Tell the Community Team: July 10, 2009

[SaintBass]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Not particularly, though I could see some being interested in such a thing. I have played through the vast majority of the LOTRO content and have played all of the alternative leveling routes at least once. For me, there would be no need for such an item... even if it was my first time through, such a thing would not fit my play-style or benefit me in any real way... unless instead of XP it gave me Destiny Points for mob kills.


Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

"Non-level based lateral advancement." Instances, Raids, Crafting and PvP all of which would be able to get you a few items to put some final polish on your character.


Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

Not sure... I hardly know what I am doing with the fluff I already have.

[Shibi]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

I would love any solution to stop me levelling at 512XP per mob, but just a single item for complete stopping only is only a half-baked easy-way-out solution. If you really want to do the people who love SoA and Hate MoM a favour how about giving us a full fledged mentor system like EQ2 as well, one where we can pick the level we want to be and move down to it. A chance to redo GA at level again or the Rift or CD or heck, just doing Forochel from start to finish with white mobs and not levelling it out.

Turbine, you seem so intent on rushing us all into Moria, a place that some people actually don't like, now while many might like to rush to the 60 endgame I hate it, I am sure others do too. Don't throw your old SoA content on the scrap heap of rush levelling to cater for the WoW demographic, give those who like the journey a chance to enjoy it.

Sure an item to stop levelling, or three... one to stop this bonus XP, one to stop rest XP and one to stop all mob XP... would be nice, but it shows you are not really listening to the forums... or people... you are not getting it. Give us a slider, give us level devolving.

Why are you so intent on pushing us into Moria? Every single person says the fun is in the journey, but with double rest XP and then 25% on top... sheesh it seems like you don't want us to actually enjoy that jouney.

No, don't just provide a stop all XP scroll, provide an opt out to rest and an opt out to bonus as a minimum with a mentor system as a preferred.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

Ugh. Moria. A dark dank smelly hole populated by rude Dwarves who can't get their own race to fight for their honour despite blustering "Dwarves must fight for Dwarves" as their first amendment... A place where the epeen rules and elite tards go on about having to have the perfect gear and flawless skills and rote perfect tracks through some boring instances... a place of endless grinding for 6/6 radiance and a 1st age guardian's dagger that will be maxxed and ready for decon in a few weeks... a place that is so amazingly lore breaking with glowing green monsters that it's surprising Tolkein isn't rolling in his grave... a place where the Epic story line becomes so STUPIDLY hard that quiet a few people I speak to are not even bothering with it any more... a place where you spend seemingly eternity in what was a minor and fleeting part of the original story... a place I loathed enough to scrap playing this toon and start levelling another.

Oh, did I say how I hated the darkness of the mines we are trapped in and sheer bruskness of the Dwarves? Give me the Elven "Pray you are worthy of my time" any day over these scottish sounding hairy kneehighs.

End game = Moria = I just threw up a little in my throat.

I still wonder how could Turbine do SoA so right, from Erid Luin to Eregion and yet mess up Moria so badly?

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

More emotes, More titles. Bring back the fish slapper, add more dances, bring back the Moor's chicken run, add more really hard to get titles... things way beyond ridge racer but maybe not as hard as crosser of roads

1 - No, I have that option. It is called "not killing monsters".

So, how did you collect 10 scarred warg paws without killing 200 odd monsters?

[Yugord]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

1. I think the option to turn off XP is good. I wouldn't use it but I have seen a lot of people that would like the ability to do this.

2. End game to me means that once I am done lvling I still have things to do. I would love to see more PvMP or LOTRO add a playable monster faction for real PvP. Raids are cool for people too. I like instances more than raids. North Downs was more my style of instance.

3. I would like to see cosmetic items like outfits. I don't really need worthless things like the candles and the horn but I do like the horse and writ of passage. Add some outfit options and I would be good to go.

[Texicon]

Question 1
"Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?"

No, but a command to go XP on and off would do.


"Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?"

