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Know Your LotRO Lore: The Rings of Power
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.You may realize that the essential plot for the Lord of the Rings books has something to do with a ring, or at least we'd hope you do. Perhaps you know that there is this one ring that keeps making Hobbits invisible, and a bunch of Orcs want it really, really badly. But other than that, you're lost to the origins and impact that this ring has in relation to the grand scheme of things. Why does this big fiery eye in a tower keep twitching itself around whenever someone puts that thing on their finger? Why did Sean Bean want to kill that kid from Radio Flyer? And why isn't his name pronounced Seen Been? Or even Shawn Bawn? If these are questions you ask yourself while leveling your Legendary Halberd and skipping quest dialogue, we're here to help once again with this week's installment of Know Your LotRO Lore! Creation of the Rings >> %Gallery-39552%
Codemasters wants your feedback on Mines of Moria
You've now had almost two weeks to get your feet wet in Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria expansion, and now Codemasters and Turbine want to know what you think. Do you enjoy the new Legendary Weapons? Do you hate the new combat system? Do you want to scream every time you see a pack of Wardens running around in game? In probably every case but the last, Codemasters and Turbine want your feedback.It's rare that a community team opens themselves up to such a public display of feedback from the community on a brand new expansion, but it seems like a great way to do things, and it shows their confidence in an exceptional product. Simply head on over to the forum post at the official Codemasters forums and speak your mind.
Lord of the Rings Online down for first post-Moria patch
Turbine's games are all down for maintenance today, with Lord of the Rings Online getting the full treatment during its downtime. The first post Mines of Moria patch to drop onto the live service hits today, with an impressively lengthy list of changes. We discussed these patch notes initially last week when the official notes showed up on the boards, both because of their length and the humor shown in their writing. Most interesting to this blogger are the improvements to Guardian threat, making them competitive in the new world of Wardens and their shouty-taunts. Today all those new tweaks are actually going live, with the game servers slated to come back online at 2pm EST. That's no time at all to wait, and working through the patch notes might take you just about that long. So, go check em' out or read back through our Know Your LotRO Lore columns to pass the time. See you in game!
The Daily Grind: Has the fantasy genre been addressed?
Warhammer Online is out, Wrath of the Lich King is out and Mines of Moria has also been released into the wild. Each of these games cover a wide range of features and fantasy settings, and World of Warcraft pretty much has the fantasy MMO archetype covered mostly on its own. So until someone figures out "WoW 2.0" -- something that's got all the good parts, but much less of the bad -- should any new fantasy game bother at this point?We think Guild Wars 2 is probably safe because it'll be without a monthly subscription, which is usually a big barrier to entry for a lot of possible players. Beyond that though, have Blizzard, Turbine and Mythic completely monetized the fantasy genre to its fullest potential for the time being or is there room for another title in the next year or two?
Comparing the expansion launches for WoW, EQ2, and LotRO
World of Warcraft's second expansion did pretty well. Like, 2.8 million units in the first 24 hours well. This, we all know. The important question is, what sort of impact did Lich King have on the WoW playerbase? What kind of impact did the expansions for EverQuest 2 (The Shadow Odyssey) and Lord of the Rings Online (Mines of Moria) have on those communities? Thankfully, GamerDNA is doing its level best to answer these sort of weighty questions by datamining the heck out of their userbase. We have some hard-and-fast metrics, as a result, exploring these exact issues.Lich King's launch, purely from a 'size of the graph bars' perspective, was an unmitigated success. As Sanya puts it, "what we're seeing is the triumph of advertising combined with critical mass. Lich King was promoted harder, louder, and in more places than the other two expansions." Which is not to say that TSO and MoM were failures. In fact, both expansions resulted in some serious bumps for both games. The graphs make it apparent that their success was somewhat mitigated by the almost-simultaneous launch of Lich King, with EQ2 feeling the burn more than LotRO. What will be fascinating to see is how this story pans out months from now, when dedicated players of these other two games have full-force returned after 'completing' the content from WoW's newest expansion. We'll keep you posted.
The Digital Continuum: Moria or Wrath?
Standing in the tiny store, I found myself at a crossroads. I'd put a lot of thought into this, but now that the decision was starting back at me, it seemed much more daunting. The question kept repeating in my head, "Do I buy Wrath, or Moria?" The financially devoid part of my brain enthusiastically yelled, "Both!" while the logical part reminded me that my time was already stretched fairly thin and that trying to dive into two new expansions would probably not be a wise move.Decisions, decisions.
The Digital Continuum: Moria or Wrath? Pt. 2
For all my enjoyment since getting Moria, something begin to bother me while I created a trail of dead bandits, bears, spiders, bats, wolves and tree roots. My time with Warhammer Online has taught me this: The easier I can find quests and complete them, the better my overall experience. After some discussion with Shawn Schuster -- our resident LotRO player -- there were a few new bookmarks nestled in Firefox.
The Daily Grind: How are those expansions going?
