Rivendell
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Mind-blowing Middle-earth manufactured in Minecraft
Minecraft is one of the most flexible creation engines this side of LittleBigPlanet, and despite the pretty cool stuff we've seen in the past, nothing comes even remotely close to the synapse-destroying brilliance of the in-game, more-or-less-to-scale Middle-earth created by Shorvok and the hobbits of Minecraft Middle-Earth. A large majority of the reproduction has been crafted without the use of plug-ins, with incredibly massive cliff-faces and mountain vistas being carved by hand. More than a thousand man-hours have been devoted to the project, and the results are nothing less than breathtaking. If you've got the time, we heartily recommend watching the full video. If you're pressed for time, however, make sure and check out Rivendell at 29:09 and the Mines of Moria at 33:23. [Thanks EvoHelix!] (Please note, neither Joystiq nor Minecraft Middle-Earth can be held responsible for brains exploded in bewilderment.)
The Road to Mordor: Soundtrack bonanza!
One of the probably-not-very-interesting things about me is that I'm somewhat of a video game soundtrack aficionado. Ever since MP3s became all the rage, I've been collecting my favorite tunes from console and computer games, often replacing the in-game score with my own personal soundtrack. MMO soundtracks, as a whole, are hit or miss with me. While there are many incredible pieces out there, a bulk of what you find is low-key atmospheric stuff that isn't meant to be on anyone's Top 40 playlist. Lord of the Rings Online has its up and downs as a soundtrack, but overall it really does evoke the spirit of Middle-earth. It's hard to imagine playing the game, especially the early levels, without hearing these tracks. I've collected both the soundtracks to Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria and have been saving them for a special occasion. Today is that special occasion. These were composed by Chance Thomas (who's scored many Lord of the Rings-related games) and Stephen DiGregorio. Ranging from bombastic to sinister to folksy, this score covers the gamut of themes and emotions related to the journey of the Ring. It's cool to listen to it independently of the game, as you can appreciate the score for what it is -- and see how the pieces evoke memories of your times in LotRO. Instead of individually reviewing all 40 or so tracks, I'm simply going to pick my 10 most favorite to share with you!
The Road to Mordor: Re-evaluating Moria
When I first left Lord of the Rings Online, it was early in 2008 and we were constrained to Eriador and Eriador alone. Angmar was the most dangerous spot on the map, level 50 was the cap, and getting your legendary traits was an almost inhuman feat. When I returned in 2010, I discovered I had missed out on the release of not one but two expansions and a huge amount of new content in the world. As a previous player, I felt as though everything I had known was completely different, and there was nothing as unknown or intriguing as the Mines of Moria. Expansions have a funny way of making or breaking MMOs, you see. They can exemplify some of the best qualities of the genre: they represent the persistent growing world; they give our characters new challenges to overcome; and they can introduce new features that significantly change how the game is played. Of course, they can damage the game's reputation by creating a worse endgame than before, by screwing up the good aspects of the game, or simply by being unpopular. So how does Mines of Moria fare two-plus years after its release? Today, I want to take a look back at what will probably be the single largest expansion that LotRO will ever see and examine how its purpose has changed from 2008 to 2011. Also, we'll probably make fun of Dwarves.
The Road to Mordor: The final ding
It happened far sooner than I'd hoped. I tried to put it off, to ignore the creeping bar, to spend my days in frivolous activities instead of fighting evil -- but to no avail. It was a simple quest turn-in somewhere deep in Mirkwood, and with only two elves to witness the event, a stream of white light erupted from my head. I was level 65. For me, it's always been extremely disconcerting to hit endgame in any MMO, which is probably why Lord of the Rings Online marks only the fourth game of my MMO career in which this has happened. I like the feeling of leveling up, gaining experience, going on a mostly solo journey through the lands. But once I ding that final level, the XP gains go away and the questions arise. What do I do now? Should I become concerned with raiding? I wasn't before! Is there a purpose to keep on questing at this point without XP? Am I going to avoid fighting mobs unless I absolutely have to do so? What is there to do? Will I get bored? Who replaced my wallet with a ketchup packet before I sat down? Join me after the jump as I take you through these questions and more on my journey to discover a life after the final ding.
The Road to Mordor: Will our journey take us back to The Hobbit?
The next few years promise to be exciting ones for fans of Middle-earth. Ever since The Return of the King debuted in theaters in 2003, audiences have clamored for more of Tolkien on the big screen -- specifically, The Hobbit. After nearly a decade of back-and-forth negotiating and legal entanglements, it appears that this The Hobbit movies are finally going to happen, with Sir Peter Jackson once again in the director's chair and Martin Freeman taking on the lead role as Bilbo. That's smashing news for movie buffs, but what does this have to do with Lord of the Rings Online -- y'know, that MMO we sometimes talk about in this column? It could be "very little," with Turbine proceeding on its merry way and perhaps enjoying the free boost to playership as movie buffs hunt around for a game to extend the experience. However, if the company were smart, it would be laying out the groundwork right now to synergize the heck out of the movie with a similar in-game experience. For a while now, I've been chewing on the notion that Turbine could incorporate the events, locations and characters of The Hobbit into LotRO -- in fact, several of the key pieces are already in place. Could our journey in LotRO eventually take us back to the era of Bilbo's grand adventure? How would such a thing even work? Hit the jump and I will smack your brain so hard with ideas that you'll forget all of your piano lessons. It's OK -- you didn't really need them.
