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LotRO Book 12 introduces Delving of Frr PvMP dungeon
Along with everything else we've talked about to be expected with Book 12, the official Lord of the Rings Online website has now confirmed that a brand new PvMP dungeon will also be introduced with The Ashen Wastes. It will be called the Delving of Frór, and is reached by going through the Ettenmoors -- but it won't be as simple as just walking in. Either the Freeps or Creeps will need to control a minimum of three out of five points in the Ettenmoors before they will be allowed access. Even while one faction is inside, leader status can change hands, resulting in the flushing out of one faction by the other. The former controlling faction inside the dungeon will no longer be able to receive reinforcements from outside, and death will cause them to respawn outside as well.There's plenty of reasons to want to gain entry to the Delving, as there will be five raid bosses, more than fifteen group bosses and even lots of solo content inside. Anything killed inside will not only have a chance to drop the same loot as Ettenmoors mobs, but there will also be a new set of barter items to collect. Freeps use these for new weapon and armor sets, and Creeps can obtain new skills (full list posted after the break). This whole system is very reminiscent of Dark Age of Camelot and Darkness Falls, which also centered around controlling areas to be allowed access to a dungeon with great rewards, and the inevitable flushing out of an opposing faction when control changed hands. Nevertheless, it looks as though this will provide lots to do for fans of PvMP when Book 12 hits.
LotRO Book 12 rewards for chapter 10 revealed
Over at the official Lord of the Rings Online forums there is a thread containing some dirt on the new rewards coming in Book 12. Upon finishing chapter 10, players can expect to receive a very nice looking cloak. Everybody knows that a top quality magical cloak is one of the most important things in life. Some might say the reward (pictured above) looks a bit festive, but we suppose that's just personal taste.If you're curious about the actual stats for these babies, they're just after the jump.
New Book 12 screens released by Turbine
The Book 12 content patch for the Lord of the Rings Online is on the test server and Turbine has dropped a few tantalizing hints of what's in store. They released brand new screenshots covering three of the many features being implemented in this patch: Amarthiel's redesign, new boss-dropped trophy decorations and the outfit system.If you've gone through the Book 10 epic quest line, you'll know Amarthiel well. She's the sorceress with the palanitr you had to track down with the aid of crazy Sara Oakheart. The three screenshots provided show a new and improved Amarthiel in all her megalomaniacal glory.The housing decoration options shown in four of the screenies are the new trophies that will be dropping from Middle-earth's boss mobs in Book 12. These trophies can then be displayed in the players house or, more likely, the Guild Hall. We can see so far a mannequin holding up a suit of armor, two swords mounted on a wall, an outdoor trophy in the shape of a monument and, finally a head on a pike (or the Elven babe lounging on the bed, we're not sure which one is the prize).The new cosmetic outfits that your character can put over their battle gear are also on display in six screenshots. They spotlight many different races and classes and now they no longer looking like patchwork dolls. Some of these new clothes will be crafted, other items can be vendor purchased. If you look closely at the the picture of the Elf outside the Guild Hall, you'll see one of the new quiver models on his back.When this patch goes live it will only be a matter of time before we see the first screenshot of a raid party confronting the Balrog in pretty pink dresses.%Gallery-14799%
Looking ahead during Turbine downtime
All Turbine game servers are down today for their once-ever-other-Monday scheduled maintenance. Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online and Asheron's Call players, we hear your pain. What to do until the servers come back up at 2pm EST today? Instead of trolling the official forums, we'd like you to look ahead at what awaits you. For LotRO, Book 12 is now on the test server with its revamps to the Guardian, Burglar and Champion classes as well as the Barbershop and the cosmetic Outfit system and polish pass on the high level solo zone, Angmar. Also, last week's dev chat dropped quite a few hints on post 12 plans.DDO is not to be outdone with its upcoming Module 6 content patch. Our own Mike Schramm got a hands-on tour from the devs. Not only did he get a grand tour of what is to come this week when the Module goes live, but hints of what Turbine is planning throughout the year for this title.And finally, Asheron's Call is looking forward to...um, 9 more years? We'll look into it and get back to you on this one.
