LET'S TALK: Introduction

[le_goat]

Jaw , meet floor!

i.....i.....i think they heard us!

I will be looking forward to your future topics MF!

[Phemt81]

Some of the topics on my mind are:
- class balance
- overall difficulty of content
- bugs
- AC
- Ranged combat
- Challenges
- True Reincarnation
- Strengths & weaknesses of the game
- where we're headed

Class balance + AC: I feel these are strictly connected since, i think, we can all agree that magic users are much more stronger than melees.

Rethinking of AC would partially balance this issue imo, and some tweaking on specific classes would make game balance in a better shape.
About this matter i can think about paladins (just an example...): let them use divine might considering the total charisma points and not the pure stat.

Bugs: I feel this one a lot. I love this game but some things can make the experience a lot more frustrating than it needs to be.

1) Try to focus more strenght on old ongoing bugs.

2) Consider bug reports via the specific form and forums too. Check and, at least, add them to the known issues.
I can assure you it's quite frustrating to spend three feats for greater dragonmark of passage and not get all the teleport places (example).

3) Give GMs more power to grant relief to players experiencing major bug issues. Maybe only if they are known issues to start. Example: stuck at final boss, door won't open, i send a ticket, GM arrives and open the door or teleport players to boss room.

4) Listen to Lamannia reports a LOT more, please.

True Reincarnation:

1) Add a search string to reincarnation cache.

2) Let players keep cosmetics if they want to. After all they already paid for those.

3) Enlarge the benifits of TRing after third time. Just a personal idea.

Strengths & weaknesses of the game: reduce the redundant grind, fix bugs, empower character customization, favor the different/original builds to increase diversity/fun and avoid elitist behaviour like "you are not joining my group if you have less than 500 HP" (example)

When adding more and more collectables, let players keep them all in bags, it's quite frustrating buying a huge bag and discover you actually can't hold shards/cookies/[insert item]

Where we're headed: before adding new content, try (when possible) to have several quality checks before leaving them go live: consider lamannia players, mournlands players. Give them little benefits to incetivate the collaboration. Keep the edges clean, that improves a lot the professional look of the game (e.g. when you exit a quest from a gate it says "marketplace" but it goes to harbor actually)


I think that's all i can come up with right now. For the points i have skipped, i just need more time to experience that parts of the game to give constructive/useful feedback.

Thanks for reading, and asking our opinion!

[Ganolyn]

I'd like to get your feedback on a number of topics and to that end I will be starting separate threads on each of them.

People, people!! He is asking you to collect your thoughts and gave us a heads up on some topics so we can be ready when the appropriate threads get posted (if I am reading his intent correctly, that is). Posting your ideas in here is kind of a waste of time and space at this point. Save your thoughts so you won't have to repost them again in the thread they will most likely be reading.

[Galeria]

This... is... awesome!

Looking forward to more.

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Merry Christmas!

[dkyle]

Yes, and that's why most raid parties in non-dedicated guilds are usually made up of 10 casters and 1 token melee ... oh wait.

Want me to post some LFMs for you?

The LFMs are a product of many factors other than what is optimal. Many people play melee, and it's not worth the time to wait for a full group of casters, even though the group of casters would be superior in basically every way. Many leaders also don't understand how the game has changed. Old habits die hard.

No, what we need, ACTUALLY, is for the group leader to be able to take eleven PEOPLE and for the raid to succeed well if those people are competent. If they are on competent melees, no problem, if they're on casters, no problem.

And if there are no Divines, or healers of any kind, should that be "no problem" as well? If everyone is fully interchangeable, then the game is less interesting. There should be more flexibility than there was pre-U9 between casters and melee, but not at the cost of making melee inferior in nearly every way.

[Hellllboy]

Thank you MF.

Im sure you will receive constructive participation from the entire DDO community.

Please do not take our input wrong. We love this game and want to make it the best experience possible.

[dkyle]

Here, let me help you get that standing up straight

  

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Merry Christmas!

[Aashrym]

Any idea when we'll see the first actual discussion thread?

