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Tomorrow's Update Paves the Way for Anniversary Celebration - Lord of the Rings Online News
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Tomorrow's Update Paves the Way for Anniversary Celebration - Lord of the Rings Online News
Tomorrow, Lord of the Rings Online servers will be brought down for deployment of the 20.1 update. The patch will bring the Anniversary Scavenger Hunt online in preparation for its start on Thursday, April 20th. Players will need to head to the Party Tree in the Shire to speak with Waldo Rumble to get things started.
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But for content, questing and atmosphere it is second to none.
"May Your Head Explode And Blood Swell From The Wound"
- Hashcow
Hmm ... Dragon Fireworks .... hope it will be THIS one ;-) :
Have fun
I can't decode this, are you sure were speaking of LotRO's shop? It has nothing even remotely p2w... especially not when SK grinders are on the other side of the comparison
edit: unless you mean the 'jump to endgame' purchase option, which is lame, I agree. But there's no win in that either, more like losing all the fun and the world...
I think being able to buy virtues and stat increases could easily be considered p2w. Sure, you can get them in the world as well, but good luck getting the exact ones you need. Whip out that wallet, BAM! You just boosted your character's stats to make them more effective in combat. If that is not paying to win, not sure what is.
Saying that, I still love the game. And I have bought these items. Doesn't change what they are.
That is awful hadn't realised the game has sunk to this.
Oh boy... this will be a long(er) one, apologies in advance.
I guess we mean different things under the p2w term. Since the game is mostly PvE (sorry, 'Moors / Osgiliath residents
Virtues. You gain nothing by purchasing them, just time. And not even a lot of time, it doesn't take long to max. your needed virtues through the deeds.
Stat tomes. Those were always rare, but not that rare... you can find the lower ones quite easily through drops and trade and AH, and the upper ones drop from a couple places as well (unfortunately the best chance is through Big Battles I think, and I don't like that). Sure, you can jump ahead by spending money, and with it saving time and gold. But what's the point? *
Essences. Man, how I loathe that system
* So, the so-called 'win' part, or how pointless it is.
Those stuff (and all the rest in the store, might I add) are just the same, time-saving purchases for already existing in-game drops or mechanics. I personally don't like them either, that's why I think (as far as I can remember) I've never bought any of those. I agree with @Nyctelios :
Those stuff are only there for that particular group with a 'unique' mindset, who don't play the game but play the numbers. (I don't want to say e-peen contest, because theirs is a valid approach too, just... pointless
So, stat tomes. Since the stat revamp, why would any 'regular' player buy those? If you can easily 'beat the game' in your random Xs, XIs, why spend real money to have bigger numbers and be a few % stronger? That's just number chasing... sure, you can call it 'win', but it doesn't net any winning at all. Same for essences.
(btw. it was funny from Scot to cite SK games, since the whole crappy essence system is a copy of some SK grinders' gear upgrade system, built to be a money sink. And yes, you can sink a lot of money into it in LotRO too, if that's what you want.
The good thing is, compared to those SK games, in LotRO you don't have to, because the content doesn't force you to gear yourself up to the teeth)
And on a sidenote in the end, you do know that you can get Points from the game, right?
Personally I'd never do that either, Point farming is killing the gamer soul, but plenty of people play that way... so what's that, pLay2win?
Nothing yet, it's what's going to jump-start me back into the game.
well, there is this from a Jan 20th interview:
You mentioned possible character avatar upgrades for LOTRO. Could you elaborate on that project?
Ben Schneider: Avatar upgrades are looking great.
New animations are being added, faces are being redone, hair is being
looked at, and the whole is to us a vast improvement. Our current goal
is that players who prefer our classic look will have a UI option to
allow for that.
http://massivelyop.com/2017/01/20/massively-op-interview-standing-stone-on-lotro-ddo-and-daybreak/
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
The concept of a WOW clone became very real to me...and the MMORPG "Dark Ages" officially began.
Two months later I joined EVE for the the first time.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Funny thing is, it was something similar to me as well :awesome: (except the Eve part, that never ticked for me). At first I've left the game because it was way too wow-ish and wow is... just no.
But then I gave it a second chance, that time rolled a hobbit... living in the Shire since then
Well, turned out it's pretty similar
Too bad it doesn't scorch everyone below, like the d.r.a.g.o.n. emote... but still looks nice.