LotRO dev chat reveals hints of the future
Deep into testing in Book 12, Lord of the Rings Online devs had little to reveal about the upcoming content patch that wasn't already announced. The juicy parts of this chat are the hints the devs dropped about long range plans for the game.Fly like an Eagle: New variants of land mounts obtained through future patches and Festivals are mentioned, but more importantly the dev team is exploring "a new type of mount to take you into places horses would dare not go." Eagle ride anyone? And can you imagine the rep grind to get friendly with the Eagles? Roll up that Lore-master now.
LotRO Book 12 patch notes land on the test server
The long awaited Book 12 content patch has hit Roheryn, the Lord of the Ring's Online test server today. The lengthy patch notes are available on LotRO's official wiki, the Lorebook.The Ashen Wastes, as this patch is called, offers no new adventure area, but revamps the existing high level outdoor zone, Angmar. The area got a big polish to smooth out quest progression, mob level dispersion and general flow and playability. Honestly, the zone needed it in a bad way, but since many players are at the level cap was this done for alts or new players? We're glad to see this clunky zone get the dev loving it needed before the game launched, but we're not sure how much of the player population will get to appreciate it.Class revamps continue with three classes getting the once over: Guardians are getting a DPS stance for faster soloing as well as a mixed bag of nerfs and buffs to their bread-and-butter tanking ability with a sprinkle of new utility skills. Burglars, the debuff class, are getting a new buff that affects many of their existing crowd control skills, new abilities to use after a successful Fellowship Maneuver and the ability to bring a friend into stealth. Plus, clubs! Champions, the melee dps and off-tank class, are getting a new stance that balances offense and defense skills. Also, their tanking stance is being granted at an earlier level and many of their Legendary skills are getting reworked. The LotRO devs tend to do more good than harm with class revamps. There's some guarded optimism by the classes affected. Once the changes go live and players have a chance to try them we'll see if the tweaks have the desired effect.In addition to all that, there is the new Outfit System and Barbershop functionality, the reintroduction (again) of Troll/Ranger PvMP combat, the introduction of the Ettendeep (a new large PvMP dungeon), and, of course, the continuation of the Epic Story quest line. There is a metric ton of other patch notes to go through including small changes to almost all classes and tradeskills, new housing features, improvements to repuation gain and much needed relief for those farming for their Legendary pages. And let's not forget new tools to fight the brazen and ever present gold spammers.We'll have more analysis as we dig into the Test server.
LotRO Outfit System and Barbershop details revealed
Lord of the Rings Online's next content patch, Book 12, is shaping up to be full of great additions to the game despite its lack of a new adventure area. Today the Turbine devs posted a new Dev Diary to explain more fully how they're going to implement two long-requested cosmetic features: the Outfit System and the Barbershop.At level 20, the Outfit system allows players to equip a second (and third!) set of gear. This gear doesn't provide any stat boosts or buffs, but will change the outward appearance of your avatar's equipment. This system will be disabled in PvMP to prevent players from tanks disguising their heavy plate with light cloth. New dresses, satchels and other non-combat equipment will also appear in the game with this patch.This is a great feature for a game where lore and roleplaying have such a large fanbase. Though not the first to do it (EverQuest II also has this feature), it's a welcome addition to the world of Middle-earth. If only Blizzard would get a clue and implement the same idea for those of us without armor sets. Looking like a clown at a kid's party with mismatched and garishly colored armor does not make one feel heroic.The Barbershop acts like the character creation screen. Want a new hairstyle? Regret coloring your toon's hair white? Need to add a scar to reflect winning a recent raid? Players will be able to do all this, plus a number of new hairstyles will be added.We're still am not convinced about the importance of facial features in game where you stare at the back of your character's head the whole time, but at least you can turn off helm/hood graphics so hair style and coloring choices still have impact.Book 12 just hit Roheryn, the Test server. We'll have a write up covering the notes shortly.
