Talk:Request for interview with DDO reps

Request for an interview
Just a moment ago I sent the following request for an interview to:
 * Cordovan
 * Eladrin
 * KookieKobold
 * MadFloyd
 * Tolero

''Good day ladies and gents. I am, as some of may already know, ShoeMaker from DDOwiki. I am in the process of compiling a list of questions for Turbine-DDO staff members that I was wondering if any of you (or your colleagues) might be interested in or willing to answer. I currently have no questions about future releases or plans, mostly about current operations and procedures. I decided to come up with this list because I am bored with people asking me (A fan site rep) why a DM couldn't do this or that. I was thinking that if I could do an interview, perhaps I can get some of these questions answered and post a FAQ of sorts on the wiki I can simply refer people to. The wiki has an IRC channel that would work, we could do a forum post, or any other method that would be convenient for you. There could be an open Q&A or just a closed interview. I am willing to agree to a non-disclosure about some stuff, if needed. Thank you for your time and consideration.''

If anyone has any questions they would like to add to my list, this is the place, and now is the time to do so! ShoeMaker (Contributions • ) 10:09, November 20, 2012 (EST)


 * Tolero replied on 11-20-2012 with: Hi there! I can definitely take a look through some compiled questions here or via email. Let me know which format works better for you. Can't promise that I'll have answers for all the questions, but I can try to go through as many as possible

Would anyone like to give me some more ideas for questions to ask? I will organize my current questions that reside in my head and post them here tonight. Look forward to seeing more ideas. ShoeMaker (Contributions • ) 14:46, November 20, 2012 (EST)

Questions


That's all I got for now... "Tauro" (Contributions • ) 21:15, November 21, 2012 (EST)
 * Cannith Crafting: I know it's been inquired, but what is the status of the revamped Cannith crafting system? I recall in previous dev tracker posts, they mentioned an updated system, but this feels like it was back-burnered around the expansion release.
 * Airship/Teleportation: Is there any plans to include teleportation to House Cannith and Eveningstar?
 * Favor: Are there any plans to introduce new quests/favor changes to Purple Dragon Nights? (375, seems a lot per character, perhaps make it per account?)

BTW (its not limited to future questions)
BTW. I just find funny how the PM sent to the devs specifically said that there will be no questions about future releases/plans, and most of the questions there are about future release/plans. Nibelung (Contributions • Message) 23:14, November 21, 2012 (EST)


 * Actually, if you re-read Shoemakers email, it says I CURRENTLY have no questions about future releases or plans. So... Keep the questions coming! Yawgmoth ( IRC &bull; Message )  03:02, November 22, 2012 (EST)

ummmm...I've never tried to use this before so uh please bear with me and feel free to fix it if you wish

Just looking for some insight into the devs thought process of Ranged Combat I know its get alot of love lately and I very grateful but Ive noticed alot of the recent buffs to ranged involve keep you in one spot...which IMO defeats the very thing that IMO makes ranged combat special/fun which is out maneuvering your enemy...now PBS makes sense it keeps you close to the fight so you cant shoot enemies from miles away (although it also make sense that DWS specializes in making this longer) but stuff like archer focus make it so i may as well be using a melee weapon or play a game that doesn't have an active combat system (Sidenote: Arties are awesome and so are Manyshotting AAs, just don't forget about DWSs and Mechs :D)

Extra Bonus Query: Can ANYTHING be said about the new enhancement system anything at all...just give something to throw to my Static group (which is also the group I DM PnP for) so they stop gnawing on my arm :P

Dev Questions on Game Balance

 * Why do clerics get Imp. Emp Heal and FvS does not? Or, at least, let FvS have Imp. Max, as well as Imp. Emp since they're pushed toward evocation builds.


 * Why not just let all caster classes have access to the metamagic, and spell power, improvement enhancements? This way, we have more personalization of our toons.


 * Not a question, but a suggestion: describe spell damage for readability like you guys did for weapons. E.g. Cure Light Wounds 1d6 + 2 + CL (Max CL = 5), Fireball CL[1d6], Max CL = 10. Or maybe even CL(10)[1d6], but this would confuse more folks, probably.


 * Can you please increase Healing Word (FvS, Sovereign Host, Capstone) to Cure Moderate Wounds? Clerics have free Positive Healing Bursts, for comparison, so at least we could have a single target spell which can heal for as much as 1 Burst does for the whole party.


 * With so many Spell Level increases, will DDO ever allow more rays than 3 for ray spells? I know it reads Max 3 rays, but spells also read Max Caster Level 10, but we go above that limit. A ray spell with its Max Caster Level raised by 4 levels should have an additional ray.


 * Will DDoor scrolls ever hit the shelves, again? I can't imagine that there are so many quests which are exploitable by this spell as to not sell them. Plus, with a bard/sorc/wiz the quests are equally exploitable. As such, not selling these scrolls does not prevent these exploitations. If, in fact, that's why these scrolls were removed in the first place.


