Hobbits to Isengard - Q/A with Sapience notes on what was said

[frickinmuck]

Sorry if this one is a bit patchy, there were issues with the Twitch stream.

Please note: I am paraphrasing here. Anything said here is coming through my interpretation of what was said, and is subject to being corrected, so don't take all this as the final word.

If anyone who was present has any additions or corrections, feel free to post.

Q&A Hobbits to Isengard - Laurelin

1. Question about bugs
   As soon as you see a bug, make sure you bug it right away and, most importantly, give detailed instructions to the developers on how to recreate the problem. He doesn’t currently have any information about the status of specific bugs
2. Question about lag
   Most players tend to have their settings higher than their system can handle properly. They think their system can handle more than it actually can. Also, a lot of people set up their graphics for solo play, with settings higher than can be handled for group play. If you’re in a group, or in areas where there are a lot of players, you may need to readjust your settings to suit the higher load. When your system has to render all those extra players, animations, weapons, etc. it really adds to the load. Another tip is, if you are running SLI or Crossfire, disable it. Just run on one video card. You will gain framerates in most cases.
3. Is it better to use a 64 bit client, and are there any plans to make LotRO 64 bit capable
   No plans to make LotRo 64 bit capable, but a 64 bit client will absolutely help because you have access to more memory that the OS can use, you can run a higher cache, etc. A 64 bit OS with 8GB of RAM is leaps and bounds ahead of running a 32 bit OS with 4GB of RAM, because of the memory management available. You will have more resources available for your machine to use. The worst thing you can do for performance is run a 32 bit OS with low RAM. Also, regarding the issue of ram, the game will not use much more than 4GB of RAM, but your OS will take as much RAM as it needs and leave you with what’s left over. So you need enough RAM that your OS will leave you enough for the game. 64 bit OS with 8GB of RAM should be fine for most people.
4. Does using a SSD help game performance
   Using a SSD will make load times faster, so any time you are loading textures and data (i.e. moving through zones) it will be faster.
5. How about SLI/Crossfire and multiple monitor setup support to the game
   The game is not set up to support multiple monitors or SLI and Crossfire, he doesn’t know when or if that will happen.
6. Are all the servers running on same hardware
   Contrary to what many people think, a “LotRO server” is not a machine, it’s a series of machines. For example it may be 8 different PCs, a load balancer, databases and various other hardware. But all the servers have pretty much the same hardware and are pretty much equal.
7. Is the Turbine de-fragger tool still around and can it be used on the current build
   The Turbine defragger doesn’t exist anymore and he greatly discourages using it. If you still have it you should not use it, you could destroy your install.
8. Any plans to bring back a MyLotro app similar to Wow armoury
   The previous one was player-created, and he knows of no plans to recreate or restore that functionality
9. Will the people who are on the Bounder's Bounty plaques be able to choose which character they want displayed in the future
   When they started sorting out what was going to go on the Bounder’s Bounty plaques it was discovered there was going to be a group of 1,400+ people needing to respond with which character they wanted on the plaque, and that was going to take way too long to organize, so instead they went with the accounts that had the highest count, and which of the characters on that account contributed the most.
10. Will any shard-droppers be added to the newer areas
    He will bring the suggestion to the team
11. Could we get a shard-dropper deed
    Not likely there will ever be a shard-dropper deed
12. Are there any plans to have any discussion based on the feedback to the Producer Letter threads on Housing, Inventory, etc
    The point of those threads was to get an idea of what players were looking for, see what the consensus points were. Even taking into account all those threads on English, German and French forums, at most it is the opinion of maybe 300 people, not a significantly large portion of the player base. So when they seek player feedback they do so through multiple venues, and they look at multiple sources of suggestions and input to see where the consistency lies across all sources of feedback, rather than focusing on one particular forum thread and taking that as the definitive answer to what the players want.
13. Why isn’t this an event for taking a creep somewhere, or staying alive in Hoarhollow
    Because the players created the event, based on some discussions in chat. If the conversation had been different and someone suggested a monster play event, this could have been “Take the Reaver to Hoarhollow”
14. Are there any plans to allow Dwarven ministrels to get legendary axes
    No plans as far as he knows for legendary axes for Dwarven minstrels
15. When is U13 coming
    It is scheduled for March, probably toward the latter end of the month. He doesn’t have a date yet but when he does he will let everyone know.
16. Can we get a Dwarf warden
    No current plans for that to the best of his knowledge
17. Is there any hope of us ever getting a 'gym' that allows us to alter our characters build
    Not likely that will ever happen
18. Will creeps ever be let out into the normal areas
    No plans for that. The Moors was created for creeps, and that’s where they’ll stay
19. Are there plans for any other bare-chested cosmetics
    There was a joking discussion about bare-chested elves at one point, but no, there are no current plans to add more bare-chests. Although he won’t rule it out. He doesn’t usually get a heads up on the art that goes into any update, so he can’t really say or predict whether any particular cosmetic will end up in the game.
20. Any chance of a design a cloak contest
    It’s something they are working on doing right now, but he has no ETA on when it will be ready, there are still some loose ends that need to be tied up
21. Is there a mentoring system planned
    Not as far as he’s aware
