volume-i
Latest
The Road to Mordor: A look back at Volume 2
Last year, I spent a column giving my reflections, thoughts, and observations on the entirety of Volume 1 of Lord of the Rings Online's epic storyline, and today I'd like to do the same for Volume 2. Since these stories are at the center of LotRO's player experience, it's important to see how they function and hold up in today's increasingly story-centric MMO environment. I've gone through Volume 2 twice, once before the "solofication" of the recent update and once after. The second journey was, by far, much more enjoyable since I didn't have to sit there for weeks hoping to find enough players on the same part of the Fellowship portions to continue the tale. Being able to go through it at my own pace was vastly more enjoyable, especially when I could dedicate huge chunks of time to knock out several chapters in one go. And this is a good thing, as this volume of the epic story not only gives you one of your legendary traits but greatly helps you build reputation toward a faction that will give you another one (the Iron Garrison Guards). As such, Volume 2 will continue to be an important part of any character's journey. So let's dig into this puppy (not... a literal puppy, you understand) and see what Volume 2 has to offer. If you haven't yet gone through this part of the epic story, beware: Here be spoilers!
Lord of the Rings Online: "Solofication" is the word of the day
Ever since Turbine modified the first volume of its epic storyline for Lord of the Rings Online, players have eagerly anticipated the same revamp of Mines of Moria's Volume II. With the upcoming Echoes of the Dead patch, this will in fact take place, and Turbine's ready with another illuminating dev diary to shed some light on the process on the "solofication" of Volume II. It turns out that reworking Volume II wasn't as simple as scaling down mob health or just slapping Inspired Greatness (a huge buff) on characters. Every stage of the journey -- which contained many large group instances -- had to be reconsidered, and Turbine's Bob Hess details how the content team broke down the journey, adjusted it and then reassembled it to be a more solo-friendly experience. "Overall, I feel as though the changes made will allow a great number of players who previously could not proceed through the epic to see the rest of the story unfold," Hess said. Volume II's solofication includes taking battle instances and transforming them into skirmishes, adjusting the levels of the different books and making quest objectives simpler. You can read the entire article over at LotRO's website, and don't miss out on five new screenshots from Echoes of the Dead below! %Gallery-101902%
