SHIELD Dwarf Runs through Moria Q&A - Notes on What Was Said

[Whart]

The problem with this issue is that it really quickly becomes a political one, and I don't think that's a path we need to go down right now. I believe that it's an extremely offensive notion that males can run around without shirts, but females are somehow shameful and should be fully covered. There are a multitude of ways in which females can be allowed a bare-chested equivalent that is modest and not sleazy looking, and I hope they are being explored by the lore people. I trust them to handle this respectfully. And by respectfully I mean, honoring the desire for female characters to not be left out of this feature.

How exactly would a bare-chested female be 'modest'? It's either bare or it's covered, no? And how would topless females be appropriate in a Tolkien-oriented setting, where such garb isn't ever described? Or are you saying you'd like to see more skin while still covering certain areas that would otherwise be inappropriate for a teen rating?

[Palentian]

The problem with this issue is that it really quickly becomes a political one, and I don't think that's a path we need to go down right now. I believe that it's an extremely offensive notion that males can run around without shirts, but females are somehow shameful and should be fully covered. There are a multitude of ways in which females can be allowed a bare-chested equivalent that is modest and not sleazy looking, and I hope they are being explored by the lore people. I trust them to handle this respectfully. And by respectfully I mean, honoring the desire for female characters to not be left out of this feature.

The female covering is, unfortunately, a societal imposition. In our society (NA anyway) it is considered a bad thing for females to go topless. (For the record, I'm not keen on topless dwarves or men either) For the time being, we do have youngsters playing this game. It is currently considered inappropriate for youngsters to see bare chested females (though I believe during Elizabethan times dresses were designed with open fronts to facilitate breast feeding).

But I do agree that female humans and elves should be able to use the "Bare Chested Dwarf" cosmetic if they want to. Personally, I'd rather even that went out the door.

[Thurallor]

Chamber of the Crossroads ___________________	Chamber of Mazarbul ___________________	Twenty-First Hall ___________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (west arch) ___________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (east arch) ___________________	First Hall ___________________	Nan Celebrant ___________________	Gates of Caras Galadhan ____________________
1. Windfola (2:52) ★ 1. Estel (2:52) ★ leg time = 2:52 3. Eldar (2:57) 4. Vilya (3:01) 4. Firefoot (3:01) 6. Gwaihir (3:02) 7. Arkenstone (3:10) 8. Vanyar (3:11) 9. Withywindle (3:13) 10. Gladden (3:33) 11. Meneldor (3:15) 11. Landroval (3:15) 13. Maiar (3:19) 14. Imladris (3:21) 15. Bullroarer (3:24) 16. Dwarrowdelf (3:33) 17. Elendilmir (3:42) 18. Crickhollow (4:46) 19. Silverlode (5:36) 20. Evernight (5:42) 21. Brandywine (6:00) 22. Gilrain (7:01) 23. Laurelin (7:02) 24. Siranonn (7:47) 25. Nimrodel (8:23) 26. Belegaer (11:23) 27. Riddermark (13:16) ☠	1. Estel (6:51) ★ leg time = 3:59 2. Windfola (7:05) 3. Eldar (7:15) 4. Vilya (7:28) 5. Vanyar (7:31) 6. Gwaihir (7:33) 7. Meneldor (7:39) 8. Arkenstone (7:41) 9. Maiar (7:50) 9. Withywindle (7:50) 11. Imladris (7:56) 12. Firefoot (8:10) 13. Gladden (8:15) 14. Dwarrowdelf (8:18) 15. Bullroarer (8:30) 16. Elendilmir* (8:58) 17. Evernight (10:49) 18. Landroval* (11:32) 19. Laurelin (11:54) 20. Silverlode* (11:57) 21. Brandywine (12:09) 22. Gilrain (12:50) 23. Nimrodel (13:53) 24. Belegaer* (16:59) 25. Riddermark (19:22) 26. Crickhollow (25:32) ☠ 27. Siranonn (26:07) ☠	1. Estel (7:22) 2. Windfola (7:33) ★ leg time = 0:28 3. Eldar (7:44) 4. Vilya (7:58) 5. Gwaihir (8:04) 5. Landroval* (8:04) 7. Meneldor (8:12) 7. Arkenstone (8:12) 9. Withywindle (8:23) 10. Elendilmir* (8:24) 11. Maiar (8:25) 12. Imladris (8:28) 13. Vanyar (8:31) 14. Firefoot (8:40) 15. Dwarrowdelf (8:49) 15. Gladden (8:49) 17. Silverlode* (11:08) 18. Evernight (11:30) 19. Laurelin (12:34) 20. Gilrain (13:35) 21. Brandywine (13:58) 22. Nimrodel (14:40) 23. Bullroarer (14:55) 24. Belegaer* (16:24) 25. Riddermark (20:07) 26. Siranonn (26:43) 27. Crickhollow (27:13)	1. Estel (11:11) ★ leg time = 3:49 2. Windfola (11:30) 3. Eldar (12:04) 4. Meneldor (12:23) 5. Vilya (12:25) 6. Gwaihir (12:31) 7. Arkenstone (12:39) 8. Maiar (12:45) 9. Firefoot (12:53) 10. Withywindle (12:55) 11. Imladris (13:08) 12. Vanyar (13:10) 13. Gladden (13:31) 14. Elendilmir (14:13) 15. Dwarrowdelf (14:16) 16. Landroval (16:33) 17. Evernight (17:00) 18. Silverlode (17:44) 19. Laurelin (17:54) 20. Brandywine (19:31) 21. Nimrodel (19:50) 22. Gilrain (20:26) 23. Bullroarer (21:03) 24. Riddermark (26:15) 25. Siranonn (32:06) 26. Crickhollow (32:24)	1. Estel (13:37) ★ leg time = 2:26 2. Windfola (14:03) 3. Eldar (14:43) 4. Vilya (15:04) 5. Meneldor (15:10) 6. Gwaihir (15:14) 7. Arkenstone (15:20) 8. Maiar (15:24) 9. Firefoot (15:25) 10. Withywindle (15:49) 11. Vanyar (15:54) 12. Imladris (15:58) 13. Gladden (16:30) 14. Elendilmir (17:05) 15. Dwarrowdelf (17:09) 16. Landroval (19:14) 17. Evernight (20:10) 18. Silverlode (21:02) 18. Laurelin (21:02) 20. Brandywine (22:52) 21. Nimrodel (22:53) 22. Gilrain (23:38) 23. Bullroarer (24:12) 24. Riddermark (29:53) 25. Siranonn (35:03) 26. Crickhollow (35:24)	1. Estel (14:23) ★ leg time = 0:46 2. Windfola (14:51) 3. Eldar (15:32) 4. Vilya (15:53) 5. Meneldor (16:02) 6. Gwaihir (16:03) 7. Arkenstone (16:10) 8. Firefoot (16:14) 9. Anduin* (16:16) 10. Maiar (16:19) 11. Vanyar (16:43) 12. Withywindle (16:44) 13. Imladris (16:50) 14. Gladden (17:21) 15. Elendilmir (17:59) 16. Dwarrowdelf (18:00) 17. Landroval (20:06) 18. Evernight (21:24) 19. Silverlode (22:11) 20. Laurelin (22:15) 21. Nimrodel (24:10) 22. Brandywine (24:22) 23. Gilrain (24:41) 24. Bullroarer (25:33) 25. Riddermark (31:22) 26. Siranonn (36:21) 27. Crickhollow (36:21)	1. Estel (18:21) ★ leg time = 3:58 2. Windfola (19:01) 3. Eldar (19:37) 4. Vilya (20:15) 5. Meneldor (20:18) 6. Arkenstone (20:31) 7. Maiar (20:34) 8. Firefoot (20:37) 9. Vanyar (21:13) 10. Imladris (21:17) 11. Gwaihir (21:23) 12. Gladden (21:43) 13. Dwarrowdelf (22:18) 13. Elendilmir (22:18) 15. Withywindle (22:22) 16. Landroval (24:32) 17. Evernight (26:05) 18. Laurelin (27:21) 19. Silverlode (27:37) 20. Nimrodel (29:04) 21. Brandywine (29:29) 22. Gilrain (29:39) 23. Bullroarer (29:54) 24. Riddermark (37:06) 25. Crickhollow (41:30) 26. Siranonn (42:38)	1. Estel (20:50) ★★☆ leg time = 2:29 2. Windfola (21:37) 3. Eldar (22:17) 4. Vilya (22:52) 5. Meneldor (22:57) ☆ 6. Arkenstone (23:11) ☆ 7. Maiar (23:13) ☆ 8. Firefoot (23:15) ☆ 9. Vanyar (23:58) ☆ 10. Gwaihir (24:20) 11. Gladden (24:46) ☆ 12. Elendilmir (24:59) ☆ 13. Withywindle (25:15) ☆ 14. Dwarrowdelf (25:24) 15. Imladris (25:44) ☆ 16. Landroval (27:15) ☆ 17. Evernight (29:13) ☆ 18. Laurelin (30:49) ☆ 19. Silverlode (30:54) 20. Belegaer (32:22) 21. Nimrodel (32:25) 22. Bullroarer (33:11) ☆ 23. Brandywine (33:17) ☆ 24. Gilrain (33:37) ☆ 25. Riddermark (41:00) ☆ 26. Crickhollow (45:12) 27. Siranonn (46:09) ☆ Anduin* (26:45) X Morthond X Snowbourn X

