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[Preview] Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep Preview

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Comments

  • achesomaachesoma Member RarePosts: 1,726
    As someone that has been playing since beta and is a lifer I believe it's a long time coming, honestly. The game is already 6 years old and it's not like its bringing in new players in droves. It's time for a LOTRO 2.0. I feel combat definitely needs an upgrade and personally, I've never cared for the trait system. Now I'm not going to say the revamp Turbine is implementing is super awesome (since I've not played it yet). A revamp is due nonetheless. This has been my favorite theme park mmo for the past 6 years that I keep returning to.
    Preaching Pantheon to People at PAX  PAX East 2018 Day 4 - YouTube
  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,739
    Originally posted by Razeekster
    Originally posted by keithian
    How is the population doing in this game? I haven't played for a few years and was on Landroval which was probably the best community I had been a part of when compared to any other game I've played. I remember all the forum goers stating how this game would fail, boring, etc...meanwhile they are release a huge expansion and over 6 years later the game is still going. Anyway looks like a good expansion.

    Honestly the playerbase is on the low-side for it being a LOTRO MMO, but there are people that play and if you find a good guild all the better. I have trouble getting myself to play because it's all too much themepark for me, but it is a good game, and LOTRO is the perfect IP for a themepark MMO. I guess it's a fun time-sink now and then. I just wish a new LOTRO MMO would come out with improved graphics. 

     

    Warner Brothers doesn't seem to like to hand out the IP very much for games to be made out of the LOTRO universe which is a shame... (Either that or they just charge so much that few developers are actually interested).

     

     LoTRO was way too much of a themepark for me also.....I also would ahve really liked to have played on the evil side also as it would have been fun to play orcs and such.......It was just way too quest driven (not much of a quester) and got repetitive quick.

  • MindTriggerMindTrigger Member Posts: 2,596
    Originally posted by Gardavsshade
    Originally posted by Po_gg
    Originally posted by MindTrigger
    Population depends on the server you choose.  I'm on Brandywine, and it seems to hum along quite well with players.  There's even people running around the lower level areas.

    There's the Bounder event now (alongside with Farmer's Faire), and while it's not an exact measurement, the "race" towards the Boon is pretty much showing an overall population / activity rate on the servers. 4 of the german ones are already got the Boon :) and among the english ones so far only Brandywine finished it.

     

    As for the preview, "lore fans keep an eye out" - I definitely will :)

    "There will plenty of interaction with Eowyn, (following her path in the books)" - cool, she's a great character with nice storyline

    "before battle choosing Vanguard, Officer, Engineer" - it kinda reminds me of STO :)

    "classes .... are getting revamped" - yep... that's my biggest concern since they first announced it... LotRO was never big on builds and theory crafting, but what was leaked so far is a huge stepback even from that average state. I think there's always a Hope token that it won't be too bad...

    This is what is concerning myself, my Wife who plays, my Daughter, our Friends....

    I have been involved with LotRO before it WAS LotRO, back when it was going to be MEO. I joined a Guild named Safe Havens of Arda with other Players... Fern, Groan, Adrianna, Adoreth, Barstoll, many other good People I miss dearly.... all have moved on in several ways.

    When F2P happened to LotRO I was the one ranting and raving about it. My wife thought to be honest did not agree with me and thought the Turbine Staff Member was correct that said I was "tilting at Windmills" about the changes with F2P.

    Now my Wife and Friends agree with me.... they miss how LotRO was before F2P and they wish it had never happened. They feel that LotRO has been "cheapened" by F2P and lessened. Their comments and words, not mine. Ever since I had that argument with a certain Staff member I have kept my opinions to myself about what happens to LotRO and whether I thought the changes were good or bad. I honestly don't think anyone of important position at Turbine cares one rat's petunia what some of us Players think or want anymore.... they did in the beginning, or at least they convinced us they did...

    Now LotRO gets another MakeOver.... and this time I know it's a waste of time to say anything at all on the LotRO Forums about this.... or here either.... and since I have no desire to ever interact with some Members of Turbine's Staff again....  this time I will let the hammer fall as it will. Good or Bad, Small Change only or NGE style debacle, I won't try to tell anyone at Turbine or the Players what could be done or why. Whether I pay for my Wife and Daughter's Subs (or whether I continue to play) after HD depends on just how things turn out.

