The state of LOTRO?

If it's a video game it goes here.

Moderators: LawBeefaroni, Arcanis, $iljanus

neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

Hi,

I was wondering about the state of LOTRO today. I have started playing at release and left with my main being 30-31. I've tried searching this forum, as I remember there were some LOTRO threads a few months ago, but this weird search feature we have here won't display the threads it finds with a "no posts for this topic found within the selected time frame".

Some of the reasons why I have left:

1. I was in the middle of the levelling curve. The people above me just RAN through the dungeons since they had been there many time before, so I didn't have time to smell the roses. The ones below me were, of course, unable to help me with dungeons. I heard there was some work underway to make chapters and books soloable, has it been done?

2. Is crafting still as useless? I remember it being useless for a first character, and only useful for twinking alts. There used to be quests, needed to progress in crafting, that were way above one's combat level.

3. Apparently Turbine's other game, D&D, has diverged significantly in its current US (F2P) and Codemasters Euro versions. How about Lotro, is it still the same codebase?

Thanks.

Oh, and Happy New Year!
User avatar
Lagom Lite
Posts: 3406
Joined: Wed Mar 07, 2007 2:18 pm
Location: Gothenburg, Sweden

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Lagom Lite »

neofit wrote:1. I was in the middle of the levelling curve. The people above me just RAN through the dungeons since they had been there many time before, so I didn't have time to smell the roses. The ones below me were, of course, unable to help me with dungeons. I heard there was some work underway to make chapters and books soloable, has it been done?
It's believed to be underway through the new "Skirmish system", that allows you to jump into an instance with pre-set "rules" and setting but otherwise random content (monsters, events), where you also specify if it's to be a solo, 3-man, 6-man or 12-man adventure. It's been implemented for the most recent chapter but not for the old chapters and I don't think there's any official word on it yet, so it might take a while. But yes, rumor has it. I don't think it will be implemented for dungeons though, since skirmishes and dungeons are seperate beasts (random vs. pre-generated content).
neofit wrote:2. Is crafting still as useless? I remember it being useless for a first character, and only useful for twinking alts. There used to be quests, needed to progress in crafting, that were way above one's combat level.
It's relatively useful now, especially for Cooks, Scholars and Jewellers who can make consumables. But even weaponsmith, armorer, tailor and woodworker have been boosted since you can now craft a "fourth setting" for your legendary items, and some crafted items still sell pretty well on the auction house (lorien cloaks, for example).
neofit wrote:3. Apparently Turbine's other game, D&D, has diverged significantly in its current US (F2P) and Codemasters Euro versions. How about Lotro, is it still the same codebase?
I don't know what any of that means. :oops:
But you've seen who's in heaven
Is there anyone in hell?


"Lagom you are a smooth tongued devil, and an opportunistic monster" - OOWW Game Club
ydejin
Posts: 1992
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:27 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by ydejin »

neofit wrote:I heard there was some work underway to make chapters and books soloable, has it been done?
At this point AIUI only Book 1 and Book 2 of Volume I are soloable. The intention is that the remainder of Volume I will be setup to allow players to scale the difficulty to "solo, duo, trio and quad [fellowships]." Larger fellowships will receive the current experience. Looks like these changes are slated for completion with the next major update. You can read about these changes more in one of the developer's diaries: part 1 and part 2.
neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

Thanks for the replies.
Lagom Lite wrote:
neofit wrote:2. Is crafting still as useless? I remember it being useless for a first character, and only useful for twinking alts. There used to be quests, needed to progress in crafting, that were way above one's combat level.
It's relatively useful now, especially for Cooks, Scholars and Jewellers who can make consumables. But even weaponsmith, armorer, tailor and woodworker have been boosted since you can now craft a "fourth setting" for your legendary items, and some crafted items still sell pretty well on the auction house (lorien cloaks, for example).
I think I need to expand a little here. Usually when I play these games, I spend about half my time online crafting, whenever possible. I usually start by having one main adventuring toon for the money and harvesting, and alts who don't adventure but craft. I don't like adventuring with the crafting alts, at least until the main is near the top, because that would make me play through the same content while it is still fresh, and this is rather boring to me. The game design won't always allow me to do this, but when it's possible ( as in EQ2, Vanguard, Horizons for instance) I stick with the game for a long time. Now, from what I remember of LOTRO, there was no way to be self-sufficient without having to go kill stuff with the low-level alts. I remember things like having to go to a high-level area with my baby cook so he can harvest some plant to finish a quest in order to progress in cooking (or was it farming?).

