Producer's Letter

[Vellrad]

That would be the best-case scenario. If they were made of g cubes and oozes, then we could just sit at the bottom and destroy them one by one! :P

No, as floor would be made of them, they would be indestructible, but players would be engulfed 24/7 while climbing.

Epic Coal chamber - Mario section will be filled with casters spamming sleet storms...

Pure evil.

[Vellrad]

If we did have options, what class /would/ you vote for?

Warlock is a light armor ranged magical cannon with moderate melee abilities that should be free of SP pot addiction. Their blasts generally won't hit purely as hard as a sorc/AM, but they won't run the risk of running dry, and their blasts can have an array of side-effects, or be turned into melee if you don't want to be 'casty'. It's a class that is actually designed to be, in a way, customizable to playstyle even in tabletop. And with them hitting Vale/Shavarath, it's pretty much the single most thematic choice out there, considering the Eladrin, Ta'anar'ri, and Baatezu all make use of them actively, and they are the major players involved. And, of course, Xoriat can feel free to poke it's nose in, not that the gibbering plane would hesitate anyway.

But sorcs already don't run risk of running dry, thanks to regenerating mana, cheap slas, mana pots and shrines everywhere.
Warlock would need to foucs on CC/debuffs- low damage, but each spell adds CC or debuf effect.

[Heynone]

New Monster Manuals are something we are exploring as well for 2015.

Other day one of my guildmates suggested breakables should be added to the monster manual. Think about it, lots of different types from trog eggs to giant barrels and Crateos.

[Vellrad]

About monster manual:

drows
orcs
iron golems
bearded devils
water eles
air eles
dragons
reavers
fire giants
wights
noobs (gained by pvp )

btw

OK, Sev, what did you do to Vyv? Is she now among the Walking Dead?

https://www.lotro.com/en/game/articl...oducers-letter

We all know what are turbines doing with DDO EPs, but where are lotro EPs going? Are they sacrificed or something?

[FranOhmsford]

About monster manual:

drows
orcs
iron golems
bearded devils
water eles
air eles
dragons
reavers
fire giants
wights
noobs (gained by pvp )

btw

Clay Golems before Iron Golems surely.

Like the Reaver suggestion though.

[GoldyGopher]

I too feel that some Heroic/Epic packs should be set in just one but my list would be very different from yours...

Epic Carnival {Seriously - This pack has never fitted in at Lvl 5!}

Heroic High Road and Druid's Deep - Neither of these packs scream Epic - In fact the Heroic Versions could do with being reduced by at least 5 levels!

Epic 3BC has been done well and is different to Heroic - BOTH should stay!

E-GH was done badly apart from Fall of Truth itself - BUT unless we get like 10 NEW quests to replace them we need to keep the Epic versions.
Same for E-Orchard.

Vault of Night - The only reason to keep this Epic is because of the XP - Taking away the Heroic version would cause players to leave in their droves though!
Taking away E-Wiz King would probably cause quite a bit of anguish too!

Fens/Sentinels/Storm Horns and Heart of Madness I actually agree on.

Personally I think too much content is poorly placed level wise in DDO. Its like they take a good idea and then attempt to smash the 4" square peg in a 2" round hole. I understand why it happens but there are times I want to scream bloody murder.

From my list.
The Phairlan Carnival for example is a quest that storyline wise fits better at say level 10 than it does at level 5 and clearly is not a Epic Story Line.
Druids Deep is one I originally had as Heroic, putting a level 18 Adventure Zone with it on the east bank of the Starwater River would be great. I am not sure why in the end I changed it, it was late and I am sure I was drinking more than a Diet Coke.
Epic High Road of Shadow, again is something that doesn't fit storyline wise at level 24 which it is placed, simply setting at a more appropriate level say level 20 or 21 with out any other changes would make it fit.

As much as I love the Gianthold the epic version does nothing for me and I loathe to run the quests. The Raid is interesting but I am sure that our current boring strategy was not intended when it was designed.

