Spurring interest in groups

[Armatone]

Up front - I am still new to DDO (9 months) and only a couple of months in the forums.

When I first started playing the one thing that annoyed me, regarding groups, was the notice about the group blocking so much of my screen (I am on a laptop with a 17" screen). After popping into a quest the message was fine as a reminder. Wait a few seconds and it would go away. However, once you started moving it popped up again and made it hard to navigate or engage with objects/npc's/monsters. Something should be done about that.

Anyway...

When I played AD&D the one thing I really enjoyed about it was the social/party atmosphere (getting together, playing, bs'ing, and food & drink).

In DDO early on I switched to private vs public group so I could play and learn without interruption (DDO is my first serious in-depth foray into video/online games). This forced me to do a lot of soloing (which is fun and challenging) but I got into the habit and never went into groups. I feel I am missing a lot such as the getting to know other players and recovering some of the wonderful aspects of PnP. Only in the last week or so have I started to explore groups. Doing it this way I feel I am making a lot of mistakes and not getting as much out of it (groups) as I could be.

So, here is my suggestion...

How about giving interested account holders a special character slot for a group trainer in Korthos that would never leave and never advance but who's sole purpose is to introduce newbies to groups? Some compensation would be something like 10 to 15 TP per quest or 10-15 TP per hour logged in to the toon or 5-7 TP per quest w/ 5-7 TP per hour (negotiable) for the time spent "trapped" in Korthos.

There is a bit of a problem with this idea though. One of my characters I have more or less parked in Korthos while I am learning to work in a group. I have noticed several instances of the village and no way to change to other instances like you can in the market place, enclaves, etc. That would have to be fixed for this to work.

An alert for the new character would pop up (whether or not the alerts are active) as soon as a new character steps out of "The Grotto" letting them know that group trainers are available.

[Enoach]

I'm not sure what you are saying about the Group Blocking your screen. Are you meaning the AI that lists the party members with Hit Points, Spell Points and Ki? If so there are settings under main menu, options and UI settings that may help you size this better. You should give that a try. You can play with this by simply getting a Hireling for coin and enter into an Explorer area and summon it.

Your very issue is one of the reasons many Guilds Exist today. My suggestion is to look at the Guild forum section of the server you are on and locate a Guild that has these types of players that do spend time helping newer players learn.

Also, I suggest practice grouping with a hireling. 1) they don't yell at you when you mess up 2) they are good listeners . Don't just get a cleric, grab a fighter a wizard, a barbarian. It will give you practice interacting with the UI with multiple party members.

[Coyopa]

the notice about the group blocking so much of my screen

Not sure what you're referring to here. Could you elaborate? I don't recall ever getting notices about groups I am in, unless I'm the leader and someone requests to join. However, that just shows up in my chat log.

As for Korthos and multiple instances, there is "snowy side" (for people who are on new characters and have not yet completed the quest Misery's Peak) and "sunny side" (for people who are on characters where they by-passed the Korthose storyline [read as: reincarnated characters, generally] and those who have completed Misery's Peak). And that's why you can't switch instances. I'm sure the devs could change this. Personally, I'd like to be able to be on "snowy side" until I complete Misery's Peak even if I choose to skip the Korthos storyline. I'd group with newbies there, but I'm not generally interested in subjecting myself to being trapped on Korthos until I get through Misery's Peak.

[Cantor]

The snowy side thing goes back to the play as you download option. Things found in korthos are downloaded first, and once you leave you have access to things that may not be downloaded yet.

Not even sure if there is even this option anymore, but this is where the separation came from.

[Lynnabel]

Not sure what you're referring to here. Could you elaborate? I don't recall ever getting notices about groups I am in, unless I'm the leader and someone requests to join. However, that just shows up in my chat log.

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the "open group" message that displays when you enter an instance with public grouping turns on.

[Coyopa]

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the "open group" message that displays when you enter an instance with public grouping turns on.

