This channel is dedicated to the online game Dungeons and Dragons Online, also known as DDO (www.ddo.com). In my videos I give my thoughts, tips and opinions on the game. The channel is a solo show I do in my own free time and comes from the point of view of a long time DDO player. I cover news, strategies, hot topics, and all kinds of other aspects of DDO.
If you want to find me in game, my main character's name is Akksol and I play on the Thelanis server. You can also contact me through the DDO.com forums, my username is axel15810. If you'd like to support this channel, please consider subscribing and sharing what I do here with others. I also have a Patreon at www.patreon.com/axelalexk
Im not sure using the benefit of shared bank slots is a valid representation of value. It is the difference of renting a home or paying for a home, at the end of the lease you get absolutely nothing. Once you buy the home it is yours and the value goes on foreverish. Same with many of the benefits. Not to say it is a bad deal, it is an amazing deal to be fair and anyone with the expendable funds it is worth it. Just dont think the comparison is accurate.
I haven't really been interested in raids since ToD in Shav..... I ran the hell out of CitW, but honestly that wasn't a great raid either. I want more heroic raids tbh, I don't run epic often and I'm just tired of Epic only raids. I would also like more than one encounter per raid.... Shroud I find fun and worth the time investment since there are multiple encounters. What happened to the lack of encounters (I'm not expecting WoW levels here but one encounter is boring)
A lot of this analysis assumes that the items in the store are actually worth what they cost, which is debatable (even with the most conservative pricing). I think the biggest value is for new players who might want a "try before you buy" with permanent unlocks like packs, classes, races, etc. It's also a lot more convenient than per-item purchases, and there's maybe a bit of "old-fashioned ideas" on my part where MMOs are supposed to cost a subscription 😂
I've played DDO since around 2010. I've done all heroic raids and a small amount of epic raids. Raids aren't my specialty by any means, but that being said I have noticed that a lot of the new expansions tend to have a lot attached them at times which I think isn't always necessary and could open up more time spend on improving other areas. For instance, I don't think every expansion needs a whole giant wilderness area. I know for as many lives as I've ran, Ravenloft feels like a waste outside of doing slayers there at epic. It's HUGE but there isn't really a need for it. Bump up the quest xp to compensate slayer xp and maybe return to some of the more instanced based zones to free up some time and resources elsewhere. Gianthold is another example. It's pretty large and has both a heroic and epic version now which is nice, but I don't see any reason an area like that or Tangleroot, or Searing Heights can't have some quest entrances/minor area revamps done to them instead. Then spend that time and money fleshing out raids more or adding more content.
Yeah, all DDO's servers are open for all players no matter where you live. No server physically located in EU though, so you'll have more ping than you'd prefer.
I'm shocked and dissapointed Wild and Dead Magic zones aren't more used for the raid. I figured that'd be a major mechanic. But it's 1 spot for 1 mechanic. I don't mind another Dracoliche, as they are def a major threat, but Thay should have a much bigger meaner role and I don't see the Dracoliche doing anything new. And where the hell are all the Demons/Devils that are plaguing Myth Drannor? Now if we had the Dracoliche fight in 1 room, while fighting a Thayan Arch Necromancer in another for control of the dragon, and stopping the Thayan's turns the Dracoliche to an ally or go beserk, then have a Demon Portal open due to the wild magic of the dying Arch Necromancer, and have a new Balor and a buncha summon demons and have the Dracoliche and the Demon fight it out while we gotta kill him on a wild or dead magic zone to cause him to fall apart, then that's a cool raid with no new models/monsters.
Hopefully this will help, I've followed the LOTRO news on their updates and DDO seems to be following suit. Sadly our guild left over a year ago and all of us were VIP. I am kind of the one with the eye on the news to see if anything is viable to come back. We'd talked in length about what is happening and that other companies are able to port or at least get their IP into a new game engine. I'm not strictly talking graphics of course (we don't have to beat that dead horse of course). But in netcode and just quality of life improvements. Will keep it positive and hopeful they can get it all patched up (it is seriously a patchwork quilt of code! LOL) and maybe functional as they intended. I've never hit another game with so much customization for a character and truly do love that. But as it stands our guild is now The Outcasts of Faerûn on ESO. LOL. Fingers crossed and watching and waiting. ;) And Axel, you rock. Have followed your stuff for years. Thanks for keeping up with the info and straight up news.
I see your point about the Lanterns event not being "hardcore" but really the only difference is that the character that died stays on the server. You still have to achieve your goals in a single life. I do wonder if the event will be limited to 1st life toons. I don't know if that was addressed. I hope it is limited to first life.
the kukri is for the enemy debuffs and enhanced bloodrange, so if you can't get it then I'd go with a dino bone weapon with legendary affirmation (brighthorn).
My first thought when the 64 bit severs were announced was: "It's a soft-sell on a server merge." I'm 100% for it, assuming they can get the tech working to transfer all the characters/mounts/pets/guilds. DDO's population is sparse and having the active players scattered across half-a-dozen servers isn't helping the community, or the game's bottom line. I have no thoughts on the Lanterns thing until I know it's final iteration.
64 bit server is pretty exciting, but guilds have to be transferable or I'm not moving. The lantern thing... meh. Might be cool. I'll probably check it out. I don't think it really replaces hardcore though. A hardcore challenge on a fresh server and first life toon is completely different from playing it on your main toon with piles of past lives, full sets of augmented named gear waiting in the bank every 5 levels, and +8 tomes on every ability. Half the fun is that each season levels the playing field. New players and vets are all starting from scratch.
