lord of the rings
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LotRO downtime today for Book 11 Patch 1
Book 11 provided a huge chunk of content for Lord of the Rings Online players. Player housing, Balrog raids, the Harvest Festival, revamps to the Lore-master and Burglar classes, the introduction of Gollum, the list goes on. And with every fat patch comes a swarm of bugs that make it to the Live servers.Today, Turbine is stomping on a number of those bug with Book 11 Patch 1. Servers are down from 7am - 1p EST while the new patch is implemented on the Live servers. Along with usual pathing problems, stability adjustments and mob AI tweaks, fixes include DirextX 10 support coming out of beta, fixes to the Hooks in housing used to place decorations and nerfing some Conjunctions used in Player vs Monster Player combat.For a complete list of patch notes, check out LotRO's Lorebook wiki.
One Shots: Weathertop
If you're familiar with the stories or the movies that Lord of the Rings Online is based on, you may know this location. This screenshot brings us to the peak of Weathertop, which you will know if you've any experience with The Lord of the Rings in any media. But for those in the audience who still aren't sure what I'm talking about, I'll explain with a quote from The Fellowship of the Ring:It is a hill, just to the north of the Road, about half way from here to Rivendell. It commands a wide view all round; and there we shall have a chance to look about us.Being that one of my favorite aspects of LotRO is the fact that I can adventure through well-known places from the story makes this shot meaningful to any versed in LotR-lore. But perhaps you have a screenshot of your own that you think expresses a unique or memorable moment in your favorite MMO? Send them to us with a description (including game name and location) and you may see it posted here for tomorrow's One Shots.%Gallery-9798%
Part 2 of LotRO 'The Rift' loot guide
The second part of TenTonHammer's Lord of the Rings Online loot guide has been posted. Part one had a look at rift-coins and the rewards associated with them, but now we're getting to the really good stuff -- gems. Gems can be handed in for class-specific items, both armor and weapons. However, as each gem will be required by every class, expect to be raiding a while before you've finished your set.This chapter of the guide details the loot that Guardians and Champions can look forward to. The guide shows the stats on each piece, and lists the set bonuses gained by wearing more of the pieces at once. There is also a table that shows which bosses drop which gems, and noted here is the fact that one of the bosses (as of the writing of the guide) is not giving up his gem.The bugged encounter should yield a Dazzling Emerald, and the fact that he isn't translates into the shoulder pieces from each set currently being unavailable. No doubt, as reports are being sent in about the issue, it will be fixed soon enough. Click the related story to get a list of the item sets for Guardians and Champions, and we will keep an eye out for the next installment, which will cover another handful of classes.
Furniture catalogue for LotRO housing
If you're the proud new owner of a Lord of the Rings Online abode, and are going through the pains of organizing and decorating, then this guide may be right up your alley. Hot on the heels of Book 11's player-housing, LotroLife.com have started a furniture catalogue to help make life easier for citizens of Middle Earth who are settling in to a new home.The catalogue, still in beta and being added to, contains a listing of house-items by type. Clicking through to a category, and then an individual item, will bring up a picture of said item, a short description, the cost, and exactly where to get a hold of it. Very handy! The items can also be selected directly from a drop-down menu.As more things will undoubtedly be added in the future, the site may be worth a bookmark if you feel you may have an ongoing affair with decking out your place. After all, the next time your neighbours visit to smoke some pipe-weed, you want them leaving jealous, don't you?
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.
Cinemassively: BloodSpell
Here at Massively, we take movie clips and Machinima very seriously. That's why we're introducing Cinemassively, your daily dose of video goodness. It's fitting that our launch today would be complemented by an equally massive Machinima; BloodSpell.Filmed in Neverwinter Nights, this feature-length epic tale follows the story of a young monk, Jered, who is trained to hunt the Blooded, or people whose blood has been infected with magic. When he realizes he has magic coursing through his veins, he must flee from the Church of the Angels. As he is pursued by his brethren, he is taken on an adventure with plenty of action and even a hot chick or two!The director of this film, Hugh Hancock, must have been created by putting Joss "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" Whedon and Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson in a blender. Hugh is one of the pioneers of Machinima, and his experience really shows. His script is by turns funny, intense and sometimes moving, the cinematography and direction is excellent. He has created a Machinima feature film that's involving and entertaining compared to other feature films in the cinema, not just Machinima.Check the full movie (you may need a Divx plugin installed) after the jump, or go download it over on the website.
