Thread: Forth Eorlingas!

I'll like the skirm pets in overworld as long as they fix one thing first.
MAKE SOLDIERS HAVE LESS TERRIBLE AI.

Otherwise they're more likely to get us killed than really be of any help.

Originally Posted by Sapience

We just did our January Update, Update 5.1, and Update 5.2 is coming and Update 6 after that. We're talking more about Update six because it has a new region that's free to VIPs.

The region is free but do I need to buy a quest pack to do the quests in the region?

Originally Posted by CrimsonBladeEU

Hurry up with the preorder page, Turbine.

Shut up and take my money!

LMAO

It be nice if we got some goodies with pre order I want more cosmetics & maybe a special mount.

Originally Posted by jchudz

I'll like the skirm pets in overworld as long as they fix one thing first.
MAKE SOLDIERS HAVE LESS TERRIBLE AI.

Otherwise they're more likely to get us killed than really be of any help.

That I can agree with

There been many a times I be doing a skirm & my soldier just stands off in lala land. LOL

Originally Posted by Nereid

We can’t go to Rohan without introducing Mounted Combat, which will allow you to fight atop your new mount, the War-steed. Mounted Combat will allow you experience LOTRO in a whole new way!

From the articles you linked, mounted combat will be something restricted to the new area.
I really think this is a good idea even if it is strange to have a war-horse and not be able to fight with him in the open fields of other regions...

The only thing that makes me "sad" is that little word "new" before the "mount". I have a favorite mount for each character (or almost each) and it makes me kind of sad to let go of that horse for a new one that may not look as good as the previous one.

Why not let us choose to train one (or several) or our previous horses instead of getting a new one?

That way, players who spent TPs on a class exclusive horse for instance, won't be let down by not being able to use that horse in combat.

Note: There can (and should) also be several new horses available. This is Rohan we are talking about anyway!

Originally Posted by Eartholloth

That I can agree with

There been many a times I be doing a skirm & my soldier just stands off in lala land. LOL

or your protector running off to add some more fun into the fray

Yay! Rohan!

Though the path we're taking to get into it is kinda weird. After we said farewell to the Grey Company and made friends with the Rohirrim instead of following right through the Gap we're abandoning them as well. (Another urgent summons from the Lady Galadriel I presume)

As for the mounted combat - yes it will be another LI/Skirmish soldier kind of a system, what else could it be?

Originally Posted by Eartholloth

LMAO

It be nice if we got some goodies with pre order I want more cosmetics & maybe a special mount.

This time around we'll get a flying turtle called Bob

Originally Posted by Sapience

Update 5.2 is coming

Good news. You guys need to focus on more patches, IMO. Hopefully the 5.2 fix list is bigger than the RoI.2 fix list.

Originally Posted by MechFierce

There is a thin line between paranoia and good instincts.

My judgement is reserved only for myself, and I believe I qualify for the latter.

If concrete information is given I will take it at face value, I don't have a hidden agenda... I want the game... the company... to thrive. However, as you have said, any given information does not detract from their horrible PvMP track record.

I do think Kelsen is doing his best, but at every turn (update) he keeps getting screwed over. There is only so much one dev can do with an enormous system to update/overhaul.

Paranoia isn’t a factor here, good judgment based on past experience should trump hope. “concrete” information is subjective. I don’t know what Kelsan is doing and I don’t hold one person accountable for the entirety of the state of PvP. That said he was also the person who said mitigations were fixed, and they were not. Facts are facts mate, we can have eloquent rationales given for why something did or did not occur but a reasoned observer can cut through the meyer and get to the core.

I don’t trust Turbine, they earned that cynicism. You likely have great instincts but if your instincts are based on hope, well good for you I guess, if they are based on historic performance than you shouldn’t expect much for PvP.

+rep for the candor though.

I can't wait! RoR looks pretty neat, but this piece of news from the massively article is really interesting.

Originally Posted by Massively

In fact, Paiz and Mersky vowed that starting this year, players will be seeing LotRO adopt Asheron's Call's monthly update model.

Originally Posted by Thorebane

Originally Posted by Tangaar

Sapience any chance for new PVP region?or something anew about classes?both freeps and creeps

This this this this this !

I really hope we get a new class this year.

Couldnt help joining in the cheer!

This awesome piece of news definitely makes 2012 tremendously anticipated!.....Mounted combat, new zone thats twice the size of Moria (0.o), epic iconic locations...and on and on....Looking forward to an awesomely happening year in Middle Earth... Now if only we could get a new PvMP map or something, it'd be a dream year!!

Good Luck and looking forward to the awesomeness!!!....

Do we get to see or hear more about Boromir's fate in a cutscene or something? He's my fave char and inspiration and too many people leaves him out .

Mind......blown....

