Caster update to get rid of insta kills

[Xgya]

Ooooh...tough choice...

The air horn has undeniable and visceral impact, but...

...I think the versatility of the kazoo is more in keeping with bardic flavor.

And honestly, who doesn't get chills when listening to an epic rendition of heroic kazoo music?

I had to log in just so I could share a +1.

Though I'd gladly have an air horn for the memories they bring. A DM introduced an intelligent one in a game to our bard. "You hear the whispers of old through this old war horn, bristling with power and majesty. Through your mind, you hear its first imperious command: 'Blow Me'."

[Silverleafeon]

It isn't, official font nonwithstanding :P We have put more serious discussion into the tech required to introduce kazoos as a bardic instrument than we have to anything related to this proposal. Part of me kind of wishes that the real stuff we were working on would get leaked, as I'm beyond excited for some of the stuff in u41 and would do almost anything to break some news about what's happening soon I guess we'll all have to wait!

+1 Thanks for communicating.


Either Kazoo or Horn fine with me, please make playing time for songs shorter when that is implemented, thank you.

[glmfw1]

+1 Thanks for communicating.


Either Kazoo or Horn fine with me, please make playing time for songs shorter when that is implemented, thank you.

Some of the Bard trainers have been trialling the Kazoo sounds for years.. and the play time seems way longer I stood by one for 3 hours once and STILL didn't get the buffs!

[Pyed-Pyper]

There are a lot of good comments in this thread, and few ignorant ones as well, so while it is tempting to respond to each, it would be a bit much to do so.

There should be a place in this game for the original distinguishing features, such as stealth, turn undead, DC casting, DPS casting. One of these things is not like the others (as much). Aside from DPS casting, these features are not easily scaleable. It appears to me that SSG has made a business decision to make the game (more) easily scaleable in order more easily sell power - the next carrot on a stick for the eternal hamster wheel.

In that sense, I'm sure Reaper and Racial reincarnations are smashing success stories. In business terms, "leveraging content". In layman's terms, "rehashing the same ol' stuff again and again". But in the sense of maintaining a balance and flavor of the game, tragic failures.

There is a certain dev that interacts with the forum much more than the others and generally I would say this is a good thing. Positive interaction between business and customer is usually a good thing. However, in this case I have no reason to believe what this dev has said, not because I think this person is dishonest, but because I do not have any reason to believe that this person is involved with, or even privy to, the business decisions made about DDO.

Recently, I made a comment about what would happen in some future caster pass, prior to seeing this thread. Upton Sinclair's quote about a man's salary seems especially appropriate here, because ultimately one ends up dissecting the goose for those eggs and then no one gets the gold.


The comment about checkers and chess is especially apt, Stop homogenizing everything. Stop changing DDO into WoW. Don't tell me something to make me feel better about a fundamental change. Show me something that won't make me unhappy. I'm tired of being told something in business-doublespeak (e.g. Reaper) and seeing an entirely different result.

[AbyssalMage]

If they do this... they will effectively kill off an entire playstyle. I doubt this is true... well, I hope it isn't true anyways.

Bosses cannot be instakilled still, right?

Killing off a play style for the argument of "balance" is definitely in the realm of the developers. Always misguided, but in their realm.

Lynnabel has publicly stated that the OP's statement is false. She has also hinted that Bardic Instruments may become a "thing," which on reflection, seems odd that it has taken 10+ years for such a development. Hopefully they can create the "tech" (i.e. coding) to make it happen and it doesn't break the game like Cloaks (i.e. U40) did.

Oh well, time to go watch a movie and enjoy the remaining part of the day.

[glmfw1]

Part of me kind of wishes that the real stuff we were working on would get leaked, as I'm beyond excited for some of the stuff in u41 and would do almost anything to break some news about what's happening soon

OMG... are we getting PDKs that don't look hideously deformed (and perhaps even ones that look human)? Please! Please! Please! I would be "beyond excited" if that was happening!

[SerPounce]

A troll is truly impressive when even after their post is debunked people keep believing it because it so perfectly plays into the marks' insecurities and paranoia.

[karatemack]

It isn't, official font nonwithstanding :P We have put more serious discussion into the tech required to introduce kazoos as a bardic instrument than we have to anything related to this proposal. Part of me kind of wishes that the real stuff we were working on would get leaked, as I'm beyond excited for some of the stuff in u41 and would do almost anything to break some news about what's happening soon I guess we'll all have to wait!

Bard instruments with different songs based on the instrument would be cool. There's other recent updates I really enjoy too... Night revels revamp is a win for sure! Have enjoyed nearly all of the new content since RL, and the new raid is pretty much perfectly balanced in that it's able to be completed by more casual groups and yet offers the top-tier players a real challenge on higher difficulties. With rumors of old loot revamps (fingers crossed on the S/S/S system upgrade to runes :O) and many of the other changes... I really have only have one current "complaint" (which I won't de-rail this thread by raising here). There is TONS of stuff to enjoy ATM and so I am also excited for what you all are working on.

-Karatemack

[Enoach]

It isn't, official font nonwithstanding :P We have put more serious discussion into the tech required to introduce kazoos as a bardic instrument than we have to anything related to this proposal. Part of me kind of wishes that the real stuff we were working on would get leaked, as I'm beyond excited for some of the stuff in u41 and would do almost anything to break some news about what's happening soon I guess we'll all have to wait!

