Thread: Apparel Dummies...

From the update notes...

Apparel Dummies now exist in hub cities throughout the world. Each dummy displays a hand-selected cosmetic outfit, and clicking on the dummy will take you to the offer for that outfit in the LOTRO store.

Hmmm. We started asking for apparel dummies for our homes to display our armor/outfits way back before MoM and were told it was too much work to implement. Now, to promote sales in the store, here they are.

Even though my first reaction was disbelief, then a bit of anger, I'm going to stay optimistic about this. Along with the Turtle Soup quest in Bree which opened doors into interior instances in existing buildings and purposely shows you the 'party boy's' home at the end (including his new pets), I'm going to see this as a hint that a housing upgrade is in the works. We will see.

Nice that you´re so optimistic about it, but then it´d make no sense that they denied any work on housing for the foreseeable future in the 1st of June Q&A session (not openly of course).

Originally Posted by Vandervahn

Nice that you´re so optimistic about it, but then it´d make no sense that they flat out refused any work on housing in the foreseeable future in the 1st of June Q&A session.

It does not necessarily mean there will be a full housing upgrade, but who knows? Maybe this is at least a step to getting us those apparel dummies as items in houses. If so, it was clever to use them as advertising for the Store as well, since that helps offset the development cost. I hope if they do show up, there are in-game ways to get them rather than just a TP purchase.

Fat chance of that happening. I have given up on any major housing upgrade.

They don't look to bad tbh, and their not right in the way (well at least not in Thorin's Hall, haven't checked Bree).

Although I don't like they have Dummies for all four races at Thorin's Hall, It would have been better if they had kept the Dummies restricted to the settlement's Race.

double post

Don't ask which one is the real one... hehe

Dolven-View

That's one way to twist a suggestion into something stupid.

At least put them inside the outfitter stores.

this is disappointing =(

Surprised they used the word 'Dummy'. Wouldn't it be more politically correct to use the word 'Model'? After all, the term 'dummy' can be thought of as a slur to the develpmentally challenged.

I don't quite understand the patch notes, BUT if they really put dummies in the game that serve the purpose of opening the store, noone can blame me for thinking to throw obscene words in Turbine's direction. Of course we NEEDED and ASKED for another way to open the store and buy the latest game breaking inventions for just 995 TP (discounted from 1295 for just this week). (and if you like us on Facebook, you can be the first one to buy discounted +10 levels in a few months).

Originally Posted by Adder

From the update notes...


Hmmm. We started asking for apparel dummies for our homes to display our armor/outfits way back before MoM and were told it was too much work to implement. Now, to promote sales in the store, here they are.

Even though my first reaction was disbelief, then a bit of anger, I'm going to stay optimistic about this. Along with the Turtle Soup quest in Bree which opened doors into interior instances in existing buildings and purposely shows you the 'party boy's' home at the end (including his new pets), I'm going to see this as a hint that a housing upgrade is in the works. We will see.

This is only my opinion.

I do not see this implementation as getting us closer to dress up dummies in our home. At best is a tiny step because Turbine has upped the visuals for a landscape object. Turbine did a landscape beauty upgrade as part of Rise of Isengard.

All Turbine did was create a landscape object that looks like a Avatar. Most likely it is a composited as single item. Lot like a tree. Added to the landscape designers tool kit as another object than can be dragged and dropped on the landscape. When the landscape block updates are finished, the tooling generates all the files for our client to render the visuals.

It seems very similar to putting down a statue. One thing they probably could do with out too much trouble is create a hookable decoration for each of these fixed apperances.

It is a long hard road to get a dummy with multiple slots that can be placed in our houses. New artwork for each piece. Update the rendering engine to properly build the frame for all character and camera positions.

"Apparel Dummies now exist in hub cities throughout the world. Each dummy displays a hand-selected cosmetic outfit, and clicking on the dummy will take you to the offer for that outfit in the LOTRO store."

These REALLLY spoiled the atmosphere of some areas. Really in the middle of Aughaire is a department store?!

I like how they said in major hub cities, no... they are everywhere. I Wouldn't be suprised to find a LOTRO Chain Store in the middle of the Trollshaws now, next to the Turbine 7-11 quick snack bar.

At Least put them in the outfitters or even next to armor vendors etc. <Crying a little inside now>

Oh and the little glowing stars floating around the dummies. They Just need some flashing Neon signs to go with them.

With each update, they bring something horrible and I say "they can't possibly ruin their own game any further than this.", and they manage to prove me wrong, everytime.

Great job Turbine!

Glowing and dancing stars around the dummies is a nice touch. It really improves the Middle-earth feeling in every hub I visit.

Just encountered some of these in Galtrev.

