LOTRO: Voice Acting
One of the most noticeable things that ages the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, is the lack of comprehensive voice acting throughout the game. If a player interacts with an NPC, they will provide generic greetings or ambient dialogue. Phrases such as “hello there” of “our mission is dire” occur regularly. However, the majority of quest text is not spoken, unless it is part of the Epic Story line. If it is, the first sentence is usually voice acted but no more than that. Cutscenes within instances have dialogue, as are those that occur at key parts of the Epic Story. Overall, LOTRO does not have the extensive voice acting that a similar MMO such as Star Trek Online has. This is a shame, considering how much time and effort has been taken with other aspects of the game.
One of the most noticeable things that ages the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, is the lack of comprehensive voice acting throughout the game. If a player interacts with an NPC, they will provide generic greetings or ambient dialogue. Phrases such as “hello there” of “our mission is dire” occur regularly. However, the majority of quest text is not spoken, unless it is part of the Epic Story line. If it is, the first sentence is usually voice acted but no more than that. Cutscenes within instances have dialogue, as are those that occur at key parts of the Epic Story. Overall, LOTRO does not have the extensive voice acting that a similar MMO such as Star Trek Online has. This is a shame, considering how much time and effort has been taken with other aspects of the game.
LOTRO was conceived and developed over the course of 2005 and 2006 and although the technology available at the time could accommodate comprehensive voice acting, its inclusion would have certainly had logistical and financial consequences upon the game’s production. Additional audio would have increased the size of the game installation and constantly maintaining and adding dialogue would have increased production costs. Due to the nature of the game, a great deal of time and effort would also have been required ensuring that all dialogue was correctly pronounced and grammatically correct. Tolkien fans are very particular about this. So it can be argued that Turbine/Standing Stone Games have dodged a bullet by deciding to limit the amount of voice acting in the game to date.
Some players will argue that the lack of comprehensive voice acting is a benefit, allowing them to focus on the text, rather than the actor’s performance. Other LOTRO players already have little or no interest in the finer points of the narrative and are focused far more on “getting the job done”. Such players would therefore be indifferent to further voice acting. However, I am in the opposite camp and enjoy LOTRO mainly due to the stories underpinning both the major and minor quests. For me, good voice acting greatly enhances a story and I often struggle to read the wall of text presented by the NPC. This problem gets worse when playing the game on a 4K monitor due to the game’s non-scaling UI. Therefore, the addition of voice acting would greatly help in keeping me apprised of the plot.
After my recent experimentation with LUA Plugins, I wondered if anyone had ever tried to develop some sort of text-to speech facility that could be added to the game. It turns out that it has already been done to some degrees of success. I found the following post on the Official LOTRO Forums by The Almighty Tater, which references a Python programme they have developed called LOTRO to Speech. For those interested in trying this service you can access all the required files and details of how to install and configure them here. Example videos can be found over at the LOTRO subreddit. Another LOTRO player, Luthryth, has indicated that they are developing a text-to-speech app. They have posted videos of their progress on YouTube, an example of which is posted below . Again, this seems to work quite well.
Obviously, with both of these programs being third party services and a workaround rather than a solution, there are inevitably some issues to consider. Relying on optical character recognition to parse the quest text can be problematic and there is scope for dialogue to be misread. Using cloud based, AI voice services to provide in-game narration introduces the possibility of lag. Also not all voices will be character appropriate, especially if you use the free text-to-speech services. Then there is the issue of pronunciation which may well bother some Tolkien fans. However, all of these negatives are outweighed by the potential benefits that text-to speech can bring to the game. Such a service makes LOTRO far more accessible. Furthermore, as technology progresses, there is scope for programs such as LOTRO to Speech to improve.
Although I wholeheartedly approve of player created apps such as these, if given a choice I’d much prefer voice acting to be officially part of the game. Sadly, although I do not consider it impossible to retrospectively add this to LOTRO, it is highly unlikely that it ever will be due to the cost involved and the law of diminishing returns as the game enters the next phase of its lifecycle (I’ll leave it to you to figure out what that may be). In the meantime LOTRO to Speech is a suitable compromise that can fill the gap. As to the future, if there is ever to be a new Middle-earth themed MMORPG, or if Daybreak Games ever intend to bankroll the creation of a LOTRO 2.0, I would expect it to be fully voiced by default. I don’t think the design choice made back in 2005 would be acceptable to modern gamers.
LOTRO: Beneath the Surface
Last week I finally completed the Epic Story content for Corsairs of Umbar, the 2023 expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. Although I am still undecided about Umbar as a zone, I found the main story engaging and as ever, well conceived within Middle-earth lore. The writers at Standing Stone Games have been very creative with their Fourth Age content and never make the mistake of over blowing it or trying to up the stakes as high as the threat of Sauron. So far, it feels like the free people are credibly mopping up residual forces of evil, as one would after a major regime collapse. Therefore, I was broadly satisfied with the Corsairs of Umbar expansion and was ready to move onto the next major story content update which was released in May this year.
Last week I finally completed the Epic Story content for Corsairs of Umbar, the 2023 expansion for the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online. Although I am still undecided about Umbar as a zone, I found the main story engaging and as ever, well conceived within Middle-earth lore. The writers at Standing Stone Games have been very creative with their Fourth Age content and never make the mistake of over blowing it or trying to up the stakes as high as the threat of Sauron. So far, it feels like the free people are credibly mopping up residual forces of evil, as one would after a major regime collapse. Therefore, I was broadly satisfied with the Corsairs of Umbar expansion and was ready to move onto the next major story content update which was released in May this year.
Update 40: Beneath the Surface, continues the latest instalment of the Epic Story; The Song of waves and Wind. According to the official press release from SSG, “It is a new dawn for Umbar. At the request of Hármelak, the Golden Queen, the Kindred of the Coins has reopened the great meeting-hall of Dâr Laja so they can better hear the voices of their people. And yet, beneath the city in Umbar-môkh, there are some who feel threatened by this new order, working in the darkness until their plans bear fruit”. It all sounds very thrilling until I realised that the entire new zone, Umbar-môkh, in which the story takes place is a series of catacombs and labyrinths under Umbar Baharbêl. Out of all the environments present in LOTRO, I enjoy those set underground the least.
Most LOTRO players have distinct opinions regarding Moria, the first significant underground area they encounter when playing the game. Although I have no great love for subterranean zones, Moria is different. It is an integral and iconic part of Tolkien’s source text and therefore a necessary evil in gaming terms. Furthermore, the zone is divided into several lore relevant, themed zones. Hence you have locations such as the Chamber of Mazarbul, the Bridge of Khazad-dûm, the Twenty-first Hall and the body of the Balrog below Zirakzigil. All of which make Moria, more than just a frustrating maze. Sadly, that was not the case with the Gundabad expansion as it lacked the detail of established, in-depth, canonical lore. Effectively it was maze without the benefit of having a complex literary backstory to support it. I enjoyed Moria in spite of its frustrations. I struggled to tolerate Gundabad because of them.
Having now ventured into Umbar-môkh, I can say it does not quite have the same claustrophobic air that Moria and Gundabad have. The aesthetic is that of Umbar and the catacombs are well lit. Plus there are multiple entrances. However, it should be noted that some areas are intended for duos or small fellowships. If you don’t read the various quest texts, you could find yourself surrounded by signature mobs and out of your depth. So caution is advised. In the meantime, I shall follow the main story and see how I get on with the episodic storyline Tales of the Kindred. If things prove to be problematic or not to my liking, I can simply move on to the new content from the next expansion, Legacy of Morgoth, which is released on Wednesday 6th of November.
LOTRO: Lore-master Class Traits
If you play the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, then you’ll probably be aware of the significant changes that were made to the Lore-master class in Update 41. Two and half months later I think I have come to terms and successfully adjusted to the “realignment” of the trait tree and the core skills. Setting aside the argument over the rectitude of these changes, I would like to share my thoughts on the respective performance of the three trait configurations. This is not from the perspective of a min-max player or someone who focuses on the “numbers”. These are just casual observations from an equally casual player. Furthermore, my opinion is based upon PVE gameplay and not group content or full blown raids.
Lore-master Pre Update 41
If you play the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, then you’ll probably be aware of the significant changes that were made to the Lore-master class in Update 41. Two and half months later I think I have come to terms and successfully adjusted to the “realignment” of the trait tree and the core skills. Setting aside the argument over the rectitude of these changes, I would like to share my thoughts on the respective performance of the three trait configurations. This is not from the perspective of a min-max player or someone who focuses on the “numbers”. These are just casual observations from an equally casual player. Furthermore, my opinion is based upon PVE gameplay and not group content or full blown raids.
Master of Nature's Fury:
The “red line” trait configuration has a major impact upon the way combat pets are used. You no longer summon one and it continuously follows you. Nor does it independently aid you in combat. A pet, when summoned, will persist for 15 seconds approximately and attempt to flank your current target. During this short window, you can activate a minor or major pet skill. Both of which do varying degrees of Beleriand Damage. Each pet also does a unique type of damage during its 15 second duration. IE a Lynx does both melee damage and damage over time. At present, on default game difficulty, a skills rotation of Burning Embers, Wizards Fire and Lightning-Charged Staff Strike will quickly kill a single mob.
Keeper of Animals:
The “blue line” trait configuration has also been significantly altered. Pets can be permanently summoned but you must use your own skills in order to trigger a pet to use one of its combat skills. The three main skills are Minor Pet Command, Major Pet Command, and Sign of the Wild: Rage. All of these skills will tell your pet to execute an ability. Minor and Major pet commands transfer your threat status to your pet, so they can tank for you. Pets still intercede in combat due to mob proximity. Minor and Major pet commands used in combination with Wizards Fire, Wizards Spark, Burning Embers and Staff-Strikes are an efficient skill rotation on the default difficulty when using this trait configuration.
The Ancient Master:
The “yellow line” trait configuration is in many ways the nearest to how the Lore-master class was prior to the changes in Update 41. It allows the player to summon a pet permanently and plays very similarly in terms of crowd control, the skills that are accessible and overall pet damage. Minor and Major pet commands activate reciprocal skills. IE if you have summoned a Bog Lurker you can activate the ranged debuff Choking Vines or the stun inducing Bursting Root, which can trigger a Fellowship Manoeuvre. Once again on default difficulty, Minor and Major pet commands along with Burning Embers, Staff-Strikes and Wizards Fire or Wizards Spark deals sufficient damage to an average mob.
