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The Road to Mordor: Will the instance finder take off?

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor, Dungeons

When World of Warcraft released its dungeon finder in late 2009, the online gaming community fractured into two distinct camps. There were those who loved and embraced the dungeon finder for its ease of grouping, its bonus rewards, and its accessibility. Then there was the other camp, whose members grew to loathe this system, claiming that it fractured the community (especially when it went cross-server) and trivialized the teamwork and bonding that dungeon groups cultivated in the past.

Love it or hate it, the dungeon finder was a massive hit and quickly became a staple in many other MMOs, such as RIFT and yes, Lord of the Rings Online. I've always been a huge proponent of the system because LFG tools and channels are typically insufficient and inefficient. Plus, dungeon finders cater to those of us who aren't as naturally outgoing and chatty when it comes to finding or starting groups, and I think this is why it became so embraced. Many of us felt denied this content simply because we weren't in a gung-ho guild or weren't proactive enough to build a group, but this became a game-changer.

Instead of releasing LotRO's instance finder in its full glory all at once, Turbine's rolled out the replacement to its lackluster LFF interface in stages. With Update 6, we now have an improved system to examine, although there's certainly work that needs to be done.

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The Road to Mordor: Will the instance finder take off? originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 31 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor: A soldier to call my very own

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Business models, Game mechanics, Patches, Opinion, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

So how are you liking Update 6 so far? No, I can't hear you right now -- you're probably going to have to leave a comment or something. Maybe I should do the talking for a while.

With its new zone, massive PvP upgrades, class rebalancings, Landscape Soldier ability, updated barter wallet, and the Instance Finder 2.0, there's so much to chew on with Lord of the Rings Online's latest patch that it's going to take most of us some time to figure out what's what. I've heard a lot of praise for the new epic storyline, in particular the dream sequence, and it's definitely good that players who had tapped out Rise of Isengard's content now have more world goodness to explore.

I am not in The Great River, not yet; I dug my level 65 Captain out of retirement and am plugging my way back up through RoI quite happily. However, I was incredibly curious about two of the most debated features of the patch -- the barter wallet and the ability to bring skirmish soldiers out into the world -- and I spent some time evaluating each. While I question the way Turbine's handling the cost of these features, I definitely came away impressed with what the wallet and soldiers do for the game.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: A soldier to call my very own

The Road to Mordor: A soldier to call my very own originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 17 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO's Great River update flows today, patch notes released [Updated]

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, PvP, Free-to-play

Strike the tents and put out the campfires, Middle-earth adventurers; it's time to move on... north? That's right, Lord of the Rings Online is taking players on a journey back to an old familiar location -- Lothlorien forest -- as it releases Update 6: Shores of the Great River today. It's an absolutely massive content update for the game meant to span the gap between the Rise of Isengard and Riders of Rohan expansions.

While players patch up and wait for the servers to come back online, there are patch notes and then some to be read. If you lack the hour or so it might take to really get into the notes, just know that the update's highlights include a brand-new high-level zone (The Great River), the next book of the epic story, the addition of Landscape Soldiers and a fleshed-out barter wallet, several major class updates (such as the Warden and Rune-keeper), an improved Instance Finder tool, and plenty of PvP improvements.

Massively recently sat down with the developers to tour through the new content in Update 6.

[Update: Added the trailer for the update after the jump!]

Gallery: LotRO - Update 6: Shores of the Great River

Continue reading LotRO's Great River update flows today, patch notes released [Updated]

LotRO's Great River update flows today, patch notes released [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor: An Update 6 play date with Turbine

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, PvP, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

This past week, Turbine called my parents and asked if I could come over to play Lord of the Rings Online. "Sure he can," my mother replied. "As long as he wears his galoshes. What? It's wet outside!"

And thus I ended up hanging out with the Turbine crew -- Aaron Campbell, Jared Pruett, and Jeff Libby -- as they walked me through Update 6 with the optional developer commentary mode set to "on." I highly recommend you rent a developer for the same experience, as it helps to have someone giving you a Cliff's Notes version of the game's complicated lore.

