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Shadow of Mordors true ending - Grinding or Lootboxes

This is beginning to sound more and more like a shortcut kit.

Basically. Until I learned that Legendaries could be found in the wild/free lootboxes, I was just as outraged as everyone. But if its a shortcut thing? Eh. If the game is fun, why take shortcuts?
 

nynt9

Member
Why not?

If it is not a form of gambling why use this method?
I want to know the answer, is that so bad?

To add some mystique to the process of buying them? To make sure everyone gets an equal chance to see all legendaries instewd having a situation where people only buy some of them and ignore the others? To make it feel less unfair to people who don't buy them? If I wasn't interested in buying any loot boxes and I as missing a few orcs, I'd get upset that I could just pay to buy those specific ones, but knowing that it's random I'd be like "nah it's not worth my money I'll just play more"

I don't know. Ask the devs. It's an optional thing and some people can shortcut it. Honestly, I don't care. I wasn't upset that the true ending of MGSV (nuke disarmament) is basically impossible to achieve. To each their own. You seem like you're not going to participate in this no matter what, so why are you so curious? Tweet at the devs if you want. We can only speculate here.
 

Apdiddy

Member
The concern I have is in the not too distant future when WB will announce the end of service for the online components for Shadow of War. Say you get the game and for whatever reason its years before you can get to it (job changes, you move, you have kids, etc). You start playing it and even if you don’t care about Sony/Microsoft’s achievement/trophy system, you end up having to do grinding needlessly. WB haven’t future proofed their game with this.
 

Andodalf

Banned
To add some mystique to the process of buying them? To make sure everyone gets an equal chance to see all legendaries instewd having a situation where people only buy some of them and ignore the others? To make it feel less unfair to people who don't buy them? If I wasn't interested in buying any loot boxes and I as missing a few orcs, I'd get upset that I could just pay to buy those specific ones, but knowing that it's random I'd be like "nah it's not worth my money I'll just play more"

I don't know. Ask the devs. It's an optional thing and some people can shortcut it. Honestly, I don't care. I wasn't upset that the true ending of MGSV (nuke disarmament) is basically impossible to achieve. To each their own. You seem like you're not going to participate in this no matter what, so why are you so curious? Tweet at the devs if you want. We can only speculate here.
this game has 0 specific orcs dude. every orc in the game save for a few story ones are random. lol. As in randomly generated. as in, different between every game. You can never have 100% if them, there's billions of combinations.
I’m really confused by what your saying?
 
The concern I have is in the not too distant future when WB will announce the end of service for the online components for Shadow of War. Say you get the game and for whatever reason its years before you can get to it (job changes, you move, you have kids, etc). You start playing it and even if you don’t care about Sony/Microsoft’s achievement/trophy system, you end up having to do grinding needlessly. WB haven’t future proofed their game with this.

We can only hope that scant few people care that much about a cutscene in a years old game.

Besides, if you're actually enjoying the gameplay of the game, then the path to that cutscene should be tons of fun too. And if it's not that much fun for you, then why would you be interested in "the true ending" anyway?
 

chespace

It's not actually trolling if you don't admit it
The whole point of this game is the moment-to-moment action. The story, as in the first, is probably unintelligible anyway. Grinding IS the game and I won't mind doing it as I kept playing the first game long after I finished the "story" and DLCs. It felt great to zip around godlike decimating clans of Uruks and converting every single captain to doing my bidding.

Can't wait for this release.
 

m_dorian

Member
To add some mystique to the process of buying them? To make sure everyone gets an equal chance to see all legendaries instewd having a situation where people only buy some of them and ignore the others? To make it feel less unfair to people who don't buy them? If I wasn't interested in buying any loot boxes and I as missing a few orcs, I'd get upset that I could just pay to buy those specific ones, but knowing that it's random I'd be like "nah it's not worth my money I'll just play more"

I don't know. Ask the devs. It's an optional thing and some people can shortcut it. Honestly, I don't care. I wasn't upset that the true ending of MGSV (nuke disarmament) is basically impossible to achieve. To each their own. You seem like you're not going to participate in this no matter what, so why are you so curious? Tweet at the devs if you want. We can only speculate here.

I am asking because some of you guys seem to know all the answers but i think i can work with your reasoning. I am not a MGS fan but still think what happened in V was terrible.
And i am curious because i want to find out how people perceive this whole situation and the reasoning behind it in case i missed something because my viewpoint differs from yours.
 

