Menace of the Underdark FAQ

[WizardMerrick]

All I can say is, really don't worry about it. Your TR will not be wasted.

edit: as for voice actors I wanted Betty White for Lolth but I got voted down.

She could definitely give the proper gravitas to the role.

[huffandpuff]

i'de like to know about tomes, i have a +4 tome im dying to use but if i TR i know it'll be lost...
so basicly i have this useless bank slot occupied that im never gonna use (because i dont wanna use and then hear of a class coming out and *puff* i either TR and lose the +4 or lose completionist.
i think that's a poor game design to have awesome, EXTREMLY RARE, 1 time loot u lose as soon as u TR..
i mean, +2 (and even +3) tomes are rather common so that u can plan to use them eventualy, but +4's are so rare that if u end up finding 1 it'll just be collecting dust forever...

i'de like it if we can keep the +4 tomes on TR (which will come into effect on its ML)
+2 are meh, and +3 are rare but still rather common so i feel they're ok to lose on TR as a compromise

[stainer]

No, it was discovered by a guy who tried to register a domain for his guild over the holidays, and found that sites such as ddounderdark.com, ddoforgottenrealms.com and ddomotu.com had recently been registered by Turbine. Really well spotted. He ("Andy B"? Can't be bothered to listen again...) then sent a mail to DDOCast with this cool information. So this guy discovered it, and sent a mail to DDOCast which reported on their podcast, think it was episode 244. Then others made posts about it here on these forums.

Yes, details, but it was a nice catch and credit for it should be placed at the right door. You don't give the newstand salesman the Pulitzer, do you

I found the lolthiscoming.com domain, which they all missed.

[katz]

Is this the first MMO that you guys have ever played?
Expansion means you'll have to buy it. If it were going to be free then it would be called an adventure pack.
In many other games, you buy the game and pay a subscription. Every so often an expansion gets made. You then have to buy that and continue paying your subscription. Then another expansion gets released. You then have to buy that one and continue paying your subscription. And so on and so forth.

To be perfectly honest, I'm surprised that we've never had an expansion in the six years prior to this. We've had enough content released for multiple expansions, but they decided to release them in smaller packs instead of holding a number of them back to be released at once and making us buy them. We've been lucky.
Taking us to a whole new world and introducing the Realms will also bring more players, and it is certainly worth an expansion in my eyes.

i don't always agree with what you have to say, but i totally owe you a rep for this post right here.

good points and well said.. i'll hit you as soon as i can

edit: gotcha

[quijenoth]

If big names are a cost issue for DDO Voice overs, I'm sure there is a whole army of fans willing to give it a shot for peanuts!

On the DM narration voice vs the multiple character voices I'm a little on the fence, i like the PnP nostalgia a DM narration provides but I also like the in-depth feel you get from having female characters voiced by females and male characters voiced by males.

[Bekki]

Some interesting information.

As I understand it though ... the FR expansion will only be for 20th level and up? No plans to release FR content for lower level characters?

Signed,

An altoholic with only low level characters.

I would doubt that Turbine would release an Expasion that is..."Epic level only"

Note: The term "Epansion" versus Adventure Pack...

And To Quote Sig of DDOCast...
"Given the huge popularity of the Forgotten Realms Universe, it would be a very poor Marketing move on Turbines Part to release an "Epic Level only" Expasion Pack.
I would be willing to bet it will be Lvl's 1-25...

[Razcar]

I would doubt that Turbine would release an Expasion that is..."Epic level only"

Note: The term "Epansion" versus Adventure Pack...

And To Quote Sig of DDOCast...
"Given the huge popularity of the Forgotten Realms Universe, it would be a very poor Marketing move on Turbines Part to release an "Epic Level only" Expasion Pack.
I would be willing to bet it will be Lvl's 1-25...

There will be level 16 quests in U13 that connect to the FR story line, but the expansion's quests and raids will be Epic only:

Fernando: [...]The expansion is focused on epic levels and the epic content primarily will be what players will find in the Forgotten Realms areas. But that said, we’re taking steps to make sure that you don’t have to wait until level 20 to start getting involved in the epic storyline. It will start at level 16 with the Update 13 free adventure pack, which is the prologue to the expansion pack story and the setup for how players will eventually get to Forgotten Realms. So you don’t have to start at level 20 - you can begin more around level 15 - and will be able to get into those dungeons and start playing.

http://www.gamebanshee.com/interview...interview.html

This following part is a bit interesting, although maybe not in a good way:

We're also taking steps to make sure that players are able to get up into the higher levels a little bit faster

Some XP bonus for people buying the expansion? Some kind of "fast-track" through the Eberron content?

[Cyr]

Some XP bonus for people buying the expansion? Some kind of "fast-track" through the Eberron content?

A quick note to those not in the know about Turbine's other big game LOTRO.

The most recent expansion featured an item that you would get on all your toons if you pre-ordered (or paid alot of TP per toon) that drastically increased xp from mob kills.

It seems likely that Turbine will have a big permanent XP boost item as part of the expansion pre-orders or as a big cost per toon otherwise. I would not be surprised to see something as high as a 40% xp boost item.

[Missing_Minds]

A quick note to those not in the know about Turbine's other big game LOTRO.

The most recent expansion featured an item that you would get on all your toons if you pre-ordered (or paid alot of TP per toon) that drastically increased xp from mob kills.

