I’ve been so focused on redoing MMeOw that actually paying attention to LotRO took a backseat. In the interests of getting myself back up to speed and making up for a week or so of no content, I thought it’d be a good idea to put together a small news/info compilation. This was a lot easier thanks to the awesome LotRO blog collective (and if you have a LotRO focused blog with a RSS feed or a MMORPG blog with a category specifally for LotRO let me know thta I can add you), so thanks guys!
Under the Banner notes that Book 8 is bringing more anti-exploit fixes and the results are apparently good this time! Very happy about that.
Turbine posted an official article about Destiny Points. I like the system’s concept, but I agree with Jaxom92 at The Middle-Earth Adventurer that the Freep side bonuses are lacking overall. Still, the bonus XP can be nice when you’re out of bonus rest XP.
As a side note, I know some people complain that they level up too quickly in this game … I often wonder how much of this speed is due largely thanks to rest XP. I feel is gathered way too easily and quickly in this game, even ignoring the Destiny Points option.
Massively continues their nice screen-shot based developer tours, this time for Book 8.
I was completely unaware that there was a developer chat for European players of LotRO yesterday. I don’t keep up enough on the happenings on that side of the ocean, unfortunately. However, Elderban was nice enough to post the notes on the official forums. You can read them there, but I’ve also posted them below the break.
I managed to run Xfire and sit in the chat so I could post the log here. I didn’t personally participate, but there were some good questions asked. Unfortunately my workload has prevented me from giving it my full attention.
I’ll give some of my thoughts in a post later on, but in the meantime I wanted to put these up for other people to check out if they didn’t have a chance to attend. I’ve rearranged a couple of responses so this is easier to read, but otherwise everything else is intact (aside from the announcement of the winners of the 30 days of LotRO chat contest).
Just a friendly reminder that Xfire’s chat with Turbine is tomorrow at 6PM Eastern. I still think the timing is a bit odd given that half of the country will still be at work, but what can you do? I doubt I’ll be on when it’s being held. Still, I expect that the chat log will be readily available soon afterward. It will be posted here when that happens.
If you’re interested in being involved, you can still sign up on Xfire’s page and wait for an invite. The chat requires you to be using Xfire’s messaging client, so keep that in mind. If you have some burning question for Turbine, give it a shot.
It’s pretty safe to assume the chat will have a basic focus on what’s coming up in Book 7. We’ve heard a surprising amount so far about what’s planned for Rune-keepers and the PvMP system, but everything else has been rather quiet. Comments from Turbine on their forums imply this is going to be a pretty big update across the board, so we’ll see.
Last I read, the main purpose of Book 7 seems to be to flesh out Lothlorien more. Apparently right now a lot of it is kind of blocked off and so I’ve purposely avoided the area because of it. I’ll be interested to hear more about their plans for that and what direction they might head in next.
Turbine will have its next official developer chat on February 3rd. This time it will be hosted by Xfire. The chat begins at 6pm EST / 3pm PST (23:00 GMT), although no ending time is currently being given.
Xfire’s site has a sign-up form to participate in the chat, so be sure to sign up if you’re interested. If you miss it, a transcription will likely pop-up soon after.
Turbine tends to hold these chats shortly before a new Book is released. Hopefully we’ll hear more concrete details on what Book 7 offers and be given an actual release timeframe.
