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Will Turbine Ruin a MasterPiece
Valowlife
Member Posts: 73
Mostly likely yes any company even soe could proably do better then them but thats just my opion if you agree or have another opion send it to me.
Comments
"OH oh turbine made D&DO so they MUST screw up Lotro"
And AC 2
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Turbine could have made many things with D&D franchise - but they went and made the worst possible choice. It is so bad that game brand with litterally millions of rabid followers (including myself) played DDO for most of two weeks before throwing it into the trash.
Now , not only that Turbine lost a lot of money (and i am talking few millions $, at least) - but it also lost its face by its financiers ( and i am talking Wotc and Hasbro - the worse ones to lose your face to )
I am sure the company is or will be near bankrupcy - and LOTR is very questionable - even for that alone.
"Before this battle is over all the world will know that few...stood against many." - King Leonidas
Ive been following this game's development for a while now. I can honestly say I doubt it will ever be a success if it launches....and thats a big if.
The game has been in development now for over 7 years. Thats gotta be some sorta record for futility
Before Turbine got 100% involved, the game had potential in its previous form. From the dev notes and postings its clear Middle Earth Online appeared to be a sandbox style MMO with a lot of open free gameplay.
Its clear now with Turbine in charge this will be another linear EQ clone with boring quests. And like all quest based games, once you do them you quickly run out of things to do. And with no pvp to top it off, well its easy to see where the game will end up.... in the trash
MEO was a completely different project then LotR Online. Sierra I beleive owns and scrapped MEO years ago. It has not been in development for 7 years, it was cancelled several years ago and this new product started it's own development cycle.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
MEO was a completely different project then LotR Online. Sierra I beleive owns and scrapped MEO years ago. It has not been in development for 7 years, it was cancelled several years ago and this new product started it's own development cycle.
no, MEO and LOTR are one and the same. MEO was the original name for the game. Once Turbine took over the whole thing they renamed it and started a rework on it. The press release talking about the name change didnt sound like it was a total do-over but some major changes were coming.
From what I understand, Turbine wanted complete control over the game and didnt like the direction it was going (which looking at Turbine's track record isnt a good thing)
[quote]Originally posted by admriker444
[b]
[i]no, MEO and LOTR are one and the same. MEO was the original name for the game. Once Turbine took over the whole thing they renamed it and started a rework on it. The press release talking about the name change didnt sound like it was a total do-over but some major changes were coming.
From what I understand, Turbine wanted complete control over the game and didnt like the direction it was going (which looking at Turbine's track record isnt a good thing)[/b][/quote]
No, Turbine is using the AC 2 engine for it which means it was a total re-do. I highly doubt there is any of the original Sierra product in LotR Online. If you have something that has Turbine saying they took over the MEO code please share it because I have heard nothing of the like. It's a new game. MEO's development was cancelled years ago.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
I found the post with the name change announcement here...
http://lotro.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=86
I dont see anything about changing the graphics engine but I believe it probably was something other than the AC2 one previously. With the original game in development for so long, the graphics were likely horribly outdated.
They mention a change from the sandbox style play (although they disguise it with pr speak).
And on their forums I asked the question and was told that the game is the same but fundamental changes did occur. For one there was a system in place where one could turn evil and also there was pvp.
http://forums.lotro.turbine.com/showthread.php?p=1190847#post1190847
They seem a bit touchy on the subject though lol.
And from this site, mmorpg.com did an interview with Turbine about a year ago and this was one response...
The Lord of the Rings is a much more broadly recognized name that we believe will help us create an even larger community of Tolkien fans online. Also, we wanted to have some separation between some of the older incarnations of the game and the current design (our vision, which we’re building now). .
So I guess its debatable to whether or not its the same. From what Ive read now, it could be argued that its a totally new game as apparently much has been scrapped from MEO. However I would argue that its still the same project, just redone via management changes over the years (hence the reason for such a long time in development)
Interesting, looks like they tried to make it look like they were continueing the MEO project for all those poor bastards that were still holding out hope for it while just actually completely starting over.
I doubt any of the original project lies within the code at all, but they seem to want people to think they were picking up the old project. So ya I guess saying they took over the project was accurate.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Okay I chatted with a friend who works in the MMO industry. His take....
Sierra's version of MEO was the first. They started development in 1998-99. Sierra had some finanial problems and eventually sold the license.
The work Sierra did was based on a 2d environment and the new owners (Vivendi / Turbine) scrapped it for obvious reasons.
Vivendi and Turbine started development on another version of MEO using a 3d environment around 2001. Vivendi and Turbine were at odds over how the game should be developed though. Vivendi wanted an Ultima type game, open sandbox play, etc. Turbine wanted an EQ1 clone to cash in.
Development started and Vivendi's ideas were implemented. They had some interesting stuff going into the game from what Ive read. Middle Earth would have a good / evil system where your actions determined your rating (similiar to KOTOR dark / light path). And PvP was a central theme for the game. Also the timeline isnt the same as LOTR is (no idea what it was).
