If they were going to create a new class based on LoTR lore, I'd like to see something done with the Blue Wizards.
Remember, there were 5 wizards, two of which were called the Blue Wizards who went into the East and the South. Nothing is ever heard about them again.
"I think that they went as emissaries to distant regions,
east and south... Missionaries to enemy occupied lands as it were. What
success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman
did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were
founders or beginners of secret cults and "magic" traditions that
outlasted the fall of Sauron."
—J.R.R. Tolkien
This leaves the possibilities wide open. Perhaps some kind of spy/wizard. Maybe they had powers to enslave or influence others (NPC's). Maybe they gathered up forces and created zones which rose up against Sauron.
To me, this fits in the lore MUCH better than the Brawler, which is never mentioned at all in LoTR.
Ok but... they are not "wizards" as in class as in anyone can be like them. The lore is a bit more comlicated and won't translate to a game the way you are talking.
A zerg of "blue wizards" walking around is as much (or even more) lore breaking then a new class not mentioned in the books.
Originally, they weren't going to have any "magic" classes at all, due to your reasoning. There was only one Gandalf.
And yet, the Lore Master is clearly a wizard. He throws fireballs, calls down lightning, etc, just like Gandalf. And they have pets, just like Radagast. So that ship has sailed long ago.
Yes. And I agree.
But a mistake doesn't justify another. If they intend to keep pure to the lore they might avoid more lore breaking things...
The population left which spends the most time and money on it (RPers) might get pissed. But, if you ask me they could make them just as you said and call something else.
I'm not that purist. I just think there is a line. A bunch of chosen ones is my line.
True, the lore is already broken.
Perhaps they could call the new class a spy-master, and give it more stealthy skills, and more mental and persuasion skills.
A different kind of play style, where you infiltrate an enemy encampment or village, sneak around and discover things about it, and then use your mental powers to enslave the locals to carry out tasks.
Eventually, you can convert a village to be against Sauron.
Or consider the barrow-downs. You go around gathering up wights into an army, and then storm the Great Burrow with your legion of converted bad guys. Sort of like a modified necromancer.
I'm curious as to how much player demand there even is for a new class. I guess it could be fairly high for people that roll alts of every class. /shrug
As far as a brawler class goes, I agree that it's kind of a head scratcher and completely impractical. But if it's fun then who cares. It's not as lore breaking as the RK or LM as far as I'm concerned.
At this point I trust SSG to put their resources into the right places. It's not easy to keep a game going so damn long. Although I'm not sure releasing the games on PS5 and Series X will be worth the cost. They'd need to redo almost all of the art assets and redesign combat to be smooth and current gen.
The questing is SUPER dated and they keep releasing boring fetch quests and such with the latest content. the game really hasn't evolved when it comes to leveling.
If they were going to create a new class based on LoTR lore, I'd like to see something done with the Blue Wizards.
Remember, there were 5 wizards, two of which were called the Blue Wizards who went into the East and the South. Nothing is ever heard about them again.
"I think that they went as emissaries to distant regions,
east and south... Missionaries to enemy occupied lands as it were. What
success they had I do not know; but I fear that they failed, as Saruman
did, though doubtless in different ways; and I suspect they were
founders or beginners of secret cults and "magic" traditions that
outlasted the fall of Sauron."
—J.R.R. Tolkien
This leaves the possibilities wide open. Perhaps some kind of spy/wizard. Maybe they had powers to enslave or influence others (NPC's). Maybe they gathered up forces and created zones which rose up against Sauron.
To me, this fits in the lore MUCH better than the Brawler, which is never mentioned at all in LoTR.
Ok but... they are not "wizards" as in class as in anyone can be like them. The lore is a bit more comlicated and won't translate to a game the way you are talking.
A zerg of "blue wizards" walking around is as much (or even more) lore breaking then a new class not mentioned in the books.
Originally, they weren't going to have any "magic" classes at all, due to your reasoning. There was only one Gandalf.
And yet, the Lore Master is clearly a wizard. He throws fireballs, calls down lightning, etc, just like Gandalf. And they have pets, just like Radagast. So that ship has sailed long ago.
I never viewed the lore master as pure "magic."
If you remember (and I doubt it changed but who knows) one of the lore master's attacks was reaching into his pack and then pulling something out and throwing fire.
I suspect the lore master was more of a scholar/alchemist/naturist.
I can't speak for any of the other abilities but I felt that one attack seemed to help define what they were about.
