When will the event end?

[Tanis]

where exactly is the "increased reward" for these champs? this is not the same as someone who could never run a reaper quest before expecting to now, this is increased difficulty for no reward at all. This is actually just a testing ground for mob buffs that will prevent players from pulling multiple packs of mobs. There is no "toxic casualness" in saying these champs are garbage and can't be removed from the game soon enough. There is a ton of toxic elitism in telling people that they should accept this phantom "risk/reward" scenario associated with these champs you have conjured up in your own mind.

There is zero reward for the champs

 

[Gizeh]

The real statement is to just not play for a week, which is what I have decided to do.

Same here. Gonna check next Wednesday if the event is over or if I'll extend my break.

I really don't understand how SSG thought it was a good idea not to let players opt out of this.

 

[Ellisaria]

It's been a while since they did something like this, game has changed, players have changed. Perhaps they'll take some of the feedback into account when designing future events like this. Best we can do is give constructive feedback: what we like, dislike, and what we would like done differently. The screaming "I hate this" and 'this event is stupid" doesn't help anything, its not constructive. Frankly if I were working on a project and got responses like what's been going around the forum this week, I'd not be motivated to do anything out of the way, unique or special for a while when the all I get for my effort is my head ripped off and my efforts dumped on.

 

[droid327]

where exactly is the "increased reward" for these champs?

The increased reward is the extra XP and higher drop rates you get in Hard and Elite, in exchange for having to fight champs. That includes Event champs. There are some legit criticisms about Psionic champs and how they're implemented in this event, and I've been as vocal as anyone about them...but merely complaining that they exist at all is not.

There is always going to be some variability in exact difficulty for any given quest. That's part of the game. You're never promised that Hard mode will always be a "100" in difficulty and never "110"

There is no "toxic casualness" in saying these champs are garbage and can't be removed from the game soon enough. There is a ton of toxic elitism in telling people that they should accept this phantom "risk/reward" scenario associated with these champs you have conjured up in your own mind.

When you put things in terms like that, with language like that, especially directed at other players - that is definitely toxic

 

[Aragadi]

The increased reward is the extra XP and higher drop rates you get in Hard and Elite, in exchange for having to fight champs. That includes Event champs. There are some legit criticisms about Psionic champs and how they're implemented in this event, and I've been as vocal as anyone about them...but merely complaining that they exist at all is not.

If you are going to tell people they have to change their normal course of gameplay then you are going to have to offer something up in the process. saying people are getting what they would have already gotten out of increasing the difficulty level of their quests is a reward for dealing with these new champs is not even close to good enough. Hence your toxic elitism.

There is always going to be some variability in exact difficulty for any given quest. That's part of the game. You're never promised that Hard mode will always be a "100" in difficulty and never "110"

Oh, really? I guess at any time champs can randomly spawn in normal difficulty. Tier 2 champs in hard? And reapers in elite? No sir, every quest is actually very much guaranteed to be within a given range of difficulty. You may not be guaranteed to complete said quests but I challenge you to show me a tier 2 champ in hard, or any other example you choose to go with. These event champs are breaking the rules of normal gameplay and there is no additional reward for them at all.

When you put things in terms like that, with language like that, especially directed at other players - that is definitely toxic

Terms like what exactly? I called the champs hot garbage, because they are, how exactly do you take personal offense to that? Are you one of these mobs? What offensive language did I use and where exactly was that offensive language directed at you personally, I don't see it in my post at all, enlighten me, please. You did in fact conjure this risk/reward nonsense out of thin air to attempt to legitimize your belittling attitude towards other people. I guess if you took offense to me calling you on it, sorry not sorry.

 

[Praun]

The real statement is to just not play for a week, which is what I have decided to do.

Or, just run slayers.
There's a lotta XP in some of those areas.

There is zero reward for the champs

Meh, maybe a lil pile of Remnants

There is always going to be some variability in exact difficulty for any given quest. That's part of the game. You're never promised that Hard mode will always be a "100" in difficulty and never "110"

That's not the ratio, like, at all.

It was almost 10x more difficult for certain characters, not 10% more difficult.

