A Letter from Executive Producer Aaron Campbell

Aren't the changes to the North Downs basically unneeded? As it is, you can go from the Lonelands to the Evendim without missing a beat, really. It's after Evendim that is a huge problem in the game.

I realize you'll get to that eventually, but it seems like the Trollshaws/Mistry Mountain should have been the priority for the overhaul.

Um... not to sound ungrateful or anything, but what happened to Kate?

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Originally Posted by Rowan

Hello all! I’m Aaron “Rowan” Campbell, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online.*

Update 13 (and LOTRO’s 7^th Anniversary) are coming up soon (He said it! Not me!- Sapience). There is a long list of new features with U13, but I want to highlight some of the key items and the great folks that are working on them.

Epic Book: We’re going to Flooded Isengard! MadeofLions has put together an epic experience, where you finally get to experience life as an Ent.

North Downs: This is a vast and classic region. Budgeford is digging in to modernize and improve the space, much like she’s done in the past with Moria.

Fangorn Forest: Quickbeam needs your help! JWBarry has led the charge to build out new quests in Southern Fangorn, including a special friend you might earn.

In addition, mail will now support multiple attachments. VIPs will be able to open mail in the wilderness through your mail alert. Inventory is getting entirely new management options. And we have a new prototype of Hobnangians that we expect to release later this year.

As Kate mentioned, we’re pressing forward to Gondor! We’re digging in deep (but not too deep) to continue the journey through Middle-earth. I look forward to telling you more about our plans for 2014 and into 2015 in the near future.

Rowan

*For those that remember me, I’ve been with LOTRO since 2006. I stepped away over the last year to run Dungeons and Dragons Online. Now I’m back in Middle-earth and thrilled to be working with the LOTRO team again.

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I'm not usually the one to post this sort of thing... well, really, any time... but somehow it was the only thing that applied!

http://youtu.be/p3G5IXn0K7A

That aside... Comments!

Epic Book: Sounds good; a shame it also requires the xpac. At least it doesn't require an extra purchase, though, and that it'll merely be added onto the HD epic.

North Downs: Super excited to see what it looks like! I've been saving my baby toon (my warden) for just this occasion! Any word on the Misties and Trollshaws? I had thought someone (Sapience?) had said they would also be in U13? Not overly impatient, but as my warden is my final toon to level up (my burg and Landy mini are both well on their way through their Evendim>Forochel route) and I'm hoping to take a ND>Trollshaws>Misties route with him, to experience the new/altered content.

Fangorn Forest: Excited to see this as well! I assume this is a free-for-VIP quest pack/area? But... oh my gosh! Tell me, please, what you mean by "a special friend you might earn"!

Mail/Inventory: WOOO! *points to above vid!!!* Multiple attachments, remote access for VIPs, and whole new inventory management! ^_^

Hobnangians: I never experienced the original and my curiosity has always been piqued in regards to this. Can't wait to see what it's like (even if it's not in U13)!

And naturally, Gondor: Eager to continue the story! I assume this (like Hobs) isn't coming with U13; can't wait to hear more. :)

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Originally Posted by Sapience

How about if we show it to you instead? I'm going to draft the engineer who revamped the system to do a live stream with me as soon as we can. I'll get him to walk us through the changes, how things will work, and hopefully answer some questions along the way.

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I'd love to see the system live!

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Originally Posted by Sapience

That was it.

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A little underwhelmed. With the intention (last I read) to make some sort of LOTRO store purchase for access to freepside Moors, we really need more VIP-only perks. As awesome as this one will be, it doesn't really make up for losing the exclusivity of freepside Moors. :/

Last but certainly not least: Welcome back Rowan!

And, when I first read the OP, I didn't even think that Kate has moved on (if so, fare thee well!). It is possible to have more than one Executive Producer, from what I understand. Has she actually moved on, or are they merely teaming up now? With so many rumors flying around regarding the unfortunate layoffs, it's hard to know what to believe and what not, especially when it's not told clearly. :/

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Originally Posted by Rowan

Thanks for all your concerns and your well-wishes.

I want to provide a fairly complete picture of our goals for this year and next year, so I'm holding off on any partial answers. Bear with me for now.

The team is focused on pushing U13 through to code freeze and preparing for LOTRO's 7th Anniversary. If you've noted my style on DDO, I prefer to be direct and also to be sure when I commit the team to a direction. I will have a lot more to say as we get closer to the Anniversary.

It's good to be back!

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Welcome Back!

The mention of Ents has made me happy. The mention of JWBarry's return to quest and landscape involvement, even more so. Now i'm excited about the new quests, and most of all, the balance issues being addressed properly, as we know you and he both actually play and understand our beloved game.

