Defintely not as good as first one

Why?

It's the same old game with a disappointing ending ... Not gonna spoil it here though

Also micro-transactions

Seriously ? Wow...what a POS :(

Is it already out?

Whole situation just seems really bad.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/74gw2p/...

Also:

Polygon reports that the games ‘4th act’ which unlocks the true ending, requires use of lootboxes or it will become a hopeless grind


Don't support these POS publishers.

You're not wrong about the 4th act, Shadow Wars, requiring a lot of grind to just unlock the true ending. However, it should be noted that the GameSpot review mentioned that if you level up your army and fortresses regurlarly during the main campaign - acts 1-3, you don't needto grind or need very little grinding to win the Shadow Wars in act 4.

The problem is that since the main campaign never gives the player a reason to do so - probably because it's too easy or the player is too overpowered, when the player reaches the 4th act, the player's army and fortresses are at low levels and have to fight the enemies and enemy fortresses that are at a very high level. Meaning you need to grind a lot in order to win.

As for "Legendary orcs are only available in paid loot boxes. Random lootboxes ingame will only give up to epic", that's actually "false" and "misleading" information. The first reply in that Reddit thread you linked to says - and provided a link:

"Flaired as misleading because IGN's reviewer encountered them without paid loot boxes."

From Dan Stapleton, IGN's Executive Editor of Reviews:

"You can absolutely 100% find and capture Legendary uruks in the wild in Shadow of War, without paying for loot boxes. This asshole killed me last night, in fact."

Source: https://twitter.com/DanStapleton/status/9159927436...

I know people love to find something to band together and rally against it in hate, but there's a lot of misinformation out there about the game, and many people seem to want the game to fail for no good reason. Or just because they hate WB Games - which I do too, WB Games is one of the worst publishers - or all the shit the publisher most likely forced the developers to put in the game, like micro-transcations, loot boxes, etc.

Which reminds me a lot of what happened to Mass Effect: Andromeda, which after completing it 100%, I can say that it certainly didn't deserve all the hate it got, specially by people who didn't even play the game. And it was this type of "horde mentality" of hate that killed the game and the franchise for the foreseeable future.

So let's wait to actually get the game and try for ourselves or at the very least hear other user's reviews after the game comes out before condemning the game unjustly. Otherwise this will become a trend and I can already see that many games and franchises will fail and die in the future for being wrongly condemned based on misinformation and hate.

My bad. When I read the thread last night it hadn't been flagged.

This game needs to be studied on how you can take such a great new IP (well a new IP game based on Lord of the Rings lol) and just destroy everything good you had going for it. Well done WB.

boycott it gamers get some self respect and morals, fuck these companies and everyone that works there and accepts this sort bs practice

Sorry but that's bs, don't screw hundreds of hardworking devs because of a publishe'rs shitty practices. If you want to play the game buy it but try not not to buy any lootboxes. They don't seem useful for the whole game except maybe the post game which requires some grinding. Boycotting games entirely is not the best solution unless the game absolutely requires you to buy microtransactions

That is not the point though, and I also get what sdarts is saying too. However, they won't stop with this. Loot boxes might seem a bit redundant (if that's the right word?) or even innocent enough *gasp* on the surface if you tell yourself that you don't need to buy them, and the same goes for any kind of microtransaction. The thing is, the fact that they are actually shoved in there has a very detrimental effect on how the game has been designed from the get go. Games that are infested with this shit will inevitably contain some kind of annoying as fuck gameplay strategy, or some other detrimental bugbear as a consequence, in order to plant a seed in the players head of dipping into their pockets and paying for bollocks they shouldn't need in order to progress. It's the carrot on the stick they dangle in front of the player.Almost mockingly, and cynically so. I'm talking about shit like grinding out stats, and making certain things next to impossible to obtain or find within the game, so much so that they are almost mythical. It's a joke. Make a fucking game for the game's sake and people who buy it. Not for the fucking microtransaction, lootbox, virtual currency, VIP access wank that's turning the game industry into a complete shitfest.

