376 replies to this topic

[Dalf32]

yea thats a really good idea, id like to see that in game.
powers wise i would say small hobbit leadership, and perhaps what yoda said (too lazy to scroll up). the leadership mainly because the other hobbit heros have some extra powers and giving him only 2 just wouldnt be fair!

[Rafv Nin IV]

All Bilbo has is toggle. So I dunno what you're talking about.

[Dalf32]

ok, most of the other hobbits; pippin has like 3 powers methinks.

[shadowcreature]

@Ravnin
We're not talking about Bilbo. We're talking about a possible Hobbit hero for Arnor.

@Dalf
I'm pretty certain that's right.

[Ouranos]

I thougt bilbo wasn't finished yet.

[shadowcreature]

In the current public beta, no he isn't. As of right now, I have no idea on the progress.

[Thingamigig]

a good hobbit hero for arnor would be...ummm i was thinking either bullroarer took or deagle

[Ouranos]

a good hobbit hero for arnor would be...ummm i was thinking either bullroarer took or deagle

Deagol lived in the gladden fields not in Arnor so it would be strange for him to be part of the arnor faction.

[CIL]

Hobbits should be cheap as hell, but you can only have 3 or 4 groups of them. That would keep people from super spamming.

[dojob]

No, limits are boring and are, imo, a cop-out when it comes to balance.

[Dalf32]

how intimidating is a hobbit spam anyways? they are not terribly cheap (not like orcs or goblins) and they are not only weak but have small battalion sizes. by themselves they really cant win a match for you imo.

[CIL]

It's just too un-Tolkien-like to have 200 Hobbits running around the battlefield. They don't really take up that many cp, either.

Edited by Crazy Intellectual Liberal, 23 August 2008 - 08:23 PM.

[BMWteen]

i agree with CIL like 5 groups or scrap them i say!

[CIL]

Yup, the exception would be SotS where you would start out with a lot and be able to have more. But only then. And that's the last mission in campaign (that's been announced, formally or informally).

[Devon]

So will dwarves be able to get men of dale on any mission other than erebor? Will goblins not be allowed spiderlings unless fighting in mirkwood or cirith ungol? Will elven units be only available for specific regions? Will your harad/rhun subfaction choice be prechosen based on the map?

[Dalf32]

yeah you are taking the lore way too far and sacrificing gameplay for it. its a slippery slope and if you are going to enforce the lore here, you must then also enforce it somewhere else. if you think its unlike tolkien to have more that 20 hobbits on the battlefield at any given time, dont buy more than 20 hobbits at once. dont try to shove it down everyone elses throat.

[Jaguar6]

Don't forget not being able to play as any of the factions in places they didn't go. So in other words you can't play Dwarves in Harad, or Goblins at Minas Tirith, or even Isengard in Lothlorien. You are completely forgetting the "what if" part of the game.

[Argeleb]

If u think that Dwarves should not be in harad, don't play with dwarves in the map harad! And this topic was supposed to be for hobbits :O

[dojob]

If u think that Dwarves should not be in harad, don't play with dwarves in the map harad!

Exactly, and if u don't want to fight with Hobbits being the Shire, then don't use them! That's part of the logic that we (including Jaguar) have been using in favor of keeping Hobbits; he was just exaggerating to make it clear how stupid it would be to limit Hobbits by comparing it to something that's also stupid.

Edited by dojob, 24 August 2008 - 02:34 PM.

[{IP} Aridor]

This is a copy of another post I did that covers a few issues in this topic.

Good lord. This is ridiculous. So much strive over such a little people. Well I am never one to avoid an argument so I'll submit my two cents, and correct a few annoying errors that people have said.

