DDO Dev Chat at Warcry! July 14th 2005

WarCry: Hello everyone and welcome to the Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach Dev Chat. I appreciate everyone taking the time to stop by. I think it will be a great night with lots of excellent questions.

WarCry: Shortly the Dev team will introduce themselves and we will get started. But I wanted to answer the first question from Matt and that is yes the game is fun!

WarCry: Now let me turn it over to the man we all love to hear from Sporkfire!!!

SporkfireDDO: Hello, all. Glad to be over here at Warcry for a chat with you all. We have several of the Developers and hopefully lots of good answers for you.

Ken: I'm Ken Troop, Lead Designer for DDO

JustinQuimby: Hey all, I'm Justin Quimby, Lead Engineer for DDO

EckelberryDDO: I'm David Eckelberry, formerly of Wizards of the Coast, and now the Game Systems Designer for DDO.

WizardTed: Ed Stark, Special Projects Manager for RPGs & Minis at Wizards of the Coast

WarCry: Jim: What new information can you tell us today about DDO?

EckelberryDDO: We've been working on all sorts of stuff here, so it's tough to answer such a general question.

We're mainly focused on adding good quality content and refining the existing game systems. Getting ready for beta. Speaking personally, I just put Wild Empathy into the game today.

JustinQuimby: On the code side: 01010111100010101011100010101

WarCry: Sordes: We heard a rumor around E3 that the PrC's might not make it for release. Can you comment whether they will be in for release and what PrC's we can expect to see?

Ken: Prestige Classes will not be in for launch. When we do them we need to do them right and in bulk, so players can make informed decisions about how they want to develop their characters...so we've pushed them out
to past launch.

EckelberryDDO: It's especially important as we do prestige classes that we give options for lots of players. Doing one prestige class, for example, is an option for a very small percentage of players.

WarCry: Myth: What are the decisions that have been made or discussions had regarding future expansion quest content, will quests be additional level 1 to 20 content in the Eberron Setting or tacked on Epic content?

Ken: Expansion quest content will be additional 1-20 content for the short-term.

WarCry: SA_Chaz: Is there going to be a guild system in the game? If so, what kind of options will be available for the guild leaders, officers, members etc.

JustinQuimby: There is a guild system in DDO. Player will have guild chat as well as guild leader can promote officers who have additional guild abilities.

WarCry: mattllow: What are you doing to keep fighters from just becomming button mashers? Since Trip, Knockdown, and Bull Rush are out, are you giving them anything to make up for this?

EckelberryDDO: Figghters have a lot of options available to them; what you've defined is a limited suite of a few feats related directly to positional movement and animation state that doesn't well with our client-server model. Truly however, there are plenty of active feats and options for them to choose from... including stance-like options such as Power Attack, and instant attacks such as Hamstring, Slicing Blow, Stunning Blow, Sunder, etc.

WarCry: Sordes: Can you explain a little more in depth about shared instances (danger zones)? Are these more for the solo player, casual player, or will some of these be for raiding content? Also how many and how varied
are the shared instances?

Ken: Danger Zones, or shared instances, can serve all of those roles -- basically, Danger Zones ignore Party status, and are instead limited to X # of players....

Ken: So if you're a solo player or a casual player, you can hop in and do a small segment of content within the DZ, or you can adventure with a much larger group of people to accomplish all the objectives...

Ken: And yes, it is a natural fit for raiding-style content...While lots of DZs are more open-ended landscape adventures, some of them are dungeons as well

WarCry: Kale_Illwynd: "Will there be Dragons in "Dungeons & DRAGONS Online", despite the somewhat "removed" status they have in the Eberron material?"

WizardTed: While the most notable and ancient dragons of Eberron are very removed from the goings-on of the rest of the world, there are younger and more volitile dragons running around the setting ...

WizardTed: ... It's entirely possible that the PCs might run into BOTH types of dragons, though they'll only get to fight the younger ones (unless they're really, really stupid ;-)

Ken: And yes, in DDO you will be encountering dragons, and some of those situations could get violent.

WarCry: Gadap: Hello! Thanks for hosting this forum. One question I have is about the number of players allowed on a server at one time. I read where it will be 1000. Does that mean only that number will be able to log on to a particular server at one time?

JustinQuimby: One of the goals for DDO is to foster player community. we want you to recognize the people you see walking down the street and on adventures, so to that end we've set up each world with a cap of 1000
concurrent players.

WarCry: Martok: Will there be quests in the game that will involve anything other than a dungeon or monster slaying encounter?

WizardTed: The short answer is yes. Many of the quests already in the game involve a lot more "smarts" than just hacking your way through monsters. Some involve puzzles, others involve traps, and there are definitely some PC/NPC interaction-dependant quests ...

WizardTed: ... One of the things I really like about DDO is that the characters' success isn't wholly monster-bashing dependent; the game rewards you for completing quests and figuring things out, not just killing stuff.