You're not wrong, though according to EuroGamer's review, it seems Monolith Productions didn't want to put loot boxes in Shadow of War in the first place - as they're very unpolished and feel like something tackled on late into development of the game, but WB Games ordered them to. To quote the reviewer's paragraph:

"The fact these chests aren't necessary, however, does little to diminish the awareness that they're very much a part of the game, especially when you're reminded of the market's existence by way of an announcement carousel every time you pause the game. With the market itself lacking the same polish as the rest of the game - the market keeper is an unvoiced orc who quite literally rubs his hands with glee when you make a purchase, by the way - it feels like something that was tacked on late into development at the behest of the publisher. Would it have been easier to ignore if the backlash to the announcement hadn't been so great? Possibly, but it still leaves a sour taste in the mouth."

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2017-10-05-middl...

So the EuroGamer reviewer also agrees with most of your sentiments about loot boxes. As for me, the fact that the loot boxes marketplace is shoved in your face everytime you pause the game is disgusting. Almost like a subliminal suggestion/advertisement way of trying to force the player to buy loot boxes. I really, really hope this shit doesn't succeed, otherwise more and more games will start doing the same.

Also, I believe the developers put that "greedy bastard rubbing hands with glee" animation when you make a purchase to show what they think of loot boxes in the game and as a way to mock WB Games and/or the players who buy them. Though I may be overthinking it. But it's odd that they would put such an animation like that in the game.

Monolith Productions are the developers of: No One Lives Forever franchise, Aliens Versus Predator 2, the F.E.A.R. franchise, Condemned franchise, and now Middle-earth: Shadow of franchise. None of these games had loot boxes or even micro transactions. Monolith Productions doesn't deserve to be screwed because of WB Games.

WB Games is one of the worst publishers around. People love to shit on Ubisoft, but WB Games is 10 times worse than Ubisoft in comparison. WB Games is a horrible publisher.

I just hope that the game doesn't fail commercially and WB Games decides to to blame Monolith Productions and fire many of the developers as a result.

boycotting is actually the ONLY solution. bitching on the net and buying a game anyway isn't going to change anything. but if the publishers wallets suddenly get lighter i can guarantee things will. sadly there are too many people like you unwilling to do whats necessary, so nothing will ever change. publisher will continue to shaft the consumer and we'll continue to bitch about it on the internet.

Thinking that publishers like WB Games, Activision and EA - all horrible publishers - will change their ways just because a game or even a franchise fails is very naive. In the end all you're going to achieve is get very talented and hard working people fired. A publisher will always shut down a studio or many studios even rather than learn from their mistakes and do things differently. This has happened time and time again over the years.

As for loot boxes, this type of nickel & dimming system will never go away by just boycotting 1 or 2 games which use it, for it to truly go away people need to boycott all games that use it, not just the ones they don't like. Overwatch, Destiny 2, Injustice 2, Forza Motorsport 7, Star Wars: Battlefront 2, Call of Duty: WWII and many other games all have loot boxes as well, but I don't see people boycotting these games.

Overwatch gets away with it because people excuse it as just for cosmetics, this on top of paying for a $60 game. Warframe, that is Free-to-Play allows you to buy all types of cosmetics with just in-game currencies. And even the cosmetics that are only available for buying with the currency that is bought with real money are easily obtainable through trading with other players for items they win by just playing the game normally. Still, Overwatch is an epic success for Activision becoming "the eighth franchise in the company’s portfolio to raise over $1 billion dollars", with Activision making "over $3.6 billion from in-game content sales in 2016" - in-game content sales includes Call of Duty Points, Overwatch Loot Boxes, and more.

