DDOcast Episode 137 (10-3-09)

[Mockduck]

Hi everyone! Episode 137 of DDOcast is now ready to go. Here's a LINK to the episode - just left-click to play, right-click and 'save as' to download as an mp3.

This week's show features the latest from the Miss Stormreach Pagent along with a look at Dragonmarks with "The Stormreach Lighthouse", a look at 28 and 32 point builds on "Sound Concepts" and a look at Armor Ritual crafting in "Definitive Collectibles."

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:15 Intro
2:00 Epic Difficulty
7:15 European Patch news
7:50 Patch 2 Notes/Combat/More
16:48 Miss Stormreach Pageant 1
20:19 DDO-Europe Welcome Back Week
21:33 Mordekainen's Disjunction Bug
25:55 Keeper Development notes
30:11 Turbine Sorrowdusk Isle Video
30:43 Miss Stormeach Pageant 2
33:22 Stormreach Lighthouse - Dragonmarks
42:58 Definitive Collectibles - Armor Ritual
47:23 Sound Concepts - 28/32 Points
1:03:18 My.DDO.com guide
1:03:35 Hireling Guide
1:04:14 Sorrowdusk Isle Video
1:04:35 FPS-Radio Art of Roleplay
1:05:35 Miss Stormreach Pageant 3
1:07:18 Xfire rankings
1:08:45 Emails

END

TOTAL TIME: 1:13:20

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LINK to Update Zero, Patch 2 Release Notes

LINK to info about DDO-Europe's Welcome Back Week (October 5th through the 12th).

LINK to Turbine's DDO Calendars on DDO.com.

LINK to Geoffhanna's My.DDO.com Guide.

LINK to Johnny's Hireling Guide.

LINK to Turbine's Sorrowdusk Isle Video.

LINK to FPS-Radio.com.

LINK to info on the Wayfinders RP Channel on Cannith.

Jerry

[Mistinarperadnacles]

Nice Podcast.

The Miss Stormreach stuff was great. I had a real good laugh at MD.

One thing that really confused me was the Sound Concepts bit. 32/28 pt builds are like Magic the Gathering? What? If I was new to DDO I'd have no chance of understanding this. I know DDO very well and Magic too and I was confused.

Editing in the Stormreach Lighthouse sounded very odd, either that or she has the most freakishly enourmous lungs and can in fact do a whole segment without breathing I have the oddest mental pictures right now...

Good stuff though.

Thanks to the host and all the contributors for your continued efforts.



...Fair and balanced...

[Kistilan]

Good show. One topic I've taken great interest in (obviously if anyone is aware of my forum activity, they know I've stepped into the ring again on this subject, much like the respec thread).

About the 28/32 pt conversioin -- I'm thinking if they're going to do ANY of that, it will be in respecs (and in about a year) as an upconvert from 28 to 32 point characters. It will either be sold as part of the respec kit or it will become a free upconvert for 28 point characters that achieve 1750 favor (and thus retroactive with all characters that reach that mark, giving another reason for old parked 28 pt builds to be played).

I agree with the camp that says 1750 should be a reward (and a goal to achieve). I think nickels and dimes on every aspect of DDO cheapen the experience -- there need to be in-game reasons to play through the content. 1750 is one of those motivational factors to play through the content. It's not a grind when set in comparisson to Greensteel Sets, Icy Runs, or Tapestry/Scale Collecting.

A true grind would be something like the SWG Jedi Unlock System. That takes months of 10+ hour days playing and hundreds of thousands of players all did it willingly to try to unlock a jedi.

Anyway, not to derail the entire show that we're all listening to -- the 32 pt sales idea certainly will be a dollars over time debate (we've been talking about it for 2 days in the thread in General Forums).

Factors to Consider:

• Required Content to Unlock 1750 = VIP or Adventure Pack Sales (F2P cannot unlock with total favor available to them at less than 1,000 on elite)
• Time to Play to unlock 1750 = Resources Used ie Potential Item Sales

Whether the sale of 4-5 adventure packs (Tangleroot, Catacombs, Necropolis, Gianthold, & Menechtaurn) plus potential sales in resources is worth more/less than outright selling a 32 point conversion or start remains in the hands of Turbine's sales analysis & play analysis. As stated in the show, it also remains in a Cost Factor of implementing the mechanic to do so.

