Star Trek Online: Budget D7
The current Klingon Recruitment Event in Star Trek Online is a great opportunity for new and returning players. The revamped Klingon storyline really hits the mark, offering an adventure that is packed to the gunwales with lore appropriate themes and homages. Basically you get to shout Qapla' a lot and while dispatching your enemies with the business end of your bat'leth. You even get to fight alongside Kahless the Unforgettable himself. Cryptic certainly know how to use their license effectively, offering not only a fanservice but a genuinely well conceived narrative. So let it suffice to say, I created a new Klingon alt (choosing a Discovery era Klingon this time round) and have powered through the four story arcs. K’Olin has now reached level 52 and the rank of Lieutenant General. I have benefited greatly by reclaiming gear and equipment that has been account unlocked by other alts.
The current Klingon Recruitment Event in Star Trek Online is a great opportunity for new and returning players. The revamped Klingon storyline really hits the mark, offering an adventure that is packed to the gunwales with lore appropriate themes and homages. Basically you get to shout Qapla' a lot and while dispatching your enemies with the business end of your bat'leth. You even get to fight alongside Kahless the Unforgettable himself. Cryptic certainly know how to use their license effectively, offering not only a fanservice but a genuinely well conceived narrative. So let it suffice to say, I created a new Klingon alt (choosing a Discovery era Klingon this time round) and have powered through the four story arcs. K’Olin has now reached level 53 and the rank of Lieutenant General. I have benefited greatly by reclaiming gear and equipment that has been account unlocked by other alts.
So far I have played through the game using a Tier 6 Qib Intel Battlecruiser that is part of the Delta Rising: Operations Pack. It scales to level and has proven most useful. However, like many STO players, I hanker after the iconic D7. There are currently three Tier 6 variants of the D7 in the game but they are only available from Infinity Promotion Research & Development Packs, Duty Officer Packs and Infinity Lock Boxes. The odds of finding one when opening any of these are low. Alternatively you can buy one from another player via the in game exchange but the prices are impractical. Hence I am not likely to be getting a Tier 6 D7. However, there is a compromise available. It may not satisfy players who like to pursue maximum DPS but for the average STO player, this is a viable solution. Why not purchase the Fleet K't'inga Battlecruiser Retrofit, which is Tier 5 and then upgrade it?
To purchase the Fleet K't'inga Battlecruiser Retrofit, you will need 4 Fleet Modules (which cost 500 Zen each), 20,000 Fleet Credits and access to a Fleet. Your character has to be level 50 or above. Make sure you buy the Fleet version of the ship and not the regular version which is NOT upgradeable. Next you will need a Starship Upgrade Requisition (cost 700 Zen) which will make your ship Tier 5-U. This will increase the hull, add an extra console seat and access to Starship Mastery passive trait system. And then if you apply an Experimental Ship Upgrade Token (cost 1000 Zen) you will add a further ship device slot, universal console slot and the ability to use an extra starship trait. You will now have a D7 with 12 console slots and 4 device slots for the cost of 3,700 Zen. All this will cost about £32 but it’s ultimately a lot cheaper than buying dozens of lock box keys and hoping to luck.
As you’ve probably surmised, I chose this option. For those with much deeper pockets you can always search the internet for third party sellers and buy a Tier 6 D7 for cash. But it will set you back about $190 or so. Frankly, I think the upgraded Fleet K't'inga Battlecruiser Retrofit is the best option for players who want the iconic vessel but aren’t looking for the best stats. This hybrid solution offers a ship with an acceptable hull and if you equip the right consoles and weapons you won’t be underpowered. It will definitely have no difficulty dealing with PVE content. This version of the D7 unlocks 4 skin variants and offers a degree of customisation, so you should be able to get the look you are striving for. So if like me you really want to sport that classic Klingon look then consider this budget option. Don’t let any petaQ tell you otherwise.
Keeping Up
I was a teenager during the eighties and the music that I listened to at the time was a major part of my overall experience. My musical taste influenced how I dressed and sometimes even determined friendships. Going to a gig and seeing music performed live was a major rite of passage. Furthermore, due to there only being a handful of TV channels in the UK at the time, meant that certain key programs were responsible for the dissemination of a broad spectrum of musical genres. Hence, while you waited for a band that you liked to come on, you’d sit and be exposed to a wealth of different artists. Something that tends not to happen nowadays as there is far more choice available. My passion for music persisted throughout the nineties and then began to wane round about the turn of the century. Work and the practicalities of daily life made it increasingly difficult to “keep up”. I used to read the music press and know about contemporary artists. I no longer do this. I often don’t even know what the current Number 1 record is.
I was a teenager during the eighties and the music that I listened to at the time was a major part of my overall experience. My musical taste influenced how I dressed and sometimes even determined friendships. Going to a gig and seeing music performed live was a major rite of passage. Furthermore, due to there only being a handful of TV channels in the UK at the time, meant that certain key programs were responsible for the dissemination of a broad spectrum of musical genres. Hence, while you waited for a band that you liked to come on, you’d sit and be exposed to a wealth of different artists. Something that tends not to happen nowadays as there is far more choice available. My passion for music persisted throughout the nineties and then began to wane round about the turn of the century. Work and the practicalities of daily life made it increasingly difficult to “keep up”. I used to read the music press and know about contemporary artists. I no longer do this. I often don’t even know what the current Number 1 record is.
The last twenty years has seen a major shift in focus of youth culture. The sales of physical media such as CDs have declined and music is now consumed via streaming services or even YouTube. The concept of the album is waning. Consumers favour selected tracks and personally curated playlists, rather than sitting down and studiously listening to all the tracks from a classic album in order. Traditional terrestrial TV no longer commands the audiences that it used to. Streaming TV means we can watch what we want, when we want. Subsequently, younger people no longer make TV such a focal point of their leisure activities. Twitch, YouTube are often their first ports of call for information, news and finding out about the things they enjoy. And then there are video games. A medium that for many is now the major social hub of their online activities. For many, games are where you find out about music and pop culture by the references that exist within them. Traditional mediums are no longer a core facet of their culture. Therefore the following article on the Guardian website came as no surprise. If you’re sceptical, ask any parent who has a child old enough to be enamoured with Fortnite.
I see no point in lamenting these social changes, nor passing judgement upon them. As Spock said “change is the essential process of all existence” and who am I to contradict such wisdom? Being au fait with a particular subject can at times feel like a job in itself. Certainly, keeping abreast of the music I liked felt that way during my teen years. It took time and effort to read the music press and then listen to everything. Plus this interest would then compete with my love of cinema, as both would monopolise large swathes of time. Frankly, reaching an age when I could let some of these things slide was a major relief. Between 2006 and 2011 I worked as an IT contractor and would often find myself in an environment in which a radio would be on all day, often tuned to a generic commercial channel. It is interesting how exposure to such a thing, even if you are not consciously paying attention to it, suddenly increases your familiarity. For a short period I became aware of the UK charts once again.
For over a decade, I have been writing to varying degrees about the video games industry and that has become a focal point of interest and fandom for me. Like music in my youth, this has dictated what I read, what media I consume online and has even had an impact upon the social circles in which I move. Sadly, I find that my excitement for this genre is waning, as it has exactly the same failings as other entertainment industries. And so I find myself once again at a point where I feel it is time to simply stop immersing myself in this particular interest. That not to say that I shall ignore it outright. I shall simply start to slow down my consumption of industry news and stop trying to be aware of all major new releases and industry trends. I shall swap being proactive with reactive. If an interesting nugget of gaming news crosses my path or I encounter a new game that has become a talking point, I shall no doubt write about such things. But I no longer feel the need to spend the first 90 minutes of my day, trying to read dozens of gaming news articles via Feedly.
One of the best lessons anyone can learn in life is that you cannot do everything. Once I made peace with this concept I felt a lot better in myself. Therefore it is not so difficult nowadays to let a hobby or pastime go. I miss podcasting but I cannot see myself fitting all the work it entails into my schedule. At present I have sufficient time to play games, watch movies and read. Those activities provide me with sufficient material to write about. But I no longer feel a compulsion to totally immerse myself into my leisure activities, nor do I seek to be an “armchair expert”. It no longer bothers me if someone mentions an artist that I’m not immediately familiar with. If I’m sufficiently interested then Google will yield an answer. Therefore, I am content to embrace the cyclical nature of fandom, hobbies and interests. I prefer now to savour a bottle of fine wine rather than strive to consume the entire vintage.
LOTRO and Community Management
Hanlon’s Razor asserts “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”. Therefore it is a useful tool when applied to politics, business management and public discourse. All of which are rife with contention and rancour. However, this is often due to human incompetence rather than premeditated malevolence. So with this maxim in mind, let us consider the conundrum that is the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, its developer Standing Stone Games and their ongoing propensity for bad community relations and poor business decisions. Last year, there were major server outages which kept the game offline for a substantial amount of time. Despite SSG enjoying a community that is broadly sympathetic to their cause, they handled the problem appallingly. The community manager at times gives the impression that doing his job is positively distasteful to him. However, the recent acquisition of SSG by Enad Global 7, gave the community hope that 2021 would be a better year. Sadly, nearly a month into the New Year and SSG have managed to upset their customers yet again.
Hanlon’s Razor asserts “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”. Therefore it is a useful tool when applied to politics, business management and public discourse. All of which are rife with contention and rancour. However, this is often due to human incompetence rather than premeditated malevolence. So with this maxim in mind, let us consider the conundrum that is the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, its developer Standing Stone Games and their ongoing propensity for bad community relations and poor business decisions. Last year, there were major server outages which kept the game offline for a substantial amount of time. Despite SSG enjoying a community that is broadly sympathetic to their cause, they handled the problem appallingly. The community manager at times gives the impression that doing his job is positively distasteful to him. However, the recent acquisition of SSG by Enad Global 7, gave the community hope that 2021 would be a better year. Sadly, nearly a month into the New Year and SSG have managed to upset their customers yet again.
Earlier in January, SSG tested Update 28.3 on the Bullroarer server. Among the various changes to the game were several restrictions made upon Scrolls of Empowerment which are an essential item for levelling your Legendary Weapon in the game. The proposed changes effectively limited player access to this resource within existing content and increased the availability in the latest “mini expansion”. Effectively the player base were potentially being coerced into buying War of Three Peaks to access SoEs and having to work harder. To say there was a public outcry is an understatement. The LOTRO community and the gaming press were scathing of this crass proposal. So SSG dialed backed the changes but not in any meaningful fashion and posted their revised proposal on the official forums. The playerbase again pointed out that acquisition of SoEs is still far from equitable but SSG remained deaf to their requests and intransigent to the last. Today, Update 28.3 was formerly released on the live servers and the changes became official, multiplying the grind for SoEs by approximately five times.
This incident needs to be considered within a wider context, as SSG have “form” for making decisions that fly in the face of good community relations. In fact Community Management has been a hot potato for both Turbine and now Standing Stone Games since 2009 when the game brought out the lacklustre Siege of Mirkwood expansion and was beginning to transition (behind the scenes) into a free to play game. Information has always been slow in coming and problems are all too often dealt with with an air of annoyance, rather than empathy. Now no one thinks that being a CM is an easy position and most adult gamers understand that business decisions are made at a senior level. Therefore community management is mainly about PR and pouring oil on troubled waters, rather than hands on change. However, SSG seems to fail to understand this and their current incumbent CM for LOTRO, Cordovan (AKA Jerry Snook), certainly comes across like a square peg in a round hole. His responses to player criticism and concerns often appear indifferent and implicitly passive-aggressive. One wonders if he even enjoys or wants the position he holds.
