Turbine announced Friday that Lord of the Rings Online is going the way of the free-to-play model.  This model met with great success when Dungeons and Dragons Online was similarly converted after experiencing a shaky start. The new free-to-play model will undergo a Beta test process to make sure that they work the kinks out but once that is done, the game will be open to the public (sign up for the beta here).  Of course there will be certain benefits if you choose to pay for your game experience which would not be available otherwise to the free players.

It is interesting to see more and more games heading in this direction, Sony’s family friendly title Free Realms and Wizard 101 to name a couple other popular favorites.  Is this truly the model for future MMOs?  I believe so since it leaves the previously untapped revenue stream of in game virtual item/perks  sales in the hands of the developer instead of the various gold farmers and third parties out there that have been cashing in on this MMO cash cow.

Here is quick excerpt describing the changeover:

“Free-to-Play opens up more choices and options so you can play your way. When LOTRO Free-to-Play is available, you can download the game for free and start playing without a subscription or even a credit card.

Anyone can join the game for free as a Free player when LOTRO Free-to-Play is available. You will automatically be upgraded from Free player to Premium player status with your first purchase of Turbine Points in the LOTRO Store.

And for a monthly fee, LOTRO’s VIP program offers the best value and the most options for players who like the convenience of having unlimited access to all of LOTRO’s game content and features. If you are already a subscriber, just maintain your active subscription to be automatically upgraded to VIP!”

Here is a gallery with screenshots from this MMO.

Related posts:

1. Lord of the Rings Online Free To Play?!
2. Lord of the Rings Online Lottery!
3. DDO now free to play!

Warner Bros. has just gotten more rights to the “Lord of the Rings” fantasy world.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, the video game division of the Burbank movie studio, obtained even more rights to the “Lord of the Rings” fantasy world through their recent acquisition of  Turbine Inc., a Massachusetts developer of online games that created the hit MMO “Lord of the Rings Online”.

Turbine’s core business is creating massively multi-player online games with titles that include Asheron’s Call, Dungeons & Dragons Online and previously mentioned Lord of the Rings Online. Warner has also acquired the movie rights to the “Lord of The Rings” trilogy and “The Hobbit” when it acquired New Line Cinema back in 2008. Turbine’s game license is a great fit for Warner’s portfolio of licenses from the estate of author J.R.R. Tolkien.  It is safe to assume that Turbine will be making a game eventually to coincide with the planned “The Hobbit” Movie as well.

For Warner, Turbine’s expertise in building online games could come in handy should the studio want to launch online games to go with blockbuster movie releases aside from the Hobbit of course since that is a no brainer, it will happen.

It will be interesting to see if Warner tries to expand on the limited success that Turbine has had with their pay for in game items model recently in their MMO titled Dungeons & Dragons Online,

Related posts:

1. Turbine Launches The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™
2. Lord of the Rings Online Free To Play?!
3. Lord of the Rings Online goes Free to Play

For a brief background: I’ve been working on various aspects of WAR’s development for three and a half years. Prior to launch, I was the Project Lead on the teams that created the UI and the Tome of Knowledge. Since then, I’ve worked on a number of different projects such as WAR for the Mac. Most recently I have been working on development of WAR for our Asian markets. It is in this most recent capacity that I have been doing the work that is most relevant to our current live players. The WAR Asia team has been looking at the game with a different and fresh perspective, and we hope to bring that perspective to the live game. This doesn’t mean everything being developed for Asia will be released in the other markets (it doesn’t all translate), but the good news is that nothing is too precious for us to re-examine…carefully!

So we’d like to share some exciting opportunities that we’d like for the community to participate in over the coming patch cycles. Additionally, we want to give you insight about what we’re working on now and some details about the next three versions; from 1.3.4 to 1.3.6. Keep in mind that I’ll give less information about the versions that are farther away. However this is good news for the community, as you still have an opportunity to impact those versions with your feedback and bug reporting!

As I said, we want to give you greater insight into the development process. This already happens with dev diaries and videos to an extent, but we’re going to step it up a notch with even more outlets for communication. To start with, you should absolutely expect to hear from me at least once a month via the producer’s letter. I may not have breaking news, but I do want to check in and let you know the general vibe of the team. Additionally, we’ll be upping communication via your popular social-media outlets, such as Twitter (Community team note: you can follow Carrie’s Twitter at http/twitter.com/cgouskos) as well as greater and earlier insights into our features via not-so-disguised threads on our official forums.
 
We want to get community and Core Tester feedback earlier in the process. We’re also interested in letting you guys have more active participation in the game through some fun contests with unconventional prizes. Not just titles and vanity items, but your own ideas and input into the game with full credit granted. To start with, we’d like to introduce the Loading Screen Tip Contest. We challenge our players to come up with their best Loading Screen help tips (whether genuine or just plain silly). Your tip will be added to the loading screens and immortalized for all eternity. Further details and submission rules will be available soon on the Herald and in the official forums, so keep an eye out!

So what exactly are we working on here in the studio? First off, we are taking a new charge at bugs that have persisted for much longer than they should have. Bugs aren’t often sexy, and we have fixed many, many bugs over the course of the past year and a half, so I won’t dwell on this point, except to say that we are still committed to making sure we banish the bugs from Warhammer.

It’s also important to keep game play fresh. As such we’re finding ways to maximize our content. The first way you’ll see is the announced Weekend Warfronts, a rotating weekend Scenario schedule, featuring a different Scenario each weekend. This might be an old favorite that was removed from the permanent rotation so that we could better concentrate populations, or it might be a new spin on a scenario with improved rule sets. Perhaps it will be something completely silly for a bit of entertainment. We think live events like these are a great way to keep giving you interesting places to play and explore as well as new and fun ways to kill other people…in the face.

Finally; we’re looking at making targeted big changes to the game, where it’s most needed. This doesn’t mean turn Warhammer into a completely different game, What this means is gathering feedback, and then striking at major features that still don’t sit right with us or the players. For example, since the city started regularly launching, we’ve received a lot of feedback about the current implementation of the cities. The fact is that the endgame of our RVR game has far too much PVE in it. Now we’re looking at cities, as big as they are, to see how we can improve the endgame for our players. That’s our first big change, and we’re very interested to hear what players want us to take on next.

And now, for the part you’ve probably already skipped ahead to; what’s on the horizon for the next couple of patches?

