A Letter from Executive Producer Aaron Campbell

[frickinmuck]

What possible reason could anyone have to not encourage Turbine to do whatever they can within reason to provide all aspects of the game sufficient "love" so that as many people as possible will find enjoyment, will play - WILL PAY - and LOTRO will NOT have to rush to Mordor with landscape-only quests and shut down?

No idea. I can't think of any reason for that either. Thankfully I haven't really seen anyone doing that. Most everyone here is actively encouraging Turbine to improve the game to make as many people as happy as possible.

I just want to see LOTRO return to the balance they previously had...

Yeah, I think that's going to be a gradual process and I hope people show some patience on that front. Anger and rage are sometimes understandable, but not always particularly helpful.

[Othniel]

In terms of schedule, this next year will look much more like the year after Shadows of Angmar launched. Regular updates to the game while we grow the world, with occasional updates to systems. I know looking back to SoA is a loaded term for many players - it's my best approximation.



We'll consider new group content where we can fit it in, but the team's priority is definitely moving the story and growing the world. Update 13 is the close of Volume 3 of the Epic, meaning yes... Volume 4 is on the way.

As for your first statement, I definitely like how that sounds (granted that it's loaded). The first year (well, two years) after launch was my favorite with the several zones that were added (Evendim and Forochel, plus Eregion launching simultaneously with Moria) and the epic books.

Regarding group content, I understand that the team's priority is moving the story and growing the world, and that's great, but what about adding in some challenging content that isn't necessarily in the form of instances? Back in SoA there were two landscape raids (Fernur and Bogbereth) that were quite enjoyable at the time. Nobody runs those now because it's level 50ish content and Angmar isn't an end-game zone anymore. I thought we might have had a bit of that with a certain quest in the Westemnet (I won't give specifics to avoid spoilers for players who haven't got there yet), but they should have been both more challenging and rewarding. I think that's what is missing most for me these days: some sort of challenging content. It has become increasingly difficult to find people interested in running instances (including the Helm's Deep battles, and I'm on one of the more populated servers too) in looking-for-fellowship channels (whether standard or user-created), and something to give that a boost would be a boon to the overall game, I think. Instances don't necessarily have to accompany other content either. Remember when Inn of the Forsaken and Halls of Night launched? Those are great instances (and people don't run them enough from what I've seen). Roots of Fangorn in Great River was great too. You guys have all this great older content to use as examples of what you can do in the future, and I hope at some point you do.

[Angadan]

Personally I would buy with hard cash any IC / Raid they could "fit in" anywhere in the game.

They should try to sell it cash only for like 1 month Then add it to the store. that way it pay for itself If not then and only then I would agree that catering to soloer was a good move.

I would be willing to pay 50$ for an IC and 20$ for a single instance.

Lets do some math:

Let say it take 5 Dev 6 months to develop a raid (Full time working on it)
Each Dev cost about 60k $ per year for a total of 150k $ add some extra for let say test and ballance for around 200k $ total.
If they sell it for 50$ they need 4000 buyout to reach even.

They could even wait for enough buyout before throwing it in the store so you have to buy it if you want to see it when it release.

P.S. for those that think 5 skilled Dev with 6 months schedule cant do it you are wrong. thats 4800 hour person thats a lot of time.
P.P.S English is not my primary language sry If I made mistake

I think you're highlighting the elements of the issue for yourself, MATEOS-1.

(1) You may be low-balling the work effort required to bring a raid into the game. We know it takes Turbine's LOTRO team 12-18 months to bring a multi-boss raid or instance cluster into the game (we know this because devs have said so, in the past, in these forums). Not all members of the team are working on the project the whole time, but on the other hand a LOT more than 5 people are involved:
--> Project Lead
--> Developers
--> World Builders
--> Engineers
--> Artists
--> QA/QC Testers
--> Localization / Translators
--> Others we're not even aware of (sorry, you others!)
I wouldn't be surprised if 20+ people were involved in creating the raid from inception to delivery into game. So 20+ people, a handful of them spending a significant percentage of their time on the project for 12-18 months, most spending a little time here and there, but that adds up, too. Would not surprise me to learn that it would take well over five man-years (double your estimate) for the project in total.

