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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.
The Road to Mordor: Rise of Isengard is coming!
Tweet [Update: Made a clarification that there is no indication of "open-world" PvMP in the expansion.] Times are tough in Middle-earth, even after the inexplicable appearance of several hundred thousand new adventurers this fall. The Fellowship of the Ring is broken, Sauron is rising in power, and the White Hand of Saruman is marching across the lands. Even the bravest and hardiest soldier of the Free Peoples cannot be blamed for feeling disheartened, especially in the face of the monumental struggle to come. Welcome to the beginning of The Two Towers in Lord of the Rings Online. Welcome to Isengard. The rumors are true: Next year we will be venturing into LotRO's third expansion, titled Rise of Isengard, to confront evil in its own backyard. While this may not be the Rohan or Gondor expansion that we've anticipated, Turbine is fairly confident that it will be well-received by players and will represent an ambitious step forward on (wait for it) the road to Mordor. Turbine's Adam Mersky and Aaron Campbell were on hand to outline for us the company's near- and far-future plans with Massively, starting with the imminent November update and cruising all the way through 2011. Hit the jump as we look at interactive theater, busy bees, Monster Play improvements and, of course, Isengard.
Task system adding 250 free quests to LotRO
What, exactly, is a "task"? Aren't all MMO activities tasks in some way? And why does the word "task" get stranger the longer you look at it? The task system, hinted at by Lord of the Rings Online's devs over the past few weeks, has stirred a lot of curiosity and speculation in the community. LotRO's Allan Maki whipped up a recent dev diary to clarify the system and outline how tasks are different than standard quests and the epic storyline. Tasks, grabbed by players off of bulletin boards located around Middle-earth, are short collection quests that involve looting a set amount of specific "vendor trash" items from mobs. Typically, these drops were merely sold for coin, but now players have the option to turn them in for XP and deed progression. Task deeds, once maxed, will award players with special items like cloaks. However, as Maki explains, tasks are limited by level, meaning that higher-level players cannot pick up and complete low-level tasks. While the task system looks to be in testing for a while longer, Turbine is excited to add 250 of these mini-quests to the game for all players, both free and subscriber. You can read the full dev diary over at LotRO's website.
The Road to Mordor: Horton hears a patch
Few things get me more excited than the promise of a big steak dinner and a big, beefy patch. Both get the mouth watering, the senses tingling, and the anticipation racing. However, the former comes and goes within minutes, while the latter is here to stay. I love devouring a good set of patch notes, chewing every morsel of information as my mind tries to picture it in action. Mental note -- I should not be writing columns when I'm hungry. I trust you were as pleased as I was when you woke up to the Lord of the Rings Online November update patch notes this past week (Standard Disclaimer: These are for the test server and are subject to change, void in Nevada). We knew that Turbine had a few substantial projects in the works for November, but this is far beyond what I'd speculated. It's one of those "There's something for everyone -- well, almost everyone" updates that has a little of everything, a buffet of sumptuous delights. Sure, it's not going to please folks looking for new dungeons, the promised LI and housing revamps, or the continuation of the epic storyline. That said, Turbine's first post-F2P patch is considerably bigger than anticipated, and if this is any indication of the course the company is setting with releases, I'm happy to be on board. Let's break down this LotRO update after the jump, and see just who this patch is for and what it has to offer, shall we?
LotRO barters, gallops and tasks with advance patch notes
Those who assumed that Turbine would be taking it easy for its next Lord of the Rings Online patch may want to sit down, buckle up and prepare to be thrust into a wall of patch notes. The list of changes and additions for LotRO's November update have been posted, and players may check them out on the Bullroarer test server. While the notes are "subject to change," they contain an impressive list of additions we've known were coming (such as expanding the free-to-play coverage to include the expansions all the way up through level 65) as well as a few surprises. Among the surprises are a new barter wallet to hold inventory-clogging skirmish and anniversary tokens, the ability for former subscribers to use swift travel routes, upgrades to reputation mounts, new ingredient packs for crafters and an overhaul of the Dwarf and Elf starting area. The notes also give us a peek at the mysterious "Task" system. According to Turbine, this system will add 250 repeatable quests to the game, be accessible by all tiers of players, and will require current trophy drops. Tasks will also come with a new set of deeds and rewards, hopefully adding to the amount of free Turbine Points that players can accrue. You can read the test server patch notes on the LotRO forums.
LotRO producer's letter hints at new "Task" system and more for the future
Since the launch of Lord of the Ring Online's F2P version, there's been an air of both optimism and uncertainty as to the game's future. How will Turbine handle updates from here on out? Will the epic storyline continue or go stagnant? And when oh when will we see giant flying eagle mounts? While she doesn't handle the eagle mount issue, LotRO's Kate Paiz tackles many of these questions and more besides in her first producer's letter following the recent update. Paiz says that the team has shifted the way they're approaching updates: In an effort to get more frequent content to players, not every future update will contain an additional book of the epic storyline -- but the storyline will continue. Paiz then laid out several upcoming features for the November update, including a new "Task" system for low-level players, another revision to the player vault and a fine-tuning of the Lore-master and Rune-keeper classes. Turbine will also be unlocking the two expansions (Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood) for all players to travel through and experience the epic storyline, although the free-to-play crowd will still need to purchase the expansions to unlock quests and deeds in those zones. The future is looking up for LotRO, so head on over to the official site to read the full producer's letter!
Overview of EverQuest's task system
The official site for EverQuest has up a new informational page on the Task system. Intended to fill the niche taken up by traditional quests in other games, Tasks are variable-length adventures that give Norrathian heroes a sense of purpose and a handsome reward. Introduced back in the Omens of War expansion, the guide runs down the different types of Tasks, where you can reliably find them, and a bit about the Task interface.Tasks are primarily used for single person quests. These are intended to be completed solo and usually have a reward of experience and coin. You cannot share tasks with other characters, though if two characters have tasks that require similar or identical things they can be completed at the same time. You can only have one task or shared task at a time. Most tasks can be obtained from taskmasters found throughout Norrath. Common locations include home cities for lower-level tasks, as well as higher-level areas like Butcherblock Mountains, Dreadlands, Overthere, Swamp of No Hope, Toxxulia Forest and more.
