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Originally Posted by K1R4D3L
Some of us are just venting, to be sure...hijacking your thread to an extent to make a point. If we didn't like the game, we obviously wouldn't be here either. Completely agree with your barking cat metaphor. Apart from the API, I'm actually perfectly willing to accept the game for what it is, and isn't, feature-wise, knowing that Turbine will continue to slowly evolve and expand it, both in terms of pure content and minor features/capabilities. You'll never hear me whining about this or that missing game feature...like you said, it is what it is.
I do see the plugin/API platform a bit differently though - this is Turbine's opportunity to engage the community, to invest them in the game more deeply, and allow us to improve the game and ecosystem ourselves. True, the LotRO community hasn't put out resources like the site you point to for WoW, but how much of that is because many of those that could do such a thing aren't willing to invest that kind of time and effort without a more powerful/stable/supported API/data platform?
Why put in the effort if your ability to leverage it is minimal? Ask 20 plugin devs about their plugins and you'll hear more about what they wanted to do with their plugins but couldn't (or couldn't do right, or had to hack a solution for and then have to fix after every other game update), than what they did do. You're an example of someone who tried and is now moving on, at least partly because of frustrations with these limitations. How many other capable people that play or have played this game never even tried, for these reasons? I'm one. I think the community is out there, willing to engage more deeply...it's just the chicken-before-the-egg problem....
Even the lack of response to Dwamur's call-to-arms, though I think it deserves its own thread here and on the official forums, doesn't mean much. I'm not sure how many people that would be interested are even still watching. I only happened across this thread while looking for plugin updates. I could and would participate in such an effort, but until I hear about major upgrades to the API, I'm just not paying much attention. Chicken/egg.
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While I'm certainly not underestimating the value of plugins - it's important not to overestimate them either. Content will, in almost all cases, have a lot more value than plugins - and the plugin system is nowhere near as robust, and likely due to its implementation, never will be, robust enough in order to do so. So if it's a case of manpower - where those devs are too busy working on content to provide more in terms of API, then there's not much that can be done about that. Short of, begging WB to hire more devs.
And really, at least in my opinion, that's the real issue here. It's not that LotRO isn't solid enough to not gain an advantage from attention to these extra features; but rather that they simply don't have the manpower to make them more than side projects. Hopefully RoR is a hit, and earns Turbine some extra help in the dev department - because that's the only way I see plugins and the data API getting the attention and organization that it demands.