8th past life and why I quit DDO(again)

[justin credible]

As a player for the past 17 years, I dont understand your complaints, there is far more quests than necessary to get from 1-20.
You dont own lamordia or iod so you cant get to 20??? these are new packs, how do you think we got from 1-20 before these packs existed?
go run house d chain, tear of dhakaan, gwylans stand, the pit, sarrowdusk, spies in the house, necro 2, toee

 

[voenixa121]

As a player for the past 17 years, I dont understand your complaints, there is far more quests than necessary to get from 1-20.
You dont own lamordia or iod so you cant get to 20??? these are new packs, how do you think we got from 1-20 before these packs existed?
go run house d chain, tear of dhakaan, gwylans stand, the pit, sarrowdusk, spies in the house, necro 2, toee

The tedium and sameness. The very point is that a game transforms into work, mindless grind. People either take long breaks, give up on past lives entirely or get into the speedrunning mindset to deal with it.

 

[justin credible]

The tedium and sameness. The very point is that a game transforms into work, mindless grind. People either take long breaks, give up on past lives entirely or get into the speedrunning mindset to deal with it.

thats like joining a basketball league and then complaining that its all the same because you just put a ball in a hoop over and over

every playthrough is different, the playing experience of playing through as a caster is different enough from arti or barbarian that it doesnt feel the same, imo

and like if you really are that sick of the tr grind, go to cap and do some raids

 

[voenixa121]

thats like joining a basketball league and then complaining that its all the same because you just put a ball in a hoop over and over

More like joining a basketball league and then finding out you have to play soccer for 2 years before you can even start playing what you wanted.

and like if you really are that sick of the tr grind, go to cap and do some raids

That's what I said.

 

[Titus Ovid]

I do understand your frustration to have to rerun content to be able to level. I was F2P for a long time back in the day where there still was lvl cap 20, no code, no sagas, no spare points to buy xp potions ... because I saved everything up to get points for favor. And that meant to run quests 3 time to get elite favor a lot of the times because there was no opener around and the client didn't really support multiboxing.
What I don't understand is that you don't have all content when you spend this much money. I didn't do the math but I guess I haven't spend half of what you spend in roughly 16 years and I own everything and I have spare points for QoL.

But I do support your idea/claim that heroic xp should be more in many cases.

Take a break and then give this game another chance. Maybe, just maybe adjust your expectations to your situation and not others that have much more spare time to sink it into this game.

Cheers,
Titus

 

[Primus]

I started in 2023. I only have 700 hours almost.
On my 8th past life got to 15 this crap is boring, not fun, many reason

You've spent $600 in 3 years, but still hit a paywall? Between coupons and sales, you should have nearly all the content.

You declare yourself a casual gamer, but keep one eye on players with hundreds of lives. 8 past lives in 700 hours is about 88 hours per life.
Wiki says there are 869 quests total. I know you said you don't have all the content, but for sake of argument, 88 hours/a life means running about 9-10 quests per hour until reincarnation. There is nothing casual about that.

The one thing I agree with you on, and have been stating it forever, is that SSG does zero effort towards advertising and trying to attract new casual players. As a result, with an absence of new blood, they have catered their attention towards the long term player. This is a mistake for aspirations of game longevity.

But to your other points, it seems like you want to reach uber status with hundreds of past lives, but can't do it on your work/life schedule, so you take it out on the game. Sorry you can't play as much as you want, and that you can't afford short cuts to become uber. That would indeed force you to be a casual gamer, you just don't like it.

 

[saekee]

OP who convinced you that you need to grind PLs? It is a game, play it how you want in the way that is funnest. That is what I do and I am sure many others.

If you are worried that your toon is not ideal for some situation, just post it in the LFM. A lot of players will be cool about it. I have helped a ton of players farm tokens for reincarnation, some unusual gear choices, even crafted a rare raid filigree for one that I had just met.

You are doing well to quit if not having fun. But another option is simply ask yourself what is fun and do that. Some part of me finds it strange to need to tell people this...

 

[Nickodeamous]

You've spent $600 in 3 years, but still hit a paywall? Between coupons and sales, you should have nearly all the content.