Crafting goals
Interesting raids for both large and small fellowships
PvP that means something in the world

Question 3
"Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?"

Usable furniture for homes (click to sit...etc).
selectable animations for spells/abilities. (instead of reading a book to cast a spell...I blast beams of light out of my eyes...if I want to change it....etc)

[Witch-King.of.BC]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

i would not use it but as others have said before me i wouldnt object to it either since it wouldn't affect my game experience.
i would much rather see some form of mentoring system like eq2 uses to allow my higher level toons to help low level players out without ruining the challenge.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

To me, it is all that stuff we do when we have hit the cap and have nothing left to do: so far it has meant grinding LI experience and, to a lesser degree, deeds. Before MoM went live it largely involved crafting.
End Game content, to me, is best when it is level independant fun stuff or challenging battles that dont lose their sense of enjoyment with replay.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

i would like to see more class-based special rewards rather than blanket rewards that everyone can use. it seems to me that you guys prefer the cosmetic type rewards rather than utilitarian but the writ was pretty damn cool and loads better than yet another cloak! another thought that just came to me was different barding for our mounts: something to keep us mounted a tad longer or maybe just change the blanket and saddle appearances.

[Alethos]

...the question(s) at hand....

These are good questions--it's a distinct pleasure to see a fairly tight loop between the most common discussion topics in general and evidence of developer consideration in this installment of the user surveys.

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Very much so. Although I expect I'd be the beneficiary of the use of such an item for a little while, rather than the other way around.

Some facility for mentoring would be nice, this way or another (some kind of 'de-level me' switch.) Some cosmetic rewards for using it would be nice too--perhaps a deed that's incremented by re-running a Book instance w/someone who hasn't completed it yet while your XP is disabled or you are in mentor-mode. Yes, it's kind of a cheap metagame tactic to help people find groups for the storyline quests. So what?

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

More than just raiding. I think that's what you're asking here, right? Mind you, I don't have a great idea what that should be anymore--my expectations have been somewhat dulled like everyone else involved in the genre (players and developers alike.) I think I'll refrain from further speculative comment, given that I haven't reached LOTRO's endgame yet.

I will say that the narrowing that most people describe experiencing in the LOTRO experience @ 60 doesn't sound good. I plan to spend a good amount of time around 50, as people seem to have really liked that content, and I want to see it w/a level-appropriate challenge (at least at first.) Perhaps comparing the design principles behind the SoA vs MoM endgame would be a useful internal excercise?

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

Feeling a little too new to the game to make any very specific suggestions here. I will say that I think these little extras add a lot to the game, and I commend Turbine for spending time on them.

[SapientNoble]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

I'm not particularly interested in that sort of item, but would be interested in a mentoring system, or a way for higher level characters (i.e. kinmates) to help out a lower level character through content like the low-level instances.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

End game to me means repeatable, dynamic content that give you increasing or usable rewards for continuing successes and attempts. To be able to take 3 classes into an instance and have the encounter change ... to have the bosses adapt to the skillset in the fellowship, or have spawn rates change based on how much dps-classes are there ... would make new and changing challenges out of the same content.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

I'd like unique consumables, like an item to boost your evade rating for 10 minutes, or barter items to let you buy one-time maps to areas (i.e. more ways to get between 21st hall and outside moria would be nice). It might be nice to have things that you can show off like an armor-display mannequin for your house, or a dropbox to hold your mail that has expired so Sauron doesn't take it from you.

[Aldamiras]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

I personally wouldn't use such a feature, it seems counter-productive?

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

By "end game" you mean: activities to do after hitting any level cap? Well I would suggest opening a few closed areas like the South Downs and Mithlond, and put in them some level cap quests. Perhaps even unique Hobbit-style riddle games or egg-hunts. Another thing I would like to see in Lotro at the cap are some quests for unique titles...

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

Player designed cloaks!