It seems likely that Turbine will have a big permanent XP boost item as part of the expansion pre-orders or as a big cost per toon otherwise. I would not be surprised to see something as high as a 40% xp boost item.

Lotro is also a standard MMO unlike DDO.

Maybe, just maybe there could be a trinket that could offer 10% maybe 15%, but as high as 40%? I'd say you are dreaming, honestly. I find it a hell of a lot easier to level here than I do there. Granted that could also be because of travel time and the farking limiting of the number of quests you can take.

Also if EPIC levels work differently, I'd expect what is standard "XP Bonus" stuff to not work on them.

edit: Also that trinket you mention. IF you pre purchased it showed up for all characters. If you did not pre purchase, you can buy it out of the store per character.

[TheDjinnFor]

Can you guys nail down exactly what the distinction is between Heroic levels and Epic levels for the purposes of qualifying for enhancements and feats, as well as what spells you'll have access to, and what all that means for existing character builds? Just to nip the speculation in the bud.

Will Epic levels be generic increases in power level that are standardized for all classes? Along the lines of 18 Wizard / 2 Rogue / 5 Epic? If so, what benefits will epic levels give? Extra hitpoints, epic feats, more spellpoints, higher BAB, etc.?

Or will they be class specific yet uniquely distinct from Heroic Levels? Along the lines of 18 Heroic Wizard / 2 Heroic Rogue / 5 Epic Wizard? Meaning that epic wizard levels cannot be used to qualify for capstones, and don't give you more spell slots, or increase your caster level (or do they?). Will the epic levels have their own enhancement chain then? Do they give extra feats that can be used to qualify for heroic feats?

Or will they be essentially identical to Heroic levels? Along the lines of 23 Wizard / 2 Rogue?

[Cyr]

Lotro is also a standard MMO unlike DDO.

Maybe, just maybe there could be a trinket that could offer 10% maybe 15%, but as high as 40%? I'd say you are dreaming, honestly. I find it a hell of a lot easier to level here than I do there.

Also if EPIC levels work differently, I'd expect what is standard "XP Bonus" stuff to not work on them.

I did not say it was a good idea. I said I would not be surprised. I also agree that it is likely that they will put up a wall between xp bonuses to level 1-20 and xp bonuses for 21+.

I think you are drastically underestimating the item in that game. Sure there is quest xp in LOTRO which does grant decent xp, but skirmishes were changed to have boosted xp on mob kills to get rid of those end rewards and they are one of the main ways a F2P can level easily in the game. Correct me if I am wrong, but the trinket is a +75% xp on mob kills right?

[psteen1]

I did not say it was a good idea. I said I would not be surprised. I also agree that it is likely that they will put up a wall between xp bonuses to level 1-20 and xp bonuses for 21+.

I think you are drastically underestimating the item in that game. Sure there is quest xp in LOTRO which does grant decent xp, but skirmishes were changed to have boosted xp on mob kills to get rid of those end rewards and they are one of the main ways a F2P can level easily in the game. Correct me if I am wrong, but the trinket is a +75% xp on mob kills right?

I've played LOTRO quite a bit and the mob kills xp are pretty insignificant compared to the quest completion xp. Since you only get xp in DDO from quest completions, it is just a different beast altogether.

[Cyr]

I've played LOTRO quite a bit and the mob kills xp are pretty insignificant compared to the quest completion xp. Since you only get xp in DDO from quest completions, it is just a different beast altogether.

Have you been running skirmishes since they change how the xp was awarded for them?

[karsion]

I've played LOTRO quite a bit and the mob kills xp are pretty insignificant compared to the quest completion xp. Since you only get xp in DDO from quest completions, it is just a different beast altogether.

Say what? Both mobs killed in explorer areas and in adventures provide xp.

[somenewnoob]

Say what? Both mobs killed in explorer areas and in adventures provide xp.

Not on a per mob basis. You can kill 40 billion regular mobs in a quest and get 0 xp for it if you don't finish the quest.

Likewise if you don't get to a xp point in slayers.

[BrianTheHun]

I'm still hoping for Hank Azaria doing his Comic Book Guy voice for all future DM narration.

[Missing_Minds]

Correct me if I am wrong, but the trinket is a +75% xp on mob kills right?

*chuckles* It is only a 25%, but it will stack with other xp bonus.

And unless they have gone back, you are actually making LESS xp on the skirmishes now than you did before due to the fact they removed the daily's.

[Cyr]

*chuckles* It is only a 25%, but it will stack with other xp bonus.

And unless they have gone back, you are actually making LESS xp on the skirmishes now than you did before due to the fact they removed the daily's.

Lol, then I withdraw my comments about my guess on any new items xp bump. MM's estimate of maybe a 10-15% item is much more likely.

To be fair I am only half paying attention at best when playing Lotro

[Postumus]

Not on a per mob basis. You can kill 40 billion regular mobs in a quest and get 0 xp for it if you don't finish the quest.

True. And there are also exceptions where an optional is awarded based on killing a certain number of mobs or a certain number of mobs of a particular type.

[Thalmor]

edit: as for voice actors I wanted Betty White for Lolth but I got voted down.

Hmmm, How about Rose McGowan or Rooney Mara (You need someone who can pull off the Goth Look)