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

[frickinmuck]

Hehe! We wants player boats (kinda like mounts) so we can goes sailings and fishings

I've been whining for a boat for years!! All I want is to be able to launch it on a lake or pond and fish from it. No other point to it, just a boat. Immersion. Fun. If they were able to make cosmetic pets swim, maybe there is some hope they can make us a boat...

[FromgalTheMinstrel]

Player boats! Sea combat! That would be new and cool!
Although, who knows. Probably player boats would be implemented in a way that they control like if they were horses, in the same way that warsteeds control like if they were boats.

[Thurallor]

Player boats! Sea combat! That would be new and cool!
Although, who knows. Probably player boats would be implemented in a way that they control like if they were horses, in the same way that warsteeds control like if they were boats.

I laughed.

[harly2000]

I finaly manage upload mys solo SHIELD run try

It took me around 29 minutes to get from Durins Threshold to Caras Galadon but there still is place for an improvment.

[Sapience]

Hehe! We wants player boats (kinda like mounts) so we can goes sailings and fishings

Sorry, but no.

[frickinmuck]

Sorry, but no.

"Boat pants" sound pretty uncomfortable anyway.

[SouthernBelle0927]

"Boat pants" sound pretty uncomfortable anyway.

Particularly if they spring a leak in Forochel.

[Ranatuor_Erutron]

Sorry, but no.

He's in league with the Valar! They don't want us to sail WEST!

[Mar-Evayave]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Anduin

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 – Anduin

Video available here.

1. Sapience apologizes for delay and announces to viewers that the cub in the picture on his screen is Snowpuff, the Extra Life exclusive pet that is coming in Update 14. It is the second pet available through his Extra Life fund-raiser. [The first pet is the Ghost Bear at the $55k mark; the Tundra Cub with snow effect is at the $85k mark; donations of $25+ are those that qualify for the pets. -- Mar-Evayave]
   Sapience goes over the basics of the run and gets things started. He explains he adjusted lighting/gamma this time after players said they couldn't see well.
2. Are there any additional changes to Hobnanigans in Update 14, aside from what is already in Build 1?
   If so, they are bug fixes. There probably won't be any big changes.
3. Will there be any guests for this run?
   As the run is taking place on July 3rd, a lot of people have taken the day off for the Fourth of July weekend (US holiday). If he sees someone passing by, though, he may grab them to join in.
4. Another question about changes to Hobnanigans.
   As far as he knows, there are no changes to the side-lines or the physics of the chicken in Hobnanigans.
   Twitch chatter talking about being lost and confused in the dark in their first time through Moria. Sapience comments that was probably everyone.
5. Question about Walnut Brown and Steel Blue dyes for war-steed colors, and about crafting tiers in general.
   Sapience has no new information to share about the dyes or about crafting tiers.
6. What is the next festival going to be?
   After turning to ask the marketing person who sits next to him, Sapience relays that the Summer Festival will be next and should come at the end of July. Press interviews from yesterday (July 2) announced that Update 14 is scheduled to go live July 14, and the Summer Festival will be afterward, toward the end of the month. However, the exact date is not yet finalized.
   In response to overhearing Rowan talking about his PC having broken down and how he can't wait to get it fixed and get LOTRO reinstalled, Sapience mentions his home PC "sailed into the West" as well, and is taking the opportunity to get a new computer. He hasn't reinstalled LOTRO just yet, either. He intends to remedy the situation over the weekend.
7. Is there a list of new crafting recipes for level 100?
   He doesn't have a list of new recipes, but he does know there will be recipes for the essences, potions and LIs.
   Inquiry about whether or not a gift of pie might result in better run times. Sapience explains he can't alter the timer and his dwarf would probably be heavier after that anyway. He says they are welcome to try though.
8. Question about whether Sapience will be coming to the UK.
   Sapience doesn't have any plans to visit the UK and hasn't been told to make any plans, so for the time being the answer is no.
9. Have there been any LOTRO-team games of Hobnanigans since the Update 14 Build 1 fixes were added to Bullroarer?
   Q/A goes through all fixes to make sure they actually were fixed, and they do play the game to test those fixes.
10. Will Moors (PvMP) gear be coming with Update 14?
    Sapience isn't sure if the gear was added to the current build on Bullroarer or not.
    They arrive at Caras Galadhon. However, as became clear towards the start of the run, the Anduin team was apparently unaware of the rules. In spite of several reminders from Sapience, they didn't complete In the Footsteps of the Fellowship deed during their journey through Moria. They ended up forfeiting the run.
11. Is the Extra Life ghost bear pet skin the same as the Lore-Master's spirit bear pet?
    No, they are not the same; they are slightly different.
    Sapience wishes everyone in or of the US a good Fourth of July and ends the live-stream. He hangs out in Twitch chat for a few more minutes to answer questions, though.
    Filerania, one of the LOTRO translators, bids everyone in the Twitch chat farewell. Sapience tells everyone he just got the "ultimate email of awesome". There is free blueberry pie over with the team in data analysis, and it's made with real Maine blueberries. He managed to claim the final slice and tweeted a pic of it for everyone to see.
12. Aside from the Farmer quest in the Summer Festival, why aren't there any special festival quests for other professions?
    That's likely a design choice the devs made.