★ fastest overall time

★ fastest leg time

☆ hobbit presents opened

* alternate route

X did not finish

[Warmutkan]

Chamber of the Crossroads _________________	Chamber of Mazarbul _________________	Twenty-First Hall _________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (west arch) _________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (east arch) _________________	First Hall _________________	Nan Celebrant _________________	Gates of Caras Galadhan _________________
1. Eldar (2:57)	1. Eldar (7:20)	1. Eldar (7:44)	1. Eldar (12:04)	1. Eldar (14:43)	1. Eldar (15:32)	1. Eldar (19:37)	1. Eldar (22:17)
2. Darrowdelf (3:33)	2. Darrowdelf (8:18)	2. Darrowdelf (8:49)	2. Darrowdelf (14:16)	2. Darrowdelf (17:09)	2. Darrowdelf (18:00)	2. Darrowdelf (22:18)	2. Darrowdelf (25:24)

Ooh, I like this already. Good metric to have and keep track of.

[Beaniemooch]

The problem with this issue is that it really quickly becomes a political one, and I don't think that's a path we need to go down right now. I believe that it's an extremely offensive notion that males can run around without shirts, but females are somehow shameful and should be fully covered. There are a multitude of ways in which females can be allowed a bare-chested equivalent that is modest and not sleazy looking, and I hope they are being explored by the lore people. I trust them to handle this respectfully. And by respectfully I mean, honoring the desire for female characters to not be left out of this feature.

I don't feel a need for equality in everything, and going topless is one. As a female I find it inappropriate rather than shameless and I prefer covered, because there are many families (including children) who play. What is appropriate for one gender is not necessarily appropriate for both and that's just a fact of life.

I don't see even one way a topless female in lotro could be modest and not sleazy looking, much less multiple ways. I think you will find the desire for female characters to run around topless is a very, very small percentage of the population.

[frickinmuck]

How exactly would a bare-chested female be 'modest'? It's either bare or it's covered, no? And how would topless females be appropriate in a Tolkien-oriented setting, where such garb isn't ever described? Or are you saying you'd like to see more skin while still covering certain areas that would otherwise be inappropriate for a teen rating?