The first thing I would like to address is this ridiculous notion that hobbits were mighty warriors. They aren't. Why? Because they are half the size of nearly everything, have no martial traditions, and disliked disturbing their lives. That being said Hobbits are stated as having greater inner fortitude and courage than any other race. They are fat blobs of laziness nearly all the time, but when pushed hard and threatened they resist far harder and longer than anybody else. We see examples of this in Gollum, Sam , and the other three hobbits. Smeagol is a prime example of this great inner fortitude. He resisted the ring far far longer than any other race could have. Gandalf himself said this. If another person had held on to it that long they would have completely under gone the wraithing process. Sam shows the great courage that these little people had when he singlehandedly takes on Shelob, a monster that had killed far greater warriors on the past. Then with the scouring of the Shire we see these fat little people take on a group of men that could easily have killed them. They won not with strength but used their brains and outwitted the big oafs. Though it was only under the leadership of the four heroes. So as far as the game goes, they aren't the best fighters but should be useful if used intelligently. How to do that is left for later.

Now some people say they shouldn't be in because they were that important. Well all of the War of the ring revolved around these little people, so they are very important. Though it is valid to say that though they were central to the story they weren't central to the battles. This is very true, so clearly we don't want them for any faction then Arnor, whose storyline intersects the only time it is noted that Hobbits fought in large numbers. We know of two instances, the battle of greenfields and the fall of Fornost. Now neither of these battles had a large amount of hobbits, but they were still there. A larger force at the Battle of Greenfields, but this was their homeland they were defending, and a company of archers to Fornost. To correct a minor annoying error by Crazy Lib, a company is not less than thirty people. It is around 100. A Regiment is roughly 1000. So even though the hobbits send a small force they still sent them. And it must be remembered that there were hobbits outside of the Shire at bree.

As to what weapons the hobbits should use, it is said that at the time of the war of the ring very few hobbits had swords, so even though I don't think anybody is suggesting that I wanted to head that off. Sticks and stones seem like they make sense, that is what the sheriffs used, but it is silly. No self respecting hobbit would take on an enemy with a stick. A stick is good for beating a wild animal or ruffian, but they wouldn't be so stupid as to go in to real battle with a freaking stick. They would grab their axes, knives and farm tools. So I would replace the stick with an ax or other random farm tool. Now the pitchfork hobbits make good sense. If you were a hobbit and you were getting attacked by horsemen what would you do? You would grab the longest pointy thing you had and try to stab the horse. This would be a pitchfork, they are farmers. Now oddly enough this might be slightly effective. Due to the hobbits hight. The pitchfork would act like a long spear to a man. Now not the best defense but these are supposed to be your weak early game unit. Due to the half hight of a hobbit the sword of a horseman would not reach the hobbit so the only option is to trample, but this in turn leads to the oppertunity for the hobbit to strike at the underbelly of the horse. The stones are interesting, and a nod to lore, but in battle a thrown stone would not do much damage. They would use their weak hunting bows. Lo and behold that is what they actually did. So make the stone in to a sling or bow, and the stick into an ax or knife.

Now to gameplay, the hobbits aren't supposed to be strong, but they would still be useful. Recall I said the hobbits fought with brains not strength. In game play this is hard to achieve, but what is the most useful and notably attribute about hobbits? They are stealthy as, if not stealthier, then elves. So if you reduce the fighting ability of the hobbits but give them stealth they prove far more useful early on. Not as fighters but as distracters. Of course they should be weak and cheap, but they should be useful. The renaming thing is a ridiculously tiny issue. There was no standing Hobbit army; there was no organization. When they did fight the male hobbits just grabbed what ever weapon they had and joined together. Some leading hobbit, like the Thrain, master of Buckland, or the mayor would just lead them.

In conclusion, the hobbits are an integral part of middle earth and they need to be included. They aren't good fighters but they are brave and smart. They would use any sharp pointy thing as a weapon not sticks and stones. Arnor is the only faction that makes sense to have them. The pitchforks fill a vital role and could possibly be effective in reality. The hobbits also need stealth this is a very important part of what a hobbit is.


P.S. I can kill you with my brain.

P.P.S. Anybody get that joke reference?