LOTRO has endured bad community relations for over a decade now and one has to ponder how and why a company such as Turbine/SSG so consistently manages to get things wrong. It may be down to the fact that it is a relatively small company which has key members of staff that have remained in position throughout the company's lifecycle. It could be possible that there simply isn’t the talent in-house to provide someone who is sufficiently au fait with the requirements of modern community management. Perhaps the company is so focused upon keeping the gaming running and their staff employed that dealing with their customer base is simply a priority that is much further down the list. However, many players were hoping that the EG 7 acquisition would potentially fix this perennial problem, as they have implied that they will be investing in the game.
LOTRO is a unique game with a correspondingly unique community. There is a strong core of mature and thoroughly invested players who hold the game in a great deal of affection. They are understanding and forgiving with regard to the games business and development decisions, possibly too much so I would argue. But at present, LOTRO is the only virtual Middle-earth in town and so in some respects the player base has nowhere else to go. However, I do believe that even their stoic patience is beginning to run thin. A cursory look at the official forums will show lifetime account holders and LOTRO aficionados one step away from throwing in the towel. Certainly, there could at least be a drop in subscriptions. Some have surmised that EG 7 may have arrived too late and that SSG are flailing around as the business slowly fails. There’s certainly more going on than meets the eye and eventually the truth will out. In the meantime if SSG wants to do anything positive to help the current situation then they need to focus on their community relations and management. Because at present it is an active impediment to the well being of LOTRO.
Another 5 of My Favourite Quality-of-Life Mechanics in MMOs
Last year I wrote a post about several “quality-of-life mechanics” found in MMOs. Systems and functionality that just make a game more manageable or convenient. Despite having many features in common, MMOs are far from identical in their interface and controls. If you’re a genre aficionado, then you can usually bluff your way through a new game and decipher how to play it. But for new players, often just trying to figure out how to do a simple thing, like find your skill points, can be an uphill struggle. However, every now and then, you’ll come across some simple functionality in a game that is useful and makes a task much easier. So I have collated another five “quality-of-life mechanics” that I feel are significant and beneficial to the player. Some are very minor but that does not diminish their value. Sometimes, less can indeed be more.
Last year I wrote a post about several “quality-of-life mechanics” found in MMOs. Systems and functionality that just make a game more manageable or convenient. Despite having many features in common, MMOs are far from identical in their interface and controls. If you’re a genre aficionado, then you can usually bluff your way through a new game and decipher how to play it. But for new players, often just trying to figure out how to do a simple thing, like find your skill points, can be an uphill struggle. However, every now and then, you’ll come across some simple functionality in a game that is useful and makes a task much easier. So I have collated another five “quality-of-life mechanics” that I feel are significant and beneficial to the player. Some are very minor but that does not diminish their value. Sometimes, less can indeed be more.
Star Trek Online: Away Teams and Combat Pets.
Some MMOs include AI companions that can join you on quests. I used to enjoy the virtual company of Guss Tuno in Star Wars: The Old Republic and his amusing quips and personal foibles. However, Star Trek Online goes a step further and allows players to take a 4 man away team with them on ground missions. You can pick your away team from your Bridge Officer personnel and have whatever mix of classes you wish (Engineering, Science and Tactical). Hence, a well balanced team can provide heals, buffs and DPS support. Furthermore, if you wish to play more tactically, you can assign basic instructions to your away team, such as holding a position or suppressing fire. It’s all a bit hit and miss at times but it adds to the fun and has practical benefits. If you are defeated you can opt to respawn or call a team member over to revive you. If you have an android as part of your away team they have the ability to reboot themselves. If the entire team wipes they will self revive and then resurrect everyone else. You also get to customise your away teams gear, so you can make them very robust if you choose wisely.
Like other MMOs STO has cosmetic pets. But it also has a modest collection of combat pets that can be used offensively during ground missions. It is possible to equip up to 4 of these at a time, although I wouldn’t advise such a strategy as it comes at the expense of other useful ground equipment. Combat pets can be very effective if used in conjunction with deployable turrets and other ground support weapons. Plus it is great fun to watch a combat Horta leisurely sliding over to the enemy. However the jewel in the crown is the Bio-Engineered Furiadon. Who doesn’t want an armoured dinosaur equipped with lasers fighting at their side?
LOTRO: Simple Rally Horn.
The Lord of the Rings Online has a huge game world. Standing Stone Games’ virtual Middle-earth has grown prodigiously over the last 14 years. If you want to play through content with another player or need assistance, it can be quite a chore for one party to travel to the other. The is a complex network of stables and auto mounts across the various zones and it can take a while to get from A to B at times. However, the simple rally horn is a consumable item that will summon another player to your location, if you are grouped with them. They can be obtained from the Hobbit Gifts, which are a daily login reward, or purchased from the store. They are incredibly useful and I always keep a few in my bag for occasions when I want to team up with another player. Because so many play LOTRO PVE content solo these days, these items are often overlooked.
Guild Wars 2: Revival.
Over the years, the MMO genre has experimented with various systems that handle player “death” or “defeat”. I’ve never liked “corpse walking” as it is a major inconvenience. Many games have a specific class that can revive, resurrect or heal a downed player which is fine if you have one in your group but not so good if you don’t. In STO, your AI companions can revive you which is beneficial. However, I feel that Guild Wars 2 handles this mechanic the best, insofar as every player has the ability to revive another. As it is a game with wide expansive zones and dynamic events it makes sense to have this common skill. When a player is defeated and in a “downed” state, they can either retreat to a nearby waypoint, or be resurrected by one or many players. The more players that participate, the quicker the process is. It is a simple and efficient process and I wish it was available in other games.
The Elder Scrolls Online: The Crafting Bag.
Storage, bag space and inventory slots are a perennial problem in most MMOs. Many players feel obliged to store everything “just in case”. Therefore, you can never have enough storage and therein lies the problem. Monetising bag space is an easy source of revenue. Perhaps the biggest culprit for hoarding space are crafting items. I tend not to craft in MMOs but I do trade in such commodities. So even I am not immune from this problem. Which brings me onto The Elder Scrolls Online and the way the issue is handled in that game. The Craft Bag is a unique subset of the player's inventory, that does not take up any space and can store an unlimited amount of all crafting and style materials. Therefore when you are out in the world playing through content, armour, weapons and jewellery etc will be deposited in your regular bag space but crafting items are automatically segregated into the craft bag and doesn’t steal space. The only caveat is that this facility is only available as part of an ESO Plus subscription. However, I usually play ESO for 2 to 3 months a year and during that time, I always subscribe due to the practical benefits of this bag.
So these are another five examples of “quality-of-life mechanics in MMOs” that I find useful and consider game enhancing. I’m sure there are plenty of other examples. Feel free to leave comments below any that you enjoy and would like to mention.
LOTRO: Proposed Changes to Scrolls of Empowerment in Update 28.3
2020 was a tumultuous year for Standing Stone Games and their MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. The initial success they enjoyed at Easter through offering so much free content was tempered by the server outages over June and July. Their systemic communication failure throughout this period did not help matters. However, the news regarding Enad Global 7 and their acquisition of Daybreak Game Company in December was well received by fans. A graphical overhaul and a console port were both mentioned in an investor presentation. The New Year started well with the news that the first six expansions for LOTRO have been bundled together for the bargain price of £47 (including VAT). However, matters have taken a turn for the worst after a post on the official game forums caught players attention.
2020 was a tumultuous year for Standing Stone Games and their MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. The initial success they enjoyed at Easter through offering so much free content was tempered by the server outages over June and July. Their systemic communication failure throughout this period did not help matters. However, the news regarding Enad Global 7 and their acquisition of Daybreak Game Company in December was well received by fans. A graphical overhaul and a console port were both mentioned in an investor presentation. The New Year started well with the news that the first six expansions for LOTRO have been bundled together for the bargain price of £47 (including VAT). However, matters have taken a turn for the worst after a post on the official game forums caught players attention.
It would appear that the latest test build on the Bullroarer server also includes some changes to both Reputation Accelerator Tomes and Scrolls of Empowerment. If these alterations are carried over to the live game they will not be well received. Here are the details as they currently stand.
Physical Mastery and Tactical Mastery values on Legendary Item Titles are being increased across all tiers.
Scrolls of Empowerment from the Rangers of Ithilien Quartermaster now cap at max-tier 35.
Scrolls of Empowerment from the Dol Amroth Quartermaster now cap at max-tier 35.
Scrolls of Empowerment from Narnaith in Minas Tirith now Cap at max-tier 44.
The quest "March on Gundabad: Additional Steps (Daily)" now awards 2 Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier cap of 83.
The quest "The War Effort: Threats to the Battlefield" now awards 3 Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier cap of 83.
Note: These changes will not affect items that are already in the player's possession, be they in the inventory, vault storage, housing storage, mail, or elsewhere.
Tradeable, unbound reputation granting tokens now have appropriate region quests gating their usage.
Small Reputation Accelerator Tomes offered on Skirmish Vendors now Bind to character on acquire and have a Max Usage Level of 100.
Scrolls of Empowerment are essential in levelling your Legendary Items. I cannot easily explain the esoteric nature of this game system because it is an utter mess in its present state. Let it suffice to say that SoEs boost the legacies on your weapon, increasing stats that the player has chosen, through 83 tiers. Obtaining SoEs has always been a chore in LOTRO. Despite new content being regularly added there is seldom any that offer these items in any respectable quantity. Hence most players farm older content from Minas Tirith to gain these. However, in Update 28.3 (which is currently being tested on the Bullroarer server), the SoEs that are currently gained from Ithilien, Dol Amroth and Minas Tirith are to be gated at specific tiers. If the legacies on you Legendary Weapons fall within these parameters you can use them. If not then you cannot. It is this issue that is the potential problem. As it stands at the moment, due to the chaotic state of the entire LI system, players use an expedient workaround to gain a resource they need. This change will cut that resource off for many players whose legacies on their LI are over halfway towards the cap.
It would appear that these proposed changes are due to SSG trying to manage LI progression on the two Legendary Servers. Content is released at a slower pace and as they stand at present, the level cap on both Anor and Ithil is 100 where it is 130 on the live standard servers. From a development point of view it is not cost effective to have to maintain two systems, so I can see why SSG have gone down this route But once again we are presented with something potentially being taken away and not replaced with something comparable. SSG are proposing to make the required SoEs available via repeatable content but that is only available in their latest “mini expansion”, War of Three Peaks. If you do not own this, then you cannot access it. Naturally there are store based alternatives available to unlock legacy tiers. If these changes are made to the live game then players will have to purchase War of Three Peaks or look to the store. This is far from a benign incentive.
With regard to the proposed changes to the Small Reputation Accelerator Tomes, this is another example of removing a benefit without an equitable replacement. The barter currencies used to acquire these items are accessible across your account. Therefore a player could use marks earned by a high level alt to buy a rep booster for a newer, lower level alt. Making these items bind to character diminishes their benefit. Again, there is naturally a store alternative. This proposed change is not as potentially damaging as the one regarding SoEs. But ultimately the degree of inconvenience, be it big or small, is not the point. There is a fundamental principle of quid pro quo at stake here and it is being eroded. Hopefully, the feedback on the forums will alert SSG to the PR disaster that potentially awaits them. However, given their track record, I suspect they may well just blithely walk into it.
Update:
As of Thursday 14.01.21 SSG have revised their plan regarding SoEs and made the following statement via the official forums.
