Producer's Letter - 5/21/15

[Robai]

...
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.
...

Since DDO Store will be updated then can we expect the most wanted item in there at some point? (Hint: ... BtC storage ...)

[Steelstar]

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!

That's the opposite of what was said.

There will be a brand-new Store, unrelated to any current Store (DDO or otherwise).
All users will be able to use said Store, regardless of Steam. Just like the current Store.

[FranOhmsford]

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

Ghallanda would be better suited for a merge with Wayfinder than Sarlona.

Sarlona imo would fit best community and pop. numbers wise with Argo.

Cannith with Khyber

and Thelanis with Orien.


A Drop to 6 {Ghallanda/Wayfinder and Thelanis/Orien being the two I'd choose} or even 4 servers would in my view be a very good thing for DDO and the news that Turbine are planning on a move to new data centres etc. makes me hopeful that server mergers will be included in that move.

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~

So what about Monks and Artis?

I know Artis got a bit of a buff with the Rogue Mech buffs but Pure Artis seriously need a redo!

And as for Monks - Well it would be nice if we weren't forced to go full on Earth Stance with all enhancements AND two item slots dedicated to PRR to have any chance of staying alive for more than 3 seconds!

[FranOhmsford]

That's the opposite of what was said.

There will be a brand-new Store, unrelated to any current Store (DDO or otherwise).
All users will be able to use said Store, regardless of Steam. Just like the current Store.

Thank you for the confirmation - Sev's wording was not great and I had enough trouble with the DDOMarket when that was introduced!

[Delacroix21]

When will any of this hit Lammania? as it seems to keep being pushed back. I check everyday multiple times a day for Lammania to be patched up but its just not happening. Im so bored... =(

[lasertagbugzapper]

orien already merged with thelanis. they just did it themselves via character transfers. we want ghallanda and Khyber. and cannith.

[Kanuk]

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 agree with what you consider to be the biggest issue, boss DPS, but I am worried about the possible solutions. If its a new level 8 or 9 spell that arcane and divine get, that could work but I would be totally against a new feat. Melees don't kneed to take a special feat to have good boss DPS, why should casters?

If you feel that the only way possible is via a feat, please consider a ED feat for level 26. Even if it would take a while to get the feat, I feel it the "feat slot" that would hurt caster least.

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.

Agreed 100% with your point of view.

Regarding "Off-the-cuff-and-possibly-bad-idea" for "Focused Fire". I would be willing to drop to -1% sp cost or even no SP reduction, but instead +X spell power (non-positive) stacking X times. Not disrupted by casting heals/buffs. Probably not usable in raids or else we could end up with even crazier amount of HP for raid boss. Most casters can't get close to typical melee DPS these days but can balance that out with DC spells, I just want to be able to kill red names in similar time as melee with similar resource usage.

On a completely different topic, considering the amount of server merger threads in the last few months, anyway to get a possible comment? Considering the producer letter is a yearly thing, would be nice to get some feedback from the dev on the subject so people stop asking for a time. Something like, yes you are considering something in those lines or no server merger will happen within the next year(s)? If it's a hard no, any possibility on a server transfer special? Like 75% off or 3 characters for the price of 1 ?

[IronClan]

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.

I concure with this. I don't believe the current Dev staff have or run casters in high level content if they think the issues can be fixed with a Epic Spell or destiny feat DOT.

The problem(s) are:

.) hitting 386,000 HP bosses with spells that cause a couple thousand damage per 50 to 115 spell points used, cast out of 2800-3800 sp pools. This is 386,000 divided by (say) 2000 damage (that's generous for an average) = 193 casts @ 50 to 115 spell points (we'll call it 80sp average), that's 15,440 spell points required... Which at 600 sp recovered per drink means chugging 25 superior memn pots to kill 1 sub-boss. Granted the caster doesn't have to do all the damage unless solo'ing but this is just meant to illustrate a point, you're also not going to get 2000 damage average per spell against a boss that can't be helpless, unless you're waiting on your best two spells to cool down instead of using filler spells. So in other words unless you're standing there waiting for Ruin and Draconic burst to cool off, you're doing a LOT less than 2000 damage every time you cast... Heroic spells in your rotation will drop this even more.

