I do not see much reason to play longer then 2 weeks next update.

[maddmatt70]

I have to level up my characters to 28 and use the lesser heart on my characters which should not take long other then I have a lot of characters beyond that not seeing much reason to play. No raid, shoddy loot this update, true reincarnating makes little sense until they fix things, epic xp is going to take forever and a day to get with this new dun robar repeat quest xp nerf and the devs not making it easier to get epic xp until at least the update when they put out some sort of epic xp bump. For an expansion bleh. My playtime is down by like 65% of what it was and after a two week bump seeing it become even less next update. Give me some weapons/items to go for at least something come on devs.

[Cetus]

Agreed, I don't play nearly as much today. And won't during this expansion probably.

[Wizza]

Agreed, I don't play nearly as much today. And won't during this expansion probably.

QFT.

I will try the expansion out, the new quests but I'm not sure what else should I do after that. There is nothing that keeps me playing.

Items are random ****, the Quest Ransack XP makes me wanna throw up, my Sorc is hugely being nerfed, my rogue will have 0 new toys to play with. There is no endgame raid anymore, eGH is not fun after 5 months.

[DogMania]

I find in funny that you should state that when the second part has not been shown yet so you have no idea what loot it may or may not contain

[apep1412]

I find in funny that you should state that when the second part has not been shown yet so you have no idea what loot it may or may not contain

Check the Items section of the Lamannia forums. The chest loot was posted for the quests that we haven't seen.

Given that the devs didn't post the end reward loot in the Wheloon threads, there still may be those from the Stormhorn quests.

[trevitt]

I agree that no new raid is very disappointing but about playability, if you play anything for 16 hours a day you will get board of it very quickly no matter how much new content is added. DDO is a game not a career choice unless your a dev.

[Wizza]

I agree that no new raid is very disappointing but about playability, if you play anything for 16 hours a day you will get board of it very quickly no matter how much new content is added. DDO is a game not a career choice unless your a dev.

And where did everyone state that they (us) play 16h/day?

[Thrudh]

And where did everyone state that they (us) play 16h/day?

Most of you hard-core players play 5-8 hours a day,... I know madmatt does (or did).

No game can keep your attention for that many hours a day for years and years. Well, not for normal people, anyway.

Turbine needs to release a couple of uber-powerful weapons that will take 1000 hours of grinding to get and people like madmatt will stick around.

[TrinityTurtle]

I do see a reason, the game is great entertainment for a low price (Try seeing as many hours of movies at the theater or bowling or whatever your activity of choice is for $10 a month). Not to mention the awesome people I've had the privilege to meet and laugh with over quests funnies and frolics. However, if playing the game itself is not fun to you anymore, just crunching the numbers, then it's probably time to try something new.

Motu doubled my play time which had been waning, not for items or even the ed's and all the power, but because it added a lot of fun quests that I actually enjoy playing. If Shadowfell is also fun(please let the quests be more fun than the preview three that are live!), I honestly don't care if I have one more raid timer on my list or not and will enjoy it like I did MOTU. And if not, I'll just treat it like Gianthold, which I also find unfun and only do when my guild or static group wants to, as they are fun people no matter what we're doing.

I'm not a huge fan of the enhancement pass, I think it made it more complicated rather than less like advertised, but it is what it is and the real fun is running through the quests with great people, not on my character sheet.

[12gh3jddgsja341]

Most of you hard-core players play 5-8 hours a day,... I know madmatt does (or did).

No game can keep your attention for that many hours a day for years and years. Well, not for normal people, anyway.

Turbine needs to release a couple of uber-powerful weapons that will take 1000 hours of grinding to get and people like madmatt will stick around.

But why shouldn't people be allowed to play 5,8, or even 16 hours a day?

I thought the eSoS was the uber powerful weapon that took 1000 hours grinding to get? Or the epic Red Dragonscale (back in the day). Or the epic Helm of the Red Dragon. Those were all really good ideas on the raid loot front, and took many hours of game time to grind out.

Since then, I can only think of the eChrono set as a similarly 'mega powerful' item that took a large investment in time to grind out.

Those who couldn't invest the time to grind out those items just whinged that they could never get them, and as a result we now have "thin" content. Was that a good idea? I guess we'll know eventually...

[Postumus]

I'm not a huge fan of the enhancement pass, I think it made it more complicated rather than less like advertised, but it is what it is and the real fun is running through the quests with great people, not on my character sheet.

