Stratics
House of Commons chat. My highlights:
- Book 10- Being able to purchase more Vault space (system sounds like WoW. Good ideas should compel emulation)
- Book 10- New types of horses, different colors, harder to be knocked off.
- Book 10- To Hunter and Champion is given a look similar to what Captains got in Book 9 (Minstrel and LM may be next).
- Book 10- Opening gates to Annuminas (on the shore of Evendim, once capital of Arnor).
- Book 11- Housing. In instantiated neighborhoods with houses of different sizes. They can be decorated. They can have stuff stored in them.
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The chatlog:
LBeff - Welcome to another great Stratics house of commons with the developers of The Lord of the Rings Online! Tonight's topic is the General Discussion, all questions are welcome.
LBeff - We'll begin with a brief introduction from our guests and then proceed with the chat. Now would be a good time to send those questions to [QT]Legend!
Rhidden - Hi everyone, Im Rhidden. I make content for LOTRO.
LOTRO_Scenario - Hey everyone! My name is Matt "Scenario" Elliott, Lead Worldbuilder for LOTRO. We're responsible for the look and feel of the landscape and for populating it with all the systems that make the world come alive.
LOTRO_Amlug - Hi I'm Jared "Amlug" Hall-Dugas. You may also know me as Amlug. I'm a Content Designer for LoTRO. I'm responsible for your most beloved instances and the wonderful Sara Oakheart World Tour! I'm also the Inn League President and a client as well!
Annuvin - Hey all, my name is Cardell "Annuvin" Kerr. Everyone thinks I'm the Creative Director of this project, but I'm actually the janitor. They seem desparate though, so... yeah. Here I am.
LOTRO_Saffron - Hi I'm Vanessa "Saffron" Price! By the Word of Patience: I am the Iron Fist of Justice on the forums. :-D And at this time, I'm being kept alive by a steady infusion of Cherry Coke Zero.
LOTRO_Patience - Hi everyone! I'm Meghan "Patience" Rodberg, community manager for LOTRO. Thanks for coming tonight. :)
LOTRO_Patience - I just want to give a quick rundown of some things going on with the game!
LOTRO_Patience - The Summer Festival ends tonight, so if you haven't finished up your quests, you should do so tonight. :) The Tavern Crawl is great fun.
LOTRO_Patience - Also, we just announced a patch for Wednesday, from 7:00AM - 1:00PM EDT. You can find the patch notes at
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=75830.
LOTRO_Patience - During the downtime, from 11:00AM -2:00PM,if you play on Roheryn you'll have the chance to win prizes, like an e-GeForce 8800 GTS Graphics Card or one of five 60-day LOTRO pre-paid game cards. w00t! Saffron posted all of the details here:
LOTRO_Patience -
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?p=889455#post889455 LOTRO_Patience - Finally, if you're planning on going to the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) this year, stop by our booth and say hi!
LOTRO_Patience - Okay, that's all I have. :) Thanks again for coming!
LBeff - [UK]Durmor[Laurelin]* Question: Are there any plans to have a Kinship vault? ie. a vault which all members of a kinship can access? This would be a great addition to the game for kinships that share resources like ore or wood :) thanks ~ Durmor the Drunken Dwarf
Annuvin - In sticking with my previous janitor comment; I really don't know. Ah well, that doesn't seem to satisfy Patience, so I'll wing an answer. We want to give more love to kinships, and adding a kinship style vault is a good thing.
Annuvin - You can expect more inventory to arrive soon (*cough* book 10 *cough*), and a birdy has told me that kinship vaults will be on point along with housing... maybe.
LBeff - *Boomheadshot-25* my question is. how is player housing going on. could you give us a few insider hints on how its gonna be?
LOTRO_Scenario - Housing is coming along great. In fact, we broke ground today on one of our first neighborhoods to the south of bree-town. :)
LOTRO_Scenario - As we get further along in the development of housing, we'll have more information to give you.
LBeff - *Yemkela* The champion class got an update in Book 9. Which class will be getting an update in Book 10, and what kind of skills can that class look forward to receiving?
Annuvin - Book 10 is the combo month of the Hunter and the Captain. As a general rule, we're trying to make roles a lot more clear for each class, as well as ensuring they have broader bases. You can expect the Hunter to be gaining more
Annuvin - damage capability, in addition to more types of traps, while the Captain is going to gain more options as well.
LBeff - *Witchchild* The recent UK chat mentioned "better" horses in the future. What can you tell us about that?
Rhidden - With book 10 you will be able to earn new horses. You will take more hits before you are knocked off and they will have new color variations.
LBeff - *Smithy* Are we ever going to have kinships for creeps?
