So there's like a zillion people playing BG3 . . .

[Sophie The Cat Burglar]

First, I would come up with a Welcome Back package aimed at drawing back players. It would contain items designed to help a person returning to the game after a long absence, with the goal of keeping such a person active and happy for about 8 weeks. Once ready, the promotion would go out to every email on file for an account inactive more than a year.

Second, I would design a Returning Player Questionnaire. I want to know what returning players like, what they dislike, and what would make their game experiences better. If the person intends to quit again, I want to know why. This questionnaire would go out with the Welcome Back promotion.

If I get back enough Questionnaires to matter, I would review them and try to find trends. I suspect DDO has two gigantic problems.

Problem 1: New and returning players get lost. These players are overwhelmed with the character construction system. Once they get out into the world, they are not sure what quests to run. DDO is poorly written with a very weak narrative thread. Other games of this type offer far less character customization and a much more coherent story on rails. DDO does not fit the fantasy role playimg game paradigm players expect.

Problem 2: New and returning players cannot find other people to play with in a meaningful way. There are not enough groups. Based on pure character power, rhe grouping system throws together the equivalent of Level 1 and Level 100 characters. That results in a horrible play experience for the Level 1 character player.

I would not spend even one second considering the opinions of veteran players on these matters. I would also remain open to my suppositions being completely wrong. If I want to diagnose a problem with new and returning player retention, I need to get feedback from new and returning players.

If I get useful feedback, I would make changes to make the game more friendly to new and returning players. My goal would be to make such changes very decisively and rapidly. With that done, I would repeat the cycle. After the first cycle or two, if changes are working and retention is up, then I will lean more heavily into attracting truly new players through aggressive marketing.

The entire program would play out over two years. It would run concurrently with another program to reinvigorate play for veteran players.

 

[Zvdegor]

First, I would come up with a Welcome Back package aimed at drawing back players. It would contain items designed to help a person returning to the game after a long absence, with the goal of keeping such a person active and happy for about 8 weeks. Once ready, the promotion would go out to every email on file for an account inactive more than a year.

Second, I would design a Returning Player Questionnaire. I want to know what returning players like, what they dislike, and what would make their game experiences better. If the person intends to quit again, I want to know why. This questionnaire would go out with the Welcome Back promotion.

If I get back enough Questionnaires to matter, I would review them and try to find trends. I suspect DDO has two gigantic problems.

Problem 1: New and returning players get lost. These players are overwhelmed with the character construction system. Once they get out into the world, they are not sure what quests to run. DDO is poorly written with a very weak narrative thread. Other games of this type offer far less character customization and a much more coherent story on rails. DDO does not fit the fantasy role playimg game paradigm players expect.

Problem 2: New and returning players cannot find other people to play with in a meaningful way. There are not enough groups. Based on pure character power, rhe grouping system throws together the equivalent of Level 1 and Level 100 characters. That results in a horrible play experience for the Level 1 character player.

I would not spend even one second considering the opinions of veteran players on these matters. I would also remain open to my suppositions being completely wrong. If I want to diagnose a problem with new and returning player retention, I need to get feedback from new and returning players.

If I get useful feedback, I would make changes to make the game more friendly to new and returning players. My goal would be to make such changes very decisively and rapidly. With that done, I would repeat the cycle. After the first cycle or two, if changes are working and retention is up, then I will lean more heavily into attracting truly new players through aggressive marketing.

The entire program would play out over two years. It would run concurrently with another program to reinvigorate play for veteran players.

Maybe somewhere there is a paralell universe where SSG can meaningfully communicate with their very own playerbase. Just think about the new ED tree. They asked help to create the Epic Moment for the tree. There were tons of really good and fun ideas but they did not hear what the palyers really wanted and they choose the very minimum instead.
They got their own weird idea how to play this game.

 

[Thwart]

I think BG3 appeals more to pnp players because it is as close to pnp as a video game can probably get right now. DDO isn't even close to pnp.

 

[Teh_Troll]

BG3 has a dog; you can pet the dog, you can play fetch with the dog, with the right spell you can talk to the dog while petting it.

Plus what you can do to the bear . . .

 

[TrinityTurtle]

I think BG3 appeals more to pnp players because it is as close to pnp as a video game can probably get right now. DDO isn't even close to pnp.

This was right along with my lines of thinking. There is a HUGE difference between the experiences of a single player game and a multiplayer game. Neither experience is 'better' than the other, but both aren't going to appeal to everyone. A lot of people prefer one to the other.

 

[HoopleHead]

LOL! I was watching Az's feed as he played... he spent the whole time screaming and swearing... I think he lives for the stress of a game not allowing him to do what he wants...

 

[Cyran]

I don't think you can. A big part of how baldur's gate 3 became so big is not because it D&D or even that it base on a beloved franchise that have a lot of nostalgic. It because you got people like asmongold naming videos I going to buy baldur's gate 3 even through I don't plan to play it. This is a feature complete game with massive amount of content and 0 microtransation. This is something so rare today and people miss that not only do people want to play a game like that but they want to support developers who making a game like this.