LotRO in-game help demands extra login credentials
Reports are coming in on the award-winning Lord of the Rings Online's official forums that players are being prompted to enter their username and password when trying to use the in-game help facility. This thread contains posts from some people worried about security issues, some saying that in-game help has always asked you to login, and others disagreeing with them.It is all cleared up, however, on the second page, when Turbine's Community Manager makes a post confirming that it should not be happening. The quote from CM Patience: "it's definitely borked, and we'll get it fixed as quickly as possible". So if you're worried about entering your login details twice, hopefully there will be a fix going live soon. Just add the name of that annoying gold spammer to your list, and start a voodoo ritual fire the whole thing off when the issue is resolved.
More LotRO house brokers added to meet demand
Following Book 11's update and the addition of player housing, the allure of one's own Hobbit-hole or sturdy Dwarven lodging has brought droves of people to the brokers -- so much so, in fact, that Turbine has made a post on their official Lord of the Rings Online forums to say that there will be a few more brokers on the way.The extra auctioneers will be showing up to assist their overburdened co-workers in Bree-land, The Shire, and both the Dwarven and Elvish regions of Ered Luin homesteads. However, take note that these guys are temps -- the post states that they "may depart at any time" -- so it is likely that once demand dies down, they will be out of a job. Click below to read Turbine's post and find out the exact locations for the brokers.
All the World's a Stage: And your life is a mine rich in gems
All the World's a Stage is a weekly column by David Bowers, now published on Sundays, investigating the explorative performance art of roleplaying in the World of Warcraft.For some, the whole process takes 5 minutes. They log in, click on "create new character," choose a race, a class, painstakingly compare each and every face and hairstyle, type in a name, click "accept," and they're done. Some take their time by paying a visit to the forums of each class, or asking their friends about which race is best -- but who sits down and makes up a story idea, a personality, and actual characteristics for characters these days?Roleplayers do, of course. But how? What if you'd like to try out roleplaying but you just don't know where to begin creating an actual character, rather than just an avatar for yourself in the game? Each roleplayer tends to have his or her own way, but there are are a number of things they have in common. One of the first things to remember about designing your character concept, is to make your character essentially human, relatable, based on real experiences that you know about.Mine your life. Think of what kinds of experiences you are familiar with, and which of them could be used as the foundation for another person's life, a new character with a story to tell, and a personality to engage other people's interest. Today, I'll give you a couple examples of how I tried to do this, and explain some of the pitfalls people often fall into when trying to make up an interesting character.
WoW Moviewatch: Ruler of the Bracelet Prologue
If you've never played Alliance-side, you may not get the joke, so I'll enlighten you. One of the male human /sillys goes like this:So, I have this idea for a great movie. It's about two gnomes who find a bracelet of power, and they have to take it to the Burning Steppes and cast it into the Cauldron. They form the Brotherhood of the Bracelet. Along the way they're trailed by a murloc named Gottum, who's obsessed with the bracelet, and nine bracelet bogeymen. It could be a three-parter, called 'Ruler of the Bracelet'. The first part would be called "The Brotherhood of the Bracelet," followed by "A Couple of Towers," with a climactic ending called "Hey, the King's Back!"And with that good of a lead-in, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to make their own Ruler of the Bracelet series. I look forward to seeing the rest!Previously on Moviewatch...
LotR Online dev not averse to console MMO
In an interview with CVG, Lord of the Rings Online executive producer Jeffrey Steefel does not rule out the possibility of a console MMO based on J. R. R. Tolkien's universe."I actually think Lord of the Rings is a platform we can build from. Our license is to build massively multiplayer online games based on the books on all platforms, all across the world, so we want to leverage that over time", he said. Later, in discussing the difficulties of a console MMO, Steefel said that "you've got to do everything in a thoughtful way and know why you're doing it, for who you're doing it, and then, what is an MMO on a console? What is that really? It has to be different."If it has to be different, then, don't expect cross-platform universe play. Ruminations of a developer does not a confirmation make, but we suspect Hobbits won't stray far from a future console release.