Version 1.3.4 has just launched, and it brings with it a first step into the initiatives I’ve been describing. Our new approach to  Scenarios, no matter how controversial, was to greatly improve the experience of Scenario game play while at the same time giving them players new incentives (in the form of scenario currency and weapons) aside from the incentive of “I just like to kill people”  (which is also perfectly acceptable). We look forward to seeing if your experience mirrors our goals. With 1.3.4, we’re also introducing the Scurvy Dogs event and with it our first 6v6 Scenario; The Ironclad. We’re especially interested in player feedback about this experience, as it will help to guide how we treat the Weekend Warfronts and live events going forward.

 In 1.3.4 we’ve given players a new goal to attain in the form of the RvR Weapons. So where will you put all these rewards? Well, in 1.3.5 we’re going to be giving you new options to increase your inventory space by opening up more bank room for each character and adding another tab to the guild vault. You will have to purchase this additional bank space with in-game currency, but we think they’re worth the cost! Players below Rank 40 will no longer have inventory space grow with leveling, but will be able to purchase the space as soon as they have the money to do so. This means higher-level players looking for inventory space by creating “Mules” will have an easier time of doing so. Don’t worry all players will be grandfathered in to the new system, so you won’t be forced to purchase bags you have already rightfully earned. Additionally, we’ve added a little boon for guilds; officers with the permission to edit the guild heraldry and/or tactics will now have the ability reset them as well.
 
Of course the major announcement for 1.3.5 is the aforementioned city changes.  Through these changes we’re going to shift the focus of the city experience from PVE to RVR. With these changes, we’re going to provide a fun and exciting new player experience that speaks to the heart of what our core community is interested in, that whole thing with the killing of the people in the face. While the details are still in development, the motivation  is to create a city siege experience that isn’t dependant on population and will make compelling game play, no matter if you’re hardcore, casual or somewhere in between.  To accomplish this we’re going to be inviting players to participate in testing these changes as early as possible.

There are also other initiatives, such as bugs and minor feature tweaks with the express purpose of improving your experience. We’ll share more on that as we finalize the version and in next month’s producer’s letter, we’ll definitely have more details to share about 1.3.5.

And finally, there’s 1.3.6 and even though the minutiae is not yet finalized, one aspect that we’re considering improving is the auction house. We want to foster player-driven interaction and trade, especially as we introduce more and better items to the game, and you can’t do that with an auctionhouse that doesn’t function as it should. These improvements go hand in hand with our plans to improve the game economy, allowing us to improve the value of new items by making them have more meaning. Also, by 1.3.6 we will make a decision, one way or another, on the armor set redesign. We’re going to maximize the effectiveness of the armor changes for the most players, without taking development time away from the systems that are most important.
 
I hope that this has provided even just a little clarity and insight into our commitment to you moving forward, and our dedication to WAR. There are many wonderful and talented individuals working every day to make this game everything that you want it to be, and we’re  doing our best to share that with you both in word, and on the battlefield.

See you out there.

-Carrie

Related posts:

1. Warhammer Online’s Jeff Hickman speaks!
2. STO State of the Game Jan 27, 2010
3. Halloween Warhammer Online Style!

WESTWOOD, MA –December 1, 2009 – Turbine, Inc. today launched The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™, the digital expansion to the award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG). Siege of Mirkwood expands the online world of Middle-earth where players 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 is now available as a digital download with an increased level cap, the new region of Mirkwood including the legendary evil fortress of Dol Guldur, major enhancements to combat and Legendary Items and the introduction of Skirmishes, randomized, repeatable instances where players will train customizable soldiers and take them into battle as part of the War of the Ring.

“Today we unveil LOTRO’s second major expansion and let players enter the legendary forest of Mirkwood and experience the climax and conclusion to Volume II of our epic story,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “The response from our players and the press has been nothing short of outstanding and serve as a real validation of LOTRO’s position as one of the world’s premium online games.”

NEW FEATURES:

• The Epic Conclusion to Volume II: Mines of Moria™ – Under the command of Celeborn and Galadriel, players will fight alongside the Elves of Lórien through vast armies of Orcs in a battle that will take them to Dol Guldur, the fortress of the Ringwraiths. This update includes Book 9 and the Epilogue to the sweeping epic tale that began with the award-winning Mines of Moria™ expansion.
• Increased Level Cap — Players will be able to advance their characters up to level 65, gaining access to new traits, virtues, skills and class quests.
• Join Epic Battles on Demand! – Jump into the heat of battle with the new Skirmishes feature. Skirmishes offer endless action in repeatable, randomized instances where players can create and lead customizable soldiers into battle, training them to greater skill as they earn victories against the forces of shadow. Answer the call of war wherever violence erupts with the new “Skirmish Join” function that lets players and their fellowships band together to fight in various locations throughout Middle-earth.
• Take up Arms! – Infiltrate the dark jails, deadly arenas and savage stables of Dol Guldur, the fortress of the Ringwraiths, and strike a blow against Sauron’s forces in new 3 and 6-player instances. Call upon your fellows to adventure into the most deadly 12-player raid yet and face the ultimate challenge – the Nazgûl Lord!
• Major Gameplay Enhancements– Turbine continues to improve the award-winning experience of LOTRO with major improvements to the combat and Legendary Items systems. Players will experience improved responsiveness when in the heat of battle. Players will also be able to create and craft their own customized Second and Third Age Legendary Items from raw materials and grow their weapons’ power to level 60. Achieve new Legacies, new titles, and a fourth Runic slot that will make Legendary Items even more unique and powerful.

The Lord of the Rings Online is an award-winning MMORPG that delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the great underground realm to the menace of Mirkwood, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before.For more information, visit www.lotro.com/mirkwood.

About Turbine

Turbine, Inc. is the premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine has grown to become one of the largest privately-held online gaming studios in North America. Turbine has created some of the world’s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, Dungeons & Dragons Online® and Asheron’s Call®. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com

About Middle-earth Enterprises

The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises f/k/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien including The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. SZC has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on the Tolkien works for more than 30 years. Its headquarters are located in Berkeley, California and its Middle-earth Enterprises website may be found atwww.middleearth.com.

###

THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™ interactive video game © 2009 Turbine, Inc. and patents pending. All rights reserved. Middle-earth Poster Map © 2007 The Saul Zaentz Company, d/b/a Middle-earth Enterprises f/k/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), under license to Turbine, Inc. All rights reserved. “The Lord of the Rings Online”, “Siege of Mirkwood”, Middle-earth Enterprises logo, “The Lord of the Rings” and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SZC under license to Turbine, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Related posts:

1. LOTRO Siege of Mirkwood Expansion Announced
2. Lord of the Rings Online Free To Play?!
3. Lord of the Rings Online goes Free to Play

The Skirmish System has Arrived!