Absolutely bizarre "hardcore" server that no one asked for. These devs are just not on point recently. The compelling thing about hardcore is that the servers are full and there are none stop groups like back in the days. Also you didnt mention the biggest disappointment here. There will only be 1 64 bit server that you have to start fresh on. And if, IF that is a success they will roll out servers to transfer to. Another stupid decision.
the lag in ddo is nobody's fault but are own. Have been playing for a couple years. In that time I have watched the toon with the bloody footprints run by with a couple of pets in tow, with the faire wings, on some glowing mount that also leaves footprints. So when everyone wants all this and everyone uses all this - Geeeee I wonder why there is lag.
64 bit servers is the same promise they have been giving with all of the nerfs in every update to reduce lag. Maybe the infusion of players will make up for the lag that will "mysteriously" still exist.
Maybe it's just my mindset, but you spent too much time focusing on "how to stop people form cheesing lanterns" I never quite understood the reasons for being so harsh on people trying to utilize game mechanics to circumvent something. A person with 1274 Hard Core titles and 300+ cosmetic rewards and he cheesed them all? Couldn't care less, good for him, I'm still playing the game I enjoy.
They didn't say and I am speculating here, but it seems like this will be the replacement for Hardcore. My assumption is there will be no more traditional hardcore seasons, rather the permanent lantern hardcore-like option instead. I don't see why they'd offer this latern mode on the new servers if they intended to keep the old Hardcore format around.
I would just love for them to implement UI scaling for higher resolutions. It’s what’s made me stop playing. I know the graphics aren’t vector images; I don’t care. Let them scale all pixelated like, I just need them visible.
Axel the way I heard it the testing phase is open to everyone. The initial “free transfer” however would be VIP only to start. Also the new server will be the location of the lantern in the mist special event…so being VIP is going to be very important (literally). As my group is comprised of both veteran FTP who own all the content as well as VIPs this poses a real challenge! These two pieces are worth separating out and talking about individually as they both have an impact on existing groups. Had everyone not gone over to HC I never would have tried it and it has made me a much better and engaged player…I love HC as-is and hope it will return. I don’t want to run a “mixed group” half of whom are not running for their lives and will be happy to get plenty of aggro and don’t care if they (or you) die. HC gives devoted players a place to challenge themselves in a unique way and is almost a vacation in which I usually spent $200 USD. People may experience some burn out yes due to running so hard in HC but they make their way back to the regular server usually with a transfer and lots of stories to tell. Soloists that stay in the normal server probably appreciate the low to no lag while folks are on HC. I’ve never heard anyone complain they couldn’t run due to a low population. Anyway, I think there is more to discuss about VIP value proposition, how to regard those who bought all the content and were in beta and VIP for 15 years now not invited to a new server or a new special event. Interested in your thoughts on these issues 🤍
If you look around the 13:10 mark in the interview Sev was pretty clear the long term intention is to open free transfers to everyone. He also said at the beginning of the interview the first one is VIP limited initially to prevent a large player queue. Doesn't seem the plan is to use this to add value to VIP. Just limiting it initially until the servers prove they can handle more without major performance drawbacks. But yeah you're right it may be limited to VIP in some capacity initially. You're right that he did say later in the interview they'll want to flood it to test a large player pop at some point. And yes definitely the lantern event will be only on the 64 bit servers.
@@r8chlletters Yeah that's what I was referring to, but at 3:30 Sev seemed to imply VIP only to test. It's a bit unclear, seems to contradict. Guess we'll see soon what exactly will happen for the test, it may be in testing as soon as this coming week.
It would be great if to make it more like Hardcore, if you die you become reanimated to complete the quest with the party, but leaving the quest sends you to the land of lost souls. Same big penalty for those playing without punishing those not playing for completing the quest objectives.
on the Lotro side, it's the new legendary vip servers. I left some servers to get away from assholes. In other words they're going to try to implement a difficulty curve like they have done in lotro
Not really thrilled by the "Lantern" Hardcore. That's just Normal DDO with Extra Steps. Also, some players just DON'T have space for a new character. And Hardcore provides 3 slots. Is everyone gonna have 3 free slots? Am i gonna be able to "TR" into a Hardcore Run? No items/stats bonuses until my Lantern breaks, a'la Kingdom of Loathing? If so, i wanna run an Oxygenarian life, where no exp pots can be used, so i can get a bonus for something 80% of the playerbase already does.
The quote i heard is there are no plans in immediate future to accommodate euro players. Main reason given is they cant afford it. Only positive I can make is LOTRO seems to cope and they bound to have a European player base. (though maybe they have their own server.... oh well it was a thought, Ive no idea on the answer.)
@@RogerThompson-t6s Had a quik look LOTRO have 64bit service one in EU. one in US. So it waits to be seen what compatibility will be like across the pond.
@@Fatknacker62 if the population grew significantly then it would justify a 64 bit server. As it is I believe we should expect VIP to go up in price once this is in place…
The last 32-bit Xeon processors were part of the Nocona and Potomac Point families, which were released in 2004 and 2005. This should have been done a very long time ago. I myself have been 64-bit on my PC since Windows 7.