Lore-master Post Update 41
For a long time, I have played LOTRO with my Lore-master configured to the “red line” trait configuration. I enjoyed having my favourite pet, the Bog Lurker, available continuously. I liked the fact that you could name them. Suddenly finding from August onwards that they had been relegated to a short term skill was annoying as it fundamentally altered the nature of the class. Furthermore, many skills that were known and loved were now locked to specific trait configurations. You now have to spend across all three trees to get a full range of pets and you may have to make some hard choices about what skills you may have to give up. Sadly, what’s done is done and one has to move forward. I have adjusted to the new changes and still find “red line” trait configuration very effective. For those players who are still finding their feet with the Lore-master class, post Update 41, I hope you find the right build for you.
The Future of Star Trek Online
Cryptic Studios appear to have started a new round of layoffs, following those made last November. Although the developers of Star Trek Online and Neverwinter have not formally commented on the situation, it is more than likely that this is a continuation of their owners, the Embracer Group, ongoing restructuring program. So far, the Swedish company has laid off over 1,500 employees since June 2023, in an attempt to address its ill considered over expansion in recent years. At present development of Star Trek Online and other titles are being transitioned from Cryptic to DECA. The German developers are mainly known for mobile games and have recently positioned themselves as “breathing life into old games”. Their intent is to keep developing content for STO and to maintain a working relationship with the owners of the intellectual property.
Cryptic Studios appear to have started a new round of layoffs, following those made last November. Although the developers of Star Trek Online and Neverwinter have not formally commented on the situation, it is more than likely that this is a continuation of their owners, the Embracer Group, ongoing restructuring program. So far, the Swedish company has laid off over 1,500 employees since June 2023, in an attempt to address its ill considered over expansion in recent years. At present development of Star Trek Online and other titles are being transitioned from Cryptic to DECA. The German developers are mainly known for mobile games and have recently positioned themselves as “breathing life into old games”. Their intent is to keep developing content for STO and to maintain a working relationship with the owners of the intellectual property.
Taken at face value, I’m sure there will be some players of STO who will argue that “the game is still being supported so everything is okay”. To which the counter argument would be “apart from the original developers being kicked out of their own party and laid off”. However, this is the video game industry, so it is unwise to take things at face value. One has to apply critical thinking and consider what has happened in similar scenarios. What are the most likely outcomes based upon previous corporate behaviour, rather than one’s own aspirations. Hence I suspect that STO and other titles have been identified as having stable player bases that return an equally stable amount of revenue each year. As a result, it will continue to be developed. However, the budget for the development will be less (hence the replacement of Cryptic by DECA) and there will likely be financial goals set. Thus there may well be a focus on “monetisation” over more traditional content.
A change in developers raises many questions and the transition from one to another does not end at training your replacement and handing over documentation. Often there is a wealth of unique knowledge that isn’t so readily quantifiable, that is hard to learn through any other method other than experience. Let us not forget that one of the reasons why Cryptic abandoned the Foundry system was due to insufficient knowledge to adequately maintain it, after key staff left the company. Are DECA going to face similar issues? Then there are the business relationships that Cryptic currently enjoys with Star Trek licence holders and the actors who have provided voiceovers for the game. These are not so easily “transferable” and may be hindered by such things as smaller operational budgets and the fact that DECA is based in the EU. If you’ve ever worked for a company and experienced a change in service provider then I’m sure you realise the scope of change that STO faces.
I preordered STO and began playing when it launched in 2010. Due to the problems that were inherent with the game, I drifted away and made several attempts to return over the next few years. It was not until 2015 that I started regularly playing this MMORPG, mainly because by then the game was finally reaching its potential. So I bought a lifetime subscription for $200, which has proven a sound investment. Despite being a F2P game since 2012, STO maintained the option for players to subscribe each month and received a stipend of the in-game currency Zen. Subscriptions ceased in May 2018 in favour of the game selling starter packs but players with existing subscriptions could continue if they wanted to. As of October 10th 2024, STO has ceased supporting these residual subscriptions. Players who have had an active subscription since 1st January this year are being moved over to a complimentary lifetime subscription.
It can be argued that players that have subscribed optionally for 6 years have more than paid for the complimentary lifetime subscription, as they have spent far more than $200 in that time. But I am curious about the optics of this decision. Does this indicate that the perceived worth of a lifetime subscription has diminished now that the game has been transferred to DECA? Is it an indication that future content is envisaged to be of little real monetary value, so they can afford to be generous? Does it imply that the majority of new game development will be focused upon increased monetisation? It is entirely possible that this is simply an act of good faith and there’s nothing beyond that. However, again this is the video games industry and there is little or no sentiment in business. Will DECA continue to offer the lifetime subscription?
As ever with video games, I return to the matter of fans who fail to think in terms of customers and vendors within the context of a transactional industry that exists primarily to make money. Too often player communities focus upon developer’s artistic aspirations, over the business realities of the publishers. I enjoy STO, quirks and all. However, having been laid off in my working life, I have a great deal of sympathy for the folks at Cryptic who have had their jobs taken from them ignominiously, through no fault of their own. I sincerely hope they can find alternative work promptly. As for the future of STO, I am not holding my breath. I suspect that there is content in the pipeline for the remainder of 2024 but who knows what 2025 will bring. They say when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Therefore, when you’re taken over by a company that makes mobile games, expect your product to follow the business practices of that market.
LOTRO: Bullroarer Update 42 - Legacy of Morgoth Beta #1
Over the last 24 hours, I’ve spent some time taking part in the first beta test for Legacy of Morgoth on this Bullroarer test server. This will be the 12th expansion for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, when it is released on November 6th. According to the developers, Standing Stone Games, “Legacy of Morgoth is homed in the Valley of Ikorbân, located east of Umbar Baharbel. This is a challenge level 150 region, with 4 new zones packed with new quests, Deeds, Missions and Delvings for you to explore”. The Valley of Ikorbân is located to the east of Umbar Barharbel and is part of Near Harad. The aesthetics of the region are a continuation of those featured in the previous expansion, Corsairs of Umbar. Something, I personally still have mixed feelings about, as I find it somewhat incongruous to be questing in a tropical zone, after years of playing in a world that is predominantly based upon a European, temperate climate.
Over the last 24 hours, I’ve spent some time taking part in the first beta test for Legacy of Morgoth on this Bullroarer test server. This will be the 12th expansion for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, when it is released on November 6th. According to the developers, Standing Stone Games, “Legacy of Morgoth is homed in the Valley of Ikorbân, located east of Umbar Baharbel. This is a challenge level 150 region, with 4 new zones packed with new quests, Deeds, Missions and Delvings for you to explore”. The Valley of Ikorbân is located to the east of Umbar Barharbel and is part of Near Harad. The aesthetics of the region are a continuation of those featured in the previous expansion, Corsairs of Umbar. Something, I personally still have mixed feelings about, as I find it somewhat incongruous to be questing in a tropical zone, after years of playing in a world that is predominantly based upon a European, temperate climate.
The Valley of Ikorbân is split into four maps, filled with new quests, Deeds, Missions and Delvings for players to explore. The expansion is a challenge level 150 region. The first beta test is unusual compared to those for previous expansions, as developers SSG have not made the entire expansion available as they usually do. Hence I have only been able to explore Ambarûl and Khûd Zagin so far. Both Imhûlar and Urash Dâr will be available for future tests. The downside to this approach is that players will encounter specific invisible walls, the most noticeable is across the Bridge of Danagir. Limiting access to the full expansion has also broken the travel mounts from the stables in the area. Regular travel mounts will ride through a zone until they encounter an invisible wall but swift travel mounts fail to follow the designated route and run into any obstruction.
SSG have not explained why they have made this decision and it has been assumed by many LOTRO players that the quests in the two withheld zones are incomplete. Setting this aside for a moment, an expansion comprising of just four maps, is cause for concern in its own right. LOTRO players have already pointed out that the 3 different versions of the Legacy of Morgoth that were initially announced (standard, collector’s and ultimate fan edition), were lacking in content and the SSG has already decided to add cosmetic items to address such concerns. However, I still do not feel that 4 new maps merits being called an expansion. It is not as if we’re getting a new class, like we did with Corsairs of Umbar. I am curious to see if this becomes a talking point on the official forums and whether SSG will make any further concessions.
With regard to the two zones that I did have access to, neither reinvent the wheel. Ambarûl continues the tropical aesthetic of the previous expansion and adds some areas similar to a mangrove swamp. The zone is somewhat open and gently slopes up towards the mountains. There is a closed gate to the North East that leads to Harondor, the overland route to Southern Gondor. Khûd Zagin is a more interesting zone, due to its arid, rocky desert. Vegetation becomes more sparse and the landscape is filled with snakes, scorpions and caracal cats. There are dust devils and other embellishments that convey the character of the environment. Furthermore it looks quite sinister at night. As ever with LOTRO, the ambient music by Bill Champagne is outstanding and contributes so much to the game’s atmosphere.
Beta tests are subject to change and are not representative of the final product. Hence, there is scope for things to change in the weeks to come with the next test of Legacy of Morgoth. That being said, I still have my concerns regarding this expansion. In the past, beta tests have presented a virtually finished version of the expansion with all its respective content available for consideration. I find this limited access to only two maps perplexing. Is the new material still being actively created? Have there been issues making the new content? Is this expansion being quickly put together and pushed out the doors at the behest of the bean counters at Daybreak Game Company? It is the latter that worries me the most. It’s not so much a question of quality but one of quantity. Are we being given what is effectively just a content update but being charged for it? It wouldn’t be the first time such a thing has happened. Watch this space.
So Many MMORPGs, So Little Choice
I recently considered whether or not I should find a new MMORPG to play. A cursory Google search showed that there were plenty of titles that I have not tried. Unfortunately, they are predominantly fantasy based games drawing upon the established tropes and themes of the dungeons and dragons genre and the wider sword and sorcery literature. This begs the question “why aren’t there more science fiction or non-fantasy based MMOs?” apart from the handful that currently exist? After a little research and a degree of thinking it becomes very apparent that the answer to this question is mainly a business decision made by publishers. Furthermore, that business decision is based upon several specific factors. All of which cumulatively tip the scales towards fantasy, rather than science fiction or some other complex but non fantasy based franchise.
