Tag: Lord of the Rings Online

Turbine Suffers Layoffs


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Turbine is in the midst of a round of layoffs. According to a news article on Gamasutra, the game developer let go an unspecified number of employees, with the explanation that the layoffs were necessary “in order for us to invest in growth areas at Turbine.”

“These are always tough decisions, which we don’t approach lightly, but it’s crucial that Turbine is structured in a way that reflects the current and coming marketplace.”

How these layoffs affect Turbine’s games, including Lord of the Rings Online and Infinite Crisis, will have to be seen.

(Source: Gamasutra)

Lord of the Rings Safe Until 2017


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When it comes to licensed MMOs, there is always the risk that the game will shut down not because of a lack of population, but due to issues over renewing the license. For Lord of the Rings Online, players are understandably concerned over Turbine’s license expiring at the end of the year. Luckily for all of us, Turbine has announced that the license has been renewed through 2017.

We have said as far back as July of 2013, we plan to support LOTRO for many years to come. I really want to be as clear as possible on this subject to avoid any further confusion or misunderstanding. The license was renewed. I think it’s rather clear and direct. I can’t think of a more direct way to say the license was renewed than to say the license was renewed. We have an agreement that runs through 2017.

Barring some sudden drop in population, players have little to be concerned over.

(Source: Contains Moderate Peril)

From The Archives: LOTRO E3 '06 Trailer


Tonight’s bit of nostalgia comes from Lord of the Rings Online, more specifically the game’s E3 2006 trailer. Lord of the Rings Online launched in April 2007. Check us out on Youtube for further videos and nostalgia, or continue following us here at MMO Fallout dot com.

Turbine's New Epic Story Changes


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The epic storyline has always been the cream to Turbine’s coffee with Lord of the Rings Online. Set alongside the events from the book, the epic story has the player working behind the scenes to aid in the war against Sauron. Ever since Lord of the Rings went free to play, the epic storyline has been available in full for free players regardless of if they’ve purchased the related expansion packs. This policy is set to change with the launch of the next expansion, Helm’s Deep, in which case players will be required to buy the expansion if they expect to proceed any further.

Turbine’s reason for this change in direction is due to how closely entwined the epic story is with Helm’s Deep’s battle system, as well as to make the expansion more attractive for purchase.

The Epic Story in Helm’s deep is very tightly entwined with the Epic Battle system. The story in Helm’s Deep is the Epic battle we all know from the books. We’ve returned to the core story line from the lore and that line leads in a direct path, laid out by the Professor himself, into Helm’s Deep and the battles and heroic deeds that occur there. As a result, this means the Epic story requires the purchase of the Helm’s Deep expansion. Otherwise you’d not be able to complete it as it moves through the Epic Battle system.

Helm’s Deep launches November 18th.

(Source: LOTRO)

Turbine’s New Epic Story Changes


helms_deep_en

The epic storyline has always been the cream to Turbine’s coffee with Lord of the Rings Online. Set alongside the events from the book, the epic story has the player working behind the scenes to aid in the war against Sauron. Ever since Lord of the Rings went free to play, the epic storyline has been available in full for free players regardless of if they’ve purchased the related expansion packs. This policy is set to change with the launch of the next expansion, Helm’s Deep, in which case players will be required to buy the expansion if they expect to proceed any further.

Turbine’s reason for this change in direction is due to how closely entwined the epic story is with Helm’s Deep’s battle system, as well as to make the expansion more attractive for purchase.

The Epic Story in Helm’s deep is very tightly entwined with the Epic Battle system. The story in Helm’s Deep is the Epic battle we all know from the books. We’ve returned to the core story line from the lore and that line leads in a direct path, laid out by the Professor himself, into Helm’s Deep and the battles and heroic deeds that occur there. As a result, this means the Epic story requires the purchase of the Helm’s Deep expansion. Otherwise you’d not be able to complete it as it moves through the Epic Battle system.

Helm’s Deep launches November 18th.

