End of the week with Major Malphunktion 9.23.11

[SirShen]

Can i ask will the hats bought from the DDO store for cove still be bound to account or have they changed that to bound to Character as well?

[gloopygloop]

BTW, what was wrong with the old ui anyway...never did hear why it was changed to begin with

The devs thought that they needed to provide a space for the Artificer dogs' HP bars because they wrongly believed that other members of the party might want to heal the dogs during quests and raids.

[GreenDragonStalker]

First the bad: Crystal Cove items are going to become Bound to Character (BtC) when the items are updated. This is how it is supposed to be. We noticed this issue back during the event, and decided at the time to leave it alone, it was our birthday at the time and bigger prizes the better for the celebration.
But now this is ‘fixed’, and is like all the other places with this kind of loot in the game. Sorry. We should have had this in the release notes, but I will admit I did not cast my net far enough into the past to notice the fix. Sorry for the confusion. So, before Crystal Cove goes live, if you have items that you want to upgrade (which will make them Bound to Character), move your items to the characters that you want to own them! Note that this only affects items that will be upgraded when Crystal Cove returns, your current loot should not see its bind state change unless you try to upgrade it.
1. BTA cove items with Epic slots remained BTA when a crystal was slotted in the past. Will they remain BTA if a crystal is slotted right now? yes
2. Will old BTA Epic items remain BTA if you slot a crystal after the hotfix? yes
3. Will old BTA Epic items remain BTA if you clear the slot right now? yes
4. Will old BTA Epic items remain BTA if you clear the slot after the hotfix? yes
The only time it will become BTC is if you put it in the barter box and upgrade it.


Major Malphunktion

First off id like to say when CC first came out and it was BTA I said about time DDO did something that makes sense.and that they should really make more stuff BTA... and there was and it was nice.

Now i hear ddo is back peddling to BTC And i think WHY WHY WHY!

the hole reason we had BTC in the first place was a response to gold grinders killing the game.. but how is it a bad thing if one of my toons grinds out gear for my other toons... it could so happen that like CC one of my toons is better equipped class for the job. just like the Halloween event my cleric is the toon of choice to grind..

now i might give on the BTA and BTC thing if this was a active quest that i could do at any time when my toon gets to the level to grind it but these are basicly events that happen one time a yearish..

its just a pitty to see this happen. i really wanted to see allot more of BTC items change to BTA items not the other way around

disapointed

there is one other note DDO should consider in all this.

Wile BTA is good for the players its just as good for DDO and here is just a small reason why

Last CC after i made gear for current toons i had i ground out some toys for toons i was thinking of making. this then brought about a problem wile i am vip and have a shared bank account i badly need more room so i bought more shared bank space 2 upgrades in fact I also bought allot of sp regen stuff wile i was grinding because wile i had finished all the current toons i needed stuff for i was still grinding for toons i planed to make and was starting to run out of time for the event.

So the question ddo has to ask is

how many free to play Became VIP or bought shared bank acount and or bought new toon slots and or bough more shared bank space
how many VIP and Prem upgraded there shared bank space and or added new toon sloots.

see bound to account means you need to have a shared bank account for it to mean anything to you and that means money for ddo
BTC = none of that 1 toon makes the gear 1toon keeps the gear end of story

so really as good as it is for us its better for DDO to keep BTA and not make BTC the norm

[Doc_Destruct]

this is my question . will the time it runs be off set by the amount of down time ? in other word will it be run the same amount of days from opening to closing as was originally scheduled to have being we've lost more then a week at this time. so devs or some 1 from ddo can you answer this

[silence383]

I applaud the efforts by this new team to get things done. You new folks have no idea what it was like during the Mod 6,7,8 etc.. time when you got new stuff every 6 months if you were lucky. Now things are gonna be rough for them since the old team is gone..but new content every 3 months is a godsend to someone like me who has been here for 5 years. No one left them a playbook so to speak so there are going to be issues. I have been paying for this game on and off for almost 5 years..only cancel when the budget is tight. And the god aweful Mod 9 almost a year...this I think Major malfunction was trying to express that its gonna be changing and new and fresh..not waiting forever. I appluad Tolero, Cord, and Major. You think anyone would talk to you in forums a few years ago?..noooooo..at least they are letting us know and that shows a great deal of love for the players and the feedback..just my two cents

[Flavilandile]

this is my question . will the time it runs be off set by the amount of down time ? in other word will it be run the same amount of days from opening to closing as was originally scheduled to have being we've lost more then a week at this time. so devs or some 1 from ddo can you answer this

Nope, as stated in today's downtime thread, the cove will end at it's original scheduled date.

