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Lord of the Rings: War in the North QA with community manager at Snowblind

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FunkyPajamas

Member
Snowblind Community Manager Tina (SnowblindTina) has agreed to do a Q&A thread with us for their upcoming LotR: War in the North game.

I'm adding Tina's post from the other thread as well which includes some videos which already answer a few questions regarding weapons, loot and whatnot.

SnowblindTina said:
Recently, we at Snowblind posted a few new videos, and we wanted to share.

There doesn't appear to be a WITN OT, so this seemed like the right place to post. Mods, let me know if you need me to move/change this as it's not directly tied to the original post topic.

GamesCom Q&A Video with Game Designer, Jason Olander, recorded by French Community Manager answering questions from the European community.


We also have a few Q&As and Dev Blogs that may answer some questions you have about the game:
CO-OP Blog
LOOT Q&A
WEAPONS Q&A

Thanks Guys.
Tina (The Community Manager for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North)
Click to expand...

(Thanks Stump for the split!)

Feel free to ask any questions about the game. For those of you who don't know much about the game all you need to know is that it's made by the developers that brought us Champions of Norrath and Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance and that it's LotR related :p If that doesn't sell you on the game then I don't know what will.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
Hi Antitype,
The Collector's Editions are territory exclusives. The Troll statue will be in the European Territories, while the Quiver will be in North America.

As a side note, if you just really want the statue...
The full size Snow Troll statue (that the European Collector's Edition is based on) will be available for purchase through Sideshow Collectibles as a part of their The Lord of the Rings line for 2012, and I saw it first hand at Comic-Con and can verify how amazingly sweet it looks. I wish I could get my hands on one myself.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
A few answers:

@shintoki Release Date: November 1 (US), November 2 (AUS), November 4 (EU except UK), November 25(UK)

@cooltobeyou -No Kidney Needed :) That being said, I should confirm that you can only drop in at hubs.

@charsace - Uhmmmmm

@bandresen - Regarding the mashing through the game, this is sort of a complex question, so I'm going to try to give you the answer to the best of my abilities.

When we go to Demo, particularly at an event, we typically "easy-fy" our demo so that people can make it through. We can't expect a good teamwork groove out of three folks chosen at random to play together at something like E3, PAX, or Comic-Con. They also don't have all of the tools at their disposal at an event to customize their difficulty. What do I mean by that?

The full game features:
1) Four modes of difficulty. Easy, Normal, Heroic (unlocked after Normal Playthrough) and Legendary (unlocked after Heroic Playthrough). Normal was really targeted to be a challenge for the devs here at Snowblind to give you a sense of the scale.
2) Host determines difficulty. So for example, if I get the game on Day 1 and my friend gets it a month later, it's likely that I'll have EPIC loot, maybe unlocked a difficulty level or two, and will be generally badass. If he joins MY game, he'll be battling against mobs that are targeted to be a challenge for my higher level. However, if I join his game, we'll both be taking on lower level enemies and I'll be having the satisfying time of cutting through them like butter, while he gets the gains of having a badass like me help him out. :)
3) You can always get better loot which can help you to succeed where you previously failed.

So, in (not so short) the full game is definitely more of a co-op challenge than the demos, but we also give you options like selecting "easy difficulty" or asking for a higher level friend or friendly stranger to join you, if normal is too tough.

Does that answer your question?
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
@Gez - We are on Steamworks as well as OnLive, so whether you want to download or stream, you have your PC choice.

@Ken - Are you referring explicitly in combat? I'll try to answer that, and if that's not what you mean, then let me know and I'll try to answer more effectively.

We have three primary characters:
Andriel (Female Elf of Rivendell) - Loremaster
Farin (Male Dwarven Champion) - Champion
Eradan (Male Dúnedain) - Ranger

The way that the three characters typically break down is that Andriel is primarily a caster, Farin is primarily a Tank, and Eradan is primarily Ranged/Stealth.

Within that however, each character has a set of skill trees where you can customize how you play.

We are working on a deeper dive to be hosted on our website soon that may better answer your question.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
FunkyPajamas said:
[edit] The fact that you mention that players can join games in different difficulty levels makes me think there is no level gap cap for joining online games (i.e. level 1 character may play with level 20 character). Is this correct?
Click to expand...

You can join up with a friend regardless of level. That being said, if you QuickMatch or Search for games, you would be paired with someone at a similar part of the story to you.

