Thread	Replies	Last Post
New forum topic	26	Taffette	26-08-2010 07:12
Free to play	2	Radi	22-06-2010 11:21
17 buttons	3	Krispy	04-06-2010 17:45
[Event] The Shades concert ...	1	Taffette	26-05-2010 11:49
Starting soon	1	Taffette	19-04-2010 06:35

LotrO Goes free to play!

BIG BIG Changes afoot for Lotro now - as I've received the official press release to say that Turbine are introducing a new "Free to Play" mechanism.  That means new players (and existing if you wish) can download and play the game for free.. and use an online shop to purchase extra bits n bobs (but NOT high end items - they still only come from quests/crafting).

If you are a lifetime subscriber like me, the GREAT news is that we shall still get to play for free - but as a VIP player - so that's all content, and 500 free points to spend in the shop a month, as if we were paying subscribers.

Today is an important day for LOTRO: we’ve announced that this Autumn, LOTRO will begin offering a Free-to-Play option!  Players will be able to download the game and adventure in Middle-earth for free.  With Free-to-Play comes the addition of the LOTRO Store, where players will have immediate in-game access to a wide variety of special items, account services, and convenience items.  

 

There’s a lot of information to digest, so here are some handy links for you:

 

Free-to-Play Information Page: www.lotro-europe.com/freetoplay

Free-to-Play FAQ: www.lotro-europe.com/freetoplay/faq

Free-to-Play Discussion forums: http://community.codemasters.com/forum/lotro-free-play-discussion-1330

Volume III: Allies of the King, Book 1:

Oath of the Rangers is out now!

Codemasters Online is happy to announce that the latest free update to The Lord of the Rings Online™ is now live and ready to play!

Free to subscribers, Volume III: Allies of the King, Book 1: Oath of the Rangers adds a whole host of new features. These include the continuation of the Epic storyline, new crafting levels and new expanded Skirmishes.

 

Read all about it in our announcement here: http://community.lotro-europe.com/news.php?id=10481&pagename=news&type=news

 

NEW FEATURES:

• New Skirmishes - Expanded 12-Man Skirmishes in the Shadow of the Necromancer’s Tower
  
• Take the war to the shadows with four expanded Skirmishes!
  
  • At the Necromancer’s Gate, a powerful Olog-Hai thinks he’s king of the hill, and your force must prove him wrong.
    
  • Before the Gate of the Ringwraith’s Lair, creatures of nightmare seek to lay a deadly trap.
    
  • Man the catapults! A powerful force seeks to capture the outpost at Thangúlhad, and you must drive them back into the darkness.
    
  • In the dungeons of Dannenglor, captured elves face torment and destruction, unless you can rescue them from the Enemy!

• New Crafting Levels - New Level 65 Recipes and Crafting Skills! Make your own power with new Level 65 recipes and major updates to crafting abilities.
  
  • New icons and updated stats for all Jeweller recipes
    
  • New recipes and more powerful products for Cooks
    
  • New class items for Weaponsmiths and Woodworkers
    
  • New crop recipes for Artisan, Master, and Superior Farmers

 

Mirkwood patch and patch notes available

Codemasters Online have today made the patch notes, and more importantly, the stand alone patcher available today.

That means you can read the HUGE long list of new stuff and enhancements HERE , while waiting for the download to complete.  The game won't start working yet, but it will save you much time and get you playing the new content quicker if you get the patch now.

Please be patient though, as the download isn't coming down very quickly for me!

Patch page here .

Krispy

Mirkwood expansion - some hands on time!

I'm just back from a half day of Mirkwood expansion... well the official European press launch anyway, thanks to Codies fantastic Faya who invited 'team Krispy' along :)



I'm uploading images from our hands on playing - so lots to view in the gallery .

There's plenty new - one of the highlights being the all new 'skirmish system' - which is a repeatable, join anywhere, 1,3,6,12 person instances which do have a 'story' and are fully customisable and have random events!  You can even tune the difficulty leave - more risk, more rewards.  It's not about single drops during the skirmish - you receive skirmish points, which can be saved and swapped for nice rewards.  So you can complete many solo skirmishes and receive just the same rewards as someone who has enough friends to do the 12 man skirmish, which seems a nice feature.  Anyone from level 30+ can start skirmishing, and you can do it from ANYWHERE in middle earth.  You do have to take a tutorial first though.  Initially there will be 12 different skirmish 'scenarios' - but more will be added.

