U80 Preview 2 - Cosmetic Teleports

[Titus Ovid]

This particular teleport cosmetic is just silly. How about dramatic instead of comedy?

The custom animation holds absolutely no interest for me. Hopefully others might like them.

The huge nerf to casting time on teleport is very, very annoying and not something you shall receive any sort of praise for. Very poor taste infact.

The reason you give - accidentally teleporting - is even weak and frankly insulting. If a player decides to actively drag a specific teleport destination to their hotkey bar rather than click the spell and then pick the destination - then they are making an active choice which includes the risk of clicking at the wrong time. But noone is forced to drag the specific destination to the hotkey bar so it is a complete non-issue. [snip]

This. The reason for this change is one of the weakest justification we have seen in this game.

It seems the solution is very simply.

Keep the old teleport the way it is - without additional cast time.

Add new and superbly flashy teleport cosmetics that people can purchase - give those the additional cast time so there is time to enjoy the show.

Let the players decided what they want please rather than nerf the game and make more people quit.

While I am don't see it as dramatic as mikarddo, he is spot on. This is a totally unnecessary change. If you want to monetise something don't change it and make it worse in order to take money afterwards.
Your company did it in the past. Make a problem and then sell a solution. That is disgusting.

Titus

 

[Pano]

BTW how will that animation look in animal form?

Don't answer, I know that it will be just like opening doors or chests - reverting you to humanoid form.

Create a custom bear animation and I will buy that!

 

[Pano]

This particular teleport cosmetic is just silly. How about dramatic instead of comedy?

Because trends... Zero emotes in any modern multiplayer game are dramatic. The kids these days just want silly animations.

Wait... DDO's playerbase average age is 40, never mind.

Also I am sure there will be eventually more animations to choose from. Some silly, some heroic.

 

[Pano]

Also and IDEA:

Since we are doing these animations, can we add some cool animation on the teleport destination side? I want to heroic-land in marketplace - that would have more impact than a cool animation that nobody sees in the end of wilderness/quest.

 

[Seppi Pearlsmith]

This particular teleport cosmetic is just silly. How about dramatic instead of comedy?



Titus

DDO is a comedy game now. Later updates made the game the bastrd child of DnD and American Pie.

 

[cdbd3rd]

*Glances over at sales post*


Lol. Yeah, right.

This thread helps me ignore that thread. Decisions & consequences & all that.

 

[Synalon]

I've come around to this change tbh. After seeing the animation, I think they'll be fun. Wonder what else they'll cook up. And 2.5 seconds will not be too onerous, really - RuneScape had some teleports that took like 10 seconds. It was fine.

 

[droid327]

I'm sure someone has mentioned it already but instant teleport being an emergency eject button really dilutes the HC-like events they've been working to develop. That's a justification for induction too

 

[rabidfox]

I went down the rabbit hole of figuring out when the old sharn expansion teleport was changed from instant to induction based (it was the item of choice to use in HC season 1 for fast escapes). It was way back with u45 just before HC season 2 happened.

 

[Sammy]

I don't like the added time. If I'm being truthful, I probably normally spend an extra 2 seconds glancing at my other monitor or something during normal teleportation. By itself, I may not care that much if casting takes a little longer. However, I don't think it's wrong for people to be genuinely upset about a change to something they've enjoyed for about two decades.

The problem I see here, and what I think a lot of other people are seeing, is the *direction* updates are going more than just the individual changes within them. They recently nerfed Death Ward, another spell that has been in the game for a very long time.

Sure, it gives enemy casters' negative energy spells purpose. That's the best light I can shine on it.

But it feels like a precedent is being set for dismantling the game and turning into something else. Just because it's 2026 doesn't mean we should start changing long-standing functions. Maybe you have some sort of modernizing idea that will attract more players. Maybe you just think these are good changes. You're probably aware that this will cause friction with long-term players, but it may be even worse than you realize.

I don't like to complain and I don't want to be dramatic. But, to the devs, I hope at the very least, you can understand the concern coming from some of us.

 

[saekee]

well time-to-cast issues aside, I like the animation video except for the military salute. Kind of breaks it for me. It would be funnier if they held their nose in the case of an accidental teleportation in water.

 

[Lazuli]

I teleport on basically all my characters, a LOT. Forcing a ~2.5 sec cast time on something that was instant is a gigantic anti-QoL pain in the ass.
Please please figure out a way to differentiate the normal teleport/greater teleport spells.

