Developer Diarys - SoM Related

[Jamiko]

But how did coconuts make it into the Shire?

Giant Eagles.

African or European Giant Eagles?

[rattran]

But how did coconuts make it into the Shire?

Giant Eagles.

African   Far Harad or European   Beleriand Giant Eagles?

Fify

[Yegolev]

Slick.

[Soln]

ARMY O HOBBITS!~   o ya

[Stormwaltz]

But how did coconuts make it into the Shire?

Giant Eagles.

African  Far Harad or European  Beleriand Giant Eagles?

Fify

Sorry, Beleriand burned down, fell over, then sank into the sea.

[Stormwaltz]

Vastin on quests.

[Tarami]

Hm. That didn't fill me with confidence.

[Nyght]

Dunno...

Let's see... deadline approaching.. check     taking more effort then expected.. .check   duplication of effort and lost work.. check

Correct me if I am wrong but this is pretty standard for the industry, no?

If they are lucky they will get time to have a turkey dinner with their families.

Well, they wanted to be game developers....

[Tarami]

Yeah, it was mostly three pages of bitching. I don't know if I really learned anything about the expansion.

[Soln]

where's the copy editor?  that was awful

[Rishathra]

Yeah, it was mostly three pages of bitching. I don't know if I really learned anything about the expansion.

[rattran]

Seems to me it's pretty good as a developers diary, not so good as a 'Pimp teh Expansion!' piece.

I liked it.

[Stormwaltz]

Skirmishes part 5 - rewards.

In Skirmishes, we have special rules for treasure. Monsters won’t be dropping any items except for Skirmish Marks (more below), nor will they drop coin - with the notable exception of the Boss, who will drop a rather large amount of coin. We wanted to streamline gameplay as much as possible, removing some of the need to loot corpses as you go. Only Lieutenants, Bosses, and optional encounter monsters will have loot, which will be exclusively Marks. Experience and Item Advancement Experience will be gained as normal for monster kills. In addition, the daily quests will give a chunk of XP like most quests do.

[Nyght]

Lots more detail in this one. That is certainly a good thing.

One section puzzled me the most. They are trying to avoid player optimization of skirmish selection because it leads the player to doing the same one over and over. And that becomes too boring. So... they are making one set of skirmishes 'dailies' be giving them a boost in rewards but a daily lockout. Which then we can do over and over every day... 

On a meta level, my concern is more 'game' in the game and the tacit admission that storyline content is gonna be slow in coming. Lotro is an on-the-rails DIKU (with admittedly pretty nice looks and a fair polish) that I chose over others because of the lore and story. I don't see how these side alleys will hold my interest.

If SWG wasn't such a friggin micro-transaction grind fest now, I would probably be gone from Lotro again until the approach of the following expansion, perhaps in early summer of 2010.
Now, I am casting my all seeing eye about for an alternative game....

[Mrbloodworth]

“Normal” Horses (for finishing the level 35 Riding quest)
  Fast, 100 health
 
  Starter Horses (Level 20, no quest required)
  Very Slow, 80 Health
   
  Founder’s Horse
  Bree Horse:  Very Slow, 100 Health
   
  Reputation Horses
  (Kindred standing required)
 Fast, 150 health
   
  Goats In Moria (Reputation)
  Tame Redhorn Goat(Friend standing) – Very Slow, 100 health
  Nible Redhorn Goat(Kindred standing) – Fast, 150 health
   
  Mirkwood Pre-Order Goat
  Dusky Nimblefoot Goat: Fast, 60 health
 
That clear things up a little bit?

Tidbits.

[Nyght]

And now to address soloing the epics....

http://my.lotro.com/orion/2009/11/04/problems-and-solutions-1/

This seems like a great solution, although sparse on details. I hope it works well.

[Sky]

As a new lotro player, that is great news! I don't mind the occasional PUG, and we do have the Riders, but sometimes you just want to get in and out in your own time.

[Mrbloodworth]

And now to address soloing the epics....

http://my.lotro.com/orion/2009/11/04/problems-and-solutions-1/

This seems like a great solution, although sparse on details. I hope it works well.

That's rather epic.

[Mrbloodworth]

Developer Diary: SoM Skirmishes: Accessibility

[Mrbloodworth]

Developer Diary: Introducing: Dol Guldur

Well met, friends! Tsieng Liu here from the LOTRO Dungeons Team with some info on our latest cluster of instanced content: Dol Guldur! We have some exciting new mechanics, some great new artwork, and a good variety of gameplay experiences to share with you in our latest expansion, Siege of Mirkwood™. So without further ado...

What is Dol Guldur?

Dol Guldur is the fortress where Sauron dwelt when he was known as “The Necromancer.” It’s an old fortress that is now full of the foul servants of the Enemy on the edge of Mirkwood forest. It is in this region that the elves of Lothlórien are mounting an offensive in order to keep the Enemy from penetrating their forests.

