moria posts

Not the upcoming unreleased title from Sony Online Entertainment, but agency in the sense of making choices to effect change. As MMOG players, do we technically have any agency at all, or is that taken out of our hands, limiting us simply to selecting which ways we allow the game to push us around?

As players, of course, we get to choose our quests and missions from those that are made available to us, but of course there's no change effected. No sooner do we rescue the frightened hobbit, Lalia, from her folly in the Barrow Downs in Lord of the Rings Online, than she is wandering lost on the hillside once more, ready to be rescued again and again. And indeed, with a group, you can help to rescue her over and over and over. Until you get thoroughly tired of it.

The Hero's Guide series has received another chapter over at the Lord of the Rings Online official site, and we haven't moved too far from the last outing at Zelem-melek; this time around, the guide covers the expansive Great Delving, fleshing out the lore of the area and describing it for those that are planning on visiting. The Delving in fact consists of three main areas, including Durin's Threshold, Dolven-view, and Lamâb-dûm, and it's almost certain that you'll spend time in them as you work your way through the expansion.

As with much of Moria, the formerly friendly territory now plays host to all sorts of foul inhabitants -- among them, camps of odd white Goblins, and "poison-spitting centipedes the size of horses" -- but that should be music to the ears of any brave adventurer looking for work, right? We continue to be impressed with the amount of quality lore that gets crammed into the articles from the Hero's Guide series, and if you're at all a fan of what you see here, do yourself a favor and have a look at some of the other entries that Turbine has previously posted.

'Tis the season for giving awards, and the readers of MMORPG.com have bestowed two honors upon Lord of the Rings Online and one upon Turbine itself, putting LotRO and Turbine over CCP, Blizzard, and Mythic Entertainment.

LotRO was named MMO of the year, while The Mines of Moria were awarded the best expansion of the year award, beating out Wrath of the Lich King for the top spot. Also, the readers named Turbine as their favorite MMO studio of the year -- all high praise indeed.

The final results in the voting for best expansion and favorite studio weren't even close -- giving Turbine a landslide victory over Blizzard in both cases. In the best expansion category Moria won with 48% of the vote over Wrath's 25%, and for the favorite studio category Turbine achieved 46% of the vote compared to Blizzard's 14%.

Turbine has released a press statement which thanks the many fans and players of LotRO, as well as the readers of MMORPG.com. For the full release, check it out at the LotRO main website.

Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.

In last week's Know Your LotRO Lore, we discussed the Elves and their origins in Tolkien's Middle-earth. This week we're going to continue along in that tradition by covering the Dwarven race, their origins and impact in Tolkien's works and Lord of the Rings Online.

As with the Elves, Tolkien did not invent the Dwarf, but he did popularize and redefine the term, beginning with The Hobbit. The plural "dwarves" was also popularized by Tolkien, as it was more commonly known before that as "dwarfs", which now refers mainly to real people affected by dwarfism. This can get tricky when political correctness comes into play, but as it pertains to this article, we will focus purely on the mythical race. Follow along through the link below for more on Tolkien's Dwarves.

The dark and twisting corridors of Moria are definitely not for the weak of heart. But today's One Shots sent in to us from Isndyl of The Old Timers Guild on the Gladden server in Lord of the Rings Online shows that Isndyl certainly isn't one of those overcautious souls. As Isndyl writes: After nearly a year long journey, I find the hidden entrance... Someone on the bank shouts 'get out of the water you fool!' I turn around only to see my journey is near its end! Hopefully our brave adventurer didn't get nommed on too badly.

Screens like this certainly show off why Lord of the Rings Online remains a steady favorite for people to send in! Do you have a great screenshot of your character wandering around; in caves, over hill, or across plains? If so, pack it up and send it to us here at oneshots AT massively.com along with your name and what game it's from. Epic stories are always welcome, but never required to get your screenshot posted here.

[Note: Image has been lightened slightly to bring out detail.]

TurpsterVision is back with vengeance now with four episodes every month focusing on one MMO at a time. This month, along with the rest of the Massively team, we are venturing deep into Middle Earth and exploring the depths of the Mines of Moria.

Hey folks, it's good to be back; MMOs just wouldn't be the same without TurpsterVision! Today we are taking a look at Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria's new Legendary Weapons. I've often wanted to have a sword glow blue and warn me when danger is near. To be honest I'd settle for an iPhone app that would do the same thing. But fortunately for me I don't have to settle for anything less than the real deal, albeit a virtual-real deal.

Moria not only granted us two new classes, which I'll be exploring one at a time over the next two weeks, but it also granted players the ability to gain Legendary weapons of old which they can level up alongside their character. But enough reading about it, this is TurpsterVision! Watch on after the break...

"Why you should be playing ..." is a free form column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we play what we do!

The Warden class in the Lord of the Rings Online (introduced with the new Mines of Moria expansion) is, all things considered, a blast to play. A capable jack-of-all-trades class, rich in tactical options. Not a class for those who prefer their combat to be a bit mindless, the Warden keeps you thinking.

The biggest downfall of the Warden is probably hubris.

You see, the Warden is capable. Very capable. Durable in a fight, with a mix of melee and range attacks, and a variety of support powers, when they come up against opponents without special attacks (poison, stunning and so forth) such as orcs or brigands, Wardens can quite comfortably take on foes up to five levels or so above their own. The downside of this is that it can often lead you into trouble.