The Skirmish System has arrived! Brian “Zombie Columbus” has put together a seven part series of Developer Diaries that explain every possible aspect of this massive new system. Be sure to read the entire collection!

* Part 1: Overview
* Part 2: Story Instances
* Part 3: Randomization and Scaling
* Part 4: Skirmish Soldiers
* Part 5: Rewards
* Part 6: Accessibility
* Part 7: The End

Combat System Revamp

The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™ expansion introduces exciting changes for the player combat system! The pacing of combat has been dramatically improved. All player classes, including monster play classes, have been affected by these changes. We strongly encourage all players to read the Combat Changes and Character Panel & Stats Developer Diaries to better understand what these changes mean for you.

Mounts 2.0

Welcome to Mounts 2.0! If you haven’t already read the Mounts 2.0 Dev Diary and would like to you can get to it by clicking here. Please take some time to read about the changes to the system and how it will impact you! The new mount system was built with flexibility in mind and as such you now have a lot more freedom while mounted. Here are some of the highlights:

* Some items can now be used while mounted, such as food and potions, but not limited to them.
* Doors can be opened and used while mounted. If you are entering an area that allows mounts you will remain mounted.
* Portals leading to other areas can be passed through without dismounting. You will arrive at the destination still mounted.
* NPCs can be used while mounted. You can sell & buy from vendors, receive quests, complete quests, all while on your mount. The Bard will automatically dismount you when you adjust your traits.
* Most other objects in the world can be used while mounted if it makes sense to do so. For example, mailboxes can be used but chests and crafting nodes cannot.
* A few skills can now be used while mounted.
* A new Mount Vital UI has been added for when you are riding.
* Mounts have health similar to the old system. There may not be an exact 1-to-1 mapping from the old to new system, but it generally works the same. Critical hits and roots will still knock you off your mount.
* Mount health regenerates over time.

Mount Tokens Converted to Skills: Your mount tokens no longer summon your mount;they now grant you the applicable mount skill and then delete themselves from your pack. Small races will get the pony variant and tall races will get the horse. Once converted the token will be removed from your pack and the mount skill will be added in the character journal in the new Mount tab within the skills panel. Any quickslots for mounts will be preserved when converted to skills. There will be no need to re-slot at this time. Mount Delivery Quests: These quests have been converted to use the new system and generally work the same. Quest: Proving Your Quality This is the final quest in obtaining your Riding trait and being able to ride mounts. The quest now has a global timer and the race has to be completed before the timer expires. Discount on Mounts: Once you purchase a common mount and convert it into a skill you will be granted a permanent discount on all common mounts made available by Eogar, son of Hadorgar. The mount discount trait will appear in your character journal under Passive Traits. If you currently own a mount sold by Eogar you will gain this trait once it’s converted to a skill. The trait will also be granted if you own a mount that requires reputation. Horse Bartering Updated, Horse Swapping Quests Gone: You can no longer exchange one mount for another so the quests that allowed you to do so have been removed. If you want another mount you can purchase one from the vendor and add it to your collection of available mounts. The receipts used to barter for some of the special mounts have also been removed. To obtain your special mount, most notably the reputation horses/ponies, you can buy directly from the reputation vendor within that region:

* Mount: Ashen Horse/Pony
o Place: Angmar/Gath Forthnir
o Vendor Name: Hafgrim
* Mount: Dark Chestnut Horse/Pony
o Place: Evendim /Tinnudir
o Vendor Name: Celegdes
* Mount: Mahogany Bay Horse/Pony
o Place: Bree-land Reputation Lodge
o Vendor Name: Tully Hopwood
* Mount: Tundra Horse/Pony
o Place: Forochel Reputation Lodge
o Vendor Name: Rusu
* Mount: Mahogany Bay Horse/Pony
o Place: Ettenmoors/Good Base
o Vendor Name: Coldfells Quartermaster

Epic Book 9: Fortress of the Nazgûl

The preparations are finally complete, and as the Golden Host begins to make its foray beneath the perilous eaves of Mirkwood, a second, secret company assembles: the Hidden Guard, tasked with executing a dangerous mission that will bring them to the very gates of the Necromancer’s Keep… and beyond. The story of Volume II: The Mines of Moria reaches its epic conclusion at Dol Guldur, the Fortress of the Nazgûl!

New Main Menu & Interface Customization

A new menu is now available to access various game features. It can be opened by clicking on the up arrow on the left side of the toolbar. The menu will adjust depending on the actions available to the user. The old “Main Menu” has been renamed “System Menu.” Buttons on the toolbar to the left and right of the main quickslot bar are now customizable. To customize the buttons, click on the little down arrow on the left side of the auto-attack button or open the Options Panel to the UI Settings tab. Read the Developer Diary to learn more about the new Main Menu.

Of Special Note
Dread/Gloom Changes

Dread/Gloom penalties have been adjusted as follows:

* A difference of eight (8) levels of Dread is now the point at which players will begin cowering periodically.
* By the time players reach a difference of 11 levels of Dread they will consistently cower every 10 seconds.
* All other penalties to morale, miss chance, skill level, etc. remain unchanged.

With this change players should expect to see more tiering up of Dread effects throughout a given raid space and within individual encounters.

Reputation Changes

Along with the new Eglain faction added to the Lone-lands we have made some minor improvements to the Reputation system in this area. As we move forward with our New Player Experience efforts these changes will find their way into each reputation group.

* At Acquaintance level, players will earn a title and complete a deed with the faction. This will open up purchase of level-relevant wares.
* At Friend level, players will earn a title and a discount on stable-masters linked to that faction – this affects the stable-master at Ost Guruth. They may continue purchasing level relevant wares.
* At Ally level, players will earn a title and complete a deed with the faction. This will also grant them a discount at all vendors related to the faction – all vendors within or part of the Ost Guruth vendors.
* At Kindred level, players will earn a title and complete a deed with the faction. This will also grant them a skill allowing them to return to the faction home location at the cost of Travel Rations. This has a one-hour cooldown, which is shared along all other travel skills.

As we continue working on the reputation system more and more options will open up.

Skill Panel update

You can now activate skills directly from the Active Tab of the Skills panel in the Character Journal by double-clicking or right-clicking the skill entry. Skill icons will also indicate when skills are queued, toggled on, or unavailable.

Legendary Item System Changes

In The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™, we’re updating the Legendary Item system that was introduced in Mines of Moria™. This revision of the Legendary Item system incorporates most of the feedback we have received about Legendary Items since they were introduced. We encourage all players to read the Legendary Item System Update Developer Diary as well as the Legacy Pool Distribution Dev Diary.

