[CC] Day 260, What’s in the box (run)

Lets talk about the current state of the Featured instance aka box run.  Once a fun and alternative activity has lost most of it’s appeal. Introduced back in Update 18 as a way to give players a reason to run old content in a time where set bonus armors from Osgiligath and Minas Tirith reigned supreme.

Every week, one scaling instance or raid from a list of old favorites, will provide new chances at noteworthy prizes. The instance or raid, show in a new bar on the Instance Join panel, can be played at level 100 and above (with mithril reset) to win Scrolls of Empowerment and new, cap level essences and pieces of equipment.

https://www.lotro.com/en/u18

Oh boy, has that statement fallen on it’s behind. There has always been changes or instances that weren’t that popular. But currently it’s a sad state of affairs. SSG please consider giving this system a little love.

Rotation fatigue

Do you still remember when the last change to the 6 instances was? I won’t blame you if you don’t. At the time of this article it has been 260 days since the last shift with no change in sight. The two before were 215 days (5 rotations) and before they rotated on a steady 120ish days (3 rotations. No matter if you like the instances you’ll grow tired of some.

Quick and fun vs challenging and more loot

Each rotation had their spotlight and options. The tier 1’s were usually easy and quick. And if you wanted a better chance for loot or even the special set items you’d run the challenge mode. You had options. I wouldn’t classify Silent street or Dome of stars as quick and fun. Helegrod spiderwing has been a chore and in different state of bugged ever since U23. Leaving only school being actively run (because its far too easy).

What’s in the box?

You made it. You completed a box run. You open it up and check the contents. That is if you haven’t filtered nearly every piece of loot it contains. Most of it contents are corner case useful with level 100/105 crafting materials essences and rep items in even the level 120 challenge boxes.

Rarely it will contain a Universal solvent or a crystal. But you really just do it for the scrolls. All the scaled loot is, well that’s for another evening.

Level 120 version of the gear

Was the teal gear to good to barter when the level cap was raised to 120? Yep, most would have skipped the new area. But we’re so far into the life-cycle of this instance cluster that a 120 version wouldn’t break the game. Limit the itemlevel to 355 or 370 to have people still run the instances or dailies. But it fix part of the lackluster loot.

What to do with it all (short term)?

• Please give us a new rotation. Even just a new set of the previous ones.
• Keep the rotation shorter then 9 months. Cycle them on each 6 weeks?
• Update the box content that it actually contains what was the original idea ( Scrolls of Empowerment and new, cap level essences and pieces of equipment.)

What to do with it all (long term)?

• Keep the contents up-to-date with a useful separate set. Decent, but below the expected item quality at that time
• Quicker feature changes. Perhaps switch the instance 3 times a week.
• Finish the scaled instance list and add skirmishes in the mix.

Wishful thinking for the Featured instance

Perhaps some very wishful thinking, but in time wouldn’t it be great to lose the level limit for a box run? For the easier tier 1 we could use some limited scaling to allow us to run the instances with our kinnies that might not be 120. The larger the level difference between 100 and max level becomes the harder it will be for them to group up.

We’ve a lovely little instance finder. Experiment a bit to make it an actual group finder. Not for the max level challenges, but for the less specialized tier 1 run or the lower level runs.

Final thoughts

Instancing itself has been in awkward spot for a time now. Ash, favored loot, extended level range, random ilvl increases or build in class-limitations. We’re coming to the end of the major lotro overhauls for all classes, ratings etc. It might be a good time to take a broader look at loot that gets your blood pumping again and what direction SSG and their players want to go in.