No end date shift to make up for the lost time.

( too lazy to copy/paste Jerry answer )

[Forzah]

First off id like to say when CC first came out and it was BTA I said about time DDO did something that makes sense.and that they should really make more stuff BTA... and there was and it was nice.

Now i hear ddo is back peddling to BTC And i think WHY WHY WHY!

the hole reason we had BTC in the first place was a response to gold grinders killing the game.. but how is it a bad thing if one of my toons grinds out gear for my other toons... it could so happen that like CC one of my toons is better equipped class for the job. just like the Halloween event my cleric is the toon of choice to grind..

now i might give on the BTA and BTC thing if this was a active quest that i could do at any time when my toon gets to the level to grind it but these are basicly events that happen one time a yearish..

its just a pitty to see this happen. i really wanted to see allot more of BTC items change to BTA items not the other way around

disapointed

there is one other note DDO should consider in all this.

Wile BTA is good for the players its just as good for DDO and here is just a small reason why

Last CC after i made gear for current toons i had i ground out some toys for toons i was thinking of making. this then brought about a problem wile i am vip and have a shared bank account i badly need more room so i bought more shared bank space 2 upgrades in fact I also bought allot of sp regen stuff wile i was grinding because wile i had finished all the current toons i needed stuff for i was still grinding for toons i planed to make and was starting to run out of time for the event.

So the question ddo has to ask is

how many free to play Became VIP or bought shared bank acount and or bought new toon slots and or bough more shared bank space
how many VIP and Prem upgraded there shared bank space and or added new toon sloots.

see bound to account means you need to have a shared bank account for it to mean anything to you and that means money for ddo
BTC = none of that 1 toon makes the gear 1toon keeps the gear end of story

so really as good as it is for us its better for DDO to keep BTA and not make BTC the norm

The ingredients are still BTA, aren't they? If that's true, then you can simply collect the ingredients on one toon, send it to the toon you want the item on, and craft it. This requires you to plan ahead, and create the toons that you want to use the items on right now. Bit less convenient than before. I could imagine that making the item BTA and "bind on equip" is better.

To be honest, I'm kinda glad with this change. I really do not want more BTA gear. It's ridiculous that you can gear out a toon completely without ever playing the content on that toon. Takes away half the charm of the game.

[BOgre]

The ingredients are still BTA, aren't they? If that's true, then you can simply collect the ingredients on one toon, send it to the toon you want the item on, and craft it. This requires you to plan ahead, and create the toons that you want to use the items on right now. Bit less convenient than before. I could imagine that making the item BTA and "bind on equip" is better.

To be honest, I'm kinda glad with this change. I really do not want more BTA gear. It's ridiculous that you can gear out a toon completely without ever playing the content on that toon. Takes away half the charm of the game.

^This. Twinking is one thing, and I'm fine with it. Easy Auto-Twink is another, and no, not cool.

to GreenDragonStalker: I understand where you're coming from about shared bank. I didn't buy one during last CC, but I did eventually buy one after buying a bunch of packs. Like Attack on Stormreach (I think, the one in House D, not the one in Lordsmarch...). I'd found some decent gear there that had no place on my current toon. The shared bank was great for that. But using it to get generic EPIC gear that's good for all toons, and constantly swapping that gear in and out of all your alts while you level feels like a cheat to me.

[Produktion_Malphunktion]

It's ridiculous that you can gear out a toon completely without ever playing the content on that toon. Takes away half the charm of the game.

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

[Hokiewa]

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

Who says loot isn't fun? Just saying.....

[TheDearLeader]

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

The journey is pretty fun.

And then when I get a fresh, ungeared toon to 20, I would traditionally have to spend a couple weeks accumulating gear, favor, etc. where they toon would run lame, underlevel content that is not at all satisfying to my playstyle. Instead of actually seeing how the toon would perform in fun quests, raids, and Epics, he's shelved until I can get enough of this lame BtC wealth that is "Gear", BtC normally arbitrarily so.

That, in essence, is the "end" of that journey, and therefore the "end" of the fun to me, and that's when it becomes every other MMO - a grind.