    I agree it would have been great if it never happened, but F2P saved LotRO financially. It's also paying for these expansions and whatnot.  It likely would have seen sunset a couple years ago, without it.

    A sure sign that you are in an old, dying paradigm/mindset, is when you are scared of new ideas and new technology. Don't feel bad. The world is moving on without you, and you are welcome to yell "Get Off My Lawn!" all you want while it happens. You cannot, however, stop an idea whose time has come.

  • TalemireTalemire Member UncommonPosts: 839
    Originally posted by Sovrath
    I'll be honest, I was hoping helm's deep was going to be a pvp thing.

    This.

    Isaiah 41:10
  • BMBenderBMBender Member UncommonPosts: 827
    *yawn* I'll be passing this one

    image
  • LithuanianLithuanian Member UncommonPosts: 540

    Waiting for this. I am excited about they beauty of Rohan and my dream expansion pack so far was Rohan. If Helm's Deep take lanscape that great and quests that interesting - I would go for HD.

    Turbine said clearly about PvP: majority of players were not interested in it, hence it is not priority. Seems pretty logic to me.

    Class revamps - I am very cautious about this. The fact is, there are many skills I never used and will never use as a Champion. So, if they just delete them, it won't hurt. Class trees, like that of a steed? Not sure. They would had to revamp deed rewards (now there are deeds taht advance one skill). However, this may work and I do hope it will.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Originally posted by koboldfodder

    The class "revamp" system is a massive change to the core of the game.  No one asked for it, yet they are going through with it (much like SWG NGE).  In short, they are taking away a large number of abilities, then putting in skill trees....so instead of your character having lots of things to do you will end up with a small number of skills to use in combat.

     ......

    The only class where some people actually like the changes are the Burglar.  It's pretty much half and half with that class.  The rest are 90% negative.  And certain classes, like the Warden, are so changed that you will not even recognize them.

    I agree (with the snipped part as well). Icewhite asked in an another thread to name old mmo's without NGE-like update, I'd love to enter LotRO there but I couldn't, because of this revamp.

     

    LotRO already had many changes during these years, but never at this magnitude and so widespread. LI's affected only the endgame grind, the same with Radiance, skirmishes are optional, f2p switch haven't changed a thing in gameplay beside monetisation. Then removing Radiance and introducing Finesse (which later helped in wrecking wardens), fully rewriting minstrels (the first change that really affected me, I loved the old minis) forebode that changes are coming... Like merging resistances, physical and tactical mastery, the stat changes... which was their first, (almost) full-spread messing with the core of the game (cappy was unaffected :) ). But even that change was only marginal to the gameplay itself, it was only some dumbing down.

     

    This coming class revamp is like an earthquake compared to the above. It won't chase me away ofc, I'm way too deep into Middle-earth... and I'm still hoping. Even if it's futile.

    Folks like the new burg... well, not much help to me, I rarely play burg... (or sin, rogue in other games, stealthy sneaky burst damage never was my cup of tea :) )

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,824

    One of the best MMO's ever is still making cracking good content. The pointless class changes do make you wonder though, such changes involve a lot of time and effort, time which would have been spent better elsewhere.

    I have to wonder do these changes make the game more cash shop friendly or just simplify the game? We have seen changes made to Lotro to make it cash shop friendly before. Simplifying your MMO seems to be something all the big MMO names end up doing purely to try to get in a few more players. But I have only skimmed the new changes so far so cannot be sure of what they are doing.

  • AlomarAlomar Member RarePosts: 1,299
    I stopped playing Lotro after spending thousands of hours into the same pvp zone for 5 years. Won't be coming back until that changes, shame because I love Lotr but the clear favoring of everything pve in this game drove me away.
    Haxus Council Member
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    PvP Raid Leader 
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  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726

    You have to wonder about  those that complain about pvp.  Lotro is a pve game.  The pvp has always been a after thought and always will.   Personally most of us like it that way.  

    There are plenty of pvp games where pvp is a much better fit.  Pvp just does not fit into the Lotro lore at all.

  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 22,824
    Originally posted by Ozmodan

    You have to wonder about  those that complain about pvp.  Lotro is a pve game.  The pvp has always been a after thought and always will.   Personally most of us like it that way.  

    There are plenty of pvp games where pvp is a much better fit.  Pvp just does not fit into the Lotro lore at all.

