Lamannia is open with a preview of our 5th Birthday!

[Auran82]

More than you.

I personally would have answered with "Your mum" but that works too.

[Bodic]

This is kinda LAME for an UPdate more like a hotfix.


lets see what a good update might be.

1.DRUID promises promises
2.PRE's promises promises
3.Content for UPPER lvls(EPIC doesnt count)
4. Fix the 5 yo bugs
5. Balance the lewt progression. a Raid should have great treasure better than a quest of equal to lesser lvl.
6. Personal note make me want to not toss my Treason's that I have been holding onto for ever.

[MeliCat]

I'm so glad I haven't got through all the content yet to be as jaded as some here. Seriously guys Rift is coming - why don't you try that instead? It looks pretty awesome

A few tweaks that are cute, some very nice loot in the event stuff and I'm happy to wait a bit more for more quests and raids.

[Belwaar]

Gianthold Tor: Epic Diffculty unlocked. Really sorry for the 1+ year delay guys.

This *100000000000000000000000000000

When is EPIC GH COMING OUT????????

[Drfirewater79]

Pirates? Again?

This is like those parents who throw a Pirate themed birthday for your 21st birthday because you liked them when you were 8.

I agree this pirate thing is lame beyond lame ... talk like pirate day is bad enough now we have stupid pirate day anniversary.

Now dispite having zero interest in this event because its pirates and quite honestly we have all the hats we can use already ... unless the tier 6 pirate hat is as cool as the epic chimaras crown i see no reason to take off my minos legions to look like a gay pirate.

BUT ... hello people did you expect druids ??? PAX east is where they make big announcements ... i told you people three weeks ago before thoon even said he would give information that if there was an update for the anniversary before PAX then it would be small event like **** nothing meaningfull. Because they NEED to have a big PAX east.

That being said its hard to launch druid with no beta especially for turbine who has a record of bad testing and QA. I Hope that we arent waiting till JUNE for update 9 just so we can get the testing for druid.

That being said .. if druid isnt coming at pax ... it will be that much easier to switch to SWTOR when it goes live this spring.

[Skirmish]

Personally, I see no reason to get upset over this one. It's not like they haven't been rolling out a steady stream of new things to do every few months. Well, for those of us that aren't bored after multiple TR's and constant farming of all the l33t gear anyway.

Besides, like DrFirewater79 said, "PAX east is where they make big announcements" "Because they NEED to have a big PAX east."

The big update is coming. If you want to complain about getting free gear and more stuff added to the game, even if it wasn't what 'you' thought it was going to be. Feel free. But, hey, it's still free stuff and another event.

I agree with many that, right now, to me, it doesn't seem all that 'new and exciting'. But, All I care about is that Turbine is actively doing something and introducing new content and events to the game on a fairly regular basis. I wouldn't be here if they weren't. To many of the newer players, it's all still shiny and new. They are a big part of why the game is still here. So, let them have shiny, new, er, slightly used, pirates and if you don't like it. Don't run it.
(I wasn't interested in Mabar, I just ignored it and kept playing normally until I got sucked into it by my guild mate. I got free stuff, then went back to playing what I was more interested in. The same goes for the ice games. I ran it the first time and ignored it since then until just last week. Had a fun day of ice jumping with cheap hot cocoa, then moved on with my game.)

I'm going to reserve judgement on much of this until I see if there's a difference between the noggin cover I get with my new characters and that with Skirmish, my first toon that's been here since Dec 06/Jan07 that has only been lesser res'd to fix my newb build flaws.
I know our Euro' brethren are probably screwed thanks to all the fun of moving over to the US servers. But, I'm really interested to see just how Turbine keeps track of and treats the existing characters for those of us that were never interested in TR'ing and reflagging over and over again when we could just make a new character of a different class instead.

[Synnestar35791]

Very interesting event,,, the whole Crystal Cove was sorta hard to totally figure out immediately,,, and it took quite a bit of reading (time wasted) to figure out the purpose, but once it was understood, that part was very intricate and complex - definitely an experienced party based plot type,,, sorta cool to group players. all in all interesting content additions.

