catching-up
Latest
The Road to Mordor: But what if I'm three expansions behind?
One habit that I'm constantly trying to break myself of is assuming that everyone who reads this column or plays Lord of the Rings Online is going through (or has finished) the most recent content that Turbine's pumped out. Over the past few weeks, I've had discussions with Massively staffers, guildmates, and podcast co-hosts who all have admitted to being way behind the content curve in LotRO, many to the point where catching up to the endgame crowd seems like an insurmountable task. As a particular person asked me, "But what if I'm three expansions behind? Is it even worth paying for all of these expansions and pushing myself to get to Rohan?" This is a valid concern and obviously one that several folks have, so for today's column I want to talk to those of you who aren't level 85. Maybe you haven't even seen the interior of Moria yet, or maybe you have been following the most casual, sporadic path through Middle-earth possible over the years. Maybe the one-expansion-per-year pace is actually pushing you away from the game. Here's what I think will help.
Catching up with the lore for patch 5.3
Okay, so let's assume for the moment you're interested in the advancing storyline for the Mists of Pandaria expansion as we head into patch 5.3, but are wondering if you missed anything or have just started leveling to 90 and want to make sure you get caught up with what's happening. Why is the Horde in such a tizzy? What's the Alliance planning to do? Who are the major players, and why are they doing what they're doing? Don't worry. We here at WoW Insider have been covering this all expansion, and we can help you get up to speed.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Matter of pact
We're back online in this neck of the woods, and that means that I can catch up on all of the things that I missed over the past week. And even within the fairly focused sphere of City of Heroes, there was a lot going on -- a headstart for subscribers, the removal of leveling pacts, more details on the rewards you can uncover for Signature Arcs, and the lowdown of the Seed of Hamidon event. Interesting stuff, all around, but it was the pact removal that first jumped out at me. One of the things that CoH has been loath to do over the years is remove things. That's part of why the game has become so all-encompassing for so many players -- every new system has built upon its predecessors, adding new options, moving in new directions. So the removal of one of the game's interesting features struck me as a little odd just because it's something that's nearly without precedent in its lifespan.
Lichborne: Playing catch up
Typically, every week, Lichborne has Daniel pontificating about the important aspects of the upcoming Death Knight class. This week, however, Zach takes over as Daniel is stuck in Ebon Hold on official Death Knight business.This week on Lichborne, we'll set aside looking at talents and abilities which seem very much in flux but instead focus on the potential problem of having to catch up with other classes. While the World of Warcraft's first Heroic class gets the advantage of jump-starting at Level 55, the reality is that a vast portion of the playing community will be trudging their way to Northrend while your Death Knight is just about to set foot in Hellfire Peninsula.The trouble with this is that Outland and all its instances will no longer be the endgame. For the Death Knight, Outland is merely transitionary to the new endgame and there are no real upgrades worth pursuing -- even in the Level 70 instances. Most blues and even the epics from Heroics will be quickly replaced within a few hours of questing in Northrend. Similar to how The Burning Crusade effectively killed instances like Stratholme, Scholomance, and Upper Blackrock Spire, most Death Knights will skip the high level instances in Outland. Lichborne regular columnist Daniel put up a great guide for Outlands gear, and those be... serviceable until you hit the new continent.
