Encourage exploration by adding experience tokens to all chests

[Shear-buckler]

A simple suggestion: Add experience tokens to all chests that are automatically consumed when you loot them.
It would make it more worthwhile to explore quests and do optionals while leveling.
It would also add an important dopamine kick to opening chests, just as it is supposed to be. Right now looting chests is mostly a waste of time.

The experience per token would have to be carefully calibrated. Make it based on quest level, something like 500 xp*level or preferably a non-linear formula that follows the XP curve.

Guardrails:
Limit the tokens to players within 4 levels of the quest.
Tokens are not passable.
Tokens only drop the first time the chest is looted per ransack cycle.

 

[Wrensel]

I will agree there is a limited desire to open chests that do not contain special things in them (named loot, ingredients, etc). My personal reason for opening most generic chests while leveling right now are for colorless augments. I would definitely be less likely to skip certain chests if they also granted EXP.

One thing that will arise out of this is that you will get some outlier quests becoming massively better, given they have high density of treasure. For example, with this proposal, Irestone Inlet will usually net around 11 chests and takes roughly 4-8 minutes. That turns a quest that otherwise gives ~8000 EXP into something that grants ~30000 EXP per run (assuming the 500 xp per level proposed value). With how ransack works on chests, people may stop doing a variety of quests in the lower levels and just blitz through Irestone Inlet 8 times to hit Level 7 in less than 1 hour.

 

[Shear-buckler]

I will agree there is a limited desire to open chests that do not contain special things in them (named loot, ingredients, etc). My personal reason for opening most generic chests while leveling right now are for colorless augments. I would definitely be less likely to skip certain chests if they also granted EXP.

One thing that will arise out of this is that you will get some outlier quests becoming massively better, given they have high density of treasure. For example, with this proposal, Irestone Inlet will usually net around 11 chests and takes roughly 4-8 minutes. That turns a quest that otherwise gives ~8000 EXP into something that grants ~30000 EXP per run (assuming the 500 xp per level proposed value). With how ransack works on chests, people may stop doing a variety of quests in the lower levels and just blitz through Irestone Inlet 8 times to hit Level 7 in less than 1 hour.

Yeah it has to be a token only the first time you open the chest and the 500*level is likely too much for low levels. it is better to scale it to the xp-curve.

 

[saekee]

I suggested that they add a higher chance of skill augments dropping in opt chests as one incentive. Yours is not a bad idea; just less appealing to cap play.

Optional chests abd optionals in general are not well-implemented in the game. If optionals added a percentage to the overall xp instead of an immediate fixed amount, that would boost reaper xp as well—something that would be more appealing, especially for cap play.

 

[Shear-buckler]

I suggested that they add a higher chance of skill augments dropping in opt chests as one incentive. Yours is not a bad idea; just less appealing to cap play.

Optional chests abd optionals in general are not well-implemented in the game. If optionals added a percentage to the overall xp instead of an immediate fixed amount, that would boost reaper xp as well—something that would be more appealing, especially for cap play.

Yeah the suggestion is only meant to improve the leveling experience.

At end game it should be handled by more specific systems.

 

[Wrensel]

Optionals are odd, in that they do not fit all the normal rules of DDO Experience, and depending what era of Dungeons and Dragons Online you were playing, they are a mix of amazing or meh.

When DDO was first out, they were handy to help ward off Experience Debt you might accumulate during a quest. They also helped form the basis of Explorer Experience (back when they were always a set of "kill several things" side quests that refreshed every visit).

When Experience Debt vanished, they were a decent supplement of EXP, depending on the quest, but often paled to the EXP one could get completing the quest. The eventual response to this was to quadruple the yield of Optional EXP to make it worthwhile.

Then we got True Reincarnation a few years in. Doing a full heroic life took quite some time and optional EXP was helpful. The general EXP accumulation rate was about 1000 EXP per minute going at a brisk pace (while solo).

Fast forward to things like Bravery Bonus and power creep, now we are blitzing through about 5 times as fast. Optional EXP didn't really scale with the changes and are about 3 times less potent compared to normal quest completion EXP with Bravery Bonuses. Other than select quests and cases where the Optional EXP was very good for its time and effort (Chamber of Raiyum in Epic, eventually resulting in Optional Objective Ransack ), it was often an afterthought and not worth the effort to peruse.

The pendulum has swung back and forth a few times on this issue. I would be good with the first looting of a chest granting EXP to help swing things back to optionals being more worthwhile.

 

[Shear-buckler]

Optionals are odd, in that they do not fit all the normal rules of DDO Experience, and depending what era of Dungeons and Dragons Online you were playing, they are a mix of amazing or meh.

When DDO was first out, they were handy to help ward off Experience Debt you might accumulate during a quest. They also helped form the basis of Explorer Experience (back when they were always a set of "kill several things" side quests that refreshed every visit).

When Experience Debt vanished, they were a decent supplement of EXP, depending on the quest, but often paled to the EXP one could get completing the quest. The eventual response to this was to quadruple the yield of Optional EXP to make it worthwhile.

Then we got True Reincarnation a few years in. Doing a full heroic life took quite some time and optional EXP was helpful. The general EXP accumulation rate was about 1000 EXP per minute going at a brisk pace (while solo).

Fast forward to things like Bravery Bonus and power creep, now we are blitzing through about 5 times as fast. Optional EXP didn't really scale with the changes and are about 3 times less potent compared to normal quest completion EXP with Bravery Bonuses. Other than select quests and cases where the Optional EXP was very good for its time and effort (Chamber of Raiyum in Epic, eventually resulting in Optional Objective Ransack ), it was often an afterthought and not worth the effort to peruse.

