Lotro-Wiki.com talk:LOTRO Store
Ok gang, got all the categories done and some of the premium items done. Like the project page says, gonna need a LOT of help with the higher tier crafting, I've got scholar covered. I also have up to tier 5 for woodworker and tier 2 for most of the rest. I'll try to get what I've got done in the Wiki first so we can be sure of what is missing and what needs to be found. Take a look at what's been done and let me know what you think. If I missed some guidline(like the tables I missed the first time :P) let me know and I'll fix it. Deadmanet 02:19, 11 November 2010 (EST)
Discussion points
I thought I should open up discussion on the points mentioned in the things to do section.
Bundled Offers
Figure out what Bundled Offers are?
- I think the bundled offers are the ones where you can buy all 5 stat tomes in one at a slightly cheaper price. Amphoras 07:14, 10 May 2011 (EDT)
- There's a crafting starter pack, which is also in the main Crafting section, and a bundle of riding skill + mount, which doesn't appear to be anywhere else in the store. The other subcategories don't seem to have anything in them, so I wonder if they're more like placeholders, or a spot for things that might go on sale for short periods of time. - Elinnea 12:06, 10 May 2011 (EDT)
Alternative availability
Possibly distinguish items as being available to be earned/purchased in game(not just store only), or availability for VIPs
- Based on feedback I'm seeing, this is something that people really want. A few ideas:
- Write a sentence note for each category or item. Probably the simplest, but could be unclear or unwieldy
- Add a column to the tables. Could have entry 'free for VIP' or 'Purchasable in-game'. This could get complicated because there are often many ways to earn something.
- Include an asterisk or other marker to indicate if something is available in the game. Right now a few of the 'Store-exclusive' cosmetics have this.
- Put the info in the tooltip or linked page for an item. Someone would have to know to click through if they want that information, but it would help keep the main page less cluttered. It would add clutter to the tooltip though...
- There are two separate issues: availability of purchase using in-game coin, and availability based on account type (VIP/premium/free), but in the store they get mashed together. Maybe there's a way to treat them separately? - Elinnea 11:31, 11 May 2011 (EDT)
Standardization
Possibly standardize table formats and contents (how to indicate #uses?)
We also need to think of some way of distinguishing between uses in terms of character vs. account and uses in terms of quantity. A good word wasn't coming to me last night . . . —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Rubyctook (Contribs • User Talk).
- I think 'quantity' sounds like a pretty good word actually. I was sticking with 'uses' for both because that's the term the store uses. - Elinnea 12:06, 10 May 2011 (EDT)
Page length
The length and amount of content on the page is problematic on some of the older computers I access the site on, and there's major amounts of content and images still missing. Anyone have any thoughts on whether or not to split it up, how it should be split? - Rubyctook 01:52, 10 May 2011 (EDT)
- I agree. Is there an easy way to have sections expand and contract, like with spoiler tags? That wouldn't help the loading issue, but it would make for less scrolling. The other solution would be to take out entire sections to different pages (Cosmetics, for instance) and just include a link. I try to minimize the number of clicks required to access information though. I think at the very least the big ticket items like quest packs and character slots should stay on the main page. - Elinnea 12:06, 10 May 2011 (EDT)
- Yes, you can change the table class to make a collapsible table and set whether it starts collapsed or not. See the top of User:Amphoras/Sandbox for it used on the store page. Amphoras 12:54, 10 May 2011 (EDT)
- Thanks for that. I added it to some of the longer tables. I couldn't bring myself to hide all of them though - some, like the quest packs and the housing items, are just so pretty with all the icons showing. I suppose that may not be the best rationale for making a decision. But it does seem a little silly to collapse a table with only one entry. Also I am really starting to notice the issue with load times for such a large page. - Elinnea 09:11, 13 May 2011 (EDT)
- Unfortunately, with the Decoration Items page, I have trouble loading the page with the collapsible tables, and I'm not sure if they'll help that issue much on the store page either. I agree that items like quest packs and slot expansions should remain uncollapsed/on the main page, so we should probably decide on which content stays and which is moved to a linked page so we can lessen the load times. I'd say the quest packs, and any expansion/upgrades that don't have long lists should stay, and most else should be moved. There's the question of how to group new pages, though - we could go with the categories used in the in-game store, of course, but the fact that the in-game store repeats items for sale might make that a little tricky. Rubyctook
- Not part of the LOTRO Store team (you guys are working hard!) but breaking the page up along the 7 headlines (Account, Character, etc) seems to be a good start for making the page a little more manageable. You could then use the main page to just sort of "summarize" each section, with a link out to the content on that page. You don't even have to do this with every section - if you really wanted to keep the quest packs, etc. on top, you could just spin out the other sections from Character on down. Sethladan 14:37, 13 May 2011 (EDT)
- I like this idea, of leaving the Account section here, writing a summary for each of the others and moving them to new pages. I think I'd change back the tables to the non-collapsible kind then, to make it easier to scan the page for what I want (also easier to see what's not done yet). Personally I like having it structured like the in-game store, because that makes it easier to find something to buy if I know where to look for it. There is a lot of duplication though,especially in the Buffs and Goods & Services sections. It would also be a pain to update everything if they decide to restructure the store again. But coming up with our own organization scheme could be even more difficult. - Elinnea 10:43, 19 May 2011 (EDT)
- Not part of the LOTRO Store team (you guys are working hard!) but breaking the page up along the 7 headlines (Account, Character, etc) seems to be a good start for making the page a little more manageable. You could then use the main page to just sort of "summarize" each section, with a link out to the content on that page. You don't even have to do this with every section - if you really wanted to keep the quest packs, etc. on top, you could just spin out the other sections from Character on down. Sethladan 14:37, 13 May 2011 (EDT)
- Unfortunately, with the Decoration Items page, I have trouble loading the page with the collapsible tables, and I'm not sure if they'll help that issue much on the store page either. I agree that items like quest packs and slot expansions should remain uncollapsed/on the main page, so we should probably decide on which content stays and which is moved to a linked page so we can lessen the load times. I'd say the quest packs, and any expansion/upgrades that don't have long lists should stay, and most else should be moved. There's the question of how to group new pages, though - we could go with the categories used in the in-game store, of course, but the fact that the in-game store repeats items for sale might make that a little tricky. Rubyctook
I took out a couple of the biggest sections, following the pattern Rubyctook used for the cosmetics. Already I've noticed the page is easier to load. One potential downside is that now someone can't search Ctrl+F within the page to find a particular item, so in my summaries of the store sections I tried to include common words (like "vault" "emote" and "riding") that I think people would search for. - Elinnea 12:58, 1 June 2011 (EDT)
Annoying aspect of the in-game store
I don't know how long this has been true, and I can (sort of) understand why it was done; You cannot look at things "beyond" your current "level"!
- I.e. you can't see a list of all Vault extensions... only the "next one" -- or if you have them all, you can't see any.
- Similarly, you can't see things like the crafting recipes beyond your current level of proficiency.
And while the "display items as a list" parameter sticks, both across store references and logouts... the damm "sort by" always pops back to "best selling" -- some kind of weird "oh were just like amazon" attitude no doubt.