Thread: Earning my subscription back.

Ahoy hoy!

I started playing this game a while back, but got hooked on two things. First was the immersion into the different classes of the game and the environment in general. There were many times when I was just trodding along eyes on the ground when I actually stopped to look at the surroundings and was amazed.

The second thing (and almost as important) was the crafting systems of LOTRO. I spent way too much time in all the different crafting trades just making stuff for myself, and my other toons. I would get so excited about spending hours making an entirely new suit of armor, jewelry and weapons even though I would probably outgrow them in half as much time. That's not mentioning some of the new and creative artistic designs of the Armor. Still more time was spent looking for a great outfit for all of my toons.


But the second thing vanished with the Isengard expansion and tier 7 crafting. Bugs aside, Isengard felt like a great expansion full of quality work, with the specific exception of the crafting system. The entire tier 7 crafting system felt mailed in, like it was an after thought created at the 11th hour. The system was not comprehensive in any way, shape or form, was extremely sparse in offerings, with armor that was downright ugly and unattractive. And all of the gear available was worse than random green-quality offerings as quest rewards.

And I am not the only one that felt this. A lot of others that have joined me in other games have cited this exact same grievance. While Tier 6 crafting was spectacularly thought out and fun, Tier 7 Crafting is not rewarding at all.


To earn my subscription back immediately, you'll have to revamp Tier 7 crafting system. Basically trash it, and start over. I'll keep my eye on Riders of Rohan, but mostly I'll be watching any updates on the future Tier 8 Crafting. That might earn my subscription back, but without Tier 7 being fixed, I won't commit to it.

Originally Posted by Danneskjold184

Ahoy hoy!

I started playing this game a while back, but got hooked on two things. First was the immersion into the different classes of the game and the environment in general. There were many times when I was just trodding along eyes on the ground when I actually stopped to look at the surroundings and was amazed.

The second thing (and almost as important) was the crafting systems of LOTRO. I spent way too much time in all the different crafting trades just making stuff for myself, and my other toons. I would get so excited about spending hours making an entirely new suit of armor, jewelry and weapons even though I would probably outgrow them in half as much time. That's not mentioning some of the new and creative artistic designs of the Armor. Still more time was spent looking for a great outfit for all of my toons.


But the second thing vanished with the Isengard expansion and tier 7 crafting. Bugs aside, Isengard felt like a great expansion full of quality work, with the specific exception of the crafting system. The entire tier 7 crafting system felt mailed in, like it was an after thought created at the 11th hour. The system was not comprehensive in any way, shape or form, was extremely sparse in offerings, with armor that was downright ugly and unattractive. And all of the gear available was worse than random green-quality offerings as quest rewards.

And I am not the only one that felt this. A lot of others that have joined me in other games have cited this exact same grievance. While Tier 6 crafting was spectacularly thought out and fun, Tier 7 Crafting is not rewarding at all.


To earn my subscription back immediately, you'll have to revamp Tier 7 crafting system. Basically trash it, and start over. I'll keep my eye on Riders of Rohan, but mostly I'll be watching any updates on the future Tier 8 Crafting. That might earn my subscription back, but without Tier 7 being fixed, I won't commit to it.

Sorry to hear it has been such a disappointment. I am a Scholar and have been OK with the tier, but it is probably easier to get right than the equipment-oriented crafts. I have been a little underwhelmed with some of the quest rewards, and if the crafting is worse ...

Hopefully Rohan will be more to your liking.

I understand what you are saying, I really do. A perfect example of your complaint about crafting being added on at the 11th hour is the name of the hides. Large hides? What kind of name is that? After pristine hides, magnificent hides, extraordinary hides, we have a name like "LARGE" hides? It seems trivial but it's the little things that make a RPG.

One thing I have to say though, is that I've been trying other MMOs because sometimes I get a little tired of LOTRO, and the fact is there really just isn't anything out there that keeps me entertained as this game does.

My latest experience was SWTOR and I just never had that "I'm part of the world" feel that LOTRO gives me. STO and Conan came close but I got bored with those. The only other game that I enjoyed as much as this one was old school Star Wars Galaxies before all the changes.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying that there really isn't anything out there that is better.

T6 crafting was an is a hodgepodge of glued together ####, an artifical tier of extra mats rather then make a new teri when the cap went from 60 to 65.

I wish they'd go back and change t1 through t6 to match t7 style, much easier to deal with say a single ore and refine it from low to medium to high then have umpteen different steels that come from assorted different ores from different tiers.

The crafting system itself hasn't changed since what, a year? Tier 7 was slapped on, yes, but the focus of your post's complaint seems to be around the item appearance. This is dunland we're talking about, remember. As far as quest rewards, crafting rewards should have been brought up further, I agree. 'Itemization' was supposed to make all this new gear actually worth using, and most of it in my opinion was a flop as they singled out stats to take on more than one role.

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

I understand what you are saying, I really do. A perfect example of your complaint about crafting being added on at the 11th hour is the name of the hides. Large hides? What kind of name is that? After pristine hides, magnificent hides, extraordinary hides, we have a name like "LARGE" hides? It seems trivial but it's the little things that make a RPG.