Pruett first caught me up on the major PvMP changes of this coming Monday's update. The team wanted to increase rewards and turn progression into a seasonal mechanic to keep players coming to the Ettenmoors. As such, PvMP now has a universal currency -- that's account-wide, by the way -- that will allow players to purchase top-end gear. The team also tweaked down what the devs saw as a DPS race in order to give players time to deliberate and make strategic choices during fights.

Beyond PvMP, the devs marched me right into the next epic storyline book that whisked us away to a strange new land: The Great River. What did I find waiting for me there?

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: An Update 6 play date with Turbine

The Road to Mordor: An Update 6 play date with Turbine originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 10 Mar 2012 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO cleans up the Warden's act

Justin Olivetti — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

If you're a Lord of the Rings Online Warden, then your world is about to change. Update 6 will reshape this advanced class to strengthen the Warden as a tank, offer a better DPS role, and fashion a ranged fighting trait line. The latter will also be DPS, although it will also offer some measure of support for groups.

The latest dev diary by Turbine walks us through these changes as the team works to clearly define the three styles of play. One of the big changes is the addition of a brand-new gambit builder, which comes from javelin throws when players are fighting in the new ranged (Assailment) stance. This gambit builder will replace the spear thrusts in the stance, as it's somewhat difficult to jab someone from 40 meters away with a stick.

Another significant change is the addition to what Turbine calls "flavoring" for gambits. These are bonus effects that change depending on the Warden's stance to strengthen tanking, melee DPS, or ranged DPS. Other fun tweaks to the class include allowing Wardens to prep a gambit ahead of a battle and a huge overhaul to the three trait lines.

LotRO cleans up the Warden's act originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turbine answers burning questions about LotRO's Landscape Soldiers

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Previews, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

Coming with next Monday's Update 6 in Lord of the Rings Online is the ability for players to deploy skirmish soldiers in the actual game world. How Turbine was going to handle the balance of this "soldiers on landscape" feature was up in the air until now, as the company has released a Q&A to hit all of the important points.

Basically, players will have to purchase Landscape Soldier tokens with either Turbine Points or a combination of in-game skirmish marks and medallions. A token will grant a player one hour of soldier assistance, although this time can be broken up into non-consecutive blocks at the player's discretion. Soldiers cannot be used in instances and major player hubs (such as cities) at the current time.

Other restrictions for Landscape Soldiers include the disabled personal traits (that offer considerable buffs in skirmishes) and no control panel to order them around, as with Lore-master and Captain pets.

Turbine answers burning questions about LotRO's Landscape Soldiers originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Mar 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO prepares for imminent Update 6 release

Justin Olivetti — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

It's one of the bigger content updates that Lord of the Rings Online has seen in quite a while, and if all goes well, Update 6 will be uploaded to fans this coming Monday. As time is running short between now and then, Turbine is rushing to finish up with its dev diary series covering the major features of the patch.

Today's dev diary discusses the fleshing out of the Instance Finder, which will now offer players tailored rewards and the ability to pick specific dungeons and skirmishes. The diary goes into detail about how the rewards work, but the basic version is that players get better currency, power, and morale bonuses when they sign up for more skirmishes and instances at a time. This gives players an incentive to look for a wide range of instances while at the same time it facilitates match-ups between interested parties.

We've also got several new screencaps from Update 6 for your viewing pleasure, including four exclusive pictures and many more showing off the new "soldiers on landscape" feature. You can scope them out in the gallery below.

Gallery: LotRO - Update 6: Shores of the Great River

LotRO prepares for imminent Update 6 release originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 07 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor: Fording the Great River

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

At 1388 miles, the Anduin is the longest river known in Middle-earth, hence the name The Great River. If I put that into real-world perspective, it would vie for the 52nd longest river on Earth, somewhere between the Colorado River and China's Pearl River. Impressive, if not a record-breaker.

