Over at Mordor or Bust, Lord of the Rings Online’s new executive producer Kate Paiz sat down to talk about what’s on every hobbit’s mind: the transition to LotRO’s free-to-play version this fall. Paiz took the reins of LotRO just as the F2P change was announced and is bringing her experience from DDO Unlimited’s transition over to LotRO’s team.
In the interview, Paiz spends a considerable amount of time both praising the community and reassuring it that these changes will benefit the game as a whole. One of the issues she addressed was the lack of Player versus Monster Player (PvMP) combat for non-subscribers, saying that it was necessary for now, but that may change in the future: “While we plan to introduce [PvMP] at some point in the future to the rest of the playerbase, we wanted to first focus on delivering the quality PvE game that we have to players in a way that continued to drive great interest and fun in the game.”
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Castro Lord of the Rings Online
You know how your hippie relatives are forever bragging about how they went to Woodstock during the Summer of Free Love, and how your generation will never experience something that historical and muddy? Well, now you can get all up in their faces and say, “Yeah, but were you at Weatherstock in Lord of the Rings Online, dealing with lag and hobbits underfoot? I thought not!”
Weatherstock has become a tradition on the US Landroval server, a yearly gathering of bands and music lovers at the summit of Weathertop (aka Amon Sul) in the Lone-lands. Where once Frodo and Aragorn fought off the Nazgûl, these grounds now will be covered in song and spirits. Organized by the Lonely Mountain Band kinship, Weatherstock will feature three hours of music as 10 bands face off to win prizes. However, only one group will be chosen by the crowd and declared the best.
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Kiuperli Lord of the Rings Online
The only people who stop RP is… well… you.
The other notion — the one that all RP is going to die in a fire thanks to this move — is just as silly. Why? Well, the only people who can truly stop the RP are the RPers.
I’m not saying this frivolously — I know exactly how frustrating it is when some jerk attempts to troll your RP events. I’ve dealt with my share across many, many games. But, I know that my guild and I just hit the ignore button on the jerk, and we kept on going. We didn’t stop because someone was jumping around, and that actually drove him off faster than engaging him.
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Catherine Lord of the Rings Online
While there was a lot of criticism and praise being flung around for Lord of the Rings Online making this absolutely crazy move, it’s the criticism that I want to tackle in today’s column.
Specifically, there’s one piece of criticism that I feel needs to have bull called on it — the concept that the Lord of the Rings Online community will fall apart the second the free-to-play crowd is mixed in.
Woah, strong language there, Angry McOverreactington!
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Kiuperli Lord of the Rings Online
Another Welcome Back Week. Beginning today and running through May 31st, all inactive accounts have been reactivated free of charge just in time to participate in the Third Anniversary Celebration.
Players can return for free, join the party, and catch up thanks to a 5% XP boost that stacks with rest XP for even faster leveling. The game isn’t the only thing you can enjoy free during the event — Stable-masters in the game are offering free travel as well.
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Castillans Lord of the Rings Online
The major gameplay push for Warhammer Online of late has been the imminent patch 1.3.5, bringing with it the fully RvR-focused city sieges. Developer diaries have explained its creation at length, and it’s been getting closed testing for some time, but now it’s time for it to face up to the watchful eye of the public. Starting on Tuesday, May 11th, both Altdorf and the Inevitable City will be getting tested in their new incarnations, and as always players are invited to take part in the mayhem.
Altdorf will be the first up for assault on Tuesday at 8:00 PM EST (5 PM PST), with the Inevitable City beginning its siege on Thursday the 13th at the same hour. After the testing has taken place, the development team will be available for an informal question and answer session on the official Mythic Ventrilo server, as if players needed an extra incentive. The official announcement includes information about copying one’s character to the test server, so all Warhammer Online players are encouraged to participate.
Catelet Lord of the Rings Online
With the 3rd anniversary of Lord of the Rings Online rolling along and a new connection between Turbine and Warner Bros ensuring no shortage of operating funds, it seems like it might be a little strange to find Lord of the Rings Online’s newest expansion Siege of Mirkwood being offered on deals.woot today. That said, it’s there nonetheless, and for those who may have been holding off on picking it up until the price dropped, there’s no time like the present!
The deal offers everyone a chance to pick up the Siege of Mirkwood Complete Edition, which includes the core game, Mines of Moria, and Mirkwood as well as 30 days of free game time for the incredibly low price of $9.99. Now, with that said, this is for the US version run by Turbine, and is strictly digital download only. However, for $10 you really can’t beat it — especially if you’ve never played before or haven’t touched the game since launch, but have been thinking about picking it up recently.
And hey, if you’re new to the lands of Middle-earth, be sure to check out our handy information on how to get started in skirmishes, skirmish rewards, or Justin’s excellent on-going column chock-full of LotRO tips, tricks and more — The Road to Mordor!
Castille Lord of the Rings Online
Electronic Arts has released a list of key titles in their investor’s report for fiscal year 2011, and amidst the spectacularly unsurprising news that they are going to continue cranking out Sims titles are a few bits and pieces of interest to those of us in the MMO world.
