Palantir
Member #86
We should soon find out with the Rohan Expansion how much “effort/detail” Turbine is going to put into LotRO, more specifically with Gondor/Minas Tirith in what may be the final two year of the game. Their current LotR license goes till 2014. Several posts on their forum suggest that the staff working on the game has already been cut back.
I think the keys will be found within the town of Edoras & depth of the Rohan quests. Edoras is the second most inhabited location in Middle Earth after Minas Tirith. Past game history shows us that while there may be dozens of buildings as in Bree only handfuls are more than facades. The last such location, the Dunland town of Galtrev, is even more limited with only 3 interior locations.
If Edoras is on the same scale as Bree (which it should be at least) there should be equally as many interior places to explore. This would show a healthy staff still at work on the game. But if it turns out more like Galtrev with the bare number of interior locations then I’d say we could expect the same of Minas Tirith.
My guess is that while Minas Tirith will be a huge city to look at only the lowest level will be “alive” with a bare number of interior locations. Most things will be outside at a central plaza in the open. The ability to travel freely throughout the city will probably be nonexistent as well. You will instead get specific quests / instances on the first level that will zip you up into the seventh level & palace. (They have to give you a chance to look out over the Pelennor Field from the top.)
Another tack that is possible and more desirable from a questing standpoint IF the game is coming to a close in 2014 (Does the game just stop or does it just mean they can’t add new material?) is that all the design effort instead is going to go into the Epic Story & supporting quests.
The quests should be extensive and have detailed stories beyond the normal go kill X number of orcs, wargs & evil trees in Fangorn. Cookie cutter quests again do not bode well for the game lasting beyond 2 more years. If they are it would seem more like they are hurrying to get players thru Rohan, into & out of Gondor, across the river & straight into Mordor (skipping Northern Ithilien).
I haven’t read anything concerning the Battle of Helms Deep the most massive battle of LotRO to come along by far. Probably have to be a special “expansion” with a series of separate instances that have to be done in an exact order. How detailed they are will also be a marker on how much time we have left to get to Mordor. Same goes for the Battle of Minas Tirith, those as big battles to portray on an 1:1 scale.
I’ll admit I’d rather get into Mordor before the games ends than look inside a bunch of buildings. But if the game continues beyond 2014 fleshing out some settings would be nice. Although once again, the lack of any redesign of the Housing situation does not look good for any “fleshing out” beyond what is essential to get players to Mount Doom.
I’d love the game to continue and have to fight Easterling’s in Rhun, the Black Numenorean’s in Harad & the Corsairs along the coasts of Gondor & quest my way to Umbar. Not to forget all the land around North Mirkwood &the Lonely Mountain.
Your thoughts… (Ya I know, no comment from the other 99% of you readers)
I think the keys will be found within the town of Edoras & depth of the Rohan quests. Edoras is the second most inhabited location in Middle Earth after Minas Tirith. Past game history shows us that while there may be dozens of buildings as in Bree only handfuls are more than facades. The last such location, the Dunland town of Galtrev, is even more limited with only 3 interior locations.
If Edoras is on the same scale as Bree (which it should be at least) there should be equally as many interior places to explore. This would show a healthy staff still at work on the game. But if it turns out more like Galtrev with the bare number of interior locations then I’d say we could expect the same of Minas Tirith.
My guess is that while Minas Tirith will be a huge city to look at only the lowest level will be “alive” with a bare number of interior locations. Most things will be outside at a central plaza in the open. The ability to travel freely throughout the city will probably be nonexistent as well. You will instead get specific quests / instances on the first level that will zip you up into the seventh level & palace. (They have to give you a chance to look out over the Pelennor Field from the top.)
Another tack that is possible and more desirable from a questing standpoint IF the game is coming to a close in 2014 (Does the game just stop or does it just mean they can’t add new material?) is that all the design effort instead is going to go into the Epic Story & supporting quests.
The quests should be extensive and have detailed stories beyond the normal go kill X number of orcs, wargs & evil trees in Fangorn. Cookie cutter quests again do not bode well for the game lasting beyond 2 more years. If they are it would seem more like they are hurrying to get players thru Rohan, into & out of Gondor, across the river & straight into Mordor (skipping Northern Ithilien).
I haven’t read anything concerning the Battle of Helms Deep the most massive battle of LotRO to come along by far. Probably have to be a special “expansion” with a series of separate instances that have to be done in an exact order. How detailed they are will also be a marker on how much time we have left to get to Mordor. Same goes for the Battle of Minas Tirith, those as big battles to portray on an 1:1 scale.
I’ll admit I’d rather get into Mordor before the games ends than look inside a bunch of buildings. But if the game continues beyond 2014 fleshing out some settings would be nice. Although once again, the lack of any redesign of the Housing situation does not look good for any “fleshing out” beyond what is essential to get players to Mount Doom.
I’d love the game to continue and have to fight Easterling’s in Rhun, the Black Numenorean’s in Harad & the Corsairs along the coasts of Gondor & quest my way to Umbar. Not to forget all the land around North Mirkwood &the Lonely Mountain.
Your thoughts… (Ya I know, no comment from the other 99% of you readers)