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

[frickinmuck]

We need you to listen to and learn from others on this. (1) Bad idea, would not only NOT enhance but make more clunky the efforts to use pots by many players, (2) Would unnecessarily change a gameplay system that has existed largely without complaint for seven years, and (3) would take up the time of Turbine Team members that is preciously thin already.

I know you have a bee in your bonnet about this for some reason. Get it out. It is concerning that (IIRC) you are on the player council and might actually have someone at Turbine listen to you on the matter.

A] I am not on the player's council, I don't know where you got that impression. I am an ordinary player just like you. I don't want some rumour started about me, intentionally or not.
B] I am not going to discuss the potion/salve issue any further. It is a digression and despite the condescending and outright rude replies here, I am not going to comment on the issue except to say that everyone is entitled to express their own opinion, and I stand behind my own despite how much you and the other guy seem bent on 'schooling' me. I am sure the devs will do what they think is best and I trust them to manage their time and resources effectively.

Players tend not to use sparring areas. They've adding sparring areas in the past that end up unused. I asked some sparring players in the market area of Galtrev why they weren't using the sparring area in Galtrev and was just laughed at. Sparring seems to be more about annoying other players, or being bored to death in the public gathering area, than in having an actual arena.

I don't think people necessarily want to annoy. My impression is that, in general, people want to have fun where other people congregate, and sparring is one of the few ways to interact with and entertain others. Like music and dancing. I know for a long time the Snowbourn tavern was a sparring locale and I really enjoyed it. People would hang out there in between raids and spar and watching the spars was a fun way to pass the time while waiting for the next instance to fire up.

I am still searching for that HD sparring arena. Haven't had any luck yet. If anyone finds it post an update here so we can all check it out.

[dannypl]

Maybe in update 13 we will get some equally pressing 'content' like a revamp of all the icons associated with each class' skills!

Hey hey whoa whoa whoa... The percentage of the player base that looks at the icons is only in the single digits, and think of how much it would cost to draw all those icons???

[Angadan]

A] I am not on the player's council, I don't know where you got that impression. I am an ordinary player just like you. I don't want some rumour started about me, intentionally or not.

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to insult. Truly. I don't know how I got the impression you were on the player council, but clearly I was mistaken. I apologize.

As for the draughts and salves, ok. I feel a lot better about us just agreeing to disagree now.

[frickinmuck]

