A few small issues that prevent me from really enjoying LOTRO

Kedoremos

As the title says, I have a few small issues with LOTRO that prevent me from totally enjoying this decent MMO.

1. Graphical Stutter/Hitching - I have a good system but I still get some pretty annoying hitching. I'm more than qualified technically to troubleshoot this issue and have tried with little success. I can't help but feel like this is not caused by the 3D aspects, I kinda think its extra unnecessary processing of some sort that's wasting CPU cycles. I have no data to back up this claim, just a gut feeling based on when the issues occur.

2. Right click THEN left click to move forward - For some reason Turbine decided to make it to where if you left click then right click you won't move, you must right then left click. I find this annoying.

3. Constant zoning - Every room is another zone. My issue with this is not the speed of the zoning process but rather the negative effect this has on immersion.

4. Mouse click 'dead zones' - There are places on the interface (in the middle where one would normally right/left click for character movement) where if you left click or right click the game doesn't respond to that mouse click. You have to right/left click again. I've done Ctrl+ and moved all the hidden interface elements out of the way and these 'dead zones' still exist.

5. Inappropriate ambient noise - If you're far from town you might still hear the town's ambient noise.

6. Female Elves are very clumsy - They look very goofy when they walk, jump, and run. This may just be a personal preference but my wife's the one who brought it to my attention and I agree with her.

7. Action buttons lack colors and are generally to small - Action buttons are very small and, I'm sure, for the visually impaired would be hard to distinguish between them. They all have the same color-bland scheme as well. (Orange+White)

Granted, none of these issues make this game unplayable, they do however constitute as polish.

Sovrath

Originally posted by kedoremos


As the title says, I have a few small issues with LOTRO that prevent me from totally enjoying this decent MMO.
1. Graphical Stutter/Hitching - I have a good system but I still get some pretty annoying hitching. I'm more than qualified technically to troubleshoot this issue and have tried with little success. I can't help but feel like this is not caused by the 3D aspects, I kinda think its extra unnecessary processing of some sort that's wasting CPU cycles. I have no data to back up this claim, just a gut feeling based on when the issues occur.

2. Right click THEN left click to move forward - For some reason Turbine decided to make it to where if you left click then right click you won't move, you must right then left click. I find this annoying.

3. Constant zoning - Every room is another zone. My issue with this is not the speed of the zoning process but rather the negative effect this has on immersion.

4. Mouse click 'dead zones' - There are places on the interface (in the middle where one would normally right/left click for character movement) where if you left click or right click the game doesn't respond to that mouse click. You have to right/left click again. I've done Ctrl+ and moved all the hidden interface elements out of the way and these 'dead zones' still exist.

5. Inappropriate ambient noise - If you're far from town you might still hear the town's ambient noise.

6. Female Elves are very clumsy - They look very goofy when they walk, jump, and run. This may just be a personal preference but my wife's the one who brought it to my attention and I agree with her.

7. Action buttons lack colors and are generally to small - Action buttons are very small and, I'm sure, for the visually impaired would be hard to distinguish between them. They all have the same color-bland scheme as well. (Orange+White)


Granted, none of these issues make this game unplayable, they do however constitute as polish.

1,I don't really get any hitching except in Bree.



You should go to troubleshooting, turn the engine to high and turn your fps to 25 or so. that might help



2, no idea what you are talking about as I have a different setup. You can change how you move. I use the morrowind/oblivion controls where Q is autorun and E is jump. You should just change it if you don't like it.



3, not every room is zoned. There are several inns that have multiple rooms including a basement that are not zoned. Thorin's hall is not zoned, most of the rooms in the Prancing Pony are not zoned. don't know why the quest rooms are zoned because anyone can get there.



4, Again, I have a different setup and haven't noticed this. see above.



5, Sorry, I haven't noticed this. you should report it as a bug if you are coming across this. If you are hearing the town's noise "in the distance" then that makes complete sense. it is a town with a lot of people so the noise should be heard. If not then report it as a bug.



6, I completely agree



7, Yeah, I don't like these buttons either.

Kedoremos

Originally posted by goreesha

Those all seem like issues that could fairly easily be addressed (with the possible exception of the graphical hitching, which I haven't experienced, so can't comment on). You should post this stuff on the LOTRO forums, so devs see it, though. Posting it here won't get it fixed.

 

Done, thanks Goreesha. There are, apparently, a large number of UI changes being demanded by the community at the moment.

Kedoremos

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by kedoremos


<snip>

1,I don't really get any hitching except in Bree.



You should go to troubleshooting, turn the engine to high and turn your fps to 25 or so. that might help



2, no idea what you are talking about as I have a different setup. You can change how you move. I use the morrowind/oblivion controls where Q is autorun and E is jump. You should just change it if you don't like it.



3, not every room is zoned. There are several inns that have multiple rooms including a basement that are not zoned. Thorin's hall is not zoned, most of the rooms in the Prancing Pony are not zoned. don't know why the quest rooms are zoned because anyone can get there.



4, Again, I have a different setup and haven't noticed this. see above.



5, Sorry, I haven't noticed this. you should report it as a bug if you are coming across this. If you are hearing the town's noise "in the distance" then that makes complete sense. it is a town with a lot of people so the noise should be heard. If not then report it as a bug.



6, I completely agree



7, Yeah, I don't like these buttons either.

RE: 1. Thank you, I will try that and see if it helps.

RE: 2. I, like my wife, move forward by pressing the left and right mouse buttons at the same time. Autorun isn't the problem, just moving forward at all (the same as using the UP or W keys). If you press the left mouse button then you press the right mouse button you will stand still and not move. If you press the right mouse button then the left, you will move forward. It even says this in the manual. I don't really understand why they did it this way.

RE: 3. Fair enough. I shouldn't have said all rooms are zoned. In my mind I expect zones to be different 'zones' not houses etc..

RE: 5. Start in a city and run to the complete opposite end of the zone. When you're there you'll be as far from a town as possible. That's when I hear the clanging of tools and horse noises just like I were right in town.