WarCry: Sordes: We also heard from E3 a rumor about taverns being a part of the LFG process. Can you tell us how this works, how unobtrusive it is to the immersion that people expect from a tavern? And are there any
other aspects to a tavern other than the LFG process that it is tied too?

Ken: Early on, our design called for Taverns to be integral to the LFG registration process, because we wanted to make sure Taverns were social hubs...however, the more we played with it, the more restrictive we found it, so --

Ken: You can register and stayed registered for LFG anywhere. As for taverns, many different types of quest-givers and travel opportunities can be encountered at the taverns, ensuring they remain popular hubs.

Ken: Oh and ham.

Ken: Forgot that part.

WarCry: Your: Will there be little villages or towns implemented into DDO? which will give a bigger feel of an RP setting rather than fighting, then go back to town, fighting then go back to town.

Ken: Absolutely. In addition to the big city of Stormreach, there will be other public areas and small towns to encounter over the course of the game.

WarCry: vozeldr: when can we expect to read more dev diaries content? i found it interesting and unique to get a glimpse into the devs of the game

SporkfireDDO: Actually, after this chat, the Devs will be locked in this room to fight out who writes the next one. I'll check on them for survivors in the morning.

SporkfireDDO: Seriously, I am gathering them from the Developers to get the feature updated soon. You should be able to check it out in the next week or so.

WarCry: Ukk Can you give us a little more information regarding character customization during creation? Will we be able to chose height, weight, hair and eye color, long hair, short hair etc? Will starting clothing be bleah, and generic for each class? Thank you ^.^

EckelberryDDO: We have a number of options of customization at both character generation and beyond. Obviously we allow different colors of eyes and hair, along with different facial models, hair styles, etc. Characters
begin with a set of gear that's looks okay, but not the sexiest armor gearset by any means. Quite simply, we save the best clothing/armor appearances for characters who earn it.

WizardTed: We'll actually have a few more "ethnicity" options than described in the Player's Handbook. You can have a darker-skinned elf or dwarf, or have different facial features than the "standard."

WarCry: nycdan: "hi...will illusion spells such as Silent Image and Ventriloquism be in the game and if so, how flexible will they be?

EckelberryDDO: Sadly, nycdan, the answer to that question is no, for now. I've looked at doing the illusion spells as primitive pet spells (ie, summon an illusionary monster) that could taunt but not do damage, so it
may happen later, but I wouldn't plan on it for release. Illusions, and for that matter, divination spells, are among the hardest for a computer to do better than a living DM.

WizardTed: Even in the Alpha, I was impressed with the sheer variety of spells and spell effects Turbine has worked into the game. The game really feels like D&D, partly because of all the spell choices. So, even though not every spell can be in the game, many, many are

WarCry: KylieShandra: will there be tutorial type quests to help familiarize the new player with the interface and world etc?

WizardTed: There will be tutorial quests and elements in the game to make the interface easy to get used to and to familiarize people with the world setting ...

WizardTed: ... And, as the game goes on, the player will learn more about the world and what he can do in it, so it won't be just a big info-dump right at the beginning

WarCry: MP_Eloick: Will there be a Quest journal to log accepted/completed quest ?

WizardTed: There will be a quest journal and it'll be one you can review after you've completed quests, too, so you can go back and look at your successes and failures.

WarCry: Sordes: Will pricing for equipment, clothing, general goods, spells, scrolls, etc. etc. all follow the relative pricing that is in the DMG? Also will gold be hard or easy to come by in your opinion compared to
other MMO's?

WarCry: Sordes: Will pricing for equipment, clothing, general goods, spells, scrolls, etc. etc. all follow the relative pricing that is in the DMG? Also will gold be hard or easy to come by in your opinion compared to
other MMO's?

WizardTed: The pricing model is based on the DMG (and PH, and other books) model but there will be some tweaking to allow for local economies, etc ...

WizardTed: There will be some customization. As far as hard vs. other games ... I don't think you'll find it that difficult, but D&D is less about collecting "stuff" than other games and more about completing quests.

WarCry: Twinkies: Will "spawncamping" high leveled creatures be addressed allowing for everyone to have equal chances to fight them?

JustinQuimby: The beauty of instancing is that *everyone* who wants a shot at high-level creatures gets one. You don't have to wait in a dungeon for the other group to finish before you face a Dragon.

Ken: And as for DZs...everyone in the DZ gets the benefit from what someone else in the DZ does...we really wanted to make sure griefing was not a part of the D&D experience.

WarCry: Raistlin: Can we expect to see some of the more passive skills in game, such as forgery, Decipher scripts, Knowledges, and will they have a impact on interactions with NPCs

EckelberryDDO: Sorry this is going to be slower since I lost my response in the Kerrara-spawned explosion. I think when you mean passive skills, perhaps you meant roleplaying skills. In any even, DDO will have passive skills, which range from Spot & Listen to Balance to a new skill Repair. Active and passive skills form an important part of DDO. As far as knowledge-type skills go, we have implemented an ability for some classes to
possess certai

WizardTed: DDO will actually handle a lot of "passive" skills better than your DM. If you blow a listen check, you simply won't hear anything.