I recently considered whether or not I should find a new MMORPG to play. A cursory Google search showed that there were plenty of titles that I have not tried. Unfortunately, they are predominantly fantasy based games drawing upon the established tropes and themes of the dungeons and dragons genre and the wider sword and sorcery literature. This begs the question “why aren’t there more science fiction or non-fantasy based MMOs?” apart from the handful that currently exist? After a little research and a degree of thinking it becomes very apparent that the answer to this question is mainly a business decision made by publishers. Furthermore, that business decision is based upon several specific factors. All of which cumulatively tip the scales towards fantasy, rather than science fiction or some other complex but non fantasy based franchise.
First off, let’s address the biggest factor. Fantasy is a much bigger and more popular genre, compared to science fiction. This is mainly due to the barriers to entry being relatively low. Its tropes are straightforward and recognisable. Hence, it is theoretically easier to create a fantasy themed MMORPG than a science fiction one. By this I mean, the world, the game mechanics, the assets and the underpinning narrative. Fantasy does not have to try as hard as science fiction to justify itself. Exotic skills and powers can simply be labelled “magic” and players won’t necessarily kick up a stink about their provenance or credibility. An original fantasy themed intellectual property doesn’t have to work within so many rules as an existing science fiction property that has an excess of lore. Fantasy is a self plagiarising genre by default and players are relatively comfortable with this concept. It’s essentially priced in.
From a writing perspective, a science fiction MMORPG is a potentially more complex proposition. Storylines need to be driven by a suitably plausible McGuffin or underpinned by complex lore. This impacts on game design making the final product more complex. A science fiction based game may not be limited to a single environment or world. There may be the need for multiple types of travel mechanics and therefore multiple types of combat. This complexity both in design and narrative may create a higher barrier to player entry. All of which makes such a game a far more niche market proposition. Which is why you’re more likely to find a fantasy MMORPG with science fiction elements blended into it. Consider the Asura in Guild Wars 2. Also, is Star Wars a pure science fiction franchise? No. This is by far the most common compromise that will happen.
However, possibly the biggest issue that prevents the development of a major science fiction themed MMORPG is copyright. If you wish to draw upon or specifically base your game upon an existing intellectual property, then there will be licensing costs. Often these can be complex and expensive. Furthermore, rights can change hands overtime and a game that has existed for a while and made a profit can subsequently find itself cut off at the knees, purely due to the withdrawal of a licence. This raises the question of why bother taking a risk with such material when you can create your own franchise based on an original IP. However, fans can be funny about such workarounds and particularly unforgiving when a game proves to be a pallid imitation of something they hold dear.
Despite these considerations, the video games industry is not totally averse to science fiction based MMORPGs. Star Trek Online has endured with a degree of success for 14 years, although its future is not looking especially good at present. I think the unique nature of the IP and the loyalty of its fanbase is the main reason that it was originally created and has survived so long. EVE Online is another perfect storm of a game. One whose success cannot easily be duplicated. As for Star Citizen, the jury is still out until we get something approaching a fully fleshed out game. Simply put, the video game industry is just like any other leisure business. Trends are followed, risk is eschewed and decisions are often dictated by the bottom line. Although I would love to see a radical, hard science fiction game based on the works of Arthur C Clarke or Isaac Asimov, it is highly unlikely that any major triple A studio would undertake such a project. They’d be too worried about sufficient return on investment. Cue “and this is why we can’t have nice things”.
Is It Time to Rebrand the MMORPG Genre?
According to Wikipedia, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. 15 years ago, the MMORPG was an established and popular video game genre. It seemed that every developer wanted a title like World of Warcraft in their portfolio and were happy to sink millions of dollars into making one. WoW at the height of its popularity had over 10 million subscribers and annual turnover of over a billion dollars in the US alone. Sadly, no one ever came close to creating a WoW killer, a game that had found success through a perfect storm of events. Today the MMO genre has become synonymous with being a time sink and a grind. The universal adoption of the free-to-play business model further compounds the negative connotations associated with these types of games. Simply put MMOs are no longer seen as a licence to print money.
According to Wikipedia, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. 15 years ago, the MMORPG was an established and popular video game genre. It seemed that every developer wanted a title like World of Warcraft in their portfolio and were happy to sink millions of dollars into making one. WoW at the height of its popularity had over 10 million subscribers and annual turnover of over a billion dollars in the US alone. Sadly, no one ever came close to creating a WoW killer, a game that had found success through a perfect storm of events. Today the MMO genre has become synonymous with being a time sink and a grind. The universal adoption of the free-to-play business model further compounds the negative connotations associated with these types of games. Simply put MMOs are no longer seen as a licence to print money.
Hence we now find ourselves in a world where games that are definitely MMORPGs are rebranding and attempting to present themselves as something else. Guild Wars 2 is currently marketed on Steam as a “online RPG”. New World is to be launched on consoles on 15th October under the revised name of New World: Aeturnum. The marketing for the game now refers to it as a “action RPG” and the online aspect is presented as “co-op play”. Similarly, ArcheAge2 which has been rebranded as ArcheAge Chronicles, goes out of its way to avoid using the term MMORPG in its promotional material. It will be interesting to see exactly what genre it ultimately claims to be when it is released in 2025. Even the doyen of the genre, Raph Koster, who worked on Ultima Online and Star Wars: Galaxies has dodged calling his latest game an MMO. Stars Reach is described as a “massively multiplayer sandbox RPG” on its official website. So near but not quite an MMO, then.
Some gamers may argue that this doesn’t matter. It’s just marketing speak and there is a degree of truth in such a position. It has also been pointed out by many gamers and journalists over the years, that the term massively multiplayer online role-playing game is both cumbersome and inaccurate. I have written blog posts in the past about how we need to update and revise the existing gaming lexicon, as game genres and mechanics are constantly changing. Language doesn’t stay still in other areas of life. Why should it do so in the gaming community? However, setting linguistics aside, I think there are two very clear reasons why the MMO genre is perceived as being after its “best before date”. One is a matter of context within internet history. The other is a matter of perception. The former is a question of fact. The latter is more complex as perceptions are not always correct. However, mud sticks.
In the late nineties, the internet was still novel. The idea that you could communicate in real time with people all over the world was genuinely exciting. Hence the idea of playing a game in a shared environment, where the other avatars were actually real people, was revolutionary. My first exposure to this unique gaming experience was playing Air Warrior. This positive perception of the internet persisted possibly for a decade. By 2010 the MMO market was becoming saturated and the internet had gone from being a quaint, niche market talking point, to an utterly ubiquitous medium that was slowly becoming dominated by corporate interests. As a genre, the MMO had changed from being a player dependent platform for emergent gameplay, to a interactive but firmly on rails, gaming experience. As more and more players eschewed playing collaboratively many games effectively evolved into online RPGs with optional co-op play.
As to why the player base shifted away from group content, there isn’t a single smoking gun that explains it all. However, raid culture often leads to elitism, which then fuels toxicity in gaming communities. Gaming has also become a far more widespread pastime over the decades, so MMO content had to become more accessible and less gated behind group play, for straightforward business reasons. As mentioned previously, we are now at a point where certain gaming terms, rightly or wrongly, come with a lot of baggage. If you speak to a gamer who primarily plays Call of Duty or a sporting franchise such as FIFA, they will often see the MMORPG genre as something “old fashioned”. Games that are graphically dated, filled with convoluted systems that require years to master. There is also a great deal of association with “pay to win” mechanics and egregious in-game stores which “nickel-and-dime” players. There is also a perception that the communities associated with MMOs are “weird”.
When you step back and consider these things, regardless of whether they’re true or not, you can see why both players, developers and publishers may not want to be associated with the acronym MMORPG. Therefore, we again return to the subject of rebranding the genre and coming to terms that some words, phrases and indeed concepts become obsolete overtime. Exactly what the new description for an MMO should be, I’m not entirely sure. A game such as The Lord of the Rings Online, can be defined as an online action role playing game with optional cooperative play. Dedicated raiders may argue otherwise but their gaming experience is not that same as other players and they are far from the majority. Ultimately, as long as the terminology used to describe a game is accurate then I’m not resistant to change. If we have to say goodbye to the acronym MMORPG, so be it. It’s not as if we’re saying goodbye to the games themselves.
LOTRO: The Benefits of Plugins
After my recent experiment involving tweaking the graphics settings in the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, I decided to see if I could improve my gaming experience with the use of mods. These are known within the LOTRO community as “Plugins”. They are created using the Lua programming language and are managed via an option on the character selection screen, after logging into the game. They are mainly used to augment the existing GUI, often presenting existing game data in a more convenient manner. Plugins can also be used to track information such as deed progress and to mark where specific items, resources and locations are on the in-game map. They cannot be used to issue commands or create macros. The most reliable source for Lua Plugins for LOTRO is via the website LOTRO Interface which maintains a comprehensive repository along with guides and FAQs.
After my recent experiment involving tweaking the graphics settings in the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, I decided to see if I could improve my gaming experience with the use of mods. These are known within the LOTRO community as “Plugins”. They are created using the Lua programming language and are managed via an option on the character selection screen, after logging into the game. They are mainly used to augment the existing GUI, often presenting existing game data in a more convenient manner. Plugins can also be used to track information such as deed progress and to mark where specific items, resources and locations are on the in-game map. They cannot be used to issue commands or create macros. The most reliable source for Lua Plugins for LOTRO is via the website LOTRO Interface which maintains a comprehensive repository along with guides and FAQs.
As with other MMOs, the main issue with using any sort of mod or addon is cleanly installing all the appropriate files to the correct locations. While players can do this manually if so desired, the easiest way is to use a third party installation tool. LOTRO Plugin Compendium (LPC) is a windows based plugin management tool. There is also a Java version for Mac and Linux users. It can be used to search for existing Lua Plugins for LOTRO, as well as install, update and uninstall them as needed. It is broadly similar to Minion, for those familiar with the World of Warcraft mod manager. Once installed you can immediately start perusing the wealth of plugins that are available for LOTRO. Upon selection LPC will install all the necessary data to the appropriate game directories. Upon logging into LOTRO, the player has to click on the “Manage Plugins” button on the right of the character select screen to load those they wish to use.