Hence my statement about crafting being "useless", not in terms of the usefulness of the things that could be created, but as a a pastime in which I could just craft with some characters without having to go adventure.
Lagom Lite wrote:
neofit wrote:3. Apparently Turbine's other game, D&D, has diverged significantly in its current US (F2P) and Codemasters Euro versions. How about Lotro, is it still the same codebase?
I don't know what any of that means. :oops:
Turbine has a deal with Codemasters to publish both LOTRO and DDO in Europe. Turbine have re-written a big chunk of DDO and made it "Free to Play" (F2P) with micro-transactions, but only for their own US customers. Those playing from the EU, on Codemasters' servers, cannot play this F2P version of DDO. When you add micro-transactions to a game, to sell exp, health and mana potions, as well as gear, I assume that one has to adapt the game so people are "enticed" to purchase the stuff, hence my assumption that since the US and EU versions differ in this aspect, the codebase must have diverged. Hence my question: is the Codemasters' EU version of LOTRO still receiving the same updates as the US version? Maybe they just yelled at each other and parted ways last Summer because of DDO going F2P? :), so, since I am a European customer, all these enhancements are unavailable to me?
ydejin wrote:At this point AIUI only Book 1 and Book 2 of Volume I are soloable. The intention is that the remainder of Volume I will be setup to allow players to scale the difficulty to "solo, duo, trio and quad [fellowships]."
It's been some time now, what level ranges are Books 1 & 2, and the whole of Volume 1 for?

Thanks.
User avatar
Asharak
Posts: 7907
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:11 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Asharak »

neofit wrote:Hence my statement about crafting being "useless", not in terms of the usefulness of the things that could be created, but as a a pastime in which I could just craft with some characters without having to go adventure.
You will still find this to be a problem. Crafting in LotRO is still intended to be loosely tied to level. There are only a few quests (one at the completion of each tier of a "production" vocation) that require a crafter to to experience content of a certain level but they are there. That said, a little support from a kinship or a cooperative PUG would be sufficient to get you through those quests, as they are intended to be soloable for on-level characters and generally aren't very long.
Hence my question: is the Codemasters' EU version of LOTRO still receiving the same updates as the US version? Maybe they just yelled at each other and parted ways last Summer because of DDO going F2P? :), so, since I am a European customer, all these enhancements are unavailable to me?
AFAIK, the European and American versions of LotRO are still the same. Being in Canada, however, I don't have any firsthand experience with the EU LotRO community on which to base that statement. There certainly hasn't been any drastic change to the game like making it F2P or anything.
It's been some time now, what level ranges are Books 1 & 2, and the whole of Volume 1 for?
Volume 1 is the "original" game, taking you from the Shire to Angmar and Levels 1-50. Volume 2 started with the Moria expansion, and currently takes you from Levels 50-65. Vol 1 Book 1 is intended, IIRC, to be completed around Level 11. There used to be a big gap between Books 1 and 2, with Book 2 starting around Level 26, but I believe part of the early-game streamlining has been to make them tie together much more closely. I haven't run a low-level character through them since the update, though, so I can't tell you exactly how that worked out.

- Ash
User avatar
Booner
Posts: 1263
Joined: Thu Apr 07, 2005 2:10 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Booner »

It's been some time now, what level ranges are Books 1 & 2, and the whole of Volume 1 for?
Volume 1 is the "original" game, taking you from the Shire to Angmar and Levels 1-50. Volume 2 started with the Moria expansion, and currently takes you from Levels 50-65. Vol 1 Book 1 is intended, IIRC, to be completed around Level 11. There used to be a big gap between Books 1 and 2, with Book 2 starting around Level 26, but I believe part of the early-game streamlining has been to make them tie together much more closely. I haven't run a low-level character through them since the update, though, so I can't tell you exactly how that worked out.[/quote]

I returned to LOTRO right before the holidays and have run a couple toons up through the early 20s and my experience thus far have been quite different that when I made my first toons pre-Moria. The books level with you much better now as well as being completely soloable through book 2 at least.

The changes to the general flow of quests seems to be better now too...they've changed the flow to send you out with tons to do and relocated several quest givers so there is less long distance running and more questing. This also gives you some breathing room on which areas to work too...you don't have to do 'everything' in the areas around Bree to push past 20. Between my two newest toons, they both took completely separate quest paths to get to 20.