(2) It also wouldn't be too surprising if your cost estimates were off by double: say $150k/year for the average mid-grade professional (this is the Boston area, and you only counted salary...cost to the company is about double the salary, with taxes and insurance and training and medical/dental/other benefits, and on and on...hiring a person is expensive business).

(3) So now we've potentially more than quadrupled your costs: twice as many man-hours, at more than twice the cost of a man-hour. So the raid might cost between $750k and a cool $1M to build, rather than the $200k you mentioned.

(4) In the past, complete expansion packs have cost in the $30-$80 range, depending on the expac and whether one bought the basic or deluxe version. Now you're asking the business model to support $50 for the purchase of a single raid. That might be a hard sell. But let's run with it...

(5) If your estimates were off as much as they may have been, you'd have to get not 4,000, but somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 to people to buy this new raid...just to break even. Not even making a profit yet, nothing to show higher HQ at WBIE for the effort. That's not going to please the controllers of the purse strings.

(6) Worse, we're not even sure there are 20,000 people left playing LOTRO at end-game (this is an end-game raid, right?). Even if 100% of the end-game player base would buy the raid (and you know that's an impossible reach), it might not be enough to break even.

I don't mean to rain on your parade, I just think building a multi-boss raid is a significant undertaking, and that the amount of effort put into such a relatively small part of the world is surprisingly HUGE compared to how far that comparable amount of effort stretches on landscape with quests and deeds and so on. I think that's the challenge Kate faced as 2013 was waning, knowing a tighter budget and lower work force might be coming...and why the decision was made not to plan on any raid/instance cluster in 2014...or for the future as far as it can be seen.

It may not be that we raiders are such a small % of the player population as it is that we have relatively HUGELY expensive tastes. Even as a sizeable minority, that may make it daunting to keep catering to us.

p.s. Your English is very good, understood you perfectly.

[Valkrist]

Not clear on what the question is. I am sure that I stand behind what I said.

Sorry, I was referring to:

You are entirely wrong about that. I can only really speak for myself, but it seems to me that people who want to support the game are people who are here for LotRO, and not for generic "insert content type here." You can get what you want elsewhere? Awesome for you, knock yourself out, have a great time! I can't get what I want elsewhere, because what I want, what I love, what I am dedicated to is LotRO and this community.

Unlike you guys, I trust the LotRO team to do their best with the resources they have, to satisfy as many of us as they possibly can, to build and enhance the game and by extension the community that I love. Full stop. And I am prepared to put my money where my mouth is and support this game. Any resources they get from me, they are free to spend however best they see fit in order to maintain the game and the community I know they care about as much as I do.

Apologies if I am wrong, but you seem to be implying that anyone who questions the decisions that the LotRO team makes, and being among 'the people who want to support the game are people who are here for LotRO' are mutually exclusive things.

But that is why leaders who truly wish to know the state of things do not surround themselves with 'Yes' people. And that means taking stands on issues, when a stand needs to be taken, so that things will get better.

By asserting this, you are claiming to know our hearts, which you simply cannot know. And, even though there are external evidences (like join dates, and projects we might have had a hand it, and ways we might try to build the community) that we do care for LotRO, just as much as you do...

You don't know any of this. You are weaving a fictional narrative about what's happening, as a means of supporting your position using nothing but thin air and rage-filled speculation.

And I believe...

It's sentiments like this that fracture and polarize the community. Why position different groups against each other, as though they are opposed? They are not. There is a place for all of us at the table, and acting as though anyone is better or more valid than anyone else doesn't contribute to the community. Quite the contrary.

Just as you said, there is a place for us all. The voicing of opinions over the loss of content or questioning things that have come to pass (in a respectful and acceptable way) is in no way a reflection of a lack of support for the team nor the game as a whole.

No idea. We aren't privy to the inner operations of the company, and really don't have any information on why team changes are made. I don't think it's at all safe to assume that the things you don't like about the game lost a bunch of people their jobs. That seems a bit narcissistic to me. This goes back to what I was saying before, about people posting speculation as though it's fact. We simply don't know.

Well, outside and independent events have occurred that provide some insight, I think, though it is true that we do not know. Most layoffs are not made in times of prosperity, particularly to those instrumental in bringing it about, nor are leaders seen as responsible for that prosperity changed in such times.

