Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
Dear Turbine, This isn't how to run a "welcome back" campaign...
Suplyndmnd
Member Posts: 553
First, as i know im gonna get heat for posting this some credentials. I played LOTR:O for months during beta, for 3 months after initial relase so all told i got about 5 months of playing in this game. As true as it may be that a lot has changed my points that i make are going to be valid. If you can't argue them and feel the need to just call me an idiot, just hit the back button and don't bother replying.
So, i'm checing my email the other day when I see an email sent out about a "Welcome Back" campaign. I play other MMO's s i thought nothing of it at the time but i grew weary of FFXI (I take small breaks in MMO's and right now it's FFXI's turn) and decided while i had the free time, i'd jump back in and see what has all changed in Middle Earth. I waited a couple days and even had already downloaded the game thinking "Well, i can just download it, install the updates and it be much easier than searching for my boxed version".
So game is installed and lo and behold the 2nd arrives. I find that i gotta wait until 10 so at 1 i decide to log in to find that my account is still inactive so I click the "Reactivate". The first problem appears here. They want me to supply a credit card for a "Welcome Back" 5 day event. To me, i think they should have just been fine with my logging in being able to activate my account. So i go ahead and just click the "Activate" and it activates the account. It's then i see that the credit card on file is not just no longer valid, it expired january this year yet it still activates. It activates an hour later mind you but activates.
So i log in to realize, it's been quite some time since i've logged in and damned if i remember where my characters were. This obviously is a problem because Turbine deems showing this information unnecessary too so it took logging on to a few servers before I realized which I was on so many many months ago (this is yet another problem). So i go to select my characters and my level 38 Loremaster and my 24 Hunter cant be used because the game i downloaded? Oh no, that wasn't the game that was just the noob area of it. Despite having tried many times to check for updates and such to download everything i needed the game felt it was ok for me to just have the noob area for now. So, now here i am stuck, waiting for what should have been done to begin with.
However, i take it in stride as i'm trying hard to get back into the game and 2 hours after maintenace i find that the noob area has 2 people in it. Me and someone else. This reeks of a dead game from this perspective and as it's the one i'm stuck with at the moment (and most likely others coming back are aswell) this doesn't give a good showing to what the actual numbers are in this game i feel.
So Turbine, Thank you for the 5 days, i will continue for a few more hours to get back to my higher level characters but unless i'm able to actually see that anything has changed from my initial reasoning for quitting before, i won't be back and another attempt will fall on deaf ears. Unfortunately, it will probably fall on many deaf ears.
Also, congratulations to anyone who even bothered to reading to this point. Gotta love long and rambling posts.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Comments
Well to me it seems somebody did not read up on all the info for the WB period, i'm sorry but i have no pity for incompetence..with that said maybe you did not see many ppl due to many facts such as,
1. Maybe you are on a low pop server?
2. Maybe there are already tonnes of ppl still playing and dont need to come back?
3. Maybe you are playing in a timezone where as other ppl are not playing?
4. Maybe some of the ppl playing have already out lvl'd you?
And so on and so on,
honestly dont know what to say? you made a bad choice by not reading all required info relating to the WB period and you want to blame Turbine? yep that makes sense to me.
Another thing, 25% xp bonus only comes from killing mobs and not from quests... pure fail on Turbine's part imo, considering you get the most XP from questing.
This i agree with
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
*wonders if people would be complaining if it was just a free weekend with no 25% -->BONUS<-- at all*
But to the OP (without trying to sound like an ass, like some :P ), I am pretty much repeating what has already been said. It is mid day, people are still at work/school, I can guarantee it will get more populated towards the evening time, and then on the weekend. But is also depends what server you are on; which one are you on btw? And low level areas are usually empty because it is really easy and fast to level up in the early stages so people usually move on within 1-3hrs.
Regarding the activation issue, they actually were having issues with some accounts but that should of been fixed by now (there is a thread on it in general discussion on the lotro forums) I find it really strange you do not have your old characters, are you sure you are logging into the same server as before were you had your characters? Contact account management support just in case, that should get resolved.
The one complaint I found a little humourous (not sound like an ass) but regarding having to download more stuff after having downloaded the game. I wouldnt find it funny if you didnt have Guild Wars in your sig. As a fellow Guild Wars player, that game only downloads the bare minimum to start the game and then downloads every part seperatly as you enter; a lot worse than LOTRO. If you installed using the CDs you wouldnt have the issue. (but I am not bashing, just found it a little funny :P )
"I find that i gotta wait until 10 so at 1 i decide to log in to find that my account is still inactive so I click the "Reactivate". The first problem appears here."