Epic Orchard is well ummmm... I go back to what our former Franchise Director said making Epic Versions cost nearly as much as new and saves us only a little bit of time (I'll have to find the exact quote) why not make the new content. It could have been so much more interesting and fun and ...

The problem with Epic Demon Sands is that it is not a complete Epic, no explore no.... Again I would love to see an Epic Menechtarun pack and would gladly pay for it, maybe an explorer area 1/2 the size and 5 quests. It just makes perfect sense for me.

Do you realize how much that "battle cry" is whined about in just about every single MMO out there?

Players for the most part have high expectations (that many probably don't realize) and when that expectation isn't met, they leave. These game hoppers are prolific and there isn't much any company can do about them.

I totally get game hoppers, all you have to do is watch new games and ...
But something I see in DDO that I don't see in many other games is how often players come back and play for a little while. On Khyber alone last night I saw four players who have been gone for six seven eight months I am sure they will be gone again in a week or so, many want to stay but the issue is rerunning the same old content. I wonder how many would stay even a month longer or two months if there was a second starter zone.

[Vellrad]

Tempest Spine
Chronoscope
The Shroud
Caught in the Web
VoN 5
Twilight Forge

The above are what Vellrad wants more of I'd say.

As opposed to:

ADQ2
Reaver's Fate
Vision of Destruction
Fall of Truth
Mark of Death

Which are all basically one room Boss Fights!


Now one room Boss Fights can work fine if given a little extra:

Abbot
Hound of Xoriat
Lord of Blades
Master Artificer

But I'm with Vellrad on this one - Let's have some more REAL Raids like Tempest Spine and Caught in the Web please!


P.S. Caught in the Web is a REAL Raid done badly - Try to get them right please!

Something like that.

In my personal order of "this is an well-planned raid" to "this is a raid, but need improvements"

Tempest Spine (long, explorable, full of minibosses and mid-raid chests with named loot, very challenging at the time of release)
Twilight Forge (long, explorable, requires a party to split up, good puzzles (missing a reset lever on green), very challenging even today)
Shroud (Divided by stages, each stage have their own reward allowing people of varied skill levels to be rewarded on partial completion)
Vault of Night (long, explorable, requires a party to split up, good puzzles. Not on pair with Titan because of no named reward mid-raid, and no end chest)
Chronoscope (explorable, good boss fights, great story, mid-raid chests with named loot)
Temple of the Deathwyrm (long, good puzzles, great story)
Caught in the Web (long, explorable, decent optionals. On the other hand, escort quest and the most BORING raid boss ever: Fight the dire navel!)

I prefer any raid that is more akin to those seven than the one-room boss fights we got recently.



Or, since it is further corrupted... Red Steel

That's what I mean by real raids.
Some 1 room encounters are interesting, and by adding lenghty run through wilderness, I don't consider hox, vod, ma or lob just a boss beat up; in case of first you must slaugther through hordes of devils to get into raid, in case of second pair in addition to beating wilderness you are also faced with some trash fights.
For me, running through wilderness is part of raid itself.

Raid should be something that takes preparation, planning and time to complete, not just go in and kill boss, loot, recall. There should be multiple bosses, each with different skills and tactcis and special abilities.

To people that say: 'i dont haf time to long quest/raids i hav family/work/sickdog!!1!' I reply: raid can be split into phases, after completing phase 1 when you enter next time you are placed in phase 2, and so on, until you finish entire thing and receive timer.

[Dragavon]

Will we get an Epic XP rebalance? It is already kinda harsh to gater 6.6 mil XP to Epic TR, and the natural progression will scale it to over 10 mil.

Will there be any incentive to stay at level 30, besides gear? Because currently, the major part of an epic character power come from their max level ED and twists of fate, not the feats. The feats are nice, but not crucial, and you can play any epic quest at level 20, since they are no longer level gated. (IMO, that ship sailed, but I think EDs were the biggest corner Turbine ever draw themselves into, instead of actual epic classes)

This is something I seriously do not understand. I can cap an epic life easily in less than a week after ER, playing 2-4 hours per day.