    I disagree, PVP was an after thought for Lotro and it was a shame they went down that route, but their solution made sense overall. PvMonster was a good attempt at bringing PvP to the game. I myself would not have wanted to see Hobbit versus Hobbit, so the idea of having a PvM zone was a best fit. It would have been nice to have Helms Deep as a new PvM zone that's the only mistake I think they have made with this.

    As to lore, you remember all the fighting the fellowship did, all those great battles? LotR is made for PvP of some sort.

     

     

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Originally posted by Scot
    Originally posted by Ozmodan

    You have to wonder about  those that complain about pvp.  Lotro is a pve game.  The pvp has always been a after thought and always will.   Personally most of us like it that way.  

    There are plenty of pvp games where pvp is a much better fit.  Pvp just does not fit into the Lotro lore at all.

    I disagree, PVP was an after thought for Lotro and it was a shame they went down that route, but their solution made sense overall. PvMonster was a good attempt at bringing PvP to the game. I myself would not have wanted to see Hobbit versus Hobbit, so the idea of having a PvM zone was a best fit. It would have been nice to have Helms Deep as a new PvM zone that's the only mistake I think they have made with this.

    As to lore, you remember all the fighting the fellowship did, all those great battles? LotR is made for PvP of some sort.

    Ozmodan's right LotRO is indeed a PvE game, designed as one, launched as one. The Moors was slapped onto its back later, to somewhat please the pvp crowd :) (which was not-so niche back then as today)

    And in this I agree with you, it was a great solution. There was a Poll thread around here on pvp earlier, where I said too, that while best pvp is the non-existant one ( :) ) but if it's a Must to implement pvp for market or pr reasons then LotRO's 'Moors is the next best thing: a fully separate instance, with fully separate pvp classes and consumables and loot, etc. With absolutely no effect on the (real :) ) game - except the mild world buff. And, opposing the common belief, it never was abandoned, Turbine tweaking the creeps a lot, not to mention they added Defiler a while after PvMP started, so the tech is there, there's a (slight) chance for more additional creep classes too in the future. Ok, a very slight chance :)

  • erictlewiserictlewis Member UncommonPosts: 3,022

    I not played this since it went free to play. I gave up on the game years ago.  We the wife and I both had lifetime memberships and I guess today was the first time I logged in in 644 days.  LoL. 

    To be honest after what all I read sounds like the revamp to classes that I forgotten how to play sounds more like the NGE to me than anything else. 

    I guess some folks still play this game.  I looked on my friends list and most everybody been at least 2 years or more since the logged in save on guild member who logged in 4 months ago.  I was shocked that I still had my guild as I though they done away with them if you were inactive for 90 days. 

     

  • zhivikzhivik Member Posts: 38

    I'd like to remind everyone leaking information from the beta testing that they are still under NDA, whether they like it or not. Thus, any opinion based on information from beta testing should be kept strictly to the LOTRO beta forums.

    Regarding class changes, there has been already some major revamp of some classes (though not all) with the RIse of Isengard expansion. Good examples are Minstrels (healer role) and Wardens (tank/dps role). There were a lot of complaints then, especially about Minstrels, but it worked out just fine.

    If you don't feel confident of preordering the expansion now, just wait for a time until the NDA is lifted, or open beta (if there is one), and judge for yourselves.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Originally posted by zhivik

    Good examples are Minstrels (healer role) and Wardens (tank/dps role). There were a lot of complaints then, especially about Minstrels, but it worked out just fine.

    "Good" examples, and worked out just fine? Khm... A lol would be inappropriates since it's not a funny subject...

    Wardens were (somewhat) fixed, after months. On the other hand, minis were fully rewrited from scratch, without the option of "worked out" in any way. One either like / get used to the new mini, or leave it.

    I personally left them and switched to rk, with the plan that some day, if I have the mood and the time, give minis a second chance. Well, I'm spared from wasting the learning time and effort, after HD there will be a new2.0 mini yet again... :). Or :I 

    (I still miss the original minstrel, it was a fun way to heal. Not an action-packed one, I admit that, but still.)

  • JackdogJackdog Member UncommonPosts: 6,321

    almost makes me want to reinstall the game. I was a active member of the game's forums way back when it was going to be MEO, was a early beta tester and bought a lifetime sub at release. I was taking a burn out break from it when it went FTP. The main thing that is stopping me is reports from friends who played the game after FTP saving it is more along the lines of pay to win.