You said it.
That Guild Wars 2 login screen knocked up my wife. Must be the second coming!
and I said this... http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/45/view/forums/post/2359752#2359752
I can certainly appreciate venting for the same of venting, but all in all it sounds like you came here with this issue simply to encite dissent and seek to enrage the trolls of this forum.
If a problem like that happened to me, I'd take the time to check out the real support forums to see if it was a known issue, especially since this is the first time they offered a 'Welcome Back' access. Next I would have attempted to contact support directly, to see if they could find an immediate fix or at the very least explain to me exactly what is going on and why I cannot select pre-existing characters to play.
Software glitches happen ...
Don't misunderstand, like I said at the beginning I can understand your frustration, but coming here to post your message does absolutely nothing to resolve the issue for you.
I don't play LOTRO anymore neither and I agree, if I had your experience I would stay away for good.
No bad mouthing about the game itself but this sounds really bad, they should have merged that server a long time ago. An MMO is just as great as the players you spend your time with.
wow, good work on the selective reading. Ignore my reply as well as others on this forum that say there is no problem with the population, other than the 'certain time of day when people have lives' (work/school)
Perhaps i should clear up what i failed to before taking from the multiple people's replys. I did finally find my old characters. The problem was, i have to wait hours to use them because "Middle Earth" did not update when i kept asking for updates. The gripe was, they should have like numbers next to the servers indication how many players you have on each server (like WoW does). I realize that they have far far less servers than WoW so the normal players dont get confused but i found it tasking to sit here and try to remember what server it was i played on. I tried Brandywine at first thinking "That was the one from Beta so I probably went to it becaus of that" but then tried um, the one that startswith the W. I went from there to the one that starts with the V and that is where my characters were.
Also, for those that pointed it out, i did, infact, try to get ahold of customer support. Online chat is only online for about 4 hours a day, I called and was on hold for 45 minutes on the phone before hanging up and i sent an email that even now, has not been answered. Sorry i did not point this out before as I didn't think it held any bearing on my post.
Lastly, to those who think i'm "trolling". If you think that criticism (and lets face it, it was not even mild) is trolling you're mistaken. I did not bash the game. I bashed Turbine's handling of the welcome back program. I did, infact, like the game obviously or i'd not have bothered with purchasing it. I just thought the problems with Loremaster would get fixed sooner and they were not. I cancelled because of this.
P.S. I do play Guild Wars and i'm not against downloading stuff as i go along but the problem with this is, i cant even do that. I have to wait for a multi gig file to download before i can even play. I understand that it's apples and oranges as Guild Wars is mostly instance based but, my point stands.
*edit*
And i should point out, thank you to those who took it upon themselves to reply and to do so without the insults. My point was not to troll. Thank you for those who saw that.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
ah yes, Vilya (tied with being the lowest population server (with Firefoot I think)) and Windfola not too far ahead of them. So yea, I hate too say it but you are playing on the lower pop servers. If it bothers you that much, start on a new, more populated server since I would think if you have been away from the game long enough it can't hurt to start fresh.
(note: 3 of the servers had wait lines today (and its only thursday!..so hopefully I wont have to wait long during the weekend to play >< ))...if you are wondering what servers those were... Brandywine, Elendilmir, and Landroval. Once Moria comes out, I think the wait times wont be any fun... and (my speculation) the low pop servers will noticeably benefit.
/failed
Your desperate repeated attempts on trying to tell how wonderful everything really is, tells a different story.
I quit LOTRO several months ago, and would love to check it out today. But only 5 days trial, that's a bad joke. Heck, I finished TWO MONTHS free "welcome back" EQ2 time (Living Legacy campaign) a few days ago.
I click the "Reactivate". The first problem appears here. They want me to supply a credit card for a "Welcome Back" 5 day event"
Just out of curiostity, did anyone else have to do this? I just reinstalled and clicked play... i did nothing with my account.
OP, the fact you play Final Fantasy Online demonstrates you have NO TASTE in MMOs. Considering FF had a boss that required 24 hours to kill, I would assume a few hours of patching would be a minor annoyance.