After I installed LPC, I spent a lot of time trawling through the plugin search facility to try and find ones I thought would be beneficial to my play style. I also watched a lot of YouTube videos and read through various subreddits and forums. What I found was that there are a lot of plugins designed around combat and analysing your performance. These are very useful for min-maxing and monitoring data such as DPS, aggro and buffs, when raiding. However, for a player such as I who mainly does PVE content on its default level of difficulty, few of these plugins are relevant. Fortunately, there are plenty of “quality of life” plugins to be found. Addons that present in-game information in a more accessible fashion, so you don’t have to go and search for it at an inopportune moment. Hence I installed the following:
Titan Bar: A transparent toolbar that is located at the top of your screen, which can have a wealth of customisable information displayed on it. I use it to track in-game currency expenditure, damage to gear and reputation progress. I also have an in-game clock that tells you what phase of the day the game is currently in and how long it is until the next one.
Travel Window II: Adds a new window to your screen which lists all your quick travel skills. These can be presented in various different ways and you can minimise the window when not using it. I freed up two complete in-game quickslot bars by switching to this plugin.
Alt Inventory: Does exactly what the name says. Adds a drop down window where you can search your various alt’s inventories. Both bags and vault respectively. This plugin is invaluable if you are an MMO “pack rat”.
So far, I am not aware of the plugins causing any performance issues in LOTRO. However, I am only using three at present. Those installed do not clutter my screen in any way. All can be minimised when not actively used. In fact the Titan Toolbar vanishes during combat which is very convenient. They all provide exactly the functionality I require. I suspect that the key to effectively and efficiently using Lua Plugins for LOTRO, is the same as it is for using addons in any other MMO. Only install and use what you need and don’t get carried away. It is also worth remembering two important things about plugins. They are fan developed and maintained and game updates often break them. Hence, support for them is not indefinite or immediate. It is therefore possible that one day, a plugin you rely on may stop working. With all this in mind, a sensible selection of Lua Plugins for LOTRO can potentially enhance the game and improve your player experience.
LOTRO: Virtue Traits
I returned to the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, in April this year and caught up with 18 months worth of content. Upon reaching the latest level cap of 150, I built two entirely new Legendary Items and acquired new gear via the game’s lootbox system. As I am not the sort of player who is especially knowledgeable about the “stats” associated with my class and the overall theorycraft of the game, I did some research and found several guides to follow. As I play primarily solo PVE content, I favour a DPS build for my main character in LOTRO, which is a Lore-master. So I copied a specific build and considered my work done. However, along came Update 41 on the 1st of August, which made serious changes to this class. As a result I recently decided to look at every option for the Lore-master and see what I could do to find a new optimal build. The two areas that offer the most scope for improvement are Class Traits and Virtue Traits. This post deals with the latter.
I returned to the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, in April this year and caught up with 18 months worth of content. Upon reaching the latest level cap of 150, I built two entirely new Legendary Items and acquired new gear via the game’s lootbox system. As I am not the sort of player who is especially knowledgeable about the “stats” associated with my class and the overall theorycraft of the game, I did some research and found several guides to follow. As I play primarily solo PVE content, I favour a DPS build for my main character in LOTRO, which is a Lore-master. So I copied a specific build and considered my work done. However, along came Update 41 on the 1st of August, which made serious changes to this class. As a result I recently decided to look at every option for the Lore-master and see what I could do to find a new optimal build. The two areas that offer the most scope for improvement are Class Traits and Virtue Traits. This post deals with the latter.
Virtues are a type of trait that each character can obtain in LOTRO. Virtues grant bonuses to specific statistics. Each trait grants bonuses to 3 different stats. The first statistic listed grants the largest bonus, the next grants an intermediate bonus and the last stat listed grants the smallest bonus. In order to gain the benefits of a specific Virtue it must be slotted into the top bar in the Virtue page of the Trait Tree Panel. There are 21 Virtues in total, all of which grant a small passive stat bonus (either to Maximum Morale or Physical and Tactical Mastery) even if they are not slotted. A character can have 5 Virtue traits slotted at a time. Virtues are levelled as you progress through game content, with quests rewards often including Virtue XP. Completing deeds is another means of levelling Virtues. The current cap for Virtue Traits is 92.
The key to using Virtue Traits effectively is to slot those with statistics that are beneficial to your specific class. Naturally, you will find hardcore LOTRO players who favour bespoke selections for specific tasks. They may even swap between selections on the fly. For the average player, it is simply a question of finding those traits with stats which benefits your class and favoured play style. Post Update 41, I perused various discussions about the Lore-master class on Reddit and opted for the following Virtue Traits for my “red line” Lore-master. Honesty, Wisdom, Valour, Wit and Confidence. I then proceeded to return to older regions in the game and clear outstanding deeds to earn appropriate XP. Some of the traits I slotted I’d used before, so they were close to the level cap. Others that I had not used previously were only halfway. The benefit of having 5 maxed out Virtue Traits is that it boosts your overall stats and thus your in-game performance.
To cut a long story short, I went through Cardolan, Swanfleet, the Wastes and Elderslade completing various slayer deeds and earning virtue XP. It got somewhat tedious after a while and then I remembered that I have an abandoned Guardian alt, that I previously “boosted” to level to 120. As I hadn’t used all the resources that came with the “boost”, I transferred them to my Lore-master and subsequently maxed out their respective Virtue Traits. This combined with my rebuilt Legendary Items, along with “Teal” gear and jewellery, means that my character stats are now very robust. I always pursue a policy of being overpowered for PVE content, when playing MMORPGs. Hence this has made playing through the Corsairs of Umbar content, a lot easier and faster. I remain undecided about the merits of the last expansion but I am now happy that my primary alt is now what I consider to be optimal.
The Virtue Traits system often gets neglected in LOTRO, due to the more pressing needs such as upgrading your gear and weapon as you level, as well as selecting the right Class Traits to unlock the skills you desire. Hence, levelling your slotted traits is often something we relegate to the time between expansions or content updates, when we’ve done all the major quests and are simply looking for something to do while we kill time. However, it is something that can significantly improve your stats and is therefore well worth pursuing. If done in conjunction with completing deeds, not only will you benefit from the trait XP but you’ll also be rewarded with traceries for your LI and even the occasional additional skills point or mount. There is the possibility that the Virtue Trait cap may be increased in the future, so that is another reason to stay on top of them now.
LOTRO: Fine Tuning Your Graphics
One of the things that I find fascinating about the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, are other peoples screenshots. Being a 17 year old game, the required hardware specifications are not especially high. Hence it will effectively run on a “potato”; IE an older PC. This is often reflected in the variety of screen captures you will find for the game. No two images ever look quite alike, due to the variety of PCs and laptops that people use to play the game. Hence you’ll sometimes come across screenshots with lower resolutions, or less graphical detail. I have screenshots from when I started playing LOTRO in 2008 and they look demonstrably different to those I’ve taken more recently. The game itself has changed a lot over the last 17 years and this has included graphical updates. Hence, unlike a lot of modern games, LOTRO screenshots do not have such a homogenous look.
One of the things that I find fascinating about the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, are other peoples screenshots. Being a 17 year old game, the required hardware specifications are not especially high. Hence it will effectively run on a “potato”; IE an older PC. This is often reflected in the variety of screen captures you will find for the game. No two images ever look quite alike, due to the variety of PCs and laptops that people use to play the game. Hence you’ll sometimes come across screenshots with lower resolutions, or less graphical detail. I have screenshots from when I started playing LOTRO in 2008 and they look demonstrably different to those I’ve taken more recently. The game itself has changed a lot over the last 17 years and this has included graphical updates. Hence, unlike a lot of modern games, LOTRO screenshots do not have such a homogenous look.
I bought a new graphics card in July. Specifically a Powercolor AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT Fighter 8GB GDDR6. It is neither the best or worse GPU on the market but essentially the best I could get on my budget. It is certainly adequate for the two monitors I use. An ageing Dell U2412M (1920x1200) and a more recent Dell S2421H (1920x1080). Having recently resubscribed to LOTRO, I decided to fine tune the in-game graphic settings and see if I could get the game to look as good as it could on my PC. I also wondered if it were possible to use some third party software to enhance the ageing games visuals. After some research, I spent a day tinkering with both LOTRO and my PC to try and implement the results. I’ve added a link to a gallery of screen captures at the end of this post, for your edification. The images are at the full resolution that they were taken.
Unlike modern games, LOTRO has no facility to choose which monitor you wish to use if you have more than one. It defaults to your primary monitor. As far as I am aware, there is no easy way around this beyond changing which monitor is designated as primary within Windows but that is far from a convenient solution. I have always played LOTRO via my main monitor which has a resolution of 1920x1200, therefore an aspect ratio of 16:10. It is worth noting that LOTRO does support 2K and 4K screen resolutions but the UI suffers as a result, becoming very small and for many unreadable. Standing Stone Games are allegedly looking into this issue but recent community updates have indicated that this project is “still on the whiteboard”. However, this can be addressed by third party software. More on this later.
Upon launching LOTRO, I maxed out all the settings in “Graphics” and “Advanced Graphics”. The only one I adjusted to a personal preference was “Texture Filtering” which I set to “Very Sharp”. This produces on my PC a clearer image than the “Anisotropic” option, which appears to make the visual detail softer. I set the display “Refresh Rate” to 60Hz, which is the same as the monitor’s. I also checked the box to sync these settings. Once you have maxed out the graphic settings there is nothing else you can do within LOTRO itself to improve the visuals. It is at this point that you have to look to third party software, if you want to make further changes. However, it should be noted that external software can only enhance the existing graphic settings by presenting that visual information in an alternative way. Poor textures, bad animations and elderly character models remain as they are.
The most well known third party software that can be used with LOTRO is ReShade. ReShade is a generic post-processing injector for games and video software developed by crosire. It provides an automated means to access both frame colour and depth information. Players can then add advanced depth-edge-detection-driven SMAA antialiasing, screen space ambient occlusion, depth of field effects, chromatic aberration and other advanced options. ReShade adds an extra folder to your existing LOTRO install. If you are technically proficient you can manually set up the visual changes you desire. Alternatively, ReShade has a library of saved settings made by other LOTRO players. You simply download a single file to the appropriate ReShade folder. You then launch LOTRO and press the “Home” key when at the character selection screen. There you choose the preset and apply it. You can swap between the new ReShade settings and the default LOTRO settings on the fly if you desire.
