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The Daily Grind: Do you gather your own crafting materials?
I've been doing a bunch of gathering in Lord of the Rings Online lately. I'm trying to raise a couple of my crafting professions, see, and the auction house prices for the necessary materials are -- in a word -- ridiculous. Not only that, but LotRO's gathering is a low-stress activity that I've always enjoyed, since it requires traveling throughout Turbine's ever-expanding version of Middle-earth and it's a great excuse to see the sights and snap a bunch of screenshots. Gathering's probably not for everyone, though. What about you? Assuming you craft in your MMO of choice, do you gather your own mats or do you acquire them some other way? 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!
Jukebox Heroes: Reader request 3
Since it's our very last Jukebox Heroes column of the year on the very last day of the year, I thought it would be most appropriate to open up the reader request lines once again and feature MMO tunes that are your favorites. If you'd like to put in your own request for the next time I run one of these columns, please list your favorite MMO music track in the comments along with an explanation as to what you love about it! So check out what your fellow soundtrackophiles appreciate and stay tuned for a totally rockin' 2014!
The Daily Grind: Do you consume all available leveling content?
I've been dabbling in Lord of the Rings Online again lately, and much to my surprise, I've managed to go from level 58 to level 71 in fairly short order doing nothing but the now-soloable epic quest line. On one hand this is fantastic because I dislike themepark level grinds and am only playing the game again in order to get my character "home" to Rohan. On the other hand, I feel a little bit guilty about speed-rushing through Eregion, Enedwaith, Dunland, etc., because the devs have filled these and other post-Moria areas with what appears to be a lot of quest content. In fact, I think I'm pretty much talking myself into slowing down and enjoying more of the Tolkien-flavored locales and quest text, since that stuff is really the only reason to play LotRO at all. What about you, Massively readers? Do you take the time to consume all of the available leveling content, or do you save some for alts or otherwise power on through? 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 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.
One Shots: Parking the Enterprise
Another week, another gorgeous Star Trek Online screenshot from reader Mark. Mark sent us in this picture of the Enterprise looking for a parking spot around Deep Space Nine, perhaps endlessly circling the lot while the husband's waiting for someone close to the door to pull out and the wife is arguing that they should just park a little further away and hoof it in with EVA suits. Fun fact: This was just one of dozens of screenshots that Mark sent in February 2013 when we put out the Great One Shots Call for more pictures. A less-fun fact: We're starting to run out of community-submitted screenshots to share with you, and our well might be dry by the end of January. Remember, it's you who keeps One Shots alive!
Massively's winter holidays MMO roundup
The holidays are here! That means the hustle and bustle of the season is in full swing, with gifts to get, treats to taste, deals to nab, and plenty of festivities to partake in -- and that's just in the MMOverse! Yes folks, there's a plethora of holiday celebrations out there -- so many, in fact, that it can be hard to keep track of them all, let alone participate to them! If you're trying to catch everything in your favorite games, we're here to help. We've got a round up of the various winter celebrations across the gaming sphere all bundled together right here for you. If something catches your eye, hop in and join in the festivities!
The Daily Grind: What awesome feature was ruined by its cost?
I'm just as befuddled as Eliot is over the extraordinarily high cost of guild housing in Final Fantasy XIV, although this sort of scenario is not unknown to me. It's usually played out like this: Studio spends months trumpeting an awesome upcoming feature that the playerbase is squeeing over, and then at virtually the last minute, a cost is announced that takes it out of the realm of the casual and robs many people of enthusiasm for it. I've gone through that many times. One example was when Lord of the Rings Online was going on and on about allowing players to bring their skirmish soldiers out onto the landscape. Man, Turbine just talked this up but was really coy -- almost right until the end -- as to the cost, which ended up requiring a grind or real dollars to purchase a limited-time access to this feature. Almost instantly, my enthusiasm for it was extinguished. For you, what awesome feature in an MMO was ruined when you heard what it would cost? 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!
Lord of the Rings Online forgoes expansions in 2014
Hey LotRO -- no expansion for you! In a letter to players today, Lord of the Rings Online's Executive Producer Kate Paiz announced that the game would not have any expansions in 2014. That doesn't mean that the game won't have any additional content, however; instead of one big avalanche of content at once, the goal is to "focus on a steady flow of content throughout the year." The content that rolls in over the coming months will be free for VIP subscribers. Paiz continues on to ask for suggestions about inventory and festivals as well as touches on housing, noting that that particular conversation will be continued throughout the year.
