A Letter from Executive Producer Rob Ciccolini – February 2021

[rabidfox]

This spring will also bring...the bow combat style is being revamped and will get new animations.

This summer will see next Universal Enhancement Tree called Horizon Walker, which focuses on marking and neutralizing extra-planar and other enemies with a bow

It's nice to see that the bow revamp will come out first so it'll let us see how it works with existing classes without it being instantly mixed up with Horizon Walker metas from the get go. That'll be good.

[mojoflea]

Happy 15th Anniversary DDO! We are excited to reach this milestone and are ever-thankful to our players for making this possible. Today I'll be talking about some of our plans for the rest of the year and letting you know what we are looking forward to.

Sev

But what about the server Lag?
MEH!

[Widmore]

Out of everything, my biggest take away from this letter....

SALTMARSH!!

Yeah, kinda looking forward to another classic module. Keep 'em coming!

[Indubitably]

mini-expansion?
sorry my blood is boiling can't help it i even forgot about the good things i wanted to....
just for using that words you learned nothing seriously
you got so much rage with lotro mini-expansion (war of the three peaks) that you just in the past days you had to reassure, much needed, that the next pack WON'T be a mini-expansion
for those who don't know about it, it means an adventure pack, priced almost as an expansion, 20\60\100 dollars, not free to vip cause labeled mini-expansion. released october 2020 and available for lotro points only since a few days ago, exactly like a real expansion, available at lauch only for cash.

you got so much rage about it and you even got reactions like

***** SSG BIGGEST MMO BLUNDER 2020 (staff pick) \\ STANDING STONE’S LOTRO FIASCO ********
https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/14/m...ggest-blunder/

please edit that out and don't even think about creating a rage surge like that here in DDO really please please please

I know your feeling. I've never questioned myself stopping DDO, or not buying every single piece of content (I'm usually VIP, but not always, so have all content bought also).
But this... For the past few years I've felt their grip get tighter and tighter, more and more ways to milk their whales. Every year there were rage posts and quit posts... I mostly ignored these, I was content.

But it's been a few too many blows recently and this has had me serious question how much farther am I willing to go? And when will enough serious players leave that the whales no longer want to spend tons of money on an old game.
VIP has felt more and more pointless. XP (and the more expensive versions) have felt less and less impactful. Now a mini-XP thats just a module.... I might not even get it... do I need it?
There are way better, newer games, that are so much more cheaper to keep up with. That don't involve monthly fees + frequent expensive XP + mini XP + etc etc. I feel like I'm being played here.


Nothing else in this letter feels like new news. And I am OK with that. I appreciate the openess SSG has been showing lately. And I'll be honest. I like the changes they have been making and the plans they have coming up. Bow changes and tree, monk changes, revamping and fixing up the EDs (hopefully help out artificers, warlocks, druids, Pale master / Death clerics, etc...). I really really wish they would finish their enhancement tree pass and actually make Archmage usable... but they must have reasons for that.

Love the direction (gamewise) the game has been going. Great content and changes. Lots in the pipeline....
But marketing... what the hell? Don't ruin the game because you got too greedy. And do something with archmages.

P.S. I've always bought the biggest XPs (because I'm an idiot). But cosmetics is quickly running out as a valid reason for it.... were getting SERIOUS banking issues now to keep this stuff. Especially with all these new BtC artifacts. Make banking and storage a priority please... you know thats what everyone wants.

TL;DR
Direction of Game = Great.
Marketing and idea of Mini-XP = much rage quitting.
Archmage and Bank/Storage - Please do something! it's getting ridiculous.

[Arkat]

Saltmarsh...because the DDO community was united in clamoring for more underwater adventures.

[Gralhota]

Disappointed.

[Livmo]

For all the win in the letter!

[Gralhota]

Saltmarsh...because the DDO community was united in clamoring for it.



Anyway, "mini-expansion"? Will we have to pay a separate "mini-price" for it?

Do you still have any questions?

[ssternlight]

But what about the server Lag?
MEH!

Seconded!

If I can't play...

Having said that, more content is always welcome, a re-envisioned Epic Destinies might make for some interesting game play options, and a bow rebalancing will likely make for a couple of interesting lives. Hopefully, there will be some new challenges in hard core 3 & 4 other than a slightly different character theme.

