Alarmed At The Store

[Jerboa]

I'm alarmed at the item store not because of perks that may be purchased but because of some of the cosmetics that seem to indicate a drift towards absurdity in the refined world that we currently enjoy. To be sure, there is plenty of silliness in Middle Earth but the Skeletal Horse is the first thing to make me shiver. I was so relieved it was a regular horse that was painted.

I remember back in Ultima Online when Neon Hair Dye made an appearance. Soon you had naked people riding arond on horse back with bright neon hair and what was once a world built with very consistent and high standards soon ended up looking like a bad LSD trip. Do you realize they have sun glasses in that game now - that is one reason I couldn't bear to resub and ended up here.

A couple of screenshots of WOW was enough to cause me to never consider buying a subscription to that game. I'm sorry, but a sword the size of an ironing board is stupid. Most of the armor looks like something out of a Mardi Gras parade - a flamboyant world doesn't mesh well with the serious themes handled by the LOTRO Trilogy.

I don't want a game that appeals to 8 year olds with ADD. I want a refined world that continues to honor the lore in story and in appearance. Every thing I've seen so far has been pretty subdued but if the developers start chasing the bucks there will be the temptation of make more and more outrageous items and it won't be long before we've got a bunch of men standing aroud Bree all dressed up as Ronald McDonald. They'll have sun glasses and iPads. One of them will be holding a surfboard.

You guys are scaring the poop outta me.
I've purchased 3 lifetime subscriptions so far.
Don't do this to me.

[ShinryuLOTR]

You're not the only one who finds the skeleton painted horse to be less than appropriate, but you can't blame that on the store. It's actually part of this year's Fall Festival. Thankfully it's reported to be extremely rare.

[trancejeremy]

Those creepy little masks are worse than the horse. But neither is really the store, but the festivals.

This game and the lore parted ways a long, long time away.

[Wolfgrin]

I'm alarmed at the item store not because of perks that may be purchased but because of some of the cosmetics that seem to indicate a drift towards absurdity in the refined world that we currently enjoy. To be sure, there is plenty of silliness in Middle Earth but the Skeletal Horse is the first thing to make me shiver. I was so relieved it was a regular horse that was painted.

So, apart from the skeletal steed, which is very much in line with the practices of the saxons (and therefore likely several of Middle-Earth's nations, Rohan foremost), what do you see that has you concerned?

Remember, Warcraft and its ilk never really took themselves all that seriously. Mmos like those are based on modern fantasy universes developed and created purely for games, so it never surprised me when I saw things like motorcycles or crazy cosmetics pop up in them. Some mmos on the other hand remained untainted like DAoC, but again that was based on Middle-English/Northern European mythology.

If there's something on there that has you worried, what is it?

EDIT - Seriously, I see nothing wrong with the horse. Warriors from all over have painted their warhorses since the dawn of markings.

[sir-rinthian]

FYI, the horse is not purchasable. It is a very rare drop from the fall festival haunted hobbit hole. So it'll only be available for a little while, and not too many people will end up with it, unless I'm way off.

[Wisdomandlore]

Wait...so you're worried because you're unfounded fears turned out not to be true?

[ellisil]

LOL anytime you want to moan about lotro, go play STO for a few days. How would I put this in powergamer speak? -- so full of fail it hurts --

[Adalas]

I personally think that JRR Tolkien would have liked it if he had known Helloween. He was a very humorous person.

[Cithryth]

I personally think that JRR Tolkien would have liked it if he had known Helloween. He was a very humorous person.

This.

I think people often forget that his lore wasn't all srsbisnez! and the man was found of pranks and jokes.

[NomadicGod1]

One of the reasons I left WoW was because they made outrageous looking armor/weapons I hope this game doesn't start that. I'm not asking for plain flavored cosmetics just please no power ranger outfits or 14 ft weapons.