Perhaps there's even the possibility of some new instances, and new scaled content, if not new raids, late in the year?

Oh, and two posts in one day from you that are clear and devoid of spin/ambiguity. Happy to wait for direct answers. Direct is good! *happy dance*

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Originally Posted by Rowan

Hello all! I’m Aaron “Rowan” Campbell, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online.*

In addition, mail will now support multiple attachments. VIPs will be able to open mail in the wilderness through your mail alert. Inventory is getting entirely new management options. And we have a new prototype of Hobnangians that we expect to release later this year.

Rowan

*For those that remember me, I’ve been with LOTRO since 2006. I stepped away over the last year to run Dungeons and Dragons Online. Now I’m back in Middle-earth and thrilled to be working with the LOTRO team again.

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Welcome Back Rowan; good to have you here again! May I suggest a simple VIP ability that should bring lots of subscriptions? Horse stables that go everywhere, always. Only for VIP of course... This seems like a simple thing to implement for us! :)

Rowan!
There's a name that I remember from distant ages. Good to see you back here. Please be forthcoming and open with LotRO, it would make a refreshing change from the past few years.

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Originally Posted by Rowan

In addition, mail will now support multiple attachments.

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I remember this being asked for by everyone 6 years ago, but hey better late than never...

now if only this housing update we've been waiting for for years would be released...

Ever since this game went to the f2p model, it's been dumbed down more and more every update. Is it because if there is a challenge to the game, ez2p players might not play anymore? the game is just too easy. we are soloing 3 mans, 2 manning 6 man instances, skraids are being done with 2-6 players, even tier 3, just to be challenging. the only things challenging in the game anymore are bfe t2c, and flight t2c...Bring back multi boss raids. bring back gloom and radiance. not every level cap player should have the best gear. there should be a reward for knowing how to play your character, and working well with others. i have toons in two raiding kins, and both lost more than 2/3 of their active members with the HD expansion. big battles are monotonous, and pve is a cakewalk...to be honest, if i hadn't paid for 12 months back in Novermer, I'd likely be joining my kinnies. from the sound of it, we are getting fluff in the update, rather than quality content. bring turbine back to pre-wb days, when everything wasnt handed to you, or sold to you...

Its sad how you totally ignore questions about PvMP. But no1 is surprised i think! So im gonna ask again! Any news in PvMP in upcoming updates? Thank you for no answer.

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Originally Posted by Sapience

I'm sure Aaron will chime in at some point along the line with his own comments, but I wanted to pick these two up right off the back.



How about if we show it to you instead? I'm going to draft the engineer who revamped the system to do a live stream with me as soon as we can. I'll get him to walk us through the changes, how things will work, and hopefully answer some questions along the way.




I'll just point out that Aaron was the person who helped me draft the original Players Council concept and then implemented it on DDO as well. He's already asked a number of questions on a variety of topics.



That was it.

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The player council doesn't speak for the community so that is a bad example of listening to the community.

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Originally Posted by Rowan

Thanks for all your concerns and your well-wishes.

I want to provide a fairly complete picture of our goals for this year and next year, so I'm holding off on any partial answers. Bear with me for now.

The team is focused on pushing U13 through to code freeze and preparing for LOTRO's 7th Anniversary. If you've noted my style on DDO, I prefer to be direct and also to be sure when I commit the team to a direction. I will have a lot more to say as we get closer to the Anniversary.

It's good to be back!

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I'll be glad to read your goals. It's what I would like to see from you guys, but I have one request. Please, please! Do not make those goals vague!

ok, but what about the first age?

Grimsin'sRiders for the tradition if we can have the corrupt pvp with fc and dishonourable treatments between frep and crep, if I allow this one that a crep and a frep make traps united, can allow him the rest, and what I say is that all the races can be all the classes

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Originally Posted by Rowan

...Fangorn Forest: Quickbeam needs your help! JWBarry has led the charge to build out new quests in Southern Fangorn, including a special friend you might earn...

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OMG OMG OMG! Are we getting pet ent seedlings? :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Rowan

Thanks for all your concerns and your well-wishes.

I want to provide a fairly complete picture of our goals for this year and next year, so I'm holding off on any partial answers. Bear with me for now.

The team is focused on pushing U13 through to code freeze and preparing for LOTRO's 7th Anniversary. If you've noted my style on DDO, I prefer to be direct and also to be sure when I commit the team to a direction. I will have a lot more to say as we get closer to the Anniversary.

It's good to be back!

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Welcome back Rowan!

And may I take this opportunity to thank you for always being someone who would engage with the community in the past (whether on the forums, or community videos etc). I hope your return to LOTRO and the new position still allows you to engage with the community and put a more public face on the senior hierarchy of the LOTRO team.

