DDO Top 10

Wish List for Santa

By Ralsu



In August 2006, Darkgolem made a list of the href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=279">Top
10 Things Turbine Needs to Fix in Dungeons & Dragons Online. In
the 14 weeks since he made his list, Turbine has made changes that
solve or improve half of the situations Darkgolem described. I was
right there with Darkgolem for the things he thought needed a fix, and
I wish that Turbine will get to them all.



On the subject of wishes, my family attended a holiday party last night
where children could sit in Santa's lap and make wishes. In a daydream,
I hopped on Santa's lap and made a few wishes for DDO. Here's what I
came up with in that daydream:

10. Take Me to New Locations

Module 3 does a fantastic job of taking me to new places. And I'll get
there much more affordably once I get around to completing href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=373">The
Desert Caravan quest! Still, I think DDO could really benefit from
some more scenery. Show me more than dank dungeons and sandy jungles. I
want to see some snowy mountains or maybe--dare I say it?--another city.



Don't get me wrong: I see the name Stormreach in the title of the game.
In understand that the campaign is centered on that city. I just want
to see something new. Perhaps another city could come to the leaders of
Stormreach to request aid against an assault of some kind. Or perhaps a
powerful wizard in one of Stormreach's prominent houses could teleport
us to another city to serve one of his brethren. Something. Anything.
Just help me get out of town for a vacation!

9. Give Me Even More Cool Monsters

I recently described my href="http://ddo.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=378">10
favorite DDO monsters. The game already has some pretty cool
monsters, but I'm greedy; I want more! Without naming any specific
monsters, I'll just say that I'd like Turbine to include some of the
great plant monsters from the tabletop game. They're not necessarily my
favorites, but they are pretty cool. Besides, they'd fit nicely into
those new locales I wished for in #10!

8. Gnomercy!

I don't think I have ever truly recovered from the fact that I could
not play a gnome when DDO launched. I played a gnome rogue in EverQuest
Online Adventures, and I might've have wanted to do that in DDO, too.
I've also always wanted to play gnome illusionist...which brings me to
my next wish.

7. Allow Specialization in Schools of Magic

I'd love to be able to make a wizard who specializes in Enchantments to
be the best crowd control caster possible. And it'd be fun to roll a
sorcerer who specializes in Evocation to have a glass cannon
extraordinaire!

6. Add Cleric Domains

If Turbine were to implement arcane specializations as I wished for in
#7, they'd be remiss not to add cleric domains. In fact, my first DDO
character to hit the level cap was a cleric 5/wizard 5 designed to be a
buff machine. People were hesitant about him at first but loved him
once he joined the party. He kept everyone buffed for maximum
efficiency, did top-off or emergency healing, and was just plain
versatile. I salivate when I think about how much cooler that build
could be if I had access to cleric domains and specialization in the
transmutation school of arcane magic!

5. I Want the Druid

As much as I love feeling useful with half of my levels in cleric, it
sucks that clerics are the only healing class. And don't try to count
bards, paladins, or rangers. They don't get enough spell points to heal
in the end game. If I want to do damage, I can play a fighter,
barbarian, or ranger. If I want to tank, I can play fighter or paladin
(and sometimes barbarian). If I want to use magic, I can play bard,
sorcerer, or wizard. If I want to heal, I style="font-style: italic;">have to play cleric. The druid,
with its healing spells and nature-themed buffs will be a welcomed
addition to DDO.

4. Raise the Level Cap to 16

The increase in the level cap that accompanied Module 3 did not last
very long. Regular players easily reached the new milestone and are
back to where they were in October 2006: they have a sense of having
"completed" DDO. No massively-multiplayer online game should ever let
me feel as if I finished it. I should always be steadily increasing
only to find a new milestone waiting for me once I have achieved the
last. To get more mileage out of a cap increase, I'd like to see
Turbine bump it up to 16. This would also bring in a new set of spells.

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3. Make Damage Spells Efficient

While I'm on the subject of spells again, I sure would like to see
damage spells be more efficient. The tabletop game made Fireball feel
like a real weapon. In DDO, I am not so sure I feel that way. I always
have to ask myself which is more efficient: using crowd control and
letting the melee kill or burning my spell points to kill something
myself. Sorcerers, especially, should not feel this way. One way to fix
damage spells in DDO is to up their damage beyond their tabletop
counterparts. This would balance out the inflation of all monster hit
points and armor class in DDO. Obviously, another way go is to grant my
wish #2....

2. Remove Enhancements and Scale back the Inflated Numbers

That's right. I'm on board with this ship. The inflated numbers in DDO
overcomplicate things and result in me having to make wish #3. If
Turbine would just remove the insane melee boosts granted by
Enhancements and scale back the hit points and armor class of enemies,
we'd be playing Dungeons & Dragons (D&D)....Online! D&D has
been working just fine with the smaller numbers for decades. I bet it
would work in DDO, too!

1. Release an Expansion that Does All of This!

Finally, my #1 holiday wish for Santa is for Turbine to announce an
expansion that does everything on my wish list. I know what you're
thinking; I've seen the DDO expansion for sale on those online gaming
retailer sites, too. But the last word I had from Turbine in November
2006 stated that they " style="font-style: normal;">haven't confirmed any plans for an
expansion pack." Maybe Santa Claus can make it happen for me. Hey, a
guy can daydream, can't he?