Crossing Eden

Hello, my name is Yves Guillemot, Vivendi S.A.'s Employee of the Month!
To add some mystique to the process of buying them? To make sure everyone gets an equal chance to see all legendaries instewd having a situation where people only buy some of them and ignore the others? To make it feel less unfair to people who don't buy them? If I wasn't interested in buying any loot boxes and I as missing a few orcs, I'd get upset that I could just pay to buy those specific ones, but knowing that it's random I'd be like "nah it's not worth my money I'll just play more"

I don't know. Ask the devs. It's an optional thing and some people can shortcut it. Honestly, I don't care. I wasn't upset that the true ending of MGSV (nuke disarmament) is basically impossible to achieve. To each their own. You seem like you're not going to participate in this no matter what, so why are you so curious? Tweet at the devs if you want. We can only speculate here.
This game doesn't have any specific orcs. That's literally the whole point of the nemesis system.....
 
Here's the problem with that line of thought though. Every game with a season pass or planned dlc also wants to keep you playing and to prevent you from selling the game, thus, potentially, also having a profit incentive influencing game design.

Yes that certainly can be a disadvantage although a game is reviewed for its own content alone so a developer risks getting bad reviews and feedback if the game is considered incomplete.

A big problem I have with lootboxes though is the random element, ie you cant buy just the thing you want just a chance to win it. A season pass or DLC expansion/mission pack at least lays out a price for a given piece of content. I would never buy a season pass before knowing exactly what I am getting for what price.
 

Andodalf

Banned
Yes that certainly can be a disadvantage although a game is reviewed for its own content alone so a developer risks getting bad reviews and feedback if the game is considered incomplete.

A big problem I have with lootboxes though is the random element, ie you cant buy just the thing you want just a chance to win it. A season pass or DLC expansion/mission pack at least lays out a price for a given piece of content. I would never buy a season pass before knowing exactly what I am getting for what price.


There are 0 specific things in this game. every orc, and item, besides specific story ones, is completely random, from a box, or natively in the world. There is no way you could buy "just what you want"
 
The concern I have is in the not too distant future when WB will announce the end of service for the online components for Shadow of War. Say you get the game and for whatever reason its years before you can get to it (job changes, you move, you have kids, etc). You start playing it and even if you don’t care about Sony/Microsoft’s achievement/trophy system, you end up having to do grinding needlessly. WB haven’t future proofed their game with this.

I don't know what you're trying to say.

The end game sounds brilliant. Are you worried they are going to stop doing the daily challenges?
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Any idea when the OT is going up? I'm having such a blast with the game. The first few hours weren't the best but it all started to click once I unlocked more of the skill tree.

This seems like such a vast game, I've played about 8-10 hours so far and only just hit Act 2. The game throws loot and money at you, you barely need to even look at the loot boxes whatsoever - it's a real shame much of the discussion is about this when Monolith seem to have crafted a massive and incredibly fun game expanding on everything that was great about the first.

Also the HDR implementation is great in this. I've gone from barely noticing a difference in games to being a HDR believer these days. The latest Xbox dash update (at least in preview) letting you take proper SDR shots and literally flick between the HDR game and SDR screenshots really makes you realise what a difference it makes.
 

Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
Any idea when the OT is going up? I'm having such a blast with the game. The first few hours weren't the best but it all started to click once I unlocked more of the skill tree.

This seems like such a vast game, I've played about 8-10 hours so far and only just hit Act 2. The game throws loot and money at you, you barely need to even look at the loot boxes whatsoever - it's a real shame much of the discussion is about this when Monolith seem to have crafted a massive and incredibly fun game expanding on everything that was great about the first.

Also the HDR implementation is great in this. I've gone from barely noticing a difference in games to being a HDR believer these days. The latest Xbox dash update (at least in preview) letting you take proper SDR shots and literally flick between the HDR game and SDR screenshots really makes you realise what a difference it makes.

Tell me more about this.
 

Feraligatr

Neo Member
Arkham Knight's ending... Now with microtransactions!

I can't say I'm shocked. I figured something like this would happen after the fortresses mechanic was announced

I'm sorry, what exactly was so wrong with Arkham Knight's ending that it needs to be compared to this?
 

Mesoian

Member
Guys I don't think you understand the lootboxes here. This isn't your usual .000000001% chance to get the best type of orc thing. The highest tier loot box (6$? 600 gold)) gives a guaranteed 4 Legendary orcs and 1 paper that turns any orc legendary. No rolls or chance involved. The other paid chest (2$? 200 gold) gives 1 legendary every time, and two with a chance to be legendary, in addition to two boosts or training orders.. Unless you want every orc in your army to be legendary, I don't see how you could spend more than 50 bucks.


Video for reference
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0rowHUyvec

On top of the 60 you're already spending?

Is the game worth 110 dollars for you?

I'm sorry, what exactly was so wrong with Arkham Knight's ending that it needs to be compared to this?

The true ending for Arkham is locked behind riddler trophies, which artificially bloat the game by almost 8 hours. (and that's if you're not using a guide).

