Star Trek Online: Black Screen Bug
Over the last year an intermittent bug has been plaguing the MMORPG, Star Trek Online. For most players it is not unresolvable and there is a workaround. However, it is one of those bugs that is a low level source of annoyance for most and for a few unlucky players a major impediment to playing Star Trek Online. The bug is as follows. If you use the Arc game launcher to log into your Perfect World Entertainment account and then start Star Trek Online from the list of games, you will randomly get a black screen rather than the Cryptic logo and the game loading. If this occurs, you need to press ctrl+alt+del to bring up the Task Manager and manually click “End Task” to terminate the frozen GameClient.exe file. Relaunching the game from Arc a second time often resolves the issue and the game starts. However, the problem may occur again after exiting the game or it may not. It does seem to be somewhat random and capricious.
LOTRO: The Angle of Mitheithel Preview
Yesterday, Standing Stone Games made Bullroarer Update 32 - Beta #4 available on their test server. Unlike the previous three test builds, this one allows players to visit the new area coming in Update 32 to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. According to SSG “The Angle of Mitheithel stretches south from the Trollshaws to the junction of the Bruinen and Mitheithel rivers. It is a wild land of rocky hills and deep pine-woods, and a graveyard of ancient kingdoms. The ruins of Elves and Men alike crumble among the trees, and the Rangers steal through the shadows of the trees, ever watchful, carrying out secret assignments as the north grows more dangerous by the day. The Angle of Mitheithel will be for levels 40 to 45”. This is a very early build and as a result, there are no mobs at present in the new zone, nor have any new maps or stables been added to the game at present.
LOTRO: Abandoned Game Mechanics and Systems Part 2
In the previous post, I focused upon several major game mechanics that were added to the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online with much pomp and ceremony, only to fall into abeyance shortly afterwards. I cited such examples as mounted combat, epic battles and skirmishes. Their fate may well have been due to player indifference or the fact that the mechanics were complicated to develop and expensive to maintain. In this follow-up article I would like to discuss some additional systems that are somewhat smaller in their scope and relevance, but have similarly been abandoned by the developer’s Turbine/Standing Stone Games over the lifecycle of the game. Some are ancient history within the context of the LOTRO. Others are far more recent and that is a point worth reflecting upon.
LOTRO: Abandoned Game Mechanics and Systems Part 1
According to Merlin, played by the great Nicol Williamson in the 1981 film Excalibur, “It is the doom of men that they forget”. A criticism that could be levelled both at me and Turbine/Standing Stone Games. The MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online is littered with systems, game mechanics and features that have been introduced to the game, proven unsuccessful, unpopular or too complex to maintain and subsequently abandoned. I can’t help but think that the last reason is possibly the most common factor in determining the fate of a new game system. Cryptic removed The Foundry system of player created content from Star Trek Online because the sole member of staff that curated it left the company, proving this problem isn’t unique to LOTRO. However, as it’s been my main MMO of choice for 14 years, I shall be using it as a point of reference. Here are a few examples.
LOTRO: The Hytbold Experiment
In 2012, developers Turbine embarked upon an interesting experiment as part of the Riders of Rohan expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. I do not refer to mounted combat. Let us leave that debacle for another discussion. I was referencing the rebuilding of the burnt out village of Hytbold, which was promoted at the time as an alternative to raiding for solo players. Hytbold is a settlement located within the Sutcrofts in East Rohan, which was burned down in an attack by Orcs from the East Wall. Once a player reaches level 84 they can undertake repeatable daily quests, participate in mounted combat and other unique events. Over time a player can rebuild the two dozen buildings that make up Hytbold and access services such as Stable Master, Provisioner and Barber. The rewards for this task are class and trait-specific armour sets that are comparable to level 85 raid gear and the title of Thane of Rohan.
Auto-manage
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this issue before in previous video game related posts. But I don’t think I’ve devoted an entire article to the matter, which is what I’m going to do today. So to provide some context, I logged into The Elder Scrolls Online today as I’m fast approaching that point in the year where I spend a few months subscribing to the game. Due to some recent patch, once again all my Champion Points have been refunded. Judging by the change in graphics, it may be that the entire Champion Point system has been updated. Whatever the reason, I have to re-allocate 501points into three skill trees. I wasn’t au fait with the last system, so I followed a build I found online. Now that it has changed, I’ll have to find a new one and copy it. Until I do, my character will be gimped. Shame the game doesn’t offer a selection of generic builds that can be easily implemented at the press of a button.
Star Trek Online: The Missing Missions
On October 15th 2018, Cryptic released Season 15: Age of Discovery for the MMORPG Star Trek Online. As well as adding new Star Trek: Discovery themeed content to the game, the developers also overhauled the new player experience and as a result made some major changes to existing missions in the game. Several story arcs were taken from the “Episodes” tab of the game’s Journal and relegated them to the status of side-content. As a result, several well written and enjoyable storylines are now buried in the game’s UI and are therefore easily overlooked. Some of them have been further gated behind a level 60 requirement to be eligible to play them. For more details of both these “side-content” story arcs and playing the entire game in narrative order, please see my previous post, Playing the Story Arcs in Order.