The Road to Mordor: Forum diving
[Special note: Obviously, the news that LotRO is going free-to-play hit after this article was already written, so stay tuned as we dissect what it means for existing and potential new customers next week!] Lately, it feels like we're in a holding pattern for Lord of the Rings Online. The last major content patch, Volume III: Book 1, is fading into distant memory, and we're pushing into summer without definite news of the next update -- or better yet, the next expansion. Players are also nervous about any changes or new directions the game may take after the recent acquisition of Turbine by Warner Bros., and the silence certainly doesn't help any. However, there's always hope in the darkest places of Middle-earth, and the same can be said for the game itself. The Summer Festival should be around the corner, and as for new news, Sapience handed out a bit of vague encouragement on the forums: "You guys know we're preparing an announcement. I can't give you a specific date as to when we'll make it, but I can say I just ran into Adam Mersky coming out of an E3 planning meeting and he was pretty stoked!" While we continue the wait for the next step forward for LotRO, I thought it'd be a good idea to head over to the official forums and do a little diving for some of the more interesting topics and discussions bouncing around the LotRO community today.
MSNBC: Live from Middle-Earth
Usually when a major news outlet picks up a story about a video game, it's in relation to how destructive they are, or how unmoral they are, or it will just be a really dry interview with a game designer that everyone's going to forget about in two hours. So when we got word that MSNBC was interested in the Lord of the Rings Online, we weren't expecting this oddly amusing interview.Todd Kenreck, roving reporter and elven guardian, has taken it upon himself to brave the locales of Middle-Earth and catch up with LotRO's live producer Aaron Campbell. He braves the Misty Mountains, travels through Bree-Land, and gets all of the information from Aaron as the two chat in the scenic Rivendell. The entire interview is done inside of the game in a machinima style, and makes a pretty nice visual case for playing LotRO.We've embedded the full video after the break, so everyone can enjoy some solid reporting from the lands of Middle-Earth.
Celebrating Bilbo's birthday in LotRO
Today is both Bilbo and Frodo Baggins' birthday, and to celebrate, Turbine has reinstated the Belated Birthday quest in Lord of the Rings Online. This quest is basically a way for Bilbo and Frodo to get you to deliver their presents to each other, but you get a nifty little musical cracker as a reward.As you may remember from the books (or heaven-forbid, the movies), this day is the beginning of Bilbo's disappearance from The Shire , so this is a big deal to many of the game's lore buffs and role-players. Even if you're not a fan of the lore though, this quest only happens once a year. It's available to those level 43 and above, and begins in The Last Homely House of Rivendell. Simply run over to Bilbo's Room inside the House and follow Frodo's instructions.
LotRO Book 14: Leaving Rivendell
As Lord of the Rings Online's newest book approaches release date, we can't help but get excited by every ounce of news that abounds. Book 14: The Ringforges of Eregion will expose players to many new concepts and improvements on older gameplay features that have proven popular.By finally getting the Fellowship out of Rivendell, we can start looking forward to that trek to Mount Doom. This lets us explore the tremendous lore of Eregion and eventually Moria, just in time for the release of LotRO's first expansion Mines of Moria which is set to release later this fall. Session Play will make an expanded comeback for Book 14, with promises of more involvement as other creatures (think Chicken Play and Ranger/Troll Play in the Ettenmoors) on the horizon. Large-scale battlefields will also be introduced, as these server-wide events will immerse players into the on-going war in Middle-earth.Be sure to read more on this latest info from Gamespy's trip to Turbine.
The Lord of the Rings Online's one-year anniversary: A look back
In releasing Book 13 on its one-year anniversary, the Lord of the Rings Online finishes off its first year with five large content updates, known as Books. In addition to new epic storylines, the lore progressed significantly this past year as new Books were added. Let's take a look at all the changes made since April 24, 2007.The game began with eight questing zones and one player-versus-monster-player zone as well as seven classes and 10 crafting professions. It also launched many promises from the developers for much-demanded features such as player-owned houses and Fishing. At this point it was very difficult to reach the level cap of 50 due to a lack of significant content in the level 30-50 range, which Turbine promised to address. And that promise materialized with the first free content patch. Find out what Book 9 brought to the game ===>>
One Shots: Rivendell waterfall
One of the things that many people have asked in the course of us showing off all the great Lord of the Rings Online screenshots is if the game looked as good under DX9 as it dos under DX10/Vista. This One Shot, courtesy of Massively's very own Tateru Nino who has been lurking around in the lands of Middle-earth, shows that it does indeed look fantastic under DX9. This particular area is in Rivendell, just as you come down from the heights. That just goes to show you that no matter which version of Direct X you're running, Turbine's LotRO looks really sweet. Do you have a great panorama that you'd like to show off? Perhaps you've got a snap from an in-game event, or an epic battle. Any and all screenshots of MMOs are welcome (please, no UI, though) from the simple landscapes to the tumultuous scenes of combat! Just snap a screenshot and drop it to us at oneshots@massively.com. Include your name, and anything you want to tell us about your particular screenshot, too! Without you, we must rummage through our own folders, and while it's cool to show you what we've been doing, we'd love to see what you've been up to as well.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: The beautiful architecture of Rivendell
Reader Luis sent in this absolutely breathtaking shot of one of the lovely buildings in Rivendell, the most famous Elven city in Lord of the Rings Online. While he didn't tell us if he's running under Vista / DirectX10, we can only imagine his machine has to be fairly well set up to capture the stunning details this well. Have you ever seen an area in an MMO that just made you stop and stare? Perhaps what gets your eye going isn't a lovely building, but a battlefield full of your enemies! Whatever it is that makes you stop and go "cool" -- We want to see those screenshots! Just send 'em to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com, along with a quick description of what we're looking at, and we'll show them off to the rest of the world for you. %Gallery-9798%
