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The Road to Mordor: Has LotRO grown too big for its own good?
Jumping into an MMO that's been out for several years -- let's call it "more than five" -- lends itself to several blessings and curses. While the game has more content, stability, and a playerbase that isn't drunk on launch drama, it can be overwhelming and even lonely to the latecomer who is just trying to figure out the basic ropes while everyone else is milling around at the Level Cap Country Club. Often I see people asking whether it's "too late" to join an MMO, wondering if they're getting into a game that everyone else is getting out of, not to mention considering how long it might take to do meaningful content with those who have been around longer. Lord of the Rings Online is now most assuredly in that zone. It's been out for seven years, adding along the way numerous updates and systems, a free-to-play conversion, two classes, 50 more levels, a class overhaul, and five expansions. A game that used to occupy a relatively small swath of Middle-earth is now an empire that stretches from the icy bays of the far north to the shoreline of southern Gondor. It's absolutely huge when you step back to consider it, which is what both a new player and a reroller must do. My question this week is this: Is LotRO getting to be too big and too long for a player to start from scratch these days? Is it suffering from a case of too much of a good thing?
Jukebox Heroes: Lord of the Rings Online's housing music
One of the interesting features (but by no means unique) of Lord of the Rings Online's housing system is the option to slot a music box item so that visitors can enjoy your favorite tunes while they check out your pad. Like the rest of the housing system, music boxes haven't been added to or expanded much over the years, but I still think they're pretty keen. Most of the music boxes contain a medley of three or so similarly themed tracks. Most of these are pulled from all over the game, but some are rarely heard outside of houses, so I thought these deserved another look. Plus, the original music for LotRO is quite gorgeous in spots and holds up very well over the years. For those looking for a buyer's guide to these ambient themes, may I point you to CSTM? For the rest of us, I have six favorite music boxes waiting for you after the jump.
The Daily Grind: What MMO company has given you good customer service?
A couple of Lord of the Rings Online's Inn League deeds are broken, which is unfortunate because the main reason I showed up for this year's Summer Festival was to finish the Inn League stuff on my newest character. I submitted a customer service ticket, and after having it closed with no action because I was offline (Turbine CSRs can't email, I guess?), I opened another one and remained online for a couple of hours so that I could be told that there is nothing to be done about broken deeds. All of this is a long-winded way of saying that I find Turbine's customer service off-putting. It's also a prelude to today's Daily Grind question. What MMO company has given you good customer service, and what was the circumstance? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
LotRO's Summer Festival runs July 22 - August 5
There's no shortage of things to do in Lord of the Rings Online these days, what with the recent release of Update 14, Western Gondor, and the level cap bump to 100. If you're already burned through all of that, though, you'll be glad to know that the game's annual Summer Festival starts tomorrow and continues through August 5th. Events include keg races, horse races, fishing challenges, the Taste of Hobbiton, and the usual Ale Association vs. Inn League shenanigans.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite LotRO update or expansion?
I'm kinda slow-poking my way through Blackroot Vale in Lord of the Rings Online's latest update. So far it's pretty standard fantasy themepark fare, but I'm enjoying it well enough thanks to the setting (Gondor!) and the general ease with which I can wander through it. As far as LotRO updates go, I think my favorite would have to be the Riders of Rohan expansion, both because of its sweeping vistas and a delightful soundtrack. What about you, Massively readers? What's your favorite major update or LotRO expansion? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Lord of the Rings Online has a free epic battle and story in store for Update 15
With Update 14 fresh out of the door, Lord of the Rings Online is free to fully focus on developing Update 15. Executive Producer Aaron Campbell teased a few more details about the upcoming patch during a recent stream. Update 15 will be adding on at least one more zone, with a new part of the epic story and an epic battle that will be free for all players. Players will be teaming up with Aragorn to retake Pelargir and fighting the Haradrim in Gondor. Campbell said that the decision to nix the level cap increase to 105 allowed the team to work on the legendary item revamp instead. Between Updates 14 and 15, the team will release a smaller patch with four session play encounters in the Dead Marshes.
LotRO Update 14 is now live
Today marks the official release of Lord of the Rings Online's Update 14, and with it comes the highly anticipated West Gondor content, as well as Epic Story Volume IV, the new Essence System, the level 100 cap, inventory tweaks, class balancing, bug fixes, and more. While none of this is a surprise to players, what did come as a surprise was some changes mentioned in executive producer Aaron "Rowan" Campbell's letter in the forums. First off, there will be no more level cap increases for this year to allow players to take their time and explore the new content. In addition, a new advancement system is being added to legendary items allowing them to grow with you without deconstruction for a new item at level cap. And lastly, the upcoming Beorning class will start at level 1 and include its own starting experience through Eriador. Be sure to check out the complete Update 14 patch notes as well as Rowan's Producer's Letter in the official forums.
