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LotRO's Update 15 goes live with the Beorning class
Lord of the Rings Online has given the go for Update 15, which is currently live on the servers. Update 15's centerpiece is the addition of the Beorning class, a "skin-changer" that transforms between human and bear form for a variety of attacks. The update also adds a tutorial zone for the Beornings, four regions of Central Gondor, a new book of the epic story, and the epic battle of Pelargir. Another change is that new free players will have to wait for three hours to use the world chat channel and any other user-created chat channels. You can read up on Update 15 with Massively's hands-on of the Beorning and our recent dev tour, as well as the official patch notes.
Lord of the Rings Online dev diary digs into Helm's Deep's epic story
Players of Lord of the Rings Online must certainly be looking forward to the continuation of the game's epic storyline in the upcoming Helm's Deep expansion. Unfortunately, they're going to have to wait just a little longer, but on the bright side, the folks at Turbine have released a new dev diary that delves into the next three books of volume III that will be added in the expansion, plus "some of the interesting challenges [the devs] faced while bringing this section of the story to life." One of the main issues that the devs must confront is the challenge of allowing players to play a significant role in the ongoing story while not directly interfering with the main narrative of the Fellowship. On top of that, there's the small detail that while many player characters are Hobbits, there were no Hobbits present at the battle of Helm's Deep. So how do the devs deal with these lore conundrums? Well, you'll have to check out the full dev diary to find out, so for all the tasty details (and a few teasers of upcoming content), just head over to the LotRO official site.
Charging into the epic story of Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep
It might not be anything as shocking (and, erm, incredibly slow) as hypothetical Ent play, but the epic story of Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep promises to be a grand experience to match or exceed what we've experienced before. Three new books with about 12 chapters apiece await those who dive into the expansion and charge into western Rohan. While the epic story has always been a mixture of Turbine's storytelling creations and Tolkien's canonical events, Helm's Deep will hew a lot more closely to the books than ever before. This is the penultimate part of The Two Towers, and the dev team wants to do it right. That's not to say you won't get to see your favorite secondary characters, so fret not if you're looking for more inspiration for that Nona/Horn romance novel you've been writing. It's just that they'll be taking a backseat to the major players -- and a few surprises -- as events lead us to the titular fortress and the most important battle in the game to date.
LotRO: Helm's Deep purchase required to continue the epic story
Lord of the Rings Online's epic story is one of the crown jewels of the game, and for the longest of time it's been available for free whether you subscribe or not. However, Turbine confirmed this week that purchasing Helm's Deep will be required if you want to see how the epic story plays out over western Rohan. On the forums, CM Rick Heaton explained the change: "The epic story in Helm's Deep is very tightly entwined with the epic battle system. The story in Helm's Deep is the epic battle we all know from the books. We've returned to the core story line from the lore and that line leads in a direct path, laid out by the Professor himself, into Helm's Deep and the battles and heroic deeds that occur there. As a result, this means the epic story requires the purchase of the Helm's Deep expansion." "Epic Story Guy" MadeOfLions also chimed in with a much more informative post about the decision. "It's a change that serves to reward the players that do pick up the expansion, and makes the expansion a better deal, more worth your time and your money," he writes. "This is just an expansion change for now -- I'm hoping we can keep the epic story free in other updates." Speaking of Helm's Deep, Turbine just posted the Champion class update dev diary for all to peruse!
LotRO Update 11 dev diaries feature epic story, mounted combat 2.0
Hark! Is that a new update for Lord of the Rings Online on the horizon? It is indeed, my chums. And with any fresh LotRO patch comes an expected slew of developer diaries. Today we have two dev diaries to report about for players getting ready for next week's Update 11. The first talks about the next addition to the epic story, Volume III, Book 10. The diary discusses the 15-chapter storyline as well as the optional "interlude" Ranger episodes that may be played in sequence or out of order. There's even a funny behind-the-scenes moment when the devs show how badly they messed up an NPC model. Then there's a diary on what Turbine is calling "Mounted Combat 2.0." Sweeping changes are coming to mounted combat with Update 11, including retooling the movement tree into a class-specific one, the addition of more class-specific skills, and a ton of polish and iteration. Massively will take a deeper look at Update 11 tomorrow, so stay tuned!
