@SSG: Open Palantir for everyone :o

[Degelhil]

Dear Devs,

my suggestion to you is to abandon the Palantir Private Program in its current form. The secrecy about new content is absolutely no longer justifiable in 2023 and is also unnecessary, as one could collect much more effective input regarding bugs and other errors in other ways. Many players are even able to open game files and thus already reveal many "secrets". And now that the "Letter to the Players" has pretty much announced all the new features, why not just involve the community to achieve a better game experience?

I recommend and even wish for the Palantir server to be opened to the public. It would probably also be possible to open Bullroarer much much earlier, however a separation between alpha and beta still makes sense. When players log onto the Palantir server, they need to be aware that everything is still in development. And those players who don't like such an unfinished game experience can still wait for a final test phase on Bullroarer. But such a move would ensure that much more feedback gets to the developers much sooner. If you prefer to hide behind your NDA, which is disregarded on Reddit and Discord anyway, then a more dynamic registration phase would be possible (not sending out a few invitations every two years). But I think you guys at SSG know: the Lotro community is different, we're helpful, we care about the game. So maybe it's time to integrate the community even more. With more togetherness, Lotro has an even brighter future ahead of it

[Carallot]

Thank you but for me, please, no.

For the same reason we cannot visit Area 51.

If you ever visited the Bullroarer server (you are an old player like me) when is open you should know why.

[Pewpewmidget]

Thank you but for me, please, no.

For the same reason we cannot visit Area 51.

If you ever visited the Bullroarer server (you are an old player like me) when is open you should know why.

Then don't participate, plain and simple.
Plantir is no area 51 either.

If Plantir is supposed to be for beta testing for Bullroarer changes then it should be treated that way and not disregarded.
Bugs from pre beta still manage to make it on Bullroarer and then the same bugs still manage to make it live.

[Carallot]

Then don't participate, plain and simple.
Plantir is no area 51 either.

If Plantir is supposed to be for beta testing for Bullroarer changes then it should be treated that way and not disregarded.
Bugs from pre beta still manage to make it on Bullroarer and then the same bugs still manage to make it live.

No, in Palantir (AFAIK) there are some features that "never" get to Bullroarer (they are but deactivated) because they will be released in future updates. You may see things, also multiple versions of them (maybe to some users, to some others not), for a long future that maybe never will be there at the end or very different. Is like LotRO's multiverse, that's why is "private".

Bullroarer is the "official update" test server, a "decent thing" to attract VIP players in a nice presentable future as maybe they are also investors.

Would you invest a "really nice" amount in a buggy-to-the-end crude window with some text and random numbers that crashes the game that has been since 2016 in the test game? How much time needed Hobnanigans v2.0 get to live again? Is like receiving customers after waking-up dressed only with your pyjamas.

[Starbuck1771]

Dear Devs,

my suggestion to you is to abandon the Palantir Private Program in its current form. The secrecy about new content is absolutely no longer justifiable in 2023 and is also unnecessary, as one could collect much more effective input regarding bugs and other errors in other ways. Many players are even able to open game files and thus already reveal many "secrets". And now that the "Letter to the Players" has pretty much announced all the new features, why not just involve the community to achieve a better game experience?

I recommend and even wish for the Palantir server to be opened to the public. It would probably also be possible to open Bullroarer much much earlier, however a separation between alpha and beta still makes sense. When players log onto the Palantir server, they need to be aware that everything is still in development. And those players who don't like such an unfinished game experience can still wait for a final test phase on Bullroarer. But such a move would ensure that much more feedback gets to the developers much sooner. If you prefer to hide behind your NDA, which is disregarded on Reddit and Discord anyway, then a more dynamic registration phase would be possible (not sending out a few invitations every two years). But I think you guys at SSG know: the Lotro community is different, we're helpful, we care about the game. So maybe it's time to integrate the community even more. With more togetherness, Lotro has an even brighter future ahead of it

No and if I had it my way we would go back to proper selection and enforcement of NDAs. I have been around since the Shadows of Angmar Alpha and I have tested most of the expansions after that. I don't like the way the past few expansions have gone because content testing has become less professional. We don't need more randoms adding unprofessional input into the testing process to achieve their personal wishlist.

[MajorPayne]

We have a few things working against us one is we don't really have a producer for the game any longer and EG7/SSG is not looking to replace the one who left.
The other big thing is most people work from home now, even though SSG moved into a new office... this is very apparent just from the last few updates we have
gotten, look at the last 2 events, which items were left out and not put in until basically the event was over, this is because it seems no one is talking to each other,
and stuff is falling through the cracks.
I think we all understand that LoTrO is a very large and complex program, and the Devs are trying to do things with it that it was never meant to do, and one
change or add-on can be like pulling the wrong string and it all falls apart. (IE, Dwayne in Rock in the middle of the road among many other things).

