Sprite - Welcome to another great Stratics house of commons with the developers of the Lord of the Rings Online! Tonight's topic is Book 12, so please focus your questions to this topic though others may also be answered.
Sprite - Please send those questions to [QT]Legend - to do so type /msg [QT]Legend My question here. Please only send questions to our QT's as those sent to myself or the developers will not make it into the lineup.
Sprite - The full logs will be posted on
http://lotro.stratics.com/ after the chat. We'll begin with a quick intro from our guests...now would be a good time to send in those questions!
Annuvin - Hey all, I'm Annuvin. I'm the Creative Director of LOTRO, and I'm qualified to talk about the overall strategy of our game dev, as well as some in-game topics. Please don't ask me too many questions, as I need to finish my dinner... and no one likes a sticky keyboard.
Keth - Hello, I'm Keth. My life consists of making content (such as quests and instances) for LOTRO.
Keth - I'm also eating some free food provided to me by Turbine. Ah the perks of being a game dev!
Saffron - Greetings! I'm Vanessa "Saffron" Price, Online Community Representative, supporter of fishing, destroyer of threads, behold the eye and be afraid...or something. Okay, fine I couldn't think of anything pithy to say today. I am happy to be here and can't wait to see what you're going to ask us.
Scenario - Good evening all! My name is Matt "Scenario" Elliott - Key World Designer for LOTRO. The World Design Team is responsible overall landscape development, including monster camps, craft resource allocation, dungeon design and random toad ambushes (among other things).
Eldrad - Hi all, I'm Eldrad, Producer for Lord of the Rings Online. I spend all day yelling at Keth and telling him how he
Eldrad - needs to do a better job.
Seriously though, I handle all the super-fun stuff like the schedule and
Eldrad - inter-departmental communication! I'm qualified to say nothing, or I'd have to kill you...
Patience - Hi everyone! Thanks for coming tonight! And thanks to Stratics as always for hosting us.
Patience - Book 11 launched nice and smooth a few weeks ago, and we hope you've been enjoying your new homes in Middle-earth!
Patience - I spent some time on Youtube last night checking out all the videos from the Rift people have posted. It's awesome stuff. Y'all have had some pretty fantastic wipes.
Patience - We'll be bringing the servers down on Wednesday, Nov. 14th for a patch to Book 11. The patch notes were just posted on our Lorebook:
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Release_Notes_Book_11_Patch_1 Patience - Speaking of the Lorebook, I want to remind everyone that it's a terrific resource for players - you can not only look up every item, creature, place, and quest in the game (and more), it's also user-editable and our players have added a ton of information to it.
Patience - It's worth checking out!
http://lorebook.lotro.com Patience - I'm done! Thanks again for coming, and enjoy the chat!
Sprite - *Twarsong* When you expand to levels beyond 50, are you continuing the "Month of..." updates?
Patience - Annuvin is typing.
Annuvin - Feh! How am I supposed to eat with all these questions!?!
Annuvin - Anyhow, the "Month of"'s are meant to be more of a hook for providing a theme for our updates. Anyhow, as we move forward, you can expect that we'll broaden our themes (month of... the Crafter!), but I think you can continue to expect cyclical modifications to classes.
Annuvin - Our goal is to provide variety, and allow for the "old and played out" to become "new, and fresh".
Sprite - *Gumble* DangerDan has dropped some hints of what Burglars can expect in the Book 12 update. Any further specifics on skills, tweaks, or re-balances for us Expert Treasure Hunters?
Patience - btw, guys, we don't have anyone here from our game systems team at the moment, so we don't have a lot of specifics on changes and updates to classes.
Annuvin - If only DangerDan were here now! I'd string him up... Ah well.
Annuvin - Anyhow, as an avid Burglar fan, I'm looking forward to the changes. Expect a 'stealth' alternative. There's more, but I don't want to mislead you.
Sprite - *Zach_Chaldain* My Question: Hello I was wondering what region of Middle Earth the next update that includes an expansion to regio0ns and areas in-game will be. I can't wait to play in Rohan, Gondor or even Moria!
Scenario - For Book 12, we are not introducing any brand new regions. Players will be able explore the Delving of Fror in the Ettenmoors and see some of the polish we are applying to the landscape of Angmar.
Scenario - As for brand new regions, we do have one in the works. It will not be available for Book 12 and we are not quite ready to say what it is yet. Stay tuned.
Sprite - *Derin* Are there any plans in the future to make better rewards for high kinship ratings? For example, maybe allowing basic crafting facilities in kinship housing for rank 9 kinships or having Gold colored names for members of the top ranked kinships per server.
Keth - Hey Derin, I'm going to focus in on one element of your question, regarding housing.
