Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2013 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: But what if I'm three expansions behind?]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/15/the-road-to-mordor-but-what-if-im-three-expansions-behind/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/15/the-road-to-mordor-but-what-if-im-three-expansions-behind/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/15/the-road-to-mordor-but-what-if-im-three-expansions-behind/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The Road to Mordor But what if I'm three expansions behind
One habit that I'm constantly trying to break myself of is assuming that everyone who reads this column or plays Lord of the Rings Online is going through (or has finished) the most recent content that Turbine's pumped out. Over the past few weeks, I've had discussions with Massively staffers, guildmates, and podcast co-hosts who all have admitted to being way behind the content curve in LotRO, many to the point where catching up to the endgame crowd seems like an insurmountable task.

As a particular person asked me, "But what if I'm three expansions behind? Is it even worth paying for all of these expansions and pushing myself to get to Rohan?"

This is a valid concern and obviously one that several folks have, so for today's column I want to talk to those of you who aren't level 85. Maybe you haven't even seen the interior of Moria yet, or maybe you have been following the most casual, sporadic path through Middle-earth possible over the years. Maybe the one-expansion-per-year pace is actually pushing you away from the game. Here's what I think will help.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: But what if I'm three expansions behind?

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: But what if I'm three expansions behind? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 15 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>catching-upexpansionexpansionsf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playhelms-deephorizontal-progressionlevelinglord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentvertical-progressionSat, 15 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: The Age of Men]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/01/the-road-to-mordor-the-age-of-men/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/01/the-road-to-mordor-the-age-of-men/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/01/the-road-to-mordor-the-age-of-men/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The Road to Mordor The Age of Men
There's a movie poster tagline that I've seen copied numerous times. It goes along the lines of, "No matter who wins, they lose (or we lose)." This implies that the best-case scenario in the film -- the heroes emerging triumphant -- will still result in a bittersweet moment of defeat, despair, or doom.

This is how I've always thought of the Lord of the Rings in regard to the Free Peoples. Even through this enormous struggle against the Enemy, we know that winning still means losing something precious. In this case, it's the ascension of Men during the Fourth Age and the fading of the other races: the Ents, the Hobbits, the Dwarves, and the Elves. This grand fight for Middle-earth ultimately will preserve and strengthen just one of the races, and the most boring one at that. For Tolkien, this is because LotR is a mythological past history of our world, and we just don't see a lot of Elves walking around today except at Starbucks.

In a way, I feel as if we're starting to get into the Age of Men a bit prematurely in Lord of the Rings Online. The time for Hobbits, Elves, and Dwarves is past; the time for Men is just beginning.

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MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The Age of Men originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Jun 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor The Adventures of Floid & Dewitt
It's important to get this straight right away: Floid is the horse and Dewitt is the human. And no, I'm not giving you the principle cast of a Saturday morning cartoon; this is one of the more interesting Easter eggs that inhabit Lord of the Rings Online.

Floid the Mighty Steed and Dewitt the Explorer are an adventuring duo in the process of touring all of Middle-earth. Their journeys take them to out-of-the-way places, but if you stumble upon them you'll be given a deed to find the pair in seven different locales. Do so and you'll earn the incredible, the awe-inspiring, the magnificent... title of "the Wanderer." OK, it's just a title, but it's a title and a "Where's Waldo?" hunt for two oddballs. I'll take some time off of plowing through Update 11 to do this, yes sir!

While I've been aware of Floid and Dewitt over the years, I have never taken the time to hunt them down and finish the deed. Well, that ends this week. Come with me as I search high and low until all is revealed!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The Adventures of Floid & Dewitt in LotRO

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The Adventures of Floid & Dewitt in LotRO originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 25 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Six reasons why Loremasters rock
In my Lord of the Rings Online career, I've played two classes far more than any others: the Captain and the Lore-master. Both scratch that "pet class" itch that I have in MMOs, both are quite group-friendly, and both seem to be somewhat unorthodox picks (at least compared to the plague of Hunters and Champions infecting the game).

I'll leave a discussion about Captains for another time, but today I felt like talking about the strangeness that is the Lore-master. It's such a unique class in feel and execution, and it's captivated me such that I'm actually leveling up my second Lore-master because I was dissatisfied with the way I handled my first one.

Maybe you've never tried one. Maybe you picked one up and just couldn't get a feel for what it was supposed to do. I'll admit that the LM is an acquired taste, partially because its skillset is all over the map and it doesn't settle into an expected template. However, it may just be the coolest class in the game. Here are six reasons why.

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MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Six reasons LotRO's Lore-masters rock originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>classclass-reviewclassesf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlmlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelore-masterlore-masterslotroopinionpetpet-classroad-to-mordorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 18 May 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: A Wildermore dev chat]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/05/11/the-road-to-mordor-a-wildermore-dev-chat/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/05/11/the-road-to-mordor-a-wildermore-dev-chat/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/05/11/the-road-to-mordor-a-wildermore-dev-chat/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor A Wildermore dev chat
Snow-covered zones aren't exactly new to Lord of the Rings Online, but the upcoming region of Wildermore is a little bit different than the normal Misty Mountain ski resorts. How so? Well, for one thing, it's not supposed to be snowy at all. So what's up with the premature winter in this area of Rohan -- and what are you, the player, going to do about it?

That's the basic setup for Update 11: Treachery of the White Hand. The update, which should be going live next week, is what I call the intermission zone: It's the region that Turbine adds between expansions to keep veteran players from bouncing off the walls due to boredom. Lothlorien, Enedwaith, and the Great River are past intermission zones, but Wildermore might be the most fascinating one yet.