Turbine spills all the Champion update beans
Turbine has been concocting major revisions to the classes of The Lord of the Rings Online since launch. In the forthcoming Book 12 update (now titled "The Ashen Wastes"), the Guardian and Burglar classes will get full treatment, but Champions will see some boons as well. Those boons have been detailed in the latest dev diary entry.As we learned on the forums a while back, Champions will receive "Ardour," a new stance which strikes a balance between offense and defense. Previously, they had only the mostly-useless default and the haphazardly offensive Fervour stances until late in life. Glory, the defensive stance that they presently get at level 46, will be moved all the way back to level 30, because the 30s are arguably when Champions are most often called upon to tank.The class will also get some major revamps to its Legendary Skills. If you want all the minute details, Turbine reps went even deeper on the official forum. We Champs have a lot to look forward to!
Let the Month of the Burglar begin
The Burglars of Middle-earth should be happy about Book 12 -- of this we can all be sure. We had the months of the Minstrel and the Hunter, and so on, but it's Burglars' turn for some lovin'!Turbine has finally all-out announced the Month of the Burglar, and laid out Book 12's changes to the class for all to see. Burglars will get a new a new toggle skill called "Mischief," by which Tricks, Trick removal skills, and Riddle will be cheaper and more frequently usable, respectively. Two new skills are also available in Mischief mode -- Clever Retort and Confound.They'll also get the previously-announced ability to bring a friend into stealth mode with them, a position-sensitive strike, some Fellowship Maneuver Response Skills, and perhaps most awesomely, the ability to summon a vendor to sell stuff to. Oh, and they'll finally be able to use clubs. And there will be equipables that will beef up Fellowship Maneuvers.Phew! Surely all that is worth the wait, right?
LotRO dev diary details Book 12 Guardian retooling
As promised, a new Lord of the Rings Online dev diary has surfaced giving excruciating detail on the changes to the Guardian class in the upcoming Book 12 content patch. The short version is: tanking is getting both buffs and nerfs; a new dps stance is being added along with new dps skills; and new utility abilities are coming.Let's take these one section at a time, shall we?TankingThe good news is the new defensive abilities the Guardians are getting. Shield Wall will allow the tank to take all the incoming damage targeted at another party member. And Fray The Edge is a new ranged single-target taunt that is stackable and has a chance of triggering a Fellowship Maneuver.The bad news is some current defensive skills are overpowered and are getting tweaked. Shield-taunt will no longer put the Guardian at the top of the threat list, but will add significantl threat. And the Deep Breath ability that allows Guardians to prematurely end the cooldown of many of their skills is getting it's cooldown significantly increased.There are some other tweaks, but the bottom line for Guardians in defensive mode is they are going to have to change their playstyle a bit. They have relied on some ability mechanics that are making their job too easy in some cases, especially in Raids.Before the wailing and sackcloth and ashes get going, remember two things: the devs are trying to balance the game to make it challenging and every game does class revamps. No one hates you. Well, except that Minstrel that kept dying in your pick up group, but aggro control is everyone's job, right?Read on for the really good news.
Last LotRO dev chat of 2007
German Lord of the Rings Online site, Lotro-welten, held their last monthly LotRO dev chat on Friday. Unlike some previous dev chats, this one had some juicy bits. Most of it focused on class improvements in Book 12 which is expected to land on the test server Roheryn very soon in the new year.Hunter tweaks are going to be focused on solo survivability and increasing dps in a way that makes sense for the class. Examples of what they have planned include boosting Focus by 3 when the Hunter uses their Blindside melee strike+bow shot ability. This will allow the Hunter the Focus they need to fire off their high damage Penetrating Shot ranged attack. Also, Fear will not be broken by any DoTs that were already on the target when the Fear is applies. And the high damage Merciful Shot will revert back to being usable when the target is at 50% health instead of 25%.The devs also elaborated on the Guardian changes coming. They will be receiving a new dps stance that will open up a new set of skills to use. This is designed to be used with 2-handed weapons, but can be also used with sword and shield in hand. Guardians will also be getting a new talent which will allow them to divert all incoming damage on a single target to themselves. This will not be stackable, but will be usable in Player vs Monster Player combat.
