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The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth
What a difference a year makes, eh? One year ago, and you didn't have to put up with me yammering at you every Friday like a hyperactive badger with a personality disorder. One year ago, and we weren't free-to-play-anything, Turbine was its own company, the festivals were nowhere near as cool as they are today, and shrews freely roamed the land without fear of reprisal. So in my last Road to Mordor (of the year, stop rejoicing over there!), I thought it'd be great to look back at the wild rollercoaster that was 2010 in Lord of the Rings Online. I also thought I'd get an easy column out of all this, but that was before I had to read through 1,337 posts and my eyeballs began to lose pressure. January Stuff happened. Let's move on.
The Road to Mordor: Luck be a lady tonight
During this past week in the wild world of Lord of the Rings Online, we were treated to a snippet of exceptionally good news: The LotRO lotteries are back. Some of you might be indifferent to this news, some might be overjoyed, and some -- I'm guessing -- are totally puzzled about what this all means. Considering how many new players have immigrated to LotRO this year and how long the lottos have been out of commission (several months now), it wouldn't surprise me if a player hadn't even heard of these at all. Simply put, the lotteries are a "for fun" bonus that Turbine implemented to give all players a chance to win some nifty in-game items. These winnings can include anything from beer to gold to housing items to mounts. It really depends on your luck and how generous the devs are feeling any given week. Some of the lottos have huge payouts, while others deliver prizes as silly and paltry as a single lump of coal. So if you're new to the LotRO lotteries -- or just need a refresher course -- hit the jump and let's suss this thing out!
The Road to Mordor: Forum diving
[Special note: Obviously, the news that LotRO is going free-to-play hit after this article was already written, so stay tuned as we dissect what it means for existing and potential new customers next week!] Lately, it feels like we're in a holding pattern for Lord of the Rings Online. The last major content patch, Volume III: Book 1, is fading into distant memory, and we're pushing into summer without definite news of the next update -- or better yet, the next expansion. Players are also nervous about any changes or new directions the game may take after the recent acquisition of Turbine by Warner Bros., and the silence certainly doesn't help any. However, there's always hope in the darkest places of Middle-earth, and the same can be said for the game itself. The Summer Festival should be around the corner, and as for new news, Sapience handed out a bit of vague encouragement on the forums: "You guys know we're preparing an announcement. I can't give you a specific date as to when we'll make it, but I can say I just ran into Adam Mersky coming out of an E3 planning meeting and he was pretty stoked!" While we continue the wait for the next step forward for LotRO, I thought it'd be a good idea to head over to the official forums and do a little diving for some of the more interesting topics and discussions bouncing around the LotRO community today.
Turbine bears proof of fan-power in LotRO
"Powered by our fans" is the well-known motto of Turbine, quoted ad infinitum by said fans, both as proof of a company that understands and a company that's fallen out of touch. While gamers debate this, the devs stand by the company's efforts to keep in touch with what their players want and to deliver it to them. In a recent post on the Lord of the Rings Online forums, "TheStormKing" challenged Turbine to provide clear examples of how player suggestions have made an impact on the game. The answer was a bit shocking and awesome -- Sapience came back with a massive list off the top of his head of changes made to LotRO because of demands and ideas by the playerbase. These included revamping mounts, housing, fishing, shared storage, new travel routes, being able to skip the tutorial, the quest tracker, UI customization, the Rift skirmish and a whole lot more. You can read the whole list here, and see whether it gives credence to Turbine's motto. And if you ever wondered whether devs played the same game the players do, Sapience sets the record straight on that as well: "Someone asked if I play. Yes I do (and have for a long time, even before I started working for Turbine). My entire family does. Between us we have almost every class to 65." [Thanks Lotro Weekly!]
Festival horse vendor removed from Lord of the Rings Online
Did your goals for Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival include getting yourself a spiffy horse? Well, you're going to have to wait just a little while in order to get your hands on one. How long? We don't know yet. What we do know is that the vendor has been removed entirely, thus preventing players from even gazing longingly at the listing in the menu. As Sapience explained on the forums, the issue wasn't really the vendor so much as the horse itself. To wit: the way the game is handling mounts is being changed. As a result, they need to change the item, remove the item from the vendor's list, or remove the vendor entirely until the issue is resolved. However, the former two changes require a patch, and the issue is kind of small for an entire patch -- not to mention that it's the sort of fix more easily rolled into a larger patch. While it's bad news for Lord of the Rings Online players, it's at least nice to get a quick and clear explanation on why the vendor got yanked. [ via A Casual Stroll to Mordor ]
Turbine's RMT Manager position not for any current games
With RMT being the hottest topic of 2009 MMO gaming news so far, we recently ran a post about Turbine's job listing for a Microtransaction Manager. This news was not met with many open arms, as the most vocal RMT detractors spoke up against the speculation that this position could be for one of their favorite Turbine MMOs.Well fret no more, oh saviors of the subscription plan. In a recent post on LotRO's official forums, Turbine's Sapience clears up the confusion and speculation: "We know the recent job listing has caused a bit of a stir, but please be aware that this posting is for an unannounced future project. We appreciate the thoughts and feedback on both sides thus far."[Thanks Tony!]
