MeowCat's Page

A Future for Legendary Weapons

MeowCat — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 12:31:22 +0000

Legendary weapons were a wonderful addition to LOTRO. Some claim the system is broken, or a game breaker, but I disagree…at least for now. For example, as much as I liked this post, I do not agree with allowing players legendary weapons earlier than level 45. My greatest fear is that upcoming changes may lead players to discard these gems. There is nothing worse than working hard to get radiance gear or a First Age Weapon (FAW) only to dismantle it because the developers want to march us further into Middle Earth and up the level ladder. My suggestions also have positive implications by linking them to players in different ways. So, here are my simple ideas for 2^nd and 1^st age weapons.

Customizability: Weapons should have a little more customizability. Maybe this would be some control over legacies or the visual effect (ooooh, a yellow glow!). The ability to name your item is fantastic but more control would be double delicious.

Player Forged: Weaponsmithing has been crippled by the FAW system. Let weapon crafters take some part in the process. Allow them to do new reforging at level 5, 15, 25, 35, 45. Or maybe visual effects and added bonuses are only available via weapon smiths. We could even make the FAW NPCs expensive and allow weapon smiths the chance to do the same thing for less. Weaponsmiths could be responsible for crafting components necessary for such upgrades. Why not include Lore Masters in the mix with the ability to craft the runes, settings, and gems? Clearly there would be many balance issue but that’s Turbine’s job

Show Off! Let us bring the gloat boat into harbor now and again. First, make the FAW stand out a little by providing diversity of design. Make them visually obvious in-game. I got my first FAW the other day but no one can appreciate my little song book unless they inspect me. Snoops! Second, create a second weapon’s panel that you can link to players. This would be a 3D rotating close-up that showcases everything about the implement: design, statistics, effects, etc. Why not add a history panel that players can edit?

Stability: Don’t make FAWs any easier to get than they will be in Book 8 but insure us that they can stay with us, grow with us, and become our most cherished item. You don’t think Bilbo is going to turn in Sting, his legendary weapon found on the trolls, do you?

Like 1st Ages, Johnny? Wait for Book 8

MeowCat — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 11:43:31 +0000

When I have been slaving away at the “Turtle Instance” and I see the upcoming changes in Book 8, I become a bit sad for times gone by. The good news is that the sadness passes because Turbine is making this easier. The melancholy lingers if you have been grinding away for First Ages. If you read the section on First Age Legendary Weapons you can see the HUGE statistical difference between pre-post Book 8. Wow! I guess my question is…Why make the drops so horrid in the first place? Turbine expected players to do an average of 100 runs (at 0.8% of a drop you can use) to get a First Age? That seems punitive for the sake of being punitive. Is Turbine run by my 4th grade teacher? I know their philosophy on starting out with the hard core players in mind and easing up, over time, for the more casual players, but this seems unreasonable. The raids that drop those items are already radiance gated so this strikes me as a bit much. Had I known the odds were this bad I would have moved on to other things after experiencing VM and Turtle once.

Hard Core Nomenclature

MeowCat — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 13:04:14 +0000

I always support the refinement of terms so the article “WoW, Casually: What is casual?” was a fun read as it attempted to clarify the definition of the “Hard Core” MMO player. The only thing I could add to this well constructed article is the idea that maybe a categorical (2 group) system is not adequate. Obviously, for ease-of-conversation it makes more sense than using a continuum or range of “hardcoreness.” However, hard core vs. non-hard core is probably too simplistic. The language and mentality just happen to be rooted in the MMO culture deeper than that chasm of Khazad-dûm. Nonetheless, it seems that even a non-raider could be hard core if they sink as much time into questing and crafting, especially if they are passionate about the game. If, as the author (Robin Torres) says, having a yardstick of measurement for “better and worse” is the key variable we simply have to add more variables: time spent, items crafted, marriages ruined (kidding), gold earned, weapons advanced, characters at level cap, PvP rank, passion, etc. Measuring this is clearly difficult. It could end up looking like the Drake Equation but let’s keep forging the term. Who knows, maybe we’ll get a new legacy out of it!?

Book 7 Brings In-Game GPS

MeowCat — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:07:07 +0000

Praise to Vala and the new in-game GPS to be featured in busty Book 7. We’re going to get a visual quest tracker with aids in the form of arrows for quest locations and NPCs. For those who think this makes the game too easy I say “meh” to your elitist espousal. There is an option to turn it off. Issue closed. For those of us with major cortical memory leaks this is the perfect way to ease the agony of finding that blathering dwarf who’s taken refuge down a dark hole in Timbuktu. Once you’ve played through the game a couple times the LOTRO GPS becomes a beacon of guidance direct from Illuin and Ormal.

Now if they will just fix the travel routs I will be Turbines best friend. And I still hate the direction of the crafting changes. But wait, this is a positive post! I will be positive. I will, I will, I will…in-game GPS!

