Producer's Letter - 5/21/15

[UurlockYgmeov]

We want Q/A fully engaged with the Warlock release, and our attention fully on Warlock once it goes live because a new class is a big deal for us.

I should not confirm that U26 is an additional release, and that our plan is to still release three more content packs this year since our plans may have to change.

Sev~

and must give props to Sev for handling the 'additional information' beautifully - TV lawyers couldn't have done better!

SO we get U26,27,28 AND maybe even U29!! W00T!

[Severlin]

I think that this involves moving the existing servers and network devices to a new data center for co-location, not migrating the game environment and accounts to new hardware.

Just the opposite. If all goes well we will be migrating the game environment and accounts to new hardware and a more modern data center infrastructure.

Sev~

[Grosbeak07]

Just the opposite. If all goes well we will be migrating the game environment and accounts to new hardware and a more modern data center infrastructure.

Sev~

That is good news.

[Cordovan]

thats a good point actually - Sev, how much notice do you think you'll be able to publically give of the planned migration date? Or is that an unreasonable question? (I don't understand corporate law/espionage risks at all. I mean, it could be an unreasonable question, I'm not being passive aggressive or whatever!)

It'll be more about locking in the hours closer to actually doing it rather than any kind of espionage thing. I would expect at least a few days notice on downtime, and a more general time frame as we get closer to it.

[cdbd3rd]

Steam is cool, but we have no plans to force players to use Steam to play DDO or to use the new store. Steam users can keep using Steam, and players who don't use Steam don't have to switch to it to play DDO or use the store when the new store becomes available.

Sev~

That's a good tidbit. Thanks.


edit: And regarding the migration - networking always was my weak point even when I remembered what I used to know. I'll take y'all's word for this being a good thing.

Heck, if it fixes LOTRO's problems, too, then I'll be back to bouncing between games again.

[Sephenis]

I should not tell players that Ranger will be next once we finish up Warlock in case something causes us to change our plans. Nor can I say that fighter will be some time after that, probably after we work on a new Favored Soul tree. Sadly I cannot confirm any of this information.

Sev~

Another melee buffing for 3 years and a little divine? Is there any chance in the next 10 years that the extremely underpowered arcane casters get a pass? They've only weakened since the beginning of ddo. Only them. Looks like turbine has a deep hatred for arcane chars.

[The_Human_Cypher]

Just the opposite. If all goes well we will be migrating the game environment and accounts to new hardware and a more modern data center infrastructure.

Sev~

Thank you. As a previous poster noted, this can be either very good or very bad. Server migrations tend to "lose things" during the process.

[Gratch]

Good to hear about the datacenter move... though the last one that was announced had a bunch of up and down times for a week as things got tuned/fixed. Everyone can be like Ghallanda until they get it setup right.

Your U27 looks more like a U26.5. I was kind of upset it was a whole update later until I saw that it was only a month. Maybe U26 should be U26WarlockBeta. Any chance there's a new explorer in the Shavarath Pack? Normally I'm not much for explorers, but I want to annoy archons in their home field... err I mean help them with spawning in Devils/Demons. Plus Turbine already had a rough layout for the Archon and Demon field landscape artwork back when they did the Devil side. Was hoping we'd finally get to go down there.

Thanks for the mini-update and moreso responsiveness in general.

Less excited by Shroud and New Store. Before you spend too many resources (I'd really prefer other UI in-game work) on your store, might see how well the current one functions once you move to new hardware.

We've also been hearing your feedback that you'd like an improved experience when using the DDO Store, and we're happy to say that we'll be introducing a new store in the near future! We expect the updated DDO Store to offer a streamlined experience when making purchases and many other improvements. We're planning to start rolling out the new DDO Store to players later this summer. You will still be able to purchase Turbine Points with a credit/debit card, PayPal, and a wide selection of alternate payment methods. We'll have more to say about the DDO Store as we get closer to its launch.

Streamlined experience is about the only new thing I see here - from my experience it's mostly just the sometimes lag that's annoying with the store. We can already use CC's and Paypal (which accepts a large number of forms of payment). Though I have heard some international players request for more payment methods so if you make it better and/or better exchange rated for them, that part I would approve.

[UurlockYgmeov]

It'll be more about locking in the hours closer to actually doing it rather than any kind of espionage thing. I would expect at least a few days notice on downtime, and a more general time frame as we get closer to it.

hopefully will be on a plane heading to a ship by then *knocking on wood*

[slarden]

Just the opposite. If all goes well we will be migrating the game environment and accounts to new hardware and a more modern data center infrastructure.Sev~

Have you considered merging game servers as part of this process (e.g., Sarlona + wayfinder) or is that something completely off the table?

[Severlin]

Another melee buffing for 3 years and a little divine? Is there any chance in the next 10 years that the extremely underpowered arcane casters get a pass? They've only weakened since the beginning of ddo. Only them. Looks like turbine has a deep hatred for arcane chars.

As we've mentioned previously, the biggest weakness of casters currently is putting out good boss DPS without completely draining spell points. We will be addressing that with some kind of new high level damage over time spell. I have no time frame to announce at this time, but unlikely it will be 3 years out.

Sev~

[Seikojin]

I should not tell players that Ranger will be next once we finish up Warlock in case something causes us to change our plans. Nor can I say that fighter will be some time after that, probably after we work on a new Favored Soul tree. Sadly I cannot confirm any of this information.

Sev~

AHAHAHAHA! Win!

Thanks for the update, and the timetable looks aggressive in my QA eyes. Not that I haven't seen that before or anything... LOL

[Sebastrd]

Robert “Severlin” Ciccolini

Oh no! I've seen Duck Soup?! I know where this is going...

