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Jukebox Heroes: The quieter side of LotRO's soundtrack
Yes, I'm kind of nuts about the Lord of the Rings Online soundtrack. It could be because I've played this MMO more than most any other at this point, but I like to think that it's also due to a really well-done score that does more for world-building than most soundtracks. Even though I've talked about the soundtrack as a whole, interviewed Composer Chance Thomas, discussed my favorite housing themes, and reviewed both the Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep scores, there's still more that I wanted to cover. Today, I want to share with you exactly why I love this soundtrack: for the quiet moments. There are a select few tracks that are nearly ambient but are also perfectly immersive. I can't help but get kicked in the feels every time one of these comes on, and I know that for years to come I'll have fond memories of LotRO whenever I play them. Let's get a little mellow and hear the whispers of Middle-earth today.
DDO trumpets the start of its Winter Games
Just because we're in the heart of winter in the northern hemisphere doesn't mean that we can't enjoy snow-themed festivities! That's the attitude of Dungeons and Dragons Online, which has started a slew of activities under its Winter Games umbrella. For starters, there's the Midwinter Festival in the Forgotten Realms which includes speed skating, snowflake collecting, and vole smashing. Meanwhile in Eberron, the ever-popular Risia Ice Games are back with more ice sliding action. Then there's an ice skating rink in the harbor, an ice jump off a cliff, and a frozen half-pipe in the Bogwater Tavern. Participation in all of these activities will not only result in embarassing fun, but rewards from the various tokens won.
Neverwinter: Elemental Evil bringing the Paladin, higher level cap
Elements are the "in" thing for 2015, especially in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. First we found out that DDO will be implementing the Temple of Elemental Evil this year, and now we've gotten word that Neverwinter's newest module will be called Elemental Evil (it's no coincidence; both titles have a relationship with Wizards of the Coast, who likes to do these tie-ins). This module will be a significant one when it comes early this year. Elemental Evil will add a new class to the game, the Paladin, and increase the level cap from 60 to 70. The increased level cap means more skills and quests for all eight classes. Cryptic also announced that future updates in 2015 for Neverwinter will include the player guild housing Strongholds system, the Xbox One launch, and the arrival of popular D&D characters. [Source: Cryptic press release]
LotRO players host Winterstock II music festival
Lord of the Rings Online is well-known for its player bands that take advantage of the in-game instruments, and this weekend you can hear a lot of musical acts with the return of the Winterstock player festival. Hosted by the Lonely Mountain Band kinship, Winterstock II will feature 31 bands playing over the course of four days from January 16th through the 19th. All shows will be set near Thorin's Gate on the Landroval server. There's a schedule posted on the forums, and if you really want to get into the swing of things, you can listen to the official Winterstock II theme song.
The Road to Mordor: Ten thoughts on LotRO's 2015 plans
This year I'm breaking my long-running tradition of posting a "wish list" for Lord of the Rings Online at the beginning of the new year. This is partially because I'll be in danger of repeating the same old items that I've been yammering on about for quite some time now, and partially because Turbine was on the ball and released a producer's letter this past week that lays out some of the year's plans (by contrast, last year the studio waited until the end of February to do the same). Tradition be hanged! Let's adapt with the events and spend some time evaluating the information we've been given! There's a lot going on in and around this producer's letter, so here are 10 thoughts that I'm taking away from all of this in regard to LotRO's future.
DDO looking at Warlock class, level cap bump in 2015
'Tis the season for Turbine producer letters and since we've already seen LotRO's, how about one for Dungeons and Dragons Online? Executive producer Robert "Severlin" Ciccolini does the honors, and he mentions the game's "next big update" which will include a large dungeon called the Temple of Elemental Evil. There's also a bit about an upcoming new class, which Ciccolini says could be a Warlock. New storylines and new festivals are coming in 2015, too, as is a level cap bump to 30.
LOTRO maps out 2015, vows to address server populations [Update]
Lord of the Rings Online has a new head honcho, as former Executive Producer Aaron Campbell has transferred to "a new project" at Turbine. Stepping into his shoes will be former DDO Franchise Director Athena Peters. Peters delivered her 2015 producer's letter today with six major initiatives for the first half of the year. These include improvements to legendary items, new fellowship challenges, a possible new PvMP map in Osgiliath, and quality of life fixes. She said that the team will also be delivering episodic content during the year: "We are currently in development on a new type of quest content that will roll out like an episodic TV show, a little at a time, as you follow a new friend across Middle-earth seeing familiar places in a new light." Server merges of a sort are also in the works: "We're taking measures to get everyone onto the more populous servers, so that finding parties is easier and festivals and live events are more fun. We are working on both improved server transfer tools and upgrades to our environments to improve playability. Also we will be moving our European servers back to the EU!" In other LotRO news, an exploit that allowed players to create an overpowered character in the game has been addressed and fixed in a patch that went out earlier today. The hotfix puts level restrictions on a slew of reputation items so that players cannot use them at a lower level and gain access to gated vendor items before the devs intended. Update: Peters penned a follow-up post to clarify certain items in the producer's letter.
