Dev Diary Feedback: Update 2: Epic-Volume 2 - “Solofication” Pass Developer Diary

[TrueLokaster]

Not this again. It IS random.
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?&postid=4954038#post4954038

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[Cerridwen]

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Odd, was working for me. Here's just the forum link instead of to Amlug's post:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.p...39-2.6.8-cloak

And here's Amlug's post:

Ok, it has been long enough since this instance came out that I can reveal my secrets to obtaining this cloak. Follow these steps and you will get it every time!

1. Make sure you aren't wearing any cosmetic clothing
2. Equip your level 1 starter weapon(s)
3. Make sure that every time you enter combat, you are killed
4. Wait for the Resurrection Timer to expire before releasing
5. /smoke during every "conversation" in the instance
6. Kill the two Rogmul without dying
7. /slap the boss when the final scene plays out
8. Jump into the portal in the back of the instance.

If this doesn't work, you did something wrong.

If you don't WANT to do any of this, then good luck with the random die roll that everyone else has to deal with.

[PublicIntoxicant]

And I never said raids, I said group content. Its the primary focus of WoW endgame that is constantly being played there. It is a direct counter to your original assertion that people wanting to do group content decreases. Put the right goals and rewards such as WoW has done and people willingly do it over and over again.

I never claimed that the number of players wanting to do group content has decreased. But, please, don't let facts get in the way of your strawman argument.

[Ungodlyomen]

Im loving this. I think every great story line should be soloable.

The epic story in Lotro is great and should be seen.

Some miss it simply because they cant get groups.

Good move turbine. +1 rep.

[Serees]

Im loving this. I think every great story line should be soloable.

The epic story in Lotro is great and should be seen.

Some miss it simply because they cant get groups.

Good move turbine. +1 rep.

And even in a group, you'll get the control freaks yelling at you for "standing there reading the story" instead of rushing on with the rest of the group.

[Deyjarl]

I never claimed that the number of players wanting to do group content has decreased. But, please, don't let facts get in the way of your strawman argument.

You can't even remember what you wrote can you?

The MMO genre (at least in the West) has evolved (and will continue to evolve) toward soloability and away from play barriers. MMO developers who fail to grasp this fact will likely find that their MMOs share the fate of the dinosaurs. In other words, arguing that an MMO should require group play "because it's an MMO" fails because it relies on an outdated definition of "MMO."

As much as I disagree with urzen, above, he's right about one thing: the solo vs. grouper debate is over. The market power of the solo players has permanently changed the genre. You are beating a dead horse.

Very much implies exactly what we contest is not happening. Reality does not support you assertions there one bit. It was no strawman, you have either completely forgotten your post or have completely waffled.

[PublicIntoxicant]

Very much implies exactly what we contest is not happening.

LOL, you have just made my point! Nowhere in the language you quoted do I claim that the number of players wanting to do group content has decreased.

And I see you've realized your error, because you've now downgraded your claim. You are now claiming that I made an "implication" rather than an "assertion."

Keep on waffling!

[Rebecw]

I'm very glad to see this change being made. Thanks Turbine! I am looking forward to finishing Volume II.

[ragesangel]

I'm gunna be blunt, the game as a whole is being made extremely easy, and while I do like to run things solo and cuss the fellowship quests (at times) the fact that Turbine thinks that making almost everything soloable is annoying.
To group up and solve the puzzle at hand is half the fun and the whole of the challenge.
Without the challenge the point of playing the game is?

[TaintedEvil]

/Disagree

Making everything easy in this game is a bad choice. Little by little the game is already becoming "pay 2 win" and now an entire volume of the epic quest line is made solo-able. Theyre not supposed to be easy.

[Nyrion]

/Disagree

Making everything easy in this game is a bad choice. Little by little the game is already becoming "pay 2 win" and now an entire volume of the epic quest line is made solo-able. Theyre not supposed to be easy.

But they are supposed to have people actually complete them. Something that apparently was not happening under the current system. The Epic line is a pivotal part of the game, stopping players from doing it because they don't group is just wrong.

And the 'Pay 2 Win' argument is as full of tripe as it's always been. You can't 'win' an MMO, especially one that doesn't focus on PvP.

[daveamongus]

Making everything easy in this game is a bad choice. Little by little the game is already becoming "pay 2 win" and now an entire volume of the epic quest line is made solo-able. Theyre not supposed to be easy.

Soloable =/= easy.

"Accessible" =/= easy.

Unless, by implication, you're suggesting that the difficulty in building groups for random Epic instances at the time of day you happen to have in which to play and complete the content is, by its nature, an inherent aspect of the game's overall difficulty and not, in fact, an unintended byproduct of shifting demographics and the fickle and variable interest level of the overall game population. I don't know about you, but I'm partial to Turbine's attempts to make the meta-game less difficult. And before you, or anyone else, suggests "They should just have a WOW-like server-spanning instance thing," I humbly ask you to consider what the actual difficulty (and stability risk) of implementing such a system might be. Almost certainly more difficult and potentially server-crushing than soloifying the Epic content.

Your implication also suggests that the other group content, which hasn't been soloified, including the new instance/raid cluster with its three challenge levels (Tier 1, Tier 2, and Challenge Mode), has been somehow invalidated and made easy, just by adding Inspired Greatness to a handful of instances and turning three other instances into scalable skirmishes.

To quote a great philosopher, regarding your (and others') use of the word "easy": You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Dankanthegood]

My thoughts

Excuse me but all i can see from this update is making an already easy game even easier, to a point,that makes it boring and non realistic
Besides that time and money is spend on this while this time and money could be spend on other more important things
All in all this update is dissapointing

[Majic]

Epic Win

The epic storylines are the heart and soul of the game, the glue that binds the entire plot of Middle Earth together, and because of the grouping requirements, I had utterly abandoned them.

Even after the solo changes to Volume One, I was so turned off by my previous experiences being dead-ended by forced grouping in the epic lines that I wasn't able to bring myself to bother with them.

Don't get me wrong, I love grouping. The best times I've had in this game have been with good fellowships (and the worst times with bad ones), but due to real life schedule constraints and the fact that there have been so many quests that required groups, I found the process of trying to fellow up with decent players (even in one of the biggest kinships on one of the most populous servers in the game) too frustrating to bother with and ultimately gave up altogether.

From the dev diary: “Well, I got the instance done without begging in kin chat and GLFF for hours/days so I would say this is a hugely positive change.”

Amen and hallelujah.

Anyone defending the idea of condemning any paying customer to hours of begging for groups is defending the indefensible. I used to try explaining that to naysayers, but won't bother anymore, because that is too tedious.

I love the option of grouping when I can, enjoy it when it happens, strongly support both solo and group scaling of quests wherever possible, scaling rewards according to difficulty not body count, don't support removal of group options for any quest and don't believe LOTRO requires "dumbing down". I don't want to see group play diminished in any way, shape or form.

But I sharply part ways with anyone who argues for forced grouping. That's simply not acceptable. I and many other players have boycotted it, the gameplay data clearly shows it, and I am grateful the developers don't (or no longer) share such a narrow and benighted view of the game.

Finally, now that this release is out, I'm inspired to take another run at the epic storylines, and maybe, for the first time since I started playing this game almost four years ago, one of my fifteen characters might finally finish an epic volume for the first time ever.

Nicely done, Turbine, and thank you.

This is going to be epic.