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<generator>Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/</generator><item><title><![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/lord-of-the-rings-online/" rel="tag">Lord of the Rings Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/free-to-play/" rel="tag">Free-to-play</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-road-to-mordor/" rel="tag">The Road to Mordor</a></p><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.lotro.com/"><img vspace="4" hspace="4" border="1" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/12/gollum.jpg" /></a></div>
What a difference a year makes, eh? One year ago, and you didn't have to put up with me yammering at you every Friday like a hyperactive badger with a personality disorder. One year ago, and we weren't free-to-play-anything, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/turbine/">Turbine</a> was its own company, the festivals were nowhere near as cool as they are today, and shrews freely roamed the land without fear of reprisal.<br />
<br />
So in my last <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/the-road-to-mordor/">Road to Mordor</a> (of the year, stop rejoicing over there!), I thought it'd be great to look back at the wild rollercoaster that was 2010 in <a href="http://www.lotro.com/"><em>Lord of the Rings Online</em></a>. I also thought I'd get an easy column out of all this, but that was before I had to read through 1,337 posts and my eyeballs began to lose pressure.<br />
<br />
<strong>January<br />
<br />
</strong>Stuff happened. Let's move on.<p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/">The Road to Mordor: A year in Middle-earth</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19781462/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/12/31/the-road-to-mordor-a-year-in-middle-earth/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>anniversary</category><category>bilbo</category><category>closed-beta</category><category>codemasters</category><category>contest</category><category>crafting</category><category>ddo</category><category>dungeons-and-dragons-online</category><category>e3</category><category>end-of-the-year-2010</category><category>enedwaith</category><category>expansion</category><category>eyeball-pressure</category><category>f2p</category><category>fall-festival</category><category>free-to-play</category><category>frostbluff-theatre</category><category>haunted-burrow</category><category>isengard</category><category>isengard-private-preview-program</category><category>jeff-junge</category><category>jeffrey-steefel</category><category>kate-paiz</category><category>lord-of-the-rings-online</category><category>lore-master</category><category>lotro</category><category>lotteries</category><category>lottery</category><category>lua-scripting</category><category>modding</category><category>mods</category><category>oath-of-the-rangers</category><category>pax</category><category>pax-2010</category><category>pax-prime</category><category>qa</category><category>reputation-mounts</category><category>rise-of-isengard</category><category>rune-keeper</category><category>sapience</category><category>shrew-stomping</category><category>shrews</category><category>siege-of-mirkwood</category><category>spring-festival</category><category>steed-of-night</category><category>summer-festival</category><category>syp-is-so-dreamy</category><category>talk-like-a-pirate-day</category><category>the-road-to-mordor</category><category>third-anniversary</category><category>turbine</category><category>turbine-entertainment</category><category>vault</category><category>volume-iii-book-1</category><category>wardrobe</category><category>warner-bros</category><category>wb</category><category>winter-home</category><category>yule-festival</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Justin Olivetti]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[Lord of the Rings Online taking new members for Isengard private preview program]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/lord-of-the-rings-online-taking-new-members-for-isengard-private/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/lord-of-the-rings-online-taking-new-members-for-isengard-private/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/lord-of-the-rings-online-taking-new-members-for-isengard-private/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/lord-of-the-rings-online/" rel="tag">Lord of the Rings Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/news-items/" rel="tag">News items</a></p><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/lord-of-the-rings-online"><img hspace="4" border="1" align="right" vspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2010/02/lotro-rb-222.jpg" alt="" /></a><a href="http://www.lotro.com"><em>Lord of the Rings Online</em></a> fans found an <a href="http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=319218">interesting post</a> in the official forums today: "The Isengard Private Preview Program is taking applications for new members."<br />
<br />
If you're a <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/lord-of-the-rings-online"><em>Lord of the Rings Online</em></a> player who is interested in previewing and testing new content for bugs (and can keep a secret), it's your lucky day. You need to have a current <em>LotRO</em> account with <a href="http://www.lotro.com/mirkwood"><em>Siege of Mirkwood</em></a> access, of course, and the program is currently only open to those with <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/turbine">Turbine</a> accounts.<br />
<br />
If you fit the bill, head over to the <a href="http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=319218">forum thread</a> and take a look at the first three posts. They include the official announcement, a "how to apply" guide, and a FAQ. You'll find everything you need to do to apply as well as a full list of requirements to participate.<br />
<br />
If you're interested, <a href="http://www.turbine.com/">Turbine</a> is accepting applications now, so best of luck!<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/lord-of-the-rings-online-taking-new-members-for-isengard-private/">Lord of the Rings Online taking new members for Isengard private preview program</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/lord-of-the-rings-online-taking-new-members-for-isengard-private/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/19369045/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/02/23/lord-of-the-rings-online-taking-new-members-for-isengard-private/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>eyes-and-guard-inn</category><category>isengard</category><category>isengard-private-preview-program</category><category>lord-of-the-rings-online</category><category>lotro</category><category>turbine</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Rubi Bayer]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 10:00:00 EST</pubDate></item><item><title><![CDATA[The Isengard Private Preview Program needs you]]></title><link>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/the-isengard-private-preview-program-needs-you/</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/the-isengard-private-preview-program-needs-you/</guid><comments>http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/the-isengard-private-preview-program-needs-you/#comments</comments><description><![CDATA[<p>Filed under: <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/betas/" rel="tag">Betas</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/fantasy/" rel="tag">Fantasy</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/lord-of-the-rings-online/" rel="tag">Lord of the Rings Online</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/events-in-game/" rel="tag">Events, in-game</a>, <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/category/forums/" rel="tag">Forums</a></p><div align="center"><a href="http://www.lotro.com"><img hspace="4" height="302" border="1" width="580" vspace="4" alt="" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/massively.joystiq.com/media/2008/03/moria-logo-w_lockup.jpg" /></a><br /></div>
<a href="http://www.lotro.com/"><em>Lord of the Rings Online</em></a> CM and Senior Quality Assurance Analyst Kehleyr popped on the forums yesterday to <a href="http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=267619">let players know</a> they are reopening applications for the Isengard Private Preview Program. A bit like <a href="http://massively.com/tags/city-of-heroes"><em>City of Heroes</em></a>' Training Room test server or <a href="http://massively.com/tags/world-of-warcraft"><em>WoW</em></a>'s PTR, Isengard is a lot more private but you will get the chance to try new content and help the QA folks iron out bugs.<br /><br />Kehleyr explains that applicants will have to have an active account, be over 18 and sign an NDA but if you're a huge fan of <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/tag/lord-of-the-rings-online/"><em>LotRO</em></a> in good standing (as in never received a temporary ban), then you can apply. Head over to the forums to see the <a href="http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=267619">full details</a>.<p style="padding:5px;background:#ffffcc;border:1px solid #ffff99;clear:both;"><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com"><img src="http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif" alt="Massively" style="float:left;padding:0 5px 5px 0;" /></a><a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/the-isengard-private-preview-program-needs-you/">The Isengard Private Preview Program needs you</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://massively.joystiq.com">Massively</a> on Sat, 16 May 2009 18:00:00 EST.  Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.<br style="clear:both;"></p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href=http://forums.lotro.com/showthread.php?t=267619>Read</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/the-isengard-private-preview-program-needs-you/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/forward/1547900/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/05/16/the-isengard-private-preview-program-needs-you/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>]]></description><category>isengard</category><category>isengard-private-preview-program</category><category>isengard-programme</category><category>lord-of-the-rings</category><category>lord-of-the-rings-online</category><category>mines-of-moria</category><dc:creator><![CDATA[Lesley Smith]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Sat, 16 May 2009 18:00:00 EST</pubDate></item></channel></rss>
