Holiday Producer's Letter

[Chatarra]

I agree the enhancement pass was a huge success (far superior to the old system) and all but the most negative of suckholes (which there are a lot of I hate to say and I'm sure some of them are adding to their credentials in this thread) would agree with that.

I agree with you there's lots of those "negative suckholes" which hate the new enhancement system. In fact there are SO MANY, that it's all I hear. Maybe it is, because many of the people I know are not only old DDO players, but also D&D players. Now, this is a different medium, no doubt. But when you have skill boosts ONLY for humans, it's a worse suckhole than any suckhole I've ever laid my ears on, while it sucks the hell out of a any hole. Not to mention that melee damage has gone down, not up. In fact, my friends, which favor melee, are not even playing their characters any more. I don't even have to go into the fact that the Paladin has always been unbalanced, and it's in GREAT need of at least one more feat.

I think the one of the reasons you have not been getting lots of complaints about the new system, is because many people were so disgusted, they simply left. I know of a very enthusiastic DDO video blogger that left to another game, because of this and the new epic classes. Not without doing a video about it, and harshly criticizing DDO. I guess you call this a sore suckhole sudden rage quit.

Now, talking about things that take FOREVER to do or fix. Artificers have been introduced since, when? 2011? Well, 2013 is basically over, you're talking about new things, but THE IRON DEFENDER STILL SUCKS. Worse than the aforementioned holes of the sucky suckholes. As soon as you start buffing them in the ship, they stop working. You go into a quest, and somewhere they will start working. Oh, so you buffed your dog to the max? Tough suckyhole luck! Not only do you have to stop to dismiss him, then recall him and NOW spend more SP, to rebuff him. Never mind you spent a lot of SP the first time to buff him SOME. Not much, because if you do, he stops working.

How is that fair? The dogs of the Druids and the Rangers don't have that problem. The skeleton of the wizard can be buffed up to his funny bone, and no bones about it. Why do the artificer still have to get the bottom of the barrel? Oh, and barrels and crates and vases, oh my! After a certain lvl they just HAVE to be broken ONE BY ONE, even if you are using three bolts at a time, and they are perfectly placed one behind the other. I'm sure this last one might not be a problem of just the Arti, but I thought I mention it.

The Iron defender problem is not even listed in the "known issues" although people have been reporting it since day one. Is there any reason for this suckhole suckness?

[Todkaninchen]

Oops, it posted this response to the wrong thread.

[Diesel_Smurf]

Please let us know what you’d like to see next year, and onward as we develop and improve Dungeons & Dragons Online.

Perhaps more perks for Premium Players based on Point Purchases and Point Card activation's We may not be VIP but we are spending money.

Would love to be able to have the gap between total favor from 3000 and 5000 have reward options in between

I would love to see more Sagas, Idea turning the different current chains into sagas either at level or turning them into epic level sagas. As well as upping the gear in said quests to epic levels if any. Such as Completion of Necro with Vale ( Vale incident arose because of killing the Black Abbot) as a Saga. And once Three Barrel Cove is made Epic After Completion of Three Barrel Cove and Sentinels of Stormreach (Dealing with Pirates) as a Saga. Perhaps Kobolds New Ringleader and Waterworks and Shan-to-Kor being made Epic and making this also a Saga. (This one here with Water Works might get more free to play players to make purchases if they see that a water works and Kobolds new ring leader can be done on Epic Levels. even if not made Epic knowing that if they need to purchase Shan-to-Kor in order to finish out the saga, Turbine will most likely see many more purchases of points for this pack alone.) Sharn Syndicate would also be a good candidate for Saga Material along with , explosive situation, proof is in the poison, the swiped signet (Quickfoot Gangs) as a saga, and perhaps a new quest could be thought up to go along with hehehe. As well as making the whole Lords March chain it's own Saga. I wanna see EPIC KORTHOS!! would be awesome ya gotta admit it lol (even if i am a Korthos Reject lol)


Crafting seems to be obsolete now. The levels of the gear we make now are now higher than than the gear you find in any random chest. we up our crafting levels to be able to make certain shards but since the new loot has come out and with the new levels crafting levels of shards used on items have not been fixed.

certain scrolls do not work, such as conjure bolts do not work.

