"Seige of Mirkwood" Release Date.

[Palantir]

It's December 1st.

A fairly confusing set of pricing for everyone, including a new "Adventurers Pack."

"All players can pre-order the new LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack which contains 2 character slots and one shared storage slot that allows players to share items with all of their characters on the same server for $19.99 and get the Harbinger’s Cloak which provides 8% speed boost and the Dusky Nimblefoot Goat mount for FREE!"

Baaa- a goat??? oh yea, I remember now, that was a highly sought after mount in Middle Earth especially by the Rohirrim! :laugh: Maybe & I say Maybe I could see a goat (a normal goat) being a Halfling only mount.:horse:

http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=293697

You also get new shared storage: http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/486-developer-diary-shared-storage

 

[Redwolf]

Well, my wife handed me an unused XP license, maybe I can be in on the party.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I'm still nowhere near entering Moria yet! I spent an hour last night wasting my time in the Shire on quests that were worth 58 XP, and then I went looking for Founding Stones in the North Downs. I have to get my act in gear.

 

[Palantir]

{bold mine}

I'm still nowhere near entering Moria yet! I spent an hour last night wasting my time in the Shire on quests that were worth 58 XP, and then I went looking for Founding Stones in the North Downs. I have to get my act in gear.

And thats the shame of it all.

When LotRO/SoA first came out "goofing around" and exploring all of Middle Earth and it's details / challenges was what it was about. Now it almost seems like you're not "playing/doing it right/having fun" if you are enjoying the game or encountering challenges the way they actually created it.

Turbine is pushing players via game changes: increased EXP/then EXP bonuses, reduced travel times, lower monster morale, faster travel & less "wasting time" like having to get off your horse to open a door or talk to NPC's. (however slight each one is but it all adds up) all to "help" YOU get your act in gear so you can level & buy the new expansions etc.

Beyond that point I have no idea why they are making it easier to advance down the line.

Middle Earth is still there in all it's wonderful glory the way Tolkien created it for players to enjoy (way better than WoW), but Turbine is messing with the game play aspects for some reason when there's no need.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Agreed. Interesting that Mirkwood is a digital release only(?) and that it is being offered up for free, as an incentive to those who buy longer-term memberships.

 

[Palantir]

Well, my wife handed me an unused XP license, maybe I can be in on the party.

Great to see you getting started. :toast:

MD, jayedub7423 & I are on the Landroval server.

You can relate CM to the LotRO issues: SoA (Shadows of Angmar) = BO/BB/AK- absolutely fantastic!!!!

Moria/Lothorien would be the "rumors" that CMx2 might not be about WW2... disquieting.

CMx1 (LotRO) is a GREAT game so we have to stay on top of Turbine so they don't continue to go the CMx2 (WoW) route.

 

[Redwolf]

I'll probably need until next week to be up and running.

In a way I am glad I missed the early LOTRO days. I will be ignorant and happy

 

[Palantir]

Thought I'd post a couple of shots released by Turbine of Dol Guldur.

They all are from the ground looking up though, nice to see the Nazgul flying around the Towers.

 

[Palantir]

Found a couple of interesting notes in the Developers Diaries on combat changes. While most of it is number crunching for the MMO grognards.... :laugh: they should be a nice addition to the game.

{Quote}
•All weapon speeds have been normalized around the following categories of weapon, i.e. all weapons in each of these categories use the same speed rating:
◦One-handed weapons (sword, axe, mace, hammer, dagger, club, spear and implements)
◦Two-handed weapons (sword, axe, hammer, staff, club, halberd, rune-stone, and implements)
◦Bows and Crossbows
◦Javelins
•The “weapon speed” rating has been removed from item examination.
•Damage variance, or the range of damage per weapon, has also been standardized so that the high end of the damage range is consistent for a given category of weapon at a given weapon level. This reduced the high end of the damage range for some weapons and increased it for others. Almost all weapons will show a damage range change with this update.
The majority of weapons were given faster speeds than they had previously in order to improve the overall pacing of combat for players. As a result the damage range for most weapons has been reduced to compensate for the increase number of strikes that the faster speeds enable.
{End Quote}

As they mention in the article this was due to most players using only certain weapons- what Captain ever used a dagger? By equalizing the weapons per weapon-class players can "easier" use the type they want to be seen using and not the ONE that was "the best" all the time.

{Quote}(Bold mine)
The update to skill queuing and combat animation management has fundamentally changed how animations overlap and blend on the client. We have added two new combat options (see “Combat Options” on the Options panel) which allow you to tailor some aspects of our new animation management scheme so you can choose the appearance you prefer. NOTE: These options do not have any impact on your combat effectiveness; they are cosmetic and only affect your visual play experience during combat.
{End quote}

Another small & totally unnecessary detail change that shows the developers are actually listening to player requests & comments.

Getting to choose how you look executing a combat move should be fun: you won't get bored seeing the same animation of "X" skill over & over and that you don't do the exact same moves as "he" is.


http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/532-developer-diary-combat-changes

 

[Redwolf]

That weapon thing was actually bothering me yesterday.

As it is now, you cannot really choose a weapon by it's "characteristic" (such as chance to stun) because the overall damage rating is all over the place. This gets in the way of character specialization development.

Daggers rock. Just wish they had two-handed ones :hurt:

 

[Palantir]

Pick the weapon type you want, of course looking at the Dmg to keep it high but it comes down to did I kill "it" or did "it" kill me.

A 1-5 pt Dmg difference makes no difference especially when you're fighting mobs with 3000-6000 hits. If I think that the 5 pts per second got me killed then I'm probably doing something ELSE wrong & it's not the weapon.