LotRO Turns Two, Heads to Mirkwood

To lionise the second day of remembrance of The Lord of the Rings Online, developer Turbine proclaimed special day of remembrance celebrations, and spoke about where the brave would go next: The shadowy forest of Mirkwood from The Hobbit.

In a group discussion call between LotRO Administrator Producer Jeffrey Steefel, Art Director Harry Teasley, Turbine's Director of Communications X Mersky and assorted journalists, the game's developers talked about what they had in mind for LotRO's anniversary celebration, and what was to come.

Anniversary Goodies

The anniversary celebration will unlikely from today, the 26th of April, until the 30th of June. During this flow of time, LotRO will only cost $9.99 to purchase from the Turbine Store – and ambitious (or current) subscribers behind curl into an anniversary price plan of $9.99 per month for as agelong as they decide to play.

To wanted back players who might take in since moved on, there will also make up a rid of-to-play calendar week, with everyone granted 25% bonus XP for the week's duration. In summation thereto, all active players as of June 30th will receive a resistless trait called "Judicial writ of Passage," which confers a permanent 20% discount connected all stablemasters throughout Middle-Earth, making the gimpy's fast-travel system that a great deal cheaper.

In that location will be actual in-game rewards As comfortably: "[M]onsters throughout Middle-earth will drop rare items when defeated. Players can exchange these rare items for a special empower box that volition reward them with a variety of in-game items to aid them in their adventures in Middle-earth."

What's to Come up: Book 8, Returning to Moria, and the Shadows of Mirkwood

In the upcoming Book 8, characters will be sent back into the Mines of Moria to continue the epic quest storyline. "Just because the Fellowship – and the players – have passed through Moria doesn't nasty everything's okay in that location. The job ISN't through with," same Steefel, hinting that nastiness was under way in the deep roots of the stacks. Book 8 will go along the game's growing emphasis happening small aggroup-based instanced combat.

Something might exist rotten in the state of Khazad-dûm, but Steefel says that there's something worse in Dol Guldur – Tolkien fans may recognise this equally the one-time fastness of Sauron referred to in The Hobbit. After completing the plot line in Moria, LotRO players volition be headed to the twisted forest of Mirkwood sometime this year. Art Director Teasley represented what he and his squad were doing with Mirkwood and Dol Guldur as "showing off what [they] can do." They've been developing techniques to improve on what they'd through with in the by – even with the cavernous depths of Moria – for Dol Guldur, and Teasley says that to that extent, what they've created is showing that off "beyond my wildest expectations."

It won't just be new art coming to LotRO. At many point before the end of the class, Turbine wish be raising the secret plan's level cap again, and also introducing a parvenu style of can-do instanced play that the team had given the working title of "skirmishes."

Skirmishes, says Steefel, are "the natural phylogenesis from the shrimpy-party, high-energy instanced experience," and are designed to be quotable. Beyond repeatable, though, Steefel stressed that the squad was scheming them to make up dynamic:

[Skirmishes] will be aware of the type of party that is in the instance and volition respond accordingly, with a on the table and self-propelled nature that bequeath react to, say, how big or small your party is. To boot, you are going to have multiple objectives in these instances, and so in that respect volition be reasons to do them many times with disparate groups, of different sizes.

Nor will the dynamic adjusting of the instance content be the only new features in skirmishes: LotRO seems to be taking a cue from its sister MMO, Dungeons & Dragons Online with something that sounds like a henchman system: Players will be able to "train customizable soldiers, that you can bring with your party into the instance. We're very excited about information technology."

Happy natal day, LotRO – you've had a corking two years, let's hope for the best in the proximo! And hey, if you're feeling curious roughly the game, why not enter our one-sidereal day contest for a LotRO Collector's Edition?

https://www.escapistmagazine.com/lotro-turns-two-heads-to-mirkwood/

Source: https://www.escapistmagazine.com/lotro-turns-two-heads-to-mirkwood/

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