Also of note;
12 man super raid (you've got to see the badies you've got to face!),
3 and 6 person instances,
customisable 'soldier companion' for the skirmishes,
HUGE new multi area map. 
Mounts now learnt as skills, so more bag space freed.
Oh and the level cap is raised to 65 from 60.
Legendary weapons can now level to 60.
Legendary weapons level faster later on - less grind required.
Emotes and interactions while on horseback (you can sell and get/complete questions while still on hourseback)
New legendary weapon rune slot - which is CRAFTABLE ONLY!  (so crafters are useful again)
Crafting of 1st age legendary items (also more feedback on how it's going to turn out).
A lot of 'useless' legendary traits removed - as per feedback from community.
100's of new quests, and lots of new deeds.
WAR MACHINES - in some of the skirmishes you get to use war machines

Siege of Mirkwood, release details

Codemasters have now released firm details about the upcoming digital expansion to the LotrO game.  It adds many new features, such as increased level cap to 65, new areas, new game systems, and much more.

You can go to the official page here and pre-order .

There are several options available;

Codemasters Online Unveils: Siege of Mirkwood

Codemasters Online today unveiled The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood, the digital expansion to the award-winning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG).


Siege of Mirkwood will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces to press further eastward into the dark, foreboding and treacherous forest of Mirkwood and take part in the epic conclusion to Volume II of The Lord of the Rings Online.

Siege of Mirkwood will be available as a digital download this autumn and provide players with an increased level cap, a new region including the legendary evil fortress of Dol Guldur, major enhancements to combat and Legendary Items and the introduction of Skirmishes, a new system where players will train customizable soldiers and take them into battle as part of the War of the Ring.

“2009 has been a year of unprecedented growth for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of Siege of Mirkwood will end the year with a bang,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “As the game expands east of the Misty Mountains, players will face the raging war and shadow that has spread across Middle-earth and the new Skirmish system will thrust players and their soldiers into the War of the Ring.”

Important news - Phishing attempt

Codemasters have posted a warning to all LotrO players - some dodgy characters are using the ingame messaging to send out 'phishing' attempts - sending you a link to an url which they say you need to log into with your LotrO account details.  Please IGNORE THEM!

We've found a phishing attempt in ingame messages. Do not be fooled by the message, which asks you to visit a fake website (that looks very similar to the american LOTRO website) and enter your login details.
We ask the players to be very careful and not to enter their login details on the message's link. It is in fact a phishing attempt.

We'd also like to remind you of the only official homepage for LotRO EU: http://www.lotro-europe.com/ and that you only log into our accountsystem on https://cogaccounts.codemasters.com/ with your personal data and nowhere else.

For more information on important safety information, visit this useful forum thread.

Design a horse competition!

Codemasters have today published the details of their lastest fun competition.  What are they asking you to do?  Design a new look horse for use within the actual game (Yes you'll see your design run around middle earth, and even possibly ride it yourself :)  )

“We're pleased to announce a brand new contest for players of The Lord of the Rings Online; the LOTRO "Design a Horse Contest"! LOTRO fans, it's time to show us your artistic and creative skills: we’re giving you the opportunity to submit your very own design for a horse which could be taken and implemented into the game as a player mount in a future content update.”

The full announcement can be found here:

 

EN: English Contest Announcement

FR: French Contest Announcement

DE: German Contest Announcement

Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm out now!

Codemasters Online is proud to announce that the latest major free content update to The Lord of the Rings Online™: Mines of Moria™ is now live and ready to play!


Free to subscribers, Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm is a huge new update with a whole host of new features. These include the continuation of the Epic storyline, crafting revisited and the return of the Summer Festival.

NEW FEATURES:

• The Epic story continues
  
• New Boat-keepers offer Swift Travel routes across Lake Evendim!
  
• Free up inventory space with item stacking to 50 or 100!
  
• New barter system for First Age legendary weapons!
  
• New UI to fill out a stack of goods or enter the amount you need!
  
• Save your UI layout with the /UI command!

For more detailed information about what new content is included in Book 8, view the official patch notes or check out our Book 8 overview page.

Book 8 - released this Tuesday?

It looks likely that the awaiting book 8 update for LotrO will be released to the European Live servers this Tuesday (30th June).  Bad timing for me, as I'll be at the Spinal Tap gig in London, but hey ho :)

Barring any further unforeseen issues to prevent it, please note that this week's maintenance will take place on Tuesday, 30th June, starting 7.00 – 15.00 hours (GMT+1).

This is to update to Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm along with the hotfixes to resolve issues with instances reported earlier in the week and stuck characters/connection issues reported on the US service.

To read the preview patch notes of everything that's been fixed and added, visit our patch notes section.

Please note that there will be no maintenance on Thursday, 2nd July.

Devchat June 2009

Warcry hosted the latest LotrO dev chat (June 12th 2009) - and we have the transcript of the questions asked; http://www.lordoftheringsonline.net/readarticle.php?article_id=35

During the question and answer session I was pestering Faya for a release date for book 8 - but she resisted all my efforts (including offers of chocolate), she's a tough cookie! :)

So all I know is, book 8 is going to be here 'Soon' (damn that word).  My guess is... within the next two weeks... I've got a feeling in my ale. :)