Read on to find out why I love the kind of trouble the Warden offers.

Standing in the tiny store, I found myself at a crossroads. I'd put a lot of thought into this, but now that the decision was starting back at me, it seemed much more daunting. The question kept repeating in my head, "Do I buy Wrath, or Moria?" The financially devoid part of my brain enthusiastically yelled, "Both!" while the logical part reminded me that my time was already stretched fairly thin and that trying to dive into two new expansions would probably not be a wise move.

Decisions, decisions.

Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.

Long ago, the Dwarves were numerous and mighty. This was an age when the Elves, Men and Dwarves lived in harmony, the mithril was plentiful and the Orcs were driven back to Sauron's lair. This was the end of the Second Age: the age of Khazad-dûm. To first understand Khazad-dûm, we must start at the very beginning.

Early in the First Age, "long before the creation of the Sun and Moon," according to Tolkien, Durin "The Deathless" had awoken at Mount Gundabad, far to the north in the Misty Mountains. His growing clan of Longbeards eventually moved southward down the vales of Anduin, being driven out of Gundabad due to constant attacks from the Orcs of Morgoth. It was during this journey that he discovered "a glen of shadows between two great arms of the mountains." He followed a series of short waterfalls down into an oval lake, which he believed to have a magical quality. The glow of this lake and the reflection of stars in the water led Durin to believe it was a sign, and he went on to name it the Mirrormere. It is near this area where Durin chose to create his ultimate stronghold: The Dwarrowdelf, or Khazad-dûm in his native tongue.

Alright, it's time for that gaming industry tradition of speculation based on vague quotes from developers! In an interview with Ten Ton Hammer, The Lord of the Rings Online executive producer Jeffrey Steefel spoke about future updates to the game, saying that the best is yet to come because now that Turbine has moved into Moria, the really interesting and fully-fleshed-out stuff from Tolkien's source material is only a few steps away.

Among those interesting things is the land of Rohan, which fans of the books and movies will remember is a kingdom that prides itself on breeding and grooming the finest horses in Middle-earth. Steefel went on to say: "When we get to Rohan, does horsemanship become important? Yeah! Us and our horses would be strung up if we got to Rohan someday and didn't pay attention to horses. And it's just a matter of when."

Mounts in LotRO have admittedly always been a bit basic (but in a good way!), so this could mean any number of things, but perhaps the most exciting possibility would be Age of Conan-esque mounted combat. Go ahead and meditate on that for a bit, and read the interview for a few more vague quotes about the future of LotRO and the company's console plans if you feel compelled.

On Tuesday, players will be able to experience Turbine's eagerly-anticipated new expansion for The Lord of the Rings Online, Mines of Moria. With two new classes, the Warden and Rune-Keeper, tons of new content and lore to explore, and new monsters to slay, players are excited about all the goodness about to come. With new classes, a trip into the dark and foreboding Misty Mountains, and new legendary items, what's not to love?

Of course, with any new expansion comes a few questions. Will you be shelving your beloved adventurer(s) to roll one of the two new character classes? Will you stick with the character you've worked hard at and continue onwards? Perhaps take a couple of days off to really sink your teeth into all the delicious newness that Moria has to offer and do both! What are your plans for Moria's launch?

It happened with The Burning Crusade -- players had spent months raiding at level 60 to get the very best gear, and when TBC came out, people were getting green drops with better stats than the best raid drops after only a couple of levels. A lot of hardcore players were annoyed, while some just accepted it as the natural motion of things.

We've got at least three big expansions coming up in the next few weeks -- Wrath of the Lich King for World of Warcraft, Mines of Moria for The Lord of the Rings Online, and The Shadow Odyssey for EverQuest II. With the level caps going up in WoW and LotRO, we're expecting a similar situation to what we saw with TBC. How do you feel about this? Can it be avoided, should it? Maybe it's good to level the playing field now and then. Let us know!

Mines of Moria is getting nearer and nearer to its release day, but Turbine isn't sitting on its laurels and letting fans go without new information or screenshots. Today we bring you a slew of new images that revel in the character aspect of the digitalized Middle-earth's newest locale: Moria, and its many mines. While we're quite fond of the specific shot placed above this post (watch out for the baddies!) there are still several others worth taking a gander at whether or not you plan on even playing the newest expansion content for Lord of the Rings Online. For instance, check out this tantalizing moment caught in the heat of battle. Not only do you get a great sense of Moria's scale, but the lighting is pretty nice, too.

We're looking forward to finally seeing these new art and animation assets running on our monitors in just a couple of short weeks.

As part of Massively's ongoing coverage of Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, we're happy to bring to you this extensive look through the entire Book 1 of Volume 2. This entire article will be approached as a comprehensive venture through the Book, from Chapters 1 through 14. We should probably warn you right now, if you'd like to experience the storyline for Book 1 without spoilers, you might want to skip this article. As for the rest of you, read on!

Book 1: Chapter 1 of Mines of Moria begins in Eregion, just south of the Trollshaws. It is the introduction to your adventures leading up to the mines themselves. This book takes place after The Fellowship has already entered the mines, and the entrance had been covered with rubble. When you arrive, the Dwarves are in the final stages of clearing Hollin Gate, and need your help. Follow along in our storyline exploration of Book 1, chapter by chapter by clicking the link below.