Originally Posted by Thorgrum

Paranoia isn’t a factor here, good judgment based on past experience should trump hope. “concrete” information is subjective. I don’t know what Kelsan is doing and I don’t hold one person accountable for the entirety of the state of PvP. That said he was also the person who said mitigations were fixed, and they were not. Facts are facts mate, we can have eloquent rationales given for why something did or did not occur but a reasoned observer can cut through the meyer and get to the core.

I don’t trust Turbine, they earned that cynicism. You likely have great instincts but if your instincts are based on hope, well good for you I guess, if they are based on historic performance than you shouldn’t expect much for PvP.

+rep for the candor though.

Agreed.

Good instincts come from wide deep roots.

Taking descriptors from your quote, I would say it is more of a combination of historic performance and hope. Or I guess... a realist view. hah!

Why just half Rohan?Turbine,dont tell me that Edoras,Helms Deep will not be in this expansion...

And why just the eve of Fangorn?Cant you do it the whole thing?

Originally Posted by CrimsonBladeEU

Hurry up with the preorder page, Turbine.

Shut up and take my money!

Mine as well! I can't wait until Fall! :3

We’ll also introduce the option to bring Skirmish Soldier along to aid you on your adventures throughout Middle-earth. We can’t wait to share more details with you as the year progresses.

Hmm...sounds an awful lot like companions from SWTOR. But I am guessing the areas that they can be used in will be limited.

This spring we’ll take our first steps along the path as we add another new region to the game and allow players to explore the shores of the Great River (Free for VIPs!).

You say the "region" will be free to VIP's, but will the quest lines be free as well?

We think you’re going to be very happy with the all that 2012 is shaping up to be!

Unlike RoI, I think a lot of people are going to be hesitant to pre-purchase RoR.

Originally Posted by EviLTeaM

Why just half Rohan?Turbine,dont tell me that Edoras,Helms Deep will not be in this expansion...

And why just the eve of Fangorn?Cant you do it the whole thing?

If you read the articles they explain ALL of this. Edoras and Helms Deep will be targeted in the next expansion, and Fangorn is far too dangerous to enter into the depths of.

Originally Posted by defrule

The region is free but do I need to buy a quest pack to do the quests in the region?

Given that every region is free for F2P to enter, I'm quite sure free to VIP means you don't have to buy the quests, just like Eregion was free for subscribers back in the days.

I was just thinking it would be great to have our skirmish soldiers running around with us! And I was also thinking that cosmetic changes to the horses would be something I'd gleefully pay for. (I want my nice grey Council of the North horse, simple saddle, high speeds, please!)

This sounds very promising, and I'm looking forward to it immensely. I do hope you'll revamp crafting & such, and keep the store in balance, but riding with the Rohirrim is a dream come true.

I hope we can update our current mounts into war-steeds. I want to make my goat into a war-goat.

Originally Posted by FuzzyWabbit

What about making a jousting arena for PVP then with mounted combat? just my 2 cents

I'll drink to that! =D

It looks like But I humbly request you fix one thing before the expansion: kinships.

The kinship system has not been touched since the creation of this game and is in dire need of an update.
Community is a big factor in each server, please do something about it Sapience.

Originally Posted by Elderban

You say the "region" will be free to VIP's, but will the quest lines be free as well?

Just to be crystal clear here, think of this like Halls of Night or Inn of the Forsaken. If you're VIP, you get access to it like all other quest packs. If you're premium or free-to-play, you can purchase the Great River as a quest pack.

Originally Posted by Reniannen

Given that every region is free for F2P to enter, I'm quite sure free to VIP means you don't have to buy the quests, just like Eregion was free for subscribers back in the days.

Correct. Vips will not have to pay for the quest pack in Update 6.

Originally Posted by Sapience

Correct. Vips will not have to pay for the quest pack in Update 6.

Will the Pre-order for Rise of Isengard cover this content, however? (Update 6)

This is what we have been waiting for! I can't wait to check out this huge new area and try the mounted combat!

Cap increases are great for casual and solo players. It's not for end-gamers. It sucks for end-gamers. It really really sucks. I mean it really really really sucks. There is NOTHING more boring for a raider than killing the 100,000th wargs in a stupid landscape quest just to get to 85- NOTHING. Even if I do it from a horse. There is nothing more demotivating than knowing that as soon as you get new gear, from a an incredibly difficult raid you've been learning for months, you will end up replacing it with new gear from an overland quest that your two year old son could have just as easily acquired. NOTHING.

There is nothing at all creative or challenging about overland quests. They aren't conducive to grouping- you know- the "multiplayer" part, because they are so easy they don't require grouping. Overland quests are filler. They are cheap filler that is easy to design and to placate the non-raiding masses. There is a place for them. Up to about 50 they make sense while you are still learning the game and learning your class. But after that the inanity and the repetition is just too much to bear. I have had very consistent and motivated raiders in my kin quit with Isen solely because of the boring grind to 75.

