Thread: why is it sooo hard to find anything on this site??

Again I am searching for information on this site. Nothing is where you would logically look for it. How hard would it be to put information about the anniversary event on the front page?? Anytime I am looking for anything on here I end up randomly clicking on things hoping to stumble upon what I am looking for, and maybe after a dozen clicks I will get lucky and actually find it. There is an announcements and service updates forum that never posts any announcements or service updates. There is a tab in the lorebook for news, but more often than not doesn't contain the news you are actually looking for.

I tend to not search for anything on here. Google works better. If it ends up sending you here anyway, well, at least it was alot quicker to get what you were looking for.

I get frustrated on here alot because it seems I always have to click something at least twice before it will even open. Only site that does this to me. /shrug

This site is really bad. I almost feel like it is designed to work poorly on purpose as a way to keep players from having a good forum to vent shared frustrations.

Originally Posted by Okokdir

This site is really bad. I almost feel like it is designed to work poorly on purpose as a way to keep players from having a good forum to vent shared frustrations.

There are indeed a lot of frustrations with it. When the forum software bites me I look up at the "Beta" on the header and sigh again... it's been there for years, I think.

Part of the lack of information is intentional, though. The devs know that it's fun for some of us to locate stuff and figure out the mechanisms for ourselves. Like Chellcn I'll hit Google when figuring it out becomes too frustrating, or I'll post a message to the forum and see if somebody wants to share out info.

I wouldn't have found the envelope quest as much fun as I have if the mechanisms had all been fully explained beforehand... but now I'd just like to know how to get the /toast emote to drop as a tradeable item -- but I know not to look in the official documentation for the answer. I've tried everything I can think of including Google, and none of it has worked so far. I know it happens, since I've seen them on the AH and somebody reported that it happened on one of their alts but not on another. It was suggested that some or all of them came from lotteries, but because of that one report I know that at least sometimes they can drop from an envelope.

But yeah, it doesn't make sense to tell someone RTFM, because there's (intentionally) no manual.

The Lorebook is rarely helpful anymore (information overload anyone?). Also, it depends on what you are actually looking for (you didn't specify in your OP).

If I'm looking for information on something in-game, I'll usually hit up one of the following sites.

www.lotro-wiki.com

www.burgzerg.com

www.casualstrolltomordor.com (has some excellent guides/info, and they're usually pretty quick with festival info too)

lotro.mmodb.com (hasn't been updated in a while, so not so much anymore)

lotro.allakhazam.com (again, not sure how recently it's been updated, haven't used this site in a while)

This has been a complaint for some time. So far Turbine has been really quiet on the matter. My pet peeve is having the post history feature taken away from the CP.

It's a really dysfunctional web site. I actually had to google "Buy Isengard" last year just to find the LOTRO page on how to buy it when there could have been a "buy me" button here on the forum page.

Oh, and try to get to the main LOTRO site from the this forum page.

Originally Posted by Okokdir

This site is really bad. I almost feel like it is designed to work poorly on purpose as a way to keep players from having a good forum to vent shared frustrations.

Yeah this site is still in beta....

Originally Posted by melee_classes

Yeah this site is still in beta....

LOL

Yeah. They are making great progress on moving to release, right?

I have to admit, this is one of the worst websites I've never used as far as functionality. I have a bookmark for the lottery page that I normally hit to make sure I'm all checked in there. Then I click the forums button (twice for some reason...) to get to the forums. Then I normally click the "new posts" button to see if any threads I've posted on have replies. Sometimes I click twice to get this to work, sometimes once. Sometimes I'll see 6 pages of new posts, sometimes 2. If a certain thread I was following isn't in the "new posts" section, I have to try to remember what category it was and go look for it because unlike every single forum I've ever used (and every single free forum php code you can get out there) there is no post history that I can find in this game anywhere to go back and see what I've written in the past.

Now, trying to find developer diary posts, or festival information, or to buy points, or anything else really. This site is not the place to go. There's this really cool place called Google.com that is ten times faster for finding those things

It really boggles my mind how badly put together the community site is. I would say it was like they hired a high school kid to code it for them, but I've been on high school Justin Beiber fan sites that work better than this. So, not sure what the problem is. I wonder if I submit the community site to Webpagesthatsuck.com for the daily sucker, it would win?