LOTRO is the best MMO out, for many reasons. If you're unable to recognize this fact, then perhaps you should select another game.
This is a ridiculous rant, because you didn't get your way. If you had a copy of the game, or downloaded it from the link that I personally supplied twice, you would have more than the new player zone. All of the other complaints are just silly banter to say you want to be catered.
There were over 20 people that I know of that came back on the first day, that haven’t been on in over 8 months. Some of them have told me of many they are re-meeting as well. The world does not circle around you, and patience is a virtue. It can take a while to get activation. Considering it took Everquest over 8 hours my first time playing it (many years ago), I consider this good.
My favorite part of your rant is the ever cushiony complaint of ‘this game is dead’. This shows that you only want to complain, and buffer the blows with your header, stating that 3 months of released play means you are an expert of this game.
You my friend are the new age of trolls. I do give you credit for being the better of the versions, as you are at least intellectual, but none-the-less, you are still a troll. If you were as experienced of a player, as you claim to be, you would have read what you were downloading in the first place.
/failed
Your desperate repeated attempts on trying to tell how wonderful everything really is, tells a different story.
I quit LOTRO several months ago, and would love to check it out today. But only 5 days trial, that's a bad joke. Heck, I finished TWO MONTHS free "welcome back" EQ2 time (Living Legacy campaign) a few days ago.
Everquest 2 was doing their episode to draw people in. LotRO is actually multi-puprosing this. The expansion is going to be released soon, and a lot of people are going to be coming back anyways. They did this 5 days, mainly to see how the server will hold with a huge influx. It is a smart way to go about it, I believe.
Because the MMO of my choosing is difficult shows I have no taste? Have you played FFXI? You should also watch who you call with no taste as I do infact like this game, i was merely pissed at the fact that they, to me, completely fumbled what should have been a very simple thing.I've played this game for 5 months and was hoping it would be fixed from when i left so that i could play it again so saying i have bad taste in MMO's only demonstrates you do as well if you like the game.
Don't bother replying infact because you and Lazer7 have both found your way to the block list. If you cant discuss something in a civil manner then you should really refrain from replying.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Hrmm I too am a bit surprised about how badly you took this with the claimed experience in MMO's you profess -- especially since you've beta tested etc. From what I"ve seen the Welcome Back has been very very smooth so far and your issues were pretty minor only delaying you 3 or 4 hours (which is minor in MMO worlds)
From my experience over the last 23 months Turbine has had very very few issues with implementation of any of their ideas -- although I will concede you definately had issues that justify concern. I just feel you're over reacting -- I hope that once you got access to your toons you enjoyed the game however I guess what I'm saying is to try not to let this inconvenience sour you to the entire game. From what I hear from beta testers Moria will be amazing and I've had a blast in the existing game.
The whole being on hold for 45 minutes thing and not hearing back from your email is further annoyance and incovenience but again I"ve yet to hear from tickets for Everquest years later =P.
All companies have implementation issues no matter how much they try to prevent them. It just sucks when you are the one who gets those *issues*
Thank you for the straight forward response. Unfortunately it was more than 3-4 hours and I did infact finally get back in the game. However, it seems i was in an area that i have no idea where it is now so i'm completely and utterly lost lol. I'm going to play some more tomorrow and i do really want to like the game because of what i heard about Moria is that it's going to add a whole new level to not just this MMO but MMO's as a genre. Looking back, yeah, i think it was just being impatient but i felt it probably could have been done better still. Perhaps it's still the bitter taste from the beta testing days seeping through. Who knows. I'm going to probably re-roll on a more populated server though and see if it's worth coming back to.
EVE - Sharvala
FFXI - Shazamalicious
Guild Wars - Xavier Lucifer & Charlize the Necro
"Ranged...stuck...tree...15 random words... suck... noob fanboy... I MAKE GUIDE!"
Glad you've managed to have some fun in game -- probably a good plan to reroll on one of the more populated servors. Being from Landroval myself (one of the 3 biggest) i've had to wait through queues the last few days to log in so that's a great sign for playerbase! I've noticed Ellendilmir and Brandywine (the other 2 larger servors) have had some queues as well. A couple other servors have a decent player base but those are the 3 biggest by a good chunk. One other thing that's happenning even aside from the welcome back thingy is that folks are returnig from their trip over to WAR so I suspect that servor populations will only continue to rise between now and Moria release.
Happy gaming!