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 - Crickhollow

1. Any word on if/when we’ll get a dev in for one of these
   The earlier streams, the 2:30 – 3pm ones, will be the ones where it will be possible to have devs present because that is when they are in the office and available.
2. Any level limit to the HtoI events
   Not really, no. The higher the level the better able you will be to kill things and protect the Hobbit, but anyone can participate.
3. What about lag in these events
   The servers that do best and have the least amount of lag will be ones that remove cloaks, don’t use mounts etc. If you want a good time with less lag, remove your cloak, get rid of the pets, get rid of the mounts.
4. Has Hoarsedev made any comment lately about getting keymapping added to Class Trait Presets
   Not that he is aware of, but right now they are taking suggestions for the next 20 questions and that would be a perfect one to ask
5. Scaling of Moria instances
   Don’t know at this time – don’t have any info about scaling of any instances for that matter
6. Crafting instances and daily quests
   There has been some discussion about crafting instances, he doesn’t know about daily quests. He will find out more and try to give a timeline for that.
7. Will LotRO be available in any other languages
   No current plans to localize beyond the current languages offered
8. Who is the best foosball player in Turbine
   At the risk of angering those not chosen… the localization team plays the most so they are likely the best. They play every day around lunch and are really good.
9. Who is the best LM among the Turbine staff
   Doesn’t know, doesn’t really know who plays what among the staff. He’s going to ask around the office and see if he can find out who thinks they’re best at what class
10. How will other language servers be able to chat with him when he comes to their server
    When he goes to the French and German server he will be bringing a translator from the localization team or from someone in the office to help facilitate discussion
11. What characters do you have and what levels
    He does have at least one of every class to at least 60 except his warden who is a bit lower
12. Any changes planned for the Ettenmoors
    Jinjaah is putting together balance-related stuff but he doesn’t know much detail on that. Some of it will be coming with update 13 but that’s all he can really say.
13. Has there been any consideration given to making it so the 'normal' versions of instruments could be wielded without using up the range slot
    To the best of his knowledge, no
14. What about balancing
    They knew balance was going to be an issue with the class changes, and there are adjustments that have been made and will be made as part of a continuing process. Doesn’t know any specifics about classes or skills that may be addressed as part of the balance thing, but all classes are being reviewed regularly and adjusted as needed.
15. How long does it take to balance
    Balancing is a constant thing that is always being adjusted – it’s never considered “done” there are always improvements that can be made
16. How many people work at Turbine
    He’s lost count. When he first started he knew everyone and everyone knew him, but the team has been growing steadily over the past 3 years and continues to grow.
17. PvP new map or expansion
    No, there’s not likely to be a new PvP map in the future, and he doesn’t see that answer changing. Adding more maps will only expand the terrain where the limited PvP player base will have to try to find action – spreading it even more thin - and it won’t change or improve the combat, so the value of adding another map is limited.
18. Will the new content be available for non-VIP players
    It will be free for VIP and the questpacks purchasable for everyone else
19. One thing you could change in the game what would it be
    For him it was the ability to move things between alts more easily, and shared storage really addressed that for him
20. Will there be more hobbies added in the future
    No new hobbies planned to the best of his knowledge. He will be passing suggestions on, but there are no current plans to add more hobbies. Golf has been discussed in the past.
21. Any hope of making the festivals less grindy for the altaholics among us
    He will pass the suggestion along.
22. Why are there no LI instruments
    As far as he knows that was just a design decision the team made
23. What stage is housing currently at
    Will have to defer all questions regarding housing to some point in the future, sorry
24. Why are there no Dwarf females
    If you notice when you create a dwarf, you are not creating a male or a female, you are just creating a Dwarf. Dwarven gender cannot be distinguished, not even by other Dwarves. This is how it is in the lore. In the lore Dwarves are very similar right down to voices and manner of dress. How players choose to portray their Dwarves is entirely up to them. In the earlier days of LotRO when creating a Dwarf it used to say male but players pointed out the issue with the lore and that is why it was changed to genderless.
25. Are there any plans to update the family options in the game such as adoptions and surnames
    No current plans that he is aware of
26. Who does the voice acting in the game, how can one get in on it
    A number of people do voices in LotRO – a pretty good-sized group. The first step is to get a demo tape done, then apply for some agencies and try to get gigs.
27. Any thoughts on other types of mounts - we have horses and goats, how about other types of animals
    As far as he knows there are no current plans to add new mount species, and if you are about to ask about flying mounts – no. But there may be other types of mounts added in the future. It’s possible.
28. Trivia on how coffee got into the game
    Landroval Coffee Crew made a very convincing pitch to Sapience about adding coffee to the game, he took it to the devs and had a long talk with them, arguing why it should be added and what it should do, the justification within the lore, etc. and they added it pretty much exactly as he suggested. It’s a proud accomplishment of his.
    If you have a suggestion that you’d like considered, make a post in the suggestions forum and make a convincing case, and it may end up in the game.
29. How can you improve FPS in LotRO
    Turn off anything you don’t absolutely need. Start your settings at low and tune them upward until you are happy with the result.
30. What new things can VIP expect this year
    Will be adding new content to the game on a pretty regular schedule this year, and it will all be free for VIP. Refer to Kate Paiz letter for a bit of an overview.
31. Whose idea was this event, and when did it come up
    First livestream he did he just jumped on and started leveling a character, and someone suggested trying to get him to Isengard, and he was killed a couple of times. And people in the chat started saying, “If it was MY server, we wouldn’t let you die” etc. and he thought about it that evening and decided it would be fun to give every server a try at getting him to Isengard. So essentially it was a community-created event.
32. When Mordor comes out will you do a walk there
    He loves that idea, totally game for it
33. Why doesn’t my server get to participate
    All 29 servers will get a chance to participate, but not all runs have yet been scheduled. Keep watching the forums and you will eventually see your server up there
34. How were the servers named
    Doesn't know how the old ones were named, but when the newer servers were added they had a poll that listed about a dozen names and asked the community to vote on what they thought the next servers should be named, and the top 4 were used
35. Will there be changes to improve or add to the RP experience
    Not aware of any planned changes to role playing coming, but that’s not to say it won’t happen
36. Back when Beta 4 came in suddenly a bunch of us had issues copying. Any hope of the issue being looked into and fixed
    Some players will always have problems, because any player could be coming from any server and it can cause issues especially from the former EU shards, and when a character copy fails it just fails.
37. If I had your powers Sapience, I'd be spawning monsters in areas they don't belong on my lunch break
    If Sapience started doing that he wouldn’t have a job for long. There are very explicit rules about what can be done on live servers, and they are strictly enforced. During the end of beta event anything goes, and crazy stuff happens. Dozens of Balrogs and Sarumans spawned in Bree, etc.
38. Are all Turbine GMs in the Boston area
    Most GMs and about 99% of employees in general are in the Boston area, although there are some GMs who live in the time zones they serve
39. What are you most excited about in terms of upcoming content
    There is something the devs are working on that they promised to do, that he’s been trying to get them to do for awhile. That’s all he can say for now
40. Is it possible in the future to have some kind of underwear
    If you take your gear off your character already is wearing a sort of underwear outfit
41. Favourite player-created/run event in-game
    Technically the Hobbits to Isengard event is a community-created event and he’s enjoying it. He also really likes the Fellowship Walk because of what it means and because it helps kids. And you can’t not mention Weatherstock – it’s incredible what Lonely Mountain Band have achieved with that event.

