Book 10 has finally made it to the patch servers and the notes are enormous! Turbine has made many changes to the game and for once I can actually say I agree with almost all of them. This is a patch of balance and convenience. Many changes to the Captain and Hunter class will likely cause controversy; hunters especially given their favorite ability has been met with the nerf- i mean change stick. Captains are getting a few changes that make you sit there and wonder “why?” – it wasn’t broken so why are you fixing it? Captains never asked for the changes but we’re not crippled by them either.
But without going into my pick-it-apart mode, the patch is a good one and a much needed addition to the game. Turbine will need to realize though that 2 months between patches may work for other games but not for theirs. We need patches once a month for LOTRO and they don’t need to be huge but they need to sustain a healthy level of unique and interesting content. The game will make it much farther in the long run if players have options. That’s a big one for me and I would be willing to bet it’s important to other players. Options give players a sense of immersion.
Okay, so what have I been up to in LOTRO this past week? I’ve decided to once again traverse the leveling treadmill! That’s right I am masochist and a glutton for punishment in the form of repetitive questing. My latest endeavor is a little Hobbit Minstrel named Oboe. He is currently level 25 and more fun than any other character I have ever played. It’s nothing new for me really. I will start one character and like him all the way to 50 then decide to make an alt just to discover I love the alt more. Lucky for me Minstrels are a mandatory and much needed commodity in Middle-Earth.
Alright so that’s my short little LOTRO update for the week. I’ll be working my way through the new content so that I can write up my thoughts on Book 10 as a whole later this month.
With my playstyle, Keen. I wasn’t impressed enough with this one to stay.
I guess I rolled on the wrong server. Wishing I would have hung with you, so I could have had someone to help me with the 9 bazillion group quests that get tossed at you.
I never thought I’d say it, but I miss the solo-friendly WoW.
Yeah, I also miss the solo friendly aspects of WoW. There needs to be a game that incorporates group and solo play without favoring one over the other, yet still providing an adequate experience for both from start to finish.
… did someone say… PIRATES!
OR…
Warhammer!
God I hope so… *sobs uncontrollably because he’s resubbing to WoW to pass the days until PotBS sets out from port*
LOTRO was great out of the gate and I really enjoyed leveling up my toon. Other than the scenery and storyline, 2 things I really liked were that the best ways to get experience and great equipment were to do the quests, especially the epic book quests. Prior to level 45ish, there was no gear on the Auction House worth buying. At level 45ish, top tier crafted stuff starts to open up and a lot of it is better than can be obtained anywhere else in the game, especially with the release of Book 10. The crafting changes have also resulted in the bane of other games, camping rare mobs. The good news here is that the price of ultra-rare crafted-gear is dropping fast. Teal is fast becoming the new purple.
So much so, that at level 50 with a few rare exceptions there is little reward incentive to do much of anything. It almost seems to me that Turbine had a skeleton crew on this update and they launched without really finishing it or integrating into the rest of the game.
This is not so bad if you’re they type who enjoys leveling multiple toons through the same content. But I’m a one toon kind of guy.
Definitely 2 thumbs down on the update.
1. PvMP- Is horrible now and totally unbalanced. Turbine has yet to comment on whether they plan fixes or even believe there is a problem.
2. They instituted new PvMp rewards in the form of new chests and items purchasable by rank, but they are mostly lacking compared to crafted stuff.
3. Class armour sets are severely lacking.
4. The rep system brings “grind” to the game in exchange for what? A new color horse, a trait enhancement that includes a trait that currently isn’t in game. This system “smells” of Turbine creating busywork.
Yeah, I’m a little frustrated and ready to move on.