lord of the rings
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Turbine launches promo game, is crushed by its own success [Updated]
Turbine sent us a press release today, saying that it and Codemasters have launched a "new social gaming website" at unlocktheminesofmoria.com. Actually, that's the official website of the Mines of Moria expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online, and it's been running since the expansion was announced earlier this month, but fret not -- there is something new here!The site has been updated with the first of its social games, called King Under the Mountain. It's a "tactical strategy game," and the schtick is that it's derived from a game played by the dwarf lords of Khazad-Dûm. It involves very Dwarven things like "caverns, gems, and fighting." You can play it alone or against your friends, and it's pretty cool.Actually, we're just assuming the "pretty cool" part because unfortunately before we could check it out for ourselves, the site was shut down for maintenance. Apparently it was hosed "due to overwhelming response" from interested LotRO players. It'll be back up at some point though, if it's not already by the time you read this, so keep checking back if you're interested.[EDIT: Site's back up. Enjoy!]
LotRO lorebook examines Halbarad, North Downs hero
A new character of Middle-earth has stepped into the Lord of the Rings Online lorebook spotlight. Halbarad is a key figure in the North Downs, and helps to coordinate the defense against the forces of Angmar from his central location of Esteldin. He plays many parts in the story of LotRO's Book III, and has strong ties with a famous fellow named Aragorn.Those who have read The Lord of the Rings may recall that Halbarad was the leader of the Grey Company that meets up with Aragorn in Rohan. The lorebook lists his class as unknown, stating that he possesses the skills of both a warrior and a lore-master. Take a look at Halbarad's detailed entry to find out more about this significant character, and the quests he is involved in.
A look at Goblin-town in the Misty Mountains
The Lord of the Rings Online lorebook has been updated with a page devoted to Goblin-town. You won't have been there before unless you are nearing the maximum level, as the area is teeming with dangerous and seasoned goblins, and is reached by going through the perilous Misty Mountains.Lore buffs will recognize that Goblin-town was the backdrop for a momentous event in Lord of the Rings history, as the lorebook entry explains, for it is here that Bilbo Baggins fell into Gollum's cavern and found an extremely important object -- yep, that one. It is also where Gandalf defeated the Great Goblin to save Thorin Oakenshield's party. These bits of lore may give you the urge to visit Goblin-town, but the goblins aren't going to help show you around, so be prepared to fight.
Two Ring to rule them all
Two Ring to rule them all, Two Ring to find them,Two Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Forget The 1 Ring folks, Massively lead and WoW Insider blogger Krystalle Voecks came across The 2 Ring today via a Live Journal entry. For many years World of Warcraft players all around Azeroth have been on the look out for this seemingly missing piece of loot, and in patch 2.4 they will be rewarded via the daily fishing quest.The ring features +22 to the primary five stats, making it (wait... let me make sure my math is right here...) 22 times better than The 1 Ring.I'm not sure of it's use initially. It's a well rounded stats ring, so perhaps a druid or other hybrid class might be interested in it if they find themselves changing roles often enough. However for a single role / gear set, there are a plethora of better choices easily obtainable.Of course, with that said, it makes a helluva nice ring to start off at 70 with.
Turbine, Tolkien to stay in bed together until 2014 (and beyond)
You know what it's like when it's early morning and so toasty under the covers snuggled up against that someone special that you just don't see any reason to get out bed. We imagine that's a lot like the relationship between The Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine and Tolkien Enterprises, as the pair have agreed to extend their relationship until 2014 -- with an option to work together for three more years after that -- ensuring that players will be able to continue to frolic and grind their way through Middle Earth.We're very interested to see where Turbine takes the franchise going forward, especially after comments made by executive producer Jeffrey Steefel in January regarding the developer's console-based aspirations for the license. In addition, while no new game announcements have been made, the recent confirmation of a new 2-part Hobbit film finally getting underway would seem to make excellent fodder for the MMO developer, and we expect that the pair will continue to play footsie beneath the sheets for years to come.
