Please tell me this isnt true :(

[Wucas]

Mounted combat was relatively interesting for about half an hour, and from that point on its been a cooldown waiting, face-rolling, kite or ./follow fest with zero thought or depth.

How is that different to non-mounted combat?

[giniluv]

Well its unusual for Turbine to put a system in place and then not expand on it...

Unless you look at housing, hobbies etc

LI system...

Anyways, I'll be wrong for the first time ever on the development of these system if MC ever gets beyond what it is right now. Good for TP sales maybe?

Build it, hype it, get $ from it, shelve it... LOTRO development history. Get used to it.

As far as MC goes, I count it as a blessing.

[Shaele]

LI system...

Anyways, I'll be wrong for the first time ever on the development of these system if MC ever gets beyond what it is right now. Good for TP sales maybe?

Build it, hype it, get $ from it, shelve it... LOTRO development history. Get used to it.

As far as MC goes, I count it as a blessing.

Don't forget the forums, my.lotr, the lotro wiki - how long have they been in beta?

Turbine is turning into what we call a gunner

I'm gunna do this, and i'm gunna do that... but nothing ever seems to get finished

[Vilda]

*happy dancing hobbit*

Mounted combat is stupid and not fun. I really hope they will NOT do any other content around it.

[Nyrion]

The author's post smacks of just a little hysteria to me. Rowan's statement of having no plans to incorporate MC into instances is not the same as leaving it in the dust. For myself I largely agree with Frisco. Mounted Combat on the landscape is a fun activity, bringing it to the rather more complex instances and raids seems unnecessary to me. Not saying it couldn't work, but I think making something organised of the chaos that is most group MC encounters would be rather difficult to pull off.

On a side note, it's good to see no one in this thread jumping to conclusions. /sarcasm off

[Erhnam]

Well its unusual for Turbine to put a system in place and then not expand on it...

Unless you look at housing, hobbies etc

You could add skirmishes to it. We have had some new skirmished, and right now is the only end game we have, but they still feel like a waste to me, they could have done much more after skirm launch

[Erhnam]

Turbine is turning into what we call a gunner

I'm gunna do this, and i'm gunna do that... but nothing ever seems to get finished

Brilliant and 100% true. + rep

[Laire]

If mounted combat weren't completely revamped first, I'd have zero interest in MC instances. Mounted combat was relatively interesting for about half an hour, and from that point on its been a cooldown waiting, face-rolling, kite or ./follow fest with zero thought or depth. At the risk of offending people who love MC, the main reasons I see people give for enjoying it are 'I can hit ___ mob for XXXX damage' and 'I can kill ____ mob with XXXXXXXXXXXXX morale without taking any damage.'

If they keep MC for more landscape questing and such fine, but MC has been a complete flop for me and barring a revamp I couldn't care less if I never do it again.

I will admit I enjoy the more 'realistic' handling of riding a war-steed to the unicycle movement of regular mounts. Customizing its appearance is certainly a nice feature for people that are into that (great way to boost store sales without cutting into game content, imo).

I am someone who loves mounted combat, and you hit the nail on the head as to why very well. I really enjoy being able to ride around, as a hunter, and not be completely and utterly smushed by (some) landscape mobs that other classes have had a much easier time soloing themselves in the past. I like the OP feeling, it's fun. I guess I have accepted that hard landscape content was more of a thing of the SoA and MoM eras, and much, much less in MoM. I am cool with my hard stuff coming in instances. I -really- think that should have been also in ROR on time, but that's another discussion.

But, because of what I state above, I do not think mounted combat would work in any instances except possibly skirmishes. Something like a raid or even fellowship, no. Not without some revamps.

While I don't like how they bundled colors rather than selling them separately (I mean... maybe I just want one color, but I have to buy all four), I do agree that you make a good point about it making money without cutting into content. (Guess what Turbine what also would do that? Housing revamp! Please don't have bundles only.. lol)

In the end, good post. Well thought out.

[Acasta]

Mmm...