[Wolfgrin]

One of the reasons I left WoW was because they made outrageous looking armor/weapons I hope this game doesn't start that. I'm not asking for plain flavored cosmetics just please no power ranger outfits or 14 ft weapons.

Whatever do you mean?



I see no break from the lore here.

[ShinryuLOTR]

Whatever do you mean?



I see no break from the lore here.

Pfft, that weapon can't be in LOTRO.. it doesn't glow.

[Jerboa]

I think people often forget that his lore wasn't all srsbisnez! and the man was found of pranks and jokes.

We've a Rune Keeper on the Ettenmoors who likes to slip into a bunny mask when he runs into me. The mask looks home made, it seems to be a natural and well intergrated joke. I don't have a problem with the fireworks, or the trick where they breath fire. We've got some real clowns on Firefoot.

The Skeleton Horse just freaked me out is all. I clicked on thread and was thinking, "if it actually a Skeleton Horse I'm all done here". I don't want to watch a world slowly implode on itself like Ultima Online did - when the developers lost their vision and embraced Steam Punk, sun glasses, and pink Llamas.

An item store is going to constantly have to be updated with new content. To move goods you've got to come out with Outfit #1 and then a month later with Outfit #2 that is somehow more desirable than Outfit #1. That is how you move product. Making outrageous additions to the store can generate a whole lotta money.

So I'm concerned because there is no financial incentive to keep the lifetime subs happy - to keep the vision we embraced when we bought the game. What if making everything Anime with pastel colors would drive the subs up to 3-4 million? What if creating a bright pink unicorn could generate 2 million in business at the store in a month?

Gah.

[Grampsaz]

So I'm concerned because there is no financial incentive to keep the lifetime subs happy - to keep the vision we embraced when we bought the game. What if making everything Anime with pastel colors would drive the subs up to 3-4 million? What if creating a bright pink unicorn could generate 2 million in business at the store in a month?

You couldn't be more wrong about this. The financial incentive is the entire reason why we are going F2P

DDO went upto the third most played MMO in the NA market.
Gained over a million new subs
Income multiplied by 500% with some of that coming from VIPs themselves

As to lifetimes specifically for this game, its being reported upto 25% of DDO VIPs spend real cash dollars in the store during each month. When you look at Lifetimes here, we are only VIPs. Yes we get 500 points a month. No I personally wont buy more points each month but I know from talking to other lifetime kinmates they will. They wont hesitate dropping $15 additionally ingame a month if there is something they want.

Look, the financial incentive for Turbine to go F2P is obvious. They were broke. They took a risk with DDO and its now all of a sudden being called one of the most successful games on the market. Looking past AC Lotro is now Turbines cellar dweller.

Bottom line when we launch F2P the game is going to explode. Make no mistake about it. We aren't going to be a WoW killer obviously, subs may take a short dip when TOR releases but this is going to be a huge game going forward thats going to generate a ton of cash by BOTH F2P users and VIP members.

[Galuhad]

Turbine have a knack for bending the lore to create something a little stretched for Middle-earth, but they aren't fools. Many of the devs are Tolkien fans and play the game themselves. I doubt they'd insult the many players who take the lore seriously by stretching it too far.. Even though they have pushed the lore at times, I'm sure they have a line that they will not cross, not now or ever.

[Jilla]

FYI, the horse is not purchasable. It is a very rare drop from the fall festival haunted hobbit hole. So it'll only be available for a little while, and not too many people will end up with it, unless I'm way off.

I must have that horse now (I'll probably only use it around Halloween time since I rather have a horse that goes well with my outfit . But now that "rare" carrot cake is dangling in front of my hobbity nose. If it's that rare, I have to have it).

That said, I can see the OPs point. I like the realism of this game. The skeletal horse doesn't bother me because it's painted (and not really a skeleton). I don't even mind a stretch here and there. But I wouldn't like the silly stuff that you often see in fantasy games in this game.

[Kraggy]

when the developers lost their vision and embraced Steam Punk, sun glasses, and pink Llamas.

