Meghan “Patience” Rodberg was a special guest on Stuncast episode 5 released yesterday. Meghan announced (at about 37 minutes in) that LOTRO will be adding the use of Lua script to allow player created add-ons (called mods) for the game.
If you’re not aware, Lua is a programming language that allows someone to create a mod that alters the interface or even use information from the game depending on Turbine’s preferences. Scripts like this are widely used to create mods for World of Warcraft and other games.
Before you freak out let me give you my experience using mods in World of Warcraft. For the most part, they are wonderful and optional. Not all mods are winners but find the ones you like and work well and you’ve got yourself a great enhancement to your game! Blizzard even takes successful mods and incorporates their functions into the base game from time to time when they find a mod that works really well and really improves the player experience.
I want to stress that this will only work with the functions and information in LOTRO that Turbine allows. We will have to wait and see what information is released regarding programming specifically for LOTRO mods but this is big news!
There are many helpful Lua Programming books
I’m very curious to see what mods players can come up with!
July 13, 2010 at 7:02 pm
While Add-Ons may be optional, you just need to take a look at some WoW scenarios in which they become required for certain Raid groups/guilds/etc.
Turbine kept the party line from launch saying that they had no plans to offer such addon services to LotRO… I guess we should have seen this coming w/ the F2P switch that they also had no plans to do.
I know, not time to freak out yet… but with so many things that have been “core” knowledge about the game/companies goals changing I just have no idea what to believe or expect any longer. I don’t see LuA and Add-Ons as a death knell or anything… but I see it as yet another disturbing (to me) trend to something that is drastically different from the game and company I have had faith in for 3 years now. I will give it a chance… but I am afraid that we will indeed start seeing requirements not only for certain store items, but for certain add-ons in order to participate in end game groups/raids/etc.
I can honestly say I never thought I would see the day when this happened.
July 13, 2010 at 7:18 pm
hrmm…. have mixed feelings about this, imho…The Gearscore addon and dps meters in WoW ruined the game…
July 13, 2010 at 7:31 pm
If this gets me an addon which merges all my bags into one super bag, one which colours item text in the store displays and one which can change the layout of buff/debuff icons (heck, the unit frames in general) then I am going to be extremely happy.
If this ends up with every player running ‘RadScore’ and demanding 150 Radiance to run Barrow-Downs… I will be a very sad panda.
August 2, 2010 at 5:44 pm
You can already get an add-on at LOTROinterface.com that will merge all your bags into one big bag. I use one myself.
July 13, 2010 at 7:35 pm
Well, you can already kind of merge your bags.
In any case, it was fun actually playing this game. Now I guess I’ll have to pay more attention to a damage meter or (as the person above me said) the new “Radscore” addon than worry about something so annoying as just having fun.
Oh well.
July 13, 2010 at 7:36 pm
It depends if that’s what Turbine opens to the lua. I think it’s too early to think that this breaks anything. Let’s see the rules first!
July 13, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Well… ok. I wouldn’t mind a threat meter. That’s about it. Hopefully they will be a bit careful about what they allow as gameplay in WoW has come down to what a person dps’s and what their gearscore is.
July 14, 2010 at 2:25 am
This!
I really, absolutely don’t want a damage meter or anything like gearscore. I like that so far, whenever I asked, I wasn’t told how to trait my chars. I was given hints or tips what’s better or worse. But in the end, everybody told me to just do what I prefer. Ask in WoW and you’re told how to spec and how to equip.
July 13, 2010 at 7:39 pm
Wow. First F2P and now this? They’re really going in the wrong direction…
July 13, 2010 at 7:42 pm
My memories of MMG add-ons are not pleasant. At worst, they were cheats (UOE, Gear), at best they quickly became ways to compare e-peen and exclude “sub-optimum” players.
“You can’t reliably do X DPS, so you’re out of the guild. You’re can’t hold Y threat, so we’re kicking you from the group.”
Spare me.
July 13, 2010 at 8:22 pm
To be fair, crass behaviour, such as that you have sited above is not due to add-ons.
It simply “justifies” such an attitude being articulated, by those already disposed to such a mindset.
