A sneak peek at Update 24’s dungeons … and beyond

[Knockback]

Content designer Knockback here. I’ve worked on dungeons such as “Eyes of Stone,” “The Snitch,” “A Study In Sable” and the Thunderholme adventure area, and I’m here to update you folks on some of the things we’re currently building for DDO.

Upcoming dungeons in Update 24

Update 24 will be previewed on Lamannia starting this weekend, so now seems like a good time to unveil its dungeons. Get ready for some surprises!

First up in Update 24 is a new content pack, Heart of Madness. The plane of Xoriat is encroaching on Eberron once again and the result is three dungeons full of Xorian insanity. Both the Lord of Eyes and the Lord of Stone are back, as well as some other fan favorite characters. (Hint – one of the dungeons is named “Fashion Madness.”) The centerpiece of the pack is “Terminal Delirium,” the follow-up to two of our most popular dungeons. Once again you’ll be returning to the Sleeping Spell Inn, and once again you’ll be seeing—and be turned into—some very unusual things. Heart of Madness is CR 18 Heroic/26 Epic, and is a paid pack (450 Turbine Points; free to VIPs of course.)

Also coming in Update 24 is a Forgotten Realms dungeon themed to tie in with Wizards of the Coast’s Tyranny of Dragons storyline. You’ll infiltrate a Cult of the Dragon base while on the trail of the fabled White Dragon mask. “The Mask of Deception” is CR 16 Heroic/30 Epic, and is free to everyone.

Hey, what happened to Anauroch?

Earlier we had mentioned Anauroch as one of the places we wanted to go in 2014. Obviously that’s not happening.

Why the change? It’s tempting to blame it all on Xorian madness, but the truth is we’ve been listening to what excites you guys when it comes to D&D settings. We may still make it to Anauroch eventually, but don’t expect it any time soon. It’s a long, long walk from Cormyr. Instead of the blazing hot desert, we’re going someplace cooler instead.

Future plans and Update 25

So what kind of cool things led to the detour away from Anauroch? One of them will be coming in Update 25. Since The Haunted Halls of Eveningstar was received so well, we’ve decided to adapt another classic pen-and-paper module to DDO. Rather than blabbing on, I’ll skip right to the awesome part and give you five simple words:

The Temple of Elemental Evil.

Yep, we will be creating our own version of the original, classic Temple inside DDO. We’re very excited about adapting one of the most famous modules in Dungeons and Dragons history, and we hope you are too.

In the meantime, though, we have a date with insanity. Hope to see everyone this weekend on Lamannia for a preview of Update 24!

[LeoLionxxx]

Thank you for this! I was just recently wishing for more xoriat content!

I'm also glad Shadowfell stuff seems to be done and over with and the Cult of the Dragon brought into the spotlight - perhaps we can finally get some acknowledgment from the wizards for doing this.

I'll need to read up on this Temple of Elemental Evil - I've heard the name a couple of times. If it has both heroic and epic version, it could be used to draw in more of the tabletop community as they decide to explore it in 3D.


Overall, very excited to see this great stuff!

[DagazUlf]

I cannot even communicate my enthusiasm for ToEE. I've been running players through T1-4 for over 20 years now and this announcement just thrills me like no other Turbine announcement before.

[PsychoBlonde]

I cannot even communicate my enthusiasm for ToEE. I've been running players through T1-4 for over 20 years now and this announcement just thrills me like no other Turbine announcement before.

It's a cool module, but in original format it was Greyhawk, not Forgotten Realms. Are they going to refit it for the Forgotten Realms? Mentions of Zuggtmoy are going to be a bit weird in FR.

[The_Human_Cypher]

It's a cool module, but in original format it was Greyhawk, not Forgotten Realms. Are they going to refit it for the Forgotten Realms? Mentions of Zuggtmoy are going to be a bit weird in FR.

I think DDO may - or at least they should - create a mini-Greyhawk universe in which to place TOEE so that the Forgotten Realms campaign world remains consistent. I'm not sure if WoTC would even allow Turbine to place TOEE in the Forgotten Realms.

[Blackheartox]

Temple of elemental evil?

Really?
I mean ty from the bottom of my heart for adding that amazing module to ddo.

Thank you, just simply thank you

[Krelar]

I like the idea of ToEE. I hope you do it a bit different from Haunted Halls though.

No one ever goes in and does the entire thing after the first time through, they take the shortest route to get to the end bosses.

I'd like to see each level of ToEE, or at least group of related levels, be it's own dungeon as apposed to one massive dungeon.

[FranOhmsford]

I like the idea of ToEE. I hope you do it a bit different from Haunted Halls though.

No one ever goes in and does the entire thing after the first time through, they take the shortest route to get to the end bosses.

I'd like to see each level of ToEE, or at least group of related levels, be it's own dungeon as apposed to one massive dungeon.

Yes please.

Haunted Halls was amazing soloing EN the first time through on the standard version BUT the extended version is just a Zerg run!

[Trillea]

I like the idea of ToEE. I hope you do it a bit different from Haunted Halls though.

No one ever goes in and does the entire thing after the first time through, they take the shortest route to get to the end bosses.

I'd like to see each level of ToEE, or at least group of related levels, be it's own dungeon as apposed to one massive dungeon.

This would be just fine with me as long as there is an in-quest continuation exit a-la the House D Depths Quests or the entrance to Spinner of Shadows after the Overlord quest in the E-star connection chain. I would be happiest though if you could not access the highest levels before running the lowest ones working your way up.

