Producer's Letter

[Grosbeak07]

I actually find this quite dumb and annoying. a vorpal bow or a vorpal greatclub doesn't make an inkling of sense.

You mean a lucky arrow shot straight to the heart that instantly kills the target? Or a massive swing of club that turns a head into the inside of a watermelon?

It does make sense to me, I never understood how a bladed weapon could instantly kill something but others couldn't.

[Qhualor]

You mean a lucky arrow shot straight to the heart that instantly kills the target? Or a massive swing of club that turns a head into the inside of a watermelon?

It does make sense to me, I never understood how a bladed weapon could instantly kill something but others couldn't.

when you put it that way it makes sense, but that's not what vorpal was intended to mean. give bludgeoning and piercing its own vorpal terminology to actually make more sense.

[Systern]

when you put it that way it makes sense, but that's not what vorpal was intended to mean. give bludgeoning and piercing its own vorpal terminology to actually make more sense.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:
Long time the manxome foe he sought --
So rested he by the Tumtum tree,
And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,
The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,
Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,
And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through
The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!
He left it dead, and with its head
He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?
Come to my arms, my beamish boy!
O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'
He chortled in his joy.

C.S. Lewis, the author of the poem said that he could not define vorpal. In context, "vorpal" is an adjective describing a "blade", which is well defined. As D&D fans, we've come to know "vorpal" to mean "magically beheading"; the cutting aspect could either be a property of the implement being a blade, or a property of it being "vorpal". (Do all vorpal blades cut because they're vorpal, or because they're blades? Blades cut. Vorpal implements may or may not be restricted to just cutting.)

Since Vorpal was originally meant to be a non-sense word, its meaning was whatever you gleaned from your perception of context; citing its intended meaning seems peculiar.

[Tealcie]

SNOW Please.
Thanks, Tealcie

[Qhualor]

C.S. Lewis, the author of the poem said that he could not define vorpal. In context, "vorpal" is an adjective describing a "blade", which is well defined. As D&D fans, we've come to know "vorpal" to mean "magically beheading"; the cutting aspect could either be a property of the implement being a blade, or a property of it being "vorpal". (Do all vorpal blades cut because they're vorpal, or because they're blades? Blades cut. Vorpal implements may or may not be restricted to just cutting.)

Since Vorpal was originally meant to be a non-sense word, its meaning was whatever you gleaned from your perception of context; citing its intended meaning seems peculiar.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Vorpal

Vorpal: This potent and feared ability allows the weapon to sever the heads of those it strikes. Upon a roll of natural 20 (followed by a successful roll to confirm the critical hit), the weapon severs the opponent’s head (if it has one) from its body. Some creatures, such as many aberrations and all oozes, have no heads. Others, such as golems and undead creatures other than vampires, are not affected by the loss of their heads. Most other creatures, however, die when their heads are cut off. A vorpal weapon must be a slashing weapon. (If you roll this property randomly for an inappropriate weapon, reroll.)

[Oliphant]

Get a room, vorpal, vorpal!

[Oxarhamar]

Warlock isn't a core class since we aren't 5E soulblade would be a much better choice since psionics are so much a part of eberron

Are you sure we are not in 5E?
Do you know what edition Tyranny of Dragons storyline takes place in?

[FestusHood]

C.S. Lewis, the author of the poem said that he could not define vorpal. In context, "vorpal" is an adjective describing a "blade", which is well defined. As D&D fans, we've come to know "vorpal" to mean "magically beheading"; the cutting aspect could either be a property of the implement being a blade, or a property of it being "vorpal". (Do all vorpal blades cut because they're vorpal, or because they're blades? Blades cut. Vorpal implements may or may not be restricted to just cutting.)

Since Vorpal was originally meant to be a non-sense word, its meaning was whatever you gleaned from your perception of context; citing its intended meaning seems peculiar.

If you watch the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the rabbit guarding the cave is referred to as the vorpal bunny.

[fmalfeas]

I remember when I first read Jabberwocky, I interpreted vorpal to mean 'especially deadly', rather than 'beheading'. Which, in D&D terms, could easily apply to basically any weapon that insta-kills, or utterly ignores defenses.

[GeoffWatson]

Level 30
Characters will be able to gain experience to increase their level to 30. Characters who reach this milestone will gain additional feats and power, and they will be able to wield and even construct new weapons and treasures to face the foes that challenge them.

How much XP will it take to reach level 30?
I'm worried about my plans for Epic reincarnations (and Iconics).
If there is a significant increase in time required, that will greatly reduce my enthusiasm for DDO.