Crafting in the Upcoming Book 7 Patch

MeowCat — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:08:56 +0000

There are so many things to focus on with this huge update. Most of the changes appear to be good to OM-Freaking-G excellent! However, I do have concerns about the crafting changes. They are making things too easy instead of giving us more options for crafting quality items. See the idea of Crafting Instances that will make all materials easier to come by and therefore lower market prices. Also see the Crafting Section for all the details. I just question the decision to make things more accessible verses more worth the effort.

Minstrel Musings

MeowCat — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:05:27 +0000

The Champion is to _____ play as the Minstrel is to _____ play. If you answered solo/group then you know where I’m going with this diatribe. My main is a Champ so I’m used to cutting through orc hide like Richard Simmons through quality TV. I really love playing the Mini but the tedium of waiting around for DPS/Protection help has turned me into a mouth breathing chair potato. Here I am, spamming my willingness to lick wounds and no one bites. When people want a healer for instances I know they’ll be sending those golden “tells” to get my attention, but where are they now? Part of this is no doubt the lack of traffic in the mid-ranged areas. Most people are now off venturing, it seems, in Moria territory.

By the way, it occurred to me to complain about this because a Good Samaritan named Tubolard joined me in the Misty Mountains after I pleaded to the ether for help. He stated that he felt my pain as a frequent player of a Minstrel. “It’s slow going,” he said. I really enjoy healing in a full group, maybe more than I have being the double fisted blade master as a Champion. However, the waiting part is a bit anti-game for me. It’s hot and cold without Minstrel love.

Beautiful BurgZerg

MeowCat — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 14:40:13 +0000

Every now and then you find a resource that is so helpful it would be wrong not to pass it along. If you want the best information on virtues, PvMP, hidden emote deeds, and Warden gambits BurgZerg is the one-stop website for you. Head over to BurgZerg now, create a membership (you don’t have to be a member to use the site), and get the scoop. It works brilliantly on a 2nd monitor while playing LOTRO. Explore the interface, you won’t be sorry.

Ore Pigs

MeowCat — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 05:08:01 +0000

It can be argued that MMOs are a microcosm of so-called “real life” (seriously, it’s all real life, right? Otherwise, we’re talking about death). If the idea holds, it simply means that a sampling of in-game behavior represents the person behind the avatar. In a concrete way this makes sense as you see personalities outshine pixels. In my experience most LOTRO people in-game are kind and helpful, maybe more so than any other game I have played. This post is not about them. It is about those known as “resource pigs” or in this case the “ore pig.”

The ore pig is an opportunist who exploits others when they can. Most people would agree that racing to a resource like wood or ore is a fair contest. The competition is clear – first one there, wins. I hate losing that race but it’s part of the game. You move on until you find an uncontested node. On some occasions a mob interrupts you from extracting the goodies. It is at this moment an ore pig strikes. In this case it was Tulipia on the Brandywine server who swooped in and took the ore I was fighting for.

I messaged the culprit. Tulipia said he did not see me complaining when we were racing to nodes earlier. I don’t remember that but the rule is always in place: a race is a race but you don’t ninja ore that someone is fighting for. An attempt at explaining the difference between the two scenarios fell on a dull cortex. Someone’s parents had failed him. It is difficult to understand this vulture mentality in, well…non-vultures. There is strong evidence that most people understand these simple rules. Almost everyone passes by when they see someone fighting next to a pointy node. I would guess approximately 97% of people in that situation understand this.

Once I stopped to help a person in such a fight. I then got yelled at for trying to take the ore so I explained that I had not in fact taken anything but was mounting up to leave. It just goes to show how frustrating the situation can be.

Right and wrong are not obvious to everyone. In LOTRO the best we can do is use the ignore list and hope not to cross paths with such hateful hogs.

Junk In Your Trunk: Intro Guide to LOTRO Gold

MeowCat — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:53:06 +0000

If anyone is interested in how to build wealth in LOTRO while you play the game naturally I have posted a guide at my Kinship website, the Council of Eriador. See the FORUM post here.

Getting My Goat

MeowCat — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 14:30:20 +0000

I made a really dumb mistake. Maybe you can avoid this one if I put it out there, but you’re probably smarter than me to begin with so you won’t do this. As many people know, you can get a goat mount in Moria. To do so you must be KINDRED status with the Iron Garrison MINERS (see rewards here) and not the Iron Garrison Guards. I pumped all my rep items into the wrong place. While I’m kindred with the guards, I can’t get the mount until I now become popular enough with the miners so they trust me with their livestock. I hate buying reputation items so it means more quests and grinding places like the 16th Hall. The Iron Garrison Miners got my goat and they’re not giving it up because they know I misplaced my priorities with the Guards. Huff!