Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online

Story moments in new Siege of Mirkwood screens

by Kyle Horner Nov 19th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News items

Lord of the Rings Online is well known for its story, which it has Tolkien's works to thank for -- although Turbine does a great job of making it all come alive. These new Siege of Mirkwood screens depict a few of the new epic story moments players can expect come December 1st when the expansion is made available for purchase.

From giant spiders to cozy campfires, much about these new screens inspire. Whether thick with peril or cool and mellow, Siege of Mirkwood looks set to offer its community wonders unparalleled. Yes, we're kind of rhyming on purpose. We blame the poetic imagery seen in the gallery below; its vistas both terrible and cold.

Gallery: LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood - Epic story moments

Lord of the Rings Online offers Welcome Back Week for EU players

by Rubi Bayer Nov 17th 2009 at 11:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News items

Siege of Mirkwood is nearly here, and Codemasters is offering former European Lord of the Rings players a chance to jump back in and do some catching up before it arrives.

Welcome Back Week begins November 23rd and continues through the 30th -- any former LotRO player can return and enjoy a week of free play, courtesy of Codemasters. They're also offering a bonus: those taking advantage of Welcome Back Week will get a 25% XP boost that week.

Players interested in returning for the event need only download the game, or patch to the latest version. Codemasters has re-activated the accounts, so you'll find your characters ready and waiting to head back into Middle-Earth and prepare for the arrival of Siege of Mirkwood.

Codemasters is also using this week to remind players to get in on the Siege of Mirkwood pre-order deals. The expansion is set to launch in Europe on December 3rd.

The Digital Continuum: LotRO's feature future

by Kyle Horner Nov 17th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

There are many wonderful features within Lord of the Rings Online, especially with Siege of Mirkwood edging upon the horizon like a merchant's ship carrying treasure chests full of shiny new features. However, for many a person, the game just doesn't click into place. Whether it's because of a missing feature or the pace of combat, some people find themselves unable to acclimate a groove.

So let's talk about features and changes that would help attract fresh blood while keeping the old guard happy -- because changing the core of an MMO is never truly a good idea, but bring in fresh blood doesn't hurt.

The Digital Continuum: LotRO's feature future, part 2

by Kyle Horner Nov 17th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Opinion, The Digital Continuum

Lord of the Rings Online to make drastic combat changes with Siege of Mirkwood

by Seraphina Brennan Nov 17th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, News items

It's very rare that you hear about a game changing how combat works at a fundamental level, but that's exactly what Turbine is doing in Siege of Mirkwood. We hope you guys weren't in love with weapon speeds and slow animations, because those are two of the things that are getting major overhauls.

In the latest developer diary, it's been revealed that weapon speeds will now be standardized by weapon level and type, making sure that all one-hand maces of the same level swing at the same speed. This is key, as previously players were taking slower weapons to maximize their damage, even if it wasn't appropriate for their class. (Turbine was looking at you, mace wielding burglars.) Weapons have also gotten increased speed but lowered damage to compensate for their fast swing rate.

A visual tour of LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood

by Shawn Schuster Nov 17th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: At a glance, Betas, Fantasy, Video, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Hands-on

Today marks the official NDA (non disclosure agreement) lift on Lord of the Rings Online's newest expansion: Siege of Mirkwood. The latest addition to virtual Middle-earth is set to release on December 1st, but many players have already been enjoying the new content on the Bullroarer test server these last few months.

If you haven't had a chance to see Turbine's latest creation, check out our video tour of the expansion just after the jump below. Also, be sure to watch Massively for more coverage on Siege of Mirkwood from now to December 1st and beyond!

One Shots: Everyone needs a castle of their own

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 14th 2009 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, One Shots

While we knew Lord of the Rings Online had player housing, we never quite expected it to be so small. We're kidding, of course! This great image is actually of a cute little sandcastle easter egg that was discovered by the adventurous Warden, Elizibeth Hathaway. Here's the note we got in to go with this image for those who may want to try to find this Lord of the Rings Online location as well. My level 37 Warden was wandering around Annuminas looking for the Blue Lady when she happened upon this little island- and found a pristine little sand castle!

