Ever since SSG increased its use and contents with the Mordor expansion, LOTRO’s lockboxes have been a sore point among players who have heavily criticized the feature. This situation might be getting uglier with next week’s Minas Morgul release, as the latest lockbox offerings look to be leaning more on the pay-to-win-by-chance side of things.
Of particular concern among Minas Morgul beta testers is the presence lockbox gear that allegedly has better stats then the first two tiers of the new instance boss drops, as well as choose-your-own essences that are more convenient than the landscape RNG variety. In short, these lockboxes can help some players pay to shortcut endgame progression and gearing. Various potions that are included have raised red flags, although SSG did say that it would look into the values of these.
Some players are asking for a further delay of the expansion to allow for more testing and balance refinement for lockboxes, classes, and content. It should be noted that the new zones and stories are getting some praise here, as well as an overhaul to the daily “Hobbit presents” panel, which now looks spiffier and hands out virtue XP.
Source: LOTRO forums. Thanks Marcus!
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