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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.
Brandywine Realty is open for business
Player housing has gone live in Lord of the Rings Online with the Book 11 patch. But how do you buy a house? How do you pick which one is right for you? Where do you start? You can start with LotRO's Official Guide to Housing.This guide created by the LotRO team walks the very fine line of between being RP and informational. And we think they do a brilliant job. Short, funny, in-character and conveying all the basics to searching for, paying for and losing a house. Yes, you can be foreclosed on if you don't pay the weekly maintenance. But you can pay up to 6 weeks in advance.The basics are: you need to be at least level 15, you need to be able to pay the weekly maintenance fee, any race can live in any other race's neighborhood and if you don't pay the upkeep, you first lose the house, then a week later you lose all the items from the house that were put in escrow. In-game housing is fun, but some of this is bordering a little too much on real life!
LotRO and Burning Crusade victorious at Golden Joysticks
The 25th annual Golden Joysticks (not to be confused with Joystiq) awards in London are officially over, and the MMOs were out in force. While Gears of War snagged the "Ultimate Game of the Year 2007" award, The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar took "PC Game of the Year", and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade was the victor in the "Gametribe Online Game of the Year" category.The full results can be viewed on the Golden Joystick website. While the majority of the winners were serious "no duh" picks, it's a little surprising to see LotRO honored as the overall PC game of the year. Not that we don't think it's not a terrific game, mind you, but an MMO (that doesn't have the word Warcraft in the title, anyway) taking the award over the glut of historically more popular shooters and strategy games is a bit shocking, though not unwelcome!
LotRO celebrates the Harvest Festival
There are a lot of Fall seasonal festivals going on in MMOs right now. From WoW's Hallow's End with its flying broomstick mount and Headless Horsemen event to City of Heroes' Costume Contest. Lord of the Rings Online is celebrating the season in its own way with Middle-earth's first annual Harvest Festival. Announced today, but starting on Friday, October 26th and running through November 11th, Tolkien lovers can enjoy a number of unique events.
LotRO servers busy after Book 11 rolls out
While server populations remained relatively normal in the first hour or so after Book 11: Defenders of Eriador, rolled out today, this evening is painting quite a different picture. All of the servers are busy this-evening, and the Brandywine, Elendilmir, Silverlode and Landroval servers are particularly busy, with logon queues for would-be adventurers. The OOC and Advice channels are full of chatter and questions about the new Player housing. Where it is, how to get it, what it's all about. Comparatively few players seem to have checked out the Lorebook's Housing category, particularly there are helpful maps identifying the location of the four housing zones: Bree-lands Homesteads, The Shire Homesteads, Falathlorn Homesteads, and Thorin's Hall Homesteads. Each entry links to details about the features of each property in the Homestead group. Check out our Book 11 tips and Known issues, and take up arms against the Witch King!
Update to Book 11 tips
Lord of the Rings Online officials have clarified their Housing abandonment policy. Earlier today we reported that abandoning a house will leave it unavailable for purchase for 24 hours. Community Manager Patience clarified that players are the ones with the 24 hour lock out on purchasing. How long it takes for Housing to become available after abandonment is now unclear, but may be as little as 12 hours.Patience also clarified that new Housing instances spawn in sets of 3-5 and the practice of buying and abandoning houses will not get them to spawn any faster.We also found another great resource for patch goodness, LotRO Vault's Patch Tree. They are posting screenshots of new items, NPCs, places, etc introduced in today's Book 11 update, including the image above of the new birch trees players can buy to decorate their new Hobbit homesteads.Also, keep an eye on the Known Issues for Book 11 thread over on the official LotRO forums. Some early bugs have already been identified.
Useful tips for Book 11
As Lord of the Rings Online players happily patch away in anticipation of buying housing, summoning their new stealth Lynx or gearing up to take down a Balrog, we at Massively wanted to provide you with a few tips and links to help you get started. Can't find the instance portals leading to the new Housing Neighborhoods? Female Gamer has screenshots of the where each Housing instance is on the map for all four racial areas. Eight more Housing Brokers, in addition to the ones in front of the Housing Instance portals, will be temporarily available to help people buy property. Check here for a list of where to find them. You cannot "hold" a house for a friend by buying it and then releasing it. Releasing a house starts a 24 hour timer before that residence is available for sale again. The Epic story for Book 11, 'Prisoner of the Free Peoples', starts where Book 10 ended, with Calenglad on the island of Tinnudir in Evendim. And don't worry if you don't get the residence you want. A new neighborhood instance is spawned as soon as the current one is sold out.
LotRO down for update to book 11
Lord of the Rings Online is offline as of now (6AM ET) for an update to the new Book 11, Defenders of Eriador. There are updates to Minstrels and Lore-masters, player housing, a Balrog and more in this new update. All things being equal, LotRO is set to return around Noon ET. If you're looking for something to while away the hours, check out some of our other great content, read the patch notes and save yourself valuable time downloading the patch (900MB, so get in early)! The battle against the Witch King's minions returns at Noon!