One Shots: Pumpkin rider
What better way to usher in the new year than to take a look back at Halloween? OK, so I'm still catching up on all of the terrific player-submitted screenshots in our email, but we're getting closer than ever! In any case, I would not want to let this gourd-headed hero go unnoticed. Reader JohnD is the man behind the mask: "Here is Frani, my level 29 Hunter celebrating the Harvest Festival in Lord of the Rings Online. She got the mount, clothes, and pumpkin mask all this season. Fun time was had by all." Want to be featured in a future edition of One Shots? Send your favorite MMO screenshots to oneshots@massively.com, and don't forget to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of the scene. Large, colorful, UI-free shots that tell a story and really show off the game make for the best images. Look ma, we brought back One Shots!
LotRO cracks down on superman exploit
An exploit that is allowing Lord of the Rings Online players to super-charge their toons is on the end of a stern warning by Turbine today. The studio says that it has already banned and will continue to ban accounts seen using this deliberate loophole. "It has come to our attention that some players have been utilizing an exploit to change how powerful their characters are in the game world," the studio posted today. "Upon receiving reports of the issue we began an investigation. Due to the way our log system works we can definitively detect every account that is taking advantage of this exploit." Turbine is currently working on a fix for the problem. [Thanks to Superswim for the tip!]
Global Chat: Die, DPS meters, die!
Hey you! Yes, you! Are you sick of damage meters ruining your life? Do you rebel against the virtual man by questioning such long-established gaming tropes as levels? Then have we got the column for you! In our last community blog round-up of the year, we've collected some fine pieces of discussion, debate, and introspection -- not to mention a first impression or two to tide you over until 2015. We've also got an essay about the joy of healing, what it's like to play an MMO as a bear, going back to the Isle of Refuge, and more!
LotRO patch nerfs essences, adds group Pelargir epic battle
A small but significant patch hit the Lord of the Rings Online servers last week, bringing with it a new fellowship-size version of the Retaking Pelargir epic battle. This version comes with additional secondary missions and tougher elite mobs (naturally). Also, the team announced that, "Aragorn's voice can FINALLY be heard summoning the dead to fulfill their oaths." Update 15.1 also nerfed essences by only allowing one of each type to be equipped at a time, as multiple copies were deemed too powerful and an obvious threat to Sauron's dominance over Middle-earth. Also, Beornings got a bear-load of tweaks, as well as the permission to use the "-beorn" suffix with names.
DDO Update 24: Heart of Madness goes live tomorrow
Tomorrow, Dungeons and Dragons Online will be getting its last big patch of the year, Update 24: Heart of Madness. Considering the cheery title, one might expect scarring challenges and experiences that will drive your average player insane (including using yourself as a puzzle piece to get through a fiendish game). The crux of the patch centers around an invasion from the plane of madness to Eberron, with popular D&D figures like the Lord of Eyes, the Lord of Stone, and Yalthoon the Mindflayer. Players will tackle a trio of high-level madness-themed dungeons in this paid adventure pack, although there will also be a fourth free dungeon that's part of the ongoing Wizards of the Coast Tyranny of Dragons event. Update 24 will also come with cosmetic armor effects, smarter AI monster champions, and a revamp of Barbarian enhancements.
Professor to hold open course in Lord of the Rings Online, asks for bodyguards
Dr. Corey Olsen, better known as Washington College's Tolkien Professor, will be holding an open course in Lord of the Rings Online for any and all who would like to understand the lore of the books by exploring the game. The course will take place on the Landroval server. Here, Olsen (who has a mid-level Guardian) will go through the epic storyline, explore the areas, and compare those to passages from Tolkien's writings. He asked for players to help fight off mobs during his explorations so that he will be free to examine and lecture without distraction. Olsen's teachings will initially be livestreamed on LotRO's official Twitch channel, although the course will be recorded for viewing later on as well. No dates for the course have been set as of yet. [Thanks to Braxwolf for the tip!]
