Update 14 Review

[dragonofsteel2]

This just my review on this update.

The update almost hit home and was really good, but there many things leaves it still wanting. The Epic Destinies I do like for the must part, but big thing makes them sit sour in my stomach is the fact you have to give up your Destiny want to sit in to xp the other ones. Fine if want to make this be a grind to sell more xp pots and make more money, but do really have make my toon go backwards to gain improvements. I really think once you max the xp in that line, your xp should go to the next one automatic or the next one you choose aviable to you, while having the abilty to play in your best suited line for the time being. Really dumb having to give up all them good abities to grind out the monk line on my caster for the fate points. Let charcters progess not go backwards, to me seem you create the system in mind to only work good with TR's. Tr into monk and lvl up this line, blah blah blah.

Second thing is the quest and challenges in this update, I believe some of them really fun and enjoyable. The big outdoor area to me just big disappointment though. It to big for me, takes the enjoyment out of it. I really quit Eq for lot same reasons, it takes for every to get were want to be, pointless grinds. This not real life I don't like the travel to get to quest or raid to take long time at all. Not huge deal since don't have run the quest that much and the run not that big.

Third all these cinameas, need a freaking skip. Since were grinding the same quest over and over I really don't want to hear same stupid line for the millionth time. Have option to skip them please.

Fourth thing the killing the xp for the challenges seems cheap, you made lot money selling them because of the xping they were giving. You going to refund all the people would not have bought that update if was not giving that xp? I would say not, so to me it just big slap in the face, we made are money we can now pull the xp back and sale more xp pots. Don't act like xp per minute is that much higher then other xp in the game it is not. I get high xp lot places in this game per minute. In fact I can get more xp per minute easy in lot other places in the game. Reality just more people know about that one. The raid not being open for one month plus after this update had people pay for is disappointment to. In fact must the house C ones they worthless now that you pull the xp back leaving maybe one that good xp.

Last a lot the items leave me disapointed with no flexiablity in slots to add effects to make certian gear set up work and leave it to your great wisdom to make good items for any built out there. The random loot challenges sucks, the name items having random things on them suck. Woot I got the item looking for oh wait it's the crappy one. Really disapointed with the loot for caster gear, fighters seem to do alright if not using sos. Pretty sad that sos is still the highest dps two hander.

The update leaves me wanting more, this why been on the looking for another game like ddo that will take its place.. I will try neverwinter nights. I hope they do better job. Over all had fun playing this game. I really had high hopes for this update. It was close, but just remains short. Not enough high end raids, to much flash and not enough content. I play for raids and harder challenges, it seems this community throws a fit if they make new poweriful weapon or item. That to poweriful, og am supose to play the same challenge over and over. I want more power, because it changes the challenge facing me. I want to go back roll over old stuff. This is the fun I have in games, remaining static with slow power curve is boring. That is why love the power gain from the epic destinies and wish the items will follow suit more. Just my two cents for what it worth....

[xveganrox]

I share some of your sentiments, especially related to (awful) random challenge loot and the (underwhelming) raid. There is more Faerun content just over the horizon, though, so you might not want to uninstall DDO just yet. Also, who knows? There may be some more tweaks for the challenge and raid loot (here's hoping!).

[badkhan]

This expansion killed the game for me in a really weird way. When it came out, i was super exited, i was connecting to the game everyday. My main is a bard and i loved the new bard feat and the fatesinger ED.

With my guildies, we would do all the quests, explo areas, challenges, grind for commandations etc... I was amazed by the quality of the graphics and the overall epic feel of some of the quests and explo areas. And then we flagged for the raid and that was it. I since did not connect to the game once. It's the same for the most active players in the guild. We will finally connect again tonight, hoping to revive interest to the game (but we won't go to the new content, we will try to shortman the Shroud as it's always a lot of fun to try).

I think the reasons that make us more or less stop playing for the moment (and we were online every single day for months before the expansion) are :

- bugs
- new quests very similar to one another (rush in, slaughter everyone, move ahead, rince, repeat, kill nice looking but gimp boss).
- explo areas fun the 1st few times but then it takes a while to reach the quests, can't go invisible throught mobs to avoid fighting
- new random loot better then 90% of old epic loot, but old epic loot still a pain in the a$$ to get.