[corrakkas]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

absolutely not, the notion of turning off XP is preposterous, seriously what benefit would such a item hold? if you wanted to do something for role players, just create an option to disable leveling so they could stay where they are, we do not need another item cluttering up precious inventory space. this item if ever created better be able to store that xp and be able to gift to one of my alts, is all im saying!

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

quote end game un-quote is simply what people do after reaching max level while waiting for new content

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

i dont care about stupid little cosmetic cloaks(that you cant even wear in the moors) or cheaper travel rates, how about instead of investing time into worthless **** how about improve the game and create content that yeilds rewards that can satasify hardcore players and casual players alike how about allowing me to get what i want even though trival and tedious work instead of continuing this abomination of a gambling system.

[Laurjo]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?
I'd be more interested in a sidekick system. i don't want to have to roll a new alt to play with a friend who just started when I already have a level 15.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?
It currently means raids grinding for specific gear I may or may not want, but need in order to complete other raids. That's lame. I want it to mean stuff like Annuminas, CD, the Rift, and the Moors where I can wear what I want how I want to. Grinding for radiance gear is not as fun (well, it's fun, but it's a strictly directed path, which I don't like). "End game" should also mean crafting, but that's not terribly useful right now either.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?
The ability for kins to have their own heralds that their craftsmen can put onto cloaks or shields. Cosmetic weapons and shields: I'm a hobbit, I should wield a frying pan! Cosmetic instruments: I'm a minstrel, I want a theorbo strapped to my back!

[Bahtlador]

1) That's a good idea. Perhaps another optin below that in combat option that would focus xp on the lowest person in the fellow, and ignore the others.

3) From the idea from #1, perhaps an experience 'pie' that would collect up to fifty-thousand xp that is bound to your account (not your character) that could be sent to an alt? They'd eat it and get xp. Or call it an 'Xp Sponge'?

[Everyman]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

I have no use for this myself and have not really heard any demand for it but would not care if it was introduced for whomever might find it handy.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

End game is clearly anything that can be done repeatedly while at the level cap. The most interesting choices for many seem to be raids and instances with tangible rewards.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?


Several things that might be nice would include extra storage, a discount on housing upkeep, a second map (not counting the PvMP ones) or an extra character slot.

[FWH-Praetor]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Not at all. I think it's a joke that people don't want free xp from monster kills. Everyone knows 90% of XP comes from quests anyway.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

Hard to say. I know the most recent answer is Raiding, but to me end game doesn't exist. I've never been into raiding. By the time I get around to it, people have usually moved on from the region. IE I wasn't up for RIFT raiding until just before the start of Moria...

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

Unique housing items like the pesky mouse and bird cage are fun. I'd like to see an NPC pet similar to the mouse that can path around even a small area of our house or the entire house itself. I know this would be tricky with several house designs out there. More fun stuff like that would be great. Capes are always fun but you can only wear one at a time and I almost always have one that I love equipped already. Maybe items similar to the travel writ that offers bonus xp, bonus faction, temporary "double kill" counts for doing deeds....stuff to help get rid of parts of grind in the game.

[FerahgoLeoric]

Question 1:
I could see the value in this, but from a personal perspective it has no effect on my play.

Question 2:
Raiding. Raiding is what a Player v. Environment game, such as this, is all about. Raiding makes the game fun, exciting, and new. I would love to see hard modes attached to the current DN raid (although I heard there is a hard mode for the Blind One by not killing the large fumeroles). I was quite disappointed in being able to clear DN in the first 3 nights of its release - it was interesting and moderately difficult, but it lacks something - it lacks a grand story line that engrosses the raider into thinking this is part of what makes us play LOTRO- being part of the war of the ring in ME. DN just felt like (and now feels likes) another radiance instance instead of the culmination of the battle for Moria. There was nothing epic about it.