While I know you are one who wouldn't want to give out false hope or promises, or set unrealistic expectations for the future of LOTRO, sometimes all the community wants/needs is a little clarification and assurance on certain issues that are important to them. I hope that - within the obvious limitations that go with the job, of course - you are able to be as open and honest about the future direction of the game as possible.

We - the community - don't necessary need to know WHAT is coming, or WHEN it is hoped to be released, sometimes just the reassurance that it's in the plans will go a long way to making people happy. So for example, although no new traditional instances are planned for 2014, going on the record to state that it is planned (if not necessarily promised) that a new cluster would be released in 2015 rather than leaving things in the dark would help to soften the blow and reassure those of us concerned about this issue. The same would hold true for any issue in the game.

Communication is the key to customer satisfaction. I hope we will have more of it with you at the helm, and look forward to reading any more information you are able to share about the plans for LOTRO in the future.

First of all, Hello Aaron, welcome to LOTRO.

Second, we have 3 Blue Names in this one thread and one being an Exec Producer with own Forum account... Unheard of!... I must be on the unofficial LOTRO forum where communication is by far more open and superior.

Perhaps you would like to pop over there and say hi. I would give you the address, but it is impossible. They are also extremely passionate about LOTRO and they also are to the point. There are some incredibly knowledgeable and funny people there too.

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Originally Posted by Sapience

This isn't new to be honest. I've always encourage people to read the words written and not to to assign meaning or intent to them. A very large amount of disappointment can be avoided by not trying to dig out some deeper, probably nonexistent, meaning only to find out that it you've created an idea in your mind that did not exist in the speaker's (typers?).

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Nothing new in the way this post is written.

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Originally Posted by podgie_bear

I see no mention of balance issues in the update, when are they likely to be addressed? It is frustrating as hell haviing mobs die as soon as you look at them. I have skills I have picked up from the skill trees that I have never even seen because everything dies before I can use them! What is the point of that? I am killing red mobs with basic skills I got back in the intro, when am I going to get a chance to use the tier 2 and higher skills from my skill trees? I have characters in the mid 40's who still haven't managed to try out all their skills because they are killing everything too quick!

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Absolutely! I would have thought the balance issues would be treated as an emergency with Turbine. Alas, we are (greeted?} with really loud silence. I have a Warden I would like to try. I keep hearing the Warden is a complicated class, but no way can I learn him when he will just one shot everything. I refuse to play him.

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Originally Posted by rosey21

I would also add mounted combat & wish they would stop adding it to zones.

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Leave my War Horse alone! :)

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Originally Posted by Lyzau

Thank you for the update and welcome back Aaron Campbell. I hope to hear from you more frequently this year!

I'm a bit disheartened to read that the new Epic Book can only be started if the previous one has been completed. This means that my alts will not be doing the new Book, as pushing my main character through the Epic Battles once was more than enough. It's a shame really, because that means less playtime and less fun with my alts.

I'm also confused about the Housing update. I understand that Kate Paiz made no such commitment or promise in so many words, but this is an issue that has been dragging its feet for a long time already, and I honestly believed that Housing being "high on the list" actually meant something tangible. Perhaps I misunderstood Sapience, but it feels as if it is now suggested that players should not read any meaning into such words other than what it literally says: it's on somebody's list.

Other than the confusion about the Housing, and the resistance against dragging my alts through the EB's in order to continue the Epic story, I am looking forward to the coming update. Thank you for the VIP perk, though I will most certainly not be making use of it as my inventory is always already overflowing when wandering around in the wilds, so no room to open up mail as well.

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Best not to read the words at all! The words "high on the List" is a bit tricky for me to comprehend.

Yes, 10+ pages of ideas for Housing that have been duplicated over and over again from past years, and still, nothing! Has anyone from Turbine actually read the Official Housing Thread? We know that Turbine staff do not log onto the forums, that nasty long weekend of Porn and Spam is proof of that.

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Originally Posted by PoeticNightmare

I agree. Personally, I feel Turbine's method of communication are incredibly odd. There is too much that is vague or "beat around the bush" which inevitably leads to much speculation and assumption. Sometimes we are told that things are obvious in those vague statements and other times that we shouldn't assume things unless literally stated. But, I for one "assumed" the license had been extended based on the "we plan to continue supporting lotro" and was led to believe I was correct to assume. Other times we should never assume? I don't know.

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PoeticNightmare speaks the truth.

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Originally Posted by Asheron86

I remember this being asked for by everyone 6 years ago, but hey better late than never...

now if only this housing update we've been waiting for for years would be released...