One thing I have to say though, is that I've been trying other MMOs because sometimes I get a little tired of LOTRO, and the fact is there really just isn't anything out there that keeps me entertained as this game does.

My latest experience was SWTOR and I just never had that "I'm part of the world" feel that LOTRO gives me. STO and Conan came close but I got bored with those. The only other game that I enjoyed as much as this one was old school Star Wars Galaxies before all the changes.

I'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying that there really isn't anything out there that is better.

OK - have you been following me around??

I have just done a 'tour' of AoC, EQ2 and SW:ToR - as ever I find Middle-Earth the most enjoyable place to spend the majority of my time.

As with any of the games I travel to, some of the updates here are better designed than others, though I must say I have been enjoying Dunland more than Mirkwood, though that may be an elf thing, I liked Lorien more than Moria.

Originally Posted by trcanberra

OK - have you been following me around??

I am so busted. The rest of the LOTRO forum members paid me to do it.

Considering all the things that a customer can experience, using the crafting system as a breaking point seems a bit pants. At least, it would seem so to me. There are better reasons to use for quitting an MMO than that, and I could quote quite a few of them readily.

Originally Posted by trcanberra

OK - have you been following me around??

I have just done a 'tour' of AoC, EQ2 and SW:ToR - as ever I find Middle-Earth the most enjoyable place to spend the majority of my time.

As with any of the games I travel to, some of the updates here are better designed than others, though I must say I have been enjoying Dunland more than Mirkwood, though that may be an elf thing, I liked Lorien more than Moria.

As I play other games, I'm starting to appreciate how detailed and good that LOTRO was. I'll probably be back someday, but for now I don't have the time to play so many games.

Considering all the things that a customer can experience, using the crafting system as a breaking point seems a bit pants. At least, it would seem so to me. There are better reasons to use for quitting an MMO than that, and I could quote quite a few of them readily.

The crafting system at tier 6 was an alternative to grinding for gear, grinding being something I loathe. But with tier 7 the purple gear was often worse (way worse) than the same level green gear from quest rewards.

I'm not asking that crafted gear be way better than grinding gear. If it's remotely competitive, then it is worth it.

Count me in with the crowd not overly pleased with T7 crafting. I feel as if it is headed in the right direction, in so far as a core item (Hides for example) being utilized and refined into the different quality hides needed instead of having to gather yet a second type of hide. I also like that the crit items are also consolidated.

The above stated, I also felt like it was a new change put out there to fine tune, yet not polished very well. It felt very generic and almost like a factory assembly at times.

I also don't grasp why the bulk recipes can't be put out there sooner. The concept of adding them well after the greatest use for them is past makes little sence. If anything, if they are wishing to reap greater store benefits, I for one would gladly accelerate the craft experience via the store than process hudreds of hides, ore and the like to get to the base component.

The bottom line on that was felt when I went to the Skirmish Craft person and looked at the bulk recipes offered. Well, if I really need a batch of T-5 items processed, it won't be all that many and I can watch TV while doing so. When, like many seasoned players I'm given the chance to play new content or churn away at hides, I rather not trade off the time.

I would love to see crafting polished to a point where it sparkles. Make crafting something I would like to log in and do because it has a chance of doing more than saving coin, which many players already have an abundance of. Sad to say, at times I find myself purchasing some of the items that I can make simply because I'm put off at the thought of sitting through a long session when the goods are cheap on the AH anyway.

For me, it's not a deal breaker, but it could certainly use some sparkle. One of the enjoyable aspects of EQ2 was that they had crafting instances with nice rewards. They also had special mounts obtainable only by mastering all the professions as well as special tools and gear that you could don to increase your crafting potential. I would love to see crafting become more powerful as we grow and do more with it over time. Crafting in EQ2 was a game in and of itself.

I'd love to see crafting matter in the game. Other than making consumables and the rush for new equipment immediately following an expansion, crafting in this game is useless except for gearing alts. Pretty much like in any other MMO these days, and it makes me sad.. It feels like the only reason I even choose a profession for my character is to be able to make the end-game tier 3 relic.

I'd love to see a much more involved crafting system, with more depth to it. SWTOR had a good idea with the reverse-engineering to obtain higher-grade recipes, that might be worth looking into. Don't copy their implementation though, it sucks quite bad to be honest. But the idea is great.

As time has passed in LotRO, crafting has become simpler and simpler, and also less fun and time consuming. Yeah, you read that correctly - I think crafting should be time consuming and somewhat grindy. That's where accomplishment comes from, and now all of that has been taken from us. I'm not saying that the SoA days of camping rare spawns and 25% crit chances is the way to go - after all that was royally frustrating for a lot of people. But the step from that to the supermarket thing we have today is fairly large I would say.

I'd say give us more stuff to craft, in all professions. More control on stats, again look at SWTORs abundancy of reverse-engineered patterns. Great concept! And please, please go back to the T1-6 model of having complete sets of gear to make at certain level points, and abandon the staggered T7 approach. That model just sucks, in every game that has attempted it.

At least, that's my humble opinion.