[Rizzia]

Class balance + AC: I feel these are strictly connected since, i think, we can all agree that magic users are much more stronger than melees.

Rethinking of AC would partially balance this issue imo, and some tweaking on specific classes would make game balance in a better shape.

I wholey agree, Paladins/fighters should be striving for fullplate not some silly outfit everyone can wear, (I'd say increase armour DR ALOT, then maybe up mob damage abit so arcanes are proper glass cannons.)

Edit: I know this isnt the discussion, but I have the memory of a sieve (seive? bleh goldfish) so wanted to jot that down

[Galeria]

Dkyle- Thanks for straightening up my tree!

Of course, the code box won't strip characters. :-) Thanks!

This is an intro to the topics thread, not the actual topic discussion. Wait til he asks specifically in a separate thread. Very excited about it!

[waterboytkd]

Wow. Christmas came early.

MadFloyd, this is the best thing I've seen...probably since I started playing over two years ago.

[Cam_Neely]

+1.

I suggest a round table discussion over beers...

I forsee my suggestions hinging around slowing the HE double hockey sticks down. I know SW and GW2 are coming out with new cool things, but DDO has a fantastic product that has no direct competition for its model. I've been shopping around for a new MMO, and none have the type of leveling and questing that DDO has (hence me still being here)

Slow down and do it right, as opposed to releasing unfinished code. I dont buy cars with 3 tires, nor do I want constant broken programs.

*EDIT*
Interesting...
You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to MadFloyd again.

[KillEveryone]

Some of the topics on my mind are:
- class balance
- overall difficulty of content
- bugs
- AC
- Ranged combat
- Challenges
- True Reincarnation
- Strengths & weaknesses of the game
- where we're headed

Bugs is what I'd like to see attention to first.

I'd like to see existing PrEs finished.

[k1ngp1n]

Hi all,

For those of you who don't know me, I'm the Design Director for DDO. I manage the 'content' team and the 'systems' team. I don't get to make all the decisions of what we do, but I participate in and influence those decisions to the best of my abilities. :-)

I'd like to get your feedback on a number of topics and to that end I will be starting separate threads on each of them. The idea here is to make sure we're hearing your wishes, get constructive feedback on past updates as well as some future plans, and being able to drill down and ask some specific, but important questions.

Our update cycles require us to be developing/implementing and planning simultaneously. We're deep into both for 2012 updates but I want to be sure that we're targeting the right things and not overlooking the obvious. In short, I want as much overlap between your expectations and ours.

This is going to be somewhat tricky for a number of reasons. I'm not at liberty to divulge all our plans. There's always a high risk for misinterpretation. I expect some degree of controversy. I expect some cynicism and anger and I expect to be humbled at times.

One thing that is exceptional about the DDO community compared to many other MMOs is the level of maturity. Most of you are highly passionate about the game and can articulate your thoughts and ideas extremely well. I hope to see these attributes shine through in your responses and that we avoid non-constructive behavior, rudeness, etc. As usual, if you don't feel comfortable sharing your thoughts in these threads, feel free to PM me.

2011 has been an interesting year, but definitely bumpy in many respects. We need to do better in 2012.

Some of the topics on my mind are:
- class balance
- overall difficulty of content
- bugs
- AC
- Ranged combat
- Challenges
- True Reincarnation
- Strengths & weaknesses of the game
- where we're headed

I'm sure I'm forgetting some at the moment. These threads won't all happen at once, but I hope to get them going as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance for your constructive participation!

Kudos. If you guys actually do this regularly, and actually listen (you don't have to do everything, but at least hear us out, and all sides - and explain at least something about why a differing path was taken) it will go a long way to re-establishing faith.

[Krell]

Hi all,

For those of you who don't know me, I'm the Design Director for DDO. I manage the 'content' team and the 'systems' team. I don't get to make all the decisions of what we do, but I participate in and influence those decisions to the best of my abilities. :-)

I'd like to get your feedback on a number of topics and to that end I will be starting separate threads on each of them. The idea here is to make sure we're hearing your wishes, get constructive feedback on past updates as well as some future plans, and being able to drill down and ask some specific, but important questions.