LOTS more LotRO to come; Turbine extends LotR license
We've had punters out there guess at just how long Lord of the Rings Online might be able to last, as well as one particularly detailed and precise look at how Tolkien's Middle-earth might unfold over the years, but Turbine has now given official confirmation that they are in it for the long haul. A new press release (posted in full after the break) sent to us from Turbine's PR company states that they have extended their license agreements with Tolkien Enterprises for Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit until 2014, with the rights to claim them all the way up to 2017 if they so choose.The president and CEO of Turbine, Jim Crowley, affirmed his faith in the license -- and honestly, it's not a bad horse to back -- saying, "With the recent announcement of what are sure to be two blockbuster films based on The Hobbit and a sequel, we expect the success of the license and our relationship with Tolkien Enterprises to grow for years to come." Only time will tell whether Turbine can give LotRO and associated games legs until 2014 (or 2017!), but with this agreement under their belts they can develop away for the foreseeable future. Hit the jump to read the press release in its entirety.
New LOTR title on the way from Pandemic
Ah, to remember the heady days when Electronic Arts was content to flood the world with Lord of the Rings titles. It seems that EA isn't quite ready to let its very lucrative license go by the wayside, as newly acquired studio Pandemic (Mercenaries 2) is working on a new title set in Middle Earth. And that's about it, really. The news was revealed in a recent analyst meeting (the same one that also seemingly unearthed plans for a new KOTOR title). The only thing known about the title is that EA plans to release it in their fiscal 2009, which runs April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009. Could it be the resurrection of The White Council? Time will tell (and so will we, once we find out).[Via Joystiq]
Pandemic Studios developing new Lord of the Rings game
An EA analyst report and meeting (via ShackNews) has revealed that Pandemic Studios is developing a new Lord of the Rings title. The studio, which was recently acquired by EA along with BioWare, continues to work on the twice-delayed destruction-fest, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. Little is known about Pandemic's journey to Middle-Earth, save for EA CEO John Riccitiello's announcement that it will release during the publisher's 2009 fiscal year -- somewhere between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009. You'll know more when we know more.
One Shots: The Last Homely House
Reader Luis sends us this image of Rivendell (or The Last Homely House East of the Sea) straight from The Lord of the Rings Online. What do you think -- does the virtual Rivendell capture the feel of Tolkien's vision? (Whether you think it does or not, this shot is also conveniently available in wallpaper size!)One Shots lives on a steady diet of your screenshots! Snapped a good screenshot lately? Tired of seeing the same old games featured? Send us shots from your favorite game! It's easy to participate -- just send your screenshots and stories to oneshots@massively.com. %Gallery-9798%
AIAS nominations for MMO of the year announced
You may have heard that the Academy of Motion Pictures announced their Oscar nominations (how about that Ellen Page? And I definitely need to see There Will Be Blood, as soon as my wacky work schedule allows me the free time) this morning, but the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences also announced their Academy Award nominations for videogames earlier this week, and they picked five nominees for MMO game of the year.And the nominations are: EVE Online: Trinity, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Richard Garriot's Tabula Rasa, Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar, and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade. I don't want to be a spoilsport, but I'm thinking that any of those others are going to have a tough time beating Burning Crusade-- Blizzard is still pretty far ahead of the game at this point. But it is interesting to note that three of the five nominees are expansions-- Tabula Rasa and LotRO are the two original games on the list.Hopefully this time next year we'll see some more new names in the mix. The AIAS awards winners will be announced on February 7, 2007 in Las Vegas.[Via Curse]
Happy Birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien
The Lord of the Rings Online website carries a small note reminding us that the man behind the rise of high fantasy, J.R.R. Tolkien, celebrates his birthday today, January 3rd. The team at Turbine of course owe LotRO's concept and lore to Tolkien, but it's important to remember that plenty of other games -- and the fantasy genre in general -- take inspiration from his works as well.Tolkien was born in 1892 and passed away in 1973, at the age of 81. His body rests at the Wolvercote Cemetery in Oxford, alongside his wife Edith, and among other things engraved on their tombstone are the names Beren and Lúthien. Fans of Tolkien's writing will recognize these characters as the mortal Man and immortal Elf-maiden who shared love and adventures, and were inspired by the love of his own wife.Rest in peace, sir.