Regarding Scrolls of Empowerment:
We really do want to make the process of acquiring these scrolls more varied and more meaningful at a given end-game, but we also want the acquisition process to be appropriate to the level of the content. We'll be fixing a math error quickly discovered by the community regarding how we set tier limits on scrolls from Gondor, which makes them largely useless for Imbued items unless your character is on a Legendary World with a level cap below 115. We also intend to address a gap in available scrolls for solo landscape players at level caps 105, 115, and 120.
Here are our current 28.3 plans for Scrolls of Empowerment:
Scrolls of Empowerment available to barter from the Dol Amroth Quartermaster will cap at max-tier 44 (since this content predates imbuement).
Scrolls of Empowerment available to barter from the Rangers of Ithilien Quartermaster will cap at max-tier 59.
Scrolls of Empowerment available to barter from Narnaith in Minas Tirith will cap at max-tier 59.
Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier of 59 will be added to daily and weekly quests on the Quartermaster (Host of the West).
Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier of 69 will be added to the Restoring the Three Kingdoms quest in Northern Mirkwood.
Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier of 79 will be added to the Protecting the Beornings, Elves, & Woodmen quests in Vales of Anduin.
The quest "March on Gundabad: Additional Steps (Daily)" will award 2 Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier cap of 83.
The quest "The War Effort: Threats to the Battlefield" will award 3 Scrolls of Empowerment with a max-tier cap of 83.
Cyberpunk 2077 and Third-Person Perspective
There’s no point in dancing around the issue, Cyberpunk 2077 has failed to maintain a hold on me and I have not touched the game for over a week. I have niggles about the combat system and navigating the wonderfully realised world of Night City. The biggest selling points for the game are the central story and the wealth of well conceived side quests. Sadly all of these positive attributes are hamstrung by one fact that ultimately spoils my enjoyment. I don’t care for the first person perspective that developers CD Projekt RED have chosen for the game. I understand that they feel that combat is better served by this mechanic and that the entire FPS genre provides credence to their argument. However, I find that this decision comes at the expense of your character. This is a Role Playing Game with a complex character customisation system. It strikes me as incongruous that after lovingly creating your own concept of V, the main protagonist, that you spend your entire game unable to see them.
There’s no point in dancing around the issue, Cyberpunk 2077 has failed to maintain a hold on me and I have not touched the game for over a week. I have niggles about the combat system and navigating the wonderfully realised world of Night City. The biggest selling points for the game are the central story and the wealth of well conceived side quests. Sadly all of these positive attributes are hamstrung by one fact that ultimately spoils my enjoyment. I don’t care for the first person perspective that developers CD Projekt RED have chosen for the game. I understand that they feel that combat is better served by this mechanic and that the entire FPS genre provides credence to their argument. However, I find that this decision comes at the expense of your character. This is a Role Playing Game with a complex character customisation system. It strikes me as incongruous that after lovingly creating your own concept of V, the main protagonist, that you spend your entire game unable to see them.
An example of the default first-person perspective in Cyberpunk 2077
CD Projekt RED made it clear quite early in the game’s development that Cyberpunk 2077 would be first-person. I hoped that over the years this decision would be tempered and that the final release would include the ability to change between first-person and third-person views, as with Skyrim and The Elder Scrolls Online. Sadly this didn’t exactly happen. The game does provide an optional third-person view when driving and players can view their custom avatar when using the mirror in V’s apartment. But beyond these instances, the game plays out in first-person view. Again there is an argument to be had that this is beneficial for the cutscenes and dialogue options, allowing you to see the facial animations of the characters that you’re interacting with. Due to the lack of peripheral vision which is a foible of the first-person view in video games, the arrival of new people can catch you unaware. This does add to the drama sometimes. However, the opposite is also true. The locked in, first-person perspective restricts you and impacts upon your effectiveness in combat.
A glitch shows the native third-person model is “malformed”
Because the game is not designed to support a continuous external view of your character, it has been discovered that your avatar is quite bizarre when viewed in third-person. Several gamers have posted videos on YouTube showing a glitch allowing them a third-person perspective and their avatar is missing a head and has a strange elongated body. However, that has not discouraged the modding community. Jelle Bakker has created a means to play the game in third person although it is by his own admission not perfect and remains a work in progress. So far, the results are interesting although rapidly turning causes your character’s hips to become out of sync with the upper body. At present combat in this perspective breaks the character animations with limbs missing or moving unrealistically. Swimming is also somewhat stilted, lacking in sufficient leg movement.
The current third-person mod breaks character animations
I did some research on various permutations of this mod, as obviously others gamers are attempting to do the same. So far I’ve not seen any footage of dialogue scenes from the main story shown in third-person. Perhaps it cannot be implemented during these parts of the game for technical reasons. Or it may be a case that I just haven’t found the right video so far. What I may do is postpone any further playing of Cyberpunk 2077 and wait for the game to be patched further by developer CD Projekt RED and see how development of this mod progresses. If it can be perfected and easily integrated into the game then I may attempt a new play through and see if the third-person perspective makes the experience more enjoyable. Perhaps this mod may even lead to a formally produced third-person patch by CD Projekt RED at some point. We can but dream.
A Year in Gaming
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
Retrospective posts such as this can be a sprawling mess. There is also potential to cover the same old ground that I’ve covered in my monthly summaries “A Month in Gaming”. So I’ll try to be as succinct as I can. Firstly I won’t dwell too much on the iniquities of the video game industry as I’ve covered that elsewhere. Let it suffice to say that the notion of the “rock star developer” and the ethical publisher have proven false. Buying a triple A mainstream game is as morally compromised as buying a pair of jeans made by child labour. But let’s not get caught up in ethics. That’s another post. The pandemic meant that I, like many others, had far more leisure time this year and hence I spent that time gaming. It’s been a good year for video games publishers and the revenue has rolled in. Have I had fun while playing more games? Yes. The games have proven engaging and they also provide a lot to write about, so it’s a win, win scenario from my perspective.
So, what have I played? Let’s start with MMOs.
Star Trek Online: This game celebrated its ten year anniversary this year and celebrated with a lore infused two part story in February which was an utter joy to fans. Sadly the pandemic has somewhat reduced the flow of major story content but there has been further feature episodes produced. I rolled a new character and raised them to level cap by playing events and Task Force Operations. I’m now trying to play through all story missions in order and refamiliarize myself with the narrative arc of the game, which has become confused over the years. I finally achieved my long term goal and obtained a Tier 6 Constitution Legendary Miracle Worker Light Cruiser (a ship that looks like the original Enterprise) and I’m enjoying slowly working towards gear upgrades and advancing in-game systems. When you already have a high end alt that basically has everything available in the game it can become somewhat dull playing that character. Having to start from scratch another is quite challenging. Plus I just love the Trek vibe that is so strong in this game. It covers a multitude of sins.
The Lord of the Rings Online: LOTRO gave away a wealth of content free of charge earlier this year and players returned in droves. And then there were the server outages and the games fortunes took a nosedive. The “mini expansion” was obviously done out of dire financial need but it didn’t help flagging community relations. And then at the eleventh hour developer’s Standing Stone Games were bought out by Enad Global 7 and suddenly a wealth of questions that have been outstanding for the last few years became clear. I have enjoyed the content that I played in LOTRO of late but it doesn seem to be stuck in a rinse and repeat mindset. I’m hoping that a new owner will mean that content will come more often and will be broader in scope. I have a great deal of affection for this MMO and I would like to see it continue, rather than slowly fade away. Let’s see if a Producer’s Letter and a “roadmap” are forthcoming in early 2021.
Neverwinter: I returned to this game briefly for the first time since its beta test in 2013. I enjoyed the hybrid style of action combat and the atmosphere and aesthetic of the game. But it makes that typical MMO mistake of focusing too much on endgame and trivialising the early content. So I have already drifted away.
The Elder Scrolls Online: I started the year playing ESO but as I stated before, you can’t have too many MMOs on the go at the same time or else you end up spreading yourself too thinly and not getting enough enjoyment out of any of them. So I stopped subscribing but briefly returned in June for the Greymoor expansion. Oddly, I wrote a post about Harrowstorms providing a simple guide regarding where they occur and the quickest way to get to them. It proved one of the most popular items I’ve written in 2020.
Dauntless: Not strictly an MMO but it does share a lot of similar mechanics. This is another game that I played during its initial testing period. I returned to find it streamlined, polished and great fun. It is similar to Monster Hunter: World but far more accessible and sociable. It’s well worth a try and has a great art style.
Single player and multiplayer games:
Deathtrap Dungeon: A superb adaptation of the Ian Livingstone adventure book with its branching narrative. An avuncular Eddie Master sits in an armchair and narrates the story while the player chooses text based options. Combat is carried out by the roll of virtual dice. It’s wonderfully old school and an utter breath of fresh air from modern glossy triple A guff.
Call of Duty Warzone/Modern Warfare: I finally returned to the FPS genre after a break of seven or eight years. I bought this reboot of Modern Warfare in April and by that time, Warzone, the Battle Royale version of the game, had just launched. Simply put I had great fun playing up until November and then the next iteration of CoD was launched. Warzone endures but is now weighted towards content from the latest instalment Black Ops: Cold War. Modern Warfare will no longer receive any content updates for multiplayer and its player base will slowly diminish. All of which is an object lesson in the ephemeral nature of video games and the franchise treadmill.
Fall Guys: A fun Battle Royale game? Can there be such a thing? Yes. And Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is just that. I find that if I play this sparingly, then I don’t get too frustrated. It’s amusing to dress up in silly virtual costumes and indulge in what I can only describe as a video game version of Takeshi Castle. However, I still think the game needs some tweaking to adjust certain “human factors”. Plus I haven’t yet won five games in a row and gained a crown. I doubt if I ever will. That peeves me. However, my Granddaughters love this game so I’ll keep it installed.
The Sinking City: Frogwares make the popular Sherlock Holmes games and so The Sinking City shares a lot of the same investigative mechanics. It does have some bugs and not all the mechanics are as engaging as they could be but I really liked this odd, Lovecraft inspired game. It’s very atmospheric. Sometimes a game’s imperfections can be part of its appeal.
Cyberpunk 2077: Let us not discuss the hype surrounding this game or the fickle nature of gamers that projected their own hopes and dreams on to this product. CD Projeckt Red have tanked their own reputation by releasing broken versions for the previous generation of consoles and the game remains controversial. At some point I may write a lengthy blog post on my thoughts on this game, now that I’ve played sufficient to assess it. The short version of that future analysis is as follows. I love the story and the characters because it addresses complex adult issues in a challenging fashion. But I dislike the first person perspective and find that it ruins combat, which is in itself somewhat underwhelming. I never understand why a game that gives you such a rich and varied character creator and then elects to never let you see yourself in-game. Cyberpunk 2077 offers a big, visually impressive immersive world but it is lacking in interaction. It doesn’t feel as alive as the city of Los Santos in GTA V, although it looks better. My advice to those curious about this game is to buy it in six month times when it’s patched and on sale. And adjust your expectations accordingly.
So that’s what I played in 2020. Broadly I had fun. As for next year, I suspect I’ll keep playing games in a similar fashion. MMOs will continue to provide a staple and I’ll try various single player titles as the year progresses. It is customary when approaching the New Year to make predictions and many of my blogging friends will be doing such. I shall now bring the benefit of my fifty three years of “wisdom” to bear on the matter and give my thoughts on what is to come over the next twelve months. Game developers will hype and over sell their products. Gamers will get over excited and partisan debates will divide the community. Some folk will make lots of money and others won’t. Some games will be fun and others will not. Some gamers will be massive assholes, where others will be cuddly and nice. We’ll all keep grumbling but we’ll also keep playing. Finally, no matter how much things change, they will essentially stay the same. And Dwarves will still jump around annoyingly in my peripheral vision while I’m perusing the auction house. See you next year.