Thanks to technical issues, I wasn't able to get a first-hand tour of the new region. Instead, I nabbed a heart-to-heart chat with the devs about the intricacies of Wildermore, the next step of the epic story, and plenty of assorted goodies coming with the update!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A Wildermore dev chat

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: A Wildermore dev chat originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Could Lord of the Rings Online end in 2014
Almost two years ago, Star Wars Galaxies players were rocked to their core by the news that their virtual world was to be sunsetted at the end of the year. Despite obvious SOE love for the title and player petitions, the call was already made: LucasArts didn't want to renew the contract with SOE, and that was that. Because of an IP, an entire galaxy was lost.

It's one of the "cons" of IP-based MMOs. Because there is licensing and contracts and other legal mumbo-jumbo involved, an online game that is completely wedded to an intellectual property has the added danger of being shut down completely if the IP is denied to the studio. SWG is a sobering lesson as to how this can happen to an otherwise healthy game.

If you haven't noticed already, Lord of the Rings Online is somewhat inspired by a certain IP. This IP can survive without the game, but the opposite is not true. So the scary question that we'd rather not ask is this: What if Turbine loses the rights have its game set in the Lord of the Rings universe?

It's not an unreasonable question. And what makes it even scarier is that it could conceivably happen as early as next year.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Could Lord of the Rings Online end in 2014?

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Could Lord of the Rings Online end in 2014? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 May 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Helm's Deep
While I'm quite excited to hear the news of this year's Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Helm's Deep, there are two small nits that I must pick, two little peeves that I must pet before moving onward. The first is that Turbine could not have worse timing; I've been prepping for a vacation and pre-written a couple of weeks of this column, and now this announcement's forced me to scramble last-minute to write a new one.

The other issue is that Turbine's abandoned the "[something] of [place]" title structure it's had ever since Shadows of Angmar. A vain, egocentric part of me thinks that this might've happened because a developer read my expansion prediction column and decided to spite me.

With that out of the way, let's digest the official announcement and see what we'll be doing this fall when LotRO's fifth expansion hits!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Helm's Deep calls!

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Helm's Deep calls! originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Happy 6th birthday, LotRO!
Uh, seriously guys, it was just yesterday that I was celebrating the third anniversary of Lord of the Rings Online with you in this column. At least it felt like yesterday. Really, has it been six years already? I guess it must be. It just seems like time moves so rapidly in MMOs, especially ones you've been in for years.

Even if you don't count my first six months in the game prior to and after the game's launch, my current stint in LotRO is the longest period of time that I've ever played an MMO. It's been a little over three years now that I've been playing and covering this game for Massively, and my interest in it has yet to wane. That amazes me; just when I think I might burn out on it, I find something about LotRO to rekindle my interest and passion.

There's something special about this game world that I haven't found elsewhere, I've concluded. Perhaps it's the IP restrictions and continuity that makes Middle-earth more "real" to me than other virtual worlds. Maybe it's the sheer breadth of content or the goofy hats. I can't decide. But I'm happy to raise a glass to LotRO as it turns six and look back at some of my favorite moments over the years.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Happy sixth birthday, LotRO!

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Happy sixth birthday, LotRO! originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor A day in Forochel
The snow crunches angrily beneath my boots. It's a hard snow, beaten down by the winds and the constant sub-arctic temperatures. On top of it is a light powder that stings when it is whipped into my eyes. Fortunately all is calm and quiet at the moment, and I move on.

I'm a pioneer in Forochel, or so my title tells me, but I still feel as if I don't know this untamed land. It's the roof of the world, or so they say, with odd peoples, strange languages, and frozen ruins. I see sights there that I never would anywhere else in Middle-earth, and it almost feels like an alien world removed from all I've known because of that.

I walk toward a distant fire while the snow falls behind me and covers my footprints. Too often I think of how far away I am from the safety and warmth of home, and it frightens me. Am I a fool to forge into this land? To go in the opposite direction of the One Ring? Or is this my destined path?

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A day in LotRO's Forochel

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: A day in LotRO's Forochel originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Stepping into Fangorn Forest
Without a doubt, Riders of Rohan is one of the best expansions Lord of the Rings Online has delivered to date. True, it's not without its rough spots, but overall I'm impressed. The storytelling is excellent, the landscape is engaging, the mounted combat is pretty fun, the music is incredible, and the amount of stuff to do is mind-boggling.

But it wasn't until a week ago when my slow-but-steady Captain finally encountered my favorite aspect of this expansion: the Eves of Fangorn. I wasn't expecting to be so enchanted and engaged, but LotRO threw me for a loop and there I was -- grinning at the zone design and happy that the game can still produce a sense of wonder and adventure in my soul.

Why is it so good? What won me over? If you're thinking, "He's got a tree fetish, he does," then you might not be too far off base.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Stepping into Fangorn Forest

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Stepping into Fangorn Forest originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 06 Apr 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor The coming class apocalypse and how you can survive it
Out of the four primary goals that the Lord of the Rings Online team has stated for 2013, the promise of class revamps has proven to be the most nerve-wracking -- and intriguing -- among the populace. After all, when you say that "significant changes" are coming to classes and don't follow up with any sort of significant details, speculation and worry is going to run amok.

Last September I argued that classes did need a shakeup. While the whole structure isn't without its redeeming (ahem) virtues, I believed that it wasn't intuitive for new players, that there wasn't really any growth in the abilities or builds of characters post-Moria, and that much of the deed system was simply too grindy.