Have you found something adorably cute in your favorite MMO? We love easter eggs, personally. Whatever your reason, we want your screenshots! Just email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, a brief description, and the game they're from. We'll take care of the rest!

Gallery: One Shots

Lord of the Rings Online developer chat transcript available

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 13th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Expansions, Game mechanics

There's a lot of interesting material coming with the Siege of Mirkwood expansion for Lord of the Rings Online, not to mention a large number of player questions and curiosity about where the game is headed. Luckily for the playerbase, WarCry was recently lucky enough to get a chance to chat with the developers, with a full transcript now available for all who missed the live chat. As is par for the course for developer chats, there's the occasional question that seems rather out-of-place or unnecessary, but on the whole it's full of tidbits that should excite the game's fans.

The discussion ranges from the tangible issues with the upcoming expansion such as class upgrades (each class will get one new skill upgrade at level 62), meta-issues (there will be a Skirmish sneak peek coming soon to let players try the new format), and some wholly random bits (the developers will not add your farm on Facebook as a neighbor). It's a weighty and lengthy chat that can't be summarized easily, so it's best to take a look, digest, and start thinking about the first thing you want to do in Lord of the Rings Online when the expansion goes live.

Lord of the Rings developer diary explores Dol Guldur

by Rubi Bayer Nov 12th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions

We've seen the screenshots and trailer for the fortress of Dol Guldur in the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online expansion Siege of Mirkwood, and today's developer diary explores it in more detail, giving us an extensive look through the area.

Tsieng Liu from the LotRO Dungeons Team describes Dol Guldur as "the fortress where Sauron dwelt when he was known as "The Necromancer." It's an old fortress that is now full of the foul servants of the Enemy on the edge of Mirkwood forest. It is in this region that the elves of Lothlórien are mounting an offensive in order to keep the Enemy from penetrating their forests."

Dol Guldur will contain three 3-person dungeons and a 6-person dungeon, leading up to a 12-person raid in which you storm the tower of Dol Guldur and take on the "leadership behind its forces." This area will also feature some fun new mechanics and challenges that should turn your tried-and-true group methods of playing neatly on their ear.

Dungeon overviews, as well as a look at the new surprises Dol Guldur has in store, can all be found in the diary entry. It's well worth the read.

Turbine releases more Siege of Mirkwood screenshots

by Rubi Bayer Nov 12th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions

Turbine is continuing to tease us with Lord of the Rings Online screenshots in the weeks leading up to the December release of the Siege of Mirkwood expansion. Until now, we've seen quite a few general screenshots of different regions in the Mirkwood area, covering Dol Guldur, Gathburz, the Scuttledells, and the Ashenslades.

These newest pictures are a bit of a change of pace, giving us our first glimpse at an instanced area. The Chambers instance is the kind of gorgeous area we've come to expect from Turbine, and the prominent eye of Sauron in one shot makes us think it's just as unfriendly. The gentleman standing in front of it doesn't seem very happy at the prospect of visitors at any rate, nor do the group of armored toughs blocking the stairway in another screenshot.

We are now less than three weeks away from the launch of Siege of Mirkwood, and our thanks go out to Turbine for making the wait so much fun with their pictorial tour of Mirkwood.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood Chambers screenshots

Lord of the Rings Online dev diary tells of creating Mirkwood

by Rubi Bayer Nov 6th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News items

We've been enjoying the gorgeous screenshots and trailers from Turbine in the weeks leading up to the release of Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood, and the latest LotRO developer diary gives a behind the scenes look at creating the regions in Mirkwood.

Jesse "Vastin" Kings writes about the fun the team had getting to play with new areas, monsters, and quests, and the challenge of balancing those plans with the available resources. Working with the original Lord of the Rings story line posed another challenge sometimes when it came to filling in the game and still remaining true to Tolkien.

Of course, not everything was on the showy, fun, creative side: "...it might interest you to know that the single largest share of all the time I've spent working on Mirkwood was in trying to figure out and implement ways to keep our servers from being reduced to piles of smoking slag within hours of Siege of Mirkwood going live and all of you hurling yourselves at it at once."

The full entry can be read here.

