In our first Wayback Wednesday of 2013, we take a look at Lord of the Rings Online, a perennial favorite around here. Rob takes a look at a few parting goodies the team let out there before heading out for the holidays. Find out what's in store for LOTRO players as 2013 gets underway. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

In the twitter Q&A, the team consisting of Aaron Campbell, Lead Systems Designer Matt Zimmitti, World Designer Matt Fahey, Senior Content Designer Lauren Salk, Senior Content Designer Joe Barry, and Sapience (aka Community Manager Rick Heaton) fielded 25 questions that were submitted to them by users containing the hashtags #LOTRO #DEVCHAT.  One of the most pressing questions was the first one received from fans. “How do you feel mounted combat has been received?” 

Read more of Rob Lashley's Lord of the Rings Online: Wayback Wednesday: LotRO Galore.

Mounted combat in Lotro is a joke and the devs should be embarrassed for releasing such lazy and shoddy work. There is not one single mmo out there that restricts mounted combat to only one region for one thing. Mounted combat being restricted to one area is a cash-grab pure and simple to get players to buy the new expansion.

Which goes back to Lotro evolving into a pay-to-win mmo over the past couple years. When a game allows the purchase of non-cosmetic gear, faster than normal mounts and XP and skill boosting potions/scrolls on Turbine's cash shop equals pay-to-win. Some gamers need to be smarter with their money and not waste money on pay-to-win garbage. 

Originally posted by Czanrei

Mounted combat in Lotro is a joke and the devs should be embarrassed for releasing such lazy and shoddy work. There is not one single mmo out there that restricts mounted combat to only one region for one thing. Mounted combat being restricted to one area is a cash-grab pure and simple to get players to buy the new expansion.

Which goes back to Lotro evolving into a pay-to-win mmo over the past couple years. When a game allows the purchase of non-cosmetic gear, faster than normal mounts and XP and skill boosting potions/scrolls on Turbine's cash shop equals pay-to-win. Some gamers need to be smarter with their money and not waste money on pay-to-win garbage. 

well my opinion is different..the rohirrin is why the mounted combat is here because thats where they are in the story..has for a cash grab..i think all gaming companies are in it for the money are they not?

And the mounted combat itself is easy to master..even for the likes of me who initially found it difficult.there is no pay to win either has you suggest..the community would go mental if it turned out to be like that.everything you get in the shop you can drop normally in game for nothing.nothing like pay to win..and you cannot get end game gear like the Hytboltt set without rebuilding the town or partially doing so..so sorry definately not pay to win like you describe.

I remember the first time I tried Lotro.  Had some friends over, so I was like, hey guys let's check this out.

They couldn't stop laughing at the horrible animations and characters that glide along the ground because run animations only randomly worked (gandalf for example).   Then I tried to kill stuff and it was soooo zzzzz. 

I later tried playing the game a little more, but despite how pretty the scenery was, the game was just clunky and boring.

Originally posted by Czanrei

Mounted combat in Lotro is a joke and the devs should be embarrassed for releasing such lazy and shoddy work. There is not one single mmo out there that restricts mounted combat to only one region for one thing. Mounted combat being restricted to one area is a cash-grab pure and simple to get players to buy the new expansion.

Which goes back to Lotro evolving into a pay-to-win mmo over the past couple years. When a game allows the purchase of non-cosmetic gear, faster than normal mounts and XP and skill boosting potions/scrolls on Turbine's cash shop equals pay-to-win. Some gamers need to be smarter with their money and not waste money on pay-to-win garbage. 

Biggest load of nonsense I have seen in ages.  There is nothing that p2win in Lotro, the poster obviously does not understand what p2win is.  It is when you get a huge advantage from buying equipment from the item shop, or get matts that create such.  

The mounted combat is fun, isn't that what the game is supposed to be?  The area is huge, you don't need mounted combat in the other areas, they are really not designed for it.

The poster obviously does not like the game, that is fine, but making outrageous claims is not.

Oh and the animations are fine Adam, pretty much like every other MMO out there.  Have to wonder if any of these posters have even played the game.

Originally posted by adam_nox

I remember the first time I tried Lotro.  Had some friends over, so I was like, hey guys let's check this out.

 

They couldn't stop laughing at the horrible animations and characters that glide along the ground because run animations only randomly worked (gandalf for example).   Then I tried to kill stuff and it was soooo zzzzz. 

 

I later tried playing the game a little more, but despite how pretty the scenery was, the game was just clunky and boring.

Thank god you and your friends decided to stay away...I don't ever remember game mechanics such as you describe nor the "horrible animations" either.

I think the game is too deep for someone such as yourself and your friends anyways and is better off serving the likes of experienced MMO gamers who want deep, rich gameplay with a thriving world.

