Comments on: [LOTRO] Levelling an alt, and in which I discover tasks

By: Telwyn

Telwyn — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:05:33 +0000

I agree with Brian, I do definitely feel that the store is way too intrusive in LoTRO. Weird really as in DDO it’s very tastefully done.

LoTRO starts with loads of hand space true. But there are so many trash items, and so much if you’re a crafter to carry as well. It’s a packrat’s dream game but a nightmare otherwise!

By: Syrien

Syrien — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:09:57 +0000

I agree that Lotro isn’t alt friendly in the sense that you describe (you get many ways to keep working on a main character), but one thing I find leads me to alt creating (besides my own natural inclination) in Lotro is the crafting system. The fact that crafted gear is so very useful (not only the consumables, but also for better gear, at least while lvling) tempts me to try have one alt with different professions. And the crafting is not lvl gated at all, which I really like.

Last night my lvl 36 burglar first sneaked around gathering wood in Misty Mountains (lvl difference high enough that for the harder parts of the zone I could not land even one hit on a mob if getting into a fight), then went looking for a fellow crafter to make an ingredient I needed for a metalsmith, who in turn asked me to do a craft which involved highest lvl wood for him – and ended in a lvl 55 warden escorting my lvl 36 burglar through Eregion looking for the materials he needed. Very good times

By: kiantremayne

kiantremayne — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 06:03:34 +0000

Eccentrica – you do realise ~WoW is being unfaithful to YOU by cosying up to other players. What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander…

By: Eccentrica

Eccentrica — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 02:02:06 +0000

Your screenshot alone makes me want to go try out LotRO, even though it makes me feel slightly unfaithful to WoW even thinking it. Perhaps next Tuesday…..

By: Brian 'Psychochild' Green

Brian 'Psychochild' Green — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:48:37 +0000

Turbine really do need to encourage permies to use up some of these points, otherwise they won’t be able to get any more actual cash out of us, and I think there is a lot of curiosity as to how much they will charge in points for the next expansion.

I suspect the rich pre-order bonuses for the new expansion and inability to pay for said pre-order with Turbine Points is there way of getting lifetime subscribers to pony up more cash. I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes a while after launch for the expansion to be purchasable via points to encourage it even more.

That’s one thing I’m not fond about LotRO’s conversion to free-to-play. It seems Turbine still wants it both ways: the best of people buying points as well as subscribing and buying expansions. For someone not on a lifetime subscription, it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. So, I find myself spending more time in DDO, which I feel gets the business model right.

By: spinks

spinks — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:16:12 +0000

Really? The reason I find bagspace an issue in LOTRO is because your bags just fill up with /stuff/. Tokens, crafting stuff, potions, debuff removal potions, quest related stuff, drops.

By: Jonathon Barton

Jonathon Barton — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 18:13:33 +0000

I don’t find bag space to be at a premium – especially when you consider the bag situation in other games…
I’m a subscriber, so my characters start with a 75 bag slots.
Even freebie players start with three, fifteen-slot bags for a total of 45 slots.

Compare that to WoW, or RIFT, or…just about any of the other games out there. F’rinstance, when I came back to LOTRO, my level 7 Runekeeper fresh out of the Newbie Instance had as much bag space as my (at the time) Level 80 Death Knight did. I could carry So. Much. Stuff…it was *AMAZING* to me that every game didn’t do that.

By: spinks

spinks — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:05:40 +0000

The alternative way involves paying, I guess.

tbh, I never bothered maxing out traits on my main character and no one seemed to ever notice when we were raiding so I do consider them strictly optional. I think I only got kindred with the mirkwood guys because for some reason I was doing their daily quests regularly.

The tasks I find are good for rep, if that’s of interest. Plus even if they are small xp, it’s basically free since you were killing the mobs anyway. I quite like them, but it’s all new to me at the moment and I just pretend everything is optional so if I don’t feel like doing it, I don’t.

By: darkeye

darkeye — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 15:02:47 +0000

I’ve levelled some characters to level 20 then deleted because I’ve realised how much repetition is ahead of me, a bit too grindy even for the character who I consider my main, skipped some traits and nowhere maxed traits. It wouldn’t be as bad if there was alternative ways to unlock some of this stuff, but it’s the exact same for each character especially having to repeat the epic books a few times each, get kindred with the iron garrison, it’s just time consuming not particularly engaging gameplay. I would love Turbine to say ‘we recognise the game is unfriendly to alts and we plan to do something about it’.

I’ve never bothered with tasks, for the same reasons really, organising the stuff in my bags, it’s just easier to sell all the junk without second thought because of the piddling amount of XP the tasks give. And they have plans to put them in the expansion, hope they make the reward worthwhile while they are at it.

By: Nick Smith

Nick Smith — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 14:23:03 +0000

I like tasks…Firstly, it makes sense: If someone needs 6 wolves ears, they need them, it couldn’t possibly matter whether you do it before or after meeting that person. Secondly, it gives just a little ring of EQ1, where there was no differentiation at all between Quest items and non-quest items. At low-levels, you picked up Spider silk that was of no use for (?) 20-30 levels but could then be handed in en masse for huge xp. They weren’t bound, so it also created economic flow between high and low levels – and, more importantly, interactivity, as high levels would come to lowbie zones looking to buy (This was pre-Bazaar), and would often invent competitions, buff,and generally interact.

Golly, it’s easy to get nostalgic about EQ1…