Twenty Questions – Request for Player Submissions

[Bobby_Crocker]

Most of what I wanted to ask has already been touched upon in some form above. I'd just add :

Any plans to give being VIP more of a benefit than currently (e.g. additional trait tree slot, additional BB tree slot, more 'free to VIP' zones a la Great River, etc.)? As a level capped player it doesn't currently make sense for me to keep VIP (I don't need Lone Lands, Evendim, etc. anymore), but I'm not opposed to paying for benefits beyond TPs.

[TheCrossbow]

Now that the trait trees have been out for a couple months...

Do you have any plans to expand upon the trait trees in the near future? Do you have plans to introduce new skills as part of the trees that we don't already have?

Have you thought about adding a method by which characters can earn additional trait points in the lower levels a bit faster (other than completing deeds)?

Will any new regions introduced in the near future follow the "point per region" framework? Or, will there be other ways introduced to gain trait points?

And...

What plans do you have to revamp the Virtue and Racial traits?

[Mar-Evayave]

Sorry in advance for so many questions... xD And also if I do give a little explanation for a few. I want to ensure that the team understands what my question is.

On Regions and Performance:

- Low-level zones run very smoothly, while later zones (Helm's Deep in particular, though also East Rohan and Wildermore) exhibit a lot of performance issues for many people. What type of updates can we expect to improve performance?
- In what ways, if any, are the revamps of the Shadows of Angmar content expected to reduce performance within those zones compared to their current situation?
- What swift travel routes in pre-Moria zones can we expect to receive? (ie: to and from Thorenhad in the Trollshaws; to and from Trestlebridge in the North Downs; etc)
- What revamps can we expect for former (and rather outdated) grindy content such as the Limlight Gorge, Hytbold, and Wildermore dailies?
- What kinds of new content will be included in the VIP subscription?
- What plans, if any, are there to introduce more paths to level-cap, rather than the strictly-linear progression we've had since Rise of Isengard?
- The Paths of the Dead simply are not for us. However, we've been a few steps behind the Fellowship the whole way. With the Dead pledging allegience to Aragorn, didn't they vacate the Paths? In short: What lore-friendly ways exist for us to bring our characters into the Paths of the Dead (ie: not via session plays)?
- Even if you can't say for sure which Shadows of Angmar regions will be revamped, can you say how many you (the team as a whole) hope to revamp in 2014?
- What is the expectations regarding PvE (past, present, and future content) and difficulty, be it solo or teamed up?

On Epic Battles:

- What can you say about the difficulty of solo/duo Epic Battles, particularly for players without a lot of points spent into their EB roles?
- In what ways (if any) will the difficulty of larger (3-man, 6-man, 12-man) Epic Battles be adjusted?
- What kind of improvements can we expect for solo/duo Epic Battles as a low-level characters in terms of scaling (I was flattened on my role-less lowbie - impossible comes to mind)?
- What plans, if any, are there for a Captain mounted companion (like the LM's wolf)?

On Casual Fun (festivals, etc):

- What improvements can we hope to see in regards to the music system, including new instruments or more sophisticated mechanics?
- Festivals should be fun, for the altaholics as much as for anyone else. What is being done, if anything, to make it less grindy for those with many alts?
- In terms of cosmetics and decor: What improvement can we see to the availability of these (more craftables)?

On Kinships, Housing, Storage, and Crafting:

- A question was asked about kinship improvements; what hope is there for the possibility of getting kinship vaults (space and currency bank, accessible from any vault-keeper)?
- We've seen some good revamps already to the crafting system (with particular note to processing recipes). What types of further updates are coming for the crafting system, including but not limited to: making the HD crafts have new icons, allowing craft mats to stack higher than 100, etc.?
- What can the team say on reductions to the costs for Housing storage (for everyone) and the methods that said storage can be obtained (particularly for kin houses)?
- What is the team's opinion on having just 1 bag? 45 slots (bags 1-3) free to all, another 45 (bags 4-6) via purchase, and further storage also for purchase? This would free up space on our UI (the following panels are not there: Hobbit Presents, Epic Battles, Reputation, War/PvMP, etc).