The last comment is the most important because i think the main problem with the expansion is (what we feel is) a lack of general direction with the game. ED are super fun and powerful, so now the old content became a joke. I mean even the new content is super easy. I don't think we wiped even once. Add the new loot to that and where is the challenge ? The challenge is in epic elites, who don't give more rewards then epic hard, so why bother ?

We used to run eCOF for exemple. It was long, tough, fun, and at the end there was a possibility of a nice reward and we had no other opportunities to get this reward.

Anyway i'm not upset so much, i just took this opportunity to say what i feel about the game.

What i hope is more challenging content, fun raids (ala Shroud, ToD, Tempest Spine) and a complete revamp of the old epic loot system so that not-so-good items become easier to grind.

I'll check u15 and u16 for sure, hoping for some good stuff.

[Yalina]

- bugs
- new quests very similar to one another (rush in, slaughter everyone, move ahead, rince, repeat, kill nice looking but gimp boss).
- explo areas fun the 1st few times but then it takes a while to reach the quests, can't go invisible throught mobs to avoid fighting
- new random loot better then 90% of old epic loot, but old epic loot still a pain in the a$$ to get.

The last comment is the most important because i think the main problem with the expansion is (what we feel is) a lack of general direction with the game. ED are super fun and powerful, so now the old content became a joke. I mean even the new content is super easy. I don't think we wiped even once. Add the new loot to that and where is the challenge ? The challenge is in epic elites, who don't give more rewards then epic hard, so why bother ?

If the new random loot is so better, why do you want to get those old epic stuff?? Get the new stuff, it's easier to obtain anyway...

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Why is this review only looking at high-level content ?

I have found a few bits here and there at the lowest end that make me happy.

[qoolboxer]

Why is this review only looking at high-level content ?

I have found a few bits here and there at the lowest end that make me happy.

Because U14 is mainly about epics. What exactly are the few bits here and there in the lowest end that make you happy about the update?

The quality of the expansion doesn't surprise me at all - we knew right from the start the product is going to be too rushed. The fact that the new quests/challenges all come down to just "very similar to one another (rush in, slaughter everyone, move ahead, rince, repeat, kill nice looking but gimp boss)" shows it all. Compared to the good old content in the past - meticulously crafted adventures, dungeon design, puzzles, traps, story etc. where does MOTU stand once the novelty wears off?

Lets face the blunt hard truth of the random loot - random lootgen is cheap/easy/fastest to make/balance. Make the random loot BTC and that confirms it all. Nice loot requires time to design, test, balance, etc. Random nice loot? You just create list of prefixes/suffixes, and let the lottery game runs. Even if you are lucky to get the prefix/suffix combo you want, good luck getting it on the character you want. Balance is not an issue with random loot because the chance of many characters getting the absolute super loot is just too slim.

[Mastikator]

If the new random loot is so better, why do you want to get those old epic stuff?? Get the new stuff, it's easier to obtain anyway...

But I hope you can understand that when someone spends months grinding for an epic item that is better than everything, and then suddenly random loot gen is better and available to everyone without having to grind for it even, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It's a kick in the crotch.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Because U14 is mainly about epics. What exactly are the few bits here and there in the lowest end that make you happy about the update?

New items, better stats on them etc. .

Why aren't you happy about them ?

The quality of the expansion doesn't surprise me at all - we knew right from the start the product is going to be too rushed.

Yes, and that's why I'm more foregiving. I knew it would be rushed, so I also knew it'd have bugs. So I did not complain on he bugs I knew I would be getting. It was my conscuious decision to get the update, after all.

[badkhan]

If the new random loot is so better, why do you want to get those old epic stuff?? Get the new stuff, it's easier to obtain anyway...

Easy answer : i can't be bother to run the old epics anymore (too easy on ehard, very hard on eelite but no incentive to do it) + grindy loot system that we were used to because we had no other options but now we have some better options (random loot + ridiculously easy to obtain new named items).