Epic scroll system get rid of scrolls shards and seals all together make all epic gear like Gianthold and Eveningstar . Make the loot epic hard, epic elite, and epic normal. etc.

many named items are not worth farming or having, when you can find a randomly generated item with roughly the same on it.

don't just focus on Forgotten Realms please (hint hint)

Would love to see some thaumogatory HANDWRAPS! pleaseeeeee or other two handed weapons (be nice for a battle cleric, favored soul, or Eldrich Knightto have greataxe or a clonk (like me ) to have handwraps,

Platinum based player housing would be nice as well.

More items that are bound to account, instead of character. Sad when an item is found in a chest on a solo run or with a couple friends along with and nobody needs it but so and so's other toon could really use it but if he grabs it from the chest it is bound to his toon and he can't give it to his alt. perhaps a bound to account but binds to character once equipped can be made possible. to keep people from farming really strong gear that would normally bind to character on aquire to sell on the AH but can still get this gear for their toons if it is found.


Plat cap is ODD to say the least (4,294,967) can this be made to like 4,000,000 or 4,500,000 or 4,250,000 just something a little more rounded off )

a mass resistance spell would be AWESOME!!!! I don't care if it's level 8 and 9 i don't care if it costs 50 sp but please please a mass energy resistance spell and mass resist ALL energy would be so LOVELY SO AWESOME I KISS YOU I LOVE YOU LONG TIME!!!!

now if you think about it, a monk uses their feet and hands to attack so their rings and gloves and boots should do some sort of extra damage to their enemy. so perhaps there could be *extra* effects on monk unarmed attacks.
and since there really is not a lot of monk specific gear out there , perhaps some could be made with rings wraps boots and gloves but the*extra* effects on them can only go off if the wearer of the items are fighting unarmed.

Monkey Grip needs to be implemented into feats as long as the prerequisite feats are met as laid out by d and d. oh yeah however their attack speed should be decreased by 10% or 15%

No fair if i can't move when held monster should not be able to slide across the room while they are held or stunned either!

fix bugs please. exterminator needed

Maybe put a poll up for ideas. So you can find out what ideas the players would actually like seeing before you implement them. Perhaps gather up all suggestions up weekly and put a poll up on so many of them each week.

Good Luck with 2014 and all the new content you plan on implementing in the game. I enjoy the game a lot and appreciate all you guys do. Thanks again!

[Leum]

I'm all for expanding and updating the game but I would like to see the bugs addressed and some of the long time unfinished stuff be completed (guild rank naming system comes to mind) before yet more new stuff is added.

I'm not sure about anyone else but sometimes I feel like this game is produced by a bunch of people with ADHD and Bipolar disorder.

"We're adding a new system!... time for bug testing... eh bored so lets put it on hold... oh new idea! We're adding a new system!.... eh bored let's just put it on hold, Oh New IDEA!!! let's revamp this!.... eh we got through most of that so good 'nuff... Oh new idea!..."

this seems to be the thinking process that comes across considering there is still broken systems and bugs that are in the game since before 2009. :\ sorry but 5 years to fix a bug that's just ridiculous no matter how you try to justify it.

So what I want to see is bug fixes and the finishing of the systems you started on and never completed properly, yes this includes guild rank naming, guild renown decay (getting it to work properly... removing it is not a fix and cheapens the value of guild renown and the work involved to earn those server wide messages), monster manuals (when introduced was stated will be expanded on to include new volumes but suddenly stopped at Volume 3 with no notice on any of the other volumes. Quitting a project because it turns out to be harder then you expect IS NOT a solution! When's the rest of the monsters in DDO coming in to the monster manuals?) and so on.

So yeah what I want to see is no more lazy excuses for not fixing the bugs still in the game for 5+ years (the ladder rubber band glitch anyone?) and no more excuses for leaving "new systems" unfinished because you don't want to spend the time on them because it's difficult.

That is all...

[Diesel_Smurf]

also would like to see for guilds, perhaps a Completionist Trainer (Trainer of all) for a hookpoint option ^^

[Ailaesaedol]

I want my Virtuoso of the Sword back

squashing it in with Spell Singer was a lazy decision.

[harry-pancreas]

One person said: "MAKE the "artists" work a LOT of OT then.", for designing a gnome race. I think it would be hard to get the gnome to come back to model since Travelosity lured him away with the perks, but who knows.