Like I said previously, with some kind of covering that is modest but not ridiculous. Something a bit lighter and less overbearing that manages to look bold and heroic in the same way the bare-chested cosmetic does, while maintaining a certain level of 'decency.' I am sure the lore people would be able to dig around and brainstorm and come up with something suitable. There are any number of ways this could be handled tastefully. They managed to make Nona bare-legged without making her look pornographic. I'm sure they can do the same with this cosmetic.

[Beaniemooch]

A bare leg is not bottomless any more than a sleeveless shirt is topless. Nona is still covered.

[Schinderhannes]

Wow, all my posts has been cleaned... now I feel like dirt.

[Whart]

Covering isn't 'bare-chested' by definition. There is no sort-of-covered equivalent of 'bare'. If you're asking for a shirt that shows more skin than existing ones do, that's a very different thing from asking for a completely naked female chest, which I think we can all agree would be inappropriate in this setting. At least I wouldn't play a game with that level of nudity, and I certainly wouldn't let my son play it.

[frickinmuck]

Covering isn't 'bare-chested' by definition. There is no sort-of-covered equivalent of 'bare'. If you're asking for a shirt that shows more skin than existing ones do, that's a very different thing from asking for a completely naked female chest, which I think we can all agree would be inappropriate in this setting. At least I wouldn't play a game with that level of nudity, and I certainly wouldn't let my son play it.

You guys have obviously not been following this conversation from the beginning. In my previous comments on this issue I made it pretty clear what I am talking about. Female characters getting a version of the bare-chested cosmetic that allows for less covering than we usually see on the in-game clothing. Put the bare-chested cosmetic on a man, you get a topless appearance similar to the dwarven one. Put it on a woman and you get a light halter wrap or something along those lines, something modest but more revealing than usual. The only 'bare-chested' equivalent that is imaginable in-game.

If they just give us a bare-chested cosmetic for men, and women get nothing, or if they give us a bare-chested cosmetic for men and the women get that really outdated looking underwear we see when we take all the gear off our characters, it will be a big disappointment. I have no doubt a version for women can be achieved that will be appropriate for Middle Earth. I have every confidence the artists are up to the task.

It is not without precedent in-game, either.

[frickinmuck]

Chamber of the Crossroads _________________	Chamber of Mazarbul _________________	Twenty-First Hall _________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (west arch) _________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (east arch) _________________	First Hall _________________	Nan Celebrant _________________	Gates of Caras Galadhan _________________
1. Eldar (2:57) ?	1. Eldar (7:20) ?	1. Eldar (7:44) ?	1. Eldar (12:04) ?	1. Eldar (14:43) ?	1. Eldar (15:32) ?	1. Eldar (19:37) ?	1. Eldar (22:17) ?
2. Dwarrowdelf (3:33)	2. Dwarrowdelf (8:18)	2. Dwarrowdelf (8:49)	2. Dwarrowdelf (14:16)	2. Dwarrowdelf (17:09)	2. Dwarrowdelf (18:00)	2. Dwarrowdelf (22:18)	2. Dwarrowdelf (25:24)

? fastest leg time

Very cool - thanks, I am going to link this from the main post because it's pretty darn awesome.

[Moochi]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A - Dwarrowdelf

No guests were present at this run.

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. Things in (parenthesis) are merely this sciolist's scholia, not infomation provided by Turbine, and if incorrect, the fault is mine, not theirs.

If anyone who was present has any additions or corrections, feel free to post. I'm new at this, so I'll not be surprised if some are found.

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Dwarrowdelf

Video available here.

