Weekly Developer Activities - 5/19/08

[moorewr]

Seriously? I'm looking forward to this the most.

An adventure zone I can take a raid group into sounds like tons of fun. (And it might actually be a challenge for my cleric to solo )

They have got to get back to quests quests quests... heart and soul of this game. I'm glad to see more low level quests coming in.

Mod 6 felt so incomplete with just the flagging quests.. and all of them (except for devils) being such and undertaking time-wise. Where are the Foundation of Discord type quests?

[Borror0]

I dunno. Too many of them at once can still muddle things up sometimes.

Comet fall?

[MysticTheurge]

Comet fall?

But then they're not running through the barrier!

[Borror0]

But then they're not running through the barrier!

Yeah but they'll have a bunch of blades passing through them all the time... that's supposed to hurt, right?
(That's something they should fix once they'll have fixed the AI.)

[ArkoHighStar]

They have got to get back to quests quests quests... heart and soul of this game. I'm glad to see more low level quests coming in.

Mod 6 felt so incomplete with just the flagging quests.. and all of them (except for devils) being such and undertaking time-wise. Where are the Foundation of Discord type quests?

Mod 4 is still the gold standard in that regard 3 large quests each with its own little area and 2 side quests for each area. Turbine seems to have abandoned the short type quests at high level, substituting them with the adventure area itself for people who want a quick adventure, the problem with that however is once you achieved the rare and explorer quests the slayer becomes a long grind with no xp for long periods of time.

[moorewr]

Mod 4 is still the gold standard in that regard 3 large quests each with its own little area and 2 side quests for each area. Turbine seems to have abandoned the short type quests at high level, substituting them with the adventure area itself for people who want a quick adventure, the problem with that however is once you achieved the rare and explorer quests the slayer becomes a long grind with no xp for long periods of time.

Yes, Mod 4 is the gold standard in so many ways. I still enjoy POP on the rare occasion I go in there, whereas other flagging quests make me twitch after 1/10 the repetitions.

I'm sure their charts show 80% of the questing in a handful of high-profit required-for-flagging quests. And of course people are busy farming the explorer areas. Ugh. I do these things when I can't get a group or can't get excited about doing a quest.

The answer to me is not to abandon the quest model but to make the disused ones more attractive - they did this once by boosting the xp for part 2 of the necropolis, and I'd run those quests if I could ever find a group, so they must not have adjusted them enough. Heh.

[Yaga_Nub]

Mod 4 is still the gold standard in that regard 3 large quests each with its own little area and 2 side quests for each area. Turbine seems to have abandoned the short type quests at high level, substituting them with the adventure area itself for people who want a quick adventure, the problem with that however is once you achieved the rare and explorer quests the slayer becomes a long grind with no xp for long periods of time.

Yes, Mod 4 is the gold standard in so many ways. I still enjoy POP on the rare occasion I go in there, whereas other flagging quests make me twitch after 1/10 the repetitions.

I'm sure their charts show 80% of the questing in a handful of high-profit required-for-flagging quests. And of course people are busy farming the explorer areas. Ugh. I do these things when I can't get a group or can't get excited about doing a quest.

The answer to me is not to abandon the quest model but to make the disused ones more attractive - they did this once by boosting the xp for part 2 of the necropolis, and I'd run those quests if I could ever find a group, so they must not have adjusted them enough. Heh.

Don't you know we are in a time of inflation. The gold standard is no longer good enough. I want the Platinum Standard!

Unfortunately, I know that I will be waiting a while for that level of excellence.

[moorewr]

Don't you know we are in a time of inflation. The gold standard is no longer good enough. I want the Platinum Standard!

Unfortunately, I know that I will be waiting a while for that level of excellence.

I'm waiting for the "Spitzer Standard," myself.

[Yaga_Nub]

I'm waiting for the "Spitzer Standard," myself.

You mean the Yaga Standard - Do as I say not as I do?

[moorewr]

You mean the Yaga Standard - Do as I say not as I do?

Um, does your version cost $5000/hr? If so, yes.

[Yaga_Nub]

Um, does your version cost $5000/hr? If so, yes.

$5000/hr, that sir is for the peasants and commoners. $20k/hr or it's just not worth it.

[debo]

I think design wise ... all the mods are good. I was never dissapointed in one mod when it came out. I think they do a great job on the open areas as well as creating nice story lines etc... Mod 3 with the desert was great... the raid was great. People ***** about the flagging for it but I don't have a problem with that. Makes people work for it. Mod 4... the Gianthold was great, little bit too purple for me but hey... still was a bunch of new content and quests. The reaver raid is still a wee bit too easy for my tastes ... but still can't complain. Mod 5 was great ... until they muffed up the abbot raid. The quests I thought were a little bit too short. Mod 5 gets a bad rap... but I thought it was a great addition the game. Mod 6... the vale is beautiful... the shroud is fun as hell. I just liked the whole look of it. Crafting is what it is... a big grind... but I guess that is the way it was going to go eventually. Missed the named items.