Lone-lands Revamp

Allan “Orion” Maki has revamped the entire Lone-lands to make adventuring much more enjoyable for new and old players alike. Click here for the full breakdown!

Class Books and Pages

* The Legendary Books are now available from your class trainers at level 39. These books bestow the deeds that allow you to begin working toward your first set of Legendary Traits.
* All pages that drop for the level 39 class accomplishments are now quest items! The areas in which they can be picked up have also been expanded. The first four can be found in Angmar and Eregion, and the last four can be found in the Misty Mountains and Forochel. The old pages are no longer used for the third legendary class deed. This will not affect deeds that are currently underway.
* The old pages are no longer used for the third legendary class deed. This will not affect deeds that are currently underway.

Preparing for War

The races of Middle-earth have been preparing for war, improving their offensive and defensive capabilities.

* Hobbits have been taking extra practice at throwing stones. Their improved aim means they now have a chance to daze their targets with a well-placed rock.
* Humans have been training to improve their hand-to-hand skills. As a result they have become somewhat adept at dazing opponents with well-placed uppercuts.
* Dwarves have been sparring in taverns throughout their lands to measure their worth. As a result they have become skilled at landing a headbutt that is well-placed and hard enough to potentially daze their opponent.
* The Elves have been improving their defensive skills. As a result they have become more adept at deflecting some incoming damage when inspired by Eldar’s Grace.

It’s the little things that count

Horse Design Contest Winners

Players were recently given the opportunity to design a horse for inclusion into the game. These horses have been added to the game data with Siege of Mirkwood!

* The winning EU entry is available as a reputation mount in Siege of Mirkwood!
* The winning US entry will be made available in an upcoming (not Yule 2009) festival!

Festivals

* No more coal and taters in gift boxes!
* There is a new horse for the Yule Festival to collect along with the old — a real beauty.
* We have new horse races, and they’re quite different from the old! These Festival Run quests are for players level 35 and up, as the rewards are for experienced players who are ready to own a mount.
* Summer Festival barter reward vendors have been adjusted for consistency.
* The Summer Festival fishing quest “Stocking the Pond” has been versioned.

Full Release Notes

General Gameplay

* As the power of Sauron increases, the most evil creatures throughout Middle-earth grow in might. Care should be taken when fighting powerful creatures; they are now much more dangerous than you may remember.
* Some Boss monsters will now display more attack animations rather than always reacting to being hit.
* All rare monsters now have new vital visual effects to distinguish them from other monsters.
* When you use your hotkey to target yourself or your fellows (defaulted to F1-F6), you can now cycle through targeting yourself/your fellow, companion, and skirmish soldier.
* Killing blows dealt by pets should now properly be attributed to their masters.
* Forochel cold buff no longer persists after death.
* The movement speed decreasing effects of falling damage will suppress the sprint/charge skills of Champions, Reavers and Wargs.
* All Incoming Healing bonuses from items have been converted into a ratings system. Incoming Healing bonuses and penalties from skills and traits have been left as percentages.
* When Drakes use their “Fire Breath” or “Wing Buffet” skills, they will now lock their facing so you have a chance to dodge out of the way.

Skills/Classes

General

* New or upgraded skills are available for all classes. Click here for full details.
* Guardians, Wardens and Captains may purchase a passive characteristic at level 20 that reduces their chance to suffer critical hits. Champions in Glory or Ardour stance gain a similar bonus.
* The skill duration delay after executing a Fellowship Maneuver has been reduced. Players can start using other skills faster after a Fellowship Maneuver.

Champion

* Clobber and Stamp have had their damage adjusted downward to compensate for their immediate nature. Clobber has had its cooldown changed to 5 seconds.
* Clarified the tooltip for Champion’s Fight On skill.
* The second attack in the dual wield version of Champion’s Relentless Strike will now gain the benefits from the various Strikes Class traits.
* The tooltip on the effect icon for Fervour now includes the -30% incoming healing information.
* Ardour will now stack normally with Sudden Defence instead of being suppressed.
* Controlled Burn will now transform the Flurry skill to Ardent Flurry and the Exchange of Blows skill to Glorious Exchange, in addition to applying these buffs when initially activated.
* Cleaned up the tooltips for all versions of the Exchange of Blows skill.
* Bracing Attack will heal for full while Fervour and Sudden Defense are in effect.
* Champion Martial Trait Set – 4 trait bonus has been changed. It no longer increases the fervour pip generation rate of Glory. Instead it significantly increases the Champion’s Max Morale while in Glory stance.
* Champion Trait Mighty Blast has an expanded description to list all of its effects.
* Champions gain +5% damage to Area damage skills with the 3 trait bonus in the Deadly Storm trait line.
* Deathstorm now resets the cool down of Horn of Gondor.
* The tooltip for the Champion’s Skill “Hamstring” will now always display the correct value.

Guardian

* Guardians may no longer retain the benefits/bonuses of shields while in Overpower stance. When Overpower is activated, your shield is automatically disarmed until Overpower is deactivated.
* With the change to Overpower to disallow the use of shields, existing Legendary weapons with Overpower-dependent legacies have become less useful. Guardian trainers throughout Middle-earth have acquired powerful scrolls that will allow Guardians to replace these Overpower dependent legacies with new legacies.
o Overpower Cost => Vexing Blow Damage
o Overpower Evade Chance => Bash Damage
o Stagger Attack Duration => Vitality
o Stagger Movement Speed Debuff => Might
* The Guardian legacy that extends the range of Engage is no longer functional. No ranks can be purchased in this legacy. Engage range is now extended by the Targeted Melee skills range legacy. Guardian trainers have a legacy replacement scroll for this defunct legacy that replaces the Engage range legacy with Overwhelm Critical chance legacy.
* The critical defense bonuses from Guardian’s Fighter of Shadow trait set have been converted to use the new Critical Defence ratings.
* Shield Wall will now overwrite and toggle off Protection if applied to the same Fellowship member.
* Guardian’s Blocking Force trait will now reduce the cooldown of Force Opening as well as giving a Block event on a critical hit.
* Overpower: It’s now possible to use 1-handed swords with Overpower, but your shield will automatically be disarmed.
* Guardian’s power costs have been reduced by 10% and their Overpower penalty has been increased by 10%.
* The debuffs from the Guardian’s Stagger skill have been split into 2 effects. There is no change to the way the run speed debuff is applied. The attack speed debuff will now be applied 10% of the time regardless of position or critical hit status.
* Fixed a bug that was allowing the Corruption removal effect on the Guardian’s “Improved Sting” skill to continuously overwrite itself on subsequent attacks and preventing it from actually removing a corruption after 10 seconds. Now you will be prevented from applying a new corruption removal effect until the previous one has expired.
* Guardians will be able to purchase an improved version of Charge, called Brutal Charge, from the Guardian trainer at level 62.
* The Guardian trait Litany Master will now trigger the threat-over-time effect on critical hits from the 2nd attacks of Shield Swipe and Sweeping Cut.