I have a barbarian who is on his 3rd life as a barbarian. I have no desire to be a completionist. I want to make the strongest barbarian / rogue / sorc as possible. In fact, I have at least 6 different alts all above level 20, some on their 2nd life. I'm old school and don't care for multiclassing. I enjoy building the character, as much as running it.

I've built a fairly impressive barbarian on Cannith, Praunrage Murder Machine, and he lives up to his name. I've had people on their 25th life brag about how fast he can layem down.

Last year he was on his 2nd life at level 4 during the Maybar event. He couldn't get into the quests, but he could farm for keys ... and farm for keys he did. I could get anywhere from 4-9 keys on every run. I didn't know this was odd till other guild mates started complaining about how hard they were to get.

So, I took him out there and beat some undead down, and had almost 100 keys farmed for my mates in about 7 days.

He's no slouch.

Now, the other day, I go out to do a quest I've soloed DOZENS of times and faceplant well before the end fight because of these Thrall Champs (TC). I was actually shocked, and a bit embarrassed I must say. I thought maybe I hit a bit of lag, so I grabbed a Favored Soul and went back with my game face on, only to face-plant at the end fight.

So, these TC are WAAAAYYYY overpowered. Like, it's not even funny how overpowered these things are ... unless you are a spellcaster who can do an instakill on them. Otherwise, you are buggered.

That's breaking the game and forcing us into a playstyle we don't (or can't) do.

So, in essence, those of us who have a VIP literally can't use the main benefit (opening quests on H/E on the first run) of it during this event.

So, yeah, this was not thought out very well.

Look, I want people to enjoy this game as much as I do..

Have your Hardcore Event, different Festivals throughout the year, and surprise events as much as your little heart desires.

Just, please don't force everyone to engage in them.

Is that really too much to ask?

 

[Tanis]

Meh, maybe a lil pile of Remnants

Remnants aren’t an event reward and already exist for fighting champs so no that’s not a reward for these champs

If the champs had a chance to drop cards that would be a reward for these champs



It’s been suggested that the Invasion could have worked like hounds from HCL

 

[Col Kurtz]

No, thralls are just flavor for the event. it's like hardcore season 8, we have to find mindflayer spawns in the quests (usually in odd or optional areas) and kill enough of them as a server to 'exhaust' the spawn point. Once the server kills enough, a quester appears near that guy in sharn. Sarlona has unloked the first quest, but I'm not on a legendary toon at the moment so I haven't tried it yet. The mindflayers are a bit strong, not crazy undoable, but take them a little seriously.

this is a Great Idea/flashes a sarcastic look.

Who thought this idea was good in DDO should have to take a drug test to keep their job. An event like this in a game where the player base is spread thin across 8 servers, 32 lvl's not to mention the 13 difficulty lvls , its absurd.

That being said...I am glad some are enjoying it. a few thralls with super high DR have only slowed my questing by a few minutes per quest. But, I am only running EE or R1....I wager those thralls have really hurt players on the edge of EH-EE with their builds & slowed the r4-r10 crown down a notch or two.

 

[SilentRunning]

Tbh I was wondering what i was going to do with all these dice roll Siberys Spirit cakes.

Do I die sometimes getting caught out, Yes, am I going to rage about it, No.

I tend to run solo or in a group of 3 friends. Either way the thralls have forced me to up my game a bit. I'm only on my 3rd life so I'm no "elite" smd I'm not really a "Casual", so I am just in limbo, I guess.

 

[Speed]

Some "exprienced/veteran" players that call themselves proudly "elite" are actually playing easy mode with all their passives from TR, best gear, tomes, ship buffs, reaper tree.
Sorry, but I could not resist after reading another "elite" ego posts.

 

[DDO Gaming]

I just completed "eye of the titan"@R1 and I'm pretty sure I didn;t see any psionics...which suggests the inspired quarter seems to have been spared from the invasion. The sky was clear so...

 

[popejubal]

Or, just run slayers.
There's a lotta XP in some of those areas.

Meh, maybe a lil pile of Remnants

That's not the ratio, like, at all.

It was almost 10x more difficult for certain characters, not 10% more difficult.

I have a barbarian who is on his 3rd life as a barbarian. I have no desire to be a completionist. I want to make the strongest barbarian / rogue / sorc as possible. In fact, I have at least 6 different alts all above level 20, some on their 2nd life. I'm old school and don't care for multiclassing. I enjoy building the character, as much as running it.