.) AOE's have been massively outscaled in Epics, Blade Barrier, Icestorm, Firewalls signiture spells of the game are all tickle torture to 9000hp trash mobs, might as well be handing out wedgies and purple nurples.

.) Direct damage Heroic spells in Epics are a joke, the only way to effectively nuke is by using Destiny and Epic feat spells, and SLA's or Shiradi cast.

.) and finally yes the DOT's we already have need to scale better just like Direct damage spells and AOE's.

Adding a new Epic Spell DOT while not objectionable by itself just pigeon holes everyone into using that, building for max crit % and spell power for whatever that DOT is. It also means we're all forced to take the same feat if we want Boss DPS. No offense Sev you know I like you: but since you started chucking massive hunks of Healamp and Melee power at Barb, and 20% DPS increase set bonus to make the spoonful of ToEE loot go down, this heavy handed stuff is not a good look... it says to me "just get it done", we all know you guys can do better... If you want to quick and dirty something quick and dirty the old level 20 end game into a mythic level 30 end game... don't quick and dirty casters they need more nuanced attention than a DOT. But they are easy to fix:

Take the caps off heroic spells in epic.
Give epic level as generic caster levels, and remove them from Destinies.
Put X1 multiplier in T5 Savants for their Element and X0.5 in Archmage give both a way to "build" multiplier and crit chance by small increments when solid nuking using SP spells (not SLA's).

[Eryhn]

sheesh, all this ranting, I couldnt care less about which update hits first and which class pass gets bumped, the single big thing here is we gonna get new hardware and better networking.
my ddo time currently consists of checking forums twice a weak cause I just about have had it with lag and performance issues. knowing somebody actually made WB see the benefits of investing some in up to date tech I'll be comin back to play even before that happens due to hoping things gonna improve.

Thank you very VERY much for that, I'll take that hands down as a sign of not all is lost even if it means 3 weeks downtime when it happens ...

[Hiponic]

orien already merged with thelanis. they just did it themselves via character transfers. we want ghallanda and Khyber. and cannith.

$25 at a time?

Rough dude. I would LOVE if the sale of the week one week would be %50 of or buy one get one toon transfer..
I have 5 Toons, 1 almost a triple completionist just sitting on G-Land. Would love to move to a more active server.


Or.. MERGE MERGE MERGE MERGE

[Silverleafeon]

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~

Epic Maximize You gain 150 spell power. It does not cost sp to activate this metamagic.
Requirement: Level 30

Bingo, instant epic boost for all spell casters.


But I very much like the addition of some Epic Spell Feats.

[slarden]

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 the update. The plans look great!

This seems to be implying that we will be able to upgrade our existing greensteel into a more powerful epic version. Is this accurate or will epic greensteel be independent from the existing heroic versions of gear/weapons?

[zehnvhex]

Hello. Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask a question like this but is there any plans to make grouping with varied level friends easier? For example, I'm getting my friends into playing the game but some of us are level 10+, some are 7ish, some are only level 2 or 4. In many other games they either realize it's just a game and let you play/advance together regardless of levels, others offer some gimmick like artificially lowering/raising power levels so you can play together.

It just really sucks to never be able to group with friends who might not play as much or play more then you do. We're already paying 150+ dollars a month to just play all the dungeons together, it would be nice if we didn't have to jump through hoops or flat out not play the game just to be able to play together when our schedules align.

Thank you for your consideration.

[FranOhmsford]

Hello. Apologies if this is the wrong place to ask a question like this but is there any plans to make grouping with varied level friends easier? For example, I'm getting my friends into playing the game but some of us are level 10+, some are 7ish, some are only level 2 or 4. In many other games they either realize it's just a game and let you play/advance together regardless of levels, others offer some gimmick like artificially lowering/raising power levels so you can play together.

It just really sucks to never be able to group with friends who might not play as much or play more then you do. We're already paying 150+ dollars a month to just play all the dungeons together, it would be nice if we didn't have to jump through hoops or flat out not play the game just to be able to play together when our schedules align.