(Source: LOTRO)

MMOfternoon Shots: Remote Loot


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Why can’t other games have remote looting? If you haven’t played Lord of the Rings Online in a while, the Riders of Rohan expansion brought with it a remote loot system. What this means is that you no longer click on mobs to loot them, rather the loot is added to a pending window with a one hour timer to retrieve or delete the items. What this means is that you never have to worry about running out of space and leaving loot behind, since you always have time to go to a vendor and get your bags in check, then loot whatever was in your pending list.

Can I have this in other games?

Lord of the Rings Online: Helm's Deep Announced


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Hold on to your Hobbits, folks, because Turbine is going to take you to Hel(m’s deep) and back. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced today that the fifth expansion to Lord of the Rings Online, titled “Helm’s Deep,” will be hitting the long running MMO in Autumn 2013. The content offered in the expansion fits its name, taking players to the battle for Helm’s Deep, continuing the epic storyline and raising the level cap to 95.

“With Helm’s Deep, we’re bringing the War of the Ring to players on a monumental scale,” said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine. “Our team is thrilled to create another iconic moment in Middle-earth, and put players in the center of the action.”

Players will be able to take part in the Battle for Helm’s Deep starting at level 10, winning rewards for their contribution whether they win or lose. The expansion also opens up more locations in Westermnet of Rohan, as well as the capital city of Edoras, Dunharrow, and the fortress of Hornburg. Continue the epic storyline and level from 85 to 95.

Helm’s Deep launches this Autumn. More details as they appear.

Lord of the Rings Online: Helm’s Deep Announced


helms_deep_en

Hold on to your Hobbits, folks, because Turbine is going to take you to Hel(m’s deep) and back. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has announced today that the fifth expansion to Lord of the Rings Online, titled “Helm’s Deep,” will be hitting the long running MMO in Autumn 2013. The content offered in the expansion fits its name, taking players to the battle for Helm’s Deep, continuing the epic storyline and raising the level cap to 95.

“With Helm’s Deep, we’re bringing the War of the Ring to players on a monumental scale,” said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine. “Our team is thrilled to create another iconic moment in Middle-earth, and put players in the center of the action.”

Players will be able to take part in the Battle for Helm’s Deep starting at level 10, winning rewards for their contribution whether they win or lose. The expansion also opens up more locations in Westermnet of Rohan, as well as the capital city of Edoras, Dunharrow, and the fortress of Hornburg. Continue the epic storyline and level from 85 to 95.

Helm’s Deep launches this Autumn. More details as they appear.

Turbine Consolidates Cash Shop With Mithril Coin


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Ever since Lord of the Rings Online went free to play, Turbine has been in a constant state of experimentation with the game’s cash shop. Most of the updates go by with relatively little controversy, and when Turbine steps over the line and draws fire from the community, they are relatively quick to take two steps back and reevaluate their plans. With the release of Update 10, Turbine is experimenting with a new idea: Consolidating multiple niche cash shop items into a single multi-function currency. Or in this case, the Mithril Coin.

With Update 10, players will find that some of their cash shop items have been converted into Mithril Coin. The Mithril coins replace a number of specific-use cash shop items, including fast travel tokens and daily quest resets. The ultimate goal is to streamline one section of LOTRO, allowing for numerous activities to be fulfilled without cluttering an already over-stocked cash shop with even more stuff.

Mithril Coins will replace some existing items, such as Revive Tomes and Stablemaster’s Writs.  Our goal is to provide a simple, consistent interface for the services you already use.  Ultimately it should be faster and easier for you to reset a quest, travel or quickly revive.

According to the FAQ, Mithril Coins could be expanded into other areas of the cash shop, based on player feedback.

We have no intentions of removing the store, which is a great place to buy bigger ticket items like account-based purchases and unlocks.

Judging by this comment in the FAQ, it would appear Turbine is moving the game toward a system where lesser goods are sold via real money currency (mithril coins) while the cash shop is reserved simply for big items (mounts, regions, expansions, etc).

(Source: LOTRO)

Steam Summer Sales Assault The Wallet


It’s sale time, so get out your wallet and replace the next month’s meals with Ramen because this year is looking fantastic. Right now there aren’t many deals in the MMO realm to speak of, but that doesn’t mean we can’t get in the fun! Check out the current sales below. Remember, as always, prices are in USD and may vary by region. MMO Fallout does not guarantee that items are not region locked, so please read carefully before making your purchase.