An open letter to the new Standing Stone team

[Kenomica.]

interesting how so many people disagree on avatarrework when a bluename tells us they might be possible when no one disagrees if someone makes a suggestion-thread for them...

Yeah...

I'm a founder, and I'm all for it.

[Pontin_Finnberry]

You really want the "Old LOTRO"?

You'd better be careful what you wish for because the "Old" LOTRO you speak of and the one I remember are very different indeed, as the "Old" LOTRO had NO raids whatsoever...

so the Rift, filikul, Vile maw, Dar narbugud raids 2007-2009 don't count?....

[Oelle]

so the Rift, filikul, Vile maw, Dar narbugud raids 2007-2009 don't count?....

depends on what you call "old lotro".
they werent included at release afaik
i still like those instances, I just dont call them raid :P

(and filikul and watcher are quite sad raids. sure, they are raids... but raids that can be soloed with better gear sooner or later... dont need to be called raids imo. yes, they are raids as you can enter with raidsize group. but if mechanics dont need a big group and the only reason to have a big group is more dps... i dont call it really raids.)

[Scirocco]

so the Rift, filikul, Vile maw, Dar narbugud raids 2007-2009 don't count?....

That's the Second Age of LOTRO....

[BangoTwinkletoes]

That's the Second Age of LOTRO....

Book 14 of SOA will do just fine as the definition of "old"...

[Scirocco]

Book 14 of SOA will do just fine as the definition of "old"...

Oh, I don't have any problem with including both Helegrod and the Rift in "old LOTRO."

Of course, back then we also had comparable incomparables. Crafting, instances/raids, random world drops. A "raid exclusive" approach, which started coming in with the Seocnd Age (Moria and after), is contrary to that philosophy. I'm glad to see the Dev Team's recent statements in this area.

[solo1376]

What if I let it slip that we are looking at substantial avatar revamps for the Mordor expansion?


Sev~

In an interview with Daddy (from Arkenstone) your team let it slip that you were making a new Shelob raid. Now it sounds like you guys are balking at it. Letting it slip does not mean it's happening.

On the whole Casuals VS Raiders thing:

I love raids. I love the challenge, the camaraderie, the hardest content in the game, the late nights figuring out mechanics, the loot, and so much more.

Raiding kins and players are a huge part of any MMO. Kate and company forgot this and you guys lost tens of thousands of players. The investment in the raiding community has brought this game back to life, although it is no where near its glory days. With a continued commitment to the raiding community you will have a more successful game.

I still play casually too and enjoy the heck out of it. I love exploring and finding new goodies in the game. There is a lot to do, from Bingo Boffins to simply questing. From the little eater eggs (rabbit cave, Monty Python scene, Goldilocks and the three bears etc...) to listening to player music. I mean the list goes on and on.

But you guys lost insane amounts of people in this game when you decided that one play style and one group type were who you wanted to cater to. Doing away with raids and that community was a horrible mistake and one you may not ever fully recover from.

Having said that, this new team has impressed the hell out of me. I think you guys have balanced things out quite nicely and really enjoy not only the new raid but the solo content as well. Continue giving us both and not at the exclusion of the other.

Every single person in the game has a gripe of some kind, stick to what you are doing and follow through on big things for each play style and this game will be around for a long time. The IP is just too important to many of us. We love LOTR, and Tolkiens great little fantasy world.

Stay the course make new raids and continue with the casual solo fun stuff as well.

If you wouldn't mind can we get a word on whether or not the Shelob raid is still happening?

[ENDrain]

I'd like to share some thoughts on what the game needs in immediate and more distant future.

1. Edhelion bug. YES, I AM SERIOUS. This bug fixing takes changing one or two lines of code. If by SOME CHANCE you are a developer and don't know what the bug is, set your settings on maximum, go to Edhelion Refugee and then back to the Thorin's Gate. (This bug also occures in Forochel, when you exit Ja-Kuru to the north).

2. Russian localization - probably? There's a score of Russian-speaking players across all servers. Also, mentioning localization I want to raise the question of regional prices again. As of the moment, LotRO is overwhelmingly expensive to play from CIS region. Most of people I know farm LOTRO points from deeds in order to get a new questpack. On the contrary to what Cordowan said, if you have some basic knowledge of economics you know that we are currently paying WAY MORE than American/European players. Both Standing Stone Games and Daybreak Games can turn profit if they work on adjusting prices.