I also have a couple of thoughts/requests: How about a hireling cleric that can harm (heal) pale masters? On that subject, I have a cleric that can heal from across the room, but I have to chase down the pale masters to touch harm them. How about a little range for the "inflict/harm" spell?

Next, what do you think of a few specialized musical instruments just for bards? For instance, the "Liar's Lyre" which has bonus' to Diplomacy & Perform with a lesser bonus to Haggle & maybe a Charm or two thrown in (modeling this on a less than honest politician, rare as those are). The "Snare Drum" which has either the Ranger's or Druid's Entangle, Snare & Spike Growth. The "Kaleidoscopic Kazoo" which emits a prismatic ray, or if that's too long of a title, the "Keening Kazoo" which would emit a banshee wail. The Lyre could have just one effect at lower level & additional effects as the levels rise, plus make them stronger. Same with the Snare. Just a thought.

I have been playing this game since pen & paper when I was in the US Navy stationed in Japan in 1976. I just may be your oldest player. I thoroughly enjoy the game and hope to be around a lot longer. I didn't much like the term "endgame" that was thrown out there. I expect you guys to be here as long as I am and for my grandkids to be invading Tangleroot with a character named after me many years from now. Thanks again.

Doofuss .....Tyrs Paladium Guild......Ghallandra

feat: enlarge spell.

[HuneyMunster]

I have a cleric that can heal from across the room, but I have to chase down the pale masters to touch harm them. How about a little range for the "inflict/harm" spell?

feat: enlarge spell.

Feats are tight as it is on a cleric unless you just want a hirebot.

As for Harm, it is a ranged spell. Inflict wounds is touch spell, but inflict wounds mass is a ranged spell. If I remember correctly they are they same range as Heal.

[Koowluh]

I'm all for expanding and updating the game but I would like to see the bugs addressed and some of the long time unfinished stuff be completed (guild rank naming system comes to mind) before yet more new stuff is added.

I'm not sure about anyone else but sometimes I feel like this game is produced by a bunch of people with ADHD and Bipolar disorder.

"We're adding a new system!... time for bug testing... eh bored so lets put it on hold... oh new idea! We're adding a new system!.... eh bored let's just put it on hold, Oh New IDEA!!! let's revamp this!.... eh we got through most of that so good 'nuff... Oh new idea!..."

this seems to be the thinking process that comes across considering there is still broken systems and bugs that are in the game since before 2009. :\ sorry but 5 years to fix a bug that's just ridiculous no matter how you try to justify it.

Sounds like they are missing a roadmap with milestones. A public roadmap with anticipated features and possible "maintenance updates" (with actual bugfixing and reviewing of existing systems) could do this game good, IF they stuck to it.

But let's be honest here. DDO is a dinosaur and only kept up because it's still bringing in more money than it is costing them. They do not want to invest (too much) into that dinosaur anymore. Bugfixing? Why would you bother when you can spend that resource (read: actual human being doing work) on a moneymaking idea? That resource will probably find that more fun than bugfixing too, especially since you're creating your own mess instead of cleaning up someone else's.

It is the reason why I was so appalled by the Astral Shard System (pun intended). Everything about it feels so cheap and tacked on and they actually had a resource (again: actual human being) spend a lot of time on it too to make it work with the existing systems (the crystal disc of dreams was my most recent insult in the realm of AS). That was a great moment to run through those systems and review them, squash some of the easy bugs and create some goodwill with the existing playerbase. If the resource is a good employee he/she would have suggested this too. But he/she was probably too busy cramming as much of the moneymaking feature in the game in that little timeframe he/she got to spend on DDO.

I know that I'm rambling here without any current base of facts. It's all gut feeling. Too bad my gut feeling was proven right all the time in my life. I'll just enjoy the fun stuff of this dinosaur until it finally goes the way of the DoDO. Astral shards are not 'fun stuff' by the way.

[Silken-Akira]

Would like to see a new letter with the plans for the coming year/quarter
Actually i would like to see a letter at the start of every quarter that gives some insight.

And more inventory space and psionic warrior for me this year please
and more Eberron and less FR

[salmag]

First of all, thank you for the game (been playing since inception) and thank you for the notice/update.

What I would like to see.