-snip-

Thanks in advance for your constructive participation!

I would consider putting some survey links in the game launcher. I don't think the average forumite represents the average player and we need to retain the average player out there to keep growing the game.

If you want more advanced feedback from players, that in my opinion are more effective with game content than the average player, then forum posts would be a good method to collect that information. Just consider what audience you are soliciting information from before recommending any solutions.

[WielderofGigantus]

- class balance
Ever since update 9, arcane casters have gone from slightly below melees in terms of dps to way and beyond melee in terms of dps. There are some situations where melees are more effective, such as certain mobs that are immune to a certain element or resistant magic in general, but in the vast majority of situations, casters easily out dps melees. I'm not certain if this is a bad thing.

- overall difficulty of content
Here's an example: I recently just ran Master Artificer (normal) on my sorcerer for the first time ever. I was in a pug with a bunch of other people who hadn't run it before either. Somewhere between half and a third had run it before. We finally finished the raid after 52 minutes, there were 45 deaths and I had used every single offensive wand and mana pot in my inventory. I don't know how many pots the healers in our party used, but I'm sure it was a lot.
On my second run of MA (normal), I was in my guild raid group. We finished in 25 minutes and there were only 7 deaths. I didn't touch a mana pot, and I don't think the healers did either. Just knowing what to do, and everyone in the group knowing what to do, made a HUGE difference.

- bugs
You know that ladder bug? Still there after how many updates and patches...

- AC
I given up on AC on all my characters, because it requires so much specific gear and buffs. From levels 1-10, Life Shield armor of Invulnerability seems to cover almost all situations. Past level 10, it is extremely difficult to get the necessary AC to be worth something, and often cuts into my dps/healing/casting abilities.
But with the new items available via the challenges and cannith crafting, I may take another look at making a character that has high AC that won't hinder the rest of his capabilities too much.

- Ranged combat
Artificers have lessened the gap slightly between ranged and melee, but before the artificers came the only decent ranged combatants were Arcane Archers. In my mind, ranged should be almost as good as melee, except at melee range, in which it should be extremely poor. Perhaps a bit faster overall ranged attack speed?

- Challenges
Example: The Dr. Rushmore challenges on CR 18 and CR 21 feel identical when run solo.

- True Reincarnation
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for introducing bravery into the game!

- Strengths & weaknesses of the game
Strengths: The infinite combinations of classes. There are so many different combinations of classes and prestige enhancements.
Weaknesses: Not all the prestige enhancements are in the game. The game has an 'unfinished' feel to it in part because of that.

- where we're headed
Hopefully not beyond level 20. I worry that introducing levels 21-25 may hurt the game as it separates the TR'ers even farther from the Epic'ers.

[bhgiant]

(grabs pitchfork and torch) .....BURN THE.........wait.....oh......you want feedback from......uh.....from US?

thank you for making me laugh hysterically. I cannot rep you until I spread it around, so here's a virtual +1 to you

[Missing_Minds]

Nice list.

How about character items just vanishing. Like.. oh I don't know... BAGS.
And Turbine's response of "sol... AHAHAHHAHAHHAAHSHAHAHAHAHAHAH"

I really think that needs to be added to it, please.

[Galeria]

Nice list.

How about character items just vanishing. Like.. oh I don't know... BAGS.
And Turbine's response of "sol... AHAHAHHAHAHHAAHSHAHAHAHAHAHAH"

I really think that needs to be added to it, please.

Someone just got their bag with stuff back after weeks. See "Caution!!!!!!" thread.

Making progress...!

[somenewnoob]

I would consider putting some survey links in the game launcher. I don't think the average forumite represents the average player and we need to retain the average player out there to keep growing the game.

If you want more advanced feedback from players, that in my opion are more effective with game content than the average player, then forum posts would be a good method to collect that information. Just consider what audience you are soliciting information from before recommending any solutions.

DO THIS! Excellent idea.

Advertise that you want feedback, not everybody checks the forums.

Hell I'd even go so far as to encourage feedback, give us 5 TP per survey or something small like that, might get a lot of people to come to the forums and give feedback.