Hunter

* Hunter’s Barbed Arrow has been buffed and will now be influenced by the bow’s DPS.
* The animation timing for Improved Swift has been adjusted. The animation timing is now the same whether the player has a bow or crossbow equipped.
* Hunter skill Burn Hot will no longer break the Hunter out of stealth.
* The tooltip for the Hunter’s Skills “Quick Shot,” “Low Cut,” and “Barbed Arrow” will now display the target movement speed debuff much more cleanly: “-X% Target Run Speed.”

Minstrel

* The Max Chord of Salvation Legacy has been reduced to an 11 second cap.
* Minstrels will be able to purchase an improved version of Song of Restoration, called Chorus of Restoration, from the Minstrel trainer at level 62.
* Minstrel healing timing has been adjusted. This should eliminate the two second “root” effect players experience after using healing skills.
* The healing penalty from Minstrel’s War-speech will now continue for 10 seconds after War-speech is toggled off.

Captain

* Many of the Captain’s melee attacks have had their power costs reduced.
* Captains now have a 2% bonus to Halberd damage at level 30.
* Description for the Captain’s trait “Composure” has been re-worded to reflect the way it currently functions, as only the cooldowns on your on-defeat Cries are reset.
* The Captain’s Improved Kick Skill has been corrected. It should now reflect the correct 10% activation chance.
* Captain banners dropped during spars will appropriately affect the summoner.
* Corrected Captain Hands of Healing Legendary trait tooltip to correctly identify Valiant Strike as the skill with the reduced cooldown.
* Captain skills Last Stand and Threatening Shout now have upgraded visual effects.
* Corrected morale cost display of Captain Herald’s skill Lend Will.

Burglar

* Tooltips on Gambler trait set were not displaying correct Gamble information. Text only change.
* Aim now works on Uppercut and Stoop for a Stone.
* The Burglar’s Track Treasure skill will now toggle off other tracking skills, such as those used to track crafting resource nodes.
* Dagger Training has been changed to be more like the Racial Weapon Bonuses. This enables it to integrate more smoothly with the Weapon Speed Modifier changes.
* Hobbit Burglars will now apply damage from Flashing Blades and Exposed Throat at the appropriate time rather than at the end of the attack animation.

Lore-master

* The Lore-master’s “Sticky Tar” will now properly debuff the fire defense of boss monsters that are immune to slows.
* The Lore-master trait “The Wild and Ward” now allows Lore-masters to place both “Sign of the Wild: Protection” and “Sign of the Wild: Rage” on their companions at the same time. Trait and Skill descriptions have been updated.
* The Lore-master Deed “Improved Sign of Wizardry” will now properly increment when you use the skill “Sign of Battle: Wizardry.” Previously, it would only increment when using “Sign of Battle: Wizard’s Fire.”
* The Lore-master Trait “The Secret of Tar” now displays by how much it reduces the Induction Time of the skill “Sticky Gourd”.
* Lore-masters will be able to purchase an improved version of Leechcraft, called Ancient Knowledge of Cures, from the Lore-master trainer at level 62.
* The bonuses provided by the Lore-master Traits “Master of Beasts” and “The Wild and Ward” will now stack properly with one another.

Rune-keeper

* Fiery Ridicule will now do appropriate Damage over Time when the Conflagration of Runes trait is slotted.
* Damage while Our Fates Entwined is active will no longer interrupt Rousing Words.
* The tooltip for the traited version of Epic Conclusion was erroneously claiming its damage was increased by 75% by Harsh Debate and/or Thunderous Words. The tooltip now properly says damage is increased by 50%.
* Rune-keepers will be able to purchase an improved version of Do Not Fall This Day, called Shall Not Fall This Day, from the Rune-keeper trainer at level 62.
* Chisels have now been changed to be Tactical Offense Points. Their value has been adjusted across various level bands instead of the previous static 5%. The resistance penetration (since they were already points) will remain the same. This change is in accordance to the bonus Rune-keepers now get from Willpower to Tactical Offense.
* Corrected issue causing Rune-keeper Rune-stone Tier 5 Legacies to disappear when upgraded.

Warden

* The deed “Sharp Blade, Sharp Wit” has been renamed along with its associated trait to “A Keen Response.”
* Boot has been adjusted to a lower tier of DPS to match its skill cooldown.
* Male Hobbit Wardens now execute Warden’s Taunt at the same speed as other races.
* Corrected a typo in the Warden’s Reversal Gambit description.
* Gambit Icon builder skills are now a little faster to execute.
* Removed delays after executing some Gambits before a new Gambit could be started.
* The Warden Gambit Conviction will no longer break fellowship members out of stealth.
* The Warden’s preferred weapon trait damage bonus has been reduced to +2% for spears, swords and clubs. The bonuses inherent to each weapon are unchanged.
* Wardens will no longer get Guardian Block and Parry events while using Shield Spikes.
* The Warden Legacy that affects induction times for Ambush and Careful Step will now properly reduce induction times at high ranks.
* Ambush will now animate correctly when executed immediately after Careful Step.
* The damage bonus from Grand Master Weapons training has been extended to a general melee damage bonus, no longer tied to weapon type. The bonuses inherent to each weapon are unchanged.

Monster Play

General Monster Play

All crowd control effects (fears, roots, stuns, and dazes) are now on the same application counter. This means that for purposes of diminishing returns in PvMP (and in PvMP ONLY), each application of any crowd control effect is counted against the duration of the type of crowd control. For reference, the duration tables of each crowd control effect vs. application counter are below:

* Roots/Dazes
o First Application = 50% of the root/daze duration
o Second Application = 25% of the root/daze duration
o Third – Ninth Application = 5% of the root/daze duration
o After the Tenth Application, the root/daze will no longer affect the target
* Stuns
o First Application = 100% of the stun’s duration
o Second Application = 50% of the stun’s duration
o Third Application = 25% of the stun’s duration
o Fourth – Ninth Application = 1 second stun duration
o After the Tenth Application, the stun will no longer affect the target.
* Fears (please note that this applies only to crowd control fears – this does not apply to debuffs with resistance type: fear)
o First Application = 100% of the fear’s duration
o Second Application = 50% of the fear’s duration
o Third Application = 25% of the fear’s duration
o Fourth – Ninth Application = 1 second fear duration
o After the Tenth Application, the fear will no longer affect the target.