[Giliodor]

Will Moors (PvMP) gear be coming with Update 14?
Sapience isn't sure if the gear was added to the current build on Bullroarer or not.

Level 100 PvP gear was added in build 2 on BR. It's the upscaled version of what we have on live.

[Sapience]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Anduin

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 – Anduin

Video available here.

1. Sapience apologizes for delay and announces to viewers that the cub in the picture on his screen is Snowpuff, the Extra Life exclusive pet that is coming in Update 14. It is the second pet available through his Extra Life fund-raiser. [The first pet is the Ghost Bear at the $55k mark; the Tundra Cub with snow effect is at the $85k mark; donations of $25+ are those that qualify for the pets. -- Mar-Evayave]
   Sapience goes over the basics of the run and gets things started. He explains he adjusted lighting/gamma this time after players said they couldn't see well.
2. Are there any additional changes to Hobnanigans in Update 14, aside from what is already in Build 1?
   If so, they are bug fixes. There probably won't be any big changes.
3. Will there be any guests for this run?
   As the run is taking place on July 3rd, a lot of people have taken the day off for the Fourth of July weekend (US holiday). If he sees someone passing by, though, he may grab them to join in.
4. Another question about changes to Hobnanigans.
   As far as he knows, there are no changes to the side-lines or the physics of the chicken in Hobnanigans.
   Twitch chatter talking about being lost and confused in the dark in their first time through Moria. Sapience comments that was probably everyone.
5. Question about Walnut Brown and Steel Blue dyes for war-steed colors, and about crafting tiers in general.
   Sapience has no new information to share about the dyes or about crafting tiers.
6. What is the next festival going to be?
   After turning to ask the marketing person who sits next to him, Sapience relays that the Summer Festival will be next and should come at the end of July. Press interviews from yesterday (July 2) announced that Update 14 is scheduled to go live July 14, and the Summer Festival will be afterward, toward the end of the month. However, the exact date is not yet finalized.
   In response to overhearing Rowan talking about his PC having broken down and how he can't wait to get it fixed and get LOTRO reinstalled, Sapience mentions his home PC "sailed into the West" as well, and is taking the opportunity to get a new computer. He hasn't reinstalled LOTRO just yet, either. He intends to remedy the situation over the weekend.
7. Is there a list of new crafting recipes for level 100?
   He doesn't have a list of new recipes, but he does know there will be recipes for the essences, potions and LIs.
   Inquiry about whether or not a gift of pie might result in better run times. Sapience explains he can't alter the timer and his dwarf would probably be heavier after that anyway. He says they are welcome to try though.
8. Question about whether Sapience will be coming to the UK.
   Sapience doesn't have any plans to visit the UK and hasn't been told to make any plans, so for the time being the answer is no.
9. Have there been any LOTRO-team games of Hobnanigans since the Update 14 Build 1 fixes were added to Bullroarer?
   Q/A goes through all fixes to make sure they actually were fixed, and they do play the game to test those fixes.
10. Will Moors (PvMP) gear be coming with Update 14?
    Sapience isn't sure if the gear was added to the current build on Bullroarer or not.
    They arrive at Caras Galadhon. However, as became clear towards the start of the run, the Anduin team was apparently unaware of the rules. In spite of several reminders from Sapience, they didn't complete In the Footsteps of the Fellowship deed during their journey through Moria. They ended up forfeiting the run.
11. Is the Extra Life ghost bear pet skin the same as the Lore-Master's spirit bear pet?
    No, they are not the same; they are slightly different.
    Sapience wishes everyone in or of the US a good Fourth of July and ends the live-stream. He hangs out in Twitch chat for a few more minutes to answer questions, though.
    Filerania, one of the LOTRO translators, bids everyone in the Twitch chat farewell. Sapience tells everyone he just got the "ultimate email of awesome". There is free blueberry pie over with the team in data analysis, and it's made with real Maine blueberries. He managed to claim the final slice and tweeted a pic of it for everyone to see.
12. Aside from the Farmer quest in the Summer Festival, why aren't there any special festival quests for other professions?
    That's likely a design choice the devs made.