Video Games: Just Another Leisure Industry
I was going to start this post with the phrase “there was a time” but then it struck me, that sounds like the opening gambit of a power ballad, so I decided against it. Instead let’s keep it simple. I’ve always played video games. But overtime my relationship with this activity evolved from just being an amusing diversion into a major hobby that I became enamoured with. Two factors contributed to this change in perspective. Moving from console to PC gaming in the late nineties and playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) circa 2008. By 2010 I was regularly writing about gaming, immersing myself in the culture and participating in the wider community. I naively thought for a while that video games were a unique and exceptional manifestation of pop culture, compared to music, film and literature. However, ten years later, although it is clear that video games can at times be true art just like those other mediums, they also suffer from all the endemic failings and iniquities that exist in the other leisure industries.
I was going to start this post with the phrase “there was a time” but then it struck me, that sounds like the opening gambit of a power ballad, so I decided against it. Instead let’s keep it simple. I’ve always played video games. But overtime my relationship with this activity evolved from just being an amusing diversion into a major hobby that I became enamoured with. Two factors contributed to this change in perspective. Moving from console to PC gaming in the late nineties and playing massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) circa 2008. By 2010 I was regularly writing about gaming, immersing myself in the culture and participating in the wider community. I naively thought for a while that video games were a unique and exceptional manifestation of pop culture, compared to music, film and literature. However, ten years later, although it is clear that video games can at times be true art just like those other mediums, they also suffer from all the endemic failings and iniquities that exist in the other leisure industries.
The production of mainstream, so called triple A video games is a textbook example of how contemporary capitalism works and a microcosm of all its shitty foibles. Game developer’s may well have artistic visions and creative aspirations. Those that bank roll them seldom have such lofty ideals. Video games are products to be monetised, sold and used as a means to continuously generate revenue. This business necessity is not something bolted onto a game once it’s completed. It is something that directly shapes their creation. Hence we’re sold a base game; a starter pack as it were. If you want the complete experience, then you pay more. And despite the massive development costs, these products are intended to be ephemeral. The moment the ROI drops they are abandoned and replaced with new products. Therefore the short attention span of customers leads to the brief life cycle of premium games and perpetuates the treadmill of continuous new product culture.
The buck apparently doesn’t stop with Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft
Sadly, the video games industry has sadly proven itself to be as predatory, exploitative and emotionally dysfunctional as music and cinema. Employment rights, working conditions and pay are poor. The industry’s management structure attracts the usual suspects with their borderline sociopathic traits. Bullies, racists, misogynists and those with a penchant for sexual assault act with impunity. Such individuals like to cultivate an image akin to rock stars, vicariously claiming to work in a hip, modern and creative line of work. But instead it’s just the same, seedy, entitled, spoilt middle-aged white men who seem to think the rules don’t apply to the. A malady that runs throughout modern life in western culture. Whenever such individuals are held to account and scrutinised, they quickly show themselves to be the modern equivalent of the wealthy mill owner from the 19th century. And in their misplaced vanity they always see themselves as the victims.
But there are other factors contributing to the negative state of the video games industry. The first is marketing, which like contemporary politics doesn’t wish to engage in any sort of discussion to justify itself. It merely wants unfettered access to multiple platforms and to be able to make statements unchallenged, irrespective of their veracity, integrity or legality. Hype culture, the wane of quality journalism along with a decline in critical thinking among consumers have contributed to the current hubristic stance adopted when promoting a new triple A game. And this insidious approach by sales and marketing enjoys a curious symbiotic relationship with that other Achilles heel of gaming, zealous fandom.
An all too common aspect of fandom these days
Fandom has become increasingly fundamentalist, binary and bellicose in recent years. It is tribal and at times devoid of reason. Criticism, commentary and analysis are rejected and any differing of opinion is seen as a personal attack. Fans continue to erroneously equate enjoying a product with having some sort of ownership of it. They’ll even pick a side and go to war over titles they haven’t even played yet. Such is the depth of emotional investment made. Furthermore, if a game falls short of expectations that gamers have created themselves, it is seen as an act of treason and a violation of one human rights. Again, you’ll find no difference between ardent video games fans and those of popular TV and cinematic franchises like Star Wars and Star Trek.
I used to enjoy my “love affair” with gaming. It was a new creative endeavour, that unlike pop music, TV and cinema had grown up over the course of my life. I was proud to be part of a writing and podcasting community that shared my affection. That community is still there and remains active but it has diminished. Many, like myself, have had their eyes opened to the unpleasant underbelly of the industry. An industry that does not reflect the diversity of its customers. An industry that is often immoral and unpleasant. An industry that refuses to take a stance against those fans that wish to usurp it and set its course. An industry that wants to have its cake and eat it. So ten years on, I still enjoy games. But I don’t have any illusions about their provenance. Many mainstream games are built upon the blood, sweat and tears of others. Just like cheap clothes made in developing countries. Or TV shows that purport to be about giving people a shot at fame but are really just the modern day equivalent of a Victorian freak show. The video games industry is exactly like all other industries and that is not in any way a compliment. Cognitive dissonance can only keep me tacitly supporting such things for so long. At some point they’ll be a parting of the ways.
Cyberpunk 2077: Too Much Information
In 1979 I started learning French, as it was a standard part of the UK school curriculum then. For the first year or two, I remember learning the rules of French grammar and keeping pace with what was being taught. And then in the third year, something odd happened. I was asked a question one day and my mind was blank. This wasn’t a case of forgetting something that one can recall when prompted. No. This was due to an informational void. I found myself at a point where I was suddenly and totally out of my depth. Somehow in the months prior, I had reached a point where I had stopped comprehending and absorbing what was being taught. And I had now strayed beyond and was no longer equipped to deal with the situation. For those wondering where I am going with this analogy, allow me to clarify. I found myself in a similar situation with the role playing game, Cyberpunk 2077, within hours (not years) of starting it.
In 1979 I started learning French, as it was a standard part of the UK school curriculum then. For the first year or two, I remember learning the rules of French grammar and keeping pace with what was being taught. And then in the third year, something odd happened. I was asked a question one day and my mind was blank. This wasn’t a case of forgetting something that one can recall when prompted. No. This was due to an informational void. I found myself at a point where I was suddenly and totally out of my depth. Somehow in the months prior, I had reached a point where I had stopped comprehending and absorbing what was being taught. And I had now strayed beyond and was no longer equipped to deal with the situation. For those wondering where I am going with this analogy, allow me to clarify. I found myself in a similar situation with the role playing game, Cyberpunk 2077, within hours (not years) of starting it.
When the first teaser trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 was released back in 2013 I was nominally interested. However, after playing The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, I became more enthusiastic about the game and the developer’s CD Projekt Red. If it had a similar narrative depth as their successful fantasy based RPG, then it could well be a further genre defining title. Sadly, as soon as it became apparent that the game was going to be in first person perspective, my initial excitement waned. I can tolerate this mechanic in the FPS genre, often where the story is not that important. But in a genre such as the RPG, I think it is essential that you see your avatar from a third person perspective. Especially so when there are dense stories and it is important for the player to have an emotional connection with their avatar. To cut a long story short, over the length of Cyberpunk 2077 long development cycle, I slowly lost interest in the game and was not planning to buy it at launch. And then someone surprised me by “gifting” me a copy as an early birthday present. So I decided to dive right in and play with minimal knowledge regarding the state of the final release.
Now one of the reasons I like the RPG genre is because they usually offer complex stories. A good one is like an interactive novel. Therefore, when I fire up a game such as Cyberpunk 2077 and start playing, I have the subtitles on for all dialogue and I take my time when choosing branching narrative responses. I like to weigh up each reply and consider its ramifications. Just as I do in real life. So I was surprised and far from impressed by some of the timed response sequences that force the player to make a hasty decision on some dialogue choices within a few seconds. This annoys me because my analytical mind will continuously reflect upon whether I have hamstrung myself at some future point in the game. Something that detracts from my ongoing enjoyment of the game in what we call the “moment”.
Another aspect of the game that I struggled with is the collecting and reading of story related data. There are portable drives which are broadly the equivalent of books and scrolls in other fantasy based RPGs. They contain information on characters, institutions and the world the game is set in. I initially started reading each one when collected but I soon put pay to that. As this is a new IP there is a lot to learn and I simply couldn’t assimilate all of this lore in such a manner. Plus on top of all this, there are numerous text messages continuously coming to your in-game phone, plus further messages and data on the computer in your apartment. Naturally not all of it is mission critical but some of it is illuminating in providing backstory to the game world. As such I feel obliged to read it all, otherwise why am I playing an RPG in the first place? If I just want to shoot stuff I can play any FPS.
Naturally, a major part of Cyberpunk 2077 is hacking. One specific type, breach protocol, involves “jacking in” to a terminal and then trying to select a specific sequence of numbers in a short period of time. You are not expected to complete all sequences (there are usually 3) to win, and successfully breach the system you’re hacking. However, the game does an utterly appalling job at explaining a system that is far from clear cut. When I was first confronted with this mechanic it was 2:30 AM and I simply could not comprehend what I was being told to do. It was immensely frustrating. And the game has several other foibles that are equally as frustrating. For example I wanted to get to a particular part of Night City to see if the shops offered more stylish clothing. I set a waypoint on the map and attempted to drive there. But when I crossed into certain areas my screen played a glitch animation and I found myself facing the opposite direction. It seems you cannot just traverse the world as you see fit and some areas don’t open until you reach a certain point in the main story.
Essentially, I have blundered my way through 10 hours of Cyberpunk 2077 and completed 2% of content according to the GOG Galaxy launcher. I have enjoyed aspects of the game but I feel I may have missed some optimal outcomes with my decisions and actions. I don’t feel empowered, enthused or challenged by this. I simply want to trash my existing character and start again. Until I started writing this post, I was slowly sinking because there was “too much information”, as Gordon Sumner sang. However, I have now decided to simply approach the game in a far less methodical fashion. I may even limit the length of my play sessions so I do not find myself going down too many rabbit holes. Often I find myself sounding like a stuck record, repeating the same old observations ad infinitum. Again we have a game that has a poor tutorial and doesn’t adequately inform the player about essential mechanics. Cyberpunk 2077 has also been a timely reminder about the perils of being an early adopter. I suspect the game of the year edition will be far more polished and streamlined. In the meantime I shall continue to play like a child on a bike with training wheels.
Update: I decided to delete my current alt and progress so I could start all over again. I’m also using a Xbox controller for the driving sequences and a keyboard and mouse for the remainder of the game.
LOTRO, Daybreak Game Company and Enad Global 7
It has long been suspected that Daybreak Game Company owned Standing Stone Games and was more than just their publisher. However, being a private company, DGC has been exempt from public scrutiny. Infact, they’ve gone out of their way to keep their cards close to their chest in recent years. Press releases and tweets have been posted and then deleted to try and cover their tracks. To quote Lord Melchett from Blackadder, DGC “twist and turn like a ... twisty-turny thing”. It’s all been somewhat unseemly but at the same time great fun to speculate about. However, on Monday 1st December, Swedish games company Enad Global 7 (EG7) announced that they were buying DGC. Furthermore, as EG7 are a publicly owned company, information about them is freely available. Hence an investor presentation was posted on their website, rich with details of their new acquisition.