1. Question about Entwood changes.
   Sapience says he has no new information to share on Entwood quests or changes to barter prices or quest cooldowns or anything like that today.
2. Titles are given to Weatherstock attendees. Would something of the sort be possible for SHIELD runs?
   Turbine gives the titles to the Lonely Mountain Band kinship, who gives them out to attendees. It would be more complicated to do it with this type of event. Originally no awards were planned for the TTHTI runs, but because they were so successful and popular, the festival-of-choice award was attached to them.
3. Any idea when Gift of the Valar will be made available again?
   He says it was available just recently, and he's not sure when it will next be available.
4. Is it true there is strife between the slugs of Rushock Bog?
   Yes, yes its true, they're "slugging it out as we speak."
5. Is the displayed weather in a location the same across all servers at the same time?
   He is not sure. He believes it is, but it is possible it is not.
6. Did they take a break at Turbine today to watch the World Cup's USA vs Germany match?
   Sapience didn't, but a window which he had up, showing real-time blogging updates, kept him informed of the score. Some other people elsewhere in the building could view a stream while working, but no break for him.
7. What is your favourite thing about LOTRO?
   His favourite area is Forochel. He really likes Moria, really enjoys the whole feel of the area. But he has a hard time choosing just one thing. He's been a fan of the lore for a really long time, so whenever rounds a corner and first sees something new thats been added that he recognizes from the lore, he says "Oh, Wow!" and it kind of becomes his new favourite. So he thinks his favourite thing will be the next new thing he comes across. He likens it to being asked which cookie is his favourite, with the answer being the new one he's currently enjoying.
8. What are his five top game moments of LOTRO?
   He says he sees that as kind of the same question. Pick his favourite five cookies.
9. What is the welcome back weekend (currently turned on) welcoming us back from?
   The name "Welcome Back Weekend" is a little bit of a leftover from when the game was strictly a subscription game. They would periodically set the servers open to non-subscribers for a weekend to allow them to level up a bit with an XP-boost and see the added content they were missing (to entice them to re-sub). The the name is now a bit of a misnomer carried over from that time.
10. If you could create a title, what would it be.
    He's been responsible for the addition of several titles, including "The Wise", "The Well Met", "The Sociable", "The Celebratory", "Hero of the Small Folk".
11. Why aren't there any cookies in LOTRO? How about pizza?
    He asks if cookies would be lore appropriate? He'd have to ask their lore-experts. If cookies were lore appropriate, hobbits would have invented them. He's sure pizza isn't a lore appropriate food.
12. What is his favourite ingame title?
    "Hero of the Small Folk", bar none. Many people enjoy "The Unwise". "The Dead Hobbit Society" would be a great title. He'll look into making that happen.
13. Beorning naming question, any update?
    He points out that It has been only 48 hours since that topic surfaced. It will probably be a little while before they start making recommendations on those.
14. Aren't there fortune cookies at the spring festival?
    He agrees that there are indeed fortune cookies at the spring festival. (Named ingame as "Extra Deliciously Tasty Biscuits" - Moochi)
15. Any chance of getting a bounder title?
    He says there was a discussion about that at one point, which resulted in a ''no''. He can ask, but is not sure that it will happen.
16. Can he divulge the plot or setting of the next big battle?
    He says it will be a battle that is really really big. He cannot divulge more than that now.
17. Real cookies have chocolate, right?
    One of this favourites is chocolate chip, but peanut butter is another. Most of the time real cookies have chocolate, but now always. Additional cookie talk took place, with the topic of discussion often changing back to cookies over the duration of the run. He was made ridiculously hungry by all of the cookie-talk.
18. As we get future updates will we see the construction progress at places like Adso's Camp and Thornley's Farm?
    He thinks those guys have life-long contracts, so they're probably in no big rush to get that work done. Probably not.
19. Could you ask the Store people if they could enable sale of all store mounts on Bullroarer whenever it is up?
    He says that's a great suggestion. He'll pass it along when MarketingMan returns to his desk.
20. Does he work at Turbine?
    He confirms that he does, and is LOTRO's Community Manager. Explains that the area we see behind him in the stream is the DDO team, and that LOTRO team is offscreen to his right.
21. Tech support question is asked of him in chat.
    He's not working in tech support, and could not troubleshoot tech support problems during a live stream. Those issues can be directed at tech support, customer service, account support. They'll be happy to help figure out what's wrong.
22. Question about adding specific towns and/or Southfarthing.
    At this time, he's not going into details on anything other than Update 14 and some of the other stuff for later in this year that Aaron has talked about.
23. How did he get into the gaming world.
    He got into the gaming world by having a paper route when he was 8, saving up and buying an Atari 2600. He got the gaming industry by asking a question during a devchat that led to his job. There was a position open at Turbine, he inquired about it, and the next thing he knew he was in an interview and had the job.
24. Whats the inter-MMO community like? do LOTRO devs talk to WOW devs?
    They all talk and hang out, both devs and community managers. They get together at trade shows and conferences. Most of them know each other to some extent and play one another's games and are members of each other's communities. Everyone knows everyone else to some degree; its not a huge industry.
25. Will Bullroarer get an official run for this event.
    It already took place. The first run took place there.
26. Any new instruments ever?
    There are no current plans for new instruments. Ever is a long time. It is possible that answer could change, but he does not think it likely.
27. Do they consider adding new hobbies.
    They consider many things. There are many meetings and conversations where they discuss all sorts of ideas. Conversations occur very frequently there. Including the hobby system, the legendary item system, something that eventually became the new essence system being added with Update 14. The great many ideas are winnowed into a select few features or become backlog items that are pie-in-the-sky things. Fixing Hobnanigans is an example. After many conversations, they ended up updating it and changing it.
    Team Dwarrofdelf arrives with a time of 25:24. This time is closer to what he expected to see on these runs. He thinks Eldar's time is going to be a challenge to surpass. There remain 27 opportunities for that to be beaten, though. Photos are taken.
    
28. Are they looking into fixing irregular bouncing on mounts?
    He says that if bugs have been filed, they've probably looked at it. If they agree with the bug report and think it is fixable, they'll likely assign it a priority and address it based on that priority. When is comes to animations, there is a great disparity of opinion on what is attractive, but much of that is simply personal preference.
29. Question about multiple SHIELD streams per day.
    Sapience says he's not decided about doing multiple streams per had yet. Only two have been done so far. It remains a possibility, but more will be done on the current schedule for a while before decided about that. There are other thing that are going to be streamed in the next few weeks. An Update 14 stream that might be in early July. He'll get HoarseDev to join him at some point to give an overview of the essence system. Those are things in addition to to the SHIELD streams in the near future, so he's not going to overcommit on the SHIELD streams right now. While exciting for players, he has other things he has to do during the day.
    At this point, Sapence leads the group back to the Mirrormere. He thinks the refelction of the evening sky on the surface is a sight not to be missed.
    
30. Have the artists painted all the regions maps together on a mega-map?
    He doesn't think they have. They have maps that are timeline based (not sure I understood that right -Moochi) and when assembled look like bad Jenga constructions. They provide more of an ideas of where things are in relation to one another, but do not necessarily match up exactly to scale with the maps professor Tolkien drew. (again, I may have misunderstood here -Moochi)
    At this point, Sapience and the Dwarrowdelvers plunged into the mere, swam about admiring the sights, and he declared they've done a passable job of appearing to be a synchronized swimming team.
    
