Where do you want to explore next in FR/EB? (With Maps)

[MRMechMan]

Where do you want the next updates to take DDO?

For those of you who don't know their Dungeons and Dragons geography, here are a couple maps:

Xen'Drik:

Larger, zoomed in:
http://www.use.com/showoriginal.pl?s...69881fdb8b&p=1

I've noted on the map where DDO has covered already-Sorrowdusk, Menectarun, 3BC and Tempest's Spine.

Now, Xen'drik is only a small part of Eberron. While I don't think that the possibilities for exploration have been exhausted in Xen'drik, it would be cool to be able to make the jump to other continents. There's a lot of beef with Droaam (on Khorvaire, directly north of stormreach) and Sharn (just a bit farther into Khorvaire). Mournlands would also be great to romp around now that the level cap is fairly high. And Argonesson is the home of half of what Dungeons and Dragons is all about.


Faerun:


Larger, zoomed in:
http://www.use.com/showoriginal.pl?s...3138e2c21f&p=1

I've noted on the map where some other D&D computer games have already covered-it's probably best to expand upon new areas rather than those. Here's a quick list:

Baldurs Gate1=sword coast, Candlekeep, Baldurs Gate, Beregost, Nashkel, cloakwood
Baldurs Gate1:TotSC=Durlaqs tower
Baldurs Gate2:SOA=Amn, Athkatla, underdark
Baldurs Gate2:TOB=Tethyr
Icewind Dale1=Icewind Dale, 10 towns, spine of the world
Icewind Dale1:HOW=sea of moving ice
Icewind Dale2=chult? (never got my hands on this one so not 100% sure)
Neverwinter nights=Neverwinter, Luskan, Host tower, neverwinter woods
Neverwinter nights:SOU=Silver Marches, Anauroch, Undrentide
Neverwinter nights:HoU=Waterdeep (sort of), undermountain, underdark, Cania (Baator)
Neverwinter Online=Neverwinter (and surrounding areas)

DDO (so far)=Eveningstar, kings forest, underdark, stormhorns

A few possibilities:
Sembia is right next to Cormyr and has plenty of lore to draw on.
Cormanthor (and Myth Drannor) and the Dalelands are also fairly close by and are awesome.
Halruaa, Thay and even Kara-tur are farther afield but would be cool to touch on as well. Cormyr was a fairly "safe" starting place (as was the underdark) but I'd like to go somewhere a bit more exotic.

[PsychoBlonde]

Well, they've already got plans in place for the rest of this year--Epic Three Barrel Cove and the Anauroch desert for some more fun Netheril action. After that, who knows.

[RD2play]

Where do you want the next updates to take DDO?

For those of you who don't know their Dungeons and Dragons geography, here are a couple maps:

Xen'Drik:

Larger, zoomed in:
http://www.use.com/showoriginal.pl?s...69881fdb8b&p=1

I've noted on the map where DDO has covered already-Sorrowdusk, Menectarun, 3BC and Tempest's Spine.

Now, Xen'drik is only a small part of Eberron. While I don't think that the possibilities for exploration have been exhausted in Xen'drik, it would be cool to be able to make the jump to other continents. There's a lot of beef with Droaam (on Khorvaire, directly north of stormreach) and Sharn (just a bit farther into Khorvaire). Mournlands would also be great to romp around now that the level cap is fairly high. And Argonesson is the home of half of what Dungeons and Dragons is all about.


Faerun:


Larger, zoomed in:
http://www.use.com/showoriginal.pl?s...3138e2c21f&p=1

I've noted on the map where some other D&D computer games have already covered-it's probably best to expand upon new areas rather than those. Here's a quick list:

Baldurs Gate1=sword coast, Candlekeep, Baldurs Gate, Beregost, Nashkel, cloakwood
Baldurs Gate1:TotSC=Durlaqs tower
Baldurs Gate2:SOA=Amn, Athkatla, underdark
Baldurs Gate2:TOB=Tethyr
Icewind Dale1=Icewind Dale, 10 towns, spine of the world
Icewind Dale1:HOW=sea of moving ice
Icewind Dale2=chult? (never got my hands on this one so not 100% sure)
Neverwinter nights=Neverwinter, Luskan, Host tower, neverwinter woods
Neverwinter nights:SOU=Silver Marches, Anauroch, Undrentide
Neverwinter nights:HoU=Waterdeep (sort of), undermountain, underdark, Cania (Baator)
Neverwinter Online=Neverwinter (and surrounding areas)

DDO (so far)=Eveningstar, kings forest, underdark, stormhorns

A few possibilities:
Sembia is right next to Cormyr and has plenty of lore to draw on.
Cormanthor (and Myth Drannor) and the Dalelands are also fairly close by and are awesome.
Halruaa, Thay and even Kara-tur are farther afield but would be cool to touch on as well. Cormyr was a fairly "safe" starting place (as was the underdark) but I'd like to go somewhere a bit more exotic.

