I just caught sight of several Moria screenshots.  To be honest, I had been a little nervous about how Turbine were going to recreate Moria, I mean most of an expansion dedicated to an underground environment.  Was it going to to be like some vast  dungeon?   The screen shots have eased my worries, and made me even more excited about its launch.

It all bodes well for a game that has such grand ambitions.  It already is my numver one MMO, and if you think about it, it is in its infancy.  With an expansion planned once every year, I am baffled about how they are going to re-create the massive battles that lie ahead.  Helm's Deep will no doubt be the tester. 

How do you think they will tackle the War of the Ring, and key moments, like certain grand battles?  I was wondering if they may develope Monster Play, and incorporate that into it somehow.  Obviously not meaning that say a battle such as Helm's Deep is played out by Creeps v Freeps.  Would be awesome, but totally impossible in player numbers, as well as technilogical reasons,  Maybe mini-skirmishes, a set number to determine a bettle.

I know that Turbine have said that they develope the game in the wake of the main characters of Tolkien's Books.  So I hope that they don't just make it that the battle's are already over, or that the forces of evil are regrouping after their defeat, and you have to do certain quests to infiltrate their camps.  The War of the Ring is epic, and I really hope that Turbine manage to figure out a plausible way to somehow incorporate it.  Perhaps making you a member of a regiment, with chaos going on all around you.

I read in the last thread about the director of AoC calling WoW and LotR the equivalent of a MacDonalds, whereas his title was akin to a steak and a fine wine.  Seems like a very conceited man.  I would like to see what he thinks of LotrO in several years time.  Hope he doesn't choke on that steak!

Of course I can't be sure, but I haven' t seen any indication that Funcom is interested in recreating any of the epic battles from the main story line, and letting the player base participate in them.

Doesn't mean they might not get a chance to fight a different battle at Helms deep, perhaps with a different outcome, but I don't see a retread of the original story being in game.

While I don't play LotRO, Turbine appears to be doing an excellent job support the game with new content, not only annually but in between and there's no real reason to expect the expansion to be anything but great, at least as far as for the current playerbase who are enjoying the game.

Originally posted by Kyleran

Of course I can't be sure, but I haven' t seen any indication that Funcom FUNCOM???? is interested in recreating any of the epic battles from the main story line, and letting the player base participate in them.

Doesn't mean they might not get a chance to fight a different battle at Helms deep, perhaps with a different outcome, but I don't see a retread of the original story being in game.

While I don't play LotRO, Turbine appears to be doing an excellent job support the game with new content, not only annually but in between and there's no real reason to expect the expansion to be anything but great, at least as far as for the current playerbase who are enjoying the game.

 

Typo? :)
 

DB

Originally posted by Kyleran

Of course I can't be sure, but I haven' t seen any indication that Funcom is interested in recreating any of the epic battles from the main story line, and letting the player base participate in them.

Doesn't mean they might not get a chance to fight a different battle at Helms deep, perhaps with a different outcome, but I don't see a retread of the original story being in game.

While I don't play LotRO, Turbine appears to be doing an excellent job support the game with new content, not only annually but in between and there's no real reason to expect the expansion to be anything but great, at least as far as for the current playerbase who are enjoying the game.

 

I had to laugh when I read this and saw DB's comment

Surely Turbine arn't the best developers in the world, but no need to offend them by mentioning the other company

Anyway, the screenshots look great indeed, I hope they change the grind in the expansion too

I have to say that with all we've seen so far, I have 110% faith that Turbine will continue to put out the best online gaming experience and treat Moria and everything beyond it with the same care and respect they've shown so far. 

Sure I'm a fanboi - but they earned that from me, I didn't just blindly say 'this is the best game ever' before I even played it.  I'm a fanboi because this is one of the few online games I've played that has captured me like it has and that has consistantly delivered a top quality gaming experience that truly rises above the others.  I've played most games out there, and I really like a lot of them, played WoW for years and really enjoyed it, loved DAOC, etc... - but LOTRO is my favorite by a wide margin, and I look forward to every patch and expansion they can throw at us. 

Originally posted by Kyleran

Of course I can't be sure, but I haven' t seen any indication that Turbine is interested in recreating any of the epic battles from the main story line, and letting the player base participate in them.

Doesn't mean they might not get a chance to fight a different battle at Helms deep, perhaps with a different outcome, but I don't see a retread of the original story being in game.

While I don't play LotRO, Turbine appears to be doing an excellent job support the game with new content, not only annually but in between and there's no real reason to expect the expansion to be anything but great, at least as far as for the current playerbase who are enjoying the game.

 

Actually in there latest interview for MoM. They have said that MoM will be the precurser to the creation of the epic battles that took place in the main story line. More then likely these epic battles will take place in the free bi-monthly updates or in the expasion after MoM.

They are defently on there to-do list for the future and its something they really want to do correctly in the game.

