DDO Producer's Letter - September 2016

[Bolo_Grubb]

focus on cosmetic fun.



It remains an honor to be your executive producer, and i'll be back later this year to look ahead to 2017. Until next time, may the loot gods smile on you.

~ sev

woot!

[Ziindarax]

I hope you've been enjoying Against the Slave Lords, checking out our new Cannith Crafting update, and helping us celebrate a decade of DDO! I'm writing today to talk about our plans for the rest of the year and beyond.

Our goal is to release two updates before the end of the year. One of the updates will be larger, the other smaller, and combined they'll bring several things that players have long asked for to DDO. Since we are currently working on two updates, it isn't clear yet what will be in each update. We'll release things when they are ready, so if something isn't ready in time for next month, we'll see if we can finalize it for the following update in December.

Here's the list of Things We’re Working On:

~ Updated Night Revels event: First up, we’re working on an update to The Night Revels, our Halloween-themed event which debuted last year. We’re planning to add a couple of new quests along with a handful of new items that will focus on cosmetic fun. We’re expecting the updated Night Revels to debut later in October.

~ A new Questing hub: We've long wanted to help people figure out where to go and what to do when they come back to DDO from some time away, and this hub will help both them as well as anyone who'd like to get to quest entrances more quickly. We don't have a name for this new system yet, and we'll be talking a lot more about it in the coming weeks.

~ World Character Transfers: We've heard from many of you that our process to transfer characters from one world to another needs to be more intuitive and take less time. Our new launcher-based system will send a character or characters from one world to another in seconds, and players will be able to pay for their transfers directly with Turbine Points. We think you'll like this transfer system, which is already in place in our sister game Lord of the Rings Online. Expect to see it debut by the end of the year.

~ Deity feats: We’ll be adding new Deities that players can follow, and new feats that can be unlocked by players who find favor with their deity of choice.

~ A new free dungeon: We’re expecting to release a new free dungeon in December that we think fans of A Study in Sable will enjoy. This quest sends adventurers to a popular type of pen and paper location that hasn’t had much representation in DDO. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil it.

~Character Bank Storage: We’re working to take the user interface used for your Shared Account Bank and Crafting Storage and bring it to your personal character bank. Besides an improved look and functionality, this change will allow us to offer additional character bank storage space in the future.

~ Monks and Favored Soul updates: Continuing our class work, you can expect an overhaul of handwraps in addition to updated enhancement trees for both classes.

Looking beyond 2016, we know many of you have been hearing the rumors and teases about Ravenloft, so let's talk Strahd. We're 100% interested in bringing Ravenloft to DDO, and are working through the process to make it happen. We don't have an exact time frame in mind, although our current plan has it coming to DDO sometime towards the end of 2017. We can't wait to bring one of the most popular and classic adventures in Dungeons & Dragons history to the game.

We’re also planning for our 11^th anniversary in late February! We’re hoping to debut a new playable race for the anniversary along with some new adventuring. We’ve been asking you whether you’d like to play a kobold or dragonborn, and while the final decision hasn’t been made, it looks like many of you would enjoy the dragonborn, so we’ll see what the anniversary brings.

It remains an honor to be your Executive Producer, and I'll be back later this year to look ahead to 2017. Until next time, may the loot gods smile on you.

~ Sev

These all look fantastic!

Hoping to play dragonborn.

[cru121]

~ World Character Transfers: We've heard from many of you that our process to transfer characters from one world to another needs to be more intuitive and take less time. Our new launcher-based system will send a character or characters from one world to another in seconds, and players will be able to pay for their transfers directly with Turbine Points. We think you'll like this transfer system, which is already in place in our sister game Lord of the Rings Online. Expect to see it debut by the end of the year.

If the transfer technology is so streamlined that it only takes seconds... why not implement free temporary transfers?
1) make global LFM panel available from the launcher.
2) allow players to log with a character directly to any server.
3) restrict trading of visiting characters if you're worried about global economy.

[Eleannore]

~ Deity feats: We’ll be adding new Deities that players can follow, and new feats that can be unlocked by players who find favor with their deity of choice.

Will Forgotten Realms deities like Mystra or Gond be included as well?

[FranOhmsford]

~ World Character Transfers: We've heard from many of you that our process to transfer characters from one world to another needs to be more intuitive and take less time. Our new launcher-based system will send a character or characters from one world to another in seconds, and players will be able to pay for their transfers directly with Turbine Points. We think you'll like this transfer system, which is already in place in our sister game Lord of the Rings Online. Expect to see it debut by the end of the year.

