Update 9: Against the Shadow and the Rohan Instance cluster

[Celebrawn]

Or, to be precise, those who raid. I really hope Erebor and Dale are NOT going to be raid-only areas or there will be A LOT of angry people!

I'm thinking, yes they will be. This is going to be their way of bringing those areas into the game, and we'll never see a fully realized expansion or regions made of northern Mirkwood, Dale or Erebor.

But a more optimistic view would be that these sound like they will be "flashback" style encounters, like the meeting with Durin's Bane in OD. They will be events from the period of the Hobbit, but maybe in the future we'll still get those areas in an expansion and experience them as they are in the time of the War of the Ring. But my bet is on scenario 1, and those who want this area as an expansion with full regions can dream on. I think the days of sidetracking to areas not followed by the fellowship are over, and expansions will be on the straight and narrow from here, unfortunately. even though there is plenty going on in other parts of Middle Earth during the war of the ring, including Dale and Erebor, we probably won't participate.

[Burio]

3x3mans noone cares about?
1x6 man?
No Multibossraid.

Do you guys work at office or just sleep?

[Frisco]

When Rohan was delayed EVERYONE theorized that the Instances by the end of 2012 would not be achieved at ALL. But instead of totally breaking that commitment they worked hard to get us a hefty chunk of that content out as quickly as they could in the 2 month window they had once Rohan was launched. So no this isn't what we all wanted but its more than many of us expected to see based on the launch delay.

Sad to see expectations so low.

What I would have rather seen is an update saying "With the 6-week delay for RoR, we're going to delay the instances 6 weeks as well, until February. Thanks for your patience while we work on perfecting this content!"

And then if they had given us 3 3-man instances in December, it would have been a pleasant surprise instead of whatever feeling this is I have.

Instead, Turbine said "We still plan on releasing the instance cluster by the end of the year. We'll talk more about them in the Summer!" and followed that with complete silence until now, less than a month until Winter. In some back room in Warner Brothers, some jerk executive was like, "Well, we'll rush out 3 small instances by the end of the year. That's technically a "cluster", right?"

[Xferno]

4,295 TPs. The expansion is already in the lotro store.

I assume there will a separate price for just the IC seeing as you can just by the Quest pack for TP. I believe that's how it was in ROI.

[Jezzebel]

I was hoping the instance cluster would spark a return to lotro. But maybe not.

[Ferthcott]

I'm thinking, yes they will be. This is going to be their way of bringing those areas into the game, and we'll never see a fully realized expansion or regions made of northern Mirkwood, Dale or Erebor.

Depends, let's not forget Hobbit is not a single movie. And the first part takes place mostly in already existing areas. Imagine Turbine releases all those new areas as well. What do they have left for another two parts & expected cash - in? Instances at least give some flexibility, teleporting system and all that.

[Krindus]

Disappointing for sure...

First, I'm not sure why they bother calling it a Rohan Instance Cluster when none of the instances take place in Rohan. I commend the attempt to tie in some features with the Hobbit films, but is this going to draw in new customers? I doubt many of the movie fans will make the jump over to lotro when they have to level all the way up to 85 just to see these instances, unless of course these instances are scaled. In my opinion, it would have been better to tie these instances with a free content zone in the area and schedule it for release around the next film's release in 2013. Unfortunately, this is the least of my worries...

Which brings me to my second. 3-mans are nice when they're new, but these are also the instances that players grow tired of very quickly, usually because their rewards are sub-par to raid gear you get later on. Moreover, the people that run instances are generally people that do so in larger groups or kinships. Again, my advice would be to push extra hard and try to ship out that 6-man with Update 9, and save the 12-man raids for Part II. People are still running Roots of Fangorn and Foundry, not for the rewards, but it's something fun that 6 people can do together. Give us a new 6-man now and it will keep kinships busy for a couple of months. Otherwise, people are going to grow bored with the 3-mans pretty quickly.

[Slevin76]

http://de.gamesindustry.biz/articles...r-ringe-online
http://www.gamespot.com/news/tolkien...-games-6400381

Waiting for a court decision if developing new content makes sense?

[NukeTheLag]

Very disappointing. Combined with the unwillingness/inability to fix the lag issues, this guarantees that I will not prepurchase the next expansion and maybe not at all. I won't waste another dime on a product that doesn't state exactly what I am buying at the time of purchase. Once again, Turbine's evasiveness in providing simple answers to simple questions means that one should expect the worst. I won't make the same mistake in the future.