Actually the enhancement pass will probably keep me busy for another year just playing around with new variations in builds.

I like the level increase to 28, which will probably see me and my guildies playing more epic level content. Right now it's all one and done as it is quite easy to hit L25 quickly and no one really has any desire to grind quests for EDs when we can reset and start something new.

Hopefully the remainder of the new quests, and the new explorer areas will be more interesting than the ftp quests we've seen. I am optimistic though, as the updates since, what, 7 or so (with the exception of druid's deep IMO), have been pretty entertaining.

[soloist12]

Loot is the largest driving factor to maintaining your player base in MMO's; ie: the constant upgrade. It is THE carrot to keeping most people playing. The "fun factor" typically washes off before long, and then begins your loot grind which lasts significantly longer:

Allow me to elaborate:

CitW. Imagine it takes 20 runs for your weapon. Now you need to grind the last of your comms so you can fully Tier 4 it. Say you only run it in-guild, so it helps your guild's strength to keep running it, thus bringing the guild together for the raid on a frequent basis. The raid creates a need to run it repeatedly, through acquiring the base item and the upgrade components (similar to shroud, but different because you can't sell the mats or base item), whether its for yourself or your guild.

Now look at Titan. With the loot being completely obsolete, how many guild/pug runs have you done in the last 2 years, despite it being semi-fun?

I rest my case - you HAVE to have "wow" factor loot or your player base will slowly depart in an mmo, regardless of the fun factor (which is always temporary, and will wash off 10x faster than your loot factor drive).

So far, the named loot in this expansion will have me gone before my vip sub runs out.

[Cetus]

I'd hate to say it, but elder scrolls online will probably pull me away from this game. Turbine got til then to get their stuff together.

[Systern]

I have to level up my characters to 28 and use the lesser heart on my characters ...

Ummm, what? Did I miss something? Quite possible since Dev Tracker's broken...

Why on earth should you need to be level 28 to LESSER reincarnate? Pretty sure the Lesser +20 they're giving out can be used at any level. It would completely stink for multi-tr's that get hosed at say level 14 when the update goes live.

[Varthalos]

Wait, no new raid? Are we sure that's the case?

[maddmatt70]

Most of you hard-core players play 5-8 hours a day,... I know madmatt does (or did).

No game can keep your attention for that many hours a day for years and years. Well, not for normal people, anyway.

Turbine needs to release a couple of uber-powerful weapons that will take 1000 hours of grinding to get and people like madmatt will stick around.

I am an all or nothing player in the game of life. When I played rugby hard core I practiced and trained 3 hours a day. My body gave out so I could not play at the level that I had and/or train anymore what was necessary to maintain that level so I quit. My job I can only work 40 hours a week because they will not allow anything more, but I work my butt off every day and try to do what 2 or 3 people can do in the time that I work. That is the type of person that I am - I do not like half-***. There are all sorts of personalities that play this game so who are you to say that DDO should embrace one type of personality or another.

Here DDO is producing less content then it did in the past and you are defending them - what gives?

[Claver]

I too am extremely disappointed in what I've seen thus far with the expansion.

The loot previewed lacks creativity and identity. The random element is a big mistake and and not an effective carrot to motivate grinding. I'm imagining disappointment and frustration on my part and then giving up.

I've only played one quest in the Prison and and messed around in the city explorer area. It is premature for e to judge but I just don't like the visual esthetic of the area. It is unimaginative, boring and too similar to a dozen other games.

I suppose I should try the other quests but the thought simply doesn't excite me. This is the first time that an update, let alone an expansion didn't have me interested in the new content around the corner.

[Grosbeak07]

I'd hate to say it, but elder scrolls online will probably pull me away from this game. Turbine got til then to get their stuff together.

You and likely a lot of other people. That is the first game I've seen first hand that has the potential to kill DDO.

[Tyrande]

I suspect the Shadowfell Conspiracy isn't about new loot or new quests. I suspect its about Iconics, their stories and builds, new epic feats/epic spells and Epic TR.

and possibly the new enhancement pass with the new builds.

Or can the loot be actually not what is seen on the surface? i.e. I heard a rumor about items that can be fused together...

[soloist12]

You and likely a lot of other people. That is the first game I've seen first hand that has the potential to kill DDO.

It's mostly a solo game with other people around and a few odd design choices.

Personally, eqnext will likely rip me away and I can't wait for the august 2nd reveal.