New screenshots for Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood

by Rubi Bayer Nov 5th 2009 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions

The Lord of the Rings Online expansion Siege of Mirkwood is set for release at the beginning of December, and Turbine takes us farther into the forest of Mirkwood today with brand new screenshots of the Ashenslades region. It's a bit farther in -- you can see Dol Guldur looming in the background -- and looks more dark and foreboding than our look at the somewhat-sunnier Scuttledells region.

The Ashenslades name fits what the screenshots show -- take a look at the forest in flames in one picture, and what appear to be burned and blackened trees in the background of another one.

This is the fourth region that Turbine has shown us in our tour of Mirkwood, giving us glimpses of Dol Guldur, Gathburz, and the Scuttledells regions in previous weeks. Monday's release of a trailer gave us a bit more of a look into Dol Guldur as well. We have just over three weeks until the release of Siege of Mirkwood, and hopefully Turbine will continue their previews to make the wait go by a little faster.

Gallery: Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood Ashenslades region

Lord of the Rings Online explains skirmish rewards

by Eliot Lefebvre Nov 5th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Game mechanics

"Let's be honest, people play new content for the rewards." Perhaps not the most uplifting or metaphorical way to start off a developer diary, but if nothing else you need to give Lord of the Rings Online credit for being so direct about it. But with the most recent developer diary regarding the Skirmish system coming in the Siege of Mirkwood expansion, they really deserve still more credit than that. One of the larger new features of the upcoming expansion, the Skirmish system has had a number of diaries devoted to it, but this one is focused on exactly what the opening would suggest: the meaty rewards from taking part.

Some of the specifics might seem a bit arcane to people unfamiliar with Lord of the Rings Online, but the short version is that the various bosses and so forth will be devoid of any loot except for what's referred to as skirmish marks. Accumulating them as well as special tokens depending on group size and skirmish difficulty will allow purchases from a wide variety of powerful items. However, the system is balanced so that even consistently solo players can still work toward the highest tier of rewards, although the road will be quite a bit longer. There's only so much we can get across in a quick overview -- it's better to take a look at the actual diary and get ready for one of the more dynamic systems coming with Siege of Mirkwood.

One Shots: Who ya gonna call?

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 5th 2009 at 2:01PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, One Shots

While we didn't get in a bunch of Halloween shots, we did get a handful in, which I'll be sharing with you as we move into another great weekend full of gaming fun. Today's not-so-spooky image comes to us from the Lord of the Rings Online Landroval server, which seems to be a great place to be if you're into getting lots of RP out of your MMORPG! Harper Hendee sent back this annotated postcard from their events and explains it for us.

I know you don't usually take annotated screenshots but this is from a huge RP/storytelling/PvMP/musical event on Landroval called The Oathbreaker Captains. It culminates on October 31st with an army of Captains and their Oathbreaker pets fighting an army of spiders in the PvMP area of the Ettenmoors. This shot was snapped as they were geting a sendoff from the locals in Bree. They were happy to have the departed spirits fighting for them and to have those spirits... out of Bree. Lonely Mountain Band provided sendoff music as the spirits manifested in the Haunted Alley and made their way to the Prancing Pony.

We love to hear about role-playing events in MMOs! If you and your group are doing something fun, grab a great screenshot of it and send it our way. Pop it into an email to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what's going on. We'll feature it here, and who knows - you might draw some more RPers to your next event who saw it here!

Gallery: One Shots

LotRO's spellbinding 'Lieutenant of Dol Guldur' trailer

by Kyle Horner Nov 3rd 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Trailers, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, News items

Turbine is stepping it up with their newest Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood trailer, Lieutenant of Dol Guldur. The voice acting, editing, music, creatures and setting are all enthralling to a degree that goes beyond our standard expectations. We've no doubt this one will get people's blood pumping, and in a good way. Seriously, this is the kind of stuff you expect when a company adopts an important IP -- especially where the voice acting is concerned.

We can't wait to see what the future holds for Turbine trailers, especially considering the locales of Middle-earth the game has yet to expand into its world. Rohan? Helm's Deep? Minas Tirith? Osgiliath? Thinking of trailers for all these places makes us tingle with anticipation.

Check out the trailer after the cut.