Gnomes, Kalashtar and WF Scouts as playable races set from level 1 in Eberron (especially Gnomes). If people want Tiefling or Aasimar, make them Iconic (Tiefling Warlock and Aasimar FVS - even though these races are far, far, far from iconic) set from level 15 in Forgotten Realms. Gnomes should have preference. That being said I would rather have...

More Eberron content. It seems since you received Forgotten Realms permission, you have been sorely neglecting Eberron.

A different level 1 starting point (maybe Xhorvaire, even though this would be a huge undertaking).

Again, thank you for the game, and all the work that goes into it.

The forums are a fickle bunch...

[Erik_Loki]

Player Housing... <3 would be great... and add the possibility to have chests inside...

Please... start thinking at material component bags for casters... (have 15 slot full of components is annoying...

[the_one_dwarfforged]

I'm all for expanding and updating the game but I would like to see the bugs addressed and some of the long time unfinished stuff be completed (guild rank naming system comes to mind) before yet more new stuff is added.

...

So what I want to see is bug fixes and the finishing of the systems you started on and never completed properly, yes this includes guild rank naming, guild renown decay (getting it to work properly... removing it is not a fix and cheapens the value of guild renown and the work involved to earn those server wide messages), monster manuals (when introduced was stated will be expanded on to include new volumes but suddenly stopped at Volume 3 with no notice on any of the other volumes. Quitting a project because it turns out to be harder then you expect IS NOT a solution! When's the rest of the monsters in DDO coming in to the monster manuals?) and so on.

So yeah what I want to see is no more lazy excuses for not fixing the bugs still in the game for 5+ years (the ladder rubber band glitch anyone?) and no more excuses for leaving "new systems" unfinished because you don't want to spend the time on them because it's difficult.

i agree with that completely. but since that is not going to happen heres my thoughts on what would make the game better regarding the plans for 2014.

1) epic 3bc is awesome in my opinion, as somebody else posted i like how there are quests which arent just "run around kill things dont die win" and i just have fun every time i run those quests. also i like the fact that nobody runs it. all content is worth doing especially if you are one of the people that say eberron is forgotten. dont forget three barrel.
2) epic shavarath. also two new raids sounds nice but we already have citw and fot with 28 lvl cap. now 2 more raids at 28 lvl cap, alright but for people to actually want to run those the gear will have to be better which means we are still left with only 2 endgame raids that are worth running for the best gear possibly (which actually is an improvement for healers now isnt it). and then later the cap will be 30 with the possibility of a third raid. frankly that does just seem like a order to do it in...maybe raise the cap to 30, and then design *at least* 3 raids that have varied aspects to them so that raiding will remain intresting for longer. that way you can make the new loot suitably more powerful than fot/citw gear without making the new raids pointless and without making an increase in the lvl cap pointless at the same time. a really good thing to do, i think anyway, would be to plan the new raid loot so that there is not a new uber item of every type to be had for every class spec and style right away, leave the cap at 30 for a good while (it is supposed to be the "permanent" cap right?) come out with more raids that gradually complete the list of the best gear available and just let people raid for a while. as we have seen lately coming out with new stuff in quick succession but single file has not exactly been the most successful plan. because the general strategies for citw and fot are reeeaaally simple (kill x and y at the same time/kite that stuff, just kill a bunch of things...) here are some raids that i found enjoyable and would recommend you look back to as inspiration for what a good intresting raid is: abbot, hox, titan (i really like the preraid (without monks ruining the bridge puzzle) while the raid itself is a bit long and boring particularly for pikers though still a good general idea i think). middle of the road: von (like the preraid, actual raid reverts to kill x and y at the same time followed by smacking a wall that looks like a dragon), shroud (does mix it up a little bit (highlights being parts 1 and 3) but part 2 again is same old same old), lob (at least there is a tanking strategy which isnt do some crazy sh*t or just tank and spank). raids i think are boring "plot"-wise: adq (preraid is interesting, raid can almost be completed with w alone...), citw (go here kill stuff, go there kill more stuff, go there kill these things in this order), fot (kill x and y, repeat, repeat, kite and repeat), reavers fate (mostly boring followed by mastermind which is another game, seems lazy to me), master artificer (pretty much x and y again), and tod (kite kill kill, kite and kill, and simultaneous tank and spank. real straightforward but i do like tod anyway just because tod is the best...)
3) dont do epic vale, i think that would just be confusing....if people really want greensteel back then something essentially equivalent but more power but not exactly the same would be a better way. craftable cookie cutter items shouldnt be the top end gear though...boring...
4) personally i think player housing is just lame because all it is is a place to put stuff. instead just do the simple thing and add many many many many many many many many more bank tabs. some could be unlockable with favor. some could be permanent that you buy in increments like shared bank. i dont know how you do things, but that doesnt seem complicated at least and it would alleviate a major problem.
5) comms of valor, i would like an explanation for why they drop in the general amounts that they do and why you need 4200 to etr. the numbers seem pretty arbitrary and if so they were poorly chosen and that is known and has been shouted all over since it came out. if they were arbitrary why not just say "oops lets change that" and everybody can move on and not be annoyed? as it is its a pain to etr unless you buy a heart which im not willing to do because for me the point of epic tring would be to get epic pl benefits, so i would have to pay a lot of money for my pixelated stick figure to have more double strike and prr. /no. the figures for comms dont even have to be massively shifted so that its all of a sudden too easy, just adjusted by a reasonable amount. again i dont know how you do things but maybe int he code where you have 4200 just change those numbers?

