I was able to sit in on the European Dev Chat hosted by Dark Myst. Here is a transcript of the log:

<Deum> Good Evening everyone!
<Deum> I'd just like to take a moment to welcome everyone to the European DDO Dev chat!
<Deum> This is your opportunity to ask those burning questions that have been playing on your mind recently. So please make the most of it and I hope you have a good time.
<Deum> Once the chat begins, you will need to submit your questions. Please PM them to @Ryan, who will in turn, pass them on to the team. The team will do their best to answer as many questions as possible, but please do not be offended if yours doesn't appear in the main window.
<Deum> As advertised, the chat will be conducted in English, but please feel free to submit your questions in German and French as we have a team of translators who will relay your questions to the Devs.
<Deum> The chat is now open, so please start sending those questions through.
<Deum> I'm now going to hand over to the Dev team, who will each tell you a little about themselves!
<Deum> Enjoy :)

[Samera_DDO] Hello! I'm Samera the Community Manager for DDO
<Nereid_DDO> Hi, I am Nereid, the Producer on DDO - it's nice to talk with you all today!
<Eldorudo_DDO> Hi, my name is Eldorudo. I write quests and stuff. Thanks for joining us!
<JWBarry_DDO> I'm jwb, I'm a quest and level designer
<Keeper_DDO> Hi, I'm Keeper. I build landscapes and dungeons.
<Eladrin_DDO> I'm Eladrin, one of the Systems Designers. I make monsters do what they do, as well as work on things like spells and enhancements.
<Glin_DDO> Hello, I'm Glin the DDO International Producer
<Zyrca_DDO> I'm Zyrca, I am representing the game systems engineers today.

Dark Myst The first question of night: Currently sorcerer have 1/2 cast time and 1/2 cold down than wiz, do you think its still balanced in high spell levels between two similar classes?
<Eladrin_DDO> As higher level spells have become available to players, we've found that the current spell cooldowns tend to make casting high level spells undesirable. In update 4.1, we've flattened the difference between high and low level spell cooldowns significantly to address this issue.
<Eladrin_DDO> We maintain the faster cast times and cooldowns of Sorcerers, but spells such as Meteor Swarm will not have a 9 or 18 second cooldown, instead it will end up with a 4 second or 6.5 second cooldown.

Dark Myst Are there any plans to break apart the clothing and jewelry sections of the AH to make perusing those goods a bit easier?
<Nereid_DDO> We agree that the classifications in the Auction House are confusing, and we definitely have plans to make the search interface a lot clearer and easier to use. I think we're currently shooting for the end of the summer or early fall.

Dark Myst Why did you make quests like grinding for relics? 60 is way to much for roleplaying. You get tired of playing 20 times same quest again and again.
<JWBarry_DDO> One of the things we wanted to improve upon with module 4 was the accessibility of the dungeons and the content. We wanted to give permanent access to the dragon dungeon and the stormreaver raid. After that decision we looked at how much it cost to gain access in the previous modules, and determined that in order to have a similar cost, we needed a higher up front cost.
<JWBarry_DDO> Looking at the relics, the goal was to have some repitition on the dungeons on the landscape, but if I remember the numbers correctly, you shouldn't have to do allt he dungeons 20 times apiece, but closer to a half dozen.

Dark Myst When are AoO's going to be implented?
<Eladrin_DDO> Attacks of Opportunity are meant to simulate active combat in a turn based environment. Since DDO already possesses an active combat system, we do not have plans to add them.

Dark Myst When is the space limitation in inventory changed to weight based and better containers introduced?
<Zyrca_DDO> We are looking at a way to help releive some of the frustrations with the inventory.
<Zyrca_DDO> In particular, we are working on a bag for holding things like collectables, which take up more space then they really should.

Dark Myst Will we get a free feat for the Dragonmarks or do we have to swap one?
<JWBarry_DDO> You won't get a free feat, you have to swap one out. However, when you do the quest to unlock dragonmarks you get a single feat respec for free. Fred has a soft spot in his heart for blue haired elf girls.