The Road to Mordor: Still waiting for (better) housing in LotRO
In all of the excitement of Helm's Deep and the changes that it brought, it was pretty easy to forget that we are running out the clock on 2013 and the devs have yet to do anything about housing other than evict a lot of bums and fiddle with the chests. Remember that promise? One of Executive Producer Kate Paiz's four big initiatives for the year? Let me refresh your memory, as Paiz said in January 2013: "I am extremely pleased to say that this year we will be tackling a major revision to the Housing system." Well, bad news folks: It's not coming this year. I pinged Turbine for a comment about this, and Producer Hannah Foell responded by saying, "After some excellent feedback from the Player's Council we elected to spend more time on it and push the housing update back to next year." This is disappointing though not surprising. I've had the feeling that Turbine's been "behind" with Lord of the Rings Online this year, especially considering the expansion testing and release, and the studio's been visibly reluctant to get moving on a housing revamp, going so far as to downplay expectations by the community. So if we're not getting any improvements to housing in 2013, then I have time to ponder what this system needs. And since I'm not on this super-secretive and super-mysterious player council, you can hear what my thoughts are right now.
LotRO begins selling instant level 50 characters
After testing the waters of the beta server, Lord of the Rings Online has decided that the waters of level-booster sales are inviting enough to try out a limited-time sale of instant-level 50 characters. The new Gift of the Valar package is on sale in the LotRO store for 4995 Turbine Points. It not only raises a character to level 50 in a flash but will provide that character with level 50 gear, one gold, four ranks of each virtue, the riding skill, a goat mount, 25 mithril coins, and several other boosters. This pack will be available through December 19th in its initial run. [Thanks to Fredelas for the tip!]
Lord of the Rings Online offers a two-week VIP bonus for subscriptions
You are very important. We don't need to tell you that; you probably already know and think that on a regular basis anyway. But do games properly acknowledge how important you are? If not, perhaps you'd like to try out a bit of Lord of the Rings Online, which is offering two free weeks of VIP treatment for everyone who purchases a recurring subscription plan. It's not quite as good as having a velvet carpet rolled out when you arrive at a club, but you take what you get. The promotion runs until January 5th. If you want to try but don't want to feel pressured by the subscription fee, you don't have to worry; anyone who cancels during the two-week period will not be billed and will still be flagged as a Premium player. The only people ineligible are existing VIPs. So why not take the opportunity to be slaughtering orcs in style for a couple of weeks?
Dungeon Tours: Wish you were here!
Synergy? We've got synergy! Welcome to the unveiling of Dungeon Tours, a new multimedia miniseries playing out on both the Massively blog and Massively TV. What is Dungeon Tours, you ask? It's a tour. Of a dungeon. Many tours, in fact, of many dungeons. We're sneaky like that. But there's a method behind this particular madness. Have you ever wanted to see and experience every dungeon and instance in a game? Maybe you're interested in getting a sneak peek at what content is in store for you as you advance in a title you already enjoy, or maybe you want to see what you have missed. It could be that you'd like to get a feel for a game before jumping in yourself. And whether or not you ever have any intention of ever playing a game yourself, you're probably curious about what goes on behind those closed doors! This miniseries is your key to those doors.
One Shots: Find the chicken
Will there ever be a game as visually distinctive and memorable as Glitch? Considering that I'm still getting screenshots in from a game that was canned almost a year ago, I doubt it. Reader Phinneas gave me this maddening puzzle that has consumed my days as I pore over it looking for the chicken. Where? Where? Where could it be? Under that tentacle-plant-thing? Under the next? Lurking beyond the frame? Oh, what trickery is this? "This picture is of my favorites of the game's last few days," Phinneas said with an implied taunt in his voice. "I still hold out hope that it will be resurrected someday." As I continue to look for the chicken, you can move on to the rest of our week's submissions!
The Road to Mordor: First impressions of Helm's Deep
The past five or six months for me and Lord of the Rings Online have been full of apathy and disconnection. While technically fine, Wildermore didn't grip me in the least and left me feeling as if I was slogging through content for no great rewards. I hardly saw or heard other players there and eventually stopped feeling the urge to log in to the game. So while I was somewhat positive about a new expansion, I secretly worried that it would be a lot more of the same. My play time over the past week or so speaks to how I've taken a shine to Helm's Deep because I've been enjoying it to the exclusion of almost all of the rest of my games. I don't want to overreact because I know there's always that "new car smell" that comes with major game updates like this, but I've started to fall in love with LotRO all over again. I don't think there's any secret why this is happening. Helm's Deep has (thus far) some of the best questing content in the game to date, and the class revisions have gone a long way to making my characters feel fresh and fun once more. So here are a few vital first impressions of the expansion, both good and bad, that have come to mind as I've traveled Rohan since the launch.