At £20 a Pop even if it's able to be bought with TP it will still be too expensive for many.

And honestly with the amount of alts around I think you'd get a lot more sales out of this by halving the cost or even more.

~ Deity feats: We’ll be adding new Deities that players can follow, and new feats that can be unlocked by players who find favor with their deity of choice.

FINALLY!

Please give us:
Moradin

~ A new free dungeon: We’re expecting to release a new free dungeon in December that we think fans of A Study in Sable will enjoy. This quest sends adventurers to a popular type of pen and paper location that hasn’t had much representation in DDO. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil it.

The problem with the likes of Study in Sable is that it's a great one off dungeon but the replay value is very low! I personally have maybe ran this 3 or 4 times since it came out and I don't dislike it!

~Character Bank Storage: We’re working to take the user interface used for your Shared Account Bank and Crafting Storage and bring it to your personal character bank. Besides an improved look and functionality, this change will allow us to offer additional character bank storage space in the future.

Partly good, partly bad - I like the Tab System and if you're going to change to a Shared Bank Style System then can we PLEASE get a Page Search Option?

Because the current system of turning the page in the Shared Bank is massively annoying - Especially when you have to go through 15 pages in the Crafting Bank, ONE AT A TIME!

~ Monks and Favored Soul updates: Continuing our class work, you can expect an overhaul of handwraps in addition to updated enhancement trees for both classes.

Long overdue for both of these - Nice to hear they'll be done by the end of the year and just maybe you can look at Clerics first thing next year?

We’re also planning for our 11^th anniversary in late February! We’re hoping to debut a new playable race for the anniversary along with some new adventuring. We’ve been asking you whether you’d like to play a kobold or dragonborn, and while the final decision hasn’t been made, it looks like many of you would enjoy the dragonborn, so we’ll see what the anniversary brings.

I personally hate the very idea of Dragonborn.

And I find the Bait and Switch with teasing us about FINALLY getting Kobolds only to take them away like this to be repugnant!

[FranOhmsford]

Will Forgotten Realms deities like Mystra or Gond be included as well?

Uh....Isn't Mystra dead in the DDO timeline?

Isn't that why Anna is the Thread of the Weave?

[Saekee]

thx Sev!
Consider our various forum threads on Night Revels for inspiration.

Not sure what to make of the Hub--is this anti-immersion?

[Vaidan]

Any news on when we will see arti's update? They still have only two trees, one of which is seriously outdated.

[Ziindarax]

Uh....Isn't Mystra dead in the DDO timeline?

Isn't that why Anna is the Thread of the Weave?

5th Edition retconned her death, and restored her as the Goddess of Magic. Basically, 5th Edition undid all the changes that 4th edition made to the lore.

[DeliaKelodin]

Will Forgotten Realms deities like Mystra or Gond be included as well?

Math Mathonwy. Lolth (give Drow a Dragonmark). Garl Glittergold. Deities. All of them from 2nd Edition Legends & Lore and Monster Mythology please!

[Zistra]

While it would be nice to have more character bank storage, I'd rather keep what we have than have it replaced with the current shared bank interface. I use the tabs to sort my stuff. Yes, I can search for items in the shared bank interface, but I can only search by name. That doesn't help me when I pull things out of my TR cache and store them in my character bank by ML so that they're easier to find when I level up. It also doesn't help if I'm working through a few epic past lives and store my level 26 gear set in one tab so that it's really easy to swap gear when I hit level 26. It also doesn't allow me to put certain "important" items in the first tab so that I always see them when I open the bank. It also doesn't allow me to put items that I'll no longer use this life on a separate tab so that I don't have to bother looking through them when I'm searching for something.

Of course, the best option would be if you improve the shared storage interface before changing the personal bank storage to use it. Here are a few things that could be improved with the shared bank interface:

- There's no easy way to move items around in the list.

- Paging through the shared crafting storage can be slow and painful. I have about 30 pages, and I sometimes use it to move items among toons. The last items added go at the end of the list, and it isn't always easy to search for them.

- Adding new sorting methods (ML, item type, reverse time order, etc.) would make it easier to use.

- Adding new search methods (ML, item type, item attributes, etc.) would make it easier to use.

- Having subdirectories in the storage that we can rename would really help with keeping things sorted and easy to find.