I would love to see more raid content that expands on our characters role in the fight for Middle Earth. The Rift had that, it had a great story attached to it that built on everything that we were doing in Angmar, and then bam - you find yourself beneath Angmar in some ancient ruins fighting a balrog - that was fun and exciting, not to mention the Balrog fight just felt truly epic at times, whereas the Moria boss encounters, although innovative, are boring and either fall into 1 of 2 categories - DPS races or spank and tank.

I strongly feel if Turbine wants to make raiding fun and enjoyable again they should strongly consider scrapping the Radiance gating and think of something better. Radiance has made this game feel grindy and frankly restricts who you get to play with because, "oh well you have 60 radiance, sorry you can't come to the Mistress."

Question 3-

I would love to see a few things.

1. Tiered titles for Boss kills. How many people beat Watcher 1.0 - many. How many people beat - Watcher 2.0, a good deal less. Turbine should be updating deeds for when newer versions of the bosses are released and give new, unique titles to reflect the accomplishment of a new and unique encounter, be it that its the same mob, but the challenge is new and the accompanying title for the accomplishment should reflect that.

2. Kinship reputation. I have 1000s of rep items just rotting for alts and those who need them. IN fact once everyone is kindred the only option is to trash them or AH them, but here is a better idea. Incorporate a system whereby you can gain your KINSHIP reputation with a faction ingame. What can this get you?
Well put a travel npc in all the housing instances, swift travel to certain places in Middle Earth can be done from these travel npcs, but only if your kinship has the rep.
Turbine can add in more housing storage for the right amount of reputation with X faction or give new mounts, guild cloaks, crafting equipment - all these things can be gated by a kinship reputation system.

3. Boss kill deeds. This is simple - kill the Mistress say 10 times, unlock a new title, 20 times - new title etc. etc. Make it so that we are advancing toward something - the battle for lorien was dull and uninteresting, but I did it for the title and the title (plus the gold leaves) made me want to do this content that I otherwise would have said "meh" toward.

4. Rare loot drops. By this i don't mean items - but you, Turbine, incorporated a whole cosmetic system - you started to make use of it with the Amarthiel encounters, but have not since. DO this again, make cool and interesting cosmetic items drop off of boss mobs, something people WANT TO WEAR, not the ugly generic, captains look like champions look like guardians stuff that people have seen to date.

5. OH almost forgot- please make a discount for retraiting costs!!! Spending 500s to respec my loremaster is getting downright annoying.
Thanks for reading. Hope you liked some of these ideas.

[Morcanden]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Nah, I like the mentoring ideas from the other posts better.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

End game should be the most entertaining portion of the game. It's what new players aspire for and it's what veteran players should enjoy playing so that they'll stick around. There should be several different paths or options of things to do so that monotony doesn't sink in. Advancement and achievement should not stop at end game, but just continue upward in a more difficult fashion, but not necessarily slower.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

Lower retraiting costs would be awesome. Half a gold both ways to change things out enough to satisfy both my PvMP tastes and my PvE tastes is ridiculous, especially when I usually enjoy both. I already earned this stuff, just give me a flat rate per trait, like 10 or 20s each trait.

More inventory storage.

More bank space.

I'd like to see rank-based consumable tracking items for the freeps in PvMP.

I'd like to see a way for a Rank 9+ kin leader to define a kin uniform as a fourth outfit for their entire kin and ignore the class restrictions for equipping things cosmetically.

[Khira]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Not personally, no.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

Endgame to me is just a period of time where I wait and prepare for the next expansion (and level increase). So I do deeds, crafting, gain rep items (like horses) and other stuff that will be carried on and useful at any level. I'll finish up book quests and continue quests that I think are interesting. I don't raid or pvp unless I think its fun, since the rewards gained are only temporary.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?


Passive trait for vendor discounts, passive for cheaper repairs, maybe some fun items similar to those at the summer festival but that don't have a limited use

[FoxFire]

Not at all. I think it's a joke that people don't want free xp from monster kills. Everyone knows 90% of XP comes from quests anyway.