[Full_Bleed]

Bottom Line: Loved it!


PROS:

++ Could the Kobold miners be any cooler? I don't think so.

++ The island is covered in pits and holes that the pirates have been digging up looking for treasure. Classic.

++ The Treasure Maps as rare drops are awesome!

++ Fun Music.

++ The Crystal Cave adventure is well designed and quick to pick up. Really enjoyed it and can't wait to get my dedicated party in there!

++ Very nice loot!


CONS:

-- Why do spawning pirates sound like vampires? Seems like we should be hearing something more like, "Argh!" or "Yaar!" or "Shiver me Timbers!", etc.

-- As with Mabar, there is no real way to see what CR a creature is until you engage them. It still feels odd. That said, I found it to be a lot less deadly than Mabar as far as accidental agro goes.

-- Nothing is tradeable! Not the gems that drop. Not the dubloons. Not the treasure maps. Not the Map Fragments. Not the Dragon Shards. NOTHING. One of the nice things about Risia and Mabar was that casuals and lowbees could step in, put some time and effort into the event, and make some resale loot on a significantly more level playing field. There aren't many opportunities for casuals and lowbees to come up with stuff higher levels and power players want. I was disappointed to see that everything is BTA/C in this event. I'm not saying that everything should be tradeable... only that it would be nice if some things were.

-- Why not have the typical stat-box-pop-up-on-hover when looking at gear you can purchase? Making people go surf the net or poll the Advice/General channel for information is really an annoyance.

-- When going to the Crystal Cave why not actually be totally clear on the level selection screen what the negative/bonus is going to be? I was solo with my 11 so I decided to run the adventure on 8 my first time through. The negative was 50% on success. Fair enough. I knew there was going to be a negative, I just didn't know how high it was going to be and it seems like it wouldn't be that hard to include that information on the selection screen.

-- The island foliage really got in the way of many fights I had, no matter what zoom I was using. I've come to accept and adapt easily enough to it elsewhere in the game... but it was much more noticeable in this event. I found myself fighting inside foliage a lot and not being able to see what was going on. Not sure what can be done about that.



Over all it totally exceeded my expectations and promises to be a really fun event when it goes live!

[FlimsyFirewood]

Thank you for feedback!

[dunklezhan]

I agree this pirate thing is lame beyond lame ... talk like pirate day is bad enough now we have stupid pirate day anniversary.

Now dispite having zero interest in this event because its pirates and quite honestly we have all the hats we can use already

No no no no no. You sir, are wrong. You cannot possibly fathom how wrong you are, even if you had a very long fathom measuring rope and a depth gauge. You could only be wronger if you were being paid by a ninja to say these things. That would be just like a ninja. Just admit now that you work for a clandestine oriental assassination outfit, and get it over with. I'm sure they'll make your death quick and painless.

See, here's the reasons you're wrong:

1. You can never have too many hats.
2. Yarr!

that is all.

[brian14]

-- Nothing is tradeable! Not the gems that drop. Not the dubloons. Not the treasure maps. Not the Map Fragments. Not the Dragon Shards. NOTHING. One of the nice things about Risia and Mabar was that casuals and lowbees could step in, put some time and effort into the event, and make some resale loot on a significantly more level playing field. There aren't many opportunities for casuals and lowbees to come up with stuff higher levels and power players want. I was disappointed to see that everything is BTA/C in this event. I'm not saying that everything should be tradeable... only that it would be nice if some things were.

Nothing is tradeable??

Well, that kills the event for me right there.

Seriously.

As far as I am concerned, trading the coins/motes/whatever was the best part of Mabar, Risia and Festivult events. Especially Mabar. Looks like when THIS event goes live I won't even bother.

[steeven]

---the pirate thing i dont care for, but i dont really like undead either. so this event and mabar are somewhat similar(not that im complaining or wouldnt do them, i just like dragons, trolls, ogres, and goblins...). I would like to think though, that when i started playing this a long long time ago, blah blah blah that the first adventures in the old harbor and the recent harbor have all been kinda sorta about pirates/cutthroats. Correct me if im wrong, i dont read all the storylines, i do things fast paced.