I've built a fairly impressive barbarian on Cannith, Praunrage Murder Machine, and he lives up to his name. I've had people on their 25th life brag about how fast he can layem down.

Last year he was on his 2nd life at level 4 during the Maybar event. He couldn't get into the quests, but he could farm for keys ... and farm for keys he did. I could get anywhere from 4-9 keys on every run. I didn't know this was odd till other guild mates started complaining about how hard they were to get.

So, I took him out there and beat some undead down, and had almost 100 keys farmed for my mates in about 7 days.

He's no slouch.

Now, the other day, I go out to do a quest I've soloed DOZENS of times and faceplant well before the end fight because of these Thrall Champs (TC). I was actually shocked, and a bit embarrassed I must say. I thought maybe I hit a bit of lag, so I grabbed a Favored Soul and went back with my game face on, only to face-plant at the end fight.

So, these TC are WAAAAYYYY overpowered. Like, it's not even funny how overpowered these things are ... unless you are a spellcaster who can do an instakill on them. Otherwise, you are buggered.

That's breaking the game and forcing us into a playstyle we don't (or can't) do.

So, in essence, those of us who have a VIP literally can't use the main benefit (opening quests on H/E on the first run) of it during this event.

So, yeah, this was not thought out very well.

Look, I want people to enjoy this game as much as I do..

Have your Hardcore Event, different Festivals throughout the year, and surprise events as much as your little heart desires.

Just, please don't force everyone to engage in them.

Is that really too much to ask?

They’re not bad when you learn to engage with them and Barbarians are particularly well suited for dealing with them.

Run away.

Run away, chill for 30 seconds and heal back up to full. Now run back and smash them. Don’t just stick around and swing for zero damage. When you run back to hit them, they’ll fall easily.

Also, spend 3 AP on Feydark Illusionist if you’re in Epic levels. A bunch of epic destinies will give you Magical Training to let you take Feydark instead of having to take Magical Training as a feat. The Shadowblades enhancement lets you bypass all of their damage reduction because you’re dealing Force damage.

Part of being a great Barbarian means learning how to deal with enemies who are sometimes resistant to physical damage.

 

[popejubal]

Spoken like a true elitist end-gamer. Screw the new casual players. If you can't keep up kick rocks and find another game. Which is happening more than you may realize.

That elitist attitude will kill this game.

It amazes me when someone complains and another player provides a workable, useful suggestion on how to fix the thing they’re complaining about and then the complaining player rages that “elitist” players are telling them to go find another game. Which is *NOT* what’s happening. Bewildering.

@Praun if you’d like, I can tell you how to deal with the thralls if you want to know how to kill them. I don’t want to be accused of abusing casual players as an “elitist” (and I’m not even close to the DDO elite- I’m a damn scrub), so let me know if you want the information. I’m not going to impose my suggestions on you if they’re unwelcome.

 

[popejubal]

Čeg se pametan stidi tim se budala ponosi.

Translation: “What a wise man is ashamed of, a fool is proud of.”
Did you think that writing that in Croatian makes it okay for the forums?

If someone says that one difficulty level is too hard for them, reminding the person that lower difficulty levels are available to them is not “elitist”. I’d love to get the RXP from running every quest on R10. I want those wings.

…but I’m not able to run quests on R10 and survive. So I don’t run on R10. I run on lower difficulty. And I don’t act like other players are abusing me if they notice that I’m unable to cut it in R10 and encourage me to play at a difficulty level that I enjoy instead of getting myself all worked up in a difficulty level that is frustrating and not fun for me.

 

[Drunken.dx]

Translation: “What a wise man is ashamed of, a fool is proud of.”
Did you think that writing that in Croatian makes it okay for the forums?

If someone says that one difficulty level is too hard for them, reminding the person that lower difficulty levels are available to them is not “elitist”. I’d love to get the RXP from running every quest on R10. I want those wings.

…but I’m not able to run quests on R10 and survive. So I don’t run on R10. I run on lower difficulty. And I don’t act like other players are abusing me if they notice that I’m unable to cut it in R10 and encourage me to play at a difficulty level that I enjoy instead of getting myself all worked up in a difficulty level that is frustrating and not fun for me.