Think Next Update there will be a premium community site for sale in the store for 5000 TP

Originally Posted by Widoch

2. If a certain thread I was following isn't in the "new posts" section, I have to try to remember what category it was and go look for it because unlike every single forum I've ever used (and every single free forum php code you can get out there) there is no post history that I can find in this game anywhere to go back and see what I've written in the past.

There used to be a post history but it got taken out. I think that blows my mind more than anything. I have to either find a post that I made so I can click on my name for post history or I have to make a spam post to find my post history. It's plain stupid.

It really boggles my mind how badly put together the community site is. I would say it was like they hired a high school kid to code it for them, but I've been on high school Justin Beiber fan sites that work better than this. So, not sure what the problem is. I wonder if I submit the community site to Webpagesthatsuck.com for the daily sucker, it would win?

What is sad is that there used to be a fully functional website here that got replaced by this piece of garbage.

Turbine really dropped the ball on this one.

Originally Posted by NickStern

Think Next Update there will be a premium community site for sale in the store for 5000 TP

LOL, I wish I would have thought of that. +1 rep.

Originally Posted by Widoch

there is no post history that I can find in this game anywhere to go back and see what I've written in the past.

Try clicking your own nickname on any of your posts. Look at the menu that opens.

Just a little tip.

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

LOL, I wish I would have thought of that. +1 rep.

Thank You Thank You

I will be appearing next week at the Comedy Shack In Little Delving

I agree with everything here.

I also use Google to find information, and it will usually direct me to the correct page on lotro.com. I just can't find anything with the search functions here.

Can't believe this has been in beta for almost 2 years!

Originally Posted by Elaida

Try clicking your own nickname on any of your posts. Look at the menu that opens.

Just a little tip.

Most people know this. What is missing and what was taken out is the post history feature in the character profile. The way it works right now, you have one of two choices: find one of your posts in a thread so you can click on your name or make a spam post(I'm not sure if this is against the rules or not)to do the same thing.

This is the image I always use to voice my opinion of replacing a perfectly working web site:

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

This is the image I always use to voice my opinion of replacing a perfectly working web site:

Hey now at least New Coke was good for target practice and rust removal from old bolts

You know what they say, knowledge is power. I think turbine prefers to keep us like mushrooms, in the dark and constantly feeding us bull dung on a regular basis. They prefer to have all the power, it's better for their bottom line.

Oh, and coke is the bomb. I been polishing the chrome bumpers on my hot rods with it and a piece of aluminum foil for years. Works like a charm it do.

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

What is missing and what was taken out is the post history feature in the character profile. The way it works right now, you have one of two choices: find one of your posts in a thread so you can click on your name or make a spam post(I'm not sure if this is against the rules or not)to do the same thing.

Wrong.

There are still ways to follow every thread you've posted in. Subscriptions to thread. I am being automatically subscribed to each thread I write in. If I open My Preferences > My Forum Settings, there's a section with "Subscribed Threads with New Posts" visible as the very first thing. This is handy to me. I see instantly in which old "threads of interest" have new posts. Also, on the left menu, there's a whole section called Subscriptions. This shows every single thread I've posted in, for as long as I have had subscription system turned on.

So, basically you are complaining about missing a feature that does exist but is turned off from your profile for your account. Or complaining about missing a feature that exist with a different name than what you'd expect.

You can turn this on in General Settings section. "Default Thread Subscription Mode" is what you're looking for; if it's set to "Do not subscribe", you won't see the history. For having the post history "logged", next setting on the list, "Through my control panel only" works neatly.

Originally Posted by Elaida

Wrong.

There are still ways to follow every thread you've posted in. Subscriptions to thread. I am being automatically subscribed to each thread I write in. If I open My Preferences > My Forum Settings, there's a section with "Subscribed Threads with New Posts" visible as the very first thing. This is handy to me. I see instantly in which old "threads of interest" have new posts. Also, on the left menu, there's a whole section called Subscriptions. This shows every single thread I've posted in, for as long as I have had subscription system turned on.

So, basically you are complaining about missing a feature that does exist but is turned off from your profile for your account. Or complaining about missing a feature that exist with a different name than what you'd expect.

You can turn this on in General Settings section. "Default Thread Subscription Mode" is what you're looking for; if it's set to "Do not subscribe", you won't see the history. For having the post history "logged", next setting on the list, "Through my control panel only" works neatly.