But maybe it is more like a dungeons and dragons mage with spell components?
I kinds of wish they kept it to no magic for player classes but I suppose I'd be in the minority.
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Originally, they weren't going to have any "magic" classes at all, due to your reasoning. There was only one Gandalf.
And yet, the Lore Master is clearly a wizard. He throws fireballs, calls down lightning, etc, just like Gandalf.
I never viewed the lore master as pure "magic."
If you remember (and I doubt it changed but who knows) one of the lore master's attacks was reaching into his pack and then pulling something out and throwing fire.
I suspect the lore master was more of a scholar/alchemist/naturist.
Yep, that's right.
LM has no fireballs, nor electricity, that's the RK, which was added for pleasing the Wow-type of players who wanted a "proper" mage, with fire/ice/lightning spells.
In the original game there was no magic class, LM was more of a conjurer, with a connection to nature itself, (at most) on the level of Gandalf in The hobbit, without his later LotR history.
LM can summon small fires and throw the embers at the enemies (like Gandalf did with the burning pine cones), which ain't really a fireball... calls down a lighning, I believe Franklin did that too with his kite and he ain't a wizard and LM is more connected to nature, can talk to animals, summon a gust of wind, etc.
Point is, originally it was the dedicated CC class with heavy lore backing, and not the caster/nuker many player wanted from a wizard, hence the rune-keepers were born.
Idk man, upscalling the resolution will just show how dated those models are. The textures are not the issue, the game has low polly count.
Take old TES as example: No matter how many 8k textures and mods to run the game in 4k you add to it, it will still look like a early ps2 game in its core - because the models are just... bad. And if you add a texture pack to something and that alone, it sticks out and makes everything else worse.
I love LOTRO aesthetic as it is, if I would change something it would be the skill effects. They are too shinny and/or ugly to look at. And changing them won't impact in the overall aesthetic (it might improve it actually).
But making better looking places without doing a complete overall might cause issues where people find this pretty looking maps and go back to the others that stick our like a sore thumb.
I would start with Bree. RP community loves Bree and sit around all day long doing events and such - and most official events also happens there.
About the brawler... I think that is kinda out of place... but many other classes are out of place too if you are a purist. So... as long it is not offensive to the lore and its fun, sure.
I find the biggest problems with the game the sound design and the lag. The sound design of many things like crackling campfires doesn't sound awesome, it's annoying. I hate the combat sounds - my character is a melee class, he fights enemies with his sword.
In WoW even auto attacks sounds so crisp and spot-on, but in LOTRO sometimes there is no sound at all, sometimes the sounds like you threw a wet piece of cloth on the floor rather than a sword slash or clash ... or whatever.
They need to bring the EU servers back to Europe and improve the game sounds.
The other annoyance I have is that the 64-bit client needs more optimization so it stops stuttering.
Did you ever try minstrel? The song effects for the skills and the shouts is amazing. But, yeah, the overall world sound mixing is sometimes off.
The OSTs tho... man, I listen while I prepare my D&D campaigns. Love the Shire theme.
My character is a Guardian, I have played a Minstrel only briefly in 2017 and I barely remember a thing. Some soundtracks of zones are amazing, others sound outright annoying. Sometimes the music cuts out and the only way to fix it is to restart the game. Sometimes the Combat music doesn't stop and the only way to fix it is to restart the game.
Overall the game has lots of good sides, but a lot of annoying ones as well.
Idk man, upscalling the resolution will just show how dated those models are. The textures are not the issue, the game has low polly count.
Take old TES as example: No matter how many 8k textures and mods to run the game in 4k you add to it, it will still look like a early ps2 game in its core - because the models are just... bad. And if you add a texture pack to something and that alone, it sticks out and makes everything else worse.
I love LOTRO aesthetic as it is, if I would change something it would be the skill effects. They are too shinny and/or ugly to look at. And changing them won't impact in the overall aesthetic (it might improve it actually).
But making better looking places without doing a complete overall might cause issues where people find this pretty looking maps and go back to the others that stick our like a sore thumb.
I would start with Bree. RP community loves Bree and sit around all day long doing events and such - and most official events also happens there.
About the brawler... I think that is kinda out of place... but many other classes are out of place too if you are a purist. So... as long it is not offensive to the lore and its fun, sure.
I find the biggest problems with the game the sound design and the lag. The sound design of many things like crackling campfires doesn't sound awesome, it's annoying. I hate the combat sounds - my character is a melee class, he fights enemies with his sword.