31. Is it true that the ingame constellations appear as they do when viewed at Oxford?
    He has heard that confirmed by a number of people. He doesn't know if its true or not. The individual who did the original sky did not say, as far as he knows. He's been hearing that since before he joined Turbine, but he lacks proof. Regardless, he thinks their art team has done a great job of it.
32. Is he willing to be recorded while singing and being tattooed?
    He says that might sound hilarious. For those who are unaware, he explains this is in reference to the money he is raising for Extra Life. He has thought about video being recorded of the process, but he would have to find a tattoo artist who is okay with being filmed. One of the guys with Extra Life is directing him towards an artist he recommends.
33. What are some of the things he's done for extra-life?
    Two years ago, he shaved off his beard for the first time in 18 years. This freaked out his co-workers and his better-half. He'd had the beard since before they had met. Last year he died his his beard pink with green stripes. This year he set a very challenging Extra Life fundraising goal. As his wife has decreed he may not shaving anything else off, the tattoo is the next crazy thing he's doing to motivate donors. He has determined that its wiser not to discuss the tattoo further at home.
    He congratulates Dwarrowdelf on their job well done and their current standing of 2nd place. He confirms the next SHIELD stream will be Windfola's on Tuesday, July 1st, 2014 @ 5:00PM Eastern. Bullroarer will reopen Friday, June 27th, 2014 with a new build for Update 14.
    

[Mar-Evayave]

I don't feel a need for equality in everything, and going topless is one. As a female I find it inappropriate rather than shameless and I prefer covered, because there are many families (including children) who play. What is appropriate for one gender is not necessarily appropriate for both and that's just a fact of life.

I don't see even one way a topless female in lotro could be modest and not sleazy looking, much less multiple ways. I think you will find the desire for female characters to run around topless is a very, very small percentage of the population.

Same here. I'm not shy about wearing halter-tops myself (or even a top without a halter). You can be feminine without being immodest. It's not a case of feminine vs unfeminine, and a girl shouldn't have to feel compelled to show off her assets in order to be feminine. Girls should be able to feel proud of her femininity without having to sacrifice anything. Body image is a problem in today's world. I look too fat, I look too skinny, I don't look sexy at all. Girls see the hollywood scene and think that they have to do the same thing in order to fit in. At best that is just sad. At worst... well, it is way more than just sad.

Going with no top at all for the human/elf/hobbit females in LOTRO should not happen at all. It is not in the theme of Tolkien's Middle-Earth, and I think he'd probably roll over in his grave if he knew about it. I've been watching BBC's Atlantis recently. The clothing some of the royalty wear is definitely feminine, definitely shows skin, but definitely maintains modesty, and is theme-appropriate as well (where as halter-tops are more modern in nature). And yes, I know Peter Jackson's interpretation is just that -- an interpretation. But I've always thought of elves much the way he portrays them. Consider that gown Arwen wears when she comes back to Elrond after seeing a vision of her child. That thing looks like it's about to slide off her shoulders. It's still far more elegant than what we have in-game.

But what I really wish is that they would fix cosmetics. My hobbit females look dreadful in dresses. Their hips and bosom are grossly exaggerated (and the latter of which is horribly form-fitting). So many times I've had to use a robe instead of a dress simply because it does not ruin her figure. It just looks so very unnatural to me. Maybe if some of the existing cosmetics weren't so off, then it wouldn't be so bad. :/

[Radbug]

False on all counts.

I'll let anyone else reading the thread make up their own mind on that that call.

Back to your scheduled bra chat...

[Orodbril]

The Singing-Part of question 32 refered to a post in the Run after Shield-Thread:

Excellent idea. Sapience, how much money do you need to raise for Extra Life to sing this during the premiere run? XD

---

If they just give us a bare-chested cosmetic for men, and women get nothing, or if they give us a bare-chested cosmetic for men and the women get that really outdated looking underwear we see when we take all the gear off our characters, it will be a big disappointment. I have no doubt a version for women can be achieved that will be appropriate for Middle Earth. I have every confidence the artists are up to the task.

When I was on Bullroarer a couple days ago, someone put the bare-chest cosmetic into the chat and I crtl-right clicked on it to test it and it was not until then (respectively I didn't thought of it that I was not logged on my (male) hunter at that moment) that I recognized that I was logged in with my female warden. However it showed right that outdated underwear you mentioned. And same would probably happen with any character that isn't a dwarf - male or female - with this particular cosmetic as they haven't opened it for other races/don't have the design for other classes and that's why nothing else shows up than what happens when you take you're gear off. And that's just the status of it how it is in the moment, not how it could be.

I understand what you mean, it wouldn't be bare-chested and not so covered like gear/underwear, it would be in-between/lightly covered. It's certainly possible, but while I don't really mind it I don't have a clear opinion on it though. It somehow just don't feel right, but on the other side to make a male-only version doesn't feel right either (in the meaning of missing lightly covered female version), so yeah, I'm not sure what I should think of it... ^^

[Mar-Evayave]

Just a head's-up

I will be writing the transcription for the Anduin run but it won't be available until Friday, July 4th. In addition to my regular job (library) I am subbing at another location (same library system, diff branch) on Friday July 3rd. So I won't even be home until late in the day and probably won't be super enthused at spending the last of my evening transcribing stuff. As such, I'll start working on it first thing (more or less) Friday morning and should hopefully have it up before the end of the morning.

Frick - If you wanna put me down for the final two available slots (9/11 and 9/18) that should be fine with me. And do let us know if you get overworked with all of the transcripts you are signed up for.

[frickinmuck]

Just a head's-up

I will be writing the transcription for the Anduin run but it won't be available until Friday, July 4th. In addition to my regular job (library) I am subbing at another location (same library system, diff branch) on Friday July 3rd. So I won't even be home until late in the day and probably won't be super enthused at spending the last of my evening transcribing stuff. As such, I'll start working on it first thing (more or less) Friday morning and should hopefully have it up before the end of the morning.

Frick - If you wanna put me down for the final two available slots (9/11 and 9/18) that should be fine with me. And do let us know if you get overworked with all of the transcripts you are signed up for.

Don't worry, there is no hurry. I will put you down for those other 2. Thanks!

[Sapience]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A - Dwarrowdelf

No guests were present at this run.

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. Things in (parenthesis) are merely this sciolist's scholia, not infomation provided by Turbine, and if incorrect, the fault is mine, not theirs.

If anyone who was present has any additions or corrections, feel free to post. I'm new at this, so I'll not be surprised if some are found.