The one thing I think many are forgetting is that this mechanic is not an easy piece of code. It is one of the great DDO Mysteries (how do we retroactively apply via code the skill points for Intelligence gains without erroneously handing out free intelligence skill points?) This code has been requested for 2 years and it has been previously stated (in 2006/7) that the code was considerably challenging. It will be some time (programming time) for the respec mechanic to come to game. It will take some time for a upconvert to be viable as well. The only quick 'n dirty solution is the direct sale of the 32 point character stats from level 1 -- most of that code is available and needs to only be ported as an object for sale in the Turbine Store.

I think by the time this may or may not be resolved, one key thing will have happened: Those that TRULY want 32 point builds (out of the new rush of players) will have already begun, be near and/or already unlocked their 32 point builds on the server of their choice by the time this mechanic is available. Cannith, a completely unestablished server, has players by the dozen already playing 32 point builds. By Christmas I would venture to say roughly 30-50% of the Cannith population (those that want it) will be playing 32 point characters.

In the meantime, Turbine would probably profit more if they sold plat (as per plat farmers, but better prices) to enable players that want to try Chains of Flame Elite on their journey to 1750, but don't have the scrolls/pots/wands to cut it.

[Salome]

Editing in the Stormreach Lighthouse sounded very odd, either that or she has the most freakishly enourmous lungs and can in fact do a whole segment without breathing I have the oddest mental pictures right now...

Good stuff though.

Thanks for the feedback. I assure you she does breath. I'll try not to be so meticulous when I edit the show. I clearly overdid it. I'm glad you liked the segment in spite of that.

Bests

[Mockduck]

Good show. One topic I've taken great interest in (obviously if anyone is aware of my forum activity, they know I've stepped into the ring again on this subject, much like the respec thread).

About the 28/32 pt conversioin -- I'm thinking if they're going to do ANY of that, it will be in respecs (and in about a year) as an upconvert from 28 to 32 point characters. It will either be sold as part of the respec kit or it will become a free upconvert for 28 point characters that achieve 1750 favor (and thus retroactive with all characters that reach that mark, giving another reason for old parked 28 pt builds to be played).

I agree with the camp that says 1750 should be a reward (and a goal to achieve). I think nickels and dimes on every aspect of DDO cheapen the experience -- there need to be in-game reasons to play through the content. 1750 is one of those motivational factors to play through the content. It's not a grind when set in comparisson to Greensteel Sets, Icy Runs, or Tapestry/Scale Collecting.

A true grind would be something like the SWG Jedi Unlock System. That takes months of 10+ hour days playing and hundreds of thousands of players all did it willingly to try to unlock a jedi.

Anyway, not to derail the entire show that we're all listening to -- the 32 pt sales idea certainly will be a dollars over time debate (we've been talking about it for 2 days in the thread in General Forums).

Factors to Consider:

• Required Content to Unlock 1750 = VIP or Adventure Pack Sales (F2P cannot unlock with total favor available to them at less than 1,000 on elite)
• Time to Play to unlock 1750 = Resources Used ie Potential Item Sales

Whether the sale of 4-5 adventure packs (Tangleroot, Catacombs, Necropolis, Gianthold, & Menechtaurn) plus potential sales in resources is worth more/less than outright selling a 32 point conversion or start remains in the hands of Turbine's sales analysis & play analysis. As stated in the show, it also remains in a Cost Factor of implementing the mechanic to do so.

The one thing I think many are forgetting is that this mechanic is not an easy piece of code. It is one of the great DDO Mysteries (how do we retroactively apply via code the skill points for Intelligence gains without erroneously handing out free intelligence skill points?) This code has been requested for 2 years and it has been previously stated (in 2006/7) that the code was considerably challenging. It will be some time (programming time) for the respec mechanic to come to game. It will take some time for a upconvert to be viable as well. The only quick 'n dirty solution is the direct sale of the 32 point character stats from level 1 -- most of that code is available and needs to only be ported as an object for sale in the Turbine Store.

