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The Daily Grind: Do you make small-talk while grinding?
I've stomped my share of shrews in this week's Lord of the Rings Online Spring Festival, and while I'm content to semi-AFK my way through a token grind to get a couple of the spiffier rewards, it strikes me as odd to see a dozen players doing the same activity in close proximity and basically ignoring one another. Sure, there's that one guy who's always spamming the emote with the most over-the-top animation in the game, but apart from that, this might as well be a slice from a single-player RPG. So, how about it Massively readers? Do make small-talk in situations like this, or do you just go about your business? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
LotRO's Spring Festival returns with mushy romance and smooshy shrews
Were you wondering if Lord of the Rings Online forgot about its Spring Festival? Well, it didn't; the festivities have begun anew today and will continue through June 3rd. LotRO's Spring Festival includes the notorious hedge maze, the manic shrew-stomping event, horse races, romance-themed quests, and the continuing rivalry between the Ale Association and the Inn League. It's a good time of the year to stock up on cosmetic items, reputation points, and general tomfoolery, so get to it!
Lord of the Rings Online Spring Festival is live
It's that time of year again in Middle-earth, as Turbine has blown the dust off Lord of the Rings Online's annual Spring Festival. A Casual Stroll to Mordor opines that this year's edition won't depart too much from years past, so you can expect to find the usual hedge maze, horse-racing, and Inn League shenanigans out in full force. The site's annual festival guide isn't ready for prime time just yet, but you can check out the 2011 version while you wait for the update. [Update: ACSTM's guide to the Spring Festival 2012]
Turbine outlines 2012 festivals, mentions new Farmer's Faire event
Spring has sprung, and that usually means it's Spring Festival time in Lord of the Rings Online. This year, though, Turbine has pushed the annual in-game event into the month of May due to its busy schedule, which raised questions about the rest of LotRO's yearly shindigs. Turbine took to its forums yesterday to address the concerns, and while the dates aren't set in stone as of yet, it looks like all of the regular events are present and accounted for. LotRO's fifth anniversary festival leads things off next month, followed by the Spring Festival in May, the Farmer's Faire in July, the Summer Festival in August, and the Fall Festival in October. Wait, the Farmer's Faire? Yep, that's a new event, and we'll keep an eye out for news on that going forward.
Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival rescheduled
Spring is beginning to... well, spring, and for denizens of Middle-earth, that generally means the Spring Festival is just around the corner. This year, however, there's been a small adjustment to the schedule. Since Lord of the Rings Online's fifth anniversary is coming up in April, the Spring Festival is being pushed back until after the anniversary celebrations have concluded. While we don't have an official start date for the festival, Casual Stroll to Mordor points out that the game's anniversary is April 24th; those celebrations will likely take place the week of said anniversary. Therefore, we should probably expect the Spring Festival to kick off sometime in May. As CSTM also notes, this may help bridge the rather sizeable gap between the Spring, Summer, and Fall Festivals as well, so maybe a little schedule-shifting isn't so bad.
The Road to Mordor: Festivals and you -- a love story
It's a shame that Lord of the Rings Online's fourth anniversary will probably be remembered more for being a mismanaged festival event than for the achievement that reaching four years signifies. But things are as they are, and the "Grindaversary" has now gone down in LotRO's history of what not to do for an event. If you're only tangentially tuning in to the LotRO news these days, last week Turbine launched its first anniversary celebration in the game (previous anniversaries were marked only by gift tokens dropping in the world). The celebration was a lesser type of festival that borrowed elements from previous events, namely, the horse races and the beer brawl. Players were challenged to participate in both to gain tokens to acquire special rewards, such as a new horse mount, housing decorations, and cosmetic outfits. The problem was twofold: The tokens were gained so slowly that it took a long time to get enough for even one moderately priced reward, and the only endlessly repeatable activity (the beer brawl) could be failed if you were knocked out of the area by another player. As a result, players heavily protested what should've been a fun time and Turbine ended up with egg on its face. In participating myself, talking with friends, and reading through the many, many responses to the event, I got to thinking about how Turbine's approached festivals over the past year or so and how the studio can learn from this to avoid another stumble.