Dark Myst What could you tell us about Mods 4.1 , 4.2 , 5(and the modules b/n 5 and 6) and 6?
<Nereid_DDO> Module 4.1 will contain several new features - the ability to add Dragonmarks (a visible facial mark and the ability to cast spell-like abilities several times per day)
<Nereid_DDO> and the Friends list improvements
<Keeper_DDO> 4.1 is set on an island. :-)
<Keeper_DDO> . . .with pretty beaches. Good sunbathing!
<Nereid_DDO> Except for all the Duergrar
<Nereid_DDO> they break up the sunbathing :)
<Keeper_DDO> Bring your sunscreen!
<Eldorudo_DDO> We are retrofitting the new wilderness quest tech into Tangleroot and Sorrowdusk. We also have an all new landscape area called Ataraxia's Haven that will include two new dungeons.
<Keeper_DDO> Ataraxia's Haven is the island. :-)
<Nereid_DDO> Ataraxia's Haven is the new beach location - it was meant to be a resort but was taken over by the Duergar as a mining operation, and drove all the vacationers out :)
<Nereid_DDO> For Module 4.2, we are planning on retrofitting the Menechtarun Desert area with the new wilderness tech, and are currently working on another new landscape area...
<Nereid_DDO> Menechtarun, as a massive space, is quite an undertaking, but we are excited about trying to get it out to you soon :)
<Glin_DDO> ...and we don't have plans to stop giving subscribers free updates!
<Deum> Keep those questions coming everyone, just send them via PM to @Ryan and he will pass them on to the team!

Dark Myst When will the manual team setup of Capture the Flag be available?
<Zyrca_DDO> We would very much like to add manual team setup for capture the flag
<Zyrca_DDO> hopefully we will be able to incorporate it sometime in the future

Dark Myst Are there any plans on changing the way Dragonscale armor is repaired to make them more desireable to wear all the time without the fear of being damaged and having to grind for relics to repair?
<JWBarry_DDO> the cost of repairing dragonscales is something that we're monitoring and will tweak in the future if we deem necessary. We'd like to not have a knee jerk response to the initial reactions and instead let the dust settle a bit and then re-evaluate the cost

Dark Myst Any chance of getting gnomes into DDO?
<Nereid_DDO> As popular as gnomes seem to be, Half-Orcs are the next race we are working on.
[Samera_DDO] Just to warn you guys - we're getting a lot of questions about items but we can't answer them because Graal is out sick today.

Dark Myst In regards to content, it sounds like you're focusing on wilderness areas. Does that mean no new quests?
<JWBarry_DDO> Most definitely not. Wilderness areas have become an important part of the game and something we've been working on filling out the full level spread with them. Their aim is to provide something for casual players and those with only 15 minutes to play to do. However, we are a dungeon game. That's what we do, that's where we really shine and I believe our best content is.
<JWBarry_DDO> Module 5 will feature a new large landscape, and several new dungeons, I believe the current count is just over 10. The plan as of now is to have mod 5 be the conclusion of the Litany of the Dead story arc, and we'll be leveraging all of our resources to make it as good as it can possibly.
<JWBarry_DDO> I've been working the Litany of the Dead personally since it's initial inception, and I'm excited to be able to have the full support and leverage behind it that comes with a module. Expect that there will be many dungeons in 5 and they should exceed the quality of 4.

Dark Myst If someone goes into a dragon quest wearing a dragonscale armor, why don't they get aggro'ed to death?
<Eladrin_DDO> That's not a bad idea at all.
* Eladrin_DDO grins.