I can't comment on anything outside of the starter areas or the areas around Bree yet, but so far I've enjoyed the changes I've seen.

Plus playing a Warden is damn fun. :D
neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

Asharak wrote:You will still find this to be a problem. Crafting in LotRO is still intended to be loosely tied to level. There are only a few quests (one at the completion of each tier of a "production" vocation) that require a crafter to to experience content of a certain level but they are there. That said, a little support from a kinship or a cooperative PUG would be sufficient to get you through those quests, as they are intended to be soloable for on-level characters and generally aren't very long.
I keep hearing good things about the game, but this thing about crafting is still keeping me away. And it's been what, 2.5 years after release, so most bad memories have been erased, but the inability to max even one single crafting profession without depending on others is still there like a c**kblock :). One thing I think I remember is that if one starts alts in the human/hobbit, dwarf and elf areas he will have different adventuring experiences, but very soon (at levels 15 or 20?) the adventuring areas become shared and alts will end up doing the same quests from then on? Has this been changed? Maybe I was wrong even then and even within shared areas the quest flows are different for different races? If I don't have to do the same things with my alts then I wouldn't have a problem and could be self-sufficient in a couple of trades maybe?
ydejin
Posts: 1992
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:27 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by ydejin »

neofit wrote:One thing I think I remember is that if one starts alts in the human/hobbit, dwarf and elf areas he will have different adventuring experiences, but very soon (at levels 15 or 20?) the adventuring areas become shared and alts will end up doing the same quests from then on? Has this been changed? Maybe I was wrong even then and even within shared areas the quest flows are different for different races? If I don't have to do the same things with my alts then I wouldn't have a problem and could be self-sufficient in a couple of trades maybe?
Yes and no. The race specific quests and start areas will last you probably until a bit under 20 levels. But after that there are a lot of non-race specific zones for questing.

At this point there is so many quests and so many zones, that you could probably level two characters up to 60 without much overlap. I still think there's a small range around 25-35 where there aren't all that many quest options you'll probably have to do Lone Lands and North Downs at some point (although I haven't played through since either the Bree or Lone Lands revamps). But for the most part there are a lot of different areas and a lot of different quests. To give you an example, at level 45-50 you could be questing in Misty Mountains, Forochel, Evendim, Angmar, or Eregion. There's simply no way to do all those quests without out leveling some of them.
User avatar
Octavious
Posts: 20035
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 2:50 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Octavious »

Got the itch to try this again after I crashed and burned on my attempt to play EQ2 again. Game just is too clunky to go back to anymore for me...
Capitalism tries for a delicate balance: It attempts to work things out so that everyone gets just enough stuff to keep them from getting violent and trying to take other people’s stuff.

Shameless plug for my website: www.nettphoto.com
neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

Octavious230 wrote:Got the itch to try this again after I crashed and burned on my attempt to play EQ2 again. Game just is too clunky to go back to anymore for me...
Ah, EQ2... I've got a 60 paladin there, created on release day, and 4 alts around that level in crafting (just to say that I have played that game for a bit beyond the first month). A couple of months ago I was thinking of returning and read the last game update notes. I didn't understand at least 90% of what they were talking about. Then I received an invite for some free "welcome back" time for EQ1 - same thing. Hehe, I don't mind a complicated game, but sometimes it's too much, it would take me like a month just to do research to figure out what I am supposed to do.
User avatar
Mr Bubbles
Posts: 6613
Joined: Wed Jun 28, 2006 5:51 pm
Location: The Balcony of Southern California

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Mr Bubbles »

ydejin wrote:To give you an example, at level 45-50 you could be questing in Misty Mountains, Forochel, Evendim, Angmar, or Eregion. There's simply no way to do all those quests without out leveling some of them.
You'll eventually need to hit Angmar though because of epic line, but yeah.. I wish I knew about Forochel earlier, but I reupped recently and by the time I found the place most stuff was light blue.
“The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts.”
Bertrand Russell
User avatar
Sudy
Posts: 8275
Joined: Sun Nov 21, 2004 3:11 am
Location: Ontario, Canada

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Sudy »

Thinking of trying this out, finally. OO-related guild name(s) and location(s), please?