The Daily Grind: Do you tend to believe dev statements?
Lord of the Rings Online community manager Rick Heaton created a stir recently when he said that raiders are few and far between in Middle-earth. After he explained that Turbine's data show raiders, PvPers, and forum posters as tiny fringe groups, he ended his announcement with the following statement. "I fully appreciate and understand you won't believe a word of this. That's perfectly fine. It doesn't change the facts of the matter." Predictably, a slew of comments ensued in which Heaton was accused of lying. Plenty of commenters, both on the Turbine forums and here on Massively, then posited that of course there are no raiders because LotRO's raid content sucks, Turbine's definition of "raider" is different from the commonly accepted definition (whatever that is), and dozens of other reasons. Which leads to an interesting question regarding official dev statements. Do you tend to believe them? Even when they irritate you or don't align with your personal wishes for a given game? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
LotRO's Paths of the Dead coming July 14
Got MMO plans for next week? If you're a Tolkien buff you might want to reconsider them, since Turbine is publishing Lord of the Rings Online's Paths of the Dead update on Monday. The firm has unveiled a new section of the game's official website that details all the Update 14 content. It includes a level cap bump to 100, the continuation of the epic story, a new essence system, and three new regions that expand the game's footprint into Gondor. Paths of the Dead is free for VIP players or available for purchase via the West Gondor quest pack in the game's cash shop. Don't forget to check out Massively's hands-on preview for more specifics!
The Road to Mordor: A tour of LotRO's update 14 and majestic Gondor
With Update 13, Volume III, and the good nation of Rohan in our rear-view mirrors, we now turn ahead to see Gondor, next six exits, straight ahead. Lord of the Rings Online players have a lot to be excited for when Update 14 arrives, not the least of which is a new country that was central to the events of The Return of the King. Update 14 is scheduled to release on Monday, July 14th, because marketers always get a special little thrill when they match up similar numbers. It's a pretty sizable content patch that's almost a mini-expansion, with five additional levels, a new epic book, three questing regions, well over 100 quests, and a new essence system for gear. This past week I sat down with Turbine to get a whirlwind tour of what lies beyond Rohan, and after seeing it, I think that LotRO fans have good reason to hope for an exciting summer.
Asheron's Call is now buy-to-play
As announced back in May, Asheron's Call (and by extension, Asheron's Call 2) has shifted from a subscription to a buy-to-play model this week. Turbine wrote in May that the last sub payments would be processed on June 30th and that the game would become buy-to-play thereafter. Massively can confirm that logging into the Turbine account site and attempting to resume an old account currently allows players to select a "Lifetime AC Plan" for $9.99, which matches the buy-to-play price for all gamers who wish to play for the first time. Players who were subbed at the transition should be grandfathered in and will no longer be billed every month. While both games will continue in maintenance mode, Turbine still plans to facilitate player-run servers this year. [With thanks to Arpeggio.]
Turbine: Raiders make up the smallest player group in LotRO
If you've wondered why Turbine has decided to forgo developing new raids for Lord of the Rings Online (at least for the time being), it all comes down to numbers. According to CM Rick Heaton, raiders make up the smallest portion of the playerbase even if they are quite vocal on the forums: Raiders comprise the smallest, by far, group in our game. PvMP players are far larger and even they are small. in fact together the two groups wouldn't comprise 10% of the total player base and never have (this is important. it's not a new thing, it's a long standing historical fact). Forum posters comprise a slightly larger group than the combined group of PvMP and Raiders. However, Raiders and PvMP players make up the overwhelming majority of forum posters (More than half. Though raiders are the smaller group of the two (PvMP/Raiders)). So you have a tiny group, inside a small group that is grossly disproportionately represented on the forums. [Thanks to Dan for the tip!]
DDO changes direction, focuses on player feedback
July's Dungeons & Dragons Online Producer's Letter is the second one from DDO Franchise Director Athena, and in it, she describes the changes coming to the fantasy MMO. While the original road map set in place last December by Rowan has been followed thus far, Turbine is looking to redirect further changes based on player feedback. Update 23 will bring the Epic Orchard of the Macabre, a new Epic raid, new enemies (including werewolves in Eberron), heavy armor improvements, and more. Update 24 will then bring new quests and a new event to round out the end of the year and the holiday festivities. Be sure to read the entire letter in the forums for more details on what's to come.
