Back to LotRO... for now.

Temporarly back to LotRO, but somehow most of the passion is gone.
I make screenshots, but I never seem to get around to make posts like I used to...

I am missing playing with my fiancee terribly, that's probably adding to the general unhapiness with what Turbine presents. Waiting for Diablo III to get me out from Middle-earth, and then for Guild Wars 2.
Mesmer has officially been revealed, not I really, REALLY can't wait.

Any good advices for how to leave a game that became a chore but you're still addicted to?
I'd gladly not waste anymore of my time in there but... well... I am weak.

State of the game

There is nothing about Turbine and Lotro lately that shows any polish. From bad moderation on their forums, horrible PR, deceptive marketing, screwing over people who buy TP, buggy unfinished delayed content and this could possible be worst of all if it turns out to be true. They even got their lotrostore wrong by mistakenly putting Draigoch on sale for 20% this past week LOL.

There is something wrong with the leadership and the culture there that lets this get out of hand in all facets of their business. When I think of Turbine I think one word: Unprofessional! It's too bad, there is a lot about the game that I really like, but I wonder how much of it is really left over from the beginning days of LOTRO? Once the content creation tools were made how many of those developers stayed with the product?

by Arkenstone@Lotro Community

Turbine practices, or lies

Frankly, I am too disheartened to write anything from myself about the subject at the moment, so I'll just quote.



I agree, the way everything is worded suggests that the 3 Relics will be Store only options.

I would really like to understand the offical reasoning that connects these two offical statements;


7. Will I still be able to play and enjoy the game without buying items from the LOTRO Store, or is that my only option for gaining weapons, armor, potions, and other goodies such as premium loot?
The purchase of items in the LOTRO Store is entirely optional. While items in the Store are designed to immediately enhance your in-game experience, premium loot and rare gear are the rewards of adventure and are only obtainable through gameplay. Source


and


Instantly acquire 3 new top tier relics, created by the LOTRO Community!

Originally Posted by Gedachtnis

I am very very sad and disappointed. I am not angry anymore I am just disheartened. I was so happy Turbine, new content as fast pace, I was okay with new content that had to be separately bought (update 3 new skirmishes & new instanes). Even relic removal scrolls was well bearable.

But what you just did is sad. There is no talking out of it, you broken your promise and imho crossed line between "hybrid model" and pure f2p pay-to-win model where important ingame stuff has to be bought in store.

Sorry but if this decision won't be revoked and those 3 store relics added into melding panel. I don't see a point in paying subscription AND paying for premium core in game items, that are as important for character build as armor , jewelery or weapon.
I also don't want to play a game where I cannot buy free access to all gear by subscription. I gladly buy TP to buy things like cosmetics, vault or share storage, xp and other timed buffs, even recipes or heck even I could "swallow" relic removal scroll.

This one is imho DIFFRENT.

You lied to me and made me very disappointed.

Bad move. Very bad. Especially when new strong MMORPG's titles are coming relatively soon.

Originally Posted by Munitis

Galadhrim War-steed

As mentioned not so long ago we decided to come back to Dol Guldur after a few months of denying the annoying place even exists.

I was quite insistent on going back as I never got to beat the Liutenant before we stopped visiting him for tea al together, which meant four deeds lingering in my otherwise perfect (Ettens doesn't count! Yes, I be a deed-whore) deed log:equipment comes and goes and level cap increases, but titles and mounts stay!

Galadhrim War-steed was not only "he one which got away", I also considered it a perfect choice to match my Annuminas outfit(s)... Finally, mine, along with assorted titles like Savious ofMirkwood and such ^^

Lady of the Golden Wood

I haven't done any of my "Design" posts in a while and this one I wanted to do even before I actually got to meet Galadriel in game.

Gorrem (Devon Candy-Lee) is probably my favourite LotRO designer to date (no longer working on the game from what I know, unfortunately) - and his vision of Galadriel is, as one might expect, pretty awesome and sleek. I love the details and the little gold leaf ornaments... I was really, really grabbed by the artwork when I first saw it, it made me hope for some improvements in in-game dress department too...

In-game model disappoints. No wonder really, LotRO has quite bad models for most humanoid NPCs... The dress is still epic and at least The Lady got some custom hair, but who else would deserve a better model than her? Narmeleth model would match pretty well I guess... But no, she got the default tree-stump one... Sad.

I really, really wish Turbine would finally got around to revamping the poor models and animations, especially for NPCs. Elf/human NPCs seem to be place holders from early stage of development. Why do they look like members of totally different races than player elf/man characters? Why do they walk in such an unnatural manner?
It's been four years and noone even seems to notice, so so sad...

24 weeks for a deed?! or when it starts to get too much

Finally getting the Savious of Mirkwood on Silirien (after defeating Lt for the first time and with Challenge), my desire for deed completion burns hot anew.