I saw a commercial on late night TV. It said, "Forget everything you know about slipcovers." So I did. And it was a load off my mind. Then the commercial tried to sell me slipcovers, and I didn't know what the hell they were. -- Mitch Hedberg
euriyggdrasil
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 2:01 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by euriyggdrasil »

Eyes of the Watcher on Landroval server is (1 of) the OO kinships.
There are very few people that follow OO boards besides myself that are active.
LotRO - Eldian a Firimoin - Landroval
Eureth (Min65), Euri (Cap65), Urdis (War65), Cherria (Hun65), Dwillan (Gua63),
Loknahr (RK), Milfeulle (Bur), Skuldwen (Cha), Washuilas (LM)
euriyggdrasil
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 2:01 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by euriyggdrasil »

If you're looking for a kinship on Landroval, I'd recommend Eldain a Firimoin.
I've moved my mains there now (more people on, most are like-minded).
If you're wanting an invite, just let me know.
LotRO - Eldian a Firimoin - Landroval
Eureth (Min65), Euri (Cap65), Urdis (War65), Cherria (Hun65), Dwillan (Gua63),
Loknahr (RK), Milfeulle (Bur), Skuldwen (Cha), Washuilas (LM)
DragonKP
Posts: 366
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2005 6:53 pm
Location: In an office cube near you

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by DragonKP »

euriyggdrasil wrote:If you're looking for a kinship on Landroval, I'd recommend Eldain a Firimoin.
I've moved my mains there now (more people on, most are like-minded).
If you're wanting an invite, just let me know.

I was a member of Eyes of the Watcher about a year and a half ago (Lindralg - lvl 50 minstrel). Recently, I started playing again and have made a Rune Master from scratch and have gotten him to the mid 30's (Martik). I have been thinking about joining a kin. If you offer extends to other 'OO'ers, I am interested in joining.
User avatar
Blackhawk
Posts: 43501
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:48 pm
Location: Southwest Indiana

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Blackhawk »

I've pondered going back a few times (Skjoldig/Dvelin/Friderich/Thalragond/Almohtar, etc on Landroval), but never seem to find the time to get back into an MMO.
(˙pǝsɹǝʌǝɹ uǝǝq sɐɥ ʎʇıʌɐɹƃ ʃɐuosɹǝd ʎW)
euriyggdrasil
Posts: 34
Joined: Tue May 22, 2007 2:01 pm
Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by euriyggdrasil »

DragonKP wrote:
euriyggdrasil wrote:If you're looking for a kinship on Landroval, I'd recommend Eldain a Firimoin.
I've moved my mains there now (more people on, most are like-minded).
If you're wanting an invite, just let me know.

I was a member of Eyes of the Watcher about a year and a half ago (Lindralg - lvl 50 minstrel). Recently, I started playing again and have made a Rune Master from scratch and have gotten him to the mid 30's (Martik). I have been thinking about joining a kin. If you offer extends to other 'OO'ers, I am interested in joining.
Absolutely, everyone is invited~!
LotRO - Eldian a Firimoin - Landroval
Eureth (Min65), Euri (Cap65), Urdis (War65), Cherria (Hun65), Dwillan (Gua63),
Loknahr (RK), Milfeulle (Bur), Skuldwen (Cha), Washuilas (LM)
ydejin
Posts: 1992
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:27 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by ydejin »

Cross Posted on Qt3

Massively has info up on Volume 3: Book 2.. It's coming out this Fall and will include a new area called Enedwaith, south of Eregion. Some other cool stuff is coming with the book:
Turbine will make the old world raid instances available through the Skirmish interface for any group size, from solo to 24-man raid. These aren't technically Skrimishes so you will receive no Skirmish Marks, but they use the Skirmish technology to set the instance difficulty, port you there and then drop you back into the world when you are done. No word yet on if you be able to solo the raid trophies, but they are working on more cosmetic rewards with the graphical look of the old world raid armor.

...

The last feature coming with the new patch is DX11 support. We weren't shown the shininess of Middle-earth using DX11 technology, but were promised screenshots soon.

