Producer's Letter

[mudfud]

I do have a few questions though. Why epic vale/greensteel? I know it's been shown on Lamaland and elsewhere for years now as something that was done, but never finished and stated repeatedly it was never going to be done. With something new "anauroch" put on hold indefinately was epic vale/greensteel used because it was already made and cheaper and easier to make then something completely new?

[slarden]

You told the community that new ungeared players aren't expected to be running on elite. I like candor and setting expectations for the community. I predict your tenure will be one with a steady hand and firm decisions. That is what the game needs right now - a steady path.

Greensteel was definitely the best crafting system ever developed in this game. In fact, to this day people still run shroud on a regular basis even though it is 11 levels below the cap. This is a great raid to include as an end game raid when the level cap is 30.

Speaking of end game, you were mostly silent on your vision for end game when the level cap is 30. Is this something that you will be looking at discussing with the community in 2015?

[Qezuzu]

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.

Huh

[Morphise]

Nice, looking forward to all this content, all of it...
Xmass in advance, or later Xmass?
Can't decide ^^

[Vellrad]

1. Stop calling 5 min boss battles a raid. Its an insult to real raids.

2. What new will warlock bring? As far as I remember, this was sorcerer with unlimited, but weaker spells. Now sorcs have extremally cheap slas, echoes, and there's million shrines everywhere, so mana is not an issue, so what will warlock bring?

3. I hope thunderforged items won't be invalidated ASA epic vale arrives. And I hope not for shroud with cosmetic changes, but entirely new raid, and I hope its a real raid not 12 man boss encounter you seem to be producing.

4. How DDO version of ToEE will be any different than Troika version?
This was the best adaptation of D&D rules (by that I mean mechanics, not plot, story, graphics etc, amount of changes from pnp to video game was extremally low), so I, and probably, a lot of people have completed this game many times, so DDO version must be absolutely and entirely different thing (I don't know how much ToEE was based on module, but if it was strict module adaptation, then choice of ToEE for DDO is bad- produce new content that is actually new instead of producing video game remakes).

now something positive:
1. I hope that sentient items will be like lotro legendary item system, highly customizable etc. and I hope not only for weapons, but I prefer to have something that will not invalidate 100% of other items in slot (adding sentient weapons will make other weapons worthless), I'd prefer items that goes into new inventory slot.

2. I like shavarath, I hope to see it expanded.

3. Mirrow was cool idea, too bad its free in lotro, instead of 250TP/use.

4. I hope with promotion you also received a raise.

[Karranor]

Grats!

Looks like another great year for DDO. Looking forward to Temple of Elemental Evil!

[HatsuharuZ]

Warlock Class? Wait isn't that basically Pale Master? Whatever.

Nope. In 3rd Edition, a Warlock is a person who made made a literal Deal With The Devil... although they could have made a deal with a Demon, Fae, Chtulhu, or Eladrin, instead. In return for services to that creature, they gain abilities that can be used an infinite amount of times per rest. Keep in mind, they perform services for their supernatural patron, but they don't have to share an alignment or goals with that creature. A 3rd edition warlock has an ability gained at level 1 called "Eldritch Blast" which is basically an uber magic missile, and you can take further abilities to change the damage type, AoE, or add rider effects. A lot of their other spells (called invocations) are similar to arcane spells that wizards and sorcerers cast, but they tend to be slightly better in some way. For example, the warlock version of "Firewall" deals half of it's damage as untyped damage, while the warlock version of "Evard's Black Tentacles" deals cold and bludgeoning damage while the tentacles grip the target.

In 4th and 5th edition, there is less reliance on Eldritch Blast, and the Warlock gains additional bonus abilities for free, based on what kind of supernatural creature they made a deal with.

[The_Human_Cypher]

Is the mimic event still going to contain the Mabar items, or will they be moved to the autumn event?

