28.6.2007 EU LOTRO Dev chat - Chat Log

<Amrac> Welcome to the European IRC dev chat!
<Amrac> For the next hour you have your chance to get answers to all your questions concerning LotRO directly from the developers. Please send your questions (preferably in English) to our team-members, who are marked with a + in front of their name.
<Amrac> We’ll forward your questions to the devs and they will answer as many questions as possible here in the channel.

<Satine> Good evening everyone and welcome to June's European Dev chat!
<Satine> Before we kick off with the introductions, I just wanted to highlight that there are just under two weeks left of our Summer
<Satine> Soltice Festival.
<Satine> If you've not partaken of any of the fun and games, log in soon and try the dance challenge or join the other
<Satine> drunken hobbits on the pub crawl.
<Satine> For more information on what the festival entails, see this news piece: http://www.lotro-
<Satine> europe.com/news.php?id=3682&pagename=news&type=news. Remember, the festival ends on July 10th so make sure you
<Satine> go and win your special fireworks soon!
<Satine> And now let's say hello and introduce our guests from Turbine:

<Scenario> Hey everyone! My name is Matt "Scenario" Elliott, Lead Worldbuilder for LOTRO. I'm one of those responsible for there being no boars in Evendim
<Orion-Turbine> Greetings! I am Allan "Orion" Maki and I am currently accepting blame for monster play and Barad Gúlaran. I am one of the senior designers on the team and I am very happy to be here.
<LOTRO_Tens> Hey everyone. This is Ryan "Tens" Bednar, Lead Game Systems Designer on LOTRO. Whenever you think of fishing, and think about why LOTRO doesn’t have it, you can think of me
<LOTRO_Patience> Tens is here.
<LOTRO_Patience> You can tell by the looong pauses.
<LOTRO_Patience> Oh, my turn!
<LOTRO_Patience> Hi everyone! I'm Meghan "Patience" Rodberg, Community Manager for LOTRO at Turbine. Thanks for coming, everyone, and thanks again to Satine for organizing and LOTRO-Welten for hosting us. I <3 Tavern Crawls and Hobnanigans!
<Satine> And I'm Sam "Satine" Russell, the Senior Community Manager for LOTRO Europe!

<Amrac> <erialar-laureli> Hi, I have a very important question here! I realise it will be a future expansion/cotnent update, but is anything special planned for helm's deep, with it being a pivotal battle in the books, and a major part of the overall story?
<Orion-Turbine> Helm's Deep is a pivotal battle of that there is no doubt. Rest assured that when we get there we will do our best to make the experience unique and awe-inspiring. Tens and I have bgeun to talk about how we can bring many of the large battles that exist throughout the war of the ring to the Online version of the game and we will be exploring these options as we move forward with development.
<Orion-Turbine> As with any type of development like this, it will take time, so we are not ready to commit to any hard dates, but we are thinking about this for the future.

<Amrac> <TRicKeY> When will the next large Region be released, e.g. Rohan/Gondor?
<Scenario> Hey there TRicKey! we've got some exciting plans coming up for the next year and beyond. We've just launched Evendim, our first major landscape addition. You can expect to see some new additions to the landscape in the fall (though not on the scale of Evendim) and a new region following that a couple of updates later.
<Scenario> I can't go into specifics just yet, as we are still in the stages of planning but we are very interested in continuing to expand out landscape.

<Amrac> <Thelorian> - When will we see more recipes for crafting (earrings and bracelets for jewellers!!!), and are there any plans to make race-specific gear (elf-only or dwarf-only armour for example)
<LOTRO_Tens> That’s a great question! And one I have a great answer for!
<LOTRO_Tens> Jewelers will be getting both Bracelet and Earring crafting recipes, across all tiers of crafting, in our Book 10 Update. As for race-specific gear, it’s definitely something that we’ve discussed, but you guys are going to have to wait a bit longer for that.