Originally posted by sigodar

Originally posted by Kyleran

Of course I can't be sure, but I haven' t seen any indication that Funcom is interested in recreating any of the epic battles from the main story line, and letting the player base participate in them.

Doesn't mean they might not get a chance to fight a different battle at Helms deep, perhaps with a different outcome, but I don't see a retread of the original story being in game.

While I don't play LotRO, Turbine appears to be doing an excellent job support the game with new content, not only annually but in between and there's no real reason to expect the expansion to be anything but great, at least as far as for the current playerbase who are enjoying the game.

 

 

I had to laugh when I read this and saw DB's comment

Surely Turbine arn't the best developers in the world, but no need to offend them by mentioning the other company

 

Anyway, the screenshots look great indeed, I hope they change the grind in the expansion too

What grind?

I believe they said that the new battle instances that are coming with book 14 are precorsurs to what could happen with bigger battles later down the road.

here is a quote from one of the devs from latest dev-corner on the EU forum:

Keth said:

"I'll throw you a bit more of a bone, because that's the type of guy I am. We know that at some point we are going to have to address large battles in the game, and what you'll see in B14 is a step toward something like that. Whether this sort of method is used to make those larger battles remains to be seen!"

So they have great ambitions with recreating the big battles of the books... maybe through some kind of session play scenario?

link to thread

http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?t=294210&page=1&pp=10

I believe that session play will pay an increasingly important part in LOTRO, including battles. I also think that there is a good chance that this is how we will encounter the 'real' Balrog in MoM, perhaps even playing as one of the fellowship themselves.

Originally posted by Bloodnok

I believe that session play will pay an increasingly important part in LOTRO, including battles. I also think that there is a good chance that this is how we will encounter the 'real' Balrog in MoM, perhaps even playing as one of the fellowship themselves.

Actually, we will not meet the same balrog. If you read the article about MoM, the developer clearly says, that by the time we get to Moria, the fellowship has already passed it, which means the balrog is dead. There will be one of his smaller brothers there though :)

Also, players will never be part of the fellowship, under no circumstances would the licence allow that, in this I'm 100% certain!

It will be tremendous fun though anyways :)

DB

The Balrog dead?  Whether it ve the same one as fought with Gandalf (cannot remember if he killed the Balrog in the books, although they had a mighty battle). 

Either way, I just know that Turbine will have something very juicy lined up for when 'we' the players eventually arrive at the Bridge of Kazud-dum (not sure of its spelling).

I think it may be the end of a particular quest-line, but imagine the excitement?   Oh, I love this game!

To think that only about 3 months ago I posted in this very forum if I should buy LotoR!!!  Ahh - now I can see the light!

Originally posted by DonnieBrasco

Originally posted by Bloodnok

I believe that session play will pay an increasingly important part in LOTRO, including battles. I also think that there is a good chance that this is how we will encounter the 'real' Balrog in MoM, perhaps even playing as one of the fellowship themselves.

 

Actually, we will not meet the same balrog. If you read the article about MoM, the developer clearly says, that by the time we get to Moria, the fellowship has already passed it, which means the balrog is dead. There will be one of his smaller brothers there though :)

Also, players will never be part of the fellowship, under no circumstances would the licence allow that, in this I'm 100% certain!

It will be tremendous fun though anyways :)

DB

I believe we will meet him though. They have said that they will use flashbacks to tell more of the history of Moria. So we can safely say that we will see it in tha past either when the fellowship is fighting (which I doubt) or when he is awakened by the dwarves.

From what Ive read I think that we will not meet the Balrog as the fellowship or as our charachters but as the dwarfs that woke him up...

anyway..it will be awesome :)

Going to a war-ravaged Helm's Deep would be so epic. 

The thing I keep in mind is that this is Lord of the Rings. The greatest Fantasy story ever created, that has given ideas to writers of fantasy all across the the world. With that said , Turbine knows this is the chance of a life time, a game that has a starting point and a ending point, something that really has never been accomplished or even tried in this genre.

While I'm playing the game, I feel less and less concerned with the "level" or gaining more xp , it has evolved for me to pursue the stories that I find interesting. I also find it more and more enjoyable to become a part of a fellowship and ride our horses to the next adventure as a group. I like that the lines for the first time in my mmo gaming time are becoming blurred with a deep sense of immersion.

With all that said, Turbine knows already the formula for creating the success of the game, they have what I can tell the best environmental artists in the industry, the sound of ambience and music are also some of the best I've heard in a game. You can see just as well with your ears as you do with your eyes, and in some areas the ambient levels of music can really dig into the cortex and bring a feeling to moments, again a formula that works.

The formula is successful and I really don't see anything standing between Turbine and mmorpg history with the mega battles that will unfold, Helms Deep will be the first test of Turbines theories on major battles. The one thing I hope for is that monster play in these major areas will be a additive to the immersion for the major scenarios..