The Lord of the Rings Online™ (LOTRO) is the first massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in the world of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. LOTRO takes place in a persistent online world populated with real and computer players that continue to function even when you turn the game off.
--
The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (commonly abbreviated to LOTRO, LotRO) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) for Microsoft Windows set in a fantasy universe based upon J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It takes place during the time period of The Lord of the Rings.
...On June 4, 2010 Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that The Lord of the Rings Online will adopt a free-to-play model. (http://www.lotro.com/betasignup/)- The game is now Free-to-Play
System requirements
| Mines of Moria Teaser Video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaZ0Ow6zxPM#ws) |
Lord of the Rings Online Executive Producer Kate Paiz announced during a panel at GDC Online 2010 today that Turbine has done it again: Lord of the Rings Online has doubled its revenue and created over a million new accounts since going free-to-play early last month. That's the second MMO Turbine has taken from a paid subscription to a hybrid microtransactions-based business model, with Dungeons and Dragons Online doing the same thing last year (important to note: Paiz was in charge of both transitions, switching to LotRO in July). Paiz told us after the panel that LotRO wasn't in trouble, but rather that Turbine did the math and decided the switch would work. "We knew there was more out there for us," she said.
Paiz also shared that 20% of LotRO's former players have returned to the game since the switchover, and that the game has seen a 300% increase in peak concurrency, with three times the number of players online simultaneously, and a 400% increase in active players total. 53% of players have used the in-game microtransaction store (which sells everything from mounts and outfits to XP boosts and character slots), and as you can see above, extra storage slots are extremely popular in the store. And even paid subscriptions have increased. Turbine's lesson seems to be that, as Paiz said during the panel, "when you tell people you no longer have to pay for it, they come in droves."
The LOTRO Store is celebrating Columbus Day all week long by doubling the bonus points on the $49.99 bundle! Normally, the $49.99 bundle gives 3,100 base points and 1,900 bonus points. This week? 3,800 bonus points! Today through Thursday, October 14th, 2010, LOTRO players will get a total of 6,900 points in the $49.99 bundle!
Ride In Style! Pale Golden Summer Steed & Lithe Festival Steed Available Friday, October 8th in the LOTRO Store* Plus 75% off Riding Skill! *available 2 weeks only!
Sale Starts Friday, October 8th at 12:01am EDT!
75% off Lone-lands, North Downs & Evendim Quest Packs Starts At Midnight! 24-HOUR SALE!Lone-lands (http://lotro-wiki.com/index.php/Lone-lands)
(Wednesday, October 13th 12:00am EDT - 11:59pm EDT)
New Digital Expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online™ Launching Fall 2011
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment unveiled today The Lord of the Rings Online™: Rise of Isengard™, the latest expansion to the award-winning free-to-play massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) developed by Turbine. Rise of Isengard will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces to press further eastward into the legendary region of Isengard. Rise of Isengard will be available for purchase in the LOTRO Store in the Fall of 2011 with an increased level cap, the new region of Isengard including the legendary tower of Orthanc, enhancements to monster play and much more!
NEW FEATURES:
- Experience the Rise of Isengard – The Epic Story continues as the Grey Company makes its way south into Dunland, but troubles arise as their road takes them into lands where Dunlending forces, marshaled by the Wizard Saruman, prepare for war. The Rangers must seek new allies and face dangerous new foes, chief among them the traitor Saruman, whose web of intrigue threatens to endanger your quest, your friends, and your life.
- Increased Level Cap — Players will be able advance their characters up to level 70, gaining access to new traits, virtues, skills and class quests.
- Expanded Monster Play – LOTRO’s monster play system will get a major revamp including opening up the feature to all players, changes to monster player skills and advancement and a brand new region for players to battle for or against the forces of evil.
A glimpse into 2011
Then the devs were willing to give us a rough sketch of what lies ahead for LotRO in 2011. Although they were skimpy on details (which is to be expected -- have to save something to talk about in the future!), they dropped enough hints to suggest that 2011 is going to be an exciting year for the game.