 * The idea for teleport to have a "Mark Teleport Location" option so we can select our own teleport spots rather than force the devs to create each appropriate location? With the Portable Hole being the only fixed location.


 * Will the "fail on a 1" ever go away from scrolls-casting UMD checks? It's absurd that we have a 125%+ chance and still fail. It's not like the 5% has any real meaning, anyway. It's annoying and wastes only a few plat and time.
 * There is no "fail on a 1" for skills. What is there is a bug for the UMD % chance when you have one of those artificer feats that lower the DC for some specific items (like the -2 DC for scrolls they get at level 1). Open the skill tab and make the math yourself, and you'll see the % chance on the tooltip is usually wrong. Nibelung (Contributions • Message) 18:23, November 22, 2012 (EST)


 * I love crafting, but it's annoying to change toons each time to craft stuff. Can DDO - and I really hate to say this - follow Diablo III and have the crafting hall become a "Master Craftsman" that we "earn" upper tier recipes as we "donate" magical equipment to the melting pot. This way, we could craft will any toon we are on. Artificer bonuses will effectively "persuade" the craftsman to allow higher recipes. These bonuses could still require the Arti toon to craft with the benefit. What I'm really going for is the ability to melt down my loot without having to go to the shared bank, swap toons, melt loot, swap toons, return to gaming. It's not fun, at all, and parties will not wait. It feels like an unintentional penalty to the crafting system.


 * With the addition of epic levels and all the new gear/prefixes/suffixes; crafting is not a useful. Can we see a reduction of crafting costs, crafting XP, or an increase in mats from melting loot?


 * Non-Mass Cure spells are incredibly underclassed. Only the heal spell gives a decent amount of reliable healing to be of any real use and the cure spells are merely there to fill the cooldown of heal. Can you please adjust the loaded dice for healing so to correspond to Arcane spells? 1d8 => 1d4+4 instead of the current 1d6+2. Ultimately, it's pathetic when I can throw a low-rolling cure spell which heals for less than a Potion/Oil of CSW. Alternatively, increasing the CL of the cure spells by 5 will also produce better numbers. Alternatively, remove the Healing Spell Power Nerf which is only slightly better than adding +5 MaxCL, but this affects all spells rather than other options. Loaded dice affect all cure spell, and CL+5 could easily be added only to the non-mass cure spells. Making them more useful and keeping the others unaffected. I would really love to see both the +MaxCL increase and the loaded dice adjustment - to increase our base healing amount for single target spells and to reduce the healing spread.


 * With the ability to put the same spell on the hotbars with different metamagic effects, then can we have a hotkey assigned to metamagics? I have 2 rows for my healing spells: 1 with Emp. Heal & Max and the other with Emp. Heal, Max, & Quicken. When I need faster healing, I can use the second hotbar. This means I have no need to select the "Quicken Toggle" and wait the 2-3 seconds to activate. As such, it would be a lot easier to have metamagic effects assigned to hotkeys that I could hold while casting to add the effect needed.


 * The SP cost for Cure Light & Critical Wounds do not follow the scaling presented: CLW = 6, CMW = 8, CSW = 12, CCW = 20. At 4 SP per tier, the spells are more worth their value while not affecting the game balance since metamagic effects are the only way to have decent healing, anyway. Alternatively, increase the loading on the dice (1d4+4 instead of 1d6+2) and put the costs a 5/Spell Level. This would also fall in line nicely with the scaling of the Mass versions of the spells.


 * Since Renown decay will likely stick around for awhile, will we at least ever see Guild De-Leveling go away? This allows for the same effect of keeping guilds low based on their participation while preventing people from dismissing guildies who cannot play often. We are forced to choose Gameplay over friends/loyalty. Plus, this way, guilds could have "Level Up Runs" where everyone is asked to put in extra effort to level up the guild - encouraging gameplay. The current system punishes people who can't play as often and discourages guilds. I feel this was not the intent for guild decay/de-leveling. Inactive account could instead impose a Guild XP penalty. This will solve the problem of people keeping long-term inactive players in their guilds while not punishing the weekend warriors (read: folks with families). Further, it will discourage guilds from leveling up with a bunch of players and then dismissing everyone but the leader's best friends.


 * Instead of giving random drops of Mabar turn-in items, why not just give all party members 1 Mote of Midnight? This prevents the problem of "bad rolls" and then allows the Drought of Midnight to simply increase the Mote-drops on your toon. This would also solve the problem with Support/LowDPS classes from not earning Motes because Nukers are kill-stealing. While this is not always on purpose, it would significantly balance the distribution. Further, this will significantly encourage group play rather than solo play in Delera's Graveyard as everyone earns a fair share *AND* it will *significantly* encourage players to buy Droughts of Midnight on their Support/LowDPS classes - and, let's face it, that increases Turbine's profit. Or, at least, remove the "On Kill" effect from the potion and you'll see a huge increase in their sales.


 * When will the Stone of Change get the makeover the GS alters were given? It takes ages to crunch Fragments into useful components.


