A Look Ahead - Producer's Letter January 2020

[HungarianRhapsody]

they have not really mentioned how they are going to push past level 30, so yeah it is not necessarily a bad thing - there could be a new reincarnation introduced, something called legendary reincarnation that brings you back from level 50 to level 30, so that you do not necessarily have to do the grind of the 20-30.

That still sounds like a pretty bad thing to me.

30 levels to spread out the DDO population is already too much with the remaining population on each of the servers. More is not better in this case.

[AlmGhandi]

Good point. Have to monetize the new system by selling a new type of leveling instead of just increasing the amount of leveling we can already do.

With its own type of Reincarnation for past lives....... The Grind Continues.

"push past level 30 for the first time in DDO history" hmmm... not sure about this...

very exciting news.

They have not really mentioned how they are going to push past level 30, so yeah it is not necessarily a bad thing

Gleitgel is a must.....

Great to hear about another expansion pack though Looking forward to that.

Just remember that they will nerf the things you pay for after you bought them....
At least according to all the people that are crying about their Sharn Passes...

[Cocomajobo]

Get those Epic lives now before they cost 20 Million XP each...

The game doesn't need to go to 35... There is always too much of a gap in Epics that the power creap is a bit much for new players to catch up on TR's. Unless you can still TR at 30. The TR train doesn't need to be longer...

very exciting news.

neverwinter has had feywild setting for a while, so I am very interested to see how ddo visualizes the feywild.

they have not really mentioned how they are going to push past level 30, so yeah it is not necessarily a bad thing - there could be a new reincarnation introduced, something called legendary reincarnation that brings you back from level 50 to level 30, so that you do not necessarily have to do the grind of the 20-30.

We are quite a ways out from being prepared to announce specifics on our plans for character progression past level 30. What we are willing to say at this point, however, is that one of our goals is to NOT increase the amount of XP required to complete an Epic Reincarnation.

[PsychoBlonde]

This all sounds fascinating, but I could do without the level cap increase. Every single time time you guys have increased the level cap historically three things have happened:

1. All of the existing endgame gear has been completely invalidated.
2. Most of the current LEVELING gear has ALSO been invalidated or broken by some new corresponding loot update.
3. There isn't enough current endgame content, so only a tiny smattering of builds that can get ahold of decent endgame gear are valid for endgame now.
4. The next 5/6 updates become a desperate attempt to reinvigorate the now horribly narrow and limited endgame.
5. Reincarnating gains a new level of headache.

I won't launch a protest or anything, but I'm very skeptical that you have any plans where raising the level cap will actually bring something new and interesting to the game as opposed to options like:

1. Adding new legendary feat options.
2. Adding new epic/destiny feats.
3. More expansion of the sentient weapons system.
4. A new epic destiny circle.
5. New universal enhancement trees.
6. Account-based options

[SuperNiCd]

Thanks for sharing. There are some exciting initiatives in there, and I'm looking forward to seeing them come to life.

Like others have mentioned, I do hope that some of these will start to shift the meta away from an endless grind for vertical stacking character power. That goal has gotten tired for me. With that said, cheers, and I wish SSG and the DDO team a prosperous 2020 and decade ahead.

[reywas]

Excited for new and updated content, the Alchemist, and the Shifter (can we get Kalashtar and Changelings too though?). Hopefully this post 30 push doesn't all the sudden invalidate old gear. We have a pretty diverse selection right now, and I would (and I think others) prefer that we just expand this selection so different permutations are possible rather than starting over with it. Draw the line in the sand at sharn level and go no further, just increase the pool of gear available. And that all the progression basically just sits at level 30 rather than more leveling, with like legendary trees or something, unlocked with xp gathered at level 30. Or like 5 'levels' that don't extend power all that much, but allow for increased build diversity. Bonus points if it includes things that help shore up hybrid builds/classes that never seem to quite measure up, like Artificers, EKs, mixed Ranged/Melee builds (which don't really exist, but I wish they did). Just don't make more forms of TRing, please.

[AlmGhandi]

We are quite a ways out from being prepared to announce specifics on our plans for character progression past level 30.

Why say anything then? MASS PANIC!

[Graskitch]

I am a bit disappointed to hear that the Isle of Dread adventure pack has been put aside for the time being...

I was looking forward to more dinosaur animated models, especially pterodactyl, in a prehistoric setting.

and was especially anticipating the iconic dinosaur riding (talenta plains) halfling barbarian with the new spear animations. *sob*

[niknight]

While you're pushing the cap past 30, could you possibly drop the requirements for ETR/ITR back to level 28... like they were before the previous cap increase? There is so much grind already in the game that chopping off 24 million XP from epic completionist would be greatly appreciated.

[AlmGhandi]

and was especially anticipating the iconic dinosaur riding (talenta plains) halfling barbarian with the new spear animations. *sob*

I want to ride a goat.

[DiQuintino]

Anyone have the search-fu to go find the DDO Forums posts where SSG promised that level 30 would be the level limit going forward and that it wouldn't be increased again?

Raising the level cap past 30 seems like a really bad idea to me.

This was Turbine... ROFL

[Kebtid]

64 bit client, great news.
I doubt it will improve in game performance to a noticeable degree.
The lag for sentient swaps and instance lags are mostly server based and i am pretty confident as a data center engineer that you guys cannot afford better hardware with the money you earn, so i wont raise my hopes to much.

Fey-wild and shifter are amazing choices, i wonder what direction shifter will take, a actual form shift based on sub race or just like mini buffs, either way seems interesting and a cool race.
Feywild should be good, as guildie said, it depends how far into the lore you dig and whom you want to put as raid boss, it can go from epic to meh.

Now the bad thing is level cap past 30.
I do get that reincarnations give most revenue, but i also think its the least imaginative way to progress ddo.
Instead of giving us options to spend reaper xp or to have actual long term fun endgame raids with grind you opt for another reincarnation system?
Please do not do that to this game.

Keep the money earning for hardcore please

[AlmGhandi]

This was Turbine... ROFL

I welcome our Disney overlords

[axan22]

racial variant from last years letter? the new Elf variant looks so cool compared to some of older models, any chance of update like LOTRO? new iconic with shifter? and an ask, lots more druid spells especially lvl 9 where we have no choice just 6 spells 6 slots.

[rfachini]

Personally, I'm looking forward to a level cap increase.

[AlmGhandi]

Personally, I'm looking forward to a level cap increase.

What are you hoping it brings... other than a bigger number?

[axan22]

Feywild

https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Feywild

https://deathbymage.com/2017/02/21/r...ry-and-oddity/

looks interesting.

[AlmGhandi]

looks interesting.

As long as it doesn't crash my graphics card

[Qeistalan]

As we gaze further into the second half of the year, we are thrilled to share news about our next expansion, which will see players travel into the mystical plane of the Feywild!

At least I'll finally get an opportunity to kill Malicia on her home plane ...

[Arkat]

...and doing so will gain you the experience necessary to push past level 30 for the first time in DDO history.

REALLY disappointing. No, check that...SUPER disappointing.

I'd really like to hear the logic regarding this decision considering for years we were assured the cap was going to stay at 30.

If it (the logic) turns out to be truly nothing beyond increasing the grind to facilitate more Otto's Box sales, that's likely to be the end of my playing days here. This would make me very sad.