Geoff.

[lyrecono]

Greetings,

My name is Robert Ciccolini, although many of you might know me as “Severlin” on the forums or from podcasts. I am the Executive Producer for Dungeons and Dragons Online. I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on our previous year and look forward to the year ahead.

The last year has been eventful, and looking back we have seen many additions to the game.

In the last year we added lots of new content including three new raids. Our characters were able to explore the Haunted Halls as we had the opportunity to present that classic adventure to our players.

Player were able to band together to form more powerful guilds and update their guild airships and amenities.
High level adventurers were able to experience more powerful versions of some of some well known heroic content. We revisited both Three Barrel Cove and the most powerful area of the Orchard of the Macabre.

This past year has seen changes that have allowed for powerful new builds. Heavy armor is no longer relegated to niche builds and has instead taken its place on the front line of the fight. The year saw large improvements for Bard, Paladin and Barbarian, as well as a few improvements for Ranger and Rogue. We added a new Bard tree with Swashbuckler, and the new Vanguard tree is now available to Fighter and Paladin. We also added the Harper Agent enhancement tree. This year also saw changes to help some heroic abilities scale into Epic levels, and a rebalance of the melee oriented Epic Enhancement trees.

The Mirror of Glamering was created to give players the freedom and flexibility to capture the look of their favorite weapons and armors from the game’s treasure. We have already seen players scouring the game for their favorite items to update their style.
Players in hard and elite content faced a new challenge in the form of Monster Champions.

As excited as we are about the additions to the game, the true joy of working on our game has been the involvement of the community. The feedback on features and additions has been extremely helpful. Our players are a passionate bunch who clearly love the game as much as we do, and we love reading feedback, hearing what you love about the game, watching your videos, answering questions during live casts, and hearing stories about your in game adventures.

In the last year we have had some great people provide terrific feedback on the player’s council. I wanted to give those players a shout out for all of their time and enthusiasm. We are working hard on creating our player council for the coming year and we are both excited to hear some new voices and sad to see the current players pass the proverbial baton to the new guard.
Looking forward to the new year we have lots of exciting plans to share.

Temple of Elemental Evil
Our next big update will include the Temple of Elemental Evil. We are all excited to present this classic dungeon to the players. The Temple grounds are quite large! Although players will be presented with a quest to accomplish when they enter the temple, there will be many dangers and treasures to find if the players take the time to properly explore the vast network of temple halls and chambers.

Monster Champions and Mysterious Fragments
Characters facing the game’s toughest challenges have encountered a wide variety of Monster Champions - creatures that have increased skill and power. What is causing this increase in power? As characters investigate the source of this newfound strength they will begin to discover that many of these creatures carry Mysterious Fragments that seem to resonate with strange magical power. Could these fragments be causing these champions and their rise in power? What use could these fragments have for those looking for power?

Monster champions will have a chance to drop Mysterious Fragments. Players can gather these fragments and various agents and interested parties might trade them for a variety of rewards. Rumors of groups offering scrolls, potions, cosmetic items, and even prestigious and rare pets have begun to surface. Organizations do not have unlimited resources. As factions vie for power some agents and rewards might change as the year progresses.

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

New Storylines
The game will introduce a new story arc that will take the players to Shavarath for a new adventure pack. Characters on these adventures will work to prevent a catastrophe. That story will continue as the year progresses to bring the players once again to the Vale of Twilight. New threats have entered the Vale and more powerful challenges await in this chapter of the Vale of Twilight’s history. Defeating this new threat will require you to enter the more dangerous and powerful Vale of Twilight as you increase your level to 30 and obtain new treasures. More powerful items also await from the corrupted Greensteel found in the Vale after recent events have increased the magical power of the area.

Level 30
Characters will be able to gain experience to increase their level to 30. Characters who reach this milestone will gain additional feats and power, and they will be able to wield and even construct new weapons and treasures to face the foes that challenge them.

New Festivals
The coming year will bring new festivals; a mimic event where players have to hunt down mimics that have infested all the corners of the land. The autumn will also bring a new seasonal festival that will haunt your favorite places and provide characters with more treats than tricks.


These are just some of the ideas and plans we are looking into for the next year. We don’t want to spoil too much about our new monsters, new treasures and other goodies we have planned. Our goal is to present players with a taste of the ideas we are working on, and we also want to remain vigilant to the requests and feedback from the players. Your ideas are important to us, and your feedback will help guide us over the course of the year.


