My first two trips into the mid-30's in Runes of Magic took a year and half a dozen zones. My third trip has taken 4 nights in a single zone, the new Coast of Opportunity.
As part of adding a third class to the game, Runewaker had to offer some way for characters who had already completed the low level content while leveling their first two classes to get their new class off the ground. Adding half again the current leveling content in the game wasn't really a viable option.
The Coast of Opportunity was an interesting compromise - it's a zone where each individual quest is about as hard as a level appropriate quest elsewhere in the game, but with dramatically increased exp and gear rewards. Where a player might get a level and a mildly usable piece of green-quality gear from a series of quests in the original content, a single foray into the new area might award an entire level and one or more pieces of blue gear. Repeatable quests offer the training certificates needed to unlock your elite dual class skills far more easily than farming the old turn-ins (which are less reasonable now that each character can have up to six sets of elite skills).
The system isn't entirely for the faint of heart - I'm earning skill Training Points faster than I can figure out what to spend them on, unlocking new skills left and right, and juggling my two secondary jobs on my fledgling Warden. That said, the system works - I went in with two usable higher level classes, and I will emerge with three. The old content remains in the game for players who want to experience it, with no need for massive nerfs to difficulty or exp curves.
Overall, it's an interesting approach compared to the more traditional leveling content revamp/nerf as games age. Instead of spending cost-prohibitive amounts of time actually removing old content from the game, the developer has simply allowed those who want to bypass it to do so. It's still more elegant than outright starting characters at higher levels (e.g. WoW's Death Knights), and it doesn't really harm the previously existing experience for people who actually enjoyed it, the way that WoW's Cataclysm has.
I wonder if the hypothetical Pandaren starting area that may or may not be announced at Blizzcon will take this approach?
Mopping Up Mirkwood
The rollout of LOTRO's Isengard expansion is a bit unusual in that the level cap increase in included for all players. As a result, all of the left-over content that I never finished in Mirkwood was now worth real live exp towards my next level (66, which I snagged tonight). In the process, I also capped out the Malledhrim faction (the reputation of Mirkwood), which snagged me some Turbine points, a title, and the right to purchase a skill that teleports me back to Mirkwood once I earn enough daily quest tokens to do so.
In an earlier post about the expansion pre-order plan, a commenter asked what the point would be of obtaining the ten additional levels in the expansion if you were not going to purchase the content that you would experience with these levels. My answer would be to see the epic story, which is open to all players (provided you can attain the appropriate level). The finely crafted story instance content - which does occasionally pop up in regular quests, but is primarily seen during the epic story - is one of the places where LOTRO shines. The regular quests, which had my Champion greatly exceeding Legolas and Gimli's combined kill counts at Helm's Deep through sheer grinding, is less inspired.
Ironically, I might enjoy the new portions of Middle Earth more if I did NOT have access to the epic story, so that I would just leave the uninspired kill ten wargs/goblins/orcs quests behind their paywall and only do the quests that matter. Unfortunately, this does not look like the most practical option. Turbine originally announced a cap increase of five levels, and doubled that to ten levels during the development of the expansion, I'm guessing in part to deter players from doing just what I'm suggesting.
Detour to Enedwaith?
As an interesting side note, I'm faced with a choice of what to do next in game. There was one new zone prior to the expansion, Enedwaith, which I declined to purchase as a non-subscriber because I was already at the level cap. Now that I'm at level 66 and halfway to 67, there is a case to be made that I should just skip the entire zone, other than the epic quest line that runs through it, so that I don't hit Isengard content even further over-level whenever I decide to pay for the new expansion. Then again, this would mean skipping a large chunk of content - the only content that was added in nearly two years between Mirkwood and Isengard - and missing out on deeds that I could be getting credit for as I work on the epic story anyway.
If I did choose to stop in Enedwaith, there'd be a second choice - how to pay for it. I could pay for a permanent unlock as a Premium player, which would cost me 695 Turbine Points ($7) before sales. This would allow me to experience the content at my leisure, including the right to go back and complete kill deeds (though I haven't done this for large amounts of older content that I can currently access, because it's more boring than it's worth). Then again, I have no intention of ever getting a second LOTRO character high enough to do this zone a second time.
