The LOTRO Beacon: Issue 81

[Aladrieth]

Dragons! Wherever the dragons are.

[Ydnardo]

Ered Mithrin & Rushgate! ...So I can go "T0 the Beorning-Lands".

[Thandalbeth]

Thanks for reading! Don't forget to reply to this post, we will pick a winner next Thursday afternoon.

Nowhere was there, so all regions

[Emariel]

I'm glad to see Erebor expanded. And Ered Mithrin. Beautiful place!

[Xaviere]

I'd like to get into that ice-covered, gold-packed vault in Duruz-Mazal. Because of the gold!

[eligold9]

The Withered Heath in Ered Mithrin, of course.
It is the source of dwarves greatest bane - the dragons.

[Goddess-Macha]

Question: Which of the new Dwarf-hold regions are you most excited to explore?

"I'm excited to see what is left of Thikil-Gundu, The Steel Keep. I want to know if the stories/rumors are true plus I want to go exploring there...I promise not to delve too deep, we ALL know what happens when you delve too deep Will there be a Dragon or a Balrog coming for dinner?!?!"

[geremil]

J'aime toutes ces régions mais j'aimerais mieux les voir brulées sous le feu de Saroumane

[Gildoriel]

I explored them already with one char - the Iron Mountains were "friendlier", I liked questing there very much, but I also thought that the "darker" atmosphere of the Grey Mountains was very well done. World-building is so great, I always look forward to all new areas.

[Thurinuor]

All of them!

[Panaeon]

After returning after a couple of years playing SWTOR, I'm really excited to see all the new content and stories in LoTRO. - especially Regions inhabited by dwarfs (love those sturdy - maybe sometimes a little rough-, but lovable and ambitious little earth dwellers).

Even more so, since I like the strategy of working with the player community obviously so much more than in the Star Wars franchise.

I've seen a few "Noob Nazis", who expect long-term absent, new and/or returned players to know all the correct terms right away in World-Chat, but I also found they were put into their place pretty quickly.
For me, the social atmosphere - especially in a Multi-Player-Game like this - is something, that makes all the difference in the long-term fun, inspiration and willingness to spend some of my leisure time in it.

After all, it's leisure activity and supposed to be taking our minds off the everyday "dramas" among the "real" World as we all witness it in its creepy state these days.

So, if you want to harass people, unlock that monster play and do your best. If you make it into the main areas as a PvP-"Boss", I might give you some slack. But I remember last time I tried, I hardly got to do the Basic Missions there since some high level "Free People" player got to me all the time and smacked my character repeatedly - which kinda took the fun out of it for me at least. But if there were a whole Guild dedicated to that, well...that could mean serious raiding business for everyone on that server.

I also wonder if in the last couple of years, that amount of players playing Monsters has changed - or if there are even some kind of "Guilds"/"Squads" on the side of the "Dark Lord"?

Anyway, I just hope I'll be capable of unlocking all the content soon, since I found my characters kinda got stuck when I wanted to go to Evendim back in the days - and there were so many quests left to explore in the Starter Areas (Ered Luin, The Shire, Bree-Land), that I kinda got into a maze - from being overwhelmed by too many choices.

This time I'll try to focus on one area at a time and leave out the meandering quests until I've finished it. - Speaking of: are there any Quest Guide Sites, which help with distinguishing which quests can be done at a time in order to reduce running back and forth too often - and reducing the inspiration to play while grinding that hard?

Of course, some extent of "effort" in terms of "grinding" is "ok" and bearable to me (Deeds are part of that, for example, since the rewards for fulfilling them are obviously "worth the grind", i.m.h.o.) since without making an effort for a valuable character development feels meaningful, too - unlike it is often the case in SWTOR these days, unfortunately.

Anyway, I guess, that's one of the most important parts of developing MMOs - to find a good balance in all these terms to keep the majority of the players active and inspired to play. - I consider myself a hard case in this context, since my "threshold" seems to change a lot. We're all human players - well, most of us after all -, aren't we? And humans don't "function" like machines - with linear predictability. I guess, if next generation "Artificial Intelligence" is ever implemented in an MMO, it'll be interesting to see how adaptable it'll be and what kind of feedback mechanisms it will have to assess the current mood of a player - I know that is possible with bringing in all the data players produce online and offline. The question will be, how quickly - if it ever happens - players will wish to integrate these possibilities...and if it freaks them out or the new possibilities excite them. All new technology always has an up- and downside, after all. For further inspiration, I highly recommend watching the Series "Black Mirror".

Well, if anyone read this little "reflection" of mine: Thank you for joining me on this little "imaginative trip" and if you feel like it, let me know what you think of what's preferring this game to others of its kind and what you think about the not so far future might bring.

Cheers and well met

[TyJNMiller]

I couldn’t choose which area I wanted to explore the most; so let my Fellowship/Kinmate make the choise. We ended up in the Iron Hills.

[LordLothar51]

Just finished Helm's Deep... can't wait to go explore all of that area!

[Timawas]

Grey Mountains indefinitely!!

[sergios]

I'd be lying if I said anything but Erin Mithrin. I love the Misty Mountains and Forochel so going to another snow biome has me hyped up. It's like Christmas all over again!

[Bruno_Lotro]

Im still not able to be there but ill probably love it all!

[gwathtauron]

I'm sure all of Ered Mithrin will be awe-inspiring, but I also must admit I'm most in love with what I've already read about in Tolkiens own works, so in my mind I already see the expanded Erebor, and hope to compare my visions with the 'real thing' one day - when I'm old enough to go there :-)

[Aleziana]

One does not simple to decide which of the new Dwarf-hold regions am i most excited to explore...

[Nywyn]

Just made it to the beginning of Ered Mithrin and I can't wait to explore the rest of this area!!

[Shadowvisitodir]

I am too far to think about it.

[Herwegur]

Looking forward to visiting the sprawling glacier evocatively named The Anvil. Cold, primordial, raw. Weather-beaten by millennial winds, still carrying traces of winged creatures' cries in the upper aethers of the frozen wasteland...

[OliveYew]

those questions are far beyond my reach. I just leaving eriador and where is grey mountains yet

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[Radhers]

the day is brighter now, thanks