Have the cosmetic ones be a cosmetic feat toggle that, when on, makes the cast longer. Or have the cosmetic only apply when using the non-basic tele/GT, such as xpac teleports.

This. Linking the animation cosmetic to a toggle is a good solution. I can support this, even i can buy animations if they give the option of being optional. But if they nerf the spells, I'll be very upset. I'm fed up with them nerfing every spell of the game.

 

[seph1roth5]

I went down the rabbit hole of figuring out when the old sharn expansion teleport was changed from instant to induction based (it was the item of choice to use in HC season 1 for fast escapes). It was way back with u45 just before HC season 2 happened.

They don't balance things for HC. Elemental shrines being removed after a HC season (or 2?) was tooooooooootally unrelated. Something they had mentioned, years and years, ago wouldn't be around forever

 

[The Outfit]

So the Nestea plunge as a teleport cosmetic.......

 

[Deathdefy]

Suggestion - begin resource load but continue to show animation
Is there any chance that the actual teleport could still occur on a 'beginning to load resources level' at the same time as the existing one one (since all teleports necessitate a load screen), BUT, you continue to show the graphic of the cosmetic teleport not the load screen.

i.e. identical to if the user had entered /quit, then clicked 'no' on the dialogue box?

This would allow the having of the cake of 'can still see the entire sweet teleport animation if your load time is sub 2.5 seconds or at least as long as it takes to fully load the new zone' AND eating the cake of preserving existing QoL?

Community sentiment really does care about QoL and should be considered
In both this and the previous thread, community sentiment is very bullish on maintaining QoL.

Sole exception for the poster who perfectly validly for them sees advantages in a longer teleport for a better hardcore experience - though even there I'd submit the right answer is only having the 'forced long cast time' within quests/slayer areas.

Multiple options to preserve QoL
I genuinely appreciate these changes is a real resourcing cost of programming time that isn't just changing a variable of 'cast time' but truly should be worth considering. Short version, please consider:
- Beginning resource loading at old teleport cast time but suppress zone transition screen, and/or
- Only apply these changes when within a dungeon or slayer area.

Vibes
I'm still 'probably going to buy the ultimate next expansion' but I swear, the:
- not great approach to this,
- the 'let's help casters' vibes ending up nerfing DoTs and requiring a re-gearing for zero net benefit (literally just universally increase all existing bonuses and/or make the Epic cores +4 to DCs stack with each other; don't stress the 'too many unique bonuses - que sera; up everything and we have interesting choices to make), and
- the absolute absurdity of multiple failures to put the DC ring into chest despite public release notes to the contrary AND then not publicly retracting that false information in the launcher,
are tipping me.

 

[Lanadazia]

I'm sure someone has mentioned it already but instant teleport being an emergency eject button really dilutes the HC-like events they've been working to develop. That's a justification for induction too

does it though? you'd need to be able to cast that level of spell AND invest a feat. so you're most likely running a fullcaster. if i'm thinking survivability, there come other builds to mind, but full caster
alot of classes have some kind of emergency button, teleport was pretty good at this, but also has some downsides. fatfingering + no reentry on reaper for example

 

[kmoustakas]

"Is this an out of season april's fools joke?"

 

[Frieling Slyhand]

I don’t really understand the uproar about this. 2.5 seconds doesn’t seem like a big deal. What exactly are you using teleport for where 2.5 seconds matter as it isn’t a combat spell? Serious question.

I also don’t get the hate from posters who rant about “cowardly zergers”; why are you so obsessed with how other people play the game? This thread screams—get out and smell the grass!

But Devs: why don’t you do some professional polling of players to figure out what your customers want and will pay for!? Players council is not representative nor is this forum: you need better and more professional feedback before spending resources; you could make a lot more money if you were more wise and strategic about giving the majority of players what they want.

 

[Praun]

Another waste of dev time.

Maybe FIX SOME BUGS FER CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!

 

[Dom]

It also deals with some long standing regrets in the design such as its too easy to accidentally teleport out of a dungeon if one fat fingers a hot key.

Not sure if it has been asked/addressed in the thread already, but I've noticed in some instances when using the teleport from expansion bundles, it doesn't always allow you to animation-cancel to cancel the teleport. Is this being addressed? If not, fat fingering a teleport hot key can still be a problem.