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You need to read the our Community Managers comments and references, apparently you will obtain all the information you need from them. Housing is High on the List, (shrugs) no idea how to interpret that the Turbine way.

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Originally Posted by Rowan

Thanks for all your concerns and your well-wishes.

I want to provide a fairly complete picture of our goals for this year and next year, so I'm holding off on any partial answers. Bear with me for now.

The team is focused on pushing U13 through to code freeze and preparing for LOTRO's 7th Anniversary. If you've noted my style on DDO, I prefer to be direct and also to be sure when I commit the team to a direction. I will have a lot more to say as we get closer to the Anniversary.

It's good to be back!

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What?!, no silly word games. Just plain speak..... OK cool.

What?! the words "direct" "commit" and "direction" were used. OK cool.

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Originally Posted by DJ_JD

I'll be glad to read your goals. It's what I would like to see from you guys, but I have one request. Please, please! Do not make those goals vague!

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Now, that would be amazing to see.


Aaron,

I may be just a player, but I helped pay your Salary the other Blue Names and everyone one else at Turbine!... and I helped fund your future, Turbine!

I am a Lifer (Dec 2007), I was a TP Purchaser, I have spent hundreds of $$$ on this Game and am still a Stakeholder, a small tiny one now, but I am here... well, sort of.. haven't played for weeks, can't bring myself to log in, and I tried a couple of times on a rainy weekend, just couldn't... Loved the game too much to see it as it is now.

I want to know that the Turbine blades have not rusted off, because lets face it Sir, Turbine has done nothing over the past several months to advertise or imply otherwise. Porn on the forums, balance issues (to put it mildly), super lag for people, very poorly thought out quests... ignoring and neglecting an important player base who cry out for raids etc ( I do not raid, but I feel and know their pain)... I could go on, lets just say ... The experience has been horrid.

I want to know that WB has full faith in Turbine.

I want to know the health of this Game and it does actually have a future. Not one cent will Turbine be getting from me until I see this promised plain speaking, and LOTRO is not winding down.

Thank you.
J_Rad

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Originally Posted by YamydeAragon

OMG OMG OMG! Are we getting pet ent seedlings? :rolleyes:

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OMG an EntWife ! :)

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Originally Posted by Grimsin'sRiders

Um... not to sound ungrateful or anything, but what happened to Kate?

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She is no longer on the team.

Hopefully we can get some things done with the game now.

Welcome back, and thank you for the clear communication.

I guess the mail thing is ok. I'm disappointed that I won't be able to do the epic because of the gating, but I haven't enjoyed the epic since pre-Rohan, so I'll live with that.

I really really hope we aren't getting some kind of cosmetic pet thing unless it's confined to housing areas.

The only improvements that would get me truly engaged in the game again (and my friends and family as well) are (1) challenging new group content; (2) a meaningful housing revamp that includes a significant increase in quantity and flexibility of item placement; (3) fixes to bugs and broken content like We Cannot Get Out; and (4) rebalancing so that groups of mobs many levels higher aren't easy to kill by my weakest characters. Without any mention of those fixes, I can't say I'll be planning to play more after this update.

Welcome Rowan!
Although there will certainly be significant lead time before new leadership can be evidenced in-game I still grasp onto this as a hopeful sign given the direction LOTRO has taken of late.

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Originally Posted by rosey21

She is no longer on the team.

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verification / link?

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Originally Posted by FittyBolger

Welcome Rowan!
Although there will certainly be significant lead time before new leadership can be evidenced in-game I still grasp onto this as a hopeful sign given the direction LOTRO has taken of late.




verification / link?

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Sapience........

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Originally Posted by rosey21

Sapience........

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Could you possibly provide a source to this?

Yay! I'm thrilled about the mail and inventory updates! I'm a VIP so the idea of being able to open mail where ever I am makes me incredibly happy! As a player who doesn't want to fork out a fortune for the shared storage between my toons, mailing is a real pain. When I have multiple items to send between my toons, only being able to send one item at a time becomes very annoying and tedious. Look forward to the update and more info :)

One thing that IS bugging me though, is there a chance in future updates that building guild rep will be quicker/easier? I'm level 53 and I'm with the tailors guild, and I ONLY just hit expert of the guild (third one in), considering I've been crafting since level 10. Building guild rep takes far too long and it's starting to annoy me. I want to buy improved recipes, but by the time I can actually craft and equip them, I will have far out-levelled them, because it takes too long to level up in the guild. I hope this is something that can be taken into consideration in the future.

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Originally Posted by KarooOstrich

Could you possibly provide a source to this?

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By speaking to him. Feel free to talk to him yourself though.

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Originally Posted by rosey21

By speaking to him. Feel free to talk to him yourself though.

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Okay then...
Err, thanks. ;)