On Legendary Items:

- To my knowledge there are no new LI titles that came with the HD content; if so, when can we expect these? (ie: should I not bother waiting and just go back and get some from Snowbourn/Hytbold?)
- What is the team's opinion on introducing (in 2014) an update to IXP runes, turning them into raw points that can be spent at any amount and stored in the wallet/LI NPCs?

Other:

- Any hint on Kate Paiz's surprise? PLEASE?!?! ^_^
- Since 12.2 is now released and Update 13 is already on the lips of some people (including Sapience in the recent Evernight event), what information (in general) can we have at this time on the updates for 2014?
- What kind of upgrades can we see for Virtues and Racial traits?
- What types of improvements can we hope for in terms of getting the window sizes for the Epic Battle and Trait panels to be smaller (especially important for those in windowed mode or smaller screens/resolutions)?
- These next few are all individual questions, but they all relate to the recent official discussions on player-requested revamps; also, they are more generalized, whereas other questions I've asked so far on these topics have been on specific things:
--- Housing - Based on the official thread, which ideas/suggestions have been receiving particular attention from the developing team?
--- Inventory/Bag Space - Based on the official thread, which ideas/suggestions have been receiving particular attention from the developing team?
--- Festivals/Events - Based on the official thread, which ideas/suggestions have been receiving particular attention from the developing team?
- The word is that we can't see Erebor, Dale, etc. Why not? I understand the whole Hobbit-rights, but how did we manage to get access to this stuff in the RoR IC, but can't go there in the landscape?
- What different "fix" for exploits can we hope to see, in order to counteract the decision to remove loot from certain instances (such as Hytbold's) or to make it possible again to complete quests while in combat? My understanding of the latter was that freeps used the festival quests to cheat their way out of the Moors. Now that festivals bestow a map instead of instantly porting them away, can we please complete quests in combat again?

[Frieja]

Will you be adding a fellowship landscape area like Limlight Gorge in the next year?

[Waolas]

The server lagg just getting worse and worse, any plan in the coming year to look into this?

[Ardineck]

Can a reasonable percentage be placed on whether we will see a new class or not?

Can a reasonable percentage be placed on whether we will be able to explore (meaning not just in an instance, but as part of the world) places mentioned in the LotR series of books, not visited yet, and NOT in between Isengard and Mordor (because those places are expected to be visited)? I'm wondering about Northern Mirkwood, Iron Hills, Rhun, Umbar, Southfarthing, Forlindon, Sarn Ford and Tharbad, Ered Mithrin, Andrast, Dol Amroth, stuff that fills in the maps that we've seen, but not been able to visit.

It seems to me that the level 75 Tower of Orthanc raid might have been more appropriate to visit later in our story. Would a pass ever be considered over the world map to relevel areas?

I'd also think a "glowing door" might be more appropriate for the Fords of Isen area to make it able to be visited in both a pre fall and post fall state. Why was the "messiness" of two versions that don't really meet (one when visiting from the Dunland side and one from the Rohan side) settled on?

Can we please have more information on the "big secret" that was hinted at in the producer's letter for this year?

When will the next new "traditional" instance be expected to release? Before the next expansion? With the next expansion? After? Never?

There have been skirmishes, mounted combat, epic battles...what's the next "tech" that is being developed? What is it specifically related to or where is it coming out of?

[J_Howell]

When will emerald shards become available in the skirmish camp?

When will westemnet draughts be added to the healer npcs? Or has 12.2 fixed that already? Seems like an obvious bug/oversight that's easily fixed, but I didn't see it in the 12.2 release notes.

When will level 95 armor sets become available, and how will they be earned?

Echoing many previous questions - what, if anything, will level 95 characters be able to do to entertain themselves between now and whenever the level cap increases again? Big Battles are ... not well regarded, let's say, and while I personally would happily run scaled instances all the time, enough people are burned out/bored by them that there's very little grouping activity even by the low standards of past level caps.

Are there any plans afoot to streamline or improve the server transfer process? Desirable features would be bulk discounts, and/or the ability to transfer all shared currency from server A to server B. Literally in my case - I'm waiting on emerald shards showing up in the skirmish camp so I can convert the marks/medallions I've built up on Arkenstone these last three years and turn them into gear (or just the emerald shards themselves) that I can carry with me to Brandywine. Not much I can do to carry other shared currency (LI shards, a few crafting ingredient packs, odds and ends of Moria tokens, Orthanc sigils, etc.) though.

