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The Road to Mordor: Riders of Whoa-han!
This past week we heard from Turbine about its general plans for Lord of the Rings Online in 2012, and while it may not have hit everything on my personal wish list for the year, it was a good start. I was mulling over the question of whether it's better for MMOs to show all of their big cards up front like Turbine or to parcel them out over the course of the year. Both have advantages, of course. Front-loading the year with a broad overview like this gives players long-term reasons to stick with the game, but it also can steal the exciting thunder from these events down the road. On the other hand, measuring the big news out during the year would probably give Turbine more publicity, but it could frustrate players who might feel "in the dark" about the company's plans. In any case, we got what we got, and there's a lot to chew over for this week's column: unbound skirmish soldiers, Riders of Rohan, the Great River, and the fifth anniversary. So let's get started!
Riding into Rohan: LotRO maps out 2012
In the words of Frank Sinatra, 2011 "was a very good year" for Lord of the Rings Online. Executive Producer Kate Paiz and Director of Communications Adam Mersky sat down with us to talk about the future of the game, but before they got to the juicy details, they wanted to give a quick recap of the previous year for the game and the studio. The big emphasis for LotRO in 2011 was the unifying of the global community and the release of the game's third (and best-selling) expansion, Rise of Isengard. While the aforementioned unification of the NA and EU sides of the game presented many challenges for the team including localization, it paid off in spades. Turbine plans to continue to add more payment options for those used to methods other than the ones currently available. The team was most proud of unveiling Saruman "in all of his glory" and the inclusion of free players into the sphere of Monster Play. "The game definitely grew last year," Mersky said in response to a question about the current number of players. He noted that the playerbase has changed somewhat in the past two years, becoming more casual in some respects. But it's time to move forward! Turbine is prepared to take LotRO players on a dizzying chase around the wilds of Middle-earth with a few significant changes and additions to the game -- and the release of the brand-new expansion later this year, Riders of Rohan. Mounted combat, ho!
Turbine brings back LotRO horse design contest
If you've ever fantasized about forming up amidst a massive host of horsemen, shouting "death!" at the top of your lungs, and charging across the Pelennor Fields to trample some orc filth beneath your hooves, well, Lord of the Rings Online isn't (yet) the game for you. That said, if Turbine's Tolkien treatment is lacking in the Rohirrim department, it doesn't lack for cool contests like the latest edition of the Design a Horse competition. One winning player design will make it into the live game in the form of a special mount to be given away at 2011's PAX East convention, and Turbine has provided a template as well as a set of entry instructions on its official LotRO website. The news blurb also features a few examples of existing in-game equestrian skins, so don't delay in submitting your work for consideration. The fate of Gondor depends on it!
Has LotRO's next expansion been named?
Kill Ten Rats has uncovered a rather interesting website, called Riders of Rohan. Curiously, this website doesn't actually go to any place new -- it simply redirects to the official Lord of the Rings Online site. So this of course begs the question, will the next expansion (presumably this year's) be centered on Rohan and its lands? Will Lord of the Rings Online players be tromping around the Riddermark within the next twelve months?It seems rather plausible given the Volume 2, Book 7 update's location, but of course there's no official word just yet. Still, that won't stop us from imagining up mounted combat as Horse Lords and massive armies marching onto the steps of Helm's Deep as we valiantly defend her gates from dark forces.
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.