All looks good!

This was a very short run and I'm really sorry for that, but those who were there understand the issues.

Also, to flesh out Answer 6 a bit. Summer is the next festival and dates are now posted along with all summer events we currently have scheduled. You can find that, here: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...28Tentative%29

[frickinmuck]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Vilya

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 – Vilya

Video available here.


Sapience mentions the U14 Preview livestream they’re doing tomorrow at 3PM eastern, to show the players around U14 a bit, some of the new regions and features. Rowan, MadeOfLions, Pinion, and anyone else he can grab will be there to answer any questions we may have. It’s basically be the same tour they gave the Press last week.

1. Will the preview tour be spoilery
   Probably a bit spoilery, since there will likely be bits of the story revealed. If you like to be surprised you might be less surprised after seeing the stream.
2. Can you fight on the decks of the ships
   There are ships into the harbours that you can go onto the decks of, and fight from there. They do have Corsairs on them who might not appreciate an adventurer coming and hanging out on their boat.
3. Question about bug fixes for housing items
   He has no specific information on that, sorry.
4. Question about the resolution the stream is at
   These runs are being streamed at the same resolution as the TTHTI runs, which is 720p, just to make it a bit easier than if he was streaming at 1080.
5. Any word on the kin activities Rowan mentioned
   He has no more information on that. He thinks it was HoarseDev that first kicked around that idea. He wants to remind everyone that they haven’t stated they will for sure be doing those things. It’s a maybe.
6. Question about German and French localization for U14
   Localization is in, the maps are done, the VOs are done, and it will all ship with U14 on Monday, which is the current planned launch date, July 14.
7. Will there be more skirmishes coming in the future
   He’s not heard any direct conversations about more and new skirmishes. He knows they are talking about changes and improvements to epic battles, and he knows Rowan had mentioned a new epic battle in one of his producer’s letters, but nothing about skirmishes.
8. Beornings – what month are they planned for
   The month in which they shall be released. They’re finishing up U14 right now, and launching that on Monday, and talking primarily about that right now. U15 is a ways off. But, he will tell us this: With U14 Rowan has written a brand new producer’s letter, and there are at least 3 things in there that he thinks we’re going to find pretty spectacular. If anyone ever wondered if they listen to players, after this producer’s letter he doesn’t think we’re going to be able to say they don’t. It’s pretty clear they’ve taken an awful lot of feedback and done some things, and his producer’s letter is going to point that out.
9. What type of work is still being done on U14
   Last minute work, mostly bug fixes. Things like typos, small issues. Issues that are very very small and have no impact, or else things that are very big and they consider to be blockers to launch.
10. Is the producer’s letter coming out on Monday with U14
    Yes, that’s the intention, to have them come out on the same day.
11. Will the new loot table with the ‘pick a mount’ box in it be active for any lootboxes we currently have in inventory
    That’s an excellent question, probably one for HoarseDev. He’s going to get an answer to the question as soon as he can, and post it in the transcript thread once he has it.
12. Do you intend to lower the cost of the level 100 scrolls of empowerment and delving
    To the best of his knowledge, no. That doesn’t mean they will be the same for launch, but to the best of his knowledge no changes have been made.
13. Any plans for boats outside of landscape objects
    None currently.
14. Discussion of the new fabric in Dol Amroth
    Yes, if you haven’t seen it on Bullroarer, there is a new fabric that is amazingly beautiful. It’s translucent blue fabric that is just pretty great, frankly.
15. Question about the steed that used to be in the Steam starter pack
    He says if we send him the name of the steed he will see about getting it added to Extra Life.
    People in the chat are talking a lot about baby Balrogs. Sapience says he thinks that’s a definite no.