Thank you for your consideration.

You probably already know this but I'll say it anyway:

DDO Has a system for running with friends of differing levels - MAKE A NEW TOON! {Perhaps on a new server if you're full up on alts already}.

Seriously - If you want your friends to have fun in this game then create a secondary toon to level them up to the level your main is waiting at!
OR
If they run that irregularly or say at a specific time and day once a week/month have that secondary toon to run with them when they are on and your main/s to play when they're not on!

There is one other possibility too:
Have them buy Vet 1, 2 or even an Iconic Race so they can get straight to your level {of course if you're planning on running E-BBs in Gianthold and Orchard with newbies then good luck keeping those newbies playing even with Iconics! {Bladeforged and PDK have good starter gear but it's still starter gear and not aimed at running E-BBs straight off, Morninglords have ok starter gear and Shadar-Kai have terrible starter gear!}.



BTW An Iconic is perfect for a player levelling up newbies as you don't need to take Lvls 2-15 till you're ready to take them and can level at the exact pace of your friends and take them through the best quests {perhaps multiple times to get them geared up each level}.
You already have all that xp and no need to worry about your own so can concentrate on theirs!

[phillymiket]

Cool.

Sounds good.
I'm looking forward to Warlock.
I'm coming back from a break for personal reason (no time these days) and wanted to get back into DDO before the new class arrives.
In before the 'Lock (sorry, couldn't resist)
I love the new stuff I'm seeing. Love the Aeofel DMing of ToEE.
Looking forward to the new Shav stuff.

The idea of new Hardware is super-encouraging for the games future and it made my day to hear.

Ghallanda would be better suited for a merge with Wayfinder than Sarlona

Wow that would be great.
We need some new peoples around here and a few more of our European brothers and sisters would fit in like peas and carrots.
Half of Wayfinder probably already knows a person or two in G-Land from the before times.

Anyway, just I wanted to pop in and tell the DDO team thanks for the good work and I look forward to more.

[maddong]

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~

It would help efficiency if epic spells had free meta magics (just like Ed powers)....

Anything that adds more spell power or max caster levels will of course help too. The problem may then become that the caster one shots all the trash if you increase it too much.

Maybe heroic damage spells need to get cheaper and cheaper as you increase in epic levels. Then throw in some more spell power closer to level 28. That would make casters more fun to play.

[Bloodskittle]

Looking forward to all this new content coming out, but please do us a favor and spend longer on Warlock, don't bring it out until you bring out epic shavarath. A new class with no new content will make for a fairly lame update.

[Marupal]

Greetings!

<lotsa cool stuff>

...

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.

Robert “Severlin” Ciccolini

Looking forward to the year's plans.

Hopefully this new DDOstore will give us the ability to gift store purchases or points straight to someone's account. You're missing out on a pretty big cash cow and we're missing out on the fun of it.

[Memnir]

I appreciate the return to Shavarath. It's been often requested, and it felt like the request was falling on Realms-deafened ears for a long time now. I may not have quested there very much, but I know that this will make a lot of long-time players very happy if done well. The more Fan Service in this game, the better, as far as I am concerned.

Nervous about the data-center move. We were told the exact same reasoning behind the last move (or two), that it would increase stability and reduce lag... and then we had the exactly opposite result. Wish I didn't have to be skeptical - but the weight of history is what it is. In this case, it has me worried that this is a budgetary move that is being gilded and wrapped in a nice bow to make it sound better.



As with everything, the proof is in the pudding. For a long time, the end results got me more and more disillusioned... I'm hoping that the trend continues to turning that around. It's been getting better - and actually listening to We The Players, and us seeing the results of that listening hitting the game, is fantastic. I'm not the utter cynic I was not too long ago. I'd enjoy nothing more then to count myself in the positive side of the ledger once more. I just hope the proof is worthy, and the pudding tasty.

[Singular]

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

Neat stuff!

Can you talk more about what the new servers will mean? Are you merging existing servers, creating a megaserver or just putting existing servers onto new hardware?

Me no savvy!