     

    Anyway GW2 has spoiled me with the 2 week updates and being able to play my lvl 80 in lvl 20 - 30 - 40 or wherever zones. I won't be playing any game that uses the follow the breadcrumbs design again

     

     

    I miss DAoC

  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726

    "To be honest after what all I read sounds like the revamp to classes that I forgotten how to play sounds more like the NGE to me than anything else. "

    You did not understand what NGE was to even make that comparison.  NGE was not simple class changes, it was a total revamp of the game, you went from no levels to a level based game, from a user based economy to a game based one .  They needed some class changes, let's wait and see what they come up with, as they go through closed beta before criticizing it.

    Anyone saying this game is pay-to-win has no clue what that phrase means.  You can't buy anything that gives you an advantage over someone just playing the game.

    I have not played for a while, but will check out the expansion when it arrives.

  • sapience456sapience456 Member Posts: 3
    Originally posted by Sovrath
    Originally posted by koboldfodder

    Three letters sum up this expansion.

     

    N

    G

    E

     

     

    ...and that is all I have to say on the subject.

    I don't see that at all. They aren't changing the game into something else. Well, I'm not getting that from this article.

    If anything those changes are very welcome.

    Poster1

    Release date November 18th.

    Sure sounds like a lot of time to seriously address the major concerns raised in this first beta and iteratively test them out.

    Poster 2
    I'm astounded that the release date was announced (Nov 18th) when class trees are in such a sloppy state, and we haven't even tested Big Battles yet!

    I feel terrible for all the people who pre-order not knowing about the changes to their classes.

    I'm surprised at the pre-order perks as well. Seems very vanilla to me. None of them sound very appealing to me.


    Poster 3
    Yeah, I'm a bit unimpressed with the packages and I think this expansion should have been postponed until January and the testing period extended through late November or early December. There's too much unrest amongst the testers regarding the restrictiveness and sloppiness of the class trees. We haven't really even had a chance to test out the Big Battles yet nor a majority of the West Rohan landscape. It's a legitimate concern that the innovative Big Battles system could have issues on par with Draigoch. Draigoch was an innovative raid, but look what happened there


    This sadly confirms what people have predicted based on past beta's. The current system was set in stone before we started. There might be some room for tinkering but nothing else. There isn't time to make any real changes and test them properly.


    Poster4
    I feel it's very irresponsible for Turbine to announce the pre-orders and the release date so soon. Especially given that we have only just had the first beta build and no chance yet to see big battles, also with the general population yet to see the trait trees and how it its going to affect them. People where burned once when Rohan was advertised with an instance cluster only to be pulled from the advertisement after pre-orders had been available for 2/3 days

    It also tells us a great deal about how out feedback on the trees will have next to 0 impact as with such a fast approaching release date it's almost like they have decided like or lump it its what you are getting.

    disappointed

    Poster 5
    Judging from what I saw (broken doors, wrong NPCs, problem lighting, things wrong with quests) there is an awful, awful, awful lot to get sorted in only two months. I hope they have a very big bug fixing team working on this baby

    Poster6
    You don't let the customer see the pig in the poke before buying if the pig has foot and mouth disease. Marketing 101. Of course they were always going to sell it sight unseen especially now they know what a storm of protest it will generate. Who cares what people say by the time they fully understand the changes. The cheque's been cashed.

    I would be buying it at this moment if I wasn't in beta. It would never occur to me that all that innocuous talk of removing a few little used skills and 'specialisation of roles' meant what it actually means.

    Poster7
    Wow. Mind is boggled. Not sure what to say, really.

    I'd love to see a roadmap of when fixes and unseen/unfinished elements (big battles, LI legacy updates to name a few) are intended to be rolled out for beta testing

    I think I'll stop there for now

    Poster8
    Quote
    I feel terrible for all the people who pre-order not knowing about the changes to their classes.
    Endquote

    I agree and its killing me not to be able to tell anyone to just stop and wait to see it first. All my kinmates and friends.. ugh...

    Like I prefaced before, the changes had been made. They never asked for help changing the classes, they never wanted that.. just feedback, probably to see how it would be received by the masses.


    Poster9
    I would probably be buying it too right now if I wasn't in beta I'm saddened and frustrated about how I feel Turbine is deceiving its playerbase. I feel so helpless because I can't say anything to the players who are purchasing this expansion right now out of excitement, ignorance, and good faith.

