Hi:
For a very long long time I have been a great detractor of Moria, which I usually referred it as "Boria".
I am an Alt-o-holic, thus I have 9 alts in the game, one per class type. I can now proudly announce I have gone thru Moria with all 9 of them, and had experienced Moria at all stages of evolution.
So let me walk you through my experiences with my Warden and Captain as they experienced the latest Moria...
The first rule, I observed was to ignore my previous experience, and let the developers of Moria direct me through their NPCs and quests to my next destination as opposed to base what I should do based on my 7 previous trips.
Great Delvin:
It all begins at the Great Delvin and the struggle to reach Dolven View. This part had been superbly redesigned in a previous upgrade of the zone, its very well done and the free goat upon getting to Dolven View is a very nice touch. The last quest upon completion on Dolven View and thus the Great Delvin sends me to my next stop: Silvertine Lodes.
Silvertine Lodes:
Silvertine Lodes had also been cleaned up on a previous upgrade, and its smooth and the volume of quests-at-a-time averages about 3 at a time, which is a reasonable load per mini-area or portion of the zone being explored. Nice and satisfying zone, the quests then sends me to Durin's way.
Durin's Way:
Durin's way has been upgraded, and its a pleasure to do, the added "teleport" goats eliminates the tedius or annoying travel, which was likely the biggest bad think about this zone, kudos Turbine. The stories and quests flow nicely as you traverse the northern length of Moria, and the quest density or volume is also appropriate. At the end of the quests in this fun zone, you are sent to the 21st Hall as a pit stop, but really you are sent to Water Works.
Water Works:
This zone had been reworked in the past, and made worse than the original offering, where you could get all the quests up-front and were do-able in a clock-wise path along the map and then you were done with the zone. The present incarnation has not been re-looked at. Water Works has some great adventures waiting here for you, but the quest density at times is bad, it gets down to to one at a time. Yet at least the adventures are clustered nearby so travel to and from is actually minimal. The real handicap of this zone is the lack of a direct horse/goat route between the Water Works and the 21st Hall. The quests from here sends you back to the 21st Hall.
21st Hall:
This mini-zone of Zelem Melek is the central hub for epic story line quests, and in itself has some great adventures to be done. The quest load is reasonable, and the travel to and from is not particularly bad. I do have an issue with this zone, and that is Bori's quests which eventually unlocks the 3 Moria Skirmishes such as the battle of the 21st Hall can get an inexperienced player to lose synch with the game flow, I did. Once I fell upon the 21st hall: If the ring was golden over an NPC, I did the quest. As a result of doing Bori's quests it forced me to go through zones before their times such as the Red Lodes, Flaming Deeps, and Nud Melek. Ignoring my deviation of the flow, 21st Hall sends you to take care the rest of Zelem Melek.
Zelem Melek:
This zone was greatly revamped, and I must simply say: "Wow" what a great job! You start with a friendly dwarf leading you to the next mini-area and you do your quest hubs there, upon completion you are lead by another dwarf to the next area, untill the zone is done; the use of teleport goats here is also a huge asset, also the quest load is about 3 per pass and you begin to experience the zone pick up quests which are tastefully done. From Zelem Melek you are sent to the Redhorn Lodes.
Redhorn Lodes:
This zone was greatly revamped, and it also passes the "wow" factor with flying colors. There is one suggestion about this zone I am compelled to make: The current set-up to get there, is you return from your last adventure at Zelem Melek back to the 21st hall, and the dwarf provides you a teleport goat to Orc's Watch, the entry point of adventures in the zone. It is greatly appreciated to have the teleport goat, but, the last adventure at Zelem Melek actually got you quite close to Orc's Watch, why not instead of having you return to the 21st Hall and then teleport to Orc's watch: Have another dwarf quest/guide you to Orcs Watch, I noted in this pass the quest where you activate traps and set pyres on fire were not present in this pass, perhaps they could be resurrected as a means to connect the last quest in Zelem Melek to Redhorn Lodes' Orc Watch. Now back to the review of the zone, you have the main entrance which gets you hooked up two more quest clusters, and Turbine was very thoughtful at adding teleport goats to connect the 3 main areas of the zone once unlocked. The quest volume in this zone is actually outstanding! The quests from Redhorn Lodes naturally sends you to the next zone: Flamming Deeps.
