Roger Edwards 5/12/21 Roger Edwards 5/12/21

LOTRO to End Support for Windows XP

"The Lord of the Rings Online will be deprecating support for Windows XP and earlier operating systems as of June 8th, 2021. All of your characters and progress will remain, and you can continue to play the game by running LOTRO on a Windows 7 or newer operating system. Players who need to can contact Account Support at help.standingstonegames.com. Thank you" Cordovan. If my time working in IT has taught me anything, it’s that once someone has found a computer setup that works for them and that they’re comfortable with, they’ll move heaven and earth to keep it. Not everyone is an early adopter. Not everyone upgrades just because an upgrade is available. Money is also a major factor. £100 may be a trivial amount to one person but a month’s wages to another. Bearing all this in mind, it is fair to say that not everyone upgrades their hardware or software willy-nilly. Hence it is not unusual to find PC’s running Windows XP in peoples homes.

Roger Edwards 5/7/21 Roger Edwards 5/7/21

LOTRO: Five Things I Do Not Use Anymore

I logged into The Lord of the Rings Online today and started sorting through my inventory and vault on my primary character, which is a level cap Lore-master. After 14 years and a great deal of change, it’s hardly surprising that an MMO such as LOTRO generates so much bric-a-brac and superfluous items. Much of which is obsolete or only of use for a very short period of time while levelling. Much of this junk is linked to wider systems and mechanics in the game that are no longer relevant or at the least are no longer as important to the game as it has grown and expanded. In fact, off the top of my head, here are five aspects of LOTRO that were a big deal at one point during the games lifecycle (indeed some were major selling points) but now are not essential as you progress through the game. Certainly they don’t necessarily have any major bearing upon the average LOTRO player (follow the link for a discussion about this particular definition) with an alt at level cap.

Roger Edwards 5/4/21 Roger Edwards 5/4/21

XCOM 2: Blogger Succession Game

Here’s a fun idea. Take a single player game, preferably one that has clearly delineated missions or activities, then play for a designated period of time or until a round or task has been completed. Finally, save the game and pass on the save file to the next player. This is exactly what Naithin over at Time to Loot has done. This the second succession game he’s organised and the first that I’ve participated in. The original was a communal play through Civilisation VI. I passed on that because I am not au fait with this sub-genre of RTS games. However, this time round we’re playing XCOM 2 which is more to my liking. I played The Bureau: XCOM Declassified a few years ago and enjoyed it, so I was happy to give this succession game a try. Furthermore, the group playing are all fellow bloggers who hangout on the Blaugust Discord server, so that adds to the enjoyment. So today, I copied and installed Naithin’s save file and fired up XCOM 2.

Roger Edwards 5/1/21 Roger Edwards 5/1/21

LOTRO: EG7 Community Update

Last December EG7 announced that it had purchased Daybreak Game Company and its portfolio. It subsequently became apparent that DGC was not just the publisher for Standing Stone Games but in fact their owner. Something that many players had suspected for a while. After an investor briefing was published, it became clear that EG7 were not just another corporate body out to asset strip and make a fast buck but were in fact genuinely interested in growing and improving the games that they now owned. For players of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, a wave of cautious optimism spread throughout the community. Hints at a graphical overhaul for the game and a potential console conversion were well received. Further news and specific details have been eagerly anticipated.

Roger Edwards 4/30/21 Roger Edwards 4/30/21

A Month in Gaming

I usually write this recurring post at the beginning of each month, reflecting upon my gaming activities over the previous thirty odd days. I refrained from writing an instalment at the beginning of April as I really didn’t feel I had much to say. However, now that a further month has elapsed, I believe sufficient has happened for me to continue. I do worry that these posts get repetitive and simply writing “ I played MMO A or B” is not sufficiently engaging. Luckily, I do feel that I have more to say this time round as I’ve broadened my gaming horizons recently and feel that I’ve done more, compared to other months. So let me begin with my return to console gaming. Something I haven’t done since 1999 when I purchased a Sega Dreamcast. After some procrastination, I’ve finally bought a Nintendo Switch and it has proven quite a hit not only with me but my grandchildren.

Roger Edwards 4/20/21 Roger Edwards 4/20/21

LOTRO: The Further Adventures of Bilbo Baggins

I was hoping that 2021 would be a good year for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. New owners, along with hints at a revised community relations policy and a recent roadmap for future content have all been positively received by the game’s stoic community. Furthermore, the recent demise of the LOTR based MMO by Amazon Game Studios has eliminated any immediate competition. Sadly, two things have occurred recently indicating that developer’s Standing Stone Games are still tone deaf to the player feedback and lacking in any tangible long term vision for the game. The first was a statement made by Executive Producer, Rob “Severlin” Ciccolini, regarding Legendary Items in the game and the subject of grind. The second was the new “Further Adventures” quest arcs, as described in February’s Executive Producer’s Letter, which uses the “missions” system that was added to the game in Update 28.