[Vellrad]

Clay Golems before Iron Golems surely.

Like the Reaver suggestion though.

There are much, much more iron than clay golems, so iron should come first.

[Heynone]

If we did have options, what class /would/ you vote for?

Warlock is a light armor ranged magical cannon with moderate melee abilities that should be free of SP pot addiction. Their blasts generally won't hit purely as hard as a sorc/AM, but they won't run the risk of running dry, and their blasts can have an array of side-effects, or be turned into melee if you don't want to be 'casty'. It's a class that is actually designed to be, in a way, customizable to playstyle even in tabletop. And with them hitting Vale/Shavarath, it's pretty much the single most thematic choice out there, considering the Eladrin, Ta'anar'ri, and Baatezu all make use of them actively, and they are the major players involved. And, of course, Xoriat can feel free to poke it's nose in, not that the gibbering plane would hesitate anyway.

Warlock not my preferred class to see but it is an okay choice. I am really hoping that Acolyte of the Skin will be one of their enhancement trees as I have given up in having a demon skined Sorc but a warlock may be something else all together.

More than anything though I would like to see some more illusion arcane spells. Illusory Wall, Shadow Conjuration/Evocation in particular interest me. Have to wait for gnomes for that it seems.

[fmalfeas]

But sorcs already don't run risk of running dry, thanks to regenerating mana, cheap slas, mana pots and shrines everywhere.
Warlock would need to foucs on CC/debuffs- low damage, but each spell adds CC or debuf effect.

Can't be too low of damage, thanks to blanket boss immunities. One thing that is both good and I'm really, really wondering how they're gonna handle it, regarding debuffs though, is that the Spell Level for Eldritch Blast is supposed to be the Warlock's class level divided by 2. So a level 18 warlock has all their eldritch blast effects going off of the DC and SR (though DDO may remove the SR part, like they did for Fireball) of a 9th level spell. So if you put, say, Eldritch Chain and Brimstone Essence together, it'd be a lowish (I think tabletop the max damage of Eldritch Blast is 14d6) damage chain-lighting that is fire-damage, and if memory serves, inflicts a fire DoT and Nauseates the victims if they fail a fort save. It's stinky to everyone (brimstone and all that) but you've gotta get hit with it to really get that 'oh god, get it out of my nose!!!' effect.

[mog999]

New Monster Manuals are something we are exploring as well for 2015.

Excellent news

[Hazelnut]

... I wonder how many would stay even a month longer or two months if there was a second starter zone.

I tend to agree. I joined DDO about a year and a half ago and I have not gone through all the content (probably not even half of it) but I have created many characters. The low level quest (I lost count of how many times I've run them) are starting to bore me.

When I look at the high level quest, it is obvious that there are less of them at higher levels than low and the XP needed to get to the next level is harder to find. BUT, once you get there a few times you run out of reasons to come back until there is new content.

It would probably be as bad as creating a new game, but having a second starting area and chain of quests to follow from level 1 to level 20 would sell. Marketed right, it could prolong the game's lifetime.

I was thinking something like levels 1 through 20 in Forgotten Realms (or 1 through 16ish). Design them for experience players so you get to choose to start in the Forgotten Realms when you TR or if you are a VIP (or those with the Transport to Forgotten Realms button on the login screen). If they are focused on returning/experience players, the "starter area" doesn't need to be a tutorial (the way Korthos is) and the level 1 through 3 quests could have proper difficulty levels.

Taken to the extreme (I'm dreaming now) you have Eberron for first life starting, Forgotten Realm for TR, and for those who want an extreme challenge, you get to start in Dark Sun where magic items simply don't work after your second TR (i.e. must be a 36 point build).

Want to know how good you really are? Try Epic Elite without any gear. That is Dark Sun.

[fmalfeas]

Want to know how good you really are? Try Epic Elite without any gear. That is Dark Sun.