LotRO updates and takes a trip to shores of Evendim
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is apparently the #1 selling PC game in North America, Germany, UK and France and they're about to give players a free content update. Book 9: Shores of Evendim is the first in the expected quarterly content updates. The content update will go live June 13, some features include: Discover Evendim, a region dominated by the Lake Nenuial, the 'Lake of the Twilight'. Amidst the ruins are powerful artifacts now threatened by evil creatures and the nefarious forces lurking in Angmar. What, you thought there would be cute puppies? Over 100 new quests Raid in the Battle for Helegrod, challenging the dragon Thorog in a 24-player raid in the Misty Mountains. Major updates to the music system, players can now utilize a new music notation system that enables them to compose music offline and upload it to your character in-game. Seven new sets of epic armor enable players to gain progressive bonuses for each piece of armor worn from a set. We haven't received any player numbers for LotRO, so we don't know if Turbine has hit the magic million user mark, but from all accounts things are going solidly with the game. LotRO: Shadows of Angmar follows the adventures of the fellowship through the first book in the trilogy and fills in the gaps of the story. A few more content updates are expected before the full expansion pack next year.[Via Press Release]
LotRO producer says real money for game items is the future
Turbine, the company behind Lord of the Rings Online, recently had executive producer Jeffrey Steefel sit down for an interview where he said the company is keeping an eye on the "secondary market" of legally purchasing in-game items with real money. He says in the next five years the MMO business model will change to accommodate using real-life money to buy in-game currency. Steefel says, "Our position is pretty straightforward right now. Our responsibility is to the subscribers of the game, to deliver to them the experience they expect. So we certainly do not support people farming or taking advantage of the system in that way. It's against our Terms of Service and we do try and enforce that. ... But, we all know that something will happen in the next two to five years to business models in general, so we're paying attention to what's going on; watching what's going on with Sony Station whose servers support and manage this."Sony Station Exchange is the controversial pay for item model. Advocates say it's a way for people who don't have the time, to pay their way into the game. Many gamers consider it corporate sponsored gold farming. Even if you purchase an item through an exchange, you can always sell it in-game for currency. Paying your way into an MMO just feels like an athlete using steroids. Sure, you can argue that if the means are there and the time isn't, why not do it? We just don't know how we'd feel about playing a game where you can, as part of the rules, pay a company extra money to get ahead.
Lord of the Rings Online free until April 24
For the next 17 days feel free to go on a Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar bender. Turbine is opening up the floodgates and letting anyone who wants to experience the game play for free until the official launch April 24. The MMORPG's developer knows who they are up against and told Joystiq previously that they put a lot of work into the game. They're launching the title polished like no other MMORPG has been before to contend in the market. Players will be able to advance to level 15 and transfer that character if they decide to pre-order the game. LotRO also allows those that know they are going to like the game during this free trial to spend $199 for a lifetime subscription, otherwise there is a $9.99/month charge. So, if you're into MMORPGs at all or just want to check out LotRO, go ahead -- it's free.
EA renews Rings licence, more games to come
While there were murmurs of The Lord of The Rings: The White Council being canceled that later turned out to be true, Electronic Arts renewed its licensing with Tolkien Enterprises and New Line Cinema to bring a new game for 2008. That being said, there was no word of The White Council being resurrected, which was said to have quality assurance problems. This new game could be another branch in the franchise, or something as simple as a Battle For Middle Earth III. What do you think? Do you want to play any more LoTR games?
