Thread: Tell The Community Team - 5/8/09

Originally Posted by Sapience

Let me just throw something in here.

Question #3 is meant to make you choose. Just like the team sometimes has to make a tough decision and focus on one thing over another. If you have three things you want to see, pick the one that's most important to you.

Sapience,

Any idea if we'll ever see a "Dev thoughts" post re: these threads?

I'd be really curious to see what ideas/topics are in the works, which ones sound intersting, which ones are impossible due to the nature of the game etc...

I know it's dangerous territory because people would have a tendancy to hold you to anything you said...but I think it'd be very insightful to the direction of the game and how you the devs view our ideas.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

In no particular order:

• Multiplayer (ie grouping)
• Interaction with the community
• Evolving game

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

A mix. I like to take my time, but I also like to go fast and zerg (talking from other MMOS as I know too little about LOTRO to do this yet).

Sometimes, I play a lot and other I play very little. It depends more on my mood.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Since I have yet to develop more in-depth requests: copy DDO's LFM panel.

I love to group and it would facilitate that. Most quests are too short to bother advertising in GLFF but simply setting a LFM with a "Doing quests in area X, come and go as you like" would make grouping easier. It would also greatly help new players who may not know of GLFF.

LOTRO's current LFM tab is beyond useless while DDO's is great, both visually and functionally.

Question 1: A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1) I play because the game can never be beat, per se. Sure you can hit content walls, but there is always more content lurking around the corner. Unlike a traditional RPG, where you level a character, beat the game, then perhaps play an expansion or two before the game is pushed to its end...MMOs let your character evolve over the course of years, not days or weeks.

2) Social interaction/people. Games are always more fun with living, breathing people to interact with.

3) Price: What other hobby can offer so much diversion for so little price?

Question 2: Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I am casual hardcore. I play when I'm able, but push myself and my characters to their limits, looking for ways to integrate or use every skill available to its best advantage. I'm not a master by any means, but I'm always looking for ways to tweak my characters output, which includes experimenting with my characters, watching other characters at work, reading the forums, and just being open to the concept of knowing that there is always something you can do more to better your characters. I share what I have learned, if people ask, but I don't do it in a way that is condescending. I put fun first and game mechanics second in that regard...so I combine my own blend of casual with my own blend of hardcore. It works for me.

Question 3: You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Expand the destiny perks. Give destiny rewards for quests completed after you reach the level cap or the quest turns grey. Offer things like: Bonus to stats, Bonus to resists (can have resists of the character upped, and also the benefit of inflicting a penalty on the target critters' saves, etc). Add in a few merchant perks that can be unlocked after you get certain faction levels (10 percent discount on goods for 5 minutes). Destiny is a great concept, but it needs expanding...right now its very limited, but it has the potential to be a full fledged feature.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

I know I've heard the Devs in this game talk about it being "desirable" before but I think it's such a great system I'm going to mention it here. The City of Heroes sidekick/exemplar system. We really want something like that.

A way for lower leveled characters to group/quest upwards with their high level friends (but not in such a way that's it's more rewarding than doing quests of their own level), and a way for higher level characters to group downwards as well without trivializing the lower level content. Sure it's fun first time to take a lvl 60 and solo a lvl 20 full fellowship quest, but I should have the option of intentionally "gimping" myself for the encounter in order to help my friend do the quest without actually doing it all for him. And maybe in return earn some item xp, LI runes, rep with some faction, marks of triumph, or some other kind of reward.

If a system like this were able to be implemented, and the rewards were decent enough, you might even see a complete revival of some older, lower level content that is currently being ignored or hated because "it's too tough to find groups at that level".