Example: You are hit with a daze effect in PvMP. It is counted as the first application of a CC effect, and the daze effect duration is 50%. After it wears off, you are then hit with a stun. It is counted as the second application of a CC effect, and the stun effect duration is 50%. After it wears off, you are hit with a root. It is counted as the third application of a CC effect, and the root effect duration is 5%. After it wears off, you are hit with a fear. It is counted as the fourth application of a CC effect, and the fear effect duration is 1 second. Please note that the diminishing returns application counter is not permanent – if you are not hit with any crowd control effects for 45 seconds, the application counter will reset.

* Old Goldhead – When the Tirith Rhaw Keep changed hands, Old Goldhead would sometimes be available when he should not be, this change will make it so that it will only appear when they are in the correct state. Additionally, Old Goldhead will despawn and not attack a keep that is in control of the Free People.
* Coldfells – Krajarn Tyrant now resets at the stairs in the Coldfells Outpost. He can no longer be kited down the stairs.
* Flag Capture – Players and Monster – Players and Monster Players will now receive a buff while inside Tol Ascarnen for successfully capturing the flag.
* Increased the amount of in-combat power regen and in-combat health regen given by each rank of the Power Regen and Health Regen passive traits.
* Delving spirit stones, Tyrant’s Crests, and Chieftain’s Brooches will now stack to 100.
* Quest collectibles found in the Ettenmoors (such as Hobbit Legs, Barrels of Oil, Slabs of Troll Stone) will now stack to 100.
* Monster Player health and power potions will now stack to 50.
* Monster Player food items will now stack to 50.
* Seeking charms and tracking talismans will now stack to 20.
* Cure fear potions (barter) will now stack to 20.
* Items with root duration reduction will once again affect root skills from Monster Player characters.
* Resilience (Reaver) and Snap Out of It! (Warleader) will cure root crowd control effects.
* Monster players will no longer get chat spew mentioning Fellowships when leaving a group or changing group leaders.
* Rend Flesh and Rabid Bite’s target icons will no longer be reversed.
* When a fellowship/warband maneuver stun lands on the target, the target will now display a brief effect graphic over his head, to help distinguish fellowship/warband maneuver stuns from regular stuns.
* Free Players entering into PvMP play (Delving of Fror or the Ettenmoors) will receive an additional bonus on the “Monster Play” effect. This bonus will extend the duration of the maneuver chain immunity (the “Temporary Fellowship Skill Immunity” effect received after you are hit with a warband maneuver). The duration on this immunity will be boosted to 60 seconds. Please note that this change is only valid in PvMP areas.
* Monster Players will now have a new passive, called Advanced Fellowship Maneuver Chain Protection, that is automatically granted at Rank 0. This passive will extend the duration of the maneuver chain immunity (the “Temporary Fellowship Skill Immunity” effect received after you are hit with a fellowship maneuver). The duration on this immunity will be boosted to 60 seconds.
* Resilience can now be triggered when the Reaver is rooted. The tooltip has also been fully updated to indicate that the skill will also cure Root effects.
* The “Strength of Many” damage buff and the strength damage perks that can be purchased from Tol Ascarnan will now affect damage over time and heal/morale over time skills correctly.
* Orcs, Wargs, and Weavers will now have animations and sound for the /charge emote.
* The Chest of Glan Vraig, Chest of the Second Marshall, and Chest of the First Marshall have had their loot tables updated.
* Treasure in the Delving of Fror has been updated.
* There are new level 65 PvMP rewards (jewelry and armor sets) for Free Players.
* The “Monster Play” effect granted to Free Players while inside the Ettenmoors and Delving of Fror will now also remove the penalty for item wear on death.
* The Coldfells Provisioner has been updated to provide items for level 65 play.
* Fresh Blood of the Little Folk will no longer overwrite evade buffs granted by Moving Target and Frenzy.
* Tracking talismans will no longer trigger the cooldown for Phial of Mazauk’s Resolve.
* The Salt of Hartshorn, Solvent of Release, Odorous Salts, and Solvent of Painful Freedom will now remove a constant amount of health (-250) from the player or Monster Player when used.
* The damage over time effect from Scathing Mockery (Rune-keeperer skill) can now be cured using a tactical cure potion (Bottled Warg Breath).
* The amount of infamy/renown received while in raids has been slightly increased.
* Base values for in-combat power regen, in-combat health regen, out-of-combat power regen, and out-of-combat health regen for Monster Players have been increased.
* Warden and Rune-keeper trainers in the Ettenmoors now are wearing the right clothes
* Reduced the amount of kills required by the following deeds to match the number of kills required of the Free Player deeds of the same type.
o “Slay Enemies of Angmar — Tier 4″
o “Slay Enemies of Angmar — Tier 5″
o “Slay Enemies of Angmar — Tier 6″
o “Slay Enemies of Angmar — Tier 7″

Creeps

Orc Reaver

* Dying Rage will now correctly grant immunity to fear.
* The Reaver’s effect icon for Time-out will now correctly match its skill icon.
* The Reaver’s Wrath skill will now correctly drain 50% morale and convert 75% of the drained morale into power.
* Reaver’s Charge now does not block conjunctions.

Spider Weaver

* Weaver hatchlings can now be renamed.
* Latent Poison will no longer toggle auto-attack on or off.

Uruk Blackarrow

* The Blackarrow’s Tangleshot skill will now correctly do extra damage when the Blackarrow’s target is slowed by the Stalker’s Savage Fangs skill.

Warg Stalker

* The Warg’s conjunction stun granted through using Pounce while Crippling Bite is in effect will now pass through Sign of Power: Righteousness correctly.

Uruk Warleader

* Warleader Banners can now be renamed.
* Aura of Command will now correctly grant its 25% damage increase to the Warleader’s melee skills.

Defiler

* Defilers can now rename the fly swarm from Plague of Flies.

