Merry Christmas :)

Merry Christmas to all New Blood members on Devourer and Thelanis, and to everybody else who reads this post.

Love you all. :)

Mic

Screenshots

If you have any screenshots you think are worth sharing, let me know and I'll put some sort of online gallery together. I think I'm way too lazy to dust off my limited HTML knowledge only to post my own screenies, but if other people send me stuff, I'll feel obliged and will do it.

The New Blood in presence, past and future

Presence
Satine, Community Relations Director at Codemasters, has replied to the thread mentioned in my previous post. Check her post here or the whole thread here (Satine's post is #341). There is little to comment on since the answers don't reveal anything new or substantial, except a rather vague commitment saying that Codemasters would try to arrange a character transfer if the need arises. I personally wouldn't overestimate that part of her post, but it's better than nothing. It's obvious that Codemasters have done little to re-assure european players, but it seems that the inactivity and lack of communication is caused, at least partially, by the ongoing lawsuit between Atari and Turbine that they're involved in. I'm fed up with endless discussions on the CM forum and tired of speculations so I'll just wait and see what happens.
I renewed my DDO Europe subscription last Saturday and have been playing there very casually. I don't know how long I'll stay but I have realized that I am attached to the server and the community (or what's left of it) more than I thought I was. Khyr is still playing on Devourer and has no plans to start elsewhere. Marwnad/Wayof is still subscribed, although he's playing on Thelanis simultaneously. Gazz was apparently online last night but I  missed him and haven't had a chance to speak with him lately. I will keep you updated on any Devourer or DDO Europe related news, if and when there are any.

Past and future
In the meantime, I have founded The New Blood on Thelanis. The "newblood" userchannel has all sorts of people from various guilds and servers on it now, which I welcome and have no problem with.. But I think I need something a bit more private, to share with a closer circle of people.
There are going to be some changes to how the guild is run and what it's about. The New Blood has been about for two years, it was first founded at Christmas in 2007 with the purpose of bringing new players to DDO Europe. I've never been too much of an altruist but I've always loved Devourer and its community, and I believe that the best thing an ordinary player can do to help a community grow and prosper is to introduce new people to the game, make the beginning easier for them and make them feel welcome so they stick around long enough to get a feel of the game and learn to appreciate it. I promoted and presented the guild and its goals on the official forums, on our website, on the guild forum and in the game. We managed to gain some reputation and people got used to sending newbies to us, knowing that we wouldn't let them down.
Now, my beliefs and my attitude towards new players remain the same, but my commitment has gradually changed, in the way that I simply can't do it anymore without feeling like I'm doing a half-assed job. I have been playing DDO for more than 3 years, I know it inside out and I've seen everything it has to offer (except Mod 10 :p). My priorities have changed, the youth enthusiasm is gone and all I want to do in the game now is to have fun, play with my friends, work on my characters and do whatever I feel like doing, whenever I feel like doing it. That doesn't mean that I will not accept new players or avoid them, but I would like The New Blood to be a collective of friends and like-minded people who enjoy playing together - pretty much what it's been anyway lately, only without the official "send newbies our way and we'll look after them" part.

Two more personal notes: 1. My opinion on cheats and exploits has not changed. 2. As I said above, from now on I'll only do what I want to do. When I want to play with guildies, I'll play with guildies. When I want to join pugs, I will join pugs. If I don't feel like doing something, I won't be talked into it. When I help someone, I help them because I want to and I don't expect them to help me or repay me later in any way. When someone offers to help me, I appreciate it but don't consider myself obliged to help them later in any way.

All current or recent members of the guild on Devourer who are fine with everything said above are more than welcome to join The New Blood on Thelanis. See you in game. :)

Mic

A lil' bit of downtime :)

Hiya people,

I'm sorry you haven't seen much of me the last few days. I am about, not a lot though and often at obscure times (like midnight to 3AM last night :p).

There are two reasons, one of them being the fact I've reached the point where I need to slow down for a bit before I get fed up with the game.. It happens every now and then. :) The other reason is a somewhat uncertain future here at DDO Europe. Not sure you have noticed, but a considerable number of players have stopped playing (either temporarily or completely) and few new ones are coming. Module 10 delayed, no Free to Play, no DDO Store, no events, no competitions, no communication from Codemasters - new players have little reason to start in Europe. In comparison with the US servers it's a dead place. At the moment, Devourer feels more like a guild than a server to me - I somehow keep playing with the same people regardless of what group I join or start.

