The Major W00T Thread on Coming RAID

[Vilan]

I dunno. We'll see what we get. I don't want a raid per se, I want challenging group content. I'd rather have a couple 3 or 6 man instances that push me to play well and are fun to play than a raid shoved out the door just so they can say they made one.

Can't help thinking of Draigoch... not just a new raid, but a new 24 MAN raid! W00TZ0RZ! Oh wait, the 24 man is just an easymode version of the 12 man... which bugs out pretty often... nvm...

[Linnier]

W00000000000000000000000000000 000t!


Please, speculate on what it will be like. I need entertainment.

Just going to be another instance/raid no one does, but a raid is a raid and at this point no one really cares. However, I do think it is too little too late though, damage is already done and more people are leaving daily over this consolidation mess. Not many people wanted another level cap increase and that has also pissed players off.

Could be one of the last producer letters, so take what you can get and enjoy another year of Middle-Earth.

[Menathradon]

Just going to be another instance/raid no one does, but a raid is a raid and at this point no one really cares. However, I do think it is too little too late though, damage is already done and more people are leaving daily over this consolidation mess. Not many people wanted another level cap increase and that has also pissed players off.

Could be one of the last producer letters, so take what you can get and enjoy another year of Middle-Earth.

So you didn't want more content? and just wanted to stay at lvl 100 forever? You were happy with the extremely low/ghost town servers?

WHY ARE YOU STILL PLAYING THIS GAME?

not screaming... just emphasizing.

[Mirnir]

Please, speculate on what it will be like. I need entertainment.

I do like speculating, so here goes!

The march from Minas Tirith to the Morannon is a rather uneventful one in the lore. Lots of watchfulness with only a few kerfuffles with orcs that weren't a serious assault. So I think we will be sent out before the march begins to scout for potential ambushes and hints of evil plots, leading us to investigate Minas Morgul, where we will raid against something (perhaps not another Nazgul, so maybe something like Khundolar Sorceror mega bosses, their acolytes and some other mobs rallied after the defeat on the Pelennor).

Once that threat is dealt with, we get wind of a buildup of orcs and other nasty things being sent that way to attack Aragorn's force from behind, so when Aragorn and Gandalf show up, they decide to destroy the bridge and burn the fields.
I can't decide if I want a Shelob raid. It could be cool, or it might just be a normal and ultimately boring spider boss like we've seen before. The High Tunnel might even better suit a 3 man instance. Between Shelob and MM for a raid setting, I would certainly pick MM.

So later, Aragorn orders a portion of his force to retake Cair Andros. It might be cool to be sent as a small secondary force to assault the command post there while the main force is distracted, in a six man instance.
After this, we go back to the last part of the approach to the Morannon. I don't think there's really room from here on for a group instance.

Can't think of anything else linked to the march right now that doesn't involve taking the East side of the river, which may be a bit too much like the previous Osgiliath instances, but maybe something could work there as a 3 or a 6 man. Although now I think of it, Henneth Annun could be a really beautiful place to have a 3 or 6 man 'retaking' instance (fighting our way in from outside rather than inside only).

[MourneBlade]

New Raid, TYVM Turbine!! Hope it really happens.

Don't care about grinding anything, just want the challenge and teamwork back. Screw the loot. New Raid Yes!!!!

Okay got that out of the way. Now to just wait for the fallout from the hardcore solo'ists and casuals that are going to complain about it.

Oh and yeah 5 new levels, bring it on. Love to fill up the xp bar!!!

[Snowlock]

That it's an instance cluster probably gives a few hints as to what it's gonna be like. Probably going to be defending or saving interior locations in Minas Tirith as it's breached during the battle. Hopefully there'll be no wall fights as they're being done to death in EB's. Could be some open field raids, we've seen them before with the Flight from Lonely Mtn raid in the Erebor cluster. Since we're presumably with Rohan could be a MC instance though I doubt it (but wouldn't be completely opposed). I think the most likely spot for a traditional multi wing boss raid would be Cair Andros. Something like, Rohan is coming, we're on a daring mission to liberate CA so it's not on their flank, or something like that.

[siipperi]

Just going to be another instance/raid no one does, but a raid is a raid and at this point no one really cares. However, I do think it is too little too late though, damage is already done and more people are leaving daily over this consolidation mess. Not many people wanted another level cap increase and that has also pissed players off.

Could be one of the last producer letters, so take what you can get and enjoy another year of Middle-Earth.

Care to mention which are these other instances/raids nobody did do?

[Winds]

I'm glad to see a level cap increase and a new instance cluster which features a raid. Congrats on hearing us Turbine!

We need more information though. Won't there be new landmasses? What about new skills and the class revamps? Classes have lost their uniqueness ages ago, we need that back! If I choose a minstrel, I want it to be different, not to have things all other classes have! Also, I chose it because I want to heal, I don't need to have absurd dps, even when solo! Let that to DPS classes. That's what happening to all classes!

[ddave]

Final Boss?

In the book, Gothmog is in command of the enemy forces during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields after the defeat of the Witch-King.