You mean that's different from silly non-lore goats?

[Kraggy]

I'm sure they have a line that they will not cross, not now or ever.

I'm sure they did, then they were overruled and we got the Rune Keeper, we know from comments at the time 'the devs' (never stated who/how many) had argued the lore didn't allow for the class but IIRC it was Steefel who forced the issue.

Since then several more things have been added which are questionable lore-wise, I think it hard to argue any more the devs have a line they won't cross, the terms of the license is our only defense, especially now that WB's bean counters rule.

[Grothaal2]

I hope they keep the 3ft swords away from this game, lol

Its a relief that the skeleton is a real horse, but really, how many people would go around a skeleton horse on a normal day out of festival time?

Anyway, wish they were only active as a skill at the festival season, and then deactivated untill the next one. Probably not happening

[Macbeth]

I'm sure they did, then they were overruled and we got the Rune Keeper, we know from comments at the time 'the devs' (never stated who/how many) had argued the lore didn't allow for the class but IIRC it was Steefel who forced the issue.

Since then several more things have been added which are questionable lore-wise; I think it's hard to argue any more that the devs have a line they won't cross - the terms of the license is our only defense, especially now that WB's bean counters rule.

I suspect that the above is probably mostly true.

[Berephon]

The Skeleton Horse just freaked me out is all. I clicked on thread and was thinking, "if it actually a Skeleton Horse I'm all done here". I don't want to watch a world slowly implode on itself like Ultima Online did - when the developers lost their vision and embraced Steam Punk, sun glasses, and pink Llamas.

Don't worry. If it had been an honest to goodness skeletal horse, there would have been blood....

Ok, not really, but whoever did it might have thought there would have been blood (well, on the other hand, my head probably would have exploded, so there might have been blood after all.)

[stranger7]

I dont see any problem with festival masks and lore. A writer can write about a world, but he or she cannot possibly include every detail of every society in it. Who knows, maybe the men of Bree really did have a fall festival where masks were worn, just because it wasnt in the novels does not mean its way outside the realm of possibility.

[Calabar]

You mean that's different from silly non-lore goats? [IMG]file:///C:/Users/Robert/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image001.gif[/IMG]

Or the non-lore silliness of having hundreds of hobbits leaving the shire to become adventures? Riding goats is far less lore breaking than that from my point of view.

I played WoW for four years because I LOVED the fun/silly aspects of the game. And to this day, over two years later, I really miss my non-combat pets and my various exotic hunter pets and unusual mounts. But even I wouldn't want to see things like my engineer's flying machine in LOTRO. Such things were a hoot in WoW because they fit in that setting. However, riding on flying machines or raptors in middle-earth would be jarring instead of fun.

That having been said, middle-earth still needs some color and fun. Waging war against dark evil is serious business. But not everyone in middle-earth is actively engaged in that battle. The average person still needs things like colorful outfits and festivals to make life worth living. Making masks and painting horses is not beyond the technology of the time/world LOTRO is set in. So I don't have a problem with it. And to be honest I'm very much looking forward to trying to win at least one of those mounts for my characters.

I hope they keep the 3ft swords away from this game, lol

Its a relief that the skeleton is a real horse, but really, how many people would go around a skeleton horse on a normal day out of festival time?

Anyway, wish they were only active as a skill at the festival season, and then deactivated untill the next one. Probably not happening [IMG]file:///C:/Users/Robert/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.gif[/IMG]

Could you please come have a talk with my neighbors who never take their Christmas lights down? *smiles*

[gildhur]

You mean that's different from silly non-lore goats?

What other mount type would you suggest be used in Moria where horses cannot go?

[Jilla]

You mean that's different from silly non-lore goats?

I know it's a personal preference, but the goats never botheredme... other than I didn't like how my character looked on one. I kind of figured if they have giant, size of battleship elephants in this world (olophants) than why not dire-sized goats.