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 item” 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.
What makes this situation even more frustrating is that it was utterly predictable. SSG has a track record of ignoring player feedback, committing to deadlines and launching broken updates. This course of action always ends in a community management disaster which is further exacerbated by the developer's tone deaf, highhanded approach to dealing with PR problems and their total inability to learn from past mistakes. I and many other long time LOTRO enthusiasts find the latter to be the most egregious offense. The way the company seems to deliberately set itself at odds with its players (who are also customers) and then blithely walks inexorably into a problem of their own making is staggering. Ultimately, such behaviour sends a very clear message. There is clearly a conflict of interests somewhere in the chain of command and it is proving detrimental to the games evolution and customer relations.
I spent most of the evening talking to kinfolk as well as fellow LOTRO players on Discord and Twitter trying to ascertain whether I had missed some key information regarding Update 30.3 and important LI revision. Sadly, I concluded after several hours that this wasn’t the case. There is no easily accessible in-game resource that either provides directly, or points towards a guide for the new LI system. Eventually I found a useful document, created by Helcawen as a means to help orientate their kinship members. It is an informative guide but is still subject to change as it reflects the “broken” system as it currently is. Apparently SSG have made one post on the new LI system but unless you are especially adept at using the official forums it’s hardly easy to find. However, there is no shortage of player feedback cataloguing the issues that they are discovering about the new LI system.
Many of the resources that are used in the new LI system, such as XP runes, have to be used in a specific order or else the player doesn’t get the maximum benefit from them. Then there is the cap on resources such as Ancient Scripts which means you are forced to spend them before you can acquire any more. And then there is the increase in options to spend Mithril Coins to unlock and upgrade resources. Not only has this become more prevalent but the system is currently broken with Tracery levels exceeding the level of the LI that they’re used in. It would also appear that the most powerful Traceries are exclusive to lootboxes. But for me, the biggest problem is with replacing a Legendary Item that has been maxed out. Simply put, you do not get sufficient resources to create a commensurate replacement. Considering the time, effort and money that I’ve put into my existing LI this is an unacceptable situation and a deal breaker.
Assuming that SSG are going to “fix” the new LI system, I don’t think I shall touch my level cap Lore-master staff and book l currently have on my primary character. I shall wait until the Fate of Gundabad expansion launches in November and ensure I’ve reached the new level cap of 140 before I make any important changes. I shall also be watching very carefully how SSG handles this situation because my patience is finally exhausted with them and their cavalier attitude. If I cannot replace my LI with something comparable then I see no reason to keep playing. As a paying customer, I don’t like downgrades of service or having something taken from me. For years players have debated the future of LOTRO and pondered its fate. I believe that SSG have reached a point where their actions are directly harming the game and alienating players. They’ve been warned time and time again about the consequences of their actions. If things go ill for them, then they are the architect of their own demise and deserve no sympathy.