No, that is jumping through hoops to access a feature that was readily accessible in the original forums. All you should have to do is click on your CP and post history should be right there. That's how it used to be. It's not like that anymore. Web sites should be easy to use, not having to jump through hoops and finding go arounds.

Originally Posted by OnyxSoulbane

You know what they say, knowledge is power. I think turbine prefers to keep us like mushrooms, in the dark and constantly feeding us bull dung on a regular basis. They prefer to have all the power, it's better for their bottom line.

Oh, and coke is the bomb. I been polishing the chrome bumpers on my hot rods with it and a piece of aluminum foil for years. Works like a charm it do.

Nice! +1

What I think will happen is that Turbine has decided that the Beta tag works so well on the forums in dispelling criticisms they are going to apply that same Perma-Beta tag to the game itself!

Oh and I really like the idea of a pay-to-forum 'Premium' website. For your 5000 TP subscription cost you'll also get an in-game scented candle...

While the site has many warts (logging me out randomly being my favorite, by default selecting my trial account from 4 years ago being a close second), my biggest beef is the lack of content. The lorebook should be current, it is a real pain that it is not...

Originally Posted by Nymphonic

No, that is jumping through hoops to access a feature that was readily accessible in the original forums. All you should have to do is click on your CP and post history should be right there. That's how it used to be. It's not like that anymore. Web sites should be easy to use, not having to jump through hoops and finding go arounds.

Ah, I see. It's the common thing then. You complain because something was changed and you don't happen to like the fact that it works slightly differently. That's called life. Things change. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. No one will win every time.

Note how I wrote that I do like the current system. It makes the post history collecting optional - you can subscribe either only to those threads you want to (see the options below the text field when you reply), or automatically to all by default. And even from this default setting, you can remove the subscription if you never want to see the thread again.

New system has more options than a plain post history. It's more versatile, it allows everyone to set things up exactly as they want to. Only thing is, that you can't see ALL your subscribed threads immediately. However, who says you can't make a bookmark to the page where that list is?

Yep. You're only being lazy there. One bookmark, that you can put even into your browser's bookmark toolbar to have it instantly accessible at any time will solve your "problem". Though I can't see what the problem really is. I see it as complaining only for the fun of complaining, because things are being changed.

"Screw those who like the new things, I want everything to be as they have always been, no matter if they're more versatile and if others may like it. They must not be changed! Ever!" - I hope that's not how you think.

Back on the topic of finding information, I'd like to know why typing in a search term--any search term--now returns an empty page with nothing more than a new Google search bar that doesn't do anything. Kinship and player searches seem to work, but anything typed in using the 'entire site' or 'lorebook' categories fail for me every time.

I was encouraged to see that the broken 'Recent Blog Posts' widget was recently fixed, but with this recent search problem it feels like one step forward, two steps back. Why isn't it worth it to Turbine to give its community a fully functional site?

Originally Posted by Elaida

Wrong.

There are still ways to follow every thread you've posted in. Subscriptions to thread. I am being automatically subscribed to each thread I write in. If I open My Preferences > My Forum Settings, there's a section with "Subscribed Threads with New Posts" visible as the very first thing. This is handy to me. I see instantly in which old "threads of interest" have new posts. Also, on the left menu, there's a whole section called Subscriptions. This shows every single thread I've posted in, for as long as I have had subscription system turned on.

So, basically you are complaining about missing a feature that does exist but is turned off from your profile for your account. Or complaining about missing a feature that exist with a different name than what you'd expect.

You can turn this on in General Settings section. "Default Thread Subscription Mode" is what you're looking for; if it's set to "Do not subscribe", you won't see the history. For having the post history "logged", next setting on the list, "Through my control panel only" works neatly.

Or, like every other well designed forum I frequent, they could simply add "my posts" to your preference page like all the rest instead of making you subscribe, turn things on, click here, click there, click everywhere....etc.

Nope, it's a poor design here.

I have just recently set up my "mylotro.com" page in-game and have used that to search for a few questions I had on quests and it seemed to have worked well so far, so I thought they have fixed things. I used the in-game browser so I didn't have to tab out of the game which is a feature I didn't realize lotro even had. I have my page set up to display lotto drawings, latest forum posts my character with recent activity and a few other things. I then set the in-game browser to one of my tool short cuts on my UI. I really like it so far and it has seemed to work for the few searches that I have done here recently but from the reply's in this post maybe I've just been lucky. But in the past I have used Google and Lotro-wiki.com.