LotRO devs talk Updates 10 and 11
If you had questions that weren't answered with Lord of the Rings Online's last dev chat, then maybe you'll be covered with Turbine's latest Q&A between players and the development team. Today's dev chat took place on Twitter as the team tackled 40 questions from the community. Chief among the topics was Update 10, of which the team spilled a host of details. The update will go to the test server next week, and promises to contain new armor sets, standardized power pools, the removal of dread on the landscape, a big change to Wardens, and the second half of the instance cluster. Turbine also said that while Update 10 won't have a new book in the epic story, Update 11 definitely will (and it'll be "super-sized"). Update 11 is also slated to add a whole new region to the game that includes mounted and standard combat. We've got the beefy Q&A transcript for you after the jump, so check it out!
Lord of the Rings Online spills the beans on Rohan's epic story
It's not just enough for Turbine to release a new war-pony expansion for Lord of the Rings Online and call it a day. No, the team has to maintain its high standards of storytelling, which is why Content Designer Jeff Libby wrote the latest set of quest notes for the upcoming addition to the epic tale of the game. According to Libby, Riders of Rohan will contain three new books of the epic story, titled A Fellowship Endangers, Into the Riddermark, and the Third Marshal. He paints a few broad strokes about the writing process, and then goes into spoiler-heavy territory for those who like behind-the-scenes explanations. The writer is excited to the point of needing sedation about finally entering this area of the books. "Rohan is a land that we knew we had to get right," Libby said. "For that reason alone, we've spent a great deal of time ensuring that we could do it justice. After all, the stretch of The Lord of the Rings that we have gotten up to is often cited as the favorite of readers and film-lovers alike. We need our version of the Riddermark to be equally as beloved."
The Road to Mordor: Is LotRO's questing system over the hill?
There's a good chance you're not reading this column right now but instead are fully immersed in the weekend beta for Guild Wars 2: Guild Harder. That's OK. I won't hold it against you -- I may even be playing it as well. Oh, those ArenaNet folks. They make such lofty promises, don't they? They're going to rewrite MMOs as we know them and show us once and for all that we've been playing with Tinker Toys when we could have fully functional jetpacks and whatnot. I don't harbor any ill will against Guild Wars 2; in fact, I'm quite looking forward to it. But as everyone's focused on the game's excising of traditional questing as popularized by World of Warcraft, I thought it would be worth examining just how dated Lord of the Rings Online's questing system has become, if at all. In an era of dynamic events, public quests, full voice-over, and other techniques designed to get us away from the text box questing model, will LotRO hold its ground against these fads or is it truly becoming a relic of the past? Let's dig in!
Lord of the Rings Online developer blog on shaping the newest story
The next part of Lord of the Rings Online's epic story is on the way, another installment with players following behind the Fellowship of the Ring and taking care of all sorts of important tasks on the periphery. That means it's time for players to head down south of Lothlorien toward the banks of the river Anduin. And according to the latest developer diary, if you're interested in the people of Rohan, you'll be happy to learn this installment is packed to the brim with all sorts of interesting moments and landscapes. Aside from laying out the basics of what players will be doing on the shores of the river, the entry also explains why this installment of the story is sending players via the river rather than the west when the last story put them on the wrong side of the Misty Mountains. The entry explains that it's all about the shape of the story -- sending players ahead to Rohan from the wrong side would lead to all sorts of unpleasantly early victories and make things a lot less interesting. It should be an enlightening look at the upcoming installment of the story, even if it won't ameliorate some grumbles at the amount of travel involved.
