Anniversary Livestream Wednesday, April 27th 12-6 PM Eastern

[Amorey]

Few things they said that were interesting ( this is all I can remember for now ) :

- The will not talk or speculate about the licence and/or its possible renewal ' we will face that when it comes' they said

- We are defiantly going to Mordor very soon

- Bingo Boffin's adventures started as a small side project that players love - they are not planning anymore with Dwarves/Elves when Bingo finally comes home

- They did mention Minas Morgul

- They are building a smaller version of Minas Tirith in the sunshine ( post battle ) to be a future hub

- MoL revealed that many session-play he had created sadly did not make it into the game

- The content creators did mention 'frustration' at some of the limitation they have

- We wont probably see hog-mounts in the future

- The EU datacenter move was cancelled for contractual reasons and wont happen after all

- They find hard sometime to replicate bugs we report on their internal test server but they do try

- There will not be new races

- There will not be more expansions but just updates

- They did not answer about seeing Northern Mirkwood or any other location from The Hobbit in the future

- They love baking ( in real life )

- Building new emotes is a huge undertaking so I am not sure we will see a fart emote in the future ( but farts were mentioned in the live stream thanks to Connor )

- The team is much smaller that it used to be , there are no 'class developers' just general 'system developers

- They are working to improve the burglar

- They read the forum daily

- They are not sure we will see new minstrel instruments

- The new raid will have 7 (?) bosses and will be an open space ( not sure what that mean)

- Loot tables are very complex to fix ( they are trying to do it in small chunks )

- The Rift raid will never be scaled due to its complexity ( to scale it down would take away all the resources from other things )

- They enjoy having personal items designed and put into the game ( ponies, quests, npcs etc )

- We met the guy responsible for the tickling goats quest

- Voice acting over all the text in game will not happen as it is too expensive and time consuming ( actors, translations etc )

[Denhith]

Tuned in right when EdgeCase was talking about how the devs consistently keep finger on the pulse of class balance, chuckled sadly and turned the stream off. You are not talking to journalists guys, your viewers are actual players who experience the state of the game every day, you can't bs them like that.

This is truly sad, because given what we saw in Update 18, what EdgeCase said is an outright lie. Or, none of them have actually played a class from level 1 thru level 105 and therefore have no clue what they are talking about.
How can you, with any integrity, say that the devs are consistently "keeping the finger on the pulse of class balance" when you just increased our TM/PM to 400%?
The majority of classes are OP and you go and make the content even more faceroll than before?

/shrug.

[Elennare]

Few things they said that were interesting ( this is all I can remember for now ): <...>

Amorey, many thanks! Could not bring myself to watch all six hours of the stream - too long!

[TheGeekGirl]

This is truly sad, because given what we saw in Update 18, what EdgeCase said is an outright lie. Or, none of them have actually played a class from level 1 thru level 105 and therefore have no clue what they are talking about.
How can you, with any integrity, say that the devs are consistently "keeping the finger on the pulse of class balance" when you just increased our TM/PM to 400%?
The majority of classes are OP and you go and make the content even more faceroll than before?

/shrug.

OK, I had to go google half the terms you just used. Is there a good "MMO term" wiki out there somewhere?

[Amorey]

Amorey, many thanks! Could not bring myself to watch all six hours of the stream - too long!

You are welcome, Gil

Just remembered a few more things

- New slayer deeds are in the work

- The new raid will have some nice and 'fun' drops as well as armor ( I assume some decoratios/pets/ cosmetic )

- They are trying to find a way for us to use more decorations in our houses ( this may take time though )

[Eruadarion]

- The new raid will have 7 (?) bosses and will be an open space ( not sure what that mean)

Seven? Where did you get this number from? If I remember correctly ThePinion said "at least five" in the stream.

He also commented on raid locks: they have not yet decided on whether or not raid locks will be implemented but they are discussing a hybrid system (T1 without locks, T2 with raid locks).
Oh and he said the mechanics will be more complex than what we have seen in Tower of Orthanc.