Oh, OK. Yeah, I hate that thing, too. The worst part is that even though I've had the public group option turned off since 5 minutes after logging on the day it was released, I still get spammed with that message when other people in groups I am leading have public grouping turned on. Honestly, public grouping should abide by the group leader's preference. If they have it turned off, never ask them if they want to put up a public LFM - even if other people in the group have that option turned on. After all, if they wanted a public LFM put up, then they'd have that option turned on and be using it.

[FranOhmsford]

Oh, OK. Yeah, I hate that thing, too. The worst part is that even though I've had the public group option turned off since 5 minutes after logging on the day it was released, I still get spammed with that message when other people in groups I am leading have public grouping turned on. Honestly, public grouping should abide by the group leader's preference. If they have it turned off, never ask them if they want to put up a public LFM - even if other people in the group have that option turned on. After all, if they wanted a public LFM put up, then they'd have that option turned on and be using it.

/Signed!


The Public Group Option is just an annoyance as a Group Leader!

And it's really only useful when running Slayers so the Slayer Zone shows up in the quest box.

I wouldn't be unhappy if it went away completely but at the very least it should only be choosable by the Group Leader not by any old person in Group!

[Coyopa]

And it's really only useful when running Slayers so the Slayer Zone shows up in the quest box.

ORLY? This I did not know. Thank you very much! I may actually start using the public grouping option just for that. (EDIT: I would actually +rep you, but apparently I did in the too recent past.)

[zehnvhex]

The LFM/group/quest UI needs an overhaul from the ground up.

It needs the following changes -badly-

1 - Quest log needs an 'active quests' list that shows Level appropriate quests that you don't have completed so I don't need to filter through 18 tabs to find the quest I want. I should be able to hit L and see the most relevant quests that I'm currently on.

2 - Quest log should have a button that automagically creates an LFM for you. The LFM has three presets. No XP, BB or favor. XP sets it to a level range that doens't penalize your xp. BB sets it to BB level ranges. Favor opens it up to 1-30. You can either set a default or choose every time. (Better yet do options 2 and 3 in the lower list and you don't need this at all anymore).

3 - Quest 'description' box has a few common phrases you can select from a drop down plus you can create a few of your. For example, the 'default' one would simply be "(quest name) - (where entrance is located) - GL HF!" or something. But I could create a custom "EH VoN3 / Spies / Jibbers / Wiz king go go go!" for my daily groups.

4 - Anybody that joins your group or is in the group when you set the LFM then has the quest automatically shared with them if they are eligible.

5 - Replace the 'public/private' option when zoning into a quest have the same interface in this regard. Public/private shouldn't allow people to auto-join your group. I still have a blacklist of hackers, botters and idiots I don't want joining my groups. However, it should set a LFM similar to #2.

6 - Allow players to create a list of quests they want to be alerted to when a group forms for them. I would -love- to be able to 'favorite' Shroud, VoN5, Search and Rescue and a handful of others and anytime someone creates a LFM for it I get a little notification.

These few simple things would make forming groups sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much easier. Right now the UI itself is a pain in the butt to struggle with. It honestly takes me longer to put up a LFM then it does to form most quests.

NOW!

Next things to make grouping much better!

1 - Find a way to help people get caught up quicker when they late join. If I throw up a LFM doing VoN3 chances are I'm going to be past the drow by the time anyone sees it and joins. By the time they get out there I'm sitting at the Marut waiting for everyone to zone in. The first guy to join is now at the Beholder area. My suggestion? Waypoint shrines in dungeons. Allow you to port from the zone in to the last waypoint shrine that was hit and vice versa. You can start by just putting waypoint shrines at every 'rest area' in dungeons that exist currently.