Utterly awful. Sparkling mannequins in pirate clothes, smack-bang in the middle of the Dunlending market.

This could only be more immersion-breaking if there were floating neon dollar signs over them. Please, at least remove the sparkles. Please. I'm worried they might come to life and start a tragic blood-sucking teenage romance with me. No one wants that.

It's Official.

Turbine have no shame.

yeah...Sorry Turbine, but this is...yeah I didnt like this change one bit, better luck next time

Talk about Immersion breaking! And Lore breaking.

JRR Tolkien is rolling in his grave right now.

Apparel Dummies all over Middle-Earth?

This is a horrible idea Turbine.

At least tuck them away inside a shop??

I wouldn't mind them at all if they were inside the stores (and the sparkles removed). As it is, they're just appalling.

Since these were sooooooo well integrated into the landscape, I guess the next update will bring us dummies next to every crafting node on the landscape.

Holding the appropriate crafting tool for sale in the store of course

Please please if we must have these at least put them inside shops -- and limit them to the 4 major racial "hubs".

Wow, I can't believe that Turbine would actually do something this crass!

Wow, this is the most immersion breaking thing I have ever seen in a game, I really hope its some kind of a joke.

Originally Posted by KopachGrobova

Wow, this is the most immersion breaking thing I have ever seen in a game,

THIS!

You know I was just kidding when I suggested fireworks displays painting the Coke logo instead of flashing billboards.

This is really cutting it close, Turbine.


At least keep them in the shops indoors only.
And if there are no shops, just remove them please.

Horrible idea poorly implemented, it seems obvious that there are simply no restrictions to preserve any immersion in the game anymore. Although the silver lining for me is that at the rate we're going it would appear this game won't resemble anything Tolkien and it will be easier for me to stop playing my lifetime accounts...

Not sure why Turbine doesn't just open up a full-screen store upon login and not allow us to close it and play the game until we purchase something.

LOTRO is starting to remind me of a Facebook game...pretty soon we'll be limited to the amount of time we can play unless we buy "fun-rings" from the store to extend our new "energy" bar.

Turbine has said it is not working on housing updates and has no plans to do so in the foreseeable future. Believe or not, as you wish.

If there were any doubts about the direction Turbine was taking the game, apparel dummies seal the deal in the direction of silly. Thus does Turbine confirm that it is much more interested in Store than Game. However beautiful the game design, after every update the game is looking more and more like a cheap Asian F2P knockoff. Next we will have balloons released when we earn TPs. I now regret having bought RoR. I can only imagine riding across the plains and having a Warg Rider trot past me with a placard, "LOTRO Store Sale, Click on me to fight for details!"

Hold the phone...this isn't Turbine's idea......

Originally Posted by Sapience

[Apparel Dummies] ...were a player suggestion.

They're in appropriate locations, where you might naturally expect to find such things.

Originally Posted by GalateaOrea

Next we will have balloons released when we earn TPs. I now regret having bought RoR. I can only imagine riding across the plains and having a Warg Rider trot past me with a placard, "LOTRO Store Sale, Click on me to fight for details!"

Coming Soon to an Expansion near you.

And why not little teams of singing and dancing dwarves and hobbits with boaters and canes in every tavern:

'Let's all go to the Store ...'

And while we're at it - why not replace the inane office cafeteria drivel you hear in the AH with near subliminal chatter about the great stuff you can buy, IN THE STORE.

Because I don't know about the rest of you but I was barely aware of the existence of the Store until now. I mean - it's just so discreet.

Wow, Turbine. I haven't patched my client yet, so I confess I haven't seen these in-game yet...but, again, wow. Sparkly mannequins in Middle-earth? Seriously? You take THAT immersion-breaking player suggestion over the hundreds of other perfectly valid player suggestions that have been made recently?

Originally Posted by Draculetta

Dolven-View

Another thing: when did Turbine start adding crafted armour sets and quest rewards to the store? That first outfit is the Herald's armour set (http://lotro.northshield.co.uk/Mediu...ds/heralds.htm) and the second is a mixture of RoI quest rewards (including the sometimes difficult to obtain Arth-crus: http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Arth-crus). If I understand the patch notes correctly, people can buy these items in the store now...?

My desire to remain VIP decreases a little with each new update.

I am, perhaps surprisingly, not against the idea of the cosmetic dummies that have just invaded the game - a profit is needed to keep the game going, after all. However, here are a few things about them that I'd like to suggest to the devs, as these dummies are clearly (and quite rightly) causing a bit of controversy:

1) They take up too much space. Push them closer together and they'd form a more cohesive display. Also, some better poses would not be amiss - they look drab, just standing there - no display artist in a store would position them this way. Don't be timid - you want to sell those clothes!