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Dwarrowdelf16. Can he divulge the plot or setting of the next big battle?
He says it will be a battle that is really really big. He cannot divulge more than that now.

All looks good, but just wanted to point out this was a sarcastic play on "big battles are big" and not meant to imply anything in terms of what was or was not coming in terms of an actual battle.

[Thurallor]

Split times are now updated here.

Congrats to Windfola, who not only took over first place in the overall time, but had the fastest time in every single leg of the race!

Edit: Almost every leg. Thanks, Orodbril!

[Orodbril]

Chamber of the Crossroads ___________________	Chamber of Mazarbul ___________________	Twenty-First Hall ___________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (west arch) ___________________	Bridge of Khazad-dûm (east arch) ___________________	First Hall ___________________	Nan Celebrant ___________________	Gates of Caras Galadhan ___________________
1. Windfola (2:52) ?	1. Windfola (7:05) ?	1. Windfola (7:33) ?	1. Windfola (11:30) ?	1. Windfola (14:03) ?	1. Windfola (14:51) ?	1. Windfola (19:01) ?	1. Windfola (21:37) ??
2. Eldar (2:57)	2. Eldar (7:15)	2. Eldar (7:44)	2. Eldar (12:04)	2. Eldar (14:43)	2. Eldar (15:32)	2. Eldar (19:37)	2. Eldar (22:17)
3. Bullroarer (3:24)	3. Dwarrowdelf (8:18)	3. Dwarrowdelf (8:49)	3. Dwarrowdelf (14:16)	3. Dwarrowdelf (17:09)	3. Dwarrowdelf (18:00)	3. Dwarrowdelf (22:18)	3. Dwarrowdelf (25:24)
4. Dwarrowdelf (3:33)	4. Bullroarer (8:30)	4. Bullroarer (14:55)	4. Bullroarer (21:03)	4. Bullroarer (24:12)	4. Bullroarer (25:33)	4. Bullroarer (29:54)	4. Bullroarer (33:11) ?

Achievements _______________________

? fastest overall time

? fastest leg time

? hobbit presents opened

Split times are now updated here.

Congrats to Windfola, who not only took over first place in the overall time, but had the fastest time in every single leg of the race!

Eldar has two times the fastest leg times:
- From the Chamber of Mazarbul to Twenty-first Hall with 0:24 while Windfola needed 0:28.
- From the First Hall to Nan Celebrant with 4:05 while Windfola needed 4:10.

And then I would say that the leg times were pretty useful to see which server is faster at which section.

And I have a question: How did you embed the stars? When I quoted it for the German translation of the thread all the stars changed into questionmarks...

Orodbril

[Thurallor]

Eldar has two times the fastest leg times:
- From the Chamber of Mazarbul to Twenty-first Hall with 0:24 while Windfola needed 0:28.

How do you figure? 7:44 - 7:15 is 0:29. Note that I am using the time that the deed requirement is met, not the time when the message appears in the middle of the screen. Unfortunately, the Eldar video seems to have disappeared, so I can't recheck this.

- From the First Hall to Nan Celebrant with 4:05 while Windfola needed 4:10.

You're right, I will fix this!

And then I would say that the leg times were pretty useful to see which server is faster at which section.

I'll consider this. I don't want to clutter things too much. There's also the prospect that some server could take a different route, in which case its run would be composed of entirely different legs. I haven't quite decided how to handle that eventuality yet.

And I have a question: How did you embed the stars? When I quoted it for the German translation of the thread all the stars changed into questionmarks...

You have to use HTML codes:
★ for ★ and ☆ for ☆. Unfortunately, you have to do this replacement each time you save (or quote) the message. So, to quote my message, you need to do the following steps:

1. Click "Reply with Quote" (or the German equivalent).
2. Switch the editor to Source Mode using the top left button ("^A/A").
3. Copy everything into your favorite text editor.
4. Search for all occurrences of ★ and replace with ★.
5. Search for all occurrences of ☆ and replace with ☆.
6. Paste everything back into the web browser.

Thanks for your correction and suggestion. If anyone else finds a mistake, please let me know ASAP so I can verify it before the video is deleted.

[frickinmuck]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Windfola

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.

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Windfola

Video available here.

