The Troll Report Week of 07/20/2007

by: Tony "RadarX" Jones

<!-- if (!document.phpAds_used) document.phpAds_used = ','; phpAds_random = new String (Math.random()); phpAds_random = phpAds_random.substring(2,11); document.write ("<" + "script language='JavaScript' type='text/javascript' src='"); document.write ("http://ads.tentonhammer.com/adjs.php?n=" + phpAds_random); document.write ("&amp;what=zone:25"); document.write ("&amp;exclude=" + document.phpAds_used); if (document.referrer) document.write ("&amp;referer=" + escape(document.referrer)); document.write ("'><" + "/script>"); //-->

Keeping up with the Official Forums can be cumbersome and who really has time to troll through hundreds of dramatic posts for that one nugget you occasionally find? I do! Join us as Ten Ton Hammer examines all the important threads this week and keeps you up to date.

Happy with In-Game Support:
Link

If you are a veteran MMO player, you know GM (in game customer service) are one of the most abused professions associated with development. Too many gold spammers? Friggin GM's. Lost an item? Stupid GM's. RadarX won't stop saying Hobbitses? Hurry up GM's! This particular poster actually praised the work GM's did.

This is the heartwarming story of a man and his bugged quest. Disappointed with the failure of his quest, he resigns to file a bug report and kiss his reward goodbye. In a surprising turn of events, a Senior GM shows up at the end to save the day and all is well. It's stories like this which need to be told more to balance out all the negativity.

Really Surprised At Farming:
Link

Almost everyone dislikes gold farmers. Running around controlling areas, scooping up quest mobs, and generally making life miserable for anyone with a quest. So it comes as a surprise to me that someone couldn't believe there was farming in Burzum Pushdug. You are truly baffled by the fact there are farmers our there grabbing stuff up?

There is an important question to ask. Can you make money there? Then that's where you'll find all of them jockeying for position and trying to kill as much as they can for loot. I'm far from saying we should just roll over and take it, because everyone likes to crack on a farmer, but to be actually astounded by this borderlines on silly. Report them and let Turbine handle them.

A Bold New Land:
Link

How big will Middle-earth actually get? Everyone knows we are adventuring in Eriador (which means nothing if you aren't familiar with the books). There is actually a lot more space available in the world and I guess the developers had to focus things or it'd get too big to handle. Fortunately Developer Scenario stepped in to make Turbine's feelings clear.

He first choked at the mention of Evendim being "small." I've been there and it is anything but small. In good Game Developer fashion he was very vague regarding the future of Lord of the Rings Online. He stated "In all seriousness, most all the lands of Middle Earth are open for exploration. It is just a matter of the how and the when." That says to me we'll see new lands in time.

Gramsfoot:
Link

Turbine released some interesting information regarding Gramsfoot. If you are unfamiliar with this fortress, it's the starting point of everyone participating in Monster Play.

The discussion of course immediately began a flamewar bringing out every complaint imaginable. From people who think monsters are too weak, to those who think they could use a little nerfing this had all the drama of an E! Real Hollywood Story. What really saddened me was there really was no discussion of the piece, just how bad the defenses were for players around it.

New Services:
Link

Turbine announced some brand new services it would be offering customers, some of which were cutting edge. The very obvious character transfer option started for a fairly normal price of $24.95. What was more interesting was the character name change for $9.95 and Kinship name change for $12.95.

Services such as these have never been offered in another MMO to my knowledge. The ability to actually change your character name or guild name without being reported for something offensive is fairly unheard of. It's a bold and unique by Turbine which could tap a new revenue market and provide service it's customers would like. Will it work? Only time will tell.

Grammar is an Important...Zzzzzzz:
Link

This one I just had to add in because my own grammar suffers at times and I can sympathize with people who have issues. Someone attempted to give the posters on the official forums a lesson in the proper usage of certain words. Was it a thorough, in depth lesson? Was it a rant about common misspellings?

No, it was a complaint about the use of "their," "there," and they're. That's it? You started an entire thread to complain about the improper use of those words? First of all, that is one of the most common grammatical mistakes people make in English, so I think you are being a little hard on people. That was all you had to say though? Those three words? Sadly this thread only went a few pages.

Uruk-hai:
Link

For those of you unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings Lore, the Uruk-hai are a jacked up looking race of orcs who appear menacing enough to sneer and kill you. Turbine provided a little background on these interesting creatures, and most of it translates into "They'll beat you down."

I've been really fond of these little lore injections we've been getting. It shows not only is Turbine dedicated to being more involved with its community, but there is a level of dedication to story you don't see in many games. We can pick a dozen decent MMO's to play, but how many of them will find where developers care enough to write up stuff like this? Not man.

Change your Shorts:
Links

It's easy to admit this was one of the more interesting threads we've seen in the past few weeks. The creator of the thread is asking for moments people have flipped out and been surprised by game events. Ok yes, it sounds a little bit lame...how scary can LOTRO be? I mean it's an MMO and not really evil right? You couldn't be more wrong.

As someone who excitedly ran up to his first barrow-iron node not realizing a TREE was coming alive next to it to try and kill him, it can be scarier than you think. Turbine has worked pretty hard on their creatures and environments so feel free to stop by this thread and share your own experience.

Threads of the Week:

The following threads fit into two outstanding categories. The first of these is the best Dev response of the week from Turbine employees regarding...well anything. The second is the most overused topic of the week meaning there have been 20 threads beating the subject into the ground.

Dev Response of the Week - No Pocket Devs:
Link

The poster of this thread is in the running for the dumbest post of the week (along with the guy who asked if it's ok to buy gold in the game). This individual asked if there was anywhere they could get dev only responses to questions, not players.

Of course sir! Let me direct you to the "I Can't Believe it's not Butter" train car where you'll be assigned the personal developer of your choice.

After having your questions answered you'll be offered your choice of refreshments and given a set of the most powerful equipment in the game. Got news for you Skippy, your $14.99 isn't any better than anyone else's. Fortunately we had Ramen around to remind him in an extremely professional way, that these are public forums.

Most Overused Topic of the Week - Gold Farmers:
Link

Ok, this one has been already mentioned above but it's just been used that many times this week. No one likes gold farmers, but you guys are going to have to realize level 5 people are going to run around ganking up whatever they can to sell. It's not a problem that will be easily solved because idiots are still buying gold.

It'd be near impossible for Turbine to not understand the ramifications of the economy and how much RMT (real money trading) is affecting things. Report suspicious behavior and let them do their job.