You declare yourself a casual gamer, but keep one eye on players with hundreds of lives. 8 past lives in 700 hours is about 88 hours per life.
Wiki says there are 869 quests total. I know you said you don't have all the content, but for sake of argument, 88 hours/a life means running about 9-10 quests per hour until reincarnation. There is nothing casual about that

I was also doing the math in my head. Honestly, VIP for 1 year on 2 accounts along with the free code that ssg puts out would have been way cheaper.

If OP is only running f2p content, and was not aware of the coupons for all the packs, then this is something SSG should have put on the intro screen (if it wasnt).

I would quit too if it took that long to do a PL...but questions for the OP:
1. As a casual player, do you not join LFMs?
2. We're you not aware of the coupons for free quests?
3. I'd look at sales for the on RL and Fey. They are enough to get you way better gear to speed up leveling.
4. What PLs did you do?

 

[Waaaaaar]

The tedium and sameness. The very point is that a game transforms into work, mindless grind. People either take long breaks, give up on past lives entirely or get into the speedrunning mindset to deal with it.

If it’s tedious you are doing it wrong, find people to play with, crank up difficulty until you aren’t bored and have voice chat on and enjoy socializing… speed running r1 is fine if there is a purpose with the past life you are getting… make a plan for what you want the toon to be, map out relevant lives - or just find a suitable first life bulld that will hold its own… plenty of builds around that can be done with easy to farm non-rare/non-raid gearing - enjoy raiding and join reaper group s at cap without need to TR only do that when you want to play something new

My main is 3x completionist and now parked for reaper raiding but hardly play that toon more than a few raids a week

My alts getting a lot of love and I have mapped out what they need so each life is meaningful

This way I have healer/tank/dps and a debugger with always at least 2 toons at cap means I can switch it up and keep it interesting (my healer and tank are 3 and 7 lives in) my dps toon has about 65ish lives (most epics / some racials / and ranged beneficial/essential lives)

That’s another thing they don’t tell you - if you want to run a lot of heroic lives - get a lot of epic lives first, it’s easier and the power epic lives gives in heroic is much more than heroic or racial trs

Invest in some iconic races - it’s faster to do 15-30 than 1-20 abd you get both the heroic and the iconic benefits when tr

But most importantly make sure to have fun along the way!!!

Happy hunting !!!

 

[Igognito]

I'm confused. The OP bought races, classes, etc instead of expansions?
And he is also running content on Hard? Not elite? Ok reaper is not for everyone but Elite should be doable even for the most casual player.
Still, assuming only f2p content not even packs you should be getting to lvl 15 (for first lifer) with no problems. After it becomes tough because of the lack of f2p content. The next part is using the coupon for free content. Or buying some expo or spending ddos to get some content.
But to play 8 years and get to this wall I find it strange.
If you need help ask, the community is very helpful btw.

 

[justin credible]

I'm confused. The OP bought races, classes, etc instead of expansions?
And he is also running content on Hard? Not elite? Ok reaper is not for everyone but Elite should be doable even for the most casual player.
Still, assuming only f2p content not even packs you should be getting to lvl 15 (for first lifer) with no problems. After it becomes tough because of the lack of f2p content. The next part is using the coupon for free content. Or buying some expo or spending ddos to get some content.
But to play 8 years and get to this wall I find it strange.
If you need help ask, the community is very helpful btw.

he would still have to be running content way over level and skipping a bunch of stuff to be running out of xp
maybe he doesnt know about holding levels either???

 

[Phoenicis]

I have spent over $1200 dollars and still don't have isle of dread,

Bull.

$1200 for two accounts is more than enough to have the basic version of every expansion as it comes out. Just did a quick scroll thru the marketplace and unless my math is off $380 will get you the basic edition of all the expansions.

I agree the xp increase makes no sense any longer when the power increase no longer comes from the stat point boosts on lives 2 & 3, but from the past life feats themselves. That said, I really hope they don't decide to take that into consideration...

There are ALOT of quests that are not part of a saga, while I grant we tend to run saga quests on our heroic lives, it's for convenience. we could easily run no expansion content almost exclusively and did for a number of lives. We ran nothing in heroics that had a epic/legendary version. Generally we only ran into issues finishing 18-20 doing that, ended up having to repeat some lvl 16 quests...

