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In the beginning: Tester reminisces about LotRO's beta
It's always fun to sit back and recount the days of yore in video game land, especially when the MMOs of yore are yorely different than how those games are today. Haakon Stormbrow over at A Casual Stroll to Mordor has an interesting retrospective piece up about his time in Lord of the Rings Online's beta. He takes us back to September 2006, when the game world was still being shaped by Turbine and many of the features and locales that we've come to know and love had yet to be implemented. Apart from old animations and cloak designs, the biggest difference in LotRO from today's version was how rough and unfinished the landscape looked. Stormbrow recounts his exploration through Bree, Lone-lands, North Downs and even Angmar, noting how empty it was without mobs and how the devs had artificial walls to keep the testers from exploring where they shouldn't. By exploiting a few bugs, he and his friend were able to view the zones from heights that players today are simply unable to see: Exploring a little further north, we found an area [that] had all sorts of buildings and statues and ruins and a waterplane about 100 feet in the air. When you walked under the water plane, you flew very quickly up to the plane and began swimming. Then when you swam off the edge, you floated back down to the ground. If you're fascinated by the shaping of currently established MMO worlds, then do yourself a favor and give this article a read!
The Road to Mordor: Dungeon-running with Turbine
As we talked about last month, Turbine's toting around a double-barreled shotgun full of content that it's preparing to unload. While the biggest blast will undoubtedly be Lord of the Rings Online's third expansion, Rise of Isengard, the team is working hard to provide us with plenty to do between now and then. Part of that effort is directed at Update 3, which is currently scheduled to go live on May 23rd in North America and after June 1st for Europe when the LotRO Global Service takes effect and all of the accounts are moved under Turbine's purview. I eagerly sat down with Turbine's Aaron Campbell and Joe Barry for a play-through of Update 3's two new three-player instances, Halls of Night and Inn of the Forsaken. Both of these scalable instances will be available to a wide swath of players, and they feature mechanics and sights never before seen in the game. Also, they're wicked cool. So join me today as I take you on a brief tour of horrors and adventures beyond imagination. Has everyone used the restroom before we go? Are you sure? It's a long article; I don't want you leaving in the middle of it. OK, let's ride!
The Road to Mordor: Re-evaluating Moria
When I first left Lord of the Rings Online, it was early in 2008 and we were constrained to Eriador and Eriador alone. Angmar was the most dangerous spot on the map, level 50 was the cap, and getting your legendary traits was an almost inhuman feat. When I returned in 2010, I discovered I had missed out on the release of not one but two expansions and a huge amount of new content in the world. As a previous player, I felt as though everything I had known was completely different, and there was nothing as unknown or intriguing as the Mines of Moria. Expansions have a funny way of making or breaking MMOs, you see. They can exemplify some of the best qualities of the genre: they represent the persistent growing world; they give our characters new challenges to overcome; and they can introduce new features that significantly change how the game is played. Of course, they can damage the game's reputation by creating a worse endgame than before, by screwing up the good aspects of the game, or simply by being unpopular. So how does Mines of Moria fare two-plus years after its release? Today, I want to take a look back at what will probably be the single largest expansion that LotRO will ever see and examine how its purpose has changed from 2008 to 2011. Also, we'll probably make fun of Dwarves.
The Road to Mordor: Rating Eriador
Lately I've been playing world traveler with my level 43 Lore-master as he's bouncing all over Middle-earth in what used to be the high-level zones of the game: Trollshaws, Angmar, Forochel, Misty Mountains, and Eregion. Once again, I'm struck by just how cohesive this place feels -- it's not a collection of Sonic the Hedgehog-themed areas (Green Zone 1, Lava Zone 4, etc.) but a world that connects together in a tangible, real way. Even though it's fiction. Until November 2008, Eriador was the only place in Middle-earth that we could explore, and although some criticized Lord of the Rings Online for not shipping with, well, every locale in J.R.R. Tolkien's imaginarium open for business, it was a smart decision. The devs could take this section of the world and focus on building depth and detail instead of spreading it thin, like butter scraped over too much bread. As a result, Eriador remains a wonderful starting point -- not to mention the bulk of any current player's journey -- and many of us have grown attached to these familiar sights and sounds as a result. Today I'd like to take a brief overview of all of Eriador's zones (we'll leave Rhovanion for another day) and rate them from best to worst in terms of zone design, questing, and that slippery cool-factor that's hard to define. Where would I suggest a summer vacation home and where would be an ideal spot for a penal colony? Hit the jump and let's run it down.