if 30 is going to be the "permanent" cap its probably a good idea to really be thorough and make sure it gets done right no half ***ing and short sighted lack of planning for future additions to the game that are intended to interact with stuff thats already in it and ends up not meshing.

[ppsm09]

Saw someone mention once upon a time that player housing could be done much simpler and much more enjoyable: Taking over a dungeon. Maybe run a quest on n/h/e, then have a special instanced-option to either run the quest, or go home, the dungeon you've defeated being your home. That would be freakin' epic! ^_^ Anywho, just a thought. A lot easier than creating a whole new region just for housing, I'd think.

[ranthrock]

Wasn't there a suggestion or comment a while ago about just changing shavarath completely to epic content? Just boost the levels by 1 or 2, and triple (or quadruple) the xp? Might be able to get some people out there again. Raid might need to be tweaked, but it's not a bad level 21 or 22 raid. Maybe upgrade the ToD sets to make them relevant again.

Best part of DDO was when there was a nightly rotation of which raids you were going to do: shroud, von, abbot, ToD, Titan. It allowed the best players on the servers to get together and have a blast. Now we all just solo and nobody raids any more (except VoN). Hush everyone about to say that they see shroud once a night and abbot lfms up once a week. I remember a time when there was a shroud going on 24/7 and a ToD usually every night.

[billwun]

Please implement player housing!

It's the only thing I've always felt was sorely missing from the game. Sure to some it may be fluff, but there is a certain
satisfaction in having your own personal part of the game and decorating it with the trophies gained during your
character's growth.

I've always imagined something similar to the guild airship system with three tiers of houses (slum, middle-class, aristocrat),
and have it favor-based for anything outside of the Harbor.

[Captain_Wizbang]

All this leads us to 2014, and the next set of key features we have planned for DDO. The features listed here are confirmed, meaning we’re committing to delivering them in 2014 (barring divine intervention or disaster).

The third update of the year will take you to Anauroch, the not-so-barren desert to the north of Cormyr. You will have the chance to battle the armies of Netheril and challenge a new enemy – the enigmatic Phaerimm.

One concept that we’re working through (but not promising) is end-game items. Initial proposals for this had internal names like “Greensteel 2,” “Intelligent Weapons” and “Sentient Weapons.” (Yes, there are implications of difference between “Intelligent” and “Sentient” weapons, depending on the version of D&D.) Ultimately these are items that are acquired in the endgame, earn experience and advance with you, and could require you to sacrifice other equipment to them to develop their power. Design has barely begun on this, but it may release in multiple phases and include crafting elements.



Please let us know what you’d like to see next year, and onward as we develop and improve Dungeons & Dragons Online.

1) I know we don't know who our current producer is right now. However I'd like to ask a few questions to the "team"

2) Any Raids in development for 2014 (in addition to Stormhornes)

3) It has been published that Epic Orchard is in the works. If so, will the Abbot get a facelift? It could use *something* Running that raid as is "epified" IMO isn't a good idea.

4) As much as we need an update to Greensteel, I have some reservations about yet another crafting system. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for this concept mentioned. But maybe we can do away with some of the other older systems.

5) As for Anouroch, will you be bringing in Ed Greenwood for this? (yes yes yes)