No one is being trashy toward you/casual players. Most, if not all are providing pointers on how to be more efficient. If you consider giving constructive advice being trashy, well, that speaks volumes about you. If memory serves, I made a similar comment in one of your trap threads.

You complain, people provide advice, you claim you are being attacked. While you may have a valid point, your reaction to what is intended to be constructive advice sets people off. This will be my last interaction with you. Enjoy your life.

 

[Waaaaaar]

werent these all like 50-85% off over the past few weeks?
i know i picked up saltmarsh on a pure ftp account for like 500 points in the past month

Yes the summer sales are incredibly cheap, and usually will be a sale again latest at Black Friday, mabar (Halloween) event is great boost for levelling as those quests are fast and great xp good first time bonus (twice each life as you get bonus both in heroics and epics)

It’s worth to study past events/sales to plan for future as most are recurring events and sales

 

[Scope333]

My biggest question is why spend $600 in 3 years when you could go VIP for half that price, get access to almost everything, and get enough points from VIP to buy everything else? Then you also get all the benefits of being VIP, including extra XP, and spend less money.

Because it’s more fun to complain?

 

[Tyrande]

Hello,

The exp on heroic is complete garbage logic. I just wanted to say that really lol. I can't tell you how much fun I've had on DDO but having to repeat sagas because I don't own all of them and forced to deal with this clear pay wall after I've spent well over $600 now on my account and my wife's ($1,200) dollars mind you. So as someone who very much enjoyed DDO love the game the 100% increase in heroic exp is the worst MMO design logic I have ever seen in my entire life. At first I didn't care too much and it didn't really bother me. But now honestly redoing sagas right after I did them because I haven't bought the new ones man it's worse than a dumpster fire. I have played through the game 8 times now and repeated sagas in the past on legendary which is fine, but doing it in heroics is pure torture. So yeah, I dropped the game my wife and I really just are so bored of trying to find exp from quest and being under leveled because we don't have isle of dread, limbordia, or any of the newer stuff.

I get if you already have 100 past life's or something but as someone who just hit 8... Yeah I can tell you something, as a normal person with a life working 8-5 every m-f with church, and other things going on ain't no way. I can see why people quit after 8 past life's, I didn't think it was that big of a wall but it's bigger than the great wall of China...

Now I know a lot of elitist here will say I'm wrong because it's so "fun" but man... If it was actually fun to be put through a meat grinder of sagas again and again, well I think the player count speaks for itself on that concept. But I look at the game as a casual person playing an MMO and I feel like DDO has no casual players anymore. Because anyone that's stayed on DDO is people who fought through the lag. We need more casual people to rise up because I get it, you have 100 past lives and perfect gear and every DLC, I get it I know you played since 2006 or 2008 whenever. But dude... I started in 2023. I only have 700 hours almost.

Moral of the story too long didn't read: HTR 100% increase in exp is horrible. Game needs to be more accessible to casual people. On my 8th past life got to 15 this crap is boring, not fun, many reasons why.

hello, happy Sunday to you and your wife,

You sounded like you are burnt out. I think you need a long vacation with the family. Feel free to take a long vacation away from DDO and you'll come back fresh.

DDO does not force you to pay. It's a free to play game after all and you don't need all the DLCs. IMHO, the new ones are bad, bad, bad and you will not like it anyways if you mention the great wall of China: Some of them are tedious, buggy, long, unskip-able movies, rare loot, pay walls....

Dude, past life is just a gimmick. As a casual player you do not need the past lives, or the perfect gear as you do not play reaper 10 quests or reaper raids. There is no PvP in DDO and your characters do not need to compete against other characters that were created since 2006 or 2008 whenever. We all know that we'll never catch up with the Joneses.

No worries, your characters, your wife's characters, equipment etc. are all here when you come back.

 

[questions]

Moral of the story too long didn't read: HTR 100% increase in exp is horrible. Game needs to be more accessible to casual people. On my 8th past life got to 15 this crap is boring, not fun, many reasons why.

I will say that having played DDO on and off over the last decade, the past life grind has always been the path to burnout. It is the 100% XP post 2nd life (previously) or 7th (? now). Some people can endure the XP grind and others buy the pots and optimize the XP/min, but at that point it feels like a job for me.