Chance Thomas announces official end to his LOTRO score
While the Lord of the Rings Online score will go on, Chance Thomas' contributions to it will not be a part of the future of the game. The composer announced that despite personal and fan efforts to bring him back, Turbine has declined to use him for future releases, citing tight resources. "Looks like we've come to the end of an era," Thomas wrote on a Facebook post. "I need to thank you for your remarkable support over the years. I'm not sure a composer could have a better playground than Middle-earth, or a more gracious community to share it with." Thomas composed the music for the base game as well as the Mines of Moria and Riders of Rohan expansions. He recently contributed to the score of Dota 2.
Work on Asheron's Call's player-run servers continues
Earlier this summer, Asheron's Call 1 and 2 went buy-to-play with no sub and technically went into maintenance mode, with no more content updates planned for the pair of games. But it wasn't to be game over; Turbine vowed to keep the servers up for its loyal players because it was, as Turbine's Rob "Severlin" Ciccolini put it, "the right thing to do." Critically, the studio also promised to release tools, though not the source code itself, to help players run their own servers, create their own live events, and someday implement their own locations. Just before the holidays, Ciccolini quietly released an update about the "community-foused initiative" on the official forums. I finished documenting and preparing the files players will need for all the SQL set up. We are working on getting documentation for setting up the patch server and and gls servers. I am also checking to see how a player can configure a local one person server with a simplified set up so they can play solo or in a LAN environment but I don't know yet if it will be possible to do without the full login process. We are moving to get things up in a place where they can be downloaded. Severlin explained that documentation and testing continues, and there's a chance, though not a guarantee, that a "simplified server set up for solo or LAN players" might be workable.
Infinite Crisis dredges up Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing, you make my heart sing! You make everything groovy... especially when you show up to stomp evildoers with the power of peat. Coming to Infinite Crisis on December 17th, Swamp Thing will be the newest super-powered character in the game. According to his description, "Swamp Thing can endure tremendous damage and is capable of complete regeneration. He also has control over plant life, and can command it to do his bidding." We've got a video preview of Mr. Thing after the break, so check it out and then hug a tree afterward so that you'll end up on his good side. [Source: Turbine press release]
Turbine holds an Infinite Crisis tournament against itself
Have you ever wondered what developers do in their spare time? Apparently, they cook up crazy schemes like hosting an inter-office tournament and then broadcasting it to the world. This tournament is called DEvember and comes to you courtesy of Turbine Entertainment. Starting on December 2nd and continuing through the 18th, the tournament will feature several rounds of 1v1 Infinite Crisis action starring 32 employees spanning all of the studio's teams. Other than being entertained by devs beating up each other, players can benefit from the tournament by winning prizes via guessing who will win. Our money is on Rock Star Wonder Woman™.
Turbine's customer support department spreads holiday cheer
Working customer support for an MMO means that even the best times of your job are still spent dealing with upset players. Sure, the player might recognize that whatever went wrong was just an accident or a bug, but you've still got player issues to manage. It's the sort of work that can make you bitter or cynical, but not so with the customer support team at Turbine Entertainment, which decided to reach out to fans in a slightly happier fashion with holiday cards. Seriously. Real ones. Players on the Lord of the Rings Online forums have reported receiving physical holiday cards from the game's customer service department with hand-written messages and gift cards for 500 Turbine points inside. The community team has stated that this is exactly what it seems to be: a random gesture of kindness and appreciation for the game's playerbase. That message also reminded players to keep their mailing addresses up to date, as this is unlikely to be the only such event. [Thanks to Fredelas for the tip!]
The Soapbox: Six reasons MMOs should abandon raiding, part 1
Raiding is no longer doing MMOs any favors. I've compared raiding to open PvP in the past, and the comparison still holds up. It's something that a lot of games developed in response to a specific genre-defining game have featured. But it's not doing those games any favors, and it might be time to take a hard look at this gameplay element that games survive in spite of rather than because of. If we learn nothing else from WildStar's issues when it launched into what should have been an ideal environment, it's that raiding certainly isn't driving players into a game's waiting arms. But I don't want to just say that and let it roll around on the floor. Let's actually break the argument down across a couple of articles this week. Why does raiding need to shuffle off of the main stage, definitely as the default endgame model, perhaps altogether? I can give you six good reasons.
LotRO begins testing fellowship version of Pelargir epic battle
The newest epic battle added to Lord of the Rings Online in Update 15 is about to get even bigger. Retaking Pelargir, the offensive-focused battle, was initially released in a solo/duo version, but testing has begun on a fellowship version. This change will come with Update 15.1, according to the preliminary patch notes: "A fellowship version of Retaking Pelargir is now ready for limited release on Bullroarer, where we'll be taking important balance feedback from preview players. The timing of its release will depend on the feedback we get about this new version." Update 15.1 will also contain plenty of tweaks and bug fixes for the Beorning class as well as allow players to track nearby quests inside of structures.
