Stories of development through this game

[Moochi]

Yeah, I haven't gotten to Dorthaneth yet, either. Now I'm intrigued!

Looking at the name... does it maybe mean something like "sister that stays?" Or maybe... "young dweller?"

That's kinda what I thought it might translate to, but I think of it as "she who lingers".

[OldMadeOfLions]

Are there any plans to add the horseshoe back as a reclaim item or to a vendor for rep etc.?

Every now and then it comes up, but I don't want to elevate its importance by saying that if you don't choose it you can get it again. Why Erebrandir's horseshoe and not something else? That's my instinct, anyway.

MoL

[Thurallor]

Every now and then it comes up, but I don't want to elevate its importance by saying that if you don't choose it you can get it again. Why Erebrandir's horseshoe and not something else? That's my instinct, anyway.

MoL

You can hardly elevate the importance of the most important item in the game (even if the devs won't admit it).

[YamydeAragon]

I'm not going to answer this one, but I will admit that I've been surprised by the general lack of curiosity about Dorthaneth.

MoL

I know way too many reasons why a woman can be veiled In Real Life. So that doesn't strike my curiosity anyhow. 1 very easy reason for both male & female to cover the face is to protect from extreme weather too hot or too cold (but i dont think that is the reason). Other reason is the culture. I am more curious about how she looks without the veil, but then i know way too many reason why asking a veiled person to remove the veil, is considered a insult. Because that, i know better to don't even mention the theme to a veiled person, unless i want that a angry male relative beat me good, for disrespecting the veiled 1.

[JeauxLOTR]

I'm not going to answer this one, but I will admit that I've been surprised by the general lack of curiosity about Dorthaneth.

MoL

I just figured she was burned by acid or something

[robbie1435]

That's kinda what I thought it might translate to, but I think of it as "she who lingers".

Here's my idea, and it involves quotes from Tolkien Gateway:

"When a storm broke loose and swept the ship out of port, Amroth leaped overboard, hoping to swim back to shore. But he was quickly taken by Belegaer's strong currents and drowned.

Nimrodel, in the meantime, had settled for a while at the river Gilrain, which reminded her of her home. She sat by the starlit stream and fell in a long deep sleep. After she woke, she journeyed further, but found no ship in Edhellond, and Amroth was long gone. Whatever she did after was lost to time."

Perhaps she is the ghost/lingering soul of Nimrodel? After all, she was to meet Amroth at Edhellond...

"Amroth found her, and promised her peace. Together they would travel to Edhellond, the port city in Belfalas, and thence set sail to the Undying Lands. They were accompanied by a small staff of Silvan Elves, including Mithrellas. All went well until they reached the White Mountains. The group became separated, and Amroth reached Edhellond well before the others. He decided to wait for his love aboard their ship."

...The very port city next to the Avorrim Cave.

To further delve into this, she was accompanied by a small group of Silvan elves.

"They were accompanied by a small staff of Silvan Elves,"

Are these the other elves in the Cave of the Avorrim?

Time will tell

[Arbor]

Some people were suggesting some decoration items to be added to the game for you earlier on this thread, how about new housing Ambient Music? Do you know if we could get new ambient music for our houses from Rohan(West and East) and Gondor(West and East)? That would be great

I should inquire how difficult it would be to turn some of the tracks into deco music. I'll try to do that tomorrow

[Silmelin]

I should inquire how difficult it would be to turn some of the tracks into deco music. I'll try to do that tomorrow

That would be wonderful! Thank you so much!


If it turns out to be something that can be done, may I suggest these two tracks?
They mean a lot to me!

* Far Ahead the Road Has Gone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgGWiRZK79s
(I think this was the old loading screen soundtrack )

* War Pipes

[Thoroval]

I have a question that's been buzzing around for a while (I've run a few alts past her and it came up again today). Why is Dorthaneth veiled?

Makes me wonder if we've maybe met her before and someone would rather we didn't know. Not that I'm asking for spoilers, of course. Just makes me curious as I don't think we've met a veiled Elf before.