There is no other mention of Gothmog or his fate.

[DiogoVP]

Please cluster with multiple bosses instead of one boss. People won't be happy if it's just 1 and you will see dive on player numbers soon after the launch.

Sure as long as those secondary bosses have decent loot, unlike the secondary bosses we have on RC, SL and DoS. HAHA
Otherwise it'll be better to have only 1 boss.

[Beaniemooch]

Sure as long as those secondary bosses have decent loot, unlike the secondary bosses we have on RC, SL and DoS. HAHA
Otherwise it'll be better to have only 1 boss.

I have concerns that there aren't resources to make a decent raid based on comments from the devs previously. Scarce resources, that's what we keep hearing. We have loot tables that currently aren't fixed and don't make content worth running. Balance doesn't exist for most classes so how can a raid succeed that actually requires balance and teamwork?

I think for me this is too little, too late. I wish the rest of you the best of luck.

[Witch0King]

Final Boss?

In the book, Gothmog is in command of the enemy forces during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields after the defeat of the Witch-King.

There is no other mention of Gothmog or his fate.

Gothmog belong to the epics. Would be beyond stupid if they finish him in a raid.

[The_Jagannath]

Gothmog belong to the epics. Would be beyond stupid if they finish him in a raid.

Oh? You mean kind of like Sambrog? = |

[Nosdracir]

Ya know, I will probably never run this new raid since i don't run any raids unless I can solo them 20-30-40 levels too high. Yet, I'm really happy that they plan to create one for purely selfish reasons.

I hope all y'all raiders have a great time sinking your teeth into a good raid. I really hope you get a most excellent one because you will run it many times in order to obtain the best loot out of it. I hope the raid has really good loot progression for T1/T2/T2C with a good selection of both guaranteed chest rewards and random drops. I want to you be able to run T1 to get some items to improve success in T2 where you will get more better items so that you can complete T2C.

Why?

Because all along the way you will loot purple and teal items that are trash to you. You'll put them on the AH for (usually) reasonable prices and I can pick them up to make my landscape questing characters better.

If you win with a raid that you enjoy, then I win buying your trash loot from the AH that improves me at landscape questing.

I'm rootin' for ya!

[The_Jagannath]

... Probably going to be defending or saving interior locations in Minas Tirith as it's breached during the battle...

You mean what they should have done in the first place instead of Epic Battles?

[Ferathyr]

W00000000000000000000000000000 000t!


Please, speculate on what it will be like. I need entertainment.

Shizz on a shingle! There have been calls for a new raid on these forums for ages, Turbine give those players what they have been wanting but they are complaining about the new raid already and there hasn't even been any details released yet other than there will be a raid. As for those claiming that they don't want to grind another 200 scrolls: Then don't, no one has a gun to your head.

[Hurin]

As for those claiming that they don't want to grind another 200 scrolls: Then don't, no one has a gun to your head.

Now that's just fantastic business sense right there.

[Wolfhelm]

Looking back two years to the "no more raids" and "10%" public relations fiascos, it's good to see comments such as this from the LOTRO CM

Those were dark days for the true believers among us, and while I'll neither forgive nor forget what was said and done back then, the fact that I'm still here says a lot about how much I love this game. Who can say whether the new raid will live up to our hopes or expectations? At this stage I'm just happy to see that they are making an effort at last

[Ellodh]

Exciting stuff to read about however I am less excited because I cannot stop thinking what the final product will play like.

My biggest conern right now is a few things; The raid will be to easy/difficult. When I say difficult I don't mean difficult to finish due to tactics etc I am refering to the raid needing all classes to go with 45K+ morale because the bosses will just be copied from previous instances and have way out of control number values. The same will happen if it's to easy but and it'll just be a faceroll.

Another big concern is the quality of the raid at launch. Now I don't know if many of the devs play the game at an end game level but when Osgiliath was shipped the instances overall were quite solid and stable, I myself only ran into a few bugs here or there nothing that caused major concerns. The massive issue that many had with the instance cluster was how they were very unfriendly to certain classes. Mobs hitting big aoe hits like Sunken Lab T2C that would make burgs/champs/red line captains useless. Bosses absorbing 90%+ fire damage, leaving Lms and rks who don't have a lightning build available (their fault on that more than anything.) Boss mechanics that cause classes to becoming useless and unneeded is what leads to fewer people doing the instances after the first few weeks. People who do T2C should be expected to be able to switch traits for a siutation so those things are fine, I just hope that people don't want to take part because they need 45k morale as a dps champion to survive a boss

I am excited for a new raid and I hope it's not just one boss on the field tank n spank then done. I want wings like Orthanc, I want to maybe have to return to it a few times a week for a full clear and I want to have fun with it but I might need to keep my excitment until 2-3 months after release when all classes can play it safely without the need for insane gear builds and most of the inevitable bugs are fixed. The producers letter was so lack luster, one of the least detailed I have seen. It's like they don't even know what they are doing in 6 months time, maybe the server delays have impacted that and we get more details on up coming content in the coming months not a week before it's release.

