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Exploring Eberron: DDO for the solo player
One of my favorite things about MMO gaming is that there is literally something out there to suit every MMO player. It's one of the upsides of a fairly crowded market -- if what you're playing doesn't hold your attention, there are a hundred more games lined up behind it. One effect of this is that the "multiplayer" part of "massively multiplayer" is more of a suggestion than a defined gameplay style these days. There's a significant portion of the gaming community that lacks either the time or inclination to do everything in-game with a group. Most MMOs have varying levels of soloability. Some make a point of extending a welcoming hand to solo players, some stack the benefits and perks on the side of groups, and some don't even seem to realize there's a difference. So where does Turbine land in all of this? Well, the company has made some nice strides in the past year or so in opening the doors for solo players. If you tried DDO way back when but didn't find it very solo-friendly, it might be time for a second look. Follow along after the jump as I touch on the various solo-friendly points of Dungeons and Dragons Online.
Newest LotRO developer diary looks at crafting in Siege of Mirkwood
The launch of Siege of Mirkwood today brings about quite a few changes, and the Lord of the Rings Online developer diary have been covering some of them pretty extensively. The most recent diary covered crafting and how it will be improved and expanded in SoM. The entry begins on a promising note: "Being an ally has its advantages! New recipes for weapons, armor, jewellery, and other items can be found amongst the elves of Emyn Lum in Mirkwood," and goes on to detail the many changes. The overall crafting experience was given an overhaul, and the diary included a handy tour of the new crafting panel to help you find your way around. Legendary and class item recipes have been added, as well as recipes for a new "crafted relic", an item designed to fit in a fourth relic slot for equipment, and all crafting professions will see changes in recipes and experience. Crafting guilds will find that they can now give unused guild reputation items to traders in exchange for larger reputation items. It looks like crafting is going to be much more interesting to both new and old players -- you can read all the details here.
One Shots: Playing with family (and friends!)
Jose sends in this screenshot of himself and his sons (a Guardian and two Hunters) in the Shire in Lord of the Rings Online. He explains the group shot:The landscape photo was taken at a leisure moment near our ancestors' home in Bywater (the land just on the back is our grand- grandfather's... some of the best wine making land around) and it was a family reunion after days slaying orcs and goblins in the war-infested lands of Middle-Earth.Who do you spend your game-time with? We want to hear about it -- and see it! -- for our next edition of One Shots! Send your screenshots and stories to oneshots@massively.com. You may see it featured here tomorrow, same time, same place! %Gallery-9798%
LotRO Harvest Festival horse racing video, a how to
Unless you've had your head under a rock for the past couple weeks, you've probably heard all about the Harvest Festival that Turbine is hosting in Lord of the Rings Online. There's drinking, dancing, but perhaps most important of all, horse racing. As we've reported previously, the festival was extended an extra week because of an unexpected bottleneck on the horse racing game, which can net players a token redeemable for a special harvest festival horse. In the spirit of helping players get those tokens before the festival ends, here's a helpful video guide from the folks at LotroLife.