    Poster10
    This is going to be interesting. Popcorn anyone?

    Poster11
    Quote
    I feel terrible for all the people who pre-order not knowing about the changes to their classes.
    Endquote

    That's the position I find myself in. I feel like Turbine's promotional materials are somewhat misleading and I want to fill in the omissions, but my hands are tied by the NDA I agreed to. I won't break the NDA. But I can't help feeling that I'm part of the deception now - I don't like that. Please excuse me, I must wash my hands again. "Out damned spot! Out I say!"


    Poster12
    You actually have to play to realise the nature and scale of these changes. It's all very sad and I suspect that a lot of people who slap down their credit cards for this pig in a poke will lose all trust in the company.

    But there it is. Middle Earth becomes a place I visit occasionally for nostalgia, being a lifer with enough TP left over to get HD for free. See how what's left of the kinship is doing.

    Sad, sad day.

    Poster13
    I've purchased every previous expansion the moment I received the pre-order email. Sadly, I won't be purchasing this expansion at all. I guess I should thank Turbine for inviting me to the beta - they saved me $40.

    Poster14
    The release version code will be frozen well in advance of the 18th. A month at least. Surely no one believes it is possible, even were there the will, to make the major changes to the tree system people want, test it and make more changes and then balance HD for it

    No? Of course not.

    The best we can hope for is vague promises of maybe looking at things in the future.

    No deal I'm afraid

    Poster15
    The money grab has begun, feel sorry for all the preorders.

    Poster16
    i am astounded to see a release date for helms deep already. seeing the state of the class trees in phase one of beta, the amount of glitches and bugs. to be honest i was half expecting the release to be put back till early 2014. i feel sorry for all those that will blindly buy the expansion not knowing the changes they will get when november 18th comes round. for the first time i wont be pre-ordering, and depending on the rest of beta i havent deciding on whether i will even log in again. im pretty sure the class changes are set in stone seeing as the dev diaries on classes have started to be released. i am hoping the rest of beta testing will allow to get used to the changes, but i doubt it hunters yet again getting a raw deal. good luck with this turbine...you going to need it.


    Poster17
    Having reflected a while on the issue, i wonder how much of the release date and pre-order has been forced by Warner, because as sure as night follows day no person of right mind at Turbine would have sanctioned the release date prior to it being fully tested. The feedback from trait trees has been the cause of a lot of hurt and debate from a great many of the beta players. Big Battles have yet to even been seen. Legendary Items ... we don't even know how those will begin to be affected


    Poster18
    No deal I'm afraid

    Do you really think that they will make those major class changes people want?. The fact that they have set a release date tells me that they have no intention of changing things (I really hope i'm wrong) and if that is the case, then this is very, very sad news. Up till now, I have pre-purchased every xpac, but alas this will be the first one I will NOT pre-purchase due to the class trait trees as I just don't like the set up as it is and I can't see myself playing the game if the trees stay as they were in beta. I will wait until it goes live, see what changes have been made to the trait trees and if indeed they do listen to the people and make the needed changes, I will then buy HD from the store with TP. If not, then I guess I wont bother which will be a real shame as I love the game, but just hate the trait trees as they currently are. My fingers & toes are firmly crossed.


    Poster19
    November 18? Given the state of class trees in Beta 1 and the fact that we haven't yet seen Big Battles, this release date seems less like optimism and more like self-inflicted trauma. Good luck, devs.

    Poster20
    Two months from closed beta to announced launch is rediculous, especially when one of the big selling points wasn't even open at the time. RoR had 3 months and then was pushed back a month. Isengard had 5 months.

    This clearly is not set by anyone who has been looking at player feedback

    I wonder if the Player's council has anything to say about this whole thing, or any input? Not that we'd know, but I'm still curious.


    Poster21
    This will be very, very tight. And there can be no excuse that there was no warning about the potential reaction these changes will cause. I'm just hoping that by the end of beta there'll be an expansion which I'll want to purchase myself and right now I've got some ability to at least help file some bug reports to go towards that. The rest, I don't know. I really don't know.


    Poster22
    So many friends this morning already opening there wallets or talking about it and all I can do is listen and not say a word. Thanks Turbine.

    What an epic mess!


    Poster23
    For ONE LOW PRICE of $60.00 You get all your favorite skills taken away but a new cosmetic shield-cloak thingy with scaling stats and other non-dyeable cosmetics for you and your broken warsteed!



