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In-game, meaningful (which Dread hasn't been) death penalties don't have much value in non-PvP games. In PvP, the costs of not staying alive can be regarded as part of the contest between players,...

Turbine still cannot control whether or not players will actually get it into a state where it can be a hub. Many players likely did not even bother adding any extras; they'll have added whatever...

I think part of the problem is that Hytbold is, technically, an optional town, and even if you do work on it individual parts themselves are often optional. Turbine is generally, and rightfully,...

Another obstacle to improving character models is the huge number of cosmetic gear textures and models. Any change to characters may require a change to a ton of other things.

My experience with MMOs, such as it is, has taught me that "dehomogenization" is pretty incompatible with "specialization". Especially when developers inevitably realize that they cannot actually...

This would have been interesting, especially considering how Hytbold suddenly turns out to be related to one of the other questlines. A more seamless integration into that storyline would have been...

A level by any other name is still a level. The numbers in an MMO not specifically designed to keep them small will always trend towards the absurd, but it's the mechanical effects that those values...

IIRC, they are using a newer version of the AC2 engine.

Engine changes tend to be major projects, and invariably cause distress amongst players on the lower end of the tech scale. While it might...

Fortinobrand has the right of it. In addition, I think there may be some realization that the specifics of how players stick around long enough to spend a worthwhile amount of money is not as...

I can't really complain about the change. The Hope\Dread mechanic has been languishing for years without really mattering much outside of raids (and then, only to reduce Dread), and doesn't apply...

A going-on-six-year-old MMO isn't going to have the same sense of advancement or momentum as it did when it was new, there's just no way around it. Every traditional MMO has ultimately been about the...

I cannot see any Free to Play game requiring a registered credit card, especially since many (and LotRO itself) can be played without ever actually paying anything, or can be paid for using...

The culling of skills will likely vary considerably by class. Minstrels have a lot of switches, for instance, which may or may not be useful depending on how you are playing.

The Epilogues being group-oriented is really only a concession to the players who objected to the Epics being made soloable in the first place. They are meant to encourage grouping, but do a poor job...

There is no way Turbine doesn't know that MMO players will grind until their fingers bleed and their eyes shrivel if the perceive any advantage to doing so. It's a huge part of what has made...

Exclusive (and desirable) rewards in MMOs have always been seen as the right of the "best" players, however that is defined for a particular game. People get offended when things are given away "for...

Since all classes are destined for another revamp, there's really no telling what Fate will end up doing in the future, who will benefit most from it, etc.

This cannot be reconciled with the need to make us the hero, however. We cannot just be there, we need to be busy doing important things, with the impression that our accomplishments have weight.
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One thing to keep in mind is that merely being present isn't all that would happen were our own characters involved in these events. This is one of the reasons why we've always been separate from the...

A big part of raid design philosophy is that player mistakes must be punished, and the only punishment players care about is a wipe.

Circumventing the punishment makes no sense, because nobody...

The flamewars would indeed be impressive, especially since it would be mostly Lifetimers who benefit.

But I don't think there is any chance of such exclusive content getting released, certainly...

Since bosses would almost certainly be immune to this, I can't imagine there would be any circumstance where using it would be worth the cost and risk.

If you are referring to viewing a character via their Community profile, unfortunately this is a result of the neglected state of the Community and Lorebook.

I believe that website improvements...

IIRC, Turbine stated when Layers were implemented that they can be adjusted "easily" to accomodate even events like Weatherstock. There just isn't any player or GM method to create layers aside from...

It's pretty unlikely that the one event everyone remembers from the books and movies is going to be the one where Turbine gives gives up on maintaining the conceit of the game's overall plot.

I...