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LotRO producer's letter promises a ton of content in 2012
Can you believe that Lord of the Rings Online is nearly five years old? We can't either, but it's true, and Turbine's Aaron "Rowan" Campbell says the best is yet to come in his latest producer letter. The piece is pretty short, and much of it is devoted to recapping 2011. Campbell touches on the Rise of Isengard expansion and the Turbine Global Service initiative (which unified the North American and European LotRO communities under a single banner). The most interesting portion of the blurb occurs toward the end, and it features quite a tasty tease for the future. "In 2012, you can expect more content than you've seen at any time since our launch in 2007. We'll be unveiling details with you after the New Year," he writes. In other LotRO news, Turbine is offering the aforementioned Rise of Isengard content for a whopping 50% off. The catch? It's a one-day sale that starts (and ends) on December 26th, so get it while you can!
Turbine teases Rohan content with new LotRO screenshots
Oh Turbine, how you're teasing us with visions of Rohan, Rohirrim, and desperately suicidal cavalry charges punctuated by raucous shouts of "DEATH!" OK, now that we're all hot and bothered, let's have a look at the latest Lord of the Rings Online screenshots. The new batch coincides with the continuation of the game's epic storyline, and the shots primarily center around Theodred, prince of Rohan and son of King Theoden. If you've read Tolkien -- or seen Peter Jackson's films -- you're probably familiar with Theodred's fate and thus it might surprise you to learn that you'll be aiding him in Turbine's version of Middle-earth. It all fits, though, and you can find the prince in the game's new Dunland region, preparing his troops for battle and waiting on the timely assistance of heroes like you. [Source: Turbine press release] %Gallery-9579%
Lord of the Rings Online still not available in China
When it comes to mammoth western themepark MMOs and the Chinese gaming market, apparently there can be only one. And that one isn't named Lord of the Rings Online (or Highlander Online, sadly). CDC Corporation initially entered into an agreement to distribute Turbine's Tolkien-inspired MMORPG to Chinese gamers in 2006. Five years later, the game still has not seen the light of day, and Turbine has pulled the plug on the arrangement as a result. CDC spent approximately $10 million on "licensing, development, and other costs," but has nothing to show for the expenditures. Don't cry too hard for Turbine, though, as the Boston-based developer pocketed the $4 million non-refundable licensing fee.
The Road to Mordor: Not all who wander are lost
These are exciting times for Lord of the Rings Online, for sure. The Fellowship -- and hundreds of thousands of groupies following in its wake -- has moved south, and we are growing ever closer to Mordor and Mt. Doom. In a month, Middle-earth will grow significantly with the addition of Rise of Isengard, and level-capped players will suddenly have a whole new buffet of content to devour. It's also a good era for exposure for the game, as plenty of people will get to see the expansion at Gamescom and PAX, not to mention those already in the beta proper. While we haven't heard anything about the game's finances or player numbers lately, there's no reason to believe that it's not still going strong. That said, I want to take a step back today, as I sometimes do, and look at the larger picture. How is LotRO positioned against the current competition and the heavy-hitters yet to come? What does Turbine need to be working on over the next year or two? Are we just wandering aimlessly, or is the path laid out for journey for a long time to come?
The Road to Mordor: Double dragons
Last week Turbine released the concept art for one of its major bosses from the upcoming Rise of Isengard expansion: Draigoch. With it came a number of appropriate "oohs" and "ahhs," and no doubt raiders began thinking up uses for a giant dragon skull in their homes. But there was also a crowd that popped out to cry foul about lore molestation -- that this was a blatant example of Turbine pandering to MMO players by including the expected dragons even when the lore shouldn't support it. A couple examples of quotes, first. "Yet whatever way you cut this idea, how can you integrate another dragon into the story? Smaug was the last one of his kind," Contains Moderate Peril complains. A commenter on our article sniped, "So Turbine's decided to entirely drop the pretense of sticking to the lore, then?" Ouch. As much as I am totally not attached to MMO lore in general, I feel like this might be a good time to both address this particular argument and also the larger one of Turbine's approach to Tolkien's world. Are giant dragons lore-breaking? Does Turbine simply not care about remaining faithful to source material? Do you have my decaf light mocha with cinnamon sprinkles?