[Aranaan]

We have a few things working against us one is we don't really have a producer for the game any longer and EG7/SSG is not looking to replace the one who left.
The other big thing is most people work from home now, even though SSG moved into a new office... this is very apparent just from the last few updates we have
gotten, look at the last 2 events, which items were left out and not put in until basically the event was over, this is because it seems no one is talking to each other,
and stuff is falling through the cracks.
I think we all understand that LoTrO is a very large and complex program, and the Devs are trying to do things with it that it was never meant to do, and one
change or add-on can be like pulling the wrong string and it all falls apart. (IE, Dwayne in Rock in the middle of the road among many other things).

I had the feeling that SSG these last years have been run by the program developers, which is always a bad idea. And I mean that.
These guys are the tech nerds, who loves trying out new things (delving system) thinking, this is cool... but they are not in touch with the people who use the game and pay for it.

On the subject of delving... former mission. former skirmish (its the same #### people, with different wrapping). They could just make it mission/skirmish with different tiers. Problem soved.
But for some reason, they re-invent the same stuff over and over again.

Have seen this many times within the IT industry, where they company gives the tech savy too much free will and the end result, the customers find another company instead.

[TesalionLortus]

I had the feeling that SSG these last years have been run by the program developers, which is always a bad idea. And I mean that.
These guys are the tech nerds, who loves trying out new things (delving system) thinking, this is cool... but they are not in touch with the people who use the game and pay for it.

On the subject of delving... former mission. former skirmish (its the same #### people, with different wrapping). They could just make it mission/skirmish with different tiers. Problem soved.
But for some reason, they re-invent the same stuff over and over again.

Have seen this many times within the IT industry, where they company gives the tech savy too much free will and the end result, the customers find another company instead.

That's an interesting observation. If we go along these lines, then one might add the feeling the very same thing would apply to artists/worldbuilders too, to some extent, sometimes. Love trying out new things or approach older things with new toolsets to an oversaturated way, or just doing whatever they're particularly inspired to do, even if it doesn't seem that essential and like the best use of highly limited time, so will end up disappointing some players, and there is nobody to say no or provide some coordination so there is some variety/consistency/efficiency of workflow (like don't do certain things backward or don't end up creating too many things to fix), by the end of the day. Might be connected to the lack of the producer too?

Creative freedom is of course valuable and may deliver juicy results, but there are also times when no coordination might just end up diminishing the value of things in an already established product. And contribute to the modder environment over the dev environment - modders are amazing and solid creators of course, but in this case it's all connected to actual profit and having to keep the lights on, and it's not like any of us can actively contribute to the project to increase variety and fix things a group of core modders aren't actively working on, thus becoming part of the group ourselves. So, in this case, company run by developers/with modder environment somewhat tipping the scales - while visibly very creative and passionate about their product - can leave you with some hit-and-miss lackluster/less efficient results sometimes, and things that could actually make impact are there "somewhere on the horizon" but never fully realized.

[LabadalofDorlomin]

We don't need more randoms adding unprofessional input

By the way to all you folks who wish to peek behind the curtain - this attitude is what you will find. A closed shop of players who have an elitist attitude and only engage with you if you agree wholeheartedly with their view on any particular discussion. The moderators of course fall heavily on the side of those who do their "grunt" work for them although,

Elitist they think they are but much that they espouse, no matter how loudly, is hardly used albeit for bugs and they simply don't realise that they are only there to file issues they come across. They are simply free labour and because of that they are allowed to make a toxic atmosphere.

Opening it up to anyone who wants to go would quieten down these voices for sure and is completely why they don't want "randoms"

[modtek]

No and if I had it my way we would go back to proper selection and enforcement of NDAs. I have been around since the Shadows of Angmar Alpha and I have tested most of the expansions after that. I don't like the way the past few expansions have gone because content testing has become less professional. We don't need more randoms adding unprofessional input into the testing process to achieve their personal wishlist.

SSG can also look a little closer and track exactly how users play the lotro on usual servers too, a little more control through informal communities such as Lotro Progress or Lotro Companion, keep an eye on the capabilities of your players - some of them may just as well contribute to a negative perception of the game, activities that no one will openly tell you about. For example, make a hard cap on the character's stats so that they do not make themselves several million of morale, do not complete 4000+ of the same quest per day and so on. As the realities show, not everything that needs to be fixed is reported and simply not said openly, even from trusted testers, not only in games. Do not wait until someone tells something privately, a lot of things are checked by user activity, this was not mentioned and passed by, do not create conditions for a vacuum where you can do whatever you want. You will be told that the servers are drowning in lags, but no one will say that he was part of this problem due to his actions in 20+ open clients and so on.

I know that one of the testers on the Palantir server a few years ago hid bugs and gave them to ordinary players, including Russian-speaking players, which you are unlikely to be told about on the forums. Respond to actions, not words.