That's why I'm cautiously optimistic about the "coming class apocalypse" in 2013 -- I'm tired of the status quo. LotRO has an opportunity to cut the dead weight and make leveling interesting all over again. Let's take a look at a few statements by the dev team to deduce what we'll be looking at when it happens.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The coming LotRO class apocalypse and how you can survive it

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The coming LotRO class apocalypse and how you can survive it originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Ten virtues strategies
Virtues are never far from my mind in Lord of the Rings Online, although recently they've been more a concern as I've been dithering around with several alts in a reality TV show-type vetting of a backup character. While not very sexy in comparison to class, race, and legendary traits, virtues are essential to bolstering your character's stats. As I've said in the past, not pursuing and equipping virtues is akin to ditching a very useful set of armor; you can do it, but it's not recommended.

As LotRO really does not go out of its way to explain virtues and particularly which deeds you'll need to pursue to rank each one up, you'll have to go out of the game and do some basic homework or else be left behind.

While I'm not an expert on all things virtue-related, I've certainly been around the block a few times and would like to share 10 strategies that help me to choose and acquire a good set of virtues over the long haul. And getting 16 ranks in five virtues is a long haul, make no mistake.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Ten virtues strategies for LotRO players

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Ten virtues strategies for LotRO players originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor A fresh perspective from two newbies
In addition to my tried-and-true kinship home on Landroval with The Council of the Secret Fire, I'm part of several other guilds in various MMOs. One of them, Mercy Gaming, went from a Star Wars: The Old Republic guild to a multi-game guild as our interests expanded and shifted. A few weeks back, I discovered that several roaming members of the guild had decided to set up camp in Lord of the Rings Online and found it a great spot to make a game home.

As someone who's been playing LotRO on and off since launch, I think it's downright refreshing to get to experience the game through a whole set of newcomers' eyes. You remember how it was when you were just a low-level Hobbit skipping through the Shire and ignorant of the larger world. It does wonderful things to cleaning off the crusty familiarization that builds up on veterans, I tell you.

I thought it'd be a good learning experience to talk to two of my guildies -- David and Mark -- to show you their perspective as LotRO newbies in 2013. Yes, it's true: New players do come into this game all the time.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A fresh perspective from two newbies

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: A fresh perspective from two newbies originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 02 Mar 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Six reasons why Minstrels rule
In the gaming world, you're either a bard person or you're not; there's no middle ground. For some, the concept of a character attacking with music and "inspiring" fellow adventurers with top 40 tunes is incredibly weird, even though armies used to employ musicians all the time for tempo and morale. For others, using music to help and hurt is a refreshing change of pace from fireballs and 70-pound impractical swords.

Over the five-plus year adventure that I've had in Lord of the Rings Online, I've rolled many-a Minstrel, although I've yet to make one my main. I've always loved the concept of the class, especially within Tolkien's IP, where music fills an important niche in the books. Music has power in Middle-earth, and the Minstrel is the one with the skills to defeat Sauron with mad lute skills.

As a tribute to this awesome class, here are six reasons why Minstrels rule -- and why you should try one out if you haven't already.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Six reasons why Minstrels rule

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Six reasons why Minstrels rule originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>bagpipebagpipesbardbardsclassclassesf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotrominstrelminstrelsmusicopinionroad-to-mordorsword-and-boardthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 16 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Digesting the LotRO dev chats]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/02/the-road-to-mordor-digesting-the-dev-chats/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/02/the-road-to-mordor-digesting-the-dev-chats/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/02/the-road-to-mordor-digesting-the-dev-chats/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Digesting the dev chats
Apart from the nightmare of Twitter spam that the recent two Lord of the Rings Online dev chats have produced, I'm pretty happy that Turbine's being more interactive with the community and taking on some of these topics head-on. Of course, everyone has his own areas of interest that were probably not covered to satisfaction, but looking through these two chats (December 20th and January 24th), we can deduce a lot of useful information about where LotRO is headed in the future.

Personally, I am pretty excited about 2013 for the game. It feels as if the team isn't slacking at all, and while there are always my wish list items that go unfulfilled, often the devs add cool changes (like the Bree update) that are equally welcome.

So let's sift the wheat from the chaff and see what we come up with from these dev chats as well as the recent producer's letter!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Digesting the LotRO dev chats

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Digesting the LotRO dev chats originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>community-q-and-adev-chatdeveloper-chatexpansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playhousinglord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromounted-combatopinionplayer-housingq-and-ariders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentupdate-10update-11war-steedsSat, 02 Feb 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/19/the-road-to-mordor-the-mounted-combat-verdict/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/19/the-road-to-mordor-the-mounted-combat-verdict/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/19/the-road-to-mordor-the-mounted-combat-verdict/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor The mounted combat verdict
It's been months since Riders of Rohan greatly expanded Lord of the Rings Online in several ways, and I have yet to touch on its most central feature. I've been putting off having "the talk" about mounted combat due to wanting to spend enough time with it. Every week I thought about putting down my opinion, and then I'd be like, "No, I should give it some more time. More time."

Mounted combat is a tricky system to judge, I'm finding. It's so incredibly central to the newest expansion, and it's clear that Turbine has big plans to expand upon this system for the future. It certainly was a gutsy risk to introduce a new mode of fighting into the game at this juncture (because we all know how much people like change), and I've seen people all over the spectrum on it. Some love it, some loathe it, some resent it, and some gamely accept it.

I think I've clocked enough time on horseback at this point to deliver my own verdict on mounted combat. Well, a partial verdict at least. It's never a good thing to settle on a final opinion on something that's constantly growing and changing, right?