Turbine settles Treehouse Avatar Technologies lawsuit via partnership
No matter how long you've been playing Lord of the Rings Online or Dungeons & Dragons Online, it's unlikely that you've heard of Treehouse Avatar Technologies before the company started throwing lawsuits around like party favors. After a little over a year, Turbine has ended the pending lawsuit by agreeing to license the firm's technologies for the aforementioned games, despite the fact that both games appear to have been developed before Treehouse Avatar Technologies filed its patent. The Turbine lawsuit predates a number of threatening letters sent by Treehouse Avatar to various small indie developers that made similar overtures. No mention is made of how much Turbine is paying to license the technology for the games in question, which were the only two cited by the suit.
One Shots: Angmar, you're going down
It's a beautiful morning, so why not spoil it by going to Angmar? Oh Angmar, that blackhead on the face of Middle-earth, with your whining sky and your eyesores everywhere. Why can't evil ever be beautiful, can someone tell me? Perhaps reader Michael18, who took this particular photo, can: "To celebrate the release of the Helm's Deep expansion, I send you some of my screenshots. I tried to capture the beauty of the old zones of Lord of the Rings Online like Angmar. With all the Rohan pictures to be seen on the web over the next couple of weeks, this might be a nice diversion." That's it, Angmar; you're going down. I'm going to get some flowers and go plant them all over your fields. Take that!
Lord of the Rings Online launches Helm's Deep for real this time [Updated]
Now that launch day for Helm's Deep is finally here, you'll still have to wait until Lord of the Rings Online patches before you can dive in. So while you wait, you can peruse the expansion's official release notes to see what's in store once your launchpad finally gives you the green light to play. The tidbits of information you'll find range from music to housing, classes to travel, and stats to crafting. For instance: music files to play now load properly on a Mac; players can send bags of coins through shared storage instead of the mail; housing chests can be expanded; stat caps have been adjusted; and monster players have access to six additional corruption slots. And that's just scratching the surface. There's even a category of known issues to give players a heads-up. So stroll on through the notes and prepare for the ride through Western Rohan. [Update: We've included the launch trailer behind the break!]
Jukebox Heroes: Helm's Deep's soundtrack
Well this was a particularly pleasant surprise! As the resident Lord of the Rings Online writer around these here parts, I've been pretty excited about this week's Helm's Deep release. I totally did not expect Turbine to give away the entire soundtrack for free on SoundCloud a week ago, especially after selling Riders of Rohan's score as a digital album. But that's what happened, and I am very much not complaining. While the esteemed Chance Thomas did not compose the second part of the Rohan saga, the studio did make the effort to create an original score in-house instead of just rehashing previous tracks. The result is an album of 25 new tunes for us to evaluate in anticipation of the next chapter of LotRO. So I threw out my original plans for this week's column, microwaved up some coffee, and gave the new score a listen. It was difficult narrowing the field down to six standout tracks, but the coffee was strong and so was my will. Let's take a listen through Helm's Deep, shall we?
Turbine delays Helm's Deep launch until Wednesday [Updated]
Following a power outage at its data centers yesterday, Turbine has restored game and website functionality to its titles but announced that the launch of Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep is temporarily delayed. From LotRO's Facebook page: We are temporarily delaying the launch of Helm's Deep while we work to address remaining issues, and will provide more information later this morning. We thank you for your continued patience, and will keep you updated. [Update: According to this afternoon's update, the Helm's Deep's launch will be delayed until Wednesday. Turbine is extending its pre-purchase offers as well as the 100% XP boost and Bounder's Bounty events through today and tomorrow.]
One Shots: Sleep-deprived corgis
Extra Life, a fundraising marathon by gamers to help sick kids, recently concluded, and several MMOs featured events to support the effort. Reader Paul was part of one of these events in RIFT, although it quickly took a turn for the surreal. "This picture is from the corgi run that took place in the last hour of Trion's event," he wrote. "Basically we were all turned into corgis (and occasionally sheep too), and we took a mini-tour around the world of Telara. Sadly my computer was not able to render everyone there, and many more people were present than my picture shows. I enjoyed myself a lot during all 25 hours and would recommend that people don't hesitate to take part in next years." Now it's sleepy-time for Paul, but that doesn't mean that you can't stay up a few extra minutes to see what lies behind the curtain of secrecy in this week's column!