This seems to do the same, but offers you a way to bypass it, if you pay money.

That is the issue everyone here has.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Tell me more about this.
I never could notice much difference in HDR games when I first got my S. There wasn't really a way to directly compare though so whilst I thought games looked great I thought they looked great anyway.

I'm in the preview program so I'm not sure if this is in the public build yet but (particularly handy for games with photo mode like Shadow of War) you can take 1080p SDR screenshots - take a snap, hold the Xbox button to open the screenshot and the screenshot opens and my tv switches into SDR to display it. Then you can switch back into the game again where the tv goes back into HDR - making it really easy to directly compare between SDR/HDR identical views of a game. It's awesome!
 
Any idea when the OT is going up? I'm having such a blast with the game. The first few hours weren't the best but it all started to click once I unlocked more of the skill tree.

This seems like such a vast game, I've played about 8-10 hours so far and only just hit Act 2. The game throws loot and money at you, you barely need to even look at the loot boxes whatsoever - it's a real shame much of the discussion is about this when Monolith seem to have crafted a massive and incredibly fun game expanding on everything that was great about the first.

Also the HDR implementation is great in this. I've gone from barely noticing a difference in games to being a HDR believer these days. The latest Xbox dash update (at least in preview) letting you take proper SDR shots and literally flick between the HDR game and SDR screenshots really makes you realise what a difference it makes.

Can you with as little spoils as possible estimate how long it is from the start of the game until you can start branding orcs?
 

carlsojo

Member
A really good video was posted on the Shadow of Mordor subreddit the other day that goes pretty indepth. https://youtu.be/tgYcmNOFmis

They tried one of the
endgame sieges
right after finishing the campaign and were able to complete it without doing any extra grinding or lootboxes.
 
I've no problem grinding in game. The first one had an element of that. Do all the side missions to get all the upgrades and such. Plus I like killing orcs and using the nemesis system.

That said, if progression is blocked by some arbitrary value that can only be reached via grinding, or buying stuff...Fuck that.

That's bullshit. That's designing the game for the purpose of getting people to pay money. It doesn't matter if it's optional, that should never factor in in the first place. Imagine playing Skyrim and being told you need to kill 1000 dragons before you can complete the game. It's not impossible, but it makes no fucking sense.

I have less of a problem with loot boxes for upgrades and cosmetics, because it's doesn't usually mean the core experience is lessened. Some fucking arbitrary value blocking progression, that can be circumnavigated via paying for shit, is total bullshit.

A really good video was posted on the Shadow of Mordor subreddit the other day that goes pretty indepth. https://youtu.be/tgYcmNOFmis

They tried one of the
endgame sieges
right after finishing the campaign and were able to complete it without doing any extra grinding or lootboxes.

If that's the case, then no problem. As long as you can do it without extra grinding, I'm cool with that.
 
A really good video was posted on the Shadow of Mordor subreddit the other day that goes pretty indepth. https://youtu.be/tgYcmNOFmis

They tried one of the
endgame sieges
right after finishing the campaign and were able to complete it without doing any extra grinding or lootboxes.
That video would have been a lot better had it been about completing the Shadow War / Act 4 and thus reaching the real ending and credits rather than just playing the initial siege, especially since they say the sieges get progressively more difficult. That keeps this video from being a comprehensive answer to the complaints about a tedious end game grind to push MTX.

Still, if people are worried that they'd be forced to interact with the lootboxes as part of the fist three acts of the campaign, it clears that up with a solid no.
 

Lucifon

Junior Member
Can you with as little spoils as possible estimate how long it is from the start of the game until you can start branding orcs?

Act 2 is the point where you can begin to brand them to fight for you - I believe I've literally just unlocked this. So it was roughly 8-10 hours for me. But if you mainline the story probably a few hours. I've spent probably half my time doing side stuff maybe more.

I'm also playing on Nemesis difficulty fwiw. The difficulty level seems great for players of the first - you have to fight smarter and use the game's systems.
 
Alright so here's a little bit of extra bull I've spotted.

hAHxkz2.png
Not only do you have Legendaries here, you also have Legendary "Set Bonuses" as well, which if they are anything like they are in Injustice 2 (Another Warner Bros. game which I honestly dread they day they release the patch that increases all the level caps for characters and gear and "allow" you to buy the loot crates with Source Crystals) all those set bonus items are going to be Legendary tier as well.

Isn't this essentially Gatcha? Or do they get around it by having a "Small Bonus" with the big bonus only being obtained when you have everything.
 

DrBo42

Member
Alright so here's a little bit of extra bull I've spotted.