LotRO's Rise of Isengard beta begins July 27th
Feel like the road trip to Mordor isn't getting there as fast as you'd like? Good news, everyone -- Turbine's about ready to pull out of the gas station and truck toward Isengard! Today the studio announced that the beta program for Lord of the Rings Online's Rise of Isengard expansion will begin next Wednesday, July 27th. Invites will be going out to select players across North America and Europe, although the NDA forbids participants from even mentioning that they're part of the program. Those who have pre-ordered the digital expansion will have "preferred access" to the beta, so that seems like your best bet if you're interested. Rise of Isengard will release on September 27th, and contains a level cap increase to 75, three new zones and a 24-person raid against the dragon Draigoch. The expansion heads deep into the territory mentioned in J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers.
The Road to Mordor: A talk with the crew of The Fellows Hip: Rise of the Gamers
Buzz has been increasing about an intriguing independent film that looks to blend Tolkien love, geek pride, and Lord of the Rings Online fandom into one epic adventure. Called The Fellows Hip: Rise of the Gamers, this movie is about a group of friends who undertake a journey to a convention in order to participate in a LotRO gaming competition (and stick it to some bullies while they're at it). Many blogs, such as LOTRO Reporter and A Casual Stroll to Mordor, have promoted this up-and-coming film, and after seeing the trailer, we too became fascinated with what could be a fun movie that puts MMO gaming front and center. One may not simply walk into Mordor, but with the right connections, one could phone the folks up there. We got on the line with three crew members for The Fellows Hip -- Ron Newcomb (producer, director and writer), Scott Mathais (producer and writer), and Shane McClung (producer) -- to see just what type of lovable insanity would cause a group of people to throw together such a movie.
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Middle-earth Online
I had so much fun walking down the halls of "What if?" last week that I thought I'd keep the streak going for the rest of the month (if you'll allow for some summertime indulgence). It's not that I necessarily wanted MMO history to turn out differently than it did, but it's always tantalizing to wonder what the field would look like with different games out there. Would they have proven more popular than our current crops? Would they have pushed the envelope of innovation? Of course, it's easy to project greatness onto never-released titles, bemoaning that "if only MMO X had launched, we would've had the perfect game!" What ifs are interesting but should never be taken as absolute fact. This week I wanted to look at a project that's related to an MMO near and dear to my heart. As most of you know, I'm somewhat of a Lord of the Rings Online nut here at Massively. Sure, the rest of the staff is upset that I smoke pipeweed inside and never wear shoes, but that's just how far I go to understand the game. But even my LotRO isn't immune to a massive what if. Known to some but not to all, Turbine wasn't the first MMO studio to take a crack at Tolkien's license -- no, for that we have to travel back to 1998 and revisit Sierra On-Line. It was this company that had a brief but memorable run designing Middle-earth Online, aka "What if LotRO had permadeath?" It's a fascinating glimpse into an entirely different approach to the IP, and even though it died a fairly early death, it's important to be remembered. Frodo lives!
Turbine announces LotRO's Rise of Isengard release date
The road goes ever on for fans of Lord of the Rings Online, and as of September 27th, that road will lead to Isengard. Turbine has just announced the official launch date for its Rise of Isengard expansion, and the update will add Isengard, Dunland, and the Gap of Rohan to the expanding Middle-earth map. There's also a new level cap in the offing (75) as well as a new 24-player raid in the works. If September seems far away, take heart. Turbine has also announced that pre-orders are available today, and bonus items including a new cloak, title, mount, and bonus XP will be available in-game immediately after your purchase. The pre-order comes in three flavors (the Base, Heroic, and Legendary editions), and each includes the full expansion and an escalating array of the bonus items listed above. Head to the official Rise of Isengard website for more and check out the trailer after the cut!
The Game Archaeologist plays with MUDs: Your journeys, part 1
What a long, strange trip it's been back through the heyday of multi-user dungeons and the many, many spin-offs and variations thereof. We've looked at the history, talked with Richard Bartle, and promoted a few of the best titles out there -- but we're not done yet! The Game Archaeologist will not hang up his hat and call it a day well-lived until your stories are entered into the history books. Throughout this month, MUD and MU* players have deluged the inbox of the Game Archaeologist Institute for Text-Based Virtual Worlds, impressing us with hefty paragraphs of passionate experiences. These stories are so good, in fact, that we have little desire to choose between them, which is why we're going to annex the first week of May so that we can share all of them. May won't mind -- May's cool like that. So hit the jump and read the testimonies of the word warriors who were there on the front line of parser combat and grammatically correct roleplaying. These are their stories. This is your lunch break.