The Road to Mordor: Fishing frenzy
Way back in the olden times of yore, henceforth referred to as "2008," Lord of the Rings Online released its first -- and to date, only -- hobby in the game: fishing. While we wait for a second hobby to make its way into the game (the popular rumor is golf), I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at this interesting side activity in LotRO. I'll admit that fishing bores me, both in real life and in virtual games. In both, it's a lot of waiting, a ton of non-interaction, and the occasional flashes of activity. The end result is edible and odd but nevertheless compelling to some folks. MMOs have a long history of incorporating fishing as a minigame or side activity, usually given to players as something to do when they're waiting on something else. I've noticed that roleplayers are big fans of the rod-and-reel, probably because it's defiantly against the grain. In a world of power-levelers, danger-seekers, and quest-undergoers, taking large chunks of time to stand in one spot and watch for a couple of pixels to bob shows that you walk a path less traveled. I get the impression that there are many people in the game who don't even know that fishing exists or perhaps who dabbled once and never gave it another thought. Even if fishing isn't typically your bag, Turbine's dangled a few tempting rewards from the hooks of fishermen's labors -- enough that it prompted me to take a closer look this week.
The Road to Mordor: A haunted tour of Middle-earth
Despite what the brochures may tell you, Lord of the Rings Online's Middle-earth isn't all puppy dogs, sparkly rainbows and ice cream wagons. In fact, when you take a moment to stop screenshotting the living daylights out of the Shire, you'll quickly realize just how dark, cold and brutal this world is. Middle-earth is a realm where good is under siege by evil, and in many places, the evil is winning. You can see this in many places that formerly held beauty, but now are covered with the decor of death: bones, blood, cages, pikes and filth. Evil isn't just Freddy Krueger-style splatter, either -- there are plenty of spots that are haunted by the spectral spirits of the beyond, and if you dare venture into their domain, you should probably have your will made up in advance. So in honor of one of my favorite holidays -- Halloween -- I want to take you on a haunted tour of Middle-earth, covering some of the most notorious spooky, scary and outright creepy places I've found. Grab your torch and let us push back the darkness together!
LOTRO: Hero's Guide to Forochel
Codemasters have posted a Hero's guide to Forochel over on the European Lord of the Rings Online forum. Forochel was added to the game last year as part of book 13 of volume one and has content for players in their mid to late 40s. Although this zone has been around for a while now the changed leveling curve speeds up the rate at which players will encounter this content.The guide details the major locations of the zone, the beasts and quests available to the player and includes the book itself, Doom of the Last King, which brings Angmars's attention to Forochel.
Exploring Middle-Earth: The Rift
While the high level area "The Rift" never made it into the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, it is another great example of how Turbine was able to expand the lore of The Lord of the Rings without treading on his toes and ripping apart the world. It is also the subject of the exploring Middle-Earth column over at the Europe LotRO community."The folk of Middle-earth's northern lands have long held the name of Angmar in dread, but in that fell kingdom are places that cause even the minions of Mordirith to tremble. At the feet of the Mountains of Angmar lies the terrible land of death and decay, Gath Uior. Even the Orcs and evil Men who gather there fear what lurks behind the great portal that leads under the mountains. It is said that ever-vigilant guards watch the gates, which were hewn long before the Witch-king first came to Angmar – not to keep enemies out, but to keep something in."If you wish to check out the full article, jump on over and look at the neat screenshots and all of the lore of the Rift in one location.
The Hillmen of LotRO's Ost Crithlanc want to kill you: read about it
Angmar is the source of most of the evil of the Shadows of Angmar volume of The Lord of the Rings Online. It's home to the Witch-king of (you guessed it) Angmar, the right-hand man of the Dark Lord Sauron. So it probably won't be surpassed in pure evilness (at least not lore-wise) until Mordor is added to the game in, oh, 10 years or so.Turbine's LotRO Lorebook has been updated with an entry for Ost Crithlanc, some ruins at the border of Angmar (all bad) and the North Downs (only mostly bad). The ruins have been seized by an army of Witch-king-serving Hillmen who are preparing to sweep through Eriador and slaughter everyone -- even those cute little hobbits. God, they're evil.The Lorebook has a little more detail on this Turbine-created, Tolkien-inspired location, along with a few pretty neat images. Enjoy!
Named warg terrorizes Lorebook
When The Lord of the Rings Online players think of the Chetwood, they usually think first of the Blackwold brigands. Most quests in the area are focused on that humanoid nuisance. But something far darker lurks in the Chetwood -- Baugurch, the vicious warg who terrorizes the nightmares of lowbies everywhere! Err, okay, just lowbies in the Chetwood.Baugurch is the subject of Turbine's latest featured Lorebook article. Sure, this named mob is only level 15, but even the low level nasties have to have a history in LotRO. Plus, he's elite, so it's special. Apparently Baugurch originally hailed (or growled, one imagines) from Angmar. Our guess is that the Angmarrim kicked him out for being too low level.If you're from Europe, don't forget; you can finally contribute to the Lorebook fun with your LotRO login and password.