I actually do enjoy mountain combat, with the provision that is understood its still being developed. I would definetly would love to see some instance or skirmish specifically made for a group of eight players to collaborate in something, but initially I see a lot work ahead in each class with regards to mounted activities, principally the special effects of many classes would have to be instituted, such as Burglars being able to place holds that actually holds mounted combatants as opposed to merely and imperceptively slow them down, the Minstrel should be able to actually heal injured players while mounted, and the list goes on. But frankly correcting the failure of the classes signature abilities while mounted should not be too difficult, if there is a desire.

I would love to see a mounted raid, but as someone commented: The lag would make it prohibited; pity it would have been awesome.

Sue

[Wof]

Mmm...

I actually do enjoy mountain combat, with the provision that is understood its still being developed. I would definetly would love to see some instance or skirmish specifically made for a group of eight players to collaborate in something, but initially I see a lot work ahead in each class with regards to mounted activities, principally the special effects of many classes would have to be instituted, such as Burglars being able to place holds that actually holds mounted combatants as opposed to merely and imperceptively slow them down, the Minstrel should be able to actually heal injured players while mounted, and the list goes on. But frankly correcting the failure of the classes signature abilities while mounted should not be too difficult, if there is a desire.

I would love to see a mounted raid, but as someone commented: The lag would make it prohibited; pity it would have been awesome.

Sue

I would love for my characters' class skills go back to what they were before mounted combat nerfed the hell out of them. I want to use stuns, roots, dazes, Hunter traps, etc that actually work like they did before RoR. Stuff slows where the sun doesn't shine! Mounted combat is something that is either loved or hated. I hate it and am glad that some are able to enjoy it, but I even more hate the fact that even when I don't do mounted combat my character is still being punished because of it! Give me back my skills!

[Jeffor]

LI system...

Anyways, I'll be wrong for the first time ever on the development of these system if MC ever gets beyond what it is right now. Good for TP sales maybe?

Build it, hype it, get $ from it, shelve it... LOTRO development history. Get used to it.

As far as MC goes, I count it as a blessing.

How can you say that the LI system has never been expanded on? It's undergone constant changes and development.

I also don't believe for one second that MC is just a gimick. I use my war steed constantly and would hate to be without it at this point. Think about how hard it will be to come up with a challenging, fun MC instance. It would be a lot of fun but also require a good bit off thought and planning because it is unlike any other system we have in the game.

[Haradim]

Count me in the "typical non-answer" camp.

We weren't going to have mounts faster than +68% or with combat mechanics either, until they decided otherwise. Also no phasing, IIRC, until it suddenly started showing up.

Turbine's answer to whether something will appear in the future is usually "no" or silence, the latter of which would be awkward in an interview. By the time we know of their change in position, it's on Bullroarer or in a Dev Diary and going in, like it or not

[Granlu]

I love mounted combat, therefore, I don't care how they keep it in the game, I just hope they do.

[BillyBeard]

I don't like seeing my Dwarf fighting from horseback anyway.

[Lothirieth]

I think mounted combat is fun enough solo. I'm not crazy about (as in I'm not going to fret over the traiting or bother melding relics for the bridle), but I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. But, I will be *very* relieved if there are no MC instances. EVERY time I do Bugud, my loremaster "tanks" it.. or rather has aggro and has to kite him around the whole time. Our classes aren't the same on horseback. As a LM, I can't debuff or cc (I'm fine with that solo as all I ever do solo is burn stuff down), it seems guardians have no aggro skills and their horses certainly aren't prepared to take a large beating like a guardian on foot would. I dunno how much healing RKs or minstrels have. Without a total rebuild of our mount class skills and mount morale/armour/mitigations for tanking classes, I think the instances would be a big mess.

