Lotro adding raid gear into loot boxes (BETA)

Dragnelus · November 2017

Just found this vid. seems like lotro are adding lootboxes with raidgear in the beta. They pick out a good time for lootboxes?

postlarval · November 2017

As is the way of all things MMO...

You can't stop it. Best to stop playing MMOs altogether if one is bothered too much by these things.

TheDarkrayne · November 2017

I play a ton of LOTRO and I've opened.. maybe.. 2000 loot boxes? Possibly more? I have never once paid real money for a key.

Unless they change the way you gain keys in game or something like that, it's not really a big deal here from the monetization point of view. There's a ton of ways to get the gear without spending; Do the raids, open loot boxes by getting keys from dailies, buy keys from other players with gold or get extra keys from the cash shop for free using the LOTRO points you gain from deeds (something I've also never done).

That said, best in slot gear should not be in these boxes (I don't think it is) and it would be better if they found a different way for non-raiders to obtain this gear. I'd prefer it if the boxes weren't in the game at all to be honest.

Kyleran · November 2017

postlarval said:

As is the way of all things MMO...

You can't stop it. Best to stop playing MMOs altogether if one is bothered too much by these things.

I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

postlarval · November 2017

Kyleran said:

postlarval said:

As is the way of all things MMO...

You can't stop it. Best to stop playing MMOs altogether if one is bothered too much by these things.

I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

Yep, same here. MMOs have basically become low-quality SP games populated with annoying snot-nosed brats. It's like having toddlers pumped up on sugar running around in your house while you're trying to relax.

Margrave · November 2017

Makes me happy I'm not playing anymore. Also helps me to know I'm not going back now either.

Siug · November 2017

Kyleran said:

postlarval said:

As is the way of all things MMO...

You can't stop it. Best to stop playing MMOs altogether if one is bothered too much by these things.

I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

Bought Witcher 3 for only 20 euros and having a blast I haven't had in many years playing MMOs and early access survival crap. Seems that single player games goty editions are the way to go these days.

postlarval · November 2017

Siug said:

Kyleran said:

postlarval said:

As is the way of all things MMO...

You can't stop it. Best to stop playing MMOs altogether if one is bothered too much by these things.

I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

Bought Witcher 3 for only 20 euros and having a blast I haven't had in many years playing MMOs and early access survival crap. Seems that single player games goty editions are the way to go these days.

GOG.com had Witcher 1 for 1.99. I had never played it, so for that price, I snatched it up. Pretty good game. Now I moved on to Witcher 2, again at GOG for 2.99.

I love GOG when they have sales.

cameltosis · November 2017

Is there even a raiding community left in LotRO?

Po_gg · November 2017

postlarval said:

I love GOG when they have sales.

You should love them off-sales too, for they fight the good fight against the drm crap

On topic, I like Adrian's videos from the start, and since I'm against lockboxes since their very first and harmless iterations in games, it's obvious that I agree with him. Except the title of the video. And the title of this thread.
The focus is not on raid gear (fuck raid gear

) but on ash. Adrian was speaking about that more as well, just like the thread on the lotro forums, so I'm not sure why he titled the video about raid gear.

The ash however is an absolutely disgusting change. It will (unless there's a change, but I highly doubt it, what's on BR usually gets on live without a tweak) place the endgame of LotRO right at SW BF2's level, or even ahead since EA's backing down now temporarily, till the rage storm stills.

If it goes live as it is on BR, the only route for progressing in Mordor will be through the boxes. And not in some elitist way of putting the best stuff behind paywall, but literally you won't be able to play the content you've paid for, unless you open the boxes. There won't be any other options like trodding ahead in pre-Mordor gear, or just using quest and dropped stuff, etc. Will be boxes or bust.
I'm sure the whole raid gear thing is just dropped in to sweeten the poison. "Yep, you will have to open truckloads of boxes, but hey, we added some cool gear in it, maybe you will be lucky, awesome, right?" No, it is not. Selling an expansion then locking it behind RNG gambling is just shameful.

(and before: sure, they won't lock the expansion behind anything. Not at all. "Only" when you want to do anything there without getting killed every other step, you need light gear (a.k.a. radiance 2.0). For that, you need ash. And ash will be removed from the game, and will be box-exclusive. Sneaky SSG, wants our Precious money...)

Scot · November 2017

The Turbine cash shop model, announced with such fanfare and lauded by gaming journalists has come to this. Possibly an archetype for how the best intentions go sour, in this case by one year after the move to cash shop. And this is where there are now.

Gaming is becoming a byword in how worst practice spreads so quickly to the whole industry.