16. Question about the essences system
    He’d rather have HoarseDev explain that system, and there will be an explanation in the release notes. But it would be a good question to ask tomorrow during the U14 preview stream.
17. Question about adding something to the character sheet about how worn out our equipment is
    He brings up the panel and points out that durability is viewable by hovering over a piece of equipment. He also points out that there is a ‘paper doll’ that shows durability (the one that shows up when your equipment needs repair).
18. Question about eagle mounts or other flying mounts
    There are no flying mounts in LotRO. Technically eagles aren’t mounts. They do favours from time to time of their own free will.
19. Can you tell us anything about Beornings
    Only what they’ve already told us. And that we should read Rowan’s producer’s letter on Monday.
20. Is the $3,000 donation the single largest donation Team Turbine has gotten over the years
    In the 3 years since starting Extra Life that donation is about double the previous single largest donation. If anyone wants to try to beat that, feel free!
21. Is there something surprising coming in the letter
    He thinks there are at least 3 pieces of information in the letter that will make the majority of players happy.
22. Anything in the letter that will make us sad
    He doesn’t think so.
23. Do you know of anything that’s been worked on that will enable characters to expand their crafting skills beyond the three they get through their vocation
    Worked on, no. Discussed, yes. It’s been brought up and discussed a few times. He doesn’t know where it falls on the priority list. He’s pretty sure no work has been done on it yet, it’s still just a conversation topic.
24. Question about dragon mounts
    He can’t see that happening if only because it would require a pretty huge stable. And then there’s the whole lore issue. Same with eagle mounts. He’d be pretty surprised.
    Someone jokes about whether there are actually legs under all that armour, and Sapience says that if you take off all your gear you end up with sort of a onesie underneath.
25. Are there any standout areas in the new regions, from your perspective
    The Paths of the Dead are pretty amazing. It’s one of the places when the first time you go in there you kind of get that ‘take your breath away’ moment, to see the spectres flying around, and to see the whole effect brought together. It’s really very cool. It’s Paths of the Dead, how could it not be? He also really likes the Corsair ships.
26. Are you going to do a reveal of the Beorning Icon
    He doesn’t know if they will or not. It’s kind of an interesting idea, though. A different way of looking at it.
27. What happens if you attempt to swim from Lothlorien to Mirkwood
    Sapience demonstrates by starting to swim across. Everyone follows him. “This will end badly” he says, and he’s right. There’s an auto-defeat before you reach the shore and everyone dies.
    Sapience wraps it up and congratulates Vilya for their third place finish, and reminds everyone about the U14 preview livestream tomorrow at 3pm server time.

[RuralDeliveryRouteGrams]

Will the U14 live stream be saved and available afterword, say for people who live in place where the streaming bandwidth will be swallowed up by forces of darkness starting at 4? (Or maybe the demo will be an hour or less?)

[frickinmuck]

Will the U14 live stream be saved and available afterword, say for people who live in place where the streaming bandwidth will be swallowed up by forces of darkness starting at 4? (Or maybe the demo will be an hour or less?)

They always tend to save those to the Twitch account, and repost them to the YouTube account as well, so I've no doubt you'll get another chance to check it out. I'll also be doing a transcript here, if you prefer to read it.

[Iarkrad]

Can't wait for the producer's letter on Tuesday. My continuing compliments to the Devs for keeping these events going and to frickinmuck for transcribing the Q&As.

[DanteIL]

[*]Is there something surprising coming in the letter
He thinks there are at least 3 pieces of information in the letter that will make the majority of players happy.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been any speculation for what this could be referring to. Of course, it depends on which "majority" we are talking about here -- the so-called forum majority-that's-really-a-minority, or the actual silent majority.