Not only do you have Legendaries here, you also have Legendary "Set Bonuses" as well, which if they are anything like they are in Injustice 2 (Another Warner Bros. game which I honestly dread they day they release the patch that increases all the level caps for characters and gear and "allow" you to buy the loot crates with Source Crystals) all those set bonus items are going to be Legendary tier as well.

Isn't this essentially Gatcha? Or do they get around it by having a "Small Bonus" with the big bonus only being obtained when you have everything.

There are legendary sets for a lot of things in the game and all are outlined in the menu. You can get a set in the open world, one for online vendetta missions etc. That's a marauder tribe legendary set that can be received from their orcs. Dunno what "gatcha" there is here other than time saving as there's an upgrade in the skills menu that raises your chance of better quality drops.
 

Lucreto

Member
I am desensitised to grinding in games and sometimes I enjoy them.

My strategy here is dying a lot since the Orc sometimes becomes legendary if he kills you enough times.

Do the daily missions to get gold and only use it at end game stuff.

I am getting 2 chests with the collectors edition and they won't be used until end game.

I won't use real money just the resources provided to me.
 

Andodalf

Banned
That said, if progression is blocked by some arbitrary value that can only be reached via grinding, or buying stuff...Fuck that.




If that's the case, then no problem. As long as you can do it without extra grinding, I'm cool with that.


Its no set value, the game just gives you tough assaults on your fortresses.

I'd recommend turning the difficulty down if you don't want to grind, personally.
 

g11

Member
I don't mind the occasional grind, but if it is in fact 50 hours of grinding, I just don't have the time or inclination for that shit anymore. Weird how modern games, if you let them, can become like a second job.
 
The true ending for Arkham is locked behind riddler trophies, which artificially bloat the game by almost 8 hours. (and that's if you're not using a guide).

This seems to do the same, but offers you a way to bypass it, if you pay money.

That is the issue everyone here has.

So you're saying it didn't affect game design and WB has been hiding true endings behind a 100% completion rate since before loot crates and microtransactions were a concern?

How different is this true ending, anyways? Because the 'true ending' hid behind Arkham's riddler trophies was nothing to write home about anyways, and frankly speaking, nobody who missed out on it missed out on anything any more than people who get suboptimal metroid clear times miss out on true endings.

I mean, I don't care for the inclusion of these loot crates. They feel icky as hell to me, and the fact that they're present concerns me that they WILL affect game design, but you aren't convincing me that that's what happened here.
 

IISANDERII

Member
If the boxes were there but weren't able to be purchased via real cash I wonder if people would be nearly as upset.
There’d be no reason to be upset. That’s because monetization informs game design, so when a developer is trying to extract more money from its player, it has to create incentives to do so. And that usually means grind, making the player have less enjoyment for periods of time, being able to help bypass the grind via paying real money.
 

Pheace

Member
About ranked multiplayer, I read when you play ranked, you level up so you get to attack higher level fortresses so you get a chance at higher level rewards.

Does anyone know if that affects non-ranked multiplayer as well? Do you get a reward for those? What are the differences? (if anyone knows a video that'd be great too)
 
About ranked multiplayer, I read when you play ranked, you level up so you get to attack higher level fortresses so you get a chance at higher level rewards.

Does anyone know if that affects non-ranked multiplayer as well? Do you get a reward for those? What are the differences? (if anyone knows a video that'd be great too)

I think for social mode, you don't lose out on orcs but you can take another persons orcs. I bet the rewards are slightly reduced(In terms of Miriam/gold earned).
 

Philxor

Member
I don't mind the occasional grind, but if it is in fact 50 hours of grinding, I just don't have the time or inclination for that shit anymore. Weird how modern games, if you let them, can become like a second job.

I stopped playing the vast majority of Ubi games when they went for that massive checklist approach. Every assassin's creed in particular just feels like one big shopping list to me and that really took the fun out of them all.

I didn't find that so much with the first Shadow of Mordor, though. I guess the setup and combat let me overlook this to a better degree. I would love to see how many people spend the time grinding for this, though.
 
Just a reminder, video game publishers are collectively making billions of dollars in profit per year while crying poor and claiming the only way they could scrounge together enough cash to continue making games is to bring the mobile gaming paradigm to console gaming.

Here's what the major publicly traded companies made last financial year.

EA: $967 million
Activision-Blizzard: $966 million
Ubisoft: $656 million
Take Two: $67 million*
Bandai Namco: $388 million
Square Enix: $176 million
Paradox: $29 million
Konami: $221 million
Sega Sammy: $238 million
Capcom: $70 million
THQ Nordic: $8 million

But keep defending dodgy business practices!

I’m sure you have an extensive with and without analysis to show how DLC and Microtransactions affect the profitability of the industry....

I don’t get people around here. Profits are good for the industry.
 
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