Destiny 2 is making a lot of money for Activision as well, in a statement to the press Activision said Destiny 2 has "set a day one digital sales record" on the PlayStation store across all titles and it was the "biggest console game launch week of the year". Injustice 2 was declared by WB Games as the "highest-grossing console game in the second quarter of 2017". Forza Motorsport 7's sales are very well

I'm sure Star Wars: Battlefront 2 will sell extremely well, even though it has the worst loot boxes system of all of these games according to a Forbes article published yesterday, essentially making the game "Pay-to-Win":

"Battlefront 2’s boxes are unabashedly entirely about power upgrades. The “Star Card” system gives you flat damage upgrades, reduces damage taken, decreases cooldowns, gives modifiers to skills, doles out new weapons, and so on. The only cosmetic item I’ve even seen in a Battlefront 2 loot box so far has been a victory pose for the MVP screen."

Star Wars Battlefront 2's Loot Boxes Seem Like They're Going To Be A Serious Problem:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2017/10/08...

The same goes for Call of Duty: WWII, which not only has loot boxes in it, but will also give rewards for players who watch other players opening their loot boxes in the social Hubs called Headquarters.

If people really hate these types of nickel & dimming systems, then they should boycott "all games" which use them, not just the ones they don't like. Otherwise, you just simply don't like the game and not the nickel & dimming system itself. At least that's what publishers will think: "it's not the system, it's the game". So they will blame the developers, downsize or shut down the studio and still keep adding loot boxes to their games.

Loot boxes are clearly making a lot of serious money for these publishers, boycotting Shadow of War will not stop pubishers from adding this shit to their games. Not WB Games, let alone Activision, EA, Microsoft or any other publisher.

and so the talent moves onto other studio's under other publishers who will hopefully learn from the mistakes of others. if WB's game division and all who are employed by them has to fold in order to be an example to others, then i'm fine by that. if a publisher consistently gets lower sales for everything they release that has BS microtransactions or pay to win systems in them, then you can bet your ass they'll sit up and take notice.

as i say, boycotting is the only way things will ever change. but it only works if everyone is doing it. i don't buy games with this shit in them, i don't buy games that have forced, always online requirements. i don't care if it's an EA game, an activision game or a WB game, i don't care if it's COD or battlefront or shadow of war. what you're implying is we should just sit back and do nothing because it "won't change anything". that's a shitty attitude and a false one at that. as has always been the case as consumers, we vote with our wallet...i'll be voting with mine. but by all means, continue to lap it up and be part of the problem.

I never said "to sit back and do nothing", but getting good people fired and still not solving anything is foolish at best and malicious at worst. There's always solutions, but getting studios shut down isn't one of them. I will be onboard with any solution that actually solves the problem and does not get good people fired.

If you believe loot boxes aren't a thing that's here to stay no matter what, they you don't understand "Capitalism" and how it works. Loot crates are generating billions of dollars per year, and just like cosmetics, DLCs, micro/macro transactions, season passes, pre-order items, etc., it's here to stay. Unfortunately.

To be honest, if good people being employed means I have to accept loot boxes are a thing - which they already are - I will gladly accept it and will just ignore it if that means those good people and their families don't have to suffer.

These are just games, they're not more important than people's lives. Infinitely less a shitty greedy system in an otherwise great game. That to me is like 90-95% good with 5-10% bad. It's something all games have and you just deal with it, no game is perfect.

It's not fair to the people - and their families - who worked their asses off for years just to get screwed because greedy executives forced them to add shit to their game and they have no choice in the matter. Sometimes finding a new job means moving as well, try to think of all the implications and problems that arise when people lose their jobs.

If you remotely believe that is fair, because a game has a shitty system you can ignore in a multitude of ways, then you absolutely need to reevaluate your principles and core values. Or you're just entitled like those people who send death threats to developers just because they changed something and they didn't like it.

If you don't like the game, that's fine. You don't like the system, that's fine. You hate the publisher, that's fine. Desiring something good to fail even if good people get fired is ABSOLUTELY not fine.