    Poster24
    Having seen the responses in beta forums they should've waited. Now people will pay for it, then log on to an open beta or log on November 18th and have these responses too. Don't forget we haven't paid $ 60 yet, just imagine you had to pay $ 60 upfront and then see what you saw when beta started.... This is asking for trouble to be honest. For once I believe it would've been smarter to first sort things instead of pushing. And it's a shame to see that we aren't here to test, we are here to tweak and get a preview. I would've hoped the comments on these forums had carried more weight... however, due to lack of dev responses I should've known

    I really hope it won't be as bad, but turbine, I would brace for impact. Because the problem ain't a door not working, the problem as stated in all those posts is that you wipe the whole identity people had build into their chars. Which goes beyond a tweak and a bad or non-adjusted pic in the tree


    Poster25
    The only reason I log onto live every couple weeks is to get mail, keep my kins alive, and continue to collect tp on my lifetime accounts. I used to regularly buy tp but that is done with the class changes and lack of raid/instance content.

    I'll use that tp on all 3 accounts to buy the expansion eventually. I'm not going to pre-order, and I'm not going to pay money for something I think is so poorly thought out.

     

    Poster26

    Granted I've not gotten into the beta servers for long but I've read every post in the forums and all I can say is the response was overwhelmingly 'not good' in respects for class changes.
    Nowhere on the class changes forums are they asking for hints or help to make the classes better then what they've proposed, yet people en masse are spending hours typing long elaborate posts about how to fix what they deem is broken. They've released two diaries already and I believe the Burg one was published the day beta went live.. the Cappy one published yesterday while people are still giving feedback on the 'testing'. I can't see how they are taking any advice from their player base. I don't think they even want advice, I think they just want to see what the general reaction was going to be. Personally I believe the class changes are set in stone and are here to stay. We can either adapt or move on and this is really bothering me. In some cases our classes have become 3 skill rotations with no survivability and most people are complaining that the game is even more boring now because of it. Instead of making the content harder, they've made it harder by corrupting the skill bases, changing skills, eliminating skills and gating skills we already earned behind impossible to reach walls. Instead of making people who can't handle the game in terms of skills adapt or even learn, they force the established player database to adapt to the weekend warrior mindset. Instead of spending so much time developing new ways to make our classes something they aren't, why not put the time and effort into fixing some issues there already is.. like Flight T2 lag.. rubberbanding etc.. Honestly, I think you'd get a more positive reaction!
    I paid extra for a rune keeper as it's not a free to make char, I PAID for the ability to be versatile. I'm angry, disappointed and sad at what I read. Will I quit? Not sure, am still on the fence. Until it goes live I guess we wait and see but honestly I can't imagine I will stay with the way this is going and that's truly a shame. I think a lot of people feel this way. Its not a threat and I know most people could care less if I leave or not but as a long time player who has supported this game and its community through everything, it's frustrating to see what they are doing. I want to see the big battles, I want to see Gondor.. I WANT to see Mordor but I don't want to be a tourist. I want to be an active participant having fun getting there.

    If beta testing is all about getting reaction from a player base and fixing issues.. why go forward with something that clearly shows the people, with few exceptions, don't want?

     

     

  • OzmodanOzmodan Member EpicPosts: 9,726

    Reading forums is really a laugh if you are trying to determine how the class changes are perceived.  Players don't like change, hence they have a big tendency to complain about the slightest one.

    I have yet to see Turbine make a horrible change in anything in this game.  So I am extremely doubtful about your concerns.  Turbine also does not release buggy code.  Bugs will be fixed when it goes live, of course you always have those particular bugs that don't get found during testing and those are usually quickly addressed.

    I really do not understand all the whining.  You should maybe take a step back and let them release the expansion before criticizing it.  

    BTW I play a minstrel and the past changes they made to the class were greatly needed.

  • SovrathSovrath Member LegendaryPosts: 31,937
    Originally posted by Ozmodan

    You have to wonder about  those that complain about pvp.  Lotro is a pve game.  The pvp has always been a after thought and always will.   Personally most of us like it that way.  

    There are plenty of pvp games where pvp is a much better fit.  Pvp just does not fit into the Lotro lore at all.

    No one is saying the game should be a pvp game. Heck, during the closed betas I was one of those arguing against a completely open world pvp game as it would not make sense.