It has long been suspected that Daybreak Game Company owned Standing Stone Games and was more than just their publisher. However, being a private company, DGC has been exempt from public scrutiny. Infact, they’ve gone out of their way to keep their cards close to their chest in recent years. Press releases and tweets have been posted and then deleted to try and cover their tracks. To quote Lord Melchett from Blackadder, DGC “twist and turn like a ... twisty-turny thing”. It’s all been somewhat unseemly but at the same time great fun to speculate about. However, on Monday 1st December, Swedish games company Enad Global 7 (EG7) announced that they were buying DGC. Furthermore, as EG7 are a publicly owned company, information about them is freely available. Hence an investor presentation was posted on their website, rich with details of their new acquisition.
Now the foibles and machinations of DGC have become a source of interest for numerous game journalists and bloggers over the years. I therefore strongly recommend the following articles by Bree Royce and Wilhelm Arcturus, as they dissect and delineate the information published in EG7’s investor presentation. Both make for very interesting reading, giving details of the “health and wealth” of the various titles that have been up to now, owned by DGC. I however, will simply focus on the details pertaining to The Lord of the Rings Online, as this is the MMORPG I have the strongest connection to out of all the games listed. Finally, we have some indication of LOTRO’s business performance and its playerbase. In terms of monthly active players, the game has 108,000, of which 37.9% (41,000) subscribe generating nearly $10 million per year. Overall, yearly revenue is $26.7 million. LOTRO has the third-biggest playerbase out of DGC’s (now EG7’s) game portfolio.
So business wise, LOTRO is looking quite healthy. Furthermore, the forthcoming Amazon Prime, Middle-earth based TV show is being cited by EG7 as a potential means of raising consumer awareness of the IP. Something that can then be capitalised upon to promote LOTRO. Any sort of proactive marketing has long been absent from this MMO. Many players were baffled by the lack of any tie-in with the Hobbit movie trilogy, when they were released. Perhaps we will now see a change in policy over the next 12 months. It certainly seems that EG7 has provisional plans. Perhaps the most interesting of these is a proposed graphical and systems overhaul of the current PC version of LOTRO, along with further large content updates and a conversion of the game for “nextgen consoles”. Something that was originally mooted back in 2010, when the game first went free-to-play.
The significance of a console port of LOTRO should not be underestimated. The data in EG7’s investor presentation shows that the console version of DC Universe Online is a popular title and a robust source of revenue. Let us not forget that The Elder Scrolls Online, Neverwinter and Star Trek Online have all increased their players due to the success of their respective console ports. In fact the innovative revision of the UI in STO to accommodate the use of game controllers, actually offers greater functionality than the PC version. LOTRO suffers from a cluttered UI and an excess of quickslots and at present this can only be addressed with plugins. Therefore, a revision of the game may well prove beneficial to all players. Whether the game will support crossplay is another matter. However, I would like to see a console port of LOTRO made available as it would definitely bring new players to the game and re-invigorate the existing community. Let us see whether EG7 proves to be the “new broom that sweeps clean”.
A Month in Gaming
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
November proved to be a very productive month, gaming wise. I had to self isolate for 14 days, due to coming into contact with someone who had tested positive for COVID-19. Hence I had far more leisure time than usual. For a second month I applied myself to progressing through the new “mini expansion” in The Lord of the Rings Online. The new zone is a two phase map. The first is Elderslade, a mountainous region to the North of the Wells of Langflood. This area contains mainly story quests. The second phase, called War of Three Peaks, is the same zone but during a period of open war between the Dwarves and the Orcs. Quests here are mainly repeatable slayer and achievement quests. I did not discover this until I had completed the first round, so to speak, only to be offered exactly the same quests again by an NPC. As I had reached maximum rank in reputation for this new faction and there were no rewards of any note for me to spend my barter currency upon, I simply stopped playing through this content.
Naturally, I was somewhat disappointed by this development because it highlights how developer’s, Standing Stone Games, have padded this content update so they can sell it as a “mini expansion”. However, I moved onto the new Mission system and spent some time exploring that. The missions themselves are fairly straightforward, instanced areas in which the player has to undertake a couple of tasks. Kill a boss, find so many supply crates etc. The difference here from other instanced content is that the enemies are more reactive. Some Orcs self heal or if not killed quickly, call in reinforcements. Some are a little trickier than others. There’s one where you have to destroy doorways to stop Goblins from spawning in Goblin Town. Crowd control skills are useful here. There’s another droll mission in which you have to dance and drink with “partying” Goblins. But overall Mission’s fails to offer anything overtly different. Again there are reputation tiers and deeds to achieve. But they offer paltry rewards, so why grind through them?
I did however, move a lot closer to maxing out both my Legendary Weapons. I was generously helped by a kinmate, who donated a substantial supply of Anfalas Scrolls of Empowerment. Hence all my legacies (apart from the main ones on each LI) are now at level 83. I’m sure given time, I will be able to acquire sufficient Anfalas Star-lit Crystals to max out the main legacies and finally close the book on the entire LI system. It is nice to see that my recent re-equipping with gear from Adventurer’s Loot Boxes and levelling up of my LI has really improved my overall combat experience. Killing enemies is now a lot quicker with critical hits occurring quite frequently. But I now feel that I’ve done as much as I can with LOTRO for the present. I may participate in the new raids, should my kinship re-appear over Christmas. But until there is new story content and tangible rewards to pursue, this MMO will be placed on a backburner.
Throughout November, I have been playing the latest event in Star Trek Online. I must admit that I’m getting quite fed up with this approach to new content from Cryptic. I like stories couched in classic Trek lore and there hasn’t been enough of such content this year. So this is another game that is going to be relegated to intermittent play over the next month. Q’s Winter Wonderland festival is due to start next week but sadly it is not offering anything that I want. And then there is my ongoing return to the MMO Neverwinter. I’m having fun but there are many aspects about the game that I’m not impressed by. This is another MMO which trivialises all gear progression below a specific level. Then there is the excess of currencies in the game. I suspect I will get to level 60 or so and then decide that it is time to move on. It’s a shame because I like the combat style and the way the Warlock class handles. I suspect that December may be an odd time where I struggle to find a new game that interests me. However, I already have an eye on returning to Dauntless.
Video Game Tutorials, Again
I’ll try and keep this post concise so it doesn’t sound like a rant. It is intended to be a legitimate complaint. I just find it dispiriting that this topic has raised its head yet again. I am currently playing the MMORPG Neverwinter, a game I haven’t touched for 7 years. I created a new character and am currently working my way through the low level quests. So far the game has had a few tooltips appear on screen and the occasional voice over pointing out issues of importance. Overall, I have seen neither hide nor hair of what I would define as a tutorial. I have managed to bluff my way through the game so far, by drawing upon my experience in other MMOs. As this is a game developed by Cryptic, there are elements of the interface that are similar to Star Trek Online. However, this and my general knowledge of other genre games can only help me so far. I knew that sooner or later, I was bound to be flummoxed by something and today this finally occurred.
I’ll try and keep this post concise so it doesn’t sound like a rant. It is intended to be a legitimate complaint. I just find it dispiriting that this topic has raised its head yet again. I am currently playing the MMORPG Neverwinter, a game I haven’t touched for 7 years. I created a new character and am currently working my way through the low level quests. So far the game has had a few tooltips appear on screen and the occasional voice over pointing out issues of importance. Overall, I have seen neither hide nor hair of what I would define as a tutorial. I have managed to bluff my way through the game so far, by drawing upon my experience in other MMOs. As this is a game developed by Cryptic, there are elements of the interface that are similar to Star Trek Online. However, this and my general knowledge of other genre games can only help me so far. I knew that sooner or later, I was bound to be flummoxed by something and today this finally occurred.
I have three mounts at present in Neverwinter, although they are just horses and nothing fancy. The latest one that I’ve acquired is a little more interesting than the currently equipped one, so I decided to swap them around. It’s a totally innocuous and reasonable request, as well as something that is easily done in other MMOs. However, it took me over 30 minutes to determine how I did this and I was far from pleased when I finally found a solution to the problem. I was expecting to go into my Collections and set a new default mount there, in a similar manner to The Elder Scrolls Online. As this option wasn’t available I thought maybe this is done via my Stable panel. No joy there, so I looked in my Appearance panel. Nope, that didn’t work either. So I found myself doing something I hoped not to do so early on in playing Neverwinter and tabbed out of the game and searched Google.
Let it suffice to say that due to the various changes that have been made to the game and the mount system over the years, it took a while to find a correct solution. It’s also worth noting that as this game is also available on consoles, you have to ensure you search for a PC specific answer. It turns out that you have to select the Mounts tab, then Current and you are presented with an image of your default mount and its respective skills. If you click on where it says Appearance, a new window opens up and you can choose a new mount. It’s a simple solution, apart from the fact that the game provides absolutely no information or clues about this. Nor is there any indication that where it says Appearance is infact a clickable button. I simply discovered this by accident when I clicked in the wrong place in error. After my annoyance over this esoteric functionality subsided, I was left wondering how many more straightforward tasks are hidden in Neverwinter due to poor or indifferent UI design.
Now this anecdote may seem to some as trivial. However, let us step back and look at the situation from a broader perspective. I’m currently enjoying the early levels in Neverwinter and there are lots of new players. Not everyone will have prior experiences with the genre to draw upon. I came to a complete standstill with this problem and found the whole matter infuriating. I don’t think it unreasonable to assume that for some, this incident would prejudice their view of the game. A player that is being thwarted and not having fun, has no reason to stay. Not all gamers want their leisure activities to be one of the twelve labours of Hercules. Simply put, things like this can lose customers. Hence, good tutorials, tooltips and prompts are extremely important. A gamer should never have to leave a game to find out how to play. That’s the game’s job.
Return to Neverwinter
I originally tried the MMORPG Neverwinter during its beta test in early 2013 and having checked my original notes I wrote at the time, I enjoyed it. I think the main reason I didn’t persist with the game was due to not having a major connection to the franchise and that there was a lot of competition from other MMOs at the time. If memory serves my only niggle during the beta was that you couldn’t use your skills while moving. Combat is therefore a question of running, attacking and then repositioning your character. Although you can dodge or perform a variation thereof, fighting in the game is not what I would define as “action combat”. It is more of a hybrid of old and new MMO fighting styles. However, that notwithstanding, I decided to finally re-install the game and give it another go. A lot has happened in the intervening 7 years and Neverwinter is now more polished and has a lot more content to offer.
I originally tried the MMORPG Neverwinter during its beta test in early 2013 and having checked my original notes I wrote at the time, I enjoyed it. I think the main reason I didn’t persist with the game was due to not having a major connection to the franchise and that there was a lot of competition from other MMOs at the time. If memory serves my only niggle during the beta was that you couldn’t use your skills while moving. Combat is therefore a question of running, attacking and then repositioning your character. Although you can dodge or perform a variation thereof, fighting in the game is not what I would define as “action combat”. It is more of a hybrid of old and new MMO fighting styles. However, that notwithstanding, I decided to finally re-install the game and give it another go. A lot has happened in the intervening 7 years and Neverwinter is now more polished and has a lot more content to offer.
I logged into the game and tweaked a few settings. Next, I decided to ignore a previous character and start a new one from scratch. Rather than try to relearn how to play an existing Half-Elf Wizard, I chose to create a Human Warlock. I made my choice by reading the various tool tips and have decided to see exactly how far I can progress in the game, just by relying upon the information provided by the tutorial. In the past, I’ve often researched a new MMO in advance, to ensure I don’t “make any mistakes”. This time round, I’ve elected not to make work for myself and thought it would be an interesting experiment to just fly by the seat of my pants. I like MMOs but at present do not want a major learning curve. I’m mainly looking for fun. It may be a case that eventually I have to go outside of the game for information. However, this way at least lends itself to writing about my experience.