The result is DDO's endgame is not as fun as it used to be. It actually became extremely boring. We used to have a grindy system (repeat same raids and epics over and over and over) but the rewards were huge and very satisfying to obtain. Now we have old epics not worth running (few exceptions like DQ2 for Torc for exemple), new epics with named items that we get in 10 days of playing (probably less), and random loot that is better then most of the old raid gear. And no new exiting raid (i haven't run the new one but rumors say it's not good, if rumors are wrong than i'd be happy about that at least !)

This is why i'm not playing for the moment. I'll of course check the few next updates to see what new will be on the table. And if my opinion about the extension is in the minority, then i have no problem with that It would just mean that this game isn't for me and most of my guildies anymore and that we should move on (i'm saying that just to make clear that's it's not a doom post and that i have no problem if you disagree with me, i'm just expressing my opinion)

[Yalina]

I like this game, I play for a long, long time, if end game is not fun, i will find areas where this game still satisfies me. I'm addicted to doing TR all the time, I don't like when more than 2 of my toons are lvl 20. I'm sitting on more than 2500+ TP right now, and I never buy anything for cash, and I know, there are a lot of veteran players around with the same attitude. (I didn't buy the x-pack, I can wait when it will be aviable for TP.) Who spend the most for the game (from cash)? The new players. When Turbine decided to shape the new update, they knew this fact. They knew, they will loose veteran players, but those vets spend much less money than any new(ish) player, it worthed the roll on the dice. Turbine is a company, they need profit - veteran players (incl. me) won't make them rich, new players will. I don't blame them for the (maybe poor) decisions, 'cause I'm not a paying customer, I only pay with my time - and till I enjoy to spend my time in the game, I will log on.

[badkhan]

I like this game, I play for a long, long time, if end game is not fun, i will find areas where this game still satisfies me. I'm addicted to doing TR all the time, I don't like when more than 2 of my toons are lvl 20. I'm sitting on more than 2500+ TP right now, and I never buy anything for cash, and I know, there are a lot of veteran players around with the same attitude. (I didn't buy the x-pack, I can wait when it will be aviable for TP.) Who spend the most for the game (from cash)? The new players. When Turbine decided to shape the new update, they knew this fact. They knew, they will loose veteran players, but those vets spend much less money than any new(ish) player, it worthed the roll on the dice. Turbine is a company, they need profit - veteran players (incl. me) won't make them rich, new players will. I don't blame them for the (maybe poor) decisions, 'cause I'm not a paying customer, I only pay with my time - and till I enjoy to spend my time in the game, I will log on.

I agree with your analysis of the situation. I regret that i spent money on the x-pack, maybe i would play more if i didn't who knows ^^. Anyway, i really hope for the best (Turbine will still have to offer a proper endgame to its new customers, besides TR'ing).

[Dunklerlindwurm]

Easy answer : i can't be bother to run the old epics anymore (too easy on ehard, very hard on eelite but no incentive to do it) + grindy loot system that we were used to because we had no other options but now we have some better options (random loot + ridiculously easy to obtain new named items).

The result is DDO's endgame is not as fun as it used to be. It actually became extremely boring. We used to have a grindy system (repeat same raids and epics over and over and over) but the rewards were huge and very satisfying to obtain. Now we have old epics not worth running (few exceptions like DQ2 for Torc for exemple), new epics with named items that we get in 10 days of playing (probably less), and random loot that is better then most of the old raid gear. And no new exiting raid (i haven't run the new one but rumors say it's not good, if rumors are wrong than i'd be happy about that at least !)

This is why i'm not playing for the moment. I'll of course check the few next updates to see what new will be on the table. And if my opinion about the extension is in the minority, then i have no problem with that It would just mean that this game isn't for me and most of my guildies anymore and that we should move on (i'm saying that just to make clear that's it's not a doom post and that i have no problem if you disagree with me, i'm just expressing my opinion)

Thats basicly how i see it too.

I will look if something changes in the next updates...especially with the game becoming easier and easier.

If not i will just move on. There just comes the time where you have to leave your MMO.

Had to leave Asherons Call too 2006 because it became worse and worse (another Turbine MMO)

[LelandHill]

But I hope you can understand that when someone spends months grinding for an epic item that is better than everything, and then suddenly random loot gen is better and available to everyone without having to grind for it even, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It's a kick in the crotch.