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The mounted combat verdict originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>expansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromounted-combatmountsopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentwar-steedwar-steedsSat, 19 Jan 2013 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Looking back and looking forward]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/05/the-road-to-mordor-looking-back-and-looking-forward/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/05/the-road-to-mordor-looking-back-and-looking-forward/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/05/the-road-to-mordor-looking-back-and-looking-forward/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Looking back and looking forward
As long-time readers of this column know, this is about the time when I reflect on my personal wish list that I made for the previous year while making a new list for the upcoming one. After all, you can't go on an adventure without a long list or two organizing everything!

On the whole, 2012 was a pretty great year for Lord of the Rings Online. The expansion into Rohan, mounted combat, and the addition of a great new soundtrack added so much to the game, giving us a spectacular high-level zone that's full of lore and amazing setpieces. The devs have been smoothing out the middle of the game with a Moria revamp, open tapping, and remote looting, which should make leveling that much better. Players had four sizable updates to consume. Even Mac users had something to cheer as Turbine created a client for the platform.

Of course, it wasn't all peaches and cream. The expansion faced a delay, the pricing and features of Riders of Rohan stoked controversy, and we're still waiting for the second half of the promised instance cluster to arrive. The store kept stepping on people's toes, from the barter wallet to the infamous hobby horse. And the new festival, the Farmer's Faire, was kind of a dud.

So let's see whether LotRO fulfilled any of my wishes from last year, and then I'll share my desires for 2013!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Looking back and looking forward

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Looking back and looking forward originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>20122013expansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentwish-listSat, 05 Jan 2013 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Taking The Hobbit back to LotRO]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/22/the-road-to-mordor-taking-the-hobbit-back-to-lotro/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/22/the-road-to-mordor-taking-the-hobbit-back-to-lotro/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/22/the-road-to-mordor-taking-the-hobbit-back-to-lotro/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Taking The Hobbit back to LotRO
Like many of you and what seems to be the entire population of South America, my wife and I got to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey this past weekend. It was slightly difficult in that we also had to bring a baby along, but an early morning matinee and strong sleeping pills (just kidding!) helped in that regard. After all, I couldn't miss a brand-new Tolkien movie, now could I?

What did we think? We both really enjoyed it and wouldn't mind seeing it again. It was a great return to Peter Jackson's vision of Middle-earth and several of the beloved characters from the previous Lord of the Rings films. As the resident Lord of the Rings Online writer here at Massively, I couldn't help walking away from the theater with an increased desire to log back into the game and perhaps roll a new character.

Maybe a Dwarf.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Taking The Hobbit back to LotRO

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Taking The Hobbit back to LotRO originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>dwarvesf2pfantasyfeaturedfilmfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromovieopinionpeter-jacksonroad-to-mordorthe-hobbitthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 22 Dec 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Hobbits, hobby horses, and holidays]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/08/the-road-to-mordor-hobbits-hobby-horses-and-holidays/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/08/the-road-to-mordor-hobbits-hobby-horses-and-holidays/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/08/the-road-to-mordor-hobbits-hobby-horses-and-holidays/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Hobbits, hobby horses, and holidays
Whether you've finished Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan, are still trotting your way through it, or haven't yet touched the new high-level content, Turbine's got more goods coming your way. Update 9 should be here relatively soon(tm), as it is currently finishing up frenzied testing on Bullroarer.

I'm definitely excited about the changes coming with the update. Unlike the expansion, this update has something for everyone, whether it be worldwide open tapping, a much-improved stable interface, a new player theater in Bree, lootable players in PvMP, the second half of Moria's revamp, the updated Yule festival, or three new scalable dungeons. On the whole, this update looks as if it will go a good way to shoring up some of the weaker spots of the game.

However, three things have really caught my attention this week, and not all of them are as positive. I want to talk about the tie-in to the Hobbit, the new festival grind, and a certain $50 cash shop item that's been the buzz of the community. Let's get started!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Hobbits, hobby horses, and holidays

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Hobbits, hobby horses, and holidays originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>50-hobby-horseexpansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playhobby-horselord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorthe-hobbitthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentupdate-9winter-homeyule-festivalSat, 08 Dec 2012 14:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Sandbox features that would serve LotRO well]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/24/the-road-to-mordor-sandbox-features-that-would-serve-lotro-well/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/24/the-road-to-mordor-sandbox-features-that-would-serve-lotro-well/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/24/the-road-to-mordor-sandbox-features-that-would-serve-lotro-well/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Sandbox features that would serve LotRO well
The tug-o-war in the MMO community between the virtues of sandbox vs. themepark designs looks like it's starting to result in a muddy heap in the middle: the sandpark. Personally, I think there are wonderful aspects of both designs (and drawbacks too), and a marriage between the two could offer more player freedom and creativity while keeping it structured and balanced.

So I've been thinking about Lord of the Rings Online in regard to this and how it might benefit from a greater number of sandbox features in the future. I mean, on one hand we have one of the most "on rails" PvE games out there, but on the other hand there are seeds of great player freedom. Elements like the music system, the Winter-home theater, Hytbold, and the quite robust crafting system all serve to take us a step beyond the themepark.

