How's your Helm's Deep?

Redwolf

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What do you think?

I can't say the new skill sets are all that horrible but I hate that process of sitting there with no action planning far ahead when I don't want to. And with no decent manual.

The Big Battles I didn't try, didn't buy the expansion. Apparently a lot of people are right back playing the old Barrow Downs instances.

So where the *&#(# is my heart seeker?
 

Palantir

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I bought it but only had time to do a quick ride around the new area with my 85th Burglar and check out the new skill trees.

The "HELMS DEEP" battles for now really don't interest me as it seems like a big skirmish you do over & over just to get "stuff" and not advance further up the Epic Story Line.
While it may be fun I won't know until I do it at least once.

For old timers the skills are all messed up but I'm sure I'll get used to them. I have no idea why they changed the system we had in the first place as to me, it was working just fine.
As for Heart-seeker, it's in there someplace, I remember reading about it in one of the tress.

and: when I started playing and made my very first character (my now 85th Burglar) I did his background story (from Rohan) and marked on the map the location of his "village" in Rohan
Turns out that at that very location in the game LotRO put a village! Sadly it's been burnt almost to the ground and... occupied by an Orc tribe. I suspect I'll be stopping frequently to wipe them out in revenge as I travel about the new area...

I'm sure that just like all the other expansions we've had I'll like some of the new stuff, hate some parts but will love the graphics, quests & Epic Story Line.
 

Nexus6

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Yeah guys, I still have LOTRO on my system, though it's been about two months since I've played it. I was toying with the idea of going back, but the exceedingly low 1.8 average user reviews on Metacritic for Helm's Deep are keeping me away. It's interesting though what one person wrote: "Wonderful scenery and good story and thats it, everything else is dire. Lotro has become a sight seeing tour and nothing more, if you love Tolkien and want to wander about middle earth great, if you want anything else from an mmo, your out of luck and will be better served going elsewhere." This was actually the feeling I got from my 10-15 hours with it. That is, it's great from a Tolkien RP perspective, but the combat and most of the quests seemed uninspired, and although I usually love crafting in mmo's, I found myself struggling with it in LOTRO.
 

Palantir

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I feel for you.

I still haven't done the "Helms Deep" deal.
I've been throughout the area & to the Helms Deep location with my 85th Burg & for some resource collecting but that's it.

To me it appears to be the same as doing a skirmish /raid- you do it just to get "stuff" but on a bigger scale. I've never played this game for "stuff" but for the world setting & story line.

I'll probably only do "it" if it is in the Epic Quest Line.

I DO NOT like anything about the Mounted Combat system they forced upon players. It's the #1 thing hurting the game for me right now- don't like it at all.
If you are not on a "Warsteed" you die quickly in Rohan from all the suddenly created horse riding orcs... nor do I like the "mounted skills" they again forced players to use.
When I get deeper in to Rohan I will bypass as many of those mounted quests as I can &only do the Epic Quests.

Combat in Lotro has always been "lite," for some reason the main goal of the developers has been to advance players ASAP up the leveling scale so combat has been simple to do & not undo burden the common player. The PVP portion has always taken a back seat.

Crafting was more or less "realistic" at first, fun & challenging but with each upgrade it gets more basic & simple- again it seems to make the game as easy & uncomplicated as it can be.

And that is the way the game has been going after Moria- everything is designed to be "easy & simple..." multiple swift travel points per area, Vaults & AH's around every corner, no more walking to quest just "jump there" and the selling of as many "easy way" options as they can create.

You have to just accept or ignore them depending on where you want to get your fun from this game.

Unfortunately for my wife the game has become completely different then the one she originally was eager to play and she quit, leaving me with 3 Life Time accounts &a 1 man Kinship...

But I'm still playing, I'm a LotR nut so I'll be sticking around to the end one way or the other.
Interestingly I'm having the most fun playing my Dwarf Guardian because he doesn't care about anyone but himself (or anything else going on around him) so he's only doing what he wants & skipping / ignoring everything else. He has no Rep with anyone & doesn't want any... and has exactly 1 quest on his list & that's the next step in the Epic Quest getting him closer to home (in the Nimrais Mts. south of Rohan).

Edit- forgot to add: I have no problems with the quests and give them high marks. I like the quests (especially the Epic Line) & always have, most are well thought out for LotR's & "fun." Some will always be "fillers" but most directly relate to what's happening in the area of the war overall.
 