Annuvin - We've talked about kinships for creeps (KFC...), for quite a while. Overall, we're still trying to tackle some of the more niggling PvMP balance issues before spending our time tackling it.
LBeff - *Guest92* Are there plans to look at legendaries traits across classes. At the moment several legendary traits are not very legendary :)
Annuvin - Ahh, legendary deeds. You can expect some of the legendary traits to get some love in correspondence to their "Month of"'s. So... yeah. I would like to say that all legendary traits will rock your socks off, but sadly, traits(and thus coolness) are open to interpretation.
LBeff - *Presto* Will there be recipes for those who have reached GM in all three of their professions, so Tinker, for instance, or Historian recipes
Annuvin - It's funny you should mention that! We're doing a massive crafting rebalance for Book 10 to make crafted items more alluring. After that, you'll see more high end recipes for each profession. After we improve on what's there, we'll start to tackle each vocation separately.
LBeff - *Sera* Will the Bear boss in Helegrod (Coldbear) ever have a purpose other then a 100% droprate on the gleaming copper ring?
LOTRO_Amlug - Well, besides Coldbear just being darn cool and the cousin of the Great Ghost Bear, the answer is most definitely maybe.
LOTRO_Patience - RAAAAWR!
LOTRO_Patience -
http://www.lotro.com/files/35/63/38/82/1279.swf LOTRO_Patience - :D
LBeff - *Corey* There aren't a lot of kinships, at least on Gladden, that have the man-power right now to run Helegrod -- but there are plenty who have around 12 people who /want/ to. Will we see anything in the near future to facilitate small- and medium-sized kinships hooking up?
LOTRO_Amlug - We realize that 24 can be a daunting number. We do fully plan to support smaller raids in the future. In fact there are 2 raids on landscape right now and the next instance raid we have coming is for 12 people! I'm working on it now with Rhidden... *zips his lips*
LBeff - *Zanelas* We already know that you are planning on implementing player housing with Book 11. Can you tell us how this will be implemented? Will it be instanced rooms or instanced communities?
Rhidden - Housing will be in instanced communities that will have multiple house sizes.
LBeff - *Tetrasodium* Orion mentioned that there was a PvMP roadmap underway for late july or so. Are there any early tid bits in there that him or the rest of the Turbine folks want to share? :)
Annuvin - Well, I can't speak for Orion (after all, who can... or wants to?), I can say that this update adds a lot of keep fortification/siege elements to both the Freeps and the Creeps, allowing each side to run missions that greatly influence how long they can hold a keep... or lose it.
Annuvin - As for the future(tm)... no comment. ;)
LBeff - *Tek1580* From an exploring point of view with such a beautifully graphical game can flying mounts ever be developed?
LOTRO_Scenario - The world we've designed isn't very well suited for flying mounts or flying travel routes. Also, it is difficult to justify flying mounts lore-wise.
LOTRO_Scenario - Eagles, for example, are particularly proud and have only allowed others to ride on them under the most dire of circumstances (and flying from Rivendell to Bree in order to play a round of Chicken-hockey isn't exactly dire).
LBeff - *Witchchild* What can you tell us about Book 10 that you haven't already mentioned yet?
Rhidden - Isn't chicken play enough?
Rhidden - We have a lot of great stuff coming in book 10; reputation, MULTIPLE session play instances, public hunting dungeons, a new bartering system, additions to the epic story, and four new instances.
LBeff - *Rannon* Hey guys, first of all i would like to say you are doing a great job with the game! And here is my question. I played in closed beta, and i remember on night during a stress test there was an Orc invasion of Combe, It was pretty dang cool, any chance of having live events where stuff like that will take place?
Annuvin - It's funny you should mention that, as it's come up in discussion quite a few times (though the thought of being close to getting the Undefeated title, only to be backspawned by some random orc is daunting). Our goal is to keep
Annuvin - adding more and more events (both scheduled and live-op'd) into the game, until eventually, something new is happening every day. So, while our liveops may be different from Beta, you can expect that they'll be present.
LBeff - *Adder* Are there any plans on keeping Hobnonigans in game, and if so, is it being reworked to eliminate the numerous bugs (especially the out-of-bounds chicken loop) that have made the game unplayable?
LOTRO_Amlug - So the bugs in Hobnanigans are most definitely being fixed for the next time Hobnanigans gets played. In terms of whether or not it is going to be a more regular thing, I, for one, am pushing hard for it. Only time will tell though so stay tuned...
LBeff - *Aegaborn* Thank you for all your hard work and making helegrod a great instance to raid in, my question is when is the expected date of the class items to be fully implimented?
Annuvin - *Aegaborn*Well, here's the thing... the class sets are fully implemented, but most of them aren't in Helegrod. They are in a very rare spawn on landscape... at a rate that's very seldomly seen. You can expect them to be more common in Book 10.