The White Council officially on hold
Rumored to be canceled last month, Electronic Arts has confirmed that Lord of the Rings: the White Council is officially on hold. The revelation came during an EA postearnings call, when CFO Warren Jenson told an analyst that "the Lord of the Rings product is back in development in terms of being on hold." It's a strange way of putting it, but it means that the game technically isn't canceled. It's not looking good though, as Jenson confirmed that the game will not ship during EA's next financial year, which ends in March 2008. Jenson didn't elaborate on the reasoning, but it seems that the Lord of the Rings license may have run its course in popular culture, making it less attractive to EA. The White Council might be resurrected someday, but for now it's probably best to consider it dead. At least we'll have plenty of other RPGs to play this year, right?[Via Evil Avatar]
All three Lord of the Rings films airing in HD on TNT
Our friends at TV Squad let us know that TNT will be airing all three Lord of the Rings movies December 15th. This will be the network television debut of the third film in the series, The Return of the King. Unfortunately what we're not sure about is whether the HD channel will be airing original aspect ratio 1080i beauty or stretched widescreen upconverts. As the films have yet to make their debut on HD DVD or Blu-ray we're keeping our fingers crossed but given TNT's history with stretching content we can't assume anything. The films will also be available for HDTVs via VOD, but that's no assurance as when the Star Wars trilogy aired on Cinemax it was OAR, but cropped on video on-demand, so they may be different. We appeal to our readers, does anyone know if the previous Lord of the Rings films shown on TNT were native or upconverted, and if there's any way to tell which these will be? Our plans for next Friday are riding on it (like we have plans).[Via TV Squad]
EA updates LOTR White Council site
Now that Electronic Arts is dual wielding the Tolkien movie and literary rights, we can expect plenty of return trips to Middle-earth from the über developer. So far, we've seen two action platformers, a turn-based RPG, a portable tactics entry, and an RTS series that have each incorporated the look and feel of The Lord of the Rings films. Scheduled for a late 2007 release, The White Council promises to deliver an Oblivion-style roleplaying experience from the perspective of a human, hobbit, dwarf, or elf. Only this time, the adventure is set 100 years prior to events depicted in the books and films, which puts EA in the precarious position of inventing some believable derivative fiction that won't upset the Tolkien fan base. To see how things are progressing, check out the relaunched web site that features new details on some of White Council's characters.See also: Steve Gray discusses LOTR: The White Council
Joystiq impressions: Lord of the Rings Online
Turbine's upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar will usher gamers into a massively multiplayer online version of Tolkien's fantasy universe. I got to play some of the still-beta game at a recent media event; the title's setting and story will be its main selling point, otherwise it resembles other MMOs -- not to say that's a bad thing.It takes a little work to learn an MMO, and Turbine said the company isn't trying to change Lord of the Rings just to be different. Instead, game controls and quest system felt like other titles, and I was killing defenseless forest creatures right away. Lord of the Rings also looked like other MMOs; what I saw didn't set any new standards, but it matched competitors. I was told that game art and other assets were still being updated for the Spring, 2007 launch.Lord of the Rings Online's story-driven approach and setting should be unique. The game is based on the original three books and The Hobbit, not the recent movie properties. So while the game looks similar to the movies -- hobbit houses have round doors and passages, and Gandalf looks like Ian McKellen -- Turbine says that's because the game matches the original, detailed prose.
Electronics Arts announces many upcoming/future titles
Electronic Arts has gone on record... about its upcoming titles. Most importantly are two of their more high-profile games -- Crysis and Army of Two. Let us recall briefly that the former is a pretty crazy looking shooter for the PC (although they've gained quite an ego... and change their minds a lot) and the latter is the hotly anticipated co-op game for the PS3 and 360. These games are now slated for a fiscal year 2008 release (after this coming March of '07). So... if you're really pumped for these games, we apologize, but your waiting will have to continue a bit longer. EA's CFO, Warren Jensen, confirmed also many beloved franchises do indeed have sequels in the works. First up, Sims 3. Probably for fiscal of 2009, says the big man. Also, there's a Wii-specific (Wiicific?) Sims title also in the works. In the same vein, and not overdoing real-life simulation at all, is a Sims 2 Holiday Edition due out fairly soon for the PS3 -- hopefully this holiday season. Aside from Sims? Well, there's a SimCity coming up! Oh, and also another Lord of the Rings game and the next-gen realization of the over-hyped-but-still-decent Black. Well fellows, any of these really get you curious or anxious?