LotRO tip: Finding Cole Sickleleaf
LotRO's quests are diverse and interesting, often backed with lots of character. One thing, though, that I hear more about on the advice channels than any other, is the location of the Blackwold bandit, Cole Sickleleaf. Indeed, fellowships have ranged up and down Northern Chetwood looking for this infamous handkerchief-stealer for hours, yet he remains elusive, as groups walk right past his hideout. It is one of the few serious stalls in the early part of character and quest progression in the Bree lands, and alone generates a fair bit of frustration. So, if you're searching for the infamous mister Sickleleaf, we'll show you where to look.
LotRO Book 11: Defenders of Eriador notes and release date
It's official! Book 11 has a name and an upcoming October 24, 2007 due date in North America and October 25, 2007 in Europe. Best of all, it's free to download -- zilch -- zero -- nada -- did I mention it won't cost a thing? Shiny, new, precious Book 11. We wants it. There's so much stuff crammed into Book 11 if you have been waiting for new content the wait was worthwhile, keep reading for the skinny. Home, sweet home the Middle Earth way. Player-housing is probably the biggest undertaking for a free content update and the developers didn't skimp on the overall implementation. The biggest thing to get right with player-housing is that the elves and dwarves don't live in the same straw huts on a beach somewhere. The developers whole-heartedly agree since there are four different racially-styled homesteads that feature a distinctive Middle Earth architectural style and environment. When it comes to room there's plenty of plots around with 250 neighborhoods to each homestead, so all the hobbits can all live happily ever after and frolic on one giant bed after adventure hour just like in the movie -- I'm sorry, don't hurt me. Don't like your homeland? No problem, you don't have to be a hobbit to live in The Shire. If an elf decides to move in with my dwarven renegade and brings any of that elf culture with em', I'm setting up a neighborhood watch. Kinships won't be left out of the house either and various decorations ranging from paint to taxidermy and even music to help you clutter your new digs and set the mood for that special occasion. Lots and lots of good stuff for the crafters to keep them busy clicking and housing won't be about just the looks, being a home-owner also comes with a few other lucrative benefits. If playing house isn't your thing and you are more into wielding something other than a paint brush Book 11 has you covered with The Rift Nûrz Ghâshu. A new large underground dungeon filled with adventure for up to 12 players. That's not the only high-level content planned either. Also on the endless chapters in Book 11 is a ton of monster play enhancements and a little trip down yonder to the new Goblin-town! For the classes, this time around the Minstrel and Lore-Master see some love with numerous skill updates including a new pet for Lore-masters and Minstrels will be able to train others in their musical ways, which sounds really neat.
Lord of the Rings Online Book 11 brings new raids, player-owned housing
Just like the unlikely heroes in its namesake, Lord of the Rings Online continues to persevere, despite impossible odds. Now, much like Gandalf when times looked darkest for the Fellowship, Turbine is releasing some new content for the game, including new high-level stuff, new raids and player-owned housing. ... Well, it's what Gandalf would have done, if he hadn't lived in caveman times.We're not playing LOTRO, so it's difficult to say how much this content will mean to players. But it doesn't take a wizard to figure out that free content it always a good thing. Look for Book 11: Defenders of Eriador sometime this month, and our sister blog Massively will have ongoing in-depth coverage of Book 11.
A better bow for younger hunters in Middle Earth
Got a lower level Hunter in LotRO and are looking for that extra edge? You've made it to Combe and Chetwood, maybe looked in on Bree. Gee those bows are nice, but you're maybe level 7 or 8, and level restrictions put the better bows out of your league. Well, wave your hand dismissively at the wares of those city-folk. You can do better.
Minstrel's Feign Death getting a revamp in Book 11
Minstrels were thrilled to see the LotRO devs had chosen their class as one of the two getting a revamp in the Book 11 patch currently on the Preview Server. But then one of them noticed that the coveted Feign Death skill had it's cooldown timer doubled in length.Fortunately, the Turbine devs had something special in mind for the skill. They have removed the resist chance from the skill check. Feign Death will now always work. To compensate for this enormous buff to the skill, they doubled the cooldown timer and made it so it won't drop the Minstrel out of combat. So no rezzing others during combat.Most players were glad to exchange a longer timer for a no-fail get-out-of-jail-free de-aggro card. Considering the devs are removing one panic button from the Guardian class, it's interesting that they have given another one to the Minstrels.The devs went on to clarify that while using this skill, Minstrels will be untargettable and invulnerable. It does not, however, shed aggro in a group situation. Someone in the group needs to taunt or aggro the monsters that were beating on the healer or he is going to stay on the top of the hate list when he drops the skill.However, for solo play, using this skill will cause all monsters will run back to their normal patrol paths and leave the Minstrel alone. In group play, the Minstrel can use this ability as wipe insurance to help the party recover quicker.It remains to be seen what creative uses the players will make of this skill. I'm willing to bet the rent someone is going to figure out a tactic or two the devs didn't consider.