So you've had a couple of weeks to run around in EverQuest II's The Shadow Odyssey, Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria, and World of Warcraft's expansion Wrath of the Lich King. This morning we thought we'd check back in with you and see how those expansions were going for you? Are they all that you hoped for any more? Anything that isn't quite as good as you'd perhaps hoped it would be? In the case of the WoW and LotRO expansions, have you hit the new level cap already?
The hero of Moria's guide to Nud-melek
Now that you're well-informed as to the origins of Lord of the Rings Online's Moria, thanks to our Know Your LotRO Lore article yesterday, you should have no problem understanding the ongoing Hero's Guides provided by Turbine. In the most recent installment, we get a look at Nud-melek and it's rich history as the first area that Durin discovered when he first set eyes on the caves of Khazad-dûm.The five-page article goes through each section of the area, describing everything in great depth. Not only does it provide us with a clearer understanding of what we have lore-wise, but it also gives us an idea of what creatures we'll face in the game and certain strategies that will work best against them. Be sure to check out this latest Hero's Guide as well as the complete series that are sure to better your Mines of Moria experience.
Mines of Moria Patch 1 release notes show Turbine's humorous side
Now that Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria expansion is out, the bug fixes will commence! Even though the launch was extremely smooth, it's inevitable to find small bugs in the game after any launch. In the most recent Patch 1 for Mines of Moria, these small bugs are addressed and the patch notes have been released.We have to say, Turbine's sense of humor is quickly becoming legendary on these patch notes and dev diaries. Check after the cut below for just a sample from these patch notes that made us chuckle, and don't forget to review the entire notes on the official forums.
Massively week in Review
Joystiq's sister site Massively.com has all the news you'll need about MMOs. Here's the best, brightest, and most interesting stuff from the last week, all in one convenient place for your MMO minute. Massively's exclusive pre-launch Moria interview with Jeffrey SteefelMassively chats with Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer for Lord of the Rings Online the night before the release of LotRO's first expansion. Mines of Moria is now live, and from the sounds of things the servers and players are having a great time of it. Massively's ArenaNet interview: The past, present and future of Guild Wars PvP Massively catches up with ArenaNet Game Designer Isaiah "Izzy" Cartwright for a brief interview regarding the past, present and future state of PvP in Guild Wars. Follow along after the cut for the full interview and some exclusive PvP screenshots supplied to us by ArenaNet. Massively checks in on The Agency with Lead Designer Hal MiltonMassively talks over the current state of The Agency's development with the animated and always-interesting lead designer Hal Milton. Hal shares with us a bit of insight into what they're currently working on, give us a few fun facts to chew on, and makes us actually look forward to next year's summer con season.
Know Your LotRO Lore: Khazad-dum and the origins of Moria
Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.Long ago, the Dwarves were numerous and mighty. This was an age when the Elves, Men and Dwarves lived in harmony, the mithril was plentiful and the Orcs were driven back to Sauron's lair. This was the end of the Second Age: the age of Khazad-dûm. To first understand Khazad-dûm, we must start at the very beginning.Early in the First Age, "long before the creation of the Sun and Moon," according to Tolkien, Durin "The Deathless" had awoken at Mount Gundabad, far to the north in the Misty Mountains. His growing clan of Longbeards eventually moved southward down the vales of Anduin, being driven out of Gundabad due to constant attacks from the Orcs of Morgoth. It was during this journey that he discovered "a glen of shadows between two great arms of the mountains." He followed a series of short waterfalls down into an oval lake, which he believed to have a magical quality. The glow of this lake and the reflection of stars in the water led Durin to believe it was a sign, and he went on to name it the Mirrormere. It is near this area where Durin chose to create his ultimate stronghold: The Dwarrowdelf, or Khazad-dûm in his native tongue.
Lord of the Rings Online producer 'not worried about World of Warcraft'
Everybody has worries, even Turbine's executive producer Jefferey Steefel. While we don't know what worries him, we do know what doesn't: World of Warcraft. In an interview with MTV Multiplayer, Steefel revealed that Lord of the Rings Online didn't see much of a dent from Age of Conan or Warhammer Online's launch. In fact, much like World of Warcraft, Steefel says most players who left eventually came back. This definitely explains why he's not worried about Wrath of the Lich King and it's launch a week prior to Mines of Moria -- he's got numbers to back it up.So what's the big secret? Is Turbine employing the power of the one ring? Well, according to Steefel there's a couple of reasons, "Somebody who's really looking for that heavy [Player vs. Player] or [Realm vs. Realm] experience, they're going to go play 'Warhammer.' But if they're looking for the best [Player vs. Environment] game, it's clearly 'LotRO.' Period. Plus, it's 'Lord of the Rings!'" Seems like a solid argument, although none of it would matter if Lord of the Rings Online wasn't an incredibly well-made game.Steefel even points to this fact when asked why games like Tabula Rasa fail while others succeed, saying, "Consumers aren't so forgiving anymore, and I think that's why [MMOs] are starting to have difficulty." Blizzard certainly played a role in that, although it was bound to happen with time, anyhow.