[Lohi]

[*]If I had your powers Sapience, I'd be spawning monsters in areas they don't belong on my lunch break
If Sapience started doing that he wouldn’t have a job for long. There are very explicit rules about what can be done on live servers, and they are strictly enforced. During the end of beta event anything goes, and crazy stuff happens. Dozens of Balrogs and Sarumans spawned in Bree, etc.

Ha, that sort of happened to me. I showed up at a MUD I helped start and run, but hadn't been there in a year, then spawned a monster like thing (harmless but scary) in town and was banned shortly after...

[Sapience]

Please note: I am paraphrasing here. Anything said here is coming through my interpretation of what he said, and is subject to being corrected by him so don't take all this as gospel.

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

Q/A Hobbits to Isengard - Crickhollow

• Any word on if/when we’ll get a dev in for one of these
  The earlier streams, the 2:30 – 3pm ones, will be the ones where it will be possible to have devs present because that is when they are in the office and available.
• Any level limit to the HtoI events
  Not really, no. The higher the level the better able you will be to kill things and protect the Hobbit, but anyone can participate.
• What about lag in these events
  The servers that do best and have the least amount of lag will be ones that remove cloaks, don’t use mounts etc. If you want a good time with less lag, remove your cloak, get rid of the pets, get rid of the mounts.
• Has Hoarsedev made any comment lately about getting keymapping added to Class Trait Presets
  Not that he is aware of, but right now they are taking suggestions for the next 20 questions and that would be a perfect one to ask
• Scaling of Moria instances
  Don’t know at this time – don’t have any info about scaling of any instances for that matter
• Crafting instances and daily quests
  There has been some discussion about crafting instances, he doesn’t know about daily quests. He will find out more and try to give a timeline for that.
• Will LotRO be available in any other languages
  No current plans to localize beyond the current languages offered
• Who is the best foosball player in Turbine
  At the risk of angering those not chosen… the localization team plays the most so they are likely the best. They play every day around lunch and are really good.
• Who is the best LM among the Turbine staff
  Doesn’t know, doesn’t really know who plays what among the staff. He’s going to ask around the office and see if he can find out who thinks they’re best at what class
• How will other language servers be able to chat with him when he comes to their server
  When he goes to the French and German server he will be bringing a translator from the localization team or from someone in the office to help facilitate discussion
• What characters do you have and what levels
  He does have at least one of every class to at least 60 except his warden who is a bit lower
• Any changes planned for the Ettenmoors
  Jinjaah is putting together balance-related stuff but he doesn’t know much detail on that. Some of it will be coming with update 13 but that’s all he can really say.
• Has there been any consideration given to making it so the 'normal' versions of instruments could be wielded without using up the range slot
  To the best of his knowledge, no
• What about balancing
  They knew balance was going to be an issue with the class changes, and there are adjustments that have been made and will be made as part of a continuing process. Doesn’t know any specifics about classes or skills that may be addressed as part of the balance thing, but all classes are being reviewed regularly and adjusted as needed.
• How long does it take to balance
  Balancing is a constant thing that is always being adjusted – it’s never considered “done” there are always improvements that can be made
• How many people work at Turbine
  He’s lost count. When he first started he knew everyone and everyone knew him, but the team has been growing steadily over the past 3 years and continues to grow.
• PvP new map or expansion
  No, there’s not likely to be a new PvP map in the future, and he doesn’t see that answer changing. Adding more maps will only expand the terrain where the limited PvP player base will have to try to find action – spreading it even more thin - and it won’t change or improve the combat, so the value of adding another map is limited.
• Will the new content be available for non-VIP players
  It will be free for VIP and the questpacks purchasable for everyone else
• One thing you could change in the game what would it be
  For him it was the ability to move things between alts more easily, and shared storage really addressed that for him
• Will there be more hobbies added in the future
  No new hobbies planned to the best of his knowledge. He will be passing suggestions on, but there are no current plans to add more hobbies. Golf has been discussed in the past.
• Any hope of making the festivals less grindy for the altaholics among us
  He will pass the suggestion along.