Auctions

* “Orb” listing under the Weapons category has been updated to “Rune-stone”
* Doing a generic search on Class Items will show all posted class items. Burglar Tools sub-category has been renamed to Burglar Tools & Devices, since it now includes Caltrops and Stun Dust.
* A new Class Quest Trophies sub-category has been added to Class Items in the Auction House. Here new listings of items associated with the class quests can be found, such as Corrosive Droplets and Runes of Winged Dominance.
* Newly posted Fishing Poles to the auction house will appear under the main category heading of “Hobbies”
* Crafting trophies now show up in the auction house if you search on the generic “Crafting” category.
* When bidding on an item that you cannot afford, the “please wait” dialog won’t get stuck over the item

User Interface

* When training skills, all active quickslots are displayed, by default, this is bar 1, 2 and 3, but not 4 and 5. If any quickslots are open when you train a skill, that skill will automatically be placed in the first available quickslot and will have a visual indicator to draw your attention to it.
* There is a new instance deeds tab for all instance deeds
o Shadows of Angmar,
o Mines of Moria
o Scourge of Khazad-dum
o Dol Guldur.
* Pinned tooltips can now be used to select targets.
* Turning off the UI option for floating damage no longers disables damage from showing up in the chat window.
* Corrected grammatical issues with the messages displayed to fellowships when a member of the fellowship opens a scroll case or gift box.
* The Quest Starter Item alert now displays even when the quest starter item is acquired via a Loot All action.
* Fixed Kinship UI status sort ordering so that guild members who logged off most recently are listed after Online members.
* Tooltips for skills that deliver damage based on the equipped weapon now display the value of the weapon damage instead of the name of weapon slot. If there is a multiplier, it is applied to the value shown instead of displayed separately. If no weapon is equipped, then the name of the weapon slot is displayed (as before).
* You no longer need to enter text to enable the auction UI search button when you auto drag an item to the auction UI.
* Skills that have morale restrictions (such as Champions’ Fight On and Wardens’ The Dark Before Dawn) now consistently show as available in the Skills panel in the Character Journal.
* Quest billboard text is now echo’ed to your chat window using the “Quest” text type.
* When you level, if there are new skirmishes avaialble, then you will get an alert telling you so. Clicking on the alert will open skirmish join and dismiss the alert.
* You can now activate skills directly from the Active Tab of the Skills panel in the Character Journal by double-clicking or right-clicking the sklil entry. Skill icons will also indicate when skills are queued, toggled on, or unavailable.
* The “Active” tab on the Skills panel is no longer automatically selected whenever the skills tab is shown in the Character Journal.
* The Lorebook and Bug Entry forms no longer have the “always on top” behavior.
* Opening the vault will now bring it to the front of other windows.
* Show Vitals of my selection’s target and the Raid Assist window no longer show targets which don’t have any vitals.
* Select Legendary Item UI will no longer appear behind other windows when Heritage Runes are used.
* Vendor messages have been corrected to take plurals into account when selling and buying back stacks of items.
* Vendors now show filter dropdowns wide enough to accommodate longer item group names.
* Lore-Master: Knowledge of the Lore-master skill now displays Lightning Damage Mitigation and Root Immunity.
* Right-click/inspect Panel now comes up in front of other open windows.
* Mounts 2.0 – There’s a new Keyboard Shortcut called Dismount/Remount. This shortcut will dismount any mount you might be riding. It also remembers the last mount that you successfully used and will remount it if used when not already mounted.
* Dropdown menus will no longer be partially cut off when their parent window is too close to the edge of the screen.
* Instance Quests should now show correct Fellow Status icon in the Quest Log.
* Fixed a client crash that occurs when dragging a separated chat tab into the text entry box on the main chat window.
* Fixed an issue where the housing maintenance UI seemed to not be updating properly.
* When effects are about to expire and are “pulsing,” they will now fade much less than they used to.
* The stats display of the character sheet is now divided into three sub-tabs: one for defensive stats, one for general combat effectiveness, and one for Melee, Ranged, and Tactical point values.
* You will no longer queue up multiple confirmation dialog boxes by clicking the “Cancel” button in the quest journal multiple times.
* More UIs can be skinned, several fixes have been made.

You can now save even more of your options to disk! Using the same commands “/ui layout save” and “/ui layout load”, more of your options are saved to disk. The “/ui” command remains the same, we’re just giving you more, More, MORE!

* New UI settings saved and loaded from disk:
o your list of aliases that have been set
o UI, combat, social, chat, and quickslot settings (including UI scales!)
o chat fonts, colors, and sizes
o layout size and locations are still saved in the file
o The format of the XML file has also changed. Everything is broken up into labeled sections.
* There are some Known Issues:
o Outfit visibility slots are not saved to disk.
* Spam limiting is in effect! You can only upload options once every ten seconds.
* Aliases
o You have a maximum of 50 aliases. If you try to import more than 50, you will be limited to the first 50 aliases encountered in the file. If you currently have more than 50 aliases, we will not delete any. You can replace any alias you currently have. You will not be able to add new aliases without removing or clearing existing aliases.
* Layouts
o The “Height”, “Width”, “X”, and “Y” values are all specified by float number between 0.0 and 1.0. If your numbers are outside the range, we will normalize them to the size of the screen or the min/max size of the window.
o If you try to change or specify a “LayoutID” or “ID” that we don’t know about, we ignore it!
* Options
o If you try to add a new option “Name” that we don’t understand, we ignore it!
o If you try to specify a “Value” for an “Option” and it doesn’t match what we expect, we ignore it! E.g if you set “AlwaysLootAll” to “purple” instead of “True” or “False” we leave the value at its current setting.
o If you specify a “Value” for an option that exists in a listbox, and it is not a valid option, we will reset the selection to the first item in the list. E.g. if you set “ShowClassIconsOnRaidPanel” to “N0ne” (instead of “None”) then the option will be reset to “Background”.
* ChatColors
o “ChatFont” entry “Color” values are written out as “Red Green Blue Alpha”. Each value is represented by a float number between 0.0 and 1.0. If your numbers are outside the range, we will normalize them. I.e. the color you get won’t be what you expect if we have to normalize it.
o You can change the “Alpha” portion of the “ChatFont” all you want – we ignore it when we scan it back in! I.e. the “Alpha” value will always be 1.0 even if you change it.
o If your “ChatFont” entry fails to parse, the associated text color will be “White” I.e. Red = Green = Blue = 1.0, and Size = “Medium”
o If you try to use “TextType”s in your “ChatFont” entries that we don’t understand, we ignore them!
o Valid values for the “Size” portion of the “ChatFont” are: Small, Medium, Large, XLarge, XXLarge, and XXXLarge.