2 - Get rid of power level penalties. The difference between a fully kitted level 30 and a fresh level 20 is not far off from the difference between a level 20 and a level 1. Yet we allow the 30 and 20 to group with no real penalty while the 1 and 20 can't. Why is this? Scale the XP down for a quest you under level to your level so you can't just drop a level 1 in Heroic WGU and instantly ding level 10 but at the same time, it is absolutely dumb that while at level 15 I can't group with my level 10 friends.

I am ~okay~ with there being a division between epic and heroic grouping, HOWEVER! Just so that you ~can~ do something together I would allow challenges to be done cross the epic/heroic boundary.

3 - "But what about BB?" You won't find a single sane person anywhere that likes bravery bonuses. Everybody is agreement here. Get rid of BB, make grouping xp bonuses permanent. First run bonuses are enough. BB is a plague on this game. Please just finally get rid of it. The fact that you added a bravery marshal because BB is so bad instead of just flat out getting rid of it...

4 - "Helper bonus". If someone in the group is eligible for a first run bonus on a dungeon (and isn't red boxing it) but you're not, then you don't get a ransack tick and you get a helper bonus that gives the same XP as a first run bonus. This way when people throw up a LFM for a quest you've already done you have incentive to do it again.

5 - Rebalance how long it takes to get to certain quests, especially ones that require going through a wilderness zone. Consider adding waypoint shrine to wilderness zones that activate if your party is in an active dungeon. I know it's considered sacrilege to advise not forcing someone to have to commute across morning Chicago traffic but the run through King's forest was boring the 200th time I did it. It takes longer to run to Unquiet Graves then it does to do the actual quest.

There!

I just made grouping awesome. You can group with your friends regardless of level for fun and xp. The LFM UI is no longer a hot mess. When you join a dungeon in progress you're not just running to the end for loot because the group ahead of you is clearing fast enough and was far enough ahead that you never catch up. No more worrying about your bravery streak, you aren't actively discouraged from doing quests you've already done or helping people out, no more horrifying public UI popups.

It's so sexy.

[Hulligan]

I don't often post on the forum, yet I play DDO for 7 years now...

The LFM/group/quest UI needs an overhaul from the ground up.

It needs the following changes -badly-

I agree completely, the quest journal/LFM panel should be reinvented as it is. Period. Seven years of playing and I can still hardly find such quest of Tharask Arena to put up LFM for... insane.

Next things to make grouping much better!

...
3 - "But what about BB?" You won't find a single sane person anywhere that likes bravery bonuses. Everybody is agreement here. Get rid of BB, make grouping xp bonuses permanent. First run bonuses are enough. BB is a plague on this game. Please just finally get rid of it. The fact that you added a bravery marshal because BB is so bad instead of just flat out getting rid of it...

This, however I do not agree with. I don't know when you started playing DDO, but I remember the time when raising Legend characters was a real pain.
You had to farm almost every quest in game to the core AND do all the high level S/R/E zones to reach level 30. With bursting xp pots for quest like Litany (last of 15s) then series of Running with Devils (12 runs, 1x Elite, 10x Normal, 1x Hard) and the story goes on.
I don't want to play THAT game EVER. Bravery was such a boost that made possible that you NEVER have to deep farm quests ever again. If you don't realize that, it means you haven't played the game with a Legend toon before BB was introduced. I don't blame you, but please understand that BB is one of the best thing happened to the game ever. You don't want to re-run quest 10 times. Not just one but like dozens to reach 20. Truely.
You may re-run some popular quests on different difficulties once in a while but now you don't need to.

And for clarification : Bravery Marshall wasn't added to the game because BB is not good, but because for quests above 20 you may want to turn off BB for fast daily XP like Von3, spies etc, then switch it back on for when you're at least 21, or 23 and have better gear to do some of the real epics for BB (Von 1-6, estar saga, Wheloon etc). It's a nice thing not-to lose BB and being able to do daily xp quest straight when you hit 20, all the same time.

[PsychoBlonde]

This, however I do not agree with. I don't know when you started playing DDO, but I remember the time when raising Legend characters was a real pain.