July 14, 2010 at 10:27 am
That’s not a problem with the game, that’s a problem with the guild.
July 13, 2010 at 8:03 pm
Fabulous news!
I am a programmer by profession, and have used Lua in the past to modify T.o.M.E. This will let me to some really cool things with LOTRO.
July 15, 2010 at 8:58 pm
+1 there are 100 things that are unrealistic to expect Turbine to implement yet could be easily implemented in LUA. DPS meters etc are unfortunate, but can be mitigated with forethought.
July 13, 2010 at 8:22 pm
It’s not all gear checkers, damage meters and boss warnings. There’s things like tracking how many more kills you need to get to level up, showing how much reputation the items in your bags are worth, displaying the contents of your housing and bank chests (and the bags and banks of your alts) from anywhere in the world or even just displaying a grid over the screen so you can make sure your UI items are level without messing around in XML files.
They don’t have to give you a combat advantage or measure your e-peen, they can just make your life easier.
July 13, 2010 at 8:49 pm
This news is sort of half good & half bad. I would love to see an auction mod, but am hoping that Turbine won’t allow DPS meters. I can see certain classes being made fun of for their low DPS & that won’t be cool.
July 13, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Remember that no one else is going to be able to see your damage. Damage is only logged for yourself. This means that unless you share the data with your group, you won’t be kicked for “sub-optimal” DPS or “too little threat.”
There are lots of things that can be done with Lua like UI mods and the like.
July 14, 2010 at 3:43 pm
I can see other’s floating damage right now…
July 25, 2010 at 5:31 pm
But you cannot see who is causing that damage. So you cannot attribute DPS to a particular person, just the entire group.
Group DPS meter…that could be interesting.
“We did X DPS in that last fight, good job”
“We did Y DPS in that last fight, lets lift our game.”
July 13, 2010 at 9:12 pm
This is very sad indeed, I really wish Turbine would stop messing around with a game that is not already broken… If it is not broken, don’t try to fix it. That is when it breaks. I am a lifer, and this makes me change my opinion about continuing to play the game. It was bad enough that the F2P was coming. Breetown has become the step-child of bad. Now what’s next?
July 13, 2010 at 10:53 pm
My experience as a former casual player of Asherons Call and WoW is that the addons remove some of the tedium and bookkeeping that I’m not interested in. Quest timers, organizing inventory, coordinates, route mapping, etc. I enjoyed Decal and many addons for those reasons; I’m looking forward to seeing what the community comes up with for LOTRO.
July 13, 2010 at 11:04 pm
The reason why someone would want a threat metter, or anything metter related really eludes me.
I tought we would be adventuring, not monitoring a power-plant.
Anything fluffy as new UI layouts, etc, seems fair enough and should be where the line is drawn.
July 13, 2010 at 11:07 pm
BTW, you can opt-out to share your data, but then you will be kicked for not doing so, lol
July 13, 2010 at 11:48 pm
I’m pretty happy about this, the UI has been a real problem for LOTRO (and all games actually) as everyone wants to take it in a different direction which is what this allows you to do.
Now granted, my enthusiasm is biased a bit but I am withholding final judgement until we see what all Lua has access to. If it is along the same levels we have now I’m all for it as it is just your own stuff.
I don’t want something to play the game for me, I just want the ability to make the UI my own and have it display the things I care about in the way I want to see them.
And, if you think about it, we already have our own DPS Meter – its called CStats
July 14, 2010 at 12:33 am
If it’s true people cannot use it to see your dps threat,..etc,..then I’m ok with it. I really don’t wanna turn it into the min/max game.
I have no intention of using it, will there be a situation where I will be frowned upon and kicked from fellowships? Sure hope not.
I have np with the ui as is. It would just be one more thing for me to break or some hacker try to hack me with.
I dunno who the ad wizards are coming up with these changes, but they seem to be doing everything BUT what we r asking for and well,..simply what every traditional mmo player wants. More content/lore/levels/crafting/landmass/expansions at a decent pace.
Give us the meat,..not just seasoning
July 14, 2010 at 4:05 am
This is kinda unfair to be honest. Letting the cat out of the bag on this, well before any NDAs are lifted.
