Board Thread:Suggestions forum/@comment-26444332-20160330162225/@comment-26172435-20160418084120

It would indeed make sense to not only add Gondolinian gear to the game, as treasures to be found in quest destinations, treasure sites and as rare drops of NPCs/bosses. Gear from Angband and other dominant powers should also be part of the heritage that's spread throughout Middle-Earth's mounds, battle sites, dungeons and what not. Here another aspect of this subject crossed my mind: How did the relative quality (strength, durability, etc.) of gear throughout the ages develop? We know the Numenorean gear is superior to that of the Gondorians as that is specifically mentioned. And there are exceptional legendary items mentioned in ME history as well. But what about the relative quality of 'average Gondolinian gear' versus that of third age Noldorin origin? In general one could assume the smelters, smiths and designers of metals and gear should have been able to improve on their methods and final products quality throughout the ages. We're talking thousands of years of learning by doing in a fair number of very long lasting battles and conflicts. This would imply the 'average Gondolinian gear item' found in Troll treasure dungeons wouldn't be better than the third age Noldorin equivalent at all. Also, the thrid age smiths of Mordor and the Stiffbeards should be able to deliver better quality products than their first and second age predecessors of Angband and Nogrod. Right? If so, I'm quite certain many of the users who kudoed this thread will be a bit dissappointed about the implications this has for the game. Chances will be high that their contemporary gear has better quality stats than that of ancient gear acquired through treasure hunts, quests or slaying scavenger warriors. Only if you're exceptionally lucky you may stumble upon some legendary piece of gear ... or focus on hunting for Numenorean remains. Does this make sense or am I missing some relevant point here?