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Redwolf

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The game just fired 100 people, mostly developers, and before that they announced there will be no expansion in 2014.

That's too bad, I did fall behind even the epic storyline and now it looks like I won't experience it even to up to before Helm's Deep :sad:

I casually play Star Trek Online now.
 

Nexus6

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They fired 100 developers? Wow! If that's not the game's death knell, I don't know what is? Too bad. On a related note, I thought I read somewhere that Turbine's license is due to expire this year. That could be a good thing if someone better picks it up, although of course developing a completely new LOTRO game will take several years at least.

Palantir - Speaking as a crafting master in GW2 and STO, I thus far have found the LOTRO crafting system lacking. As someone else here I think noted a while back, I suspect the problem seems to be that low level players are challenged getting access to crafting resources in several key disciplines, like metal for weapons. As I recall I tried buying metal off their exchange, and had to wait several days to find out that I was outbid; very annoying. Sales on the exchange should be instantaneous, like GW2 and STO. Also, I hate their crafting discipline groupings. Seems like a needless complication. For example, weaponsmithing is under one branch, and mining (needed to farm weapons materials) is under another. How silly is that? GW2 does crafting perfectly. You can sally forth and farm crafting resources to your heart's content, and make up for any shortfalls on the exchange (though you will of course pay premium prices for high demand resources).

Anyway, I've read several people say that LOTRO was great when it started out, but has gone increasingly down hill since the Moria expansion (which many consider their best expansion). One person called Helm's Deep a glorified quest pack.
 
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Palantir

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Hmmm,
They did say no new major expansions this year & will instead do smaller additions and "backfill" previous areas.
Plus the dev's are talking about a big housing update this year. So who knows what's up.

I think they are making the game easier as it gets "bigger / longer" so new players can get their characters further into the game "quicker."
That leads to asking if LotRO already has an set "end date" for expansions & is it near?

If the game can get us into Morder & the "end" then it should be no worry how long it takes new players to get there as it will surely be around for years in a stable state.

I'd like to see them step up and get the game past Morder into Harad, Rhun & Northern Mirkwood...


What other info do you have for us Redwolf?
 

Redwolf

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They fired 100 developers? Wow! If that's not the game's death knell, I don't know what is? Too bad. On a related note, I thought I read somewhere that Turbine's license is due to expire this year. That could be a good thing if someone better picks it up, although of course developing a completely new LOTRO game will take several years at least.
They fired 100 people at least 50% of them developers, plus QA and the like.

The license situation is a bit worse. There is a lawsuit where the tolkien estate seeks to determine that the company which gave turbine the license didn't have the right to do so. So even if they extended the license with that company it might not be valid.

There is a big haggling fest going on with that and I can't imagine that WB is fighting very hard for the game they just downstaffed.

The downhill race really started quite a while after Moria, and even a bit after free to play. The original f2p was actually an improvement IMHO. No expansion had the size of Moria but I can forgive that as development for an older and older engine probably doesn't become easier.
 

Nexus6

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That definitely doesn't sound good Red. So the Tolkien estate doesn't like the game and is out to pull the plug on it? Sighs. I hope it's not as bad as all that, because I actually think that LOTRO on the whole seems rather respectful of the source material.

I went through one of my periodic game inventory/PC cleanups recently, but didn't quite have the heart to uninstall LOTRO. In fact I logged on to keep it current and had to go through a roughly 45 minute patch. I keep hoping though that I will feel moved to give it another go soon. I must confess that having only done Erid Luin (starter area) and maybe 4-5 quests in the Shire, I haven't exactly fleshed out the game. I dunno, I may have to force myself to hit it for a couple of hours sometime this week.
 
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Redwolf

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That definitely doesn't sound good Red. So the Tolkien estate doesn't like the game and is out to pull the plug on it? Sighs. I hope it's not as bad as all that, because I actually think that LOTRO on the whole seems rather respectful of the source material.
They ask for the right to shut it down, not directly shut it down.

The respectful thing stops sometime after you are out of Moria, in or after Mirkwood.
 

Palantir

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The last few posts from the Dev's had them saying they are planning to move us into Gondor...

FYI- I'm having a lot of fun running my Burg in the Rohan areas. The Epic quest are a still top notch, interesting, entertaining, good graphics & you get to follow the books story.
I like how in each area they get you involved with the local "lord" and the citizens.

I've met Gandalf the White/Treebeard/Théoden/Grima/Eomer/Eowyn the whole "book" group, fun times!
 
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