[btolson]

As we've mentioned previously, the biggest weakness of casters currently is putting out good boss DPS without completely draining spell points. We will be addressing that with some kind of new high level damage over time spell. I have no time frame to announce at this time, but unlikely it will be 3 years out.

Sev~

I wish you'd do it through a revisiting of current spells or casting mechanics instead. This makes it sound like "the new spell" will be just about the only thing you'll want to use on a boss, which is boring. Would vastly prefer making an array of older spells more relevant for the sake of variety/fun.

Off-the-cuff-and-possibly-bad-idea:
Add a new stance, "Focused Fire". For every successive spell you cast against a single enemy you gain a stack of -3% sp costs, stacking 15? times. Targeting a different enemy with a spell clears the whole stack.

[Harusennin]

Thank you! I need that warlock.

Greetings!

It’s been extremely busy and fun for us here on the DDO team this year and we feel the time is right to provide an update on some of our plans over the next few months.

We’ve made some excellent strides to reduce lag and improve stability, and we are continuing to work towards these goals. One of the larger projects that we are working on is a transfer of our game servers and other hardware to a new data center. The new facility will provide both Dungeons and Dragons Online and our friends over at The Lord of the Rings Online with more stability, greater CPU power, and a better networking capability. This will complement our ongoing efforts to reduce lag. It’s a big project and as the year progresses we will be working toward a date where we will migrate to the new datacenter.

Update 26 is coming in June, and it will focus mainly on a new class; the Warlock! Warlocks make pacts with powerful otherworldly patrons and channel that eldritch power into powerful blasts and arcane spells. The Warlock can choose a pact with Fiends, Archfey, or even a Great Old One. The Warlock will also have three enhancement trees; the Tainted Scholar, the Souleater, and the Enlightened Spirit.

Update 27 will follow in July. It includes an all-new adventure pack that returns to Shavarath, showcasing the Archons’ side of its endless war. With your help the Gatekeepers have gathered enough Mysterious Remnants to continue their research. They’ve tracked the Remnants back to Shavarath, the Plane of Battle. You need to travel there to recruit the help of the Archons in unravelling this mystery. The Archons, however, will only aid those who are worthy, and you find yourself embroiled not only in their tests, but in their eternal struggle with the Devils and the Demons. This adventure pack will include three new dungeons and a new raid, and as usual will be free to VIPs.

We've also been hearing your feedback that you'd like an improved experience when using the DDO Store, and we're happy to say that we'll be introducing a new store in the near future! We expect the updated DDO Store to offer a streamlined experience when making purchases and many other improvements. We're planning to start rolling out the new DDO Store to players later this summer. You will still be able to purchase Turbine Points with a credit/debit card, PayPal, and a wide selection of alternate payment methods. We'll have more to say about the DDO Store as we get closer to its launch.

We'll have more updates this year as well, of course. Players will be able to increase their character level to 30. We’ll have more adventure packs for you. We’ll have an Epic and extended version of our popular Shroud raid and a new adventure pack that relates to the Vale of Twilight. Players will be able to use an updated and epic version of Greensteel to craft more powerful gear. We are excited to bring this content to you!

Thank you for being a part of the Dungeons & Dragons Online community, and we love hearing your feedback. It's been a pleasure to talk to everyone here, and we hope to see you in-game for a long time to come.

Robert “Severlin” Ciccolini

[Drakos]

And also I simply dislike intently the grind per item of greensteal. I know I said I wasn't going to go into it but briefly

Agreed. I disliked this enough that of my 30+toon I have exactly one with greensteel items.

[nibel]

Steam is cool, but we have no plans to force players to use Steam to play DDO or to use the new store. Steam users can keep using Steam, and players who don't use Steam don't have to switch to it to play DDO or use the store when the new store becomes available.

Sev~

On a different, but related note, can you guys make DDO available worldwide on Steam? I really like the platform, but for a while I can't install it through Steam because the game is blocked on my country. I was able to do some work-arounds to INSTALL it, but then if you install it through steam, you can only add TP via codes or the Steam store, but not the credit card in your turbine account. And since the game is blocked in my country... well, I had to remove the Steam installation.

[Silkenwise]

Another melee buffing for 3 years and a little divine? Is there any chance in the next 10 years that the extremely underpowered arcane casters get a pass? They've only weakened since the beginning of ddo. Only them. Looks like turbine has a deep hatred for arcane chars.

The lack of spells is really dissapointing. It's one of the things about this game that is the LEAST like actual Dungeons & Dragons.

Warlocks are another arcane casting class, but our spellbooks are still woefully inadequate.

So many old spells are completely useless, and it's been YEARS since we've seen even a single new spell. It's pretty sad.

[HatsuharuZ]

As we've mentioned previously, the biggest weakness of casters currently is putting out good boss DPS without completely draining spell points. We will be addressing that with some kind of new high level damage over time spell. I have no time frame to announce at this time, but unlikely it will be 3 years out.

Sev~

Umm... this may not be an optimal solution. I would suggest a discussion thread be posted concerning casters in epic content before the devs do anything.

[FranOhmsford]

Steam is cool, but we have no plans to force players to use Steam to play DDO or to use the new store. Steam users can keep using Steam, and players who don't use Steam don't have to switch to it to play DDO or use the store when the new store becomes available.

Sev~

Hang on...WHAT?

So is DDO going to have a new store AND the current store then?

Otherwise hell yes you'll be forcing people who use the current store to use the new one!

Is it a good idea to tell your players who WANT to pay for your game that they no longer can unless they download/install and use a completely different program that they have no other interest in?

I'm sorry but if this post is a joke it's in very bad taste!