Anyhow, my speculations are:

1) There will be a decision not to add a 2nd level increase this year.

2) There will be some *minor* *minor* changes/additions to the kinship system later this year.

3) I can't see them doing an about-face on the housing revamp, so I'm not sure what the third 'majority-happy' item would be.

[Deorwyn]

I'm surprised that there hasn't been any speculation for what this could be referring to. Of course, it depends on which "majority" we are talking about here -- the so-called forum majority-that's-really-a-minority, or the actual silent majority.


Anyhow, my speculations are:

1) There will be a decision not to add a 2nd level increase this year.

2) There will be some *minor* *minor* changes/additions to the kinship system later this year.

3) I can't see them doing an about-face on the housing revamp, so I'm not sure what the third 'majority-happy' item would be.

Could also be the decision to let beornings start at level 1

[Star-Man_1976]

Question about the steed that used to be in the Steam starter pack
He says if we send him the name of the steed he will see about getting it added to Extra Life.

The Noble Grey Steed (Cloudy the Horse and Hazy the Pony) is always blowing steam out of its nostrils.
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Noble_Grey_Steed


It used to be an exclusive steed only available from the LOTRO Steam Starter Pack, but that pack got discontinued and replaced with the Steely Dawn Starter Pack (which by the way is on -75% sale until July 14). A pack that doesn't contain a steed, but do contain the Steely Dawn Cosmetic Armor Set.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/213179/

[frickinmuck]

The Noble Grey Steed (Cloudy the Horse and Hazy the Pony) is always blowing steam out of its nostrils.
http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Item:Noble_Grey_Steed


It used to be an exclusive steed only available from the LOTRO Steam Starter Pack, but that pack got discontinued and replaced with the Steely Dawn Starter Pack (which by the way is on -75% sale until July 14). A pack that doesn't contain a steed, but do contain the Steely Dawn Cosmetic Armor Set.
http://store.steampowered.com/app/213179/

Yeah, that is a really cool horse. I hope it sees the light of day again.

[Ravynne]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Nimrodel

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 – Nimrodel

Video available here.

1. If you are able to turn on a festival for just one server and not all of them, does that mean that you have to enable every festival on each server individually.
The answer is yes. We do go through and turn them on each server individually. That is why sometimes an individual can log on to Nimrodel and have a festival active while someone on Brandywine does not. It means we have not gotten around to all of the servers yet.
2. When server down time gets extended, what is usually the cause?
It is not usually any given thing. It can be that they encountered a problem installing the latest version of the game, if it is a game update. They could have found an issue with a physical server, an issue with the loading balance, networking tools, data bases, or pretty much any number of things could cause extending a down time, especially when updating something as complex as an MMO. I know people think that a server is a computer, a box, that is very, very far from the truth. Each server is comprised of a number of servers. I believe it is 8 blades, typically. not including load balancers, data bases, or anything like that. When you get down to it you can get somewhere around a dozen blades total to run any given server. I do not know the exact numbers. These are just numbers I was given at one point, and it picked up at several meeting about why things get turned on in the order they do. If you break it down, the 29 game servers actually are comprised of a couple of hundred machines. Any time you are touching that many pieces of hardware, the chances of something going wrong are pretty good. From time to time, something does go wrong. Then when you think about all of the software and drivers needed for that number of machines, it starts to become a very, very large bowl of spaghetti.
3. Who is behind you right now?
You are probably looking at Telero's back. After turning around, he confirmed that it was indeed Telero.
4. If Americans call biscuits cookies, what do you call cookies?
We call cookies, cookies and biscuits, biscuits. Biscuits are things baked in the oven, are light and fluffy, and great with butter.
5. What is the best time so far?
The best time so far is Windfola. 22 minutes 37 sseconds.
6. Have you ever had Lembas.
I have, actually. There is a German Kinship lead by a very nice lady by the name of Broccoli. Broccoli is her character name and her kinship name is The Riders of Lembas. They actually brought, I have pictures of it somewhere, a very nice basket of Lembas that she baked herself, and it was in fact, wrapped in leaves and tied up with string. It was very, very impressive. So, yes I have actually. The picture is most likely still posted on the facebook LOTRO page. It may be in one of the gamescom galleries. The photo can be found here.
7. Have you tried Brioche?
Yes, I have also tried Brioche, an irish soda bread.