EDIT: Someone mentioned this earlier and I couldn't agree more. Fix the loot tables or your time spent on the raid will be wasted. People will do it for a while then return to thorog/fornost. Give the raid the same or improved loot tables from the u16 cluster but with the currencies (if any) dropping at the rate they drop now not the rate when U16 shipped and for the love of god make the new raid on t2 and t2c give excellent marks and medallions for completing them and you will see the raids being run non stop, Not t1 like you have done with Durchest/Flight but T2/T2C. Get that right and you atleast have people doing it 2 months later. The amount of marks/meds you get from doing the new cluster on T2C is absolutely horrifying in comparsing to the braindead content people farm.

[UwS-Harledir]

Exciting stuff to read about however I am less excited because I cannot stop thinking what the final product will play like.

My biggest conern right now is a few things; The raid will be to easy/difficult. When I say difficult I don't mean difficult to finish due to tactics etc I am refering to the raid needing all classes to go with 45K+ morale because the bosses will just be copied from previous instances and have way out of control number values. The same will happen if it's to easy but and it'll just be a faceroll.

Another big concern is the quality of the raid at launch. Now I don't know if many of the devs play the game at an end game level but when Osgiliath was shipped the instances overall were quite solid and stable, I myself only ran into a few bugs here or there nothing that caused major concerns. The massive issue that many had with the instance cluster was how they were very unfriendly to certain classes. Mobs hitting big aoe hits like Sunken Lab T2C that would make burgs/champs/red line captains useless. Bosses absorbing 90%+ fire damage, leaving Lms and rks who don't have a lightning build available (their fault on that more than anything.) Boss mechanics that cause classes to becoming useless and unneeded is what leads to fewer people doing the instances after the first few weeks. People who do T2C should be expected to be able to switch traits for a siutation so those things are fine, I just hope that people don't want to take part because they need 45k morale as a dps champion to survive a boss

I am excited for a new raid and I hope it's not just one boss on the field tank n spank then done. I want wings like Orthanc, I want to maybe have to return to it a few times a week for a full clear and I want to have fun with it but I might need to keep my excitment until 2-3 months after release when all classes can play it safely without the need for insane gear builds and most of the inevitable bugs are fixed. The producers letter was so lack luster, one of the least detailed I have seen. It's like they don't even know what they are doing in 6 months time, maybe the server delays have impacted that and we get more details on up coming content in the coming months not a week before it's release.

EDIT: Someone mentioned this earlier and I couldn't agree more. Fix the loot tables or your time spent on the raid will be wasted. People will do it for a while then return to thorog/fornost. Give the raid the same or improved loot tables from the u16 cluster but with the currencies (if any) dropping at the rate they drop now not the rate when U16 shipped and for the love of god make the new raid on t2 and t2c give excellent marks and medallions for completing them and you will see the raids being run non stop, Not t1 like you have done with Durchest/Flight but T2/T2C. Get that right and you atleast have people doing it 2 months later. The amount of marks/meds you get from doing the new cluster on T2C is absolutely horrifying in comparsing to the braindead content people farm.

+1 Spot On!

[Anglion]

As always with Turbine i'm very, very sceptical about this new raid so i would like to be proven wrong but since it is Turbine we are talking about i don;t have high hopes.

Still, better have some new, monetized, easy raid than nothing i guess...

[Arnenna]

While we won't give any details yet, we can confirm the 12 man will be a raid and not an Epic Battle.

This is fabulous news. Seems my optimism on this subject is coming to fruition. All you gotta do now is make sure those wonderful devs . . . . do it right.

Yes, we'll make a raid, is the easy part. Yes, we'll make a really good raid . . . is the challenge

I remain optimistic.

[MessyR]

Lets not get to carried away atm, glad as hell its a raid, but is it Multi Boss/Wing? or a stupid turtle or dragon?

Hopefully turbine do a good raid like old DN/OD days

[Wicked_Witch]

If we hear so often about limited resources, I wouldn't count on anything we know from previous great raids of old days. And a word "scalable' is a huge alarming sign to me - look at what happened to once epic OD and BG...

Don't get me wrong - I'm positively surprised they finally realized that 'no more raids policy' was a fiasco and are bringing a new instance cluster. But I also know that almost every update in the last 2 years was, more or less, a disappointment for me and my friends. With every update more of my friends decided to look for pastures new. We can think we have now a new producer who is not responsible for old mistakes, but the same producer is responsible for Minas Tirith update which pushed me from Lotro again. They got our feedback in beta and once again decided to ignore it. Same old, same old.

[Arnenna]

Lets not get to carried away atm, glad as hell its a raid, but is it Multi Boss/Wing? or a stupid turtle or dragon?

Hopefully turbine do a good raid like old DN/OD days

It would be nice if they could take the best of Rift, BG, OD (Ivar/Gotheron part), RoF, DN, GS, Watcher and maybe a bit of Osg and mash those mechanics into a multi-lair/boss encounter.