I was intensely curious about the veil when I first encountered her. I recall my wife and I stopping in the middle of our questing session and having a bit of a discussion about it and what it might mean.

After the quest line was completed I speculated she is probably a relative, an ancestor if you will, perhaps a great, great, (great+) grandmother of Lothiriel since I recall the quest text mentioning a rumor of Elvish blood in the line of Imrahil. This could be why she hides her face since she may look almost like Lothiriel's twin sister, Elves being all ageless and stuff.

It had been my hope that another quest in the zone or the next would give us the answer either way, but like other narratives in the game of late, we're left hanging. I still hold out the slimmest hope that if/when we meet Imrahil at/near Minas Tirith (I haven't encountered him yet anyway), the answer will be revealed, but I'm not holding my breath. After experiencing and becoming interested in other arcs that have been abandoned, I've had to stop allowing myself to get too invested in any of the stories. This makes me sad.

[Lilka]

I'm not going to answer this one, but I will admit that I've been surprised by the general lack of curiosity about Dorthaneth.

MoL

Eek, I never noticed she was veiled. I have to play on Very Low graphics. My LOTRO looks a bit like FF7.

[robbie1435]

Please don't let this thread die :P

[Moochi]

Perhaps she is the ghost/lingering soul of Nimrodel? After all, she was to meet Amroth at Edhellond...

I hadn't entertained the notion that she might be a ghost. An interesting idea; thanks for sharing.

[OldMadeOfLions]

After experiencing and becoming interested in other arcs that have been abandoned, I've had to stop allowing myself to get too invested in any of the stories. This makes me sad.

Nothing is ever abandoned in an MMO, so even stories that seem to have been left hanging might be picked up again and turned into something. I'm assuming this is specifically a comment on 'The Riders Four,' but even that could be continued if someone had an interest.

MoL

[robbie1435]

Nothing is ever abandoned in an MMO, so even stories that seem to have been left hanging might be picked up again and turned into something. I'm assuming this is specifically a comment on 'The Riders Four,' but even that could be continued if someone had an interest.

MoL

Could that "someone" be you? :P

I imagined the Rider's Four ending up being summoned to Theoden's encampment of the Rohirrim and riding into Pelennor Fields with him. We meet up with them in Minas Tirith again, some bad things happen, etc, and then whatever comes next :P

(I'm very good at thinking out detailed storylines, as you can see. lol)

[Ardineck]

The problem I see is that too many of these things were "pet projects" that as I understand it were done on the developers own time and then we, the players, ended up loving some of these gems. I don't know how things work at the office, but perhaps once a month a "pet project" can get a sanctioning nod of approval from a high elf and become a paid thing. If that's too many a year, maybe once a quarter. I wouldn't even say it should be left to the players or even have us told this is happening, really. Just my opinion, but these things I've found out later were developer initiatives tend to be favorite parts of the game for me.

[Palenen]

I have a lot. What would you like to know?

MoL

Tell us about....










Ghostbear.

[Nosdracir]

Tell us about....










Ghostbear.

Yes indeed! Please do!


For those who don't know about Ghostbear, it was a bug at the beginning of the game. Random bear roars even when no bears were in sight. Loud. I was showing off my cool armor to my wife one night, and as she leaned in to get a good view of my screen, Ghostbear let out a mighty roar and scared the dickens out of her. I had to pull up a forum post later to prove that I had not done something on purpose.

[Grinn]

Yes indeed! Please do!


For those who don't know about Ghostbear, it was a bug at the beginning of the game. Random bear roars even when no bears were in sight. Loud. I was showing off my cool armor to my wife one night, and as she leaned in to get a good view of my screen, Ghostbear let out a mighty roar and scared the dickens out of her. I had to pull up a forum post later to prove that I had not done something on purpose.

My experience with Ghostbear was during pre-release. I was heading up the road towards Thasri's Lodge from Duillond. Kheledûl was just showing to my right.
Suddenly from nowhere came a ROAR! At the very same time, the flock of birds animation triggered from the evergreens ahead.

Not only had I nearly jumped out of my skin, but I was thinking "WOW!" at the immersion factor. Later I'd see the flocking birds or hear Ghostbear's roar in the oddest places. But that impression of that first encounter has always stayed with me.