Dul Guldur Exterior

How Many Dungeons are there?

    * Three 3-person dungeons:
          o The Dungeons of Dol Guldur
          o The Sword-hall of Dol Guldur
          o The Warg-pens of Dol Guldur
    * One 6-person dungeon:
          o Sammath Gul
    * One 12-person raid:
          o Barad Guldur

A Quick Rundown:

We approached the 3-person dungeons of the cluster with looser expectations on group make-up due to the smaller group size. As such you should expect to see much more varied gameplay in these spaces.

Prime example: The Dungeons of Dol Guldur

The Dungeons of Dul Guldur

Here in the Dungeons of Dol Guldur you’ll be asked to free nine prisoners. As you scour the dungeons for these captives you’ll have to do your best to avoid the jail guards rather than fight them directly. Getting caught by the guards gets you put in jail and counts as one of your attempts to free prisoners from that guard’s wing. There are three wings in all, each with its own prisoners to free. Do your best to free as many prisoners as you can and you’ll succeed at the challenge mode for the dungeon. Fail too often and you’ll miss out on the extra rewards!



The Sword-hall of Dul Guldur

The Sword-hall of Dol Guldur pits you against various champions of the Enemy and features our most drastic challenge mode of the cluster. In the normal version of the dungeon you’ll face waves of enemies and bosses in turn; in the challenge mode you face all three bosses at once! Rest assured that each boss’ mechanics work in a way that requires awareness of what each one is doing at any given time. Expect many a repair bill as you learn this one. ;)



The Warg-pens of Dul Guldur

The Warg-pens feature a more orthodox design for a three-person instance (but will be no less challenging). Here, the goblins have managed to raise many different breeds of warg each with its own unique ability. Figuring out how to deal with the different breeds will prove to be the difference between an efficient clear and a warg’s next meal! What’s more, the wargs you encounter each time you enter the instance will be chosen randomly so each clear will be different than the last. Learning to deal with proper kill order, crowd control priority, etc. will provide a constant challenge for dungeon explorers.



Sammath Gul

Sammath Gul is our six-person dungeon and will feature a behind the scenes look at the former chambers of the Enemy itself. Players will fight three unique bosses with substantial coordination mechanics as they attempt to discover the mysteries behind the Necromancer’s former abode. Successfully complete the challenge mode and you’ll face off against a fourth boss!



Barad Guldur

No war effort can be sustained indefinitely, and the elves’ efforts here are no exception. The elves are looking for a brave fellowship of adventurers to storm the tower of Dol Guldur and drive out the leadership behind its forces. Are you up to the challenge?

New Mechanics

The Dol Guldur cluster features two new mechanics: Splash Damage and Terror.

Splash damage is a new area of effect damage type that splits its damage evenly amongst the targets within its area of effect. Expect to see fights that require groups to either spread out or group up based on skills that use both our old area-based damage and this new splash damage type!

Terror has two effects on players: cowering and fleeing. All victims of Terror will first cower as they are overcome with inner terror and then flee as they have lost control of their mental faculties. Fights using this mechanic will wreak havoc on positioning. Have fun!

Challenge Modes

We’ve really pushed to make sure our challenge modes provide a different challenge than the normal mode provides. Our goal is not to have players simply approach the dungeons the same way, only more efficiently. Each of our challenges will require that players purposefully make strategic decisions that make the fight more difficult. Completing challenge modes will reward you with more barter tokens and a chance at rare loot.

Radiance

The radiance requirements for the new raid zone can be met by acquiring enough barter tokens from the cluster. These tokens can be acquired regardless of completing challenge modes; but succeeding at the cluster’s challenges will reward you with bonus tokens which will get you outfitted in radiance gear that much faster.

The “Tier” Set

As with any cluster, Dol Guldur features a new tier set of gear for each class. The pieces of this set can be acquired within the raid zone exclusively. Further, those players wishing to acquire the entire set will need to complete each of the raid’s three challenges!

Deeds

Moving forward, each of our dungeons and clusters will feature an entire suite of deeds revolving around successful completion of each dungeon and its challenge modes. Successfully complete all of the deeds for a given cluster and you’ll find yourself with an extra special reward!

[Soln]

thoughts:

--I sincerely hope the 3-man's are easier than HoM or WW.  My Christ.  Finishing HoM is impossible without a Champ to kite the adds on the end boss.  I expect several weeks of complaining/tuning.
--Splash dmg: we already have that somewhat with the worms in DN, who erratically cluster and assplode.  An other example of them innovating then standardizing something.  Although, I do worry about the necessary spacing.  With Watcher we are deliberately balled up b/c of Champ dmg etc.  With DN and the twins we always on the run from acid pools, worms, stuns and KO's.  That's bloody hard for healers.
--I also sincerely hope the zone isn't a funnel to just these instances, although that's what is sounds like.  That's not a problem, but that means SoM is not an expansion -- it's just a content xpack.  SoM is really about the introduction of Skirmishes.