With that said, i enjoyed the event for the most part. I would have to agree, it sucked not knowing the penalties, and i also did the same thing, and got a -50%. I also could care less for the whole waiting game. That is the worst part about the event, is having all the stuff you need, but that last dragon scale...and you have to go to work in an hour, and the count is still at 3k after 30 min

I wouldve like it to go longer, because withing the 4 hours i was on, i didnt get C R Ap accomplished, other than looking at the stuff, failing once, and getting some coins and stuff at -50% and then -25%.
I do remember on the mabar festival, there was no way 6 people could take the entire place, when you need at least one person for each lever and at elast one person to guard the room and kill the dragon. So that is 8 men. Or women. And that is if each has they're own potions supply and/or healing capabilities and can handle the hole spot.
There had been a few times when i was in tehre with only a handful of ppl. and that wasnt kool, considering we sat and turned in all those things waiting for a good 3 hours, to get nothing.

I was at least glad to see that on my second try, i finished it, and got my green dragonshards(at a -50%). And i was even more glad that i did it by myself, thinking back to those dark times in deleras mabar festival.

...but if this does go live, im all for it. Im going to make what i can, if it sounds good. Can't really remember what all the stuff did...

[Full_Bleed]

As far as I am concerned, trading the coins/motes/whatever was the best part of Mabar, Risia and Festivult events. Especially Mabar. Looks like when THIS event goes live I won't even bother.

It certainly was a significant part of those events--a secondary market that everyone could participate in (on much more even footing.)

That said, this event is fun and definitely worth running to get the items that you can use. The adventure that you "open" with map fragments is clever, doable solo, and should be even better in a good group. And, probably best of all, the loot that is purchasable with your own sweat equity is pretty much guaranteed with a finite amount of effort (that is, after 2-3 hours, you'll have a pretty good idea how long it's going to take you to get the things you want.) It's the antithesis of the purely random loot drops that permeate the rest of the game and, for many, a welcome change of pace.

If reselling is the primary draw these events have for you then, yes, this one (in its current state) isn't going be all that appealing. But if you want to have some fun and be guaranteed to get some pretty cool items, I think it ranks quite well.

[steeven]

It certainly was a significant part of those events--a secondary market that everyone could participate in (on much more even footing.)

And actually, this trading aspect would make it more fun to others who dont want to use dagger/spellcasters, scimitars, mauls, etc. and just wanna keep going monk. or whatever they wanna do. if the FvS doesnt like the dagger cause hes already got something better, and he doesnt like any other loot, he wont be running the event. he may want something with his other toons, but what if he is free to play, and doesnt have an account bank like us? then hes not gonna join. i would like to see all the stuff at least mailable, like the ice recipies were.

Anyway, hope you guys take some of the feedback into consideration before putting it live.

[Full_Bleed]

And actually, this trading aspect would make it more fun to others who dont want to use dagger/spellcasters, scimitars, mauls, etc. and just wanna keep going monk. or whatever they wanna do. if the FvS doesnt like the dagger cause hes already got something better, and he doesnt like any other loot, he wont be running the event. he may want something with his other toons, but what if he is free to play, and doesnt have an account bank like us? then hes not gonna join. i would like to see all the stuff at least mailable, like the ice recipies were.

Anyway, hope you guys take some of the feedback into consideration before putting it live.

It's a balancing act. How many people wouldn't play the event if they could simply pop in and buy *everything*? I actually thought Mabar had a decent balance where motes and other dropped collectibles had value and were tradeable, but you still needed ethereal keys and spectral scales (not tradeable) to get to the highest versions of items.

Not sure why they decided to change from that model.

The introduction of the treasure maps might also make for an interesting tradeable item, especially if it was more clear what level chest the map led to. If it came out that a map to The Lost Treasure of Grognard had a chance to throw a +3 tome, well, that would end up being one very valuable treasure map!

