Q: Why are the loading times so crazy for crafting panel? I have 8GB of ram, Core 2 overclocked at 4+GHz and I still get a few seconds of frozen game every time I access the crafting panel for the first time after starting the game.
A: We have changed how the crafting panel is loaded and displayed with Siege of Mirkwood. You should see much better performance as a result.
Q: With the up and coming DirectX 11 with Windows 7 — Are there any plans to incorporate some of its specific tech like you had with the DirectX 10 features that are optional?
A: AMD’s recent announcement of their first DirectX 11 video cards included a mention that LOTRO was adding DX11 support. You will not see it with Siege of Mirkwood, but you should expect it to arrive sometime next year.
Q: Where does Mirkwood fit, size wise, with previously released regions?
A: Mirkwood is roughly 75 – 80% of the size of the Northdowns.
Q: Do you ever use auction prices to determine whether there is enough of an item? Or, alternatively, do you note if something never appears at the auction house?
A: We often run reports for specific types of items, if we want to gain some insight into rarity – that usually includes how many of that item are up for sale in the AH.
Be sure to check out the full post for even more details.
I managed to run Xfire and sit in the chat so I could post the log here. I didn’t personally participate, but there were some good questions asked. Unfortunately my workload has prevented me from giving it my full attention.
I’ll give some of my thoughts in a post later on, but in the meantime I wanted to put these up for other people to check out if they didn’t have a chance to attend. I’ve rearranged a couple of responses so this is easier to read, but otherwise everything else is intact (aside from the announcement of the winners of the 30 days of LotRO chat contest).
I’m not a big PvMP player, so it’s very difficult for me to say how good most of this is. The general concensus on the forums seems to be that this is a step in the right direction, but that Creeps (monster players) are still underpowered.
Frelorn was quick to point out that this is not the full list of changes coming in Book 7 for PvMP, but rather just a portion. You can read the full list below.
Jaleesa has put up another Developer Diary about PvMP, this time focusing on the new skills that will be available for monster players. All of you orcs, wargs and spiders will probably want to check this out.
The diary is split up by class and then lists active and passive skills along with their effects and the Rank at which they’re available. New traits are also listed here.
It seems like the Creeps will become a much more formidable force, whether alone or in a group. I’m sure they’re excited about that.
In addition to changes to the Moors, PvMP will receive several other upgrades when Mines of Moria hits. The idea of buffs given to the side with less players has been discussed before, but a new Developer Diary by Jaleesa gives more details on this and other changes.
You can read the full article for more specifics, but I’ve covered some of the basics below:
Barriers to MMO Entry: The Community:
In the last part (unless other ideas pop up) of this short series on barriers to entry in MMOs, I wanted to discuss ...