• Why are there no LI instruments
  As far as he knows that was just a design decision the team made
• What stage is housing currently at
  Will have to defer all questions regarding housing to some point in the future, sorry
• Why are there no Dwarf females
  If you notice when you create a dwarf, you are not creating a male or a female, you are just creating a Dwarf. Dwarven gender cannot be distinguished, not even by other Dwarves. This is how it is in the lore. In the lore Dwarves are very similar right down to voices and manner of dress. How players choose to portray their Dwarves is entirely up to them. In the earlier days of LotRO when creating a Dwarf it used to say male but players pointed out the issue with the lore and that is why it was changed to genderless.
• Are there any plans to update the family options in the game such as adoptions and surnames
  No current plans that he is aware of
• Who does the voice acting in the game, how can one get in on it
  A number of people do voices in LotRO – a pretty good-sized group. The first step is to get a demo tape done, then apply for some agencies and try to get gigs.
• Any thoughts on other types of mounts - we have horses and goats, how about other types of animals
  As far as he knows there are no current plans to add new mount species, and if you are about to ask about flying mounts – no. But there may be other types of mounts added in the future. It’s possible.
• Trivia on how coffee got into the game
  Landroval Coffee Crew made a very convincing pitch to Sapience about adding coffee to the game, he took it to the devs and had a long talk with them, arguing why it should be added and what it should do, the justification within the lore, etc. and they added it pretty much exactly as he suggested. It’s a proud accomplishment of his.
  If you have a suggestion that you’d like considered, make a post in the suggestions forum and make a convincing case, and it may end up in the game.
• How can you improve FPS in LotRO
  Turn off anything you don’t absolutely need. Start your settings at low and tune them upward until you are happy with the result.
• What new things can VIP expect this year
  Will be adding new content to the game on a pretty regular schedule this year, and it will all be free for VIP. Refer to Kate Paiz letter for a bit of an overview.
• Whose idea was this event, and when did it come up
  First livestream he did he just jumped on and started leveling a character, and someone suggested trying to get him to Isengard, and he was killed a couple of times. And people in the chat started saying, “If it was MY server, we wouldn’t let you die” etc. and he thought about it that evening and decided it would be fun to give every server a try at getting him to Isengard. So essentially it was a community-created event.
• When Mordor comes out will you do a walk there
  He loves that idea, totally game for it
• Why doesn’t my server get to participate
  All 29 servers will get a chance to participate, but not all runs have yet been scheduled. Keep watching the forums and you will eventually see your server up there
• How were the servers named
  Doesn't know how the old ones were named, but when the newer servers were added they had a poll that listed about a dozen names and asked the community to vote on what they thought the next servers should be named, and the top 4 were used
• Will there be changes to improve or add to the RP experience
  Not aware of any planned changes to role playing coming, but that’s not to say it won’t happen
• Back when Beta 4 came in suddenly a bunch of us had issues copying. Any hope of the issue being looked into and fixed
  Some players will always have problems, because any player could be coming from any server and it can cause issues especially from the former EU shards, and when a character copy fails it just fails.
• If I had your powers Sapience, I'd be spawning monsters in areas they don't belong on my lunch break
  If Sapience started doing that he wouldn’t have a job for long. There are very explicit rules about what can be done on live servers, and they are strictly enforced. During the end of beta event anything goes, and crazy stuff happens. Dozens of Balrogs and Sarumans spawned in Bree, etc.
• Are all Turbine GMs in the Boston area
  Most GMs and about 99% of employees in general are in the Boston area, although there are some GMs who live in the time zones they serve
• What are you most excited about in terms of upcoming content
  There is something the devs are working on that they promised to do, that he’s been trying to get them to do for awhile. That’s all he can say for now
• Is it possible in the future to have some kind of underwear
  If you take your gear off your character already is wearing a sort of underwear outfit
• Favourite player-created/run event in-game
  Technically the Hobbits to Isengard event is a community-created event and he’s enjoying it. He also really likes the Fellowship Walk because of what it means and because it helps kids. And you can’t not mention Weatherstock – it’s incredible what Lonely Mountain Band have achieved with that event.