Players will be glad to hear that both Housing and Hobbies are getting some love. No specifics were given other than Housing getting an "upgrade" and a new Hobby is in the works. These plans are long-term and not for the upcoming patch.
ydejin
Posts: 1992
Joined: Mon Nov 29, 2004 12:27 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by ydejin »

Hmmph, looks like Massively was wrong. Developer posts on the LOTRO Forums:
Berephon wrote:Also, to nip a rumor in the bud: TTH was correct in regard to the instance scaling, Massively was not. There is more info coming on that, so I won't go into greater detail.
(source)
Sapience wrote:To clear up any misunderstandings; Instances will be scaled by the player, not automatically. It works like the level setting for Skirmishes. So for something like Helegrod you could choose to run it at level 61 if you wanted. I know some are worried about a 'solo raid'. The instances will not scale in terms of group size. Fighting Thorog is still going to take 24 people.
Also, not every instance will be scaled at launch. The team is working hard to get as many in as they can, but time is finite. The plan is to revist them all, but they're not all going to happen in Book 2.
(source)
neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

Since I've started this thread, I suppose that updating it would be the polite thing to do. I got an invite to the Welcome Back week in May, and for once in years a game's "welcome back" event coincided with my schedule. It was at the end though, so I was barely re-learning the game when the week ended, but I was intrigued enough to pay Codemasters for a month.

There are a lot of changes, but not enough to keep me in there for long.

The extra bank space was good, and the streamlining of the crafting components freed up some space.

I had heard a lot about Turbine making the Volume 1 adventures soloable. I was expecting it to work in one of two ways. Like the scalable instances in EQ2's Sundered Splitpaw, where mobs and drops scale to your level. Or maybe even like EQ2's Splitpaw "Trial of the Harclave" instance, where I had the most soloing fun in EQ2: you are surrounded by hordes of elite monsters, and receive a buff that raises your stats and regen; you are not a god, and depending on the class and the difficulty can even die in there (or at least that's how it was back in the day). I had also read that skirmishes were scaling to player level, so I was rather excited. But the book instances that I've soloed in didn't play like any of the above. The mobs do not scale. You receive a god mode buff. Not the Harclave buff that allows you to take on a group of Elites as designed and still challenge you, but a complete IDDQD gode mode. Not fun. I felt like a hero in the Harclave, and like a QA inspector putting down check marks in a solo book instance.

The crafting was not useless. The AH on my Evernight server was a bit light on good armor for the level 30-40 range, and since my main is an armorer and I had a bit of more or less rare ingredients stored, I made some good armor for myself, and even critted a couple of times. So this part was rewarding and fun.

The I tried that new "Crafting Guild" feature. Each crafting profession has a guild. They give you assignments. For instance the Armorsmith Guildmaster tells you to craft some guild crests, a light one with a 1-day cooldown and a medium one with a 3-day cooldown. You use regular ore, make a crest and exchange it for faction. It took me about a week to get to the first faction rank and get access to the first tier of faction armor recipes. All of these recipes are the equivalent of the same non-faction item, but critted. The catch being that you need to use faction crests in the recipes, so with the cooldowns, it will take me 42 RL days to make a full set of armor for my mid-35 toon. I gained 5 levels in the first week, so in 42 days I'd be level 65 and playing something else ;). This feature is good for a guild crafter, but not someone making stuff for himself.

Also, they still haven't unsucked the progression in crafter professions. I have a woodworking alt, currently level 13 in adventuring, and in order to become a better woodworker he now has to kill a level 25 signature mob. I don't know, maybe this did make sense to a drunk or stoned designer at the time, but no matter how I am looking at it sober, it doesn't. So I went there and waited for 30 mins for someone kind enough to drop everything he's doing and come kill this dude for me, to no avail. So in my book this is a fail. Suck_factor++.

I didn't crash once, while at release I couldn't take a horse from Bree to the Lone Lands or North Downs without crashing. ++ here.

In all, I am not a fan of the franchise (any franchise), I am approaching the game as a generic fantasy title, and even though it has progressed a lot it wasn't enough to make me want to play this instead of what I have in my backlog.
User avatar
TiLT
Posts: 4435
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:01 am
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Contact:

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by TiLT »

neofit wrote:Also, they still haven't unsucked the progression in crafter professions. I have a woodworking alt, currently level 13 in adventuring, and in order to become a better woodworker he now has to kill a level 25 signature mob. I don't know, maybe this did make sense to a drunk or stoned designer at the time, but no matter how I am looking at it sober, it doesn't. So I went there and waited for 30 mins for someone kind enough to drop everything he's doing and come kill this dude for me, to no avail. So in my book this is a fail. Suck_factor++.
You're being frustrated because you're trying to progress faster than the game intends. Most crafting professions are designed so that you're supposed to level them along with your regular adventuring. You're not supposed to become a supreme master before you're very high level. Since you're level 13 and are now asked to kill a level 25 mob, that means you're at a suitable level in your crafting for the time being. You wouldn't be able to use whatever the next crafting rank would allow you to make anyway yet.
Insert witty comment here.
User avatar
YellowKing
Posts: 30126
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 2:02 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by YellowKing »

