New Hobbit lasses walking animation looks unnatural

[Glenwin]

Hullo dear devs,

I logged into the game today and tried the new walking animation for the hobbit lasses that was changed to work better with shields. I think you went a little too far with this fix because the walking animation looks very unnatural for a small being like a hobbit, especially if it is a female character. To me it seems the problem can be broken down into two main problems:

1. Step length is too long - it looks like the hobbit lasses are now desperately trying to make extra special long steps. Watching the animation closely I believe that comes from the normal walking speed and the attempt to let the hobbits "slide" a little less over the ground. But honestly, it looks like if I try to make 1 meter long steps and by that try to walk fast instead of running.

2. Arm position - It's a bit funny because I can't really remember how the previous arm position was but I think the hands were more inwards (which may have been the primary issue with the shields). I don't think the new arm position is a natural arm position at all. Not even if we carry a shield and especially not if we don't carry a shield but just walk around in the newest dressses. I personally think the arms should be straighter. Just like the npc's animations. Those are still super.


I believe this animation should be tweaked a bit. Let the arms be held a little straighter and return to the old step length. Or return to the old animation. In my opinion it was just fine how it was.

[Galborion]

Or return to the old animation. In my opinion it was just fine how it was.

My poor hobbit lady looks like she has a stroke while running. Please, change it back. This is really bad.

[Keli]

Signed. Please put it back how it was. We don't care about the shield

[Entwoods511]

Signed, also. How hobbit lasses look with a shield is not nearly as important as they look when they walk and run. I like the old animations better.

[Glenwin]

I understand that Rp-wise it *does* fit certain RP situations like

- Hobbit lasses marching through the land over long distances and they are angry
- Hobbit lasses in search for their husbands who had an affair with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

But that's about it. Angry, VERY DETERMINED HOBBITS LASSES.


But there are roleplayers who just want to have a lazy sunday stroll through the Shire. Who are peaceful and calm and happy and very hobbity. For those roleplayers you have destroyed a very important part of their possibilites to express themselves in their roleplay. I am one of those Hobbits and there are more of my kind and many of the lasses I talked to do not like the new animation.

I would like to make you understand that this new animation is not a good idea for the roleplayers. I understand why you created it but still... it breaks roleplay. Please change the animation to be more calm and more natural. Or revert it to the old one. When Hobbit lasses walk (and don't run) they are not questing and most likely are not carrying a shield. Maybe they have a basket full with apples with them. Or a flower...

[Gaming_Gal]

I understand that Rp-wise it *does* fit certain RP situations like

- Hobbit lasses marching through the land over long distances and they are angry
- Hobbit lasses in search for their husbands who had an affair with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

But that's about it. Angry, VERY DETERMINED HOBBITS LASSES.


But there are roleplayers who just want to have a lazy sunday stroll through the Shire. Who are peaceful and calm and happy and very hobbity. For those roleplayers you have destroyed a very important part of their possibilites to express themselves in their roleplay. I am one of those Hobbits and there are more of my kind and many of the lasses I talked to do not like the new animation.

I would like to make you understand that this new animation is not a good idea for the roleplayers. I understand why you created it but still... it breaks roleplay. Please change the animation to be more calm and more natural. Or revert it to the old one. When Hobbit lasses walk (and don't run) they are not questing and most likely are not carrying a shield. Maybe they have a basket full with apples with them. Or a flower...

Ha! Very accurate marching notions.

Now when I run, even my backpack wiggles. I look like I'm about to fall apart. Walking is even worse for other reasons.

Oddly enough, when I view the run from above, I look like I'm running on tip toes because of that odd "hopping" nature of the run now.

Also, there seems to be some sort of frame skip in the animation, it's a consistent place, so it's not my computer's frame rate. That's going to be hard to watch for long stretches as well.

Please, yes, change back. Please please with lots of pie and tea on top.

[Nymphonic]

- Hobbit lasses in search for their husbands who had an affair with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

.

Ok, that's funny. ROFL!!!!!!!!!!!!

[NoCyg]

The walking I can take or leave--I don't do much RP, so I don't do much walking, but the run has an animation skip in it (as a different poster noted previously) which is going to very quickly drive me nuts. My hobbit lass carries around a shield almost all the time, and I can't say I'd noticed anything wrong with the previous animation.

