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LotRO players host Winterstock II music festival
Lord of the Rings Online is well-known for its player bands that take advantage of the in-game instruments, and this weekend you can hear a lot of musical acts with the return of the Winterstock player festival. Hosted by the Lonely Mountain Band kinship, Winterstock II will feature 31 bands playing over the course of four days from January 16th through the 19th. All shows will be set near Thorin's Gate on the Landroval server. There's a schedule posted on the forums, and if you really want to get into the swing of things, you can listen to the official Winterstock II theme song.
Turbine pledges to act on LotRO player event griefing
Concern over trolls disrupting and griefing player-run events in Lord of the Rings Online has been hitting our inboxes here at Massively, which is why it's good to see Turbine take an official position today against such griefing in the future. According to a post on the forums, the studio will be "making a concerted effort" to combat trolls and encourage the continuation of player-run events. GMs pledged to take action on help tickets as well as monitor such events as they occur, but said that it will limit such policing efforts to stage areas only. "We know that players moving throughout the performance area on mounts can be particularly frustrating and distracting," the studio said. "To combat this problem we're looking into what options are available to help combat this behavior in designated performance (stage) areas. We'll also be removing players who are mounted from the stage area manually in the meantime." [Thanks to George for the tip!]
Lord of the Rings Online's Weatherstock returns this weekend
Weatherstock, the annual player-run music festival in Lord of the Rings Online, will be returning for its sixth appearance this weekend. This year there will be two elements of the festival. The first is the Weatherstock Concert Series, which features longer sets leading up to the battle of the bands, i.e., Weatherstock itself. Ten player groups will perform for the crowd and compete against each other at the summit of Weathertop. Last year there were over 700 players in attendance. Weatherstock VI will take place on the Landroval server this Saturday afternoon, June 14th. The Weatherstock schedule is up, as is a FAQ and a Twitter feed for important updates.
LotRO players put on Winterstock 2014
A new player event is coming to Lord of the Rings Online this month: Winterstock! To fit the season, Winterstock will take place at the frigid (yet welcoming) Thorin's Gate on the Landroval server from January 17th through the 20th. The four-day event will showcase 19 bands playing in one-hour blocks during the afternoons and evenings for entertainment and amusement. Winterstock could be seen as the counterpart to summer's Weatherstock, which has been going on for years now. The event is hosted by the Lonely Mountain Band and is available to all. A full schedule of the band times is up on the LOTRO Players site.
City of Heroes fans will hold a protest rally at Atlas Park [Updated with video]
Odds are good that most City of Heroes fans can't picket NCsoft's corporate headquarters over the game's sudden closing announcement. But fans can picket in the game itself, and that's the plan behind the in-game rally on Saturday at 5 p.m. EDT. The event planners are asking players to congregate en masse on the stairs in Atlas Park on the Virtue server in the hopes of spawning an awe-inspiring number of zone instances. The rally is followed by a costume contest at 6 p.m. EDT with a similar theme: Players will be making costumes based on Paragon Studios employees -- not the pseudonyms of the employees but the employees themselves. Players are encouraged to put a personal twist on the costumes, but the rules emphasize that mean-spirited costumes are disallowed. If you want to show your solidarity with the game and the studio, head over to the Virtue server this Saturday and get ready to strut your stuff in truly epic fashion. [Update: Massively streamed the event live on our Twitch channel complete with commentary from Beau and Bree. We've embedded the show behind the cut -- sorry for the audio burps; 45234528435 people all waving torches in protest can do that to a stream. Titan Network has more info, including the speech by the rally's chief organizer and the groundwork for a campaign to mail superhero capes and masks to the NCsoft studios. Save CoH!]
Xsyon highlights upcoming player-run event, includes bear-fighting
It's been a while since we've heard anything from Notorious-Games' sandbox MMO Xsyon, but the silence has been broken with a new press release from the studio announcing a large player-run event. The Praetorian Guard tribe is hosting a Spring Clean-Up event, throughout the course of which attendees will be treated to activities ranging from treasure hunts, obstacle courses, and -- our personal favorite, if only for the wtf factor alone -- The Bear Arena of Doom. The event will be taking place at 3:00 p.m. EST on January 14th, which is this coming Saturday, so gather up your best ursine-proof equipment and go wrestle some bears for fun and profit. [Source: Notorious-Games press release]
LotRO musicians prepare for Weatherstock 2011
With summer almost upon us, the fair free folk of Middle-earth are gearing up for the largest player-organized in-game event of the year: Weatherstock 2011! Lord of the Rings Online adventurers from around the world will flock to the summit of Weathertop in the Lone-lands on the Landroval server to hear nine excellent outfits perform in an epic Battle of the Bands. A Casual Stroll to Mordor has all of the essential details for this event, which runs from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday, June 18th. Among those contributing to the concert are The Green Hill Music Society, The Breakfast Club, and The Blackheart Pirates. Each band will perform a trio of songs (plus a possible encore) in an effort to take home one of three awards. Weatherstock is made possible by LotRO's unique music system, which allows players to compose and perform songs with a variety of instruments. This is always a fun event, and the LotRO Lorebook has additional information for those attending (hint: turn off names!). Mark this on your calendar so that you don't miss the excellent tunes!
Wings Over Atreia: Shakespeare in Aion
OK, OK, maybe Shakespeare is a bit melodramatic, but the idea of taking on a role and playing it out on a stage is not a foreign idea -- even in Aion. It just so happens that this stage is not under your feet but in virtual space instead. Besides, I happen to love Shakespeare, so props to me for mentioning him in a gaming column! Now, I am the first to admit that NCsoft doesn't make it easy for a gamer to roleplay in Aion; there are scant few tools to support this style of play. But that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. Despite this dearth, there is in fact a whole community comprised of legions both large and small as well as individuals. These players use personal connections and a player-created chat channel in-game as well as external tools such as the Aion Roleplayers website to bind themselves together and support the community as a whole. So what exactly is roleplay, and how viable is it in the world of Atreia? Exit stage left (past the cut) to define RP, debunk some RP myths, and explore RP in general Aion.
EQ2 guild Custodi della Luce to hold obstacle course event
If you're in for a lazy Sunday at home, haven't got visiting relatives demanding your attention, and happen to have an EverQuest II subscription, then we might have found something that can kill a couple of hours for you. The Custodi della Luce guild from the Splitpaw server are holding a massive event, one the likes of which are not often seen in an MMO, and particularly not when it's organized entirely by players. They've built an elaborate obstacle course out of their guild hall, and are offering generous prizes for the fast and furious.It may be too late to register as a runner in the official race (although 12-15 new racers will be accepted at the event, you'd need to get in quick), a large tower has been constructed in the center of the course for onlookers to watch. After the race is over and prizes are given out, a spectator free-for-all will take place on the course -- expect this race to get dirty as stray elbows and shin-kicks get lost in the bustling crowd. Even if you aren't going to attend the event, the embedded video (seen better with the high quality option turned on at Youtube) shows the magnificent effort that Custodi della Luce has put into making the circuit -- color us impressed. The actual race begins at 18:00GMT today, the 21st of December, and the full event details can be found at the EQII forums. Good luck to all that participate!