Edit: And I want to clarify that there are consequences to pairing up a level 5 and a level 15 regardless of who hosts. ... and by consequences I mean, you're either dying a lot as the level 5 or mopping up as the level 15, depending on who hosts.
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
(split bump from other video thread)

SnowblindTina said:
You can join up with a friend regardless of level. That being said, if you QuickMatch or Search for games, you would be paired with someone at a similar part of the story to you.

Edit: And I want to clarify that there are consequences to pairing up a level 5 and a level 15 regardless of who hosts. ... and by consequences I mean, you're either dying a lot as the level 5 or mopping up as the level 15, depending on who hosts.
Click to expand...
Thanks for answering this.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
FunkyPajamas said:
Would you mind if I created a Q&A thread (or requested that a mod split this one) and you answered some more questions for us?
Click to expand...

Sure, that would be great!
 
element

element

Member
So we aren't asking questions here? Darn.

I was going to bust Dayne's chops and confess my crush on Kim.

Oh WB Games. So many friends there.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
I think this is going to turn out a lot better than many may think. I loved Snowblind's work on Champions of Norrath and Champions: Return to Arms and think that they are an absolute perfect fit for doing a game based in the LotR universe. I also appreciate how much darker and grittier it is than any LotR game to date. Which is as it should be.
 
C

Card Boy

Banned
Never played a Snowblind Studios game before, but I'm hoping this game is like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for the PS2/Xbox1/Gamecube/PC. I loved that game.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
Gez said:
Never played a Snowblind Studios game before, but I'm hoping this game is like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for the PS2/Xbox1/Gamecube/PC. I loved that game.
Click to expand...

Indeed, one of the best movie tie-in games I can recall playing. However, this is going to be more party focused and will have some RPG elements, such as leveling and tons of loot. They know what they are doing in that regard and is why I think this game will surprise a lot of folks who think it will suck because it is another LotR game. This will be no Conquest, that's for sure, lol.
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
Gez said:
Never played a Snowblind Studios game before, but I'm hoping this game is like Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for the PS2/Xbox1/Gamecube/PC. I loved that game.
Click to expand...
If you have a PS2 and can hunt down a copy of Champions of Norrath or Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance then you'll know why some of us are so hyped about this game. :D
 
L

Loxley

Member
It boggles my freaking mind that Warner Bros. decided to release this game one week before Skyrim. I'll still be there day one, no question, but it seems like that's just a death trap :(

*Edit - Oh snap Steamworks? Kickass.
 
D

Dash Kappei

Not actually that important
Damn, forgot about this game.
I frickin' loved Snowblind's BG:DA and CoN, hopefully this one is comparable. Offline co-op yay or nay? *if* yay, it is also true for the PC sku?
 
F

FunkyPajamas

Member
Bump for the morning crowd. Ask some questions people!
Dash Kappei said:
Damn, forgot about this game.
I frickin' loved Snowblind's BG:DA and CoN, hopefully this one is comparable. Offline co-op yay or nay? *if* yay, it is also true for the PC sku?
Click to expand...
From the CO-OP blog linked in the OP:
You can play split screen, connect up online or connect via LAN. There are really no limitations there. You can even play split screen while also having a 3rd player connected online. You certainly can play offline with bots, but everything we’ve built is about jumping into the game with your friends and playing together.
Click to expand...
It doesn't mention PC specifically though.
 
S

SlasherJPC

Banned
I read through the thread so forgive me for asking if I just missed it but will there be a new game + ability.

Also side quests. I recently played through Dungion Seige 3 and enjoyed it for what it was but was a little dissapointed in how little of side quests were actually in the game and the short playtime. Will this game feature a good amount of side quests and lengthy campaign?

Thanks!
 
P

piratepwnsninja

Member
Glass Rebel said:
- LotR
- Loot
- Co-Op RPG
- Steamworks
- GIANT EAGUUUULS

I think I'm in if it has split-screen on PC.
Click to expand...


I got told, on the official forums, that since most games on PC don't offer local co-op (lol) they didn't think this would on PC. :\
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
piratepwnsninja said:
I got told, on the official forums, that since most games on PC don't offer local co-op (lol) they didn't think this would on PC. :\
Click to expand...

Considering this will be playable on a pad this is bullshit and really a missed opportunity.
 
P

PaulLFC

Member
SnowblindTina said:
@shintoki Release Date: November 1 (US), November 2 (AUS), November 4 (EU except UK), November 25(UK)
Click to expand...
Being in the UK, can I ask why we have to wait so long for the release please? We normally have to wait a couple of days after the US get the game (Tuesday to Friday), but 24 days?!
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
Today we officially announced our PC Specs which I wanted to share.