22. Is there a way to get a cloak back if you lose it
    Be careful when deleting something, because for the most part once it’s gone, it’s gone
23. Any plans for crafting in homesteads
    It’s been discussed, but he doesn’t know if it will happen, in what form or when. It’s a discussion that’s been happening as part of the larger housing revamp
24. What about rumours of two new open world servers for PvP
    Someone is pulling your leg, there are absolutely no plans for that
25. Can we please get more than 17 character slots
    This is a suggestion he’s made in the past, and he will pass it along again. At one point there was a technical reason for that limit but he doesn’t know if that technical issue still stands.
26. Can you get mobs who are grouped up to be linked so they just don't stand there when you attack their companion
    He’s not aware of any plans to change the way mobs aggro when they are in groups but he will pass the information along
27. Will you be filling in the map with outlying areas such as South Farthing, etc
    MadeOfLions had a great answer to that in the 20 questions the other day. They do fill outlying areas of the map from time to time, but right now we are at an important part of the story so they will probably follow the path of the fellowship more closely for awhile
28. Do you roleplay
    No, he does not
29. Is Gilrain becoming preferred server
    Good question. Next time they have a maintenance he will ask
30. What determines weather in-game, is it based on real world weather somewhere
    No, but it’s not entirely random. There is a day file in the game that gives a region its day/night cycle, etc. and generates weather at what appear to be random times. It’s not based on real world weather or anything like that.
31. Question about a kinship revamp
    Read the Q/A from the other day, there is a bit of information there. Beyond that he can’t really comment.
32. Will we ever see changing seasons during festivals
    No because the regions are locked in time based on the part of the story they appear in. That is why Winterhome was created; to have a wintery region for the winter festival
33. Does your wife play LotRO
    Yes, she does. She is a good healer and plays a captain and a minstrel well, and has several characters at cap.
34. Question about reward for the winner of this event
    There is no formal plan for a reward of any kind beyond bragging rights, which is fitting since the event started because of bragging. Realistically the only thing they will really be able to do for the one server is maybe turn on an enhanced XP weekend.
35. Will there be new festivals or changes to the existing ones in the near future
    Definitely something they are looking at – how can they improve and add to the festivals to keep them exciting. The Anniversary festival is currently being worked on
36. What is your least favourite class
    Doesn’t really have a least favourite, but there are classes he’s not good at. You don’t want him healing your raid, for example.
37. Why does his voice sound different here than in the community updates
    When he does the community updates he doesn’t talk for as long, and they give him professional recording equipment to use which is much better quality.
38. Is there a possibility of people becoming GMs from outside of Turbine HQ area
    No, the positions are in Boston in the Turbine offices. There are a couple of rare exceptions for German and French servers.
39. Do you get free Turbine points
    Yes, in fact he just got his yesterday. Once a quarter they get an allotment of TP for DDO and for LotRO. They get a handful of codes for about 1,500 each.
40. When you first started at Turbine what were you most excited about
    Meeting the team, moving to a place where he had family, working for a game that he’d been playing since closed beta
41. Have you ever done any voiceover work for LotRO
    No, he has not
42. Do you play in a band in LotRO
    No, he doesn’t
43. Advice on getting into radio
    About radio, and it actually also applies to the games industry, get ANY job you can. It might not be the job you want, but a foot in the door and getting to know people goes a long way. He knew guys who started in radio as the janitor. They ended up as major market DJs making 100k a year.
44. What did you get with your 25% off code
    XP and rep boosts
45. What are the most popular classes
    He hasn’t looked in a long time but Hunter and Champ use to be the most popular classes.
46. When will Bullroarer be open for testing
    He’s not sure what the schedule is for BR, but doesn't expect it to be any time soon. Usually it opens a week or so in advance of an update
47. Do the “lucky” named items (rabbit foot, coal etc) have any hidden benefits
    He’s answered that question many times and is surprised people don’t believe him. No, they have no special effect.
48. With the revamps of ND, Trollshaws and MM, will we see graphical updates as well as quest clusters/changes
    Probably not. At least nothing as dramatic as Bree. It's more about making them more playable and improving the flow.
49. Some pics from the run
50. Why did turbine start to add invisible walls to the game
    To prevent people from going to places they aren’t supposed to. In an open world such as LotRO has, sometimes it’s just what you have to do. You can't really make an endless landscape. Also there are ways to get stuck between buildings, in 'yards' and other places that you cannot use /stuck to get out of and a GM cannot teleport you out of. You can lose your character, permanently, if you aren't very careful and sometimes very lucky.
51. Will it be possible, someday, to take a chicken past Isengard (perhaps via a Strange Chicken Nest)
    It might be possible, but he doesn’t know what the plans are for chickens beyond Isengard. Though the devs have spent time recently kicking them about.
52. What keyboard and mouse do you use
    Right now he’s using a Mad Catz STRIKE 7 Keyboard and a RAT 9 wireless mouse. He really loves the mouse but is still adjusting to the keyboard.
53. Was Hobnanigans removed because of animal cruelty
    No it had performance issues
54. What is the right venue to appeal which name was used on the Bounder’s statue
    He doesn't think they are able to make changes now, but whatever the outcome, submitting a ticket is almost definitely not going to be the answer, but he will pass along the suggestion.