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. It's a constantly changing and ever expanding RPG with so much to do, I'll probably never do it all.
2. It's fun and rewarding to get together with a group of friends and tackle tough quests and boss encounters.
3. It's fun to get immersed in the game and explore a huge virtual world.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Casual but I probably play more hours than a typical casual player. I spend a lot of time gathering materials, hunting mithril flake droppers, crafting, leveling alts, and just exploring.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

A new single PvP server where you could take your creep or freep to fight it out with people from all servers. It would just be a new zone(s) without any of the current PvE content. (I admit I stole this idea from Atlantica Online's Titan server)

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

I don't have 3, I have one.

Something to do to pass the time. And when they ask me why this one, it because I have a lifetime sub at this point, but I may be inclined to leave as well...

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Hardcore, but you are missing the point of those discussions (which make me think that they are not being looked at at all). Those discussions are focused more on group/solo and people thinking it's "ok" to force people to play the game like they do....

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Ability to save/load UI...

Question 1
Cheap time consuming good fun.
Love the social interactions with kin members.
Sense of accomplishment with my characters.

Question 2
Skill wise I am intermediate. Time-wise I am probably closer to hard-core..

Question 3
Class Reputation – Its one thing to be a Captain (or other class) in ME and even with Radiance Gear you stand out, but not enough. I suggest some kind of medals to earn as you go about doing your class things and depending on how you play you become known more for those things. I also suggest some way to make the classes more unique by utilizing this system. Some of these medals might be earned by grouping with others, some might be earned by soloing some random elite mob.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. I have always loved computer games; they are more entertaining than TV.
2. You can find interesting people to chat with (without having to leave the house or develop an insane bar tab).
3. It satiates my need for repetitive mindless action to wind-down.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I play around 3-4 hours a day but I don't think my attitude to the game is "hardcore". I'm not sure what that makes me.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

A better grouping system, perhaps with the ability to "LFG" for multiple quests, ranked by preference, works throughout the world, gives tools to leader of group to help control it, etc. -- at least for "end game" and levels 1-20 (justified by where most players are [an assumption] and where new players are, who need most help).

OR ... (sorry, gotta add this one) - a trio of new hobbies: raising/training horses; racing horses; betting on horses.

All i got is Mount + Mob = Trampled or knocked back. Common sense...
they can hit us off... let us mow them down

Originally Posted by Sapience;3676541
[B

Question 1[/B]
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. Social interaction that goes beyond just playing a game.
2. Let's me scratch my itch to delve deeper into a well established and mature IP.
3. It helps bring out the kid in everyone



Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Inbetween. Hardcore casual. I play daily, but raiding isn't the end-all be-all.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Revive crafting! More player control over whats crafted. Instead of every armoursmith making the exact same helm, let the crafter have control over what stats are on the item.

For example an imaginary helm that has +40 might +20 vitality +20 Fate. Under the new system the recipe would be for a generic helm with no inherent stats, but has a pool of 80 points to be spent. There would have to be caps on the stats, so you couldn't overload 1 stat. The crafter can choose how to spend those pool of points. Does he want to spread them out evenly across all stats? Or does he want to make the helm with a specific purpose in mind.


(forgive me if this is armour specific, but it's what I know, but this could be applied to weaponsmiths, jewllers, woodworkers as well)

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

It's a great way to bring friends and family members together for a single purpose who otherwise may not live close enough to have much interaction.

MMOs can be a very inexpensive form of entertainment

It's a great replacement for television

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I generally play a few hours a day, (but then I rarely watch TV at least until the NFL starts) but I honestly don't consider myself hardcore. I don't have to be in a Raid every minute I'm logged in and I don't need every unique item in the game for my class.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Provide the ability to increase the level or add specific legacies to Legendary weapons. The grind for finding a weapon that is equal to your level with decent legacies is beyond mind numbing. I'm not suggesting you do away with the grind that you Devs love so much just asking that you make that grind more specific for legacies. For example if a Champion is looking for a Fervour Bonus how about a solo instance they can run each day (in Fervour Only?) that would provide the means (tokens or such) to purchase a desired legacy or the ability to increase the rank of a legacy. I sure wouldn't mind investing a lot of time into a Legendary Weapon if I knew I was eventually going to get what I wanted...