--Also, I really hope they haven't designed out Mirkwood such that we don't recognize the journey from the Hobbit.  They hopefully have left themselves room to bring in that lore later for other expansions.

[Stormwaltz]

--Also, I really hope they haven't designed out Mirkwood such that we don't recognize the journey from the Hobbit.  They hopefully have left themselves room to bring in that lore later for other expansions.

I believe the events of The Hobbit all occurred to the north of the part they're adding.

[Mrbloodworth]

Developer Diary: New Main Menu

[Stormwaltz]

Bloodworth, you cur, you beat me by seconds!

This says to me that they're starting to put too much crap on GUI, but the upshot is that you can decide what buttons are on the hotbar now.

[Mrbloodworth]

HA!

[Soln]

great stuff, luv the customization


what is "world join"?

[Mrbloodworth]

great stuff, luv the customization


what is "world join"?

Skirmishes can be joined from anywhere. When done, you will be placed back where you were.

[Ingmar]

--Also, I really hope they haven't designed out Mirkwood such that we don't recognize the journey from the Hobbit.  They hopefully have left themselves room to bring in that lore later for other expansions.

I believe the events of The Hobbit all occurred to the north of the part they're adding.

This is correct, we're getting the south end of Mirkwood only here.

[Sjofn]

Nerds. 

[Mrbloodworth]

--Also, I really hope they haven't designed out Mirkwood such that we don't recognize the journey from the Hobbit.  They hopefully have left themselves room to bring in that lore later for other expansions.

I believe the events of The Hobbit all occurred to the north of the part they're adding.

This is correct, we're getting the south end of Mirkwood only here.

We are only getting half of southern Mirkwood. Mirkwood is big.

[Soln]

ya hoped it was that, since the few map photos Ive seen so far (not in the beta) made it look like the tree/hill walls made up the whole place, which would have been sad.  But cool there's more to build and explore. 

[Mrbloodworth]

Developer Diary: SoM Combat Changes

   *  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:
          o One-handed weapons (sword, axe, mace, hammer, dagger, club, spear and implements)
          o Two-handed weapons (sword, axe, hammer, staff, club, halberd, rune-stone, and implements)
          o Bows and Crossbows
          o 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.



    *   We have updated skill queue processing to ensure that the execution of auto-attack skills is much more consistent. Previously, it was possible to starve out the auto-attacks or have auto-attacks delay the execution of your chosen skills, depending on your play style. Further prioritization and more aggressive management of combat animations makes it a lot more difficult to do either of these things so, overall, players should be a lot closer in terms of effectiveness.
    * We introduced a new skill timing which we’re calling “immediate.” These skills execute almost instantly when chosen, causing any prior skill to complete and make way for the “immediate” skill to proceed. These skills ignore the remaining “action duration” of the previously executed skill. We have added the “Immediate” key word to skill tooltips to make it easier for you to identify which skills use this new timing.
    * We also updated the existing “fast” skill timing which we have used since the game launched. The “fast” skills will not accelerate the execution of any prior skill, but they will execute “as soon as possible” whenever a previous skill animation completes. These skills also ignore the remaining “action duration” of the previously executed skill. We have added the “Fast” keyword to these skills’ tooltips.
    * 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.
          o “Play Optional Combat Animations” – This option is off by default. With the new animation management scheme we sometimes bypass auto-attack skill animations in order to get to your chosen skills more quickly. By enabling this option your client will still play these optional animations. You will see more animations and appear to be attacking more frequently; however, you will also see more animation blending or interruptions as your chosen skills execute over your auto-attack skills.
          o “Allow combat animation blending” – This option is off by default. When disabled, you will only see one combat animation executing at a time on any attacker; we do not attempt to blend animations, rather we interrupt any running animation prior to starting a new one. When enabled we will allow all prior animations to continue and will attempt to blend your next skill animation in.

[Stormwaltz]

One relevant piece of information which wasn't mentioned is that my Lore-Master's skills no longer deal "### Fire Damage." Instead, they deall "### Common + ## Fire Damage."

This has the effect of noticeably reducing my DPS, which was boosted by the fire damage enhancing Traits and LI Legacies I have. On live, my Burning Embers do 300-350 damage. On Bullroarer it's more in the 250-300 range. The effects are more profound on March of the Ents, whose damage has been reduced by about 200 points.

[Tarami]

Is it always Common, or do you happen to wield a Common damage staff?

[Mrbloodworth]

The seemed to have changed what stats affect what also, to a degree. That, and ranged now shows full damage instead of "main hand + 400". The also boosted the max stat to 650 from 600.