U42 Preview 1: Dungeons

[whoolsey]

I've tried a few quest, it was pretty late so i didn't get to them all.
The decor could use some set dressing, some more steam punk stuff as mentioned above, also some grafiti, they are slums after all, where is my "killroy was here"?

One of the quesrs bugged out on the crests (it was a big room with a pillar&pathway leading up in what looked like a clothing shop , it was really late, give me a break), i got 4 crests, 1 didn't go in the slot, spend 20 min looking, it dropped out of my inventory when i recalled.

The first one got me on a platform on the end, i walked away, 10 min later the invisible platform was still there, it didn't drop me down to end the quest.

The third quest had the npc platform bug out during the lengthy unskippeble cut scene, no mobs appeared, the npc just sat there.
All on heroic elite using a lv 16 toon

[LorentzRP]

I enjoyed Inquisitor with some of the ranged cha to atk/dmg options from FVS when paired with Shiradi. Finished the quests. I liked how the dice puzzles were optional. The flying around as an Inquisitor/caster was pretty awesome, although when I dived down to check out the flooring in/on the clouds, I was unable to access the ladders at all (or fly out), after having touched the clouds (/stuck). That was the only bug, I found, that impeded my progress. I appreciate the preview to see the upcoming content and new enhancement tree.

[MasterKernel]

Disclaimer

Everything seen on the preview server, Lamannia, is not final and is subject to change or removal before live release.

And I hope, you are going to change 'everything'. TT

OK. It's not as bad as the 'Disciples of Rage' was, we don't have zones that were created by using other dungeons' parts glued together yet it's SO bad.

Ravenloft has been created by people who knew their job aka Wizards RPG Team. The SSG team proves they can't do it. Just standard 'mindlessly run forward and kill everything in the dull gray decorations' type of quests. B O R I N G !

PS. New monsters looks nice, though. Looks like the art department are the only people in SSG that still can create something good. It is sad.

[Loromir]

And I hope, you are going to change 'everything'. TT

OK. It's not as bad as the 'Disciples of Rage' was, we don't have zones that were created by using other dungeons' parts glued together yet it's SO bad.

Ravenloft has been created by people who knew their job aka Wizards RPG Team. The SSG team proves they can't do it. Just standard 'mindlessly run forward and kill everything in the dull gray decorations' type of quests. B O R I N G !

PS. New monsters looks nice, though. Looks like the art department are the only people in SSG that still can create something good. It is sad.

This was an extremely helpful post.

[Aelonwy]

One of the quesrs bugged out on the crests (it was a big room with a pillar&pathway leading up in what looked like a clothing shop , it was really late, give me a break), i got 4 crests, 1 didn't go in the slot, spend 20 min looking, it dropped out of my inventory when i recalled.

I didn't have quite that experience however the crests seemed to only want to go in, in a certain order for me. That is, IIRC, I had all four crests but the first one I tried to put in on the farthest right would not so I clicked the one on the inside right and it went in then I clicked the farthest left and it would not but the inside left would then the farthest right, then outside left. I have no idea why it behaved this way but it only took me like an extra minute to get it to work so I didn't think much about it.

[Vyder]

And I hope, you are going to change 'everything'. TT

OK. It's not as bad as the 'Disciples of Rage' was, we don't have zones that were created by using other dungeons' parts glued together yet it's SO bad.

Ravenloft has been created by people who knew their job aka Wizards RPG Team. The SSG team proves they can't do it. Just standard 'mindlessly run forward and kill everything in the dull gray decorations' type of quests. B O R I N G !

PS. New monsters looks nice, though. Looks like the art department are the only people in SSG that still can create something good. It is sad.

I feel the the same way after running the quests.

[Clerize]

And I hope, you are going to change 'everything'. TT

OK. It's not as bad as the 'Disciples of Rage' was, we don't have zones that were created by using other dungeons' parts glued together yet it's SO bad.

Ravenloft has been created by people who knew their job aka Wizards RPG Team. The SSG team proves they can't do it. Just standard 'mindlessly run forward and kill everything in the dull gray decorations' type of quests. B O R I N G !

PS. New monsters looks nice, though. Looks like the art department are the only people in SSG that still can create something good. It is sad.

Glad you wrote this. It seems that we players aren't supposed to think and solve quests multiple ways but rather be guided like rats in a maze while slaughtering billions of HP to finish the quest. No fear of an amble temple like treatment months after these quests are released as they are already slog fests.