LotRO, A Look Back: Books 10 & 11
On August 21, 2007, Book 10: The City of Kings was released and opened up the city of Annúminas was for players to experience. Unfortunately, the city had been invaded by the forces of Angmar, and players had to fight to keep certain points of the city friendly to them. If they failed, the entire area will fall under the Witch-king's control. Hunters and Captains both received class reviews, and a new mechanic was introduced called Critter Play. Different than PvMP, Critter Play allowed players to take on new forms in a PvE setting. The first form introduced was that of a chicken. Not to be outdone, Trolls, and Rangers were introduced into PvMP as well as a very large polish pass on PvMP as a whole.Other new features brought to the game were factions with the major races (with rewards for increasing said faction) and the bartering system which allowed players to turn in certain monster drops for armor rewards. And of course, no Book is complete without a raft of new quests introduced for high level players to grind through.
LotRO, A Look Back: Books 12 & 13
The new year brought Book 12: The Ashen Wastes on February 13, 2008. This was the first major update that didn't include the introduction of a new region. What it did bring to the table is a mix of revamps and new features.The high level adventuring area Angmar received a major overhaul, making it significantly more solo friendly. many elite mobs were taken out of the solo area population. And the boars, oh the boars, were mostly removed in favor of more menacing mobs. Finally, the questlines were smoothed out to move players along to area more appropriate to their leve.PvMP players received a new PvE dungeon, the Delving of Frór. The Creeps and Freeps battle for control of the dungeon and should one gain access while the other was battling a raid target within, well, that's when the real fun begins. New armor and items were also made available to the player side.Cosmetic enhancements were introduced to the game in Book 12 as well. The outfit system allowed players to choose one set of armor for stats and another for display. The barber system allowed players to change their hairstyle and facial choices, even adding a few new hairstyles to the game.Finally, three classes got a revamp this time. Guardians received a mix bag as their defenses were both nerfed and buffed, they received a dps stance and gained some utility. Burglars got a buff to nearly all their functions including damage, debuffing, trickery and crowd control. Champions also got an extra pass that gave them a stance that was part offensive and part defensive. This round concluded the class revamps planned by Turbine. %Gallery-14799% %Gallery-15282%
Book 13 to feature new armour set vendors in Angmar
The revamp of Angmar that was featured in Lord of the Rings Online's Book 12 patch brought about a number of new armour sets that were obtained from quests in the area. However, some of the pieces of these sets were made available through quests that were already in the game prior to Book 12, which meant that a lot of people had already completed those quests and have been unable to get those particular new items. This has left some ticked off people with incomplete sets, and no way to do anything about it.A solution to this problem has been found, and according to this thread at the official forums, new vendors will be introduced with Book 13 that will sell the armour pieces. Part of the requirement to use these items will be to have completed the associated quest that they originally came from. They won't be cheap either, seeing as this approach makes it possible to "double-dip", as MadeOfLions puts it, on the quest rewards. Expect the new vendors with Book 13 in Aughaire and Gabilshathur. The thread that broke the news contained a lot of player requests to have a similar system in place for other quest sets, but who knows if this would be considered when there isn't a particular problem to fix, as there was in this case.
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Angmarim fortress exposed by new Lorebook entry
A new lorebook entry has graced the official Lord of the Rings Online website, this one focusing on Rhunendin. Long ago when the hosts of Angmar were driven from the North-kingdom, the they were scattered to the wind. Even though the Angmarim numbers were few, time was on their side. The many years that would pass gave these scattered remnants time to re-multiply into a strong force.
Massively hands-on LotRO Book 12 tour
Recently I was taken on a tour of the Lord of the Rings Online upcoming content patch, Book 12 "The Ashen Wastes." And I came back with exclusive screenshots, lewt info and more video than you can shake a Balrog at.Joined by LotRO developer Aaron Campbell and Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel, I was first taken to the new public PvP dungeon, The Delving of Frór. This is a new design concept for LotRO. One side in the Player vs Monster Player war must take and defend three of the five control points in the Ettenmoors to be able to enter the new dungeon. Once inside, there is a wealth of content for PvE play: solo mobs, more than fifteen group mobs and five raid mobs. But here's the hitch: if the other side gains control of the majority of the control points, their side can flood into the dungeon and attack you while you are hip deep in a raid encounter. At the same time, your side is shut out from helping if they aren't already in the dungeon. So not only do you have to coordinate your raid, you have to coordinate the defense of the zone at the same time. Gives a whole new twist to the raid strategy, eh?Read on for seven videos and a full tour write up.%Gallery-15282%
Looking ahead during Turbine downtime
All Turbine game servers are down today for their once-ever-other-Monday scheduled maintenance. Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online and Asheron's Call players, we hear your pain. What to do until the servers come back up at 2pm EST today? Instead of trolling the official forums, we'd like you to look ahead at what awaits you. For LotRO, Book 12 is now on the test server with its revamps to the Guardian, Burglar and Champion classes as well as the Barbershop and the cosmetic Outfit system and polish pass on the high level solo zone, Angmar. Also, last week's dev chat dropped quite a few hints on post 12 plans.DDO is not to be outdone with its upcoming Module 6 content patch. Our own Mike Schramm got a hands-on tour from the devs. Not only did he get a grand tour of what is to come this week when the Module goes live, but hints of what Turbine is planning throughout the year for this title.And finally, Asheron's Call is looking forward to...um, 9 more years? We'll look into it and get back to you on this one.