I clicked on the link to see what the articel was about, and I cannot believe what I am reading above me. I understand if you don't like the game, but the amount of negativity towards one of the best examples of a proper FTP game is ASTOUNDING. Are the animations bad? Maybe, but I have seen worse. Is there a grind? If you want there to be, sure. Nothing that requires grinding is necessary for this game. NOTHING. The mounted combat wouldn't work in the other zones, period. They would have to redo everything (just like WoW did for flying mounts) in order to have mounted combat in the other zones, and then no one would ever get off their horse.

I really feel like those posters above me have never even played the game.

[mod edit]

i dont think you understand the concept of pay to win to be honest..i think you just heard it and tried your best to understand what it means.has i said before you cannot buy anything in the shop that you CANNOT get for FREE by playing the game.

you CANNOT get raid gear in the store .you cannot get end game gear etc without having to rebuild Hybolt either mostly or partly.and that involves questing dailies..so again i repeat..your understanding of pay to win is flawed.

[mod edit]

[mod edit]

Originally posted by Rhime

Originally posted by adam_nox

I remember the first time I tried Lotro.  Had some friends over, so I was like, hey guys let's check this out.

 

They couldn't stop laughing at the horrible animations and characters that glide along the ground because run animations only randomly worked (gandalf for example).   Then I tried to kill stuff and it was soooo zzzzz. 

 

I later tried playing the game a little more, but despite how pretty the scenery was, the game was just clunky and boring.

Thank god you and your friends decided to stay away...I don't ever remember game mechanics such as you describe nor the "horrible animations" either.

I think the game is too deep for someone such as yourself and your friends anyways and is better off serving the likes of experienced MMO gamers who want deep, rich gameplay with a thriving world.

Except that he's right.  LOTRO has this amazing game world which is completely ruined by horrible animations, terrible character models, and clunky combat.

Grind:

Virtues - what is it now 14 ranks? You want to max every virtue, and there are a lot, so your class can have diverse set ups. The amound of grinding mobs it takes to get one rank of virtue up is korean. Oh wait you can use the store to get the virtue up, what should i do pay to get my virtue up or have an endless grind of mobs....

Traits - read virtues.

Leveling - complete grind lol. 85 leveling of grab x and find y. It takes a long time within every level.

 Legendary weapon - lmfao? no need to explain, for realz guys.

Grinding could be subjective. Depending on your life style and schedule. I don't have time to grind 85 lvls with alts, people who have loads of play time will argue because they want more time killer content/leveling.

Cheers.

Originally posted by xalvi

Grind:

Virtues - what is it now 14 ranks? You want to max every virtue, and there are a lot, so your class can have diverse set ups. The amound of grinding mobs it takes to get one rank of virtue up is korean. Oh wait you can use the store to get the virtue up, what should i do pay to get my virtue up or have an endless grind of mobs....

Traits - read virtues.

Leveling - complete grind lol. 85 leveling of grab x and find y. It takes a long time within every level.

 Legendary weapon - lmfao? no need to explain, for realz guys.

 

Grinding could be subjective. Depending on your life style and schedule. I don't have time to grind 85 lvls with alts, people who have loads of play time will argue because they want more time killer content/leveling.

 

Cheers.

that is not grind what you say..that is character progression..different altogether.i have been playing this game on and off for 5 yrs and i can tell you there is no grind in this game at all..the traits you mention go along with your character..has long as you keep them up to date you are ok..if you decide  not to do them and wait til end game its a grind for you..but your character will be extremely weak if you dont do them.i dont play this game a lot and i have 5 chars..2xlvl 85,1x lvl 67 ,1xlvl75,1x43.thats in 5 yrs..and i take my time.i can assure you there is no grind in this game..i do agree it can feel that way if you leave them til your max lvl..but its you who create it by not lvling your char properly in the first place.

Originally posted by kevjards

Originally posted by xalvi

Grind:

Virtues - what is it now 14 ranks? You want to max every virtue, and there are a lot, so your class can have diverse set ups. The amound of grinding mobs it takes to get one rank of virtue up is korean. Oh wait you can use the store to get the virtue up, what should i do pay to get my virtue up or have an endless grind of mobs....

Traits - read virtues.

Leveling - complete grind lol. 85 leveling of grab x and find y. It takes a long time within every level.

 Legendary weapon - lmfao? no need to explain, for realz guys.

 

Grinding could be subjective. Depending on your life style and schedule. I don't have time to grind 85 lvls with alts, people who have loads of play time will argue because they want more time killer content/leveling.

 

Cheers.

that is not grind what you say..that is character progression..different altogether.i have been playing this game on and off for 5 yrs and i can tell you there is no grind in this game at all..the traits you mention go along with your character..has long as you keep them up to date you are ok..if you decide  not to do them and wait til end game its a grind for you..but your character will be extremely weak if you dont do them.i dont play this game a lot and i have 5 chars..2xlvl 85,1x lvl 67 ,1xlvl75,1x43.thats in 5 yrs..and i take my time.i can assure you there is no grind in this game..i do agree it can feel that way if you leave them til your max lvl..but its you who create it by not lvling your char properly in the first place.