As a result, this may be one of the cases where paying for a single month of LOTRO's subscription might actually be a better deal. For $15, I would get rental access to the following for one month:
- The Enedwaith zone, including the ability to complete any kill deeds that I start but do not complete. Unless this zone is much bigger than I'm expecting, a month should be plenty of time. (Value: 695 TP)
- Crafting Guild progression. I currently have enough crafting rep to reach the new tier, and I would be able to keep the recipes after dropping back down to non-subscriber status - as the system currently stands, I wouldn't need to get access again until the next crafting cap increase. (Value: 295 TP for "permanent" access to something that I may not need again for years)
- 20 slots of cosmetic wardrobe storage. If I understand the system correctly, things I put in the wardrobe would remain there until removed, even after my subscription lapses. This would clear a fair number of items that I don't expect to need again anytime soon out of my bank and house vaults. (Value: 495 TP grants permanent access to 10 slots worth of cosmetic storage, but the real value is getting this stuff out of my bank without permanently destroying it)
- Rested exp - I had some on my character for some reason and was allowed to "spend" it, but my understanding was that ONLY subscribers are allowed to earn additional rested exp. (Value: unclear, I guess I'd have to price it versus some sort of exp boost potion?)
- +500 Turbine Points (monthly stipend)
I don't think this is something I'm going to do in the short term until I'm ready to pull the trigger on Isengard, but it's interesting that there is a scenario where the subscription may still be useful. I still think that LOTRO's subscription is not a great idea for long-term players, because you're re-paying every month for stuff you could unlock just once, but apparently even a high level player can find some value out of a single month of VIP every now and then.
EQ2's Inexplicable Dungeon Progression
Feldon reports the latest in EQ2 itemization news, which leaves WoW's notorious gear resets looking gentle by comparison.
The Velious Instance Game
EQ2's group game was in an odd position. Even though the level cap did not rise in February's expansion, a gear reset effectively took all previous level 90 content out of the conversation. Instead, non-raiders had effectively three tiers of group content, each consisting of a cluster of three 6-man dungeons.
Progression from tier to tier is strictly gated by two stats - critical hit chance and critical hit mitigation - and eventually a fourth tier was added with such thresholds that it is difficult to even qualify for without raid loot. On top of that, the tiers get increasingly difficult, even after you hit the minimum thresholds. Like Feldon, my experience has been that players stick to the first two instance clusters (indeed, avoiding the final zone of the second cluster, which is noticeably harder) to maximize their shard/time earnings and minimize the chances of PUG failure.
The Shards
All of these instances award a token called "Primal Velium Shards", which are exchanged for both loot and "yellow adornments" - enhancement slots found on group dungeon gear that can only be purchased with tokens, and which are essential to meeting the higher crit/crit mit caps. Meanwhile, the loot includes three tiers of armor sets that can be purchased or crafted with some combination of shards, faction, platinum, and dungeon drops.
I am currently working on the "Ry'gorr" armor (tier 2, even though it is associated with the third instance cluster). Each time I obtain a rare gem, I need Velium shards (40 at the expansion's launch, 20 after an earlier nerf) to have it crafted into a piece of armor. As a result, I am extremely reluctant to spend five shards on consumable yellow adornments, or even the "tier one" armor set, both of which would be wasted when I replace the gear as I can get the gem drops.
The Changes
As Feldon's earlier commentary noted, SOE has removed the crit mit requirements from all nine of the launch Velious zones. While this change does mean that an undergeared player will no longer be one-shotted in the instances, I agree entirely with Feldon's observation that such players are probably not going to be prepared to make a good contribution to groups in even the earliest zones (much less the later, harder ones).
I suppose we should have seen the next change coming - the latest test server build slashes prices on shard gear to fire-sale levels. The first tier is available with no meaningful cost at all to anyone who can find a crafter with the appropriate book (or from an NPC if you want to grind up some faction and plat, albeit on a faction that advances very slowly). The second tier will now only require the rare gem (which are apparently skyrocketing in prices on the broker). The third tier is now available as outright drops rather than through a complicated crafting chain in which players had to obtain large quantities of loot from the fourth and hardest instance cluster just to break it down for ore and then combine it with shards to craft the armor.
On the plus side, I no longer need to fret about spending shards on yellow adornments, since it doesn't look like they will be needed for much of anything else. Also, to the extent that the problem with moving on to harder tiers of content is the difficulty of the content, rather than acquisition of gear, I expect that we will see some in-coming nerfs to some or all of the instances in the coming weeks. The addition of an automated group finder in the coming weeks will only hasten calls for the content to get easier.
The Fallout
In my experience with the Velious dungeon game, the issue was the attempt to force too many tiers into the available content. Players were expected to spend a long time farming the same three dungeons repeatedly before leaving them behind to work on the next three, which gets old very fast. If they had done only two tiers - the first 5-6 instances on one tier and the remaining 3 launch dungeons, plus the 3 newer ones, on the second - there could have been much more variety and much less tedium.
The changes they are making instead do little to fix this problem. Instead, they remove the incentive to run any of the instances from the first half of the expansion, cramming all group players in to the remaining dungeons, which are still too hard to PUG effectively. Moreover, how excited can I really get about farming up loot now, when the trend appears to be that it will get even easier if/when more instances are added?