I'm thinking of jumping back in. LOTRO was probably my second favorite (relatively modern) MMO behind EQ2. I've jumped in and out several times over the years, but I've got MMO fever again and there's really nothing on the horizon that interests me except for Old Republic, and that won't scratch my fantasy itch. I think I've got a level 45 or so that would be worth finishing off.
User avatar
Jaymon
Posts: 3006
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:51 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Jaymon »

Something you may not have seen, is the skirmish system. You can scale the skirmish yourself, both in level and in difficulty. But they did something that made the solo game much more enjoyable. There are a number of rare ingredients for class specific quests that only drop from instance bosses, which means its extremely difficult or impossible for a solo or casual player to achieve. These rare ingredients have been placed into the skirmish system, they can be "purchased" using the skirmish points you earn. Using this, I was able to complete my class specific quests without needing the chunk of time investment for a long instance, or the proper group of friends to go with me. (never mind rolling for the drop at the end, ugg.)

Still seems like the book quests (the main storyline) have some quests that cannot be done solo. But those are pretty far down the path before you get to one that can't be done by getting a few levels and coming back to it. But I haven't attempted a book quest in the past month, or on the test server, so I am unaware if they have made changes.

Crafting is still hit or miss. Its good for some folks, and poor for others. When you are leveling an alt in crafting, its very easy to get the crafting level ahead of the character level, and run into quests you are unable to accomplish. Entering and mastering a crafting guild lets you accomplish something over time, that is otherwise done randomly at great expense. The guild recipe is usually the best version of a given item for that level. However it takes time to craft. You can also get the same result in a short time using the standard recipe and rare components, giving you a percentage chance to craft that item. For folks who level from 0-65 in two months, its not worth it. For folks who play only a few hours a week and take a year to level to 65, it is excellent. And at the high end, there are items which can only be obtained from crafters. But its a long road to get there that not a lot of folks travel down.

In my opinion, they have been steadily creating ways for the solo players and slow players to obtain high power items and rewards without the need to join PUG raids.
Bunnies like beer because its made from hops.
User avatar
Jaymon
Posts: 3006
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:51 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Jaymon »

Volume 1 is the "original" game, taking you from the Shire to Angmar and Levels 1-50. Volume 2 started with the Moria expansion, and currently takes you from Levels 50-65. Vol 1 Book 1 is intended, IIRC, to be completed around Level 11. There used to be a big gap between Books 1 and 2, with Book 2 starting around Level 26, but I believe part of the early-game streamlining has been to make them tie together much more closely. I haven't run a low-level character through them since the update, though, so I can't tell you exactly how that worked out.

- Ash
there is the Prologue which takes you to Bree and ends around 11-15
Book 1 starts up there, and goes to low 20's, and you can then start up book 2 immediately.
Bunnies like beer because its made from hops.
User avatar
Asharak
Posts: 7907
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:11 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada
Contact:

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Asharak »

Jaymon wrote:
there is the Prologue which takes you to Bree and ends around 11-15
Book 1 starts up there, and goes to low 20's, and you can then start up book 2 immediately.
For the record, I wrote my post back in January, before some of the area/leveling revamps, so while it was accurate then, Jaymon's is the more accurate guideline now.

- Ash
neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

TiLT wrote:You're being frustrated because you're trying to progress faster than the game intends. Most crafting professions are designed so that you're supposed to level them along with your regular adventuring. You're not supposed to become a supreme master before you're very high level. Since you're level 13 and are now asked to kill a level 25 mob, that means you're at a suitable level in your crafting for the time being. You wouldn't be able to use whatever the next crafting rank would allow you to make anyway yet.
Oh I know very well what they are trying to accomplish here. My main beef with the game was the way they linked the adventuring and crafting parts of the game. It only serves to make people play longer by making them redo the same content with all of their alts. This is wrong, period.

Look at EQ2. 1 main adventurer, 5 crafting alts. The alts were constantly at the top of their craft, all with different adventuring classes. Whenever I wanted to adventure a bit with a class different from my main I could use one of these alts, no pressure. Result: I've paid SOE, on and off, for a total of 2 years of EQ2 game time.