Flaming Deeps:
This zone did not get revamped much, but it was pretty good to begin with, and it was made better. This zone uses the zone quest pickup feature of the game quite successfully, and I really enjoyed adventuring through it. The use of teleport goats is wonderful. I do have a single issue with this zone though, the last quest that will send you to Nud-Melek puts the player in a solo mode against a rather tough Elite, I had been systematic about doing all the quests so I was 3 levels above the Elite, and I felt it was miraculous my Warden and Captain overcame the critter, but if I had to do so with my Loremaster, I would have given up and miss the connection between Flaming Deeps and Nud Melek. Perhaps the creature could be downgraded to a signature, and the quest be changed to a group enabled quest; I felt terrible at the time, for as I adventured through the Flamign Deeps players were geting the same quests as me, and we joined forces, I had a blast playing with my newly made friends, and then we hit the quest which was solo only, it was a sad experience.
Nud Melek:
This used to be a blah zone for me, but after the revamp, its a "Wow" zone, great job once more Turbine! The quest load is excellent and the flow of quests that eventually lead you to the first hall, is simply perfect. I must confess, I truly enjoyed this zone. After completing the quests of this zone, you are out and done with Moria! Congratulations you done it!
BIG ISSUE:
There is an issue with this, a big one: Foundations of Stones did not have a pointer or quest to send you there. When I did the Redhorn Lodes, I was skirting all over the entrance to the zone, killing spiders, unnamed ones, and fighters, but never got the direction to go to the Shadow Refuge. So after completing Nud Melek and inhaling the fresh clean air of Dimry Dale, I return to Moria and marched to the Shadowed Refuge.
Foundations of Stone:
This zone was also revamped but minimally and could use some more work, they did add more teleport goats but they are only one way, wish they were two way as the ones at the Redhorn Lodes, this zone has a lot of travel but the quest density is nice. I like this zone to an extent, its usually more challenging than the other zones, and I like the dreaful atmosphere of the place. This is best done in groups than solo, but yet it is quite soloable by any class.
One last observation:
There are a series of "Puzzle" riddles to be solved as you go through Moria; I missed or could not find the one that used to be in Zelem Melek the one with the 5 pictures to press in order. My main concern with the puzzles, is that there is no guide to point you to the next one, you either stumble upon them or go to them based on previous Moria experience. I would prefer as you solve each riddle and you return to the dwarf for the step completion, the Dwarf would say: "This reminds me of "Enter Dwarf Name Here" at "Enter Zone Name Here" coming across a riddle, why don't you go talk to him" Once you get to the zone, you meet with the Dwarf and he gives you a vague idea where he saw the plaque and you are on your way. Would be great if there was a riddle in each zone as well, so pursuing the riddle thread does not put the player out of synch with the main story line or thread, also it would be a great way to make sure players are going through Moria in the right sequence.
Conclusion:
Moria has been essentially fixed and its well worth the money and effort to go through it, and not the dreadful and boring place it used to be. It could be made better by:
1) Direct Horse Route between 21st Hall and the Waterworks
2) Changing the quest at Flaming Deeps that sends you to Nud Melek from an Elite to a Signature and to make it group doable.
3) Re-Synchronize Bori's quests sequence to unlock the three Moria Skirmishes, so players don't do zones out of sequence.
4) Re-vamp Waterworks quests so you don't go from initial three quests to two, then 1 and finally moved to the next hub where the quest load returns to acceptable, why not go to three quests in the up-front and then have the other 2 as auto pick-up quests?
5) Fast Travel Routes between Flaming Deeps/Redhorn Lodes/Waterworks with 21st Hall
Its impressive after all this time, all I can come up with is 5 recommendations, great job Turbine and design staff!