LotRO March Producer's letter offers glimpse of fun to come
It's been a busy month for Lord of the Rings Online, with Update 2: Echoes of the Dead going live, tons of players checking out all the improvements and new content available to them, and the popular Spring Festival already underway. However, Turbine isn't resting on its laurels. According to the March Producer's letter by Kate Paiz, Executive Producer for Lord of the Rings Online, there are even more cool things planned for the not-too-distant future. Not only does Paiz touch on all the great content just introduced to the game in Update 2, but she notes that LotRO's fourth anniversary is coming up in April, that will see the addition of a new in-game Anniversary Festival celebration. Along with that, players can look forward to an unnamed treasure-hunting event, which will "likely be open for play periodically over the year." There are also some more tasty tidbits on Update 3, with a note that we'll hear more details about Isengard a little later down the road. In all, if you call Middle-earth your MMO home, you'll want to pop by the Lord of the Rings Online site and check out all the details the newest Producer's Letter has to offer.
The Road to Mordor: Fashion show! Fashion show! Fashion show at lunch!
Major patch weeks are always a great deal of fun in Lord of the Rings Online as everyone digs into the new content, looks for hidden gems, and goes on grand new adventures. As much as I appreciate most everything in this week's Echoes of the Dead update, I have to say that, hands-down, the additional outfit slots made me the happiest. Yes, I'm weird, but I can't be the only one who had an inner squeal of joy when Turbine announced that it was going to expand (via the store) the number of outfit spots from two to five. I've always, always loved the outfit system in this game as a way to give my characters a unique and aesthetically pleasing look versus having to stare at the mismatched armor they seem to pick up along the way. In celebration of the additional outfit slots, I wanted to finally dig into the outfit system and look at the basics of Middle-earth fashion: where you get these pieces, how colors come into play, and where you might go for inspiration. So let's put on our finest frippery and strut the catwalk, ladies and gentlemen! (I promise, next week I'll be much more manly. Probably.)
The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth
What a difference a year makes, eh? One year ago, and you didn't have to put up with me yammering at you every Friday like a hyperactive badger with a personality disorder. One year ago, and we weren't free-to-play-anything, Turbine was its own company, the festivals were nowhere near as cool as they are today, and shrews freely roamed the land without fear of reprisal. So in my last Road to Mordor (of the year, stop rejoicing over there!), I thought it'd be great to look back at the wild rollercoaster that was 2010 in Lord of the Rings Online. I also thought I'd get an easy column out of all this, but that was before I had to read through 1,337 posts and my eyeballs began to lose pressure. January Stuff happened. Let's move on.
The Road to Mordor: Entitled
A few days ago I asked the Massively community members what in-game titles they loved the most. Titles have been on my brain for the past week, as I've started to realize just how many -- how bogglingly, terrifyingly many -- exist in Lord of the Rings Online. I hadn't really given them a lot of thought before, because who really stops to read every small paragraph that magically floats above people's heads? "Frodo, Ring-bearer of the One Ring of Power, Fellowship of the Ring, Formerly of Bag End, The Shire." Yeah, we get it. You're Mr. Fancy Pants. But really, titles are kind of neat, if only for the player who puts one on like a fine three-piece suit before an evening on the town. A title tells the world not only of your great (or not-so-great) accomplishments, but also a little about your personality -- after all, you chose that particular title to wear above all the others. A title can tell me if a player is really proud of his crafting achievements, or if he's a raider, or if he has a decent sense of humor. While I'd say that -- like LotRO's hats -- a good bulk of the titles in the game are cosmetically useless, there exists quite a few that are worth procuring if you're into titular collection. Today we're going to look at some of my favorite titles in the game, as well as how to nab them. Please don't pee your pants in excitement.