[Amorey]

Seven? Where did you get this number from? If I remember correctly ThePinion said "at least five" in the stream.

He also commented on raid locks: they have not yet decided on whether or not raid locks will be implemented but they are discussing a hybrid system (T1 without locks, T2 with raid locks).
Oh and he said the mechanics will be more complex than what we have seen in Tower of Orthanc.

That is because I put a question mark after the 7 (?) , I thought I heard seven but then they all started to joke and made up different numbers

[mykidstjz]

I wouldn't have said this a few years ago...but I just don't see the license getting renewed.

[siipperi]

That is because I put a question mark after the 7 (?) , I thought I heard seven but then they all started to joke and made up different numbers

99 raid bosses confirmed!

We count on you Pinion.

[kickman77]

Seven? Where did you get this number from? If I remember correctly ThePinion said "at least five" in the stream.

He also commented on raid locks: they have not yet decided on whether or not raid locks will be implemented but they are discussing a hybrid system (T1 without locks, T2 with raid locks).
Oh and he said the mechanics will be more complex than what we have seen in Tower of Orthanc.

Soooo a raid in a open field which is what I took it to mean with 4 bosses (oh an in the laggy section of the game albeit) and the mechanics are more complicated than orthanc... considering the devs have yet to show us that orthanc challenge can be run on level since its broken makes me believe this is going to be a mess... perhaps by mechanic they mean stack as much morale as possible or something.... this from the same team who claims they can not get Draigoch to bug out in house... And than you have the fun drops comment... which to means sounds like the BB random drop horse that is not account wide and you never get on the toon you want it on unless you are one of the select golden few who the rng gods have praised with good luck

Maybe they need to change the quest from pickin up goat droppings to picking up bull droppings cause they sure seem to be

dropping alot of bull nuggets recentlyTE]

[siipperi]

Soooo a raid in a open field which is what I took it to mean with 4 bosses (oh an in the laggy section of the game albeit) and the mechanics are more complicated than orthanc... considering the devs have yet to show us that orthanc challenge can be run on level since its broken makes me believe this is going to be a mess... perhaps by mechanic they mean stack as much morale as possible or something.... this from the same team who claims they can not get Draigoch to bug out in house... And than you have the fun drops comment... which to means sounds like the BB random drop horse that is not account wide and you never get on the toon you want it on unless you are one of the select golden few who the rng gods have praised with good luck

Maybe they need to change the quest from pickin up goat droppings to picking up bull droppings cause they sure seem to be

dropping alot of bull nuggets recently

Saruman can be done on level...

[kickman77]

Saruman can be done on level...

I want to see a group of level 75 players do all tiers of the raid remember Saruman is not the entire raid. There are 4 other wings and one of them is so broken people at level 10 with max gear cna not complete it... but I guess its all good cause aruman can be done right... forget the rest and forget the meta for the steed because well you can beat the last boss

[siipperi]

I want to see a group of level 75 players do all tiers of the raid remember Saruman is not the entire raid. There are 4 other wings and one of them is so broken people at level 10 with max gear cna not complete it... but I guess its all good cause aruman can be done right... forget the rest and forget the meta for the steed because well you can beat the last boss

I believe all bosses have been done. F&I might be hardest. I just dont think people are that motivated to try it even because, well it's old content.

[Macdui]

I'm still looking at the video.

Grateful that the EU Datacentre was touched on and the plausible reasons for it not going ahead, not sure how the Atlantic can be shrunk or if you have a dedicated cable going in. I'm glad they have people working on the performance and instability issues full time.

You can see Frelorn's discomfort as he broaches the negative questions. But that's the real problem for me, the environment that doesn't want to acknowledge any negatives with the game. If turbine staff can't be open with one another then how can we expect more openness. Specifically ignoring the players when it came to the EU datacentre from late 2015 until 4 days before the move when we hear during a twitch. Did you just forget to tell us or is it a policy of denial. It goes further; when we were posting about the degraded performance, because we weren't filing the 30 /bugs an hour that we could have been there was a certain denial of problems for a while.