[robbie1435]

Are there any Easter Eggs or "Hidden Nuggets" to find in the last three new areas?(Similar to the 3 bears and Goldilocks in West Rohan)

If so, I haven't found any . These should make a return.

[Stasik]

I have a much more technical question, call it programmer's curiosity: When holding down the run forward button (W or up arrow) and the jump button (spacebar) at the same time, it is possible to press the turn right button (D or right arrow) and run right; However, the turn left button (A or left arrow) does not make the character turn left. Conversely, holding down the run forward button and turn left button allows the character to run to the left, but the spacebar now does not make the character jump when those two keys are held down. Finally, holding down the spacebar and the turn left buttons makes the character jump once and spin left, but the move forward button does not work when these two are held down, although the backwards button does. I was just wondering why the coding makes this anomaly occur?

I understand that this is an absolutely useless question for most people, I'm just fascinated by the coding of game engines, having been involved in the creation of one once upon a time, and this would be a development story that is pretty useful and interesting for me, at least from a programmer's standpoint!

PS. A question that's useful for many who like to immerse themselves in the game: Why can't all of the chairs be sittable? The early ones for houses were, all the static chairs in Bree are, and I recently discovered even the really decorative benches and seats in Caras Galadhon allow you to sit down on them. It would be really cool to have this functionality restored for all chairs!

[Thurallor]

I have a much more technical question, call it programmer's curiosity: When holding down the run forward button (W or up arrow) and the jump button (spacebar) at the same time, it is possible to press the turn right button (D or right arrow) and run right; However, the turn left button (A or left arrow) does not make the character turn left. Conversely, holding down the run forward button and turn left button allows the character to run to the left, but the spacebar now does not make the character jump when those two keys are held down. Finally, holding down the spacebar and the turn left buttons makes the character jump once and spin left, but the move forward button does not work when these two are held down, although the backwards button does. I was just wondering why the coding makes this anomaly occur?

I understand that this is an absolutely useless question for most people, I'm just fascinated by the coding of game engines, having been involved in the creation of one once upon a time, and this would be a development story that is pretty useful and interesting for me, at least from a programmer's standpoint!

What you're describing is a hardware limitation of the keyboard itself (or possibly its software driver). Cheaper keyboards can sense fewer keypresses at a time. High-end gaming keyboards tout "anti-ghosting technology" (explained here) that allows the simultaneous sensing of more keys.

[DiogoVP]

Are there any Easter Eggs or "Hidden Nuggets" to find in the last three new areas?(Similar to the 3 bears and Goldilocks in West Rohan)

If so, I haven't found any . These should make a return.

There is one in Central Gondor, which makes me believe there may be others in the other parts of Gondor. About Rohan, I have found some easter eggs there that I didn't find mention on the forums... so I think there is more than we believe there is.

[Silmelin]

PS. A question that's useful for many who like to immerse themselves in the game: Why can't all of the chairs be sittable? The early ones for houses were, all the static chairs in Bree are, and I recently discovered even the really decorative benches and seats in Caras Galadhon allow you to sit down on them. It would be really cool to have this functionality restored for all chairs!

In an orc-camp between Bree-lands and Lonelands there are some tent chairs you can sit on, and in several Instances I have noticed that you can sit in the chairs

[Orodbril]

Is there any way to hear U16 soundtrack? Since Helm's Deep there hasn't been any soundtrack on Soundcloud(soundtrack by Turbine for Helm's Deep is there) or Spotify(Chance Thomas' soundtrack for Riders of Rohan is there).

[OldMadeOfLions]

Are there any Easter Eggs or "Hidden Nuggets" to find in the last three new areas?

We often put things of this sort in the game, and recent updates aren't an exception. The old Invisiclues hint-books for Infocom text adventures had sections in the back with lists of fun things to try, and some of the Easter Eggs I like to put into LOTRO are of that variety. There's a joke involving Horn at Gleowine's childhood home that I think is pretty good, and it's possible to save the day as a Beorning by making use of a bear-hug at one point.

MoL