Annuvin - We're also bumping their stats, to make them more epic.
LBeff - *Presto* when can we fish?
Rhidden - When we get fishing poles
LOTRO_Patience - We're going to have fishing! Right, team? WE'LL HAVE FISHING, RIGHT?!
LOTRO_Saffron - We LOVE fishing!
Rhidden - Catch a player a fish...
LOTRO_Patience - Fishing... My precioussss...
LBeff - *afira1* ok so housing....will we be able to decorate it..put our items we gain in game in it for decoration,,also use it for storage and have a vendor maybe?? also have ppl over to have parties in it?? thx
LOTRO_Scenario - RE: afira1/Housing - That's a lot of little questions. Let see... Yes, you will be able to decorate your house. What exactly you will be able to use to decorate the house is still being determined at this time. Yes, you will be able to use it for storage. And, if you want to have people over to party, you will certainly be able to do that.
LBeff - *Ryvick* Any planned additions to the Guardian skills planned for the future?
LOTRO_Patience - Annuvin's typing :D
Annuvin - Ahh, the Guardian. So, we plan on revisiting him/her soon in our "Month of" push. As for when... well, that's a crapshoot. We have 4 classes left, if we're going in rotation. I think we have the Loremaster, the Champion, the Champion, the Burglar, and... the Champion. So, there you have it!
Annuvin - Seriously, all of our classes will be getting some love. I think the next two up are the Loremaster and the Minstrel, but don't quote me.
LBeff - *Witchchild* What are the goals and/or rewards for chickenplay? Also, why chickens?
Rhidden - The goals for chicken play are to have fun and to experience something other than your daily grind. The rewards for chicken play are all cosmetic so they will be just as ‘valuable’ no matter what your level.
Rhidden - In the final session for chicken play you will even be able to earn density points!
LOTRO_Patience - Hahahaha
LOTRO_Patience - They make you heavier.
Rhidden - heh
LOTRO_Patience - Increase your falling damage..
Rhidden - destiny
LOTRO_Patience - OH
Rhidden - Why chickens... because it was much more fun than slug play.
LBeff - *Rash* are there any plans for new classes or races in upcomming expansions?
Annuvin - Yes.
Annuvin - Plans... we got 'em! Right now I'm up to my eyes in 'plans'... sadly, the work gnomes aren't making those plans a reality, so some of those plans aren't going to come to fruition. Regardless, I can almost GUARANTEE that we'll have something similar to a new race and/or a new class in the future.
LBeff - *Boddington* Are there any plans to allow players to experience events in Middle Earth's past, perhaps in the form of session play? Also, how awesome is it that the BoSox are 10 games up in the AL East! Lotro rocks!
LOTRO_Patience - Go Sox!
Rhidden - It is definitely something that we would love to do in the future. Our first implementation of session play is our proving grounds for the system. If it turns out to work and is well received then you might see flashbacks sometime in the future...
Rhidden - wait, does that mean you will play a session about today... hmmm, I just blew my own mind
LBeff - *H1cks* Other than adding Book 10 quests, what is the focus of the book 10 update?
Annuvin - Hmm. Well, it's hard to point to the "focus" of any of our updates, as they typically add "more". How can one focus on just "more"? Perhaps by adding "more" to your quest journal... maybe to your storage... maybe to your 'density points'. That has the added benefit of adding both to your weight, and some might argue, your mass.
Annuvin - So, as for focus... Hrm. What was the question again?
Annuvin - Oh yeah! Focus! So, we're focusing on giving you more reasons to play.
LBeff - *Adder* Can you tell us anymore about the expanded storage coming in Book 10?
LOTRO_Scenario - With Book 10, you will have the ability to purchase additional storage containers from your friendly neighborhood vaultkeeper. Each container is equivalent to a single inventory pack in size. You can purchase the first couple of upgrades at any level, but to access them all, you'll need to hit specific levels first.
LBeff - Lava* Appart from session play, what else can we expect to see in your next content addition, will it be something you've yet again put so much love into :D as much as you love say... your hot pockets?
LOTRO_Amlug - Nothing, and I repeat, -nothing- can be as wonderful and full of love as hot pockets! But yes, we are pretty proud of some of the new things that we are working on in the upcoming Books! All I can say is that there are a lot of people on Isengard loving the new stuff as much as we do!
LOTRO_Amlug - For those interested:
LOTRO_Amlug -
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=27461 LOTRO_Patience - Hot Pockets add to your density points if you eat them often. :D
LBeff - *Lava* What Areas of middle-earth can we hope to see in the distant future, not asking for anything to specific, but what exactly has been flying around the drawing board so to speak?
