Producer's Letter

[Hurunewyz]

+2 Tome of Supreme Ability (ie, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma).

Nom. Nom. Nom. ...

Warlock!!!

[Keladon]

Level 30
Characters will be able to gain experience to increase their level to 30. Characters who reach this milestone will gain additional feats and power, and they will be able to wield and even construct new weapons and treasures to face the foes that challenge them.

Should we start getting EPL's as fast as possible or is the required xp for lvl 30 going to be the same it is to reach 28 now?

[mikarddo]

Alot of interesting and good news - but no mention of new raids, only the three 2014 raids are mentioned.

[Thar]

Greetings,

My name is Robert Ciccolini, although many of you might know me as “Severlin”

Gratz on the promotion even though you disagreed with a lot of my feedback. haha. I STILL think small shields are a bad idea and the defender pally tree needs work but soon moving to... TEMPEST RANGER is woooofully underpowered.

Temple of Elemental Evil
Our next big update will include the Temple of Elemental Evil. We are all excited to present this classic dungeon to the players. The Temple grounds are quite large! Although players will be presented with a quest to accomplish when they enter the temple, there will be many dangers and treasures to find if the players take the time to properly explore the vast network of temple halls and chambers.

Can't wait as HH was great and the old modules hold a special place. I really really hope the loot is not rare monster spawning in X zone .01% of time ONLY with a .001% chance of drop. The above sounds neat as long as it's REALISTIC loot farming... HH was ok for items, not so much on the augs. If it's not realistic loot farming then it has to be uber cool and super high xp or it won't be bothered with after a month.

Monster Champions and Mysterious Fragments
Characters facing the game’s toughest challenges have encountered a wide variety of Monster Champions - creatures that have increased skill and power. What is causing this increase in power? As characters investigate the source of this newfound strength they will begin to discover that many of these creatures carry Mysterious Fragments that seem to resonate with strange magical power. Could these fragments be causing these champions and their rise in power? What use could these fragments have for those looking for power?

Monster champions will have a chance to drop Mysterious Fragments. Players can gather these fragments and various agents and interested parties might trade them for a variety of rewards. Rumors of groups offering scrolls, potions, cosmetic items, and even prestigious and rare pets have begun to surface. Organizations do not have unlimited resources. As factions vie for power some agents and rewards might change as the year progresses.

Sounds good and i recall as a player suggestion from some threads. See people, Devs are listening!

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

hmmm interesting. Hard to see why needed with sorcs available but ok. more choices are better.

New Storylines
The game will introduce a new story arc that will take the players to Shavarath for a new adventure pack. Characters on these adventures will work to prevent a catastrophe. That story will continue as the year progresses to bring the players once again to the Vale of Twilight. New threats have entered the Vale and more powerful challenges await in this chapter of the Vale of Twilight’s history. Defeating this new threat will require you to enter the more dangerous and powerful Vale of Twilight as you increase your level to 30 and obtain new treasures. More powerful items also await from the corrupted Greensteel found in the Vale after recent events have increased the magical power of the area.

woooo greensteel item crafting? How about sheilds too? Epic vale quests again... shoot me... was tired of them after doing that content for 3 yrs waiting for motu

Level 30
Characters will be able to gain experience to increase their level to 30. Characters who reach this milestone will gain additional feats and power, and they will be able to wield and even construct new weapons and treasures to face the foes that challenge them.

No sneak peak on xp for cap or xp changes for leveling? NOT looking forward to grinding an extra 2.5 million each ETR... it takes forever as it is.

New Festivals
The coming year will bring new festivals; a mimic event where players have to hunt down mimics that have infested all the corners of the land. The autumn will also bring a new seasonal festival that will haunt your favorite places and provide characters with more treats than tricks.

ugh... mimic acid damage galore...

These are just some of the ideas and plans we are looking into for the next year. We don’t want to spoil too much about our new monsters, new treasures and other goodies we have planned. Our goal is to present players with a taste of the ideas we are working on, and we also want to remain vigilant to the requests and feedback from the players. Your ideas are important to us, and your feedback will help guide us over the course of the year.
Robert “Severlin” Ciccolini

Raid info? timing? did the FR desert raid/etc get canned??? nooooo....


Thanks for listening.

[MrXtreme]

Hmmm...
Adding content is the only thing you gyes think about?
What about adding better networking hardware? Better servers to handel the players?
And what about plans on the future of the game, as a new gfx-engine/new coding, a new look to the full game, and then add more content and things, as the code and game wil be able to handel more players, and get old vet. players back to the game and much more?
Many are leaving the game sins the game is to old look on, and with all this lag and server/networking issues.

[jerray1973]

How about introducing a non-spellcasting class? The only class they've put in since launch that isn't a caster was the monk.

[losian2]

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

Welp.. I'm excited! I'll definitely buy/resub for a while for that.. I'd personally *LOVE* to see a blending of the 4th and 3rd edition as seems to have been the norm lately.

The Astral pact warlock from 4th edition was just about the coolest thing ever... well.. coolest secondary to playable kobolds, of course.