So, Anniversary event is turned on finally, you can blast the fireworks (or chase the envelopes, etc.). The new steed looks dragon-ish, apparently the theme of this year is dragons everywhere... the new cosmetic set is also focused around dragons.
The new, 10th year's added episodic questline has some controversies though, as it is aimed only for high-level players - bad news for late starters, altoholics, or just veteran slow-paced leveling players. Maybe the quests they'll add next week will be more general and accessible to all, it's an anniversary, it should be fun for everyone...
As for the daily music, they've uploaded Chance's Rivendell last night, it is a great track
And for that very reason those poor signature rare mobs are now heavily farmed as they're the only option for a lot of players - wait, maybe that was the point behind the idea, since they want to bring back for us those memories from a decade ago, they gave us... spawn camping! :awesome:
...or, as some more realistic players say, with putting the event to the endgame, they just want to boost the sales on Valar Blessings, the insta-level95 items in the Store... but that would certainly go against the whole spirit of an anniversary, right? Right? /naive_look
Luckily first tap is not in game anymore, everyone gets credit and loot. And apparently (at least according to voices on /world) they just shortened the respawn timer on the rares involved with the anniversary scavenger mission, so that's at least something... but still an unfortunate design choice, having a fun new mission chain with unique rewards, which is a one-time only opportunity - and they restrict 2/3 of it for high-end characters.
"Get a free Reveller's Gilded Cloak with the Coupon Code CORDOVANMAN, now through April 28th!"
It is a nice cloak, especially for free
(it was funny - and a clear sign of their stumbling with the design - when MoL *Doc answered to the issues with "we thought the great community of ours will help each other out".
Yep, we'd love to do that... too bad we can't, because a few parts are locked behind quest and level requirements
Speaking of great community, an entry from Torval's home server
https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthread.php?653280-LOTRO-Players-are-Really-Unlike-Any-Other
edit: my bad, Doc posted that answer and not MoL
never once felt like wow while playing lotro. didnt look or feel like it. but it does have quests so i guess i can see why its considered a wow clone.
I hate hate HATED this game when it first came out. Played it in beta for about an hour and couldn't get it off my drive fast enough. So vast was my love for all things Middle Earth, I came back a couple more times that year when they had free trials. Still hated it.
Not long after Mines of Moria came out, they had a free trial, and a reasonable bundle cost for the game and MoM, like 30 bucks or something. I tried it again, and loved it. It became my main MMO up to the Fangorn Forest update.
Couldn't tell you what was so different about MoM LotRO compared to launch LotRO that brought me on board, nor what went cold after Fangorn, but I do wish I could get those old feelings back, again.
(actually I always believed she's a hobbit from start, never knew she had a dwarf before
What she said definitely mirrored alot of how I recall feeling. Archet and Bree were just so... blah. I'd roll an elf later, find the beautiful places, and get turned off by the crafting system. And the quests with no tracking, that had objectives that would be used up/slain by other players, so you had no idea if you were in the right place or not...
But... the Old Forest... at the river's side in Ered Luin at night, Lothlorien, Rivendell, Forochel... it dawns on me that that sort of beauty might be what's missing from the later zones(which makes sense, lore-wise). And it also dawns on me that it wouldn't matter much if it was there, as you go to the newer places once and never go back. That might also be why Fangorn was the beginning of the end for me; subconsciously, I knew that that was, lorewise, the last place on the trip to Mordor that could evoke that sort of beauty.
Maybe it's time I rerolled and just ran every quest in the west. No Mithral coins; just hoofing around, old school...
Sure, Year 2 has an end-level quest as well, more precisely 75+ is the absolute minimum (or 50+ with armed escorts) but that way you will have some spoiler alerts. However, the other two missions are more friendly:
the middle one is 50+ (or the absolute minimum is around 22+, and the rest can piggybacked on higher level friends),
and the last quest in the batch, "drink in every tavern" is a full lowbie
(too bad that characters that low will never see this quest, since they will be unable to finish a Year 1 quest... )
On a sidenote, since I've already posted the 10 years lookin back of two hobbit lasses, here's a Tall one
Achazia is one of the best songwriters I think, they've won a couple contests with The Shades and attended a lot of events. https://youtu.be/Z1tnvu6taF4
(a bit odd to see this many wedding pics from the early years, RP folks are a unique bunch
I found the game had a very nice feel to it. I played for awhile but haven't been back for a long time. My time on LotRO was with friends I had known since Everquest and I don't relish going back and memories flooding me to a time they still played. I would grow melancholic.