As stated previously, ReShade and other such software can only do so much. Yet you can still make some further graphical improvements to LOTRO via your graphics card software. For many players this will be either AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition or NVIDIA GeForce Experience. Both have option for upscaling, a technique used in gaming to render games at a lower resolution and then scale them up to a higher resolution without sacrificing performance. This can also be used to resize the GUI at higher resolutions, addressing the problem referred to earlier. GPU software can also improve image sharpness and antialiasing. Having an AMD graphics card I used the respective software for “Image Sharpening”, which I set to 80%, as recommended by the software guide. There are also optional video profiles such as “Cinema Classic”, “Enhanced” and “Vivid” but I’ve chosen not to use these.
Finally, many players have stated they have issues switching between alts in LOTRO as well as exiting the game. This usually manifests as a rather long wait, staring at a black screen. Although not a graphical alteration, I would like to reference the following “workaround” simply as a quality of life improvement. Find the following files in your LOTRO installation folder: lotroclient.exe, lotroclient_awesomium.exe, LotroLauncher.exe, lotroclient64.exe and right click on each one and select “Properties”. Select the tab marked “Compatibility” in the window that subsequently opens and check the box marked “Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows 8”. It does appear to reduce the waiting time when “alting” or exiting the game. Please note this “workaround” is for Windows 10. It would appear that LOTRO performs better when running on Windows 11.
Beyond what I have mentioned, I am not aware of any other straightforward ways to tweak and fine tune the graphics for LOTRO. Ultimately the game is a product of the era in which it was created. Furthermore being a multiplayer game it does not lend itself by design to the “modding” culture of single player games such as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I suspect that due to where LOTRO is in its life cycle and how its owners view its future earning potential, that there will not be any major investment in upgrading the game’s graphics in any meaningful way. It has already been stated that the money would be better spent on a new game altogether. Therefore, looking at the bigger picture, beyond the tinkering that I’ve referenced there’s not much more you can do to improve the graphics for LOTRO. You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear as the expression goes. That said, I am somewhat pleased with the results my changes have yielded.
Here is the link to a gallery of screenshots of LOTRO, taken with all the above graphical changes made. The images, via Google Photos, are available at the original screen resolution of 1920 x 1200.
Has LOTRO Lost its Way?
After the initial shock of Update 41 and the radical revisions it made to the Lore-master class, I recently returned to The Lord of the Rings Online to experiment with new Master of Nature’s Fury (red line) and Keeper of Animals (blue line) builds. It is odd to find that skills I’ve been using for years are now gated behind specific trait lines. Furthermore, the consolidation of skills has left the entire class somewhat overpowered. Some players may argue that this is a good thing. However, for me it has rendered what was a subtle class requiring skill and intelligence to use effectively, into what is just a blunt instrument. Since playing tactically is now redundant, instances and skirmishes no longer poses any significant challenge. PVE content has been easy in LOTRO for a long time. Post update 41 it is now trivial and nothing more than a minor diversion.
After the initial shock of Update 41 and the radical revisions it made to the Lore-master class, I recently returned to The Lord of the Rings Online to experiment with new Master of Nature’s Fury (red line) and Keeper of Animals (blue line) builds. It is odd to find that skills I’ve been using for years are now gated behind specific trait lines. Furthermore, the consolidation of skills has left the entire class somewhat overpowered. Some players may argue that this is a good thing. However, for me it has rendered what was a subtle class requiring skill and intelligence to use effectively, into what is just a blunt instrument. Since playing tactically is now redundant, instances and skirmishes no longer poses any significant challenge. PVE content has been easy in LOTRO for a long time. Post update 41 it is now trivial and nothing more than a minor diversion.
For all the good aspects of LOTRO, of which there are many, developer’s Standing Stone Games have a habit of making wrong calls when it comes to adding new systems to the game. Consider mounted combat, fellowship manoeuvres, destiny points and pipe weed. Some of these are interesting ideas that were just poorly implemented. Others are things no one ever asked for. All of which took time and resources to develop. The latest addition to this list is the woefully implemented “Birding” hobby which arrived with Update 41. This bird spotting activity seems somewhat ill conceived and is certainly underwhelming. The fact you don’t actually see any birds during the process is odd, to say the least. Again I return to this notion that those making decisions at SSG seem very removed from what players want.
LOTRO is a 17 year old game. The MMORPG genre and gaming per se have changed a lot during that time. LOTRO looks “old”. Some may argue that is part of the game’s inherent charm and in some respects I would agree. However, the ageing technology that LOTRO runs on is a reality. Although the game has an impressive scope of vision when it comes to its world design, the implementation is looking dated. The low resolution textures, the incessant pop-in and the constant recycling of assets is very noticeable. If you take time to set up a screenshot in LOTRO, especially one that involves an interesting vista, you’ll often find that the game struggles to load appropriately scaled trees, shrubs and buildings. The game engine also cannot cope with the waves and breakers along the coast of Umbar. The game’s UI is also from a different era and struggles to be readable at modern resolutions. Yet plans to address these issues appear to have been abandoned.
LOTRO players will often focus on the game’s strongest asset; the lore and the way that SSG draws upon it so effectively. This is not something I would dispute. If you are a Tolkien fan, you’ll find SSG’s vision of Middle-earth to be very authentic. If you’re a new player starting LOTRO today, you’ll find a wealth of content to get lost in. However, at level cap it is a different issue. You can either embark upon group play and tackle all the respective raids that are available. Or you can simply play new story content and slowly upgrade your gear. I have stated in the past that LOTRO has reached a point in its lifespan where “what you see is what you get”. However, I now feel that the game has begun to run out of steam. Narratively, the game has entered Umbar, which is an interesting region from a lore perspective. But aesthetically it is a visually uninspired zone and it sits uncomfortably with the rest of SSG’s vision of Middle-earth.
Looking at the bigger picture, in recent years there have been a lot of changes with regard to who owns SSG. Initially EG7 appeared to be keen in investing and invigorating the game. However, changes to the internal company hierarchy appear to have reversed this policy. I get the impression that the bean counters are at present happy for LOTRO to continue in the same vein as it always has. It generates revenue consistently and has a robust core playerbase. But I think no one wants to invest any further resources into the game, beyond those allocated. This issue, when combined with SSG’s “mother knows best” outlook, says to me that the game is just marking time. Rather than operating within modest parameters it now feels like lacklustre meandering. Has LOTRO lost its way? Can it be saved and given a new lease of life. Or is it simply entering the final stage of its life cycles.
Star Trek Online: Events and New Content
If you are a new player, then Star Trek Online has 14 years of content to play through. It is all story driven and is frequently couched in existing lore from the various Star Trek TV shows. It also benefits from many of the original actors reprising their respective roles within the game. This provides an additional air of authenticity to the proceedings as well as being a spectacular fan service. Furthermore, much of that content is faction specific, hence there is a great deal of replay value to be had from this MMO. Apart from The Lord of the Rings Online, I cannot think of another game that manages to successfully tap into the style and idiom of its source intellectual property. Simply put, Star Trek Online looks and feels “very “Star Trek”. Which is why it has a robust and loyal player base and still proves to be a viable financial asset to its owners, DECA Games.
If you are a new player, then Star Trek Online has 14 years of content to play through. It is all story driven and is frequently couched in existing lore from the various Star Trek TV shows. It also benefits from many of the original actors reprising their respective roles within the game. This provides an additional air of authenticity to the proceedings as well as being a spectacular fan service. Furthermore, much of that content is faction specific, hence there is a great deal of replay value to be had from this MMO. Apart from The Lord of the Rings Online, I cannot think of another game that manages to successfully tap into the style and idiom of its source intellectual property. Simply put, Star Trek Online looks and feels “very “Star Trek”. Which is why it has a robust and loyal player base and still proves to be a viable financial asset to its owners, DECA Games.
Where STO differs from many other MMOs is that there is no raid culture at endgame. There are some Task Force Operations (group content) that can be done on a harder setting but these do not count as traditional raids. Once a player has completed all story content and levelled their character, the focus of the game tends to be on min-maxing one’s ship and seeking to fine tune its DPS output. However, that is not to every player’s liking, which then presents an issue. Because the addition of new content has definitely slowed over the last six years. Although new missions are released episodically over the course of a year or two, Cryptic no longer releases traditional expansions as other MMOs do. Instead new content is bolstered by the regular addition of short term, themed events that often provide a reward if specific criteria are met.
So far in 2024, STO has had a First Contact Day event, various Red Alerts and the annual Summer Festival as well as others. All of which yield a reward such as gear, a ship or upgrade materials. Many of the events contribute to a wider yearly event campaign, which if completed will allow the player to choose a premium ship from the C-Store. The obvious benefit for such an approach is that there’s always something to do in-game. It provides players with a short amount of play time to log into the game and work towards a goal. However, in the long term it becomes somewhat tedious and unengaging. Due to FOMO some players feel they are stuck on a treadmill. What this endless litany of events isn’t is complex, lore driven story content. When we do get a new story arc, it is doled out over a longer time period and frankly, due to changes in writing staff, is not as good as it used to be.
Victory is Life, the last proper expansion for STO, was released in June 2018. It was a well written, engaging story arc which featured a reunion with many of the most beloved characters from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It provided a hefty chunk of story to work through, as well as access to the Gamma Quadrant, an increase to level cap and a new reputation faction. Since then, no further expansions have been released. New story arcs are launched episodically and lack the impact and bonus content of expansions. Perhaps the problem is that Cryptic has always chosen to make previous expansions free of charge. Was this an unsustainable business model? Did it not occur to anyone that players would be happy to pay because that’s how expansions usually work. And let us not forget the content that was taken from the game to be remastered. This remains outstanding and in all honesty seems unlikely to return.