Really hoping to see something special in the next batch of quests/raid.

ps. The flying part was kinda cool.

[Dabima]

And I hope, you are going to change 'everything'. TT

OK. It's not as bad as the 'Disciples of Rage' was, we don't have zones that were created by using other dungeons' parts glued together yet it's SO bad.

Ravenloft has been created by people who knew their job aka Wizards RPG Team. The SSG team proves they can't do it. Just standard 'mindlessly run forward and kill everything in the dull gray decorations' type of quests. B O R I N G !

PS. New monsters looks nice, though. Looks like the art department are the only people in SSG that still can create something good. It is sad.

+1
The public area is very pretty, but from what I've seen so far, I'm very disappointed in the quest design

[whoolsey]

And I hope, you are going to change 'everything'. TT

OK. It's not as bad as the 'Disciples of Rage' was, we don't have zones that were created by using other dungeons' parts glued together yet it's SO bad.

Ravenloft has been created by people who knew their job aka Wizards RPG Team. The SSG team proves they can't do it. Just standard 'mindlessly run forward and kill everything in the dull gray decorations' type of quests. B O R I N G !

PS. New monsters looks nice, though. Looks like the art department are the only people in SSG that still can create something good. It is sad.

I tend to agree, we finally get to see the main continent and it feels so small in scope, most likely due to the story not being fully pressented but why are we dealing with common criminals at lv15/30?
The quest are a bit too straight forward (go here, check room, mobs spawn, kill, rince&repeat.

[Aelonwy]

Finally got around to running the remaining four Cog quests.

Ruinous schemes:
Seems a bit too short. But otherwise surprising ending and fun fight. There was a section of hall/entryway into the final room where the interior space actually showed exterior space.



Roll Call:
This one is going to annoy a lot of people. The puzzle has no directions, I just jumped around at random on the shortest pillars until it solved. There's no working in-game map of the pipeworks so that's going to frustrate some. Does anything different happen if you free him rather than report him to the authorities? I found his note so I reported him but the quest just completed with no security showing up so I don't know if my choice actually has any impact or different results.

Security Detail:
Wow the forgewraiths look so unnerving. I really liked this quest but... well I don't know what the backstory is or why you go on the quest at all and it feels like I'm working for the bad guys or at least doing something beneficial for them which I didn't like. I hope there's something we're sent to retrieve there to further condemn Vaunt Technic.

Smash & Burn:
I was unable to complete this quest. I really liked the log trap at the start and the NPC dialogue reference to Princess Bride "Have fun storming the safehouses." However, the "buttons" are difficult to see greyed out with their lights off and at the time I gave up it said I still needed to find 5. It looked from the in-game map as though I had been in every room, I slew a redname forgewraith but apparently there were some hiding forgewraiths because that objective hadn't been finished either. I didn't find the last special loot to destroy, and despite solving a puzzle and fighting a golem that didn't lead me to what I needed to finish either. I really have no idea how to finish that quest... I was there longer than an hour scouring for missing buttons which wouldn't even highlight for my backspace key, and looking for some method of jumping or climbing higher in a really fascinating forge room.



I suspect I needed to get up to this:



But there was no possible way that I could find.

Summary: I really enjoyed these quests apart from the column puzzles which just seemed nonsensical without some kind of direction. Security Detail was interesting except for the aspect of it feeling like we're clearing out Vaunt's problems for him. Why would we do that? Smash & Burn feels more like we're accomplishing something worthwhile (the destruction and ruination of criminals) but despite it being such a small space I really couldn't find everything or figure out how to complete it. Roll Call is peevish without a working in-game map of the pipes and I want to see the impact of my final decision.

[FlimsyFirewood]

Smash & Burn:
...looking for some method of jumping or climbing higher in a really fascinating forge room.



I suspect I needed to get up to this:

Yup. Way up there. The forgewraiths and remaining crates are all in that room.

Thank you for well written and actionable feedback. Seems like the room is too confusing, so maybe I should add more moving parts. To, you know, make it more confusing, and slightly easier to jump around on.

[whoolsey]

I didn't have quite that experience however the crests seemed to only want to go in, in a certain order for me. That is, IIRC, I had all four crests but the first one I tried to put in on the farthest right would not so I clicked the one on the inside right and it went in then I clicked the farthest left and it would not but the inside left would then the farthest right, then outside left. I have no idea why it behaved this way but it only took me like an extra minute to get it to work so I didn't think much about it.

it was really late when i ran it for the first time, now that i was well rested, the receptors are too close to each other or somehow overlapped, it worked for me now.
Yhe quest is suprissingly small and, like many of the sharn quests, grey and empty, the cog quests have a little too much brown to them though. The new mechanical bug thing was looking nice (though too much of 1 color), i can't wait to see it in action, it was unresponsive to my attacks)

Finally got around to running the remaining four Cog quests.