Turbine adding to their arsenal for gold-spammer warfare
No one likes gold spamming. It's intrusive and annoying, and takes away from your enjoyment of a game. In Lord of the Rings Online, spam in the chat channels has been cracked down on in a big way recently, so the spammers have gone back to doing a lot more mail-based spam. A recent post on the official forums clued us in on what's next for the on-going battle in the spam wars.Book 12 will include an option when viewing mail to "Report as Spam", greatly increasing the ease of reporting a character for the player, and getting the information back to Turbine much quicker than before. But the really big weapon here is a solution that should already be in place: "...and we now have the ability to delete all mail sent by a character, so some of it you'll never see at all before it's nuked." The ball is in your court spammers.
Last scheduled downtime this year for LotRO
The Lord of the Rings Online servers will be brought down on Wednesday, December 12th from 7AM to 12PM Eastern time. The downtime is to implement a hotfix for a problem that has stopped some players from accessing their housing storage.Along with the brief note in the forums regarding the downtime is the little factoid that this will be the final downtime for LotRO in 2007 -- scheduled downtime, that is. So if all else goes to plan you can go on a 3-week bender and never have the inconvenience of logging off once. It also means that the next major content update Book 12 won't be out this month, but with no release date being set yet, this was to be expected.
LotRO devs reveal Angmar revamp plans for Book 12
The yellow sun slipped beneath the rim of the encircling hills, and the land was shrouded in shadow. In the dim half-light, two figures could be seen, walking north along a dusty road. They made no attempt at stealth. The pair could be seen for miles in every direction, but if this troubled either of them, they made no sign. Amlug: If this is another boar quest.... MadeOfLions: It won't be. Angmar was the realm of the Witch-king, and that means Evil. While most MMO companies make simple announcements about zone revamps, the Lord of the Rings Online devs have decided to go with charts, graphs and fictional accounts harshing their own work. What it all boils down to is this: the high end adventuring zone Angmar didn't get the dev loved it needed before the game launched. The devs are going to fix that in the Book 12 patch.
Double dev chat goodness for LotRO Book 12
Two Lord of the Rings Online dev chats within one week? It's like Christmas came early for LotRO players. But it looks like some players are getting presents and others are getting coal. German website, Lotro-Welten, held its monthly LotRO dev chat for European players last week. And last night US players got their own dev chat at MMORPG. Strangely, the EU dev chat held a wealth of new information while the US chat had very little new or interesting. Here are the highlights from Lotro-Welten's chat, mostly applying to the upcoming Book 12 content patch: Fishing is being introduced as a new profession category called Hobbies Hobbies are professions that anyone can level up in regardless of their other tradeskill choices The barber in Book 12 will offer new hairstyles The new cosmetic system allowing you to display different clothing will not extend to hand held items and will be entirely disabled in PvMP zones More solo content is a big priority for the dev team and Angmar is getting a pass in Book 12 to become more solo friendly
Chat with the LotRO team next Monday
There will be a chat with the developers of The Lord of the Rings Online at MMORPG on December 3rd. Fans will have the opportunity to ask questions about pretty much anything. Hopefully they'll manage to wrangle out some Book 12 info. Maybe they'll even get a slip about next year's expansion! Okay, probably not.If you have a question or just want to sit in and read it as it happens, show up at the MMORPG chat room at 7:00 PM sharp (EST) on Monday. MMORPG also provide info on how to log in via IRC if you don't want to use the web-based chat interface, or if you're just totally old-school.The future is looking bright for LotRO; Turbine's Jeffrey Steefel and Adam Mersky have eagerly talked about the soon-to-come launch in Korea and all sorts of customization options that will be going live with Book 12. We're looking forward to new class balance initiatives and some updates to the reputation system as well. So there should be no shortage of things to pry about in the chat!