The chat was then filled with discussions consisting of confections, meat, and cinnabun. All of which was making Sapience very hungry. He then joked that he may have to raid a grocery store on his way home.

8. Who did the music for the new region?
It was all done in-house.
8. If you could have any pet in game, what would it be?
That is a kind of unfair question, because he can always go, "Hey, guys... and get what he wants." He did say that one pet is ghost bear, which is coming along with extra life, along with snow-puff, the polar bear cub that always has snow falling on him.
10.What is being done with housing items?
I do not know what is being done at this time.
11. How do you get snow-puff?
It is on my extra-life donor page. Which can be found here.
12. Have you ever considered a zone that is completely non-canon and allow user-generated content?
I don't believe so. Part of having "The Lord of the Rings" license is that we have to run a good bit of what we do through approvals with our licenser. They always love what we do. They always approve what we are doing. They are very excited, for example, about the Beorning. When we pitched it to them, they thought it was fantastic. They are very excited to see the Beorning in game. As far as saying, 'Hey, here's an area that has nothing to do with "The Lord of the Rings"', I don't think we would be interested in doing that. Probably isn't something our licenser would be terribly interested in participating in, either.
13. Do you know if the Noble Gray Steed will be added?
Yes, I am looking into getting the Noble Gray Steed added. I do not know where that process is, but I did submit a request.
14. Who came up with the concept of LOTRO?
I'm going to take a wild guess and assume you mean the game. It actually started long before it was LOTRO. It start as Middle Earth Online. It slowly evolved and changed and was reimagined as The Lord of the Rings Online. So it has kind of been a compilation of ideas and individuals responsible.
15. Any major cosmetic updates for the new areas being released next week?
No, and I am not real sure what the full extent of cosmetics are for the update, but I do not believe major is a good characterization.
16. Do you ever get to meet Christopher Tolkien?
No, we do not.
17. How big will your tattoo be for Extra Life, if you make your goal?
It will be visible. We are not going to find one of those guys who can write your name on a grain of rice. It would be something that you would not have to be right up next to me to see it. It will probably end up on my upper arm or my shoulder. We're not talking about a micro tattoo, but we're also not talking about full back.

The chat then devolved into discussing Dairy Queen. Sapience pointed out that Dairy Queen is a supporter of Children's Miracle Network. Children's Miracle network is the organization that runs Extra Life. Dairy Queen, for those who do not know, is a store that sells ice cream cones and other such confections that are equally as bad for you, but ever so yummy and wonderful.

18. What goal will we have to reach for you to get your tattoo on your lower back?
A quarter of a million dollars. $250,000 and I will get the tattoo on my lower back. We have to raise it all by August 1st. There you go.

The chat then turned to the topic of a zombie apocalypse. One person mentioned that they would commandeer a Dairy Queen if one were to occur. Sapience mentioned that the Dairy Queen near his house is next to an army surplus store, so there is a certain logic to that in his neighborhood.

19. Isn't $250,000 a bit pricey as a goal in such short a time?
Yes, it is, but [the tattoo] is also permanent. Perhaps I should have said 250 million.
20. Will you Dress up as a Beorning for the class launch?
Uh, I don't know. I have not given a lot of thought to that. Maybe. If we find something appropriate we might do a stream of some sort of Beorning look. I did do a dwarf hat/beard type of thing. Why not?
21. Do you have anything to share?
Yes, this weekend is a lootbox weekend. They should be live tomorrow, early in the morning. It will be going from the 11th to the 13th. So if you have some keys, you can go grab some lootboxes. Lootbox weekends simply increase the chance of a mob dropping a lootbox as loot.
22. Has there been any changes to the lootboxes.
No, the lootbox weekend is this weekend, before update 14, so no changes have been made.
23. Will lootboxes already in your inventory change after update 14?
I was just able to confirm with QA that if you have a lootbox in your inventory, there is a CHANCE that a pick-a-steed will drop, assuming that the lookbox is within the ranges that have pick-a-steeds in them.