Grinding 10 more levels is not funny, and it's not fun. I honestly don't even know who thinks it's fun. I get that there are a lot of soloers out there. But you can create more quests, even new skills locked behind new quests- challenging quests even, without increasing the level cap, which does nothing except destroy all of your old content (see the great Ost Dunhoth in the trash bin) and create the illusion of progression.

I know Turbine is commercially motivated, and I don't fault them for that. I'm sure they've done the math and cheap filler brings in more subs than no cap increase and a raid. I guess this game is just leaving what I want out of a game behind.

Sorry to piss on the parade.

So will we be able to customize our skirmish soldiers a bit more? I'm very happy with my elf-man minion, running along with my RK here, but I think my boy elf champion would appreciate his Zap Rowsdower Dwarf to be a bit spiffier! (I want him to have hockey hair...) I assume this means we'll be able to direct them? I don't care about a full pet bar for them - I'd just like to say, "attack that mean one!' without a cooldown.


<---- Likes exploring new areas, doesn't consider it 'grinding,' and doesn't care a bit about the vital importance of raiding.


eta, in reference to the next post: Ya, the Rohirrim should *probably* get their own voices. Not only greeting me in Elvish, but chattering on about Aragorn, those things are a wee bit jarring. Personally, I'd like to hear some pretty strong Saxon accents (plain British will do) - that would be nice.

I guess another thing I'd like is a bit more recognition of my various characters. I did like the part where your race had some notice when working with the Rangers. That was fun - reminded me I was an elf. (and I LOVED the testy sons of Elrond - not sure it was in character for them really, but I did love the snarky, "WHAT history?" part. Very glad I have several elves so I could keep hearing it.) I'd like some notice that I'm a hobbit, too, but I'm not sure how far you can go with that, given that the Fellowship hobbits were so special to the area.

I'm also interested in how they'll handle our knowledge. We can't know about Boromir, for instance, if we later meet Faramir before he meets Frodo - or know that Gandalf is alive, if we ever see Frodo again. (I assume we won't.)

But anyway - it's something to look forward to, a reason to cling to my lifetime account. That's pleasant news.

Dear Turbine Management,

I'm glad to hear you're taking us to Rohan. Please be upfront with your pre sale pricing and what goods you're delivering this time around with all your customers (cash and TP alike.) In addition, don't ship yet another half baked expansion in order to meet your quarterly goals etc. As far as expansions go RoI was a disgrace not only in terms of how you treated your customers, but also in terms of polish. Might be a shock to you, but the horselords don't speak elvish--that's only the tip of the iceberg in terms of all the corners you had your team cut in order to make a ship date. And no self respecting AAA mmo publisher would ship an expansion that did not include capped level instances ready to go at launch. Imagine Blizzard shipping Wrath of the Lich King or Cataclysm without their huge clusters of instances. I understand full well that you've got nowhere near the resources of Blizzard, but what we got in September was not even up to Mirkwood standards. You can do better.

I have been a cash paying supporter of this game since beta. Bought a lifetime account, and paid cash for Moria and Mirkwood when they launched. I have no problems paying money to support games I enjoy. Unfortunately, last fall your company did not deliver an expansion I was willing to pay cash for. Instead, I waited you out for a discount and paid you with your own funny money. If you want my money this time around, don't hide behind sly marketing speak and do actually deliver an expansion worth dropping cash for.

Final note: I understand you get squeezed by your overlords to make whatever numbers you need to make to keep your end of the company afloat. But do fight for the guys who work underneath you. No level designer or game systems engineer likes showing up to work everyday, pour in countless hours, love and energy into what they do only just to ship a halfbaked product. They do not set the time deadlines, you and your project managers do. Fight to get them more time to do their jobs, please. Your playerbase and this game can't tolerate yet another halfbaked expansion, and it is demoralizing as hell to work for a company who does not respect your craft.

Thank you for your time and good luck.

Originally Posted by deaddove

Will the Pre-order for Rise of Isengard cover this content, however? (Update 6)

Update 6 and the Riders of Rohan expansion are two different things. If you aren't a VIP you'll be able to buy the Update 6 quest packs in the LOTRO Store. Rohan is an expansion and we'll be talking more about pre-sales, beta, and such in the coming weeks and months.

Originally Posted by bastiat1

Cap increases are great for casual and solo players. It's not for end-gamers. It sucks for end-gamers. It really really sucks. I mean it really really really sucks. There is NOTHING more boring for a raider than killing the 100,000th wargs in a stupid landscape quest just to get to 85- NOTHING. Even if I do it from a horse. There is nothing more demotivating than knowing that as soon as you get new gear, from a an incredibly difficult raid you've been learning for months, you will end up replacing it with new gear from an overland quest that your two year old son could have just as easily acquired. NOTHING.