Originally, the mimic event was supposed to be the sole replacement for Mabar. The new Halloween event must have been introduced after players commented on the lack of an appropriate seasonal event (I was one of them) in October.

[xberto]

We don’t want to spoil too much about our new monsters, new treasures and other goodies we have planned.

I was sooo expecting to see mention of Ranged Combat revamp. I hope its included in "other gooddies"
I check Dev Tracker everytime for a feedback thread relating to you new ranged combat ideas> .. fingers crossed its coming next...

[Clematis7]

I like new content as much as anyone, but really more focus needs to be put on fixing bugs. New content helps keep the old players, but fixing bugs helps retain new players. I am not aware of any major, or even non-trivial-sized, feature in this game that doesn't have bugs! While unrealistic, I would prefer a year of you fixing bugs even if it meant very little new content. The reputation of the game is determined by new players more than the oldies, which affects how many people try a new game.

Fixing bugs is cool!

[harry-pancreas]

Greetings,


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.

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.

congrats and
thank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank you thank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank youthank you
for those ^^

[count_spicoli]

Congrats sev. Hands down the best dev this game has had since some of the originals but we are nervous you will be off to lotro soon. Usually whoever sits in that seat is there no more than a year and off to lotro. Some time as soon as a couple months.

All that stuff looks really good but Epic vale. UGGGGGG!!!! I have run all those quests so many times i couldnt stomach doing them on epic. How about you put 5 brand new epic quests out in the vale wilderness. That way you dont have to create a new wilderness and we dont have to rehash the quests we have all pounded out 3000 times.

[dunklezhan]

Congrats sev. Hands down the best dev this game has had since some of the originals but we are nervous you will be off to lotro soon. Usually whoever sits in that seat is there no more than a year and off to lotro. Some time as soon as a couple months.

All that stuff looks really good but Epic vale. UGGGGGG!!!! I have run all those quests so many times i couldnt stomach doing them on epic. How about you put 5 brand new epic quests out in the vale wilderness. That way you dont have to create a new wilderness and we dont have to rehash the quests we have all pounded out 3000 times.

The thought of epic coal chamber does fill me with dread, yeah. The walls of the shafts will probably have lightning auras and spikes...

[HastyPudding]

WWWWAAAARRRRLLLLOOOOCCCCKKKK!!!!

You have no idea of the squee of joy I just let out when I read that word. That alone, regardless of the other goodies coming this year, really makes me want to play more DDO. I've been advocating to get Warlock as a playable class for at least 4 years. I would LOVE to see it finally implemented.

[harry-pancreas]

If they stick close to 3.5 warlock, instead of the much lamer 4e one, then it's a very valid addition.

First - no SP bar. Every power a warlock has in 3.5 is an At-will spell like ability, supernatural ability, or in some small cases, a 3/day or 1/day, but those are really rare.

As they level, they pick powers that either empower or alter their innate Eldritch Blast ability (can give it elemental properties with secondary effects, double the range, turn it into a melee thing (which is terrifying, because it simply adds the full power of the eldritch blast to your weapon attack) make it AoE like a fireball, make it chain like chain lightning, make it give neg levels, and that's not all. They can't all be on at once though. One shape, one imbue.) They also pick ones that are more like spells, but still cost nothing. Ranging from Dark One's Own Luck (giving +6 to a save for 24 hours, but can only cast it once a day), Voracious Dispelling (Greater Dispel, but for every effect it strips away, it feeds you HP), the ability to turn into a swarm of bats, Baleful Polymorph (Mr. Hobgoblin, I dub thee...SIR SQUIRREL! Now leave me alone and go find some acorns, you're done here.)...it's pretty impressive. Also, they get a limited number of innate uses of Fast Healing, letting them do some basic self-healing, and they get a small amount of CR/Cold Iron.

Of course, we don't really have the standard Warlock weapon in DDO. They're big fans of the Spear.

good time to add it, maybe.

[jaggyjag]

Congratulations.