Sapience ended the stream by thanking everyone for coming. He also thanked everyone for almost guaranteeing that he will stop for ice cream on his way home. He congratulated Nimrodel's total time of 32 minutes 25 seconds, placing them in 5th place so far.

[anthonyx]

12. Have you ever considered a zone that is completely non-canon and allow user-generated content?
I don't believe so. Part of having "The Lord of the Rings" license is that we have to run a good bit of what we do through approvals with our licenser. They always love what we do. They always approve what we are doing. They are very excited, for example, about the Beorning. When we pitched it to them, they thought it was fantastic. They are very excited to see the Beorning in game. As far as saying, 'Hey, here's an area that has nothing to do with "The Lord of the Rings"', I don't think we would be interested in doing that. Probably isn't something our licenser would be terribly interested in participating in, either.

Well if the licenser are the same people that approved LOTR Shadow of Mordor then anything is possible. Who needs lore at this point?

[Sapience]

SHIELD Dwarf Run Q&A – Nimrodel

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 – Nimrodel

Video available here.

1. If you are able to turn on a festival for just one server and not all of them, does that mean that you have to enable every festival on each server individually.
The answer is yes. We do go through and turn them on each server individually. That is why sometimes an individual can log on to Nimrodel and have a festival active while someone on Brandywine does not. It means we have not gotten around to all of the servers yet.
2. When server down time gets extended, what is usually the cause?
It is not usually any given thing. It can be that they encountered a problem installing the latest version of the game, if it is a game update. They could have found an issue with a physical server, an issue with the loading balance, networking tools, data bases, or pretty much any number of things could cause extending a down time, especially when updating something as complex as an MMO. I know people think that a server is a computer, a box, that is very, very far from the truth. Each server is comprised of a number of servers. I believe it is 8 blades, typically. not including load balancers, data bases, or anything like that. When you get down to it you can get somewhere around a dozen blades total to run any given server. I do not know the exact numbers. These are just numbers I was given at one point, and it picked up at several meeting about why things get turned on in the order they do. If you break it down, the 29 game servers actually are comprised of a couple of hundred machines. Any time you are touching that many pieces of hardware, the chances of something going wrong are pretty good. From time to time, something does go wrong. Then when you think about all of the software and drivers needed for that number of machines, it starts to become a very, very large bowl of spaghetti.
3. Who is behind you right now?
You are probably looking at Telero's back. After turning around, he confirmed that it was indeed Telero.
4. If Americans call biscuits cookies, what do you call cookies?
We call cookies, cookies and biscuits, biscuits. Biscuits are things baked in the oven, are light and fluffy, and great with butter.
5. What is the best time so far?
The best time so far is Windfola. 22 minutes 37 sseconds.
6. Have you ever had Lembas.
I have, actually. There is a German Kinship lead by a very nice lady by the name of Broccoli. Broccoli is her character name and her kinship name is The Riders of Lembas. They actually brought, I have pictures of it somewhere, a very nice basket of Lembas that she baked herself, and it was in fact, wrapped in leaves and tied up with string. It was very, very impressive. So, yes I have actually. The picture is most likely still posted on the facebook LOTRO page. It may be in one of the gamescom galleries. The photo can be found here.
7. Have you tried Brioche?
Yes, I have also tried Brioche, an irish soda bread.

The chat was then filled with discussions consisting of confections, meat, and cinnabun. All of which was making Sapience very hungry. He then joked that he may have to raid a grocery store on his way home.