The Lord of the Rings year in review
The TenTonHammer website has up a massive Year in Review piece on Lord of the Rings Online. Though the game was only released back in April, there have been several huge content updates. A bevy of new features, quests, mechanical systems, and even raid encounters have fleshed out the already-impressive world of Middle Earth. Article author Martuk walks us through Chapter 9, Chapter 10, and Chapter 11 of the game, noting each new bullet point in Turbine's licensed-game coup. He ends by noting the high spirit and cheering promises that Turbine has made for next year. As the gameworld continues to grow, it's easy to see the dedication to quality the live development team has. It'll be interesting to see what another year of live service will mean for the community, for the game, and for all the players wondering just down that road a ways.%Gallery-8467%
Is WoW popular because it is fantasy?
Richard Bartle at Terra Nova asks an interesting question regarding MMORPGs in general, wondering why so many of them tend toward the fantasy genre. Did Lord of the Rings have such a phenomenal impact on our cultural imagination that it made every story (or gaming environment) even loosely based on it more likely to succeed, or is there something deeper here? The question sparks an interesting discussion which I encourage you to read. It certainly makes me think about WoW in a new light. Suppose we imagine that Blizzard had made a different decision about which franchise to develop into their first MMO: would World of Starcraft have been as popular as World of Warcraft is today if its gameplay was more or less just as good, or is the science fiction environment inherently less appealing to the masses than fantasy?To me, it makes sense that Blizzard chose the Warcraft franchise over Starcraft (or even Diablo for that matter), not just because it is fantasy, and certainly not just because it draws on elements of Tolkien's literature, but because it draws on a wider range of mythic elements, contains more layers of conflict, and generally provides a greater diversity of opportunities for a new gamer to find something he or she likes in it. What's your opinion?
One Shots: Snow dwarf?
Reader Peneros from Watchers of Middle Earth sends in this holiday glimpse of Lord of the Rings Online. Apparently, this snowman (or is it a snow dwarf?) isn't out in the open, so Peneros explains how to find it: When traveling south out of Thorin's Hall, you normally follow the road, or you can take the mountain path to the left shortly after you leave to find this nice surprise hiding amongst the snow.Do you have any screenshots of your virtual persona on the verge of a grand accomplishment? Tell us all about the monsters you've slain and the foes you've vanquished -- so we can feature your story for tomorrow's One Shots! It's easy to participate -- just send your screenshots and stories to oneshots@massively.com. %Gallery-9798%
As the Worlds Turn: Gluttons for punishment.
"There you are, brave warrior. Tales of your valorous deeds have spread like wildfire throughout my court and now you stand before me. But as my heart is lifted by your presence, the plight of our people weighs heavily upon my crown. I fear the Borderlands are lost. Ancient enemies hide in the shadows waiting for a mere moment of weakness. But you, you are our light in this darkness. You are the harbinger of peace and better days. The kingdom, the people, needs you to be the hero of which legends are made. But first, I need you to take this bushel of apples to Farmer Poopypants across town. He's going to make me a pie!" Ouch. If you've played MMO's for longer than five minutes, chances are you've run into a quest like this one. If it isn't apples for Poopypants it's the letter for Sir I'm-too-lazy-to-go-into-town-to-get-my-own-damn-mail quest. A good number of quests in MMO's range from the silly to the downright ridiculous. But I'm not here to talk about silly quests. That would be a painful endeavor that my intestines aren't up to taking. What I'd like to talk about is why we as players subject ourselves to preposterous quests and other strange, bizarre, and mildly offensive game notions to play our precious MMOs. So, sit back, pop some ibuprofen, crack open your last bottle of GameFuel and prepare yourself. It's going to get ugly.
Codemasters' goal: a new MMO every year
Codemasters is the UK-based company that runs The Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online in the European market and produces many single player games including Clive Barker's Jericho, Operation Flashpoint, and Overlord. Codemasters' Ron Cousens said in a recent interview that the company wants to "position itself to do maybe one MMO launch per year."When discussing that and other gaming-related bits, Cousens also suggested that the MMO genre will grow stronger on consoles.Given the success of The Lord of the Rings Online in Europe (it's #2 behind World of Warcraft), Codemasters is one of the big kahunas for online gaming in the region. Still, one MMO launch per year is extraordinarily ambitious. And with regards to consoles, we think Cousens hit the nail on the head. Age of Conan and The Agency are hitting the XBox 360 and the PlayStation 3, respectively, and despite vague denials from bigwigs, the evidence says Blizzard has its eye on consoles as well.