It is mindboggling that there is no bona fide 12-man raid. No need to elaborate on the obvious. Had I known this I would have moved on to greener pastures rather than buying RoR.

The 3-mans are getting out of control. 6-mans do a lot better job of taking advantage of the synergy of the various classes working together in a group. The class balance was origianlly designed around 6-man groups. The FM system reaches its pinnacle in 6-mans. 6-man groups allow for more interesting fight mechanics. Because 3-mans are inevitably easier, the loot is always a joke. If this had been a returm to Moria/Mirk days when there were seven 6-mans to run, I could have managed without a true raid, but this is ridiculous.

At the very least, given the lack of 6/12 man content, you'd think Turbine would at least take the easy way out and release more Skirms. But Turbine can't even be bothered to take the easy way out these days.

For once, Turbine has managed to be crystal clear on one point - - - It has made a conscious decision that it no longer desires the business of engame raiders.

(Also -- what "bug fixes"? Will these address the lag or will they address some minor animiation glitch that no one noticed anyway. Why do I ask? With Turbine, no news is bad news).

[OverlordGate]

I don´t like the idea with three single boss raids...

... that also means: No "new" update in early 2013 with a new region like 2012 with "The Great River"...
... that also means: More Hytbold untill February with the next three characters...
... that also means: No new book...

->->->->->->->-> Boring :/

[Celebrawn]

Depends, let's not forget Hobbit is not a single movie. And the first part takes place mostly in already existing areas. Imagine Turbine releases all those new areas as well. What do they have left for another two parts & expected cash - in? Instances at least give some flexibility, teleporting system and all that.

They are already covering the events of all three movies in these instances though. And if they do bring us those full areas in the future it won't be Hobbit related, it would cover things going on there during the time of LotR.

[Frisco]

Until I see them, I'm going to assume that the 3 raids will be entertaining. Vile Maw was a lot of fun, and Draigoch was fun, if not really challenging. Single-boss doesn't necessarily mean a lair raid. There may be trash and/or chests along the way. And, hopefully, they'll be connected in such a way that it's like 3 wings of a multi-boss raid.

All that really upsets me is the lying about when they were going to give this information, and the half-truths about this month's "instance cluster". If they were going to be so cavalier with the term, they should have just told us that the instance cluster released with RoR--the Hytbold dailies include "instances", right?

They probably had the choice to work on either the 6-man or the 3 3-mans...and while a single 6-man would have seen more traffic and probably pleased just as many people, they wouldn't have "made good" on their "cluster" promise.

(not enjoying my Toy Yoda)

[Belnavar]

Some feedback:

Split: Initially disappointed the cluster is being split, but not entirely surprised, given RoR's delay. At least getting some of it now is better than waiting for all of it later. In fact, it might even make the 3-mans more playable, as they won't be competing with a 6-man (rarely ran the 3-mans from Isengard, it was always Foundry runs).

Story: The nature of the instances is very cool, however. A tie-in with The Hobbit makes a lot of sense, and fulfils a lot of player requests. I only hope there is a region addition to match (if not in February, then in an update soon after). All of them sound very fun.

Number: I would have preferred a second 6-man than three 3-mans (running a solitary 6-man regularly can get tedious - choice is good). However, I really like the sound of three (presumably) lair raids. I always enjoyed Watcher and Draigoch (Turtle to a much lesser extent). They are fun bite-sized raids, which help when time is short. That said, I expect a multi-lair raid in the future for those who prefer longer, more intense runs. Even just a three-boss one like BG, but personally I have very fond memories of running DN regularly. For those who like longer raids, there is always the possibility of running the three back to back (like many do with GB, Fornost, etc.).

Timing: I am glad that Update 9 is still on course for December. Hopefully it will have other things to keep people occupied in addition to the 3-mans. A February release for Update 10 is very welcome, as that means the gap between updates is shorter than before, and will help take the sting out of things for those who were expecting a raid in December.

-Bel

[cossieuk]

Lets hope only one of the Raid fights is Draigoch/Turtle-esque and the other two are complicated, long, tough boss fights.