And I never claimed that those who sadly lost their jobs lost them due to my not caring for the things they brought about. That would be narcissistic, indeed.

What I was trying to do is point out what I feel is the main, overall issue with Helm's Deep, namely the largely exclusionary aspects of it, so that, in the future, those sorts of things might be avoided, or at least given second thought. Again, that does not mean I am not crazy for LotRO, nor does it mean that I do not support it and the team. It is precisely because I want to see us through to Mordor, and in style! , that I am willing to brave doing so. Not out of a standoffish glee, but because I believe it is the right course and the right thing to do.

[frickinmuck]

Apologies if I am wrong, but you seem to be implying that anyone who questions the decisions that the LotRO team makes, and being among 'the people who want to support the game are people who are here for LotRO' are mutually exclusive things.

That is not at all what I was saying or implying. If you look at the context of that statement, it was a specific response to a specific statement (specifically, it was in response to a statement about people who say they want to support the game financially). Taking it out of context and then extrapolating on what you think the intent is only muddies the waters. I won't respond to the rest of what you said because it's all based on things I didn't say or imply.

Well, outside and independent events have occurred that provide some insight, I think, though it is true that we do not know. Most layoffs are not made in times of prosperity, particularly to those instrumental in bringing it about, nor are leaders seen as responsible for that prosperity changed in such times.

Speculation is speculation. Not useful or helpful, and potentially quite damaging with a real potential to distort and confuse people who are already frustrated and confused. Inadvisable is putting it mildly.

What I was trying to do is point out what I feel is the main, overall issue with Helm's Deep, namely the largely exclusionary aspects of it, so that, in the future, those sorts of things might be avoided, or at least given second thought. Again, that does not mean I am not crazy for LotRO, nor does it mean that I do not support it and the team. It is precisely because I want to see us through to Mordor, and in style! , that I am willing to brave doing so. Not out of a standoffish glee, but because I believe it is the right course and the right thing to do.

All we can do is give feedback and make suggestions, and the more respectful and fact-based they are, the more likely they will be read, understood and taken seriously. But we should be cautious of ever expecting a particular interpretation of our own to be accepted as universally true by others, or of expecting a particular suggestion or bit of feedback to be implemented into the game. We don't know other people's minds, or have the full picture that Turbine has, so our ideas can only go so far.

[radioweb]

The back and forth.and back and forth..and back and forth arguing over the exact same things is serving no one. I'm not sure what 'you said I'm stupid / no I didn't / yes you did' is adding to the conversation.

Here's where we stand:

1) Growing land mass, continuing Epics, stated QoL improvements are the indefinite focus.
2) No. New. Raids. Not this year and no stated intention (yet?) for 2015 or beyond. This desire currently lives in the 'if we can get to it' column, where it has a lot of company.
3) Mob/Instance difficulty priority still fuzzy. Creating new raids/instances is one thing, but allowing the nearly challengeless leveling and (especially) instances to go on for this many months is worrisome. I'd like to see clearer answers on this without having to watch a Twitch stream:

- How close is the current difficulty to what you intend it to be?
- Is there a goal for 'difficult' instances to be difficult again? If so, any ETA on that?
- Any plans to adjust/equalize loot? People are running Sambrog nonstop for a reason: it rewards far more than a 6 man skirmish and doesn't require investing in a soldier.

Lastly, what is considered 'on-topic' at this point? What would you like us discussing that hasn't been touched on yet?

[Whart]

Are you sure? Are you truly sure?

As the debates went on about 'vocal minorities' and how polls are meaningless and whatnot, there was very strong insistence by those deciding what was coming that they knew what we, generally as a player base, wanted. We wanted the change to the trait trees, we wanted less raiding and instances and so on. And so Helm's Deep was released.

This is not meant to incite but only to cast a light on what has come, so we might go another direction in the future

Helm's Deep was filled with more exclusionary measures than any content ever released in these lands.