Turbine with some financial backers was able to force Vivendi out of the picture around 2003. They then apparently scrapped the old graphics engine and the sandbox style play. Of course they havent said much about that because there are a lot of fans following the game who prefer this style.
Turbine makes the announcement of the name change in 2005. At this point who knows if they kept anything from the original development (2001-03 with Vivendi).
I think Fadues your likely correct on Turbine scrapping it all and starting over. Turbine wont say either way though because they dont want to lose the community thats followed MEO from the beginning. Lets just hope Turbine makes a decent game for once.
We should learn more from E3. And apparently Turbine is wiping their forums right around that time to coincide with the announcement
Interesting info. I could have swore the original was 3d but considering the dates I am fairly certain I am wrong. I remember stratics had an MEO stratics site up for a LONG time that sat with an occasionally update from the rumormill back when I was in my first year of EQ and still playing UO.
- Scaris
"What happened to you, Star Wars Galaxies? You used to look like Leia. Not quite gold bikini Leia (more like bad-British-accent-and-cinnamon-bun-hair Leia), but still Leia nonetheless. Now you look like Chewbacca." - Computer Gaming World
Here's an interesting read on Sierra's involvement.
http://www.mmogveteran.com/articles01.htm
so Turbine scrapped a game that could have been what ive always thought Middle-Earth should be, open sandbox type and made it another instance raid? Nice job
Earlier i feared that Turbine makes another failure with this, now i hope they fail
Turbine are an exceptionally bad game developer that serially make games with fundamental mistakes. AC2 had few skills and an absolute grind between them and only 1 dungeon at once that you were eligable for with a massive jaunt to and from them. DDO has a level cap of 10 ... this is as bad as it sounds. There was 1 decent farming spot and they nerfed it at the end of the first month. Turbine makes boring games and releasing LRO years after its peak just seems to doom this one. I'll pick it up when it hits the bargain bins.
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Note: PlayNC will refuse to allow you access to your account if you forget your password and can't provide a scanned image of the product key for the first product you purchased..... LOL
You guys are really depressing me. I was rather hoping that this game would be different. I was rather hoping that Turbine would straighten up and find there way back to fun design. Now I feel like slitting my wrists.
Walks away muttering...
Captain John Matin
Royal Red
I find it odd that everyone who hates Turbine uses examples from AC2 and DDO, but none from AC. If you read the official forums, you will see that Turbine is commited to tightly following the book interpretation of Middle Earth. They aren't allowing players to make orcs or other evil characters because it wouldn't be logical. Sauron's minions are partially controlled by him, and they aren't civilized at all. They don't live in towns... they live like animals. The idea of PvP is not supported well by the books, so it wouldn't make a lot of sense in the game. Finally, magic is going to seem weak because that is how it is portrayed in the books. Players can't choose the wizard class because there are only 5. Wizards are not human. They are supernatural beings on a higher order than humans, like angels or something. Humans have almost no ability in magic throughout the history of Middle Earth.
The point is that Turbine is leaving out some of these features and abilities because it is not properly supported by the books. Nothing that Turbine has said guarantees that this game will be a failure. It may become an enjoyable game full of interesting content for players to experience. Don't judge too early. We won't know enough until we know more.
as a huge lotr fan (other fans might even reconize my nick, the Eldar is an elven race) I was really hoping for a good lotr mmo, but after having played DDO (beta) and after figuring out turbine will also make this game....
well what shall I say, it dissapoints me. lotro should definitly be a sandbox type game, and not something as ddo. no pvp, ok I can live with that (though I prefer having it), but as in ddo totaly no player interaction (no duels or anything), I hope not.
I will probably try out the game, but I'm not so sure if I should do that. I know it will dissapoint me.
The Illuminati Gaming Society
Elda, falconoffury is basically correct. Gandalf is a istari who is an emmisarry of the valar. He is of the same race of beings that sauron. Maybe you should reread the silmarillion. It does not say that he is an angel but the analogy does fit. Also when gandalf and sauroman and the other 3 wizards were sent to middle earth they were diminished and restricted in showing there full power.
This game is just getting to beta and we will be finding out alot about it at E3. Why is it that people think just because the game is not the way they like it to be that it will be a failure.
Got an idea, wait until you can play it or hear from the beta play on it to make a decision if it is any good.
dam trolls
Whoa there, Tex... We are in no way implying at this point that the game will be crap. What worries a lot of people watching the development of this game is Turbine.
Turbine, once upon a time, created my favorite MMORPG. I played Ascheron's Call for two and a half years and had a blast. However, they had to tweak the design in such a way as they ruined my fun. That will always be a danger with MMORPGs. The designs get tweaked and sometimes the tweaking takes the fun away.
I played the beta for both AC2 and DDO. They may have both been built by Turbine, but somewhere along the way Turbine lost the ability to make a game that would be fun for me. Now, Turbine sits (for me) at two strikes and one ball. If they build the right game, they could have me signed up in a heartbeat.
I'm hoping the Turbine finds the fun in the design of LOTR. I'm hoping beyond hope that Turbine would see the error of their ways and find their way back to producing a truly fun game. However, I'm worried that they will throw that third strike.
Captain John Matin
Royal Red