[Glenwin]

This is exactly what I mean. People who do not roleplay do not care for the walking animation - they simply almost never walk. But roleplayers almost only walk - and they do care a lot about this. And roleplayers take off their weapons and shields. Because hobbits just don't carry them in the Shire.

Please, for the roleplayers, take this animation back and put in the old one again.

[Glenwin]

I think it's important to make you understand it from the perspective of a hobbit role-player.

A hobbit -as all Lord of the Rings fans know- is a peaceful being. They are mostly carefree (except they are hungry) and they live a simple life. Normally they never leave the Shire.

How to roleplay that? Isn't it quite boring to roleplay that? Yes and no. There are players out there who like this simple stuff. They come home from work and want to relax and just meet and chat a bit with their characters, maybe at a market, maybe have a little walk or maybe meet to play music and tell a story. That is what hobbit role-players do. They invent stories to share, write songs to sing and organize strolls through the Shire to places of hobbit history to tell stories of old.
There is more of course but I think it's enough to say that the gist of it is: Hobbit roleplayers are peaceful, harmless, carefree and all they want is to have a little fun while they play.

Of course they also play the game just as everyone else. But that is a completely different thing. It does not fit the lore to equip a weapon and a shield so hobbit roleplayers usually are not roleplaying when they are questing. They also almost never walk when questing. They run around, ride around just as everyone else. Because they are in "OOC mode" when doing that. From the roleplaying perspective their characters never really left the Shire.

So questing/playing the game and roleplaying are two completely different and clearly separated things.

- A hobbit roleplayer in the Shire will be "in character" (IC) and if they leave the Shire they will be "out of character" (OOC).
- A hobbit roleplayer in the Shire will walk because they are IC. If they are OOC they will run around.

And when a hobbit role-player is IC they will not carry weapons. That is the reason why you never heard us cry about shields moving into our bodies. I am playing the game since start with my little Floradine and I never ever heard anyone complaining about this animation problem because it simply never was a problem and I myself also never had this problem.

For hobbit roleplayers this animation "fix" is actually not a fix but an introduction of a problem. Because now, when we roleplay, we move in an awkward way. We make huge steps and look very determined but not longer peaceful and carefree. This animation actually takes that away. We are now no longer able to walk around peacefully and carefree and this is completely against what the normale state of being is for a hobbit.

Sunday strolls through the Shire now became marches with heavy loads on our arms and backs despite the simple fact that we wear a sunday dress.

[Lyzau]

I'm sorry to be a bit of a spoiler in this thread, but for me personally the animation is an improvement. My hobbit is a burglar and very adventurous. Indeed, not your typical staying in the Shire eating pies kind of hobbit, but then she is a Stoor so... I suppose RP situations and animations are all subjective. Truly, I don't think the new walking animation is that bad. I'd rather see the devs pay attention to fixing the riding animation sync bug, or the multitude of appearance bugs on the crafted T8 armour pieces.
So while I am not against changing back to the old walking animation, I am not against keeping the new animation either. I am fine with both.

[Kerin_Eldar]

Turbine have changed Hobbit animations several times over the years and still can't get it looking anything other than horrible.

/sigh

[Sagafjord]

[QUOTE=Glenwin;7007520]I understand that Rp-wise it *does* fit certain RP situations like

- Hobbit lasses marching through the land over long distances and they are angry
- Hobbit lasses in search for their husbands who had an affair with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

But that's about it. Angry, VERY DETERMINED HOBBITS LASSES.

I'm laughed so hard I spilled coffee all over the keyboard! An affair with Lobelia indeed - that would really take hobbit-courage

I sign the petition to get the old animation back - I don't like walking like this!

BTW: Is it my graphics or did the devs give us bigger bums as well??

[Glenwin]

I'm sorry to be a bit of a spoiler in this thread, but for me personally the animation is an improvement. My hobbit is a burglar and very adventurous. Indeed, not your typical staying in the Shire eating pies kind of hobbit, but then she is a Stoor so... I suppose RP situations and animations are all subjective. Truly, I don't think the new walking animation is that bad. I'd rather see the devs pay attention to fixing the riding animation sync bug, or the multitude of appearance bugs on the crafted T8 armour pieces.
So while I am not against changing back to the old walking animation, I am not against keeping the new animation either. I am fine with both.

I am not sure how much work it is to revert back to the old animation. But I am thankful that you won't try to stand in the way of doing it. Thank you for being a great person, Hymne.