- There was no 'solo' endgame content, such as Hytbold, save for the solo/duo Epic Battles, which are not really balanced for solo players, particularly the more casual players that they were to attract.
- There was no 'group' endgame content, save for 1 3-person, 1 6-person, and 1 Raid Battle, all of which lack any sort of challenge that more group-oriented players had been hoping to see.
- Instead of taking time to create more content, new trait trees were introduced. These forced players to choose a role, making their effectiveness at that role and everything else they are able to do, far more about the system than the player. They also either eliminated or gated about half of the skills once available to the players at any given time, thereby reducing choice and one's ability to determine outcomes. They purposely restricted reactive and engaging play, in favor of a style with more predictable outcomes.
- These skill changes made choices regarding legendary items moot, as those choices are largely made for us now, since most of the legacies deal with gated skills.
- The skill changes made have created an imbalance that has existed for over 3 months, and is likely to continue to exist for a long while thereafter, taking more time that could have been used to create content. And this is no minor imbalance, but one that has removed all challenge from even the choices of play meant to be the most extreme: T2 Challenges, T3 Skirmishes and so on.
- Itemization has been simplified to the point where choice in what we wield or wear has virtually no ramifications, whatsoever. And most 'raiding/endgame items' are being given away for free in GLFF, as they are so easily come by.

Remember, these were all things we 'wanted', right? The vast majority of players were being served.

The result of this has been a portion of the team that brought us these things has been let go, and there has been a change of leadership at the Executive Producer level. There is just no way these things would have happened if these measures had been a resounding success or even a modest success, is there?

I support Lotro, and I support the team that brings it to us. But I still want to have a say (with my Bree-land currency) in where they are taking us. And I strongly believe that, going forward, there needs to be a return to a more inclusive approach. Adding tiers of difficulty to instances was a brilliant move, I thought. Why did we go away from that? Why was there so much choice taken away from we, the players, with this last expansion?

Mr. Campbell, I have the feeling you have been given a washcloth and asked to use it to blanket the whole of your playerbase. I doubt too many envy you that task. But I do hope you will see that, as much as you are able to lead us there, a more inclusive approach will be the best course taken.

Brilliant as always, Kaleigh.

The removal of choice is such an important part of the discussion of the game's direction. It's why I've shelved multiple characters (no ability to have the skill rotation that was personally fun for me--I like thinking outside the box), won't do the BB (no interest in building things or giving orders, want to play my class as my class, period), and won't pay cash for anything anymore (no new content that personally interests me, which would involve quests that are complex or challenging to complete, or classic group content).

I've seen so many posts that seem to say 'I don't care how you do it, just get us to Mordor', as if all that matters is that we limp along to the Black Gate with whatever pennies can be scraped together. I badly want to see Gondor and beyond too, but I don't just want to see it, I want to play it. If all I get to do in Minas Tirith is check out the toilets, and if my input on the Pelennor Fields consists of placing barricades or firing catapults, then count me out. I have spent years in this game developing my characters as a creative outlet. I want to play out their stories. I want to get excited about my specific role in this adventure. I can only hope that there is some possibility that we could get that. If not, I've enjoyed the time I've had here, and I'll send my fair folk across the Sea.

[frickinmuck]

The back and forth.and back and forth..and back and forth arguing over the exact same things is serving no one. I'm not sure what 'you said I'm stupid / no I didn't / yes you did' is adding to the conversation.

Here's where we stand:

1) Growing land mass, continuing Epics, stated QoL improvements are the indefinite focus.
2) No. New. Raids. Not this year and no stated intention (yet?) for 2015 or beyond. This desire currently lives in the 'if we can get to it' column, where it has a lot of company.
3) Mob/Instance difficulty priority still fuzzy. Creating new raids/instances is one thing, but allowing the nearly challengeless leveling and (especially) instances to go on for this many months is worrisome. I'd like to see clearer answers on this without having to watch a Twitch stream:

- How close is the current difficulty to what you intend it to be?
- Is there a goal for 'difficult' instances to be difficult again? If so, any ETA on that?
- Any plans to adjust/equalize loot? People are running Sambrog nonstop for a reason: it rewards far more than a 6 man skirmish and doesn't require investing in a soldier.

Lastly, what is considered 'on-topic' at this point? What would you like us discussing that hasn't been touched on yet?

Some of the questions you ask here have been touched on in the Hobbits to Isengard runs. +Rowan stopped by for awhile during today's run on Snowbourn to answer some questions, too. Those Q&As may not always be earth-shattering, but they are definitely one of the best sources of ongoing info we have right now. If you don't like watching the streams (and they're not all archived there anyway), I have been posting my notes on what was said, for players to check out.