Volume III, Book 5 diary available for Lord of the Rings Online
One of the challenges facing the storyline in Lord of the Rings Online is that it has a very definite deadline to contend with. While the story runs in parallel to the events in the books, it also has to line up in terms of what's taking place, which is why players will be parting company with the Grey Company starting in the next installment. Instead, as outlined in a new developer diary, Book 5 of Volume III will see players working with Prince Théodred, heir to Rohan, as he works to organize the defense of his country's borders. The diary also gives a firm date to mark story progress by; according to the book's timeline, Frodo should reach Mount Doom in about a month. Players will find this book to be a bit shorter than the previous installment, but it should still be a vital component as the game approaches the climax of the trilogy. They'll also receive a cosmetic set of equipment at the beginning of Book 5 to help them look like a Ranger, which is appropriate considering the story progress up to this point.
Lord of the Rings Online dev diary outlines Epic Story design
Lord of the Rings Online fans, we know you've all probably been quite busy adventuring through Isengard, but perhaps it's time you take a break. We've got just the thing for you to read while you relax, too. Light up some pipe-weed and have a seat as Turbine's Jeff Libby takes you on a tour of the design of Rise of Isengard's epic questline. Libby expounds on the "T-Factor," or the Tolkien Factor, which governs the design of the game and the Epic Story in particular. In essence, the iconic characters and locations from Tolkien lore are said to have a higher T-Factor, and the devs aim for the Epic Story to have a particularly high T-Factor. The devs also introduced phasing with Rise of Isengard, which allows the environment to change based on players' actions. For the full, spiffy details on Rise of Isengard's Epic Story, head on over to the official dev diary.
The Road to Mordor: A look back at Volume 2
Last year, I spent a column giving my reflections, thoughts, and observations on the entirety of Volume 1 of Lord of the Rings Online's epic storyline, and today I'd like to do the same for Volume 2. Since these stories are at the center of LotRO's player experience, it's important to see how they function and hold up in today's increasingly story-centric MMO environment. I've gone through Volume 2 twice, once before the "solofication" of the recent update and once after. The second journey was, by far, much more enjoyable since I didn't have to sit there for weeks hoping to find enough players on the same part of the Fellowship portions to continue the tale. Being able to go through it at my own pace was vastly more enjoyable, especially when I could dedicate huge chunks of time to knock out several chapters in one go. And this is a good thing, as this volume of the epic story not only gives you one of your legendary traits but greatly helps you build reputation toward a faction that will give you another one (the Iron Garrison Guards). As such, Volume 2 will continue to be an important part of any character's journey. So let's dig into this puppy (not... a literal puppy, you understand) and see what Volume 2 has to offer. If you haven't yet gone through this part of the epic story, beware: Here be spoilers!
Lord of the Rings Online releases Update 2
If you've been waiting for the next installment of the epic story behind Lord of the Rings Online, today is your day. Update 2 is now live, containing among other things the beginning of Book 3 for the current story. Along with the revisions to make the preceding Volume II much easier to solo, players who love delving into the game's story and lore will have plenty to be happy about in this update. But there are improvements for the endgame as well. Aside from the previously mentioned removal of radiance, the update features two three-player instances, two six-player instances, a new 12-person raid, and three new scaling skirmishes from the depths of Mirkwood. Add to that the revisions made for monster players, class revisions for Hunters, Burglars, and Minstrels, and a variety of improvements to quality of life, and the most recent Lord of the Rings Online update should bring plenty for everyone. %Gallery-9579%
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite in-game experience?
When you're a gamer, you always have "that story." It's the one you tell to your buddies when you're all gathered around a table, eating dinner and talking about games. It's the one that you tell to your co-workers to show them why you love gaming so much. It's that story that, even when you're telling it, makes you sit back and go, "Wow, I still can't believe we pulled that off." Those are the events that completely addict us to what we do; the events that keep us searching for something else just like it, or perhaps even better. Today on "'Da Grind," we want you to tell us those stories and share them, because we know all of you have something awesome to share. So go on right ahead and start typing away in that comment box below and hit submit when you're ready to send your favorite moment to the Massively.com community. We can't wait to hear them!