Turbine: Horsemanship to become "important" when LotRO reaches Rohan
Alright, it's time for that gaming industry tradition of speculation based on vague quotes from developers! In an interview with Ten Ton Hammer, The Lord of the Rings Online executive producer Jeffrey Steefel spoke about future updates to the game, saying that the best is yet to come because now that Turbine has moved into Moria, the really interesting and fully-fleshed-out stuff from Tolkien's source material is only a few steps away.Among those interesting things is the land of Rohan, which fans of the books and movies will remember is a kingdom that prides itself on breeding and grooming the finest horses in Middle-earth. Steefel went on to say: "When we get to Rohan, does horsemanship become important? Yeah! Us and our horses would be strung up if we got to Rohan someday and didn't pay attention to horses. And it's just a matter of when."Mounts in LotRO have admittedly always been a bit basic (but in a good way!), so this could mean any number of things, but perhaps the most exciting possibility would be Age of Conan-esque mounted combat. Go ahead and meditate on that for a bit, and read the interview for a few more vague quotes about the future of LotRO and the company's console plans if you feel compelled.
LotRO Watcher in the Water raid video
Oh Turbine. Just when we were starting to wonder how many more of these Moria preview videos you could bring out, you hit us with the best one of all. In this most recent video trailer from Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, we get a look at a group of players battling the Watcher in the Water as part of the 12-man raid instance in the game.Luckily, we've fed you all the info you'd ever want to know about the Watcher in a recent Know Your LotRO Lore article, so you should be well-prepared for this video. Our sister site, Big Download, plays host to the low and hi-res versions of this video, so check it out embedded after the cut below, or at BigDownload.com.
New set of LotRO videos show more of Moria
Even after the launch of Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria expansion this last Tuesday, Turbine is still pumping out the video previews for each of their new areas of the mines themselves.A few days ago, they released a video for the Redhorn Lodes in the central Moria region, and The Great Delving, which is the first section you encounter when entering the mines. Then today, they've released yet another video depicting Zelm-melek, which is smack dab in the middle of the mines, above Redhorn Lodes. If you've reached any of these areas in game yet, you know that these videos don't quite do them justice, yet they're still worth a look. Check them out embedded just after the cut.
Veteran's guide to Mines of Moria: What's in it for me?
So Lord of the Rings Online's first expansion, Mines of Moria, has released with minimal problems. Admittedly, the launch went off better than most, although there were a few server issues on that first day. As a veteran player of the game, with perhaps two or more level 50s, you've been playing Moria since the servers went live, with only breaks for school or work. We understand that and we only want to make your time with Moria that much better, so we've created this guide to the changes in Moria according to what a veteran player would seek. The low-level guide has been done, and now it's your turn, oh Master of Middle-earth.Luckily for you, most of Moria's content was geared towards you. The biggest exception to this is the two new classes, as they would need to be created from level one. Still, between class balance, ten new levels, new instances and an entire underworld to explore, you have plenty to keep your highest-level characters busy for quite awhile. Follow along after the cut below to learn more about what Moria has to offer for veteran players.
The Daily Grind: How much content should an expansion have?
Everyone's got an expansion out right now -- EverQuest II has The Shadow Odyssey, The Lord of the Rings Online has Mines of Moria, World of Warcraft has Wrath of the Lich King, EVE Online has Quantum Rise -- there's no end to it, but then that's the point, isn't it?Well, you'd think that, anyway. Word on the street is that there are already Death Knights at level 80, and all the raid content in Wrath has been completed. One player reached level 80 in only 27 hours. Over a year of development for one week of content? Are MMO players just too damned hardcore, or did Blizzard aim too low? How much content should you be getting for $30 or $40 and your continued subscription, anyway?There are some folks out there who (to continue using WoW as an example) are still hacking through The Burning Crusade's content, or even the classic stuff. How do you think a balance can be struck between those folks, and the crews who have already bested all the Wrath content?
The Daily Grind: How important are friends to MMO gaming?
Over the last week or so we've been asking you how you've managed to decide between the big releases hitting the MMO genre these days. Last week's Lich King launch, followed by this week's launches of EverQuest 2: The Shadow Odyssey and Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria seem like challenging decisions for the fan of the MMO genre. We're not going to ask you how you picked, though, because we think we know how you decided which game to play. Like Codex and Zaboo up there, you hang out online where your friends are. At least, we think you do.So our question this morning is, first, do you decide which MMO to play based on where your friends are? Second, how important are other people to your continued MMO gaming? If your friends weren't playing the game they are, would you be? How much does the directly social nature of massively multiplayer games affect your gameplay? Let us know, and good luck making those hard choices!
All LotRO servers down for a hotfix
If you just got home from work, planning on digging into a bit of LotRO's Mines of Moria goodness before dinner, you may be pretty peeved to find out that an emergency hotfix has brought the servers down from 5:30pm - 7:30pm Eastern.But don't fret! That gives you plenty of time to read through our launch day coverage, which includes an interview with Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel, a Know Your LotRO Lore article featuring The Watcher in the Water, an unboxing of the Collector's Edition and more! Plus, don't forget our previous coverage that could be just as helpful today, especially our complete tour of Book 1. Update: The servers came back up promptly at 7:30 EST. Enjoy Moria!