 * Will Concentration ever see a revisit to make it possible to resist damage from Epic Level Mobs? Perhaps a revision like AC.


 * Can we please get some more gear for healers? There are tons of class-awesome gear for everyone else but still nothing for healers. We need some gear with Devotion/Healing Lore/Imp. Heal Metamagic & some Radiance/Radiant Lore along with Laceration/Lacerating Lore. That new Heavy Mace is nice, but it's only for Epic levels. We need more leveling gear. Every other class/build has cool stuff along the way except healers. Case in point: Implement of the Deep Woods (Druid Staff) has Devotion, Combustion, Magnetism *and* Sup. Fire/Lightning Lore. Where's the Cle/FvS staff with Devotion/Radience/Impulse and Radiant/Laceration Lore? The House C ring is another example: where's the *non*-WF Cle/FvS with appropriate scaling of Heal (1/day CL 10), Archmagi, Devotion, Sup. Healing Lore, Regeneration (1/15 seconds), Healer's Bounty (but will stack with Healer's Bounty like this ring does for WF, even if it didn't, I'd be very happy), Empty Colorless/Green augment slots. Healers are seriously lacking in gear with multiple heal-only gear. Lastly, while I'm happy to have the new Forgotten Light weapon, I'd really rather have Greater Arcane Lore instead of Supreme Good - we're not swinging that thing for DPS, we're using it to heal and cast Divine Punishment (which has pretty weak damage considering it's our only really efficient SP combat spell - since Blade Barrier requires so much skill to make the best use of its damage (which also has rather low damage).


 * Will Turbine consider allowing us to take other class levels instead of only epic levels? For example, 20 Cleric/2 Epic/3 Sorc.


 * Instead of running around the ship looking for buffs, can Turbine instead consider having, say, a ship's mast where all buffs go into? Each ship will have the same number of buff limits as hook points on the mast instead of around the ship. Obviously, the current system was designed to slow down game play - hence the doors below deck and having to zone to go below deck - so the mast could simple apply the buffs one at a time or increase the "activation timer" for each buff on the mast. We all understand that it's a balance to slow down players so to keep us interested in the game for longer periods of time; this current system only supports the "Turbine against the Players" idea floating around the forums. Some things, bartender, guild chest, alters, etc., can remain separate from the mast, of course, though.


 * Can we get some AoE, DoT spells for electricity/sonic? Air Savants have nothing for this combat tactic without going outside of their element (Ha!) At least allow Call Lightning. Electric Storm, Lightning Storm, Storm Cloud, Electric Field; any number of names come to mind. Air Savants are considered gimp by the other savants (including Fire Savants due to the high amount of pre-U14+ end game content) because they lack AoE, DoT spells.


 * Is the +Mod from Bane weapons added into critical hit calculations?

Sindarin8 (Contributions • Message) 13:22, November 22, 2012 (EST)


 * Is the Damage Mod (usually Str) rounded down (floor function) when multiplied by 1.5 for two-handed weapons?

-- Anonymous user (76.94.136.179)

Why can't we search in the auction house for items based on min/max level? I'm trying to gather gear for my next TR, and searching for things requires hovering over each items and seeing when I'll be able to use it.

You can, Jaquine, just select the "Level Range" on the AH. This will limit it to the selected level.

Sindarin8 (Contributions • Message) 13:19, November 22, 2012 (EST)
 * One down, only 43 questions to go. --Jaquine (Contributions • Message) 14:13, November 22, 2012 (EST)

Some more questions

 * Are there any plans to go back and simplify/fix re-flagging for DQ/SoS/Necro 1-3? What about cleaning up irregularities in touchy old chains like Threnal?


 * Is Dragontouched Armor going to get fixed up to be useful once again?


 * The Public LFM system was supposed to come along with an option to teleport directly to the quest. Is this coming along, or did it get completely scrapped?

--


 * When and how DDO's server lag problem will be solved? (random events when each player inside instance is frozen for multiple seconds - up to minutes even, but mobs are not frozen since they can still do damage to players, causing painful party wipes) -- Drachenfels (Contributions • Message) 14:27, November 25, 2012 (EST)

198.188.96.4 19:16, November 24, 2012 (EST)
 * Will clickies (Shield, Burning Hands, Grease) ever be added to Cannith Crafting? Possibly with recipes to increase uses and caster level.
 * Will the new enhancement system introduce new feats alongside it? Maybe something like ricochet to add glancing blows to thrown weapons.
 * In order to balance power between those with epic destinies and those without, there was a brief interest in making the auto-grants F2P, but spending points remained a paid feature. Is there still any interest for this feature?
 * Warforged do not receive their proper PRR based on body composition feats, has this fix been put on the back-burner, possibly with a revamp to the Warforged body feats granted on class proficiency?
 * Mithril armors provide PRR based on their new armor category (heavy->medium->light), is this intended, or an oversight?
 * What are guys most excited for in DDO right now?