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. Being able to be in a virtual Middle Earth (LOTRO is my only MMO now, hence why I'm being specific)
2. Being in a social environment; i.e.: being able to chat and sometimes group with fellow players
3. It has a lot more content than most single-player games

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Somewhere in between. I want the ability to maximize my character, and am willing to work for it, but I also don't believe that that ability should be limited to only a very small percentage of the playerbase, for whatever reason. Basically, I believe that Comparable Incomparables should come back.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

As we have reached the Anduin (and Evendim!), boats would be nice. At least static boat routes, if user-controlled boats are impractical with the current technology.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. Its a fun game
2. Good community
3. Great graphics

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I suppose something in between leaning towards hardcore. I enjoy group content, yes even raiding (zomg you r sooo hardcore go back to WoW). My kin enjoys fellowships and working with others, after all this is based on LOTR and a MMO.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

LI system revamp. We need a way to continue reforging/replacing legacies we don't want. LI system was one of the main reasons I looked forward to Moria and one of biggest let downs of Moria. I'm not sure the devs know the frustration of playing hundreds of hours and not getting a single 2nd age for your class or FINALLY getting a 1st age drop for your class AND winning the roll only to ID it and its 3 silvers and 1 bronze of the worst legacies. Each reforge continues the trend so that it is literally 1st age vendor trash. You can call it bad luck but no one wants luck to be associated with such huge time required items.

Question 1

Friends.

Interaction with other random people.

They can be fun in terms of strategy/challenge if done properly. Such as the end game in SoA, places like CD. (But not so much the end of Moria)

Question 2

In Between. I could go more hardcore if the game was capable of being entertaining when I did. (and of course, burglars were fixed! )

Question 3

Everquest style Alternate Advancement.

A second XP track that allows you to build up points and spend them on minor bonuses to various aspects of your class. It gives you something to do once you hit 60, aside from the gear grind.

If you want to keep people playing an MMO, you need some kind of reward for activity. With alternate advancement even if you continuously fail at farming some item, at least you are getting something.

Hardcore and Casual alike love it. Solo and Fellowed. It doesn't matter. Everyone gets something out of such a system.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1) Social. More fun than playing alone. I don't frequently group but its nice to know others are out there if I want to. I can also play with friends I've made from other games.
2) Content. More to do. Game is constantly changing. Typically more content in a basic launch than most games have in total.
3) It's fun!

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Something in between casual and hardcore. I've never considered myself l33t but that doesn't mean I wouldn't like to be! I just don't have the time and patience to go out there and grind for the best weapon. I'm more of a "journey" guy than a "destination" guy.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Only one eh? Darn. I got too many! I'll stick with one I mentioned earlier. Year round horse races. Races start when at least 2 players buy a "ticket" to race. That starts a 3 minute count down till the race starts. Up to 10 people per race. Winners get a token or two. Second place gets maybe 1 token. Tokens can be turned in for barter items to improve your personal mount. Improvements could be an hour long cooldown "sprint", permanent 5-10% increase in speed, different mounts/bits, increase stability (how many hits it'll take to dismount) etc... Existing tracks could be used, as well as adding longer distance races. Sorta like the quests you do to earn your first horse, but actually be competitive. IE you have to beat multiple people there.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

Persistant world, community.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I don't think it's something that I can describe as most peoples opinion of play style varies.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

New PvMP zone.

Question 1

1. The community and interacting with others. I enjoy this a lot more than watching the latest reality show on tv.
2. Goal based progression. I like having goals and this game gives me that.


Question 2

I'm something inbetween. I play pretty much every dar for at least a couple hours. I like raiding and really enjoy the challenges that a good instance presents a group of players.