Really?  I'm a lifetime member, and I've played my share but honestly I just can't get into it anymore.  Unless they changed something recently, you got almost no traits without grinding.  The choice was grind now or grind later, but total grind time is still a grind.  I also agree with models and animations being bad but I could live with that.  Clunky combat makes it tough to get into though.  Also ridiculous amounts of time to travel around gets old really fast.

I started playing again after little more than a year.  The game is still fun.  There can be quite a bit of grind, but I like that.  There are store buttons everywhere and they try and monetize too much.  The store could be seriously streamlined.  But I own a good chunk of the game and don't really feel compelled to spend shortcut money.

One thing that LotRO has is the lore-master.  It's such a cool class.  It is by far one of my favorite pet classes.

I just have to figure out if I'm going to go back to my old server and level 65s or stay on the new server with my 50s.

MC is awsome in lotro. 

And the first post is a joke. Do s/he really believe it would be fun to do MC in areas such as Moria... 

Originally posted by kevjards

Originally posted by xalvi

@ the two posters above. Perhaps you don't know what you are talking about.

 

It seems to me like you are both fanboys.

 

Lotro is a fully pay2win game, everything ingame is on the damn store lol. Yep, this game most defenitly has terrible animation. That is what killed it for me, oh wait no it was the endless korean grind that the game had to offer.

 

I came to play and learn more about lotr lore and in response i got my time wasted leveling and grinding legendaries/trait/virtues.

i dont think you understand the concept of pay to win to be honest..i think you just heard it and tried your best to understand what it means.has i said before you cannot buy anything in the shop that you CANNOT get for FREE by playing the game.

you CANNOT get raid gear in the store .you cannot get end game gear etc without having to rebuild Hybolt either mostly or partly.and that involves questing dailies..so again i repeat..your understanding of pay to win is flawed.

p.s the bit that made me laugh the most was the comment about the korean grind in the game.i dont know of any grind in this game at all.

What do you call the Hybolt dailies? It's a grind...one that I refuse to do. Every game seems to have some sort of grind.

Originally posted by Czanrei

Mounted combat in Lotro is a joke and the devs should be embarrassed for releasing such lazy and shoddy work. There is not one single mmo out there that restricts mounted combat to only one region for one thing. Mounted combat being restricted to one area is a cash-grab pure and simple to get players to buy the new expansion.

Which goes back to Lotro evolving into a pay-to-win mmo over the past couple years. When a game allows the purchase of non-cosmetic gear, faster than normal mounts and XP and skill boosting potions/scrolls on Turbine's cash shop equals pay-to-win. Some gamers need to be smarter with their money and not waste money on pay-to-win garbage. 

You have some (very slight) true on the second part, LotRO indeed took some steps towards pay-to-win in the last two years, but still is very far from it. (although it was enough for Turbine to erase the "convenience, not advantage" post from everywhere :) )

First part on the other hand is totally mistaken. There is not one single mmo out there that restricts mounted combat to only one region   of which mmo do you think? :) (beside some browser ones I don't know other mounted combat mmo's, especially not with this level detailed ones. Maybe it's just me.) And the area restriction is not cash-grab, it's just simply Rohan. Btw the other mechanics are implemented to the whole area with the previous update...

Originally posted by xalvi

Grinding could be subjective. Depending on your life style and schedule. I don't have time to grind 85 lvls with alts, people who have loads of play time will argue because they want more time killer content/leveling.

Originally posted by avalon1000

Originally posted by kevjards

Originally posted by xalvi

@ the two posters above. Perhaps you don't know what you are talking about.

 

It seems to me like you are both fanboys.

 

Lotro is a fully pay2win game, everything ingame is on the damn store lol. Yep, this game most defenitly has terrible animation. That is what killed it for me, oh wait no it was the endless korean grind that the game had to offer.

 

I came to play and learn more about lotr lore and in response i got my time wasted leveling and grinding legendaries/trait/virtues.

i dont think you understand the concept of pay to win to be honest..i think you just heard it and tried your best to understand what it means.has i said before you cannot buy anything in the shop that you CANNOT get for FREE by playing the game.

you CANNOT get raid gear in the store .you cannot get end game gear etc without having to rebuild Hybolt either mostly or partly.and that involves questing dailies..so again i repeat..your understanding of pay to win is flawed.

p.s the bit that made me laugh the most was the comment about the korean grind in the game.i dont know of any grind in this game at all.

What do you call the Hybolt dailies? It's a grind...one that I refuse to do. Every game seems to have some sort of grind.

i,m sorry..5 quests per day and you think thats a grind..are you for real..go play vanguard or something like that..5 quests a grind..i've heard it all now.the quests take no longer than 20 mins to do per day.and they are not even the same quests..they are randomised.