Sue, aka Acasta
For a very long long time I have been a great detractor of Moria, which I usually referred it as "Boria".
I am an Alt-o-holic, thus I have 9 alts in the game, one per class type. I can now proudly announce I have gone thru Moria with all 9 of them, and had experienced Moria at all stages of evolution.
So let me walk you through my experiences with my Warden and Captain as they experienced the latest Moria...
The first rule, I observed was to ignore my previous experience, and let the developers of Moria direct me through their NPCs and quests to my next destination as opposed to base what I should do based on my 7 previous trips.
Great Delvin:
It all begins at the Great Delvin and the struggle to reach Dolven View. This part had been superbly redesigned in a previous upgrade of the zone, its very well done and the free goat upon getting to Dolven View is a very nice touch. The last quest upon completion on Dolven View and thus the Great Delvin sends me to my next stop: Silvertine Lodes.
Silvertine Lodes:
Silvertine Lodes had also been cleaned up on a previous upgrade, and its smooth and the volume of quests-at-a-time averages about 3 at a time, which is a reasonable load per mini-area or portion of the zone being explored. Nice and satisfying zone, the quests then sends me to Durin's way.
Durin's Way:
Durin's way has been upgraded, and its a pleasure to do, the added "teleport" goats eliminates the tedius or annoying travel, which was likely the biggest bad think about this zone, kudos Turbine. The stories and quests flow nicely as you traverse the northern length of Moria, and the quest density or volume is also appropriate. At the end of the quests in this fun zone, you are sent to the 21st Hall as a pit stop, but really you are sent to Water Works.
Water Works:
This zone had been reworked in the past, and made worse than the original offering, where you could get all the quests up-front and were do-able in a clock-wise path along the map and then you were done with the zone. The present incarnation has not been re-looked at. Water Works has some great adventures waiting here for you, but the quest density at times is bad, it gets down to to one at a time. Yet at least the adventures are clustered nearby so travel to and from is actually minimal. The real handicap of this zone is the lack of a direct horse/goat route between the Water Works and the 21st Hall. The quests from here sends you back to the 21st Hall.
21st Hall:
This mini-zone of Zelem Melek is the central hub for epic story line quests, and in itself has some great adventures to be done. The quest load is reasonable, and the travel to and from is not particularly bad. I do have an issue with this zone, and that is Bori's quests which eventually unlocks the 3 Moria Skirmishes such as the battle of the 21st Hall can get an inexperienced player to lose synch with the game flow, I did. Once I fell upon the 21st hall: If the ring was golden over an NPC, I did the quest. As a result of doing Bori's quests it forced me to go through zones before their times such as the Red Lodes, Flaming Deeps, and Nud Melek. Ignoring my deviation of the flow, 21st Hall sends you to take care the rest of Zelem Melek.
Zelem Melek:
This zone was greatly revamped, and I must simply say: "Wow" what a great job! You start with a friendly dwarf leading you to the next mini-area and you do your quest hubs there, upon completion you are lead by another dwarf to the next area, untill the zone is done; the use of teleport goats here is also a huge asset, also the quest load is about 3 per pass and you begin to experience the zone pick up quests which are tastefully done. From Zelem Melek you are sent to the Redhorn Lodes.
Redhorn Lodes:
This zone was greatly revamped, and it also passes the "wow" factor with flying colors. There is one suggestion about this zone I am compelled to make: The current set-up to get there, is you return from your last adventure at Zelem Melek back to the 21st hall, and the dwarf provides you a teleport goat to Orc's Watch, the entry point of adventures in the zone. It is greatly appreciated to have the teleport goat, but, the last adventure at Zelem Melek actually got you quite close to Orc's Watch, why not instead of having you return to the 21st Hall and then teleport to Orc's watch: Have another dwarf quest/guide you to Orcs Watch, I noted in this pass the quest where you activate traps and set pyres on fire were not present in this pass, perhaps they could be resurrected as a means to connect the last quest in Zelem Melek to Redhorn Lodes' Orc Watch. Now back to the review of the zone, you have the main entrance which gets you hooked up two more quest clusters, and Turbine was very thoughtful at adding teleport goats to connect the 3 main areas of the zone once unlocked. The quest volume in this zone is actually outstanding! The quests from Redhorn Lodes naturally sends you to the next zone: Flamming Deeps.