LotRO's Welcome Back Weekend salutes the halcyon days of the spring festival
Turbine's Welcome Back Weekends for LotRO are, well, almost as dependable as the tides and official forum rants. Still, they're always good news for all, especially when they coincide with a special event. From April 29 through May 3, LotRO is inviting all previous players to return in order to experience the final fruits of the Spring Festival (which also ends on May 3). The festival has returned for an encore performance, mostly so that anyone gunning for the attractive Blue Roan mount can snag it before it's gone. All players, both current and returning, will enjoy a 5% bump in XP from monster kills and free stable travel for the weekend. Considering that Turbine is throwing special three-year anniversary gifts to the crowd as well -- including a generous 20% discount at the bards -- it's not a bad time to dip one's toes back into the game. Check out the official announcement over at the site, and get your download on!
Runes of Magic details Chapter III Phase One
Frogster has announced Phase One of the Chapter III: The Elder Kingdoms update for their free-to-play fantasy MMORPG Runes of Magic. The patch, scheduled for next week, looks to be chock full of new content, and the phased approach is designed to get players to high level and primed for all of the fun coming down the pipe. Phase One will include a new zone, Thunderhoof Hills, as well as a new Collectible Card System. Slain monsters will drop cards that give character attribute bonuses, offering you another way to build your avatar. Additionally, Phase One is introducing instance difficulty levels which will affect loot drops as well as improved grouping and public encounter interface elements. If all that isn't enough for you, Frogster has more on the way. Guild castle upgrades are coming with Phase One, as are guild quests and guild castle minigames including Spirit Warrior, Needle Drill, and Call of the Horns. Last but certainly not least, Phase One brings the Spring Festival event as well and the Expedition 60 bonus XP events. Whew. Check out the official site for all of the details.
Codemasters extends LotRO spring festival
European Lord of the Rings Online fans are getting a treat this week in the form of an extended Spring Festival. Everyone loves a good party, and if you've been enjoying the spring festival in Middle-Earth, a few extra days of celebration are a great way to welcome spring. The Spring Festival on the European Lord of the Rings Online servers was set to wrap up today, but Codemasters announced that their community will be enjoying an extra week of partying. Keep your shrew-stomping boots on a bit longer, and make sure your favorite racing horse is well rested because the Spring Festival will continue until the 26th. All of the festival events will remain open until the end, so check out all of the details in the Spring Festival developer diary, and then enjoy the extended party!
One Shots: Take me drunk, I'm home again
While the Spring Festival horse issue may be bumming some Lord of the Rings Online players out, there's always one way to deal with it -- get completely hammered in-game! (Out of game hammering is entirely optional, mind you.) Of course, if you do decide to go chasing pink elephants, this is the type of sight that will likely greet you, as captured by Andrew, also known as Pojoh on the Firefoot server. He writes in to explain this blurry Lord of the Rings Online image: "My burg was enjoying the Spring Festival near Bree. [The] objective was simple -- go into a maze, drink some ale, walk out of the maze. When your screen looks like this, well... it's easier said than done. Really loving the festival and the effort that Turbine puts into these things." Are you taking part in an in-game event in your MMO of choice? If so, why not grab a screenshot of the merriment and send it to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game and a description of what we're seeing. Yours could be the next one featured here on One Shots! %Gallery-85937%
Festival horse vendor removed from Lord of the Rings Online
Did your goals for Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival include getting yourself a spiffy horse? Well, you're going to have to wait just a little while in order to get your hands on one. How long? We don't know yet. What we do know is that the vendor has been removed entirely, thus preventing players from even gazing longingly at the listing in the menu. As Sapience explained on the forums, the issue wasn't really the vendor so much as the horse itself. To wit: the way the game is handling mounts is being changed. As a result, they need to change the item, remove the item from the vendor's list, or remove the vendor entirely until the issue is resolved. However, the former two changes require a patch, and the issue is kind of small for an entire patch -- not to mention that it's the sort of fix more easily rolled into a larger patch. While it's bad news for Lord of the Rings Online players, it's at least nice to get a quick and clear explanation on why the vendor got yanked. [ via A Casual Stroll to Mordor ]
The Road to Mordor: A day at the festival
Every Friday, The Road to Mordor brings you the latest in Lord of the Rings Online news, guides and analysis. It's a well-known fact that whenever the country fair or spring festival comes around to Middle-earth, even big bad Sauron takes a day off from pestering hobbits, disguises himself as a schoolmarm, and enjoys the sights, sounds and tastes of these celebrations. I'm telling you, the dude has a cotton candy craving that is insatiable! As such, I feel perfectly justified in also taking my union-approved break from being a mass-murder machine to take in the wonders of LotRO's spring festival. After packing three light lunches (I am one of the Little Folk, after all) and equipping myself with A Casual Stroll to Mordor's excellent Spring Festival guide, I was off, giddy as a little schoolgirl.