This just lets everybody run with their own hopes/fears without anybody “in the know” being able to clarify the situation. Whether that be beta testers, or the devs actually involved in the project.
July 14, 2010 at 4:52 am
I put happy feelings about this on hold until I see what Add-Ons will be able to do.
UI improvements – ok with me. Things like Threatmeter, DPS compare, auto usage of skills, potions, etc – no go.
I will also limit Add-On usage because I remember from WoW the big hassle it was getting your Add-Ons up to date after a new release or patch.
I really enjoyed not having to deal with Add-Ons anymore after my transition from WoW to LotrO.
July 14, 2010 at 10:15 am
“This just lets everybody run with their own hopes/fears without anybody “in the know” being able to clarify the situation. Whether that be beta testers, or the devs actually involved in the project.”
Yup. If you’re in the beta you could say more about this, but apparently we’re not allowed to… so uh, sorry.
July 14, 2010 at 11:35 am
./Facepalm
Well, we’ll see how it works out. In the meantime, *googles “Lau programming tutorials.* Just another language for me to learn. ./sigh
July 14, 2010 at 1:24 pm
I’m kind of on the fence about this. Some of the WoW add-ons I saw (a quest tracker for one) are things LOTRO already has in-game and does better. If most of the add-ons are limited to being mainly fluff type stuff (inventory management and such), I’ll be fine with it. If it comes down to “needing” mod X Y or Z to raid effectively, that’ll be annoying.
July 14, 2010 at 4:47 pm
This should calm some people:
http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?&postid=4811387#post4811387
Snipped quote from Frelorn:
“what players can create are restricted to Gameplay API areas. They can change some of your UI elements, add built in HUDS and allow for things like a travel panel or a single window inventory bag. Our intent is to not allow players to make “plugins” that will give them any kind of advantage over other players. The main idea here is that LUA allows the players the ability to customize their user interface the way they want to. ”
If this hold true, it does not sound too bad to me.
July 14, 2010 at 5:14 pm
Excellent! Thanks for sharing the link too!
July 16, 2010 at 7:18 pm
I’ve wanted addons in this game since the start. However, I kinda got used to not having them. WoW has some REALLY convenient addons, that really add a great deal to the game. Several of these addons are now a part of the actual game because they were so useful!
One addon that I used in WoW was on my healer. It allowed me to heal by clicking. Left click, right click, shift click, alt click, etc. It was SOOO much faster and easier to heal this way.
I’ve hated healing in this game, even though I play both a minstrel and RK, now. I won’t even heal for a group, I hate it so much. It’s awkward, non intuitive, and slow. While some addons can hurt the game play, I only hope that a healing mod will be able to be developed to help me heal better in this game.
Inventory addons will be my next happy thought. I don’t like the bags right now, or the banks.
An improved AH interface is something I’ve asked for since day 1. It’s horrible in this game, although I’m happy it’s better than the one in DDO. That’s just abysmal. I hope the interface will help there.
Since I only solo now, or do small fellowship quests, a dps meter or aggro meter is a non factor. Although a DPS meter has been available in LOTRO since 2008. it only records your personal data, though, not anyone elses. cstats. It’s actually useful.
And for those that don’t know what a meter is used for (several people here) it’s used to help increase your damage. If you spam the same damage spell over and over, you’re not doing as much damage as you could be! It’s called a rotation! If you get your rotation wrong, you do HORRIBLE damage. When you get it right, even if you have poor gear, your damage will be much improved!
If someone is using it to exclude you from a group, there are other factors involved, and you should be happy they turned you down. They’re usually horrible people that you would put on ignore after the run anyway.
If, on the other hand, you’re just sitting there starting at the walls while everyone else is working their butts off, it will single you out as a serious slacker, and you will rightfully be dropped from the group. And don’t tell me you’ve never seen this before. I had someone put himself on follow and follow my minstrel around for 1/2 an hour, just soaking up XP and he wasn’t even there.
Addons are like any tools. If someone uses a hammer to bash someone’s head in, will you forever refuse to use one to hammer nails because it’s evil?
