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Why I play: Lord of the Rings Online
A year ago I came to Massively as an odd-man-out of sorts. I had very little experience with MMOs, but for the previous two years I had podcasted and blogged about Star Trek Online. That being my only experience with the genre, I had very little interest in (read: I was fearful of) trying any other game. Trying another game meant that I was leaving my comfort zone and also, maybe, risking the perception that I was being disloyal to the game that gave me so much enjoyment. However, a new friend and co-worker, Justin Olivetti, changed my mind. Because of him and his great The Road to Mordor columns here at Massively I decided to take the plunge and give Lord of the Rings Online a try. So in June of last year I took the plunge and I have found myself smitten by yet another MMO based on a powerhouse franchise that I adore.
The Daily Grind: What's the best guild you ever joined?
I find that a great guild can make or break a game for me. It's always exciting to know that there's a terrific group of people waiting to talk with you and hang out with you when you log in every day. Long after the memories of my daily adventures in an MMO have faded, I can still recall the people I talked and grouped with as clear as anything. I've been part of many wonderful guilds over the years, but one of the most special in my heart was in World of Warcraft. This guild got me into blogging for starters (which in turn led to my very first mention on Massively!), and I formed quite a few strong friendships there that have continued to this day. So what about you? What's the best guild you ever joined, and what makes it so special? 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!
The Daily Grind: Do you participate in guild events?
The biggest representation of the social aspect of MMO gaming is a player's guild, clan, or kin. (Or supergroup, or linkshell, you get the idea.) Whether it be a tiny group of friends or a huge roster of players with a similar overarching goal, this is the group you can turn to first for help and company in game. Most groups will have some sort of organized event on a semi-regular basis. RIFT's Gaiscioch Family, for example, has organized a huge ongoing event. Many guilds in various games acknowledge their members' busy lives by setting aside a designated night and time to play together. Today we want to know what you think: Are these things your cup of tea, or do you prefer to jump in and out on a more spur-of-the-moment basis? 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!
The Daily Grind: How involved should guild applications be?
Call them linkshells, call them supergroups, call them fleets -- a guild by any other name is still a gathering of players in a loose hierarchy with shared goals. Back in the salad days of MMOs, getting into a guild was a fairly simple procedure, but now it's a rare guild that doesn't have some sort of application policy. It could be as simple as spending a little time as a provisional member, or it could be a relentless grilling of the applicant before they are allowed to start gazing at the wonder of the guild forums. On the one hand, an involved application process ensures you know who you're getting involved with, and it can help avoid drama further down the line. On the other hand it's just a guild, and even if you plan to take it into wars there's a point where the intensity gets silly. How involved do you think guild applications should be -- and do you come at the question from the side oof the applicant, or an officer in a guild reviewing applications?
The Road to Mordor: If the road goes ever on, I'm gonna need a GPS
Recently in our kinship chat, I asked my mates what they were most looking forward to in next week's patch. Scaled instances and the wardrobe were popular, but probably the most-cited change was simply the influx of new players. It's not that we were worried Lord of the Rings Online was dying, but that we love this game so much that we genuinely want others to experience it as well. Plus, new players bring a rush of excitement for everyone involved. It's always a treat to look at an old game through a fresh set of eyes, and I hope that everyone logging in to LotRO for the first time will enjoy the sights of the Eriador, the quirkiness of the world, and the rich lore behind it. In the spirit of welcoming these fledgling adventurers to Middle-earth, I wanted to hand out a few pieces of advice today that I would give to myself if I were just starting out (and I guess there'd be some sort of weird time travel paradox event going on there, but hopefully you catch my gist). What should you do in your first week in LotRO? Speak "friend" and enter.
The Daily Grind: How important is your guild?
They're called linkshells in Final Fantasy XI, fleets in Star Trek Online, kinships in Lord of the Rings Online, but the game could call them bagel and tea parties if it wanted to -- for most players, it's a guild, and no matter what, the core idea is the same. Only a handful of games don't have tools and support for player organizations, pooling resources and skills together so that everyone can get further than they could alone. At the best of times, a guild is a network of people you can call on at almost any time to help you with your goals, and the same holds true for your fellow members. At the worst of times, however, a guild is a mechanism for bringing more drama into your life than dating a paranoid schizophrenic. World of Warcraft's new Dungeon Finder has even prompted some questions in the game about how necessary guilds even are at this point. So how important is your guild to you? Are they your stalwart companions or just some folks? Would you leave the game without them, or do you think you'd probably end up playing more?
LotRO's "One Kinship to Rule Them All" contest begins
Paging all Lord of the Rings Online kinships interested in winning pre-payment for their kinship hall for up to a year: a new contest has begun that promises just that. Kinships without a hall will receive one with 6 months worth of rent all paid up. The key to winning is leveling up -- every time someone levels, their kinship will earn points. There are some important things to take note of before getting started: Starting at noon EDT on May 21 and running through noon EDT on June 15, every new character created is tracked in a special database. Only characters added to a kinship after the contest has begun can earn points. Points will only be awarded to the first kinship a character joins during the promotion. The most crucial point here is that the character must be created during the promotion. There are three ways to win on each server: the kinship with the most overall points will win, as well as the one with the most points per member, and the one with the single top character (based on number of points earned and speed). On top of this, the kinship that has the most points across all servers will be deemed "The One Kinship to Rule Them All", and their my.lotro.com page will have a badge reminding everyone that visits of that fact.The contest kicks off at midday EDT on the 21st of May ... err, right now! Best get a move on if you plan on being "The One Kinship". Check out the rest of the rules at the official contest page.
