Siege of Mirkwood Changes Part 2
Ask the Dev Team
Turbine team has recently asked players to submit questions to the dev team.
You can read the first set of questions here!
General
Q: Why is so much gear "Bind on Acquire"? If it is just to stop trading, why not "bind on Account"?
A: We want to have certain items be bound to the specific character. Bind on account would not accomplish this. Itâs one of our ways to encourage players to engage content on their characters as they progress through the game using various classes. We are not considering Bind on Account at this time, however, itâs a nice idea for a set of âinheritanceâ items.
Q: Why are the loading times so crazy for crafting panel? I have 8GB of ram, Core 2 overclocked at 4+GHz and I still get a few seconds of frozen game every time I access the crafting panel for the first time after starting the game.
A: We have changed how the crafting panel is loaded and displayed with Siege of Mirkwood. You should see much better performance as a result.
Q: With the up and coming DirectX 11 with Windows 7 - Are there any plans to incorporate some of its specific tech like you had with the DirectX 10 features that are optional?
A: AMDâs recent announcement of their first DirectX 11 video cards included a mention that LOTRO was adding DX11 support. You will not see it with Siege of Mirkwood, but you should expect it to arrive sometime next year.
Q: Where does Mirkwood fit, size wise, with previously released regions?
A: Mirkwood is roughly 75-80% of the size of the Northdowns.
Q: Do you ever use auction prices to determine whether there is enough of an item? Or, alternatively, do you note if something never appears at the auction house?
A: We often run reports for specific types of items, if we want to gain some insight into rarity â that usually includes how many of that item are up for sale in the AH.
Q: Why do we have the enforced 25 second delay as part of the log out procedure? Is there any way to shorten this?
A: Two reasons. One of the heaviest loads on our servers is the login/logout process. If players could instantly log in and out at will this would place a tremendous strain on our systems. This could cause problems from lost data when saving player information to crashing the server itself. The second reason is gameplay related. If you were able to logout instantly you could avoid all manner of unpleasant deaths in both PvE and PvMP.
Combat
Q: How does the resist system work? Iâve tried to improve my resists but it seems to have little effect.
A: Resists are dependent upon the creatureâs skill. If a creature uses a skill that can be resisted (effects like bleeds and debuffs, for example), your resist rating factors into if you resist it or not. Straight damage from the creature often cannot be resisted (but may be block/parry/evade-able).
Q: The Lore-master skill shows levels of effectiveness for certain Damage Types, but we don't know how these levels (Remarkable, Low, etc.) actually affect our damage. How effective is a particular Damage Type? How does a Tier 3 Orc Slayer Title stack up against Light Damage? Is Westernesse Damage really only effective against The Dead and Unseen, like the Lorebook says?
A: The skill shows a relative level (Remarkable, Low, etc) because it all depends on how much each individual creature is modded. However, there is always *some* amount of vulnerability based on species. (For example, the Dead donât like Westernesse.)
Social
Q: Can we expect to see the guild and housing systems advancing any time soon?
A: Not for Siege of Mirkwood, though weâd love to revisit these systems at some point in time.
Races & Classes
Q: Will we ever see Hobbit Lore-masters in game?
A: No.
Q: Are there any plans to remove Overpower legacies from one-handed legendary weapons for Guardians, and if so when?
A: Weâll be offering legacy exchange scrolls for Guardians with Siege of Mirkwood that will allow them to replace the Overpower legacy with something else. You can read about all the changes to the system in the Legendary Item dev diary.
Q: Why do all the stances of a hunter improve the quick shot in one way or another except for improved fleet stance?
A: Improved Fleet Stance is meant to function when a player is in base-to-base contact with a creature, hence the overall speed gain vs. a change to one skill.
Q: Minstrels currently suffer a 2 second root after a healing skill and animation completes. Is this working as intended or something that will be addressed?
A: This is intentional, for the time being.
Crafting
Q: What is the point of making the recent Galadhrim recipes kindred only?
A: They serve to reward the player crafter for gaining reputation (this is why they are found on reputation reward vendors) with a given faction.
Q: Why is the advancement in crafting levels tied to higher character levels? Why is a level 40 quest required for a Tailor to advance from an Artisan to a Master Tailor?
A: The crafting system was designed to progress as the character develops (levels). Hence the quests to advance your tier also had a level requirement.
PvMP
Q: Why can Defiler moves, which are tactical skills, be blocked; parried or evaded while all other tactical damage in game, such as the Lore-master's Burning Embers skill, can only be resisted or missed?
A: The Defilerâs gourd attacks are considered physical damage sources (an orange gourd thrown at your opponent). So the following skills can be missed, blocked, parried, and evaded: Fire Gourd, Plague Gourd, Explosive Gourd, Gooey Gourd. Curse skills (like Curse of the Lethargic Heart) are resistance based.
Q: The Defiler rank 9 skill "Explosive Gourd" is currently not stacking with the base skill "Fire Gourd" where as the Lore-master's skill "Burning Embers" stacks with "Improved Sticky Gourd" so is this working as intended, and if so, why?
A: This is correct behavior at this point in time.
Q: Hi, does the team plan to keep PvMP and PVE separate throughout the gameâs lifespan?
A: That is our intent! We recognize that many LOTRO players do not wish to participate in PvMP.