<Amrac> <Peeps> i was wondering if there were any plans to implement kinship vs kinship pvp or allowing sparing to be done as fellowship vs fellowship as opposed to individuals?
<Orion-Turbine> At this time, we are not dicussing any level of direct kinship v. kinship or fellowship v. fellowship pvp.

<Amrac> <Chanelle> I would like to know how the player housing will be made. Do you have to build the house? And will there be new professions to do so?
<LOTRO_Patience> Hi Chanelle! You won't have to build the house, but you'll be able to purchase it - and decorate it too!

<Amrac> <Kadash> Will there be any changes to the mount system, as in will there be faster mounts to buy?
<Orion-Turbine> How cool would that be!? Purchased mounts are already pretty quick, but there is still some room to grow and as we continue to add more to the game it is a safe bet that there will be some changes made. To start, you might see some sturdier mounts on the very near horizon.

<Amrac> <XanthianZ> how do you plan on developing future raid content? alot of heated discussions from the RP community not wanting raiding to be developed as much as WoW is currently - i personally enjoy raids and hope there are many more 'challenging' encounters
<Scenario> How do we plan on developing future raid content? Very carefully. Raids are one of a number of activities that players can participate in and we want to provide a variety of gameplay options to our players. We do have plans for additional raid content in the near future.

<Amrac> <Tharmar> question: will it be posible to make itmes self named? to crate "unique" items like narzil?
<LOTRO_Patience> Hi Tharmar! We think that would be really cool too, and would like to see it happen in a future Book.

<Amrac> <Berndr> Well we know, you will be introducing fishing, do you have any plans to introduce diving and underwater creatures/monsters
<LOTRO_Patience> Well.
<LOTRO_Patience> First, we have to get fishing in.
<LOTRO_Tens> Here we go...
<LOTRO_Patience> Now, Tens and I arm-wrestle just about every morning over this.
<Satine>
<LOTRO_Patience> Some days he wins, some days I win, some days we both pass out.
<LOTRO_Patience> BUT, so far I think I'm winning.
<LOTRO_Patience> So, let's get fishing in first, and then see what else we can do from there. My arm hurts.
<LOTRO_Tens> But the fish are losing.
<LOTRO_Tens> Remember that
<LOTRO_Patience> HE MEANS WE'LL HAVE FISHING.

<Amrac> <Bronnwart> at first I would like to thank you for this great game and the great experience we all have with it. Now the question will we get kith-housing too and what will it be like?
<LOTRO_Tens> Hey Bronnwart. We are currently hoping to bring Kinship Houses online along with our Housing System in the fall.
<LOTRO_Tens> If all goes well, you should see them then.

<Amrac> <Ollie88> There are some permanent campfires. How about adding the ability to use these for cooking?
<Scenario> This is actually an on-going task that we will be addressing over time. There are a lot of campfires out there in the world and trying to get them all at once is a daunting task.
<Scenario> Our first pass on this will be to enable campfires in social centers and we hope to have those available as part of our Book 10 content update.

<Amrac> <Vantre> hi - i'd like to ask the devs if they'll be implementing any features to make organising kinships easier (like kin banks, player notes) or making it easier to use 3rd party add ons for this please
<LOTRO_Patience> Hey Vantre! More features will be added for kinships as we add content, including things like storage. They won't come in immediately, but will be added gradually.

<Amrac> <Sik> As I understand it, it was stated previously that end-game gear would be available from various areas of the game, and that the quality of the gear obtained from different places would be somewhat balanced. As it stands this is definately not the case, with crafting gear being vastly superior and raided gear being near worthless. Are there any plans to review itemization at end-game?
<Orion-Turbine> You will begin to see some improvements to distribution of the higher-end loot in the near future. We are dedicated to the statements that we made so long ago and are planning on seeing the loot added so that more casual players can also reap the benefits. Itemization is an ongoing process.