We do support the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows. We do not offer split screen on the Steam PC build.

As to the UK question - I wish I had a better answer than "A lot of people play into that decision" but unfortunately that's all I've got.

Another question I get a lot and I just want to share:

Loot Griefing - Does it happen? Not really, because we have instanced loot. Each "lootable object" (crates, boxes, chests, hidden areas) has a "version" of loot for each of the three players to grab. This means that there is less of a reason for a member of your party to eschew all responsibilities to steal all the cool things. Not so team-minded human players may still run off while you're felling an orc because they saw something shiny, but at least you'll still get something for it when you're done being the responsible one.

Ask me anything else. I'll answer to the best of my abilities.
 
R

rSpooky

Member
I was not sure at first about this game until I played this at gamecom in Germany . I really liked it.
Add to that , they told me vertical split screen and you can also pull in someone from online at that point.. made me wanna buy this for sure.
I can't wait to play the final product.
 
Glass Rebel

Glass Rebel

Member
SnowblindTina said:
Today we officially announced our PC Specs which I wanted to share.

We do support the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows. We do not offer split screen on the Steam PC build.

As to the UK question - I wish I had a better answer than "A lot of people play into that decision" but unfortunately that's all I've got.

Another question I get a lot and I just want to share:
Click to expand...

Thanks, 5€ sale.
 
L

legbone

Member
wait, i'm getting confused. when this was announced people thought it was a diablo clone/loot whore/action rpg. then i thought it was confirmed that this is not that genre. i am now hearing/reading talk of skill trees and loot again. is this, or is this not, a diablo clone?

and for reference, champions of norrath is one of my favorite games of all time!
 
S

Skilletor

Member
Oh wow. PC Version?

Sold.

legbone said:
wait, i'm getting confused. when this was announced people thought it was a diablo clone/loot whore/action rpg. then i thought it was confirmed that this is not that genre. i am now hearing/reading talk of skill trees and loot again. is this, or is this not, a diablo clone?

and for reference, champions of norrath is one of my favorite games of all time!
Click to expand...

I always thought it was going to be Champions of Norrath type game. If not, I'll be severely disappointed.
 
C

ced

Member
Is there an isometric fixed camera view option? Or is it just what has been demo'd (over the shoulder camera)?
 
R

Reluctant-Hero

Member
legbone said:
wait, i'm getting confused. when this was announced people thought it was a diablo clone/loot whore/action rpg. then i thought it was confirmed that this is not that genre. i am now hearing/reading talk of skill trees and loot again. is this, or is this not, a diablo clone?

and for reference, champions of norrath is one of my favorite games of all time!
Click to expand...
From what I've read & seen, this is definitely a Snowblind game in the tradition of the BG: Dark Alliance games and Champions of Norrath games.


So XP, Loot and Skill Trees are coming. So stoked!
 
L

legbone

Member
thank god it's a true snowblind game. i was hearing things like "no skill trees" and "no traditional loot" a couple of months ago so i wrote the game off. i am glad to see snowblind is doing what they do best.

edit: man i hope this is basically con with the lord of the rings license!!
 
R

Reluctant-Hero

Member
SnowblindTina said:
We do support the Xbox 360 Controller for Windows. We do not offer split screen on the Steam PC build.
Click to expand...
Tina, in regards to Co-op in the console versions, how is it handled?

Is it "true" split-screen co-op wherein each player has a segment if the screen where they can move about freely? Or is it "same screen" co-op wherein both players share the screen and can only move so far apart from each other?

Thanks!
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
@Legbone -
The game is an Action RPG, for confirmation. There are skill trees, leveling up, loot, conversations, and the elements of fleshing out the story of the three characters through gameplay, but the core of the game is co-op action, with bloody dismemberment of enemies meriting an M rating. I know there has been some confusion on that in the past, so I'm working on getting up some FAQs on our site to help clear that up. You were most definitely not the only confused bloke out there.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
Reluctant-Hero said:
Tina, in regards to Co-op in the console versions, how is it handled?

Is it "true" split-screen co-op wherein each player has a segment if the screen where they can move about freely? Or is it "same screen" co-op wherein both players share the screen and can only move so far apart from each other?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Local Co-Op (PS3/360) is a vertical split screen with free movement between checkpoints.