Mac

[Eruadarion]

I want to see a group of level 75 players do all tiers of the raid remember Saruman is not the entire raid. There are 4 other wings and one of them is so broken people at level 10 with max gear cna not complete it... but I guess its all good cause aruman can be done right... forget the rest and forget the meta for the steed because well you can beat the last boss

All challenge modes can be done on-level. We did all of them (there are videos on YT) except Fire & Frost which is certainly the hardest but from what we have seen, it's totally possible to beat it. The last time we tried it, we missed the challenge mode by less than 3 seconds. Multiple times in a row. We are not currently working on it because of the overall lack of motivation doing old content when there is new U18 content at cap but I am absolutely convinced we will see some group beating it in the not too distant future (if it has not already been beaten).

By "open space" I think ThePinion meant it is going to one big instance (like Rift) and not splitted in to different wings (like Erebor).

[kickman77]

I believe all bosses have been done. F&I might be hardest. I just dont think people are that motivated to try it even because, well it's old content.

wait, so you are saying Dir and ICe challenge can be done on level today? I want to see some video proof because last time I saw people attempting it (and these were people from a food raiding kin) they were failing it at level 100. It can be done at level 100 but even than it is a challenge and you need a really good group to do so

[kickman77]

All challenge modes can be done on-level. We did all of them (there are videos on YT) except Fire & Frost which is certainly the hardest but from what we have seen, it's totally possible to beat it. The last time we tried it, we missed the challenge mode by less than 3 seconds. Multiple times in a row. We are not currently working on it because of the overall lack of motivation doing old content when there is new U18 content at cap but I am absolutely convinced we will see some group beating it in the not too distant future (if it has not already been beaten).

By "open space" I think ThePinion meant it is going to one big instance (like Rift) and not splitted in to different wings (like Erebor).

they have already said it is a solo instance from the epic they are throwing some bosses into. So sorry not big an huge like rift... more like a epic solo instance some bosses got added to

[Thorgrum]

I wouldn't have said this a few years ago...but I just don't see the license getting renewed.

The story mostly ends when the ring is destroyed, I mean there is the shire, rhun & Harad but im not seeing it, not with a scaled down team doing incremental updates. Mordor can likely be done before the end of the year, the ring destroyed the title hits 10 years.

Sounds like perfect time to me to put a wrap on it. My hope is if that does occur that its a complete shut down of the game. I doubt highly they will do it if there is money to be made but that would be a great end to this games run.

[Eruadarion]

they have already said it is a solo instance from the epic they are throwing some bosses into. So sorry not big an huge like rift... more like a epic solo instance some bosses got added to

The same can be said about Tower of Orthanc. We have seen the same space in an epic solo instance and the raid version is basically the same with some bosses added to it.

I'm pretty sure when they said it will be based on an solo instance, they meant they will be using the same landscape template and I am perfectly fine with this. Using the same landscape template does not at all lower the epicness of a raid, in my opinion.

Mechanics, rewards, difficulty,... this is what matters for a raid. Not if the setting has already been seen somewhere else or not.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Few things they said that were interesting ( this is all I can remember for now ) :

- The will not talk or speculate about the licence and/or its possible renewal ' we will face that when it comes' they said

- We are defiantly going to Mordor very soon

- Bingo Boffin's adventures started as a small side project that players love - they are not planning anymore with Dwarves/Elves when Bingo finally comes home

- They did mention Minas Morgul

- They are building a smaller version of Minas Tirith in the sunshine ( post battle ) to be a future hub

- MoL revealed that many session-play he had created sadly did not make it into the game

- The content creators did mention 'frustration' at some of the limitation they have

- We wont probably see hog-mounts in the future

- The EU datacenter move was cancelled for contractual reasons and wont happen after all