Keth - Now, I'm not going to talk specifically to kinships and their rank, but We do have some additional features to housing coming in Book 12 and beyond.
Keth - Specifically rotating items on hooks and a high likelihood for alts getting recalls to your house.
Keth - we also have some very unique items for your house coming up, things that your kinship will want to display with pride.
Keth - oh and we are going to allow you to hook bound items (this doesn't apply to your chest, though.)
Keth - beyond Book 12, we want to have usable items on hooks and some other features that make you really feel a part of your neighborhood.
Sprite - *Falthorn* Any news on the Book 12 Gaurdian love? Could we get a tiny preview of what's to come?
Annuvin - Well, we're going to tackle giving the guardian an alternate playstyle (two handed weapons), and adding more skills to his/her tried and true (Weapon and shield, ftw).
Sprite - *Theoldwizard* Hello, I have a question about housing. Will we ever be getting any items that give a real use to a house other than storage. Thanks
Scenario - Housing is a system very much in its infancy at this point. As we continue with our live updates, we will be looking towards improving upon the foundations of the system. For Book 12, as Keth said, we have a couple of features coming online in Book 12. Outside of that, we are very interested in adding new functionality to housing - we've kicked around a bunch of ideas to make houses more useful in addition to more functional
Keth - did you say Book 12 Scenario?
Scenario - We'll have more information available on specifics as those features are closer to being brought online.
Keth - I think he said Book 12.
Saffron - Was it in Book 12?
Scenario - (I am Captain Redundant!)
Eldrad - Hey, I think you meant Book 12, right?
Sprite - *Unitsi* I would like to know if Turbine plans on adding a Kinship Roster / Panel Lookup database to the site?
Patience - Hi Unitsi! We do plan on adding lots more social features in the coming months, and kinships will definitely benefit from them. Until then, many of our players have listed their Kinships on the Lorebook, and there are some great sites out there as well that have Kinship registries.
Patience - You'll find the player-created Kinship pages on the Lorebook here:
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Category:Kinships Sprite - *Avocet* With new quests being added with each Book, is there any chance that Book 12 will increase the number of slots in our Quest Log? 40 just doesn't do it anymore!
Annuvin - Well, currently, we have no plans to increase our 40 limit. Overall, we're still trying to ensure that overall quest density and vectoring is quality/awesome... once we've hit saturation in that regards, we'll re-evaluate the 40 limit.
Sprite - *aRabidFlea* What is the reputation for the Eldgang going to be used for?
Keth - The Eldgang reputation faction really just exists to provide you with a few convenience features in the Rift.
Keth - If you have a high enough standing with the Eldgang, you can make use of some Repair NPCs and other features inside, to save you a trip out.
Sprite - For those of you just joining us, tonight's topic is Book 12. You can send your questions to [QT]Legend via /msg [QT]Legend MyQuestionHere questions sent to myself or the developers will not make the lineup!
Sprite - *Khazner* Can you give us a few hints about what to expect in the Delving of Fror? Will it be mainly fellowship based or will it have solo content as well?
Keth - Eldrad is answering this one friends, it's his first question in a dev chat... be kind....
Keth - man, it's a going to be a good answer...
Eldrad - For the Delving of Fror, you can expect a massive new PvMP dungeon. It is mostly group/raid based content and of course PvMP fighting. Nothing stops you from going in solo into the early areas of course.
Sprite - *Ryvick* Will Moria be a free update or a Paid expansion?
Annuvin - 2 words: Marketing Ninjas.
Patience - Marketing PIRATES.
Scenario - In Book 12, Moria will not be in Book 12.
Saffron - Aaarg
Saffron - or Yar
Keth - What's that about Book 12?
Annuvin - That's a weak Pirate.
Patience - I thought someone kicked her for a second.
Saffron - We're a multi-language group.
Sprite - *Mithrandir* Will we ever get other animals as mounts? Such as aurochs or maybe wargs for MP
Scenario - There are currently no plans for mounts outside of horses. We've talked about it but there is nothing specifically in our plans.
Sprite - *aRabidFlea* Any sneak peeks available for the upcoming Month of the Guardian?
Patience - Hey RabidFlea
We don't have anyone from systems here to give you anything juicy, but I'd watch the dev tracker on the forums over the coming weeks since Hakai tends to be pretty active in some of the class forums and will no doubt let cats out of bags.
Sprite - *Didymus* For the Human Dance during the festivals, what are you thoughts on it, will you be fixing it and leaving it up or are we going to leave fix it for future festivals?
Keth - I'm happy to report that the Men of Bree are getting their groove back!
Keth - I fixed the problem, personally, cuz I loves the dancing and you should see the fix in the patch.
Patience - Keth's in trouble. There was no patch note.
I'll get it in there tonight.