Unless the plan is to force players into content that is over their heads in an attempt to sell the new expansion box with additional AA's, I don't see how this approach gets anyone where they want to go.
The Velious Instance Game
EQ2's group game was in an odd position. Even though the level cap did not rise in February's expansion, a gear reset effectively took all previous level 90 content out of the conversation. Instead, non-raiders had effectively three tiers of group content, each consisting of a cluster of three 6-man dungeons.
Progression from tier to tier is strictly gated by two stats - critical hit chance and critical hit mitigation - and eventually a fourth tier was added with such thresholds that it is difficult to even qualify for without raid loot. On top of that, the tiers get increasingly difficult, even after you hit the minimum thresholds. Like Feldon, my experience has been that players stick to the first two instance clusters (indeed, avoiding the final zone of the second cluster, which is noticeably harder) to maximize their shard/time earnings and minimize the chances of PUG failure.
The Shards
All of these instances award a token called "Primal Velium Shards", which are exchanged for both loot and "yellow adornments" - enhancement slots found on group dungeon gear that can only be purchased with tokens, and which are essential to meeting the higher crit/crit mit caps. Meanwhile, the loot includes three tiers of armor sets that can be purchased or crafted with some combination of shards, faction, platinum, and dungeon drops.
I am currently working on the "Ry'gorr" armor (tier 2, even though it is associated with the third instance cluster). Each time I obtain a rare gem, I need Velium shards (40 at the expansion's launch, 20 after an earlier nerf) to have it crafted into a piece of armor. As a result, I am extremely reluctant to spend five shards on consumable yellow adornments, or even the "tier one" armor set, both of which would be wasted when I replace the gear as I can get the gem drops.
The Changes
As Feldon's earlier commentary noted, SOE has removed the crit mit requirements from all nine of the launch Velious zones. While this change does mean that an undergeared player will no longer be one-shotted in the instances, I agree entirely with Feldon's observation that such players are probably not going to be prepared to make a good contribution to groups in even the earliest zones (much less the later, harder ones).
I suppose we should have seen the next change coming - the latest test server build slashes prices on shard gear to fire-sale levels. The first tier is available with no meaningful cost at all to anyone who can find a crafter with the appropriate book (or from an NPC if you want to grind up some faction and plat, albeit on a faction that advances very slowly). The second tier will now only require the rare gem (which are apparently skyrocketing in prices on the broker). The third tier is now available as outright drops rather than through a complicated crafting chain in which players had to obtain large quantities of loot from the fourth and hardest instance cluster just to break it down for ore and then combine it with shards to craft the armor.
On the plus side, I no longer need to fret about spending shards on yellow adornments, since it doesn't look like they will be needed for much of anything else. Also, to the extent that the problem with moving on to harder tiers of content is the difficulty of the content, rather than acquisition of gear, I expect that we will see some in-coming nerfs to some or all of the instances in the coming weeks. The addition of an automated group finder in the coming weeks will only hasten calls for the content to get easier.
The Fallout
In my experience with the Velious dungeon game, the issue was the attempt to force too many tiers into the available content. Players were expected to spend a long time farming the same three dungeons repeatedly before leaving them behind to work on the next three, which gets old very fast. If they had done only two tiers - the first 5-6 instances on one tier and the remaining 3 launch dungeons, plus the 3 newer ones, on the second - there could have been much more variety and much less tedium.
The changes they are making instead do little to fix this problem. Instead, they remove the incentive to run any of the instances from the first half of the expansion, cramming all group players in to the remaining dungeons, which are still too hard to PUG effectively. Moreover, how excited can I really get about farming up loot now, when the trend appears to be that it will get even easier if/when more instances are added?
Unless the plan is to force players into content that is over their heads in an attempt to sell the new expansion box with additional AA's, I don't see how this approach gets anyone where they want to go.
Fewer Choices, More Impact
I was debating what to play last night, and Blue Kae suggested that I try logging into different games until something stuck. The winner was Runes of Magic, where I finally got around to picking up my third class.
Expanded options
Until the most recent Chapter update, Runes of Magic characters were effectively two classes in one - my character spent most of her time on her Druid/Rogue (a shadow DPS caster) and a bit of her time on her Rogue/Druid (a normal stabby rogue with moderate self-healing but poor DPS). Under the new system, characters can still only use two classes at once, but you are now choosing from a list of three instead of a list of two, which means six class pairings.
I opted to pick up the Warden, a generally melee-based pet class. Paired with the Rogue, the Warden is a dual-wielding (or 2-handed fighter if you prefer) flurry of blades, with additional damage skills powered by the rogue energy bar (a trait it shares with the Druid/Rogue, which was what really sold me on this pairing in the first place). Paired with the Druid, the Warden gets a nice heal and some buffs, but noticeably lower DPS.
