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LotRO players take on project to catalogue the in-game store
Ever since Lord of the Rings Online introduced its free-to-play model last fall, players have grappled with the new store interface and its many, many offerings. One of the biggest requests fans have had was for Turbine to post a list of the LotRO Store merchandise outside of the game, a request that has so far been ignored. However, a group of enterprising players on Lotro-Wiki decided to pick up the ball and run with it. According to A Casual Stroll to Mordor, this community-driven project is well underway on the wiki with a list of hundreds of items already. Of course, the store's prices aren't always fixed in stone -- especially with deals and sales being posted all the time -- so the list should be read with that fact in mind. Even though the LotRO Store catalogue is already lengthy, the creators of the project say that they have a ways to go and could use your help. If you have any interest in assisting, head on over to Lotro-Wiki and sign up!
The Road to Mordor: The Professor
This past week on January 3rd, J.R.R. Tolkien celebrated his 118th birthday -- or rather, we celebrated it for him. Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892 and lived a rich and full life, from fighting in the first World War to working on the Oxford English Dictionary to taking a position at several universities that would earn him the nickname "The Professor." He is, of course, most well-remembered for his seminal works of fantasy -- The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion -- although his writings didn't end there. Due to Tolkien's love of nature, linguistics, and mythology, his creations were born out of comprehensive backgrounds and rich histories, which he seemed to love making up just as much as the stories themselves. For years now, Tolkien fans around the world have remembered his birthday by raising a glass on his birthday and giving a simple toast, "The Professor," at 9:00 p.m. wherever they lived. Likewise, in Lord of the Rings Online, many players gathered at their tavern of choice to do the same. Today I thought I'd remember the Professor in a slightly different way by exploring the quest chain "Missing the Meeting." While it's not completely overt if you happened to come across it, "Missing the Meeting" is a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien and his life, and it's worth going through at least once if you want to pay homage and get a nifty token by which to remember him.
The Road to Mordor: Community check-up
It's a quiet week around these here parts, what with the Thanksgiving holiday in NA and the lull before the November Update hits on the 29th. As such, I thought it'd be a great time to catch up on the current state of the community, especially as we've seen so many new bloggers and sites and podcasts arrive on the scene in the past year. I've always said that Lord of the Rings Online is truly blessed with not just a stellar community but an active one as well. Some MMOs see very little in the way of fan-created sites, keeping most of the community action centered on official forums and the like. However, when it comes to LotRO, we have not only the MyLotro.com blogs set up by Turbine, but a cornucopia of web delights fashioned by hard-working players. So to say "Thanks!" to this wonderful community, today I want to highlight some of the best LotRO resource websites, blogs and podcasts that consistently go above and beyond in making our slice of the MMO landscape a delight to visit.
Live it up at LotRO's Summer Festival!
The halcyon days of summer are upon us, and between trips to the beach and leveling up our cooking skill at the grill, it's a perfect time to celebrate the outdoors. Of course, Lord of the Rings Online is all about the outdoors -- the hobbits have yet to perfect internet access -- and to encourage players to sample the lazier side of the season they've brought back the Summer Festival. Earlier this week LotRO Europe announced the festival's return, so it's great to get confirmation that Eastern-earth (aka Northa America) was going to see it as well. This annual event encourages the Free Peoples of Middle-earth to take a break from the grind and engage in a few of the languorous activities that the game has to offer. Horse races, fireworks displays, fishing for tokens and scavenger hunts are all par for the course! There's also regular festival events that pop up at the four big yearly celebrations which include learning new dances and boosting your rep with either the Ale Association or the Inn League. Hit the jump for a few links to help you plan your Summer Festival fun!
The Road to Mordor: The highs and lows of Middle-earth
Every Friday, The Road to Mordor brings you the latest in Lord of the Rings Online news, guides and analysis. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was also the most trite way to open an article, especially if you were to be submitting it to your English teacher. Still, I've never encountered a week in LotRO that's given me such a bipolar experience, and I'm going to need your help to work it out. You with me? Good, then grab a cup of red tea and let us spin such a yarn that cats all over the world will be attracted to it. The week began with a switch back to my Captain -- I like to juggle characters, but my cappy (Captain Crunch, thank you very much) is the flagship character of my account, the one in which I've poured the most time and interest. Crunch had just hit level 45, which meant she was eligible to start Volume II, Book I. This is generally recommended at level 45, because the book nets you your first legendary item (and your second, by the end of it). I figured, might as well get cracking on that infamous LI grind I hear so much about, so away I went!
The Road to Mordor: Walking the virtuous path
Every Friday, The Road to Mordor brings you the latest in Lord of the Rings Online news, guides and analysis. LotRO's character building system is at once both flexible and a little intimidating to the new player. It combines several systems from other games -- including an achievement system (the Deed Log), collectible traits, skills that improve on use, easy reslotting – into a funky new beast. Frankly, I love being able to constantly tweak my build without having to scrap the whole thing and start all over with a maximum of fuss and funds. However, what always confused me when I was new to LotRO were the Virtue traits – honestly, I had no idea what they were or that they were even there until my third month of playing. The game doesn't give you a huge tutorial on Virtues, and when you do give them a solid glance, they're somewhat underwhelming: seemingly minor stat boosts in a variety of packages. So why bother getting them? Are they too much trouble for what they're worth? What's the best way to accumulating Virtues if not? That's what we're here to help you with. Speak, friend, and enter.
The Road to Mordor: Community guide to Lord of the Rings Online
We here at Massively have been avidly covering Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online since we launched back in late 2007. And now, we're dedicating a new weekly column, The Road to Mordor, to cover the many facets of the game including the just announced Volume 3, Book 1 content update. Every Friday, we will be exploring topics and writing guides for both leveling players and end game raiders, crafters and role-players, info-hounds and casual browsers. After the jump, we've listed links to official guides, fansites, podcasts, blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and more. This community guide will be updated as new resources become available. But before we get into it, also want to help answer any questions you have about the game. Wondering what are the best legacies for Champion Second Age weapons? The lore behind Dol Guldur? Which Skirmish nets the most marks per hour? List your question in the comments below and in a couple of weeks, we'll round up the best ones and answer them.
LotRO's Lorebook updated with Champion class guide
One of the great online tools for Lord of the Rings Online players is LotRO's recently updated official wiki, The Lorebook. Being a wiki, player contributions were requested and lately the Lorebook has seen more than minor edits. Players who enjoy writing up extensive play guides on the forums are now getting their work spotlighted on the wiki as well.The latest contribution is a guide to the DPS class, the Champion, by player Aceeka. It's quite an extensive overview of the class covering equipment choices, stances, traits, playstyle and more. It even explores the heavily debated racial skills and how those impact the class.The other excellent class guide in this section of the Lorebook is the brilliant "What we wish other classes knew about the Champion." Every class has one of these threads in the official forums, but it's great to see this one ensconced on the Lorebook as well. As soon as the Lorebook becomes available in-game, we're going to point every pick up group to this article. %Gallery-27269%