Question 3

I'd like to see the crafting beefed up. The only crafted items that I personally have any use for are the crafting tools. :P

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1.) It's entertainment. Interaktiv entertainment. Way better then watsching TV.
2.) the social part of the leisure activity is important
3.) it is just great to be part of a huge world which is not only filled with NPCs

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

as I have a job and family, I would say: Casual gamer with an attitude to 'large-fellowship-playstyle'

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Mentoringsystem

Or something that gives us the possibility to calculate our chars down to instance or even fellowship level.
Give us the possibility to play with out endgame chars with ALL of our friends. and not onyl with those at the same level!

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1: Great Sense of Middle Earth
2: Friends/Community
3: The traits/deeds system in this game is great for character customization.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Hardcore, I generally blow through content but that is because I have limited time to play, when I play, I play to progress.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Bring back long quest chains, I would love to see quest chains for Radiance armor. With many separate steps across multiple instances you can make them difficult to attain. This way there is always tangible progress, it is entirely possible to never win a coin roll even in Kinship groups. The 6 man Hard Modes were supposed to lead us to the watcher, but they really didn't in terms of both story and difficulty, a long(epic, not epic book) quest line could alleviate this.

Q #1: A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1: Love having to work with a group of people to achieve a common goal.
2: Its better than 'regular' games where once you beat it..its over...THERE IS NO END HERE
3: Can do what I want, go hardcore and raid or relax and help out stangers there is no requirement (plus its cheap)

Q #2: Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I would say inbetween, I log a lot of hours but not a zealot in game

Q #3: You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Customizable heralds (like the npc's in Diablo II), and/or the ability to resummon pets/heralds in battle.

Originally Posted by Thane9

Sapience,

Any idea if we'll ever see a "Dev thoughts" post re: these threads?

I'd be really curious to see what ideas/topics are in the works, which ones sound intersting, which ones are impossible due to the nature of the game etc...

I know it's dangerous territory because people would have a tendancy to hold you to anything you said...but I think it'd be very insightful to the direction of the game and how you the devs view our ideas.

I would have to agree as this is all for nothing if we didn't get feedback after the fact. However, I think we'll see some feedback. These guys are usually pretty good and open with what is going on (flame all you want, these guys are better than other MMOs I've played - but don't flame here cause I don't want to see this post closed).

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

• Social Aspect
• It's fun, just like any other hobby.
• Nothing better to do at 10PM on most weeknights

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

• Very hardcore for many years, now just in between...

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

• As a developer myself, I would love to see support for 3rd party addons. http://www.wowwiki.com/Portal:Interface_customization

1. Why play MMO - I play LoTRO for the lore

2. Playstyle - older player with job, kids, responsibilities, and interuptions, lots and lots of interuptions. Means raiding and grouping are next to impossible. I like PvMP and tradeskills becuase I can dip in and out for 5 mins here and there, and solo.

3. My big idea - battle-horses you can fight from, with real inertia i.e. they take time to stop and start, and with a capability to 'Charge!' in short bursts. When I overshoot, its going to take me time to turn my horse round. I want to be a rider from Rohan in a big cavalry battle, and I want the horse to do it.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. No commercials or political viewpoints as seen on TV.
2. Friends you meet and adventure with is fun.
3. Being able to blow off some steam with PvMP.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Between casual and hardcore. I do not like grinds and also expect content to be elaborate enough and challenging to wish to complete it. Risk and reward need to be balanced with fun factor. Hardcore most often than not = epic time sinks and the ego against those between casual and them.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please [be brief)

Make a TCG (Trading card game) in which you can play in game with other players in Taverns. Add some mini-games as well. Dice/darts/Horseraces.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?


1 - I find it more entertaining and mind involving then television.
2 - I like the challenge of accomplishing stuff
3 - I enjoy being a part of my favorite Fantasy setting. (this is primary to me and why I only play Lotro)

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?