[Fafnir]

Past Life: Warlock
Passive 3 to MRR

[Kylstrem]

Underline mine, and it makes me nervous. I do not want to see a "kill all mobs to advance" every foot of the way like the Druids Curse chain, or similar artificial restrictions on exploring. Old school DDO dungeons have a lot of charm by allowing you freer reign in how to progress (like waterworks, it has stuff you have to do, but doesnt tell you how to do it). Haunted Halls was successful for the same reason. I hope this follows in those footsteps.

In a previous update from the dev team where they talked about the Temple of Elemental Evil, they mentioned offering greater rewards (XP and treasure) for exploring the entire quest, but that there would be a shorter path through it for players who wanted only to complete it.

Essentially, a better Haunted Halls. Haunted Halls has a nice set of optionals, and it is fun to see those once or twice, but after a while, groups zerg through to get to the end because the optionals are not enticing enough to do every time.

I think what he means here, is that there will be a lot optional areas and they will make it worth your while to go off the beaten path to get to them.

[Kylstrem]

and let me be the first to complain about a lack of a specific epic destiny for the Warlock class!!!!

Come on... quit treating us Warlocks as second class classes!!!

[Postumus]

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

New Storylines
The game will introduce a new story arc that will take the players to Shavarath for a new adventure pack. Characters on these adventures will work to prevent a catastrophe. That story will continue as the year progresses to bring the players once again to the Vale of Twilight. New threats have entered the Vale and more powerful challenges await in this chapter of the Vale of Twilight’s history. Defeating this new threat will require you to enter the more dangerous and powerful Vale of Twilight as you increase your level to 30 and obtain new treasures. More powerful items also await from the corrupted Greensteel found in the Vale after recent events have increased the magical power of the area.

Level 30
Characters will be able to gain experience to increase their level to 30. Characters who reach this milestone will gain additional feats and power, and they will be able to wield and even construct new weapons and treasures to face the foes that challenge them.

New Festivals
The coming year will bring new festivals; a mimic event where players have to hunt down mimics that have infested all the corners of the land. The autumn will also bring a new seasonal festival that will haunt your favorite places and provide characters with more treats than tricks.


These are just some of the ideas and plans we are looking into for the next year. We don’t want to spoil too much about our new monsters, new treasures and other goodies we have planned. Our goal is to present players with a taste of the ideas we are working on, and we also want to remain vigilant to the requests and feedback from the players. Your ideas are important to us, and your feedback will help guide us over the course of the year.


Robert “Severlin” Ciccolini

Sounds awesome!

[Aelonwy]

Greetings,

My name is Robert Ciccolini, although many of you might know me as “Severlin” on the forums or from podcasts. I am the Executive Producer for Dungeons and Dragons Online. I wanted to take this opportunity to look back on our previous year and look forward to the year ahead.

Awwwww. I really want to congratulate you on the promotion but you've been so good for DDO its going to hurt to see you go to LOTRO in a few months.

As to the body of your letter, it sounds cool. I'm not particularly psyched about Warlock but hey I'll wait and see what you've come up with. Is the process of ETR going to change when the level cap hits 30? I'm assuming its going to cost more XP to level to 30 than it does now to level to 28, but what about the Karma XP to ETR?

Will Epic Destinies ever expand to higher tiers? They were made and apparently balanced for a game that capped at 25, (thinking of such things as caster level/max caster level) will such things be adjusted for a level cap of 30? Or perhaps we just need caster level caps of spells looked at?

Can someone please be assigned to adding new relevant recipes to Cannith Crafting? Stats higher than +6, Skills higher than 13, higher Dodge, Natural AC, Protection, Resistance, etc. At least for a start.

Assuming this new Epic? Vale and Shavarath packs go to Twelve and Yugoloth favor respectively can we please get something useful for the top Twelve Favor Mark, perhaps an Augment of some kind or a small choice of Augments like a selection of 3 or 4 to appeal to a variety of classes, and might I suggest for the new highest Yugoloth Favor... Yugoloth potions with no penalties.

Thanks for you time.

[axel15810]

Solid letter. I'm really looking forward to what's coming in 2015. Epic Vale and Shavarath sound awesome. Warlock sounds cool and was completely unexpected.

However, the letter did not mention the two biggest issues plaguing the game, lag and exploits. More than anything you've listed, I want to hear what the team has planned to combat these two issues in 2015. I want to be reassured that this is a high priority.

Lag grew to an unacceptable level in 2014 and has majorly affected the ability of players to enjoy the game.

Exploits have completely destroyed the in game shard economy, anniversary event and crippled the end game raiding scene.

Please give us clear, firm and strong explanations of your plans to deal with these two issues. Thanks for your hard work, it's very much appreciated from players like me who love this game.

[Sebastrd]

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

Thank yoooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

New Storylines
The game will introduce a new story arc that will take the players to Shavarath for a new adventure pack.

If it doesn't include exploring this:

then you need to scrap it and head back to the drawing board. We'll be level 30. The environment and the stakes need to reflect it.