[steeven]

It's a balancing act. How many people wouldn't play the event if they could simply pop in and buy *everything*? I actually thought Mabar had a decent balance where motes and other dropped collectibles had value and were tradeable, but you still needed ethereal keys and spectral scales (not tradeable) to get to the highest versions of items.

Ok, i wasn't meaning it like they can pop in and buy ALL the stuff. I was just meaning some of the basics, like you could sell motes in mabar. who wouldn't have done mabar if they had to get all the motes? i know i had no problem getting motes, but there were a lot of ppl that needed more, and i had more. I just didnt sell, cause i was too busy making stuff for my other toons. But it took a loooong time, in which i couldve juts been lvl 20 all over again in not doing the event. I guess you give/take the losses. If someone wants to offer me 100k plat for a handful of motes and a handful of dubloons, i'd be fine with that. I spend way too much anyway.

I just think that they should make some of the stuff available to trade. I had a guildie in mabar tell me if i didn't get to him fast enough, he was going to just delete 20k motes of night. He deleted everything else he couldnt trade, but i took the motes fast. And on the flip side, i've helped him out many times, and gave him and others the stuff they needed if they didn't catch on to the event. And i know alot of younger ddo players were doing some of these events, not caring what they were selling, just if they weren't getting a fair deal, and alot of people just wanted to make money. Your not going to offend the people out there with 3-4 mil plat on each toon if they can't buy everything. Well, some you might.

It gives some people the drive to do the event, seeing one or two frost kits/icy kits in their inventory is almost enough to push them to do the event. I wouldn't be doing the winter festival if it wasn't for getting that first frost kit...then i was like, woah, thats really more kool than it sounded. I almost didn't do mabar either, but when it hit live, and i actually 'saw' what the items could do, i went ahead and made a few. I even got a few ppl to join in the ice jumps the last time that wanted nothing to do with it.

Like i said though, i wouldn't mind if some of the stuff was bound to account, but it really would suck for that free 2 player to have to jump to every other toon to have what they want on that toon. Most f2p don't have an account bank, and alot of premiums don't. I think it should either all just be BTC or some of the stuff shouldn't bind at all. Just my opinion, not the opinion of everyone else.

[brian14]

The adventure that you "open" with map fragments is clever, doable solo, and should be even better in a good group. And, probably best of all, the loot that is purchasable with your own sweat equity is pretty much guaranteed with a finite amount of effort (that is, after 2-3 hours, you'll have a pretty good idea how long it's going to take you to get the things you want.)

I am afraid you are not making a good case for this event, as far as I am concerned. It takes 2-3 hours before I even know how much longer it takes to get things? Does it mean "2-3 hours continuously"? Because I never have that much DDO time in one sitting.

Also, how does that differ from Mabar and (to lesser extent) Risia? Once I figured out how fast I was getting motes, I had a pretty good idea how long it would take to get what I needed -- and thus I knew how many motes/coins/recipes I either need to buy, or can afford to sell.

It's a balancing act. How many people wouldn't play the event if they could simply pop in and buy *everything*? I actually thought Mabar had a decent balance where motes and other dropped collectibles had value and were tradeable, but you still needed ethereal keys and spectral scales (not tradeable) to get to the highest versions of items.

Not sure why they decided to change from that model.

The introduction of the treasure maps might also make for an interesting tradeable item, especially if it was more clear what level chest the map led to. If it came out that a map to The Lost Treasure of Grognard had a chance to throw a +3 tome, well, that would end up being one very valuable treasure map!

Now that's something I would participate in!

[Full_Bleed]

I am afraid you are not making a good case for this event, as far as I am concerned. It takes 2-3 hours before I even know how much longer it takes to get things? Does it mean "2-3 hours continuously"? Because I never have that much DDO time in one sitting.

Honestly, I'm not trying to make too strong a case for you. It looks like you, largely, have made up your mind that you won't like it. Speaking for myself, even after being critical of several things (and offering my feedback), I found the event to be an overwhelmingly positive experience.

