DDOGamer: Goodbye Mabar, and Good Riddance

[geoffhanna]

Turbine kills off the Mabar Festival of Endless Night.

-> Really, it was a mercy killing

[FranOhmsford]

No you didn't have to "Choose" to make Pumpkin Heads happen - Griefers would happily do that for you!

[Saekee]

I have only fond memories of Mabar. Never lagged. Guess I got lucky.
I will miss the intense uber cooperation of PUGs in there--everyone sounding out which levers and rooms were covered--total chat channel reliance!

[Mryal]

Farewell Mabar, a DDO classic.I stil remember on the first year that it came.At least one friend i made there.Mabar was a social thing.It brought hundreds of players together, i really liked it back then.
What was really strange is that in the first year of mabar, DDO had so much more players than it has now, yet there was much less lag than in the last year, and in the previous one.I remember i got 10 or so items completed on first year.On the other years it was hard to complete even one due to lag failures.
Oh well, i hope the new event has the 'social' side that mabar had.But really, what i really hope is that we somehow have more players again.

[FAQ]

Mabar was very laggy. But other than that I loved this event (much more than having to protect kobolds). Coordinating with strangers was tough at times, but was rewarding when it all came together. I'm sad to see it go.

Reading this just made me nostalgic for things that have come and gone from DDO. I miss:

- Cool random gen loot
- The old GH tor quest (where you actually had to split the party or use the hireling trick)
- Crucible being a flagging quest
- Sneak humping (although it is still there but in another form)
- The old Blue Dragonscale armor with greater arcane lore
- Guild augment slots

[Full_Bleed]

I have only fond memories of Mabar. Never lagged. Guess I got lucky.
I will miss the intense uber cooperation of PUGs in there--everyone sounding out which levers and rooms were covered--total chat channel reliance!

I agree. There is nothing quite like it in the game and now there never will be again. The haters can rejoice, but a truly unique part of this game has been obliterated. It will be a lesser game for it.

[Bridge_Dweller]

Agreed, nothing but unplayable lag the past couple of years.

[Stoner81]

Mabar was quite probably my favourite event of the year and I am sad to see it go but relieved at the same time, the lag was horrendous ever since the Umbral Gargoyles and stuff was added it got worse and worse. One of the better pieces (when it worked) of DDO has died and may it R.I.P.

Stoner81.

PS - On a side note does anybody know what we can do with our ings that are left over? Can we use those in the new event or anything?

[stoerm]

PS - On a side note does anybody know what we can do with our ings that are left over? Can we use those in the new event or anything?

The items and mats will be recycled in a new event, or so was implied in the latest ddocast.

[TrinityTurtle]

I agree. There is nothing quite like it in the game and now there never will be again. The haters can rejoice, but a truly unique part of this game has been obliterated. It will be a lesser game for it.

I agree. I'd noticed while my home interent is broke that I really am not missing ddo all that much, but I wanted it fixed in time for Mabar which I love. Now I'm questioning if I've been here too long. This is not a Turbine keep or I leave threat thought, just a started realization.

[Tebaco]

We should say thanks to every dupe cheaters in game.. I think that developers decided not to ruin mabar by dupers.. But correct me..

[Stoner81]

The items and mats will be recycled in a new event, or so was implied in the latest ddocast.

Superb news!

Stoner81.

[BDog77]

I am sad. IIRC, Mabar was my first event (although Risia might have been, I'm not positive), in any case, the ice festival and jester and traveler were never "events" in the same way that Mabar and the Cove were. I remember hanging out in the corners of the graveyard on my main, killing the low level stuff that would spawn near me, and watching all the 20th level characters having fun killing the big stuff, and the red names, and thinking "ya know, someday that's gonna be me". And by the next Mabar, it WAS me.

I really hope the folks at Turbine keep in mind that facet of these events. Events like the Cove and Mabar can (and mostly do) bring the population of the server together in a way that nothing else can. I really hated when they made separate (but equal, (now where have I heard THAT before?)) instances for Mabar. One of the worst design decisions ever, IMO. Let's flashback to a young Jibbrael standing in Delera's Graveyard with shining eyes watching all the cool 20's beatdown liches and vampires, desperately wanting to be level 20 himself so he could experience the fun. That never would have happened if I had been unlucky enough to start after the gated instances of Mabar. Thank god they never did that to the Cove.

I realize that a lot of players dislike events like this, but IMHO we need more of these, not less, and I hope the redesign of Mabar will keep this in mind. Events where the entire server population comes together, and the newbies can actually see for themselves how much power and fun playing upper level toons can be, can do nothing but help with new player retention. Especially seeing the fun that can be had. After all, that's why we play, right? For The Fun! Especially for the fun.

After all, I'm still here, right?

[Marupal]

I'm going to miss Mabar, as will the wife. I'm also sad for the people that will never see it. An excellent theme and a solid "Wow!" moment when you entered it for the first time.

Shutting it down early last year was an act of mercy. The flaws that cropped up were really bad, much worse than the general lag it had been suffering from in previous years. The quality of the event and the impression it leaves (when it's working as intended) makes it worth investing the time fixing it.

I understand holding off on putting it up with the state it's in, but not the decision to kill it.

Good read as usual Geoff. Kudos for discussing the positive points.