Yes. BB is awesome and has been since it first came out. If it actually sucked, nobody would be playing that way, nor would there be any need for a Bravery Marshal because nobody would care if their streak bonus went away. The fact that everyone does indicates flat out that it was a dramatic improvement to the game. And it accomplished its stated goal in spades--most people run a wide variety of quests once per, now, instead of farming the single best xp/minute quest 500 times in one day. Without BB there's absolutely no reason to EVER run 90% of the quests in the game--with the way ransack works now it is VASTLY more time-efficient to run Litany of the Dead even at 20% xp than ANY other level 15 quest. And you think zerging is bad when people are running Elite? Wait until you see how people zerg when they're doing NORMAL runs for XP. I remember the days when we used to recall and reform to get rid of people who were slow recalling and adding an extra 30 seconds to farming runs.

I honestly don't know what people think they're going to accomplish by *making the game awful to play*. I mean, seriously, what. "People will have to play the way I like so there will magically be more groups I might want to join!" Uh, NO. Large numbers will simply leave the game and there will be NO groups.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. You do not ENCOURAGE anything by PENALIZING something.

[PsychoBlonde]

2 - Get rid of power level penalties. The difference between a fully kitted level 30 and a fresh level 20 is not far off from the difference between a level 20 and a level 1. Yet we allow the 30 and 20 to group with no real penalty while the 1 and 20 can't. Why is this? Scale the XP down for a quest you under level to your level so you can't just drop a level 1 in Heroic WGU and instantly ding level 10 but at the same time, it is absolutely dumb that while at level 15 I can't group with my level 10 friends.

Because they're not equipped to handle level 15 content and level 10 is so absurdly easy for you that you shouldn't get anything toward advancement by doing it.

There have been a couple of times when stuff like this happened *accidentally* in the game and it was idiotic. (Ask me about people leveling all of their destinies within 24 hours of MOTU coming out by doing challenges.)

[PsychoBlonde]

Only in the last week or so have I started to explore groups. Doing it this way I feel I am making a lot of mistakes and not getting as much out of it (groups) as I could be.

Making mistakes is how you learn.

One thing you might try is simply putting up your own LFM with some comment like "first time doing this quest!" or similar. There are a fair number of people who like to help others get started.

When I first started I started grouping about halfway through Korthos. (Granted, I ran every quest in Korthos 3+ times, and grouping up for elite was pretty much mandatory given the utter noobness of my character). About all I can say is that I found it valuable to run explorer zones alone and then group up for quests, particularly on higher difficulties. Don't be afraid to try stuff. Sometimes people will be jerks. Sometimes they'll be super-nice.

The game changes pretty quickly when you leave Korthos--the quests get harder quickly and for the most part people find themselves seeking groups quite soon.

[scipiojedi]

I remember the days when we used to recall and reform to get rid of people who were slow recalling and adding an extra 30 seconds to farming runs.

Ah that's why I was kicked out of groups in 2012...would have been nice if people explained how hardcore farming works back then

[PsychoBlonde]

Ah that's why I was kicked out of groups in 2012...would have been nice if people explained how hardcore farming works back then

Yeah, if you got in with some people they were pretty ridiculous.

TRing is so much more relaxed now.

[Chilldude]

When I played AD&D the one thing I really enjoyed about it was the social/party atmosphere (getting together, playing, bs'ing, and food & drink).

DDO was an amazing game back in the day, and the social aspect made it even better. Today DDO is a pretty bad game, but the social aspect makes it playable.

First thing you have to realize is that the remaining players are here for one reason and one reason alone, to grind XP as fast as they can. It's the entire point of the game now. It's what the developers have designed the game around for the past 5 years. Mountains and mountains of XP to climb. When you get to the top of one peak, you see an even taller peak way off in the distance. The game is 100% about grinding and nothing else. Absolute grind, grind, grind, grind, grind. Run as fast as you can, invisible if possible, to whatever must be done to make the XP rain down.