The only thing I can say is play alts, get DDO points, and buy the expansions for points (earned or purchased) at whatever discount appears. If you are having fun as a casual player, I don't think 10 or 20 heroic past lives is going to make for more fun. It really is a trap because you think those past lives are getting you so much power when a good set of gear is all you probably needed to play casually on elite or even reaper at times.

The hard part could be an attachment to a single class, playstyle, or the perceived sunk cost into an 8th life character. I have characters with many past lives and reaper points that make the game easier per life, but I have little interest in the double XP requirement. Take the break, come back later, start a fresh character, play the first 4 lives, and then move on to another character build/style.

 

[FaceDancer]

The XP penalty is rough and can make leveling a drudge (understatement of the year).

The only suggestions I can make is to play the missions on reaper for extra xp.
Have ship xp buffs going & use some item with an xp booster (Voice of the Master, or Mantle, Master's Gift).
Aim for missions that yield higher xp awards (there are lists out there...)
Make sure you are no higher than 3 levels above the mission to avoid a power level penalty (4 levels above: you receive a 50% penalty).

The paywall stuff...
Use potions if/when you can.
Consider a Greater Tome of Learning and a Greater Epic one as well.

After all is said and done.. it's a game. I am on the RI train, but I am resigned to taking it slow and not trying to sweat it too much. I only have a couple of characters I focus on (mainly one), so most of my resources get funneled their way to make the ride more bearable. I'd rather keep them at cap because I have really enjoyed raiding with them, but that'll have to wait till they're back up there. Good luck and don't get stuck in a rut!

 

[Thumbed_Servant]

Hello,

The exp on heroic is complete garbage logic. I just wanted to say that really lol. I can't tell you how much fun I've had on DDO but having to repeat sagas because I don't own all of them and forced to deal with this clear pay wall after I've spent well over $600 now on my account and my wife's ($1,200) dollars mind you. So as someone who very much enjoyed DDO love the game the 100% increase in heroic exp is the worst MMO design logic I have ever seen in my entire life. At first I didn't care too much and it didn't really bother me. But now honestly redoing sagas right after I did them because I haven't bought the new ones man it's worse than a dumpster fire. I have played through the game 8 times now and repeated sagas in the past on legendary which is fine, but doing it in heroics is pure torture. So yeah, I dropped the game my wife and I really just are so bored of trying to find exp from quest and being under leveled because we don't have isle of dread, limbordia, or any of the newer stuff.

I get if you already have 100 past life's or something but as someone who just hit 8... Yeah I can tell you something, as a normal person with a life working 8-5 every m-f with church, and other things going on ain't no way. I can see why people quit after 8 past life's, I didn't think it was that big of a wall but it's bigger than the great wall of China...

Now I know a lot of elitist here will say I'm wrong because it's so "fun" but man... If it was actually fun to be put through a meat grinder of sagas again and again, well I think the player count speaks for itself on that concept. But I look at the game as a casual person playing an MMO and I feel like DDO has no casual players anymore. Because anyone that's stayed on DDO is people who fought through the lag. We need more casual people to rise up because I get it, you have 100 past lives and perfect gear and every DLC, I get it I know you played since 2006 or 2008 whenever. But dude... I started in 2023. I only have 700 hours almost.

Moral of the story too long didn't read: HTR 100% increase in exp is horrible. Game needs to be more accessible to casual people. On my 8th past life got to 15 this crap is boring, not fun, many reasons why.

1) Play the game because you enjoy playing the game.

2) Or play the game with the goal of beating the game and getting all the past lives.

The difference is:

1) If you play to have fun, to enjoy the stories and enjoy getting better at the game as you play through each life it will not matter how fast you progress through the character levels.

2) If you play to beat the game and get all the past lives you will be miserable.

The difference is as simple as Enjoying the journey versus Looking solely for the destination.

The choice is yours.

 

[The Outfit]

88 hours per life. Hopefully you were grinding out EPLs also. Seems excessive amount of hours per life to only have 7 past lives.

 

[Br4d]

SSG really should make all heroic reincarnations at the first level. They'd sell a lot more boxes that way and have fewer people bowing out when the economics became clear.