Bingo Boffins and Episodic content

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

It's gratifying to know that those descriptions are being read! Half of the time it feels like I'm writing the things I write mainly to amuse myself. :P

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Not at all, i read with attention each bit the info related to Bingo, quests text, titles text, etc, each week ;-)

Sergio :-)

MadeOfLions, should we hope for a dog or maybe even wolf as a cosmetic pet?

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

It's gratifying to know that those descriptions are being read! Half of the time it feels like I'm writing the things I write mainly to amuse myself. :P

MoL

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Well, I read them. Except for the crafting titles^^

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

It's gratifying to know that those descriptions are being read!

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I sit for a bit reading all quest text in bingo boffin before moving on cause very good story. :)

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

Me too! It feels like it's going so quickly.

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About a month ago you revealed that the quest of that week was written more than a year ago. So, now that we are several weeks past the midpoint, is it safe to deduce that you have all of Bingo's adventures planned (and possibly written) already? :)

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Originally Posted by TharbadThief

...now that we are several weeks past the midpoint, is it safe to deduce that you have all of Bingo's adventures planned (and possibly written) already? :)

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I've been making the Bingo quests in large batches, and had a number of batches already implemented when we flipped the switch last July. Most of the updates we've done have had more Bingo batches in them, so as a result we're pretty close to having the whole event in there by now. For the curious, the first major batch got us through Week 17, and the second major batch took it up to Week 28.

I've had the whole thing planned out since the beginning, although the actual writing and implementation is definitely the time-consuming part. I've played through the whole thing by now, and Arbor has given me a list of polish issues to take care of, but aside from that I think it's safe to say that Bingo's full adventure is mostly done. :)

MoL

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

I've been making the Bingo quests in large batches, and had a number of batches already implemented when we flipped the switch last July. Most of the updates we've done have had more Bingo batches in them, so as a result we're pretty close to having the whole event in there by now. For the curious, the first major batch got us through Week 17, and the second major batch took it up to Week 28.

I've had the whole thing planned out since the beginning, although the actual writing and implementation is definitely the time-consuming part. I've played through the whole thing by now, and Arbor has given me a list of polish issues to take care of, but aside from that I think it's safe to say that Bingo's full adventure is mostly done. :)

MoL

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Thanks for the answer! I definitely am curious. Thought I'd ask, as I don't know much about the production cycle in game industry .. and was wondering if you resemble G.R.R. Martin in that the writer gets caught up by the visual representation faster than he would feel comfortable. Keep up the good work :)

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

I've been making the Bingo quests in large batches, and had a number of batches already implemented when we flipped the switch last July. Most of the updates we've done have had more Bingo batches in them, so as a result we're pretty close to having the whole event in there by now. For the curious, the first major batch got us through Week 17, and the second major batch took it up to Week 28.

I've had the whole thing planned out since the beginning, although the actual writing and implementation is definitely the time-consuming part. I've played through the whole thing by now, and Arbor has given me a list of polish issues to take care of, but aside from that I think it's safe to say that Bingo's full adventure is mostly done. :)

MoL

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I know there are a lot of problems with Lotro right now, especially on the server/datacenter/lag side that Turbine is working to resolve.... but what is not a problem is the lack of original story lines such as the Bingo Boffin story. I have been thoroughly enjoying doing the quests on several of my characters, although only one character is completing it all the way for now....

Thank you MoL for all your efforts on this, and I certainly hope that once the Bingo Boffin story has been told, a new story will unfold.... perhaps a DWARF this time!

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

I've been making the Bingo quests in large batches, and had a number of batches already implemented when we flipped the switch last July. Most of the updates we've done have had more Bingo batches in them, so as a result we're pretty close to having the whole event in there by now. For the curious, the first major batch got us through Week 17, and the second major batch took it up to Week 28.

I've had the whole thing planned out since the beginning, although the actual writing and implementation is definitely the time-consuming part. I've played through the whole thing by now, and Arbor has given me a list of polish issues to take care of, but aside from that I think it's safe to say that Bingo's full adventure is mostly done. :)

MoL

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I'm enjoying the episodic release format immensely. Any chance we're going to see more of these in the future?

Just wanted to add another note of appreciation for the latest episode. I've never visited this part of Mirkwood and really enjoyed it along with the episode theme. It is hard to believe so many weeks have passed already..

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Originally Posted by MadeOfLions

It's gratifying to know that those descriptions are being read! Half of the time it feels like I'm writing the things I write mainly to amuse myself. :P

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I enjoy taking the time to read all of the text for every quest, deed, title, etc. in the game. (Probably why it took me several years to reach cap on just one character. :D) I'm frustrated with how lackadaisical the descriptions have been since HD.

This weeks episode while good overall, had a major roadblock in the way of TERRIBLE directions at the start.

The fact that 'east' encompasses two-thirds of Mirkwood is a terrible clue. At least add the name of the next clue area to it like, 'east towards Emyn Lum" or somesuch.

I seriously don't mind a little searching, I find it a challenge. But this one was just bad. East could simply mean across the bridge to the ghost town, or like in this case, ALL the way across Mirkwood. Terrible. You're better than this MoL.

The clues do point you in the right direction though, east, east, and then south-east to a very specific named location. The clues say to talk to people so it seems logical that you'd head towards the hubs in the direction given. There aren't that many friendlies out there to talk to, after all.