And yes, that stupid horse animation for man and elves CAN BE FIXED too. Just do it. I still have a hard time to believe that one of the most important (at least in visibility) store items is broken for how long already? Years?

[Cennwyn]

Oh my GOD I walk like a gorilla!!!

Please fix this; the absurd way my hobbit holds her arms out to her sides is just nuts. I don't give a tinker's toot about the bloody shield.

[Dworin]

Hullo dear devs,

I logged into the game today and tried the new walking animation for the hobbit lasses that was changed to work better with shields. I think you went a little too far with this fix because the walking animation looks very unnatural for a small being like a hobbit, especially if it is a female character. To me it seems the problem can be broken down into two main problems:

1. Step length is too long - it looks like the hobbit lasses are now desperately trying to make extra special long steps. Watching the animation closely I believe that comes from the normal walking speed and the attempt to let the hobbits "slide" a little less over the ground. But honestly, it looks like if I try to make 1 meter long steps and by that try to walk fast instead of running.

2. Arm position - It's a bit funny because I can't really remember how the previous arm position was but I think the hands were more inwards (which may have been the primary issue with the shields). I don't think the new arm position is a natural arm position at all. Not even if we carry a shield and especially not if we don't carry a shield but just walk around in the newest dressses. I personally think the arms should be straighter. Just like the npc's animations. Those are still super.


I believe this animation should be tweaked a bit. Let the arms be held a little straighter and return to the old step length. Or return to the old animation. In my opinion it was just fine how it was.

I agree, though I don't play a Hobbit. But the Hobbit lasses of LMB (At least some of them, maybe all) do not like the new animations, so they get my support for a fix.

[XinaLotRO]

All lady hobbits walk but only some of them carry a shield. Perhaps this is a case of needing to cater to the majority.
I agree with those who point out that walking is most often for roleplay and social gatherings, where shields can easily be removed.

[morrowbreeze]

To speak nothing of a Hobbit lass hunter with the run speed boost! You have changed the the difficulty of the game, changed to an ungainly LI system, Added trait tress where none existed before, mucked around with my familiar skills, and I have kept my smile and good humor, But you have made my Tinki less feminine and I am about to go nuclear!

So I sign this petition with my smile slowly turning into a frown.

[Rapidan]

Hullo dear devs,


I believe this animation should be tweaked a bit. Let the arms be held a little straighter and return to the old step length. Or return to the old animation. In my opinion it was just fine how it was.

Agree,

Bellcari (hobbit minstrel lass)

[Suzhran]

Totally agree... why fix something that wasn't broken??!!

Thankfully, the run is ok, so mine has been doing a lot of running... trying to stay in shape I guess!

Pleaeaease fix!!!!

[Linawillow]

Hulk! Smash!

Aye, I wouldn't mind a revert back to the old animations, and this comes from a lass who wears a shield rather often. It is like years of pie and biscuit-eating suddenly caught up with me after the update, and suddenly lowered me center of gravity way towards the floor.

If this animation was tied to one of the emote moods (like mood_angry), it could have been halfway fitting. Having this as the universal animation, though, is more than a bit jarring.

[LemurCatta]

To me the new animation reminds me of a very bad 1980's music video. When I was walking up the hill towards the pony I kept expecting to see other hobbit lasses coming out of the buildings as I passed and lining up lockstep behind me as we head off to confront the lad who had done me wrong.

I do appreciate that the devs tried to give our lasses some extra attention. The old walk and run animation was odd, but I could live with it and they only made it worse with the new one. For me, if I am walking I am either in RP where I would be holding my tankard of ale and a sparkler, or I hit the wrong button and popped out of running mode at the wrong time.

Please give us back our old walk.

-- Sonca of Landroval

As for:

- Hobbit lasses in search for their husbands who had an affair with Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

She can keep him!

[BangoGerstfeld]

I don't like the new Hobbit lass walk animation either, I agree to the mentioned reasons. Please restore the old walk animation. Or better yet, give us the option to use different walk animations like we may with facial expressions.

[Sigram]

To be frank, I think the animation makes it look like the poor hobbit has a really bad case of chaffing going on and is walking in a way to reduce friction....

[Galborion]

Not only walk, even run is silly. My poor hunter is running like gorilla.

Please revert this change. Both walk and run to previous state. There was nothing wrong with it.