But what if LotRO took a few more steps toward sandboxy goodness? Seeing as how the original vision for the game was to make it a pure sandbox, I think that's not too farfetched a question. Here are several sandbox features that I think if married to the game would add to its appeal and variety.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Sandbox features that would serve LotRO well

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Sandbox features that would serve LotRO well originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 24 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>albion-theaterdimensionsf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playfrostbluff-theaterfrostbluff-theatreissue-4lord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionplayer-housingplayer-studioplayer-townspvmppvprealm-warriftroad-to-mordorsandboxsoethe-road-to-mordorthe-secret-worldtheaterturbineturbine-entertainmentwarwarhammer-onlineSat, 24 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Five frills I love in Riders of Rohan]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/10/the-road-to-mordor-five-frills-i-love-in-riders-of-rohan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/10/the-road-to-mordor-five-frills-i-love-in-riders-of-rohan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/10/the-road-to-mordor-five-frills-i-love-in-riders-of-rohan/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Five frills I love in Riders of Rohan
One of the reasons that I continue to support the expansion model is that it truly does seem to motivate developers to improve the game noticeably. Nobody likes "more of the same," especially in MMOs, and expansions are a great way to freshen up the title and make it feel new again.

Riders of Rohan does that for me. For years now, we've seen Turbine make its biggest leaps forward with expansions. Sometimes this is in sheer size or new technologies or graphical improvements or storytelling or a combination of any of these. Lord of the Rings Online has come a long, long way from old Archet and the meandering paths of Volume 1, and this expansion actually makes it painful to return to the days and lands of yore.

I've found five frills that have charmed me in Riders of Rohan so far. Would you like to hear them? Good. While not all of the following features are brand-new to the game, they are certainly more noticeable than ever before and are used to greater effect.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Five frills I love in Riders of Rohan

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Five frills I love in Riders of Rohan originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>expansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 10 Nov 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Scratching the surface of Rohan]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/27/the-road-to-mordor-scratching-the-surface-of-rohan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/27/the-road-to-mordor-scratching-the-surface-of-rohan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/27/the-road-to-mordor-scratching-the-surface-of-rohan/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Scratching the surface of Rohan
I don't know about you, but Riders of Rohan has genuinely made me excited to log into Lord of the Rings Online once more. Don't get me wrong; I always like the game, but some days are more of the "same old, same old" than others. This expansion, however, is like a fresh spring wind sweeping away the stale memories of yesterday. This is good stuff.

I'm sure many of you are already level 85 and masters of the horse, whereas I am but a lowly level 77 and am cursing at my war-steed because it handles like a drunken garbage scow. I don't fly through expansions uber-quickly, but in this case I don't feel the need to. I want to savor all of this.

I want to save a more intricate discussion of mounted combat until next time, so for today I would like to look at the initial stages of the Rohan story and how Turbine is handling the franchise as it moves deeper into The Two Towers territory.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Scratching the surface of Rohan

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Scratching the surface of Rohan originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 27 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>expansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 27 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Riders of Rohan pre-launch guide]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/13/the-road-to-mordor-riders-of-rohan-pre-launch-guide/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/13/the-road-to-mordor-riders-of-rohan-pre-launch-guide/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/13/the-road-to-mordor-riders-of-rohan-pre-launch-guide/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Riders of Rohan prelaunch guide
The other night in kin chat, I said how I'm just not mentally ready for Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan. My Captain may be prepared to saddle up and venture forth, but the notion that we're on the verge of one of the most significant expansions this game has ever seen is taking me a little while to absorb. Fortunately, many of my friends assured me that I wasn't alone in this.

With just two days to go until players can head into Rohan, we're running out of time to prepare, and I'm not just talking about pre-purchasing the game (although that too). Riders of Rohan contains a host of content and changes, not the least of which is the new mounted combat system. I don't know about you, but I hate heading into expansions completely blind, so I decided to spend this week putting together a big roundup of everything you need to know about LotRO's fourth expansion.

Read well, my friends, but get your rest as well. You may not get it this coming week.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Riders of Rohan pre-launch guide

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Riders of Rohan pre-launch guide originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 13 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>expansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playguideguideslaunchlaunch-daylaunch-guidelaunch-rounduplauncheslord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorround-uproundupthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 13 Oct 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Why LotRO's classes need a shakeup]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/29/the-road-to-mordor-why-classes-need-a-shakeup/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/29/the-road-to-mordor-why-classes-need-a-shakeup/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/29/the-road-to-mordor-why-classes-need-a-shakeup/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Why classes need a shakeup
In a recent post about the Riders of Rohan beta, blogger Doc Holiday wrote a criticism of LotRO's lackluster class development: "Think about it, what have our characters actually gotten since Moria? Outside of revamps (which are always needed as games age and don't really count) there's been almost no progression of our characters outside of gaining morale."

For this I have two words in response: hear, hear!

I've been thinking about this a lot since last week's imaginary restart scenario and even before. There's a reason that rerolling a character in Lord of the Rings Online has such appeal, even with a mountain of content behind it. It's a character that actually develops noticeably before your eyes, not slugs through content.

Today I want to examine why I agree with Holiday about the stagnation of high-level classes and how the devs can shake up the status quo to make character development exciting once more.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Why LotRO's classes need a shakeup

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Why LotRO's classes need a shakeup originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>classclassesexpansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlegendary-itemslegendary-traitslord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromines-of-moriamounted-combatopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrorshakeupstar-wars-the-old-republicswtorthe-burning-crusadethe-road-to-mordortraittrait-slotstraitsturbineturbine-entertainmentvirtuevirtue-slotsvirtuesworld-of-warcraftSat, 29 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: The reset scenario]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/the-road-to-mordor-the-reset-scenario/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/the-road-to-mordor-the-reset-scenario/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/22/the-road-to-mordor-the-reset-scenario/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor The reset scenario
At this juncture of my Lord of the Rings Online career, I have zero interest in starting over. I've attempted two fresh characters over the past six months, and while the "newness" was enough to sustain me for a while, I simply didn't have the time or energy to get them through the long, long, long journey of content to meet up with my Captain. So I've made peace with the thought that my main will be my only character through the completion of the game, barring Turbine releasing an incredibly compelling new class or severely streamlining the leveling process.