The community has asked Codemasters for a state of the game address. Until CM responds to this request, I don't feel very motivated to spend a lot of time on my characters or level new ones, I'm afraid. Even "playing just for fun" isn't very appealing when you're on a seemingly dying server.

If there are some good news from CM and it looks like DDO Europe will last for a while, I have every intention to stay on Devourer. Unfortunately for this to happen, something would have to change. A mere "we're not going to shut down" won't suffice at this point.

If there are no good news or CM doesn't respond at all, I'm off to play with Susy on Thelanis, one of the US servers.

I am still going to be about to play and socialize while waiting to see what's going to happen, however, you can't rely on me being on pretty much every day as usual. I will keep you updated on any news or decisions. If you'd like to speak with me but can't get hold of me in game, post a comment here, on the guild forum, PM me on the Codemasters forum or send an email to micron @ thenewblood-forum.com, I check all of those daily.

Take care. :)

Mic

Slow Shroud on Friday Nov 27, 8pm (UK time)

We've teamed up with Brotherhood of the Wolf to do a first-timer friendly Shroud run.
Check their forum and our forum for more information or ask me in game. :)

EDIT: Looks like, after all, this is happening next Friday (November 27) at 8pm UK time (9 CET). Please let me know as soon as possible if you're interested in coming and if you have any characters you need to flag for the run. I'll help.

Mic

Transnational silliness

One of the things I like about playing DDO on a European server is that I get to meet all these funny people who come from various countries. Thanks to the fact the playerbase is more mature compared to other games, you have a chance to get people to talk about their countries and learn from them. This thread on the Codemasters forum made me think about all the countries our current and former members have come from. I posted a list of these countries and later I decided to elaborate on that in this blog, to see if I can remember who these people actually were:

Current members.. more or less

Czech Republic - me

England - Nouda, Hanne, Khyr, Gil?, Jeng? and whole bunch of people who were in the guild at some point in the past.. I think statistically Englishmen (or -women) have dominated the guild

Scotland - Gazz

Wales - Wayof/Marwnad

Ireland - Arkayne (recruited only recently and currently on a break.. not sure he'll stick with us but I hope he will :))

Belgium - Myyster (currently on a break)

Sweden - Susy, we've had other Swedish members in the past (Diflure, Skyly, ...)

Denmark - Tiani, Falke, Devall, Aeiry

Germany - Tas (there have been more in the past.. Hellsound springs to mind)

Switzerland - Siwani

Austria - Meleana/Nelea, co-founder of the guild, her mains are in the Rusties, currently on maternity leave and only playing occassionaly on US servers), others in the past: Sentira and friends

Italy - Ari, co-founder of the guild, his main is in the Rusties, currently travelling

Turkey - Giatso/Raklynn, haven't seen him in a while but I suspect he might pop up again later

France - Xyathe (mostly plays on Keeper, only pops up on Devourer occassionaly), there's also another bloke whose name I'll have to look up in the members list, he logs in like once a year these days :p

Croatia - Namadeva, Xyathe's girlfriend

Other countries

Poland - Ziggri, a rather enthusiastic young man who disappeared into thin air one day.. think we might see him again

Romania - can't remember the name but she was a girl who didn't like the fact you couldn't change hair styles and hair colour like she had been used to in EQ2.. I think she went back to that game eventually

Russia - a bunch of blokes who popped up after Mod 9 and didn't stick around for long.. think they didn't make it past trial period; at one point there was also a person called Deceivery in the guild

Portugal - hmm.. can't remember anyone actually, I might have made that one up..