I agree with this...sort of. For example, it took me months and months(for some reason) to finally craft an Epic Grims Bracelet and with the changes to dodge and some of the new random loot, it has now become virtually obsolete. However there is still the fact that with the exception of the +8 stat or +3 insightful on the new named items, there is really nothing about said named items that makes them any better than what I already had(for the most part).

I'm sure its hard for turbine to balance this out cuz honestly how do you create new items to keep players happy while still keeping the old items....to keep players happy?

Most of the new content was very fun to play at first, and I'm glad they made the underdark as big and confusing to travel around because it should be. Anyone that knows about the underdark knows that it is a massive labyrinth of tunnels and areas to explore. However what dissapoints me is the lack of "things" in the underdark. There is tons of room to put quests, rares, explorer points etc...but instead it's like a 30 minute journey to see if this one rare is gonna spawn that you're looking for, only to have to recall and start the journey over cuz he didn't spawn.

The raid and challenge system I'm not even gonna get into because it is a huge let down for me...and I'm sure they are gonna fix them. (I hope)

In short...It was fun the first time through, but theres just not enough reward for the time you spend in forgotten realms to have any replay value.

[fatherpirate]

Key problem with the ..feel of the expansion.

Forgotten realms - Great place for heroic content lvl 1 to maybe 20 in a few select spots.
.........Crappy place for epic content

Planescape - Brutal place for heroic content. GREAT place for epic content.


Putting exclusively epic content in forgotten realms (and I do like forgotten realms) is like
sticking a square peg in a round hole.

They would have made tons more money making forgotten realms level 1-20
Then >Everybody< would buy it. Right now at least half thier customers have no
reason to buy it because they don't have any toons near that level.

It is currently an expensive private playground for hardcore and power gamers.

[darthhento]

~snip~
It is currently an expensive private playground for hardcore and power gamers.

I beg to differ. Lots of noobs (not newbies) and gimps have started invading the epic content. I don't like them squishy one shot wonders in my LFMs. Go back to harbor where ye belong! And get off my lawn!

[deahamlet]

I beg to differ. Lots of noobs (not newbies) and gimps have started invading the epic content. I don't like them squishy one shot wonders in my LFMs. Go back to harbor where ye belong! And get off my lawn!

Darth, that's your problem, always putting up lfms and being too nice to kick the gimps to the curb. And now you can't even myddo to find out who is a gimp hehe.

I haven't see the new failures cause I've been solo or with fun friends. Stop taking the noobs and take me along... Takes TWO shots to kill me, you gotta admit that's an improvement. Lol

[frayberg007]

I like this game, I play for a long, long time, if end game is not fun, i will find areas where this game still satisfies me. I'm addicted to doing TR all the time, I don't like when more than 2 of my toons are lvl 20. I'm sitting on more than 2500+ TP right now, and I never buy anything for cash, and I know, there are a lot of veteran players around with the same attitude. (I didn't buy the x-pack, I can wait when it will be aviable for TP.) Who spend the most for the game (from cash)? The new players. When Turbine decided to shape the new update, they knew this fact. They knew, they will loose veteran players, but those vets spend much less money than any new(ish) player, it worthed the roll on the dice. Turbine is a company, they need profit - veteran players (incl. me) won't make them rich, new players will. I don't blame them for the (maybe poor) decisions, 'cause I'm not a paying customer, I only pay with my time - and till I enjoy to spend my time in the game, I will log on.

i think you're wrong. If this was the case they would probably make some more low level content, appropriate for new players. Instead they broke spell casters and traps making new player experience pretty horrific. Half the traps are so broken if you';re not a Tr with crafted gear you just cant get them.

Anywyas, i havent played in like 3-4 days now and my game time was slowly declining in the weeks after the release of xpack. They turned one of the hardest to master games on the market into a very boring and easy game. Than to sweeten the pot they tossed in a bunch of easy to get items and abilities, but that doesnt replace game play. If you plan to TR non stop this game is still fine... there is reasnoble challenge/fun to be had during the TR. Epics as i knew them are gone replaced by very easy and very boring gear grind.