Massively^™

Considering the fact that Lord of the Rings Online's Book 14 should be just around the corner, it's always great to get those little tidbits of information fed to us from the devs to keep us excited. This time though, we get fed a whole lot more than just a tidbit, we get some detailed information on some important changes that will be made to Monster Play with Book 14.

First there's the updates to crowd control and diminishing returns, namely the fact that root and daze effects will now share diminishing returns. Then there's the new revamp of the Weaver in PvMP, giving what promises to be a monster class that is more effective in battle. Finally, what we've all been waiting for: emotes for the monsters! This large list includes such favorites as cheer, dance1 and tantrum. It's certainly about time the monsters got a little RP love, too!

On August 21, 2007, Book 10: The City of Kings was released and opened up the city of Annúminas was for players to experience. Unfortunately, the city had been invaded by the forces of Angmar, and players had to fight to keep certain points of the city friendly to them. If they failed, the entire area will fall under the Witch-king's control.

Hunters and Captains both received class reviews, and a new mechanic was introduced called Critter Play. Different than PvMP, Critter Play allowed players to take on new forms in a PvE setting. The first form introduced was that of a chicken. Not to be outdone, Trolls, and Rangers were introduced into PvMP as well as a very large polish pass on PvMP as a whole.

Other new features brought to the game were factions with the major races (with rewards for increasing said faction) and the bartering system which allowed players to turn in certain monster drops for armor rewards. And of course, no Book is complete without a raft of new quests introduced for high level players to grind through.

The new year brought Book 12: The Ashen Wastes on February 13, 2008. This was the first major update that didn't include the introduction of a new region. What it did bring to the table is a mix of revamps and new features.

The high level adventuring area Angmar received a major overhaul, making it significantly more solo friendly. many elite mobs were taken out of the solo area population. And the boars, oh the boars, were mostly removed in favor of more menacing mobs. Finally, the questlines were smoothed out to move players along to area more appropriate to their leve.

PvMP players received a new PvE dungeon, the Delving of Frór. The Creeps and Freeps battle for control of the dungeon and should one gain access while the other was battling a raid target within, well, that's when the real fun begins. New armor and items were also made available to the player side.

Cosmetic enhancements were introduced to the game in Book 12 as well. The outfit system allowed players to choose one set of armor for stats and another for display. The barber system allowed players to change their hairstyle and facial choices, even adding a few new hairstyles to the game.

Finally, three classes got a revamp this time. Guardians received a mix bag as their defenses were both nerfed and buffed, they received a dps stance and gained some utility. Burglars got a buff to nearly all their functions including damage, debuffing, trickery and crowd control. Champions also got an extra pass that gave them a stance that was part offensive and part defensive. This round concluded the class revamps planned by Turbine.

It seems like just yesterday Lord of the Rings Online Book 12 was being pushed out to the live servers. In reality it was more like two months, and here we are again on patch day. That means it's time for one of my favorite parts of being an MMO player: patch notes! The official patch notes are now available, and they're Massive. Here are just a few of the highlights:

• The epic quest continues with an 11 quest arc.
• An entirely new region to explore, the icy realm of Forochel. It's got 100 quests and a brand new faction to ally yourself with.
• Monster play fans gain an entirely new class, the Orc Defiler.
• The first PC hobby has been added, the Fishing hobby.
• Massive changes to the Annúminas area, tweaking CTF play and adding repeatable side quests.
• A number of changes to monster trophies, including the phase-out of many of the currently available ones.
• Much more, including enemies that now disarm, longer lasting diseases, tweaks to a number of player classes, and numerous improvements to PvMP.

Be sure to check out the full notes to get all the data you need, and don't let the frostbite get you!

Many Lord of the Rings Online players are looking forward to getting their hands on the new PvMP class, and with the Book 13 patch looming, the details of the Orc Defiler have been spilled in a developer diary. Opening with a little tale designed to set the Defiler mood, and a bit of a serve from the Creep hero Akulhún ("Mordírith's grown tired of you whining wretches and sent us Defilers!"), the diary goes on to explain the abilities that the fungus-and-slime-loving Orc will employ.

Defilers will start out with two heal-over-time spells, one ("Fertile Slime") being an instant cast that gives a light heal every 10 seconds with a 1 minute duration, and a stronger one ("Fungal Bloom") with a 2-second cast time, 5 second tick and 30 second duration. Spending some destiny points can earn them a targeted revival spell to resurrect allies, and at ranks 3 and 5 some stronger heals become available.

Upon opening the Lord of the Rings Online launcher, you should be offered the chance to fill out a survey for Turbine. It is the first in what we're told will be a series over the coming weeks and months, and focuses on Monster Play, or PvMP. They're hoping to find out what players think of monster play as it is right now, and get a feel for where they should take it in the future.

Taking about 5 minutes to fill out, the survey goes over many aspects of the PvMP experience, asking very specific things like in the picture above, as well as more general questions to gauge player enjoyment and the amount of time spent in the 'Moors. Turbine has always seemed very interested in what players have to say, so hopefully the results of this survey will help steer PvMP in the right direction.

So maybe you weren't able to make it to the dev chat last Monday, or maybe you just didn't know about it. Well, whatever the reason might have been, fear not -- for there is a chat log bursting at the seams with information. A lot gets touched on, but the thing that has us the most excited would have to be the upcoming social upgrades focused on quests -- hopefully making the completion of them a bit more streamlined. We're really happy to hear it, because that would be one of our main complaints with the game currently -- which is saying a lot since we don't have too many complaints about Lord of the Rings Online.