[radioweb]

Question about balance
This one is asked/answered every run. Yes, they are aware that players have strong opinions about balance, and they do take that into consideration when making decisions about balance. Balance is something they are constantly working on and will never really be “done.” So yes, it is being worked on and they will continue to work on it.

[anthonyx]

Question about balance
This one is asked/answered every run. Yes, they are aware that players have strong opinions about balance, and they do take that into consideration when making decisions about balance. Balance is something they are constantly working on and will never really be “done.” So yes, it is being worked on and they will continue to work on it.

I think what many players want is a more aggressive balancing. You might recall that before HD the landscape mob was difficult at times. With the release of HD the balance became extremely unbalanced. It wasn't baby steps to get to this point but it is baby steps to get back to a good healthy balance. These small (and nearly unnoticeable changes) aren't that satisfying. I personally think that they should not have overloaded on the DPS but i understand that introducing the class revamp and skill tree would be difficult enough. They used the massive hike in DPS to mask some problems and to help players transition.

Another part of this that isn't that clear is what is the devs definition or goal for balance? It very well may be that they don't want it to be that much of a challenge. They may still want it so players can easily solo everything. A clear defined goal of what game balance would be would alleviate many of these concerns.

[frickinmuck]

IAnother part of this that isn't that clear is what is the devs definition or goal for balance? It very well may be that they don't want it to be that much of a challenge. They may still want it so players can easily solo everything. A clear defined goal of what game balance would be would alleviate many of these concerns.

If people have specific questions like this, I recommend popping by for those Hobbit runs and asking yourself. Most questions do get answered, depending on volume. When they don't get answered it's usually at times when there are too many questions flowing by and a few get missed.

[Beaniemooch]

If people have specific questions like this, I recommend popping by for those Hobbit runs and asking yourself. Most questions do get answered, depending on volume. When they don't get answered it's usually at times when there are too many questions flowing by and a few get missed.

The problem is most of us aren't able to attend the hobbit runs. I work full time on the west coast, so unless a hobbit run starts at 8pm EST I'm not home yet. The only place I can come to ask my questions is the forums.

[radioweb]

If people have specific questions like this, I recommend popping by for those Hobbit runs and asking yourself. Most questions do get answered, depending on volume. When they don't get answered it's usually at times when there are too many questions flowing by and a few get missed.

I have no doubt they know what was meant by the question. The answer wasn't "we know we have a serious issue and we're addressing it", the answer was "we know players have strong opinions about balance...they take that into consideration when making decisions...we continue to work on it".

To me, that was a pretty clear answer. While there are always ongoing adjustments - the team doesn't think we currently have a CRITICAL imbalance on the landscape or in instances that they are scrambling to fix. From that answer I'd expect to perhaps see small tweaks over time not a big course correction in one or two fell swoops.

At this point, I feel all of my biggest questions about direction for foreseeable future have been answered. May not love all the answers but I appreciate getting them instead of being left in the dark on intentions moving forward. Thanks

[SouthernBelle0927]

The problem is most of us aren't able to attend the hobbit runs. I work full time on the west coast, so unless a hobbit run starts at 8pm EST I'm not home yet. The only place I can come to ask my questions is the forums.

Well, perhaps someone who can watch and participate in chat could ask for you. I'd be happy to do so if I'm tuning in, and I imagine there are a few other regulars who might would be willing to as well.

[frickinmuck]

To me, that was a pretty clear answer. While there are always ongoing adjustments - the team doesn't think we currently have a CRITICAL imbalance on the landscape or in instances that they are scrambling to fix. From that answer I'd expect to perhaps see small tweaks over time not a big course correction in one or two fell swoops.

I don't think that what you're saying can be taken from what Sapience said. The one doesn't follow from the other. Especially since he said they take player's opinions into consideration when they look at balance, and players have been expressing big concerns about it. Of course only time will tell. See what comes with U13, and if you have any more specific question, ask it. One thing that seems to be clear for sure is that there's going to be much improved communication moving forward, and more opportunities to interact with the team.

Well, perhaps someone who can watch and participate in chat could ask for you. I'd be happy to do so if I'm tuning in, and I imagine there are a few other regulars who might would be willing to as well.

Yeah, I'm always in those too, so I'll try to ask it if I remember.