Guest for this run - Executive Producer Aaron "Rowan" Campbell

1. Sapience starts off by showing us a teaser of a cosmetic pet that will be available through his Extra Life fundraising campaign. A ghost bear cosmetic pet. If the $55,000 fundraising milestone is reached, anyone who donated over $25 will get that pet. It will only be available through Sapience, you won’t be able to get it through other in-game means. There is another cosmetic pet that will be part of his Extra Life fundraiser this year as an Extra Life exclusive, but he’s not revealing what that will be just yet. He does hint that the Extra Life pet has a pretty cool effect associated with it, though. These are cosmetic pets, not combat pets, that anyone can use.
2. Question about Extra Life Donations
   All items on his page are retroactive. You do not have to have donated before a threshold was reached in order to get those items. If you donate the stated amount (some prizes require $5 and over to earn, some require $25 and over) you will get all of the prizes that have been released so far, regardless of when you donated. [Although of you don’t donate before draws for the TP codes or lifetime account are opened up, you will miss out on those, because he does those draws as soon as the threshold is reached – Frick]
   Sapience apologizes for scheduling some of these runs during the World Cup. He acknowledges that there are probably quite a few people watching the US – Belgium game rather than this SHIELD run. Players in the text chat joke around about him being the sportscaster, and he does a rather funny John Madden impression.
   EP Aaron “Rowan” Campbell joins the chat.
3. Sapience mentions that he and Rowan have been in top secret meetings for much of the day, and asks Rowan if there’s anything that came out of those meetings that he’d like to spill the beans on
   Rowan - Says he’s working on his next Producer’s letter, and alongside that they’ve got some great ideas shaping up for an epic battle in Pelargir, and they’re really taking player feedback to heart, changing up the system and making it more fun, making players the center of that battle and making our classes really important to that.
4. What still needs finishing up for U14
   Rowan - Still a bit of art, still a bit of polish, fixing bugs. Those are the biggest things. He’s not going to comment too much on currency numbers. He thinks they’re tweaking the final values but other than those things, they’re pretty close. He thinks some of the class tweaks are still coming in.
   Sapience - Obviously everyone’s going up to level 100 so there’s going to be some balancing and some skills to be added and things like that for the classes. So really close, still looking good for their release date which they still haven’t told anyone yet.
   Rowan - He’s sure they’ll be letting that date out fairly soon. He thinks they’re locking down and [unintelligible, something about the build] on the weekend, so it’s very short.
   People in the chat are talking about Belgian waffles and questions about whether Americans make beer, and Rowan points out that he makes his own beer. Sapience says he’ll have to pop by and try it out.
5. Are you planning on lowering the token recipe grind in the new area, or making more permanent recipes rather than single-shot ones
   Rowan - That’s all in Hoarse’s camp. He can’t comment on the details of that. He knows they’re good with feedback and they’ll adjust as they go forward. He’s not worried about balancing it out, but it may not be right where you want to see it at launch.
   Sapience - Says those are the kinds of changes that might end up in dot releases (14.1, etc.) releases down the road.
6. Question about why level 50 minstrel instruments are in a level 56+ area
   Sapience - Sounds like maybe someone just put something at the wrong vendor. Definitely something to submit a bug report on, and they will take a look at it.
   People in the chat talking about bad American beer, and Rowan points out that he makes good beer. Real beer. Sapience asks if it’s beer a German would be proud of and Rowan says, that’s a pretty high standard. He hopes so. Sapience recalls how he and Rowan have been to some interesting places and sampled some interesting beers in Germany. He remembers an Argentinian steakhouse in Koln, which had a decidedly American feel to it. It was a bizarre cultural experience.
7. What about minstrel lute strings? The last recipe was a tier 3
   Sapience - Thinks that’s something to bring up as a suggestion in the forums.
   Rowan - They try to prioritize things that add a lot of value consistently, so it may be that they just haven’t gotten around to it yet, but no reason why they might not get to it in the future.
8. Do you plan on adding other cosmetic outfit creators’ outfits to the mannequins
   Sapience - If you are creating cosmetic outfits and you would like to be featured, by all means drop him a note and he will get you set up with DeviledEgg so that she can start taking some of your ideas and designs.
   Rowan - They’re always happy to take suggestions.
9. Question about mix of solo quests vs group or more than one person in U14
   Rowan - They always try to build a really solid center line of quests that can be soloed for that story experience, and they have 2 or 3 instances through the epic that are optional – can be done solo or with a group – and they have a whole sub-region in the new area in Gondor that has some group challenges, and then there’s some group things mixed in with the repeatables in Dol Amroth. So there should be a few options for people.
   Sapience - Points out that they are doing their first press round tomorrow, and the news tends to get turned around pretty quickly so by the July 4th weekend we should be able to read a bit about U14 in the news, see some more details and some screenshots.
   Rowan - Yes, there will be commentary from MadeOfLions, Pinion and HoarseDev, and we’ll get a sense of what’s coming.
   Sapience - And then next week on July 9th, they will be doing the whole thing all over again, but this time as a preview for us players in a livestream. So we’ll be able to read about it, think about it and formulate some questions and thoughts and then a few days later come in to the stream and ask questions about it during the stream.
10. Any thoughts about changing the nature of questing going forward – changing from the linear path to a more flexible one, with less gating of questlines behind other questlines
    Rowan - They try to allow us more ability to skip a group of quests or skip a hub and jump to the next space. There’s a fine line between creating an arc that makes sense together and creating flexibility for us to jump through. But their goal pretty consistently is to allow us to push forward and do different things after we’ve reached some threshold in our existing place. Flexibility is something important to them going forward. It’s not something they want to ignore.
    Sapience gets chastised in the chat for pronouncing Celebrant as ‘sellebrant’ instead of the proper ‘kellebrant’ and he admits he knows better. Rowan mentions how he keeps pronouncing Hytbold as ‘hit-bold’ instead of ‘hyoot-bold.’ Sapience mentions how earlier in a meeting they had that very discussion and it immediately broke down into a whole lot of Swedish Chef jokes and references. It’s pretty much the only way they can remember how to pronounce it, is to think “Swedish Chef” which Rowan is constantly reminding them to do.
11. Any thoughts about moving Lebethron to Gondor instead of Eriador, since it was native there and nowhere else
    Rowan - That’s outside of his area of expertise. Usually they try to be very authentic to the space, so that’s definitely something to look into.
    People in the chat talking about how they’ve been pronouncing it wrong, too. As ‘height-bold’ instead of ‘hyoot-bold.’
12. Any thoughts on making the two epic quest 3-mans into repeatable 3-mans that reward traditional loot
    Rowan - He thinks they’re an incremental improvement over previous epic books that gave us the option to go in a group. By that he means we can enter them via the reflecting pool and they’ve been more flexible in how we put our groups together, and they’ve done a better job of scaling them for a group. But in terms of escalating it up to the next stage, it’s MadeOfLions building those and he only has so much time and they want to build a great story. So that’s where they want to focus his time, on building a great story.
13. Someone suggests they want to see a ghost Sapience pet, and Sapience says he’s not too sure how he feels about the implications of that, of him being dead. Although ‘spectral Sapience’ has a better ring to it.
    Rowan - Wonders what he would do. Would he just watch people, would he carry around a banhammer, what?
    Sapience - Thinks that would be awesome, a dude carrying around a big giant hammer. “Let’s get to work on that!” He’s sure that would get approved (laughs).
14. Players in the chat often talk about how beautiful Lorien is, and Sapience says, there are some even more beautiful vistas coming with U14. “If you haven’t seen it already on Bullroarer, you’re going to be in for a major surprise.”
    Rowan - Looking out over the coast at sunset with a ship sailing on the horizon, it’s pretty spectacular. He thinks the team’s really knocked it out of the park again.
15. Has there been any update on the TTHTI remembrance statue by the Hobbit Bridge of Occasional Doom
    Sapience - There is a bridge that during the TTHTI runs he was pitched off of rather violently a few times, and became known as the Bridge of Doom. But as players got better at getting him across it, it became known as the Bridge of Occasional Doom. And players want a marker there that reminds everyone that this was not a good place for hobbits.
    Rowan - Thinks we need a little guy to ask what our quest is.
    Sapience - Or even just a little rock. Players have asked for it and he’s been meaning to talk to HoarseDev about it and report back to everyone. If he can get an answer by Thursday he will report back in that stream.
16. Can you put titles on the Twitch videos of the runs so that we can tell them apart
    Sapience - Yes, he’s been meaning to do that so that they’re distinguishable by the server.
17. Any news about cookies being lore-acceptable
    Rowan - He’s not sure where cookies land on the spectrum of biscuits. So many conversations about colors of specific herbs, and getting bogged down in the details. They’ll look it up.
    Sapience - He can personally recount getting coffee in the game. It involved going back through several passages of the books and saying “Look, it’s right here! They’re serving coffee!” There were a lot of discussions on both sides and they had to dig back into the lore for justification. So if they can find it in the lore, then maybe.
    Rowan - But maybe cookies came from farther on. He’s not going to rule it out entirely.
18. Any plans for hobbies down the road
    Rowan - Love them, hate leaving things unfinished. That’s pretty much all he can say about that at this point. He’s resisted the urge to go back to that tab and rename it “Fishing.”
    Sapience - (Laughs)
    Sapience thanks everyone and thanks Rowan for dropping by.

