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The Road to Mordor: Lord of the Ring Online's roadmap for 2014
It's time for our final Lord of the Rings Online column of the year, so it's quite fitting that we use this space to discuss Executive Producer Kate Paiz's letter outlining what the LotRO community should expect come next year. Before we begin, I want to mention that I have a mixed reaction to these letters from Turbine. On one hand, I love knowing what's coming and appreciate the attempt made to inform. On the other, these letters can be maddeningly vague on specifics (Turbine likes its "broad strokes" when releasing future info to fans), giving a "trust us, everything's going to be OK, but we're not going to say exactly how right now" vibe. I've grown weary of that. This letter in particular should have been as specific as possible. There's been a huge swirl of discussion surrounding the letter, moreso than in previous years, due to the "bombshell" that there will be no expansion in 2014. I've been talking with friends about it and listening to what folks are saying, and I could make a case for this being the worst thing for the game and the best. But you don't come here for other people's opinions; you come for mine. Bring it on, 2014. I'm nothing but opinionated about this game.
Riding into Rohan: LotRO maps out 2012
In the words of Frank Sinatra, 2011 "was a very good year" for Lord of the Rings Online. Executive Producer Kate Paiz and Director of Communications Adam Mersky sat down with us to talk about the future of the game, but before they got to the juicy details, they wanted to give a quick recap of the previous year for the game and the studio. The big emphasis for LotRO in 2011 was the unifying of the global community and the release of the game's third (and best-selling) expansion, Rise of Isengard. While the aforementioned unification of the NA and EU sides of the game presented many challenges for the team including localization, it paid off in spades. Turbine plans to continue to add more payment options for those used to methods other than the ones currently available. The team was most proud of unveiling Saruman "in all of his glory" and the inclusion of free players into the sphere of Monster Play. "The game definitely grew last year," Mersky said in response to a question about the current number of players. He noted that the playerbase has changed somewhat in the past two years, becoming more casual in some respects. But it's time to move forward! Turbine is prepared to take LotRO players on a dizzying chase around the wilds of Middle-earth with a few significant changes and additions to the game -- and the release of the brand-new expansion later this year, Riders of Rohan. Mounted combat, ho!
Instance finder coming to LotRO in Update 5
When Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard launched, it did so with the understanding that it wasn't quite completed. The expansion had no new instanced content apart from a 24-person raid, and Turbine promised that this would be rectified by the end of the year. Enter the redemption of Update 5, where a new instance cluster will be introducing five additional dungeons into the game. These instances include a walk through Fangorn Forest and a personal encounter with Saruman. Ten Ton Hammer got a chance to talk with the devs about Update 5 and discovered a few previously unreleased details. The biggest of these is word of an instance finder feature -- AKA a "dungeon finder" -- that is similar to those found in World of Warcraft and RIFT. Through the instance finder, players will be able to queue up for level-appropriate runs and be matched up with other eager adventurers. Update 5 will also include the next book of the epic storyline titled The Prince of Rohan in which players will part with the Grey Company for new vistas. Stay tuned to Massively as we'll have a hands-on look at Update 5 later this week!
