 |
| Supergirl versus Karkas in Wildemore |
Update 11 showed the introduction of daily Hobbit
Presents to lotro. They were first released on May 13 so I have now waited my
self-imposed 30 days to critique the system.
To recap, the Hobbit Presents come in two forms: Silver
Present once per day and Gold Present once per week. You can also purchase more
hobbit presents… 2 mithril coins for the Silver and 8 mithril coins for the
Gold.
Its introductory reception was a mixed bag by players. Some of the
major thoughts expounded in other forums included
- Annoyance at the small square in the corner of the screen
saying you have a present,
- Concern that the instant access to potential good loot
would be game-breaking,
- Irate about the nature of its “slot machine” feel was
akin to gambling and that it should be illegal for its exposure to children
playing the game,
- Indifference because
it was either cheesy, unclassy, or unnecessary to attract players,
- Joy at getting “free stuff”.
Since it was released, I tracked my daily presents in a
spreadsheet (yay spreadsheets!). Tomeoric and Arcadio contributed for a bit but
got bored tracking scroll-this, potion-that, pile of coins.
Here
are my consolidated 30 Hobbit Presents for 30-days:
17.1
|
Gold
|
50
|
Mithril Coins
|
6
|
Combat Run Speed
Boosts
|
6
|
Scrolls of Max Morale
and Power (90 minutes)
|
3
|
+5% Attack Damage (1 hour)
|
2
|
Scroll of Finesse
|
2
|
Rejuvenation Potion
|
1
|
Fused T5 Relic
|
3
|
Fused T3 Relic
|
6
|
+10% ooc Run Speed
Boost (90 minutes)
|
1
|
Simple Rally Horn
|
1
|
Landscape Soldier
Tolken
|
1
|
Exhanced XP Supply
|
5
|
Dale-men's Crams
(food)
|
3
|
Universal Power
potions
|
1
|
Mathom Shoes (Teal,
lvl 80)
|
1
|
Mathom Hunter's Mitts
(Teal, lvl 80)
|
Assessment
of my loot: You can see that the gold started to add up
a bit after 30 days of collecting copper scraps and silver scraps. Of course,
my big win was the “50 mithril coins”.
Next most impressive was a few scrolls (combat run,
morale boost, attack damage, finesse) that I will eventually use in the Moors.
Then, there were a few relics (of which I have an alt-tonne-load),
some lower-level goodies like the Rally Horn, a Landscape Soldier Token (I’ve never
used one but I might since I have it for free so I can take pictures of my Herbalist
in various places), then more lower-level stuff.
The teal Shoes and the Mitts are both for level 80 which I
don’t need, and of course, “Universal Power Potions” are zero value since it
has been a very long time since I’ve even thought about needing even a normal power
potion.
Tomeoric posed a good question about the effect adding
that much gold to the AH market might have on inflation. It is a valid point
but it feels like inflation has been on the rise for a while. With little to
pull money out of a market, general wealth accumulates and inflation occurs. Such
is life.
 |
| Supergirl flies over Forochel |
Best
loot I have seen? I reviewed Tomeoric and Arcadio’s data as
well. I probably got the best of the lot with the 50 mithril coins; Tomeoric
got a Universal Toolkit and a Relic Removal Scroll and Arcadio got a
level 80 gold chest piece and a Tome of Vitality VIII (which might sell well if
it weren’t bound to account). I asked around and the best hobbit presents I
could find that anyone received, other than the ones mentioned here,
include a Compendium of Might Tomes (all
ten Tomes for might), a +100% Crit
Craft Chance Scroll, and 200 mithril coins from a gold box.
Of all of this loot, in the past, I have bought a
Universal Toolkit (Crafting-toward-mordor-with-universal-toolkit),Relic
Removal Scrolls, and some stat tomes when they first released. I can also see
why one would buy the crit chance scroll for something you really wanted to
crit. Long ago, I also bought 2 rally horns (both used at very different times
but both in the Misty Mountains).
 |
| Supergirl flies over Trollshaws |
Erebrandir’s
Horseshoe: I did not try to statistically assess in only one month whether
the horseshoe has any bearing. The best loot I got was with no horseshoe, which
is likely just a coincidence. The continued “running joke” about it might do
something in certain occasions is annoying. The horseshoe has been around for
years, so it would be great if Turbine just put it out there what exactly it does
and move on.
My reality is that I have rarely gotten particularly good
loot while wearing it and I still remain skeptical that it actually does
anything, regardless of what Sapience says. Sorry Sapience, you are more
than welcome to elaborate or prove it, all I have is my own empirical evidence.
hehe :D forums.lotro.com: Erebrandir-s-Horseshoe-What-is-it-good-for
Silver
versus Gold Presents: It is assumed that the Gold Presents are
better than the Silver Presents. Gold is better, right? It costs more mithril
coins to get… it only awards once per week versus the silver at once per day… so
it must be seven times as good, yes? ...or at least four times as good since it costs quadruple the cost?
Care to guess which of the above loot in my table was
from Gold boxes? During my 30-days, I got five Gold Presents. Those included
1.8g, T5 Relic, T3 Relic, Scroll of Finesse, Enhanced XP Supply. That is
underwhelming and not at all obvious that it uses a different loot table than
the silver presents.
 |
| Supergirl descends onto Wildemore |
What
is my take on the Hobbit Presents? They don’t bother me at
all. In fact, I like them for the quick and amusing items that they are.
In all, nothing I got or saw was game-changing. Mostly,
it just felt like some loot I would get for killing a couple of enemies. As
expected the grab-bag feel of the hobbit presents is hit-or-miss… could be good
or could be no value. I don’t see enough benefit to me to warrant spending
mithril coins buying more presents but I am thankful for the daily ones.
Log on, click a button, get some loot trinket, say “Thank
you for the present” (even though it might be as useful as getting wool mittens
in a Texas summer), and move on about my merry way!
 |
| Supergirl rides Warsteed of Rhun to explore an Ice formation in Wildemore |