One you've accepted this it removes all the pitfalls of trying to make an RPG character that fits into a balanced group and other such nonsense as that. The game is 100% about speed of grind, therefore being able to kill things quickly is the only factor you should build your toons around. Don't think of this as D&D, think of it as multiplayer Pac Man where you have 6 Pac Men running around the maze gobbling up dots. Sometimes you can split up and gobble up dots down different paths simultaneously, other times there are lots of dots in one path and all the Pac Men just run together in a blob gobbling down whatever is in front of them. You want to make a Pac Man, not a Drow Elf Hunter who specializes in recon and the ranged annihilation of primary targets during battle.

The key to building a Pac Man is exploiting the power gained by synergizing various seemingly unrelated abilities. The problem for a new player is you have no idea what these eploitatively over powered synergies are. In fact, much of what seems like it would make good sense when building a character is actually insurmountably gimped. What a new player needs to do is consult the build forums to find blue prints for making a Pac Man. I'm not sure you fully understand what I just said, you absolutely must without question go pick out a Pac Man from the build store. I know you are sitting there thinking you are going to be able to build your own Pac Man, you're not. It took years of grinding by legions of Pac Men to discover the exploitatively over powered synergies in in the build store, you're not going to come up with it on your own with your first build. So go now, pick out a Pac Man, then come back and finish reading this post.

Once you've picked out your Pac Man, you need only stock up on items that make your Pac Man a self sufficient one many army. Pac Men love to hunt in Pacs, but a Pac Man absolutely must be prepared at all times to hunt alone. You might not know everything you need right out of the gate, but it's easy enough to figure out as you go along. Any time you die, you forgot something that would have provided 100% protection from that death. But, how do you protect yourself from a 400 Polar Ray at level 15 you ask? First of all, a Pac Man has over 400 HP at level 15, but once that Ice Flenser in Gianthold kills you with his Polar Ray you will then know that next time you need to bring 100% protection in the form of a Pale Lavender Ioune stone, Jeweled Cloak, or for low budget first lifers a Mantle of the World Shaper. Every single time you die it is a learning experience because each and every death is 100% preventable for Pac Men. You just need to analyze what killed you and next time bring the appropriate protection with you.

Now that you've got a Pac Man and he's outfitted for battle, you're ready to join the Pac! Jump in the first EBB IP LFM you see. If you don't see one, make one! Just take your level and subtract 2, then start any quest of that level on elite and put EBB IP in the LFM. Now jump in that quest and start running. If you've chosen a powerful Pac Man build, you'll be able to run non stop to the XP pinata, new players call that the end boss. Don't worry though, even if your not quite uber yet, it won't be long and more Pac Men will arrive to join the faceroll. Within 20-30 minutes you'll have a full Pac, running through quests just as fast as they run from quest to quest.

You can now enjoy all the social aspects of DDO! Right before each XP pinata the party leader will say what quest is next. Occaisionally someone will say, brb followed by door, bio, dog, wife, or drink. My favorite conversation though is definitely when one person leaves the Pac and a new person joins they say, "hi omw". Makes you feel warm inside because you know 1/5 of that hi is just for you! I'm getting a little weepy just thinking about it.

In all seriousness though, I am completely dead serious about every single thing I said in this post. It is absolutely exactly what DDO has become. However, sometimes you run with the same people enough while leveling that they become acquaintances. In those cases, the "hi omw" is often followed up by, "how's it going?" or "only 200K to cap".

[Annex]

You want to make a Pac Man

(Edited for brevity)

In three years reading this forum on and off (mostly off) that was my very favorite post. Thank you!