[Elrantiri]

To be fair, the raiding population was far higher before they made a few missteps in Mirkwood times.

That depends on how you look at it:

In terms of percentage of player base? Yes. All populations fluctuate over time, but PvMP and Raiders have held roughly the same position in terms of percentage of playerbase for a very long time. It's roughly the same base percentage as it always has been. It's on par (roughly) with PvMP in terms of overall percentage.

Of course a percentage doesn't mean the amount of raiders is the same (as the total numbers of LotrO players might not be the same), but what I deduct from Sapience's comment is that raiders have always been a minority, and therefore I don't care much for using minority as an excuse for not creating group content.

Radiance, which was fun in the beginning, got to the point where it was annoying (having to have completed previous raids to get into BG, or swapped into purple, lower quality gear if you hadn't). Also, the 16-month break between BG (which was not their best effort) and OD caused a lot of people to wander off. OD started people coming back, and RoI saw the re-emergence of the raiding community, but it apparently didn't re-grow the community quickly enough, as evidenced by the buggy, rushed, uninspired instances of RoR. That, combined with the loot debacle of gold class items and ultra-rare Horse-Lords recipes quickly alienated whatever raid community remained.

One can hardly blame them for not releasing raid content with HD--since they weren't capable of doing it well, it would've been a huge money sink.

These are IMO much more probable reasons for the lack of group content albeit you seem very focused on 12 mans. Other reasons would be Mounted Combat and Big Battles which have surely required a lot of developer effort, stopping those developers from developing the group content?

I also have the feeling that the income that would have financed the implementation of group content (which I believe would be the Helms Deep expansion sales) have failed miserably, mostly because of three factors:
1. The expansion was 50% off a month after it was released the executive producer had announced there will not be an expansion in 2014.
2. The executive producer (Kate Paiz) announced they would not make an expansion in 2014
3. The layoffs. I would imagine the layoffs are based on the income (or lack hereof) from the expansion sales

On the other hand, all it would take to restore the same well-rounded game that existed until mid-2010 would be accepting that there would be a rebuilding period where there might be a great raid that got less play than it deserved (a la OD), and create quality group content to rebuild Turbine's reputation.

If you build it, they will come. I agree with the above poster--I don't care of we reach Mordor, if the journey to get there is rushed and 1-dimensional, and not focused on creating fellowship within the game. If I want to watch the journey through cut scenes, I'll watch the movie. I want to be a *part* of the journey--not just killing boars, cleaning latrines, and watching it unfold.

Agreed. The problem here is just whether the rebuilding period will be succeeded by instances and high quality content or if they'll go to maintenance mode to make the last few dimes before shutting down the game. I hope for the first one, but I very much expect the latter.

[Calta]

Well, perhaps someone who can watch and participate in chat could ask for you. I'd be happy to do so if I'm tuning in, and I imagine there are a few other regulars who might would be willing to as well.

Can you ask on my behalf about minstrels, too, please? (Basically, are we finished with or will we get reviewed?) I'd love for you to be my proxy -so whatever you ask counts as 2 people asking- and I'm sure Sapience will answer anything, if he's asked in your southern drawl
good luck with the run-had a ball on Laurelin. no twitchstream of us though
*sing-songs* 'hope he picks you!'

[Jillymala]

Can you ask on my behalf about minstrels, too, please? (Basically, are we finished with or will we get reviewed?) I'd love for you to be my proxy -so whatever you ask counts as 2 people asking- and I'm sure Sapience will answer anything, if he's asked in your southern drawl
good luck with the run-had a ball on Laurelin. no twitchstream of us though
*sing-songs* 'hope he picks you!'

Make that 3 people asking please

[Kittyvicious]

There is a lot of back and forth regarding various things in this thread, so I'm sure this post will be easy to lose in the fray, but I just wanted to post a thank you for the letter even though it is brief by necessity.

I look forward to these updates and the more detailed information you have for us. The three areas you have listed sound like they are going to be fantastic and I hope you continue to develop content to fill out Middle Earth even if it strays from the main quest a bit. Having more content is always fun, so by all means please give us everything you can create.

[SouthernBelle0927]

Can you ask on my behalf about minstrels, too, please? (Basically, are we finished with or will we get reviewed?) I'd love for you to be my proxy -so whatever you ask counts as 2 people asking- and I'm sure Sapience will answer anything, if he's asked in your southern drawl
good luck with the run-had a ball on Laurelin. no twitchstream of us though
*sing-songs* 'hope he picks you!'