At least with the Welfare Epics, as someone I know is prone to calling the Cove items, we could hop right in with *decent* gear, and participate as the underachiever of the group.

Also, to be blunt, don't let your opinion of what is fun affect your coding for me. This is about the fun of the players, right?

[Samadhi]

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

I agree in principle.

In reality, it is so hard to find groups if your primary playtime is not primetime, that I have yet to even see one of the new raids, and have only failed the other one. Building groups typically takes almost an hour - time that can be greatly reduced if I join a quest and say "I can bring w/e class we need to round out the group."

I agree with what you are saying in principle, I really do. But for those of us that don't play 5p-1a EST, it is so hard to get anything going as it is, that we are just looking for any boon that can be given us.

[Cyr]

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

Which is putting your own value on what is fun.

There is no game balance reason why BtA is any different then BtC. It grants the same power to the same level toon. The only difference is if the toon is brand new or a TR then. Clearly the person in question has done the quest to get the item in the first place. It's not like grinding out that content more on another toon will be huge amounts of fun for them. They would probably prefer to grind out something they have not grinded out instead...

Game development should focus on what is good for game balance. If there is not a reason for something that relates to game balance, but could detract from someone's enjoyment then development should not do it.

[Gimpinator]

Originally Posted by BDS View Post
See that there was some mention of fixes to crafted wraps. Any chance the enhancement bonus will actually start applying? Main reason I started crafting in the first place was so I could make some nice wraps for my light monk. Was pretty disappointed when I crafted my +5 HoGLOB wraps and found out the enhancement bonus wasn't applying.




I take it back, it will be in the Patch.

Can we get a hint at what fix or issue you're speaking of? The Hotfix did nothing for Cannith or Alchemical Handwraps. To avoid letting a Developer think he / she nailed this issue on the head, I will submit my original bug report again..

[MrkGrismer]

Which is putting your own value on what is fun.

There is no game balance reason why BtA is any different then BtC. It grants the same power to the same level toon. The only difference is if the toon is brand new or a TR then. Clearly the person in question has done the quest to get the item in the first place. It's not like grinding out that content more on another toon will be huge amounts of fun for them. They would probably prefer to grind out something they have not grinded out instead...

Game development should focus on what is good for game balance. If there is not a reason for something that relates to game balance, but could detract from someone's enjoyment then development should not do it.

I have to 'second' the above. ML on items keep them from being used to make other characters 'too uber' so I don't see the problem with BtA, the player is playing the content in any case. If a certain quest (not picking on any in particular here) is easier to do with one class in order to get an item for a different quest then the problem is with the quest, not with a need to make the item BtC.

Grind is understandable to a degree, but it is very easy to have it become excessive. I have pretty much stopped playing my wizard because after 20 times completing Weapon Shipment she still has no bauble. Since that item is BtC and very desireable for any character with a blue bar is is almost a required quest to do with each and every blue bar character until that bauble is received. The XP screen for that quest on that character makes mention of the pathetic XP she is getting because of excessive repetition, so it is apparent that somebody in the dev group believes 20 times is excessive and yet somebody made the decision that excessive repetition is required for that item, for every character with a blue bar.

If the item was BtA and not BtC I would do it on non-blue bar characters for a change up (and to get xp on those characters), but there is little reason to do so currently. In fact, I purposefully don't do the quest more than once on a non-blue bar because if a character like my rogue got the bauble while my wiz still was baubleless I think I might cry

[sephiroth1084]

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

Honestly, the reason I've only ever really made one AC-focused character is because I had zero desire to have to run The Titan another 60 times in order to acquire a Chattering Ring. That was it, basically.

There are characters I have that I would have deleted instead of looked to TR, except that they had some nice gear that I didn't want to just throw away.

How are either of those fun journeys?

[TheDearLeader]

Can we get a hint at what fix or issue you're speaking of? The Hotfix did nothing for Cannith or Alchemical Handwraps. To avoid letting a Developer think he / she nailed this issue on the head, I will submit my original bug report again..

This was a Hotfix. I do believe he's referring to the actual for-real patch that will be on Lammania soon'ish.

[bbqzor]

I really do not want more BTA gear. It's ridiculous that you can gear out a toon completely without ever playing the content on that toon. Takes away half the charm of the game.