Wee! The PvMP session play see-saw has flipped once more, and Lord of the Rings Online players can assume the form of the mighty Trolls and Rangers out in the 'Moors again. Community specialist Saffron made the announcement in the forums, but also included a warning that may just cause our fun little see-saw to rust over:

Please remember that running more than two Ranger or Troll sessions within 12 hours is considered an exploit and may be subject to disciplinary measures. Enjoy!

That's a fairly clear message for anyone who wants to mess around with session play in the future, but does that mean that people won't still try? Of course not.

A note in Lord of the Rings Online's patcher hints that Troll and Ranger session play has been disabled, yet again. Sure enough, a post in the forums confirms the situation, so these giants of PvMP are unavailable once more. There isn't any explanation readily given, but looking at the Monster Play forums, a thread can be found with a response from a Turbine official in the first page: "An exploit was discovered that enabled sessions to be nearly limitless. It was decided that the sessions should be shut down."

Troll and Ranger session play has been taken out before, and another time after that. The second time they were disabled was actually due the exact same reason that they are now, which leaves you to wonder whether people had managed to continue the old exploit somehow, or whether there's an all new way to rip off the system. The best thing about the see-sawing status of PvMP session play is that I get to keep using my troll doll picture.

Jayspeed, a senior forums member over at the Lord of the Rings Online site, has come up with the goods for folks interested in the brand new armor sets coming to the game. They're set to be available in the Delving of Frór PvMP dungeon we discussed late last month.

Jay has really gone all out, with screencaps of not only the armor sets themselves but the stats to go with them. The armored vision to the right is the Champion in all her glory. I also particularly like the Guardian's gear, which was apparently "forged for a warrior of the Grey Mountains before the Dragons came." Now that is epic.

For a closer look at the Delving of Frór, make sure to check back with our Book 12 preview tour from earlier this week. The armor and everything else is slated to drop before the end of February.

Recently I was taken on a tour of the Lord of the Rings Online upcoming content patch, Book 12 "The Ashen Wastes." And I came back with exclusive screenshots, lewt info and more video than you can shake a Balrog at.

Joined by LotRO developer Aaron Campbell and Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel, I was first taken to the new public PvP dungeon, The Delving of Frór. This is a new design concept for LotRO. One side in the Player vs Monster Player war must take and defend three of the five control points in the Ettenmoors to be able to enter the new dungeon. Once inside, there is a wealth of content for PvE play: solo mobs, more than fifteen group mobs and five raid mobs.

But here's the hitch: if the other side gains control of the majority of the control points, their side can flood into the dungeon and attack you while you are hip deep in a raid encounter. At the same time, your side is shut out from helping if they aren't already in the dungeon. So not only do you have to coordinate your raid, you have to coordinate the defense of the zone at the same time. Gives a whole new twist to the raid strategy, eh?

Read on for seven videos and a full tour write up.

Along with everything else we've talked about to be expected with Book 12, the official Lord of the Rings Online website has now confirmed that a brand new PvMP dungeon will also be introduced with The Ashen Wastes. It will be called the Delving of Frór, and is reached by going through the Ettenmoors -- but it won't be as simple as just walking in. Either the Freeps or Creeps will need to control a minimum of three out of five points in the Ettenmoors before they will be allowed access. Even while one faction is inside, leader status can change hands, resulting in the flushing out of one faction by the other. The former controlling faction inside the dungeon will no longer be able to receive reinforcements from outside, and death will cause them to respawn outside as well.

There's plenty of reasons to want to gain entry to the Delving, as there will be five raid bosses, more than fifteen group bosses and even lots of solo content inside. Anything killed inside will not only have a chance to drop the same loot as Ettenmoors mobs, but there will also be a new set of barter items to collect. Freeps use these for new weapon and armor sets, and Creeps can obtain new skills (full list posted after the break).

This whole system is very reminiscent of Dark Age of Camelot and Darkness Falls, which also centered around controlling areas to be allowed access to a dungeon with great rewards, and the inevitable flushing out of an opposing faction when control changed hands. Nevertheless, it looks as though this will provide lots to do for fans of PvMP when Book 12 hits.

A post on the official Lord of the Rings Online forums today announced that Troll and Ranger PvMP Session Play will be disabled for the second time. However, unlike last time, we've got a clearer idea about why they are being taken down.

Curse.com's developer tracker picked up on a forum thread where someone was complaining about an exploiting Ranger. Apparently this character was able to reset their Ranger timer to continue playing it as long as they wanted, as well as having the ability to despawn, even while people were attacking, and reappear elsewhere with replenished health. The official response to this post confirmed that the Trolls and Rangers will be disabled due to this.

As a lot of Turbine's staff have already left the office for the holidays, they have disabled the quests for now and will reinstate them once they have fixed the exploits.

The Lord of the Rings Online forums have spilled the beans on what will be getting fixed with the game's imminent update. The downtime will occur on December 6th, from 6:00AM (ET), and is expected to last until 12PM. This patch does not really contain any new content, however, one of the fixes will open up another option for PvMP players -- or rather, re-open.

The update should bring back the option to choose Trolls and Rangers in session play, which we reported on a few weeks ago when they were disabled. At the time, they did not say how long it would be before they were reintroduced, so it's good to see this feature back in the game before Book 12 is out. The question is, will there have been other tweaks to how they play, to address the balance issues many have been complaining about? Or, looking at this thread -- do people even want them back? The scale seems to tip heavily towards 'no', with the topic-creator keeping a tally: 12 for them, and 25 against.

Other notable fixes for this update include some DirectX 10 performance improvements with shadowing. Full pre-patch notes can be found after the break.