I just realized I hadn't read through this and given my usual thumbs up, so here it is! Looks like an accurate recounting of what was asked and my replies.

[Zombie_Java_Joe]

If Sap doesn't do a "Taking the Hobbit to Erebor" in honor of the new Hobbit movies once he's completed his "Hobbit to Isengard" tour, I will be greatly disappointed by the missed opportunity.

[frickinmuck]

If Sap doesn't do a "Taking the Hobbit to Erebor" in honor of the new Hobbit movies once he's completed his "Hobbit to Isengard" tour, I will be greatly disappointed by the missed opportunity.

OMG hilarious. That barrels scene was such a highlight of both the book and the movie!

[Galuhad]

frickinmuck, will we get an update with Withywindle's Q&A?

[WhiteTalpa]

Thanks for this

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Seems the OP is either busy/bored/didn't catch the stream. (Not having a go, just to make it clear, as there's nothing which says you have to continue to do this and nothing which forced you to do it in the first place, so if I could I'd +rep you for the stuff you've already done )

Anyone else got a rough account of what happened during the latest stream? (or at least anything new since previous streams)

[frickinmuck]

frickinmuck, will we get an update with Withywindle's Q&A?

Yes, I will have it up later today. Sorry for the delay I was out of town for the weekend.

[Silmelin]

Yes, I will have it up later today. Sorry for the delay I was out of town for the weekend.

Thank you so much for sharing your notes with us!

[Laire]

Yes, I will have it up later today. Sorry for the delay I was out of town for the weekend.

Wait wait wait, you're not allowed to have a RL!



Thank you for doing this!

[Tosaf]

Seems the OP is either busy/bored/didn't catch the stream. (Not having a go, just to make it clear, as there's nothing which says you have to continue to do this and nothing which forced you to do it in the first place, so if I could I'd +rep you for the stuff you've already done )

Anyone else got a rough account of what happened during the latest stream? (or at least anything new since previous streams)

What, you have a life outside of LOTRO, totally unacceptable. Really thou, GREAT work and thanks for the effort.

[frickinmuck]

Here is the update from Withywindle. Thanks for your patience! I wasn't aware there were many people interested in these so it's good to know these are useful to some people.