Maybe all our characters need a Pac Man rating:

-5 >) I enjoy role play and actually try to role play in quests.
-5 >) I am a very nice person who will take the time to help others even if it costs me experience.
-2 >) I am on my first life through the game.
-2 >) I enjoy reading quest text.
-2 >) I prefer to solo.
-1 >) I am in a poor Epic Destiny for my character.
-1 >) I have poor equipment for my level.
-1 >) I must break everything.
-1 >) I must look for rare spawns.
+1 >) I discovered the DDO Wiki.
+1 >) I have decent equipment for my level.
+1 >) I have reached Epic Levels.
+1 >) Each Past Life Feat critical to my character build.
+2 >) I am playing a very good Epic Destiny for my character.
+2 >) I play an easy mode class designed to crush everything.
+2 >) I am following a build specifically designed to maximize my damage output, defenses, and speed.
+2 >) I have filled all my Epic Destinies.
+3 >) Completionist.
+3 >) I have really good equipment for my level.
+3 >) I will ruthlessly pike and seek other players to carry me.
+5 >) Epic Completionist.
+5 >) I have fantastic equipment for my level.
+5 >) I am a complete jerk. If you cost me even one experience point I will have a major volcanic meltdown.

Veterans can generate a much better table than mine but you get the idea. For optimal grouping find people within two or three Pac Mens of your own character. *laughs* It might just work!

Edit: Based on the table above my main character is sitting at -1 >).

[Ykt]

First thing you have to realize is that the remaining players are here for one reason and one reason alone, to grind XP as fast as they can. It's the entire point of the game now.

That's not why I play.

There's no other D&D MMORPG so I'm stuck with this one (Neverwinter Online is not D&D).

[PermaBanned]

DDO was an amazing game back in the day, and the social aspect made it even better. Today DDO is a pretty bad game, but the social aspect makes it playable.

First thing you have to realize is that the remaining players are here for one reason and one reason alone, to grind XP as fast as they can. It's the entire point of the game now. It's what the developers have designed the game around for the past 5 years. Mountains and mountains of XP to climb. When you get to the top of one peak, you see an even taller peak way off in the distance. The game is 100% about grinding and nothing else. Absolute grind, grind, grind, grind, grind. Run as fast as you can, invisible if possible, to whatever must be done to make the XP rain down.

One you've accepted this it removes all the pitfalls of trying to make an RPG character that fits into a balanced group and other such nonsense as that. The game is 100% about speed of grind, therefore being able to kill things quickly is the only factor you should build your toons around. Don't think of this as D&D, think of it as multiplayer Pac Man where you have 6 Pac Men running around the maze gobbling up dots. Sometimes you can split up and gobble up dots down different paths simultaneously, other times there are lots of dots in one path and all the Pac Men just run together in a blob gobbling down whatever is in front of them. You want to make a Pac Man, not a Drow Elf Hunter who specializes in recon and the ranged annihilation of primary targets during battle.

The key to building a Pac Man is exploiting the power gained by synergizing various seemingly unrelated abilities. The problem for a new player is you have no idea what these eploitatively over powered synergies are. In fact, much of what seems like it would make good sense when building a character is actually insurmountably gimped. What a new player needs to do is consult the build forums to find blue prints for making a Pac Man. I'm not sure you fully understand what I just said, you absolutely must without question go pick out a Pac Man from the build store. I know you are sitting there thinking you are going to be able to build your own Pac Man, you're not. It took years of grinding by legions of Pac Men to discover the exploitatively over powered synergies in in the build store, you're not going to come up with it on your own with your first build. So go now, pick out a Pac Man, then come back and finish reading this post.

Once you've picked out your Pac Man, you need only stock up on items that make your Pac Man a self sufficient one many army. Pac Men love to hunt in Pacs, but a Pac Man absolutely must be prepared at all times to hunt alone. You might not know everything you need right out of the gate, but it's easy enough to figure out as you go along. Any time you die, you forgot something that would have provided 100% protection from that death. But, how do you protect yourself from a 400 Polar Ray at level 15 you ask? First of all, a Pac Man has over 400 HP at level 15, but once that Ice Flenser in Gianthold kills you with his Polar Ray you will then know that next time you need to bring 100% protection in the form of a Pale Lavender Ioune stone, Jeweled Cloak, or for low budget first lifers a Mantle of the World Shaper. Every single time you die it is a learning experience because each and every death is 100% preventable for Pac Men. You just need to analyze what killed you and next time bring the appropriate protection with you.