<Amrac> <Lenwe> Will Crafters be able to repair the things they can craft? So maybe a weaponsmith can repair weapons and so on?
<LOTRO_Tens> Another great question!
<LOTRO_Tens> In Book 10 Weapon and Metalsmiths will be able to craft "Repair Anvil" recipes that will create an NPC that will repair your gear out in the field - wherever, whenever.
<LOTRO_Tens> So, in short, yes

<Amrac> <Idryal> <Wilbeard> Are all the areas hinted at on the map (such as Southfarthing, Far Downs, Grey Havens, Eregion) going to be added in the future, or are they merely there as a reference point?
<LOTRO_Tens> Scenario is working on his answer. I am giving him typing hints.
<Scenario> When we build an area, we like to give you guys a sense of its position in the world. As time advances, I wouldn't be surprised if we include some of the locations we've hinted at on the map. In fact - we are adding one of those hinted-at locations as part of our book 10 undapte.
<Scenario> Thanks for the hints Tens!
<LOTRO_Tens> Anytime

<Amrac> <Elysia> my question would be: are there any plans to add non-armour clothing to the game at any point?
<LOTRO_Patience> Hi Elysia! We know everyone wants what we call "social clothing," (especially role-players!) so we'd like to put it in the game as it moves forward in development.

And part 2

<Amrac> <Arckont> Is the actual "menace" level of the bard and hunter normal? i see so many bards or hunters ultra focused by mobs , the tank cannot handle mobs , they go on the bard or hunter if they attack, i see that many time on instances , are the dev's thinking about change that?
<Orion-Turbine> You need to find better tanks. :-) Seriously though, hunters and minstrels are where we want them. They gain threat when they overheal or overdamage. It then falls to the guardian or other tanks to drive their threat/menace higher.

<Amrac> <Laucian> Is the balance between ore nodes for use by weaponsmiths and metalsmiths being reassessed. They are reliant on these, whereas Jewellers can level by polishing stones. There seems to be just TOO much silver/gold nodes out there compared to Iron say.
<Scenario> With the Shores of Evendim update, we introduced "heavy" wood and metal resources to the world. Unfortunately, when adding the new resources, the ratios went out of balance. Smithing metal and Precious metal resources were put on an even ratio.
<Scenario> We've investigated the issue and are hoping to include a fix that will revert the ratio changes back to their pre-patch status in an upcoming bug-fix patch.

<Amrac> <Gerondrid> I just wanted to know why there are no belts / girdles. Not only for the stats, but even for the visual completion.
<LOTRO_Tens> The answer is simple: Sauron killed all of the belts and girdles in Middle-earth.
<LOTRO_Tens> He hates your pants!
<LOTRO_Patience> What's wrong with my pants?

<Amrac> <Berndr> Are you going to give us bigger bags?
<LOTRO_Tens> Well... sort of.
<LOTRO_Tens> Upgradeable Bank Space is coming online with our Book 10 Update.
<LOTRO_Tens> That should get the job done.

<Amrac> <Syvere> here goes: Do you have any plans for a makeover NPC so that players could change their hair styles, face, lips and other characteristics even after character creation?
<Orion-Turbine> Funny you should ask, there are some thoughts an plans in the distant future on this. We need to iron out some of the details before we give too much information out, so keep your eye on things in the future.

<Amrac> <Cabouse> Question: What improvements to monster play have there been thought up for future content?
<Orion-Turbine> Enhancements to monster play are ever evolving. In the next update, you will see the inclusion of trolls on the monster side of the battle and rangers on the player side of the battle. The losing side will have the ability to get these elite units into the field and in early testing we have found that people are really enjoying the trolls and rangers.
<Orion-Turbine> Add to that some major changes to the dynamic nature of the Ettenmoors and you will hopefully soon see a nice improvement to things for the monster faction and a little more dread cralwing into the hearts of Freeps everywhere.