[SapienChavez]

even WoW had mounted instances... like 2-3 yrs ago.


as for if being a gimmick, ive said that from the beginning. thats how MMOs roll. on to the next new flavor. its all about the marketing. its better/easier to market a new item/feature than to rebrand an old one.

all MMOs have done this.


at least LOTRO has NOT used the same features to sell multiple xpacs (you know who you are, you dirty dirty MMOs). well, theyve come close. they have hinted at ettenmoors expansions and new pvp zones, and never delivered. had they used that as a major marketing point for RoI, and not delivered, then used it as a selling point for RoR, theyd be on par for some other games.



all this being said, i LOVE mounted combat. it rules! was exactly what i was looking for and didnt even know it!

[Ailedra]

But I agree with other people - the blogger makes a bunch of leaps and to me seems to be mostly a "Turbine Basher" especially with his opinion of Turbines motives for adding combat mounts and the sell of mounts in the store. He accuses Turbine as being just awful enough to set up the whole mounted combat region : Rohan for the sole purpose of selling mounts in the store.

What he doesnt say is that people are buying them like hotcakes and cant get enough of them - Sounds like supply and demand to me, nor does he mention that the LOTRO community has more or less demanded mounted combat from Rohan since the days of SoA

You mean...a company saw a consumer desire for a product, created a product to meet that desire, and are now making a tidy profit on providing a desired product?

...the fiends....

[Ailedra]

even WoW had mounted instances... like 2-3 yrs ago.

This is what I've thought of, every time I've considered what a MC instance would look like.

The MC instance content in WoW when their vehicle combat system was announced was a pretty big yawn-fest. Vehicles and vehicle combat were a big feature of the WotLK expansion, and they made sure to put at least one vehicle combat in each instance cluster of that expansion. Every one of them was a nice change the first time....and ONLY the first time. My guild went into Ulduar the first time, and all thought "Oh, great....ok, guys, this is the vehicle fight. Here's your two skills. Let's just deal with it and get through it." Problem was, we had to "just deal with it" every time Ulduar reset.

The problem is, when you're mounted, you're not really performing as your class. You don't tank, heal, or CC in a mounted fight...you have a very limited set of options (generally you can maybe have one or two people kite, and everybody else spams some combination of DPS skills), and those options generally have very little to do with the character you've spent months/years developing, learning, and gearing. The tactical options for those fights tend to be more narrow, not more broad. Every WoW vehicle fight ended up being a variation on the same theme....I struggle to see how LOTRO's MC implementation would be any different.

So, for the people saying that MC instance content would be a great change-of-pace, think about this....how much value are you truly going to get from having one fight per wing or instance where you're required to mount up, and play in a style foreign to your class just to progress through the instance? How long would that actually remain fun? What new strategic options do you think it would really lend? Would you end up simply developing a mount bridle and skill tree just to keep around for that one fight?

[Damojo]

it seems guardians have no aggro skills and their horses certainly aren't prepared to take a large beating like a guardian on foot would. I dunno how much healing RKs or minstrels have. Without a total rebuild of our mount class skills and mount morale/armour/mitigations for tanking classes, I think the instances would be a big mess.

My guardian mounted (heavy steed) has plenty aggro, fellowship benefits (+armour etc), and can take one hell of a beating toe to toe with groups of enemies, as can his mount. Not raid sized mobs with all the trimmings, but landscape mobs yes, bring 'em on. His only real weakness in MC is low DPS compared to my champ and hunter, so overall he behaves exactly as he does on foot. He gets beaten and bruised, fights back as he can, and is eternally grateful when the real DPS merchants down the mobs.

Albeit the mechanisms are not exactly the same, this is exactly how I expected MC to be for him. YMMV. As/when/if we get MC instances then our tactics would be different, as the mobs would be more mobile. The slows that people dislike would become very important, just as they are (dismounted) in some class skills now. My hunter is very happy to slow enemies rather than melee with them. Would it be exactly the same classes performing in exactly the same ways? No, I doubt it. But then I would expect nothing else. It's mounted combat, why would it be the same as foot-slogging? Cavalry and infantry tactics are very different, and have been ever since the world discovered cavalry,

[Maxal]

Well I really hope there was a misunderstanding in the interview.