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 - Withywindle

1. Who decides which players from which servers will take part?
   All servers will get a run at this event, and the schedule is periodically being updated with more dates/times for each server. As for who participates on each server, it’s whoever shows up and gets involved.
2. What is your personal opinion of the LI system
   Doesn’t have any particular problem with it as it is, but he knows that the team is looking into some stuff. He just got back the preliminary outline of the 20 questions that players submitted, and that question did get answered and it’s something the team is taking a look at.
3. Should we be worried there will be no expansion this year
   Considering that in the past they’ve done only one expansion a year and no other content, and this year they’re doing 4 content updates and no expansion, they are just responding to a lot of players have been saying over the past year, “How about we take a break from expansions and give us some really great content, flesh out the world, go back and fix some of the older stuff, revamp a few areas, and kind of just focus on improving the game instead of constantly expanding it.” So that’s what they’ve done.
4. If you could convert any appearance into a war-steed cosmetic, what would it be
   It’s already been done – the Steed of Night. It’s one of his all-time favourite appearances and it’s already been made into a war-steed cosmetic.
5. What is up with the Cremello steed codes for people who donated to Extra Life
   The request is in and as soon as he gets them he will send those out to those who donated last year.
6. Could we get a little info on housing
   He’s going to hold off until the 20 questions are published because there were some housing questions that got answered there. He says you’re going to be really happy with the answers.
7. Various people asking about future plans for the game
   All you need to do is read Kate’s letter, she really lays out what’s happening in the first quarter and gives a good overview of what to expect overall.
8. When 20 the questions answers be posted
   He just got them back, needs to go over them for typos, etc. and then put them up for translation. As soon as all that happens they will be posted. Probably mid next week.
9. How many questions did you end up answering for the 20 questions
   He thinks it was around 45 – 50 questions. Probably the largest one to date.
10. If you could session play anything within LotR content, what would it be
    Probably Sauron at the destruction of the ring, to see it from his point of view.
11. Will there be more side stories/regions added to the game in the future
    Right now the focus is on sticking pretty closely to the lore and the path of the fellowship, which is the top priority. The team is always looking at other areas and saying “I wish we could go here or there, or do this or that,” and they have taken detours in the past so it’s not unreasonable to expect that they will be doing it again in the future, but for now the priority is on the central story because we’re getting to the meat of it now.
12. Will there be more raids coming
    Currently no plans for raids, and he doesn’t see that changing from week to week, at least not for this year. He just saw that this question was answered by the team in the 20 questions, and that is the same answer they gave. No instance cluster raid type content is planned for this year.
13. Will new hobbies be added to the game
    There are no plans for new hobbies right now
14. Are there any real-life meet and greets coming up
    He is trying to put some together with some players, there are some discussions in that section of the forums. Right now it is looking like early April in Florida in the Orlando area, late March in North Carolina on the Eastern part of the state, and in the Boston area around the Pax timeframe. He will keep everyone updated in the forums as his plans solidify.
15. Is the Twitch channel an official Turbine stream
    Yes, it is, so any time you see something on this stream it is an official Turbine event
16. Chicago or Canadian meet and greet
    He did Buffalo NY once and there were a couple of Canadians there, but that’s the closest he’s ever come to a Canadian meet and greet. Chicago is a bit far out of the way from where they usually go. The meet and greets are basically him taking a day or two out of his vacation or work travel plans, looking at which places are between where he is and where he’s going, and then trying to squeeze something in if possible.
17. Various discussions between Sapience and players re: LotR Trival Pursuit and how no one ever wants to play it with them because they win all the time. Anecdote about how Sapience and the Turbine team used to dominate at Trivia in a bar near their old office and ended up wallpapering the marketing office walls with the gift certificates they won playing because they got so many.
18. Did you attend Winterstock
    Wasn’t able to attend but really wanted to go. He heard it was great and on par with Weatherstock. He does plan on attending Weatherstock this year.
19. Does anyone in the office speak Sindarin or Quenya
    He doesn’t know specifically the numbers but yes, and it’s more than one person. He does not.
20. Do other staff members attend Weatherstock
    You would probably be surprised at how often staff members have been in your raid, your kin, your fellowship and you haven’t known it. They do not give out info on their personal accounts, where or when they play or what they do in-game. He can almost guarantee that if you play a lot and especially on a North American server you have probably played with a dev or another member of the team at some point and you never knew it.
21. Any chance of servers coming back with old content on them such as pre-expansion SoA
    No, they have no plans of doing that. It is really impractical to try to maintain multiple code bases and multiple versions of the game that need to be debugged and managed. You end up creating a situation where you have the game you are making and then these various frozen points that may need debugging too, and you effectively end up with 2 or 3 or 4 different games to deal with. It’s not practical and they have no intentions of doing it.
22. What is happening with lotteries
    The power outage awhile back broke them, and until the hardware and system are repaired and back up and running he can’t even speculate on an ETA.
23. Are there any plans for a graphics overhaul or revamp
    Not currently in the cards
24. Where do you get the ideas for mannequin outfits
    They are almost always submitted by Starry Mantle or Cosmetic LotRO. They’ve been really generous in giving Turbine access to use their cosmetic designs, and they do a better job than he thinks the LotRO staff could even do in putting great outfits together.
25. Are there any steed design contests coming
    Not at the moment, but there are other player design contests being considered
26. How do you choose who you are following