Norway - Khamee from the Rusties had one of his character in the guild at one point

Estonia - can't remember their name but they were in the guild.. didn't stay for long :)

Greece - Guitar was from Greece, he had his own guild called The Silent Guard that was a lone beacon of role-playing on Devourer in it's day ;) .. last I spoke with him he was off to Pirates of the Burning Sea

Israel - there was an Israeli person in the guild at one point, can't remember his name, sadly

New Zealand - there was a couple whose characters were called Lunch and Dinner... they lived in New Zealand, they might actually have originally been English but they're gone now, so can't confirm :)

If I can think of more, I'll edit the post. Feel free to post a comment if you can think of other people :p

New poll about US servers

Hiya dudes. After reading some recent posts on the Codemasters DDO EU forum, I've started to wonder if any members of the guild would consider migrating to a US server (probably Thelanis), should DDO Europe become a desolate place.
Although I have no intention of leaving Devourer at this point, I have to admit that I have not seen many new players since the launch of DDO: Unlimited in the US, except a short period after the release of Module 9. It seems that even European newbies are attracted by the Free to Play (F2P) option that DDO Unlimited offers and - whether I like it or not - the DDO Store as well. The american servers seem to have a much bigger population, too.

My point of view: I honestly don't like the idea of DDO Store and I like playing with European people on a European server, even though it's a small one. I love The New Blood and its members. However, one can't help but think that Codemasters don't have much interest in DDO Europe anymore, even though they claim otherwise. Whether or not it's their fault or whether Turbine are helping it is another discussion, nevertheless, it seems that things are not going to get much better in the foreseeable future, unless Free to Play is introduced in Europe, and the population of Devourer is going to either stagnate or slowly decrease. As it stands, there is no word on if and when F2P will make it to Europe and it might be that Turbine doesn't want it to happen at all, even though Codemasters are keen on the idea. Who knows? As there's no communication from either of the parties involved, we are left to speculate.
Every now and then, somebody I know disappears and quite a few people who still play on Keeper or Devourer have alts on US servers as well, "just in case" Europe is closed down. Quite a few people have made it clear that they're only staying in Europe because they can't face re-grinding all their precious loot.
My plan is to play on Devourer for as long as it's fun. It's where it all started for me. I've been here for 3 years, my friends and my guild are here and I will stay faithful as long as it makes sense. Patience might pay off and chances are Devourer will see better days again. Some people have left but others have come back and I've even heard about US dudes who have come to play in the EU because they couldn't face the hordes of clueless newbies attracted by Free to Play: :p If things continue getting worse - most notably if there are no new players on the server - I will consider moving the guild to the US, if the game will still be attractive enough for me at that point.

I'd love to know what you people's opinion is on this. Please use the poll on the left and feel free to post comments to this entry. We can also start a thread on the guild forum if anybody would like to discuss things in more detail.

Thank you,

Micron :)

This weekend and Monday

Waterworks elite, Saturday 5pm UK time, 6pm CET.
STK hardest we can incl. Sacred Helm, later on Saturday evening or Sunday (will update).
Both level 3-6 or 4-7 depending on who wants to come.

EDIT: Tangle elite on Monday night if an opener shows up! Apply here or on the forum or shout in game. :)

Possibly slow Shroud for newbies on Sunday evening but no promises :)

Shout in game, comment here or post on the forum if you want to come (reposting this thread on there in a sec).

This blog

Yeah so I've sort of scrapped the old website. There wasn't much justification for its existence anymore. The FAQ was too long and the member list was useless and a nuisance to update anyway, what with all the altoholics in our guild. :)
I get to ramble on this blog when I feel like it and the links (basically the only useful feature of the old website) are going to be in the left panel, as soon as I've worked out how to do that. I'm pretty new to Blogger so feel free to come up with suggestions. And of course everybody is welcome to comment on whatever ramblings I post here, provided they're coherent enough to be commented on, which I can't guarantee.
The forum is still where it's always been and even if it's usefulness is questionable, it's gonna be there in the unlikely case somebody else than me actually wants to say or discuss something.

Self-healing THF kensei with saves

I've been playing this character for two years now and just decided to reroll him again, for the second time - the previous version didn't have UMD and I kept having bad dreams about getting neg levels and not being able to remove them. So I remade the build and thought I'd drop it here for you guys to giggle at.