(I haven't used the Warden as a secondary yet because it still needs to be leveled. Rogue/Warden will likely have the same offense for survival trade-off compared to the Rogue/Druid. The Druid/Warden could be good for buffs and off-heals, but I won't really be able to use it that way because all of my skill upgrades have been spent on damage spells, and there is currently no dual-spec option for skills.)
Limited Flexibility encourages tradeoffs
As a solo player, it would definitely be easier to play if there was more of a compromise position where I could have some of each. My first impression was that it was almost like a Rift soul tree with only three points to spend - two on my primary class and one on one of the two secondaries - when I'd prefer to spend one point on each of the three.
As I've gotten into the system, though, I actually find it interesting. Wardens have three basic pets - the Spirit of the Oak (a giant plant tanking pet), the nature crystal (a passive buff pet - specialty of the Warden/Druid), and the Oak Walker (a melee DPS pet. (Warden/Scouts get a fourth pet, a Centaur archer.) As you get to higher levels, you can have one pet active and a buff from "sacrificing" one of the other pets. This means that I can make trade-offs between DPS and survivability per fight if needed.
Sacrificing the tank grants me a massive boost to armor, which lets me off-tank mobs while the oak walker stabs them to death (very quickly) - on the Warden/Rogue, I'm finding that faster kills and improved durability more than outweigh the downside of tanking mobs myself. The other two pet buffs grant offensive bonuses, so my Warden/Druid may be able to run more aggressively, knowing she has healing when she needs it. (That said, the Warden/Druid ends up relying a bit more on autoattacks than I prefer, as Wardens abilities burn mana very quickly, even if you aren't also using the same bar for your secondary/elite skills.)
Overall, I suppose the bottom line is that sometimes more limitations isn't a bad thing, if they present you with interesting tradeoffs and choices that are worth considering.
 |
| Halanna and her Oak Walker |
Expanded options
Until the most recent Chapter update, Runes of Magic characters were effectively two classes in one - my character spent most of her time on her Druid/Rogue (a shadow DPS caster) and a bit of her time on her Rogue/Druid (a normal stabby rogue with moderate self-healing but poor DPS). Under the new system, characters can still only use two classes at once, but you are now choosing from a list of three instead of a list of two, which means six class pairings.
I opted to pick up the Warden, a generally melee-based pet class. Paired with the Rogue, the Warden is a dual-wielding (or 2-handed fighter if you prefer) flurry of blades, with additional damage skills powered by the rogue energy bar (a trait it shares with the Druid/Rogue, which was what really sold me on this pairing in the first place). Paired with the Druid, the Warden gets a nice heal and some buffs, but noticeably lower DPS.
(I haven't used the Warden as a secondary yet because it still needs to be leveled. Rogue/Warden will likely have the same offense for survival trade-off compared to the Rogue/Druid. The Druid/Warden could be good for buffs and off-heals, but I won't really be able to use it that way because all of my skill upgrades have been spent on damage spells, and there is currently no dual-spec option for skills.)
 |
| It's not everyday that the list of stuff that is broken is "everything". (I'm only slightly bitter that I took several exp death penalties before giving up for the night because "everything" includes "emergency health potions".) |
Limited Flexibility encourages tradeoffs
As a solo player, it would definitely be easier to play if there was more of a compromise position where I could have some of each. My first impression was that it was almost like a Rift soul tree with only three points to spend - two on my primary class and one on one of the two secondaries - when I'd prefer to spend one point on each of the three.
As I've gotten into the system, though, I actually find it interesting. Wardens have three basic pets - the Spirit of the Oak (a giant plant tanking pet), the nature crystal (a passive buff pet - specialty of the Warden/Druid), and the Oak Walker (a melee DPS pet. (Warden/Scouts get a fourth pet, a Centaur archer.) As you get to higher levels, you can have one pet active and a buff from "sacrificing" one of the other pets. This means that I can make trade-offs between DPS and survivability per fight if needed.
Sacrificing the tank grants me a massive boost to armor, which lets me off-tank mobs while the oak walker stabs them to death (very quickly) - on the Warden/Rogue, I'm finding that faster kills and improved durability more than outweigh the downside of tanking mobs myself. The other two pet buffs grant offensive bonuses, so my Warden/Druid may be able to run more aggressively, knowing she has healing when she needs it. (That said, the Warden/Druid ends up relying a bit more on autoattacks than I prefer, as Wardens abilities burn mana very quickly, even if you aren't also using the same bar for your secondary/elite skills.)
Overall, I suppose the bottom line is that sometimes more limitations isn't a bad thing, if they present you with interesting tradeoffs and choices that are worth considering.
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