From the other games worth mentioning:

- Vanguard, great crafting, 1 year+ total
- Horizons, be all you can be, no need for alts: 1 year
- SWG: as soon as they opened a 2nd character slot post-NGE, about 1 year

Then:
- Wow: no crafting, 4 months
- AoC: no crafting, free month
- WAR: no crafting, free month
- LOTRO: free month + 1 month

Exception:
- Fallen Earth: good crafting, but slow travel and long distances killed it for me: 2 months

Dunno, looks like a trend to me :).

I am sure in the case of LOTRO that it came from good intentions, the debatable "let's have our players totally depend on each other". It didn't make for a better player market though.
neofit
Posts: 638
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 8:32 am

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by neofit »

Jaymon wrote:Something you may not have seen, is the skirmish system.
I did try this one. I've done the tutorial and one mission. It was fine, but IMHO this is an occupation for alts. The game was already throwing much more exp at me than I was able to consume. The quest hubs were not done that well. Like at first I was constantly being sent from North Downs to the Low Lands, with enough quests in EACH of these zones to level one character properly. But they are sending me there, how on earth can I NOT speak to each an every quest-giver and accept to help them? Add the extra exp from skirmishes and that first and main toon will be solving gray quests for most of his life. Then I started seeing the same happening between Evendim and the Trollshaws.

I'd prefer it if they did it more like what I saw during my limited time in WoW back in the day. A carefully planned progression from quest hub to quest hub, with about the right amount of exp at each of them. Also, different paths through different quest hubs are possible with different characters.

--------

Also, re soloable books. From what I gathered in the official forums, all of Volume 1 has been redone and made soloable. It goes up to level 50.
User avatar
TiLT
Posts: 4435
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:01 am
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Contact:

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by TiLT »

You aren't really supposed to do everything with one character. The game as it stands has enough content that you can decide to skip entire zones altogether and save them for an alt. For example, you may decide to skip Forochel or Angmar once you get into the mid-40s. Or you could do both, but you'd end up doing content below your level for a while.

Don't fall into the trap of assuming you need to do everything. Just do the content you find most appealing (and the main quests). I've played the same character since launch and have still got tons and tons of content I've never seen.

If you don't find the skirmishes to be more compelling than quests at the moment, feel free to skip them for the time being. You can do them later if you end up with a lack of quests for a certain level range, or once you hit the level cap. Just try to keep your soldier at your level as you progress, if you can. It takes a lot of effort to do the same if you wait until max level. I didn't start skirmishing until I was well into my 60s, and I still haven't managed to get my soldier up to my own level after 30+ skirmishes.
Insert witty comment here.
User avatar
ColdSteel
Posts: 3029
Joined: Sun Nov 06, 2005 2:03 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by ColdSteel »

Didn't see any other viable threads to post this in so I'm necroing this one.

I got the below email from Turbine today. Fortunately, I had heard about some accounts being compromised back in October so I had cancelled my subscription and changed my password back then. I also sent them an email to remove my credit card info from my account and although I never got a reply, apprarently the did do it because when I logged in after changing my password again today, the credit card number was blank under payment details.

So, for whatever it's worth, beware.
Greetings,

Turbine is concerned that a third-party recently may have attempted to access your account. There is no indication that your account was modified or compromised. For your protection we have changed the password on your account to a new, random password.

To change your password to a new password of your choice and reclaim your account, please follow these steps:

1. Go to https://myaccount.turbine.com/" target="_blank and click on "Forgot your password?" You may also click this in the game launcher.

2. Follow the instructions on how to recover your password. A new password will be sent to this e-mail address.

3. Once you have received the password reset e-mail, change your password to a new, unique password you do not use anywhere else.

Turbine takes your account security seriously. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at http://support.turbine.com/" target="_blank . You may submit a new inquiry to our Customer Service team, and they will be able to assist you further.

Thank you,

Turbine Support
"This game is best played with a warm cup of Folger's coffee in your hands, so you can actually smell the oppression while you relive the greatest period of all time. The period when white people discovered the world, and decided they didn't like it." - EUIV Steam user review
User avatar
Isgrimnur
Posts: 82094
Joined: Sun Oct 15, 2006 12:29 am
Location: Chookity pok
Contact:

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Isgrimnur »

Now a Steam game, still free to play, but also available with a Steam Starter Pack that is $14.99 for:
An Exclusive Noble Grey Steed, 3 Bonus Quest Packs, a 25% XP Boost Token and 1,000 Turbine Points.
It's almost as if people are the problem.
User avatar
TiLT
Posts: 4435
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:01 am
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Contact:

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by TiLT »

Finally! I've been looking forward to the day I could get this game on Steam to replace the standalone installation. I'm going to uninstall and reinstall through Steam now. :)