<Amrac> <Romru> I want to know, if the 7th level of the kinship grades is the last one.
<LOTRO_Tens> As of now, the 7th level of Kinship Lifespan Rank is the last one - but you can expect more of them in the future (with additional benefits).
<LOTRO_Tens> Like belts

<Amrac> <Therendil> There seems to be alot of problem with players constantly camping rare monsters for crafting items is there gonna by anyway to regulate this?
<Scenario> Our landscape if covered with all sorts of rare encounters. Currently, some are more popular targets than others (in large part to their One-Shot Recipe component drops). With the Book 10 update, we are changing the way in which rare monsters are dropping their crafting components.
<Scenario> This new method will make a greater variety of rare monsters desirable as targets and lighten the crafting burden on specific rare monsters.

<Amrac> <masta23> ive read on the forum about the new gameplay additiona in book 10. Is there any other information on that?
<Orion-Turbine> I think if we said anything more than we have already that response would be most fowl. Rhidden gets the nod for that line, not me.
<LOTRO_Patience> But... it'll be really egg-citing.
<LOTRO_Tens> *cluck*

<Amrac> <Fluffypony> what was behind the developers decision to have 7 classes in the game, but only 5 free people slots on each server? and are there any plans to increase the slots to at least equal the number of classes?
<LOTRO_Patience> I love your name! <3
<Orion-Turbine> You never know whether or not we will open more slots in the future, for the moment there are five.
<Orion-Turbine> It was the number we chose, and the number we are sitcking with...right now.

<Amrac> <Arckont> Will the special edition's cloacks become "print" cloacks? (the special cloacks become fastly useless) then will , one day, they become a "skin" of cloack, for place the cloack we want into , for can keep the Magnificent special cloacks?
<LOTRO_Tens> We agree that this is a problem. We’re currently investigating ways to allow players to cosmetically update their appearance while still preserving the stats their top tier gear.
<LOTRO_Tens> We not ready to commit to a timeframe on this, but we really want it to happen.
<LOTRO_Tens> er, *We're*

<Amrac> <Mimogu> Is there any chance in the near future that more "pets" can be tamed? Pets from out of the woods, maybe? Like wolves different kinds of bears, spiders...trolls....?
<Orion-Turbine> In some far distant future there may be other pets for Lore-masters, but you will never see spiders, trolls or wolves. Those creatures are EVIL with a capital E. That is a no no. As far as near future, no, distant future...it is not completely out of the question.

<Amrac> <Ollie88> I haven't personally found any information about the differences of different damage types - westernesse vs. common damage for example. How about making it more clear to players what the effects of different damage types are?
<LOTRO_Tens> Good question Ollie88. This is something that we’d really like to do.
<LOTRO_Tens> We’re hoping expose more information to you guys about how our various damage types interact with monsters in the Book 11 timeframe.

<Amrac> <Panther2> When will the Housing system released?
<LOTRO_Tens> Tomorrow!
<LOTRO_Tens> Just kidding
* LOTRO_Patience smacks Tens.
<LOTRO_Patience> Don't listen to him.
* LOTRO_Patience mutters something about "devs" under her breath.
<LOTRO_Patience> Housing is for Book 11 in the autumn.

<Amrac> <Wobu> Currently, in a fellowship anyone clicking Continue in a quest dialog advances the quest and forces others to miss out on the enjoyment ofreading the quest dialog text. Are there plans to change this so that all fellowship members must click Continue before the quest advances?
<Orion-Turbine> I have been trying to crack the whip on that one, we are going to do our best to get the dialogue used to advance instance quests out to everyone in the fellowship. This will likely be handled by repeating the dialogue to everyone in the fellowship by the npc who was used to advance the quest.

<Amrac> <Liesse> For Satine: Any plans to increase the community interaction on the European forums? For instance, running Kinship of the week/month features and so on
<Satine> Hi Liesse, we have several ideas on the "to do" list that will increase community involvement on the website and forums. Now that launch is out of the way we're working with our web teams to get those ideas turned into reality. We have one or two things almost ready to go live however some of the more involved things will take a few months longer to get built. As soon as we have something concrete to tell you I'll post to the website and forums.