Ruinous schemes:
Seems a bit too short. But otherwise surprising ending and fun fight. There was a section of hall/entryway into the final room where the interior space actually showed exterior space.


Roll Call:
This one is going to annoy a lot of people. The puzzle has no directions, I just jumped around at random on the shortest pillars until it solved. There's no working in-game map of the pipeworks so that's going to frustrate some. Does anything different happen if you free him rather than report him to the authorities? I found his note so I reported him but the quest just completed with no security showing up so I don't know if my choice actually has any impact or different results.

Security Detail:
Wow the forgewraiths look so unnerving. I really liked this quest but... well I don't know what the backstory is or why you go on the quest at all and it feels like I'm working for the bad guys or at least doing something beneficial for them which I didn't like. I hope there's something we're sent to retrieve there to further condemn Vaunt Technic.

Smash & Burn:
I was unable to complete this quest. I really liked the log trap at the start and the NPC dialogue reference to Princess Bride "Have fun storming the safehouses." However, the "buttons" are difficult to see greyed out with their lights off and at the time I gave up it said I still needed to find 5. It looked from the in-game map as though I had been in every room, I slew a redname forgewraith but apparently there were some hiding forgewraiths because that objective hadn't been finished either. I didn't find the last special loot to destroy, and despite solving a puzzle and fighting a golem that didn't lead me to what I needed to finish either. I really have no idea how to finish that quest... I was there longer than an hour scouring for missing buttons which wouldn't even highlight for my backspace key, and looking for some method of jumping or climbing higher in a really fascinating forge room.



I suspect I needed to get up to this:


But there was no possible way that I could find.

Summary: I really enjoyed these quests apart from the column puzzles which just seemed nonsensical without some kind of direction. Security Detail was interesting except for the aspect of it feeling like we're clearing out Vaunt's problems for him. Why would we do that? Smash & Burn feels more like we're accomplishing something worthwhile (the destruction and ruination of criminals) but despite it being such a small space I really couldn't find everything or figure out how to complete it. Roll Call is peevish without a working in-game map of the pipes and I want to see the impact of my final decision.

i'm one of those people who goes into these and tries to jump up every platform, check every nook and cranny, i found the switches hidden around there, it opens a chest

Yup. Way up there. The forgewraiths and remaining crates are all in that room.

Thank you for well written and actionable feedback. Seems like the room is too confusing, so maybe I should add more moving parts. To, you know, make it more confusing, and slightly easier to jump around on.

flimsey?
i found some (graphical) oddities in sharn, i know this thread was meant for the quests but is it ok if i post these here?

i couldn't find an epic trainer (but all the class trainers were there)
The barkeep has a patch that's unconnected to his face, no wire running around his head to hold it in place, nor some metal parts that keep it attached to his face. this could have been a nice opportunity to showcase a steampunk eyepiece (that you could sell in the ddo store later), the barkeepers (hascal galandra)hair floats slightly above his head.

sharn misses a few opportunities to explore rooftops, like the chance of climbing up in the back of the quest givers squire. it could have led to an ally and a balcony with a sunset view of sharn.
i popped round the back of the fence and sharn continued, into an area we don't get to see. at least not yet.
i also managed to fall down, float over the houses at the harbor and ended up behind the elevator, i got stuck and needed to use a key to eveningstar to get out.
wich reminds me, the big elemental galleon in the harbor, it's deck is empty, why? what about cargo? ship controls? navigational equipment? maintenance crew members repairing stuff? and this goes for for the background of sharn too, where are the people? why are all the ships hanging still in the air? (aka not moving) the place feels terribly restricted.
the flloating ship that leads to a few quests has no bound elemental O_0' and it's door is to narrow and low.....
there are a lot of plants in that courtyard (with the bar and all the quest-givers), where is the light coming from to make them grow?
Where are the animals? no birds, dogs, etc?

[FlimsyFirewood]

When you notice something weird, please take a /loc, it helps us immensely to find the spot quickly.

[whoolsey]

When you notice something weird, please take a /loc, it helps us immensely to find the spot quickly.

it's to late for that, i just left for work. i lamania open during the weekend?

