LOTRO End-game becoming more casual

I found some interesting information about the Lord of the Rings Online end-game today.  According to Amlug, a content designer from Turbine, they have been listening to player feedback and are working on the following:

In terms of Helegrod, we are doing a lot to address the issues that players are seeing. Besides fixing the obvious bugs, we are doing some balance tweaks to make some of the bosses a bit more difficult and on par with the mighty Thorog himself. We also have done some big changes to the loot and the way that the set pieces drop. I’ll say this once and you guys can point people to this post if you see others asking about loot:

All set pieces will soon drop in Helegrod! No more boots and gloves only! We listened, we heard, we agreed, and we tweaked pretty heavily. Now that is not to say that you only have to go to Helegrod to get the epic set pieces. Also… All set pieces will soon drop outside of Helegrod! We know that there are a lot of players who feel that raiding is not for them so on a much lower percentage, we have high level monsters possibly dropping set pieces. Enjoy! This will be coming in a patch or update very soon.

Now, before I get flamed to death, remember my original statement. We have much much much more to come. Helegrod sets are the first class based sets we released. They will not be the last. Nor will Helegrod be the last raid.

To address your questions about what’s coming next? Lots! We are adding more end game content, we are adding more high level content, we are adding more loot, more sets, more new harder fun. Hopefully this just all keeps getting better and better and better. We want every type of player to have fun and have something to do! I wish I could tell you all the things we have coming up very soon, but all I can say is I think you guys will like it a lot! Keep having fun, keep letting us know how you feel in a constructive friendly manner and we will keep adding more to what already is a really fun great game!

Personally, this is great news.  As my Captain progresses closer towards the end-game the idea of having to be anywhere near hardcore in order to get my gear was bothering me.  If you haven’t been reading my blog for long there was a time I used to raid many hours a night.  I was sucked into the illusion that raiding and time spent was justified to get the gear.  Having seen the light I now have a greater understanding of end-game mechanics and the need for gear to be available to anyone dedicated and deserving enough.  Remember though, dedication does not equal time!

With top end gear dropping outside of Helegrod (currently the only major raid instance) this means that players who can’t commit to 24 player raids for a few hours a night will still be able to obtain the gear in a less rigorous process.  I tip my hat to Turbine for choosing this path and hopefully they continue on strong.  It’s one thing to say “we want every type of player to have fun” and another to actually be able to give what you promise.