That's OK, really. I'm content. Yet I also like to engage in mental hypotheses in which I am forced to restart -- a reset scenario, as it were. If I woke up tomorrow and found that my account was completely blank, or if I were thrown back in time and had to start all over again, what would I do? Would I choose differently or the same?

So here we go: the reset scenario. Let's assume the game is more or less how it is now and I have all of my current knowledge. If I had to start from scratch, how would I forge a different path in the game?

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The reset scenario

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The reset scenario originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 22 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>f2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotroopinionrerollresetrestartroad-to-mordorsquare-onestarting-overthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 22 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Looking at PvMP from the outside in]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/15/the-road-to-mordor-looking-at-pvmp-from-the-outside-in/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/15/the-road-to-mordor-looking-at-pvmp-from-the-outside-in/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/15/the-road-to-mordor-looking-at-pvmp-from-the-outside-in/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Looking at PvMP from the outside in
The other day I was making a mental list of aspects of Lord of the Rings Online that I generally avoid. Raiding was one, mostly because I don't have the time and the acquisition of gear isn't that important to me. Crafting was another because the end results have little personal appeal. But topping the list was LotRO's version of PvP, PvMP. I think I made a monster character three years ago and ventured out into the Ettenmoors once, but that's the extent of my adventures in that area of the game.

As a result, PvMP has received very little coverage in this column during my tenure at Massively. For one thing, it's not a good idea to talk about something of which you have little experience in doing. For another, I'm fairly sure that the PvMP community, while dedicated, is a small minority of the game's population. It's always felt like a weird vestigial tail to me, an anomaly that exists within our game that many of us rarely mention or see.

So today let's talk about it. I would like to, from the perspective of a player looking from the outside in. Why is PvMP so strange to me? What purpose do I think it has in the game? And how could it become more compelling so that I would actually want to engage in it?

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Looking at PvMP from the outside in

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Looking at PvMP from the outside in originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>ettenmoorsf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playlord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromonster-playopinionplayer-vs-monster-playerplayer-vs-playerpvmppvproad-to-mordorshadows-of-angmarthe-road-to-mordorturbineturbine-entertainmentSat, 15 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 (and vice versa)]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/08/the-road-to-mordor-three-things-lotro-needs-from-guild-wars-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/08/the-road-to-mordor-three-things-lotro-needs-from-guild-wars-2/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/08/the-road-to-mordor-three-things-lotro-needs-from-guild-wars-2/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 and viceversa
Whenever a new big MMO releases, it causes a shockwave of predictable conversations and comparisons. I'm not interested in the "winning/losing" or "killing/dying" debate so much as a contemporary meeting of minds to share ideas. MMOs used to develop in a vacuum, but now they're much more interconnected (for better and worse). The upside for consumers is that proven features often spread to the competition, hopefully improving the whole playing field.

In our case, it's the impact of Guild Wars 2 on the industry and what it might have to teach Lord of the Rings Online. Yet I don't think it's quite fair (or true) to just look at it from the lens of "Everything GW2 has is better"; it's more productive to theorize how to swap the best of both games in order to improve them.

So here are three things that LotRO could use to implement from Guild Wars 2 -- and three that Guild Wars 2 could use from LotRO.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 (and vice versa)

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Three things LotRO needs from Guild Wars 2 (and vice versa) originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 08 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>anetarenanetcosmetic-systemf2pfantasyfeaturedfree-to-playguild-wars-2gw2lord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromounted-combatmountsncsoftopinionriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorskirmishesthe-road-to-mordortransmutationtransmutation-stonesturbineturbine-entertainmentwardrobeSat, 08 Sep 2012 12:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Reactions to Rohan]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/01/the-road-to-mordor-reactions-to-rohan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/01/the-road-to-mordor-reactions-to-rohan/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/01/the-road-to-mordor-reactions-to-rohan/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Reactions to Rohan
Judging from the comments in last week's column, I gather that many players are not too rankled with Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan's delay. Many even support the move. It's not like Turbine moved Rohan a half-year down the road; October's in, like, a month. I think we have a good chance of surviving until then.

But what I wanted to go into today were the impressions from beta testers now that the NDA has dropped. I think it's a really good sign that Turbine felt confident enough to kill the NDA on the day of the delay announcement because it nullifies suspicion that the studio is trying to hide a major clusterfudge from us. Mmm... major fudge.

So let's go to the street, where emboldened testers are going door to door and letting everyone know everything about the expansion, warts and all. Is there more good than bad? Is mounted combat really all that and a bag of horse apples? Does this expansion represent Turbine's finest hour or just a speedbump on the way to Mordor?

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Reactions to Rohan

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Reactions to Rohan originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 01 Sep 2012 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Delay, delay, delay
Earlier this week, I was working on this column with the title "Preparing for Riders of Rohan." What a change a day or two makes because the body of that article quickly got changed to "Sit on your thumbs."

Yes, the LotRO community got thrown for a loop this week, as Turbine announced that Riders of Rohan has been shoved back a month and a half for additional work. So we've gone from a mere two-week countdown to nearly two months, and that takes a bit of mental adjustment. On top of all that, the studio demolished the NDA wall, which sort of seems like a risky move when you've just disappointed players with news of a delay.

I think we should talk about it, don't you? I'll say this up front: It's actually a very good thing.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Delay, delay, delay

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Delay, delay, delay originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 25 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor The horsewhisperer
A ragged messenger galloped up to me while I stood hip-deep in the dead, Uruk-hai blood dripping down my greatsword. "For you, ma'am," he said, saluting and riding away.