I am also one of those that believe if you are going to have mounted combat there needs to be instances built around it.

Rohan and even the Siege of Gondor just offer too many great opportunities for a whole new style of 3, 6 and 12 man instances.

Yes Helm's Deep was mainly a foot battle, but we have the charge of Gandolf, the charge of the king and of course the great charge on the Pelenor fields. These are just too ICONIC to ignore, IMHO.

I was really looking forward to dismounting adds with my tank, using the skills to force mobs to ride by my side, learning to heal with mu miinny, etc.

Well one thing this interview has convinced me of is to NOT spend TP in the store on my mount. I agree if this just just a solo thing for a couple of regions, then it is not worth wasting money on it.

[Mark_J]

Yesterday I did the MC Instance in Feldham, the NPC managed to chase mobs into a fenced in area that he couldn't seem to get out of and then proceeded to bug out.....FOUR TIMES!

Now if Turbine can't get the basics right (setting aside the giraffe on rollerskates on a frozen pond analogy) how on earth could they put out something the least bit intriguing with mounted combat? Bugud is the best effort with a 12 man MC raid that we've seen from Turbine and that's soloable.

I say good riddance to MC and I hope the Doc got it right...

[Sonsy]

I, personally, would like to see mounted instances. I like the handful of quests where you mount up with some NPCs and gallop across the hills, blowing up mobs. Doing Bugud on a daily basis is fun, but without being in an actual group you don't get the full benefit of many of the class-specific skills. Not to mention, once you get 3 or 4 people on Bugud, the challenge is trivial. I think that doing something that is tougher and requires a higher level of coordination and use of class skills would be fun.

[Cindir]

How can you say that the LI system has never been expanded on? It's undergone constant changes and development.

I wouldn't say constant changes and development - but sure some changes.

But you clearly forgot (or never knew) that we were very clearly promised Part 2 of the LI revamp, and then they conveniently forgot to do this. As usual broken promise because they don't have enough dev. time to work on the game. I am not trying to be mean or anything, but clearly they don't invest enough in staff (for whatever reason) to update game systems fully - like the LI system, housing, kinship systems, AH, etc.

I am quite sure they have gotten their return from the investment to create the store. I would be nice if some of that was returned to the players to make a better game. But I guess we will never get secondary features like kins and housing improved.

[maxjenius]

I love mounted combat, therefore, I don't care how they keep it in the game, I just hope they do.

I'm with you. It's infused something new into the game. The consensus seems to be that people like it. So I really doubt it's going to disappear.

[Damojo]

I am quite sure they have gotten their return from the investment to create the store. I would be nice if some of that was returned to the players to make a better game. But I guess we will never get secondary features like kins and housing improved.

I disagree. Show Turbine a good income stream from kinship or housing upgrades and they'll be on it like a shot. Problem is there isn't one. And as a business they are not going to invest heavily in something which doesn't show a payback. It doesn't matter if you make can openers, software, fairy cakes or cars, no company in its right mind will pour big money down a black hole with no sign of recovery.

We cannot as a userbase say "oh look at all the people who have said they would pay for bigger/better/different housing". Aspirations don't pay bills and as Turbine have told us redeveloping housing is a non-trivial project (and I have no data to dispute that), we need more than airy promises. Ask anyone who organises social events, or has started a small business based on the "guaranteed sales" of their social circle, once it's time to actually pay then the enthusiasm often disappears. And I think Turbine know, and I suspect, that the response to a revamped housing system would be " I'm not paying xxxxxTP for extra hooks/storage/furniture", "it's a rip-off", "we wanted it all to be free". Free doesn't pay the bills.

Is the store making profit? I have no idea, but I hope so. Is Turbine as a whole making money, again I don't know, and frankly it's none of my business, but again I hope so. Because I want to be logging into Gladden next year, and the year after. And if Turbine don't produce the numbers, I won't be. That means a lot more to me than whether I can display a few more stuffed bears in my home.