Follow through on the "Attack on Stormreach" chain, maybe with a title like "Take the fight to Droaam !". In other words open up Khorvaire, we left from there to adventure and gain power (or fled the war). Now that we have gained power, EPIC power, we should return to help "our side" win the war. also this would make it possible to add more "converted PnP modules" to the game. Who doesn't want to run memory filled adventures ?

[PsychoBlonde]

Follow through on the "Attack on Stormreach" chain, maybe with a title like "Take the fight to Droaam !". In other words open up Khorvaire, we left from there to adventure and gain power (or fled the war). Now that we have gained power, EPIC power, we should return to help "our side" win the war. also this would make it possible to add more "converted PnP modules" to the game. Who doesn't want to run memory filled adventures ?

The people who WROTE those adventures don't appreciate people stealing their IP. The chances of anything more recent than Haunted Halls getting re-made inside DDO are basically zero.

[fmalfeas]

I'd like to see Chult, maybe Halruua (if we ignore the 4e 'Halruua blowed up!' thing), the Moonsea region, Thay, maybe go adventuring through the ruins of the Imaskari Empire.

In fact, Imaskar stuff could be easily justified. If we're facing gods, their avatars, and their most powerful agents regularly (and all of what is currently Netheril is agents of Shar, and uses her special Shadow Weave to work their magic) then the Imaskari's ancient devices are perfect. And by the lore, if there ever were truely a canon place (rather than a 4e fiat) to have Artificers and their stuff, it would have been Imaskar, where they blended arcane power and science to defy the gods, and did so with such skill and power that the gods themselves avoided any confrontation with them. They suspected that some of their technomagical weapons were capable of killing them.

Makes me think of ancient and powerful Runearms!

Halruua could provide a new form of Airship as well, since they developed a varient of Proctiv's Move Mountain (the spell that lets Netherese cities fly) and used it to make airships.

As for why Chult? Ancient and powerful Yuan-ti cults, cannibalistic goblins, and dinosaurs. I still want to fight a T-Rex! Especially if it's an Epic Druid and his T-Rex companion!

[MRMechMan]

I'd like to see Chult, maybe Halruua (if we ignore the 4e 'Halruua blowed up!' thing), the Moonsea region, Thay, maybe go adventuring through the ruins of the Imaskari Empire.

In fact, Imaskar stuff could be easily justified. If we're facing gods, their avatars, and their most powerful agents regularly (and all of what is currently Netheril is agents of Shar, and uses her special Shadow Weave to work their magic) then the Imaskari's ancient devices are perfect. And by the lore, if there ever were truely a canon place (rather than a 4e fiat) to have Artificers and their stuff, it would have been Imaskar, where they blended arcane power and science to defy the gods, and did so with such skill and power that the gods themselves avoided any confrontation with them. They suspected that some of their technomagical weapons were capable of killing them.

Makes me think of ancient and powerful Runearms!

Halruua could provide a new form of Airship as well, since they developed a varient of Proctiv's Move Mountain (the spell that lets Netherese cities fly) and used it to make airships.

As for why Chult? Ancient and powerful Yuan-ti cults, cannibalistic goblins, and dinosaurs. I still want to fight a T-Rex! Especially if it's an Epic Druid and his T-Rex companion!

That would be great! I'd definitely prefer that they move EAST rather than west. The sword coast, neverwinter, amn and waterdeep has been beaten to death. Imaskari ruins could be cool to delve around in.

As for 4e vs 3/3.5e, I'd rather they stuck to the latter. I'm not a huge fan of 4e and I see more and more of it creeping into DDO.

I'd also like to see epic spells implemented (ie, you can create your own) but that's another thread for another day .

[TrinityTurtle]

Myth Drannor (before it was fixed up) as a large ruined city wilderness area stocked crazily full of devils, undead, dragons, and everything else that lurked in that place. That is my Turtley pipe dream.

[Seikojin]

I hope they explore more mainlands and popular areas. However they need rights to.

[Teh_Troll]

Why bother making content when people will buy Otto's boxes?

[nibel]

Sharn. Hands down. A gateway for more adventures in Khorvaire instead of only Xen'drik.

Just not another thing in Faerun. If they want to get more on FR, they should implement a starter zone there, and more deity options. Not more places. Many areas of FR were game mapped by previous games. I want to see more Eberron.

[Irenae]

I always did like the Sword Coast.

[MRMechMan]

I hope they explore more mainlands and popular areas. However they need rights to.

I think they have them-although there are some specific areas that they have to stay away from (ie, neverwinter).

Myth Drannor (before it was fixed up) as a large ruined city wilderness area stocked crazily full of devils, undead, dragons, and everything else that lurked in that place. That is my Turtley pipe dream.

Sounds awesome

I think a high level explorer area that was set to EE difficulty with a HIGH level of randomness would be amazing for endgame player retention, provided it rewarded in terms of XP and loot. Static mob spawns in explorer areas is the biggest load of dung in this game...I can literally visualize the location of every mob in the vale because, rares excepted, they are always in the same exact spots. To have it in a place like Myth Drannor, the Abyss, the nine hells, or somewhere else suitably epic would be perfect.