LotRO Spring Festival 2010: Shrewmageddon
Even the most dour dwarf or happy hobbit must take a break now and then from questing for a time of merriment, games and celebration. After all, we're pretty sure that the Enemy is a big killjoy, so what better way to spit in his eye than celebrate the life and beauty of the season with LotRO's Spring Festival? Starting today, LotRO players can hop around to this expanded festival, which includes group dancing, a mysterious hedge maze, shrew stomping, food, drink and more! There's a lot of great rewards for the dedicated party-goer, including the opportunity to grab a fish and slap a friend. Hit the jump for help in navigating this festival, as well as brand-new pictures of the event!
LotRO tames the shrew in a new dev diary
"Festivals are surprisingly brutal to make!" confesses Turbine's Lauren Salk. It turns out that she loves doing them anyway, and in a recent Lord of the Rings Online dev diary, she opens up on the process of creating and adding on to one of the game's landmark holidays. Ever since 2008, LotRO's Spring Festival has added more casual content for players to romp through and enjoy. Last year it was a hedge maze -- this year, it's all about the Shew Stomping. Lauren is careful to note that no shrews are actually killed as players step on them with special boots (they're just knocked out!), so don't feel too bad for these garden invaders. She laments how difficult it was to program shrews that attack and could be attacked by players of any level. If shrew stompin' isn't your thing, there are plenty of other activities in which to partake. "Between the shrews, the Hedge Maze, the Feast of the Greenfields, and all the other games, you should have plenty to keep you occupied for the next month," Lauren promises. LotRO's Spring Festival runs from March 23-April 6. %Gallery-86629%
The Road to Mordor: Massively tour of LotRO Volume III Book 1
Every Friday, The Road to Mordor brings you the latest in Lord of the Rings Online news, guides and analysis. Lord of the Rings Online Volume III: Allies of the King is kicking off Book 1: Oath of the Rangers on the live servers this Monday, March 1st. Massively got to sit down with a LotRO dev for a tour of the new content. But before we jump in to that, a quick note about content patches. There have been some complaints on the official forums that this content update doesn't include a new land mass to explore. But the history of content updates for LotRO shows a pattern of only adding land mass every other update. Since the last update was a full expansion with the introduction of Mirkwood, it follows that this one would not include new lands. That being said, there are many new areas to explore. The devs have created new instances in the "old world" for you to enjoy as part of the new Volume III epic quest line. So while this update doesn't deliver Rohan, it does have new dungeons to explore as well as a new Skirmish. The tour (with some mild spoilers) starts after the jump!
A Calendar of Celebration
Life returns to normal in Lord of the Rings Online, after a brief and somewhat surreal few weeks of picking flowers and chasing chickens through a large, sudden and inexplicable hedge maze, all of which was presumably meant to celebrate Easter, after a fashion. Only of course, it being Middle-earth, you can't really get away with actually calling it "Easter", so instead it is the "Spring Festival", a curious mirrored event which parallels, but never quite touches, a popular celebration and holiday in our own lives. It is a strange thing, and by no means the only example; Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Valentine's Day, St Patrick's Day, Chinese New Year, and many more, all of which find themselves disguised with varying levels of subtlety and applied to any number of MMO worlds, regardless of existing genre or back story. In most cases the inclusion of these holidays runs at odds with any kind of established setting or lore, so why are such great lengths gone to in the express purpose of breaking the fourth wall in the name of contemporary festivities?
