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LOTR design will answer question on D&D

admriker444admriker444 Member Posts: 1,526
in Dungeons & Dragons Online

I played some D&D back in the early 80's and have a feel for the game. Turbine apparently has developed the game to feel like the classic board version via small comfortable settings. It doesnt play like a traditional Massive MMO nor should it.

However, some (me included) are questioning whether this design was intentional or just Turbine going cheap to cash in on the license.

The launch of LOTR will answer this question in my opinion. If LOTR has the same non-existant world with tons of instancing then we'll know Turbine went the cheap route. LOTR should be a seamless world for us to explore. The emphasis on Massive should be obvious.

If I see a completely different game with LOTR then Turbine will have shown me they know what theyre doing.

Comments

  • ElapsedElapsed Member UncommonPosts: 2,329

    LotRO isn't going to be purely instances. It's going to be like AC2.5

  • admriker444admriker444 Member Posts: 1,526

    How much is not purely instanced ? 50%, 75% ? I never played AC so no clue how much or little it was instanced.

    LOTR should be 90% seamless and 10% instanced in my opinion to stay true to the genre. If its 50/50 then it says to me "cheaply designed" to cash in on the license.

    If I see a game 100% different than D&D, then I know D&D was designed instanced for a purpose. If not, Turbine cheaped out to cash in.

  • LackeyZeroLackeyZero Member Posts: 640

    I'm 100% sure towns are instanced ( or atleast some towns...but if 1 town was instanced then another not, then that would be weird, so I assume all )...

    I'm pretty sure alot of quests are instanced too...

    The outside world on the other hand... I think they said they're making it seamless...

  • verdantrexverdantrex Member UncommonPosts: 100


    Originally posted by admriker444

    I played some D&D back in the early 80's and have a feel for the game. Turbine apparently has developed the game to feel like the classic board version via small comfortable settings. It doesnt play like a traditional Massive MMO nor should it.

    D&D = not a board game.

    We prefer the term "table top" or "pen and paper"... but it's not a board game because there is no board.  D&D can be played with nothing on the table at all (except some notes and the obligatory dice).

    P.S. Yes, I know there was *technically* a board game version of D&D back in the 80s... that doesn't count : )

    V

  • VolkmarVolkmar Member UncommonPosts: 2,501

    From what i heard, LoTR will have a normal amount of instancing for such a game, like WoW probably, so most of the world is not-instanced. But they are gonna implement a lot of "temporary instances" to insert dynamic content in the game.

    The example they gave was that you start in this village, for example, and you are in your own personal instance. you do the quests around the village and eventually a group of bandit assault and raze the village. At this point you exit from your own personal instance and enter the normal, non-instanced, game world where the village has always been razed. Once there, you can't go back to the instance of that particular place, but it could happen that when you move to another place, or a dungeon or what not, you first have to play the instanced version of it to "transform" that place in the final version that is present in the actual game world.

    I hope that is clear enough,

    Have a nice day.

    "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime"



  • ElapsedElapsed Member UncommonPosts: 2,329

    I haven't been following LotRO too closely, I didn't know they were instancing cities. Only a few quests were instanced in AC2.

    I hope you liked having to go through a load screen when you entered taverns in DDO because it's going to be like that in LotRO. The AC2 engine can't handle doors on buildings, at least not seamlessly.

  • LackeyZeroLackeyZero Member Posts: 640

    I'm going to say I stand corrected... Just so no confusion... Look at what Volkmar says...

    I stopped following details on LotRO for quite some time, so I don't remember very clearly...

    ^ ( I typed the above and then went to check the infos on LOTRO... Just found, towns aren't instanced... )

    FAQ says 10-20% of game are instanced...

    Here's what they say are instanced... ( http://lotro.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=116 )

    The first is as a highly sculpted solo experience. These instances allow the player to learn more about characters, motivations, and story. These instances often introduce key individuals or areas of the game, and at times familiar faces from the books, allowing players to learn more about an important figure or landmark.
    The second is a sculpted Fellowship instance that furthers the many chapters of the Shadows of Angmar. These instances provide an intricate web-work of storyline, tying into previous chapters and moments for all players following the main story path.
    The third type of instance is a shared Fellowship instance that provides encapsulated story to feed the larger whole. While similar in some ways, instance types two and three are still very different and highlighted below.
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