Update 15 Will make or break LotRO

[Almagnus1]

I agree. I even tweeted about this to Turbine. I think much of the playerbase (the portion that looks for this type of thing, anyway) is starving for information. This whole "no news is good news" thing isn't working for me, personally. :/

Sadly most of the internet sees it as "no news means the project is dead."

[Leixy]

U-15 beta will be up on Friday

*edited to reflect today's Exec Prod letter

[bucko39]

They do this usually when it hits Bullroarer. since that has yet to happen and will hopefully happen soon, I would expect to start seeing splash screens and promo vids from other blogs ect. What we do need more of (that stopped for some reason over a year ago) is more open dev diaries explaining why things were done ect.

Agree 100% (dev diaries)...and it has nothing to do with being worried (looking at you Leixy), it has more to do with getting your player base re-invested and excited in the game. And if the answer to the question becomes "try another game"...well, that says enough all in itself.

[Scirocco]

Agreed (with all of the above). The last content has lost its bloom, although the delayed opening of the two DA daily areas did help stave that off for a bit. This is about the time that I stop logging in on a daily basis (and, in fact, did not do so yesterday).

We need something to look forward to and help keep us focused on the game. New area. New crafting recipes (inlcuding new LI bridles). Essence revisions/upgrade. New class. Imbued LIs. (And yes, new raids or group instances....)

[bucko39]

ahem....https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...l-October-2014

[Almagnus1]

ahem....https://www.lotro.com/forums/showthr...l-October-2014

That's a good start, and a promising sign of things to come.

[Mar-Evayave]

They do this usually when it hits Bullroarer. since that has yet to happen and will hopefully happen soon, I would expect to start seeing splash screens and promo vids from other blogs ect. What we do need more of (that stopped for some reason over a year ago) is more open dev diaries explaining why things were done ect.

YES! I miss dev diaries, that really had a lot of bulk to them. I know the saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes it seems like dev diaries are more picture and less word, and I don't care for that. :/

Sadly most of the internet sees it as "no news means the project is dead."

Or that, yeah. On the flip side, I just logged in after getting home from college, and I see a Letter from Rowan, so I'm headed over to read that once I get my dinner and can focus on it (I tend to forget food if I get too involved -- burnt pizza rolls... not so appealing).

[Dernudan]

I found that letter to be a little bit of a let down as it does not refer to fixing any of the issues that need to be fixed like loot and crafting. I hope that they just covered the big shiny stuff in the letter and will release the more in depth stuff like loot in the livestreams.

[Gilean-EU]

I definetely agree about dev diaries. While those online streams and Q/A chats are nice (and might be one reason why we haven't seen proper dev diaries for a while now), there are many cases where developer cannot answer the question with couple of lines only and just when the question is asked. With developer diaries they can take time to explain things just how they like, add screenshots etc...

I found that letter to be a little bit of a let down as it does not refer to fixing any of the issues that need to be fixed like loot and crafting. I hope that they just covered the big shiny stuff in the letter and will release the more in depth stuff like loot in the livestreams.

Like Frelorn said in another thread, that was just a small part of things coming, otherwise they could just have named it release notes by producer

[Drakos33]

Like Frelorn said in another thread, that was just a small part of things coming, otherwise they could just have named it release notes by producer

A note that they have looked at loot/raid rewards wouldn't need to be all that specific. We will see as it is hitting Bullroarer, but currently the end game is a mess in terms of carrot to chase. An endgame where farming an epic quest over and over again along with a half hour of solo dailies and the occasional EB is the thinnest I have ever seen. I haven't played every MMO, but quite a few for over a decade and this is the lightest max level content I have ever seen. There isn't even a role for Seals, the so called end game currency.

I'm having a great time since I came back, but this is a pretty glaring issue.

[Castorix]

A note that they have looked at loot/raid rewards wouldn't need to be all that specific. We will see as it is hitting Bullroarer, but currently the end game is a mess in terms of carrot to chase. An endgame where farming an epic quest over and over again along with a half hour of solo dailies and the occasional EB is the thinnest I have ever seen. I haven't played every MMO, but quite a few for over a decade and this is the lightest max level content I have ever seen. There isn't even a role for Seals, the so called end game currency.

Yes, if the problems which break the end-game (loot/itemization, RNG, essences, ...) are not in the notes, it is very worrying...

[slashmcbain]

I'm often confounded by the choices they make, as they seem to be assuring their own demise by catering to a single playstyle. With no reason or incentive to group, players don't form attachments and it makes it easy to become bored and walk away.

Odd this is exactly the reason I would say I have stuck with the game ... I Dont need to rely on friends or Kinship members being online at the same time I am, I can play through a large amount by myself, without being asked to constantly help out with raids, Instances etc.

if we want to group we can arrange something, otherwise we can all do our own thing .. at our own times .. makes sense to me, i hated having to wait for friends having work, family or computer problems and not being able to get online on other games, where half of it was impossible if you dont group up.

