Fhrek
One Badge of Honor achieved
I still can get used with their big, disprorportional, discomfortable ugly heads.
What are peoples thoughts on the Producers Letter for the 20th Anniversary Year?
- Thread starter Duneseeker
- Start date
Fhrek
One Badge of Honor achieved
Meridian 59 (1996); Nexus: The Kingdom of the Winds (1996); Ultima Online (1997); Tibia (1997); EverQuest (1999); Anarchy Online (2001); Dark Age of Camelot (2001); EVE Online (2003); World of Warcraft (2004)... the list goes on!
axel15810
DDO YouTuber, Streamer and Podcaster
It's a good letter. Very happy to see Deurgar and and more Underdark for the expansion. Two things I've wanted for years.
The main thing that is a bit concerning is it looks like a light content schedule for the year with only 1 expansion and 1 adventure pack being listed. I want to see a new raid in addition for Q4, or a revamped raid, or another adventure pack to help fill out the level cap increase. Also there is no mention of UI scaling or a reaper revamp. UI scaling in particular is way overdue, it needed to happen years ago and is badly needed to modernize the game.
The main thing that is a bit concerning is it looks like a light content schedule for the year with only 1 expansion and 1 adventure pack being listed. I want to see a new raid in addition for Q4, or a revamped raid, or another adventure pack to help fill out the level cap increase. Also there is no mention of UI scaling or a reaper revamp. UI scaling in particular is way overdue, it needed to happen years ago and is badly needed to modernize the game.
Solarpower
Well-known member
And why should anyone care ?
It's just a game.
Cordovan said it won't happen during his stream, didn't he ?
Ying
5000+ hours played
Yeah why should I care about the 16-year relationships I've cultivated because of DDO.And why should anyone care ?
I'm with you here, We need more quests and raids per year, updating old content is probably the faster and less expensive way for the devs right now. I wish we could all push more for this really
Solarpower
Well-known member
The relationship won't go anywhere if the game suddenly disappears.
Ying
5000+ hours played
There's a chunk of the playerbase that can't fathom spending money on DDO, yet still wants "more". SSG can't persist on rainbows and unicorn farts.
My favorite memory of DDO is when I first capped my sorcerer back in early 2010 (started playing when game became free to play in 2009). I flagged for the heroic Shroud raid, which was still very much part of the end game raid scene, and I was excited to try out my new powerful character. Shroud LFMs were up fairly often and I clicked to join one...only to get a /tell saying "Sorry, we already have a caster, we don't need another."
Oh wait, that is not really a good memory?
But at least the game has evolved in the last 16 years and that sort of thing would never happen now...hahahahahahaha...(*Relentless raises a mighty middle finger to casters everywhere*)
Bitterness to the current caster situation aside, this game is great (unless you like playing casters in recent raids on higher difficulty) and I have mostly enjoyed my 17 years of playing it. I have known many of my online DDO friends for years now and that has really increased my enjoyment as well. There are always a few bad apples, but in general I think that DDO has the best and kindest playerbase of any MMO ever! (Okay, I have limited experience with other games, but I have some...and I stand by this statement...)
I have lot of good memories and favorite quests, but one thing that sticks in my head is the journey from hating and dreading complicated old quests (eg. "The Pit") to speed running them every life and finally leaving them as old friends as I embrace newer adventures when new expansions arrive. I vowed never to run Times Long Past ever again after my first time through it...but I actually took the time to learn it over the last few weeks, and like "The Pit", I start to wonder why I ever thought it was a bad quest. (Don't get me wrong...TLP is still a long quest...too long...but I don't dread the thought of running it now.)
I kind of wonder if I will ever like "The Wish"...probably not, too many unskippable cut scenes, and those dark tunnels. But..at one point I despised Rainbow in the Dark, too. And before I stopped running the Vale every life, I could almost run Rainbow at full speed without a light (still fell in the pits sometimes...).
Happy 20th Anniversary, DDO! Here's to 20 more!
Oh wait, that is not really a good memory?
But at least the game has evolved in the last 16 years and that sort of thing would never happen now...hahahahahahaha...(*Relentless raises a mighty middle finger to casters everywhere*)
Bitterness to the current caster situation aside, this game is great (unless you like playing casters in recent raids on higher difficulty) and I have mostly enjoyed my 17 years of playing it. I have known many of my online DDO friends for years now and that has really increased my enjoyment as well. There are always a few bad apples, but in general I think that DDO has the best and kindest playerbase of any MMO ever! (Okay, I have limited experience with other games, but I have some...and I stand by this statement...)
I have lot of good memories and favorite quests, but one thing that sticks in my head is the journey from hating and dreading complicated old quests (eg. "The Pit") to speed running them every life and finally leaving them as old friends as I embrace newer adventures when new expansions arrive. I vowed never to run Times Long Past ever again after my first time through it...but I actually took the time to learn it over the last few weeks, and like "The Pit", I start to wonder why I ever thought it was a bad quest. (Don't get me wrong...TLP is still a long quest...too long...but I don't dread the thought of running it now.)
I kind of wonder if I will ever like "The Wish"...probably not, too many unskippable cut scenes, and those dark tunnels. But..at one point I despised Rainbow in the Dark, too. And before I stopped running the Vale every life, I could almost run Rainbow at full speed without a light (still fell in the pits sometimes...).
Happy 20th Anniversary, DDO! Here's to 20 more!
Necrodancer
Ancient beyond measure
People not wanting to spend any more money have also wrote why. I'm one of the players who used to buy collector's edition by the way. I'm not entitled to anything and I do not care if SSG stops farting out expansions or new packs.