In WoW even auto attacks sounds so crisp and spot-on, but in LOTRO sometimes there is no sound at all, sometimes the sounds like you threw a wet piece of cloth on the floor rather than a sword slash or clash ... or whatever.
They need to bring the EU servers back to Europe and improve the game sounds.
The other annoyance I have is that the 64-bit client needs more optimization so it stops stuttering.
Did you ever try minstrel? The song effects for the skills and the shouts is amazing. But, yeah, the overall world sound mixing is sometimes off.
The OSTs tho... man, I listen while I prepare my D&D campaigns. Love the Shire theme.
My character is a Guardian, I have played a Minstrel only briefly in 2017 and I barely remember a thing. Some soundtracks of zones are amazing, others sound outright annoying. Sometimes the music cuts out and the only way to fix it is to restart the game. Sometimes the Combat music doesn't stop and the only way to fix it is to restart the game.
Overall the game has lots of good sides, but a lot of annoying ones as well.
After about the first week, the music in LotRO is best accompanied by the mute slider.
Idk man, upscalling the resolution will just show how dated those models are. The textures are not the issue, the game has low polly count.
Take old TES as example: No matter how many 8k textures and mods to run the game in 4k you add to it, it will still look like a early ps2 game in its core - because the models are just... bad. And if you add a texture pack to something and that alone, it sticks out and makes everything else worse.
I love LOTRO aesthetic as it is, if I would change something it would be the skill effects. They are too shinny and/or ugly to look at. And changing them won't impact in the overall aesthetic (it might improve it actually).
But making better looking places without doing a complete overall might cause issues where people find this pretty looking maps and go back to the others that stick our like a sore thumb.
I would start with Bree. RP community loves Bree and sit around all day long doing events and such - and most official events also happens there.
About the brawler... I think that is kinda out of place... but many other classes are out of place too if you are a purist. So... as long it is not offensive to the lore and its fun, sure.
I find the biggest problems with the game the sound design and the lag. The sound design of many things like crackling campfires doesn't sound awesome, it's annoying. I hate the combat sounds - my character is a melee class, he fights enemies with his sword.
In WoW even auto attacks sounds so crisp and spot-on, but in LOTRO sometimes there is no sound at all, sometimes the sounds like you threw a wet piece of cloth on the floor rather than a sword slash or clash ... or whatever.
They need to bring the EU servers back to Europe and improve the game sounds.
The other annoyance I have is that the 64-bit client needs more optimization so it stops stuttering.
Did you ever try minstrel? The song effects for the skills and the shouts is amazing. But, yeah, the overall world sound mixing is sometimes off.
The OSTs tho... man, I listen while I prepare my D&D campaigns. Love the Shire theme.
My character is a Guardian, I have played a Minstrel only briefly in 2017 and I barely remember a thing. Some soundtracks of zones are amazing, others sound outright annoying. Sometimes the music cuts out and the only way to fix it is to restart the game. Sometimes the Combat music doesn't stop and the only way to fix it is to restart the game.
Overall the game has lots of good sides, but a lot of annoying ones as well.
After about the first week, the music in LotRO is best accompanied by the mute slider.
I got used to it, but it is a bit annoying at times. kind of like bagpipes
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2024: 47 years on the Net.
As far as a brawler class goes, I agree that it's kind of a head scratcher and completely impractical. But if it's fun then who cares. It's not as lore breaking as the RK or LM as far as I'm concerned.
At this point I trust SSG to put their resources into the right places. It's not easy to keep a game going so damn long. Although I'm not sure releasing the games on PS5 and Series X will be worth the cost. They'd need to redo almost all of the art assets and redesign combat to be smooth and current gen.
The questing is SUPER dated and they keep releasing boring fetch quests and such with the latest content. the game really hasn't evolved when it comes to leveling.
Godfred's Tomb Trailer: https://youtu.be/-nsXGddj_4w
Original Skyrim: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/109547
Serph toze kindly has started a walk-through. https://youtu.be/UIelCK-lldo
My character is a Guardian, I have played a Minstrel only briefly in 2017 and I barely remember a thing. Some soundtracks of zones are amazing, others sound outright annoying. Sometimes the music cuts out and the only way to fix it is to restart the game. Sometimes the Combat music doesn't stop and the only way to fix it is to restart the game.
Overall the game has lots of good sides, but a lot of annoying ones as well.