Loke666 · November 2017

Kyleran said:
I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

The problem with that is that many people don't want to play and don't feel paying for all the DLCs so it makes piracy rather more tempting for many people, people who otherwise would would have bought the game.

Adding raid gear lootboxes is not very bright in any case since the raid players are the most faithful players that stay longest, screwing them over is a bad idea. Initially it will be cash earned but long term it will bleed the playerbase.

Scot · November 2017

Loke666 said:

Kyleran said:
I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

The problem with that is that many people don't want to play and don't feel paying for all the DLCs so it makes piracy rather more tempting for many people, people who otherwise would would have bought the game.

Adding raid gear lootboxes is not very bright in any case since the raid players are the most faithful players that stay longest, screwing them over is a bad idea. Initially it will be cash earned but long term it will bleed the playerbase.

I hope your are right, but the "old guard are going to leave" argument never seems to have worked (The SW Battles recent rethink was not just done by the most faithful players.) The history for the past ten years has been to hell with the long term faithful players, as long as we end up with a bigger playerbase and more revenue opportunities.

Theocritus · November 2017

Every time I retry LoTRO I last about two days then get extremely bored....I think I have just burned out on quest driven games and that one may be the worst of the lot as it feels like thats about all you can do there.

Sovrath · November 2017

Theocritus said:

Every time I retry LoTRO I last about two days then get extremely bored....I think I have just burned out on quest driven games and that one may be the worst of the lot as it feels like thats about all you can do there.

While I agree with you that "quest driven games" can be tiring due to how you have to play (take a quest/finish/take a quest/finish/Take a quest/ finish) you can play Lord of the Rings online "more" like an elder scrolls game were you follow your own inner story, explore, make your own goals.

I love quests and reading quests. I hate quest driven mmorpg's. I always read the quests/listen to the dialogue but I want to Do something. I don't just want to run to an area kill/collect 4 things and run back.

Games like Elder Scrolls Online are better but with that game it's just feeding you quests unlike other Elder Scrolls games, and gets tiring.

Quests and dialogue can be great but I want to be a part of it not shuttled from glowy point on the map to glowy point on that map.

Mendel · November 2017

cameltosis said:

Is there even a raiding community left in LotRO?

Good question. Are there any large guilds still active that aren't at the 105 end of things? I've just gotten one character through Moria, and the large guild I joined doesn't have enough people online at any time to do most of the Moria instances. There may be a healthy group of players at 105, but there aren't mid-level guilds working to replenish the max levels that leave. That's never been a healthy situation for an MMORPG, at least as far as I've seen.

Loke666 · November 2017

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Theocritus said:

Every time I retry LoTRO I last about two days then get extremely bored....I think I have just burned out on quest driven games and that one may be the worst of the lot as it feels like thats about all you can do there.

There's "quest driven" and "quest driven". Thing is most "quest driven" MMORPGs, like LOTRO or SW:TOR, or also WoW nowadays, are VERY linear, with little decision from the player when it comes to where to go next.
Some other games broke that mold, though. Like GW2 and ESO.

Yes, the problem with most questdriven MMOs is that over 90% of all the quests are fast and forgettable. There are just too many quick and easy quests thrown on you filling up the questlog and just doesn't feel worthwhile.

Personally do I think the best questsystem so far is in TSW. A bit of mixing that with GW2s DEs would probably make the best themepark story system, at least until someone invent something better then quests and DEs.

I don't need someone to constantly ask me to kill trashmobs or delivering pointless messages to people very close to them. A quest should be something epic and memorable.

If I played and pen and paper RPG and the GM would constantly give me MMO quests I would quit and stay away really fast.

Delivering an important message to the commander of a sieged fortress from his king is a fine quest. Delivering a message from one dude to his brother 20 feet away because they aren't talking is not.

Finding the orc king and kill him is fine, telling me to kill 10 random orcs isn't.

It is not quantum physics, instead of 5000 crappy quests a few hundred good and epic ones makes a better game. A lot of us is tired of doing the same forgettable content every day. The worst is the dailies, they totally suck after a couple of days even if they should be well written (I never seen a well written daily though).

Kyleran · November 2017

Siug said:

Kyleran said:

postlarval said:

As is the way of all things MMO...

You can't stop it. Best to stop playing MMOs altogether if one is bothered too much by these things.

I actually have..... but not really because of loot boxes, just the general direction the genre took in many areas.

Single player games are pretty cool though, especially if you wait until all the DLC's are bundled into a single package. (and don't mind playing them 6 or 7 years later)

Bought Witcher 3 for only 20 euros and having a blast I haven't had in many years playing MMOs and early access survival crap. Seems that single player games goty editions are the way to go these days.

I have Witcher 1, 2 and 3 purchased and waiting for me to play.