Something in-between, I enjoy all the content and what to run all the content. However, I am not going to spend the majority of my day playing. I have a job, wife and kids. This is my entertainment. If it turns into too much "work" then I don't have as much fun. Challenges however are fine. I will also say I am a big fan of the small group and 6 man content. That really empowers smaller guilds to play the game effectively as a group.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Ok - one. Some help with inventory management. II find I need to carry so much with me, I still usually have less than one bag to collect loot. I realize there is a technical limitation with items needing to be in the inventory to use them. How about increasing stacking on use items, especially food and potions and a seperate "off" inventory space for LI's. Once put in the "space" you would only be able to deconstruct or level. If you want to ah an LI the choice to leave it in regular inventory.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. The social and teamwork aspect of gameplay
2. Living in an alternate digital world
3. Constantly evolving game that never truly ends

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

PvP is constantly a hot topic by forum users here and probably most MMORPGs. I'm probably smack in the middle of Casual/Hardcore. A "Moderate" I suppose....

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Siege warfare! Be it PvE or PvP: getting to use battering rams, trebuchets, breaking down doors, undermining etc.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?
I enjoy the game.
the more open game path.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?
semi hardcore ( I play daily but not that any hours each day )

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)
Fix the bugs in the current content, they are getting to be far more than a minor problem, in fact they are becoming prevelent

The first 2 dont have much to do with anything, so Ill just answer the last one.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Completely scrap the current legendary system. Theres nothing legendary about a random number generator. Develop a system that actually resembles what was described to us before the expansion came out (the weapons dont grow with us, it basically starts when we get to 60 and start looking through hundreds of legendary trash items so we can get lucky. Doesnt compare to sting, glamdring, etc, at all).

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

-I enjoy spending time with my friends that I have made online.
-Much more rewarding and less expensive than console games.
-As much as some people feel that community is ignored by devs, I feel that we have a say in how the game is designed to a certain extent (these threads are a good example)

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I play almost every night and usually do one or 2, 6 man instances if we have enough people who want to. I'd consider myself a hardcore gamer with these anoying things called "Real Life" and "Resposibility" getting in my way.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Can't think of any ground breaking ideas right now.

A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. fun way to spend time
2. meet cool new people
3. immerse yourself in a game world


Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Hardcore


You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

At this point and time I'd rather not see anything new added to the game until the whole game is given a once over.

But, if I had to choose something new for us to have it would be mounted combat along with faster and sturdier mounts.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. Since I don't watch (much) television, I consider MMO's my "TV time", and it's probably a lot better for me mentally with the social interaction and what not than watching the mindless drivel on television.
2. The social interaction. I've met quite a few people in LOTRO (and other MMO's) that I would now consider friends. Of course, I've met some "not so nice" people as well, but those people are everywhere.
3. It's something that the whole family can enjoy. I got my two nephews and a friend into the game, and I am currently trying to get the wife to try it out as well.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

I would say "something in between". While I do play a lot, I don't "live" for raids or end-game stuff. If I get there, I get there, if I don't, I don't.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

The ability to build your own house, like in Second Life. Buy the land, maybe harvest the things you need to build it (wood, rocks, mortar, etc.), and actually spend time building it.

Having every neighborhood and every house look exactly the same is really boring.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?
1. It's cheap ($$$) entertainment.
2. Community.
3. A nice detour from reality.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?
Something in between. Alot less hours played once Spring sprung.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)
Instance scaling. Not just to the level of the participants, but to size of the group.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. Takes you into another land where you can escape from the stress of your real life for awhile.

2. With an MMO you get the extra added dimension of other real players involved participating in your getaway fantasy, allowing more human interaction than say TV or reading.

3. For those who loved Tolkien, the LOTR MMO allows you to visit the lands and creatures and characters you read about (or saw in theater) from Tolkiens Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

Probably something in between. While I do spend a good amount of time with LOTRO, I am not fanatical for example about statistics and/or running a perfect raid ... as some hardcore players can be. Or participating in a kin that demands an unusual amount of expertise from members.

Although in some ways I can be hardcore in regards to the number of hours I have played and with PvMP, having played all 6 toons to rank 4 or 5 at least (with 5 outa 6 toons having all maps).

