TallGuyCalif's Computer Gaming and Entertainment Site

Tag: Lord of the Rings Online

  • Eclectic Game Playing Recently (Pocket Legends, LOTRO, Star Trek Online, and Planetside 2)

    In this case, by Eclectic, I mean random, crazy, no theme or consistency…

    I’ve been very busy recently with work and personal projects, so I haven’t had a lot of time to play games, and when I have had time, it has been in small increments. The exception to this was Fable III, which I wrote about previously. But other gaming times, I needed something comfortable that I could jump into an out of quickly.

    Pocket Legends is perfect for that. I could jump on with the iPad, play for a bit, and jump out. The gameplay hasn’t changed too much since I was on many months ago, but everything seems a little better, with the guilds and the crafting and other features that have been improved. This time, I created a mage character, rather than my old warrior. Mages have the advantage that they can heal themselves and their party members, which is great. While they’re not as tough as warriors and perhaps can’t deal as much damage, they still do pretty well and the ranged attacks help keep them out of trouble a bit. Mages can also do AOE attacks that damage enemies around them and also party buffs and enemy debuffs. I’ll write more about my Pocket Legends experiences at a later date.

    I’ve been given leadership of my Lord of the Rings Online kinship, Thirst for Power, and have created a website to try to build community in the kinship. Unfortunately, there aren’t many players participating these days, so we need to figure out how to revitalize the kinship. I finally took my highest level character, Tallborn, into Rohan, and the changes I’ve seen so far are big steps up. More in another post.

    Sadly, I inherited the leadership of my Star Trek Online fleet, as well. Since I seems to be the only one who signs in, I don’t know how much effort I will put into rebuilding it, but I probably won’t disband it any time soon. At least there are no upkeep fees, unlike in LOTRO where you need to remember to keep paying rent on the kin house (and your personal house).

    I also started playing Planetside 2, a new MMOFPS (Massively Multiplayer Online First Person Shooter). It is fun, because you can play one of 5 or 6 classes, like medic, engineer, scout, etc., and can drop in and out at will, so no long-term commitments, unlike raids in LOTRO or other MMORPGs, which can last for hours and hours. It is a persistent world where 3 factions compete to capture regions and gain the advantage. The sides are well matched, so there is no innate advantage between them. Planetside 2 is annoying, because you will die a lot. Many higher level players have way better gear than you and they will use it to kill you. Often. Over and over again. Also, figuring out who your enemy is can be tough. I have been playing as one of the purple uniform guys, and sometimes it takes a bit to figure out if they guy in front of you is purple or blue, at which point, you die because you took too long. Annoying, though I presume it will get better with practice. I haven’t been back to Planetside 2 for a few days, because it seemed so futile, but I will almost surely go back. Unless Hawken is as good as it looks…

  • LOTRO Tour 9: Lone Lands

    In this video tour, we cross the Lone Lands from the Forsaken Inn to Ost Guruth, but in a roundabout way. The path takes us to the summit of Weathertop where the Hobbits encountered the Nazgul, then down a shortcut and back to the road. We encounter wargs, spiders, half-orcs, and more on the way to Ost Guruth.

     

  • LOTRO Tour 8: Bree to the Forsaken Inn

    Here I paid for a fast horse from the south gate of Bree to the Forsaken Inn at the start of the Lone Lands. Upon leaving South Chetwood, we can see the Midgewater Marshes, then the entrance to the Bree player housing area, and finally arriving at the Forsaken Inn, which clearly has seen better days.

     

  • LOTRO Tour Part 6: Stock to Bree

    In my never ending quest to show just how big Middle Earth in LOTRO is, I’m continuing the tour, this time riding from Stock (in the Shire) to Bree.

    This is, of course, not the path the Hobbits took to Bree, as they went through the forest and met Tom Bombadil. Sometime, I will show that path as well, but it is a bit of a maze, so I thought it better to continue the tour in a simple manner first.

    I am horrified to see that I already did such a tour segment, but this is a new video and probably nicer…

  • Still playing Star Trek Online and Lord of the Rings Online

    So between finishing Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Gears of War 3 and being punished for thinking I could play Dark Souls, I have continued to play Star Trek Online (STO) and Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO), because they are fun and comfortable.

    I am a charter subscriber to STO and have a lifetime membership, so I recently picked up a nifty attack ship they are giving as a lifetime member bonus. It is only for level 50 (Vice Admiral), but I finally got my latest Federation guy there, and it is a kick-ass ship. More stations and equipment slots than most, this more abilities, so that’s great fun! Plus it looks cool!

    This Federation character is in a fleet that was apparently abandoned by the old leader, so I took over fleet leadership. I am still thinking how to encourage the fleet to grow and become better, so more on that in future.

    I also have a Klingon character that is finally level 40 and was able to get a carrier, which isn’t quite as nifty as I’d hoped. It is fun to launch fighters to help deal with my foes, but the ship handles like it’s in molasses. I’ve only had about 20 minutes to play with it, so I may get used to it. My Klingon is an Engineer, so he’s used to cruisers that aren’t the swiftest things, but this is a bit slow.

    I still haven’t bought Riders of Rohan for LOTRO, so I’m not playing my level 75 Lore-Master, but I am working on leveling my Warden and Minstrel up to where Rohan will matter. I’m waiting for a sale on Rohan and will buy it then. The LOTRO kinship has also had a rapid decrease in online players since everyone hit level 75 and had their fill of Isengard. I hope things improve, because LOTRO is still an awesome game, and seems to be improving all the time.

  • Lootboxes – a way for MMOs to separate us from our money

    Lootboxes are a fairly new phenomenon, at least in the MMORPGs I play the most, Star Trek Online and Lord of the Rings Online, and they are an interesting attempt to separate us from our money. Real money, not in-game stuff. And it is not necessarily a bad thing, but it may not bode well for the future.

    Lootboxes, per the name, are loot from kills. In LOTRO, they seem pretty rare, and I have only acquired a few of them. In STO, they are very common in the first few missions, though have become rare as I have progressed in the game. Though lootboxes (or Ferengi lockboxes in STO) are loot, they are not useful unless you have a key. In some games, keys can also be found as loot, but are even more rare than the lockboxes. Why? Because the game companies sell keys in their online store for real money (Cryptic or Turbine points, for example), so hoping to get players of these Free-to-Play games to plonk down real money to open an in-game item. To be fair, Turbine sometimes gives the keys away in the excellent lottery they have.

    So why would someone buy a key for real money to get an unknown in-game item? Gambling! The highest end loot that comes out of the lootboxes is quite compelling. In STO, you can win starships, while in LOTRO, you can get blue (highest quality) gear. In LOTRO, getting good gear is fairly regular, but I’ve opened a few lootboxes in STO and have yet to get anything good.

    Why has the drop rate for lootboxes dropped as I progress in STO? I can only speculate that the devs load early players up with them in the hope that they will spend some real money before dropping the game. That may be cynical of me to think that, because it means the devs have a low opinion of the long-term attractiveness of the game, but it’s the best explanation I can think of at the moment.

    Do lootboxes work for the game owners? Yes, I have bought a few keys in both LOTRO and STO. Do they work for gamers? Maybe – it adds a bit of a thrill in the process of opening a lootbox and hoping for a big win, probably similar to the gambling thrill in Vegas casinos. I have a hunch lootboxes are here to stay and may even be expanded. I just hope they don’t become the only way to get good stuff or that their drop rate doesn’t overwhelm other loot in an attempt by the game owners to get even more money from us.