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Reshaping a zone: LotRO dev diary covers Evendim revamp
Ask any Lord of the Rings Online player about Evendim and you'll get back one of two responses: "Evendim? More like EVERswim!" and "Nice place but too spread out for my tastes." LotRO's lakefront-themed zone was identified as one of the sticking spots in the leveling track, which is why the dev team went back to overhaul Evendim and bring it up to code. In a new dev diary, Joe Barry explains the purpose and execution of this revamp. Previously, Evendim attempted to cover too much territory as a level 29-50 zone, and as a result it was more of a hindrance than a help to players looking to get over the 30s hump. With next week's Echoes of the Dead update, Evendim will be transformed to a lean, mean leveling machine, tightened up to serve levels 30-40 exclusively. The team added over 100 quests and two new quest hubs in its attempt to streamline the experience. Additionally, Turbine's experimenting with different ways to deliver quests to you, such as having a journal unfold new quests as you complete previous ones. Finally, quest rewards are designed in a way to deliver class-specific gear, which can be augmented by a bartering system put in for this patch. You can read the full dev diary over at Lord of the Rings Online!
The Road to Mordor: Rating Eriador
Lately I've been playing world traveler with my level 43 Lore-master as he's bouncing all over Middle-earth in what used to be the high-level zones of the game: Trollshaws, Angmar, Forochel, Misty Mountains, and Eregion. Once again, I'm struck by just how cohesive this place feels -- it's not a collection of Sonic the Hedgehog-themed areas (Green Zone 1, Lava Zone 4, etc.) but a world that connects together in a tangible, real way. Even though it's fiction. Until November 2008, Eriador was the only place in Middle-earth that we could explore, and although some criticized Lord of the Rings Online for not shipping with, well, every locale in J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginarium open for business, it was a smart decision. The devs could take this section of the world and focus on building depth and detail instead of spreading it thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. As a result, Eriador remains a wonderful starting point -- not to mention the bulk of any current player's journey -- and many of us have grown attached to these familiar sights and sounds as a result. Today I'd like to take a brief overview of all of Eriador's zones (we'll leave Rhovanion for another day) and rate them from best to worst in terms of zone design, questing, and that slippery cool-factor that's hard to define. Where would I suggest a summer vacation home and where would be an ideal spot for a penal colony? Hit the jump and let's run it down.
The Road to Mordor: Old school hobbits
(Screenshot courtesy of Lord of the Rhymes) Over the past couple weeks Lord of the Rings Online players' eyes have turned to the future, and this column with it. After all, with the beta for LotRO F2P edition in full swing and the recent news from E3 about this fall's offerings, it's kind of hard not to be focused on what's ahead. However, I was tickled by a LotRO forum thread this week that looked back, not forward. It's one of those nostalgia threads that tend to pop up in a forum of any game more than a few years old, a place for veterans to reminisce about the olden days (whether good or bad). It's also an excellent chance for newbies to learn a bit more about the history of the game -- and perhaps thank their lucky stars they didn't have to walk uphill through three-foot snow with a Balrog on their tail just to log in to the servers every day. The thread certainly makes for good readin', but I wanted to comment on a few specific examples of how the game's changed, and how it was back when we were in school. Old school, that is. Hit the jump, and we'll travel to the past in our hobbit tub time machine!