Star Trek Online remains a good MMO which uses the intellectual property upon which it is based, well. But it most definitely has a content problem at present. There is too much focus upon creating sellable digital items rather than creating new missions. What new missions we do get are somewhat generic. The most recent arcs, The Terran Gambit and Kings and Queens have certainly been weak, compared to older content. Quark’s Lucky Seven remains a highwater mark in game content coming close to the feel on a TV episode. It remains to be seen as to whether Cryptic are going to raise their game and provide anything on a par with expansions such as The Legacy of Romulus. If they don’t then then the game is effectively slipping into a lower gear. There may well be players who are happy to tinker with their builds indefinitely but I suspect that most want the same sort of story driven content that underpins all the television shows. Its sustained absence from the game is to its detriment.
LOTRO: The Lore-master is Broken
I started playing The Lord of the Rings Online on On Monday 22nd December 2008. I still have the receipt in the box set that I bought, which included the base game Shadows of Angmar and the newly released expansion, Mines of Moria (it had been out about a month). This was my first MMORPG and unlike many other gamers, I had not previously played World of Warcraft. Hence, this was very much a new experience for me. I spent a lot of time pondering what race and class I would play and after reading the game manual thoroughly, (remember them?) I decided upon a human Lore-master. This proved to be a wise decision because I immediately took to the class with its mixture of ranged fire attacks and combat pets. As I am not an “altoholic” this has been my primary character in LOTRO for the last 15 plus years. I have played through every update and expansion with this Lore-master. A total time investment of 7 months, 1 week, 3 days and 5 hours.
I started playing The Lord of the Rings Online on On Monday 22nd December 2008. I still have the receipt in the box set that I bought, which included the base game Shadows of Angmar and the newly released expansion, Mines of Moria (it had been out about a month). This was my first MMORPG and unlike many other gamers, I had not previously played World of Warcraft. Hence, this was very much a new experience for me. I spent a lot of time pondering what race and class I would play and after reading the game manual thoroughly, (remember them?) I decided upon a human Lore-master. This proved to be a wise decision because I immediately took to the class with its mixture of ranged fire attacks and combat pets. As I am not an “altoholic” this has been my primary character in LOTRO for the last 15 plus years. I have played through every update and expansion with this Lore-master. A total time investment of 7 months, 1 week, 3 days and 5 hours.
Over the years I have enjoyed both the good times and bad times with LOTRO. There have been occasions when I have indulged in marathon sessions and other times when I’ve taken several months break from the game. But because of my love of Tolkien and my connection with the character that I’ve created, I always return. Over the years our Fellowship (guild) has waxed and waned. Many friends have come and gone from the game and sadly, some have passed away. Such is the nature of communities within the MMO genre. 15 years has also seen a lot of changes in the games development. Systems have been added and game mechanics have been changed. Mounted combat and epic battles proved unsuccessful. The change from a flexible trait system to a generic skills tree proved problematic. Yet despite various bumps along the way, the road continues to go on and on for LOTRO.
On July 31st, I logged into LOTRO as Update 41: On the Wing was being released that afternoon. I had been away from the game for several months and read that there were to be some class changes included in the latest patch. I took screen captures of my current build, so I could quickly return to it after any system reset. I then logged out, with a view to returning later. It was not until a few days ago that I logged back into LOTRO and I quickly discovered that developers, Standing Stone Games, hadn’t made minor adjustments to the Lore-master class but had radically retooled it. In the past I would have known chapter and verse about this matter well in advance. Nowadays, I have a more casual relationship with the game, so I was blissfully ignorant of the changes. Needless to say, I wasn’t the only player who was confused and frustrated by this decision to alter a class in this fashion.
I won’t belabour casual readers with an excess of detail but all classes in LOTRO have the option to spend their skill points in three distinct skill trees. All of which offer different abilities and play styles. These are colour coded. Blue is weighted towards buffing the Lore-master pets and making them a major focus of gameplay. Red is DPS specific, buffing most fire skills and such like. Yellow line is designed to make all Lore-master buffs and de-buffs more robust and is the favoured skills tree option for those playing group content. All of these have now been nerfed by SSG with certain skills being combined or removed altogether. The most egregious changes are to the red line option. The option that I’ve always favoured. Combat pets which could previously be summoned until manually dismissed, are now relegated to short term skills. You summon them, they fight for a short period and then vanish. These skills now have long cooldowns. Considering that the Lore-master is a pet class, this decision is illogical. It also spoils having these pets as companions when out of combat.
As a mature gamer, I am not prone anymore to gaming related tantrums. They are unseemly and ultimately change nothing. But as a player of LOTRO with 15 years plus standing, who has solely played the Lore-master class for that period, I am “disappointed”. Something that wasn’t broken to begin with has been diminished and is now demonstrably inferior to how it used to be. The irony is this isn’t the first time such decisions have been made during LOTRO’s lifespan and I suspect that it will happen again. SSG developers have a habit of being tone deaf to players’ likes and dislikes and indifferent to any upset or inconvenience they cause. They have an unedifying habit of “always knowing better”, regardless of whether they do or not. As for me, I spent a little time experimenting with the new red line build and then abandoned it. I have not at present chosen an alternative option and have logged out, with no immediate plans to return anytime soon. Nothing remains the same forever but this was a crass decision by the developers and it has now degraded mine and other players’ gaming experience. Bravo SSG, bravo.
Raph Koster and Stars Reach
Let’s talk about Raph Koster and his proposed MMORPG Stars Reach. I am aware of the man’s pedigree within the video game industry and what his legacy is perceived to be. I never played Ultima Online and never got beyond a demo of Star Wars Galaxies so my opinion of his work and gaming philosophy mainly comes from what he has written, rather than what I’ve learned through experiencing his games. And what he has made clear time and time again is that he doesn’t like the current cultural norms surrounding the MMORPG genre. He favours a philosophy of player agency and collectivism as a means to harmoniously manage virtual worlds. He has even asserted that encouraging players to take an active role in addressing the emerging communities needs in a virtual world, may encourage reciprocal action in the real world. If you want chapter and verse on his ideas and theories, do visit the Stars Reach YouTube channel and his personal website.
Let’s talk about Raph Koster and his proposed MMORPG Stars Reach. I am aware of the man’s pedigree within the video game industry and what his legacy is perceived to be. I never played Ultima Online and never got beyond a demo of Star Wars Galaxies so my opinion of his work and gaming philosophy mainly comes from what he has written, rather than what I’ve learned through experiencing his games. And what he has made clear time and time again is that he doesn’t like the current cultural norms surrounding the MMORPG genre. He favours a philosophy of player agency and collectivism as a means to harmoniously manage virtual worlds. He has even asserted that encouraging players to take an active role in addressing the emerging communities needs in a virtual world, may encourage reciprocal action in the real world. If you want chapter and verse on his ideas and theories, do visit the Stars Reach YouTube channel and his personal website.
I’m often more interested in the video games industry itself, than I am in the games they produce. This is very much the case, so far, with Stars Reach. As a concept and an attempt to break the existing MMORPG mould, it is a fascinating proposal. But from what I’ve seen so far, the graphics alone are sufficient to put me off. I like eye candy. I make no bones about that. Eyesight is a cornerstone of human experience and therefore I find it rather crass when people try to discount that. We are hardwired to make decisions based on visual data, so please don’t upbraid me for my disdain of “cartoony” graphics. If you’re attempting to make a genre defining title, then I expect it to be made using the Unreal 5 or the Frostbite engine. However, setting aside my personal tastes, I am fascinated by what Raph Koster is proposing. Partly because the ideas are indeed bold but also because I get the distinct vibe of a serious artist about to make a change of direction that may not work out the way they think. Like Bowie with Tin machine.
Raph Koster eschews the theme park elements of MMOs. He favours dynamic worlds that have finite resources and realistic ecosystems. Hence players will need to be mindful of how they use resources. To stop such virtual worlds being a race to the bottom, Mr Koster wants the playerbase to work collectively and cooperatively in his game. “Players form economic dependencies on each other’s characters by advancing in diverse specializations and skills, all of which draw from the common exhaustible resource pools available in each zone, thereby creating a Tragedy of the Commons problem to navigate as a group”. All of which are valid ideas in principle. I have no doubt that if you round up a dozen or so like minded players who agree on the philosophical precepts of the game and give them alpha access, it will yield potentially positive results. But Stars Reach is intended as a commercial product and therefore needs to appeal to fairly broad demographics. From those who want to farm guinea pigs, to those who want to shoot guinea pig farmers in the face and steal their flock.
To put it politely, I do feel that Mr Koster’s philosophical views do come across as a little naive. Players may well want greater agency in their MMO gaming but do they really want a simulator that has the potential to produce all the bureaucratic and hierarchical problems that are inherent in the real world. Democratic decisions tacitly require the notion of “the loser's consent” to be considered legitimate. That is something that is fast vanishing in the real world. Hence, I find it unlikely that such a quality will be more abundant in a video game community. The moment a committee of gamers in Stars Reach place a restriction upon a specific form of action that negatively impacts other players, there will be problems. If you please the guinea pig farmers, you’ll piss off the face shooters and vice versa. And unlike the real world, in-game hassles can be avoided by simply voting with your feet. I therefore see a possible future where everytime Stars Reach implements a major change, it is followed by a major online brouhaha and then a patch to rectify the problem.
Another point to consider is what sort of gamer will be attracted to Stars Reach. I suspect it may be of interest to people who look to MMOs as a refuge from the real world. Players that just want to spend time in a virtual environment where they insulate themselves from the iniquities of daily life and bask in the pleasure of an idealised environment. Some may be vulnerable and fragile. Which then makes Stars Reach a massive target for predatory gamers who take pleasure from causing upset to others. Suddenly the face shooters and guinea pig farmers become bullies and their victims. We’ve seen it happen before with unchecked PVP. Something else to ponder is that Mr Koster is proposing a game under pinned with a specific sociopolitical ideology. There is a culture war going on at present and if Stars Reach got any sort of traction, especially with the youth audience, it would certainly run the risk of being attacked from within by groups with opposing political opinions and goals.
Obviously this post is purely speculative, based on what information there is about the game at present. Games change during their development, as do people. It may be a case that as and when Stars Reach does get released, its aspirations may have changed substantially as many of the ideas were tried in earlier builds and failed. It may be the game is launched true to Mr Koster’s vision but due to its nature, simply becomes a niche product that exists adjacent to mainstream games. A video game version of a kibbutz. Or it could even turn into the biggest video game controversy and shit show since gamergate. Either way there is scope for this to be a fascinating journey. Assuming that Raph Koster has read the room correctly and that sufficient people desire what he is proposing. Alternatively, even if he is wrong, failed endeavours can still yield much that is useful. At the very least the journey that is commencing will more than likely inspire many a blog post among the gaming community.