LotRO Book 12 patch notes land on the test server
The long awaited Book 12 content patch has hit Roheryn, the Lord of the Ring's Online test server today. The lengthy patch notes are available on LotRO's official wiki, the Lorebook.The Ashen Wastes, as this patch is called, offers no new adventure area, but revamps the existing high level outdoor zone, Angmar. The area got a big polish to smooth out quest progression, mob level dispersion and general flow and playability. Honestly, the zone needed it in a bad way, but since many players are at the level cap was this done for alts or new players? We're glad to see this clunky zone get the dev loving it needed before the game launched, but we're not sure how much of the player population will get to appreciate it.Class revamps continue with three classes getting the once over: Guardians are getting a DPS stance for faster soloing as well as a mixed bag of nerfs and buffs to their bread-and-butter tanking ability with a sprinkle of new utility skills. Burglars, the debuff class, are getting a new buff that affects many of their existing crowd control skills, new abilities to use after a successful Fellowship Maneuver and the ability to bring a friend into stealth. Plus, clubs! Champions, the melee dps and off-tank class, are getting a new stance that balances offense and defense skills. Also, their tanking stance is being granted at an earlier level and many of their Legendary skills are getting reworked. The LotRO devs tend to do more good than harm with class revamps. There's some guarded optimism by the classes affected. Once the changes go live and players have a chance to try them we'll see if the tweaks have the desired effect.In addition to all that, there is the new Outfit System and Barbershop functionality, the reintroduction (again) of Troll/Ranger PvMP combat, the introduction of the Ettendeep (a new large PvMP dungeon), and, of course, the continuation of the Epic Story quest line. There is a metric ton of other patch notes to go through including small changes to almost all classes and tradeskills, new housing features, improvements to repuation gain and much needed relief for those farming for their Legendary pages. And let's not forget new tools to fight the brazen and ever present gold spammers.We'll have more analysis as we dig into the Test server.
LotRO devs reveal Angmar revamp plans for Book 12
The yellow sun slipped beneath the rim of the encircling hills, and the land was shrouded in shadow. In the dim half-light, two figures could be seen, walking north along a dusty road. They made no attempt at stealth. The pair could be seen for miles in every direction, but if this troubled either of them, they made no sign. Amlug: If this is another boar quest.... MadeOfLions: It won't be. Angmar was the realm of the Witch-king, and that means Evil. While most MMO companies make simple announcements about zone revamps, the Lord of the Rings Online devs have decided to go with charts, graphs and fictional accounts harshing their own work. What it all boils down to is this: the high end adventuring zone Angmar didn't get the dev loved it needed before the game launched. The devs are going to fix that in the Book 12 patch.
Double dev chat goodness for LotRO Book 12
Two Lord of the Rings Online dev chats within one week? It's like Christmas came early for LotRO players. But it looks like some players are getting presents and others are getting coal. German website, Lotro-Welten, held its monthly LotRO dev chat for European players last week. And last night US players got their own dev chat at MMORPG. Strangely, the EU dev chat held a wealth of new information while the US chat had very little new or interesting. Here are the highlights from Lotro-Welten's chat, mostly applying to the upcoming Book 12 content patch: Fishing is being introduced as a new profession category called Hobbies Hobbies are professions that anyone can level up in regardless of their other tradeskill choices The barber in Book 12 will offer new hairstyles The new cosmetic system allowing you to display different clothing will not extend to hand held items and will be entirely disabled in PvMP zones More solo content is a big priority for the dev team and Angmar is getting a pass in Book 12 to become more solo friendly
Angmar's Hill-people are the focus of a new Lorebook entry
Turbine's Lorebook continues its focus on Angmar with a new entry on Donnvail, a village of Hill-people (we promise, no Lothar references; whoops, too late!) who live under the oppressive rule of the false king Mordirith. The people of Donnvail are friendly to the players (who arrive in Angmar as representatives of the Dúnedain Rangers) because visitors from the outside are in the position to loosen the yoke Mordirith has around the Hill-people's necks.Angmar is one of the higher-level regions in The Lord of the Rings Online and has been the subject of several of Turbine's recent Lorebook entries. It's a cool place, but it would be nice to see some entries on other areas as well.
