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The music of LotRO: Community perspective
Lord of the Rings Online has a unique and popular roleplaying addition to the game with its music system. This is a feature that allows your character to equip various instruments and either play them real-time according to certain keys on your keyboard, or load up what's known as an ABC file to play the music automatically. While the system can appear difficult to learn at first, the complexity actually lends itself to a quick learning curve for those already familiar with real life music.In the first part of this feature article, we're going to briefly cover the basics of the music system, just enough to help you understand how it works and get you started. In the second part, we'll show you an email interview we did with one of the leading original composers on LotRO's EU servers: Achazia of The Shades. Not only does she and her bandmates write their own music, they even perform most of it in real-time at scheduled concerts. We'll get her take on the band, the recent changes to the music system and the future of her band in Moria. Simply follow along via the link below and enjoy! Getting Started >>
One Shots: A world-tour postcard
Here's someone we haven't seen screenshots from in a while -- our Lord of the Rings Online regular (and a seemingly resident rock star) Lockwood! Apparently he's been busy with The Shades, a very popular Lord of the Rings Online band that is part of the kinship he's in; The Shadows on the Laurelin server. Lockwood sent us the above screenshot postcard along with the scoop on their event:Over a hundred people showed up, no less than 80 at any one time, and one of the admins showed herself. Well, she made an appearance, she didn't show herself. I've got lot's of pics but it would take me a long time to sift through them for the best so you'll have to make do with this one. Hurray The Shadows! Hurray The Shades!Do you have any screenshots from fantastic in-game events that you've seen or experienced? Perhaps you're currently taking in the Fire Festival in WoW and have a great screenshot to show off? Maybe you're headed to the 5th SL anniversary party? Whatever the event, we'd love to see screens and hear stories from your point of view. Just send them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Yours could be the next one featured!%Gallery-9798%
LotRO rock stars: The Shades
The music system in Lord of the Rings Online is truly a wonderful thing. We won't get into exactly how complicated and intricate it can be (just yet), but consider the fact that you can either play free form from your keyboard or write the music and let your character play it automatically from within the game. This written music requires a real working knowledge of songwriting, with a bit of coding thrown in. It's not an easy task.Because of this involvement, there have been several bands that have formed in LotRO, mainly on the RP servers. One of the most famous and successful of these bands is The Shades, who recently held an in-game concert to celebrate their kindship's one year anniversary. This concert, comprised of original compositions, became much larger than imagined, according to the band's main songwriter, Achazia. Not only did over 100 players attend the event, but Codemaster's own Community Manager Satine was there to offer her support and hand out gifts afterwards. To get a better feel for this event, check out a few videos from fans. Rock on!