MMO Tropes: Loot
“The MMO genre is rife with its own set of tropes; recurring themes and motifs that have become established and ubiquitous. All of which are ideal material for a hastily produced, lazily conceived, recurring blog post”. One of the integral game mechanics of the MMORPG genre is the acquisition of loot. As you travel your virtual world of choice, committing random murder against all forms of flora and fauna, you acquire miscellaneous items by looting the corpses of the slain or stealing from houses and NPCs. Oh it’s a glamorous genre, the MMORPG. These random items can be crafting resources such as hides or ore. They may be food items or healing potions that provide some kind of statistical buff. If you’re fortunate, they may be gear that corresponds with your class or specific build, providing a much needed upgrade. Loot may also be the in-game currency, thus boosting your respective wealth. As you can see, loot comes in all shapes and sizes but how important is it?
Where is the phat loot?
“The MMO genre is rife with its own set of tropes; recurring themes and motifs that have become established and ubiquitous. All of which are ideal material for a hastily produced, lazily conceived, recurring blog post”. One of the integral game mechanics of the MMORPG genre is the acquisition of loot. As you travel your virtual world of choice, committing random murder against all forms of flora and fauna, you acquire miscellaneous items by looting the corpses of the slain or stealing from houses and NPCs. Oh it’s a glamorous genre, the MMORPG. These random items can be crafting resources such as hides or ore. They may be food items or healing potions that provide some kind of statistical buff. If you’re fortunate, they may be gear that corresponds with your class or specific build, providing a much needed upgrade. Loot may also be the in-game currency, thus boosting your respective wealth. As you can see, loot comes in all shapes and sizes but how important is it?
Loot has multiple purposes as a game mechanic. For many players of MMOs, looting is their primary means of earning in-game currency. Loot is farmed and then sold, providing “gold” that can be spent on other requirements. It is a cornerstone of MMO economies. Many of which are fair and equitable when a game is launched, only to go off the rails as players learn how to game the system. But that is another blog post. Returning to the matter of loot, its acquisition goes beyond the practical in some games, instead providing the actual raison d'etre for playing. Games such as the Diablo franchise are an exemplar of this concept and let us not forget that there is an entire genre of games that falls under the banner of “looter shooters”. There is something that appeals to many gamers on a very fundamental level, with regard to acquiring what is colloquially called “phat loot”. I can remember grinding for ages to get a 1st age weapon in The Lord of the Rings Online circa 2009. I was beside myself when I finally got one. I enjoyed it for a week until an expansion invalidated it with new and superior gear.
The Captain wasn’t happy with the quality of the loot
However, not all loot is equal. MMOs usually have various types of loot on an ever increasing scale of rarity and importance. Quality gear and useful item upgrades tend to be scarce, often tied to high level bosses or harder missions. Low value items are commonplace and are accurately labelled “vendor trash”. Many MMOs struggle to get the balance right when it comes to the quality and frequency of loot drops. Star Trek Online is a terrible offender when it comes to this. Specific missions have very good gear rewards but random loot acquired while fighting random mobs is usually of no value at all. It is often pointless low level items and selling them yields little financial reward. Conversely, in The Lord of the Rings Online, a level cap player can make a lot of gold, just by farming zones ten or so levels below them. Especially if they are pursuing deeds, such as killing 200 of a particular species.
MMOs also have another source of loot. Namely raids. These complex, time consuming group events have always been the favoured means for game developers of this genre, to gate the best quality gear. For many years MMO players would invest hours of their time, participating in raids in the hope of getting an opportunity to roll on a unique item. Yes, you read that right. Often there was only one item of high end gear in the loot. It may not have even been relevant to your class at all. If so you got nothing. If it was something you could use, then there was usually a random number generating facility in the chat window and you rolled a virtual dice. The person with the highest number got the item. Everyone else went home with nothing. Assuming the raid leader didn’t steal it for themselves, and then quit the game and the guild. As you can imagine this was the very definition of “fun”. If any old school gamer tries to convince you that MMOs were meritocracies back in the day, tell them to remove themselves to the nearest body of water.
Cheech and Chong themed cosmetic skins and weapon blueprint
However, things change. Video games have become more popular and game developers have gotten wise to the fact that a lot of their paying customers are buying an experience and an entertainment service. They don’t care about punishing rules and failure conditions. Hence we now live in an era where quality loot can be bought. It is a phenomenon that isn’t to everyone’s liking but again we need to step back from our own preferences and see video games as the transactional business that they are. Call of Duty sells weapon blueprints that are often superior to those available in the base game. Star Trek Online has a multitude of ships available in-game but the most desirable are those from lock boxes. As for me, whenever The Lord of the Rings Online raises the level cap, thus invalidating your current gear, I just spend my monthly subscriber stipend on loot boxes and be done with it, rather than re-gear by grinding.
Most people like getting loot when playing MMOs. Or at least they like the concept. Not necessarily the way the mechanic is implemented. I have often thought that we get superior gear at the wrong time. You don’t need it when you hit level cap (unless you buy into the maxim that the real game only begins at level cap) but rather as you’re levelling. Personally, I like upgradeable loot and the ability to keep a much loved item, as seen in Star War: The Old Republic. However it is implemented, loot is a constant in the MMO genre and that is unlikely to change. I don’t think any specific game has a system that is 100% perfect. Perhaps that all seeing oracle and minor deity, Raph Koster, will bring forth a definitive loot related game mechanic in his up and coming game, Stars Reach. Until then we’ll just have to endure the systems that we have. Now please excuse me, I have to sell 3 hides, a kumquat and a rusty ear trumpet for 4 gold.
LOTRO: What You See Is What You Get
As many of us suspected, the proposed “remaster” of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online has been formally cancelled. Daybreak boss Ji Ham touched upon this project in EG7’s latest investors pitch video and stated that the proposal was a poor return on investment. The estimated cost of $30 million could well be spent more effectively elsewhere, possibly the development of new games. As a console release of LOTRO would be dependent upon a remaster, I think it is safe to say that idea is similarly no longer an ongoing concern. Sadly, it would appear that all the ideas regarding LOTRO that were floated during Robin Flodin’s tenure as EG7 CEO, have now all been quashed. It will be interesting to see if developers Standing Stone Games push ahead with support for 4K gaming and revisions to the game’s GUI or whether that also will be abandoned.
As many of us suspected, the proposed “remaster” of the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online has been formally cancelled. Daybreak boss Ji Ham touched upon this project in EG7’s latest investors pitch video and stated that the proposal was a poor return on investment. The estimated cost of $30 million could well be spent more effectively elsewhere, possibly the development of new games. As a console release of LOTRO would be dependent upon a remaster, I think it is safe to say that idea is similarly no longer an ongoing concern. Sadly, it would appear that all the ideas regarding LOTRO that were floated during Robin Flodin’s tenure as EG7 CEO, have now all been quashed. It will be interesting to see if developers Standing Stone Games push ahead with support for 4K gaming and revisions to the game’s GUI or whether that also will be abandoned.
16 years on from its launch LOTRO remains a money-making concern due to its relatively stable playerbase. The licensing arrangement is as secure as it can be and so the game continues. There is an ebb and flow to player engagement with LOTRO, usually centred around the release of new content. The release of Amazon Prime’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power certainly produced a spike in activity around the MMO. This will no doubt happen again when the next update is released. However, LOTRO appears to have a finite capacity to yield revenue and as a result of this fiscal limitation, it would appear that Daybreak has no interest investing any further in the game. Hence the scope of future development for LOTRO is fixed. The MMO will continue to get new updates, expansions and monetised content. But there will not be anything outside of existing parameters.
Having played LOTRO since 2008, the game has changed significantly over the years. It has tried to embrace some of the attributes of modern MMOs and that has not been to everyone's liking. However, the loyal, steadfast, playerbase yields sufficient revenue to keep the lights on. It reminds me of a popular TV show that maintains an audience and so gets continued funding but never enough to break out of its creative lane. The steady release of new story content, new classes and races is sufficient to keep loyalists engaged. But the “more of the same” business model is also the reason why a percentage of players leave. New players arrive to find a dated game that offers a huge amount of old school, progressive, narrative content that they need to catch up on. However, it is clear now that this is the way LOTRO is going to be until the servers are closed. These are the terms that you play the game.
Star Trek Online: Frequency Remodulation
Ever since the Borg have been part of the MMORPG Star Trek Online, players have had to equip a Frequency Remodulator. The Borg adapt to damage from beam weapons after a few minutes and so players have to recalibrate their rifles or pistols, accordingly, using a Frequency Remodulator. This takes 5 seconds to perform and so has to be timed carefully to ensure that the player is not vulnerable to attack during this period. An upgraded version called a Fractal Remodulator, has been available from Federation and Klingon vendors in the Base Camp of the Defera Invasion Zone. It can be crafted for 50 Nanopower Capacitors, 50 Fibro-Neural Interface Cabling and 50 Cybernetic Armatures. It is quicker than the standard model, taking 3 seconds to apply new frequencies. Kinetic weapons do not require remodulation and the Borg cannot adapt to them.
Ever since the Borg have been part of the MMORPG Star Trek Online, players have had to equip a Frequency Remodulator. The Borg adapt to damage from beam weapons after a few minutes and so players have to recalibrate their rifles or pistols, accordingly, using a Frequency Remodulator. This takes 5 seconds to perform and so has to be timed carefully to ensure that the player is not vulnerable to attack during this period. An upgraded version called a Fractal Remodulator, has been available from Federation and Klingon vendors in the Base Camp of the Defera Invasion Zone. It can be crafted for 50 Nanopower Capacitors, 50 Fibro-Neural Interface Cabling and 50 Cybernetic Armatures. It is quicker than the standard model, taking 3 seconds to apply new frequencies. Kinetic weapons do not require remodulation and the Borg cannot adapt to them.