Dark Myst The new landscape area you mentioned - is it geared towards the mid-levels, or is it another higher level landscape (or is that even decided yet)?
<Eldorudo_DDO> As JWB mentioned, we are attempting to fill all level ranges with our new wilderness quests. Ataraxia's Haven, in 4.1 will be a CR 10 area. Levels 7 - 14 will be able to gain xp and complete the objectives in this area.
<Eldorudo_DDO> In 4.2 we will be adding another lower level landscape that will be the next step up from Cerulean Hills. After 4.2 is complete we will have a nice array of landscapes for all levels.

Dark Myst The raid loot in its current form is the most dividing aspect of the game. The "token" collection like the new dragons is a good method to make sure that people who do raids get a shot at the item they want. Will the raids have a similar system in the future?
<Nereid_DDO> We agree that the raid loot is definitely one of the most in debate features of the game
<Nereid_DDO> As such, we are reevaluating the way raid loot is handed out, and I expect that you will see more changes to that system with the next raid.

Dark Myst The Rogue jump away from spider (in Char generate Video),is this possible in the game or will it be in some month possible?
<Eladrin_DDO> With a high enough tumble skill, it's possible to perform backflips and other acrobatic techniques away from monsters. In update 4.1, rogues will have the opportunity to take a new enhancement: Way of the Thief-Acrobat, that will allow them to perform such feats more easily.

Dark Myst Is there any chance at a clerical view revamp coming? Some examples would include clerics being able to see negative levels, ability drain, amount of hitpoints lost (not in the context of a percentage bar), things they could debuff, etc.
<Nereid_DDO> Yes - we all want better visibility into what buffs and debuffs characters have in our party.
<Nereid_DDO> We are currently investigating improvements to the party UI and hope to have something out before Fall, so that you will see icons on the party hud that show what your party members are suffering from.

Dark Myst How soon will we see the technology that will prevent AoE spells to penetrate walls and doors?
<Eladrin_DDO> We should have that technology in by Module 5 at the latest.

Dark Myst When will we get a new challenging highlevel quest? Tempest Spine, Black Anvil Mines or Offering of Blood were really hard nuts at their times, but the actual highlevel content is rather easy. While that is nice for "casuals", the "powergamers" might get bored too early, so at least one...
<JWBarry_DDO> From what I've seen of the success rates on the mod 4 dragons, they're not all that high. Which is good, cause dragons are hungry creatures, and you taste good with ketchup.
<JWBarry_DDO> Difficulty is a tough thing to really nail down in the balance, a lot of it is how the dungeon is built, what monsters are in it, how those are statted, what the players are equipped with, etc etc. We do our best to try and make the dungeons challenging but reasonable.
<JWBarry_DDO> For those seeking more of a challenge, I'd say trying to beat all 3 dragons on one run with no recalls on elite should keep you busy for a bit ;)

Dark Myst With LoTD3 coming to a close what kind of reward system are you putting in place for it? Example anything like the dragonscale armour?
<JWBarry_DDO> We really like the dragonscale system and how it worked out and how awesome looking the armor turned out to be. It's really a reward to get it, and everyone who sees you in it knows you did something really cool. I actually had a meeting today on the mod 5 loot system, and we're using the dragonscales model as a base, but added a new twist and layer of complexity to it using that new fancy collectable bag tech that zyrca talked about earlier. But
<JWBarry_DDO> There are also some plans in the works for how the trinket upgrading caps out, and potential additional rewards for that

Dark Myst Could we see one day again a new evolution of AI for monster: if they are into a cloudkill and they don't find the caster, they don't move. I think they should move away from the cloud. The fact they found the caster or not should be independant of this.
<Eladrin_DDO> In update 4.1, monsters will no longer stand idly about in poisonous clouds. In future updates, expect monsters to be much better at navigating around hostile area of effect spells, traps, and other dangerous areas.

Dark Myst Will there be new ranger enhancements added to increase the duration of many shot? or more enhancements like the new cleric/Palladin enhancements for other classes?
<Eladrin_DDO> At this time, there are no plans for a manyshot related enhancement, but there are additional "specialization" enhancements planned.
<Eladrin_DDO> Bards are the next on the specialization list, but Rangers are high on the list for review.