The pendulum has swung back and forth a few times on this issue. I would be good with the first looting of a chest granting EXP to help swing things back to optionals being more worthwhile.

For sure. There are also tons of chests not tied to optionals too, especially in old content.

 

[Wrensel]

In case anyone needs metrics, the last time I recorded how many chests I looted during leveling (Heroic & Epic), I looted 453 chests during the full run. I usually loot chests on the main path, ones that have good optional EXP attached to them, and ones that are only minor detours (about 15 seconds out of my way). 310 of the chests were Heroic, 143 of the chests were Epic.

 

[eartheyes]

it is already worthwhile to explore quests and do optionals, because i enjoy the game and its fun!!!

it sounds like you just want more xp to grind lives faster?

 

[Shear-buckler]

it is already worthwhile to explore quests and do optionals, because i enjoy the game and its fun!!!

it sounds like you just want more xp to grind lives faster?

Making the extremely long tr grind slightly shorter and more varied? Crime against humanity!

 

[eartheyes]

Making the extremely long tr grind slightly shorter and more varied? Crime against humanity!

extremely long tr grind? what game are you playing?
i find it hard to fit in all my favorite quests, along with the favor i want and trying to fit in all the saga while close to level appropriate...i cannot relate to your problem, apologies.

 

[Shear-buckler]

extremely long tr grind? what game are you playing?
i find it hard to fit in all my favorite quests, along with the favor i want and trying to fit in all the saga while close to level appropriate...i cannot relate to your problem, apologies.

There are hundreds of past lives. That makes is extremely long

Anyways, that is not the point of the suggestion. The idea is to make it not feel like a waste of time to run to the useless chest at the end of the hallway. Chests should be worthwhile to open.

 

[eartheyes]

There are hundreds of past lives. That makes is extremely long

Anyways, that is not the point of the suggestion. The idea is to make it not feel like a waste of time to run to the useless chest at the end of the hallway. Chests should be worthwhile to open.

if you a chest is useless, and a waste of time, avoid it? this isn't a complicated issue.

your complaint is that an optional part of the quest is not deemed worthwhile to you, so instead of just skipping it and moving on, the game should add more incentive, other than the exploration and the loot so that you will want to do the thing you dont want to do?

 

[Shear-buckler]

if you a chest is useless, and a waste of time, avoid it? this isn't a complicated issue.

your complaint is that an optional part of the quest is not deemed worthwhile to you, so instead of just skipping it and moving on, the game should add more incentive, other than the exploration and the loot so that you will want to do the thing you dont want to do?

I do.

Yes exactly! That is how game design and incentives work

 

[toaf]

and for the gods sake... do something with the useless end rewards

 

[Tumideon]

I'd be fine with a chargeable XP stone at 50% penalty, gives me a reason to play at cap beyond farming Threads, 1st time RXP, and saga prep (for the chains that even have sagas). Maybe make that stone a global rare drop so you have to farm 500+ chests to even sniff getting one to begin with, thus incentivizing the reason to open optionals from 1-30.

Wouldn't mind seeing aug drop rates improve though. Depending on the content, I'll go out of my way to open optionals, like in Lamordia or Sharn for mats for instance. Then you have non-negotiable optionals in MD, Lamordia and TODG where a specific named item or solunar ONLY drops in a specific optional chest.

 

[Buddha5440]

I suggested that they add a higher chance of skill augments dropping in opt chests as one incentive. Yours is not a bad idea; just less appealing to cap play.

Optional chests abd optionals in general are not well-implemented in the game. If optionals added a percentage to the overall xp instead of an immediate fixed amount, that would boost reaper xp as well—something that would be more appealing, especially for cap play.

Optional chests should have a (higher) chance to have named items that only show up in end chests.

 

[Azasmokey]

Seriously. It must be so disheartening for Devs who put the effort in to design optionals. For them to be ignored. Frankly the XP for optionals is completely all over tthe place. Even moreso for the read the notes , which often take more time and effort to find and read ( yes, many players actually read them ).
When I started playing about 14 years ago . Optional chests were worth opening because you had a chance of finding something decent. Turbulent eppee springs to mind.
Just last week 1 got bracers of strength + 4 level 9. Of course complete garbage now , yet both my friend and I chatted about the old days for an hour.
It just makes D&D sense for something decent to be in optional chests.
Yes, I know there are ingredients in chest. But ....................................

 

[Darlyaa]

Optional chests abd optionals in general are not well-implemented in the game. If optionals added a percentage to the overall xp instead of an immediate fixed amount, that would boost reaper xp as well—something that would be more appealing, especially for cap play.

I spent some time a bit ago checking how rxp worked and I think that the optionals leveled up the rxp too (meaning if you check your rxp before the opt and after it should appear higher). All if I remember correctly, but I feel close to sure?

 

[Mornyngstar]

Every single Card of Curse Cleansing that I have gotten wasn't from an end chest. The latest one was running off Saltmarsh saga (Heroic) using a lv 20 toon (banking the saga for Guild Renown) and it was an optional side chest.

A person I ran with on a Legendary saga made the comment that ever since the cards came out they had never pulled one from a chest. He did admit that he only looted chests that he wanted a named item from, which explains part of the reason why he hasn't gotten any. Also recently I met a second person who pulled one from Korthos.