So many geniuses here. "Don't kill monsters" "90% of XP comes from quests"

One must wonder how those asking for such XP reducing mechanisms never thought of this! Yes it's true we are all dolts. It never occurred to me that I could just spend my LoTRO game time running away from even MORE mobs than I currently do. After all, MOST quests don't involve killing mobs to complete, and neither do most other activities in the LoTRO world.

And, of course, even when you DO need to kill a mob for a quest, it's usually like only 1 mob you need to kill, not dozens of them, so even if you have to repeat a quest 3 times, that's only like 3 mobs total you need to kill.

As for resource gathering, I usually just pick up all those hides from corpses all the other players leave laying around that are lootable to me (and of course from the ones that just keel over dead when they see me coming).

[chrisisawesome16]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Nah, it really doesn't affect me...but would be a good idea

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

To me endgame is pretty much everything that happens after you hit level cap.....I haven't ever done many, but I believe I would mostly enjoy running raids and instances in areas that I am familiar with in the movie. Also gaining epic armor would also be fun! On top of that crafting and helping lower people.

Question 3
[COLOR=DarkOrange]Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

I would absolutly love flying mounts.....that would be cool

and umm maybe a discount on repair or venders!

[Leer]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

Might use it so I can control levling with friends.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

No more grinding to do. I can relax and do any random inst just for fun. Currently I'm still doing some raids because they are required to complete a task/goal/item.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?


I'm likely not answering your question as you asked it
Ability to share % of deeding (slayer) between alts. I enjoy completing every challenge/quest/skill/etc in the game. Once or twice. What about a garden shed to store unused trophies, maybe armour racks for old sets. I hated burning my rift, Annum, Fem stuff.

[Saramela]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

It's not something I would necessarily use all of the time, but I understand the argument for wanting to use it and would support implementing in the game as long as it would be used on an individual basis and not forced on any players that would not want to use it.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

To me, "end game" is the content created for players that have reached the level cap and need something to keep them playing the game. I would suggest four types of content:

1. Offering instances, such as Carn Dum, Urugarth and Annuminas that offer quests and decent rewards without the gear-gating (ie. Radiance Gear). I still enjoy going to CD and the Rift because of the nature of the instance.

2. Improve crafting. Frankly, crafting in LotRO blows. Quest rewards and world drops far surpass most crafted armour and with the new LI system, crafting anything above level 45 (when you can get your first LI) is pointless. The trade-ins for Khuzdul Tablets are better than the crafted legendary weapons and they require far less work. EQII has a fantastic crafting system; in fact, there are people who do not quest, they ONLY craft, because it is that enthralling. Now THAT'S end-game.

3. Housing could use some upgrades. How about pets we can keep at home? That would be worth doing extra quests for. And a larger variety of items for the homes. I would redecorate my house every month if there were more items, but I've already filled my house with the same junk that is in everyone else's homes. Aside from a slight color variation, everyone's homes (at least the insides) look THE SAME! How boring is that?

4. Kinships are in dire need of help. Rank 10 kinship and I can have 1,500 members. Whoop-dee-doo. Give kinships more incentive to work together. The recent contest was nice, in theory, but in reality it was a big power-leveling contest. Give us quests that can get us bonuses for our kinship - perhaps unique trophies, tokens that pay a week's worth of rent, or even let us buy entire neighborhoods!

**EDIT**

Okay, okay, rereading some other posts here reminded me of one FANTASTIC function that other MMOs have that LotRO does not for "end-game": mentoring. I would LOVE to be able to help lower level friends without KILLING their XP.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

I really enjoyed the recent Summer Festival barter items, ie. Saffron Lipstick and such. Even though their consumable, I thought they were a lot of fun.

[Fandaran]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

No, I understand that many members of the community want a way to slow their advancement to experience more of the game, and it would be a good idea.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

End game is the hardest and best content of a game, which should be both approachable for more casual gamers, I.E 3-man instances, and also full 12-man raids for the more dedicated Kinships and players. It is also PvMP, which provides meaningful rewards for players who are successful, and expands the end game experience.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

Consumables that increase Item XP gains to reduce the grind, and special cosmetic rewards.

