A Letter from Executive Producer Rob Ciccolini – February 2021

[Severlin]

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.

In the coming weeks we will be celebrating in House Phiarlan as we bring out an updated Anniversary Event! This year's event features a few minor updates to the challenge itself along with a large number of new items added to the reward list. We're bringing back all of the House-specific Eberron Cloaks in the rewards list that we gave out a few years ago for our anniversary, in case you missed one or missed it, and we're adding a new cosmetic helm and cosmetic pet as well. We're also going to be distributing two special gifts to everyone! One will be something your character will wear as a cosmetic, and the other is something your character will equip.

The release of the new raid, The Dryad and the Demigod, marks the grand finale of the Fables of the Feywild expansion. This raid features the music of our in-house composer Bill Champagne and we think it is a raid unlike any other you may have seen before. The idea of a “musical raid” has been kicking around for a while in the office, and we think players of all types will find something special here. Anyone who has purchased Fables of the Feywild will have access to this new raid.

This spring brings the first Hardcore League season of 2021 to the game! Our 4th Hardcore Season will feature some new and returning guests in the form of the minions of the Nine Daelkyr Lords. You’ve met the Lord of Eyes and the Lord of Stone, but have you met the rest? We're also planning to run a 5th season of the Hardcore League later this year.

This spring will also bring Update 49 that includes four dungeons where you will help Morgrave University hunt down lost relics in a series of adventures that feel somewhat “Indiana Jones-like”. Alongside this adventure pack the bow combat style is being revamped and will get new animations.

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.

The fall will feature a set of new adventures and a raid revolving around the Wild Hunt as well as a significant update to our Epic Destiny system. We are restructuring the core of the system, modernizing some trees and redesigning others, and making Epic Destinies more versatile by allowing players to have multiple Destinies active at the same time.

Other things to look forward to this year include a new Monster Manual volume, a free dungeon to wrap up the year, updates to our various festivals, and more! We want to thank you for continuing to make this game and community thrive, and we look forward to making 2021 a fantastic year for DDO!

Sev

[straytext]

Lots of really long awaited bits here. Can't wait. Well.. I can. I have no choice. But, I'm excited all the same.

[cdbd3rd]

A "musical raid"...

So at every dramatic scene, every character stops and breaks into an involuntary emote of singing and dancing.

*CD hears* "mumble something mumble mumble Monster Manual! something mumble"

[Madja]

Some exciting stuff! I'm very much looking forward to the bow pass, as I've long wanted to play an archer build.

Though I must say that I'm surprised that the grand finale of an expansion comes only 4 months after its release. I've probably been spoiled by WoW. Since Wild Hunt stuff is coming out later this year, does "Grand Finale" mean the final adventure pack that is free for owners of the expansion?

[NemesisAlien]

Some exciting stuff! I'm very much looking forward to the bow pass, as I've long wanted to play an archer build.

Though I must say that I'm surprised that the grand finale of an expansion comes only 4 months after its release. I've probably been spoiled by WoW. Since Wild Hunt stuff is coming out later this year, does "Grand Finale" mean the final adventure pack that is free for owners of the expansion?

Hopefully I can finally do monkcher built.

[SlyGO12]

Another lowbie level quest chain and one I enjoyed back in the PnP days!

I love the diversity we are introducing to the low levels it will inspire new players to keep at the game and now they basically have 4 options to choose from - Korthos, Harbor, KBL and now Salt Marsh!

[axel15810]

Thanks for the update, getting info like this is always appreciated.

[Annex]

Happy Anniversary! Thank you to everyone at Standing Stone Games for all your creativity and hard word. May the fruits of your efforts bring you happiness and prosperity. I look forward to exploring all these upcoming adventures.

[Aelonwy]

The Nine Daelkyr Lords? Oh I hope that means someday we might see a Xoriat expansion. Xoriat content kicks my bum but its always fun and mind-bending.

Will the mini-expansion include more than just Salt Marsh what about the module after it with the Lizardfolk? Dunwater?

A set of adventures centered around the Wildhunt?! Awesome! And a wildhunt raid, interesting. I'm glad we're getting more feywild content. Will its items be included in the feywild season sets?

Looking forward to the revamp of Epic Destinies.

NEW Monster Manuals! Yes. I love these.

[Jerevth]

The Nine Daelkyr Lords? Oh I hope that means someday we might see a Xoriat expansion.

Lord of Stone, Lord of Eyes, Lord of Ears, Lord of Noses, Lady of Lag, Lord of Tastes (Flavor Madness), Lady of Feels, Noble of Fluidity and the Lady of Ceaseless Complaint.

I'm going to indulge some completely uneducated guesswork here as hypothesis...
The model til now has generally been that VIP get some advantages over Premium including "free" access to content other than expansions, which generally have been major content releases.
The letter mentions adding value to VIP in addition to mini expansions.
A reasonable conjecture may be that this represents a move to make VIP pay to a much greater extent for the hitherto "free" content they have enjoyed in return for their VIP payments, compensated by some other material incentive.
If so, the compensation would need to be substantial. I can't see VIP being happy. I can't see Premium being happy either.
Didn't the recent due diligence papers show that ddo players already pay a larger contribution than other games into SSGs purse?

Or they are looking to gain back all the VIPs who dropped their subs with value added to a product that lost its luster, at the same price?
Not that that reflects the current trend but playing Devil's Advocate.

[Hawkwier]

Lord of Stone, Lord of Eyes, Lord of Ears, Lord of Noses, Lady of Lag, Lord of Tastes (Flavor Madness), Lady of Feels, Noble of Fluidity and the Lady of Ceaseless Complaint.

That made me chuckle!

[NemesisAlien]

A "musical raid"...

So at every dramatic scene, every character stops and breaks into an involuntary emote of singing and dancing.

*CD hears* "mumble something mumble mumble Monster Manual! something mumble"

Bollywood comes to ddo.

[Valerianus]

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

[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.

[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.

[Lonesols]

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.

I resubbed one more time, i may mot be a whale but i did dump like 300 pr more. Now that i see d2 ressurrected im done too. The lag and stuck on loading screens, was the last straw for me. Maybe thier goal is to just make every one leave so they can shut it down.

[As_The_Bat]

Mini expansion?
No tks.
Its a very dumb idea.
As dumb as releasing an expansion half cooked.
With its raid 4 months late.

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..

You really think they will fix those things?
I think they will ruin all the classes. Expect more that than a good job.

[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?

[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.

[beuwolf78]

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.

They keep losing paying players (like me) every time they release nerfs so it makes sense they need new revenue streams.
Bottom line: in order to keep operating this game, they need a certain amount of money. Every year, this money keeps going down since the paying player base is diminishing.

To offset that, they need to make sure to have something that everyone will want to pay for every year (like an adventure pack). There is no way around it.
If you want to keep DDO alive then you kinda have to buy it or this game won't be celebrating the 20th anniversary

PS. Like I said, I am out of this equation as of the enhancement nerf in 48.4 so the gauntlet is yours.