It looks like urban crime title All Points Bulletin is planned for fiscal Q2 2011, which sounds like a long time, but the word “fiscal” is important here. “Q2 2011 fiscal” equals approximately “Q3 2010″ (between July 1, 2010 and September 30, 2010) for the rest of us, so it’s not as bad as it sounds. Still, this is a change from previous rumors that the game could launch in March of 2010.
There are a few other titles of interest in the list as well. No, we are not referring to the Littlest Pet Shop game or Tiger Woods PGA Tour, although those have some serious MMO potential. But look at some of the others, such as “Need For Speed Title TBA”, and “Action Title TBA”. Electronic Arts isn’t exactly a stranger to the MMO world, and it’s quite possible they’re venturing farther in with more MMO titles. It’s something that we at Massively will definitely keep an eye on.
gmaxwell Lord of the Rings Online
Lord of the Rings Online fans have been speculating for a while, wondering what the name of Volume III, Book 1 was going to be. Turbine’s Sapience has been giving increasingly specific hints in a hangman-style game in the forums. Now the game’s over, he’s had his fun, and we have a title.
Volume 3:Allies of the King, Book 1: Oath of the Rangers is on the way, bringing with it plenty of new additions to the game.
Players will be returning to Dol Guldur for four skirmishes in the brand new twelve person mode, and a fifth skirmish in the Depths of Nûrz Ghâshu. Crafting will receive a some attention as well: players will be able to craft items up to level 65, and there will be crafting updates for Jewellers, Cooks, Woodworkers, Farmers, and Weaponsmiths.
Of course, these are just a few of the highlights for the newly-titled Volume. All the current details are on the official site, so take a look, and we’ll keep an eye out for more information!
Castillans Lord of the Rings Online
Last week we brought you the preliminary patch notes for the first planned patch for Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood and noted that they were only preliminary, subject to changes and additions.
Well, the patch notes are all settled and the patch went live today, bringing some surprises for players who may have preferred to remain unspoiled. For starters, players will find that all Legacy points on their Legendary items have been refunded with this patch, so they’ll get an extra shot at redistribution without waiting for a reforge.
As we mentioned before, Skirmishes got quite a bit of attention too, including the revival of the Barrow-downs Skirmish. In addition, non Siege of Mirkwood players will find that they are no longer limited to three Skirmishes.
Of course, these are only a few of the high points. The full patch notes are available on the official site, or you can log into Lord of the Rings Online and explore them for yourself!
Castres Lord of the Rings Online
Sony Online Entertainment has released another preview of the upcoming EverQuest II: Sentinel’s Fate, focusing again on the overland areas. After our last peek at Sentinel’s Fate, we were eager to see more, so this is welcome news.
Today’s preview is of the Stonebrunt Highlands, an area for players level 85-90, with quests to “reveal long buried mysteries about the inhabitants.” Players will begin in Moonfield Hamlet, a starter zone that will familiarize everyone with the area and give some hints about how and where to proceed. The majority of the area seems to center around the Erudites of Erudin (we are guessing they are a brainy lot) and the dangers threatening them, and it’s sure to provide plenty to learn, explore, and of course battle.
Adam “Zaphax” Stevens is responsible for putting this new area together, and his comments on the preview page reveal the fun the artists had creating it. Take a look at the gallery for some preview images, and the official page for some hints from Stevens and a look at some preview images.
Castille Lord of the Rings Online
The Lord of the Rings Online expansion Siege of Mirkwood has been out for almost a month now, and players are beginning to get a good feel for how things work in the new areas. However, some of the most enjoyable areas can also be the most complicated, and there’s a lot to figure out.
Merric from A Casual Stroll to Mordor is helping with this, and has started a great guide to the skirmish rewards system. The first two parts are all about cosmetic clothing and items, and we have to say it’s a very thorough job. The first guide includes a quick explanation of skirmish marks and how they drop, and follow up with a chart including each type of mark, a screenshot of the tooltip, and where it can be found. Scroll down a bit more and you’ll find a similar chart featuring each type of cosmetic clothing available and the requirements to acquire it. Part two, released this morning, carries the same format and covers items such as cloaks and backpacks.
The guides are a must-read for any Siege of Mirkwood fan, and our thanks to Merric for the time and effort put into them. We look forward to more!
Koeningsmark Lord of the Rings Online
While many living up north enjoyed their white Christmas, many others are ready for all the snow to go away already. In the Lord of the Rings Online, it would appear that this Dwarf is either well into his holiday cups, or just feels like attacking snowmen to take his frustration out against the winter. This fun little snowman was found by Florin E., who writes in to tell us about it: I just saw the easter egg “little castle of sand” and I am really excited. I’m going to find it by myself, I love this. I do not know if you have already published this easter egg. Long time ago I was farming ore near Thorin’s Gate and I found this snowman. Note: you can [also] see a little snowman in the Matthom house in the Shire.
Castro Lord of the Rings Online