[Loromir]

mini-expansion?

sorry my blood is boiling can't help it i even forgot about the good things i wanted to....


just for using that words you learned nothing seriously


you got so much rage with lotro mini-expansion (war of the three peaks) that you just in the past days you had to reassure, much needed, that the next pack WON'T be a mini-expansion

for those who don't know about it, it means an adventure pack, priced almost as an expansion, 20\60\100 dollars, not free to vip cause labeled mini-expansion. released october 2020 and available for lotro points only since a few days ago, exactly like a real expansion, available at lauch only for cash.



you got so much rage about it and you even got reactions like

***** SSG BIGGEST MMO BLUNDER 2020 (staff pick) \\ STANDING STONE’S LOTRO FIASCO ********

https://massivelyop.com/2020/12/14/m...ggest-blunder/



please edit that out and don't even think about creating a rage surge like that here in DDO really please please please

I'm guessing SSG is cash strapped...and needing an influx. Why else would they charge us for a regular update?

[blarhblarhblarh]

This summer will see the release of the first "mini-expansion" in Dungeons & Dragons Online in the form of the Classic Adventure: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh! An evil Alchemist's mansion stands alone on a cliff and mysterious lights and hauntings have kept people away despite rumors of great treasure. What is the secret? Debuting alongside this classic adventure will be our next Universal Enhancement Tree called Horizon Walker, which focuses on marking and neutralizing extra-planar and other enemies with a bow. As we get closer to the release of Saltmarsh, we will have more information about what to expect from a DDO mini-expansion, the lessons that we learned from The Lord of the Rings Online’s first mini-expansion last year, and plans to give more value to VIPs.

Sev

How will I trust DDO if the last expansion still unfinished and have tons of issues? do you guys really think that the playerbase want more things in DDO while simple things such as chat, load screen, inventory space and lag made even the "playable" part of th endgame unplayable? why I will pay for a mini-expansion (Or "paid pack" that would be the correct name) if you guys DESTROYED items from the Ravenloft expansion AT WILL just for the bury the old (and paid) expansion?

Just listen to the players that are still here and are dropping like flies day after day. Fix the game and money will follow. The business model of "sell expansion with op system, nerf it before launch new expansion" only works for children and teenagers. Playerbase in ddo are made of adults so show us some respect and money will flow. People need trust to spend.


Loved ddo decisions in last year but since feywild came out every time I ear something from the developers looks like they don´t want the players to play ddo because when something is working they simple brake it. Fix the game please. Give us inventory space if you are releasing more itens. MMO without chat is not mmo. 3 load screens of death a day is too much but became the rule. And lag issues.

But more value to vips? great. Will be now or will wait until there are no more ddo players?

[ssternlight]

I'm guessing SSG is cash strapped...and needing an influx. Why else would they charge us for a regular update?

You have to pay for the cost of the acquisition somehow.

Having said that, it doesn't seem from the letter (to me at least) that the purchase has resulted in additional programming resources being allocated to DDO.

[vassilator]

I know your feeling. I've never questioned myself stopping DDO, or not buying every single piece of content (I'm usually VIP, but not always, so have all content bought also).
But this... For the past few years I've felt their grip get tighter and tighter, more and more ways to milk their whales. Every year there were rage posts and quit posts... I mostly ignored these, I was content.

But it's been a few too many blows recently and this has had me serious question how much farther am I willing to go? And when will enough serious players leave that the whales no longer want to spend tons of money on an old game.
VIP has felt more and more pointless. XP (and the more expensive versions) have felt less and less impactful. Now a mini-XP thats just a module.... I might not even get it... do I need it?
There are way better, newer games, that are so much more cheaper to keep up with. That don't involve monthly fees + frequent expensive XP + mini XP + etc etc. I feel like I'm being played here.


Nothing else in this letter feels like new news. And I am OK with that. I appreciate the openess SSG has been showing lately. And I'll be honest. I like the changes they have been making and the plans they have coming up. Bow changes and tree, monk changes, revamping and fixing up the EDs (hopefully help out artificers, warlocks, druids, Pale master / Death clerics, etc...). I really really wish they would finish their enhancement tree pass and actually make Archmage usable... but they must have reasons for that.

Love the direction (gamewise) the game has been going. Great content and changes. Lots in the pipeline....
But marketing... what the hell? Don't ruin the game because you got too greedy. And do something with archmages.

P.S. I've always bought the biggest XPs (because I'm an idiot). But cosmetics is quickly running out as a valid reason for it.... were getting SERIOUS banking issues now to keep this stuff. Especially with all these new BtC artifacts. Make banking and storage a priority please... you know thats what everyone wants.