Sharn. Hands down. A gateway for more adventures in Khorvaire instead of only Xen'drik.

Just not another thing in Faerun. If they want to get more on FR, they should implement a starter zone there, and more deity options. Not more places. Many areas of FR were game mapped by previous games. I want to see more Eberron.

Like it or not, FR is far more popular than Eberron, and I am pretty sure that's where they will be going more and more in the future (if there even is one). Eberron has grown on me-particularly as I read more about it, but for many reasons they are going in the FR direction.

Totally agree about the diety options. They are a huge part of FR and I've always wondered why it's Lloth vs PCs+Elminster...what are the good dieties doing??

I always did like the Sword Coast.

It's been a bit beaten to death for me, and probably others, but I wouln't mind being able to log into DDO and romp around the sword coast.

[The_Human_Cypher]

I stated that Lords of Waterdeep should be the next paid expansion for 2015. This area would be ideal for a large, MOTU-style expansion as it would include the City of Waterdeep, Skullport, and the Undermountain so that the content update would be both sizable and varied.

DDO should keep building out the Forgotten Realms to include the Sword Coast, Neverwinter, and other key areas of the Forgotten Realms. Even though Neverwinter Online is covering this territory, DDO is the better game and would give these places the treatment they deserve. Adding more Forgotten Realms content would also help draw Neverwinter Online players to DDO as they would be interested in comparing both sets of FR depictions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterdeep_(city)

[fmalfeas]

But, the license keeps them out of the sword coast, I do believe. So that one's not gonna happen. But Faerun is a HUGE place. And if Faerun isn't big enough for you, also on Toril is Kara-Tur and Maztica. Though Maztica isn't doing so hot after Helm decided to go genocidal on it.

[The_Human_Cypher]

But, the license keeps them out of the sword coast, I do believe. So that one's not gonna happen. But Faerun is a HUGE place. And if Faerun isn't big enough for you, also on Toril is Kara-Tur and Maztica. Though Maztica isn't doing so hot after Helm decided to go genocidal on it.

Why would Turbine's license with Wizards of the Coast keep DDO out of the Sword Coast? Do you have a source or link for this statement?

[fmalfeas]

Neither Turbine nor WoTC has released the exact details of their license, and I suspect they wont. However...

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...hlight=license

It gets talked about there fairly well.

[The_Human_Cypher]

Neither Turbine nor WoTC has released the exact details of their license, and I suspect they wont. However...

https://www.ddo.com/forums/showthrea...hlight=license

It gets talked about there fairly well.

The thread is entirely speculative. As you mention, no one actually knows what is in the license Turbine has with WoTC. Expanding into Neverwinter and similar FR areas would help pull more players into the game that want to see a new version of that content.

[fmalfeas]

Speculative, yes, but also based upon certain known facts.

#1 - The Current 'official campaign setting' is Forgotten Realms.
#2 - WoTC policy is that the official campaign setting is 'living'. AKA - officially sanctioned games are canon, at least as far as plot goes.
#3 - Due to the 'living' status of the Forgotten Realms, and there being two distinct MMOs present in Faerun, it would make sense for WoTC to tell them what their geographical and plot limits are.
#4 - That said, with Neverwinter having gotten that setting, it seems entirely likely that the Sword Coast belongs to them. However, Turbine definately has rights to Cormyr, and access to Ed Greenwood and Elminster, which is a really, really big deal. That makes me suspect that barring the Sword Coast, Turbine may have a relatively free hand.

[MRMechMan]

The thread is entirely speculative. As you mention, no one actually knows what is in the license Turbine has with WoTC. Expanding into Neverwinter and similar FR areas would help pull more players into the game that want to see a new version of that content.

The thread is quite speculative, but I think Neverwinter is off limits for obvious reasons. Besides, Neverwinter has been beaten to death...the forgotten realms is a HUGE place and there is an absolutely massive amount of lore to draw from. Wizards of the coast probably wants to make sure that all these games are not "stepping on each others toes", so to speak. I agree that DDO is (much) better than NWO, but that doesn't matter.

It would also be nice to go to places that other games have covered-however much it would warm my heart to see Amn/Baldur's Gate/Icewind dale type of material, I'd rather get somewhere new.

Maztica is a bit out of the way, but I think Kara-tur is maybe possible. Perhaps I just have a thing for asians .

All that being said, I think that Sigil has incredible potential. It would take a hell of a lot of development, and doesn't really tie into anything already in the game, however, so I'm not sure if it's more than just wishful thinking. Maybe U40 .

[Irenae]

I agree, while Baldur's Gate may have covered some of the Sword Coast a lot was left undone as well, and the dark side of the sword coast was never fully recognized either. The Sea of Swords for example was left completely untouched and something so remote and dangerous of an area must have a terrible secret or so It seems like quite the place to get marooned in too, which seems like a great way to start a story and have a small enclosed area for newcomers. It has always seemed like the Bermuda Triangle of Faerun, a terrible and dangerous place to be.