All the World's a Stage: Raiding and RP don't mix, or do they? -- A question of continuity.
All the World's a Stage is brought to you by David Bowers every Sunday evening, investigating the mysterious art of roleplaying in the World of Warcraft.The Warcraft storyline is part of a great tradition of fantasy literature, and, as with any form of storytelling, the entire span of WoW lore involves a series of events and changes. Arthas wasn't always the Lich King, Illidan used to be able to wear shoes, and your character was once a little child, with no spells or epic weapons at all. All these things fit together in a single story universe, in which the progressive changes taking place in the story made the world what it is today.But what is it today? Is Illidan now dead or alive? Is VanCleef dead or alive, for that matter? As a gaming environment, any boss you kill today has to be there for me to kill tomorrow. The WoW game world needs to remain basically unchangeable -- but over time this can stifle a roleplayer's sense of immersion in its narrative. To illustrate the impact this sort of immutability has on storytelling, let us take a page from a certain fantasy story you might have read, and see how it might work as a WoW raid instance.Welcome to Mines of Moria! This raid instance will reset in 6 days, 10 hours and 41 minutes.[Raidleader] [Gandalf]: Beware! There are older and fouler things than orcs in the deep places of the world. Follow my glowing staff! [Raidleader] [Gandalf]: ... and um... get ready to pull that first group of orcs. Kill order is skull, x, circle... Gimli, can you offtank that cave troll?
LotRO EU cloak design contest winners announced
The second Lord of the Rings Online cloak design contest recently concluded, but European LotRO players have finally had their own competition. As we pointed out last time, it seems that the judges weren't really seeking outlandish entries, but there's no denying that these cloaks look great. There are two winning entries as with the last contest, one from Eirek Lillebo of Norway (left), and the other from J. Garrington (right). If you think that either one of these wouldn't look too shabby on your character, you'll only need to wait a bit longer. Both of these designs will be available to pick up with the Book 12 update, along with all the other things to look forward to in that patch. Full-sized pictures of the cloaks: Eirek Lillebo. J. Garrington.
Reputation changes in LotRO will make you feel more loved
Does it sometimes feel like, no matter what you do for somebody to try and impress them, it's hard to get them to notice you? Feeling unappreciated and unloved? Well dry your eyes, because Turbine hears you. Coming soon to Lord of the Rings Online is a revamp that will see reputation rewards added to many existing quests, to allow you to increase your standing with various factions more easily. This is to address the reported difficulty in achieving even the first few levels of reputation with a faction by existing means.If you've already finished a stack of quests and are worried that you'll miss out on this helpful update, this has been thought of too. There will be a once-off reputation reward for all the quests that you have completed in the past that get upgraded with the change. This means that it is safe to continue doing any quests now, knowing that if they end up being changed, you will receive your due compensation. The revamped quest reputation system is expected to be implemented in Book 12 -- until then, you may simply have to hold your head high and face the cold shoulder.
LotRO: Troll and Ranger Session Play out for now
Session Play in Lord of the Rings Online is a feature that allows you to take the form of a different character, and experience Middle Earth from a new perspective. From the official website, "You could play as a Ranger, a Troll, or... a chicken." Well, it looks as though your only option for now may be of the feathered farmyard variety, according to this post on Turbine's official LotRO forums.The announcement from Turbine Community Specialist Saffron tells us little other than that there have been unspecified issues with Trolls and Rangers in Session Play, and that they will not be available until further notice. These two character types were formerly playable in the Ettenmoors Monster Play (PvP) zone, with Rangers for the Free Peoples and Trolls for the Monsters. A quick visit to the Monster Play forums shows that Trolls and Rangers have already been a topic of hot debate, with many feeling they were overpowered. Perhaps they will be tweaked along with other PvMP updates due with Book 12 -- we will have to wait and see what changes have been made when they are made available for play once more.