There is nothing at all creative or challenging about overland quests. They aren't conducive to grouping- you know- the "multiplayer" part, because they are so easy they don't require grouping. Overland quests are filler. They are cheap filler that is easy to design and to placate the non-raiding masses. There is a place for them. Up to about 50 they make sense while you are still learning the game and learning your class. But after that the inanity and the repetition is just too much to bear. I have had very consistent and motivated raiders in my kin quit with Isen solely because of the boring grind to 75.

Grinding 10 more levels is not funny, and it's not fun. I honestly don't even know who thinks it's fun. I get that there are a lot of soloers out there. But you can create more quests, even new skills locked behind new quests- challenging quests even, without increasing the level cap, which does nothing except destroy all of your old content (see the great Ost Dunhoth in the trash bin) and create the illusion of progression.

I know Turbine is commercially motivated, and I don't fault them for that. I'm sure they've done the math and cheap filler brings in more subs than no cap increase and a raid. I guess this game is just leaving what I want out of a game behind.

Sorry to piss on the parade.

Dude, what grind to 75 are you talking about? You can get there just questing and enjoying the story line. You know, the rpg part of mmorpg. I am fairly certain that 85 will be no different, do the quests, enjoy the story line, then have fun learning the new raids when you get to them.

If you want to talk about grinding to level, go play an asian made f2p and then come back here. You will see the difference immediately. Even the grind for gear here is laughable to that stuff. I guess what Im saying is, you are pissing on a parade for no reason other than your poor ego being hurt that you have to get new gear to be the best when the game *gasp* progresses!

Back to the positive side. I cannot wait for this. Tons of land mass, tons of quest, new combat, this is shaping up to be the expansion that restores hope in lotro if they deliver.

We’ll also introduce the option to bring Skirmish Soldier along to aid you on your adventures throughout Middle-earth.

Maybe I am to suspicious, so correct me if Im wrong.
Word "option", mean that we need to buy something from LotroStore, like scroll/horn etc. so we can use ours Skirmish Soldiers outside of skirmishes?

Originally Posted by Elderban

Hmm...sounds an awful lot like companions from SWTOR. But I am guessing the areas that they can be used in will be limited.

Hey - with level 75+ I'm a veteran, a hero myself who deserves a squire or sort of henchman. :-)

Originally Posted by Nereid

We’ll also introduce the option to bring Skirmish Soldier along to aid you on your adventures throughout Middle-earth

AMAZING!

Now that they have lowered the cost of leveling our soldiers, I can start getting them ramped up for this!

Can't wait...

Really great press release! At least the folks at PR do their job when promoting new content. Seriously though, this sounds really exciting at pretty much every level. The only thing I'm pretty ambivalent about is the skirmish soldier coming with you. Those soldiers have terrible AI and they only seem to be getting worse (see the Rohirrim prisoners in the Pits of Isengard)

Originally Posted by Elderban

Unlike RoI, I think a lot of people are going to be hesitant to pre-purchase RoR.

Well my two cents are...I've never been so excited to spend $$, bring on the pre-order!

I very much hope the translation for Riders of Rohan will be more complete than what we have now. The german minstrel skill/trait descriptions are still Pre-ROI and no help at all.

Originally Posted by NisharaLotro

Hey - with level 75+ I'm a veteran, a hero myself who deserves a squire or sort of henchman. :-)

My Zap is a FRIEND!!! I want to be able to feed him, give him ale... (I love the SW:ToR companions - it works well, makes up for a party member amazingly well, & would be a great thing to replicate here. Also, they don't talk as much or irritate me as random strangers tend to do. I'm fine with this.)

I don't have a problem with this being store related, nor cosmetic alterations to horses, or even speed alterations for horses. All good. Certainly, cosmetic changes to my Zap will be appreciated. (he needs a better suit - perhaps a jeans jacket...) Add those to things I would gladly pay for - and actually, I'd pay to customize my characters, too. This would be a lot more welcome than Turbine's perhaps inadvertent effort to undermine crafters. Hair - I'd pay for better hair. I love my elf boy, but sometimes, he reminds me ever so slightly of Michael Palin (which is a good thing, but not entirely Elvish) - I'd pay for a bit more Tweakage Opportunity there, too. Horses - I'd like a simple horse, fast, no race-horse fly masks, & reins, at last.

This game is about the story - not sure that instances/raids should be quite as important as the quality & depth of the story. There are other mmos that exist only for raiders - mmos I would pay to avoid.

Could have been worse. All description could have been changed to TBD.