The Great River flows from the Misty Mountains down out to the Great Sea (lots of "greats" in Middle-earth, which is great), and it's on this waterway that the Fellowship of the Ring traveled from the solace of Lothlorien to the tragedy at Parth Galen. The river represents transition in many ways: from safety to peril, from unity to dissolution, from north to south, from The Fellowship of the Ring to The Two Towers.

For Lord of the Rings Online players, the Anduin will mark another transition: the bridge between Rise of Isengard and Riders of Rohan. Seeing as how we got a major taste of this brand-new zone this week, I thought we should take a gander at what The Great River will add to our journey toward Mordor.

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Fording the Great River

The Road to Mordor: Fording the Great River originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 03 Mar 2012 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO paddles down The Great River in a canoe fashioned from patch notes and dev diaries

Justin Olivetti — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Patches, Previews, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

"The Great River not only offers something fresh-feeling and new, but also some fairly epic eye candy," the latest Lord of the Rings Online developer diary begins. The diary is referring to the latest zone being created for the game, which is slated to come with Update 6. We've already gotten a glimpse of the region, but now it's time for the team to go in-depth with its concept and creation.

One of the highlights of the new region is that The Great River will be home to the very first Rohirrim settlement: Stangard. Because of this, Standgard will feature unique visuals and architecture not found elsewhere in the game. In addition to providing new vistas to explore, The Great River will help players gear up further through quest rewards, a new reputation faction, and an elite area. For those interested in getting an idea of how Turbine puts together a zone like this, there's a terrific addendum that walks through the process.

Preliminary patch notes are also up for Update 6, which is now on the test server. There's a lot to digest here, although it's interesting to note that Virtues will be increased to 14 (from 12) due to player demand.

It's good to know that plenty of bugs will be fixed come this patch, including this one: "The sky objects will no longer vanish when you travel to certain instances and then return. Told ya; The sky is not falling. It was just...missing."

LotRO paddles down The Great River in a canoe fashioned from patch notes and dev diaries originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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See the shores of the Anduin in LotRO's Update 6

Jef Reahard — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Galleries, Screenshots, Video, Lord of the Rings Online, MMO industry, Patches, News items, Free-to-play

Lord of the Rings Online has a lot of ground to cover in its quest to follow the fellowship across the wilds and deep into Mordor. And like the mighty river Anduin, the game is slowly but inexorably snaking its way across the world that Tolkien created. Update 6: Shores of the Great River adds seven new explorable areas to Turbine's digital Middle-earth, and the company has taken the wraps off some new screenshots and videos to whet players' appetites.

The patch brings us to Thinglad, Parth Celebrant, Eorlsmead, Wailing Hills, Limlight Gorge, the Brown Lands, and the Rushgore. Take a look at each of these areas in our Update 6 gallery below, then click past the cut for video tours of Limlight Gorge and Eorlsmead.

[Source: Turbine press release]

Gallery: LotRO - Update 6: Shores of the Great River

Continue reading See the shores of the Anduin in LotRO's Update 6

See the shores of the Anduin in LotRO's Update 6 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Feb 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO's Wargs to be stealthy or beefy fighters

Justin Olivetti — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Patches, PvP, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

It's a dog-eat-dog world in Middle-earth, and only the most vicious of canines will succeed in the cutthroat world of PvMP. Lord of the Rings Online is preparing for a whole host of monster play renovations with Update 6, and Wargs are on tap for some serious love. A new dev diary on the official LotRO site lists all of the many, many changes coming for Wargs due to this shift in focus.

As a stealth class, Wargs were seen by developers as being too vulnerable to imminent death after entering into combat. As such, the devs are beefing up the class' survivability by giving players a choice. With Update 6, Wargs can move between Shadow (stealth) and Flayer (brawler) stances, depending on the player's preference and situation. The Flayer stance will replace the old Shadow Howler one.

Turbine previously outlined other changes for PvMP in Update 6, including Weavers, Audacity, and Commendations.

