It's time for new Forums! (DDO forums)

We are almost ready to debut our new forums! This has been a long time coming and we can't wait for you to check them out. We are replacing our old, very outdated forums with newer forums that will offer new features and a much improved experience for all users. However, we do need to start fresh with new forum accounts, as it was impractical and unwise to try to retrofit our problem-plagued former system into the new forums. Here's how it will work:

On or around May 3rd we will bring the forums offline while we do the transition work. Expect a formal announcement on timing in the near future. Once the new forums are ready to open, we will place the existing forums into a read-only state long-term. You'll be able to view but not log into the old forums, and you will be able to find the forums at forums-old.ddo.com.

Just as you do now, you will log into the new forums using the same user name and password that you use to log into the game. Each forum account is tied to a game account. We expect a busy couple of days as players initially log into the forums, pick their user names, profile avatars, signatures, and more! Your existing forum name does not automatically carry over, so please log in at your earliest convenience if you wish to try to retain your existing forum name. We will work with players who feel their name has been improperly taken by someone else; if you feel your name has been maliciously taken, please send in a ticket to Community Support through help.standingstonegames.com and we will look into it. Just because someone else takes the name you want does not mean you get to have your preferred name, but we have the ability to rename forum display names as needed. It is also possible for you to change your own forum display name! Please be patient as we sort through the inevitable challenges of getting new forums up in a long-standing player community.

In many ways the new forums are set up to look and feel like the old forums, with mostly similar sub-forums and categories, but we've been able to add tons of new features as well!

• Staff Tracker: This is the “dev tracker” that keeps tabs on everything we post.
• There is a new “Post Thread” button on the main page that lets you post to any forum you can post in.
• Posting has new formatting options: Discussion, Poll, Article, and Question! Here's how they work:
  • Discussion: This is what you are used to from the old forums. It's a standard WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor. Here are some of the improved or new features:
    • A new “Spoiler” text hider!
    • New List options
    • New Header options
    • New Smilies and other emoticons
    • Wider compatibility with video sites like Twitch, Twitter, Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr, Dailymotion, Apple Music and more!
    • Better table formatting.
    • The ability to save and delete Drafts.
    • Better Previewing of your posts.
    • Functional options to “Watch this thread” and toggle on and off email notifications.
  • Poll: Ask players to vote! New polling features include:
    • The ability to allow voters to change their votes.
    • The ability to display votes publicly (or not).
    • The ability for results to be viewed without voting (on/off).
  • Article: In many ways this is similar to Discussion, but Articles feature the initial post more prominently and look a bit more like a web site news article.
  • Question: Question posts offer the ability of posters and readers to vote for what they think is the best answer given so far. The highest voted answer is prominently featured below the initial post. Think the way Reddit or Quora does it. The initial poster can also Pause voting on solutions.
  • Thread Types can be changed through Edit. Look for the three dots next to Watch/Unwatch to the upper right of the initial post.
• Profiles: There are new profile options as well, including:
  • Your Profile: Your profile can now feature an image Profile Banner and the ability to update and maintain a posting feed! This gives you the same options as a regular Discussion post, just for your profile page! Maintain a blog, keep a public record, track your progress, give your friends a permanent URL to get the latest news from you, give your best screenshots, images, and art a home and more!
  • New Profile Posts: This feed lets you see profile posts by others.
  • Your News Feed: This feed lists posts by people you follow.
  • Your Account: This is similar to the prior account profile, but now includes additional options to show or not show your online status and current activity, receive news and update emails, receive active summary emails, and determine who can view the details of your Profile Page, messages, and more.
  • Custom Avatars and Gravatars are now available! Pick what you want within the limits of the system and our Community Rules.
• New Sharing Options: Share pages, posts, and more to a wider variety of social media outlets, or just grab a link! Find the options in the “Share this page” box on a forum page or “Share” options below posts. For example, you can now share your Article to Reddit directly through the forums.
• Better Search: Search Titles Only or posts as well! You can also search Profile Posts, Threads, or Everything, and set Newer than, Older than, minimum number of replies and more.
• Bug Discussion Forums: Find them in the Player to Player Support Forums! Please note that if you want to post in the Bug Discussion Forums you need to enter your Bug Report Number. This number can be found in the email you receive once you've submitted a Bug Report to us through help.standingstonegames.com. While we want everyone to include their actual bug reports to us so everything can be easily combined and tracked, it is possible to submit a thread with a made up number if you need to. Entering the Bug Report Number field is REQUIRED to post in the Bug Discussion forums. If you do not include your actual bug report number you can expect us to not be able to best track your issue.
• Creators and Makers: This is a new (basically rebranded) Fansite news section that existed under the old forums, but without gating for posting access. ANYONE who streams, records, writes, makes, draws, or creates is welcome and encouraged to use these forums! This is also the best place to post frequently about your stream or show if you like to do that.

New forum URL will be: forums.ddo.com
Old read-only forum URL will be: forums-old.ddo.com

We look forward to reading your feedback in the coming months as we refine your experience. Thank you for being a part of the community here on the forums!