I want progression that isn't gear or past lives

[droid327]

Play a different game then. Nobody is forcing anyone to play DDO.

Don’t like something? Do something else. Seriously, it ain’t that hard to figure out.

I do. I've been playing D2R and forum-only here pretty much since RotW came out in Feb. Think I've logged into DDO once since then and quickly remembered why I had stepped away.

I want DDO to be better, I want to want to play. If you're just arguing for the status quo and everyone else should "go play another game" then you'll get exactly what you want...

 

[droid327]

Good news! It already exists.

Reaper mode.

Yeah it's fun for the first 25 points or so but then you end up looking at such a long climb to the next point that it becomes like past lives

Also Lord forbid if you want to play an alt

 

[droid327]

I don't mind past lives, but I'd like to stay at cap to earn then. Fill X amount of xp, get past life, repeat.

Absolutely, I've made this suggestion before too

I'd pay a 50% premium (ie 12M XP) just to earn EPLs without having to reboot to 20 every time and grind back without my EDs

 

[Davvor]

...the average time it takes to get some loot is close to the functional lifespan of the item.

Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this. But the reality of seeing this typed out made me sit down for a moment and rethink my DDO life. Am I just a loot goblin after all?

 

[woq]

Yeah it's fun for the first 25 points or so but then you end up looking at such a long climb to the next point that it becomes like past lives

Also Lord forbid if you want to play an alt

Alts actually enhance my enjoyment of RXP. It's one of the few things that I can progress on my alts by just enjoying playing the game.

 

[droid327]

Create-Your-Own-Hire could potentially be fun: take one of your alts and summon it as-is. That will very quickly drive gear demand higher as you need to gear primaries and secondary "hire" characters.

I also envision a "one hire to rule them all" scenario happening pretty quickly. Bard for songs mixed with warlock for TMP and a ranged weapon equiped to defeat the buggy heal casting issues from a hire. Maybe also a splash of Rogue for trapping, though I like having that on my main too much myself.

Another classic suggestion and 100% right

This could also work as a very effective plat sink. People would pay a lot of plat over time to play with their alts.

 

[Dandonk]

I would love it if the next grind system was account (or at least server) based. I think, after all the PLs, reaper points, gear grind and so on, we could finally do with a system that isn't actively anti-alt.

 

[droid327]

I'll also add that the current model protects the grind as the agent of longevity for the game: you can't have all the loot or all the past lives because then people would stop logging in

Diversifying the game would strengthen the argument for things like reducing XP requirements (eg every life on the first life curve) that would greatly accelerate the new player experience

It would also greatly strengthen the argument for making more loot unbound and growing a P2P trading economy, because the loot chase won't be the one main reason you buy a new expansion, or why you stop playing it once you have your loot (and thus discourage unpopular rare loot as a design to extend that loot chase)

 

[Vua]

Absolutely, I've made this suggestion before too

I'd pay a 50% premium (ie 12M XP) just to earn EPLs without having to reboot to 20 every time and grind back without my EDs

Do all the sagas (most. I avoid 3BC and Gianthold is not worth it) and collect the XP after returning to 20. With the 50% XP pot, ship buffs and your 5% item, you'll be about halfway through level 27. You can get back to cap before the XP pot wears out.

 

[Jaspar]

I don't mind past lives, but I'd like to stay at cap to earn then. Fill X amount of xp, get past life, repeat.

For me, I like cap raiding, high skull, and tweaking cap builds and gear for that extra hidden +1. So to stay at cap and progress would be amazing. I can't even express how sick I am of running low level content over and over.

So dont run low level content over and over.

 

[droid327]

Do all the sagas (most. I avoid 3BC and Gianthold is not worth it) and collect the XP after returning to 20. With the 50% XP pot, ship buffs and your 5% item, you'll be about halfway through level 27. You can get back to cap before the XP pot wears out.