The Road to Mordor: Four more years, four more years!
While four years is not a nice round number -- or even a halfway number like five -- it's a substantial milestone for any MMORPG. Debuting in early 2007, Lord of the Rings Online introduced something we'd never seen before: a fully realized 3-D virtual Middle-earth where we could not only enjoy a deep MMO but explore the lands and meet the people we'd only read about before. It might not be a universal truth that all LotRO players are big Tolkien fans, but I'm sure enough that it's a sizable chunk of the playerbase. There's something special about the IP that gives a weight and richness to the game, especially when a long-time reader of the books is given leave to actually go on adventures through Eriador, Moria and Mirkwood. It's a giant sight-seeing tour of lore, a thrill with every brush one has with the source material. It's heady to consider that four years ago we were but starting on this journey, feeling out the mechanics of combat, crafting and pie-running. Four years later, LotRO has emerged to be one of the most significant MMOs of the past decade, growing strong with no signs of slowing down. Hit the jump as we reminisce about the ups, the downs, and the off-the-beaten-path hikes of our beloved game as it celebrates its fourth anniversary.
Lord of the Rings Online anniversary bringing double XP, beer
The 2011 version of Lord of the Rings Online's Spring Festival may have passed into legend, but hope remains for Hobbits, Men, and fair folk when it comes to having a good time in the month of April (OK, Dwarves are invited too). Beginning this weekend, Turbine is offering double XP on monster kills to celebrate LotRO's four-year anniversary (yes it has been that long) as well as a number of events designed to put even the grumpiest denizens of Middle-earth in a festive mood. In addition to featuring horse races, new cosmetic items, and anniversary tokens galore, the event marks the return of the much-loved beer fight -- sorry, the Battle for Glorious Beer -- wherein players are tasked with clubbing their fellows around an ale-soaked arena in Thorin's Hall. The official LotRO website has a few details, as do the folks at A Casual Stroll to Mordor. The celebration runs from April 19th through May 2nd, while the double XP event runs from April 21st to the 24th. You can check out some new anniversary shots in our gallery below. %Gallery-9579%
Echoes of the Dead update launches on Lord of the Rings Online's Euro shards
Better late than never, eh? Lord of the Rings Online's Update 2: Echoes of the Dead has been out for a couple of days in the States, and Turbine's European servers are finally joining the long-expected party today. Much like its American counterpart, the Euro version of Update 2 will be dropping the reviled radiance system and also spicing up Monster Play PvP with an initial round of tweaks. Minstrels, Burglars, and Hunters have also been given a bit of a facelift, and Legendary Items are on the receiving end of some developer love. Finally, Volume III: Book 3 continues LotRO's epic story quest line, and the Volume II epic arc has been revamped to make it more solo-friendly. These are just a few of the changes in store for denizens of Turbine's Middle-earth, and you can read the full release notes on the official Codemasters forums.
Turbine releases new LotRO Echoes of the Dead screens
Big changes are in the offing for Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming Echoes of the Dead update, and whether it's radiance removal, legendary item and relic changes, or the continuation of the epic quest line into Book 3, there's bound to be something for everyone. Turbine has just released a new batch of screenshots previewing the update, and more specifically, the images give us a glimpse of changes to the character UI. There's also a shot of a rather monstrous undead dude sporting some pretty spiffy headgear, so do yourself a favor and check out all the juicy details in our gallery below. %Gallery-101902%
Lord of the Rings Online dev diary details legendary item and relic changes
While the radiance mea culpa and radiance's subsequent removal from the game is the big Lord of the Rings Online news nugget of the month, it's worth noting that Turbine's version of Middle-earth will be rolling out some changes to legendary weapons as well. In a new dev diary at the official LotRO website, Ken "Graalx2" Burd and Brian "Zombie Columbus" Aloiso spell out some of the upcoming tweaks. The good news is that the randomness associated with legendary items is soon to be a distant memory. In spite of the Pool A/Pool B legacies introduced with the Mirkwood expansion, players would still occasionally be stuck with item legacies that didn't fit with particular playstyles. New Legacy Replacement Scrolls will remedy this situation; they will be acquired through the deconstruction of an item with the desired legacy (or through the game's item shop). The devs also have a bit of info to pass along regarding changes to the game's relic system. In a nutshell, the goal for relics was the same as the goal for legendary item tweaks: reduce the random element and give the player more control. To this end, the number of relic tiers has been reduced to six, as has the amount of time required to attain the top tier. Secondly, Turbine has added a new legendary item currency called shards, which serves to "bind various parts of the system together," according to Aloiso. It's a lot more complicated than that, of course, and you can read the lengthy details at the official LotRO website.