And this is when I realise that Ost Dunhoth deed will take at least 24 weeks to complete!!!
Seriously, what the fcuk? Almost half a year?
And this too only if you raid every week and successfully and your raid leader decides to kill the adds in different order each time.

Adding to that insane amounts of tokens required for the loot... Even if I decided not to focus on itemisation too much (I want my life back), I do see what Turbine is doing and I don't like it a bit.

The Lost Temple is one of the new instances which I particularly like (at least, the above-ground part of it). Probably because of it's awesome Indiana Jones feeling. While the actual game part of it is long and tedious (especially the challenge, which also likes to bug out), world-design part is jaw-dropping, especially if you consider that basically everything in there (like in the whole world in general) has already been reused multiple times.

Working as the team intended... LotRO, Lord of the Rings Online

I was about to write a passionate post about how the 4th Anniversary is a complete grindfest, but I can hardly add anything new to 1005 posts made on official Turbine forums before it was closed by Sapience to "prevent disinformation", or other community reactions (The Grindaversary or Why is Goldenstar Skipping the Anniversary Events)

What kindof disinformation Sapience?
Or did you mean information of how you guys completly shut your ears to any negative feedback once again (like with many, many things on Isenguard server before Moria and after).

I am sorry, but if Dev's team official statement on this issue is the event is working as the team intended and designed it and there will be no changes to the content or cost of rewards, it's just... uh... enraging. You make the game for us, you need our appreciation to pay your bills. And for 2 years you keep on failing your player base with under-par expansions, in-game systems, now also events. And this event is a shining example of your attitude, and I can't wait to move to somewhere else.

Only Turbine bootcamp anniversary shows loving appreciation. Brew bash SLAVE! Now go Bash like you mean it! Nothing says customer love like strict discipline. By someone on US Forums. So sad, so true.

It's funny, I was actually contemplating moving to US servers recently, because players get all the little perks (like lotteries) in there. But yeah, no way now. I'll continue on leeching on Codemasters with my life-timer and I won't fail to mention to anyone asking about LotRO how tedious end-game and now even events are.

Ancient Annuminas Statue

I am a huge, huge Annuminas fan-girl. I love the feeling of Evendim (even the Ever-swim parts), I've always enjoyed the instances and I am a terrible sucker for Annuminas armor sets.

This small statue was once used as a reward for service to the Kingdom of Arnor. The Wardens of Annuminas now only offer them to those who have proven themselves to be truly heroic.

Hence, this statuette was a must-have for me, and I am displaying it proudly when not engaged in battle.
Here with the Mistress of Annoyance, Gwindeth (still plotting to steal her dress).

Snow Queen

Almost ^^

When I got dragged to Sari-Surma for the first time, it felt like walking into Snow Queen's palace and I mentioned to my fellows that it's really dissapointing that none of the bosses could qualify as one. A friend commented We don't need annother Snow Queen, we brough our own - oh yes, how I wished this was true (thanks for the compliment Mike ^^).

Glacier Queen is not quite Snow Queen, but it's good enough ;)

Bombay.tv

A guildie discovered this phenomenon and entertains us with brilliant movies regularly. The two below feature "me" and my ecto fetish ^^
Unfortunately, the dialogues are in polish... I might translate them later.


Gniewosz: Cherrie, I've told you I'll give you ecto, haven't I?
Cherrie: Yeah! Multiple times! But in the end you always said you need it all for powersell.
Gniewosz: You know what? Let's do the froggies and share the drop. Accept the party.


Gniewosz: How's going? Any good drops? Anything to put on Guru?
Cherrie: Hey, what's up with my ecto?
Gniewosz: And you're on it again. Women! We have to be patient. I am still waiting for my comissions.

Enjoy xD

Łukasz Jop - or why not to trust friends

This is Łukasz Jop, currently living in Wodzisław Śląski, Poland.
Łukasz is not a trustworthy person - he has gained an unauthorised access to his friend's LotRO account by making use of said friend's personal information.

He was directly approached multiple times and questioned if he is in posession of the account's access data, but he denied (until he stopped anwsering any form of contact at all, that is).

When contacting Customer Support, he impersonated the rightful owner of the account.

Material damages would be around 250EUR (LotRO expansions, Liffetime subscription no longer available etc) but he also deleted several high level characters created by the original owner.