I unrolled the scroll and quickly scanned its contents. The world around me grew very still for a moment and then resumed its course in the next heartbeat. I sucked my teeth and read it completely, looking for nuance and meaning between each word in the missive. Finally, I tucked it away and whistled for my steed.

"Sorry, Pippin, Merry," I apologized. The Hobbits looked up at me with frantic, bulging eyes, their hands and mouths still bound by their now-deceased captors. "I know your quest is important, but this takes precedence. Fare thee well."

With that I kicked my mount's side and began the thousand-mile trek back to my roots. Back to Combe. Back to a little stable where a lost horsie needed my help.

Oh, yeah. I'm a hero, all right.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The horse-whisperer

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The horse-whisperer originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 18 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor LotRO's next four expansions
With under a month to go until Riders of Rohan hits the digital starting gate and gallops past the horse metaphor, expansions are weighing heavily upon my mind. I'm excited about horse combat and a break from traditional questing (to a point), but I'm also hoping that Lord of the Rings Online's fourth expansion will prove far more compelling than its previous one turned out to be.

LotRO may be coasting into its middle-age years (in MMOs, every year in real life is like nine for the game), but it still has quite a bit of life -- and journey -- ahead of it. Unlike every other MMO out there, this title has a specific story it's following from beginning to end. Maybe we get off the beaten path of Tolkien's works now and then, but our fate as players is intertwined with the fates of Frodo and the One Ring. It gives us the advantage of knowing more about our future in the game than we would have otherwise.

So today I'm putting on my prognostication cap and giving you all the skinny on Lord of the Rings Online's next four expansions past Riders of Rohan. I have no insider knowledge, just a gut feeling and a time-traveling buddy named Soren from the year 2020.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: LotRO's next four expansions

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: LotRO's next four expansions originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 11 Aug 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Six smashing ideas for player housing
Some days I wonder whether Turbine truly regrets creating housing for Lord of the Rings Online. It's one of those game systems that you really can't do halfway; it's all or nothing, and once you begin, players are going to want more and better things for it.

Except for the admittedly steady stream of housing items that enter the game and the occasional promise that a housing revamp (or whatever you call it) is on the team's radar, housing in the game has more or less been the same since it first came into being. It's not a system that all players use possibly because there isn't much use to it, which makes for a strange catch-22, and Turbine has to be constantly evaluating how to spend its limited resources to impact the greatest number of people.

Still, a Hobbit can dream, can't he? After hearing the wonderful news this week that WildStar will ship with a robust housing system, I couldn't help but think back on LotRO's current setup. Ideas formed in my head, ideas to make housing in Middle-earth not only relevant but downright engaging. What could get us to go "home" a little more often? Just hear me out.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Six smashing ideas for LotRO's player housing

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Six smashing ideas for LotRO's player housing originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor All hail the Farmer's Faire!
It's a crazy time for Lord of the Rings Online players. Not only is this the game's fifth anniversary, but there's a new expansion is on the horizon, and Turbine's sliding in its second new festival for the year (I'm counting the revamped anniversary festival because prior to that it was a sad, misshapen thing). Now where are those flying eagle mounts we back-ordered?

This week marks the debut of the Farmer's Faire, the game's sixth festival. It's an incredibly odd duck of a celebration, marking neither real-world season nor game milestone. Instead, it's a fun-for-its-own-sake bash involving food, Hobbits, more food, more Hobbits, and acid mushrooms. The sheer number of times LotRO has made me drunk or stoned against my will is tantamount to drug abuse, I say.

So let's sift the wheat from the chaff and figure out what parts of this festival are worthy of inclusion -- and what should've been left on the brainstorming table.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: All hail the Farmer's Faire!

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: All hail the Farmer's Faire! originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Hands on with Riders of Rohan
I remember the very first thought I had when Turbine announced Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan: If the mounted combat isn't very, very good, this expansion's going to be a big dud. I don't think we've ever had an expansion that leaned so heavily on a core system for not only the bulk of its gameplay but also its style.

Crude my thought may have been, it felt like the truth. I don't know any other successful MMO that utilized mounted combat as anything but a sideshow curiosity. The LotRO team was putting too much emphasis on mounted combat for it to fizzle.

I think I can breathe easier now that I've had a chance to spend an hour fiddling with mounted combat while talking to Senior Producer Aaron Campbell. What I saw was an alpha build of the expansion (the beta is scheduled to start soon, perhaps as soon as next week), but once I got used to careening over the plains at 88 miles per hour, it felt just right.

It felt like LotRO.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Hands-on with Riders of Rohan's mounted combat

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Hands-on with Riders of Rohan's mounted combat originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 12 Jul 2012 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>aaron-campbellauto-lootcustomizable-mountsdev-tourexpansionf2pfantasyfeaturedfirst-impressionsfree-to-playhands-onhorsehorseslord-of-the-ringslord-of-the-rings-onlinelotromounted-combatopen-taggingopinionpreviewpreviewsremote-lootingriders-of-rohanroad-to-mordorrohanrohirrimrorspur-onthe-road-to-mordortheodintheodin-kingturbineturbine-entertainmentwar-steedwarbandsThu, 12 Jul 2012 22:00:00 EST<![CDATA[The Road to Mordor: Riders of Rohan media blitz]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/07/07/the-road-to-mordor-riders-of-rohan-media-blitz/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/07/07/the-road-to-mordor-riders-of-rohan-media-blitz/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/07/07/the-road-to-mordor-riders-of-rohan-media-blitz/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

The Road to Mordor Riders of Rohan media blitz
While talking about music and goats is all well and good for this column, I've certainly heard those of you crying out, "Talk about Rohan! Rohan! Rohan!" Understandably, the desire to discuss and think about the upcoming expansion is strong in many of our minds, but I've also been mindful of not wanting to get fatigued by talking about this and nothing else. Remember, just because you're at the endgame and are the target audience for Riders of Rohan doesn't mean everyone is.