That said, I don't think 2-3 hours is much to complain about in an MMO. I came up with that number in a purely non-scientific fashion -->

First Hour: Run around the island killing pirates, collecting coins, gems, compasses, map pieces, and treasure maps... then the Crystal Cave opens up.

Second Hour: Take 10 minutes of prep, go in, run the Cave for the first time. Probably fail, but either way, come out with enough time to go back in a second time and succeed or improve upon the first run. (The cave event in on a 20 minute timer, the cave itself is open for 40 minutes.)

Third Hour: At this point, I had a fairly strong grasp of *how* to make the best of what was on the Island and how to tackle the Cave. The question would be, "Have I put my best foot forward on either thus far?" For me the answer was, "No." So after spending some time looking at all the loot I wanted and seeing how that last hour went... I feel I was in a much better position to make an estimate of how long it might take me to get me from point A to B.


Sure, I could have tried to make that call in the first hour. But I doubt it would have been all that accurate. And, sure, everything I said could be compressed from 3 hours to 2 easily enough if things came together more quickly (you get a compass quickly, the Cave opens quickly, you beat the cave the first time out, etc.) Or if I'd of read a bunch of walk-throughs before hand. Or if I was grouped with people who were already really good. There are a lot of possible variables that I'm not taking into account.

The 2-3 hour mark is a generalization and an admonishment that experience is going to give you a more accurate snapshot of the future.

If that sounds like an insane process by which a normal person might begin to judge how good they are at such an event, then maybe my numbers are off. But it sounds about right to me and it doesn't seem the least bit of a burden. Keep in mind that *most* people are going to be having a ton of fun in those 2-3 hours. And they'll be more than willing to put in a lot more time to get the most out of it. If they have it all figured out in the first hour, good for them. If it takes them 6, that's cool too so long as they are enjoying the ride.

As the saying goes--Time flies when you're having fun.

Also, how does that differ from Mabar and (to lesser extent) Risia? Once I figured out how fast I was getting motes, I had a pretty good idea how long it would take to get what I needed -- and thus I knew how many motes/coins/recipes I either need to buy, or can afford to sell.

If I'd of judged how fast I could get a Recipe 5 in the first hour of the Risia event, I would have been WAY off. It probably took me 2-3 hours to get my first 20 purples. Later, I was pulling down a purple a minute. Most people don't seem to make it past the first 1 or 2 hours (probably because they make a judgment at that point that it's going to take them 10 hours to get a recipe 5 at their early success rate... or worse... they could have had a run of bad luck like I did where I once turned in 68 purples without getting a single R5. If that had been my first 68 purples I would have had quite a different concept of how long it was going to take to make an Icy Burst Kit.)

As for Mabar, I knew I needed Spectral Scales for some of the stuff I wanted... and that was very dependent on how fast the turn-ins were to give me the opportunity to get them (same with this anniversary event, except it's Map-Piece turn ins.) And even when the Spectral Dragon encounter popped I couldn't be certain that the crew I went in with was going to pull it off since it was pretty random. By about my 3rd time against the Dragon I was able to get a pretty good feel for how things were going to go based on how communication was going with others in the zone. In short, after about an hour I may have had a pretty good idea of what my mote output might be (though i got significantly better later)... but there were too many other factors for me to be sure about how many spectral scales I was going to get and when.

And I didn't even mention the rarity of getting Lich Dust in Mabar with a 10th level character. I had to buy those.

Which circles us back to the issue of tradeables... I admit that I'm glad that I could use my cleric to farm motes in Mabar and pass them to my other characters and friends who had less time to play (and to make some extra plat in the open market so I could afford things like Lich Dust.) It would have been a whole other ballgame with some of my other characters and easily taken 2-3 times longer.

[Fafnir]

Not saying that they are related in a tactical way, but is the release of this event going to coincide with the launch of Rift? I might have a busy gaming week that week...

[blackdrowarcanenuts]

very lame...

yeah and what about the horc great axe 4th swing fix why its not being fixed