[Whiteberry_Laurelin]

• Will broken/inactive skills in epic session plays be looked at soon?
• Which areas are being revamped for update 13?
• Will Epic Battles be expanded to include more battles and/or size options?
• Will class + Epic Battle trait swap buttons/keybinds be added in the future?
• Will war-steed levels be adjusted according to player levels sometime?
• Are there any plans to add mounted FS/raid instances?
• Are there any plans to scale any of the current non-scaling instances?
• Are there any plans to make it possible to barter for additional housing items in Skirmish Camps?
• Are there any plans to add functionality to the kinship system?
• There is a lot of speculation that Kate Paiz's surprise is a new class. Is this too optimistic? :)

[Rathrilwing]

When is the first update this year supposed to take place?

Will we be seeing a new class in the future?

What are the current thoughts about future new festivals?

Will there ever be more options in character design? (IE: More hairstyles, possibly being able to design height and weight seprately)

Can you add more housing decorations/cosmetics to reputation factions that currently don't offer any? (IE: Dunlanding style clothing from Galtrev, A rohirric dress or two from the various rohan factions ect)

What is the likely-hood that the changes stated in the possible housing revamp will in fact take place?

Have you ever thought about using polls for the community to vote on what changes (be it large or details) they'd like to see?

[Eyck]

When do you plan to fix Mac client, wich is crashing like hell?
How much time will it take to give us FINAL version of client?

[morrowbreeze]

While you were designing MOM-MIrkwood those many years ago, why did you choose to grow the game vertically rather than sideways ( I.E. make higher and higher leveling)? Seems that choice has brought untold problems with balance...

[JulianPL]

Some things are so obvious and/or promissed long time ago that i won't ask "if" but "when" so:
-When is kinship revamp coming?
-When will you introduce new PvP map?
-When can we expect a challenging instance cluster to be introduced?
By challenging i mean not such as instances as Sambrog which you can complete in 6 minutes but lets say ~30min 3-mans, ~45 min 6-mans and ~90min/90-120min raids?
-Are you planning to make game more challenging?
I found it annoying in RoR that we could do instances without any roles to be taken in fellowships (no need for tanks or heals). But now i do 6 mans solo on my cappy. Come on...
-When is housing revamp coming?
-When are you going to buy 21st century servers?
Seems even a small clash around TA, TR or Lug now causes everyone to lag.
-Are you planning to give something more to VIPs than they have now?
Cause its uber-funny that i have to pay for third trait trees after subscribing.
-Are you planning to introduce new VIP payment methods?
Credit cards are not really modern theese days. Now people like to keep thinks simple. One click, one transfer and you play. Without all those personal data inquiries.

PS. I really like HD changes (trait trees and BBs i mean) so last 2 questions:
-When will we get more Big Battles?
-Will the current BBs have their sizing adjusted to more options?
I mean at least one more 3-man (maybe Hornbug?) and one more 6-man (Deeping Wall?)

[Laire]

A lot of my questions are similar to ones already posted. Slight edits to account for what questions Sapience answered in the Hobbit-to-Isengard chats!


-Deleting bound, platinum rewards from big battles because of RNG is fairly common-- any possibility of being able to turn these bound rewards into something useful in the future? ((basically what Bhoris said))

-Housing revamp: how much is going into revamping and expanding decorating, or is more emphasis going into other platforms?

-Kinship revamp: Any plans?

-Chat channels: Any plans to make passworded, private channels have more admin abilities?

-Chat channels: Will we ever be able to have more than 4 user chat channels per character?

-Music system: Any plans for a new instrument like a fiddle? ((I know Sapience did not know, but perhaps someone else has plans! =) ))

-More character avatar customization options: any plans, big (tons of new options everywhere!) or small (NPC hair styles available via barber)?