3. There's a festival quest, "Not Atli's Favourite", an Ale Association delivery quest, that always fails on character relogging. It is a bug, and an annoying one, as the game crashes a lot for me. Which brings us to the next point.

4. I put this sipmle: The Memory Leakage Is Insane. My PC runs GTA V 1080p Ultras 50 fps. LotRO CTDs every 30-40 minutes, in instances - every 20 minutes, in Minas Tirith - every 10. This game needs a complete engine overhaul by some competent programmers.

5. Current bug reporting system needs improvement. I reported both Edhelion and "Not Athli's Favourite" bugs a year ago, and not that I expected an instant fix, I recieved confirmation emails which included no links to an opened bug report thread, or recap of my report's text, or even number of my ticket. So if I wanted to add something to an opened thread, I coudn't know which is which and to which email should I reply with my details/screenshots.

[Edelhardt]

Lag continues to be a priority. As an example, we just had a rework of the client side effect system to fix lag associated with singular creatures with stacked effects.

The key thing we need from players when talking about lag is specifics on where and how they are seeing problems. It is extremely problematic for us to take action on vague declarations. The more specific the report, the more we have to track it down.

Sev~

For me the worst lag by far happens around the Causeway, in the camps where the road from Minas Tirith goes into Osgiliath. The game slows to a crawl there. Sometimes 5 seconds go by between clicking a button and the action being executed. Once I was in a FS there for the Old Anorian RT deed and the game crashed on me 3 times in a row before I had to give up.


MT itself is hitchy of course, but this area is by far the worst. I have no idea why.

[Snowlock]

Sincere congrats to the new SSG team! I'm looking forward to seeing you guys flex your muscles now that your'e out from under with WB! It's been a long time since LOTRO was in the hands of an independent, and those days were the best the game had seen. So here's to hoping for a return to that entrepreneurial spirit!

[Snowlock]

Lag continues to be a priority. As an example, we just had a rework of the client side effect system to fix lag associated with singular creatures with stacked effects.

The key thing we need from players when talking about lag is specifics on where and how they are seeing problems. It is extremely problematic for us to take action on vague declarations. The more specific the report, the more we have to track it down.

Sev~

You really, really need to give us updated hardware specs. It's been promised for years. Then we can start giving you better feedback when we know we actually have the right rigs to run the game.

[Cordovan]

I'd like to share some thoughts on what the game needs in immediate and more distant future.

*snip*

2. Russian localization - probably? There's a score of Russian-speaking players across all servers. Also, mentioning localization I want to raise the question of regional prices again. As of the moment, LotRO is overwhelmingly expensive to play from CIS region. Most of people I know farm LOTRO points from deeds in order to get a new questpack. On the contrary to what Cordowan said, if you have some basic knowledge of economics you know that we are currently paying WAY MORE than American/European players. Both Standing Stone Games and Daybreak Games can turn profit if they work on adjusting prices.

*snip*

Just to comment on 2. We have no plans for Russian localization, sorry. We do hope to offer LOTRO Points in regional prices, but this is not possible until there is an unbreakable way to prevent people from using various methods to bypass regional checks to take advantage of the lowest prices based on regional currency rates. It's just too easy for someone to use IP spoofing and the like to take advantage of low LP to Russian currency rates, for example.

[CardinalPuff]

You're not going to get one, Turbine never gave us one in the past no matter how many times people brought it up because no business is going to discuss contractual matters like that. Get real. Plainly it's been sorted out somehow between SSG and WB and there's no real issue about the game's immediate future or it could hardly have been transferred as a going concern.

If you want to act all entitled and demand an answer then go right ahead, your time is yours to waste.

They did announce when the contact was extended to 2017.

Entitled? Wanting to know that a product I PAY for is going to stick around is being entitled? Nice try

https://gamerant.com/lord-of-the-rin...license-renew/

The uproar was short-lived, though, after Community Manager Rick Heaton revealed the Lord of the Rings license had been renewed through 2017. And in case there was any confusion, Heaton outright said that “[Turbine] plans to support Lord of the Rings Online for many years to come.”

Turbine NEVER GAVE ONE IN THE PAST...mmm kay

[Radhruin_EU]

They did announce when the contact was extended to 2017.

After the event, not before.

Entitled? Wanting to know that a product I PAY for is going to stick around is being entitled? Nice try

You're acting all entitled if you think you deserve to know anything about their contracts with third parties.

Plus like I said, they wouldn't have bought the damn game if it didn't have a future!