More zones and epic story books are in order, although players have much more to be excited about. For instance, the cosmetic system -- one of the more beloved features of the game -- is going to get pimped the heck out. If you're always agonizing over the limits of the system, then rejoice as Turbine promises more outfit tabs, more slots, and a whole lot of new items to wear.
The upgraded cosmetic system will include non-combat pets, a first for the game (except for those lucky duck Lore-masters). While they wouldn't comment on how many vanity pets are in development, they said that they are currently testing out a squirrel and have designed the system in a way so that you can have a pet out at all time -- even in combat.
Fluff not your thing, Mr. or Mrs. Studly McAwesome? Turbine wants you to know that it hasn't forgotten its endgame players; on the contrary, the team is hard at work on new raids (yes, that's plural) and dungeons for those at the level cap. There will also be additional dungeons included for the mid-level (30 to 40) folks. And if you haven't heard the news, Turbine wants to make sure you know that radiance is on its way out of the game forever. The devs recognize that it wasn't fun in the least and are tweaking the dungeons to function without the gating that radiance gear required.
Other plans on tap for 2011 include unlocking level 65 First Age legendaries (they're on their way to Middle-earth after FedEx misplaced them) and a redesign of the legendary item (LI) system with a focus on removing the randomness and emphasizing choice through a more intuitive layout.
Expansion Three: Rise of Isengard
While free-to-play is a game-changer in many ways, Turbine is still committed to bringing out a hefty expansion now and then. Rise of Isengard not only meets the blank-OF-blank name format (Shadows of Angmar, Mines of Moria, Siege of Mirkwood) but looks to make serious headway into the territory of The Two Towers.
Coming in fall 2011, Rise of Isengard will be comprised of three hefty zones: Dunland, the Gap of Rohan, and Isengard itself. Journeying through these regions will bring players up to the increased level cap of 70.
Dunland shares a border with Enedwaith, the current level cap zone (which means we may not see a new zone until then, although Turbine demurred at commenting on that) and is as large, space-wise, as its neighbor. Isengard will include the tower of Orthanc, which is the base of operations for fallen wizard Saruman's wicked schemes.
The expansion -- or a content update near to it -- promises to change up the Monster Play (PvMP) system. In an effort to give more of a feeling of advancement to PvMPers, the system will be expanded to increase skill progression and add more variety to those who like to walk on the dark side of Middle-earth.
Even more exciting is the prospect of PvMP spilling out of the Ettenmoors into new areas. Where will the conflict take us? The devs hinted at but would not confirm Isengard as a location for open-world PvMP. This move is also designed to allow F2P gamers a way to finally participate in PvP, although the team hasn't decided whether this will include an additional cost or not.
Expect to hear more about Rise of Isengard in the coming months, as Turbine has it "deep in development."
Radiance Removal
We’ve heard your feedback! The radiance system has been removed from the game. Find out the original goals and reasons for removal in the Developer Diary.
Four New Instances and a 12 Player Raid
Five different pieces of instanced content await you! This new cluster of instances includes:
Two three-person instances
Two six-person instances
One 12-person raid
All but one instance features three boss encounters and the raid features six. You can read all about them in our Instance and Raid developer diaries.
Monsterplay (PVMP) Changes
The starter area for the Ettenmoors for Monster Players got a much needed face-lift. It is not perfect but at least a step in the right direction. Players choosing to play a monster character have had their starting skills and abilities adjusted in order to improve their initial experience and survivability. Read the Developer Diary for full details.
Class Updates
The Minstrel, Burglar, and Hunter classes have received a number of changes. You can read the full details of each in their appropriate developer diaries.
Character Panel and Cosmetic System enhancements
The character panel has been revamped! Learn about the new panel, new cosmetic costume slots and other changes in the Developer Diary.
Crafting Vocation Tutorials
Starting out, crafters can find themselves full of bewilderment, wondering how they should begin their journey towards mastering each craft profession. Well, be confused no more! We’ve introduced brand new crafting vocation tutorial quests to guide you along your first steps of the path! Read the Dev Diary to learn about these new quest as well as changes to the Metalsmith and Tailor Professions.
