond to every person that complains or has issues with this or that. The majority of topics brought up in this forum are (frankly) not important enough for the devs to bother themselves with responding to. On the rare occasion that an important question is put forth, almost every time the response is timely and poignant.

[Roguewiz]

Please tell me the people who left were not the "race to cap because that is where the -real- game is." people. If so I have no sympathy. Yes, it's very easy to get bored when all you do after level 10 is GH quests/farm for items. So why burn through levels 1-9 at warp speed?

There are a dozen different ways to breath life back into the game that people can do themselves. Non-twink/perma-death guilds work great for this.

I see too many people grind to level 14 as quickly as possible and then grind for items and then go, "Huh? Turbine you suck, there is nothing to do in your game." when it is only partially Turbine's fault. They gave you ways to make their game less interesting, but you didn't have to go there.

When the cap was 10, I reached cap level by mainly playing Fri-Sun. What I am guilty of is tearing through content and making it trivial to me.

It really isn't a question of content, or lack of it, it is a question of the fact that you will hit cap level before you finish every quest on Normal/Hard/Elite.

*I hit Level 10 in a Month
*I played for about another month, then quit.
*Came back 2 months ago.
*Hit 14 in like 2-3 weeks (was doing alot of quests for favor...could have hit cap much earlier)

I play this game as casual as I possibly can, but even a casual player can cap out long before an update goes live. That is the problem. The content is there, the levels to support the content are not.

[Mercules]

I play this game as casual as I possibly can, but even a casual player can cap out long before an update goes live. That is the problem. The content is there, the levels to support the content are not.

Did you repeat any quests when you capped at 10, or when you capped at 14?

[Roguewiz]

Did you repeat any quests when you capped at 10, or when you capped at 14?

As far as level 10 goes, don't remember. I know the main goal myself and my guild had was to complete every quest at least once, which we did. (Not counting VoN5-6 at the time...didn't do those)

As far as GH goes, I spent most of my time doing the level 9 quests that were added after I quit, for favor. Got XP from those. Then I started doing GH quests. Also, keep in mine, that we had 2 bonus xp weekends. That didn't help out much. I mean, ***, 28k Elite PoP is rediculous.

Did I repeat? During loot weekend, yes, before that, probably a few quests, but not as bad as people ransacking PoP every weekend

[Mercules]

As far as level 10 goes, don't remember. I know the main goal myself and my guild had was to complete every quest at least once, which we did. (Not counting VoN5-6 at the time...didn't do those)

As far as GH goes, I spent most of my time doing the level 9 quests that were added after I quit, for favor. Got XP from those. Then I started doing GH quests. Also, keep in mine, that we had 2 bonus xp weekends. That didn't help out much. I mean, ***, 28k Elite PoP is rediculous.

Did I repeat? During loot weekend, yes, before that, probably a few quests, but not as bad as people ransacking PoP every weekend

You capped in a month and didn't repeat STK for items? TR for items? Stormcleave? Co6 for items? At least you made an attempt to visit all the quests but some of those quests had INSANE ammounts of XP way back then, sort of like the GH quests do now. Right now I see level 10s go to level 14 just ransacking PoP and MoM a few times. Turbine needs to tone down the items, xp, and everything in general, then there would be enough "content". Then again, they don't force people to skip all the desert quests to go run the higher XP GH quests at level 10.

[Roguewiz]

You capped in a month and didn't repeat STK for items? TR for items? Stormcleave? Co6 for items? At least you made an attempt to visit all the quests but some of those quests had INSANE ammounts of XP way back then, sort of like the GH quests do now. Right now I see level 10s go to level 14 just ransacking PoP and MoM a few times. Turbine needs to tone down the items, xp, and everything in general, then there would be enough "content". Then again, they don't force people to skip all the desert quests to go run the higher XP GH quests at level 10.

Like I said, don't remember. That was over a year ago =)

[Dingo123]

LOL says the guy who's been playing for how long?

/shrug

It's not something we should worry about. OMGZorrz the game!!!

Since the Beta Headstart.

[ZarakNur]

I play this game as casual as I possibly can, but even a casual player can cap out long before an update goes live. That is the problem. The content is there, the levels to support the content are not.

I have to repectfully disagree with you here.

I have been playing since the tail end of Beta (got my boots and necklace), and have yet to cap out a character.