Flaming Deeps:
This zone did not get revamped much, but it was pretty good to begin with, and it was made better. This zone uses the zone quest pickup feature of the game quite successfully, and I really enjoyed adventuring through it. The use of teleport goats is wonderful. I do have a single issue with this zone though, the last quest that will send you to Nud-Melek puts the player in a solo mode against a rather tough Elite, I had been systematic about doing all the quests so I was 3 levels above the Elite, and I felt it was miraculous my Warden and Captain overcame the critter, but if I had to do so with my Loremaster, I would have given up and miss the connection between Flaming Deeps and Nud Melek. Perhaps the creature could be downgraded to a signature, and the quest be changed to a group enabled quest; I felt terrible at the time, for as I adventured through the Flamign Deeps players were geting the same quests as me, and we joined forces, I had a blast playing with my newly made friends, and then we hit the quest which was solo only, it was a sad experience.
Nud Melek:
This used to be a blah zone for me, but after the revamp, its a "Wow" zone, great job once more Turbine! The quest load is excellent and the flow of quests that eventually lead you to the first hall, is simply perfect. I must confess, I truly enjoyed this zone. After completing the quests of this zone, you are out and done with Moria! Congratulations you done it!
BIG ISSUE:
There is an issue with this, a big one: Foundations of Stones did not have a pointer or quest to send you there. When I did the Redhorn Lodes, I was skirting all over the entrance to the zone, killing spiders, unnamed ones, and fighters, but never got the direction to go to the Shadow Refuge. So after completing Nud Melek and inhaling the fresh clean air of Dimry Dale, I return to Moria and marched to the Shadowed Refuge.
Foundations of Stone:
This zone was also revamped but minimally and could use some more work, they did add more teleport goats but they are only one way, wish they were two way as the ones at the Redhorn Lodes, this zone has a lot of travel but the quest density is nice. I like this zone to an extent, its usually more challenging than the other zones, and I like the dreaful atmosphere of the place. This is best done in groups than solo, but yet it is quite soloable by any class.
One last observation:
There are a series of "Puzzle" riddles to be solved as you go through Moria; I missed or could not find the one that used to be in Zelem Melek the one with the 5 pictures to press in order. My main concern with the puzzles, is that there is no guide to point you to the next one, you either stumble upon them or go to them based on previous Moria experience. I would prefer as you solve each riddle and you return to the dwarf for the step completion, the Dwarf would say: "This reminds me of "Enter Dwarf Name Here" at "Enter Zone Name Here" coming across a riddle, why don't you go talk to him" Once you get to the zone, you meet with the Dwarf and he gives you a vague idea where he saw the plaque and you are on your way. Would be great if there was a riddle in each zone as well, so pursuing the riddle thread does not put the player out of synch with the main story line or thread, also it would be a great way to make sure players are going through Moria in the right sequence.
Conclusion:
Moria has been essentially fixed and its well worth the money and effort to go through it, and not the dreadful and boring place it used to be. It could be made better by:
1) Direct Horse Route between 21st Hall and the Waterworks
2) Changing the quest at Flaming Deeps that sends you to Nud Melek from an Elite to a Signature and to make it group doable.
3) Re-Synchronize Bori's quests sequence to unlock the three Moria Skirmishes, so players don't do zones out of sequence.
4) Re-vamp Waterworks quests so you don't go from initial three quests to two, then 1 and finally moved to the next hub where the quest load returns to acceptable, why not go to three quests in the up-front and then have the other 2 as auto pick-up quests?
5) Fast Travel Routes between Flaming Deeps/Redhorn Lodes/Waterworks with 21st Hall
Its impressive after all this time, all I can come up with is 5 recommendations, great job Turbine and design staff!
Sue, aka Acasta