I would be happy to! Just send me your questions. I log into Twitch with the same User ID so he knows it's me. I'll just say I'm the rep for the LOTRO Forum Minstrel Society or something.

I'm hoping to participate in this Friday's chat. A migraine kept me from adding my 2 coppers yesterday, but I should be back to normal mentally by then. (Normal being relative, of course! )

*makes note to ask for Beaniemooch and Jillymala as well.

[Mar-Evayave]

Of course a percentage doesn't mean the amount of raiders is the same (as the total numbers of LotrO players might not be the same), but what I deduct from Sapience's comment is that raiders have always been a minority, and therefore I don't care much for using minority as an excuse for not creating group content.

Unless the ratio of raiders to non-raiders has changed since last summer (when the quote from Sapience was originally posted). If the statistics have changed, then perhaps raiders occupy an even smaller percentage now, making the argument of minority more valid.

Can you ask on my behalf about minstrels, too, please? (Basically, are we finished with or will we get reviewed?) I'd love for you to be my proxy -so whatever you ask counts as 2 people asking- and I'm sure Sapience will answer anything, if he's asked in your southern drawl

For what it's worth, Sapience talked (in the recent Hobbit run) about a roundtable of all the devs gathering together for a live stream in which players can ask direct questions to them and actually get some sort of answer. I believe the idea came from the roundtable used in EQN/EQNL (or at least that is what it makes me think of). I don't know whether you personally will be able to attend (as time/date has not been announced) but hopefully this means the minstrel dev will be present?

[Nouri]

Agreed. The problem here is just whether the rebuilding period will be succeeded by instances and high quality content or if they'll go to maintenance mode to make the last few dimes before shutting down the game. I hope for the first one, but I very much expect the latter.

That's so sad. However, I think you're right as far as the direction they're going to go in. "Growing the world" appears to mean just giving people new regions in which to easily kill landscape mobs and pick periwinkles.

[TheCrossbow]

I don't think that what you're saying can be taken from what Sapience said. The one doesn't follow from the other. Especially since he said they take player's opinions into consideration when they look at balance, and players have been expressing big concerns about it. Of course only time will tell. See what comes with U13, and if you have any more specific question, ask it. One thing that seems to be clear for sure is that there's going to be much improved communication moving forward, and more opportunities to interact with the team.

Maybe my mind is just too tired to get it this morning but... why in the world do they need to take into account players' opinions about balance?

This is NOT something where any opinions need to be heard. The developers need to just look at the FACTS. Either our characters are out of balance or they are performing as intended. There is nothing complicated about it.

And, shouldn't the developers know exactly how they intend for our characters to perform? So, then... shouldn't they be able to be honest with us and say "You may think character X is overpowered/underpowered but it is working as intended (WAI)."

With all due respect to the developers... please at least give thought to the questions being asked before you give an answer that doesn't even make sense.

The next time I'm eating cookies... I'll be sure to "ask the players' opinions" as to whether or not I've eaten too many cookies... rather than listening to my stomach which would normally tell me when I am full.

[Elrantiri]

Unless the ratio of raiders to non-raiders has changed since last summer (when the quote from Sapience was originally posted). If the statistics have changed, then perhaps raiders occupy an even smaller percentage now, making the argument of minority more valid.

Even if that is the case, I still don't see why it would warrant going from making instance clusters to not making any instances at all. Had they chosen to make a smaller cluster (e.g. one 3-man, one 6-man and one 12-man rather than the 4-7 instances we get in a cluster) it'd make some sense to me.

Either way, with statements like "no instances planned for 2014" I guess the raiding percentage will fall sooner rather than later.

[Beaniemooch]

I would be happy to! Just send me your questions. I log into Twitch with the same User ID so he knows it's me. I'll just say I'm the rep for the LOTRO Forum Minstrel Society or something.

I'm hoping to participate in this Friday's chat. A migraine kept me from adding my 2 coppers yesterday, but I should be back to normal mentally by then. (Normal being relative, of course! )

*makes note to ask for Beaniemooch and Jillymala as well.

Amen, was just coming to say please........