I thoroughly dislike the direction the game has taken for years and I'm only staying because of the freedom of building a toon the way I want and because I've been playing almost for 2 decades. One of things that will most likely keep me away from not buying the newest expansion will be rare loot.
I don't want more, I want better.
Ying
5000+ hours played
You should. Without new content, the game is dead due to lack of revenue. I get the Stockholm Syndrome mindset. I've been there too. Since 2009, I've spent six years away from the game. Breaks are good.
When I say less expensive is for the devs to create, I know it wont bring sells ups, but hell I wouldn't mind paying for the update, since I'm not a vip, lets say half the price of the pack. Thing is we need more content I usually spend a 100 dollars oin this game per year or more depending, its has been more but since rare items I been buying just the base expansions..
This community (specifically the forums, the discord isn't like this) has an immense problem with believing that the game is exclusively designed for them and then becoming belligerent when something happens to remind them that, very very correctly, SSG does not design for the forum users who have been here a decade or longer and mostly post only to farm negative engagement and cause toxicity issues.
This game's forums userbase is almost certainly older than almost any living, developed MMO or even video game on the market today. Every other venue from the discord, in-game, reddit, other fan-sites all warn that new players should never ever engage with the forums because this place has an extremely earned and similarly extremely negative reputation for turning people off of the game. This is why devs are much more active on Discord because as a platform it is much more friendly and has banned a lot of this forum's most prolific posters. SSG rarely interacts outside of their CM on this platform because every time they do they end up getting harassed, sent 'ultimatum' posts or otherwise they experience negative outcomes. No company wants to engage with the section of the playerbase that this game has allowed to flourish on these forums.
And that's sort of how it got here. The forum posters will throw a tantrum and start screaming, harassing, or being incredibly toxic to everyone around them and SSG has made the choice as a company to allow it to basically act as a self-quarantine rather than bust down the doors and ban the 50 most prolific ragebait farmer posters.
None of that is to say that DDO doesn't have issues; It super does. But these forums have long since been marked off internally as "Engage only when it provides us some kind of benefit to do so" rather than as developers also being community members like they often are on discord.
Like for those of you who do this sort of thing: SSG doesn't care. They do not and will not change a single decision ever based on what any of you constantly negative, dismissive, unconstructive users scream into the void here. They keep you here explicitly so that you don't wander into some other community and start doing this.
Edit: That isn't to say the forums don't have cool, helpful people. I've been helped by Ying posts more times than I can count when researching topics, builds, etc. But for every Ying - No, I can't make this joke, it's too corny. But you get the point.
Tyrande
Well-known member
Guess they ran out of "elven" ideas. Time for a race that does not need to bath... it's all in the Underdark anyways, who else can see except Drow perhaps? It's just generating a strong aroma. They are also going to pretty face Drow, give them a better tree hopefully too.Well, most everything in the letter is fine with me, but a Dorf race instead of an Elf race??? Thats just not right
Anyways, my take: I have been here the whole 20 years, but I seldom play every day nowadays.
They are trying to improve caster damage and rebalance caster damage- I can take that, but I guess they also don't want to make it overpowered.
All the mage hand stuff in Arcane Trickster- they wanted to do Bigby line of spells, but they also want money for them? What's the best to do? Their thoughts: Hey, let's put them in a new archetype and charge for it, free for one month for a bait... So, in order for better grouping and attract logins, they only put it free for a month. Non-impulse claimers/buyers and late players would not get them for free. Just like the coupon 100SLOTS, it gone pretty quick.
Out of the Abyss- maybe a cool module (255 pages), and finally not fighting legendary rats and cats and regular mobs. Trying to escape the Underdark areas in FR back to sunlight, yeah; I always wonder why the Underdark area was huge in update 14 Menace of the Underdark have two huge areas, King's Forest and Underdark, yet the Underdark has only 1 quest and only 1 Drow city with 3 quests. Out of the Abyss seems to cover a huge area, just don't know how the SSG team is going to implement all 255 pages into probably 2+ raids, 2+ raid adventure zones and probably 15+ quests? I think that 255 pages covers more than 15 quests, LOL.
Celestrata Bloodsong
Alignment: Probable Evil
...would you believe I actually brought the chair thing up?
....and no, no we still can't let you sit in chairs. (but boy do I want it)
I thought the Letter Was decent enough it laid out the roadmap for 2026 very nicely.
Been a user sense 2009,
Some of my fondest memories is joining Cordro for a run on twitch back in the day, He then sent me a 500 point code.
Watching Tolero pulling questions from a mimic and answering them, (we really need more of this kind of interaction with the player base
And I do remember her comments about sitting in a tavern)
Making a post when Steel star was first making TOEE with a /loc for a stuck spot and he responded with " This is good feedback)
But mostly i remember the sense of adventure i got through these years, Making this my favorite game to play. I started playing with my brother who has not played in ages but i have never lost the sense of adventure i get from playing the game. Thats why through all its ups and downs, lag/less lag, problems and issues, This will always be my favorite game to play.
May DDO continue to grow and thrive for another 20 years.
Ted
Been a user sense 2009,
Some of my fondest memories is joining Cordro for a run on twitch back in the day, He then sent me a 500 point code.
Watching Tolero pulling questions from a mimic and answering them, (we really need more of this kind of interaction with the player base
And I do remember her comments about sitting in a tavern)
Making a post when Steel star was first making TOEE with a /loc for a stuck spot and he responded with " This is good feedback)
But mostly i remember the sense of adventure i got through these years, Making this my favorite game to play. I started playing with my brother who has not played in ages but i have never lost the sense of adventure i get from playing the game. Thats why through all its ups and downs, lag/less lag, problems and issues, This will always be my favorite game to play.
May DDO continue to grow and thrive for another 20 years.
Ted