So why a Human Warlock? Well none of the other races grabbed my attention, apart from the ones you have to pay to unlock. Until I’m sure I’ll be playing Neverwinter for a while, I’m not going to spend any money. As for the Warlock Class, it basically struck me as being the same as a Mage/Wizard without having to dress like a keyboard player in a Prog Rock band. This may sound trivial but I get really bored of the aesthetic and sartorial confines of mainstream fantasy preconceptions. Any sort of Wizard or person who dabbles in magic is instantly saddled with a rocking a “Ming the Merciless” look and it gets old real fast. Plus I want to be able to play a ranged DPS class and avoid a bow, which is another tiresome cliche. So the Warlock is a good compromise. It also plays well with the combat so far proving to be fluid. That may just be down to the fact that I’m playing at low level and the enemies are hardly robust. But so far there seems a straightforward rhythm to the skill rotation.
I am interested to see in the days and hopefully weeks to come, whether the story holds my interest and if it does anything unusual compared to the standard fantasy genre fodder. I’m glad that the NPCs are all fully voice acted and that dialogue interactions are handled in a similar fashion to The Elder Scrolls Online. I find a lack of voice acting quite jarring if I come across it in an MMO. Another thing I’m curious about is how long I can play Neverwinter before it becomes apparent that I have to spend some money or else I’m “hobbling” myself. There appears to be something similar to a VIP subscription so I will look into that further if and when it becomes appropriate. Perhaps I will finally gain some insight into the popularity of the official Dungeons and Dragons franchise. It’s another popular culture touchstone that I’m aware of but that has passed me by over the years. Hopefully I can answer all these questions in a future blog post.
Should You Have Expectations of Other Players?
Just for a change, Star Trek Online has another event. “Best Served Cold” is a Task Force Operation in which the 5 players must prevent a prison break from the Klingon gulag Rura Penthe. Complete this TFO 14 times and you can earn rewards including a Nanopulse Targ Combat Pet. If you feel disposed to do so, you can set up a private group and complete this with friends. However, most players simply use the auto-group facility that the game offers. As the interdependency of all classes has diminished in STO, there is no obstacle to quickly joining a pick up group. More often or not, there is little or no criteria for failure for these TFO’s so some players will group and do as little as possible. In some events in STO it is possible to join a group and go AFK. The activity will complete regardless of player participation and all then receive the designated reward.
Just for a change, Star Trek Online has another event. “Best Served Cold” is a Task Force Operation in which the 5 players must prevent a prison break from the Klingon gulag Rura Penthe. Complete this TFO 14 times and you can earn rewards including a Nanopulse Targ Combat Pet. If you feel disposed to do so, you can set up a private group and complete this with friends. However, most players simply use the auto-group facility that the game offers. As the interdependency of all classes has diminished in STO, there is no obstacle to quickly joining a pick up group. More often or not, there is little or no criteria for failure for these TFO’s so some players will group and do as little as possible. In some events in STO it is possible to join a group and go AFK. The activity will complete regardless of player participation and all then receive the designated reward.
Now the reason I mention all this is because I had an interesting experience today while playing STO. As ever, although specifically related to this MMORPG, the wider sentiments discussed here are applicable to many others and indeed any game that features collaborative multiplay. The “Best Served Cold” event is far from difficult and easy to complete. As far as I’m aware your team’s score doesn’t even impact on the rewards. However (and there is always a however in gaming), some players want to complete this daily event to the best of their ability, achieving all the various goals. And to do that all players participating have a part to play. Needless to say that didn’t happen in the TFO in which I was participating and someone had a meltdown in team chat as a result. This raises an interesting question. Exactly what do you expect from a PUG, assuming that you should expect anything in the first place?
After playing the aforementioned TFO several times, a clear pattern of game play emerges. There are three satellites to defend from enemy attack, then there are transports to subdue and capture. Finally, each satellite needs to be protected from freighter being used as suicide bombers. Five ships can handle this easily. Three vessels can cover the satellites while the other two can cover the transports and eliminate the explosive freighters. But of course this seldom happens. Some players meander about, while others go AFK. Often you’ll finish the event with a percentage of transports escaped and may be a satellite damaged or even destroyed. Sometimes a player will attempt to “school” others, via the Team Chat. This is usually a recipe for disaster and abuse. Others will log out of the TFO if they feel that some players are “doing it wrong”. I simply focus on what I’m doing and reconcile myself to the fact that whatever happens, at least I get my daily reward and inch closer to completing the event.
There is a lot to reflect upon here. When someone joins a random group do they have any obligation to the other players. Do they need to learn the mechanics of the event or group undertaking? Is it presumptuous of others to expect that those that they group with come with adequate provisions such as health potions etc. Is it realistic to expect other players to be as prepared as you? Well if the group activity is organised with friends or through your guild, then I’d argue that there is some sort of social contract in place. But I just cannot argue that there is a similar code of conduct for PUGs. I’d think that basic good manners and a degree of social etiquette still exists, as we see it from time to time. The person who says “Hi” in team chat. The player that tries to do multiple tasks in the group event to compensate for those who cannot or will not. Those that say “good game” before leaving the group. But sadly this sort of positive behaviour is in decline both in and outside of games.
The problem with PUGs is that they do not foster any group identity or encourage any social interaction. It is simply a means of bringing a group of players together in an expedient fashion to complete a task. No one knows anyone and most do not talk. It is an impersonal system that just reinforces that sense of anonymity so often associated with the internet. A means to an end to get what you want. Sadly most game developers don’t make any attempt to address this. A simple way to foster good behaviour and more proactive gameplay is to incentivise and reward those who do more than just show up. But until this is done, I suspect it is simply unrealistic to expect anything of other players. Encouraging behavioural change requires diplomacy and needs to be handled sensitively because many players do not take “instruction” well. A proposed change in attitudes and habits will appear to some as a personal attack. Such is the world we live in at present. Therefore, for the present it is best to expect nothing from your fellow players by default. If anything beyond occurs, then it is a bonus.
"Why Am I Doing This?"
In-depth story quests, complex systems and incrementable progression are the foundation of the MMORPG genre. The player explores the virtual world, undertakes quests, earns gear and advances through various systems that improve their stats. It’s a formula that has been tried and tested over more than two decades. It works and keeps millions of players engaged with their MMO of choice. However, no matter how much new content developers add to an MMO, there are always a percentage of players that quickly complete it and demand more. The genre is a time sink by nature and many players are happy to do exactly that. Therefore, the most practical way to address this dilemma is to attempt to slow player progression. Hence time gating, making required items “rare” and making content repeatable are just some of the ways developer’s can extend a game’s longevity. And so “grinding” has also become an integral aspect of these games.
In-depth story quests, complex systems and incrementable progression are the foundation of the MMORPG genre. The player explores the virtual world, undertakes quests, earns gear and advances through various systems that improve their stats. It’s a formula that has been tried and tested over more than two decades. It works and keeps millions of players engaged with their MMO of choice. However, no matter how much new content developers add to an MMO, there are always a percentage of players that quickly complete it and demand more. The genre is a time sink by nature and many players are happy to do exactly that. Therefore, the most practical way to address this dilemma is to attempt to slow player progression. Hence time gating, making required items “rare” and making content repeatable are just some of the ways developer’s can extend a game’s longevity. And so “grinding” has also become an integral aspect of these games.
I have mentioned in previous posts that with a little bit of creativity, you can mask grind with a veneer of narrative and panache to make it more palatable. If you put some icing on top of a plain sponge cake and you make it marginally more interesting. However, sometimes game developers dispense with even this, leaving the player facing a lengthy, unenjoyable task that is presented purely as a lengthy, unenjoyable task. And it is at this point the players ask themselves the question, “why am I doing this?” Something that developer’s should never want their paying customers thinking. Because most gamers have a set of criteria that they measure a game against. These are usually on a scale. As long as one or two of these criteria are being met then the player will get some sense of enjoyment out of their gaming activities. The moment “why am I doing this?” arises it often means that the player has reached a point where the game isn’t providing any stimulation for them.
So what are these criteria, expectations or measurements by which an MMO is judged by the player? Rather than list lots of niche and subjective examples perhaps defining three broad categories would be more appropriate? I think that at least one of these categories have to be met for an individual to want to continue playing a specific game.
“Fun”: This is a broad generalisation and a very subjective term. I use it here to mean some sort of emotional engagement that the player experiences while playing. The “fun” may be PVP, participating in a raid, undertaking a story quest, crafting, roleplaying or just riding around a virtual world on your mount. Some people also go all in on the social element of MMOs. And because all these experiences are positive and enjoyable, players are happy to continue these and similar activities.
Quid pro quo (Something for something): Sometimes an activity in an MMO may not be especially enjoyable and therefore may not fall into the “fun” category. But if it offers something in exchange for your time and effort then the player may overlook and endure the activity’s shortcomings and do it purely for the reward. The reward can be both literal or figurative. An item or a title. As long as it satisfies the player then they will keep playing. I find that a lot of my gaming is of this transactional nature. I am at times ambivalent towards what I am doing and instead focused on what it will yield.
Passing the time: This is a nebulous category but also a very common one. Many gamers will log into a game after a day’s work simply to unwind. Games per se offer a convenient and effective means of relaxing from stress and anxiety. Often the quality of the game or the complexity of the task being carried out do not matter that much. Undertaking simple, repetitive tasks such as crafting allow people to focus and destress. This is similar to putting the TV or listening to background music, just to “kill some time”. No matter how arbitrary the task or action may be, if it provides a restful distraction then it is serving a purpose. However, this is a fine line to tread.
If a game fails to satisfy any of the three aforementioned categories then the question “why am I doing this?” is bound to occur. And when it does it is often an epiphany. The MMO genre is one that fosters a culture of dedication and even obligation. The sunk cost fallacy also has a part to play. But gamers need to remember that video games are a leisure activity and service. If you don’t like your meal in a restaurant then you send it back. If you’re not enjoying the book you’re reading then stop doing so. TV shows that don’t engage can be turned off. Why should an MMO be any different? The rhetorical question “why am I doing this?” should be a major alarm bell for any MMO game developer. It should be something ever present in their mind, especially when testing content. It is unreasonable for gamers to expect all content to be an enthralling rollercoaster ride. In fact there are cogent arguments for providing content that give players some “down time”. But content should never be so dull that players question while they even bothered doing it in the first place. That is gamer Kryptonite.
LOTRO: Revisiting Landscape Soldiers
In March 2012 Turbine released Update 6: Shores of the Great River for The Lord of the Rings Online. This included the ability to summon your Skirmish Soldiers while playing PVE content. Prior to this you only had access to your soldier when playing skirmishes. Whether this was done to compete with other MMOs that have companions or crew such as Star Wars: The Old Republic or Star Trek Online is not clear. It may have been a purely financial decision, as tokens offering an hour’s access to your skirmish soldier soon appeared in the LOTRO store. Like all changes made regarding LOTRO, opinions were divided at the time. Where I saw this as an increase in player choice, others perceived it to be another step away from the spirit of an MMO and further evidence of the solofication of the genre. Eight years later, one thing is certain. Having access to Skirmish Soldiers throughout the game in general, is not the same as having a full blown companion that single player games and some MMOs offer.