I wanted to play a fighter that runs about and hits stuff with a big weapon but I can't stand having to be babysat and not being able to heal myself. This bloke meets those requirements and on top of that can tank in most situations if needed, except the most demanding ones. He's primarily a tier II THF kensei though. Tier III can't be reached because of the 4 pally levels. The trade-off is:

• no fighter capstone (-10% attack speed)
• loses 2 bonus feats
• no Kensei III

vs

• divine grace and aura (+7 to all saves + boost)
• +2 AC (aura + enhancement)
• access to metamagic feats and Paladin Devotion II that make the marks worthwhile
• perma immunity to fear and disease
• a lil' bit of LoH

Some DPS sacrifced to more survivability then. Some people couldn't get over losing the capstone, I'll try to live with it and use Haste Boost as often as possible. Fear and disease immunity can be obtained on items or via GH of course but on a pally they're always on, can't be dispelled and don't occupy an item slot. The metamagic feats remain the most important reason for the splash though. Along with Paladin Devotion II, they provide fast, reliable self-healing that allows me to top my (or somebody else's) health up about ten times per rest. With the five Greater marks healing for 459 hit points, I can get myself from almost dead to full health in the blink of an eye even in the middle of a fight - no Concentration check required. Without these feats and enhancements, the marks would probably not be worth it and I could as well go for full DPS - but that would be a different character.

Naturally, the general agreement would be that I should go TWF instead of THF.. I've already got a TWF melee character and I really don't fancy playing yet another khopesh dualling toon, there are way too many around already. Instead I want to try something else and see for myself if the Kensei THF benefits are any good.. And I really like seeing a lot of red numbers all around me.
Nevertheless, the build could be converted to TWF by dropping Con and Cha by 2, putting those points into Dex instead and replacing THF line with TWF. Force of Personality could be replaced with Khopesh if you so wish and another feat could be swapped out for OTWF, although with Kensei II it shouldn't be necessary.

If this character ever finds a +3 Int tome, I will consider replacing Force of Personality with Combat Expertise. With the Weapons Focus and Kensei to-hit bonuses, it might actually be possible to have both CE and Power Attack on at the same time and still hit (if these two can be on at the same time that is - need to check). I could also put the last ability raise in Int if I somehow get a +3 Str tome before level 20. I would however have to eat a +2 Wis tome and free up the cloak slot to put a Wis +6, +3 exceptional Will save cloak in it to maintain a respectable Will Save. With the Mineral II and Cha skills items already in place, this would require 40 Shroud runs because two Cleaning Essences will be needed.

Figures reached after a couple months of grinding follow. Everything is self-buffed, feel free to add the usual extra bits you get when you've had half the server come over and buff you up.

Base Stats:
Str 16, Dex 10, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 12

End Stats:
Str 32 (40 with Power Surge on) = 16 base +5 level +2 tome +3 fighter +6 item
Dex 18 = 10 base +5 spectral gloves +2 tome +1 halfling enhancement
Con 24 = 16 base +2 tome +6 item
Int 12 = 10 base +2 tome
Wis 8
Cha 20 = 12 base +2 tome +6 item

Hit Points:
517 hp = 200 base +140 con +20 heroic durability +30 gfl +10 draconic vitality +22 toughness +30 fighter toughness +20 halfling toughness +45 min II goggles

To hit THF:
40 = 20 base +1 size +11 str +5 weapon bonus +4 gh +2 weapon focus +2 competence (spectral gloves) -5 power attack
(+ Kensei bonus)

AC THF:
41 = 10 base +1 size +12 DT breastplate +4 dex (armour mastery I) +5 protection +3 barkskin pot +2 pally aura & tier 1 enhancement +1 armour ritual +3 chattering ring
49 = 41 see above +4 shield clicky/wand +4 insight bonus or armour or weapon

AC shield mode:
55 = 41 see above +9 mithral tower shield +1 shield ritual +4 insight bonus on armour or weapon

Saves:
Fort 40 = 14 fighter16/pally4 +2 pally aura & enhancement +5 divine grace +7 con +1 halfling racial +5 resistance +4 gh +2 head of gf
Reflex 31 = 6 fighter16/pally4 +2 pally aura & enhancement +5 divine grace +4 dex +1 halfling racial +2 halfling luck +5 resistance +4 gh +2 head of gf
Will 33 = 6 fighter16/pally4 +2 pally aura & enhancement +5 divine grace +5 charisma force of personality +1 halfling racial +3 halfling luck +5 resistance +4 gh +2 head of gf
Additional +2 with Pally Saves boost on.