DING! It's the journey not the destination. I know this is a sacrilege statement in current gaming, but really it should be about the fun, not about the loot.-My opinion, not Turbine's.

Really guys? I can't even believe I'm reading that. Things change, such as the raids have more hp and fortification, thus stressing party abilities more, thus making better gear more of a requirement to do the content... and then say well it shouldn't be about getting the gear, it should be about playing the content.

It is not fun to be declined over poor gear/stats. It is not fun to join a group, only to be be unable to contribute from missing, dying, running out of sp, etc. It is not fun to run 60 completions of an event to get the one item you're after. But you know what, all of those things are (for better or worse) and integral part of DDO. It has been designed to take 40+ runs of a single event to get a named item, in general. It has been designed to require a certain amount of gearing up at high levels. And, as an MMO, a portion of that is a necessity to avoid it from being boring or dying out all on its own.

And like it or not, the reality doesn't change when you say how it 'should' be. It shouldn't take 60 runs to get an Encrusted Ring because that's a long time and not much fun, but I know more barbarians which took 60 runs than took 20 runs, by a large margin. After a point, the journey is frustrating because you never reach the destination, and it takes 'too much' time.

No one complains that its hard to gear up their level 11 guy to level more (well, I can't say no one as I'm sure someone has, but generally that's not a perceived or championed cause). Its a problem that exists, in any MMO at some level, when you get near/at the level cap There's generally not a lot of trouble enjoying the journey the first 20 raid completions. But once you start making it so the choice is do 40/60/+ runs of something or go without, and by proxy do 40+ runs of lots of things to get equipment to do epic or go without, the size of the game shrinks. Sure I could focus solely on the journey, but then the game would end at 20 because after that it takes 'more than a journey' to accumulate enough itemization to be useful anywhere further.

Items like these bridged the gap, that was their cool factor, and now its gone. And you know what, fine, I posted elsewhere about that and don't really want to repeat it all here. But having bound to account items/ingredients/etc is a necessity for the game's health. Its just not practical to gear up otherwise, no matter how it 'should' be in theory. The alternative is to make everything beatable by fresh 20s, and no ones asking for the game to be that easy, heh.

And for some of us, a large portion of us it would seem by looking at the active/social population on my server anyhow, the journey *is* the epic/raiding game. And we enjoy doing it over and over for fun and profit. That's where the stories about close raids are lived and told, and the fun of new items is found. And you know what? Being held up from having the adventure you want, because you need to do 40+ adventures you don't want first, because some item binding was changed (without advance notice back when you could have done something about it by getting an extra item or two), is not fun. Just my thoughts on the matter, but 'should be' has to yield to practicality at some point; and a game which is built upon people having a large number of characters (relative to any other MMO I know of, not like people regularly have 10+ WoW mains but they do in DDO) doing large numbers of repetitions needs to accommodate utility in getting and moving items around, even at the top end.

[Zaodon]

It's ridiculous that you can gear out a toon completely without ever playing the content on that toon. Takes away half the charm of the game.

Its equally ridiculous to think that your "toon" runs a quest. You run the quest. Which character you run it on is irrelevant.

I hate using the words "real world" when talking in a video game forum, but... the idea that an item could even be "bound" is ridiculous.

Player A: "I take off my armor and hand it to Player B"
Player B: "Cool thanks!"
GM: "Um you can't."
Player A: "Why? Can't I remove the armor? Is it cursed?"
GM: "Um, well, no, you can remove it and put on other armor..."
Player A: "OK, I remove it, and put on my other armor. Then I hand it to Player B."
GM: "You can't hand it to Player B, its bound to you."
Player A: "I hereby renounce my bond. Player B can have it."
GM: "It doesn't work that way."
Player A: "OK, its mine. I leave it on the ground next to me, is that ok?"
GM: "Yes."
Player B: "I grab it and put it on."
GM: <sigh....>

"Bound to Account/Character" is stupid. Its a fake, MMO, game-balance mechanic. It has no meaning or value outside of MMORPG economy. There should be nothing BtC. Nothing. Everything should be either unbound or BTA. Players play this game, not characters. Players earn things by playing content. Turbine should not give a rats butt what toon they use.

Simple as that.

[Yaga_Nub]

Coming late to the thread but ....

BTC SUX!

BTA SUX but a lot less!

Everything should be tradable unless it's cursed.