shades-of-the-past
Latest
Lord of the Rings Online releases Update 7: Shades of the Past
Lord of the Rings Online's Update 7 is upon us, and it's established itself as taking a step forward... and a step back into the past. Featuring a new skirmish, a revamp of both Moria and the old Fornost instance, and an interesting addition to the legendary item system, Update 7 has a smattering of both endgame and mid-game content for most players to enjoy. As always, it's worth combing through the notes for the smaller changes. Some of these include new and updated maps, friendlier Elves in Lothlorien who won't shoot you on sight, and Audacity lowering power costs in PvMP. The official patch notes are up and the game will have the servers patched up by mid-morning. In the meantime, make sure to read up on what we think of the update's big selling points in our recent Road to Mordor column.
The Road to Mordor: What Update 7 means for you
Without fail, the second I'm done writing this column for Massively, Turbine releases the big news of a major patch, and I have to wait a whole week to talk about it. In the case of Lord of the Rings Online's Update 7, I'm not that upset. I definitely was underwhelmed by it all initially, but now that I have had a whole week to digest it, read through the test server notes, and scope out the Moria dev diary that was posted, I feel like I'm in a much better position to talk about it. So what does this game update mean for you? That's a good question, and it really depends on where you are in your leveling journey. New players won't be fazed by it whatsoever, but both mid-game and endgame adventurers are going to have some new (and reworked) content to devour. I am heartened that Turbine doesn't have tunnel-vision for the endgame and is still willing to go back and examine what does and doesn't work about its earlier content. So let's walk through the major highlights of Update 7: Shades of the Past and give it the ol' Road to Mordor analysis, shall we?
LotRO's Fornost 'joining the modern MMO world'
"Fornost was designed and built in a different era of MMO," Turbine's devs said about the newly revised dungeon. "It is time for Fornost to join the modern MMO world." With Fornost slated for a massive overhaul with Update 7, the team posted a developer diary to explain the history of the instance and its hopeful future. The third instance ever created for Lord of the Rings Online will be chopped up from its current super-long state to four manageable dungeons. The devs said that it was designed from an EverQuest mindset of long dungeon crawls, but so much has changed over time and most players no longer have the time or effort to conquer it. With Update 7, Fornost will turn into four element-themed six-person dungeons. Each of these dungeons should take well less than an hour to complete and scale from level 30 to 75 with two tiers of difficulty. The team's reworked positioning, bosses, and quests to reflect the upgraded experience. For those who might miss the old Fornost, the team says that playing all four instances back-to-back will replicate the grand tour that it used to be.
Looking at the brighter Moria in Lord of the Rings Online
Does Lord of the Rings Online's Moria benefit from a brighter night-light? The folks over at A Casual Stroll to Mordor went on the test server to investigate just how different the underground zones look now that Turbine's gone back to give the area additional lighting effects. The fansite examines four different locales on both the live and test server and took screenshots to document the changes. The Great Delving, Silvertine Lodes, The Waterworks, and Durin's Way are the stops on the tour, and out of all of them, Silvertine is the most noticeably brighter. "While playing, I can say that I do feel like it's easier to see," Goldenstar writes. "I don't know if I would fall into 'it's too bright' category. It still feels like Moria to me." A revamp to half of Moria is planned with Update 7. Head on over and check out the differences for yourself!
Lord of the Rings Online explains Moria revamp
Since the word came down recently that Turbine is revamping much of Lord of the Rings Online's Moria, players have been buzzing about the merits and scope of such a project. Content Developer Lauren Salk posted an article on the official site explaining the reasoning behind the decision as well as the specific changes involved. Salk said that Turbine wanted to respond to player complaints about the difficulty and pace of Moria's leveling experience. She admits that the quests did not always lead to the best places and resulted in a frustrating stint underground instead of an amazing journey. Salk confessed that the zone even frustrated her mother, who never made it all the way through. With Update 7, LotRO will update half of Moria, while the latter half will come later on down the road. In addition to a smoother quest flow, additional quests, and an easier difficulty level, Turbine's adding tasks for all to enjoy. Travel through Moria will become more pleasant, as the lighting will be adjusted, additional stable routes added, monsters moved out of the major pathways, and a no-reputation goat made available from the start.
LotRO Update 7 to add new skirmish, revamp old content
Even a good anniversary celebration can't delay Turbine from delivering the content through snow, rain, and volcanic ash from Mount Doom. The team has posted an outline of Lord of the Rings Online's next content patch, Update 7, with word that it will go to the test server soon. Update 7: Shades of the Past promises to add a new endgame skirmish called Storm on Methedras. The skirmish will be free for VIP players and tasks groups of one to 12 players with taking on Saruman's ally, Gwyllion, in the Misty Mountains. The update will also contain two huge renovations to existing content. Turbine will be divvying up the massive Fornost dungeon into four scalable instances accessible from levels 30 on up. More importantly, the team is renovating great parts of Moria with better graphics and a smoother quest flow.