LOTRO: Changes to Embers, Motes and Figments Currencies
I dislike an excess of currencies in the MMORPG genre. I believe that such systems are implemented with a deliberate intention to obfusticate and dissemble. Especially if such currencies are bought with real money. Consider the following scenario. A player buys a specific currency and then uses that to purchase a second, different currency. They then use that to obtain an ingame item, The sole intention of such systems in video games are to disassociate the player from the fact that they have made a purchase which has a real cost. These are manipulative and predatory business practises but such is the nature of the video games industry and they are commonplace. You have to keep your wits about you when spending money ingame. Sadly those who don’t, end up falling foul of such practises.
LOTRO: The Producer’s Letter is Now Quarterly
On the 31st December 2021 (nine days ago), Oleg Brodskiy (AKA Raninia) posted his latest Producer’s Letter for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. As ever, it wasn’t exactly promoted with any enthusiasm, being mentioned just once by the official LOTRO Twitter account. So I only discovered it yesterday when it was referenced by Justin Olivetti in a post over at Massively Overpowered. The letter mentions broadly what is coming to the game in the not too distant future. No one was surprised by what’s on offer as much has already been alluded to or openly discussed over the course of last year. A new raid, housing in Erebor, the new Legendary Item reward track and a new zone in Southern Trollshaw; the Angle of Mitheithel which has level 40 to 45 content. However, one important change is that the Producer’s Letter is now to be a quarterly publication.
A Year in Gaming
Usually in a post such as this, my primary focus would be writing about the games that I’ve played over the last twelve month and what it was about them that I specifically enjoyed. However, this year I feel that I must address the wider issues that have dominated the news regarding the video games industry. Simply put, several very high profile and successful triple A video game companies have been beset by scandals over the last twelve months. And these have been of such a nature that they have finally laid to rest the myth that some still cling to, that working “in video games” is somehow different from working in more traditional industries because it’s “cool”. It turns out that it has all the same failings as TV, music and film. The people at the top are abusive and broken and maltreat those at the coalface who do all the real work for precious little reward.
LOTRO on Consoles
When EG7 bought the Daybreak Game Company over a year ago, they mentioned in a subsequent investor report that a console port was being considered for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. This was met with a degree of scepticism by the player community who saw it mainly as speculative marketing. However, one year on and EG7 has referenced a potential console version yet again. Their Q3 2021 investor report lists a “release on consoles” as a medium term goal. The fact that this idea has been mentioned twice within a 12 month period is interesting. Investor reports are public information so EG7 no doubt knew that this “talking point” would find its way into the wider gaming press. It certainly means that the concept now warrants some serious consideration from LOTRO players.
LOTRO: Thoughts on Fate of Gundabad
I’ve spent the last week catching up with recent content in The Lord of the Rings Online. I started the Update 30: Blood of Azog and struggled with the PVE quests, due to the stats nerf and LI change. I got to level 132 and then decided to replace my two Legendary Weapons on my Lore-master. I would like to thank Linawillow for their advice via social media. So much for the new system being easier to understand and implement. I now have new LIs that have boosted my stats sufficiently enough for me to deal with the mobs above 130. Hence I completed the story set in the Battle of Azanulbizar, which was very well conceived and implemented. It has a great deal of canonical detail and is engagingly presented. By the time I finished the Epic Story and side quests in the area, my character had reached level 136, so I decided to go straight to Gundabad.
LOTRO: The Beginning of the End
The recent Fate of Gundabad expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online, has increased the game's level cap from 130 to 140. Mobs of 130 or above have seen a significant statistical increase. Hence if you play through PVE content or undertake an on level skirmish, you may well struggle to defeat your enemies. To compensate for this, if you create a new Legendary Item and replace your old weapons, you will see a boost in DPS that allegedly allows you to deal with the stronger mobs. In principle, this seems like an equitable quid pro quo. However, this is a very significant change to the game. What I and many other players find “surprising” is that the developers, Standing Stone Games, have done precious little to publicise this change in game dynamics. At present there is a major lack of information both in-game and on the official forums.
“Play-to-Earn” is Not a New Concept
Do you remember the days when you bought a game and then played it and that was the full extent of your financial dealings with the company that had produced it? I do. Sadly those days have pretty much gone. As video games have become a more mainstream leisure activity, the business model associated with them has similarly evolved. Microtransactions introduced charges for additional content, which then paved the way for the “live service”. Video games have ceased to be standalone products and become yet another online leisure amenity that requires continuous payment to access. I’m sure developers working at the coalface of video games still harbour sincere desires to make a “good game” but it is clear that is not the goal of the big triple A publishers that finance them.