In March 2012 Turbine released Update 6: Shores of the Great River for The Lord of the Rings Online. This included the ability to summon your Skirmish Soldiers while playing PVE content. Prior to this you only had access to your soldier when playing skirmishes. Whether this was done to compete with other MMOs that have companions or crew such as Star Wars: The Old Republic or Star Trek Online is not clear. It may have been a purely financial decision, as tokens offering an hour’s access to your skirmish soldier soon appeared in the LOTRO store. Like all changes made regarding LOTRO, opinions were divided at the time. Where I saw this as an increase in player choice, others perceived it to be another step away from the spirit of an MMO and further evidence of the solofication of the genre. Eight years later, one thing is certain. Having access to Skirmish Soldiers throughout the game in general, is not the same as having a full blown companion that single player games and some MMOs offer.
The reason I raise this subject now, is because I’m currently grinding through the War of Three Peaks phase in the new “mini expansion” and it is a litany of kill and fetch quests in a zone densely populated by enemy mobs. Some areas are best tackled by a small fellowship. As it is not much fun, so I decided to see if I could progress quicker by using my Landscape/Skirmish Soldier. I currently have a Warrior that is maxed out. Sadly this tactic has not proven especially beneficial because the Landscape/Skirmish Soldier is nothing more than a blunt tool. It has very limited functionality and certainly doesn't compete with the flexibility of the Captain's Herald and Lore-master's pets. You can direct it to fight a specific target but the cooldown on that skill takes too long to be of tactical use. It also doesn’t seem to do much damage when fighting an enemy. Having levelled a second character in the last 18 months I have noticed that the Landscape/Skirmish Soldier seems to be more effective at lower levels.
Hence I have toyed with the idea of retraining my Landscape/Skirmish Soldier from a Warrior to another type. However, after some research on the official forums and the LOTRO subreddit, it would appear that most folk choose either a Sage or Herbalist. This is because they can provide debuffs and healing, effectively. Archers, Bannerguards and Protectors (as well as the Warrior that I currently have) all suffer from the same problems; chaotic AI, a penchant for getting lost or stuck in the environment and generally not being able to hold enemies and kill them quickly enough. Plus, if I do decide to retrain my Landscape/Skirmish Soldier, there is the cost to consider. It would appear it takes about 60,000 Skirmish Marks to buy a new role and max out the allotted skills. I currently have 23,000 Skirmish Marks and that took a while to build up. So potentially, this could be a lengthy and costly process, which may still not yield the results I seek.
Another disappointing aspect of the Landscape/Skirmish Soldier is that they have no associated backstory and therefore I have no emotional connection or investment in them. They are no more than a meat shield. However, companions in SWTOR have bespoke stories, personalities and a varied set of skills. As there are multiple companions available in the game, you use whichever one is appropriate to your circumstances. Their dialogue and sundry banter can be both endearing and annoying. Either way, at least you care about them. And in Star Trek Online, although your away team do not have individual stories, you can at least customise their skills and gear. Having four NPCs providing support with a small degree of tactical control can be a real asset. It would therefore be nice to see something comparable in LOTRO. You should be able to use your Landscape/Skirmish Soldier in the same way you can your pet. However, I don’t think this is on SSGs priority list. It’s just another facet of LOTRO that has fallen by the wayside. Like hobbies, Epic Battles and mounted combat.
The Problem With War of Three Peaks
Some readers may see the title of this post as an inference that there is only one problem with the latest “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online. That is not the case. However, I don’t hold developer’s Standing Stone Games responsible for the debacle over the pricing for the three different editions. That is something I lay at the door of financiers and publishers, Daybreak Game Company. For the purpose of this blog post, I wish to focus upon the lacklustre content of Update 28: War of Three Peaks and how it becomes quite clear which material was developed as part of a regular content update and what was then added to potentially try and justify the term “mini expansion”. Furthermore, I see this drop in quality as being a real threat to the future prosperity of LOTRO. I am a long time fan of this MMO, albeit one with a sense of perspective. I’m halfway through the new zone and I’m not having fun. I’m sure I am not alone in this.
Some readers may see the title of this post as an inference that there is only one problem with the latest “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online. That is not the case. However, I don’t hold developer’s Standing Stone Games responsible for the debacle over the pricing for the three different editions. That is something I lay at the door of financiers and publishers, Daybreak Game Company. For the purpose of this blog post, I wish to focus upon the lacklustre content of Update 28: War of Three Peaks and how it becomes quite clear which material was developed as part of a regular content update and what was then added to potentially try and justify the term “mini expansion”. Furthermore, I see this drop in quality as being a real threat to the future prosperity of LOTRO. I am a long time fan of this MMO, albeit one with a sense of perspective. I’m halfway through the new zone and I’m not having fun. I’m sure I am not alone in this.
Let’s start with what I like about the Elderslade region. It’s a rugged environment with several interesting hidden areas. It is also not too much of a chore to navigate and there are several points where you can take a shortcut to where you need to get to, rather than follow the roads. That is something that doesn’t happen too often in LOTRO these days. Usually, the environment is designed to funnel the player from Ato B and hems them in. The storylines are enjoyable and again show that the writers are well versed in the lore of Middle- earth. I especially like the quest arc that has you travelling with Léothred, a historian from Rohan. His revised history of Fram and his slaying of Scatha the Worm was especially well conceived. I liked the way it involved Karazgar, the Weeping Warrior to fill in the gaps in existing lore. I also like the themes that recur throughout the main Epic Story and the way the distrust between the Longbeards, Zhelruka and Stout Axes Dwarven clans is frequently an impediment to their success.
Sadly, the positive aspects of Update 28 do not necessarily compensate for the bad. For example, a common trick that SSG relies upon to increase content, is to create an area, divide it into numerous subsections and then densely populate it with mobs. The player will then be presented with a litany of fetch and kill quests forcing them to navigate throughout all areas. These sorts of quests cease to be a challenge and tips over into being tedious. Sometimes quests can be auto completed but on other occasions you find yourself at one end of an area and having to battle all the way back to hand in and finish. It’s the inconsistency here that is annoying and the feeling you’re being taken for a mug. As for the reusing of the twin phase map concept, this is not a bad idea in theory. It worked well with the Minas Morgul expansion and being able to access Mordor in the Second Age. But here it feels like an excuse to simply pad out the mini expansion with even more superfluous kill and fetch quests. Then there is the poison gas that blights specific areas of War of Three Peaks and its associated mechanic. It is simply a nuisance and adds nothing to gameplay.
A new addition to the game is the Mission system. I was hoping that these would be a variation of skirmishes with the focus on tactical gameplay. Sadly they lack that systems creativity and are little more than straightforward instances that require you to complete a basic set of criteria. IE Kill so many enemies and then a boss. The only difference here is that if you do not quickly kill the enemy, they will call for reinforcement. They also lack the story elements that skirmishes have and do not feel in any way different from the regular instances that occur in the story. Yes, you can do them with companions but you are offered no real incentive to do so with regards to the rewards. And talking of such, the new gear available in the game just feels like an increase for its own sake. The new reputation gear doesn’t seem to offer anything more than a basic increase in stats over the gear you have already. It’s all very uninspired and unengaging.
And therein lies the problem. It all feels too much like busy work for its own sake. Now it can be argued that this is the foundation of the entire MMORPG genre but I would counter that with the assertion that a good developer tries to mask busy work with a veneer of narrative engagement and a soupçon of panache. If you’re immersed in a story and doing something that doesn’t immediately strike you as busy work, then that is a MMO working well. Sadly, such things are conspicuously absent here and I keep saying to myself, “remind me again why I’m killing another dozen Angmarim?” or words to that effect. I’m in danger of getting bored to the point of abandoning the game in pursuit of another that is more entertaining and gives me a sense of accomplishment and not frustration or annoyance. If SSG wants to bounce back from this low point, then I hope that the next official expansion is a lot more inventive and enjoyable. A lot of people play this genre of games to escape the mundane nature of their chore driven lives and don’t want to have to endure something similar while playing a game like LOTRO.
LOTRO Classic
In the last month or so, I’ve spent some time perusing the official forums for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. It suffers from many of the shortcomings you find on fan driven gaming forums, insofar as it’s monopolised by a small cadre of partisan minded players that are not an especially broad cross section of the LOTRO community. However, a wide range of thoughts and ideas about the game are discussed on these forums. Sometimes, if the planets are in the correct alignment, staff from Standing Stone Games will even deign to reply. Recently, a particularly interesting question that has frequently been raised by players finally got addressed by SSG developer Jeff Libby (AKA MadeOfLions). Namely, will there ever be a release of LOTRO Classic? An “old school” server with the game as it was when it launched in 2007. The fact that they actually answered is the main surprise here. Everything else about the actual reply is par for the course and embodies everything that is wrong with SSG and their community relations. Here is the original question and the subsequent answer.
In the last month or so, I’ve spent some time perusing the official forums for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. It suffers from many of the shortcomings you find on fan driven gaming forums, insofar as it’s monopolised by a small cadre of partisan minded players that are not an especially broad cross section of the LOTRO community. However, a wide range of thoughts and ideas about the game are discussed on these forums. Sometimes, if the planets are in the correct alignment, staff from Standing Stone Games will even deign to reply. Recently, a particularly interesting question that has frequently been raised by players finally got addressed by SSG developer Jeff Libby (AKA MadeOfLions). Namely, will there ever be a release of LOTRO Classic? An “old school” server with the game as it was when it launched in 2007. The fact that they actually answered is the main surprise here. Everything else about the actual reply is par for the course and embodies everything that is wrong with SSG and their community relations. Here is the original question and the subsequent answer.
Question by LotroVidz: Also most of the devs seem to not be original devs from 2007, so how can they know without asking the player base? MOL didn't even understand why players ask for a classic version of the game. He doesn't seem to understand how much of a different game the original Lotro was.
Answer by Made of Lions: Hi there, original dev from 2007 here. No, I understand it. I also love a lot of the games I played years ago (the amount of money I've spent buying digital versions of the games I loved from the 90s is downright embarrassing), so I know what it is to look back at something and miss it. I would personally love to see a version of LOTRO from launch, to run around in old-timey Eriador and see it in all of its 2007 glory. I stood in line at my local Gamestop on launch day to buy the strategy guide I also helped compile, and I remember running around Breeland listening to players be... stumped... about the location of the Hanging Tree, which was harder to find back then. There's just something about a brand-new MMO, when it's a vast and undiscovered world of mystery and full of promise. You won't find a bigger fan than me, and I would have a great time running around Original Recipe LOTRO. That would be a great afternoon.
But it doesn't have the longevity you remember. It's a snapshot, frozen in time, and from our perspective it's a snapshot that would remove tens of thousands of fixes, some minor, but many serious. "But I liked it better before!" you say. "I want a version that only has what I like, and doesn't have anything that I don't! I want you to restore Frodo's Burden to the slow and frustrating experience it started as." I hear you, and I understand, but our Engineers have plenty on their plates already without being tasked to revert LOTRO to the years-old state that best suits your taste. Engineers in particular are allergic to undoing their own fixes, since those tend to be the most important when compared to the kind of things Content usually has to fix. Frodo's Burden, alas, will remain in its adjusted state. MoL
It can be difficult sometimes to accurately interpret the tone that may or not be present within any written response. Some people believe that there is a degree of condescension present in Jeff Libby’s reply and that again we see SSG dealing with customer questions as if they’re an inconvenience or nuisance. Whether that is true or not is something that we have to decide for ourselves. Semantics and diplomacy aside, the statement does raise some interesting points.