[kamimitsu]

Yup. Way up there. The forgewraiths and remaining crates are all in that room.

Thank you for well written and actionable feedback. Seems like the room is too confusing, so maybe I should add more moving parts. To, you know, make it more confusing, and slightly easier to jump around on.

I was able to get to the green shielded chest on my first time in the room after quite a bit of hopping around, and I found 2 of the green crystal pads. Never found the 3rd, and gave up thinking it might be in one of the rooms I couldn't open (those puzzles are HARD and I'm usually fairly good with that sort of thing). I solved the 4 piston puzzle in the green barrier chest room, which turned off something (I didn't understand what, security yeah... but what did that mean?), but I couldn't solve the 9 piston one (which presumably opens the chest cage). Some direction as to what does what and why, and or clues to the locations of the green crystal pads might be warranted. Also, it sure looks like you should be able to jump into the conveyor belt scoops, but you can't. And, it looks like you shouldn't be able to jump on the vertical cogs (what with them spinning underneath you), but you can. I found that rather confusing.

[Captain_Wizbang]

I have to tip my hat to SSG for following canon on Sharn (so far)

As it suffered terrible ruin in its past, that damage shows in the rebuilding. eg the way the city is rebuilt on top of, and around the fallen rocks.

I personally get a kick out of sticking to the story's lore and using it in proper fashion.

For people not visiting Lamma-Land, my signature is a SS of one of the new taverns

[whoolsey]

When you notice something weird, please take a /loc, it helps us immensely to find the spot quickly.

you took lam down?

[Cocomajobo]

you took lam down?

Yup! Was scheduled to run from 4/2-4/4.

The first preview of U42 will be ending shortly. Thank you all for coming out and providing feedback. If there is any other feedback about what was on offer for preview 1 please post it on the forums for the team to peruse.

We have atleast one more preview of U42 planned. The second preview is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday 4/16-Thursday 4/18 and is tentatively scheduled to contain all of the content and loot releasing with U42 including all of the Story Dungeons, all of the Explorer Dungeons, the Cogs Wilderness Area, the first Sharn Raid, the quest loot, the raid loot, the minor artifacts, and the new filigree.

If you’ve got a raid group, in particular, we’d love it if you could try to wrangle them to provide feedback during preview 2!

[DYWYPI]

Personally I believe you did a great job with the "City of Sharn" public area graphic design and music. Albeit I would have preferred to have been able to swim further out into the ocean...

Now I'm a seasick sailor, on a ship of noise. I got my maps all backwards.

Perhaps it could have done with a few more crates or people wandering around on the seafront itself to make it look less barren (at ground level). Somehow it looked rather too pristine in places; not sea weathered or ancient.

Manholes and enlightened towers, walking down imitation streets.

I did manage to get time to complete the four main preview quests and most of the "Cogs Explorer" quests.


Sharn Story Dungeons

A Sharn Welcome: the storyline was fine though there seemed to be a lack of decoration in the building itself. Of course the shadows and lighting weren't fully functioning, which didn't help with believability. The inside of building just looked like a badly painted stage set in most places.

I remember picking up Notes, and that's about all, it was a rather featureless quest. So it didn't leave a very good first impression. The dinosaurs were well animated and that was probably the best feature of the quest. :-)


Red Rain: the large yellow DM text, appearing on the centre of the screen vanished far too fast in places and replaced by another line... it was not just with this quest in the Sharn series either. :-/ We were meant to be reading clues, not absorbing "subliminal messages", etc.

I found the quest a bit too linear and repetitive, i.e. go down a corridor, find a corpse in plain sight and rummage through its belongings and report back; rinse, repeat. If you had somehow randomised the corpses more or items to interact with it would have been far better. I didn't feel like I was "helping an Inquisitor". If it were more like a mini 'Study in Sable' or even 'Good Intentions' it would have helped involve the player in the 'murder mystery'.

The Goblin where you could use dialogue and "Diplomacy" skills checks was bugged. I passed the "Diplomacy" check; so he and his (pacified) goons allowed me "safe passage". Albeit that resulted in; I could not advance within the quest. Until I went back and decided to "neutralise" him with a dagger to the throat.


