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Allods Online prepares the Ritual of the Damned
Following in the wake of The Crucible, The Heart of Fire, and the Astral Cemetary, a new event will soon test the mettle of mid-level Allods Online players. Welcome to The Ritual of the Damned. Yasker and Aidenus have decided to submit players to yet another "educational experience" to help hone the players' skills in preparation for the threats that lie before them. Well, either that, or kill them. One of the two. Players from levels 30 to 36 will be recruited by Allods' GMs to participate in the Ritual, which takes place on the ominously named Isle of the Damned. The event is said to be more than just a jovial time of killing monsters and shooting the breeze; it will test "your strength, your endurance, your reactivity, and your team spirit." Throughout the ritual, GMs will pass judgment on the players to deem whether they are worthy of participating in the ritual itself or they are fit only as sacrificial victims. The event will be taking place Tuesday, August 23rd, beginning at 1:00 p.m. EDT, with an encore on Wednesday, August 24th at 1:00 p.m. EDT. So, are you worthy? Log in and find out. But be careful, lest you find yourself under the ritual knife.
Soloing LotRO from levels 20 to 40
As Turbine continues their series of guides for soloing Lord of the Rings Online, this newest one explains the trek from levels 20 though 40 sans fellowship. This five-page guide runs through some of the best moments you'll have in these 20 levels, and the most effective ways to play them. At this point, you gain several more options for where to play, and at level 20 you can start entering the Lone-lands and the North Downs. You will also start your level 30 class quests and have the chance to buy your first mount at level 35. If you're getting worried about affording your horse around these levels approaching 35, Turbine has some hints for that, or you can read our handy guide on the same topic. We can't wait to see what Turbine has in store for their next guide for levels 40-60, coming soon!
Saving for that horse: a mid-level guide to making money in LotRO
Over at MMORPG.com, their Lord of the Rings Online correspondent Jim Braner has written a comprehensive guide to finding riches in LotRO entitled "Lord of the Rings Online: Making and Keeping Silver in your 20s." This is a great little guide, as it explains many of the common-sense nuances of the game that can be used to your pocketbook's advantage. For example, instead of paying for a ride from the Forsaken Inn to Ost Garuth, why not just run there? Sure it will take some extra time, but think of the drops and resources you'll be able to gather along the way. One of the most underrated points of this guide is one that I firmly believe, yet can rarely convince others to trust. Keeping up with new armor every 5-6 levels will actually help you save money. Of course this only applies if you are a Tailor or Metalsmith, or know one fondly, as buying armor from a merchant is a complete waste. As stated in this guide, that new armor is more durable, and with a higher armor rating, you'll die less. This will cut down significantly on your item repair bills, and ultimately keep more money in your pocket.While these suggestions are all great, I couldn't help but add a few more to the list. Check out some of my own tips on making and saving money in mid-level LotRO just after the cut below.
[1.Local]: Readers speak their minds
[1.Local] serves up a smattering of reader comments from the past week, from the sublime to the ridiculous.Improving the gaming process seemed to be top of mind for many readers this week. A number of threads saw a flurry of suggestions about ways players handle current game mechanics and wish lists for improvements they'd like to see in the future. We touched on Armorying PuGgers, retooling old content versus adding more mid-level content, the state of bleeding-edge guild membership and the sometimes weighty demands of being a tank. We chewed the fat over just how serious matters of WoW are to us ... and never one to shirk matters of fashion, we considered footwear options for WoW players and Hello Kitty fans alike.Be sure to dive into the comments area of each thread (not this one!) and add your own thoughts – unlike your mama, we like us some hot, fresh backtalk.
Blizzard should focus on more Patch 2.3s, not on new mid-level zones
By now you've heard the news: Patch 2.3 will lower the XP requirements needed to level from 20-60 by 15% per-level. As an extra bonus, Blizzard is adding 60-odd new quests to Dustwallow Marsh. I would prefer they do this than add more zones specifically for mid-level content . New mid-level content is always a hot topic, especially by people who are on their third or fourth trip to the well. We've all got those "If I never, ever, see this zone again, it's too soon" zones. The solution often bandied about is to create alternate progression paths so we never, ever, go back to Stranglethorn Vale. I'm going to put forth a different idea: Fix what is broken. This will help minimize unused zones, and maybe not spread out the lower-levels so new players can actually find groups.Which seems to be the step Blizzard is taking with 2.3. In terms of quest progression and rewards, Blizzard hit it out of the park with TBC. You've got quest-givers nicely clumped together and often they all send you in the same direction. The cash, XP, and item rewards for completing the quests are excellent. When you compare the expansion quests against original Azeroth it becomes apparent how frustrating quests could be. It seemed like completing most of them involved long griffon rides for mediocre rewards. Quests felt like they were, well, I was going that way anyway...
Players want more mid-level content!
I was intrigued to read the results of the poll over at Kinless' Chronicles. Before they moved from their old blog hosting provider they started a poll asking what people wanted the most in World of Warcraft.Of all the poll results, I was most interested by the fact that 64% of respondents wanted more level 20-60 content and only 15% wanted more end-game content. Also of note is that only 12% wanted more races in the game. So in other words, people don't want new "starter areas", they want alternatives to the "grinding content" that they've run so many times they can do it in their sleep.I pretty much agree with all the poll results and wonder why Blizzard seems to have turned a blind eye to the obvious. I think it's fair to say that most of us have one or two high or maxed-level characters, and a handful of lower level characters we "mess around with" trying to find something we like. So why don't they develop new mid-range content?What format do you see new mid-level content content being packaged in? New zones? New quests? New instances? What about just new items? Personally, when I played The Sims, I always loved the "item packs" that gave me new items to play with in-game. They weren't a content expansion, they were pretty inexpensive, but they offered some new items to spice up gameplay. I think this could be a cheap way for Blizzard to throw the mid-level people a proverbial bone without spending a lot of development time.