All of this. Of course, the worst storage is the TR cache, with neither tabs nor sorting. But ideally, I'd love to have searchable, sortable, and groupable (folders) as criteria for all the storage methods. And if I just dump my green bag into the shared crafting storage, it would be awesome if it were able to sort the contents into the places I've put their like. At the very least, to add item 'x' to the stack of that item in a subfolder. (Also would want to be able to rename the subfolders). The paging system in shared crafting storage is annoying and awkward. Please don't duplicate it. I actually prefer the single long list in the TR cache.

[Steve_Howe]

Uh....Isn't Mystra dead in the DDO timeline?

Isn't that why Anna is the Thread of the Weave?

1. Mystra is back!

2. Anna hosted a portion of Mystra'a power (and some say a portion of Mystra herself). Anna did not become the "new" Mystra. She just hosted a portion so Mystra didn't truly die.

Read the six book series called "The Sundering" starting with "The Companions" and ending with "The Herald."

[DeliaKelodin]

All of this. Of course, the worst storage is the TR cache, with neither tabs nor sorting. But ideally, I'd love to have searchable, sortable, and groupable (folders) as criteria for all the storage methods. And if I just dump my green bag into the shared crafting storage, it would be awesome if it were able to sort the contents into the places I've put their like. At the very least, to add item 'x' to the stack of that item in a subfolder. (Also would want to be able to rename the subfolders). The paging system in shared crafting storage is annoying and awkward. Please don't duplicate it. I actually prefer the single long list in the TR cache.

I think sometimes I spend more time in TR cache and other storage than actual questing!

[Dieterstein]

For the bank change, I'd echo others' concerns. I'd guess a fair number of players are a little OCD in terms of how they keep their items organized. As it stands, the shared bank doesn't allow any organization to it, short of manually pulling out and putting back in a particular order which is tedious at best. Even if you could add up/down arrows like are in the quivers, it would still be annoying to get things where you want them. Hopefully you have some new organizational scheme in mind or there could be many aggravated players...

[zrselier]

No more undead.
No more heroic undead.
No more epic undead,
And please no legendary undead.

We have the necropolis, the orchard, Delaras, a lich dragon, and a vampire god, just to name a few.

Please do something different, new, exciting, but please stop rehashing undead.

[Steuern]

"We’re hoping to debut a new playable race for the anniversary along with some new adventuring. We’ve been asking you whether you’d like to play a kobold or dragonborn, and while the final decision hasn’t been made, it looks like many of you would enjoy the dragonborn, so we’ll see what the anniversary brings."


No no no no, Kobold please! Not dragonborn! D:

[Zistra]

First, I still hate that you implemented prefix, suffix and extra slot restrictions in Cannith crafting. The new system was supposed to be easier and more intuitive. It isn't. I understand limiting which gear slots can have which effects (and it's nice to be able to view that before creating a shard). However, it seems to me that prefixes and suffixes just add unnecessary complication without adding value. It would be much simpler to plan an item if you could just look for 2 (or 3) effects that could go on the same piece of gear. Why do you care what combinations we can devise? It's not a power issue, because the power of the effects is the same.

Second, there's no indication of at what ML an "Insightful" shard begins to provide a bonus. I created an Insightful Search shard and tried to apply it to a pair of ML7 gloves and all I got was "no recipes found". I assume that's because Insightful Search provides no bonus until some higher ML.

Third, there's no way in-game to see the power of a level-dependent shard until you create it and apply it to a piece of gear. This means, for example, I can't tell whether the Combustion shard I'm about to install on a piece of L27 gear will provide more benefit than some other piece of Combustion gear I might already have without investing the materials. Or whether it's worthwhile bothering to add an "Insightful Combustion" shard on the extra slot.

[kmoustakas]

It all sounds wonderful

[JOTMON]

I hope you've been enjoying Against the Slave Lords, checking out our new Cannith Crafting update, and helping us celebrate a decade of DDO! I'm writing today to talk about our plans for the rest of the year and beyond.

Our goal is to release two updates before the end of the year. One of the updates will be larger, the other smaller, and combined they'll bring several things that players have long asked for to DDO. Since we are currently working on two updates, it isn't clear yet what will be in each update. We'll release things when they are ready, so if something isn't ready in time for next month, we'll see if we can finalize it for the following update in December.