Roger Edwards 4/18/21 Roger Edwards 4/18/21

LOTRO: A Golden Opportunity

Back in Summer 2019, Amazon Game Studios announced it was co-developing a new free-to-play MMO set in Middle-earth, along with Athlon Games. The latter was at the time a subsidiary of Chinese publisher Leyou Technologies. However, in December 2020, Tencent bought Leyou Technologies which led to a series of contract renegotiations and reviews of ongoing projects. According to Bloomberg these negotiations did not go well and as a result, the new MMO has been cancelled. A spokesperson for Amazon recently stated that “we have been unable to secure terms to proceed with this title at this time. We love the Lord of the Rings IP, and are disappointed that we won't be bringing this game to customers”. Hence, Amazon will not have a complimentary game for their upcoming $1bn Lord of the Rings television series. At this point, possibly the only people who are happy with this outcome are Standing Stone Games, the developers of The Lord of the Rings Online.

Roger Edwards 4/14/21 Roger Edwards 4/14/21

Nintendo Switch: The Console That Keeps Charging You For Extras

Last September I considered buying a Nintendo Switch but decided to defer doing so. This was mainly because, despite having a unique back catalogue of games, I didn't feel at the time there was a single “must have” title. However since then, I have been subject to increased lobbying from my Granddaughters. They’re going to be six in June and are now at an age where instead of just watching others play games, they want to actively participate. Plus they have encountered console gaming at their Uncle’s house. At present, the only child friendly game I have on the PC is Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout. This means playing in the office, which doesn’t easily facilitate one adult and two, fidgety children. So I finally capitulated and bought a Nintendo Switch yesterday. It arrived today.

Roger Edwards 4/12/21 Roger Edwards 4/12/21

Star Trek Online: Delta Recruitment Event

Consider any MMORPG that has been around for a few years or more and you'll often find a game that is weighted towards the endgame and the players at level cap. New content often overlooks or even excludes players just starting out or those at intermediate levels. Furthermore, players that have drifted away from a game are often faced with the dilemma of returning to a character that they have forgotten how to play. The most practical solution to this is to simply create a new alt and start from scratch. However for a lot of players this is not a particularly inviting option. Repeating old content can be dull and singularly unrewarding. And for the new player, starting out and trying to catch up with the rest of the community or their friends who are at level cap, can frequently feel like an uphill struggle. It can be very frustrating when friends, colleagues and guild mates are playing the latest missions and you’re still mixing it down in the starter zones.

Roger Edwards 4/8/21 Roger Edwards 4/8/21

Nothing Further to Say?

Today, I was going to write a post about the controversy surrounding the video game Six Days in Fallujah. I read up on the relevant background material and then started making bullet points regarding my own personal opinion. While doing so I had a sense of deja vu, so I started looking back through previous posts I’ve written on comparable subjects. And my suspicions were confirmed. The basic points I wished to raise, I had previously explored in a post about “the trivialisation of World War II”. So I decided to abandon the planned post about Highwire Games new FPS, because I wasn’t really offering anything new to the debate, as far as I was concerned. Subsequent reflection upon this matter has led me to the inevitable conclusion that once you regularly write about certain subjects for a decade or so, you eventually reach a point where you don’t have a lot further to say because you’ve probably said it already. Well, I think that’s where I’m at.

Roger Edwards 3/31/21 Roger Edwards 3/31/21

Soft Launches

I thought Magic Legends was being beta tested when it appeared on my Arc launcher along with PWE’s other games. Silly me. Apparently, I was mistaken and Magic Legends is being soft launched. Because the game is selling stuff already. To date we have an unoptimized game suffering major performance issues and lag, with the added bonus of an egregious monetisation. People aren’t happy. There are all the technical issues associated with beta testing along with the early introduction of a predatory business model. Bravo. The idea of a soft launch is to maintain a relatively low profile, compared to a traditional hard “the game is totally ready” launch. That way you can tinker with your game client in a reactive fashion and introduce new features, ensuring that you keep your current customers onboard. However, if you do it wrong, you can piss off not only your existing customer base but cause a stink that prejudices future punters.

Roger Edwards 3/29/21 Roger Edwards 3/29/21

Do We Really Need "Living Worlds"?

There is a cogent argument to be had that the MMORPG genre has never really hit its full potential. Too many of them do the same thing and there is a long list of features that are conspicuously absent, that players habitually complain about. The debate is further “complicated” (like so many pop culture “debates” are) by one’s own relationship with the genre and what is best described as “personal baggage. Some players will eulogise about older games such as Ultima Online and EverQuest, extolling their lack of features and grindy nature as some sort of character building form of gaming self flagellation. Players with a more contemporary experience of MMOs are subsequently ambivalent towards social interaction and content gating. Hence if you ask a broad spectrum of MMO gamers what features they’d like to see in a new game, you’ll get a commensurate broad spectrum of answers. After 15 years of playing MMOs I’m not sure that I can adequately articulate my own thoughts on improving the genre. We all seem to want some sort of change but beyond that it all gets rather vague.