[phillymiket]

Awesome.

I can't wait :-D

[vengfarga]

Comrade Ohmsford has long and WELL represented the views of many brothers and sister of this commisariat.
However, we are concerned that the following intercepted exchange:

"Well I for one absolutely LOATHE Delirium and Acute Delirium!

In the Flesh is also amongst my least favourite dungeons!

So this doesn't excite me one bit!"

is failing to take into account the fact that we're getting THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL!!!!1!!!!!
and as such a failing has occurred, it should require at least 10 seconds per minute of frowning, muttering and shaking of heads before resuming grinning like a loon and cheering based on the outside chance that this much beloved module might actually translate in a way we don't whinge about TOO much!

[FranOhmsford]

Comrade Ohmsford has long and WELL represented the views of many brothers and sister of this commisariat.
However, we are concerned that the following intercepted exchange:

"Well I for one absolutely LOATHE Delirium and Acute Delirium!

In the Flesh is also amongst my least favourite dungeons!

So this doesn't excite me one bit!"

is failing to take into account the fact that we're getting THE TEMPLE OF ELEMENTAL EVIL!!!!1!!!!!
and as such a failing has occurred, it should require at least 10 seconds per minute of frowning, muttering and shaking of heads before resuming grinning like a loon and cheering based on the outside chance that this much beloved module might actually translate in a way we don't whinge about TOO much!

Oh I'm all for Temple but it it's anything like Haunted Halls i.e. a Zerg Fest then No!

Again: Haunted Halls doesn't feel {Lore or Roleplay wise} like an Epic Dungeon!

If the Devs had put it at Lvl 6 it would be just as good if not better on the standard version {extended could have been placed at say Lvl 12.}.

Temple needs to be as good {if not better than} as Haunted Halls on the first exploration BUT it also needs to FEEL like an Epic Dungeon AND be much much better on subsequent runs!
I.E. NO ZERGING ALLOWED!!!

[Oxarhamar]

Exactly what player feedback on Anaurock?

The same type of player feedback with Crystal Cove Augments that got scrapped because, a few players said "boo"?


Common man! let's have some surveys or at least threads for/against for this type of player content killing feedback so we can see that this is actually what the players want.

I might even go as far as to have an in game survey on log in for such things. In that case every active player gets a voice not just the few on the forums who are saying "boo"


Tell us please, how many players disliked or liked Anaurock?

[FranOhmsford]

Exactly what player feedback on Anaurock?

The same type of player feedback with Crystal Cove Augments that got scrapped because, a few players said "boo"?


Common man! let's have some surveys or at least threads for/against for this type of player content killing feedback so we can see that this is actually what the players want.

I might even go as far as to have an in game survey on log in for such things. In that case every player gets a voice not just the few on the forums who are saying "boo"


Tell us please, how many players disliked or liked Anaurock?

I'm on the forums every day and I haven't seen any concerted player feedback for OR against Anauroch!

This feedback isn't coming from the forums - It's not coming from In-Game - Where is it coming from exactly?

[nibel]

I'm really, really, REALLY happy to see a brand new Eberron chain added. Since MotU, all we had was epic versions of old dungeons, and Brothers of Forge. It being Xoriat related makes it even better. Thanks you. A lot.

ToEE is an interesting surprise, and while I am myself a casual player, I would like to implore you to make this quest as hard and harsh as possible. Harsh as in "will take the best players in the game a few weeks before first full dungeon completion". To avoid the zergrush that infested Haunted Halls, I would suggest a "miniboss secret counter" and miniboss random locations, so that only after defeating all minibosses, the big optional boss will spawn (also in a random location). You can keep the "quest final boss" concept of HH for quest completion and XP, but gate the real big loot behind something that requires a full search.

I'm on the forums every day and I haven't seen any concerted player feedback for OR against Anauroch!

I talk all the time about not adding anything Forgotten Realms related. Does this count?

[Oxarhamar]

I'm on the forums every day and I haven't seen any concerted player feedback for OR against Anauroch!

This feedback isn't coming from the forums - It's not coming from In-Game - Where is it coming from exactly?

My guess would be in the original Producers letter that introduced the plans of Anaurock.

Either a few "boos" or not enough excitement about I just like the Augs in Cove

Still that's a small bit of players commenting on that thread.

[Uska]

I'm on the forums every day and I haven't seen any concerted player feedback for OR against Anauroch!

This feedback isn't coming from the forums - It's not coming from In-Game - Where is it coming from exactly?

I have posted I hated it since it was first mentioned for a couple reasons

1. It's in the realms

2. Another desert we really need another one?

[Loromir]

I'm on the forums every day and I haven't seen any concerted player feedback for OR against Anauroch!

This feedback isn't coming from the forums - It's not coming from In-Game - Where is it coming from exactly?

I am betting that Anauroch was too big of a project for the staff currently allocated to DDO. Just my speculation.

[scipiojedi]

Exactly what player feedback on Anaurock?

I might even go as far as to have an in game survey on log in for such things. In that case every player gets a voice not just the few on the forums who are saying "boo"


Tell us please, how many players disliked or liked Anaurock?

I agree, I think I'm the only one in my guild who reads the forums, so if it is like that across the database then devs are only getting input from a small fraction of the playerbase. In-game surveys I think would work well.

As to the new content: I actually really dislike the Harbinger of Madness chain but I did Acute Delirium once and enjoyed it. But anything that makes it so I don't have to repeat quests is good so keep the new content coming!
I haven't gone through Haunted Halls yet so I have no comment on that aspect.