Turbine Comments on The Lord of the Rings Online Purchasable Stat-based Gear

Players of The Lord of the Rings Online haven’t been too happy about the addition of non-cosmetic items to their real-money store, so the folks at GameFront have reached out for the developers to get a comment on this issue. According to Turbine’s director of communications Adam Mersky the motives behind this choice were far from nefarious:

(We have a lot of different players in the game. Lower level players are telling us that they are having difficulty obtaining good gear. This is us coming up with solutions to problems players are reporting to us. We’re trying to create solutions for players,) said Mersky. He was also quick to point out that just because something appears in the store doesn’t mean it’s a permanent thing, referring to other items they’ve removed, such as Sigils of Leveling in Dungeons & Dragons Online’s store. (We’re not adverse to pulling things off the store if they don’t work.)

We went on to discuss how selling gear could affect game balance, and Mersky was quick to point out that Turbine closely monitors game balance. (We’re committed to keeping things balanced,) he said. (Furthermore, we have no intention at this time of selling any raid gear in the store.) Mersky also emphasized that the LotRO playerbase has dramatically shifted since Turbine took over LotRO’s European operations from Codemasters, resulting in a whole new dynamic.

While I’d agree that low level players not being able to find good loot is an issue, I’m not quite sure if I’d agree that Turbine’s solution is anywhere near optimal, so hopefully they’ll rethink their stance on the issue.