I think by the time this may or may not be resolved, one key thing will have happened: Those that TRULY want 32 point builds (out of the new rush of players) will have already begun, be near and/or already unlocked their 32 point builds on the server of their choice by the time this mechanic is available. Cannith, a completely unestablished server, has players by the dozen already playing 32 point builds. By Christmas I would venture to say roughly 30-50% of the Cannith population (those that want it) will be playing 32 point characters.

In the meantime, Turbine would probably profit more if they sold plat (as per plat farmers, but better prices) to enable players that want to try Chains of Flame Elite on their journey to 1750, but don't have the scrolls/pots/wands to cut it.

I think this is an excellent post and I totally agree, although I don't support Turbine selling plat.

Thanks for the feedback. I assure you she does breath. I'll try not to be so meticulous when I edit the show. I clearly overdid it. I'm glad you liked the segment in spite of that.

Bests

Hah! I see this a lot when people are learning audio editing. I didn't even notice it myself, but yeah. One thing to do is to keep one of the breaths (either outro or intro) from either side of the edit. I do it a bunch on DDOcast and I don't think people notice it very often.

[Samiusbot]

Nice Podcast.

One thing that really confused me was the Sound Concepts bit. 32/28 pt builds are like Magic the Gathering? What? If I was new to DDO I'd have no chance of understanding this. I know DDO very well and Magic too and I was confused.

What I was trying to say was playing a 28 build doesn't make you a gimp. My mtg reference was to say 28 is like a new block deck, you can still play it is a standard tournament and win. So play and have fun.

Maybe I needed to add that line at the end? Oh well, can't win them all, right?

We all roll 1's sometimes.

Craft Sound Concepts doesn't have a die, it made sense to me. I will try harder next week.

Thanks for the feed back.

[Varis]

I did a newbie guide video with recorded voice for the sorc forums... it's hard =( I have no clue how you do such a long show without screwing it up and having to re-record the **** thing.
or keep that loud breathing noise from happening while speaking from time to time...

[Mockduck]

I did a newbie guide video with recorded voice for the sorc forums... it's hard =( I have no clue how you do such a long show without screwing it up and having to re-record the **** thing.
or keep that loud breathing noise from happening while speaking from time to time...

Send me a link to the video or post it here! I'd be interested in checking it out.

Otherwise, it's really just a matter of broadcasting basics. Breathe away from the mic, etc. I do screw up, but I'm a good audio editor, IMO. I usually cut out a few minutes from the show per week of random stuff, like screwups, dropped calls, whatever.

[Varis]

Send me a link to the video or post it here! I'd be interested in checking it out.

Otherwise, it's really just a matter of broadcasting basics. Breathe away from the mic, etc. I do screw up, but I'm a good audio editor, IMO. I usually cut out a few minutes from the show per week of random stuff, like screwups, dropped calls, whatever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAQDI0xqM3Q

[Kistilan]

I think this is an excellent post and I totally agree, although I don't support Turbine selling plat.

Thanks and I'm not saying I'm for selling plat either, but at least that's a grind worthy of spending $real money$ on and has no "accomplishment" tied to it. I never feel "awestruck" when I sell anything to the vendors. *L* Maybe that's just me... Of course if I sold something for a million plat on the Auction House... I'd probably feel an elation.

It would be far easier for Turbine to code & justify selling plat (to cut out plat farmers by selling cheaper) than for them to implement a 1750 bypass code sold on the TP Store. Also, if you really think about it, the hard-coded goods sold for TP (which equals real money unless rewarded TP) are basically plat-worthy items. If they coded those items for sale in the regular vendor at expensive plat prices, we'd pay that too. Instead, they bypassed the plat-exchange & went straight for real money (dollars) in Turbine Points. Turbine needs only assign a dollar value for plat -- and it would be a way to put the hurt on the plat farmer.

I'm not 100% sure, but I think Eve Online actually sells their credits.

I'm neutral on the whole situation of selling game currency via the game's developer. I would rather see plat sold (a non-goal) than the 1750 Unlock (a very rewarding goal). But even before that, I'd rather see housing and guild upgrades sold... that reminds me of a Suggestion I meant to type in July (getting married made me forget quite a few things!)

[Kistilan]

Welp, looks like the cats out of the bag. DDO Cast should be interesting next week!

PS: At least they named it REINCARNATION! WOOT!!! +1 to Brenna for his help on that. I'm happy with the overall results due to the packaging of all things at the same time.