im thinking about getting lotro
does lotro use instances for evry explorable area like in guild wars, or only for dungeons, like in wow?
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The explorable areas are open, however most buildings, caves, etc are instanced with a loading screen. They are enterable by multiple people but it helps cut down on clutter.
Are the buildings actually instanced? I think they're just "zoned" into so the inside area can be larger than the apparent size from outside.
Some dungeons are instanced, specifically those used in quest lines. Others are zoned into but are still public areas.
Some dungeons are instanced, specifically those used in quest lines. Others are zoned into but are still public areas.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
2 posts
ok thanks
also, ive raed the map is small compared to other mmorpg's, just how small?
is it about the same area as one of the wow islands or smaller?
also, ive raed the map is small compared to other mmorpg's, just how small?
is it about the same area as one of the wow islands or smaller?
Most caves and buildings have the instance swirly, but they are not actually instanced. Only about 10% of the game is instanced according to the developers. The game world isn't as huge as WoW, since there are only about 9 zones. but each zone definitely feels a lot bigger and more alive than any in WoW.
Arjuncorpse wrote:
The game world isn't as huge as WoW, since there are only about 9 zones. but each zone definitely feels a lot bigger and more alive than any in WoW.
Don't forget WoW has been out 2 years, and the world for LotRO is just a SMALL portion of middle-earth. It may not be as big as in WoW, but you could easily fit 2 or 3 barrens into each of the zones imo.
Absolutely, the potential is definitely there for LotrO's world to be massive when its all filled. But that depends on the success of the game, which I'm cautiously optimistic about. I hope it can get to 1.5-2 million subscribers, so the developers have incentive to keep expanding.
Arjuncorpse wrote:
Absolutely, the potential is definitely there for LotrO's world to be massive when its all filled. But that depends on the success of the game, which I'm cautiously optimistic about. I hope it can get to 1.5-2 million subscribers, so the developers have incentive to keep expanding.
Yea, for sure. Like I said, what we have now is just a small portion of middle-earth... MAYBE 1/4th if we're lucky, but probably more like 1/5th or less. Rohan, Gondor, Lorien, even Mordor all have yet to opened to us. The game has a LOT of potential both in sotry/gameplay and world size. Hopefully it will have the subscribers to let the devs really expand and let the game live up to it's full potential.
Well, Everquest has a game world that dwarfs any other MMORPG that I know of and it peaked at 500k subscribers (and has been closer to 250k for several years now). I know EQ is now pushing nine years old but the point is that you don't need 2mil subscribers to see content expansions.
As mentioned, there's perhaps nine major "regions" currently in the LoTRO world. Each is pretty massive though as anyone who has ran from Fornost to Dol Dinen can attest to. For example, Bree-Land contains light forest, a dense haunted forest, mountains, a swamp, rivers, a large grave-yard area, several villages, ruins, farmland and more. And not all crammed together, either.
Oh, and a new region is being released in June.
As mentioned, there's perhaps nine major "regions" currently in the LoTRO world. Each is pretty massive though as anyone who has ran from Fornost to Dol Dinen can attest to. For example, Bree-Land contains light forest, a dense haunted forest, mountains, a swamp, rivers, a large grave-yard area, several villages, ruins, farmland and more. And not all crammed together, either.
Oh, and a new region is being released in June.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
I am saying 2 mill based on what the market for MMO's is currently. When EQ hit 500K and was at its peak, it was about the most popular MMORPG on the market. I just don't know if the definition of success has changed now since that other game has 8.5 million.
Arjuncorpse wrote:
I am saying 2 mill based on what the market for MMO's is currently. When EQ hit 500K and was at its peak, it was about the most popular MMORPG on the market. I just don't know if the definition of success has changed now since that other game has 8.5 million.
Belkira wrote:
Wow. Regular ol' Joph fan club in here.
Jophiel wrote:
Arjuncorpse wrote:
I am saying 2 mill based on what the market for MMO's is currently. When EQ hit 500K and was at its peak, it was about the most popular MMORPG on the market. I just don't know if the definition of success has changed now since that other game has 8.5 million.
Well I'm not sure what your hourly tarif is but even with 100k subscribers each paying about 10$ per month equals 1 million USD per month. Minus overhead, publisher-cuts and other other stuff one could say that there is at least 100k USD to spend on expansions ; that's just 10% of the total income. (Yeah I know that 10$ per month doesn't mean Turbine gets 10$ of that, I just calculated that even if they'd get 10 percent of the montly revenue that they'd be able to have quite a nice team to -develop- more content. Since the upkeep of the game (servers, maintenance, gamemasters, support etc etc) are basically costs they would be deducted from the raw montly revenue (e.g. 1M USD with 100k subscribers paying 10USD on avg. per month)
100k USD equals about 20 fulltime professionals that can do game-design, sound-design, graphic-design, modelling, testing etc etc. Using the inhouse tools they have developed I'm sure it's pretty 'doable' to create a few more fedex, kill-those-mobs or 'whack-this-boss' quests and some terrains with the occasionaly ruin, farm or trees.
If you've ever worked with a 3D-package and know how to use a library you'll understand what I'm trying to say. It's not the same but looks alike. Several (non-mmorpg) games have excellent tools to develop your own terrains and objects (aka maps) like many FPS-shooters. It takes time but some ppl are able to make excellent 'maps' or areas that are even more exiting than half of the areas in Lotro and do it in a few months, all alone or with help from a friend. Their level of knowledge and professionalism should be less than the experienced developers of Turbine so the diy-amateurs aren't even operating in the same league, yet some of them deliver beautiful content.
The big problem with trying to calculate how much turbine is making, besides not knowing the exact over-head they have for servers and such, is the whole founder program really tosses it off.
Sure, if you preordered the game you could pay 10/mo, but you could have also chosen to pay a 1-time flat fee of 200 bucks. Turbine never will see any more money from you other then expansions then... yet you're still "subscribing" to the game. There is no way of knowing, well with any degree of accuracy at least, how many people preordered and did the lifetime, who did the 10/mo, and who is just your average joe non-founder player.
Edit: It's not as black and white as in other MMOs, so it's harder to say how much money turbine is getting.
Edited, May 23rd 2007 4:27pm by Tomec
Sure, if you preordered the game you could pay 10/mo, but you could have also chosen to pay a 1-time flat fee of 200 bucks. Turbine never will see any more money from you other then expansions then... yet you're still "subscribing" to the game. There is no way of knowing, well with any degree of accuracy at least, how many people preordered and did the lifetime, who did the 10/mo, and who is just your average joe non-founder player.
Edit: It's not as black and white as in other MMOs, so it's harder to say how much money turbine is getting.
Edited, May 23rd 2007 4:27pm by Tomec
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