However, STO developers Cryptic recently introduced some practical changes regarding the frequency remodulation system in the game. First off, the standard Frequency Remodulator that has to be equipped as a ground device, has been removed altogether. Beam weapons now have this functionality built in. A new remodulation button appears over the power tray (hotbar) that works in an identical fashion to the old remodulator. Furthermore, the button can be toggled on and off, if you do not want it showing on your UI permanently. Secondly, the faster Fractal Remodulator is still available but is now crafted via the R&D panel for the same cost in materials. The Omega Force, 3-piece ground gear reputation set still has an Integral Frequency Remodulator. This instantly overcomes Borg adaptation and prepares the next remodulation as a background process that requires 15 seconds to recharge. It is not affected by the changes made by Cryptic.
These changes were introduced to STO on Tuesday 12th September with the launch of the latest content update Incursion. After travelling to the Defera Invasion Zone I noticed that the Borg were slower to adapt to beam weapons than previously, especially with those weapons with a rapid-fire secondary attack. Now the pace of combat and adaptation by the Borg feels a lot closer to how it is portrayed in the various TV shows and films. Having the ability to frequency remodulate built into your weapons frees up a ground device slot, which is beneficial and saves you the inconvenience of confronting the Borg without a remodulator and getting caught out. Just remember to look to the right-hand side of your power tray for the switch to toggle the remodulation button. As always, Cryptic posted a press release but provided no in-game instructions.
"Hiding" Other Players in MMORPGs
Massively Overpowered posed an interesting question today regarding the MMORPG genre. “A while back, an MOP commenter opined that MMOs should always offer players the option to fully block – that is to say, mute their speech and hide their avatars and entire presence – from the game – owing to the supposition that “the worst part of every MMO is the players.” In other words, you’d be able to blink all other players en masse right out of existence, from your point of view, unless you chose otherwise (for example, toggling other people back on for dungeoneering)”. First off, I have a worrying suspicion that the commenter may have been me, as this is the sort of irascible thing that I say. However, I’m sure I’m not the only person to have thought this out loud. However, now that it’s being fully debated, upon mature reflection I don’t think that this is a good option. No, not in the least.
Massively Overpowered posed an interesting question today regarding the MMORPG genre. “A while back, an MOP commenter opined that MMOs should always offer players the option to fully block – that is to say, mute their speech and hide their avatars and entire presence – from the game – owing to the supposition that “the worst part of every MMO is the players.” In other words, you’d be able to blink all other players en masse right out of existence, from your point of view, unless you chose otherwise (for example, toggling other people back on for dungeoneering)”. First off, I have a worrying suspicion that the commenter may have been me, as this is the sort of irascible thing that I say. However, I’m sure I’m not the only person to have thought this out loud. However, now that it’s being fully debated, upon mature reflection I don’t think that this is a good option. No, not in the least.
From a purely gaming perspective, not having other players about would significantly improve the performance of some games. It would also address differing opinions about immersion. Lore purists would no longer clash with the casual player with the “jovial” name. If this toggling on and off of other players had some degree of control, then role play guilds could segregate themselves from potential trolls and general indifference of non-role players. As could any player or group of players from a minority background, who regularly encounter harassment and prejudice. However, I think in the long term and when considered as part of a wider perspective, this could be a very troubling option. Segregation, be it voluntary or involuntary, has consequences. Blocking other players is more than just visually removing them from a game. It is making a statement. One that can righteous or steeped in bigotry.
At present, real-world politics (although I use the term loosely) and the so-called culture wars are present in video games and its associated culture. Like it or not, there are a substantial percentage of players that don’t like equality and representation, be it in the in-game character creation or within gaming guilds. Hence the ability to block and remove from sight specific groups of people would be deemed advantageous to such people. But doing such a thing, for such reasons would be more than just removing people visually. It would be an act of denying peoples existence and their right to exist. A denial of equality. In essence the first step along the road of “othering” and dehumanisation. It starts with not wanting to see specific people and groups and denying them. But often this will not be sufficient for those who espouse such prejudices.
I would assume that implementing such technology in an existing MMO would come with quite a significant cost. However, market research may indicate that there is sufficient support for such things. I don’t think it unreasonable to speculate that someone may suggest that a cheaper option would be to simply set up separate servers based around demographics, other than language and region. I don’t like such a scenario. The ideology associated with it stinks. MMOs are communities and like wider society, they work because everyone has to exist within a set of rules designed to make that society functional and broadly tolerable. It’s far from perfect but it tends to work. We encounter (well some of us do) people from all walks of life and this for the majority, breeds tolerance at the very least. Tinkering with this by confining, segregating, or removing people from a shared space is a proverbial slippery slope.
Star Trek Online: Upgrade Your Ship Even Further?
Cryptic used the same statement on their recent news release. Except they ended it with an exclamation mark whereas I’ve chosen a question mark instead. Because I really do question the wisdom of expanding the Experimental Ship Upgrade path and the benefits of applying additional tokens to your ships, unlocking further device, console and trait slots. This is a classic example of doing something because you can, as opposed because you should. Do players at level cap who have already upgraded their ship(s) from Tier 6 to Tier 6-X really need to augment it further? Beyond the immediate stats boost, does it offer any significant benefit to the player or the game in the long run? Or does this situation simply boil down to the fact that it’s another cynically contrived excuse for Star Trek Online developers, Cryptic, to sell you something. For the record, Experimental Ship Upgrade tokens are available for sale in the Zen Store (for money) or can be purchased via Phoenix Prize Pack (for dilithium).
Regarding the title of this post, Cryptic used the same statement on their recent news release. Except they ended it with an exclamation mark whereas I’ve chosen a question mark instead. Because I really do question the wisdom of expanding the Experimental Ship Upgrade path and the benefits of applying additional tokens to your ships, unlocking further device, console and trait slots. This is a classic example of doing something because you can, as opposed because you should. Do players at level cap who have already upgraded their ship(s) from Tier 6 to Tier 6-X really need to augment it further? Beyond the immediate stats boost, does it offer any significant benefit to the player or the game in the long run? Or does this situation simply boil down to the fact that it’s another cynically contrived excuse for Star Trek Online developers, Cryptic, to sell you something. For the record, Experimental Ship Upgrade tokens are available for sale in the Zen Store (for money) or can be purchased via Phoenix Prize Pack (for dilithium).
Levelling to cap in STO is not such an arduous struggle as it is in other MMORPGs. Furthermore, the average player can gain acceptable gear for their starship via PVE content, the reputation system or joining a fleet. There are guides available online that show that you can throw together the most basic gear and traits and still have a perfectly serviceable vessel that can adequately play through endgame content. However, for a percentage of players the endgame in STO is all about increasing their DPS statistics via bespoke builds. At present, such a player can assemble the right selection of gear resulting in substantial DPS output. The introduction of Tier 6-X Experimental Ship Upgrade tokens in late 2020, provided an interesting steppingstone for all players. Those playing casually with average gear, benefitted from the additional device, console and ship trait slots. High end players could tweak their builds further and perfect them. Players could also choose not to use them.
Therefore, it can be argued that the introduction of the Tier 6-X upgrade system was justified and equitable. The same arguments don’t seem so applicable with regard to Tier 6-X2. The benefits no longer seem to be couched in terms of levelling the playing field and seem to be simply about purchasing an optional and possibly superfluous statistical upgrade. Cynics will also note that to receive the benefits of a Tier 6-X2 upgrade, the player has to use a further two Experimental Ship Upgrade tokens. Yet despite paying twice the cost, you still only get the same unlocks as with the first upgrade. All of which makes me wonder whether this is worth it. I suspect not and I certainly don’t think I will be hobbling myself if I choose not to. Furthermore, this situation highlights the problem all MMOs have with power creep and the fact that it would be more appropriate for Cryptic to find a comprehensive solution to that problem, rather than offering this money making stop gap..
Star Trek Online: Trait Bug
All MMORPGs have bugs. It is a certainty in life, just like death and taxes. However, some have more than others. I’m sure we could argue for hours as to which particular game has the most but I’ll leave that discussion to others. Star Trek Online has its share, many of which have persisted for years. But there is one that stands out, due to its longevity and sheer annoyance. To be specific, the “trait bug”. Like many MMO’s STO has a trait system that offers a range of passive or active buffs, skill boosts and statistical tweaks. STO is very much a number game, especially if you are chasing a high DPS output, which lots of players do. The trait bug is the random “unslotting” of some of your characters traits. It can affect any of the seven categories of traits but tends to most often happen to Personal Space Traits and Starship Traits. Unless you regularly check, most players will not immediately know this has happened.
All MMORPGs have bugs. It is a certainty in life, just like death and taxes. However, some have more than others. I’m sure we could argue for hours as to which particular game has the most but I’ll leave that discussion to others. Star Trek Online has its share, many of which have persisted for years. But there is one that stands out, due to its longevity and sheer annoyance. To be specific, the “trait bug”. Like many MMO’s STO has a trait system that offers a range of passive or active buffs, skill boosts and statistical tweaks. STO is very much a number game, especially if you are chasing a high DPS output, which lots of players do. The trait bug is the random “unslotting” of some of your characters traits. It can affect any of the seven categories of traits but tends to most often happen to Personal Space Traits and Starship Traits. Unless you regularly check, most players will not immediately know this has happened.
The trait bug tends to happen when changing instances within STO. IE When transitioning from sector space to system space or when travelling to a planet surface or visiting a space station. It can also happen after the release of any content update. As STO rotates through a schedule of yearly events, the bug manifests itself quite regularly. However, despite it persisting in the game years, it is hard to pin down a specific set of factors that cause it. It is capricious by nature, which makes it more frustrating. The “unslotting” of traits will impact upon space and ground combat and it is often the feeling that your current build feels “gimped” that leads players to discover that a selection of random traits have vanished from their existing setup. A further source of annoyance is the fact that there isn’t a permanent fix or a workaround that is 100% effective.
At present, the nearest I have got to a solution is as follows. Clear all existing traits and save to a new loadout. Overwrite existing loadouts to remove them. Log out of the game and close the client. Then log back in. Go to system space above the homeworld of your faction. Set all your traits as you desire and save the loadout. I would also advise taking a screenshot or making a written note of your trait selection. This broadly works but can fail after a content update. This bug is an especially poor reflection upon Cryptic because it has been around so long. I would happily forgo a content update, if the developers spent time and resources on a comprehensive bug fix. Sadly, I suspect that is not going to happen. In the meantime, if anyone has any other workarounds, I’d be interested to know them.