Skills:
Level 1 (fighter): Intimidate full rank, UMD half rank
Level 2-5 (paladin): Indimidate half rank, UMD half rank
Level 6-7 (fighter): Intimidate full rank, UMD half rank; nom nom Int tome
Level 8-9 (fighter): Intimidate 2x rank, UMD half rank
Level 10-11 (fighter): Intimidate full rank, UMD half rank, Tumble half-rank
Level 12-20 (fighter): Intimidate full rank, UMD half rank, Balance half-rank

Intimidate 57 = 23 ranks -4 halfling +4 fighter +5 charisma +15 item +4 gh +6 cha skills necky +2 head of gf +2 kensei
UMD 31 = 11 ranks +5 charisma +4 gh +6 cha skills necky +2 head of gf +3 cartouche/abbot gloves
Tumble 1 rank
Balance 4.5 ranks

Feats (Level 1 fighter, 2-5 paladin, 6-20 fighter):
1 Least Dragonmark of Healing
3 Toughness
6 Lesser Mark
9 Greater Mark
12 Empower Healing Spell
15 Maximize
18 Force of Personality
F1 THF
F2 ITHF
F4 Improved Critical Slashing
F6 Power Attack
F8 GTHF
F10 Weapon Focus Slashing
F12 Weapon Specialization
F14 Greater Weapon Focus

F16 Greater Weapon Specialization

Enhancements:
Halfling Dex I
Extra Dragonmark IV
Hero's Companion II
Halfling Luck Reflex II
Halfling Luck Will III
Fighter Armour Mastery I
Fighter Attack Boost II
Fighter Critical Accuracy II
Fighter Haste Boost I
Fighter Intimidate IV
Fighter Strategy Trip I
Fighter Strength III
Fighter Toughness III
Halfling Toughness II
Paladin Bulwark of Good I
Paladion Devotion II
Paladin Extra Lay on Hands I
Paladin Resistance of Good I
Paladin Saves Boost I
Kensei II + Weapon Mastery II (GS or Falchion, yet to be decided)

Self-heals:
Dragonmarks can be cast immediately in the heat of battle, can't be interrupted, can be cast while quelled or feebleminded.
5x 459 hp Heal - Greater Mark (7x with dragonmarked set)
7x 150 hp CSW - Lesser Mark (more with dragonmarked set)
9x 50 hp CLW - Least Mark
Above figures include +20% bonus on incoming heals from Hound bracers, divide by 1.2 to see how the marks will heal

2x 70 hp LoH


Desired gear (Bloodstone, Spectral Gloves and Intimi helm ready and waiting, rest to be farmed):

Head: Intimidate
Necklace: Charisma skills / Silver Flame / Cartouche / Dragonmarked necky / Sup Pot VI
Goggles: Mineral II (Heavy Fort, Protection +5, +45 hp)
Trinket: Bloodstone / Head of Good Fortune
Cloak: Charisma (+6 Wis +3 exc Will Save Shroud cloak later)
Armour: Dragontouched Breastplate, Tier 1 +5 resistance, Tier 2 True Seeing, Tier 3 +4 Insight if lucky, otherwise a decent guard
Belt: Con +6, GFL (Knost/Vorne/DoS)
Bracers: Levik's Bracers (+6 Str, +20% Incoming Heals)
Gloves: Spectral Gloves (GT, +5 Dex, +2 competence to-hit)
Ring 1: Resistance / Dragonmarked set ring (Charisma) later
Ring 2: Chattering Ring / Energy resistances
Boots: Striding / Anchoring / FF etc...

Notable weapons to be farmed:
Mineral II two-handed weapon, Good Burst & +4 AC or Good Burst & Acid Blast if I win a lottery and get Insight on armour
Lightning haste / air guard +4 AC scimitar for shield mode

That's about it. Summary:


Neat:
Hits a lot of things at the same time with a big sword and self-heals while doing so.
Can DPS, tank and heal others as required depending on quest and group setup, even though he doesn't excel at any of the roles.
Undispellable immunity to fear, disease and 95% things that require a Fort save (the remaining 5% are 1s on dice).
Can chuck halfling companion bonuses on main tank when being an off-tank.
When I'm not drunk, usually outlives everybody else when things go pear shaped (except the clerics if they're decent).

Not so neat:
No capstone and no Kensei III.
Can't reach enough Intimidate and AC to be a proper main raid tank.
5 feats sacrificed to healing that could be invested in DPS and/or AC.
Occassionaly runs out of marks and LoHs and has to resort to wand healing.