Turbine – Page 3 – MMO Fallout

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

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

“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.”

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

Turbine Consolidates Cash Shop With Mithril Coin

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)

Surprise! Asheron's Call 2 Is Back Online

Here is one headline that I never thought I would see. Asheron’s Call 2 is back from the dead. In a post on the Asheron’s Call forums, Turbine has announced that the game is freely accessible (in beta) to current subscribers of Asheron’s Call.

Asheron’s Call 2 has returned! We have opened up a new server for anyone who has an active Asheron’s Call subscription to play Asheron’s Call 2 for free! Although we would have loved to revisit some of our old characters with you, we were not able to bring over any of your old characters. We do, however, present this new Asheron’s Call 2 server, Dawnsong, to all active Asheron’s Call players with a paid subscription or who purchase an ACTD retail key and subscribe.

Asheron’s Call 2 released in 2002 and was met with a lack of interest by the fan base and outside customers. As a result, Asheron’s Call 2 became something of the sequel that never happened, and shut down in 2005 despite Asheron’s Call still running (and doing so quite healthy) to this day. The resurrection is likely to gauge possible interest in bringing the game back entirely.

(Source: Asheron’s Call Forums)

Surprise! Asheron’s Call 2 Is Back Online

Asheron’s Call 2 has returned! We have opened up a new server for anyone who has an active Asheron’s Call subscription to play Asheron’s Call 2 for free! Although we would have loved to revisit some of our old characters with you, we were not able to bring over any of your old characters. We do, however, present this new Asheron’s Call 2 server, Dawnsong, to all active Asheron’s Call players with a paid subscription or who purchase an ACTD retail key and subscribe.

(Source: Asheron’s Call Forums)

Turbine Lays Off Unspecified Number Of People

As it is, layoffs in the MMO industry are common. Jobs are often based on contracts and temporary in nature, and developers tend to over-hire when developing the game itself or a large piece of content, and then follow the launch with a round of layoffs. In that regard, I’ve always said here at MMO Fallout that more information is needed than a simple “X developer is laying off staff,” before we are all free to run around screaming about the end of the world. In today’s case, developer Turbine Entertainment has laid off a number of staff as part of restructuring at Warner Bros. In an email, Spokeswoman Remi Sklar stated:

“As part of the continual review of our business operations and fluctuating market conditions, we have had to make reductions in our Turbine workforce,”

Our thoughts go out to the unknown number of Turbine ex-employees, and we hope you all find jobs quickly.

(Source: Boston Globe)

Turbine Getting Head Start, Recruiting In Rhode Island

Where have I seen this before? Oh yes, before Realtime Worlds went bankrupt. 38 Studios may still be alive, but that isn’t going to stop the vultures from coming in and taking dibs on who gets what cut of meat. Back in 2010, we had the combination flock of Sony, Codemasters, and Blitz to drain whatever remained of Realtime Worlds. Now that 38 Studios is facing layoffs, however, it is Turbine’s turn for first picks.

In a press release today, Turbine announced recruiting in Providence, Rhode Island is set to begin on May 22nd, from 5-9pm at Hotel Providence. You can even check out a list of currently available positions. Rhode Island Governor Chafee announced today that Project Copernicus is set for a June 2013 release date.

When reached for comment as to whether or not the two events were related, Turbine’s career center (pictured above) simply responded “Oh gorgh, nope nope nope nope, I’m not gonna do it ma, you can’t make me, nope nope nope nope.”

(Extra: Time Warner Career Page)

Try LOTRO and DDO In Your Browsers With Gaikai

Well, don’t get your hopes up. Turbine today announced Gaikai, allowing players to trial Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons and Dragons Online without having to download either game’s client. Playable through your browser, the trial is heavily limited: One hour, due to technical issues that prevent any repeat or extended play at this time.

Currently, the LOTRO trial on Gaikai will allow you to play for up to one full hour. For most players, this will allow you to create your character and complete the starting area for your race. At the end of the trial, you will be logged out from the game and your character and progress will be stored on our servers. You will then be provided with links to download the game client to continue your adventure.

You can find the entire FAQ at the link below, this promotion (for now at least) is only an incentive to give the game a try.

(Source: LOTRO website)

Turbine Breaking Out The Forgotten Realms

Less than a week ago I discussed findings on the Dungeons and Dragons Online forums by sleuths far more skilled than myself, that Turbine has been buying up domains relating to Forgotten Realms and “____ of the Underdark,” as well as related to the fictional deity Lolth. Well that speculation has come to fruition, in a far shorter time than I had expected (generally domains are registered when the work is still in the “we can trash this if we ultimately don’t like it” stage, to prevent information leaking and squatters taking the domain). Turbine has announced the upcoming expansion to Dungeons and Dragons Online: Menace of the Underdark.

Menace of the Underdark takes place in the Forgotten Realms village of Eveningstar, and the area surrounding King’s Forest. Players will battle the forces of Lolth and the Underdark Drow. To aid them in their fight, the level cap is being raised to 25, and players will have access to the new Druid class.

Happy birthday, Dungeons and Dragons Online. A new class, Forgotten Realms, and an upcoming free adventure pack? Color my account reactivated. Menace of the Underdark is expected to hit sometime this summer.

(Source: DDO website)

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