- They find hard sometime to replicate bugs we report on their internal test server but they do try

- There will not be new races

- There will not be more expansions but just updates

- They did not answer about seeing Northern Mirkwood or any other location from The Hobbit in the future

- They love baking ( in real life )

- Building new emotes is a huge undertaking so I am not sure we will see a fart emote in the future ( but farts were mentioned in the live stream thanks to Connor )

- The team is much smaller that it used to be , there are no 'class developers' just general 'system developers

- They are working to improve the burglar

- They read the forum daily

- They are not sure we will see new minstrel instruments

- The new raid will have 7 (?) bosses and will be an open space ( not sure what that mean)

- Loot tables are very complex to fix ( they are trying to do it in small chunks )

- The Rift raid will never be scaled due to its complexity ( to scale it down would take away all the resources from other things )

- They enjoy having personal items designed and put into the game ( ponies, quests, npcs etc )

- We met the guy responsible for the tickling goats quest

- Voice acting over all the text in game will not happen as it is too expensive and time consuming ( actors, translations etc )

A few edits/additions to what Amorey has pointed out... (and SPOILERS for the story up to the most recent book of the epic included)

On Minas Morgul, they pretty much confirmed that we were going there (it seemed rather accidental, with DrOctothorpe saying in chat to Pinion that he was allowed to talk about it, and then Pinion not being sure if he could give that spoiler) - so yea, it seems we'll finally be seeing Minas Morgul - and I'm hoping rather more of the Morgul Vale (the Secret Stair, Cirith Ungol) alongside it. From a story perspective, given then flight of Gothmog from Aragorn in A Field of Red, it very much makes sense for us to follow Earnur back to the location from whence he came and finally defeat him - presumably before the Black Gate, although I wonder how that might work.

Regarding the raid, from what we know so far, its to be based upon A Foe Resurgent, from the epic (mentioned by Vyvyanne on the forums, not in the livestream). As has been mentioned, Pinion said that there would be at least 5 bosses (and from player suggestions/what we saw in the solo version of the instance, I think we can assume that the four knights who formed Earnur's retinue (mentioned in the Archives of Minas Tirith by Gandalf during Book 4) will be four of these, with an end boss - possibly the Reaver of Khand, who features in said solo instance (although you sneak past him, rather than fighting him), and as mentioned above, given that Gothmog flees, it presumably won't be him.

On other topics, the art director mentioned that they were working on sprucing up the cinematics from the Pelennor Fields epic, the question of North Rhovanion (Gladden Fields, Mirkwood, Erebor and Dale etc.) was pushed aside for the moment, and is a post Mordor thing, if at all, and regarding classes, burgs are getting a bit of a boost for 18.1, and a bigger revamp somewhere in the future, while guards are getting a nerf of some sort in 18.1 too.

Most importantly though, they didn't actually confirm that they intended to renew the license in 2017 It would have been good if there had at least been confirmation that, if they were able to, Turbine would seek to continue LOTRO, and that Vyvyanne would want to continue the game past the end of the central Lord of the Rings Story (as we've only got a few more chapters of that left), and while it was mentioned that they were looking at the possibility of other things after Mordor, the fact that they wouldn't commit to at least wanting to go beyond that point was upsetting, despite the likely legal problems that they might face if they said they'd explicitly be renewing the license.


That evasion aside, I thought the stream overall was really good - Frelorn was on much better form than the occasional streams I've seen recently (although actually having interesting topics to talk about, and guests, must help!), and QuartermasterU was highly entertaining, and kept the energy up throughout. I'm also very grateful to all the devs that stopped by to chat on the stream - Arbor in particular was very candid and informative (and clearly loves the game!), but the content team (Pinion, DrOctothorpe, MadeofLions) and the systems team (Edgecase, and I can't remember the dev name for Erika?) were both very interesting too. And, while it was disappointing, it was good to see Vyvyanne truly spell out why the EU server promise fell through - that transparency is very much appreciated, and I hope the suggestion made, to give more regular updates on upcoming content, will be taken to heart and acted upon.