Yes this is always good advice and what I do, but even then, A) a 50% XP pot means you paid for it, and that shouldnt be assumed, and definitely shouldnt be assumed for the entire ETR process. With at least a 5% pot, or maybe a 20% you saved up from somewhere, that only takes you to 25-26, and then B) that leaves you playing without your full character for those last several levels (27-30 is just under half the whole grind), and also C) that locks you into only doing those legendary sagas, and forces you to do all of them, rather than just playing at cap for XP as you like.

Incidentally, doing 3BC and GH right after you ETR and claim your Leg sagas is the best way to start covering that gap, but if you dont like those quests every time around the hamster wheel, then that's kinda proving my point.

A system that lets you "bank" any Legendary XP you earn (like with the Fey event items) and then cash that in at 12M XP for an EPL would be far more flexible and fun - that was my suggestion before, and would be a good example of turning a vertical progression system into at least a more diagonal one

 

[droid327]

So dont run low level content over and over.

There's no alternative if you want to progress, though

If your paradigm ultimately boils down to "if you dont like the game, then dont play the game", then - again - you're going to suffer Wilde's second tragedy

I think its great that DDO has a unique system that keeps low level content relevant past endgame. I dont want to get rid of that entirely. I just dont like that the game has evolved to the point you're essentially being waterboarded with it.

 

[somenewnoob]

There's no alternative if you want to progress, though

If your paradigm ultimately boils down to "if you dont like the game, then dont play the game", then - again - you're going to suffer Wilde's second tragedy

We usually get a "don't play the game then" guy by page 2.

 

[Hobgoblin]

I want a credit card with no limit and and a bathtub big enough for ten plus me.


we are both out of luck I think

 

[Xgya]

I'm all for introducing extra bling to show everyone how awesome you are.
Whether it be cosmetics, player housing or something else, this is ripe for the taking.
I can understand why some people go out of their way to make their bases this awesome in Path of Exile, for example.

Otherwise, anything added has to be HORIZONTAL progression.
No bigger numbers.
MAYBE less gearing troubles (though Augments do that quite well already). But less gearing troubles might lead to more power by leaving room open for more gear, so I'm unsure.
I could reluctantly accept a "weakness removal" as somewhat "horizontal".
If we had a perk that said "increase your lowest stat by 1, X times", given the differences between lowest and highest stat, it wouldn't make a dent until quite a while.<

 

[Nahual]

Am I the only one that would like a give me access to create my own quests?

Get to max favor to unlock, start building quests that othe players can do and maybe vote up so you can make higher level quests?

 

[droid327]

Am I the only one that would like a give me access to create my own quests?

Get to max favor to unlock, start building quests that othe players can do and maybe vote up so you can make higher level quests?

You're not the only one but this is impossible - if not purely for technical reasons, then definitely for legal ones

This is something that's asked for in basically every mmo and the answer is always the same

Believe me, if studios could just get free development work donated by the players, they'd be all over it

 

[norriskwondo]

The paradigm has become stale. They're great for what they are, but it feels like we're being served pizza every day for a month. And having those as the only progression mechanics means they have to get increasingly grindy and repetitive.

People don't like the loot grind, and are getting increasingly cynical about the point of even doing it when the average time it takes to get some loot is close to the functional lifespan of the item.

People don't like the past life hamster wheel either, especially new players and casuals who do the math and realize it may take a decade to get triple comp, and we're coming up gradually on what everyone assumes will be LPLs and add another bloc of hamsters to the mill.

I'd like to see more creative, horizontal progression systems prioritized over the next few update cycles, so that the new legendary cap at 40 has more room to grow and develop. Something like a permanent hireling you can gear up and advance, or alternative combat XP systems to shape your build further.

Only cynical about loot grind, because I paid money for expansions and never see the gear get dropped. In two years of playing drannor everytime I go through a past lfe grind, I've only gotten at most a handful of gear pieces. But I get what you're saying, by the time you get what you need to be successful it's already too late to use it. I think that's just the nature of RPG's in general weather table top or video format. After all it's not about the destination but the journey and the friends you make along the way. It's also a great analogy of life. Everyone dies, that is our destination, but it's not about our death, it's about how we lived and how we interacted with the people in our lives along the way to that destination. Only true heroes does that destination matter and make a difference.