Bummer I was really hoping for a drum.

[nokowi]

A troll is truly impressive when even after their post is debunked people keep believing it because it so perfectly plays into the marks' insecurities and paranoia.

I'm not sure who you think believed the OP, or why you can't fathom possible purposes other than "trolling".

Here is what I read/discerned:

Many of us don't believe dev statements
1) because they have repeatedly made false statements in the past
2) because their "design" decisions seem to change weekly - without regards to their past statements
3) because Lynnabel is probably not part of design decisions

For me its #1 and #2. I judge dev comments by their actions, and their words have been shown to have little value because of #2. I don't think they will get rid of insta-kill, but getting a dev response about it is meaningless (to me), as I know they will go against their own words in a heartbeat, and that they are quite willing to not support class features. Someone else may put more value in their words.

Many of us can sense misdirection quite easily (hey go talk about bardic instruments). We do judge dev statements by the quality of the response (amount of thought put into them), and misdirection could say something about the seriousness of the response (interpret as you want - a non serious/whimsical response can also be to what is viewed as a non-serious question). I personally look for thoughtfulness of response when judging whether devs are serious about something, without giving much value to what they say other than it is an honest representation of the flavor of the week - and likely subject to change.



The purpose of such a thread could be to elicit discussion about where DC casting should be, or even to provoke a dev response that they are not going to terminate insta-kills as part of their history of no longer supporting class features. It could be to get any information at all in support of their preferences, or just information in general. You could try asking if it is important to you.

Getting a dev to say on record they don't plan to get rid of insta-kills (or some other piece of information) could give a player some measure of comfort. Forumites are probably now wise enough to realize that devs generally do not respond to informative posts or requests for information, and that devs are more likely respond to posts that are provocative to players or ones that relieve their stress by having nothing to do with anything relevant or important. So congrats to the OP for getting a response, if that was their intent.


If you find the thread not valuable, that's OK. People interested in bardic instruments got some information and should be happy, so there is value to the thread regardless of the intent of the OP.


It certainly looks like they don't plan on killing DC casting - this week.

[droid327]

It's either kazoo or air horn, let us know what would be the best choice.

Vuvuzela

bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[droid327]

It isn't, official font nonwithstanding :P We have put more serious discussion into the tech required to introduce kazoos as a bardic instrument than we have to anything related to this proposal. Part of me kind of wishes that the real stuff we were working on would get leaked, as I'm beyond excited for some of the stuff in u41 and would do almost anything to break some news about what's happening soon I guess we'll all have to wait!

Is it craaaafting related?

[Lynnabel]

Is it craaaafting related?

No spoilers We'll probably have some cool stuff to share relatively soon, but that's always subject to change.

3) because Lynnabel is probably not part of design decisions

It's true, on the DDO team you don't even get a desk until you work on the project for 10 years. I've only been here for two, so I'm relegated to the parking lot. At least I'm not an intern, they're all the way down the street in a completely unrelated office

^{at least I get my own parking space this post was a joke please don't take it seriously}

[Dark_Helmet]

No spoilers We'll probably have some cool stuff to share relatively soon, but that's always subject to change.

Such as bard songs using real songs - like Oingo Boingo (Dead Man's Party) or Bobby Pickett (Monster Mash)?
If you made the bard songs play Yakety Sax for their duration, you would move above 404 in my favorite dev list.
...Yes I am an old fart...and starting new rumors.

[btolson]

No spoilers We'll probably have some cool stuff to share relatively soon, but that's always subject to change.



It's true, on the DDO team you don't even get a desk until you work on the project for 10 years. I've only been here for two, so I'm relegated to the parking lot. At least I'm not an intern, they're all the way down the street in a completely unrelated office

^{at least I get my own parking space this post was a joke please don't take it seriously}

How much tenure until you can use one of the bathrooms instead of the trench outside?

[AbyssalMage]

It's true, on the DDO team you don't even get a desk until you work on the project for 10 years. I've only been here for two, so I'm relegated to the parking lot. At least I'm not an intern, they're all the way down the street in a completely unrelated office

^{at least I get my own parking space this post was a joke please don't take it seriously}

That has to be a killer when the snowstorms hit in December.

Now we know why Tower of Frost came to be J/K

[janave]

How much tenure until you can use one of the bathrooms instead of the trench outside?

Outside?

Looking at some of the walkups ingame, they are probably renting a mobile unit on the other side of the city.

[auntjobiska]

It's either kazoo or air horn, let us know what would be the best choice.

No...no...it has to be vuvuzela!

AJ

* rats...ninjaed

[vms4ever]

Kazoos are fine but make sure you include bagpipes. One of the best things in LOTRO is the classification of bagpipes as ranged weapons. The second best thing is player generated music. Love the bands in Bree and elsewhere.

[vms4ever]

That has to be a killer when the snowstorms hit in December.

Now we know why Tower of Frost came to be J/K

No, if tower of frost was based on the local climactic conditions, getting to the tower would have required shoveling a path to the tower through a snowdrift that was over a half orc's head and was filling in behind us almost as fast as we shoveled. All the while suffering ice damage.

I don't sound bitter about New England weather do I?: (My shoulders still hurt from shoveling snow.)