Another good story although spent over an hour before finding Willem Whisker, gave up an used the wiki hehe, wasn't expecting that far east into dol guldur but i guess we had to go there at some point :)

Enjoyed this episode very much, we got to use our brains. so little content requires thought anymore that it was nice to actually have to figure things out :)

I didn't have any problems with today's episode. This is how my search went:

- One of the persons in Haunted Inn anticipated, that WW will not likely be in Audaghaim anymore, so the ghost town near the inn is probably out of the question. Also the quest level 68 is rather revealing - I might have to travel to the gates of Dol Guldur, eventually.
- I gotta continue more east and see if there are NPCs I can talk to. First quest hub that comes to mind is Ost Galadh. If WW isn't seen there, I know he's somewhere between HI and OG.
- Yeah, they saw WW run past the place.
- Thangulhad folks state the new direction.
- I actually went through the gates and searched the area for ~10 minutes before following the road back and saw the elf. "Don't go fishing farther than where the sea is", I told myself.
- The last directions were obvious.

My biggest worry with the Bingo quests is that there will be some item to barter for in the last week that'll cost more badges than I have left to spend. And I haven't even been buying everything on offer, but being choosy with how I spend my badges.

I've been running it with two level 100s, and decided to bring my 3rd level 100 out of mothballs to start the quests, get caught up, and not spend any tokens on the way, to have a stash of badges available just in case. Please keep the barter items not bound to character! :)

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Originally Posted by ShireDweller

My biggest worry with the Bingo quests is that there will be some item to barter for in the last week that'll cost more badges than I have left to spend. And I haven't even been buying everything on offer, but being choosy with how I spend my badges.

I've been running it with two level 100s, and decided to bring my 3rd level 100 out of mothballs to start the quests, get caught up, and not spend any tokens on the way, to have a stash of badges available just in case. Please keep the barter items not bound to character! :)

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I haven't spent a single token so far. I'll wait to see the end, so I can do some maths and take what I want.

I only spend my tokens on the pets to give to my characters initially, but mainly to action off. I took my level 45 all the way to umber goat. Gave one to my dwarf (because for some reason to me a goat seems the perfect pet for a dwarf) and named it Dopey. And one to my LM (like he needs more pets) and named that one Goatdalf. But sold several others at a fair price. Need to level up more to get to Moria for that beetle.

My only gripe as far as pets go; Double goats, double beetles, double squirrels. Just don't get any reasoning for repeats, except maybe it's a matter of cutting corners. Kinda feels that way to me at least. Would have been nice to have something like a wolf, instead of yet another squirrel. Looking forward to when a couple of my toons reach 100 and I can go through the entire series nonstop. Has been loads of fun and making a wee bit of gold from it is nice too.

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Originally Posted by Daguest

I haven't spent a single token so far. I'll wait to see the end, so I can do some maths and take what I want.

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This is the approach I'm taking which, unfortunately, takes some of the fun out of it since I don't get to enjoy any of the rewards as I progress through the chain. The alternative... Finding out at the end that I don't have enough tokens to get something I really want... Too risky.

One of the biggest problems with the vague clues is that the one at Thangulhad was invisible to me. Of all the people there, the only ones who had anything to say were also the ones who gave repeatables, so you couldn't see a blue ring over their heads because the quest ring (in my case, a gray one) superseded it. I went by them how many times I don't know before I realized.

Then the scout along the way who had the last clue was easily overlooked as well. A classic case of, if you happen to use the route that the quest creator had in mind, it seemed like a natural progression, but if for any reason you happened to choose a different path, and steered even a tiny bit out of the way, you won't see it. Me and a kinmate were both going back and forth in the area for way too long before I happened to find it.

I can see what the writer had in mind, but I think it just didn't work. Of all the places to require us to wander aimlessly because the clues aren't really clues, Mirkwood is the poorest choice. Between the gloom, the contours of the land, and the lack of a single obvious route between any two points, it's way too easy to miss things. In the end it became realistic at the expense of being fun.

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Originally Posted by HunterGreen

One of the biggest problems with the vague clues is that the one at Thangulhad was invisible to me. Of all the people there, the only ones who had anything to say were also the ones who gave repeatables, so you couldn't see a blue ring over their heads because the quest ring (in my case, a gray one) superseded it. I went by them how many times I don't know before I realized.

Then the scout along the way who had the last clue was easily overlooked as well. A classic case of, if you happen to use the route that the quest creator had in mind, it seemed like a natural progression, but if for any reason you happened to choose a different path, and steered even a tiny bit out of the way, you won't see it. Me and a kinmate were both going back and forth in the area for way too long before I happened to find it.

I can see what the writer had in mind, but I think it just didn't work. Of all the places to require us to wander aimlessly because the clues aren't really clues, Mirkwood is the poorest choice. Between the gloom, the contours of the land, and the lack of a single obvious route between any two points, it's way too easy to miss things. In the end it became realistic at the expense of being fun.

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I thought the information from the Elf in Thangulhad was all that was needed at that point. He said Willem went SE towards Fennis Guldor but wasn't sure if he is on the other side of the wall or not. I went SE to FG,looked around, went thru the gate and looked around in that area and there was Willem. I never even found the scout elf along the way. I mean people had to know the questline was going into Dol Guldur at some point. The part i didn't like was then going all the way back to Bingo in Lothlorien. All in all a fun quest imo.

I didn't see the elf in Thangulhad either. Could it be bugged ?

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Originally Posted by Daguest

I didn't see the elf in Thangulhad either. Could it be bugged ?

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There are 2 that have something to say about the Bingo quest. In these kinda "Information gathering" quests, it's best to talk to everyone who have a ring above their head - be it grey, golden, or blue. They could have more than one quest's comments in their dialogue list. It seems some players have missed some of the clues because they only saw grey quest rings, not the blue ones, and didn't think those NPCs would be part of Bingo quest line, too.

The wandering around Lothlorien and Mirkwood was a welcome change because I could file /bug reports on the lag in different places to my normal Pelennor Fields journeys.