LOTRO_Saffron - Scenario is typing.
LOTRO_Scenario - Not as slowly as Tens though.
LOTRO_Scenario - Hey Lava. For Book 10, we are finishing off our work in Evendim and opening the gates to Annuminas. We'll also be opening the way to one of the hinted at locations on our map (though it won't be a full region). Going forward, we are looking towards Eregion. Outside of that, almost anywhere in Eriador is fair game and we'll get there as we are able.
LBeff - *Ansury* What direction/class role do you see champions heading in? Are we going to be a aoe/dps class or are we going to be a secondary tank? Or will we be allowed to do either based on how we choose our gear, traits, class skills?
Annuvin - Ahh, the Champion. We're committed to making sure that each class has an area they can excel in. With that said, the Champion has a lot going for him right now. I think it would be safe to say that the Champion has AOEDPS "in check", so to speak. As for the other aspects (secondary tank/single DPS) we want to ensure that traits are
Annuvin - useful/flexible, so those avenues will never be cut off either, though they probably won't be as great as their AOE skills, barring appropriate gear and traits.
LBeff - *Zanelas* You have already mentioned that hunter is the next class to get 40+ skills. Any preview as to what some of these skills might do?
Annuvin - Well, the first skill to come to mind is: OMG, biggest single target damage skill in the world.
Annuvin - Other than that, it's not to exciting. ;)
LBeff - *stuartmedium* My kinship briefly discussed Mordor last night. It is my feeling it will be MPvP. One of my Kin completly disagreed stating it would ruin the lore. I retorted by saying only as far as the gate. That seemed to satisfy him. What style, or styles, of play will Mordor encompass, if you can say?
Rhidden - Mordor will be all about the peeps, chicken play ftw!
LOTRO_Patience - FISHING!!! You can fish and get density points!!
LOTRO_Scenario - Fishing in Mordor? I dunno Patience, wwSd?
LOTRO_Amlug - Mordor will have bouncing hotpockets that follow you around and drain your density
LOTRO_Scenario - (what would Sauron do?)
LOTRO_Patience - No, no, they GIVE you density!
Annuvin - Plans! We got 'em!
Annuvin - Seriously.
LOTRO_Patience - Maybe you can fish for the hot pockets!!
Annuvin - (now you know what I have to deal with.)
LOTRO_Saffron - I think Sauron would want us to fish for hot pockets and get awarded density points!
LOTRO_Scenario - Can I have one?
LOTRO_Scenario - Plan that is.
LOTRO_Amlug - No, no, no.. there will be chickens eating your hotpockets and sauron will help you stop them.
Rhidden - He would most likely go fishing, for chicken hot pockets.
LOTRO_Saffron - Oh! I thought you meant a fish or a hot pocket.
Annuvin - Ahh Mordor.
LOTRO_Patience - Okay.
LOTRO_Patience - I think we're done.. Stuart, we're so far out from Mordor, no one's really sure yet.
Rhidden - but most likely chicken play
LOTRO_Amlug - Mordor is a glimmer in a flaming eye of a chicken...
LOTRO_Saffron - That's deep.
LOTRO_Amlug - deeper than a hotpocket?
LOTRO_Saffron - Not that deep.
Annuvin - Deeper than a chest wound.
LOTRO_Amlug - but not deeper than a fishing hole
LBeff - *Vall* Player Joe Casual wants Hoartusk's Horn for instance, so with Mrs. Joe Casual they venture off to MM and attempt to track the elusive beast. Couple of hours later (ouch), Hoartusk is seen (yay!). Our heroes move in for the kill, but alas, John Hardcore and his possy tag poor Hoartusk first, leaving Mr. & Mrs. Casual frustrated. What is being done about obtaining these Tier X crafting items?
LOTRO_Patience - This is the last question, everyone. Sorry. :)
LOTRO_Patience - Can someone please answer Vall's question? Someone who's not dying laughing?
LOTRO_Patience - You think it's bad in the chatroom... you should hear it here :D
Annuvin - For Book 10, we spread the wealth, so to speak. Now Mr Casual and his lifepartner can roll around in the MM, killing named wildlife, and get drops they can use for rare crafting items. Gone are the days where Mr Hardcore
Annuvin - (and his lifepartner) will camp single creatures, effectively DNS'ing Mr Casual, and making him gnash his teeth, and rend his hair. At least, I hope that stops... it's not healthy for the hairline, after all.
Annuvin - (Look, I make no assumptions)
LBeff - That's it for this one folks! Thanks for joining us here on Stratics IRC, the logs will be up on
http://lotro.stratics.com/ shortly. Feel free to join #lotro for open discussion. Be sure to come by next time!