How is DDO going to appeal to people that want to play something with no grind and no microtransaction. It simply not going to translate. I think it a mistake to think that Baldur's Gate 3 successful because people want more D&D content vs people want more feature complete games at launch with no microtractions.

 

[Voraxia]

D&D has never been more popular than it is now (Chris Pine movie aside, even though I loved that movie). BG3 has already sold a million copies.

How do we convert some of these folks to DDO? We only need like 10k for this game to be great again.

You don’t. Bg3 is like their other game divinity which I thought was super bad. The only people you would get to come to ddo are never winter nights players. Ddo is a complex grinding game, where one mistake wipes you, or one mistake means you have to level to 20 to remake your character.

Bg3 is just a casual story progression game, where you could make any mistakes and still win. Not to mention ddo is a cash shop expensive game. It costs like 150 for the game, 15 a month, and like 150 for the exp, stat, and skill tomes. You aren’t gonna get people who think 60 bucks is a lot for a game, which is the full game, to spend 500 bucks for ddo.

 

[Voraxia]

I am pretty sure DDO has about 500,000 players. I would love more players because I think it’s a great game, but I don't see how 10,000 is going to make much of a difference one way or the other.

Haha at least you named your self right. Ddo 1000 percent does not have 500k players. It’s closer to a nwn persistent world server in population than ff14 numbers.

 

[Wizard]

Very few people run around multiboxing in my experience. It's too much of a hassle.

Yeah I only use it occasionally to open a quest or farm an item (low level free coupon content only, don't bother to level up my alt accounts or buy content on them). Too much work.

Marketing, which is something I've never seen done for DDO in the 13 years I've been around it.

The answer is Twitch. There are 130k people *watching* right now. Convert 10% of those people to DDO and every server would be populated like hardcore. Imagine if DDO ran ads. Or if SSG actually supported DDO streamers with Twitch drops during the release of expansions or hardcore seasons.

Or convert 1% of the Steam population playing BG3, which hit a new record this week with 807k concurrent players.

Yes. Marketing, new player aquisition and player retention should really be a priority. For example, where are the promotions like "recruit-a-friend" campaign; free to play weekends (all content free); new and returning player goodie packs?

Maybe if they implemented a subscription model (VIP) or even a more premium subscription that allowed for catch up to all the grind of past lives, reaper points, etc. player retention, and residual income for that matter, could materialize.

Said subscription model would enable all past lives and full access to reaper trees and all content as long as you maintained.

Yep a lot of annoyances we have in the game are due to microtransactions (low item drop rates with rerolls available, low xp coupled with extremely high amount of pastlives with skips and xp buffs available, consumables that have to be bought because they barely drop or not at all , like jeweler's kit).

That being said F2P saved DDO. They are not going with the times with payment model though. F2P games tend to be less restrictive in content these days and focus more on cosmetics. For new / returning players the price of content is way too high.

 

[Col Kurtz]

Hmmm, things that could retain a few more new players is making some simple stuff free.
>enhancement trees/ the platinum reset cost only effects new players-vets could care less
>fred's feat exchange...make it free/ only vets have the necessary shard, and new players must see this and laugh... you give me dozens of feats to pick and then wanna charge shards to exchange them?
+ there should be a 'Fred" in Korthos, and he should say "look for me in House lol" if you need to exchange feats.
+ have Fred give out free +0 hearts, so new players can repick skill points too....

...Really, the skill point thing is not very D&D like. In the versions of D&D when I was a DM, your ability scores were it, for determining if a skill check worked. It's to late now...but the skill point thing adds unnecessary calculations. New ddo player> "why cant my rogue spot traps on elite?" ..."oh, after getting lost in ddo wiki for 20 minutes, I see my SKILL POINTS are not high enough"
The crazy high dc to hold, or stun, or whatever you want to do is a serious determent too.
A newer player could easily waste weeks getting to mid-lvl and then realize they have to start from scratch again.., or go to lvl 20 with a gimped character>>Reincarnate...and then try again with a higher xp requirement as you lvl up.

 

[ProllyDidItWrong]

I think the majority of BG3 players may be bandwagon jumpers, they move on and ever on to the next new shiny thing. They follow the hype and want to make sure they are doing the thing that all the cool kids are doing, and apparently that isn't DDO.

BG3 maybe a polished masterpiece and I've even thought about slamming down some bucks to check it out, but in the end it has a fatal flaw (at least for me) it's a turn based rpg.

DDO has spoiled me with active combat and the seemingly endless combination of potential builds. IDK if BG3 has a robust build potential but every game i've played can't hold a candle to DDO in this regard. Put 100 fighters in the same room in most games and there will be 1 or 3 builds over and over again. Now put a 100 fighters from DDO in the same room and most of them will be different (aside from some meta builds).