Turbine would do better to do the following during the next year to honor the undertakings it has made during the past two years to the community.

*Two new iconic classes. (preferably Drow, halfling, but whatever two)
instead of wasting resources on another caster class that will have to much overlap with the Sorcerer and Wizard, just common sense and something that has been asked for. And additional Iconics not only honor the promises of the past but also provide a excellent way for new players (and their cash) to access the end game content.

*New epic content and raids. (secondarily a mid level raid is also well overdue.)
There is no need to rehash existing content into epic, it has been done too often and needs to stop. You need to not only give player content and challenge but also entertain and excite us with stories, not just more gear to grind for. Can't believe this has to be pointed out but here we are.

[count_spicoli]

Also if champs was your idea I'd like to give you a thumbs up. Very creative idea. For a game that doesnt have any randomness too it you provided some sort of randomness that can change every encounter. Really loved it. +5 to you sir.

[Qezuzu]

Huh

No really, what did you mean by a few improvements to Rogue? I just double-checked the 2014 updates and all I could find was:
-a buff to Shadow Dagger (still garbage at epic level, the only place where you actually get Melee Power)
-a buff to Envenomed Blades (so like +9 damage at best, that's not affected by crits)
-a buff to the Mechanic capstone (which obviously means taking 40 AP in Mechanic tree, LOL no thanks)
-a buff to Acrobat capstone (no good Staff build takes 20 Rogue)
-and doubling the duration of Cartwheel Charge AKA the most atrociously awful lvl18 core ability of any class, next to, uh, Mechanic's +1 to Great Crossbow crit range

Unless I'm mistaken, this is all there is, Harper tree was a much larger buff to Rogues (Assassin, specifically) than any of these changes, though it did make one of the better features of Mechanic (INT to damage on crossbows) far less valuable, so, LOL.

Can we have some info on how further the class improvements are going to go? We already know FvS is getting a third tree, but you didn't mention this. FvS, Artificer and Rogue all lag behind pretty badly, especially Artificer and any Rogue that's not a stick build. The entire Kensai tree is below or at least roughly comparable to the output of Holy Sword (iirc.) Henshin mystic is pretty freaking bad, Monk in general is not that great anymore (this is a premium class, you know) unless it's a Monkcher or Shuricannon. You gave the uber treatment to Bards and Paladins, greatly improved Barbarian and are going to make further improvements to them; are any other classes going to get this treatment?

[Oxarhamar]

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.

is this going to be exploitable once dupers have a handful of fragments they will have unlimited amounts?

I certainly hope not!

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.

This is disappointing. DDO's last big surprise was the Madness pack failure.

What about other classes being balanced?

What about Ranged power When will we see this?

Transparency not jack in the box update!

[DeWind]

First off I almost never post on the Forums, but looking forward to most of what was listed as coming next year. As a casual player, something that I would really like to see is an updated Cannith Crafting (at least add things like Paralyzing, Smiting, Vorpal,..). It would help the casual player to craft things they would like and would breath new life into something that really isn't viable at the moment.

Other than that, looking forward to how the Warlock class turns out but wouldn't mind another race also...Something simple like Gnomes. I think a Gnome Artificer would be interesting (ok Artificer in general {imho} but a Gnome would add a bit of flavor). I know over the last year you just added 4 new races...but really just a 2nd Warforged/Human, a 3rd Elf, and the Shadar-kai (also considered Human for most part). But overall the 4 new Iconic Heroes are well done.

As for ToEE and I guess Epic Vale...I hate to see any Raid equipment become actually obsolete. Green Steel, Alchemical, and Thunder-Forged all have a nice range of levels/use (ok Alchemical maybe not so much now with Thunder-Forged). But to see something become...let us say...outdated as working towards Dragontouched Armor. It would be hard to really find a reason to go to some zones when the rewards of others are just better for the same amount of work.

Just my thoughts...