Sprite - *JaySpeed* Since no one brought it up last month I guess I'll ask. Can we expect to see fishing included in book 12 or beyond? I know there's been no confirmation its even being added to the game but throw me a bone. =)
Annuvin - I am very certain that fishing is sliding (glacially) away from "Dubionia", towards "Feasabiland". With that said, it will not be part of Book 12. With luck, hope, and numerous sacrifices to the Sun God Ra, it will happen soon.
Patience - YEEEESSSS. Fishing!
Saffron - The tourism in Feasabiland is quite nice.
Patience - Our evil plot may be succeeding, Saffron.
* LOTRO_Saffron feels empowered!
Sprite - *Boddington* As a burglar I've been a little upset with some recent changes to our class, but my question is about bk 12 - can we get some teasers on the new skills and tricks being added for our class update in the next book?
Annuvin - Dirty pirates.
Patience - That's going to look great in the transcript. Context is everything
Patience - Scenario is "typing something horribly big," he says.
Scenario - Burglars are, arguably, our most solid class currently. Book 12 sees a number of interesting new skills that will focus on bringing some of the Burglar's roles to the forefront. Keep your eyes on the official site and message boards - more information is coming down the pipe.
Sprite - *Theulin* will the players be able to change their appearance each time new options are made for appearances? (but not race / class / origion changes, just appearance). I get sad when new options are opened, but i have to reroll to use them..hahahaha
Keth - Oh yeah, baby. Book 12 is gonna have a "barber shop" (that's not the in-game name), so you can change your hairstyle, add a beard or add some other flavor, such as a scar. (For a price.)
Keth - In addition, we have the "outfit system" coming in Book 12.
Keth - This system will allow you to wear only the appearance of an object, while using the stats of another.
Keth - So if you want to go out and battle Thorog in a dress, feel free!
Keth - You'll still have the stats of your sweet epic armour.
Keth - (Oh yeah, dresses and other social clothes are coming in Book 12 as well.)
Sprite - *Ryvick* Are there any plans to add Kinship Alliance features to allow for the facilitation of alliances between kinships? (e.x. Alliance Chat/Alliance Member Listing tab?)
Patience - Hi Ryvick! We do want to add more functionality for kinships in future books, yes, though nothing specifically is being done for alliances in Book 12. We added (at player request) custom chat channels recently with alliances in mind - we knew the kinships would find that useful for alliance chat.
Sprite - *ilikepie* When a Monster play healer is introduced what direction will the War Leader be taken in? Will we become more of a captain and be given more buffs? I'm afraid my WL will become obsolete in the 'Moors and not have a purpose in the battle.
Annuvin - Well, whenever we add new classes, we try to ensure that the existing classes still work. If/when we add another healing type class, you can expect that it will have VERY different strengths the Warleader.
Sprite - *Theoldwizard* Hello, are hooks ever going to be removed in housing? Thanks
Scenario - So... if we remove your hooks, where will you put your cool stuff?
Scenario - If you are asking what I think you are, hooks are here to stay at this time. Book 12 will introduce new functionality for hooks (rotation and hookable bound items). We are investigating other methods of decoration placement, but that replacing the current system is not something we have immediate plans for.
Sprite - *Nethriel* Good evening! I had a question that voices a small concern I've heard from a number of female players, and that is the relative lacking of female Monster Players. Aside from the Spider, that's it, and a number of my Kinmates don't use MP just because they prefer to play identifiably female characters (they themselves being women). We were wondering if you planned to change that in the future, perhaps when you introduc
Patience - Hey Nethriel.
Saffron and I are right there with you, my friend.
We also noticed that when you session-play the chicken, you're really a rooster! Hmph. We'll talk to some folks here and see if there's any possibility of change in a future PvMP pass, but since it's a pretty big undertaking to add new avatars it could be a while (if ever!). No promises.
Sprite - *Scottc* Why can't I dodge attacks by moving out of the way?
Annuvin - Frosted Side - Ultimately, your avatar's stats+level are meant to be the in game articulation of your abilities. Can't ride a horse? Your avatar can. Can't walk up and stare an orc in the face? Can in game! Ultimately, the goal is to allow your in game skill leves to be the main method of gameplay.
Annuvin - Shredded side - This isn't Team Fortress. Generally, you can dodge AoE's, though.
Sprite - *Belangel* I wanted to know if they were planning on putting in some pots for freeps in the ettens to get us out of stuns/roots like they have for the creeps. Our Stuns/Roots do not last anywhere near as long as theirs do.
Eldrad - We have spent a while reviewing crowd control for PvMP and you can expect a number of change coming up soon. Beyond that, CC was heavily in favor of freeps for while so we want to see how things play out before making additional changes.