    That doesn't mean they can't take one of the most iconic "good vs bad" battles and make a pvp map.

    And not even to make it so that the creeps "win" by taking the keep. There are other ways to insure a creep win that aren't lore breaking. They would be a bit more entrenched in "the game aspect" but it's doable.

    Not having pvp in certain parts of the world makes sense. But there are areas where it would make sense.

    In any case add some pvp along the development of this multi year game doesn't make it a pvp game. It just expands upon systems that are already in place.

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    Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w


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  • koboldfodderkoboldfodder Member UncommonPosts: 447

    I stick by what I said.  This is LOTRO's NGE.  There is no other outcome other than a mass number of subscribers unsubscribing, and a mass number of people who have been playing this game for years that will just up and quit.  No other outcome.  If they are hoping on getting new players, they can forget it because it is not going to happen.

     

    It  is so negative, that even if it actually were a good thing and better for the game, the fact that people are so overwhelming negative about the changes will sink it.  Kind of like that New Coke thing.  When they had tests they found out people actually like New Coke....yet because they heard so many bad things about it, they said they did not like it and would never touch it....that is the road LOTRO is on.

     

    I witnessed it first hand with SWG's NGE and the exact same thing is happening again.  The only difference is that the NGE happened within a week....they were sneaky and did not tell anyone until one week before it hit the servers.  LOTRO's NGE is all over the place.

     

    Get your popcorn ready if you like to read forum meltdowns, because it's a comin'.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Originally posted by Ozmodan

    BTW I play a minstrel and the past changes they made to the class were greatly needed.

    Good for you. As I wrote above "One either like / get used to the new mini, or leave it.", seems you're in the first group, but that doesn't change the fact that many players left their minis after Turbine introduced the new, minor/major/perfect ballad-gambits... (and just to make it clear, I love the warden and the gambit system, ballads were only the least problem with the change)

     

    I'm not too often agree with koboldfodder, but in this case he's right, this is a massive change and sadly it will definitely cull veteran numbers. And what makes it even worse, it's totally pointless, a Goblin-town magnitude of madness. (I mean http://youtu.be/zMG0buzE0bw :) )

    Messing with the core elements of a 6+ years old game... maybe it'd be rational as a desperate, final attempt to save a game if that game is on the death row, but that's absolutely not the case with LotRO.

    It will alienate a big chunk of the current playerbase, and it's hard to imagine what's on the Gain side. Lure in new players? And how? I don't think they will start huge ad campaigns with: come to LotRO, we dumbed down the classes, simplified traits, you won't have to worry about thinking on builds or memorizing multiple skills anymore...

  • stormwaltzstormwaltz Member UncommonPosts: 32

    I urge caution. Don't preorder.

    Wait to see what the class changes are. If you're all right with them, buy the expansion and you've lost nothing. If you preorder and hate the changes, you're out $60.

    "Vote with your wallet," but remember to make an informed vote.

  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749

    Well, the diary for minis is out (http://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/developer-diary-minstrel-class-changes-helm%E2%80%99s-deep), it's pretty short, but has a few disturbing lines... with the most notice-able "Specializing in single-target destruction" really? Even the Isengard rewrite left us the AoE's... Call of Oromë is now in a skill tree and not a default spell? Which "decreases the enemy’s resistance" as in 1 enemy, not plural?

    I think I'll just grab some popcorn as koboldfodder suggested, and start reading the LotRO forum :)

  • BMBenderBMBender Member UncommonPosts: 827
    Originally posted by Po_gg

    Well, the diary for minis is out (http://www.lotro.com/en/game/articles/developer-diary-minstrel-class-changes-helm%E2%80%99s-deep), it's pretty short, but has a few disturbing lines... with the most notice-able "Specializing in single-target destruction" really? Even the Isengard rewrite left us the AoE's... Call of Oromë is now in a skill tree and not a default spell? Which "decreases the enemy’s resistance" as in 1 enemy, not plural?

    I think I'll just grab some popcorn as koboldfodder suggested, and start reading the LotRO forum :)

    Speaking of; it's interesting one of the forumites posted the ROI mini dev diary.  Compare that to this one and it's rather illuminating.  As a longtime guard I was used to the mushroom treatment but not all classes were.

     

     

    https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?525710-Developer-Diary-Minstrel-Class-Changes-in-Helm’s-Deep

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