But in regards raiding and my kinship, we have casual evenings where we get together and sorta decide what to do.

I would prefer in the game more of a horizontal growth. After playing since the official opening, the thing that is starting to wear on me is the emphasis on hacking/slashing. Although important for any MMO yes ... the meat and potatoes, it would be nice to have
other things to do that could potentially hold one's interest perhaps for the less "combat" oriented player. And what comes to mind immediately is the SIMs type activities (such as the success of MMO Real Life) and that LOTRO has had continuous requests for more housing and/or hobby type activity. The effort though to expand the game in this area would need to be more significant than it has been for it to have a good impact.

The game is large enough now where I think it can accomodate more horizontal development instead of straight vertical, i.e. continuing instead to make new regions available at break-neck speeds. Don't get me wrong, the new regions are great and incredibly well done, but there is a certain sameness too in that the type of activities are in general of only certain types. Thus perhaps number of requests I have seen for more housing, hobbies, or even raiding, makes me think that people want more to their "fantasy" world than just kill this many orcs or
go to this spot etc. Considering the large success of the SIMs perhaps LOTRO could beg/borrow or steal from other successful computer games and integrate it into its MMO making it a
unique hybrid rather than a WoW clone.


Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

(er see above) Think of the success of REAL LIFE and the SIMS. Perhaps LOTRO shouldn't try imitating WoW for the ultimate hack and slash. Consider the type of LOTRO players ... supposedly tend to be more mature and maybe even more female participants? Cater to that clientele more - like any good business that depends on return visits.

Also however think about the PvMP which still remains vitally popular in the game. Much more can be done and many good suggestions have been made by players over the last two years.

More horizontal ... a little less vertical, but don't stop doing vertical development for Ring's sake!.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?
1. Keeps me in touch with some of my long distance friends.
2. I enjoy the graphics
3. Its a bit of a relaxing escapism


Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?
Casual Raider, Hardcore Crafter, Something in between leveler. I don't believe in a single view of my gaming style.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

A method by which to upgrade the crafted legendary system so that crafters can effect the attributes of their weapons. Through small fellowship repeatable quests crafters and a small fellowship can enter an instance (after some travel) and use a crafting location that they will need to fight to get to, solve a riddle, or any number of quest related activities.

Once the fellowship gains access to the craft location they will have access to a special forge, workbench, oven, etc....where they can use a one time recipe along with the special items they brought with them to create a legendary item and actually choose the legacies on it. Some randomness coded in for an amount of Tier Points but they should be able to choose the Tier for each legacy within that allotted amount.

This crafting/raiding could also be a great combination/ additional reward to existing RAID instances. Where once the boss was beaten no only would the RAID get the normal rewards but have access to the Crafting station if they have a crafter prepared to use it.

Q1: It's offers total escape from the everyday hum drum
Been a Tolkien fan since 1968
there is great freedom of play (some parts are linear, but for the most part you can avoid those that truely annoy you, and you can find something suitable to your interests, be it hack n slash, team play, mano a mano, role play, crafting, exploring.......you get the idea)

Q2 I think of myself as "seriously casual". I log a lot of hours, but have never maxed out much of anything, be it equipment, abilities or what have you. 3 Toons, 54/ 48/ 45 after 15 months play something like 30 hours a week.

Q3 Freestyle home decoration placement (think eldar scrolls oblivion) (yes, I imagine that would be a memory hog, unless it was a personal only stored on the user machine, perhaps just one room like a walk in vault in the home)

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. -So much cheaper than renting movies, seeing movies, buying a new computer game everymonth. $15 for a month of endless entertainment
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Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

2. I would say I’m casual, but the way the game is heading with Radiance gear and trying to obtain a First Age, it seems that I’m almost forced to start playing Hardcore. I love the fact that First Ages can drop from the Loth Gift Boxes, gives us Casuals a chance at something nice. Please don’t change it!