But....Fallout 4....you know...

MightyUnclean · November 2017

This is some sweet timing.

Po_gg · November 2017

Loke666 said:

Personally do I think the best questsystem so far is in TSW. A bit of mixing that with GW2s DEs would probably make the best themepark story system [...]

Was in TSW. And player-summoned world bosses were a kind of DE, just as the random events in Fusang (custodians, airdropped supply, anima surge) if you were into pvp.

Apparently that's not what the so-called masses want, so FC got rid of all the freedom and the hubless "net" design, edited and shortened quests for Legends, nailed them quests after each other, and leading the Peonized crowd onwards on the nice paved road with holding their hands...

... but I agree, narrative-wise TSW's mission design was simply amazing. And for being on-topic, it had boxes (even though Joel promised at the b2p switch there won't be boxes, ever), but they only had cosmetics. Then compare that to Legends' korean-style, gear-filled boxes, and you can see where's their focus now, with the cash-grab relaunch.

Wizardry · November 2017

We can stop supporting unfair business practices but we don't have to stop gaming.

Out there are still a few devs/games worth supporting as well we have private servers in which i wish would go full out away from the law because we paid for these games,we should NOT be FORCED to play by their business practices,it creates an unfair business field,exactly what the governing bodies have been creating laws to protect.So it has all been a catch 22 or very hypocritical.
Either we want FAIR business practices or we don't,you can't have it both ways,that is impossible.

We have single player games as well but most of those are now trying to create minimal play time to force out DLC's purchases and the others are just creating single player games with a login screen to enforce a cash shop.

There lies another aspect of FAIR business practices,we MUST abide by the devs unchecked pricing,we are not allowed nor is any outside entity allowed to sell you those same items which of course creates an unfair market that is not kept in check,devs want full control over us and seems the law is not up to par,bunch of bumbling idiots.

Keller · November 2017

Loke666 said:

Jean-Luc_Picard said:

Theocritus said:

Every time I retry LoTRO I last about two days then get extremely bored....I think I have just burned out on quest driven games and that one may be the worst of the lot as it feels like thats about all you can do there.

There's "quest driven" and "quest driven". Thing is most "quest driven" MMORPGs, like LOTRO or SW:TOR, or also WoW nowadays, are VERY linear, with little decision from the player when it comes to where to go next.
Some other games broke that mold, though. Like GW2 and ESO.

Yes, the problem with most questdriven MMOs is that over 90% of all the quests are fast and forgettable. There are just too many quick and easy quests thrown on you filling up the questlog and just doesn't feel worthwhile.

Personally do I think the best questsystem so far is in TSW. A bit of mixing that with GW2s DEs would probably make the best themepark story system, at least until someone invent something better then quests and DEs.

I don't need someone to constantly ask me to kill trashmobs or delivering pointless messages to people very close to them. A quest should be something epic and memorable.

If I played and pen and paper RPG and the GM would constantly give me MMO quests I would quit and stay away really fast.

Delivering an important message to the commander of a sieged fortress from his king is a fine quest. Delivering a message from one dude to his brother 20 feet away because they aren't talking is not.

Finding the orc king and kill him is fine, telling me to kill 10 random orcs isn't.

It is not quantum physics, instead of 5000 crappy quests a few hundred good and epic ones makes a better game. A lot of us is tired of doing the same forgettable content every day. The worst is the dailies, they totally suck after a couple of days even if they should be well written (I never seen a well written daily though).

Rift was refreshing at start and first expansion. World encounters everywhere. Special summonable world bosses. Too bad they started to focus on instanced dungeons and raiding.

FrodoFragins · November 2017

At this point I'm more lenient on a game like LOTRO as they are barely getting by and have little chance of attracting new players with such crummy graphics and combat.

Albatroes · November 2017

Made a thread about this last month and people didn't really care, with some even defending it lol:

http://forums.mmorpg.com/discussion/468662/i-thought-this-was-an-interesting-read-for-anyone-who-cares-about-the-game#latest

Then again, games like rift have been selling raid gear in their cash shop for years, but I guess people didn't really care when they did it because their either stopped playing or it just cost too much (like 40$+ per piece or something stupid like that).

d_20 · November 2017

FrodoFragins said:

At this point I'm more lenient on a game like LOTRO as they are barely getting by and have little chance of attracting new players with such crummy graphics and combat.

They might just be milking it before the End.

ciely · November 2017

lootboxes in lotro... i did not expect this, good thing i don't play this game and now i have a good reason to disregard it completely

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Lotro adding raid gear into loot boxes (BETA)

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Lotro adding raid gear into loot boxes (BETA)

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Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV