Those who assumed that Turbine would be taking it easy for its next Lord of the Rings Online patch may want to sit down, buckle up and prepare to be thrust into a wall of patch notes. The list of changes and additions for LotRO's November update have been posted, and players may check them out on the Bullroarer test server.
While the notes are "subject to change," they contain an impressive list of additions we've known were coming (such as expanding the free-to-play coverage to include the expansions all the way up through level 65) as well as a few surprises. Among the surprises are a new barter wallet to hold inventory-clogging skirmish and anniversary tokens, the ability for former subscribers to use swift travel routes, upgrades to reputation mounts, new ingredient packs for crafters and an overhaul of the Dwarf and Elf starting area.
The notes also give us a peek at the mysterious "Task" system. According to Turbine, this system will add 250 repeatable quests to the game, be accessible by all tiers of players, and will require current trophy drops. Tasks will also come with a new set of deeds and rewards, hopefully adding to the amount of free Turbine Points that players can accrue. You can read the test server patch notes on the LotRO forums.
Reader Comments (22)
Posted: Oct 26th 2010 9:20PM MrDiamondJ said
Yeah, finally a token wallet! That made my day.
Posted: Oct 26th 2010 9:38PM (Unverified) said
That patch looks like it's going to deliver in a big way!
Posted: Oct 26th 2010 10:10PM JonBuck said
A revamp of the Elf and Dwarf starting areas? Very cool! I've only recently started playing this game and was so impressed I went VIP. Looks like they're using all that new revenue.
Posted: Oct 26th 2010 11:22PM Comrade Domovoi said
Well, I ragged on Turbine about Swift Travel, and they listened to people like me and have added is a permanent option to non subscribers. So now, I give you:
HEY GUYS CHECK OUT LOTRO ITS PRETTY DAMN SWEET.
Other than that, there are some really sweet changes here, especially to farming and I'm looking forward to these tasks that are being introduced. Hopefully the Lore Master changes will let me pick up on my level 41 Lore Master thats kinda languishing lately.
HEY GUYS CHECK OUT LOTRO ITS PRETTY DAMN SWEET.
Other than that, there are some really sweet changes here, especially to farming and I'm looking forward to these tasks that are being introduced. Hopefully the Lore Master changes will let me pick up on my level 41 Lore Master thats kinda languishing lately.
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 9:19AM Ocho said
Hate to burst your bubble, but this is what it says in the patch notes: "Swift Travel Changes - Swift Travel Routes that previously required that the player be a subscriber are now usable by past subscribers as well (although only by characters created or used during the subscriber period)." So in order to use them, your character must have previously been created during a subscription. So, for example, my premium toon I started after LotRO went f2p is screwed from this as he was not created during a subscription.
Other then that, though, the wallet will be a great addition. The new vault, all the new deeds and repeatables like these "tasks", all the new dye colors, the ease of farming and crafting, the revamp of Erid Luin, the addition of more mounts everywhere... all sound like great additions. They've really done a lot with the extra income. Rock on, Turbine.
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Other then that, though, the wallet will be a great addition. The new vault, all the new deeds and repeatables like these "tasks", all the new dye colors, the ease of farming and crafting, the revamp of Erid Luin, the addition of more mounts everywhere... all sound like great additions. They've really done a lot with the extra income. Rock on, Turbine.
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 10:08AM Birk said
@Mike
It seems the common trend for a lot of people is to subscribe for one month to unlock bag slots and traits. I know it's less than free, of course (freemium, after all), but getting all of those things for 15 dollars -permanently- is pretty awesome, in my opinion.
-Birk
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It seems the common trend for a lot of people is to subscribe for one month to unlock bag slots and traits. I know it's less than free, of course (freemium, after all), but getting all of those things for 15 dollars -permanently- is pretty awesome, in my opinion.
-Birk
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 10:14AM aurickle said
Actually, the character simply has to be played at some point while subscribed. A F2P or Premium player that subscribes for a month (or buys the Mines of Moria box, which gives a free month of VIP) will continue to have swift travel after that month expires so long as your character(s) is/are played at least once during that subscription.
Basically, swift travel is now going to be treated the same as gold caps and bag space.
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Basically, swift travel is now going to be treated the same as gold caps and bag space.
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 5:01AM pcgneurotic said
I thought they already re-vamped the Dwarf/Elf starting at the same time they over-hauled the Hobbit/Man stuff?
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 10:21AM aurickle said
No, they only changed the intro slightly. Everything after the intro is the same now that it has been since well before the hybrid payment model came onto the scene.
The dwarf and elf starting areas were reworked about a year ago. At that time they revised all of Ered Luin -- the entire experience leading up to your encounter with Skorgrim and beyond. However, this change didn't amount to any new quests; they simply moved quest givers around to help things flow better. It sounds like this time they're changing up the quests themselves, but what is unclear is whether that's just the pre-Skorgrim shared instance or if it also includes the rest of Ered Luin. If the changes to the hobbit/man experience is any indication, my money is on the shared instance only.
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The dwarf and elf starting areas were reworked about a year ago. At that time they revised all of Ered Luin -- the entire experience leading up to your encounter with Skorgrim and beyond. However, this change didn't amount to any new quests; they simply moved quest givers around to help things flow better. It sounds like this time they're changing up the quests themselves, but what is unclear is whether that's just the pre-Skorgrim shared instance or if it also includes the rest of Ered Luin. If the changes to the hobbit/man experience is any indication, my money is on the shared instance only.
Posted: Oct 28th 2010 1:55AM (Unverified) said
it's been a while, but it was updated at least once. Travel nodes were added at noglund and thrasi's lodge and a few quest hubs were consolidated. it has been quite a while, but this is still a revisit. a welcome one though.
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 3:56AM pcgneurotic said
Yah, it would be good. The Hobbit/Man stuff makes so much more sense now story-wise, it's like night and day. If they can do the same for the Elves and Dorfs, so much the better.
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 9:27AM (Unverified) said
Bring it on! Especially looking forward to the wallet and the update to the vault.
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 10:26AM aurickle said
Agreed! I actually like the current vault system over the old one but I can see from the developer's diary how awesome the new one is going to be.
Regarding the barter wallet, I'm a bit disappointed because it appears to only be holding skirmish marks and anniversary tokens. Hopefully it's just a vagary in how the patch notes are written. Reputation barter items desperately need to be included as well. At this time on my main character I have zero anniversary tokens and one stack of skirmish marks. But I also have mathoms, well-kept mathoms, two different moria items, as well as the gold and silver tokens for Enedwaith. As the patch notes are written, this wallet will do next to nothing for me.
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Regarding the barter wallet, I'm a bit disappointed because it appears to only be holding skirmish marks and anniversary tokens. Hopefully it's just a vagary in how the patch notes are written. Reputation barter items desperately need to be included as well. At this time on my main character I have zero anniversary tokens and one stack of skirmish marks. But I also have mathoms, well-kept mathoms, two different moria items, as well as the gold and silver tokens for Enedwaith. As the patch notes are written, this wallet will do next to nothing for me.
Posted: Oct 28th 2010 2:04AM (Unverified) said
this will almost certainly not include reputation items. the difference being with bound barter items it is a simple matter of a new interface to allow the end user to see what barter items they have. tradeable items need to share an interface with the character inventory. a different problem entirely. i think we will see just bound items in the wallet, at least for now.
although as a fellow over-inundated-with-rep-items club member, nothing would please me more than being wrong.
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although as a fellow over-inundated-with-rep-items club member, nothing would please me more than being wrong.
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 9:34AM ReijMan said
Lookin' good!
I like how they have the solid basis in place now and can start expanding on systems! 100 cheers!
I like how they have the solid basis in place now and can start expanding on systems! 100 cheers!
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 10:34AM Stormwaltz said
Turbine: systematically removing all your excuses to not play LotRO since 2007.
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 12:57PM (Unverified) said
Now they just need to fix those animations and texture glitches. Hiring an artist who can make attractive (and distinctive) item/ability icons would also be cool.
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Posted: Oct 28th 2010 2:08AM (Unverified) said
can they lease fix the inexcusably poor pathing algorithm first?
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Posted: Oct 27th 2010 11:53AM blix2006 said
my question is have they added any content for free players to get from level 40 to 50..i stopped playing when i hit 40 since you had to pay for everthing at that point
Posted: Oct 27th 2010 1:41PM (Unverified) said
Free players can easily level to 50 and, with careful management of Turbine Points, get to the level cap.
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