Jukebox Heroes: Dungeons & Dragons Online's soundtrack
I've never liked the Dungeons & Dragons Online soundtrack very much. Now that I've given you no reason to keep reading, please keep reading. It's an unsettling score that's heavy on discordant tracks and murky atmosphere but lacks a lot of memorable, earworm-worthy tunes. Plenty of it is done with a heavy-handed synthesizer in the mode of scoring a Saturday night B-movie. The Dungeons & Dragons moniker deserves better than this, I've always believed. But I'm not one to throw out an entire score when there are a few redemptive pieces within. And amid the minefield of moody music, there are a few tracks that rise to being quite listenable indeed. In fact, much of the recent work done for the game's two expansions have clearly done away with slam-dancing on the keys in exchange for an honest attempt at a good score. Listen for yourself; the studio's made 16 tracks available for free downloads. So let's see what makes it to the top of the DDO pile, shall we?
Take a tour of LotRO's Update 14
Yesterday we reported that Turbine had begun testing Lord of the Rings Online's Update 14. It didn't take long at all for the industrious folks over at LOTRO Players to hop on the test server and record videos of the new zones. The five videos cover the areas of Belfas, the Paths of the Dead, Blackroot Dale, and Lamedon. Check them all out after the break! [Thanks to Cithryth and Andang for the tip!]
LotRO's update 14 opens West Gondor, raises level cap to 100
Turbine has just released preliminary patch notes for Lord of the Rings Online's update 14 on the Bullroarer test server. Here are the highlights: The level cap has been raised to the nice shiny and round number of 100. Three new regions -- free for VIPs -- have been added. "Explore and enjoy West Gondor!" says the team. Volume IV of the epic story has been implemented. It's free for all players. The Essence system is functional. "New gear found throughout the world can be upgraded and enhanced by placing Essences into available slots. These Essences are currently earned as drops." The game now has a new global chat channel, accessible through /world or /wd commands. There's much more to the notes, including trait tweaks for the classes, on the official forums.
Lord of the Rings Online's Weatherstock returns this weekend
Weatherstock, the annual player-run music festival in Lord of the Rings Online, will be returning for its sixth appearance this weekend. This year there will be two elements of the festival. The first is the Weatherstock Concert Series, which features longer sets leading up to the battle of the bands, i.e., Weatherstock itself. Ten player groups will perform for the crowd and compete against each other at the summit of Weathertop. Last year there were over 700 players in attendance. Weatherstock VI will take place on the Landroval server this Saturday afternoon, June 14th. The Weatherstock schedule is up, as is a FAQ and a Twitter feed for important updates.
Dungeons & Dragons Online launches Update 22
Are you ready to buckle your swash? Has your swash been buckled in anticipation? Do you own a variety of buckles and swashes? Because Dungeons & Dragons Online has just released Update 22 onto the live servers, and that means that Bards will have plenty of buckleswashing to do with the addition of the Swashbuckler enhancement line! Dance, parry, crack horrible puns, and stab at people while still retaining all of the usual song-based mechanics of Bards. It's free for everyone! Update 22 also includes an epic-level upgrade to Three Barrel Cove, perfectly complementing the newly swacklebushing methods of Bards. There are also major improvements to guild levels and guild airships, allowing guilds to hit level 200 while sporting new and improved facilities on new and improved airships. And there's new stuff in the cash shop, too, giving DDO players plenty to do if they ever tire of the interactions of swashes and buckles.
The Road to Mordor: Why nothing stacks up to Shadows of Angmar
I'm putting all of my cards out on the table here: I am in a massive Lord of the Rings Online slump right now. It's perhaps one of the biggest that I've had in years, which is made baffling by the fact that it was triggered by a new patch. I was pretty psyched about Update 13 until it came out, at which point I felt my enthusiasm drain away as I picked at the remainders of the epic story and a frustratingly boring Fangorn zone. I tried not to swing into bitter burnout mode and calmly backed away to give myself a sabbatical from the game. Hey, it happens to all of us no matter how much we love a game, right? But during this time off from LotRO, I've been wondering a lot why for all of the improvements to story, questing, and art in the recent expansions, when I think of what I love about the game it's always everything pre-Moria. So I'm going to start today's column with a bold hypothesis and then see if I can back it up: Nothing in this game can stack up to Shadows of Angmar content. Nothing feels as right as it does and did in those zones.
The Daily Grind: Do you make small-talk while grinding?
I've stomped my share of shrews in this week's Lord of the Rings Online Spring Festival, and while I'm content to semi-AFK my way through a token grind to get a couple of the spiffier rewards, it strikes me as odd to see a dozen players doing the same activity in close proximity and basically ignoring one another. Sure, there's that one guy who's always spamming the emote with the most over-the-top animation in the game, but apart from that, this might as well be a slice from a single-player RPG. So, how about it Massively readers? Do make small-talk in situations like this, or do you just go about your business? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