Active combat and custom builds are the thing that has kept me coming back since 2006 and is the reason I can overlook all of DDOs many flaws. And even though that might be ok for me, many many new player will drop a game at the first typo, glitch, wrong tooltip and lag experience and call it a gamebreaking bug and then announce to anybody who will listen to them that this game is a steaming pile of... well, you know.

So I dont think DDO will ever be a AAA game and will forever (or as long as the servers are turned on) be a niche game. And you and I will run along through the levels and laugh at the others knowing that we are playing the superior game, but alas we will be doing it alone for 90% of the game.

So even if we could get 10,000 players to wander over here - I think 9,990 of them will bounce with-in the first week.
Thats why some of you whiny ditchdiggers should support this game every chance you can otherwise we will be left to play a polished turned game RPG that we secretly hate.

 

[Nandos]

BG3 is the hot thing to play this month. Many of the players will jump to the next big thing when it comes out next month- Starfield.

With that being said, DDO really needs a high value, low cost starter pack so that new or returning players know what they should buy first if they want to try this. They had a new starter pack a year or two ago, but had to get rid of it when part of what it offered became free. Make the new starter pack even better, so that everyone recommends it.

 

[Contessor]

BG3 is a one time fee and likely a one time play through for the story. I don’t see how that game can be compared to DDO. One and done, or for the super fans maybe a second or third play through.

DDO is f2p. But the biggest problem with f2p with an old game is the grind for new players to catch up. This part of DDO screams a subscription model, or at least some catch up mechanic. But why bother if you don’t market it. I would enlist the support of all the twitchers. Maybe have them give coupon codes and pay them a small finders fee for new players that subscribe.

Change VIP to more wanted benefits by the players (daily gold rolls were a good start for example). More bank storage. Other quality of life improvements, like eliminating raid timers for the entire party with a VIP in the group. Have VIPs summon others to their current location. Fast teleports directly to the quest. Keep price of subscription same as it is now.

Then add a second tier VIP that is all-access pass that includes all content, classes, races, etc. This also unlocks every past life feat, full reaper trees, max destiny/fate points, and enhancement points. Charge $39.99/mo for this. (Placeholder). This would at least give new players the full DDO experience, but at a cost. I am sure this would have a better chance of attracting new players and retaining them. And if the price is too hefty, they can keep it active until they grind out some stuff themselves for a period of time.

 

[Ying]

Yes. Marketing, new player aquisition and player retention should really be a priority. For example, where are the promotions like "recruit-a-friend" campaign; free to play weekends (all content free); new and returning player goodie packs?

All excellent suggestions.

 

[Ying]

BG3 is the hot thing to play this month. Many of the players will jump to the next big thing when it comes out next month- Starfield.

No one doubts it's the flavor of the month. But it's also setting sales and concurrent player records, and disrupting the game industry as a whole. Very few games can claim all that, and it's the most successful D&D game in history with 2.5 million units sold before release (approx #52 on the list of all-time best selling PC games).

 

[Darksteel]

How do we convert some of these folks to DDO?

Hire an experienced management team and systems design team. The current bunch have run out of ideas and rehashing the same thing - TRs, eTRs and upcoming legendary TRs. Oh btw, AC and resistances work in BG3 without PRR and MRR crap.

 

[Col Kurtz]

Hire an experienced management team and systems design team. The current bunch have run out of ideas and rehashing the same thing - TRs, eTRs and upcoming legendary TRs. Oh btw, AC and resistances work in BG3 without PRR and MRR crap.

you have to wonder why DDO went loopy with THACO and AC.

Should be base d20 chance to hit+ your hit dice + weapon/stat/ magic modifiers.... but with +8 stats and +14 weapons+ multiple enhancement bonus', all that goes right out the door. Basically, everything hits in DDO unless your build is a gimp & if we can't miss>you know the DM wont let the monsters miss either.

 

[Cernunan]

Hire an experienced management team and systems design team. The current bunch have run out of ideas and rehashing the same thing - TRs, eTRs and upcoming legendary TRs. Oh btw, AC and resistances work in BG3 without PRR and MRR crap.

Larian staff have just commented on why there will probably not be any expansions.

Because abilities past 13 are so warping it is almost impossible to balance a game around the abilities and game systems start to break down.

They cite the fact that almost all published adventures are under lvl 12. Because it's too hard to balance after lvl 13.

All in all, I have to say DDO does a pretty good job, especially with that PRR and MRR crap.

 

[Justfungus]

D&D has never been more popular than it is now (Chris Pine movie aside, even though I loved that movie). BG3 has already sold a million copies.

How do we convert some of these folks to DDO? We only need like 10k for this game to be great again.

You don't.
It would be like a golf cart salesman asking how with all the interest in electric vehicles how could he convert
Tesla sales into electric golf cart sales. You don't.