Here's the list of Things We’re Working On:

~ Updated Night Revels event: First up, we’re working on an update to The Night Revels, our Halloween-themed event which debuted last year. We’re planning to add a couple of new quests along with a handful of new items that will focus on cosmetic fun. We’re expecting the updated Night Revels to debut later in October.

~ A new Questing hub: We've long wanted to help people figure out where to go and what to do when they come back to DDO from some time away, and this hub will help both them as well as anyone who'd like to get to quest entrances more quickly. We don't have a name for this new system yet, and we'll be talking a lot more about it in the coming weeks.

~ World Character Transfers: We've heard from many of you that our process to transfer characters from one world to another needs to be more intuitive and take less time. Our new launcher-based system will send a character or characters from one world to another in seconds, and players will be able to pay for their transfers directly with Turbine Points. We think you'll like this transfer system, which is already in place in our sister game Lord of the Rings Online. Expect to see it debut by the end of the year.

~ Deity feats: We’ll be adding new Deities that players can follow, and new feats that can be unlocked by players who find favor with their deity of choice.

~ A new free dungeon: We’re expecting to release a new free dungeon in December that we think fans of A Study in Sable will enjoy. This quest sends adventurers to a popular type of pen and paper location that hasn’t had much representation in DDO. I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoil it.

~Character Bank Storage: We’re working to take the user interface used for your Shared Account Bank and Crafting Storage and bring it to your personal character bank. Besides an improved look and functionality, this change will allow us to offer additional character bank storage space in the future.

~ Monks and Favored Soul updates: Continuing our class work, you can expect an overhaul of handwraps in addition to updated enhancement trees for both classes.

Looking beyond 2016, we know many of you have been hearing the rumors and teases about Ravenloft, so let's talk Strahd. We're 100% interested in bringing Ravenloft to DDO, and are working through the process to make it happen. We don't have an exact time frame in mind, although our current plan has it coming to DDO sometime towards the end of 2017. We can't wait to bring one of the most popular and classic adventures in Dungeons & Dragons history to the game.

We’re also planning for our 11^th anniversary in late February! We’re hoping to debut a new playable race for the anniversary along with some new adventuring. We’ve been asking you whether you’d like to play a kobold or dragonborn, and while the final decision hasn’t been made, it looks like many of you would enjoy the dragonborn, so we’ll see what the anniversary brings.

It remains an honor to be your Executive Producer, and I'll be back later this year to look ahead to 2017. Until next time, may the loot gods smile on you.

~ Sev

So far so good..
Slavers content is fun, traps hurt, great set bonus worthy of the grind
The individual exploding traps are a good way to damage.. many small hits lots of fails... much better than 1 big trap... Magnetic trap(lol's)..
some tweaking would be nice.. block disable traps.. disabling rogues/artificers are screwed crawling along individually doing 8-packs of traps every 50' of corridor.. while everyone else runs past/rezzes on the other side...
after half a dozen runs even the rogues are just skipping traps... rez scrolls are cheaper...



~Questing Hub... Harry Potter Hall of Portals for the Ministry of magic..

that links to...


Would like to see strategically placed transport guides.. scouts, escorts, dragomen.. whatever you want to call them.. a public neutered version of the planescaller.. they get you to a destination quickly.. for a price of course...

~World character transfers.. still lacking..
Account Transfer, Guildship Transfer, all storage transfer...

~Deity feats...
Sounds like you are gimping on what should be done here.. a couple deity specific feats is really kind of pointless... sure we can always use more feat choices.. but it sounds like you are missing the point...
Deity Pacts for Clerics that mirror the setup for Warlocks.. that's what we are looking for...

~a new free Dungeopn..
Just one?...doom... we need content....

~Character bank storage..
There is a need for a better system.. hope you are up to the task of a serious revamp...What we have now.. ugh....
I would want to see a AH style interface and setup that lets me search/sort/filter.. and all the other category mechanics the AH interface has..

~Monks & FVS..
we have been waiting a long time....

~Ravenloft Expansion..
sure.. it means content.. and we want content....

~11th Anniversary..
Would of expected to see Tiefling and Aasimar long before Koboldsand or Dragonborn.. but somehow these are not options or even on the drawaing board?
Kobold/Dragonborn cosmetic skins for players and pets probably would have sufficed for the birthday event...
but I guess its something more than we have ..so ok...

[Steve_Howe]

~11th Anniversary..
Would of expected to see Tiefling and Aasimar long before Koboldsand or Dragonborn.. but somehow these are not options or even on the drawaing board?

I would like to know this as well.