Telling player that used to run hard difficulty without issue that he has to run normal is elitist and rude.

My saying stands

 

[popejubal]

Telling player that used to run hard difficulty without issue that he has to run normal is elitist and rude.

My saying stands

You don’t have to run normal. Right now, if you want to play DDO, you have three choices as far as I can see:
1) run normal (which you can choose to do or not do - I’m not telling you that you have to. Only that it’s a choice that’s available to you) or
B) learn how to defeat the champions (which is not that hard to do IF you understand what bonuses they have) or
iii) die a lot in the quests and get really mad about it.

It isn’t elitist to recognize that those are really the only 3 options for playing DDO. It isn’t elitist to remind you that 1) is a choice. You’ve also been given the information for B) a few times but have chosen to ignore it. I guess you’ve chosen iii).

 

[Drunken.dx]

You don’t have to run normal. Right now, if you want to play DDO, you have three choices as far as I can see:
1) run normal (which you can choose to do or not do - I’m not telling you that you have to. Only that it’s a choice that’s available to you) or
B) learn how to defeat the champions (which is not that hard to do IF you understand what bonuses they have) or
iii) die a lot in the quests and get really mad about it.

It isn’t elitist to recognize that those are really the only 3 options for playing DDO. It isn’t elitist to remind you that 1) is a choice. You’ve also been given the information for B) a few times but have chosen to ignore it. I guess you’ve chosen iii).

I'm not talking about myself.

I'm talking about poor newbies who get overpowered mobs they have to put up with or be contained to lower difficulties.

Not everyone thinks only of themselves.

Some of us realize there are players that don't have wiki opened on second monitor.

Or that jump to forum as soon as they encounter an obstacle.

Some of us speak for others

 

[popejubal]

I'm not talking about myself.

I'm talking about poor newbies who get overpowered mobs they have to put up with or be contained to lower difficulties.

Not everyone thinks only of themselves.

Some of us realize there are players that don't have wiki opened on second monitor.

Or that jump to forum as soon as they encounter an obstacle.

Some of us speak for others

I’m not presumptuous enough to speak for others. I’m not going to assume that I can see into the hearts of other people that I don’t even know and make arrogant demands on their behalf.

If you’re just here to be outraged on other hypothetical people’s behalf instead of trying to actually help other people who are having a hard time in this event, then I can’t help you. That’s a choice you make for yourself.

If you do want to know how to deal with those champions, I can help. And then maybe you can actually help the people on whose behalf you are outraged instead of just coming to the forums to vent. It’s up to you if you want to be productive or just outraged.

 

[vryxnr]

One of the things i try to do is meet up with new players and offer assistance (usually in the form of knowledge by answering questions) if they want it. Quite a few have joined my guild. This is not to say that I can speak for all new players. The new players I'm talking with is probably a very small percentage of the new players. But I can relay what I'm hearing from them.

I've gotten a few "oh wow the thralls are tough", which is usually followed up with a "how best to deal with them" followed by making those adjustments.

However that's only a few. Most of the new players I've talked to have stepped up to the challenge.

One even says they love it.

But that's only for those who are talking. There might be some who simply quietly vanish. There are vets who do that too.

In game I've gotten more complaints from vets who are vehemently anti-challenge. (edit: but also in game, most people I've talked to are either a fan of what is happening, or have no vocal opinion either way)

Maybe it's just the new players that I've been meeting, but the majority of them that I know seem to understand that they are new, that things will be challenging from time to time, and that this event is just that: an event that is not going to last forever. Many are actually impressed that a game this old is still not only coming out with new content fairly regularly, but are also trying new things like this.

edit: I'm not saying one group does or does not exist. I am saying that "new players" is not a monolithic term that applies to all new players when talking about how they experience and feel about this event.

 

[vryxnr]

...

SSG messed up, why is it hard top admit that?

...

I did "admit" that, and so did many others, including many of the people you are fighting with now. There is also more to it than just "they bad". Some of us are trying to have nuance in our discussions.

...and I understand that many of the solutions presented are not permanent "change the way the devs make things" solutions, but they are temporary things that players actually can do if they choose to.