You are tethered to your fellowship by checkpoints. So, for example, say my friend is an action-focused sort of gent. He doesn't care much for loot, but he loves bloody battle. I, on the other hand, LOVE SHINY THINGS! I love them so much. I want to put all of them in my pockets and carry them with me through the entire game. I even hate selling lesser quality orc weapons, because I want ALL THE THINGS with me at all times. So while he may slaughter and hack his way through the fray and be ready to move on, I will be scurrying about breaking every container, searching every chest, knocking down every hidden wall (I usually play as Farin) and collecting everything I can possibly find. While I'm doing that, he's forced to wait for me at the checkpoint to ensure he doesn't end up in a dire situation where he needs a team, but I'm still in town debating between the benefits between two pairs of gloves.

Essentially, party members have free reign, but must "party up" each time they progress through one fairly large area.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
ced said:
Is there an isometric fixed camera view option? Or is it just what has been demo'd (over the shoulder camera)?
Click to expand...

The final camera is as you've seen in the demos at E3, Gamescom, etc. (Over the shoulder camera)
 
R

Reluctant-Hero

Member
SnowblindTina said:
Local Co-Op (PS3/360) is a vertical split screen with free movement between checkpoints.

You are tethered to your fellowship by checkpoints. So, for example, say my friend is an action-focused sort of gent. He doesn't care much for loot, but he loves bloody battle. I, on the other hand, LOVE SHINY THINGS! I love them so much. I want to put all of them in my pockets and carry them with me through the entire game. I even hate selling lesser quality orc weapons, because I want ALL THE THINGS with me at all times. So while he may slaughter and hack his way through the fray and be ready to move on, I will be scurrying about breaking every container, searching every chest, knocking down every hidden wall (I usually play as Farin) and collecting everything I can possibly find. While I'm doing that, he's forced to wait for me at the checkpoint to ensure he doesn't end up in a dire situation where he needs a team, but I'm still in town debating between the benefits between two pairs of gloves.

Essentially, party members have free reign, but must "party up" each time they progress through one fairly large area.
Click to expand...
Awesome! You just sold me on a copy of the game! I just placed a preorder for the 360 version on Amazon.
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
Darklord said:
Any word on how long the game is?
Click to expand...

We are actually discussing this internally now. We have the number we've said in the past which is 12-14 hours per playthrough NOT counting NG+ or playing through again with a new character.

That is how long we've said it takes going back to E3, because that is how long it took our design devs to get through it. That being said, they HAD played through quite a few times, and we've heard from our recent playtesting that it could actually be longer. We're doing our double-checking on it now, but I'll be safe and say 12-14 hours, but your mileage may vary as longer, particularly if you love conversations and dialogue trees.

We may have a slightly revised number in the next few weeks as we get a larger sample set.
 
L

legbone

Member
SnowblindTina said:
@Legbone -
The game is an Action RPG, for confirmation. There are skill trees, leveling up, loot, conversations, and the elements of fleshing out the story of the three characters through gameplay, but the core of the game is co-op action, with bloody dismemberment of enemies meriting an M rating. I know there has been some confusion on that in the past, so I'm working on getting up some FAQs on our site to help clear that up. You were most definitely not the only confused bloke out there.
Click to expand...


thanks for the confirmation. just made my day one list. i love snowblind's past games and was very disappointed when i heard the previous rumors. good thing they were apparently just rumors or misinformation. my hype just went from zero to running in the red. i now cannot wait for this. sounds great with the dismemberments and such.
 
C

Card Boy

Banned
Nice! I must of missed the part about conversations and dialogue. Besides any potential bugs that may arise is there plans for post game support like free content or paid DLC?
 
C

ced

Member
Which version is the lead platform? I want to go ahead and pre order and get that $20 credit from amazon.
 
T

TEJ

Member
Will me buying this affect you possibly making another "champions" game? I loved those, and I even had fun with that Justice League game ya'll made. I will buy it, I just want another champions game

What are the chances of a champions HD collection being made?
 
S

SnowblindTina

LotR: War in the North Community Manager
TEJ said:
Will me buying this affect you possibly making another "champions" game? I loved those, and I even had fun with that Justice League game ya'll made. I will buy it, I just want another champions game

What are the chances of a champions HD collection being made?
Click to expand...

Wish I could comment on this, but I'm not able to.

However, we are thrilled you loved our past games! We like that you helped keep us employed!

Yay Jobs!
 
K

kai3345

Banned
Could you name maybe one or two games that are most similar to your game in terms of style of gameplay, and mechanics etc.?
 
T

TEJ

Member
This game is coming out in early november? I know what will be keeping me busy till skyrim, mario, and zelda come out :)
 
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