Posts tagged virtues 
The Road to Mordor: Five ways LotRO should be streamlined
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 ...
LotRO paddles down The Great River in a canoe fashioned from patch notes and 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 ...
The Road to Mordor: A fresh start
I don't know about you, but sometimes I fall into the trap of forcing myself to do something in a game because I feel internally obliged to do it. Somewhere along the line, "setting a goal" became a Bataan Death March that absolutely had to be accomplished before I'd allow myself to do what I ...
The Road to Mordor: Wish lists, past and future
Hobbits love making lists, don't they? In The Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo had a lengthy list of friends and relatives to invite to his eleventy-first birthday party, and he didn't have the luxury of Facebook to help him out. I love lists as well, although I try to save most of that for my ...
The Road to Mordor: Getting the most out of your F2P account
We're going to step waaay back from Rise of Isengard today (screenshots notwithstanding) to address a question that I've seen pop up time and again. The question comes from players on the free-to-play side of the game who are wondering "What do I need to do or buy to get the most out of my LotRO ...
Ultima Online celebrates 14 years
Happy birthday, Ultima Online! In an era when some games last not even a year and others seek to continually reinvent themselves, the grand-daddy of the genre has made it to 14 years. To usher in the anniversary, Mythic Entertainment released publish 72.0 to the live servers last week. The ...
The Road to Mordor: Power to the levelers
With Rise of Isengard creeping up on us, I've seen an increasing number of people begin to freak out about it, not because they're upset it's coming but because they're not prepared to partake in the expansion on day one. Now, this might not be important to you, but I assure you it's quite ...
The Game Archaeologist and the What Ifs: Ultima X: Odyssey
Last week on The Game Archaeologist: Murder most foul! A promising sequel to a hit MMO cut down in its prime, left to die on the front steps of EA's headquarters while its team was banished into exile! With special guest star, Richard Garriott's hair braid. And now, for the exciting ...
The Road to Mordor: Packing for Isengard
Isengard. Isengard. ISENGARD. It's all I can think about since last week's E3 reveal, and I know I'm not the only one. For some reason, having a firm launch date for Lord of the Rings Online's third expansion feels like a starting pistol's gone off, and we're beginning the race to the expansion ...
The Road to Mordor: Digesting E3
Instead of being hit by one huge Lord of the Rings Online bombshell at E3, as some predicted, we were treated to a series of smaller yet gripping reveals that are sure to have a major impact on our gameplay in the future. We assumed that E3 would be all about Rise of Isengard for LotRO, and sure ...