I bet mod 7 is going to be great as well. Been playing this game for about two years... and there is a reason... it is fun as hell. Differences aside with the lack of updates,terrible customer service, and management priorities... the game designers are what keeps this game going. I love every mod when they come out... just wish they were more frequent.

[ahpook]

Seriously? I'm looking forward to this the most.

An adventure zone I can take a raid group into sounds like tons of fun. (And it might actually be a challenge for my cleric to solo )

Seriously. Obviously you like raid groups.

Raids are something that I will do occasionally and grudgingly because it has become required for the top end gear. But I prefer to play in my small guild of 6 people where we can all play the way we like instead of the formulaic style that RAID pugs dictate.

For those of us who prefer small parties, there is now 0 things that have been announced for Mod 7 for capped characters.

[Angelus_dead]

Yeah but they'll have a bunch of blades passing through them all the time... that's supposed to hurt, right?
(That's something they should fix once they'll have fixed the AI.)

No, it's not supposed to hurt. Because their movement is magical, a creature who comes into the blade wall and stops isn't additionally hurt until he moves through again. That is according to the D&D rules.

The spell creates a barrier, not a cutter zone. Earlier versions of the spell could be used for ongoing cutting, but that was specifically removed.

[Laith]

Seriously. Obviously you like raid groups.

Raids are something that I will do occasionally and grudgingly because it has become required for the top end gear. But I prefer to play in my small guild of 6 people where we can all play the way we like instead of the formulaic style that RAID pugs dictate.

For those of us who prefer small parties, there is now 0 things that have been announced for Mod 7 for capped characters.

interesting... until shroud there wasn't a single raid that really required more than 6-8 people.

just ran 4 of them (velah, titan, reaver, DQ) sunday in a 6-8 man guild group (people came and went). got loot out of every one of them too (4 from reaver)... but it was more of a bonus than anything.

[Angelus_dead]

For those of us who prefer small parties, there is now 0 things that have been announced for Mod 7 for capped characters.

You can't know that for sure, but you're probably right.

What I mean is that the raids in module 1, 2, 3, and 4 were all fine to play with groups of 6 or less. Only well after module 4 did they change the raid system so that teams of over 6 were either needed or helpful.

So, although it is most likely that the new raids have been build so they're not really playable with groups of 6, we could still hope otherwise.

[moorewr]

I really enjoyed Mod 5.. all the quests are challenging, creative, tormenting.. but they were fresh and well designed... but the business with the Raid killed the whole mod. You just can't get groups for it.

The Tombs of the Unhallowed and Forbidden are some of the best quest designs I've seen in this game. Blighted and Tormented are amazingly creative..I like Blighted a lot when it works (and there isn't some tool in the party who wont share the vial bag around). I like all of the Orchard quests, and it is still my favorite explorer zone.. but thanks to the Abbot nobody much goes there.

[Aspenor]

Seriously. Obviously you like raid groups.

Raids are something that I will do occasionally and grudgingly because it has become required for the top end gear. But I prefer to play in my small guild of 6 people where we can all play the way we like instead of the formulaic style that RAID pugs dictate.

For those of us who prefer small parties, there is now 0 things that have been announced for Mod 7 for capped characters.

And it's your choice to play the way you do, nobody is forcing you to. You don't seriously expect Turbine to weigh and consider every single playstyle possible when planning releases, do you? Expecting to be thrown a bone just because you choose an alternative playstyle from the majority of the playerbase is, well, self-serving at best. Try making some friends, DDO is a lot more fun if you branch out rather than sticking with the same group of people.

[Angelus_dead]

interesting... until shroud there wasn't a single raid that really required more than 6-8 people.

That is true... but starting with an update between mod4 and mod5, all raids gave at least +100% more loot to players who brought in 12 characters instead of 6.

That was a nasty double whammy: Not only is it more difficult for you to beat the raid, but you also get around half the loot as if you'd packed the team with AFK lootbots. That change turned out to be a lame way to create a "need" for full raid groups, without needing them to beat the mission.

[Angelus_dead]

And it's your choice to play the way you do, nobody is forcing you to. You don't seriously expect Turbine to weigh and consider every single playstyle possible when planning releases, do you?

They need to consider the single most important playstyle which their game was designed around. That means teams of 4-6 characters.

They also need to step back and consider the question: Is it a good idea to put genuine 12-man raids into this game? (Hint: it's not)