With my highest level character (13th), I still have 51 quests to complete on Elite; 23 of these I have never run at all.

I have only done 1 raid (Tempest's Spine on Normal).

I consider myself an average casual player, 2-3 times a week for 2-5 hours per session.

The 5 other people in my guild have been playing just as long as I have (some a little longer even) and no one has a capped character or has run all of the missions either.

I think the difference is we try to run missions at their appropriate levels, we don't Zerg and we don't farm for XP or Loot.

So, I have to disagree with your statement that a casual player can cap out too soon, I still have alot of exploring to do in this game and have yet to become bored or tired of it.

[Mercules]

Since the Beta Headstart.

"Experience teachs only the teachable." Aldous Huxley

[Memnir]

I can easily name at least five people I know who have left the game due to boredom in the past month and a half. I'm sure I could double that if I went down my Friends List to see who no longer logs in.

These are casual players, for the most part. Many of the Hardcore players I know are still grinding out the 1750 on every toon, gunning for the max favor possible, and maxing out their raid gear before the new changes go live. In my opinion, the hardcore gamer has more to thrive on than the casual gamer.

Most of the folks I know who have left only have one or two alts at level cap... but they don't want to grind through the same old same old to level up another alt. They've seen all they want to see of Stormcleave, Tangleroot, and Waterworks. Mention a scale run, and you can hear the sour note in their voice over chat.

This game needs to cater to the casual gamer as much if not more than to the hardcore gotta-grind-em-all crowd. The hardcore gamer can find almost anything to keep them griding, and Turbine has been rather adept at finding ways to keep that gerbil wheel going with favor, relics, scales, loot, giving us more character slots, ect. But, for the person who cannot stomach doing the grind more than a few times - having all that is useless a lot of the time. Turbine needs to find a way to keep those casual dollars flowing.

Most of those I know who left have said that yes - crafting would help if it was well implemented and had an effect on their play. If they could craft meaningfully, then they'd have more to do. Ditto housing. For some, getting a new couch or stuffed head to mount on the wall has a lot of appeal. Me- this is my first MMO, so I have no idea if I'm in that crowd or not. I just know that people I like are leaving. And that makes me sad.

[Roguewiz]

I have to repectfully disagree with you here.

I have been playing since the tail end of Beta (got my boots and necklace), and have yet to cap out a character.

With my highest level character (13th), I still have 51 quests to complete on Elite; 23 of these I have never run at all.

I have only done 1 raid (Tempest's Spine on Normal).

I consider myself an average casual player, 2-3 times a week for 2-5 hours per session.

The 5 other people in my guild have been playing just as long as I have (some a little longer even) and no one has a capped character or has run all of the missions either.

I think the difference is we try to run missions at their appropriate levels, we don't Zerg and we don't farm for XP or Loot.

So, I have to disagree with your statement that a casual player can cap out too soon, I still have alot of exploring to do in this game and have yet to become bored or tired of it.

How many "alts" do you have? I usually only have 2 characters that I play often, 1 main, 1 alt.

[Hafeal]

... but some of those quests had INSANE ammounts of XP way back then, sort of like the GH quests do now. Right now I see level 10s go to level 14 just ransacking PoP and MoM a few times. Turbine needs to tone down the items, xp, and everything in general, then there would be enough "content". Then again, they don't force people to skip all the desert quests to go run the higher XP GH quests at level 10.

QFT.

I have to repectfully disagree with you here.
I have been playing since the tail end of Beta (got my boots and necklace), and have yet to cap out a character.

I agree, this is the boat I sail in for the most part. I guess the thing is I just capped my 1st character last month, actually the first character I ever made for DDO in August, 2006. I made 1750 favor as well last month. And I still have not finished every quest in the game, or even been in every quest in the game.

Let me take this a step further. At 14th level, I am still learning to play my character to the best of his ability. I find there is always room to learn. And, I have several alts that I have enjoyed playing. I have noticed that different classes play much different than others.

To become an excellent (call it "elite" if you like) player, in my mind, you need to take your time and learn how to best effective - and the learning occurs with each new class you create. Granted, some things you don't re-learn (e.g., common quest layouts, combat basics). But many you do - spell casting in particular. What spell, what school, what monsters are they effective against.