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief) [/QUOTE]


3. Hard mode for Solo Instances. Why not make a great idea even better ; ). Set the IXP and Trade Instances for a hard mode(could be time based). Probably would have to be balanced for each class. Even if you make the hard mode almost impossible, it still would be something else to strive toward. The rewards could be a little more IXP, or a few more coins.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

1. The game world and story. I am a big LOTR fan.
2. The scope. The game is just so massive that there are more things to do than I could ever hope to finish. This plus frequent additions of content keeps it fresh.
3. The social benefit of having a great kinship to play with.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

In between for end game content and fellowship questing. Hardcore for deeding, legendary item levelling, alt-itis.


Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

This comes from the last set of questions but give us social mini games, lots of them. They provide a reason to hang out in a pub or kinship housing.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?

(1) It is something my wife and I both like, so it is something we can do together. We typically play together. (Unfortunately, since the bulk of the content is set up for either solo (too easy for two), or group fellowship (too hard for two), this does distract something from the value of the game. It would be useful if the game mechanics allows us to play something above our level.

(2) It is a type of game that requires intelligence and thought. It is not mind-numbingly boring or luck-dependent like a card game.

(3) It is a cooperative game, rather than a competitive game. I would rather work with the other players in the game than work against any of them. As can be deduced from this, I do not participate in PvMP



Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?

What does "casual" vs "hard core" mean? I enjoy the adventure. I like to have an extended set of experiences in a given environment so that I can get to know my character, its abilities, and its equipment. I enjoy a challenge.

This has "casual" elements in that I am not rushing to maximum level with the best equipment but I like to take my time.

This has "hard core" elements in that at all times I want a thorough understanding of what my character is capable of. I like a challenge and I like defeating challenges based on my abilities.


Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

XP slider to reduce XP rate of gain from between 0 and 100%.

Hands down, this would be the most significant contributer to my finding value within the game. My play-style is one where I want to spend enough time at each level to know and understand my skills at that level before moving on. I dislike having skills and abilities thrown at me that I do not have time to even read before they become obsolete.

I want to adventure in an area until I am ready to move on, and not be forced to move on by the game itself.

As I mentioned above, I play with my wife, but we do not like the same things. I would like to be able to do things that my wife does not like without breaking our agreement that we level together. Also, when we play together a way of reducing XP would be useful in making the game more challenging - we can play above our level without being forced to race through levels.

Also, it will give me an opportunity to group with others and help them without being force-leveled past the content I have not done yet for myself.

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?
1. Socializing
2. Escapism
3. Depth of games


Question 2
I consider playing 5 days a week for 5 hours a day ish hardcore... I will be raiding ASAP.

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)

Ramdomizing instances... Oh wait your already doing that.

If you can find some way to make scalable (form solo to group) dungeon crawls with decent risk/rewards im pretty sure people will love you... FOSHO

Question 1
A friend who does not play MMOs asks you why you play them. What 3 reasons would you give them?
1. More cost efficient than buying the latest video games as they come out. Because of LOTRO, I may only buy one Xbox game every 2-3 months, if that.
2. Persistent world. Games like Oblivion, Fallout and Fable are fun, but when you turn the game off the world just stops until you start up again - a persistent world is so much better in that its always there, evolving, moving.
3. New content added regularly. Sure you may get an expansion for Oblivion a year after release, but after that - the game is over and the devs are moving on. In an MMO - it will be there much longer, and you are much more likely to get an amount of new or updated content as well as more bug fixes.

Question 2
Play style is currently a hot topic among forum users. How would you describe your play style? Casual, Hardcore, or something in between?
I am casually hardcore. Do not have the time to be in one of those "hardcore" raiding kins or what have you, but I am definitely more than just "Casual".

Question 3
You're given the opportunity to pitch one new feature to the dev team. Go! (Please be brief)
Kinship Alliances. Intra-alliance chat channel, voice channels, panel in the social UI.