The DDO Chronicle: Issue 57 is now available!

[Cordovan]

Don't forget to reply below to answer the Chronicle Comment for a chance to win Turbine Points! Good luck! We'll pick a winner after Noon Eastern on Friday, August 23rd.

[Krelar]

How do you approach your first day or night of gaming when a new expansion is released, and do you have any tips?

Wait at least 4 hours after the servers come back up so you know if there are any massive bugs you need to worry about avoiding.

[ComicRelief]

For the most part, the same as any other day/night - try to take over the...oh, right - expansion release (*Narf*)...

People always say to approach with "Caution". I've tried doing that but I can never find anybody actually named "Caution"...

And tips: Yeah - never eat yellow snow.

[Fnordian]

When a new expansion is released, first thing I do is read the Release Notes. There's usually a ton of interesting changes to make note of and you can't take advantage of many new additions if you don't know they're there.

After that, I enter, share any especially nifty changes with friends and check out my character sheet and inventory (if there were any changes that would affect them), then begin to test out and explore other additions or changes to see what's new.

In the case of something HUGE like the enhancement pass, I would spend a lot more time on characters (obviously) and start planning and choosing their new enhancements and/or re-incarnating some of them. Probably a lot of time would be spent researching and figuring out what abilities and bonuses work well for my character concepts and discussing all the enhancement changes with friends.

And finally, if there's new adventure content that I have access to, I get together with friends (or look for LFMs...usually quite a few when something new has been added) and set forth upon my holy quest!


Tips:

1. Read the Release Notes
2. Read the Forums
3. Compare and discuss a lot with friends
4. Have fun and enjoy the new stuff!

[Havok.cry]

Read the release notes while turbine has the servers down. Try to log on repeatedly to see if they got back up early (happened once or twice and I had nothing else to do... had a book with me too). Eventually succeed at loging on and immediately check and fix my inevitably reset graphics options and sometimes UI options (graphics options are reset every single time... have to do this on every one of my 16 characters). Log on to which ever of my characters is currently of the right level to try the new content and go. During this whole time I am hoping the quests will actually be completable, and the loot will function as it's tool-tip suggests.

[Dawnsfire]

Last time I spend my first day making druids and deleting them over and over. I like to play with lots of themes and builds. It helps to make one, play a few quests and see what works and what doesn't. It will be a lot more fun now that Iconics will allow me to play with them at 15 rather than the lower levels using vet status. Now I have lots of combos to try with the enhancement stuff and Iconics.

Sorry for the boring story but it is how I will spend my first day or so

[Hazelnut]

I shall approach my first day (or night) of gaming when the new expansion is released by creating a fun theme filled level 1 character and rushing in head-long to any quest I'm able to regardless of level. It may not be the smartest plan, but it sure creates a lot of excitement.

[Melli]

I plan to spend the days after the expansion hits doing all the house cleaning I have neglected while trying to finsh the epic destinies on 8 characters. You don't want to see my kitchen right now.

[Kaylenn]

The way I approach my first time gaming after a big expansion is with fear and anxiety. It can be overwhelming with all the new stuff and seeing so many things that I love and know so well changing. But it is worth it in the long run I suppose, because I love this game so much and it will still always be so awesome. As for my tips for dealing with this, I just try to take it slow and read the release notes first, so I can be prepared for what changes will meet me when I log in.

[Tyrande]

Read the release notes but don't believe everything that is written unless personally tested and verified!

Anyways, test out the new features on a non-critical build first before committing on the main characters.

Of course, use the screenshots of the builds taken previously during beta test and see if those still works.

[Backley]

I start by reading the release notes and sending a PM to Cordovan with the typo corrections. (:

[Candela90]

I bring my coffee and best Spell Resistance, Will and "vs Enchantement" saves items to succed against Sleep spell. Or just bring immune to it character.
Then I bravely step in with friends on new quest epic elites - if those are available - now knowing them at all - and fun and hell begins. Thats the recipe for night full of laughter, adventuring and some frustation .

[catmamor]

My first day of play will be spent making sure I have snacks, drinks and cushions. After this vital preparation, I will then proceed with my lower level chars to see the changes made in the adventure areas - there is always something different when you go to the Cerulean Hills or Searing Heights and I love that about the game, it doesn't matter how many times you have to run the same area on the slayer quest, there is always something new to keep you interested. After that, I will probably be feverishly trying to grind for XP in order to get high enough to play new content.

I really enjoy the new expansions, it's great to be part of an evolving game, environment and community and fascinating to see the new quests! I really look forward to planning out my adventures and getting tooled up before I go forth, and I love seeing the environments, the rooms, outdoor spaces and the mobs, it never ceases to amaze me to be playing in what amounts to art-work (seriously - look at the moonlight reflected off the water in the harbour). Fantastic!

[Dandonk]

I apply for American citizenship. Otherwise, I may not get to join in the fun, as per Turbine policy.

[Enoach]

Being in the Pacific Standard Time Zone I,

• Read the forums for the 1st 2 hours - Watching for Extended time, or launcher bugs
• Hour 3 after it is confirmed nothing will crash/kill the ddo launcher and that the Servers are up - Run Utility to download patch/update
• Wait until my usual Time to play after 8PM PST

[Varinox]

How do you approach your first day or night of gaming when a new expansion is released, and do you have any tips?

Repeat to myself over and over 'Never play on Patch day, Never play on Patch day!' Then fail miserably and feed my addiction.

[btolson]

-Read the patch notes
-Read the forums to make sure there are no launcher problems to avoid
-Read the forums to make sure there are no critical game bugs to avoid (e.g., shared bank shenanigans)
-Read the forums to see if there are any lesser bugs to avoid or work around
-Respec accordingly!

[ChaosEmperorDragon]

"How do you approach your first day or night of gaming when a new expansion is released, and do you have any tips?"

When a new expansion is released, I like to check out all the other available games on the market to see if DDO is blazing a path for others to follow, and offering me the best gaming experience. Since DDO is already coasting downhill in neutral, and didn't undertake the expense of advertising at GenCon, my tip is to check out Pathfinder Online, who was promoting their D&D clone. I'm interested to see if it's any good.

[Jefro]

I read release notes and figure how the new stuff will effect my character. I will make sure I am stocked up before I head out questing. Then join others to run crazy epic elite first runs to burn through all those pots and shrines we have been stocking up on.

[Hordo]

How do I approach my first day?

I pick the toon I'm currently playing with and play with any character updates until I have a good handle on things then run the new content with my guildies until I pass out.