Dev Diary Feedback: SoM Skirmishes: Rewards

[Clover]

Brian “Zombie Columbus” continues his series of developer diaries about the new Skirmish system coming in The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™ with Part 5: Rewards.

Read more about the Skirmish system and post your comments here!

[draconis666]

Got to love spell-check, too bad it doesn't catch words that are wrong, but spelled right: "There will be 12 Skirmish Camps when Mirkwood lunches."

[TheOneRinger]

Huh. I know I don't play new content for rewards. That's funny. I beat Hall of Mirrors, but I didn't do it for rewards, I did it because I like the instance. I still only have one elf stone from there, but I play a game to have fun, so I don't mind.

Am I really such a rare type?

Other than that statement, it's a fantastic dev diary, lots of information, so thanks devs.

[Thakman]

ZC,

You started it but I'll have to vote for Emacs any day over Vi. All those ~ used to drive me crazy!

Anyway, the Skirmish system looks great, can't wait to try it!

[Ogabu]

This system looks awsome it should be a really nice addition to the game and make leveling from 30+ much easier mostly for the 38-40 area where its alot of grind this should help alot and hopefully the rewards are up to par for the levels and amount of SM needed to obtain them

[ararax2]

ZC,

You started it but I'll have to vote for Emacs any day over Vi. All those ~ used to drive me crazy!

Anyway, the Skirmish system looks great, can't wait to try it!

Gvim personally.

[Russano]

A very interesting and, all things considered, encouraging read. It's unfortunate that mobs in skirmishes will not drop any monetary loot, even though we'll still need to pay for repairs. But depending on how the Marks work that might be a minor issue.

One thing that does concern me, though, was not addressed. Will all these various marks take up yet more inventory slots?

-R

[Grampsaz]

Zombie, the fact that itemization in the game right now in the 'end-game' and top-tier crafting is so poor, I'm not thrilled to hear that rewards via skirmishes are going to be a notch below.

What you guys did right in SoA with items, was multiple avenues for advancement. Take raid gear, crafted gear and PvP gear as the perfect example. They were ALL viable for any playstyle but, you were given a very clear avenue to advance.

I was hoping for another way to advance my character. I cant do it with PvP rewards anymore, I cant do it with crafting (save jewellery) and by the sounds of it I cant do it via Skirmishes.

While the system as a whole sounds great, you said it yourself, if the rewards are there then people will play it. I'll tell ya right now, if the rewards aren't something that end-game players can use, then they wont be played.

[Forjo]

Definitely emacs.

-Forjo

[Zero_Out]

I assume with all the talk of how marks are 'fluid' and 'liquid' that these will be tradable. Or are they not?

[mxyzptlk]

Put me in the emacs camp also.

Great post, ZC, and it makes me optimistic about skirmishes. One thing bothers me, though: how can a player "choose" to play in an "un-fun" manner? Seems to me that, given options, what a player chooses to do is "fun" to that player. It's only when we are "forced" to play a certain way that it becomes "un-fun". I get the impression that Turbine has its own ideas about what we should be finding "fun". I'd much prefer having options and choosing for myself.

Fortunately, it sounds like skirmishes will have lots of options.

[ChampionSword]

I'll bet those quest items we thought we wouldn't see again are the Forochel ones?


Am I right?

I'm not in the beta.

[Jadzi]

One thing bothers me, though: how can a player "choose" to play in an "un-fun" manner? Seems to me that, given options, what a player chooses to do is "fun" to that player. It's only when we are "forced" to play a certain way that it becomes "un-fun". I get the impression that Turbine has its own ideas about what we should be finding "fun". I'd much prefer having options and choosing for myself.

I get the feeling what he meant was that players do things they don't consider fun in the interest of a reward they really want. For instance, if someone wants to rank up a certain virtue, they often have to go grind mobs - something many don't consider fun. In this way, they're trying to make the path of least resistance the varied one, instead of making the most efficient method the endlessly-grind-one-instance path.

I'll bet those quest items we thought we wouldn't see again are the Forochel ones?

I take it you mean the teal jewelry set. That's the same sense I get, that it's adding in old quest-reward items many of us sold off. If it works like the Angmar vendors (buy back certain items that you can only use if you completed the original rewarding quest) then that would indeed be a boon. Things like the Fem set, the Tal Bruinen sets and the like.