Roger Edwards 3/27/21 Roger Edwards 3/27/21

Choosing a New Game

I want to talk about how we choose a new game from the countless titles that are currently available. I am going to be candid about how I do this as well as my own personal biases and prejudices. Because I am not open to playing any type of game. Like so many other aspects of life, I have very clear likes and dislikes that can only be tempered so far with logic and rational thinking. Video games as far as I’m concerned are supposed to be engaging, entertaining and inherently enjoyable. I don’t mind a degree of challenge and I’ll grind to achieve a specific goal, if I feel the reward to effort ratio is acceptable. I will on occasions attempt to step tentatively out of my comfort zone. However, there are some things that I simply don’t like, so they will not be considered. I think the best analogy for this is food. There are certain meals that I have tried (sometimes several times) and disliked, so they won’t ever be eaten again. Then there are other meals that contain ingredients I dislike or that are cooked in a style that I don’t enjoy. These are also off the proverbial table (no pun intended).

Roger Edwards 3/25/21 Roger Edwards 3/25/21

Need or Greed?

In the dim and distant past when the world was young and the MMORPG genre still focused on the social element of multiplayer online gaming, there was a curious social etiquette associated with the acquisition of loot, enforced by the “need or greed” rule. This rule works as follows. When an item of loot drops after an enemy mob is killed, all members of the group that killed it have the option to claim the item. Upon doing so, they are presented with a choice of “need or greed”. If one or more persons in a group selects "need", they roll a virtual dice and the person with the highest roll gets the loot. If you choose "greed" when the majority of other players have chosen “need” you are effectively forfeiting any claim upon the loot item. If everyone selects "greed" then again, then there is a virtual dice roll and the player with the highest score receives the item. This system is intended to encourage players not to roll on items that they didn’t need (IE a ranged weapon for a melee character) and to foster an atmosphere of fair play and equanimity.

Roger Edwards 3/21/21 Roger Edwards 3/21/21

LOTRO: Day, Night and Weather Cycle

I don’t know about you guys but whenever I log into The Lord of the Rings Online, it’s usually night in the game. This is a curious anomaly that can be somewhat frustrating if it’s the test server and I want to take some screenshots of new content. I put this down to the fact that I usually log in to LOTRO in the evening, here in the UK and I am unfortunately in sync with the Laurelin server night time phase. Sadly, there are no third party addons that can track the in-game time and server reboots always reset the game’s internal clock. However, I do like the fact that the game has a clear day and night cycle, which adds greatly to the overall ambience of LOTRO. Both of these phases have subcategories, all of which persist for specific times. Here is the cycle as it stands at present in the game.

Roger Edwards 3/11/21 Roger Edwards 3/11/21

LOTRO: Executive Producer’s Letter February 2021

Rob Ciccolini, posted an Executive Producer’s Letter for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, yesterday. This road map for 2021 pretty much confirms much of the content he broadly referenced in his recent live stream Q&A session. The letter doesn’t contain any major surprises but it is useful to have a more comprehensive time table for what is coming to the game this year. As ever, he thanked players for their ongoing support for LOTRO and Standing Stone Games endeavours. It is too early to determine whether SSG has successfully improved their communications policy but the letter has been fairly well received on the official forums.

The most immediate content release coming to LOTRO is Update 29: Wildwood which was previewed on the Bullroarer test server last month. As this is an addition to an existing area in the game, this update will be free. This content update, coming this month, will be followed by the Spring Festival, which will feature new seasonal instances featuring Grimbeorn. I tried one of these, again on the test server, and it was suitably droll and whimsical. It involves escorting Grimbeorn’s “Big Bees” around the meadows of Lossarnach so they can pollinate the flowers, while you fend off hordes of Goats!

Roger Edwards 3/1/21 Roger Edwards 3/1/21

A Month in Gaming

Here we are again. Yet another month has gone by and I find myself writing another instalment of “a month in gaming”. And to be honest, I have very little to say in this particular roundup of my gaming activities. I played Star Trek Online throughout February and created a new Klingon character to take advantage of the ongoing Klingon recruitment event. I have managed to upgrade a Tier 5 D7 and kit it out in such a way that it is fairly robust. And I also created a new Jem’Hadar alt, as they start at level 60 and you are provided with a fully equipped vessel and crew. Nothing fancy but it allows you to get into the endgame content a lot quicker. I may write a more detailed blog post about this at some point. I also played a lot more Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout as my granddaughters came to stay for a week. I have already expressed my thoughts about the mechanics of that game in a prior post.