That aside, it's actually pretty hard not to talk about the expansion this week. Turbine's showing more chutzpah this year with its marketing and promotion, and part of that has come in the form of several developer diaries and music videos. I think we're used to lengthy typed dev diaries, especially ones that come a day or so before an update goes live, but this is the first time in my memory that the team's utilized video so widely to promote a product.

I kind of like it.

So let's take a trip through these recent releases and see what we can't glean from them!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Riders of Rohan media blitz

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Riders of Rohan media blitz originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 07 Jul 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor The superiority of goats
I love goats. OK, pipe down there. I mean that I love the goat mounts in Lord of the Rings Online. Shush! Man, this column isn't starting well. It sounded better in my head.

It's a well-known fact that LotRO lacks the mount diversity shown by most other fantasy MMOs. It's pretty much horses all the way down, and chances are it's going to stay that way thanks to the IP. Unless, of course, the devs give in to my flying eagles suggestion. There just isn't much wiggle-room in Tolkien's works for the Free People of Middle-earth to be taking a 2012 Mechanospider to work.

However, the devs did shoehorn in one different flavor of mount for the Mines of Moria expansion. Goats received a room at the stable and were integral to navigating through the labyrinthine deeps. They never did match horses in terms of popularity or even variety, and I doubt that we'll be seeing War-goats for Riders of Rohan. Still, if I had my pick (and I do), I'd pick goats any day of the week. They're so much better than horses, and I'm going to tell you just why.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: The superiority of goats

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: The superiority of goats originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Making music together
I sat on the pebbly ground of Amon Sul, occasionally panning my camera around to drink in the sight of hundreds of players gathered in an impossibly small area. While the game chugged to support all of the bodies, we passed the time with chatter until the event began. It was, of course, Weatherstock IV, and I had a front-row seat for the show.

Weatherstock is probably the most famous of Lord of the Rings Online's many, many player events. The four-year-running concert gathers together some of the game's best bands for hours of music as they compete for top prizes. In between the sets, the concert's sponsors occasionally blast the theme song (Weatherstock Forever) and encourage folks to vote for their favorites.

For an event that had me doing little more than sitting still and turning up the speakers, it was incredibly involving. A thought kept bouncing around in my head: Why don't more games let players do this?

The richness of LotRO's music system belays any claim that it's just frills and fluffery. Player music is part of what gives this game life instead of just actions. When we make music together, we take ownership of the virtual world we inhabit.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Making music together

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Making music together originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 23 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor Fifteen great things about Riders of Rohan
It's unfortunate that the discussion over Turbine's pricing of this fall's expansion has come to overshadow the expansion itself. I'm sure that defending the price point of the three Riders of Rohan editions wasn't what Turbine wanted to be doing instead of focusing on what this expansion will add to the game. Happily, it seems as though the studio has listened to us and addressed a couple of the biggest issues.

So with that unpleasantness put aside, I am going to look at the brighter side of Rohan this week to share 15 pretty dang cool things that I've recently learned about Lord of the Rings Online's upcoming expansion. Why 15? Because I slammed my hand down on the keypad and that's what came up.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Fifteen great things about Riders of Rohan

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Fifteen great things about Riders of Rohan originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 16 Jun 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO
Coming back to an MMO that you used to play is a whole different ball of wax than getting into it for the first time. While you have less to do and absorb than beginners, it can be just as overwhelming in its own way. What are all these skills again? Why do I owe some Hobbit mortgage company a zillion gold to unlock my house? Why is the screen throwing a fit with a non-stop parade of deed announcements?

Recently, I returned to another MMO after a half-year or so absence (it's RIFT, if you must know), and I was almost frozen with apprehension over all the changes. Because the world I used to know had changed in so many ways, I didn't know how much to rely on my memories and where to go to figure out what these changes were. Fortunately, an enterprising member of the dev team created a wonderfully handy post that quickly outlined all of the changes over the past year so that returners could get caught up quickly.

I like this idea so much that I decided to do the same for Lord of the Rings Online. Ever since free-to-play hit, it's become so much easier to drift in and out of this game, and as Turbine's been ramping up the changes, it's possible to feel the same apprehension upon reentry that I did with RIFT. Freak not, fair friend, for I am here to guide the way.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: A guide for returning players originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 02 Jun 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO
You would think that growth and expansion is nothing but a good thing for MMOs -- after all, those are the hallmarks of the genre. But as these games get bigger, issues emerge as the developers add new zones, features, and systems. In short, maturing MMOs gravitate toward complexity, and this can have an adverse effect on the game as a whole.

The problem is that there is eventually too much a brand-new player has to absorb and master, not to mention the hassle of rolling alts and having to navigate all of that content once more. If developers don't stay on top of the situation, then the game starts to lose overall cohesion and becomes a befuddling mess.

With three expansions and numerous updates under its belt, Lord of the Rings Online is venturing deep into this territory. I have friends who are leveling up for the first time and finding themselves overwhelmed with everything that needs doing as well as all the systems that are not clearly explained. So today I want to play backseat developer and talk about five ways that LotRO should be streamlined for the good of all players, old and new.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Five ways LotRO should be streamlined

MassivelyThe Road to Mordor: Five ways LotRO should be streamlined originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 19 May 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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