[Kreegan]

For any OLD C-coder, long before the days of IDE's, Emacs was the only way to go. Vi totally and completely sucks.

[Russano]

I take it you mean the teal jewelry set. That's the same sense I get, that it's adding in old quest-reward items many of us sold off. If it works like the Angmar vendors (buy back certain items that you can only use if you completed the original rewarding quest) then that would indeed be a boon. Things like the Fem set, the Tal Bruinen sets and the like.

I'm afraid to get my hopes up too far without clear proof, but that would indeed be a fantastic way to handle old quest items.

-R

[jhan75]

until someone from beta can screenshot the rewards,
all the above mentioned are merely very vague in details....

of course, those already in beta have "cough" hinted "cough" already that skirmish rewards not equal endgame rewards

[SeigneurDude]

I am curious about how the reward 'drops' work across the board. I read through the dev diary quickly, so maybe I missed something, but could I get a clarification about this please? Thanks!



"The first are the level/size tokens. There are a few versions of this token that are required for various rewards. These are found as drops from Lieutenants and Bosses in all Skirmishes. The level you have set for the Skirmish and the group size you are playing at will determine which specific Mark drops.

For instance, in a level 50 3-man Skirmish, the token that can show up is called "Third Mark." Each Lieutenant killed in the space has a chance of dropping this Mark. The boss will have a much higher chance. The "Third Mark" can be traded for some fairly strong level 50 items.

The tooltip for each of these Marks will tell you what fellowship size and level Skirmish is required to obtain them. These level/size tokens can be upgraded and downgraded at the Curiosities vendor.

The other special Marks are Skirmish Campaign Marks. We’ve grouped clusters of Skirmishes into campaigns and given their optional encounters chances of dropping these tokens."



Does this mean that when the boss drops this special mark, it will suddenly be subject to the group's loot rules, or will each player have a basic 'skirmish' chance of getting it, or does each player get one?

My concern is the possibility of players having to scuffle and race each other to get special loot. That is sometimes a problem with lower level pugs because the melee classes grab all the loot, then act as if they don't understand when the support classes want to change the loot rules to even out distribution.

Thanks for clarifying this!

I, for one, am looking forward to the skirmish system. I think it has great promise!

[Galahadur]

I'd prefer not to spend too much time here, as it can strike up a war as brutal as Vi vs. Emacs.

VI forever!!

[Silverlocket]

Huh. I know I don't play new content for rewards. That's funny. I beat Hall of Mirrors, but I didn't do it for rewards, I did it because I like the instance. I still only have one elf stone from there, but I play a game to have fun, so I don't mind.

Am I really such a rare type?

There are at least two of us. I've never been very interested in loot except insofar as:

a) It allows me to experience (and hopefully survive) more content; or,
b) It is fun in and of itself (cosmetic items and other such cool "fluff" things).


Zombie Columbus, the dev diaries have been terrific to read. A skirmish system is something that has been requested many times since launch, abd I always thought it would be a lot of work to get in place; the degree to which Turbine has developed the system far surpasses anything I thought we would ever see. Thanks, folks!


SL

[Drarin]

...various items from old quests (you'll see)

Statements like this make me sad. Will you tell us soon?

[Brushfire]

This entire series of Dev Diaries does nothing but make me more and more excited for SoM!

Someone else pointed out that there is nothing for high levels to gain from skirmishes if the armor and weapons aren't good, but let me point you to the Legendary Item vendor he mentioned. Potions, Runes, Relics, blank LIs, Cosmetics and of course traiting up your soldier all sound like things a High Level Raider will want.

Thanks ZC!

Brushfire

[dennisconrad]

I remember a colleague of mine used to say "Vi has two modes - one where it beeps and one where it destroys your text.". But he was a n00b anyway...

http://thomer.com//vi/vi.html

[densha82]

So I can sum up those five pages in the dev diary in one sentence:

"It's like World of Warcraft's battleground system, only it's PvE." I have a feeling grinding for marks and honor in PvP is funner than grinding marks and other marks in PvE, but I guess we'll see.

[Forohir]

Lovely diary. I am excited about this feature. Let's hope it turns out like we all hope it does!

[straytext]

That's funny. I beat Hall of Mirrors, but I didn't do it for rewards, I did it because I like the instance.

The reward there being that it was fun. And, no, you're not a rare type.