As for you saying you don't buy games with this type of BS, you bought The Last of Us and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and guess what?!

The Last of Us:

"Taking a look at the options, some of it isn't too offensive. New gestures for $2.50 apiece? Fine. New hats at $7 for a bundle? Sure. We can all lament the fact that this cosmetic content would have been free, perhaps locked behind a cheat code in years past, but I won't fault anybody for giving some extra money to wear a plague mask. I'm not about to pony up for any of it, but it doesn't affect me that some people are willing to.

No, the more serious infraction here is in breaking one of the tenets of competitive multiplayer. Those who pay more should never have an advantage over those who don't. Unfortunately, that's exactly what the tactical weapons and survival skills bundles provide. Though it isn't utterly imbalanced with the premium content in play, the new guns and perks are often better than the base game counterparts. Not only that, but the loading screens are littered with advertisements, outlining just how great the new weapons and skills are."

"On top of all that, there's the immutable fact that Team Fortress 2 is a proper free-to-play title. It costs nothing to play, where The Last of Us potentially cost players $60 (or more for those who bought the original and upgraded on PS4). Adding free-to-play elements into a paid retail game would feel sleazy even if it didn't have measurable gameplay effects.

To reiterate, I think The Last of Us has fantastic multiplayer. The problem comes with the feeling that I need to spend extra money (on top of the money the game itself cost) just in order to compete. It isn't exactly pay-to-win, but it leans in that direction, and Naughty Dog does the game a disservice with this unnecessary cash grab."

Destructoid - The Last of Us multiplayer DLC is not okay
https://www.destructoid.com/the-last-of-us-multipl...

Literally far worse than anything in Shadow of War!

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End:

"Uncharted 4‘s lead multiplayer designer Robert Cogburn confirmed this in an interview with GameSpot, explaining that “microtransactions will be available at launch” but “no gameplay items will be gated through microtransactions.” Cogburn says that although microtransactions can be used to gain access to gameplay items (such as guns and upgrades) these will all be purchasable with in-game currency, so if the player doesn’t want to spend anything extra, they won’t have to.

Cogburn also reveals that the upcoming Uncharted 4 beta will offer a chance for Naughty Dog to find the right balance between the in-game currency grind and “incentivizing real-money acquisitions.” While using real data seems like the best way to do this (in Naughty Dog’s eyes at least), others may argue that the beta, which lasts just seven days, isn’t long enough for the developer to make any major decisions."

Uncharted 4‘s lead multiplayer designer Robert Cogburn confirms that the game will feature microtransactions, allowing players to purchase guns and upgrades.
https://gamerant.com/uncharted-4-multiplayer-micro...

Also literally worse than anything in Shadow of War since a player willing to spend on weapons and upgrades will immediately be able to get advantage over other players who decide to grind playing normally over time.Yes, you have voted with your wallet indeed. As you yourself put it:
"continue to lap it up and be part of the problem."

PS. You always had a problem with double standards and lying through your teeth. You absolutely accept far worse BS than anything present in Shadow of War as long as it's a game you like, but now you're saying you don't when it's a game you don't like. You can take your double standards and lying and go Fuck off!!!

If you don't see the difference between an online component and a single player one then i really don't know what to tell you. And comparing cosmetic shit to stuff that fundamentally shifts the way a game was designed is laughable. I mean, the shit you can buy in uncharted 4 MP is litterally no better or worse than the basic AK47 you start with.

And again, sitting back and doing nothing is precisely what you're suggesting. Just because you have a moral bug up your ass about the "poor innocent devs" doesn't change the fact that if people don't buy the game (they shouldn't) it will make publishers stop doing it. There is no finality to their inclusion. There is no "its here to stay, deal with it" if people do something about it now, things will change. Case in point, forza 7. They just changed the way VIP works because there was backlash. Complaining, protest, boycotts, they work. Instead of just sitting back and accepting every lump of shit that's sliding down your throat, you could maybe close your mouth for once?