Dark Myst Will you review the Quest difficulties to reflect the AI Changes?
<JWBarry_DDO> So, for everyone but the person who thought the quests are too easy, we'll be reviewing things. Seriously though, the way that we're looking to address balancing the AI changes is to go through and look at the statting of the monsters themselves, and doing adjustment there.

Dark Myst Could dungeons have some randomization in them? e.g. as little as traps in dungeon to change damage type or as radical as random dungeon generator a la diablo but better scripted.
<Keeper_DDO> We've been playing around with randomized traps and monsters in dungeons and on landscapes. :-)

Dark Myst What other features can we expect to see with mod 5 and when is the expected release date?
<Zyrca_DDO> We will be taking a pass over examination!
<Zyrca_DDO> We want to make examination of items much more useful to players, especially those who are not intemately familier with the pen and paper rules.
<Zyrca_DDO> We want to make it easy to figure out if an item is good for your character as well as figure out what each different stat means in game terms.
<Zyrca_DDO> We will be adding some new ways to evaluate items, such as a number which will summarize the base damage of a weapon.
<Glin_DDO> We hope to give everyone Mod5 q3

Dark Myst Do you play often to your own game and how do you feel when you see your work in DDO?
<Keeper_DDO> I love watching other people try out my landscapes for the first time . . .and fall for my traps!
<Zyrca_DDO> I play no less then once a week with some family memebers and other game system engineers!
<Eladrin_DDO> Absolutely. I take great joy when monsters tear me apart.
<Zyrca_DDO> I love seeing my work in game and comming up with ways to make the game more fun and less annoying for everyone :)
[Samera_DDO] I play DDO a lot, although I'll never tell you which server I play on ;) I love joining pick-up groups and listening to what they say. Normally I deal with the community on such a macro level - it's great to see the micro level.
<JWBarry_DDO> I have lately been addicted to puzzle quest and zelda, and have been doing that instead of sleeping, lol. I try to play DDO at least twice a week, mostly on the test server, but occasionally on live. It's always rewarding to go into a group and listen over voice chat to them having the reactions that you wanted players to have. And very interesting to see how they solve the challenges you presented in different ways.
<Deum> Same here, I have played for a long time and still do! But no one knows its me :)
<Glin_DDO> I player a Fighter and a Bard as my main [weekly] characters, but I also play Cleric with new players in PUGs in various languages :)
[Samera_DDO] I'm actually scared to give an interview because then people might be able to recognize my voice in voice chat and then my cover will be blown!
<Eldorudo_DDO> It is very gratifying to see our hard work being enjoyed by so many players. Personally, I try to play as much as I can, which isn't nearly as often as I would like. I think you guys would prefer we work on new quests as opposed to slacking off and playing, right? ;)
<Nereid_DDO> I love playing DDO - I play a cleric, and there is a group of us that meet up at least two nights a week. I love to see the game change and grow over each release, and find it really helps give me perspective when evaluating changes for upcoming releases.

<Deum> Well thats all the time we have today unfortunately
<Deum> I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the Devs for their hard work and answers this evening
<Nereid_DDO> It was our pleasure - thanks for having us!
[Samera_DDO] Thanks for inviting us :)
<Deum> but most of all thanks to everyone who attended, I hope the answers have done their job!
* Keeper_DDO grins
* Eladrin_DDO waves
<JWBarry_DDO> adios all, back to the grindstone ;)
<Zyrca_DDO> Bye!
<Nereid_DDO> Bye everyone - hope to see you all next time :)
<Deum> thanks again and goodnight!
[Samera_DDO] bye!
<Eladrin_DDO> Goodbye!
<Eldorudo_DDO> Thank you all for joining us, it was a pleasure. Bye!
* Glin_DDO waves
<Keeper_DDO> Cheers!