The Daily Grind: Big or small guild?
Let's face it - there are good and bad points to guild size, either big or small. In a small guild everyone pretty much knows everyone else and has a fairly good idea of everyone's skills. In a larger guild you're one of many. While this can be problematic when trying to keep up with what's going on with everyone (if not downright impossible) big guilds also can help greatly when you're looking for people to run an instance - either smaller or raiding group. Why bother looking around outside when you can just recruit from your guild? There's more, of course, but this morning we thought we'd ask you - which do you prefer? A small guild or large guild? Why do you prefer that guild size? What do you think are the biggest bonuses and drawbacks to your favorite?
Turbine releases my.lotro.com beta
As we first reported in October, Turbine was looking to release a social networking site in Q4 2008 for its Lord of the Rings Online players. Now we're happy to announce that the site has officially been launched in an early beta stage, although not quite as Facebook-y as many had speculated early on. Powered by Wordpress, this site tracks character, monster character, kinship and tribe information and relays it in a very easy-to-use format. It also displays item information, stats, deed accomplishment and leveling dates, times and much more. There's a calendar for kinship events, a journal option for keeping notes on your character's progress and even an RSS feed for each journal. This beta version will run from today until Friday, December 12th, and you can check out our own gallery of the site's features by following the link below. Take a Tour of My.LotRO >> %Gallery-38999%
Get your Kinship into the LotRO lorebook
A post has been made on the Lord of the Rings Online forums with the intent of raising awareness of the Kinship facilities of the Lorebook. Not many Kinships have made use of this feature yet, but the number should dramatically increase following this reminder, and the fact that Kinship listings will no longer be stickied on the forums. A Kinship page can be filled with everything that interested applicants need to know, and you can slot yourself into categories like server, type or theme. Logos can be uploaded, and there is an external links section which can lead to an official Kinship website. Visit the base Kinship page to get started with creating, and scroll down to see the categories of existing pages. The forum post also contains some quick links to server-specific Kinship listings on the Lorebook.
LotRO Book 13 hits test servers, reveals fish trophies
Lord of the Rings Online's Book 13 update has hit the test server today and we've got a rundown on the laundry list of updates, changes and additions coming to the game. Turbine is knocking it out of the park with Book 13: Doom of the Last-King and they've got the patch notes to prove it. Everything from the new zone, Forochel, to the also-new fishing mechanic -- including an awesome image of the tiniest fish trophy you'll ever see.
LotRO developer chat talks Kinship additions
Last Monday there was a scheduled Lord of the Rings Online developer chat over at Stratics. Quite a lot was discussed, but there are some key things we took away from the Q&A session. The mention of a "Month of the Kinship" has us most excited, as that means that sometime in the (hopefully near) future LotRO will be receiving a book update to its guild features.Right now players and Kinships can purchase their own housing, but kinship housing doesn't serve any functional purpose beyond a gathering place that can be decorated. We would love to see these housings become a place where members could come to store items or keep up to date with a schedule board. Other subjects that were touched on during the dev chat were traits getting a review, including racial traits and a heavier focus on 12 man raids instead of the 24 man style. Unsurprisingly, the 12 man raids have been more popular with players. It's always easier to gather and maintain control over less people and 12 just seems to be the sweet spot for most LotRO players.
LotRO's official forums just got more efficient
You asked, they delivered; it's nice when that happens once in a while. Turbine has opened up server-specific Kinship and Trade forums for The Lord of the Rings Online on their official community site. Up to this point the general topic forums for the different servers have been filled to the brim with posts by people recruiting into or looking for kinships. Many servers attempted to clean up the clutter by sticky-ing threads dedicated to kinship recruiting, but it didn't solve the problem completely.Now you can advertise your outrageously priced Tolkien-ganja on the forums while also looking for a hobbit-only RP guild dedicated completely to farming and smoking said pipe weed. No, really, that sort of stuff actually exists in LotRO.
LotRO dev video diary: Raids
A new Lord of the Rings Online developer diary has been posted on IGN.com, under the title of Raids. Upon watching it, however, it seems that it is more about explaining the basics of Fellowships and Kinships, only touching on raids briefly. If you're an experienced LotRO player, this video won't contain too much to excite you, but it is a nice introduction to the game's partying and guild systems for any beginner. Fellowship Maneuvers are brought up, and this is probably the best nugget of information that anyone starting out in the game could take from the video.So if you feel like some informative light entertainment -- and aren't too busy decorating your new crib -- click below and let executive producer Jeffrey Steefel fill you in on LotRO's team features.