Not just no magic items. If memory serves, /metal/ is ultra-expensive on Athas, so even having a poorly-made iron sword would be a high-level accomplishment. And divine magic simply doesn't exist, while arcane magic sucks the life force out of you and everything around you.

DDO Athas - Monks, Rogues, and NOTHING ELSE.

[The_Human_Cypher]

It would probably be as bad as creating a new game, but having a second starting area and chain of quests to follow from level 1 to level 20 would sell. Marketed right, it could prolong the game's lifetime.

I was thinking something like levels 1 through 20 in Forgotten Realms (or 1 through 16ish). Design them for experience players so you get to choose to start in the Forgotten Realms when you TR or if you are a VIP (or those with the Transport to Forgotten Realms button on the login screen). If they are focused on returning/experience players, the "starter area" doesn't need to be a tutorial (the way Korthos is) and the level 1 through 3 quests could have proper difficulty levels.

This obviously isn't going to happen in 2015, but if there is a major paid expansion in 2016 it could include a new starter area. I have been advocating The City of Waterdeep, Undermountain, and Skullport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterdeep) as one large expansion. The 2nd starter area for level 1 characters could be set in the City of Waterdeep and have an urban flavor (e.g., Thieves Guild, sewers beneath the City, etc.) as an alternative to the village of Korthos and its wilderness explorer area on Korthos Island.

[Missing_Minds]

I wonder how many would stay even a month longer or two months if there was a second starter zone.

I won't disagree with your question there. Even lotro has a different starter region per race.

Korthos isn't a bad one... but I think startign regions need to be rethought.

[fmalfeas]

I don't find Waterdeep to be too likely, honestly. However...Tantras or Daggerdale could work (I'd love to see Tantras) or if they wanted ultra-magical, what's left of Halruua. Or someplace near Chult for a FR starting area (DINOS!)

Or (snicker) The Hive in Sigil. Just don't take the dustmen's offer of 50 jink, because there won't be any rezzing then. Just zombie-time.

[phillymiket]

Gratz on the promotion.

It sounds like you have a great year planned.

[Uska]

I tend to agree. I joined DDO about a year and a half ago and I have not gone through all the content (probably not even half of it) but I have created many characters. The low level quest (I lost count of how many times I've run them) are starting to bore me.

When I look at the high level quest, it is obvious that there are less of them at higher levels than low and the XP needed to get to the next level is harder to find. BUT, once you get there a few times you run out of reasons to come back until there is new content.

It would probably be as bad as creating a new game, but having a second starting area and chain of quests to follow from level 1 to level 20 would sell. Marketed right, it could prolong the game's lifetime.

I was thinking something like levels 1 through 20 in Forgotten Realms (or 1 through 16ish). Design them for experience players so you get to choose to start in the Forgotten Realms when you TR or if you are a VIP (or those with the Transport to Forgotten Realms button on the login screen). If they are focused on returning/experience players, the "starter area" doesn't need to be a tutorial (the way Korthos is) and the level 1 through 3 quests could have proper difficulty levels.

Taken to the extreme (I'm dreaming now) you have Eberron for first life starting, Forgotten Realm for TR, and for those who want an extreme challenge, you get to start in Dark Sun where magic items simply don't work after your second TR (i.e. must be a 36 point build).

Want to know how good you really are? Try Epic Elite without any gear. That is Dark Sun.

I might stomach more FR if they did put in some more low level quests but so many are against adding any new low level content. I don't really ever want to seem them try to do dark sun or Dragonlance as they cant do it right either of those would take special rules or restrictions and would really require their own games.

[Uska]

This obviously isn't going to happen in 2015, but if there is a major paid expansion in 2016 it could include a new starter area. I have been advocating The City of Waterdeep, Undermountain, and Skullport (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterdeep) as one large expansion. The 2nd starter area for level 1 characters could be set in the City of Waterdeep and have an urban flavor (e.g., Thieves Guild, sewers beneath the City, etc.) as an alternative to the village of Korthos and its wilderness explorer area on Korthos Island.

While I loathe FR with a undying passion I could support a new level starting area like that.