Just Business: I don't think Casper really cared whatever you said to him with regards to outcome of the story... The Shadow play (shadow puppetry) with the silhouettes was a great feature although it did take quite a while to complete. I'd suspect after you had run the quests the umpteenth time it'd be like the pre-end-fight dialogue in: Lords of Dust, a little repetitive. :-)

I preferred the mostly outdoor design of this quest as it looked more natural in places. There were a few graphics glitches with the scenery but overall the map was mostly stitched together well. At first I thought the "Sleds" were acid pools - for whatever reason I hadn't seen them midair. So was avoiding stepping onto them. Perhaps because I don't have high resolution graphics running the sleds looked a little plastic. Though it was a fun feature and I'm sure nearly everyone will like them.

The kamikaze bats didn't seem to show much of an explosion, more of a fizzle... The Jibbers reference was good. Maybe with voice-over and music these quests might feel more plausible.


No Refund: I found it rather plain, possibly with some funky store music it would liven the quest up. The Artificers that were dressed; X-Uniform style, were fine. The store looked like it was an Ikea store. I suspect having the Crests was meant to make you explore the building though I am not a great fan of lugging Crests around. There seemed to be a lot of running around within spirals.

Overall: I wasn't that impressed with the four "Sharn Story Dungeons" perhaps with more work they'll greatly improve. The quest: Lost at Sea, in my opinion was a far superior experience than several of those dungeons.


The Cogs Explorer Dungeons

In my humble opinion the Cogs Explorer Dungeons, were far better designed and creative and generally much more fun to play through than the four main quests on preview.

Smash and Burn: I didn't get time to complete this quest but, I suspect, I had got half way through; I just easily kept unlocking doors and got as far as the column puzzle. I think the main problem I had was being able to see the gratings or noticing the grey buttons, etc. On my monitor the majority of the quest was very darkly lit and in shadow so it was slightly hard to see certain things. Though overall it looked interesting.


Ruinous Schemes: it was a rather (very) brief quest with mostly hack-and-slash mechanics. I managed to miss exploring a dungeon wing. Because the final room had a barrier that wouldn't drop after completion so I couldn't explore further. For what it was; it was short and sweet.


Roll Call: I liked the creative concept of the quest; it was rat in a maze. Albeit I didn't manage to complete the quest as it was taking far too long for me to find the final culprit, i.e. Student.

Note: I was officially diagnosed, with a fairly common cognitive disability when I was studying at University by an Educational Psychologist. One of the noticeable effects of my disability is I have a poor or faulty short-term memory and have trouble with sequencing.

I was doing pretty well at not getting too lost in the pipe work and fairly easily found all but the 'last student'. Due to my disability I don't tend to perform well in any DDO quests that have mazelike structure, e.g. the Crucible or even more simpler mazes, etc. So knew beforehand I'd get 'hopelessly lost' without a map with "markers".

Again, the dungeon was pretty darkly lit, and I know, I wanted to get to the central area... I did manage it and found a lever but I couldn't find how I actually got - leapt - there. I don't mean; I forgot or lost my bearings, I just could not physically see (due to darkness and shadow). It needed more torches or lighting.

So I didn't get to the Puzzle either but until that part of the quest; I was doing well considering my predicament. Maybe if the map had markers or the pipes sealed shut on completing a section I could have progressed better. Though I suspect, you are meant to backtrack through some of them to find the final Student?

If I had a Ball of string, and a flashlight, I'd probably perform much better in there. So I liked the concept; it is just a case of my disability (and no distinguishable map of the pipework) hindered me quite a bit. :D


Security Detail: I liked this quest quite a bit even though it wasn't that challenging for a security complex. The "red named" prototype automaton never actually activated for me. I'm not sure if that's an programming error, or not albeit I was still able to destroy it completely.

The insects are huge!

I liked the "talking holograms" - reminded me of pull-string Action Man aka J.I. Joe - and the quest overall, but the last room looked a little rough regarding artistic polish.


I thoroughly enjoyed the "Cogs Explorer Dungeons" even though I didn't have time to complete two of them. Although I feel the main "Story" quests are still lacking in polish. :D

You had pipes and "exploding spiders", it reminded me of Thodin's malfunctioning "Bug bomb" he pulled from his fake eyeball. If you had a Sharn quest that involved both those two aspects in a quest you'd be onto a winner.

See "Bug bomb" in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLkcV-D8hi0

In a stolen boat we'll float away...

Do we get to pirate and pilot that Ironclad in a Sharn quest? That'd be pretty cool if we could... We can manoeuvre "air sleds" within DDO, so I'm sure a moving ship (or that cargo crane hoist) wouldn't be much harder. ;-)

I haven't gone into great detail and just reiterated those issues that I found most memorable.