Lord of the Rings Online developer diary revisits the Lone-lands
by Rubi Bayer 
Nov 25th 2009 at 8:00PM
Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics
Players will find changes such as a solo version of Weather Top, a new horse travel mount to make the initial trip to the Forsaken Inn less dangerous, and some new faction and quest systems. Those, however, are just the beginning. With Siege of Mirkwood only days away, players eager to explore the expansion will find their path in the earlier areas considerably smoother.
The full entry is worth looking at, as it contains four pages of great information on the overhaul -- it's a valuable resource for anyone still hanging out around Ost Guruth.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Machinator said on 8:17PM 11-25-2009
the initial trip to forsaken inn less dangerous??? are you kidding me? if you spend 4.5 minutes running due east of bree's south gate you'll run straight into the forsaken inn and maybe, just maybe, if you're terribly clumsy and oblivious (and don't actively avoid) you'll encounter a group of goblins and a bear or two. AND THATS IT.
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Sam said on 8:27PM 11-25-2009
Thank god for revamps like this. I hate the lonelands, my alt's been stuck there for weeks now because I just can't stand doing stuff there.
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aurickle said on 9:21PM 11-25-2009
As someone who's played through levels 1-20 several times both before and after the revamp, I am all for these changes. Turbine is doing an excellent job revitalizing the old content and letting you spend more time playing rather than running around.
Yes, it's a beautiful world and should be enjoyed. Easily one of the most beautiful out there. But when you're constantly backtracking through territory to get to your turn-ins, you start paying more attention to your friends who are texting you than you are paying to the game.
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Oxlar said on 10:47PM 11-25-2009
I hope they toned down the Ivar encounter. I've been in groups with a couple 60s before and wiped. Its an encounter that is beyond the scope of the rest of the instance. I also hope they fixed the escort quest right behind Ivar. That little hobbit takes off and wont stop for most combats. Its completely broken, the last three times I've run that quest she just dissapears ending the questduring combats.
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rawk1977 said on 7:00AM 11-26-2009
Good thing too, as im just about finished there after re-subbing....oh wait, im in the EU so womt see this for a while :P
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Tom said on 9:03AM 11-26-2009
Though I have always liked the Lone Lands, these improvements do sound good. A solo version of the Weathertop instance is very much needed.
Turbine needs to go further, however.
They should offer solo versions for ALL of the Book quests, imo, and revamp their travel system to make the business of getting around in that game less tedious. My suggestion would be to grant all classes (not just hunters) the ability to port (only themselves) to the major cities, but allow just hunters to port (themselves and party members) to cities AND camps.
Those two issues (travel and group epic quests) -- and my general frustration with finding groups for any of the instances -- are the primary reasons I eventually left this game.
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Jason said on 11:12AM 11-26-2009
There is a million swift travel stable masters already in the game. I could get from Thorin's Hall to Dol Guldur in 60 seconds thanks to swift travel. You have a personal horse for traversing the land quicker. And the level requirement for getting a horse is dropping to 25 with SoM so people will get horses sooner. Hunter has the port skills because they know "secret paths" to get to the destination quicker.
Orion is working on a way to make all book quests soloable. Players will get a MASSIVE buff for the quest instance so it can be managed solo. However it only affects Volume 1 Book 2 so far. He's working on the rest but who knows how long it will take until all books for Volume 1 and 2 are complete.