2) Rename them 'Shop Display', as this will more accurately describe their function and yet retain the in-game explanation for their existence. No need for subterfuge to make people click on them - those are the reviled tactics of spammers.

3) Lose the sparkles. It is visual noise that has no purpose. The use of magic to enchant them in such a way would be frivolous and require ridiculously high level enchanters to achieve - they break lore by sparkling, which may alienate the Tolkein-loving fans who play the game.

4) They look wrong and awkward just standing on the street. This is not to say they shouldn't be outside - some clothing shops don't have a physical buidling, after all, so they can't all be inside. What you need to do is make them a small bench-like podium with little ribbons and sashes, along with a couple of torches either end to illuminate them after-dark. In short, turn them into a convincing display by the clothing store-owners. As they are, they look as though they've been dumped in a row while some spring-cleaning is done by shopkeepers.

5) Edited to add: While I understand the desire to show clothing on all races, it doesn't work in-game, as the local shopkeepers would be trying to sell to their local audience. Four dummies are too visually intrusive. Reduce the dummies to two - one male, one female - and make them of the local predominant race. As in, Humans in Bree, Hobbits in Michel Delving, Dwarves in Thorin's Hall, etc. Less intrusive and more logically justified with regards to lore.

So, my overall point is that if you want to push store goods in an in-game fashion, then do it the correct way. Integrate them correctly to the game world and design the display as you imagine that store owner would - they wouldn't just sling them on the street like that to be trampled down by every passing horse. And ditch the sparkles - it cannot be justified, and more appreciative attention can be gained from players by making these store-promos appear as genuine in-world clothing store promo items.

Thanks for reading this!

[Apparel Dummies] ...were a player suggestion.

They're in appropriate locations, where you might naturally expect to find such things.

I'm fine with apparel dummies in theory. But this...



is NOT an appropriate location. I almost fell over these horrible freaky glowing mannequins in the middle of my beautiful Elven city.

DON'T put them out in the open. Put them in merchant shops or something like that. This is really disgusting.

I personally don't disagree completely with the idea. It is one of the better ways to have a link to the Store, being in-game instead of one of the many buttons in the UI. And per se, mannequins in front of an armour store or stall are not too horrible in my book, because it is somewhat realistic.

However, the random way they are integrated is just sad. Angmar? Really?
If they had a sample of dwarven outfits in Thorin's Hall, Hobbit and Men in Bree, Elves in Celondim, Hobbit only in Michel Delving, I'd actually like it (without that sparkle effect, that is).

Originally Posted by Hallwyn

I personally don't disagree completely with the idea. It is one of the better ways to have a link to the Store, being in-game instead of one of the many buttons in the UI. And per se, mannequins in front of an armour store or stall are not too horrible in my book, because it is somewhat realistic.

However, the random way they are integrated is just sad. Angmar? Really?
If they had a sample of dwarven outfits in Thorin's Hall, Hobbit and Men in Bree, Elves in Celondim, Hobbit only in Michel Delving, I'd actually like it (without that sparkle effect, that is).

Dolven View is an appropriate place for clothing mannequins?

Originally Posted by Hallwyn

I personally don't disagree completely with the idea. It is one of the better ways to have a link to the Store, being in-game instead of one of the many buttons in the UI. And per se, mannequins in front of an armour store or stall are not too horrible in my book, because it is somewhat realistic.

However, the random way they are integrated is just sad. Angmar? Really?
If they had a sample of dwarven outfits in Thorin's Hall, Hobbit and Men in Bree, Elves in Celondim, Hobbit only in Michel Delving, I'd actually like it (without that sparkle effect, that is).

Sure. But that would have involved a modicum of work and some vague consideration of player sensibilities. Much easier to knock out a few standard meshes and scatter them at every point their data indicates the most players would see them.

Has there ever been a suggestion specifically for dummies that advertise the store cosmetics? Weren't players asking for dummies for housing so that they could put their own gear and weapons on display?

The time developing these could have actually gone to implementing them for housing instead, making a whole lot of players happy instead of causing yet another controversy.

this is just another step in the wrong direction, to bring us closer to the store and further away from what was once a awesome game.

I wouldn't mind them if they put them indoors...

I feel a new demotivation of the ring post coming up :-)

Originally Posted by Freawaru

Another thing: when did Turbine start adding crafted armour sets and quest rewards to the store? That first outfit is the Herald's armour set (http://lotro.northshield.co.uk/Mediu...ds/heralds.htm) and the second is a mixture of RoI quest rewards (including the sometimes difficult to obtain Arth-crus: http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Arth-crus). If I understand the patch notes correctly, people can buy these items in the store now...?

My desire to remain VIP decreases a little with each new update.

They started selling statted armour last winter. Statted end-game armour with the RoR expac.