[rfodish]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

No, resources and labor cannot be utilized in any way or fashion to develop such a useless concept.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

Assuming all goes to plan, 'end game' would be me hitting rank 15 on my spider and thus, having the highest rank achievable, would be winning the game. However, in the PVE aspect, if all things go according to plan, finishing all the book quests would indeed be the end game to lotro.

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

We need items in this game that promote roleplaying to another level. I have no suggestions at this time.

[Koomar]

Question 1
Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

I think that is a great idea.

Question 2
What does “end game” mean to you?

This question makes me nervous and a bit sad. I'm still hoping that the design change that came with Moria was a mistake that will be fixed (Instance grinding and gear gating). I can't find the interview now, but I prefer when Jeffrey Steefel said he didn't believe in "end game." Just keep making new books, quests, alternative content (like housing), and the occasional instance. And please give crafting a point again. That would be the perfect "end game."

Question 3
Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?


A second map would probably be pretty nice (I'm only assuming since I'm a hunter). Perhaps one that can only be bound in the major cities, but has a separate cooldown from the original map. That way you can have 1 map set for whatever questing hub you're working out of and another set for an Auction Hall and whatnot.

[Bigredtick]

Would you be interested in an item that would allow you to disable “monster-kill” XP for a fixed period of time?

I’m not sure I understand the point of this. I can see the case where I’m higher level than my party and I would suck up most of their XP if I didn’t turn it off. If this is the case, I can see an abuse of this for power-leveling. Otherwise I don’t see the point of this item. I would rather see an item that you could equip- or an option you can turn on to bring your level down to those of your group. Another alternative would be to bring someone up to your level temporarily. Yet another feature would be to make a pact with another to level together, where your xp is split even when one is off-line. I’ve seen these conventions used to great effect in other MMOs and I don’t think there’s any reason they can’t be used in LOTRO.

What does “end game” mean to you?

Due to my ADD I’ve never reached max level in any of the MMOs I’ve played, though I’ve been playing casually for years. As for what it is, it’s game play that opens up for you after you’ve reached max level (or are close to it). Instead of experience points being the driving force for continued play, it’s getting better equipment, titles, and abilities that people below level cap don’t have access too. This increases the social coolness factor.

Occasionally we offer ‘special’ items like the Writ of Passage or Unique Cloaks to our players. What kind of special items would you like to see in the future?

I’ve mentioned my ADD. I love having a lot of alternative activates in my game play. One feature I would like to see is something that goes back to the original RPG D&D, I’ve only seen this in one other MMO, that’s the ability to change my profession (duel-class). Tired of adventuring as a Guardian? Try starting a Minstral. Each job would start over at level 1. I know you can make an alt, but consider these advantages:
• Your friends don’t have to remember all the names of your alts.
• All the deeds you accomplish will still be in place when you change jobs, you won’t have to redo them all as you would for an alt.
• Most importantly to me, you don’t feel like you’re wasting time playing an alt when you’d rather be playing your main.
• This in combination with a temporary up/down leveling mechanic would make filling out a well rounded group easier.
• There could be unique deeds for level-capping more than one job.
• You could even go crazy and allow more than one job to be equipped at one time (multi-class), though I’m not sure how the rules for this would work.

I know it’s not really a special gift item, but it’s a feature I thought would add a lot to the game.

I’d also like to add, that I’ve played a lot of MMOs and this is the first one where the developers solicit input from the community, consider it, and actually implement changes based on those ideas. Thanks for that.

[Shibi]

Just a little note to the community team after reading this whole thread... You should have used better terminology for your question on XP stopping.

Monsters in LoTRO mean PvMP (Monster Play) to quite a few people, the more industry standard Mob would have been a better term to use in this sense.

A Mob is a boar and a Monster is a creep

Always next time I guess to use the correct terms.