    He says “Who am I following” and the first person who responds is usually the person he follows.
27. Once you are in a beta, do you get to participate in every beta after that
    Luck of the draw usually works out that way, but it’s not intentional. Being in one beta doesn’t guarantee you entry into the next.
28. Have monster players ever been outside of the moors, including beta
    Yes, on the Turbine internal servers. There is actually a video out there of the Russian team doing some interesting things, but it’s not something that will ever likely be done on live.
29. When will we get to find out which zones are being revamped
    Update 13 will see a few zones being revamped, not just one. The exact details will be in the 20 questions, and they are generally areas that players have been asking for updates on a lot. One of the areas that players have been asking for a revamp on the most will be getting revamped, and since the 20 questions are coming out next week he will spill the beans on that one – it’s the North Downs.
30. When we will get more info on the top secret thing you can’t give info on
    When it ceases being a top secret thing he can’t give info on. The secret thing has nothing to do with an NDA, it’s about the fact that Kate sits close enough that she could hit him with anything she wanted to from a distance, and he’s not ruining her surprise.
31. Doesn’t everyone pretty much take the same route
    No, everyone does a slightly different route, and there are enough variations that probably everyone will have their own take on what is the best route and we will likely see that evolve across the various servers.
32. Is there anything new that is non-LotRO coming from Turbine
    There is a game called Infinite Crisis that Turbine is working on. It’s a DC-themed MOBA where you get to be Batman – actually a whole bunch of different versions of Batman.
33. What are the odds of Twitch TV live streaming integration coming to LotRO
    He doesn’t know, but will pass the idea along.
34. Is there any chance of LMs getting a war wolf cosmetic appearance
    He was able to ask Deviled Egg because she was at her desk, and her response was: “It’s possible, but it’s something we’d have to think more about and work out how we’d go about doing it, and there’s really not an ETA on when we might do something like that,” but it’s something she will think about and consider.
35. Which line do you prefer on your hunter
    He tends to use red line
36. Can’t you use data to get a better understanding of who uses or doesn’t use a given system
    That is exactly how they make decisions about what to do or what not to do, is based on the data and who does what and when and how often.
37. Are there new character portrait frames planned for the 7th anniversary
    He doesn’t know, but he does know that 7th anniversary planning in terms of items has already begun, but he doesn’t have exact details on what that will be
38. When is the anniversary
    In April
39. Will lifetime subscriptions ever be available again
    No, there are no intentions of ever bringing those back for sale, but they do occasionally bring them back as prizes.
40. Will the Rift be scaled
    There is actually a pretty long answer on scaling raids instances in the 20 questions coming up, on what will and won’t be scaled and why, so it’s better if you read that next week, but the Rift is not on the list, and probably not Carn Dûm either.
41. Do you play in the moors as a creep
    Yes, and he also plays as a freep as well. He prefers creep but enjoys both.
42. Will there be any new hairstyles added to the barber soon
    Probably not, he’s not aware of any immediate plans to do so.
43. Will you ever do the Bounders Bounty again
    He doesn’t know of immediate plans to do it, or how it might be redone, but it’s definitely something that is talked about. If not something similar, at least that type of event is definitely on the radar.
44. Are there any plans to add arms or animations for first person views
    No, there are no plans to do this. The game is really meant to be played 3rd person.
45. When will first age 95s be released
    He doesn’t have an ETA but will post it as soon as he does
46. If you had to pick a race, hobbit, elf or dwarf in real life, which would you be
    He would probably choose elf because of the ability to have great eyesight and run great distances without getting tired.
47. Do you know the status of Turbine point cards and where they might be available
    He doesn’t have that information, no
48. What is the status of your beard dyeing plans
    He has had a hard time finding anything appropriate for dyeing beards in Boston. Nothing that won’t also accidentally dye your face. Beard dyeing doesn’t seem to be all that common a thing.
49. Why don’t you scale characters instead of instances
    That was actually one of the questions answered extremely well in the upcoming 20 questions, but the short answer is because it’s a lot easier and more predictable, especially when scaling down, to scale instances and not characters.
50. What is your Twitter handle
    @rickheaton
51. What is being done about duplicated icons
    He didn’t see icons on the list for 12.3, it’s more likely to be dealt with in update 13 but it has been bugged and they are well aware of the problem.
52. Do you have pets at home
    Yes, he has a cat. A lot of people at Turbine have cats
53. Why are you being taken to Isengard by humans, elves and dwarves instead of orcs
    Because they are less likely to eat him, although he’s been dragged through swamps, dragged off a bridge and shoved into a crypt so he’s not so sure it’s any safer than traveling with orcs
54. How do changes come into the game
    Lots of different ways. The sparring timer change was mentioned in a livestream, players made a good argument for it and he took it to the team and they agreed, QA took a look at it and now it’s going to come in a patch. Balance and skill changes are brought forth by the systems team as a unit, and the developer for each class has a vision for where that class will go. The LotRO team will have a vision for where the game will go as a whole based on their design goal, and that will determine where they take things overall.
55. Do any of the Turbine story writers write their own books
    Yes, actually Berephon is a published author and Chris Pearson is also a published author so there are two that he knows of but there may be more.
56. Is there a question that players have never asked that you wish that they’d ask
    “Can I give you a million dollars?” No actually, players have asked him all kinds of questions, game related and not game related.
57. Does your wife play LotRO
    Yes, they actually play a bunch of MMOs together.
58. Do you get unlimited Turbine points
    They get a quarterly stipend of TP and their personal accounts are all VIP.
59. Are there any plans for server vs server PvP
    No, there are no current plans for that
60. Do you get the promotional items as employees
    Yes, usually they either get the items or the codes for them

