lone-lands
Latest
LotRO musicians prepare for Weatherstock 2011
With summer almost upon us, the fair free folk of Middle-earth are gearing up for the largest player-organized in-game event of the year: Weatherstock 2011! Lord of the Rings Online adventurers from around the world will flock to the summit of Weathertop in the Lone-lands on the Landroval server to hear nine excellent outfits perform in an epic Battle of the Bands. A Casual Stroll to Mordor has all of the essential details for this event, which runs from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 18th. Among those contributing to the concert are The Green Hill Music Society, The Breakfast Club, and The Blackheart Pirates. Each band will perform a trio of songs (plus a possible encore) in an effort to take home one of three awards. Weatherstock is made possible by LotRO's unique music system, which allows players to compose and perform songs with a variety of instruments. This is always a fun event, and the LotRO Lorebook has additional information for those attending (hint: turn off names!). Mark this on your calendar so that you don't miss the excellent tunes!
In the beginning: Tester reminisces about LotRO's beta
It's always fun to sit back and recount the days of yore in video game land, especially when the MMOs of yore are yorely different than how those games are today. Haakon Stormbrow over at A Casual Stroll to Mordor has an interesting retrospective piece up about his time in Lord of the Rings Online's beta. He takes us back to September 2006, when the game world was still being shaped by Turbine and many of the features and locales that we've come to know and love had yet to be implemented. Apart from old animations and cloak designs, the biggest difference in LotRO from today's version was how rough and unfinished the landscape looked. Stormbrow recounts his exploration through Bree, Lone-lands, North Downs and even Angmar, noting how empty it was without mobs and how the devs had artificial walls to keep the testers from exploring where they shouldn't. By exploiting a few bugs, he and his friend were able to view the zones from heights that players today are simply unable to see: Exploring a little further north, we found an area [that] had all sorts of buildings and statues and ruins and a waterplane about 100 feet in the air. When you walked under the water plane, you flew very quickly up to the plane and began swimming. Then when you swam off the edge, you floated back down to the ground. If you're fascinated by the shaping of currently established MMO worlds, then do yourself a favor and give this article a read!
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.
Kate Paiz answers the "Whys" of LotRO's changes
When a parent tells a kid to do something, the immediate follow-up question is invariably, "Why?" Likewise, Lord of the Rings Online's Kate Paiz knows that players are constantly asking "Why?" when Turbine makes any additions or changes to the game, which is why she spends a bulk of her December Producer's Letter explaining the company's actions and decisions. Paiz says that the team saw that not enough F2P players were heading into the Lone-lands, which is why they made the zone's quest pack free for everyone. Other deep LotRO secrets she reveals are the reasons behind removal of radiance, dual upgrades to the legendary item system, the addition of cosmetic pets for all (which may provide buffs when used!), and the expansion of Monster Play so that all tiers of players can participate. She also shares an encouraging word about the financial state of the game: "Revenues for the game have continued to increase. While we are getting some great feedback on what the LotRO Store can do better and what other items you'd like to find there, Store usage continues to be much higher than industry averages!" You can read the full Producer's Letter over at LotRO's website.
The Road to Mordor: Bits 'n' pieces
Three wolves. A full moon. One incredible cloak in the Lord of the Rings Online store. As a forum poster asked, is the Cloak of the Mountain Wolves too powerful and too intrinsically sweet? I think it is a distinct possibility. I already own six and have Sauron on farm status because of them. Forget piddly rings -- this is the one cloak to rule them all, and in the darkness, blind them. I'm a bit all over the place in today's column, so bear with me as I spew forth a 427-line stream-of-consciousness poem devoted to Aragorn's stubble. You totally know you want to hit the jump to read it. I triple-dog-dare ya. [Editor -- No, Justin, you have to write a normal column. Don't make me get the fire hose.] Darn.
Lord of the Rings Online developer diary revisits the Lone-lands
The latest developer diary entry is from Lord of the Rings Online Senior Designer Allan "Orion" Maki, and takes us back to a very familiar area: The Lone-lands. While the region seems like a low-level walk in the park to the majority of players these days, Maki had always felt that there was a bit of a "disconnect" and that players were being sent to an area far above their level. The Lone-lands have been given what he describes as a "massive overhaul", bringing them more in line with low and mid level players abilities. Players will find changes such as a solo version of Weather Top, a new horse travel mount to make the initial trip to the Forsaken Inn less dangerous, and some new faction and quest systems. Those, however, are just the beginning. With Siege of Mirkwood only days away, players eager to explore the expansion will find their path in the earlier areas considerably smoother. The full entry is worth looking at, as it contains four pages of great information on the overhaul -- it's a valuable resource for anyone still hanging out around Ost Guruth.
The hero's guide to the Lone-Lands of Lord of the Rings
Codemasters has released another entry in their "hero's guide" series of articles for The Lord of the Rings Online, this one centering on the Lone-Lands, home of Weathertop and many other dangerous locales.The Lone-Lands are marked by the ruins of ancient kingdoms, each once part of the human kingdom of Arnor before shattering apart and going their own ways. Those ways ended up leading to war, with the kingdom of Rhudaur siding with the minions of the witch king in order to conquer the other two kingdoms. It was in these battles that the watch post of Weathertop fell, as it sat right on the borders between each of the three kingdoms.For all the tasty goodies and lore-related treats about the Lone-Lands, check out the full guide located over at LotRO Europe.
Lorebook tells tales of Ents gone bad
According to Turbine's most recently highlighted The Lord of the Rings Online Lorebook entry, even Ents can turn to the proverbial dark side. One might think that even if they did, it would take them such a long time to work out how to kill you that they wouldn't be much of a threat. Unfortunately, you'll hear a different story from anyone who's faced the dour-root -- or Huorn, as some call it -- in Agamaur.To be more specific, the monster is an Elite Master boss encounter in the Lone-lands' Garth Agarwen instance. It's probably not the first killer tree encountered by most LotRO players. That honor most likely goes to the Warped Oaks in the Old Forest.
TTH resource-gathering guide: Lone-Lands
Compared to the last zone we examined in the TTH Lord of the Rings Online resource gathering series, for the bountiful Bree-Land, the Lone-Lands really fail to impress. In general, it's simply not a great place to do your harvesting. However, there are a few redeeming qualities that may cause you to visit the zone. For example, the Lone-Lands guide asserts that there is no better area in the game to get your medium hides than the back areas of Midgewater Pass. Also, the tier 3 resources here are widespread, and the zone is one of the main sources of these materials for lower level characters who can't go much further, but aren't having luck harvesting for them in earlier areas. To gleam what value you can out of this often frustrating area, check out the rest of the guide for the usual table and detailed look at individual portions of the zone.
Ten Ton Hammer demystifies the Forsaken Inn
If you're nearing level 20 in The Lord of the Rings Online, it will be nigh impossible to avoid spending some time with the Forsaken Inn as your base of operations. The inn's prominence in LotRO is surprising since it's a place that only appeared in a single line of the literature of J.R.R. Tolkien.Since every freep in all of Middle-earth inevitably spends at least a little time at the Forsaken Inn, Ten Ton Hammer decided it would be a great idea to catalog every single quest connected to the place. Their new Forsaken Inn Quest Guide not only lists all the quests, but their levels and objectives. In some cases, there's even information on how to complete the objectives.So if you're planning a journey down the Great East Road, the guide will be a good thing to bring with you.
