quality is job none.

[fatherpirate]

I am getting the impression that is creative staff has been getting smaller and smaller over
the years.

the new models look it and if I am going to take a guess
the new fey areas will use 90-95% of current models.

............ well

at least the good part is, I am not required to buy it.
might pick up basic Fey much later, when it is on sale ... maybe.


as a D&D player, a new expansion should have me excited ... this doesn't

you know, SSG should really hire more creative staff or just stick to
bug fixes.

tough love time.

[Xgya]

As far as monsters go, you might be right, there are very little variations between places.
Decor-wise, if you try to compare the Harbor to Ravenloft or Sharn (and even regular Sharn to the Cogs below), you see a LOT of diversified terrain, a lot of added resources to make for some unique pieces of background to make you feel like all the places feel unique.
Even non-expansion places, like the Keep on the Borderlands, adds some new elements for players to scrutinize.

Creating animations is the costlier part of new designs, the part that takes the most time and effort for the amount of use you'll get out of the finished product.
Even then, the last two expansions added multiple new enemy designs entirely unique to the place.

If any, what do you think should have been added that has not?

[karatemack]

I tend to take the opposite view on this issue. I think the DDO team has been very creative in the use of assets they currently have, and selective about where to put the focus in terms of the creation of new assets. Here are a few examples:

Reskinned Monsters
For me, it does not break my immersion to realize that a "new" monster is simply a re-skin of an old monster. One of the most notable examples are the Shadows of Hate from Ravenloft. If you utilize the right type of CC ability on them, it becomes apparent these are re-skinned Slaad monsters. However, between their movement speed, special curse debuff and general look and feel in the context of Ravenloft- I didn't feel like I was just encountering another Slaad and likely would have never realized it was the same monster had it not been for the change in their appearance when CCd. I don't mind finding different variants of monsters either (IE: different types of oozes) in different zones. Many updates and EVERY expansion (AFAIK) have come with new monsters (like the Umber Hulks, or Shadar-Kai, or Owlbears, etc). Will I always want "more" new stuff to play with? Of course, but I wouldn't characterize what we receive as lackluster or uncreative.

Cosmetics
I am one of "those" players who really loves new cosmetic items. Whether it's new glamour for my weapons, new armors, new hats, net capes, new hair colors, new hair styles or new mounts or whatever... I thoroughly enjoy new cosmetics. In recent times, there have been tons more cosmetics added to the game than there had been in the past. The dev team have pointed out how much work it is to add new cosmetics to the game due to all of the various races/classes/poses/movement patterns that are in the game. The same then must also be true for the amount of work to add a new race to the game. A new race needs to be compatible with every cosmetic variance currently in the game as well- and another trend in the last few years is to add a new race/races with each expansion. This alone would keep many art departments quite busy.

Explorer Areas
I have enjoyed every explorer area which has been released as a part of an expansion. RL had the right feel to it between the music, the monsters, the random mist... it was very immersive to me. My ONLY complaint about it (at the time) was that it was too big to run from quest to quest and that teleporting became the default mode of travel. Also, there weren't quite enough random encounters to make it feel full (I think King's Forest did a better job with this). With that said, the view from the top of Castle Ravenloft to the village of Barovia is among my top all-time favorites in the game ever. Every time I finish An Invitation to Dinner I still "fly" back to the village rather than just recalling for no reason other than "the view".

I am extremely excited for Feywild- new mounts, new cosmetics, new explorer area (hopefully) and any misgivings I have at all are related to moving beyond level 30, not the lack of artwork or creativity from the studio.

Just my $0.02.

[Gljosh]

The Expansions have been hit or miss, Motu/Ravenloft-Awesome, Sharn-ok, and Shadowfell-miss.

Each has had a unique explorer area, currently a bit of a waste of assets, spend time running to a quest or running a quest.

I am in a similar boat, I have a main character and mule alts.

I have more races (regular-on my 6th RTR and Iconic-have not run a single Aasimar and don't own Deep Gnome) and classes (barely touched Warlock, FvS, Sorc, and I don't won Alchemist) then I have time to play.

[fatherpirate]

They are creative with the assets they have.

You just made my point.
They should have a LOT more assets, that requires more art staff.

The game has like >>> ONE <<< child model (and it is just a miniaturized adult.)
People have been asking for spears like forever...to hard to do
New content is filled with bugs because it is barely tested.
some folks reference some excellent prior expansions...done YEARS ago.

I am not talking about years ago, I am talking about now.

also the excuse - Well that is too hard, or your asking too much doesn't cut it anymore.
If SSG wants to compete they will need to up their game.

I love D&D but it deserves better than this.

[Stravix]

They are creative with the assets they have.

You just made my point.
They should have a LOT more assets, that requires more art staff.

The game has like >>> ONE <<< child model (and it is just a miniaturized adult.)
People have been asking for spears like forever...to hard to do
New content is filled with bugs because it is barely tested.
some folks reference some excellent prior expansions...done YEARS ago.

I am not talking about years ago, I am talking about now.

also the excuse - Well that is too hard, or your asking too much doesn't cut it anymore.
If SSG wants to compete they will need to up their game.

I love D&D but it deserves better than this.

Spears are in the game... there are multiple named spears. They do not have unique animations, but neither do rapiers, which have always been in the game. I don't see what you are trying to get at here.