<Amrac> <iomesus> Are you going to introduce a flying mount? It isn't as if it isn't in keeping with the LOTR world (eagle mounts).
<Orion-Turbine> I do not remember reading about Gwahiir and the other eagles being part of an organization that ferried the Free people across Middle-earth.
<LOTRO_Tens> (aka. We have no plans to release flying mounts at this time.)
<LOTRO_Patience> But I want a flying pony! With purple hair and a pink tail!
<Orion-Turbine> This is not My Little Pony Online, Patience.
* LOTRO_Patience cries.

<Amrac> <Berndr> Will we be able to craft items for our house , for an instance woodworker creating beds, tables, chairs etc
<LOTRO_Tens> Yes. You can expect that most, if not all, of the crafting professions will get recipes to produce decorations for housing.
<LOTRO_Tens> Tables, chairs, etc. should all be covered.

<Amrac> <Dáin> - Is there anything likely to help the people who don't have enough time to find groups, or "gods forbid", enjoy soloing, to get through the xp wastelands that is the 45-50 zone?
<Orion-Turbine> From a content standpoint, our next two updates are focused on getting more 40+ solo content into the game, we hear you. :-)

<Amrac> This will be our last question for today. So please don't send us anymore questions for today, thanks!

<Amrac> <Peeps> has there been any thought given to the idea of perma death, everyone against everyone, once you die your account is deleted and you are ip banned. + everyone can fight everyone so its last man standing
<LOTRO_Patience> YESS!! I love it. Okay, so we'll be out of business really fast, but I LOVE it.
<Satine> Wow, that's harsh, even for me!
<LOTRO_Patience> Can we gang up and take out Orion first?
<LOTRO_Patience>[´/b] Pleeease?
[b]<LOTRO_Tens> That sounds good to me. Orion, you're hardcore, can you make this happen?
* LOTRO_Patience pulls out a list.
<Orion-Turbine> Listen, I caught enough flak for coming up with the hardcore titles of not dying before you get to 20. If I advocated this people would come to my house. I don't want that...
<LOTRO_Patience> I have this list here... I'll form alliances with players to have these taken out first.
<LOTRO_Patience>
<Orion-Turbine> ...on the other hand, that would be AWESOME!
<LOTRO_Patience> DEATH BY HOBNANIGANS!!!
<LOTRO_Tens> Heck, Orion even hardcore *cluck*-play
<Satine> lol
<Orion-Turbine> *cluck*
<LOTRO_Tens> we, even wanted
<LOTRO_Patience> Okay, okay...
<LOTRO_Patience> I think we'd better go
<LOTRO_Tens> er, even wanted.... gah!
<LOTRO_Patience> It's okay Tens. We'll get you some more coffee.
<LOTRO_Tens> Brian not working!
<Scenario> I think Keth has a stash of Red Bull somewhere
<LOTRO_Patience> And a stenographer.
<Orion-Turbine> And rum...
<Amrac> Thanks to the devs and Satine for joining us once again here in the IRC to answer so many questions! And thanks of course to all of you for providing us with so many great questions!
<LOTRO_Patience> Brian's working. I'm not so sure about your brain, though.
<LOTRO_Tens> lol
<LOTRO_Patience> Thanks for having us, everyone. We'll see you in a few weeks! And have fun in Evendim!!
<Satine> Before anyone cries fowl-play, I'm afraid that's all we have time for tonight. Thanks for all the fantastic questions and sorry if yours was not answered on this occasion. Don't forget that the EU dev chats are on every last Thursday of each month so come again next time and bring your questions!
<Satine> If you'd like to talk about tonight's dev chat, then visit this thread on the LOTRO-Europe forums! http://community.codemasters.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2796728#post2796728
<Satine> Thanks for coming and goodnight!
<Orion-Turbine> Thank you all for coming, we will see you next time. If we can ween ourselves away from the gin and juice.
<Scenario> Thanks a lot for the questions everyone! Have a great evening!
* LOTRO_Patience waves.
<LOTRO_Patience> See ya
<LOTRO_Tens> Thanks for coming everyone. It was fun, as always.

thanks for leting us know.

next update i will be ableto make bracelets and other jeweler stuff then. nice