Tuesday, May 01, 2007

LoTRO Snag

OK, something is definitely not right in LoTRO right now and it hit me right in the face last night. Training and repair costs are insane....insane I tell you.

First let's talk training. I dinged from level 19 to 20 two nights ago and I said, "yayyy". So, I went to Bree to get my long awaited heavy armor skill, a rez skill and I think Parry II. I had about 90-100 silver on me. It pretty much took all of that to train up on two skills. I think the armor skill was around 50 and the rez was around 35-40 silver. I couldn't afford the Parry II nor could I afford to upgrade to any new armor or repair my current armor. Ooooookaaay.

We got a group together last night to do the quest "Retake Weathertop" (a very fun instance btw). We died a couple of times, the group decided it was too hard (even though it was white to us) and we all went on to different things. Before I logged off for the night, I went to repair and I had about 45 silver on me...the repair cost 65 silver. I managed to sell some stuff to cover the cost, but now I'm pretty much broke..and missing a skill because it's too expensive.

Tell me...how the frack am I supposed to save up for anything if all of my money...and I mean all of my money...is going to repairs and training. I think a horse costs 4 gold, so at this rate I will not be getting that anytime soon. I noticed this trend at around level12-ish and it's really showing it's ugly head at level 20+.

Note to Turbine. My repair costs should not be 50% of my total income. My training costs should not be 110%-ish of my income. Between levels, with questing and cashing in "trophies", I have about 100-115 silver on me. No, I do not buy a whole bunch of stuff on the AH and I keep horse travel to a minimum...which is another gripe, 10 silver for a horse ride???!! There's another 10% of my income between levels.

I heard little whisperings about the economy of LoTRO being a tad unbalanced. From this player's perspective, the costs for running your character are waaaay out of proportion to your income.

Anyone else seeing/experiencing the same thing? Looks like the devs are looking into it, but man oh man it hurts.

D out

6 comments:

Cameron Sorden said...

I find that it helps a lot to go spend some time working on quests that are green to you. For example, when my Human Champion hit 15 I left Bree and headed to the shire. Most of the quests were green or light blue to me, but that was still cash, loot, and 300xp per easy quest, plus a bunch of new traits and titles. I didn't die at all (it's also nice when you're working towards the undying title), and when I left the Shire about 5-6 hours later I had almost gained 2 full levels and 250ish silver (without selling any of my rare drops or crafting mats on the AH yet).

If you're running out of cash a lot, go find something fun to farm for a title. You need to kill 50 wargs for a 4th age man accomplishment... go farm wolves in the shire near the level 11 warg until you've killed him 50 times. You'll walk away with tons and tons of loot, hides, and with your will increased by 20.

Loredena said...

Cash flow is my biggest gripe as well. And *Every* game makes that same mistake -- they bitch about gold farmers, but then they implement extreme money woes, and wonder why people resort to it?

Blah.

My husband and I initially were just working on clearing out light blue and blue quests, which helped, but we're hitting it as well, at 19. I see why so many people farm humanoids -- they give the most cash and loot drops, by far.

Bildo said...

I hear you Darren. I'm both excited and nervous to ding 20 and get that heavy armor skill.

Light and medium armor are nothing to repair, comparatively. I'm just glad they're "looking into it" and that hopefully their looking will result in "fixing".

Anonymous said...

My guardian has had heavy armor since 15, it is not that hard as long as you are careful. He is an explorer which helps, but just grinding on humanoids (and wights) generates lots of cash in vendor trash as well as craft recipes which I just vendor.

The key statement you made is "we died a few times"

Unlike WoW, this is not a game where death has no penalty. You just can't go around dying. After dying the 2nd time it's time to quit. When I solo, I run away from fights rather than see if I can take on the 2 adds that appeared.

All this running away makes me think there should be a trait called "discretion" which complements the valor trait :) Say it increases run speed when you are running away :)

But yes, running away and not taking crazy chances are the way to go. Then you won't have to worry as much.

Also, some people don't repair jewelry, since that is the costliest item to repair. I have some extra rings and armbands in my bank, so sometimes I'll just use an item until it's broke then replace it with another item.

European servers don't have the patch that lowers repair costs, but US servers got it last week.

Finally go to the Bree city hall to get repaired by the grocer, he's half price. I assume this will get fixed soon.

Tree said...

It gets better. Most people do have a horse / pony as they hit 35, myself got one at almost 37. I am late because I am a crafting addict. having my main toon an artisan in every field, prospecting, forestry, tailoring. My alt is only a 16 burglar but an artisan jeweller.

Come lvls 25+ or so your quests are paying out anywhere from 10-40+ silver. Not to mention the drops you are getting (both random drops and more uncommon (purple crafting items, recipes and +stat gear)) if you don't even use the AH sell for anywhere form 50-400s once you go back to a merchant and sell off. (On a side note I'm the world's worst roller, as it is often a point of conversation within a fellowship.)

-It does help if you do utilize the AH, especially if you have a gathering profession. Even a stack of copper sells for 150 or so on average.

-Another trick, albeit will be "fixed" come the June expansion, is the Bree Town Hall Grocer will repair your gear for half price. This is especially helpful as you come of lvls 30-40+ where you hitting the repair guy means a 200s repair bill.

-If you don't like the gear after you complete a quest or can't use, every item has it's merchant value attached. Simply choose the most expensive one..and no, it's not always the purple over the yellow or weapon over the hat. However 2handed weapons tend to be the best sellers.

Don't lose faith. Come ten more levels you'll be pleasantly suprised at the amount of coin you pull in without even realizing it.

Thosiforin, Minstrel
Gladden

Anonymous said...

Go explorer and AH everything. I am level 16 and made over 700s this weekend selling all my hides and ore.