[Cordovan]

As stated in the FAQ, the license has been renewed. Since this license is no different from every other IP license, and since it's a standard piece of behind the scenes business, it is not something we are going to provide further specifics on. Suffice it to say, the license will continue to be a non-issue for the rest of the game's life, and we expect to continue developing LOTRO for many, many years to come, with your support.

[bucko39]

Plus like I said, they wouldn't have bought the damn game if it didn't have a future!

Although I find it unsettling to admit, Radhruin has a valid point. If the goal was just to take us to Mordor and put the game in maintenance mode, I don't think any of this would be happening. It's not a far leap to assume the new company has long term plans--plans which wouldn't be possible unless the license was secured. I'm baffled why people can't connect the dots on this one.

[Amorey]

As stated in the FAQ, the license has been renewed. Since this license is no different from every other IP license, and since it's a standard piece of behind the scenes business, it is not something we are going to provide further specifics on. Suffice it to say, the license will continue to be a non-issue for the rest of the game's life, and we expect to continue developing LOTRO for many, many years to come, with your support.

Wonderful, this really should be the end of the the licence matter

Looking forward to the future

[Fealhach]

As stated in the FAQ, the license has been renewed. Since this license is no different from every other IP license, and since it's a standard piece of behind the scenes business, it is not something we are going to provide further specifics on. Suffice it to say, the license will continue to be a non-issue for the rest of the game's life, and we expect to continue developing LOTRO for many, many years to come, with your support.

Thus the inscription of the One Ring was revealed. And it read the same no matter how many times it went through the Translator. Back you Devils!

Cheers

[Nymphonic]

I'm baffled why people can't connect the dots on this one.

All game forums are like that. Hell, when I was playing Ultima Online in 1999 people were announcing the end of the game when Trammel, the PvE part of the server was introduced, and 17 years later, the game still runs.

It's just a small handful of doomsayers that are very vocal. When they see the rest of the handful they think that how they feel is fact.

You'll see the same with single player game forums too. Fallout 4 is a good example.

[ainor]

You really, really need to give us updated hardware specs. It's been promised for years. Then we can start giving you better feedback when we know we actually have the right rigs to run the game.

Signed!

https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...rements-Update

This thread shows very clearly, and I recommend any one to read at least post #1-#25, that performance issues is not something new.

It's a long going issue and it needs top priority imo.

[CardinalPuff]

As stated in the FAQ, the license has been renewed. Since this license is no different from every other IP license, and since it's a standard piece of behind the scenes business, it is not something we are going to provide further specifics on. Suffice it to say, the license will continue to be a non-issue for the rest of the game's life, and we expect to continue developing LOTRO for many, many years to come, with your support.

Thank you a blue name answering my question, what I was after, not other players opinions or guesses. Im glad to hear it has been renewed

[Maximilan]

As stated in the FAQ, the license has been renewed. Since this license is no different from every other IP license, and since it's a standard piece of behind the scenes business, it is not something we are going to provide further specifics on. Suffice it to say, the license will continue to be a non-issue for the rest of the game's life, and we expect to continue developing LOTRO for many, many years to come, with your support.

I never did worry about the Licensing but I'm glad you drove a stake into that issue - it's DEAD now!

What I do worry about is the commitment to 'continue developing LOTRO for many, many years'. I do realize that's conditional on our(players) support. Besides the usual sniping and 'raiders vs casuals' this thread does contain many useful suggestions - glad you're reading it!

[Nymphonic]

As stated in the FAQ, the license has been renewed. Since this license is no different from every other IP license, and since it's a standard piece of behind the scenes business, it is not something we are going to provide further specifics on. Suffice it to say, the license will continue to be a non-issue for the rest of the game's life, and we expect to continue developing LOTRO for many, many years to come, with your support.

Oh, I can just imagine people twisting this post around and looking with a microscope for any little flaw in the post.

I'm glad you posted this and nailed down this issue once and for all.

[Oelle]

I never did worry about the Licensing but I'm glad you drove a stake into that issue - it's DEAD now!

What I do worry about is the commitment to 'continue developing LOTRO for many, many years'. I do realize that's conditional on our(players) support. Besides the usual sniping and 'raiders vs casuals' this thread does contain many useful suggestions - glad you're reading it!

The topic is dead when the last one believes what devs write... in other words never *sigh*

[GregJL]

Wonderful, this really should be the end of the the licence matter

Looking forward to the future

You must be new here.