Turbine dev diary outlines LotRO Hunter tweaks
The winds of change are blowing toward Lord of the Rings Online's Hunter class, and Turbine developer Brian "Zombie Columbus" Aloisio has penned a new dev diary detailing the efforts to make Hunters more interesting for high-level players. This is no small feat, as "the Hunter was intentionally designed to avoid complexity," Aloisio says. "The differences between the trait lines are a little shallow." How exactly is Turbine going to achieve the delicate balance between easy-to-play and hard-to-master? Aloisio outlines three primary focus points for the Hunter changes: a reduction of the number of "filler" traits, enhancements for underused skills (as opposed to new skill additions), and general maintenance. The dev diary goes into great detail regarding the bowmaster and huntsman lines, with the former ultimately receiving a reduction in top damage potential but an increase in the overall effective damage and the latter seeing significant changes to Fleet Stance and Strength of the Earth. Find a path to the official LotRO website for the full details.
The Road to Mordor: The Professor
This past week on January 3rd, J.R.R. Tolkien celebrated his 118th birthday -- or rather, we celebrated it for him. Tolkien was born in South Africa in 1892 and lived a rich and full life, from fighting in the first World War to working on the Oxford English Dictionary to taking a position at several universities that would earn him the nickname "The Professor." He is, of course, most well-remembered for his seminal works of fantasy -- The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion -- although his writings didn't end there. Due to Tolkien's love of nature, linguistics, and mythology, his creations were born out of comprehensive backgrounds and rich histories, which he seemed to love making up just as much as the stories themselves. For years now, Tolkien fans around the world have remembered his birthday by raising a glass on his birthday and giving a simple toast, "The Professor," at 9:00 p.m. wherever they lived. Likewise, in Lord of the Rings Online, many players gathered at their tavern of choice to do the same. Today I thought I'd remember the Professor in a slightly different way by exploring the quest chain "Missing the Meeting." While it's not completely overt if you happened to come across it, "Missing the Meeting" is a tribute to J.R.R. Tolkien and his life, and it's worth going through at least once if you want to pay homage and get a nifty token by which to remember him.
The Road to Mordor: Figgy pudding
For those of us who celebrate the holidays, right now is an insanely busy time of the year. There are presents to be wrapped, eggnog to be nogged, and looks of annoyance to be thrown at the radio when the music station decides to play that Do They Know It's Christmas? song for the sixth time that hour. It also means that winter holidays are hitting most major MMOs, including our beloved Lord of the Rings Online. This year, the Yule Festival is marked by the addition of a whole new area -- Winter-home -- and players are already neck-deep in the quests, snowball fights and theatrical hilarity. Turbine's done a spectacular job this year infusing a lot more life and fun into the festivals, from the shrew stomping this past spring to the Haunted Burrow this fall. Winter-home is, in many ways, a perfect capstone to a terrific year for the game, and it's a pretty enjoyable event from what I've seen so far. So grab that cute Hobbit or Dwarf and join me as we travel to the merriment of Winter-home this week!
The Soapbox: Respect the IP (or, why MMOs can't)
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. Luke: What a piece of junk! Han: She'll make point five past lightspeed. She may not look like much, but she's got it where it counts, kid. I've made a lot of special modifications myself. But we're a little rushed, so if you'll just get on board, we'll get out of here. Luke: Lawlz. You can't pilot that thing. It's a YT-1300 and you're a Rebel-aligned Smuggler! Han: %&*$ ... Ah yes, continuity. It might as well be a four-letter word, at least when it comes to MMORPGs based on existing intellectual properties. Sure, producers pay a lot of lip service to faithfully recreating beloved works in an online space, but the reality inevitably ends up looking like the love child of Frankenstein's monster and a duck-billed platypus. Why then do we keep seeing MMOs riffing on Star Wars, Star Trek, Tolkien, and even Battlestar Galactica? Easy money, of course. A better question, and one I hope to answer at the conclusion of today's Soapbox, is why "MMORPG" automatically equals butchered continuity. In a nutshell, why is it so hard to respect the IP?
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.