Does the original code for the Shadows of Angmar version of LOTRO still exist? Are there backups of previous server builds or would all previous patches and content updates have to be manually “unpicked”?
Assuming that an earlier version of LOTRO could be made available, exactly how would SSG monetise it? This is an important question as there would naturally be costs incurred when running LOTRO Classic. Would the VIP subscription yield enough revenue to make such a venture viable? There was no store present in LOTRO in 2007 and the game as it was then has no immediate means of running store based transactions in-game.
Would producing and maintaining LOTRO Classic be a wise division of SSGs development resources? Is SSG just too small a gaming developer to be able to sustain multiple servers with multiple iterations of the same product?
Would LOTRO and the player community be better served by SSG focusing their finite resources on a major bug fixing project? Would the overhauling of problematic systems and developing new kinds of innovative content attract new and lapsed players back to the MMO and extend the games lifespan?
But I think the biggest issue with Jeff Libby’s response is his point that players may well think they’d like to play LOTRO Classic but they don’t really want it, because their judgement is being clouded by nostalgia. I consider this to be a patently false axiom. A similar argument was perpetuated by Blizzard for years, when players asked for World of Warcraft Classic. It proved totally wrong and we now have such an iteration of that game and it appears to be doing fine. Many LOTRO players would love to get their hands on some of the older systems that have now been replaced, or play through some of the instances and raids before they were nerfed and split up. One of the major appeals for roleplayers is simply being able to exist in a virtual Middle-earth. The game as it was in 2007, although technically smaller, felt bigger than it does now. Travelling around originally took longer and players did not immediately have access to mounts. LOTRO Classic may even tempt some newer players to come and see how much the games changed over time.
The LOTRO Community can be myopic and even a little partisan. But many have grown old with the game and are fully aware of what they’d be getting if a version of LOTRO Classic became available. They are fans but not necessarily fools and it is disingenuous for anyone at SSG to patronise them. I’m of the opinion that SSG could, if they wanted too, produce a form of LOTRO Classic. They just don’t want to as I’m sure it will be a lot of hard work and that the issue of integrating the in-game store is a major problem for them. But because of the way that SSG handles communication and interacts with its community, this question is never going to go away. If they clearly, politely and categorically said that they can’t or won’t produce a form of LOTRO Classic and then gave a sound reason, then the player base may well move on. But candid and direct communication is not their style. However, there may be a small ray of hope. Ultimately, the decision regarding LOTRO Classic may not be SSGs to make. If their “publisher” Daybreak Game Company felt that there was money in such a project, there could be a complete U-turn on this subject.
A Month in Gaming
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
The last 31 days have gone by really fast, or at least that’s the way it feels. Despite having bought several new games recently and acquired yet more for free from the Epic Store, I did not embark on anything new throughout October. Due to the unexpectedly prompt release of the new “mini expansion” for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of a new event in Star Trek Online, I found myself focused upon the MMORPG genre, yet again. And after playing continuously for six months, Call of Duty Modern Warfare/Warzone has finally begun to lose its lustre. I didn’t especially enjoy the Halloween event, not that there was anything inherently wrong with it. It just wasn’t for me. I played a little Fall Guy: Ultimate Knockout but quickly discovered that the “season” system is just another gear treadmill, although the gear in this instance are novelty cosmetic outfits. I don’t want to be tied to too many games in this fashion (it’s bad enough with MMOs), so this is another title that has been relegated to occasional play when the fancy takes me.
Upon my return to LOTRO, a quick review of my account status showed that I own everything up to and including Update 27: The Great Wedding. Hence I decided not to subscribe to the game. The downsides to this are negligible. I can live without the monthly stipend of LOTRO points and do not mind having to use mailboxes to access in-game mail. And so I played through the entire of the Mists of the Wildlands and The Great Wedding updates and enjoyed both. Contrary to my expectations The Great Wedding was not a litany of “fetch quests” and so offered an enjoyable change of pace and content. The focus was on the narrative and it was fun to see SSG bring back characters that had featured previously in the game. Questing in the Wells of Langflood was also agreeable. I found the Holbytlan village of Lyndelby to be a welcome break from continual combat. I also liked the lore based stories that occur while travelling with Léothred. Having built up a modest amount of LOTRO points, I took the opportunity to replace all my gear with items from Adventurer's Steel-bound Lootbox. I like to be prepared and as well equipped as possible.
As I indicated in previous posts, I bought the Standard Edition of the War of Three Peaks “mini expansion”. I simply couldn’t see any value in the other editions and I still grumbled about being charged £15 for the base version. So far, I am not overly impressed with War of Three Peaks. It is not so imaginative as other content updates and feels rather perfunctory. Too often the player is funnelled from A to B with dynamic quests popping up along the way. Quests rely too heavily on killing a fixed quantity of mobs of a certain type. And SSG do they’re usual trick of substituting genuine challenge with forcing the player into an area that’s densely packed with enemies. Simply traversing such places ceases to be enjoyable and just becomes a chore. Once again the biggest saving grace is the storyline. Those focused on the endeavours of the Dwarves always seem to be the strongest in this game.
STO always has an abundance of timed events, so there’s always something new going on in the game. However, the rewards vary so I don’t always feel the need to participate in all of them. I have not done so for the last three. However The Widening Gyre event offers an Imperial Rift Space Set (a 5 piece set of equipment for your ship) so I decided to grind through 20 daily Task Force Operations and subsequently earned the reward. It is a good set and gave me an excuse to return to this MMO. The current story arc in STO is the Klingon Civil War and there were three episodic missions outstanding for me to complete. Developers Cryptic are currently revising a lot of the Klingon based content in the game. As ever it is impressively voice acted by such actors as J.G Hertzler, Robert O’Reilly and Rekha Sharma. Cryptic have also added a new feature to the game allowing players to add an Experimental Upgrade to existing T6 or T5-U starships. The tokens are available in the C-Store and add +1 Device Slot, +1 Universal Console Slot and +1 Starship Trait Slot. I applied one of these to a Tucker Class Miracle Worker Cruiser which now has a formidable 13 consoles.
Life is often full of surprises. I, like many others, was expecting a second lockdown here in the UK and one begins for a month (provisionally) on Thursday 5th of November. What I wasn’t expecting was to have to self isolate again. To cut a long story short I have come into contact with several people who have tested positive for COVID-19 and now have to stay indoors for 14 days. Although this is an inconvenience to a degree, it does offer an opportunity for some additional gaming. This is beneficial when focusing on MMOs which are by their very nature time sinks. Hopefully, if I can catch up with all current content in both LOTRO and STO I can then focus on playing one of the new RPGs that I’ve recently bought. I have a feeling that Christmas is going to be a somewhat insular affair this year, so such a game will be an ideal entertainment solution.
MMO Nostalgia
Every now and then, when I log into The Lord of the Rings Online, as I ride through a new zone and drink in the vividly realised landscape and sumptuous ambient music, I am smitten by a wave of nostalgia. Just for a few seconds, I recall the emotional excitement of being in a virtual Middle-earth for the first time. I also remember the camaraderie and good company I experienced when I started playing this MMO in 2008. It is a powerful experience but sadly very short lived. Something subsequently happens to take me out of my reverie and bring me back to the current state of the game with a bump. This can be hitching, a major lag spike or a Dwarf irritatingly jumping up and down in my peripheral vision as I peruse the Auction House. Hence my present relationship with LOTRO and indeed the MMORPG genre is one based upon nostalgia and a hint of sadness. I still enjoy LOTRO mainly because of the stories and lore, as well as my friends in our kinship. But I no longer experience the game, as I did over a decade ago. And I miss that.
Every now and then, when I log into The Lord of the Rings Online, as I ride through a new zone and drink in the vividly realised landscape and sumptuous ambient music, I am smitten by a wave of nostalgia. Just for a few seconds, I recall the emotional excitement of being in a virtual Middle-earth for the first time. I also remember the camaraderie and good company I experienced when I started playing this MMO in 2008. It is a powerful experience but sadly very short lived. Something subsequently happens to take me out of my reverie and bring me back to the current state of the game with a bump. This can be hitching, a major lag spike or a Dwarf irritatingly jumping up and down in my peripheral vision as I peruse the Auction House. Hence my present relationship with LOTRO and indeed the MMORPG genre is one based upon nostalgia and a hint of sadness. I still enjoy LOTRO mainly because of the stories and lore, as well as my friends in our kinship. But I no longer experience the game, as I did over a decade ago. And I miss that.
LOTRO was my introduction to the MMORPG genre. And when I started playing, “multiplayer” was still an integral aspect of such games. It was clear right from the get go that much of the content was designed for groups and if you wished to progress through the game, you’d be dependent on playing with others. However, I was at a point in my life where I had the time available to sink into such a game, mainly because I was living alone. Furthermore, this kind of gaming experience was still novel for me and I enjoyed the company of other gamers. I fortunately hooked up with some like minded gamers who were loitering around a particularly nasty enemy and necessity brought us together to defeat it. Names were subsequently added to a friends lists and shortly thereafter I found myself joining a kinship (guild) with the same people. Circumstances, along with a lack of exposure to games of this kind meant that for the next few years this MMO was my game of choice.
Between 2008 and the present, I have played most major MMOs at some point. Each new game has always promised something “different”. Sometimes this has been the case. Rift brought “dynamic content” to the mainstream. However, over time trends have changed. Tab targeting and skill rotations have given way to action combat and greater situational awareness. The reliance on the traditional “trinity” of classes has been replaced by more flexible builds. But if you can heal yourself and adapt to different situations, then the need to group is negated. Social game play has become optional and for many players unnecessary. Other genres have successfully adopted elements from the MMO. Hence, many cooperative games have poached former MMO players. Thus, several decades on from the halcyon days of Ultima Online and EverQuest, the MMO genre has now become a distinctly niche market product. It retains loyal gamers but is no longer seen by the video games industry as the “future of gaming (AKA cash cow) they once thought it to be.
It can be argued that the MMORPG genre has never reached its full potential. The right balance of features and game mechanics has never quite been implemented in any game. Players cannot make any lasting changes upon the virtual world that they play in. Housing has never really progressed beyond a cosmetic storage zone. Linear progression and grinding for gear is still the primary focus of many games. The social aspect of these types of games have all too often diminished and the developers seldom do anything to incentivise such activities. And many players never fully experience the majority of the content that a game has to offer. Twelve years on, I often get this sense of a missed opportunity whenever I log into LOTRO. It’s a somewhat saddening feeling. The game get’s content updates but it tends to be just more of the same and there’s no innovation from developers Standing Stone Games. The same can be said for other MMOs to a greater or lesser degree. They seldom do anything radically different from their competitor and once established, just continue doing things in the same idiom. It may be that this is part of the genre’s appeal. It certainly isn’t too difficult to migrate from one MMO to another, as they all broadly do the same thing.
Nostalgia is a powerful emotion and the video games industry has wisely chosen not to ignore it. Hence in recent years we have seen “classic” iterations of various MMOs where early versions of a game are made available again. The growth in rogue servers of games that have long been officially shutdown is another interesting development. The evolution of MMOs has not been to everyone’s liking and some gamers hanker for “how things used to be”. For me, my relationship with MMOs peaked between 2008 and 2011. A perfect storm of events contributed to this genre being the apple of my eye. But change is an inherent part of life. MMOs and I are no longer what we used to be. Yet I still play them in memory of what was and for those occasional, fleeting moments when I briefly reconnect with the past. And then it briefly feels like going home. One day I shall finally part company with this genre and move on. But not yet.