[UurlockYgmeov]

WOOt!

reading now - disseminating information...

more at 10...

[dlsidhe]

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

Warlock
We are looking into adding a new class during the year, and we are considering the Warlock class. The Warlock creates powerful eldritch blasts to destroy enemies in addition to a variety of spells to aid them in their adventures.

My money. Shut up and take it.

[Vanhooger]

Thanks Sev, best producer/dev in ddo since I play.

[Systern]

Hi Sev! Cool teasers....


When do we start talking about the other stuff in U25? Can we throw in our wishlists?


Arti:
Please unsuckify my Arti. Alacrity affects ranged builds at 1/2 to 1/3rd as much as melee. Will Ranged Power adjust for this? Would we finally be able to see Enchantment values of Ammunition and Weapon be added together to compensate? It's always kind of bothered me that the "perk" for being 20 Arti is to conjure +6 bolts which have no effect because you're wielding a +7 (or greater) weapon. I've been playing a Swashie for about 12 variants (2 chars, multiple PLs, many many ERs) for the past 6 months, and I am perfectly fine with shooting 3x +18 toothpicks real slow to make up for the lack of attacks...

Any hope of being able to find a destiny other than Shiradi for my Arti to grind some ERs out?

Rune Arm DCs don't scale. The hyper inflation that's occurred from Destinies inflating CL/MCL, +5gillion Focus items, etc don't apply to the Rune Arms.



Druid:
Why were Melee Power and Ranged Power only added to certain destinies? My Druid has recently gone in to fill out her lacking destinies, and it kind of feels like a double slap in the face... "Man I have to play in Magister and not enjoy great synergy, and I lose the melee power on top of it???" Yes, there will always be some destinies better for a character than others, but do the "wrong" ones have to stink so bad? Would adding Melee power to Magister impact the spell casters that WANT to be in that destiny at all?

Melee Power to Shield Mastery: This is the only Melee power that my wolfie can get, since the THF/TWF/SWF feats don't make sense for a 20 druid wolf. Why wasn't there any added to Natural fighting? My bard gets 1.5x stat mod, faster attack, more double strike; pretty much all around better combat ability than this P2P class.

Enhancement Trees: Nature's Warrior pretty much stinks for adding practical value to the a wolf/bear (if anyone plays those). Way too many things for bluff/intimidate for a class that doesn't need charisma, and doesn't get those as class skills. A druid's bluff and intimidate will never be relevant in EE content, so there's no incentive to build for them at all. Enhancements that enhance the worst part of your character aren't good.


Bard:
Fatesinger isn't really bad. It's not stellar but I still hate that its Epic Moment is so completely lack luster. You can Blitz for an entire quest. Fury pumps out huge damage when you need it most. EiN clears entire rooms. Turn the Tide can't be used on bosses and lasts for 20 seconds in trash fights. That's not Epic; that's Meh.

Warchanter enhancement Frozen Fury: 6 AP with a 6 AP prereq for a vorpal ability with 18 second cool down.... Too many restrictions. Lower the cost or decrease the cool down please.


Misc:
There are a couple of other things that I think are more bugs than quality of life fixes... like Adrenaline and the cleave in Crusader break the combat chain... If you're holding down the mouse button to attack, and hit cleave, it flows into the animations. Adrenaline stops your attacks until you click again. It's jarring that some of these do and some of these don't.

Why is every stance in the game's state remembered across login EXCEPT Power Attack?

Improved Feint is still broken. It has been since U14.

[fmalfeas]

hmmm interesting. Hard to see why needed with sorcs available but ok. more choices are better.

If they stick close to 3.5 warlock, instead of the much lamer 4e one, then it's a very valid addition.

First - no SP bar. Every power a warlock has in 3.5 is an At-will spell like ability, supernatural ability, or in some small cases, a 3/day or 1/day, but those are really rare.

As they level, they pick powers that either empower or alter their innate Eldritch Blast ability (can give it elemental properties with secondary effects, double the range, turn it into a melee thing (which is terrifying, because it simply adds the full power of the eldritch blast to your weapon attack) make it AoE like a fireball, make it chain like chain lightning, make it give neg levels, and that's not all. They can't all be on at once though. One shape, one imbue.) They also pick ones that are more like spells, but still cost nothing. Ranging from Dark One's Own Luck (giving +6 to a save for 24 hours, but can only cast it once a day), Voracious Dispelling (Greater Dispel, but for every effect it strips away, it feeds you HP), the ability to turn into a swarm of bats, Baleful Polymorph (Mr. Hobgoblin, I dub thee...SIR SQUIRREL! Now leave me alone and go find some acorns, you're done here.)...it's pretty impressive. Also, they get a limited number of innate uses of Fast Healing, letting them do some basic self-healing, and they get a small amount of CR/Cold Iron.

Of course, we don't really have the standard Warlock weapon in DDO. They're big fans of the Spear.

[MagicBlue]

Good, Severlin
your surname is clearly italian and we all know: italians do it better.

So, i trust