New textures for Lore-master pets
The Book 11 content update for Lord of the Rings Online has been dubbed, among other things, the month of the Lore-master. Among the new spells, new pet (go Lynx!) and other goodies is a little surprise for our nature loving friends: new textures for their animal servants.Using new amulets crafted by Jeweller's, Lore-masters can now summon their animal companions in darker and lighter colors. Confirmed so far on Roheryn, the Preview server: Black Lynx: must be wearing Amulet of Supreme Black Lynx, Neck, BoE, +15 Agility, +29 Might, +15 Fate, Min Lvl 48. Crafted from 4 Misty Mountain Ingots and 2 Polished Beryls. Snow Lynx: similar to Black Lynx amulet Frost Raven: must be wearing Amulet of the Greater Frost Raven, BoE Neck, +7 Will, +4 Vitality, Min Level 23.
Turbine gets new CEO, but what happened to the old one?
Turbine Studios, developer of Lord of the Rings Online and D&D Online, announced a new CEO yesterday to replace long-time CEO Jeff Anderson (pictured). New CEO Jeff Crowley, who came from outside the industry, was brought on board a couple months ago as "one of many [hires] that Turbine has recently made to invest in new talent that will drive the next wave of the company's growth." Translation: The Turbine board wasn't happy with the management or money the company was making and decided to make changes.There's no mention of Anderson's fate in the press release, but word is that he's been pushed out of the company. It'll be interesting to see how Crowley handles the company, Anderson was always the public face of Turbine and its games. It'll also be interesting to see if Crowley survives the behind-the-scenes issues which caused the shakeup in the first place.
Autumn wallpaper calendars from LotRO
Turbine, developers of The Lord of the Rings Online, have released three stunning new wallpaper calenders for Autumn 2007. Covering October, November and December 2007, the new images are a pleasant mix of the dangerous, the awe inspiring and the provencial.The calender wallpaper from previous months have had the dates removed and are now suitable as a clean background for your PC. View these new calendars and other LotRO wallpapers in our gallery below.All official wallpapers can be downloaded at high quality from the LotRO Wallpaper page.%Gallery-8208%
Lord of the Rings Online free 7-day trial
Turbine announced today that they're offering a free 7-day trial for their successful Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. The offer is available for North America, Australia and New Zealand. The press release finally gives us some numbers for LoTRO and says there are "4 million characters calling Middle-earth their home." That's a pretty slick way of avoiding how many actual accounts there are, but we'll totally believe them that it's the "second largest MMORPG" behind the unfathomably successful World of Warcraft. In that race, second place is a perfectly respectable place to be.LoTRO recently had their second content update which continues to drive the MMO in a good direction. The game seems to be doing well enough that it's been mentioned as being part of Midway's increasing fiscal fortitude. The first full expansion for LoTRO, which will cover the events in The Two Towers and its peripheral story lines, is expected to be announced early next year.
LotRO updates Aug. 20 with 'The City of the Kings'
Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online is getting another free content update with Book 10: The City of the Kings on Aug. 20. Turbine has been pretty solid in delivering content updates for their games on a regular schedule, releasing Shores of Evendim shortly after launch. The new content includes: Spending Destiny Points to play as a Ranger or Troll during monster play in the Ettenmoors. Playing as a "critter," the first of which is a chicken. LotRO players can now explore Middle-earth from the non-humanoid perspective. A reputation and bartering system, which allows players to gain rep. for rewards with factions and the bartering system allows players to trade trophies for gear. 100 new quests UI is now more customizable Although Turbine won't talk about how many players they have, they're boosting US publisher Midway's bottom line so they can't be doing all bad. LotRO game looks to get continual updates leading up to the expansion, which should be announced early next year.[Via press release]
Midway close to being profitable
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter tells GameDaily that Midway may be only one franchise away from not playing the Atari game of financial problems anymore. Recently Midway reduced their losses to around $14 million, which sounds like a lot to us normal folk, but for a corporation, that's like owing someone $20. Apparently Lord of the Rings Online helped bolster the bottom line, but because Midway is merely the distributer, Turbine is still reaping most of the benefits.Pachter believes Stranglehold will help Midway's cash flow and he expects it to sell a million copies in its first quarter of release. He believes profitability is right around the corner for the company if any of its titles do better than expected. Let's see, the contenders are Stranglehold, Blacksite: Area 51, and Unreal Tournament III. Given the way the industry is going, there's no reason any major company shouldn't currently be profitable -- unless they've got a great excuse.
Turbine won't deny possibility of console Lord of the Rings MMO
Ever since people got word of the stealth-action MMO The Agency, a lingering question in the back of everyone's mind has been "will other MMO's get console attention now?" The answer is complicated. Blizzard probably won't bring World of Warcrap to consoles, but other developers are more open to the possibilities of console gamers who don't feel like getting a new computer every six months. Turbine Entertainment, creative minds behind The Lord of The Rings Online, are open to the idea. "I actually think Lord of the Rings is a platform we can build from," said executive producer Jeffrey Steefel. Even though the PS3 supports keyboards and mice, they've still got to think of a way to translate the game from PC to consoles. Steefel vaguely explained, " ... 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." However different it may be, we'd be honored to start getting some MMO's on the PlayStation 3. Whether or not the game would feature cross-platform play is not known, but we'd like to see it exist someday.