Sprite - *ekiatimo* I have heard that we will be a able to equip one peice of armor that we like the looks of and still be able to have the stats of another. is this true and if so will it only work for that certian armour type.. eg; heavy armor look/ heavy armour stat, or will we be able to wear a light armor hat and have the heavy armor stats
Keth - With our ever exciting "outfit system" you will only be able to take on the appearances of items you can actually equip.
Keth - You can't appear to wear heavy armor if you can't normally wear it.
Keth - Otherwise, if you can wear multiple types of armor, you could appear to be wearing a light armour helm, but have the stats of heavy armour.
Keth - BTW, for those concerned about Monster Play, the system will not function in the Ettenmoors.
Keth - No hiding what you are wearing there!
Sprite - *Dwarflord* We all know that book 12 is month of the guardian. We also know that it will focus on the Guardian's DPS with a DPS stance and 2-handed weapon skills. Can you tell us a little about the other kind of skills Guardian's will be getting during book 12, like maybe a charge or a guardian ability?
Annuvin - Well, the Guardian will also get a skill that allows him/her to engage the enemy with more consistency, slowing their movement along with their foe's. Also, they're getting better at initiating fellowship manuevers, though the Burglar is still the best in the biz.
Sprite - *Anon426* What is with the nerfs on all fear will it be built back up or will the hunters and minstrels fear be trash forevermore?
Annuvin - Well, another frosted/shredded answer!
Annuvin - Frosted - Well, the nerfs on fear are pretty much good to go. We'll certainly start looking into methods to make it more useful moving forward, as fear was never meant to be as powerful as it was pre patch.
Annuvin - Shredded - A 30 second stun is a bit ridiculous. It will not be going back to that anytime soon, as that makes it better crowd control than... well, everyone.
Sprite - *anon* Thank you for fixing Helchgam's heal in CD, finally. Any plans on patching so pets can't swim in the insta-death water, or making it just do heavy damage instead?
Keth - Hey there anon, I was the last one to touch that exciting fight (I use the word exciting a lot), I'm glad you are happy with the change.
Keth - I'm sorry the heal was a bit more powerful that it should have been.
Keth - Anyway, as for our friends the pets, I hope in the near future to have the ability for your pet to sense if the pillar is up or down, so they won't take a flying leap into deadly water.
Keth - (Which, although comical, isn't really useful.)
Sprite - *Gumble* Will we ever be able to access the lorebook in-game, or view our character's or kinship's info on the web?
Eldrad - Gumble, I can't speak to viewing char/kin info on the web, but we are actually working on the in-game Lore-book right now! Stay tuned for this feature soon...
Sprite - *Helm-less_Dwarf* Will we ever see racial helms added to the game, besides the ones that are already there? You added new racial armors but seem to have forgotten the helmets
Annuvin - Well, we're going to keep updating our existing helmets, in order to add more quality options. When you consider combining them with the outfit system, you'll be able to mix and match them forever! With that said, we already have racially skewed helmets... I'll take that particular request back to the mothership.
Annuvin - As for forgetting... we don't forget. Our errors are purposeful, and deliberate. Like hypothermia.
Sprite - *Theulin* will we able to get handsome statues of the Devs for our house? ;P
Scenario - In Book 12, there will be no Scenario Garden Hobbits for Book 12 - FloonBeetle refused to make them on the premise that he didn't think our neighborhoods could handle any more +Awesome!
Annuvin - Hrm. Well, I don't think that'd be lore appropriate.
Keth - Actually, can you imagine how quickly house prices would go down if you had a statue of me on your lawn?
Patience - I've already put in my order for an Annuvin statue... with a rod and tackle.
Keth - with my gamer physique and all.
Annuvin - Dirty Pirates!
Eldrad - I want a statue of Keth, he's super-sexy!
Patience - Okay, we're done.
Annuvin - Oof.
Patience - Clearly it's been a long day.
Saffron - Wow...*backs away slowly*
Keth - hey everybody, it's HR Monday!
Patience - Thanks for coming tonight everyone.
Don't forget we're patching Wednesday!
Patience - And thanks Sprite for being such a great moderator as always!
Eldrad - Night!
Annuvin - Bye all! Thanks for coming!
Saffron - Good night everyone! Thanks for coming!
Keth - good night all... I'm going home to play LOTRO... gotta level my Minstrel....
Sprite - That will wrap it up for tonight. I'd like to thank the developers for coming! The log for tonight's chat will be up shortly on
http://lotro.stratics.com/ Scenario - Goodnight everyone! Thanks for submitting your questions! In Book 12....
Sprite - Thank you all for joining us! You can join #lotro to chat more about the game.
Scenario - Book 12
Eldrad - Book 12!
Patience - Night! I'm off to add the Bree Dance Master patch note
Saffron - have a great night!
gruss cosima
