Intstances 2.0

[irondomination]

Interesting...It stated but briefly ...about a tomb or tome one can get to upgrade there base stats...this will help get everyone to max stats..i wonder if we can buy these tombs at the points store...

[Thorr]

I read that as well...about the tomes...will be interesting to see if they are only drops or can also be purchased. Not sure if I like the concept of being able to purchase increased stats but I guess we will have to wait and see.

The Fro was born with max stats --

[Prenthelion]

This is already something Turbine sells for DDO. I read an interview that indicated the beta LoTRO store already sells these tomes. My belief is that it will not stack with itself, since that mechanic has already been implemented in DDO.

Turbine stated they'd never sell anything with stats attached. Busted before day one. I'm already on countdown to Star Wars: The Old Republic.

My read on the new article is that there will be no need to roll for loot any longer. We'll all collect special marks, and barter them for whatever loot we want later. Just like the infinite collection of first age weapons being hoarded by the dwarves in Dolven-view, now some NPC will have all the uber jewelry, cloaks, weapons.

My preliminary assessment: lame. Why? The same reason that people only want to run GS (possibly Forges) and SH. They're the easiest medallion runs. We will continue to see end-game players who have skipped most instances and the skills/techniques required to defeat those instances, and a general diminishing of the skillset of the server population. This will not be enhanced by the influx of new people.

I know that failing on a roll for a teal piece can sting a bit, but it's that rarity and sense of achievement that's granted right after defeating a boss, seeing what goodies he had, and walking out of the encounter, new shinies held high. Compare that to bartering marks for any item of your choice. You think content gets exhausted quickly now? Just wait.

Turbine fail.

[Aidenborn]

I couldn't agree with you more, Pren.
They are making it so that nothing is rare, and everything can be bought with real world money. They are trying to hard to give everyone equal opportunity to everything which in turn ruins any challenge...
I am super worried about the future of LoTRO

[Thorr]

Even though I partially agree, I do want to point out that only certain instances will be included in the instance join panel and therefore only drop marks. The remainder of the instances will be just like they are now.

And from what I read and how I understood the intent, the instances that are included now (and in the near future...at least for now) on the instance join panel will mostly be old instances that are rarely run anymore. Therefore this scaled and highly accessible system just gives more people more of an opportunity to run these instances. It also may give us seasoned players a reason to revisit this old content that we rarely to never touch (Helegrod, Annuminas, Barrowdowns, All Angmar instances, Agaumar, Sarnur). This in turn may give high levels at least a small reason to run this old content with lower level folks other than just being nice and helping out i.e., we will gain at least some marks.

IMO, the real scary downfall will be if they implement this instance join technology on NEW instances in the future. Even instances that are just one or two releases old such as the current Moria content. Overall, I truly think Turbine has gone the wrong direction with the combination of Radiance Gating and Medallions. Like you said Pren, this system has driven even the highest level players to have zero reason to run multiple different high level instances. By far the fastest and easiest way to get your required Rad gear is to just farm the easiest ones like SH and GS are currently done.

I actually like the instance join system overall but Turbine needs to be very careful as to which instances are included and when. I also really think they need to rethink the Radiance Gating and Medallion system within the next year to two years.

Unfortunately I will give my final thought....and it does sadden me a bit. I have a feeling that the Skirmish system, and now the Instance system, will be the way of the future for LOTRO. The Skirmish system has gotten nothing but raves reviews from anyone and everyone who is willing to write about it. And Turbine is already headed down the path that will lead them to all instances immediately being included in the Instance Join Panel. Hopefully at some point, they will stop ignoring crafting, housing, PvP and kinship capabilities. That would help because if not, the only thing left would be the Book quests. The game will be a superbly rendered version of a Korean grinder with a great storyline and good book questing. I truly hope I'm wrong on this one but I have a creepy feeling that I'm right....at least about the direction of the Instance Join panel and its widespread and complete implementation at all levels of instances.

Don't get me wrong...I'm a true lifer...I'll be here till the end...till I ride against the Black Gates of Mordor and witness the destruction of the one ring. But it will pain me to see this game go from its majestic beginnings to a much lesser ending if Turbine continues to steer it down the current path they are taking...

[Stonebor]

You guys make good points, and I share some of your concerns regarding coming changes, but I'm going to take a wait-and-see approach to this. I do like that Instances will scale (well some of them will, I'm sure the others will be added to the system later), so they won't become obsolete over time. But the gear you can earn via the Skirmish system frankly sucks in comparison to other gear, even questing gear, so it'll take a lot of improvements to make those Skirmish rewards worth it as replacements for gear drops in those instances, at least at level cap.

[szarwyn]

*perks up*
Did someone say Star Wars?

(Sorry pic is fuzzy- it was from my old crappy cell phone)

[Brinwald]

Damn Szar, coolest ink ever! So what does everyone think, Riders of Tatooine? Our awesomeness cannot be contained in one MMO/galaxy alone.

[szarwyn]

Thanks! I've got another SW tat on my right arm. Symbole of the underworld- back in the day before Lucas started using it for the new movies the only time you'd see it is if you looked close at Jabba the Hutt's arm for the 5 seconds they showed it. Took me about a month of looking at movie screen captures to put it together. Jaidan has a big Mandalorian skull tat on his left arm (he's a Boba Fett fan). Someone else in the kin is a Star Wars fan. I think it's Norin. In game character name is GrandMoth. It's a spin on Grand Moff which was a title given to Imperial Governors of Oversectors.

I personally like to think that Middle Earth exists in a galaxy outside of the Outer Rim, 30 parsec's or so past Kessel, far from the "watchful eye" of the Republic and Empire

[Stonebor]

Damn Szar, coolest ink ever! So what does everyone think, Riders of Tatooine? Our awesomeness cannot be contained in one MMO/galaxy alone.

Heh, I'll be there. The real question is, will we be good guys, or embrace the Dark side?

[szarwyn]

I'm not going to lie- the hubs and I plan on trying SWTOR too. In our world not to would be sacrilegious. As for my allegiance, I side with the empire but have "light side tendencies"

With LOTRO I don't plan on leaving. We currently play Star Wars Galaxies too so splitting my time between two MMO's will be doable. Plus I'm a lifer.

[szarwyn]

Jaidan's Mandalorian tattoo...

(sorry pic is sideways)

[Aidenborn]

You are pretty damn kickass, Szar >:D (Jaiden too)
The Riders shall rule SWTOR

[Brinwald]

I didn't think it was possible, but I love this kin a little more today. While I don't have any ink myself (the wife would beat me) I have been deeply addicted since childhood. I played galaxies for a while, and after the disappointment there I didn't think I would ever play another MMO, then came LOTRO. Now with SWTOR I am hopeful that Bio Ware has done Star Wars right once again; I lost many nights to KOTOR, and am still playing the Force Unleashed (TFU2 is only 3 months away!).

For me, the Republic Trooper is looking like the right answer, and I know Pren has his initial character chosen as well.

[szarwyn]

Since this is the kin board for LOTRO I've created a spot for us Star Wars nerds to yap. http://swtor.ridersofrohan-lotro.com

We can continue the convo there