[Orodbril]

How do you figure? 7:44 - 7:15 is 0:29. Note that I am using the time that the deed requirement is met, not the time when the message appears in the middle of the screen. Unfortunately, the Eldar video seems to have disappeared, so I can't recheck this. :(

These are the times I have. The Eldar times are quoted from you before Windfola and then I added a row above today and copied each cell. So I have 7:20 instead of 7:15 for Eldar in Mazarbul. I don't know how this could happen because I actually only quoted and copied it. I'll correct it. Sorry. ;)

I'll consider this. I don't want to clutter things too much. There's also the prospect that some server could take a different route, in which case its run would be composed of entirely different legs. I haven't quite decided how to handle that eventuality yet. :D

Ah, okay, that's right. :)
Start and ending point of a section are still relatively at the same location though, so that you could figure outwhich is the fasted way for this particular section between A and B.

You have to use HTML codes:
★ for ? and ☆ for ?. Unfortunately, you have to do this replacement each time you save (or quote) the message. So, to quote my message, you need to do the following steps:

1. Click "Reply with Quote" (or the German equivalent).
2. Switch the editor to Source Mode using the top left button ("^A/A").
3. Copy everything into your favorite text editor.
4. Search for all occurrences of ? and replace with ★.
5. Search for all occurrences of ? and replace with ☆.
6. Paste everything back into the web browser.

Thanks for your correction and suggestion. If anyone else finds a mistake, please let me know ASAP so I can verify it before the video is deleted.

Thanks, that worked! :D

[Thurallor]

These are the times I have. The Eldar times are quoted from you before Windfola and then I added a row above today and copied each cell. So I have 7:20 instead of 7:15 for Eldar in Mazarbul. I don't know how this could happen because I actually only quoted and copied it. I'll correct it. Sorry.

Oh, I see. I originally had that time (7:20) before I watched the video again and corrected it.

So that you will receive any future error corrections, when you are updating your version, perhaps you should copy the whole table.

Ah, okay, that's right.
Start and ending point of a section are still relatively at the same location though, so that you could figure outwhich is the fasted way for this particular section between A and B.

That's true. I'll think about how to do it.

And any further discussion, if necessary, should be by PM, since nobody else cares.

[DanteIL]

[*]Are you planning on lowering the token recipe grind in the new area, or making more permanent recipes rather than single-shot ones
Rowan - That’s all in Hoarse’s camp. He can’t comment on the details of that. He knows they’re good with feedback and they’ll adjust as they go forward. He’s not worried about balancing it out, but it may not be right where you want to see it at launch.
Sapience - Says those are the kinds of changes that might end up in dot releases (14.1, etc.) releases down the road.

I don't understand the logic here. If you expect there to have to be changes and adjustments, why not make those changes now before everything is released to the live servers?? Instead, the way it sounds here, you are setting things up such that you *know* that you will be hearing an outcry ("feedback") from unhappy 'first responders' who are eager enough to go through an area and begin to do things like accumulate tokens etc etc only to be confronted with uncomfortable grinds.

After 7+ years into the game, it is not like you are reinventing the wheel here when it comes to recipes and crafting and bartering and drops etc etc etc. I'm sure that you have tons of data from previous areas (or even on Bullroarer) on roughly how long it takes people to accumulate enough of a certain # of tokens or whatever, given the drop rates that you have implemented into the game, and how many people tend to turn these tokens in for specific items of a certain quality, etc etc. But instead, it really sounds like you guys are just content to wing it, and to wait and see how everything falls out - despite already getting specific actionable feedback on this very issue from the people on Bullroarer.

Moreover, tons and tons feedback on this _Very Same Issue_ about the existing grind in Entwood so far has been meet with 'wait and see' silence, and the subsequent 'dot releases' have done nothing to change this. This does not instill confidence in the above answers.