[kickman77]

The same can be said about Tower of Orthanc. We have seen the same space in an epic solo instance and the raid version is basically the same with some bosses added to it.

I'm pretty sure when they said it will be based on an solo instance, they meant they will be using the same landscape template and I am perfectly fine with this. Using the same landscape template does not at all lower the epicness of a raid, in my opinion.

Mechanics, rewards, difficulty,... this is what matters for a raid. Not if the setting has already been seen somewhere else or not.

the only part of the Orthanc raid you see in the epic is the pinacle and one room with the stiars the rest is all original space. I hate when people try to use that as an excuse. Sorry If I am wrong I will say it when this raid comes out but thats like saying the rift is a solo instance from the eic with a few bosses added because you have to do the rescue skirm in volume 3




No where in any of the epic do we see the 4 wings of Orthanc

[Eruadarion]

the only part of the Orthanc raid you see in the epic is the pinacle and one room with the stiars the rest is all original space. I hate when people try to use that as an excuse. Sorry If I am wrong I will say it when this raid comes out but thats like saying the rift is a solo instance from the eic with a few bosses added because you have to do the rescue skirm in volume 3




No where in any of the epic do we see the 4 wings of Orthanc

You are correct, we did not see the whole setting of ToO in the epic instance. But why does it matter? Do you really care that much about whether or not the landscape of the raid has been seen somewhere else before?

As I already said: mechanics, difficulty and rewards are what matters most to me in a raid. If I want to see new landscape, I can go sight-seeing everywhere else in virtual Middle-earth.

All in all, I think it's a good decision making the whole setting of the raid visitable for solo-players. That way they can't complain they are being locked out from seeing content.

[Warmutkan]

Broadly, I think the stream did what it was intended to do. They celebrated the game and the people who have been a part of it, they shared stories from the past and *some* plans for the future, and they worked on putting a more human face to some of the parts of the development cycle. All of these are important for morale and a healthy community.

Yes, there are things that could have been improved, or topics handled better. But I'd much rather see these sorts of efforts continue, and it is encouraging to see devs share their passion for the game, even if that passion doesn't always lead to the results I'd like.

[Aestivan]

Most importantly though, they didn't actually confirm that they intended to renew the license in 2017

They have a license now. There has never been any trouble renewing it in the past. They seem confident to be planning for the long term. But licensure is a matter of legal contracts, and as careful as Vyvyanne wished to be about running into having led us to expect a direction for the game that they end up not being able to do (which is why they didn't want to talk about anything beyond the road to Mordor, which they have decided is where we will be going as of some time ago), their legal team would not want them to say anything about contracts yet to be negotiated. They won't even start the process of renewal until 2017. They cannot discuss it, and in any case are not concerned about it, because it can reasonably be expected to present no difficulty.

[cdq1958]

=snip=

Most importantly though, they didn't actually confirm that they intended to renew the license in 2017 It would have been good if there had at least been confirmation that, if they were able to, Turbine would seek to continue LOTRO, and that Vyvyanne would want to continue the game past the end of the central Lord of the Rings Story (as we've only got a few more chapters of that left), and while it was mentioned that they were looking at the possibility of other things after Mordor, the fact that they wouldn't commit to at least wanting to go beyond that point was upsetting, despite the likely legal problems that they might face if they said they'd explicitly be renewing the license.

=snip=

A bit of an FYI for those not familiar with US jurisprudence. They don't have to say a thing about it. It is better that they don't say anything about it until the outcome is known internally and only to the extent of disclosure required by law. In the US, what you don't say cannot be used against you in court. That they have a license now is enough to infer that they intend to renew it. Keep in mind that it is WB Legal that is going to handle this. What is known is that WB and Turbine have had a good working relationship with Saul Zaentz/MEE and there has not been much to indicate that things have changed negatively, to date.