Currently, he is working at BioStat as Project Manager (though he has a different possition listed on Polish equivalent of LinkedIn, hmm) - a nice position for a scammer...

~~~~

Pan Łukasz Jop aktualnie zamieszkaly w Wodzisławiu Śląskim wykorzystal bliska znajomosc w ktorej byl uwazany za przyjaciela by przejac cudze konto w grze Lord of the Rings Online. By to osiagnac, zrobil uzytek ze swojej znajomosci chronionych danych osobowych innej osoby w sposob nieautoryzowany.

Wielokrotnie pytany o to, czy posiada dostep do konta, zaprzeczal.

Narazil prawowitego wlasciciela konta na straty materialne rzedu 1000PLN (zwiazane z zakupionymi dodatkami do gry oraz tzw. Lifetime Subscription).

W kontaktach z Customer Service podszywal sie pod prawowitego wlasciciela konta.

Obecnie zatrudniony w firmie BioStat jako Dyrektor Handlowy

Niezbyt budzace zachowanie jak na dyrektora handlowego jakiejkolwiek firmy, prawda?

And so it is done

With today's update, Tyria has changed significantly.
Many features that have been vocally requested by GW Community have finally been introduced, most - if not all of them - positive, although I can't stop thinking they are at least 2 years late...

Hero parties

One of the most advertised changes to come is the ability to fill up your party with your own Heroes, rising the limit of Heroes a single player can add to a group from 3 to 7.

This feature has been requested by players since Heroes were introduced. While highly disputable (it's hard for me to name an objective that can not be completed by a single player alone now) for making the game a single player online game with co-op mode now, in the end I guess it's a good decision. The population of Guild Wars has declined and it became harder and harder to find a group for some activities, this will ultimately help players.

Mercenary Heroes

An unexpected addition is one to create your own Heroes, based on your existing characters' profession, name and armor look.
While this option requires a purchase of "Mercenary Hero Slots", it caters for other Community requests concerning Heroes - there's always been a need for more Heroes of certain professions, ones that had a better AI/Build combos. Especially now that a player is able to form a party out of their own Heroes, many would desire to have more than 3 Necromancers or more than two Mesmers (Me! Me! Me!).

While I see the mechanicts itself and the linked (one-time) fees reasonable, one characteristics of the new system is hard for me to accept. Namely, the "original" character who was used to create a Mercenary can not use it's own clone to prevent "Clone Wars". While I understand the reasoning behind the decision, the lose and complication involved is bigger than the immerion gain it provides.

Lets say I want to make my Mesmer character a Mercenary Hero because I like to run around with Mesmer Heroes and until now I could only use two.
With how the things are right now, every other char on my account can have 3 Mesmer Heroes except for my Mes herself.
Unless I make 2 Mesmer Mercenaries or use a phony character to create one in the first place...
Same for every other class that I'd find useful.

The problem of Clone Wars is, in my opinion, negligible - we already can have more than one same Hero in our parties (think of 1 Gwen and 5 Vanguard Mesmers in the Deep or in Urgoz) and players ale not really bothered with it - it's a price you pay to use the system. If it breaks your immersion and it's more important for a player to retain it, he will simply not take duplicates.
What's more, the name of a Mercenary Hero can be changed if the original is present much like default heroes' names are already, for example to "[Personality] [Profession]" ("Arrogant Mesmer", "Born Leader Paragon" etc) to further limit the problem.

Also, players can protect themselves from having exact clones if it bothers them - they can change their armor.

I simply find it hard to accept that if I want to be able to use a 3rd Me Hero on every of my characters, I can't register my Main, or I have to register two...

Legendary Defender of Ascalon title change

This is one I am undecided about at the moment.
The main change is that it is no longer required to employ use of an exploid (so-called Death Leveling) to achieve the title (to level a character to 20 in Pre-Searing Ascalon), making the achievement less grindy and - I think - faster and easier to achieve.
Also, a Legendary Defender of Ascalon doesn't have to leave the Pre-Searing anymore to immortalise their achievement (to put it to Hall of Monuments in preparation for Guild Wars 2), they can record it with a Historian in Ascalon.

While I find the second change simply put awesome (the fact that one had to leave Pre to get a monument ultimately ereased the whole effort of leveling a character to level 20 in a starter zone), the change of the title is more difficult to judge for me.

LDoA was always a special title, it did not come out from the developers, it was a reward for the ingenious players that devised a method to do something devs thought impossible. With lots of hard work involved. Thus, it was unique, not to say elite. Hence I see it as sad that this characteristics of the title was removed... I understand however that it made it unobtainable for many players and was widely requested to be changed... A pity the legacy of it will suffer, but ultimately it brings more life to the Pre-Searing community.

My only regret is that I did not finish my LDoA before the update (for boast-reasons ^^) - I am currently 3k short. With the new quests, I should be done in 3 days!

Assorted thoughts

This big update leaves me worried about the release date of Guild Wars 2 as it gives the current game new life, simply put. I can't help but think that all the features - a few years late in their nature - were brought in to artificially prolong the wait time (Survivor, LDoA and Drunkard titles being made obtainable for players who disregarded them for their problematic nature before, for example).
This, the halt of new GW2 features and remaining profession released to the public and the fact that year 2012 is the year of the Dragon in Chinese calendar (with GW2 focusing on mighty dragons' reawaking) in the light of so many epic releases GW2 would have to combat for players this year, I think 2012 is ultimately the best bet for release right now. Regretably.