Ok, I have some time this morning before my unfortunate, but necessary departure from Rhode Island (someone has to start collecting next year's door prizes, ya know), so I thought I would get my LOTROG 1 thoughts out of the way, and briefly mention some of the literal BOMBS that were dropped this weekend. Please see the Community forum for more on my thanks to everyone involved that helped make the gathering great. I will now list, in order of damage radius, the bombs I heard at LOTROG 1. Note, there is likely to be complete footage of this information forthcoming from the excellent A/V tech crew from LOTROSource, so stay tuned.
20 Megaton Nuke: For those of us wishing to enter the world and be able to experience it without the combat grind, combatcentric mindset, and combat-necessary involvement--Turbine has listened, and we were told there would be something for you in this world.
15 Megaton Nuke: The old timeline is GONE. The game will now begin somewhere around the time Frodo left Bag End...either before or just after.
10 Megaton Nuke: The old endurance system is GONE. During involved gameplay, the team noted that this system, while a very good idea in it's origin, just did not effectively maintain fun gameplay in it's implementation. Working to reduce the complexity of combat information processing (I assume to maintain a wide open door for player hand's-on combat action), they decided the endurance system was just too onerous. It is being worked on to become more streamlined to allow players to keep their attention on more important and complex combat elements.
5 Megaton Nuke: PvP has been elevated from the bottomless pits of Moria to a new level of consideration. While the statement was made that there will still not be direct Player vs. Player in the sense of using your character to attack another, they definitely made hint that something is being developed to interest the vocal PvP community.
*Note from Missile Command -- If you wish to discuss PvP and this new implication, please honor Patience's dedicated topic in this matter and add to that discussion -- or you will have your thread nuked by something far larger than any megatonnage offered here*
1 Megaton Nuke: The E3 Demo, our most current look at the game, was chuckled at by most of the Turbine team. Why? Because it was so OLD, compared to what they are playing now.
*LoA peers into the dark NDA wall, and sees a tiny light-hole. Moments before it is plugged up by a rather surly looking orc in a Turbine 3-piece suit, the following was gleamed:*
The current play-build (used by the team for playdays) is play-build 4. The E3 demo was play-build 1. The graphics, fluidity of ALL movements (both mundane, as well as combat), are so impressive, that their OWN technical expert felt like he was playing a game INSIDE A MOVIE
1,000 Pounder: Combat is absolutely awesome. No, seriously. The E3 demo is a joke compared to current combat. Most, if not all of what we saw has been improved, modified, advanced, and ultimately better polished. [in other words, I believe they LISTENED to our concerns for some of the combat issues]. I consider myself a very good judge of BS vs. straight-on discussion. There are certain mannerisms people have when they are simply trying to impress, and when they are leveling with you. Analyzing much of what was said in intimate discussions, I can tell you this. Noone was there to impress. These guys have a game mechanic in development that will make everything out there pale.
500 Pounder: There is currently no "system" of transportation when your character is defeated. Rather than tackle somewhat ludicrous lore problems of always seeing "A band of Rangers rescues your body and brings you back to town" (the example being this would look silly in the depths of Moria), they decided to utilize Tolkien's own methodology, and allow players to imagine a fitting setting in which any particular defeat would be met with your character's rescue. (My take on this is, if you are in Moria, a wondering band of adventurers happened upon you, and returned you to the surface, if outside Rivendell, an elven warband, ect.) Currently, the point if return will be an as yet to be determined nearby camp, or resting point.
Mortar round: No Horses will be in the initial release. They are still planning release of mounts and all-things-horses in a future expansion that deals with Rohan.
Hand Grenade: The creative possibilities since purchasing the license from Vivendi have improved considerably.
Molotov Cocktail: This Wednesday is the next official Turbine play-day. Perhaps we can entice them to give some feedback.
Black Cat firecracker: It appears that the dwarf remains the preferred race to play...and it also appears that in close-combat these stumpy bad-boyz are gonna rock!
I'm sure I've left some things out....and we have instructed everyone that attended to flood the forums with their own impressions and insights (let's remember, there were devs sitting at almost every table during the luncheon, a 4 hours affair).
One final note. Rhode Island was a frickin' steambath. I didn't haul my keester half-way across the country to get the same helping of swelter as I have in Texas. If I go up there again, I expect all the fansite sponsors to properly pay for some good weather. Afterall, you ARE the organized sponsorship here...rather shoddy work, I'd say.
LoA
![[toj.cc]WildBillKickoff](/forums/data/avatars/m/1/1206.jpg?1442680067){kind=avatar}
), helping lead the GW chapter, plus real life resonsibilities. I quit FFXI because it was taking up too much of my time, and it looks like LOTR will be another huge timesink. A very enjoyable one, but a timesink nonetheless.
And still nothing definite on professions and such!!