TL;DR
Direction of Game = Great.
Marketing and idea of Mini-XP = much rage quitting.
Archmage and Bank/Storage - Please do something! it's getting ridiculous.

I am right there with you. this is the only game i play .
i spend money on it as a vip and i buy everything.
the lag has affected my enjoyment.
their lack of customer support is killing it.
all the heroic quests need a revamp in terms of items , i have been screaming for this for a long time.
most items in heroic are useless.
the anniversary raid items they are offering only benefit the epics.
you only get 1 item per account?????
get stuffed with the cosmetics and useless fluff that take up much needed space already.
nerfing items like no worries is still a thorn as i spent so many hours farming that thing and when they nerfed it i deleted all of them i had
i have 48 character slots so i need good items and the stuff they create these days is too similar.
i might as well craft stuff.
the last expansion was a waste of time.
to say i am extremely dissapointed is an understatement.
When diablo2 remastered comes out that will be the end of my ddo days.
they might finally get it when their whales leave.

[rabidfox]

Not sure if I missed something or just misunderstood. Wasn't a level cap increase on the charts for this year? Delayed from last expansion? Not happening anymore?

Well, they delayed it because they said they wanted to do it right and not rush it; so at least them not listing on the letter means they're still not rushing it out just for sake of having a new cap.

[Gniewomir]

Nothing about raising lvl cap? Thank God!

[JoeCamb02140]

T
- a cosmetics closet (then sell all the cosmetics you can make) - how is THIS not in the plan yet (or any other storage improvements)?!

+2 How come there isn't a cosmetics closet already? I mean, how do you think the folks at ArenaNet make their money? It's not called Fashion Wars instead of Guild Wars for nothing... This is an easy revenue stream to make that does not require charging the VIPs for new content. It does require artists to make said cosmetics.

[mikarddo]

This summer will see the release of the first "mini-expansion" in Dungeons & Dragons Online in the form of the Classic Adventure: The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh! An evil Alchemist's mansion stands alone on a cliff and mysterious lights and hauntings have kept people away despite rumors of great treasure. What is the secret? Debuting alongside this classic adventure will be our next Universal Enhancement Tree called Horizon Walker, which focuses on marking and neutralizing extra-planar and other enemies with a bow. As we get closer to the release of Saltmarsh, we will have more information about what to expect from a DDO mini-expansion, the lessons that we learned from The Lord of the Rings Online’s first mini-expansion last year, and plans to give more value to VIPs.
Sev

This does not sound at all like fair play. Either something is a full expansion which you get to charge for - or it is not and is therefore free to VIPs.

Trying to cheat us by calling a regular pack a "mini-expansion" in order to charge for it is not at all reasonable.

Until this is sorted out the rest of the letter is irrelevant.

[Aelonwy]

+2 How come there isn't a cosmetics closet already? I mean, how do you think the folks at ArenaNet make their money? It's not called Fashion Wars instead of Guild Wars for nothing... This is an easy revenue stream to make that does not require charging the VIPs for new content. It does require artists to make said cosmetics.

Or recolor existing ones.

I mean take the High Society outfit for example from Sharn... I heard, I don't even know how many people, say they would have preferred it in dark red/burgundy. Myself I would have liked blue-violet but I was happy enough with blue. No one I know liked the Inquisitive Cosmetic because gray is boring. Barovian Aristocrat could have been some very dark somber colors without actually being dark gray, brown, and black - they could have used indigo, dark forest green, dark cherry, or eggplant and it would have been more visually appealing. Now look at Feywild Mosaic, why gray? Would it not have looked more whimsical, exciting, and cheerful on white? We certainly have a greater lack of on-white armors/cosmetics than on gray and black. Either one of the artists at SSG is depressed or someone has an OCD for gray/black.

[Iriale]

mini-expansion? LOL. I am glad I wil not renew my subscription. Honestly, this already reaches levels of theft.

Your disdain for the alts, SSG, is resounding. You take it for granted even in these kinds of letters that we only play a toon. "One will be something your character will wear as a cosmetic, and the other is something your character will equip." yeah, why suppose we play multiple toons, when you've done everything and more to kill our alts?

I miss Turbine. A lot. At least, before I was not from disgust to disgust, before I enjoyed the game...

[Gniewomir]

I miss Turbine. A lot. At least, before I was not from disgust to disgust, before I enjoyed the game...

You know those are the same guys, right? And right now, without WB supervision probably they have more freedom to make their own choices than when they were turbine.