Unless they split the raid gear between these 3 raids so you need to do them all to get a full set people will run the quickest one to get the gear and then the others after till they have done then and then revert to the quickest one for getting rewards

[ColorSpecs]

What I would have rather seen is an update saying "With the 6-week delay for RoR, we're going to delay the instances 6 weeks as well, until February. Thanks for your patience while we work on perfecting this content!"

I wish they would've just delayed the whole xpac until February. This was the last preorder I'll ever do. Preorder in July for content I'm not getting till February? Child please.

[Bhoris_they_spider]

As a raider I really wanted to carry on supporting the game, I don't really need to buy TP but I realise £20 every 3 months or so makes sense to support the game I love playing. I'm not sure if I can justify that 'investment' any more based on the news above. It feels like Turbine just doesn't care enough about raids/instances anymore for me to want to give something back.

Also three 1 boss raids isn't three raids. Its 3/6 of a full raid, please try to not pretend otherwise.

[Belnavar]

I wish they would've just delayed the whole xpac until February. This was the last preorder I'll ever do. Preorder in July for content I'm not getting till February? Child please.

I honestly don't get this mentality. You would have rather waited for not only the entire cluster, but the entire expansion, until February? So what would you have done until then? I, for one, would rather have part now, part later, than nothing now and all later. I really don't understand the "all or nothing" approach.

-Bel

[nolins12]

This. As a raider I still supported the game, I don't really need to buy TP but I realise £20 every 3 months or so makes sense to support the game I love playing. I'm not sure if I can justify that 'investment' any more based on the news above. It feels like Turbine just doesn't care enough about raids/instances anymore for me to want to give something back.

Also three 1 boss raids isn't three raids. Its 3/6 of a full raid, please try to not pretend otherwise.

As a raider you are wasting your money if you are supporting Turbine, it's been obvious since Isengard that the f2p crowd is where the cash comes from.

I really wish I had gone out to a nice dinner instead of flushing that 50$ down the toilet.

[Thorwar]

Will the battle for the erebor the battle at the end of the war of the ring be?Where Dain dies?

[Ferthcott]

They are already covering the events of all three movies in these instances though.

I wonder about that - and about titles.

3-mans might be some mop-up operation with that retro-feeling of Goblin-Town & Bilbo's buttons, but could also be time-travel/OD option as well.

But later on...? Those sound *exactly* like past events. OD trick worked as a novelty, but it is hard to imagine they would be using it/its equivalent so many times. And without time travel, what's left?

As for covering the events in general - I guess covering whatever they are actually covering (? :S ?) like In Their Absence did wouldn't work so well if it was spread across three years. Great River-ish kind of piecemeal updates could contain separate themes without overarching plot. Something like very limited connection between Evendim and Forochel. If we want more, like... Hobbit-related areas with similar feel cluster storyline (can) have, it would probably require something like... an expansion.

[Kril]

http://de.gamesindustry.biz/articles...r-ringe-online
http://www.gamespot.com/news/tolkien...-games-6400381

Waiting for a court decision if developing new content makes sense?

Please read the articles before you post them. They are not based on LOTRO, the issue here stems from the 2 Kabam games being released as they are 'downloadable' not physical (LoTRO was, and still is, available in a box).

[RunKeep3r]

Yay my prediction was right! i said north to mirk and lonley mountainish area or gondor but im excited to get raiding!

[Oldin]

They're going to take us Erebor now?

Or, to be precise, those who raid. I really hope Erebor and Dale are NOT going to be raid-only areas or there will be A LOT of angry people!

Well, I don't think Turbine would be that stupid. Right?

Haven't non-raiders gotten more than enough with...well, this entire expansion?

[Belnavar]

I don´t like the idea with three single boss raids...

... that also means: No "new" update in early 2013 with a new region like 2012 with "The Great River"...
... that also means: More Hytbold untill February with the next three characters...
... that also means: No new book...

->->->->->->->-> Boring :/

What makes you assume that either of these updates won't feature additional content? Or new gear?

Since these instances feature in areas not in the game, there is definitely the possibility of a new region (though it is also possible that the region space will exist only inside the instances. That, to me, would seem like a waste of potential, however, especially consider GR was so well received).

Since these are new instances, I would expect new gear, which means you may not have to grind Hytbold endlessly.

-Bel

[cossieuk]

Fires of Smaug - Smaug died over 70 years before the time frame we are playing in so they must have been some epic fires