LotRO player creates excellent housing database
The Lord of the Rings Online forum regular Rainwhisper embarked on an ambitious project to put together a website that would catalog floor plans, decorations, and ambient music for LotRO housing. With the help of fellow players on the forums, Rainwhisper succeeded!The site is hosted by the Dawnsong Explorers kinship of the Windfola server. It's an excellent resource. There's a spreadsheet-style list of all the housing items that players can make or acquire. There are floor plans for the different types of houses. You can also check out pictures of the decorations. As far as we can tell the site's listings are complete or very close to it.Rainwhisper and any other contributors will have quite a bit more work on their hands when Book 12 comes out but if their success with the site so far is any indication, that won't be a problem!
Turbine talks Korean LotRO, Book 11, Book 12, and more
There's a lot of buzz going for The Lord of the Rings Online. Book 11 was recently released, and it was the game's biggest update so far. Book 12 is in the works. Most importantly from a big-picture standpoint, Turbine has secured deals to launch the game in the Korean and Chinese markets.Turbine's Jeffrey Steefel and Adam Mersky talk to Ten Ton Hammer about all these things and more in a new interview. The Korean launch looks like it might go very well, and it appears that Book 12 will be all about "customization." We've already picked up some details about new options for player housing, but that's only the beginning. Players will soon be able to change their characters' hair at a barber shop.Book 12 will also introduce some sort of system that will allow players to "maintain what they present outwardly to the other players and modify their stats in two different channels," meaning a player will have options if he or she really wants that new piece of armor that has great stats but that looks ridiculously out of place on his or her character.Cool! No details yet on how exactly that will work, though.
Details on Book 12's player housing updates
So here's a scenario for you: you buy a house for your character in The Lord of the Rings Online. How exciting! You check it out; it looks good, if a bit sparse. You buy all sorts of decorations to solve the sparseness problem -- a chair, a table, a painting or two, some plants, and so on. You set up a dinner table and put a chair at its head, but the chair is facing the wrong way, and you can't turn it.That sucks, doesn't it? But wait; there's hope!Book 12 will address that and many other housing complaints and requests. We know this because a Turbine developer who goes by the alias DangerDan told fans pretty much every thing there is to know about the coming changes to Middle-earth's sprawling suburbs.Rotatable placements? Check. Sharing your house with all the other characters on your account? Check. A way to find out the name of your next-door neighbor? Also check. Deed-based trophies and other new kinds of decorations? Also also check. Your very own palantír for the living room TV stand? Not yet, but here's to hoping.[Via LotRO Life]
Reputation changes in LotRO will make you feel more loved
Does it sometimes feel like, no matter what you do for somebody to try and impress them, it's hard to get them to notice you? Feeling unappreciated and unloved? Well dry your eyes, because Turbine hears you. Coming soon to Lord of the Rings Online is a revamp that will see reputation rewards added to many existing quests, to allow you to increase your standing with various factions more easily. This is to address the reported difficulty in achieving even the first few levels of reputation with a faction by existing means.If you've already finished a stack of quests and are worried that you'll miss out on this helpful update, this has been thought of too. There will be a once-off reputation reward for all the quests that you have completed in the past that get upgraded with the change. This means that it is safe to continue doing any quests now, knowing that if they end up being changed, you will receive your due compensation. The revamped quest reputation system is expected to be implemented in Book 12 -- until then, you may simply have to hold your head high and face the cold shoulder.
