by Nicole163 on Aug 25, 2011
Rise of Isengard, the forthcoming expansion for the Lord of the Rings Online, is generating some buzz.
Players will be able to gain ten additional levels, there's a
new full 24-man raid against a dragon, we'll get to see
important new locations and, according to the dev diaries
starting to roll out, all classes are going to get some
significant reworking. Of course, LotRO is not the only game
generating buzz for the coming months. Star Wars: The Old
Republic looms on the horizon like a juggernaut poised to start
a downhill roll, Guild Wars 2 is shaping up to be a giant, and
perennial mainstay World of Warcraft is slapping a big, shiny
new patch on their titan. Will Rise of Isengard be able to stay
competetive, or will they need a game-changer?
Here's what we know we're getting, based on all the PR bits
that keep mentioning the same few things, and the handful of dev
diaries and forum posts we've seen so far:
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InterviewEverything sounds great so far... but it's essentially more of
the same. Don't get me wrong, "the same" is still great, and it
will be nice to have more of it. It just doesn't seem all that
"new" so much as it seems an improvement or continuation of
existing gameplay.
A few things haven't yet been discussed in dev diaries or the
press, but are almost certain to make their way into the final
product when it launches:
Again, nothing really "new," just expanded. Even the cosmetic
pets idea is not a new thing - Lore-masters have had them for
years.
Way back last year, when they announced the Rise of Isengard
expansion, the devs said straight-up that there would be new
PvMP zones. Plural, "zones." That, unfortunately, has been
dropped for the September release, and will not be shipping with
the expansion when it goes live. That's not to say it will never
happen... just not yet. Some players are rather upset about
this.
One thing that has been missing from the PR is any mention of
new instances or skirmishes. A lot of fuss has been made about
the 24-man dragon raid, and that's sure to draw a few crowds,
and many of the existing classic instances and skirmishes will
be revamped and rescaled... but there will be no new
smaller-group content at launch. Sapience
Has Confirmed that a new instance cluster will ship with
Update 5, sometime after Rise of Isengard but before the end of
the year.
And so far, all the stuff detailed in the dev diaries and
official literature has been geared for endgame players, and
there is almost nothing for low- and mid-levels. Opening the
Ettenmoors to F2P players is all well and good, but that's an
aspect of the game that doesn't appeal to everyone... and it's
been the only thing being offered to players under level 65.
Those of us who have been playing the game for a long time and
have reached endgame will certainly appreciate all the juicy new
RoI content, but the guys grinding through the lower levels will
just have that much further to go before they can experience the
new stuff, with nothing new in between.
And this expansion seems to lack the "game-changer." Mines of
Moria introduced the Legendary Item - a bold new feature that
allowed players to customize their weapons as they developed
their play-style, making all other weapons obsolete. Why would a
level 60 Champion use some crafted 2-handed axe when he could
use a legendary Champion's Greataxe of the Third Age, which did
more damage, had legacies that improved the skills he used
often, and could be customized with different combinations of
relics and titles?
Moria also gave us two new character classes: the Warden and
the Rune-keeper. Having only seven classes became a sucker's
game - nine was the new seven. These two new classes were
immensely popular right out of the gate, and continue to be so
now, even as Premium-only classes. They were hybrids of certain
aspects of other classes (which are also hybrids of archetypical
classes from fantasy RPGs in general, crossed with Tolkien
lore). Wardens and Rune-keepers broke that "holy trinity"
tank-DPS-healer mold, or at least gave it a very stern frown, by
being able to fill multiple roles simultaneously.
Mirkwood introduced a game-changer with the Skirmish system,
providing players with a brilliant alternative to
landscape-grinding quests and static instanced spaces. These are
spaces that you can enter from anywhere, with any sized group,
at any level. The skirmish reward system supplanted the archaic
"go to Dungeon X for Gear Y" system to such an extent that the
existing instance system was remodeled to make it more like the
new, improved system. Skirmish marks devalued transferable (and
therefore exploitable) currency (gold) by giving us an
alternate, non-transferable currency to earn gear and other
rewards.
The move to Free-to-Play, while not an expansion, was a huge
coup for LotRO. Turbine's "freemium" model sets the industry
standard for how MMOs can generate profit outside of the monthly
subscription. F2P pulled in more new players than either of the
previous expansions, and kept them playing by allowing them to
experience the entire game for free. And it made money by
selling these free players small, manageable chunks of game at
the pace they wanted.
As of yet, Rise of Isengard has no big game-changers - no new
and innovative tech that changes how the game is played. No new
classes. Just more, bigger and better of what is already there,
and some new regions where that same stuff continues on.
Obviously, we won't know how successful Isengard is going to be
until it happens, and just because something hasn't been
mentioned yet doesn't mean it's not coming. Or that it needs to
come at all.
At this stage of the game, maybe the goal is more about keeping
the existing players happy by giving them more of what they want
with tech that works the way it's supposed to. It's not
necessarily a matter of attracting new players - though this
will likely occur naturally - but of keeping the existing
players from defecting to the other titles coming out. LotRO has
a large player base already - give those players more of the
time-tested stuff they like and they'll be more inclined to
stick around and keep playing (and paying), and recommending the
game to their friends. Isengard will not likely bring the
explosion of new players that the F2P shift did - that goes
without saying - but the game should realistically continue to
grow by continuing on with the tested material that makes the
game as good as it is.
And the "smaller" changes that are coming really add up -
removed stat caps, plus increased caps on consolidated combat
ratings, plus new gear without old restrictions, plus ten more
levels of tweaking and min-maxing and gear-spreadsheeting is
going to make for some really intense new builds. Some players
may not even recognize their current characters a few months
from now. Many players are already well over the current stat
cap of 650 on their primary stats, storing in their vaults items
that push the numbers beyond what is currently usable. Uncapped
Hunters with 1000+ Agility, uncapped Guardians with 1000+
Vitality - both made capable of doing ridiculous things by the
sheer weight of giant stat numbers.
Or maybe Rise of Isengard is a stage where a future drama will
be set - another game-changer yet to be announced, that requires
a functioning, stable foundation on which to build. More new
instanced content is coming - not right away, but before the
year is out. Legendary Armor? Mounted combat? Expanded PvMP?
Well, make sure those 1000-Vitality Guardians and 1000-Agility
Hunters are working the way they're supposed to first, over a
longer time frame. Then try to figure out ways to not break them
with new tech. Add the groundbreaking new tech when the existing
tech proves stable enough to handle it.
Personally, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for cosmetic pets to
make the cut. I can wait for the rest.