-Instances: Any plans for a challenging, multi-wing raid this year? We do have a Black Numenorean still lingering in Rohan... =)

-Zone revamps: Will we be seeing anymore graphical revamps of older areas and their interiors, perhaps Rivendell? (insert obligatory mention of Prancing Pony interior here)

-Zone revamps: Which zones are slated to be content-revamped this year?

-New areas: Will we be seeing any new areas *not* on the path of the War of the Ring to Mordor, such as the Tower Hills (gap between Shire/Ered Luin), South Farthing (of the Shire), or Minhiriath (the gap between Andrath and Enedwaith where the road leads)? ((explanatory parts for those not as acquainted with Middle-earth ))

-Cosmetics: Any chance of us getting to wear more NPC outfits... like those dresses? :P

-HD item Icons: Any plans to update these so they don't look exactly like RoR's item icons?

[Snowlock]

What is being done to solve the server-side lag in the Ettenmoors (persistent rubber banding, skill lock, broken legs/deaths for no reason)?

[eduardolaborda]

When will you have a translation in Spanish and shows of "The Lord of the Rings Online"?

[Ja_sam_samo_covjek]

Will you be putting daily quests in places without reputation items like you did in Lothlorien, or maybe add reputation items in those places?

[Vanacraft]

• Which regions are being revamped?

• Will we ever see new freep race?

• Will there be any new additions to housing or just improvements?

• What will come with update 13? Housing update, old regions revamp, new region or something else?
  What is highest on the devs's list?

• Is improving the look of our characters on the list too?

[jadacakai]

Eöl, called the Dark Elf, devised Galvorn, a black metal of great strength and malleability, which he fashioned into armour and two great black swords. The swords seemed to have held a certain level of sentient awareness, poured into it from Eöl.

My question, will we see Galvorn weaponry or armour as an addition or replacement for legendary items?

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

2. Please can each server have Official Raid Leader titles/positions for each server's best raid leaders? Perhaps elected by server vote or formal job application/interview via Turbine. Their duties: to lead via voice chat a set number of *scheduled* raids per week. Their rewards: well, I don't know. Maybe the title alone is enough though personally I suggest free VIP while Raid Leader/free TPs. We all know who these people are. They are more valuable than mithril dust, and I suspect many have left following Helm's Deep (certainly they have on my server, Dwarrowdelf). And I know I for one want them back!! And I also know I'm not alone in wanting them back!

I take it you don't have a raid leader in your kin then... That's where our raids take place, and we learn them as a kin - the thought of an outside raid leader player with a form of control over the server gives me the shivers... Plus, if any new raid content is brought out, part of the fun is the competition with other kins to get there first.

[solo1376]

What made Turbine decide to give up on new challenging end game content such as raids, instances, and improved pvp for the foreseeable future?

[wachkussen]

What are the intended aims and purposes for a kinship revamp?

Do the questions occasionally asked by NPC's have any meaningful impact on the storyline? I'm thinking here, in particular, of the soothsayers "what is your adventuring profession?" Answer is either assertive, modest or null( perhaps burglars have a fourth 'bare faced lie' option? ).
I *am* curious about this, but not so curious as to answer each of the options with different alts, just to check it out.

If there IS going to be a change in the initial line up ( new race. new class, whatever ) will it also come bundled with a +1 increase to the maximum number of characters per server, so that I can have a place to put the new beastie without having to move over servers or delete an existing alt.

Any plans to shut up the 'what about the raiders/pvpers?' crowd by making it quite clear to them that it is up to them - and nobody else - to ensure that at least half of their servers population can cope with any new such content introduced by their ever-open beaks. Or they will never be seeing any more worms again.

[raymondo]

Any plans to enable sucessor's to promote members to officers in kinships?

Any plans to restore mylotro.com so sites like guildlaunch.com etc can update rosters?

Are we gonna see a winner of the "show us your lotro" competition?

Any new areas for 75+ that have no mounted combat?

Any new areas coming to quest in for lvl25-50?

How many uruk-hai does it take to change a lightbulb?

[TKH]

Will there be any new content for Mounted Combat and Epic Battle in near future?

[RosieCotton]

I've thought of another question. So...

3. Can we please have some new evil races to play PvE? Personally I particularly want to be dragonkind...

[Jokeurthewise]

I long for the sea... Will we ever get to see it?