[kickman77]

Odd this is exactly the reason I would say I have stuck with the game ... I Dont need to rely on friends or Kinship members being online at the same time I am, I can play through a large amount by myself, without being asked to constantly help out with raids, Instances etc.

if we want to group we can arrange something, otherwise we can all do our own thing .. at our own times .. makes sense to me, i hated having to wait for friends having work, family or computer problems and not being able to get online on other games, where half of it was impossible if you dont group up.

I will agree with that and it is cool that you want and enjoy a solo game, but a lot of us do enjoy the social aspect of working together. I wish our Kinsips had a system like other games where you have projects to complete (like making the kin house bigger) ect. so yes you all do not need to be on at the same time, but you can contribute to a project to make your kinship / character stronger.

There are many playstyles and aspects to this game, and all of them need to be respected and catered to... only catering to one hand while ignoring the other only creates discourse and anger withing the community. We have seen it recently where the line in the sand wa drawn and people were on either side of the arugments over a number. I hope we dont fall back into that again and I hope that as thing are developed for the game all playstyles are given an equal share of enjoyment.

[HunterGreen]

Has anyone started the "U16 will make or break LOTRO" thread yet? We might as well get a jump on it.

[Brandon_Blackbird]

Has anyone started the "U16 will make or break LOTRO" thread yet? We might as well get a jump on it.

There won't be a U16, this game is in maintenance mode, remember? :P

[Rowan]

There won't be a U16, this game is in maintenance mode, remember? :P

U16 is focused around Osgiliath.

No epic battles in mind, but we're talking about other group options.

[Socialz]

Funny. It is each and every update we have had we always have these same topics being brought up in a way or another, yet we live on with the scars and no one cares at the end of the day. WB can pull the plug even if we suddenly got a huge player spike and would potentially grow WB's income 500%+, they just do not care of the facts unless the money is brought to them on a golden tray.

[Brandon_Blackbird]

U16 is focused around Osgiliath.

No epic battles in mind, but we're talking about other group options.

Oh Rowan I was joking! I'm the last person that thinks this game is in maintenance mode!

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

U16 is focused around Osgiliath.

No epic battles in mind, but we're talking about other group options.

Oooh... this sounds promising

[BangoTwinkletoes]

U16 is focused around Osgiliath.

No epic battles in mind, but we're talking about other group options.

* Hoping those options includes a 12 boss, 4 wing raid with three tiers of difficulty and a collectable armour set for each tier *

[kickman77]

* Hoping those options includes a 12 boss, 4 wing raid with three tiers of difficulty and a collectable armour set for each tier *

Me too... I am like on my knee praying it means a new raid is coming... and dear lord if it is.... please give us an instance deed with a new steed and title (and server first titles as well) with it

[Eruadarion]

U16 is focused around Osgiliath.

No epic battles in mind, but we're talking about other group options.

No EBs? Good desicion! Don't waste any ressources on this gimmick any more!

You are TALKING about other "group options"? This is so depressing...
What you are basically saying is: U16 is going to be another solo quest landmass with an "group option" for one or two epic story instances (like Shadow of Morthond in U14) or some Warbands that can be easily soloed but are labeled as fellowship quest so we have the "option" to do it in a group.

So what we can expect is basically U14/U15 copied&pasted and with some trees and rocks rearranged, NPCs renamed and old textures slightly changed to give U16 a "new" appearence. The new PvMP thing for Osgiliath is not going to happen either, obvioulsy.

Please can you answer this one question: Can we expect new real content in LotRO ever again? By real content I mean stuff that actually involves our brains. Like dealing with new combat mechanics, learning to play our class properly, gearing up in order to beat new encounters, playing in a team of skilled players and last but not least getting rewarded properly for what you are doing (not for how much time I'm willing to invest in grinding brain-afk daily reputation stuff).

I beg you Mr. Campell or Frelorn, could you please give an honest answer to this?

[bucko39]

Me too... I am like on my knee praying it means a new raid is coming... and dear lord if it is.... please give us an instance deed with a new steed and title (and server first titles as well) with it

Not to be a negative ned, but...if they are only TALKING about it...and not currently WORKING on it...ah what the hell, I'll switch tone and be hopeful as well

[kickman77]

Not to be a negative ned, but...if they are only TALKING about it...and not currently WORKING on it...ah what the hell, I'll switch tone and be hopeful as well

Bucko.. one always has to have hope.... at least thats how I look at things

[Mystarr]

Bucko.. one always has to have hope.... at least thats how I look at things

Or... you could be realistic... At best, we should expect future development on LOTRO to proceed about like it has for the last year.

I no longer believe they have the staff to do much more than make new maps, and try to get us to Mordor.

It is highly unlikely that they are going to get more resources devoted to this game... EVER.

So the question is: What can they do with the resources they have?

It appears they currently have the resources to:
- Add new maps
- Add repeatable quest content
- Work on a select and focused set of other goals (like make a new class, add a big battle, changes to legendary items)

It does not appear that they have the resources to do things like address itemization issues, or class balance/playability issues while they are adding maps and working on 1-2 other features etc.

I suspect we will be lucky if they can address class balance and itemization. (Assuming they even realize that the itemization in their scaled group content is REALLY REALLY bad.)