LOTRO: The Benefits of Being a VIP For a Month
I recently created a new Brawler class character in the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. This is the first time I’ve rolled a new alt while not subscribing. Hence I suddenly became aware that a great deal of features and functionality that I usually take for granted were not available. I started unlocking these services in a piecemeal fashion but soon realized that this wasn’t very cost effective. So I started digging around online to see what the exact benefits are of subscribing to LOTRO and becoming a VIP player. There is a comparison chart available if you do a Google search but it is far from comprehensive. For example a free player has to pay to unlock skill point set bonuses, which surprised me. Overall, the entire monetisation of LOTRO is somewhat arcane. However, if you subscribe for one month to become a VIP, when you stop paying you drop down to Premium player status, rather than return to that of a Free player. This has benefits.
LOTRO: Tying Up Loose Ends
I discovered an excellent thread on the official Lord of the Rings Online forums today, created by Tesalion Lortus, which tackles the complicated subject of outstanding and unresolved storylines within the game. It is a very well researched and comprehensive post. I try my best to keep abreast of the various ongoing stories within the MMORPG but this list of plotlines that have yet to be completed, is a timely reminder of the sprawling narrative that Turbine/Standing Stone Games have woven over the last 14 years. The story is a major reason for this game’s longevity and many players enjoy the way it references and compliments so much of Tolkien’s overall lore. But it would appear that there are numerous story arcs that have not reached fruition, going back as far as the Helm’s Deep expansion that was released in 2013. Naturally, now that this matter has been highlighted so well, I am curious to see what SSG intends to do to resolve the situation.
LOTRO: Fate of Gundabad Bullroarer Preview
Yesterday afternoon (UK time) Standing Stone Games made the forthcoming expansion for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, available on the Bullroarer test server. This new release, Fate of Gundabad, is due to launch on the 10th of November which is under two weeks away. However, I suspect that this expansion has been under development for a while as it appears fairly complete without very little or no placeholder material. Players have already been providing feedback on the official forums and it would seem that the nuts and bolts of the area are in place and functional. There appears to be a substantial amount of new zones in this expansion with areas both above and below ground. It is worth mentioning straight away that if you are a LOTRO player who didn’t especially enjoy navigating your way through Moria, you will probably find the new areas underneath Mount Gundabad as equally frustrating. There are dense groups of Orcs and other enemy mobs to get past and I suspect these areas will be quite taxing.
LOTRO: Problems With the Revised Legendary Item Systems
NB. If you have a strong feeling of deja vu while reading this post, it’s not just you. Most of the points raised here were mentioned previously a few weeks ago when I wrote about my experiences during the beta testing of Update 30.3 on Bullroarer server. I’m sure long time LOTRO players will not be at all surprised by what is discussed in this post.
Developer’s Standing Stone released Update 30.3 for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online today. This includes the new Brawler class and the revised Legendary Item system. The latter has proven to be problematic. Firstly, there has been no support information from SSG as to how the new system works. There is no in-game tutorial or quest that orientates the player. In fact unless a player opens up the LI window and discovers that there is a new “appraise” button added to the UI, they could easily continue playing totally oblivious to the revised system. Secondly, all the bugs and glitches that were highlighted by players on the test server have not been addressed and have been ported over to the live servers. Unless you are the type of player who is heavily invested in the game and has kept abreast of the various threads about the revised LI system on the official forums, you will have to muddle through the best you can. Furthermore, you will be at risk of making mistakes, wasting valuable in-game resources and potentially gimping your new LI.
MMO Tropes: “Kill Ten Rats” and Fetch Quests
“The MMO genre is rife with its own set of tropes; recurring themes and motifs that have become established and ubiquitous. All of which are ideal material for a hastily produced, lazily conceived, recurring blog post”.
The MMORPG genre is a curious subset of video games. Not only is it predicated on violence against the individual, institutions and “others”, as so many video games are but also species-specific genocide and general mass extinction of fauna and flora. It is easy to understand how this gaming specific trope came about. Early MMOs often had very little or no narrative driven quests and players simply levelled their characters by gaining XP from any sort of combat. Be that against other players, mobs or general in-game wildlife. What is far more perplexing is why such an arbitrary mechanic still persists in the modern MMO. Is it simply due to “laziness” and the fact that it’s easy to implement and rely upon? Or is there more to it than that?
A Month in Gaming
September has been and gone and the nights are now drawing in. Usually this time of year is ideal for gaming but sadly I’ve had a lot on over the last 30 days and as a result there’s been precious little time for gaming or indeed writing. Such is life. When I did have some leisure time, MMOs were the easiest way to get a quick gaming fix, as per usual. Standing Stone Games announced that the next expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online would be released in November and that a revision of the Legendary Item system would be coming prior to that. Hence I took a look at the beta builds on the Bullroarer test server and then started prepping my various alts on the live servers, to get ready for this major change. I also managed to complete the latest event in Star Trek Online. However, beyond these straightforward tasks I didn’t really get to do much more.