Now that you've got a Pac Man and he's outfitted for battle, you're ready to join the Pac! Jump in the first EBB IP LFM you see. If you don't see one, make one! Just take your level and subtract 2, then start any quest of that level on elite and put EBB IP in the LFM. Now jump in that quest and start running. If you've chosen a powerful Pac Man build, you'll be able to run non stop to the XP pinata, new players call that the end boss. Don't worry though, even if your not quite uber yet, it won't be long and more Pac Men will arrive to join the faceroll. Within 20-30 minutes you'll have a full Pac, running through quests just as fast as they run from quest to quest.

You can now enjoy all the social aspects of DDO! Right before each XP pinata the party leader will say what quest is next. Occaisionally someone will say, brb followed by door, bio, dog, wife, or drink. My favorite conversation though is definitely when one person leaves the Pac and a new person joins they say, "hi omw". Makes you feel warm inside because you know 1/5 of that hi is just for you! I'm getting a little weepy just thinking about it.

In all seriousness though, I am completely dead serious about every single thing I said in this post. It is absolutely exactly what DDO has become. However, sometimes you run with the same people enough while leveling that they become acquaintances. In those cases, the "hi omw" is often followed up by, "how's it going?" or "only 200K to cap".

I really want to start pulling that apart & nit-picking how this or that doesn't apply to me... but... Yeah in an "over all" or "generally speaking" sense that pretty much describes who's left in the game, how they play it, and thus why development seems to "encourage" or "reward" it.

All goes back to ~MotU time. Somewhere in preparation for that 1st expansion, WarnTurBros did their research and figured who they could bilk the most cash from. Judging by all the developments from then to now - "challenge seeking players" were not near the top of the money tree, the "gimmy gimmy now now" players were. The players who liked the best Tomes being in-game only items are gone, the players lining up at the store for top Tomes & Ottos boxes are here. The players who primarily played in pugs are gone, the solocentic folks are here. The "Elite should be harder than hard" folks are gone, the "everyone should have Elite rewards" players are here.

There's of course exceptions to the above who's here & who isn'ts - but they are the exceptions and not the "general rule" of the population at large. Again, my observations - ymmv & all that.


Edit: I'd love to see WarnTurBros' numbers, estimates & projections at the time - and how those have played out for them over time. Did they get their expected results? Do better than expected? Or did they "New Coke" it and aim to please 60% of their customers with an altered product not realizing the other 40% would pick up a Pepsi instead of the New Coke? I'm betting on door #3.

[Angelic-council]

I'm pretty sure he's referring to the "open group" message that displays when you enter an instance with public grouping turns on.

Yup ^

How about giving interested account holders a special character slot for a group trainer in Korthos that would never leave and never advance but who's sole purpose is to introduce newbies to groups? Some compensation would be something like 10 to 15 TP per quest or 10-15 TP per hour logged in to the toon or 5-7 TP per quest w/ 5-7 TP per hour (negotiable) for the time spent "trapped" in Korthos.

As far as this idea go. Let's think about it... DDO is not like how it used to be at the beginning. We don't have many players lurking around korthos area now days. We have more players in harbor than korthos. I think it's fairly easy to find a group menu (LFM) in DDO. What new players truly need is the guidance. Because how old is DDO and how it's designed. Many players get lost or don't know how to find that specific quest.

Some people say, that's why there is a guild, so they can help you. Which I agree, but it's not so easy to find a right guild. It's highly up to that player how he/she will adjustment themselves into this game. If your plan is to help new players, you need to explore more and come up with an idea as a whole, in order words, an idea that many players will benefit.