Legendary Item Update
The legendary item system has received some significant changes. On entering the game after Update 2, all of your existing relics will be automatically unslotted from your Legendary Items. These relics will be unchanged in any way. The Legendary Item Developer Diary has the full details on the changes.
Volume III: Book 3, Echoes of the Dead
The Epic story continues! What are the Mysterious relics? All will be revealed in the continuation of the Epic Story line. Read the developer diary for behinds the scenes info!
Volume II Epic Story Revamp
Players have been asking for an overhaul of the Volume II epic story to make it more solo friendly. Update 2: Echoes of the Dead brings with it the “Solofication” pass players have been waiting for!
Moria Battle Instances Converted to Skirmishes
The old Moria Battle Instances have been converted to Skirmishes. Completing the old Moria Battle Instances and turning in all of the associated quests prior to release of Update 2 will result in the Skirmishes being automatically available to that character. If Volume II, Book 5, Chapter 5 is not turned in, but the Battle Instances (and their wrapper quests) are completed and turned in, you will have to take V2B5C5 again, but the objectives will be automatically satisfied and you can complete the quest. If a given wrapper is not turned in before the Skirmish-conversion, you will have to run that quest as a Skirmish before advancing. Read the Developer Diary for more information.
Evendim Revamp
We’ve added 100 quests to Evendim and smoothed out the quest paths through the region. Learn all about these major changes in the official Developer Diary.
OKAY BABES LET'S GET SERIOUS.
I WANT US ALL TO DO THE GREAT BARROW INSTANCES TOGETHER. THIS WEEKEND MAYBE?
"Generally speaking this place aims at characters in the levels 21 to 24 and above (as instances are adjustable) but some sections are intense and a good fellowship is recommended."
Instances:
[20] Great Barrow: The Maze
[22] Great Barrow: Thadúr
[24] Great Barrow: Sambrog
We'd set the instance level based on which level characters y'all have. My lowest one above 20 is level 28 and then the next lowest one is 42 or so :lol:
We can muster up 6 people to play at the same time, right?! People still have the game installed, right?? Post here or let me know in IRC if you're in...
And Elendilmir is still our server... :3
Well ten said Saturday right? You two Americans just try to pop up before I go to bed and we can swing it :lol:
If we have me, Stryfe, tenkei, Slack, pika, that's five... Can we get one more?? 8)
I really like the instant travel goats in the area I am at currently.That sounds pretty amazing. When I was doing Moria with Sulwing, I spent so much time cursing just trying to get to a quest spot and back. :lol: The enemies are EVERYWHERE and if you get lost, it's awful (which is realistic, but still... after a while it just becomes a nuisance lol) And some of the travel distances were ridiculously long so that even on a rental goat it took forever to get where I was going! ...If some of that stuff has been fixed, that'll be awesome when I finally go in with Mirlith!
Costs nothing, is fast and the goats are at relevant places so you get quests done and stuff sold more relaxed and quick, even more important when you solo because you don't always have to rush through hordes of mobs or fight them all on the way back :twothumbs
FIGHT FOR ROHAN'S SURVIVALFrom what I read, this time the expansion is also needed for the epic quests.
Unearth the depth of Gríma Wormtongue's treachery, unravel a mystery weaved through the war-torn Westemnet, and defend the fortress at Helm's Deep.
EXPLORE WESTERN ROHAN
Rohan's once-serene fields are fraught with gruesome evil among roaring fires that burn the pillaged lands. Heroes are needed to stand against fell deeds in these treacherous times.
ENLIST IN EPIC BATTLES
War thunders across Middle-earth! You and your fellows must charge into Epic Battles of unmatched scale and scope to save the lands of the Free Peoples. Your choices have consequences that shape the nature of each battle, but also yield amazing rewards for the worthy.
REVITALIZE YOUR ROLE
Choose your path to triumph and power with new class Trait Trees and roles that are more true to the legends of Middle-earth than ever before.