Too many players, in my opinion, put a character together and simply mimic a routine they might have seen another player use without understanding how or why the routine worked or wasn't the best way to approach a problem. So many times I see casters use a poor choice of spells, even at high levels, because they do not truly understand the school they are casting from, how to maximize it and what the saves or sr are for what we are fighting.

But because people can "get away with it" there is little incentive to learn (e.g., no permanent loss of character, time forgiveness of death penalties, easy xp ).

This approach, in my mind, has lead to a reduction in the use of strategy and understanding how to become an excellent player and a greater reliance upon "uber" items and gear to make up for actual learning and understanding. For example, I remember the first time I ran stormcleave, our group simply held a line and used archers standing behind a shield wall to easily clear the whole quest. I have never seen a group patient enough for such an approach since.

If players play just for the sense of "finishing" and then are sitting around waiting to "finish" something else ... they are going to flit between MMOs. And that, in the end, is okay.

Just like we learn, for those of us who really like this game, we can make new friends too.

My 2 cps.

[Mercules]

How many "alts" do you have? I usually only have 2 characters that I play often, 1 main, 1 alt.

I have no "alts". I have 7 Characters of various levels and I play them depending on what I wish to experience that day.

[Roguewiz]

I have no "alts". I have 7 Characters of various levels and I play them depending on what I wish to experience that day.

Perhaps I should have been a little more clear

You have 7 character that you play on and off depending on what you feel like doing. I have 1 character I play frequently, and 1 that I am toying around with. Since I don't typically play alts, other characters, mules, whatever..I tend to level faster than casuals (when I want to play casual like)

[KoboldKiller]

I would like a definition of "casual" player? I play 3-4 hours a night mon-fri and close to 12-14 hours sat and sun (I know get a life ). I have 6 characters I play and my highest now is level 8. Now I would not consider this "casual" play. So how can someone who plays less than me and calls themself a "casual" player be capped? I am not referring to anyone specific but referencing several different posts I have seen. My point is with the amount of time I play, which I consider alot how much time do "power" gamers put in? I know there doesn't seem to be a point but there is. Obviously there are different ideas about the level of play. If I play as many hours as I do and am not capped and have yet to get through half of the actual content maybe certain individuals should check their game style and see if it's their fault there is no longer any content for them as opposed to blaming Turbine. JMHO.

[Ringlord]

Like I said before Vanguard and NWN2 were supposed to be DDO killers a year ago and where are they now?? Vanguard is down to fewer servers than we have and NWN2 is barely a thought for most people because too many were disappointed in it.

That said I don't see Conan as being a threat. Sure it will likely have much better success than Vanguard because Brad McQuaid has nothing to do with it, but it will not kill DDO.

I have never been a fan of crafting in an MMO because it has never been anything more than a useless grind to kill time while you chatted in guild chat or something waiting for friends to get on and group for a quest. Now I am not saying there should not be something else to do besides questing, but when they add crafting I want it to be something worth doing for the end result other than to waste time. I can play solitaire or minesweeper in a seperate window if I just want to waste time while in DDO.

Now some mini-games like say an Eberron setting card game that could be playable within DDO itself would be nice ( sort of like the new EQ/EQ2 collectible card game that SONY is making playable within EQ and EQ2 themselves so players have something else to do while waiting for whatever )
How about a D&D themed chess style game with pieces modeled for the races and monsters in the game. I always thought a 3 tiered board representing ground level, underground and the air above ground populated with appropriate creatures would be cool.

The game could be set up for 2 or 4 players with the units only able to attack or move on the board above and below them. So the underground units could come up and attack the ground level and even move on the that level, but could not attack the air units and the air units could attack the ground level forces and move at ground level, but not go underground. The ground level units can attack and move on all 3 boards. Could lead to some very involved and fun games depending on how well the rules were laid out and how easy they were to pick up.

I developed a game like this years ago for my own D&D game world, but I have lost all the info I had on it or I would have listed it all here.

Even something like that would be a good distraction from just questing for players of all styles, but especially for those who have the time to devote a lot of hours to DDO ( and no that is not a bad thing that they are that lucky and choose to do it )

Players will always come and go and most people never think there is any problem with the population in a game until it effects their guild or their friends because they move on to another game. I have seen as many posts from new players and returning players as I have from players saying they are done