July 19, 2010 at 8:25 am
LOTRO needs this, the interface sucks
July 23, 2010 at 6:11 pm
This sux, addons destroy the level playing field we had.
July 25, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Look, for all the mods that people seem to be getting so worked up over all a player will have to do is go “anonymous” and I’m sure the mod will be just as unable to calculate gear and other such as would the person if they were to take the time to inspect someone and add up all the factors of gear/leg weapon stat bonuses/enhancements.
Stop worrying so much and just wait and see. Bejezus, people like to focus on the negative and assume only the worst. Do you think Turbine will allow players to be negatively affected by the mod factors they allow? I am almost positive that they will nuke the available mob-able factors that begin to impair the player base. I’m sure the allowed mod-able factors will only be allowed so long as they assist the general player-base and do not negatively segregate one portion from the rest in an elitist manner.
How many times have you seen Turbine allow a change that only benefits one portion of the player-base? They are pretty good, moors excluded, about trying to keep everything fair and as close to balanced as possible. That fact alone has probably kept WoW from taking a large chunk of the community back and is why a large part of the community has flocked to lotro from WoW.
Surely the past 4 years, including SoA Alpha/Beta through the present, has shown us that if someone pitches a loud enough bitch on the forums things tend to get nerfed, if not all out nuked, and that Turbine genuinely does take their players’ feelings and concerns into consideration when making adjustments to the overall playability and enjoyment of the game and generally doesn’t single out one group to benefit another. The amount of soloable content and character/play style customization added in the last couple years should point to that fact.
Less doom and gloom and more open mindedness, if not optimism, would probably allow for greater improvements and a world of opportunity, I’m sure.
August 5, 2010 at 3:54 am
Gear Score. Quickest way separate people. I often see new raid guilds w/ the advert that they don’t want to know your GS.
It is either loved or hated. I think there is a lot more to a player than a number.
But things like quest helper were actually something I liked. I never had many add-ons. Healed back when you just had to pay attention.
Then there were times that I’d download an add-on to make things easier, only to find it was just about impossible to figure out in the first place.
I suppose we’ll see.
August 22, 2010 at 12:21 pm
Bring it on. If any group complains that my DPS ain’t high enough then I don’t really care about playing with such losers. I’m in this game to enjoy myself and am quite capable of filtering out the stuff that makes it less enjoyable – well apart from grinding deeds. Some of the mods in Anarchy Online for instance were really useful and added to the enjoyment by cutting down on the tedium. I just hope we don’t go too far down the route of making this game so easy that you can just log in, switch on a few helpers and let it get on with things without you being there almost. I think the game has become almost too easy at the lower levels, time was you had to graft for your XP and needed the help of others, now I see loads of higher level players not in any guild just doing it alone. Not very multiplayer is it.
August 26, 2010 at 3:02 am
I for one am really excited for this. The one thing that always kept me going back to WoW was the modding community. I currently dislike the default layout of things and i would be happy to see some sort of API implemented to move ui elements around and maybe API to create custom unit frames. That’s all I care about. But it will be interesting for sure. I trust Turbine will keep gameplay in mind when working out the restrictions of LUA in the game.
October 17, 2010 at 9:15 am
I might be kicking a dead horse here but I lead many end game content raids in WoW. I DO REQUIRE. Ventrilo, DBM, Omen threat meter. Vent jsut makes sure we are all on the same page. (nothing wrong with that) DBM or “Deadly Boss Mods” is nothing but timers for attacks. And Omen well it makes sure the DPS knows if they need to ease up just a little. I run end game content, I am in the 3rd best guild on my server. And I am here to say 90% of the ppl who dont want there DPS seen have a reason to not want it seen. I dont remove ppl from groups for low dps but I do try to help them do better. If 24 other ppl are doing a lot nor DPS than you then you are only hindering the group and you need to work on your toon. Not saying “hey you suck L2P” jsut advising you to brush up and try harder. And if you dont want to thats fine. Go run with ppl who dont care if they get bosses down.
October 17, 2010 at 7:57 pm
I think you have a good point. If you handle the use of plugins in a good way people may be more apt to use them.
November 12, 2010 at 2:17 am
yea and another point, if you don´t play well you are out.