LotRO's Wargs to be stealthy or beefy fighters originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 28 Feb 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What a tangled web Lord of the Rings Online weaves, especially for Weavers

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Classes, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, News items, Free-to-play

If your idea of a good time in Lord of the Rings Online is to be a scuttling eight-legged monstrosity in PvMP, you've no doubt spent plenty of time with the Weaver. The developers aren't entirely happy with the Weaver; they feel that as players have grown more powerful, the finesse of a Weaver has less of a place on the battlefield. Rather than reworking the class from the ground up, however, the team is pushing through some big new upgrades for Weavers to keep them as terrifying in a mechanical sense as they are in a physical sense.

The two biggest changes are the addition of Venom pips and the Ensnared debuff. Venom pips will increase a Weaver's poison damage and can be consumed via two new skills. Ensnared, on the other hand, stacks on players whom a Weaver has slowed and can be converted into Venom pips and damage. The control elements of the class are also seeing some upgrades and enhancements aimed at keeping spiders dangerous in the battlefield, ensuring that the first reaction of "smash that spider!" is in fact the correct one.

What a tangled web Lord of the Rings Online weaves, especially for Weavers originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lord of the Rings Online offering PvMP players some Commendation

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, PvP, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

Lord of the Rings Online has always had an interesting system of PvP, with players facing off against a specially designated group of players in the guise of monsters. It's also a system that's historically had some problems, ones that the developers are hoping to alleviate the new Commendation system coming with Update 6. While it won't fix everything, the new system outlined in today's developer diary should ensure that players will be able to focus their PvMP efforts toward PvMP rewards, making rewards more straightforward without forcing players into PvE to advance.

The diary explains how Destiny, the previously intended PvMP currency, wound up being bloated and failed to serve its proper purpose. Commendations will be hard-capped at 100,000, and spending this currency will allow players to advance Creeps and acquire new equipment. The preliminary numbers are also included with the diary, with the understanding that there will be some tweaking after the system goes live. While players might be a bit miffed at having to use their Destiny quickly before it goes away, the new reward system will hopefully make advancing via PvMP far more viable.

Lord of the Rings Online offering PvMP players some Commendation originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 16 Feb 2012 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Road to Mordor: Riders of Whoa-han!

Justin Olivetti — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Expansions, Previews, Free-to-play, The Road to Mordor

This past week we heard from Turbine about its general plans for Lord of the Rings Online in 2012, and while it may not have hit everything on my personal wish list for the year, it was a good start.

I was mulling over the question of whether it's better for MMOs to show all of their big cards up front like Turbine or to parcel them out over the course of the year. Both have advantages, of course. Front-loading the year with a broad overview like this gives players long-term reasons to stick with the game, but it also can steal the exciting thunder from these events down the road. On the other hand, measuring the big news out during the year would probably give Turbine more publicity, but it could frustrate players who might feel "in the dark" about the company's plans.

In any case, we got what we got, and there's a lot to chew over for this week's column: unbound skirmish soldiers, Riders of Rohan, the Great River, and the fifth anniversary. So let's get started!

Continue reading The Road to Mordor: Riders of Whoa-han!

The Road to Mordor: Riders of Whoa-han! originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Craig Morrison's latest AoC letter discusses guild features in Update 6

William Dobson — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Age of Conan, Guilds, Patches, News items

As July is coming to a close, Age of Conan's game director Craig Morrison has weighed in with his letter to the community for the month. The biggest discussion point this time around is a new 'Guild Renown' system that will be introduced with the next major content patch, Update 6. This system will allow members of a guild to contribute to its reputation on two separate scales. A guild's Renown Level will be increased by members earning Valor points (from PvE activities like questing and killing NPCs), Glory points (PvP) and Artisan points (crafting). Higher Renown Levels will mean access to better guild city vendors and other bonuses -- even a brand new building type that Morrison does not elaborate on in this letter.

Continue reading Craig Morrison's latest AoC letter discusses guild features in Update 6

Craig Morrison's latest AoC letter discusses guild features in Update 6 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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