EckelberryDDO: lore that is given to them in the game, depending on their class and level and the situation.

WarCry: Tawk: Thanks for the information thus far. How you going to prevent high level mages from "spamming" their most powerful spells all the time while using the spellpoint system? It seems that spellpoints tilt the
game heavily in favour of casters.

EckelberryDDO: A few things, besides the fact that's its not the most efficient thing to do.

EckelberryDDO: Besides that it's a pretty wasteful use of spell points (read: overkill), the bigger factor is that I want to encourage spell diversifaction directly. That means that spells can also require a spellcaster to specically recover (aka refresh time) for their use. Finally, there's the materioal cost involved for some spells. Hope that answers your question.

WarCry: ShadowReaver: The trade system in DDO... can we expect a central trade area (IE: WoW's auction house) or private shops? Or something different all together?

Ken: In addition to a normal variety of vendors, there will also be "pawnshop" type vendors that keep track of items sold to them, so players will be able to buy loot and gains from previous adventurers through these vendors

WarCry: mattllow: what can bards do that others cant? How are you handling Bardic Knowledge?

EckelberryDDO: A few things. Besides the fact that bards have a few unique spells, bards have musical abilities that prove very useful. The core of these abilities are inspire courage, fascinate, and suggestions. As far as Bardic Knowledge goes, he does reeceive some of the lore-based abilities I mentioned in a prevoius answer. It won't, however, be used for standard magic item identication, though, simply because we chose that magic items don't

EckelberryDDO: don't require an identify spell in DDO.

WizardTed: Every party is going to want to have a bard in it; they just make everyone else BETTER ... and have fun doing it.

WarCry: [BG]Chopstyxx: Im really hungry.....Can you eat in this game? Like big Steaks? or Big oldschool hams?

Ken: Big hams! Yes -- another benefit to taverns...the only time a character naturally regenerates is while you're in a tavern.

Ken: And eating and drinking, surprisingly enough, aid in that process.

WarCry: Mech: Hi! What I would like to know is: What is it that motivated you guys into making a MMORPG using the D&D ruleset, and lore, as opposed to creating your own?

JustinQuimby: How could we NOT want to make a D&D MMORPG? The dev team grew up playing D&D! Most of us have been waiting 20 years to make this game. I've got my red and blue box sets sitting by my desk. One a
personal note, I got to play D&D with the folks who *make* D&D. That ruled.

Ken: MMPs exist because of D&D...this really is a dream come true for us on the dev team (Justin and I are unified in geekdom!)

WizardTed: On my side at Wizards, I actually have folks around here who I've tried to get to play MMORPGs ... and a good number of them say, "Why? It's not D&D." Well, now I can get them to join the 21st century and play a really cool D&D Online game.

EckelberryDDO: (FYI, My D&D session was interrupted tonight for this dev chat)

WarCry: And our final question for the evening:

WarCry: Omega2K: Will Quest Content and Monster Levels be dependent upon the Character Selecting the Quest? If I have a High Level Character and just want to let off some steam by killing a bunch of lower level monsters,
will I be able to pick a Quest for this?

Ken: On the whole, the difficulty of what you fight is *not* determined by what level you are...that 3rd level dungeon will always be a 3rd level dungeon, regardless of what level you are.

Ken: However, we have added in an ability for you to customize your experience somewhat, so that once you finish a dungeon at "normal" difficulty, you will be able to tackle it at a higher difficulty level, Hard, and then one at Elite status

Ken: What this mostly means for each succeeding difficulty level is harder creatures, and better treasure.

EckelberryDDO: Yeah, what he said, though I had to do all the work for it.

Ken: And that'

WizardTed: Of course, we have to make sure the difficulty levels are right ... I fought a freakin' SPECTRE at first level for gosh sakes!

JustinQuimby: And don't talk to me about the code needs. So needy.

Ken: is the way it should be.

EckelberryDDO: One content database hookup from Travis, give me a break.

JustinQuimby: Everything is simple to a designer.

EckelberryDDO: Everything is hard for an engineer?

JustinQuimby: How many times have I heard "just code it up"?

Ken: Justin -- just code it up.

Ken: thanks all -- have a great night

EckelberryDDO: Spectres were placeholder for "hard" for while... sorry Ed.

WarCry: Thank you all for coming and we appreciate your time.

JustinQuimby: Thanks everyone!

WizardTed: From the West Coast and everyone at Wizards--thanks for coming and take care!

SporkfireDDO: And while the rest of the Devs start the deathmatch, I wanted to thank everyone for coming out and asking great questions. Thanks also to Warcry for hosting the chat and being a great community resource.