Robert “Severlin” Ciccolini

A new producer again??? grats i guess...
three new raids ??? you refer to the raid and 2 boss batles?
Heavy armor is no longer relegated to niche builds and has instead taken its place on the front line of the fight. yep, now everyone and their grandma wears one
The year saw large improvements for Barbarian, still not fixed/ballanced and is getting another nerf, thanks, they realy didn't need that, i hope all barbs get a free +20 heart to get out of that mess.

Temple of Elemental Evil Don't make the mistake of haunted halls by making it epic only, HH already had a low lv vibe in it's set up, atleast give this one a heroic option.


Monster Champions and Mysterious Fragments add the darn checkbox to opt out for them already.


Warlock After many years you finaly allow this? ugh a class thats even more sorc then the actual sorc, meh

New Storylines more eberon, after what 2 to nearly 3 years and loosing half the playerbase?, i'm actualy glad to see this. I do hope it's not another watered down crafting system like house C raids and thunderholme.

Level 30 yeay, more exp to grind for epic pastlives....ugh

New Festivals assuming they do come (big assumption, i know) will it be a mabar esque lagfest or a risia ghost town (after the nerf that raised the min lv)

[Robai]

Oh no!
Yet another year without increased BtC bank space.
Sad news.

[Powerhungry]

How much XP will it take to reach level 30?
I'm worried about my plans for Epic reincarnations (and Iconics).
If there is a significant increase in time required, that will greatly reduce my enthusiasm for DDO.

Geoff.

I imagine it will follow the same progression as all epic levels (i.e. 150,000 experience more than the previous level). So 1.5M for 29 and 1.65M for 30 or an extra 3.15M experience for two more levels.

[Missing_Minds]

If you watch the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the rabbit guarding the cave is referred to as the vorpal bunny.

And yet bites do piercing damage. Go figure.

----------------------------------------------
Tim: Follow. But! Follow only if ye be men of valor! For the entrance to this cave is guarded by a creature so foul, so cruel, that no man yet has fought with it... and lived! BONES of full fifty men lie *strewn* about its lair! So! Brave knights! If you do doubt your courage or your strength, come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth...

[Makes fangs with his fingers and holds them in front of his mouth]

King Arthur: What an eccentric performance.

I actually find this quite dumb and annoying. a vorpal bow or a vorpal greatclub doesn't make an inkling of sense.

Btw, if you are going after that, I suggest the BoneBreaking attribute as well.
Doesn't work at all on skeletons. Wait, what???

[Chi_Ryu]

If you watch the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the rabbit guarding the cave is referred to as the vorpal bunny.

Err, not in the film it isn't.

[Ayseifn]

Oh no!
Yet another year without increased BtC bank space.
Sad news.

Agreed, with the increased drop rates I went and grabbed a lot of things I was missing, as well as craft some TF things and finally got around to Necro 4. Next proper TR will be painful unless we get more storage.

[Oxarhamar]

when you put it that way it makes sense, but that's not what vorpal was intended to mean. give bludgeoning and piercing its own vorpal terminology to actually make more sense.

No need for different terminology

if an Arrow can take off a head or a bludgeoning weapon can slam a head off the shoulder like a ball off a tee.

[The_Human_Cypher]

Agreed, with the increased drop rates I went and grabbed a lot of things I was missing, as well as craft some TF things and finally got around to Necro 4. Next proper TR will be painful unless we get more storage.

A feature that was discussed when the Mirror of Glamering was first released was The Dressing Room. This would be a tab on the character sheet like the Pet tab which allows characters to store and share cosmetic outfits, hats, etc. among an account's toons. Adding a feature like this would save bank space and time for anyone with cosmetic items.

[Braegan]

No need for different terminology

if an Arrow can take off a head or a bludgeoning weapon can slam a head off the shoulder like a ball off a tee.

I am with Q on this one.

It's a small thing, but to pnp players that came to play DDO it's completely absurd.

It was called a Vorpal Blade for a reason...it was a blade!

I still cringe every time I see a vorpal anything that isn't a blade in a chest.

It just isn't right.

[Oxarhamar]

I am with Q on this one.

It's a small thing, but to pnp players that came to play DDO it's completely absurd.

It was called a Vorpal Blade for a reason...it was a blade!

I still cringe every time I see a vorpal anything that isn't a blade in a chest.

It just isn't right.

I've come from PnP as well as having a subscription to Dragon magazine when it first hit the presses

One thing you have to remember .

This is not PnP this is DDO. House rules!