Too bad there doesn't seem to be any achievements though.
Insert witty comment here.
User avatar
Smoove_B
Posts: 54567
Joined: Wed Oct 13, 2004 12:58 am
Location: Kaer Morhen

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Smoove_B »

Does the STEAM version include the Pando Media Booster with your installation, i.e. background seeding software tool that chews up your data cap while you're playing?
Maybe next year, maybe no go
User avatar
silverjon
Posts: 10781
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2008 7:16 pm
Location: Western Canuckistan

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by silverjon »

Smoove_B wrote:Does the STEAM version include the Pando Media Booster with your installation, i.e. background seeding software tool that chews up your data cap while you're playing?
Ugh, I opted to try DDO for free and got Pando. Not impressed, me.
wot?

To be fair, adolescent power fantasy tripe is way easier to write than absurd existential horror, and every community has got to start somewhere... right?

Unless one loses a precious thing, he will never know its true value. A little light finally scratches the darkness; it lets the exhausted one face his shattered dream and realize his path cannot be walked. Can man live happily without embracing his wounded heart?
User avatar
Alefroth
Posts: 8489
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Bellingham WA

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Alefroth »

The Fellowship arrives in Mordor

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017- ... -to-mordor

FAQ


At the beginning of the year, Turbine gave up LotRO to concentrate on the mobile market. They left development in the hands of ex-Turbine devs, calling themselves Standing Stone Games. WB is no longer publishing, that's now Daybreak Games, who up until now anyway have really stayed in the background.
User avatar
Jaymon
Posts: 3006
Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2008 12:51 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Jaymon »

After recently watching the movies again, I have taken up playing this again. 10 years been playing this game off and on, and my main is still not close to level cap. I am still pleased that is possible to earn the raid items by grinding skirmishes instead of going on raids. I crafted myself some sweet new armour, and some first age legendary items, so I am all geared up for another push.
Bunnies like beer because its made from hops.
User avatar
Baroquen
Posts: 4710
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 12:45 pm

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Baroquen »

I've started playing this again too. Haven't played in years, and I'm even further back from level cap. Started a new character anyway. I've got a lifetime membership, and a boatload of points banked, so I've been able to comfortably expand inventory and pick up the latest expansions. I've been having fun with it.
User avatar
Alefroth
Posts: 8489
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Bellingham WA

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Alefroth »

Tomorrow starts the 15th Anniversary celebration and an update that sees everything up to level 95/ Helm's Deep become free to everyone. They are also gifting collector's editions of Mordor, Minas Morgul, and War of the Three Peaks expansions to any level 2 character that logs in during the anniversary.

https://www.lotro.com/news/lotro-15th-a ... 1_0bLtpB1g
User avatar
Max Peck
Posts: 13682
Joined: Fri Aug 05, 2005 8:09 pm
Location: Down the Rabbit-Hole

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Max Peck »

I haven't actually played in years even though I have a lifetime subscription, but I logged on just a few days ago to pay up my housing maintenance for another 6 months. I'll have to remember to log in to get my free loots once the event starts.

I'm eternally meaning to get back to playing this, but every time I do log in I just update my rent payments, take a look at all the stuff in my inventory, draw a complete blank on all my character abilities and get sleepy at the idea of trying to relearn it all. It's hard to believe that at one time I had active alts for every class in the game and knew how to play them all. :lol:
"What? What? What?" -- The 14th Doctor

It's not enough to be a good player... you also have to play well. -- Siegbert Tarrasch
User avatar
Alefroth
Posts: 8489
Joined: Thu Oct 14, 2004 1:56 pm
Location: Bellingham WA

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Alefroth »

It's been five years since I last played and I started playing again a couple of weeks ago and haven't played much of anything else since. There is definitely a wall to get over, especially since there is a completely new LI system, but I like having a clean slate with traits and LIs. They also introduced carry-all bags which help with inventory overload.
User avatar
Skinypupy
Posts: 20335
Joined: Tue Dec 07, 2004 10:12 am
Location: Utah

Re: The state of LOTRO?

Post by Skinypupy »

I tried LOTRO a couple years ago, Steam says I put about 15 hours into it. Thought it was quite fun and they did a fantastic job utilizing the LotR setting, but I ultimately knew I wasn't likely to stick with what seemed like overwhelming grind so I bailed.
When darkness veils the world, four Warriors of Light shall come.
Post Reply