[Galuhad]

Thanks for the write up frickinmuck Looking forward now to seeing the 20 (50?) questions.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

Your work is much appreciated as always One thing I would mention (just because I'm pernickety) is that I think 'Berafon' that you've quoted is actually Berephon, the lore dev guy - I presume Sapience just said the name aloud, in which case I can see why you've spelt it like that.

[Danchir]

I think there was one other question - if he's bothered by being asked the same questions over and over again.
The answer to which was 'No, not really'.

[Bel-Astarte]

I think there was one other question - if he's bothered by being asked the same questions over and over again.
The answer to which was 'No, not really'.

Good thing, huh?

[Sapience]

Your work is much appreciated as always One thing I would mention (just because I'm pernickety) is that I think 'Berafon' that you've quoted is actually Berephon, the lore dev guy - I presume Sapience just said the name aloud, in which case I can see why you've spelt it like that.

All the answers given were spoken, so that's probably the reason. Which is also why I think everyone should really thank frickinmuck for doing this. I try to answer a lot of things when in the stream and he does a great job of reporting back what I say and doing so faithfully. Once again his transcript is an accurate account of the most recent stream.

The only clarification I would make is about housing. There are a couple of questions in the upcoming 20 Questions (which we're changing the name of because we seem to answer more than 20 fairly regularly) related to housing and also Kinships and the answers are related. So that's why I think players will like the answers. You have to kind of put them all together.

I think there was one other question - if he's bothered by being asked the same questions over and over again.
The answer to which was 'No, not really'.

Nope, dont mind really. So many people, actually the majority, never read the forums or social media or other outlets and now with the stream I've noticed there are a whole new group of people asking questions both old and new so renanswering some questions is to be expected. That's not the same as someone ignoring 10 threads with the same answer to post a new one that says, "why don't you ever answer X." Those can be frustrating.

[Galuhad]

The only clarification I would make is about housing. There are a couple of questions in the upcoming 20 Questions (which we're changing the name of because we seem to answer more than 20 fairly regularly) related to housing and also Kinships and the answers are related. So that's why I think players will like the answers. You have to kind of put them all together.

Feeling really excited right now, I hope you're not getting my hopes up Sapience

[twistedmetalplayer21]

I wonder why cloaks make people lag so much...

[LethalLethality]

Really looking forward to the 20Q's (or 50Q's it seems) after reading this overview of the last livestream.

[Sapience]

I wonder why cloaks make people lag so much...

Cloaks do a couple of things. First, they're usually fairly unique among a group of players. Even if that uniqueness is just dye color. So that's additional rendering your PC is doing. They also have animations (flowing, waving cloaks). That's more rendering your PC is doing. When you're talking about 5-6 players you're probably not going to notice it if you has a reasonable PC. If you're talking about dozens you're going to starting noticing your PC having issues. Once you start talking about hundreds (which we tend to have during the streams, especially at the start), then you're just going to overwhelm most PCs. The same is true for mounts for the most part.

It's hard enough rendering 100-175 characters at once all trying to emote, play music, run, use abilities or whatever on top of the landscape rendering going on. Adding in cloaks and mounts just makes it that much worse. That's why I always ask everyone to turn off cloaks and dismount (The run is done on foot anyway) before we start.

Really looking forward to the 20Q's (or 50Q's it seems) after reading this overview of the last livestream.

The final count is 42. There's one answer that I'm super happy with. It took a few years to get there, but this is my favorite answer...

We’re working on this now.

You'll have to wait until we publish the whole list to know the question. I can tell you it has been asked for almost since launch, is in the suggestions forums often, gets answered "no" for technical reasons every time it is asked and is now in the works with the plan to have it ready for Update 13.