Producer letter/February 2010

Happy Fourth Birthday, DDO!

Hi Everyone-

It’s been a little while since I have been able to post, but I am pleased today to be able to spend a little time with you today commemorating an exciting milestone: DDO’s 4th Birthday! Just like you might do on your birthday, this seems a fitting time to reflect on what has come before and think on what the future holds for us as well. But like any four year old, first we really just want to focus on when’s the party and when do we get our presents?

DDO’s birthday is February 28th and today we are officially kicking off the party! We have a lot to celebrate this birthday so we are looking to make it a good one! We hope you have already been enjoying the first part of our birthday month festivities, The Risia Ice Games, and that you have had fun adding Frost effects to your weapons and hand wraps and crafting other fun winter items. Have you made it to the purple coin from the ski jump yet? Are you as glad as I am that consuming many cups of Ski Lift Hot Cocoa doesn’t seem to make your character gain weight? Here are 3 quick tips: don’t use feather fall, be sure to boost your movement speed and jump skill as much as you can, and don’t forget to do a lot of air steering. Good luck!

In honor of our birthday we are also bringing back the ever popular 20% Quest XP boost from February 26th through 28th and again from March 5th through the 7th. Remember that this XP bonus stacks with other XP boost benefits. Also True Reincarnation is available again as of today, so it will be a great time for everyone to go out there and rack up a ton of XP!

Finally with today’s patch we are introducing a new mini-game: The Traveler’s Scavenger Hunt, named after The Traveler, Eberron’s mischievous deity known as the “Giver of Gifts”. You can read the full guide by clicking here, but this is how it works: All player characters created before the 18th will receive a number of tickets called Tokens of the Traveler (depending on account type) and a single Blessing of the Traveler item as well. The Tokens let you run the scavenger hunt for a basic prize, but the Blessing is required to claim a grand prize. Talk to an NPC named Taj in the Marketplace, give him a Token and you’ll begin a timed run to collect as many magic eggs as you can.

Like with so many things in life, all it takes is a little speed (haste, expeditious retreat, striding, etc.), maybe a Jump boost and a little practice and you should do fine! As you complete a run, you will earn one of five different Auras – the more eggs you find the more powerful your Aura. Upon returning to Taj he will give you a chance to win a treasure item appropriate to your level. The better you did, the better your potential rewards. Also if you achieve Auras 3, 4 or 5 (look for the Roman numeral in the icon), you will have the option to turn in a Blessing to receive a special grand prize! Try to learn a path that lets you maximize your Aura before you turn in your Blessing to maximize your rewards!

So what can you win with a Blessing? Some really cool and valuable stuff! Like for example a brand new item – the summoned repair shop – will initially be available exclusively as a Blessing reward. Other prizes include healing items, XP boosts, resurrection cakes and Twigs! Yes, that’s right, Twigs. If you aren’t sure what to do with these, I suggest you play the Risia Ice Games or just take them to the auction house where they are in high demand before the Ice Games are done. (Though lower the buyout prices a bit will ya? The costs are getting out of hand for just a twig!) And speaking of riches at the auction house, as a special grand prize available only during our birthday celebration, the Festival of the Traveler will initially be configured to drop UNBOUND +3 Lesser hearts of Wood when you redeem a Blessing of the Traveler after a good hunt! Go get them! And may the Traveler smile on you!

I also mentioned something about reflecting on the past and thinking on the future. To that end, I will plan to come back to post again in the coming weeks (after recovering from all of the festivities) to provide a “State of the Game” post for you. Please post a few questions or topics you want me to cover in that message, and I will do my best to address as many as I can.

In closing, I just want to say a big thank you to our whole player community for helping to make DDO such a success in 2009 and for getting 2010 off to such a great start! Few MMO’s get to celebrate a fourth birthday, let alone at a time when investment in the game is growing and we have thousands of new players joining the community every day.

Happy Birthday, DDO! Here’s to many more great years in Eberron!

-(former producer) Fernando.

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Source: DDO Forums