8. Who did the music for the new region?
It was all done in-house.
8. If you could have any pet in game, what would it be?
That is a kind of unfair question, because he can always go, "Hey, guys... and get what he wants." He did say that one pet is ghost bear, which is coming along with extra life, along with snow-puff, the polar bear cub that always has snow falling on him.
10.What is being done with housing items?
I do not know what is being done at this time.
11. How do you get snow-puff?
It is on my extra-life donor page. Which can be found here.
12. Have you ever considered a zone that is completely non-canon and allow user-generated content?
I don't believe so. Part of having "The Lord of the Rings" license is that we have to run a good bit of what we do through approvals with our licenser. They always love what we do. They always approve what we are doing. They are very excited, for example, about the Beorning. When we pitched it to them, they thought it was fantastic. They are very excited to see the Beorning in game. As far as saying, 'Hey, here's an area that has nothing to do with "The Lord of the Rings"', I don't think we would be interested in doing that. Probably isn't something our licenser would be terribly interested in participating in, either.
13. Do you know if the Noble Grace title will be added?
Yes, I am looking into getting the Noble Grace deed added. I do not know where that process is, but I did submit a request.
14. Who came up with the concept of LOTRO?
I'm going to take a wild guess and assume you mean the game. It actually started long before it was LOTRO. It start as Middle Earth Online. It slowly evolved and changed and was reimagined as The Lord of the Rings Online. So it has kind of been a compilation of ideas and individuals responsible.
15. Any major cosmetic updates for the new areas being released next week?
No, and I am not real sure what the full extent of cosmetics are for the update, but I do not believe major is a good characterization.
16. Do you ever get to meet Christopher Tolkien?
No, we do not.
17. How big will your tattoo be for Extra Life, if you make your goal?
It will be visible. We are not going to find one of those guys who can write your name on a grain of rice. It would be something that you would not have to be right up next to me to see it. It will probably end up on my upper arm or my shoulder. We're not talking about a micro tattoo, but we're also not talking about full back.

The chat then devolved into discussing Dairy Queen. Sapience pointed out that Dairy Queen is a supporter of Children's Miracle Network. Children's Miracle network is the organization that runs Extra Life. Dairy Queen, for those who do not know, is a store that sells ice cream cones and other such confections that are equally as bad for you, but ever so yummy and wonderful.

18. What goal will we have to reach for you to get your tattoo on your lower back?
A quarter of a million dollars. $250,000 and I will get the tattoo on my lower back. We have to raise it all by August 1st. There you go.

The chat then turned to the topic of a zombie apocalypse. One person mentioned that they would commandeer a Dairy Queen if one were to occur. Sapience mentioned that the Dairy Queen near his house is next to an army surplus store, so there is a certain logic to that in his neighborhood.

19. Isn't $250,000 a bit pricey as a goal in such short a time?
Yes, it is, but [the tattoo] is also permanent. Perhaps I should have said 250 million.
20. Will you Dress up as a Beorning for the class launch?
Uh, I don't know. I have not given a lot of thought to that. Maybe. If we find something appropriate we might do a stream of some sort of Beorning look. I did do a dwarf hat/beard type of thing. Why not?
21. Do you have anything to share?
Yes, this weekend is a lootbox weekend. They should be live tomorrow, early in the morning. It will be going from the 11th to the 13th. So if you have some keys, you can go grab some lootboxes. Lootbox weekends simply increase the chance of a mob dropping a lootbox as loot.
22. Has there been any changes to the lootboxes.
No, the lootbox weekend is this weekend, before update 14, so no changes have been made.
23. Will lootboxes already in your inventory change after update 14?
I was just able to confirm with QA that if you have a lootbox in your inventory, there is a CHANCE that a pick-a-steed will drop, assuming that the lookbox is within the ranges that have pick-a-steeds in them.

Sapience ended the stream by thanking everyone for coming. He also thanked everyone for almost guaranteeing that he will stop for ice cream on his way home. He congratulated Nimrodel's total time of 32 minutes 25 seconds, placing them in 5th place so far.

Good job. My only comments are that #13 was actually about the Noble Grey Steed, which you can see here: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...ble-Grey-Steed and that I did not get ice cream on the way home. Something which I'm still sad about.

[SouthernBelle0927]

Good job. My only comments are that #13 was actually about the Noble Grey Steed, which you can see here: https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...ble-Grey-Steed and that I did not get ice cream on the way home. Something which I'm still sad about.

Awwwww. There's always the trip home today, though. It's never too late for ice cream.

[Ravynne]

I corrected my error. I have very tricky hearing.

As far as the ice cream goes, make sure to get some this weekend!

[Deorwyn]

Could also be the decision to let beornings start at level 1

We’ve been making changes based on your feedback. Third, the Beorning class will start at Level 1 (rather than Level 50). The class will be able to level fully through the early areas of Eriador, and will include its own starting experience.

Called it.