Quest Guide

* Quest Guide will now properly direct you to your first quest objective if you skip the new user tutorial.
* Quest Guide will now display correctly for all quests that require you to carry an object to a defined location.
* Certain Quest Guide markers on the map that were positioned slightly off of the actual objective locations will now display in the correct locations.
* The quest tracker will now work with the quest “Forest Spiders” out of Buckland heading into the Old Forest.
* The quest “A Ring Wandered Away” will now display proper billboards and objectives in the quest tracker.
* The quest “Supplies and Demands” now shows the correct image on the game map when using quest guide.

Chat/Social/Kinship

* Added an option (under “Chat”) callled “Stop repeated keys in chat” – this is off by default. If turned on, then if a player has thier chat bar open and holds down any character key (like w) – then after about 20 repeats of this key in under a second (implying that you really wanted to be running or something) the chat window will delete the repeated keys from your chat box and close the chat box.
* Kinship charters will now correctly indicate that at least 8 members must be registered, or the kinship will be disbanded in 24 hours.
* Updated combat logging to include specific skill names for auto-attacks so they can be distinguished from other types of damage and healing, e.g. wounds that do damage over time. You will now see auto-attack damage reported as “Default Melee Attack”, “Default Ranged Attack” and/or “Unarmed Attack” in your Combat log.
* Entries in combat logs that mentioned “Unspecified” damage should now just call it damage.
* Combat Log messages of the form “…wounds you for X points of ‘Damage type’” now say “X points of ‘Damage type’ damage” to be consistent with other messages.

Hobbies

Fishing

* The cooldown on the fishing skill has been reduced slightly.
* You can no longer get so drunk that you hallucinate catching fish.

Raids and Instances

General

New Medallion Barter System for Instances

* The barter for all the instances has been changed. Raid gear still drops as it did before. This is only for non-raid barter items.
* Each instance cluster has a Medallion associated with it
o Medallion of Moria
o Medallion of Lothlorien
o Medallion of Dol Guldur
* Every boss will drop at least one Medallion, Challenge chests will have additional Medallions and the daily Challenge quests that are bestowed when you enter the instances will grant you additional Medallions upon completion.
* The number of medallions you get from an instance will generally reflect the difficulty of the instance (with room for tweaks in the future)
* At each major quest hub, players can see their class trainers to turn in these Medallions
o The 21st Hall
o Caras Galadhon
o Emyn Lum
* Players will also have the ability to trade Medallions for Legendary Item enhancements as well. This differs at each quest hub
* Finally, players will have the ability to trade in their old barter items for Medallions with the new Barter Exchange Vendors in The 21st Hall, Caras Galadhon and Emyn Lum.

Barad Gularan

* The Boss monsters “Forvengwath” and “Castellan Wisdn” are now immune to basic crowd control effects.

The Great Delving

* The Spider-nest – Dwarves can now escape after being freed from the web.

Forgotten Treasury

* The two troll bosses now come from behind you as you try to escape. This is to avoid reset issues and confusing reset mechanics. Hope it helps!

Zelem-melek

* Flame and Shadow – Instance quest is now labeled as a group quest.

Carn Dum

* The Ornate Gate Key, and Iron Gate Key can now be picked up by every member of a fellowship.

Crafting

General Crafting

* Added new barter NPCs to all crafting guild-halls. These new Trader NPCs will accept some quantity of small guild reputation items in exchange for a medium reputation item of the same tier. They will also accept some quantity of medium guild reputation items in exchange for a large reputation item of the same tier.
* Fixed the titles of many crafting guild NPCs.
* Added new legendary guild recipe vendors to all crafting guild-halls. These NPCs sell all of the guild’s Legendary Item recipes.
* Removed Apprentice-level optional ingredients from levels 1-7 treasure profiles.
* Increased the drop rate of optional ingredients in sentient creature treasure.
* Many crafted critical armour pieces had slightly higher armor values than they were intended to have. All crafted critical armor pieces should now have correct armor values.
* New legendary weapon / class item recipes are available for the following guilds: Jeweller’s Guild, Metalsmith’s Guild, Scholar’s Guild, Tailor’s Guild, Weaponsmith’s Guild, and Woodworker’s Guild. These recipes allow crafters to produce 2nd Age weapons and class items.
* New guild recipe scroll cases are available from the Maenasdir, the Lothlórien Crafting Guild Emissary, for the following guilds: Jeweller’s Guild, Metalsmith’s Guild, and Tailor’s Guild.
* New recipes have been added to the Lothlórien barter vendors for the following professions: Jeweller, Metalsmith, and Tailor.
* Updated the required ingredients for many of the Lothlórien level 60 recipes. In general, level 60 recipes that produce armour, shields, and weapons now require slightly more ingredients.
* Increased the maximum stack size to 50 for the following crafted items items: Shield-spike kits, Burglar tricks, Hunter traps, and Lore-master pet food.
* Craft guild barter NPCs now require the player to have at least neutral reputation with their respective craft guild to barter with them.
* Trophy barter items (old optional ingredients) no longer have coin values.
* The trophy item Flawed Ear no longer states in its description, “This item may be used in crafting.”
* Improved organization for all legendary weapon and class item recipes in the crafting panel UI.
* Increased the chances to find optional ingredients in all Forester wood, Prospecting metal, Scholar artifact, and Farming field resource nodes.
* Trophy barter items (old optional ingredients) now state in their descriptions, “Crafting trophy brokers located in Michel Delving and Esteldin will accept this item in exchange for a new optional crafting ingredient.”

Scholar

* Battle lore and warding lore recipes are now available for all tiers! Journeyman Scholar battle & warding lore recipes are auto-granted to the crafter and do not need to be purchased. Artisan and Supreme Scholar battle & warding lore recipes can be purchased from Expert Scholar vendors.
* Reduced the melee, ranged, and tactical offence rating bonuses found on all Battle Lore scrolls.
* All Scholar’s guild recipes that previously created a stack of 15 critical potions now create a stack of 25 critical potions. The required ingredients for these recipes have also been increased (in-line with the output adjustments).
* A Supreme Scholar recipe for producing Pure Light-oil can be found on both Hunter and Expert Scholar vendors.
* Slightly increased the quantity of scholar components found in artifact resource nodes.

Prospecting

* The Tin Ingot recipe was incorrectly producing three Bronze Ingots on a critical success. This has been fixed, and the Tin Ingot recipe now produces three Tin Ingots on a critical success.
* All normal, non-rich ore nodes now have a higher chance to produce a gem. Additionally, all precious metal ore nodes (rich and non-rich) now have the ability to create any of the gems within a specific tier.

Cooking

* The Apprentice and Journeyman Cooking recipes Lute Strings of Minor Subtlety, Lute Strings of Subtlety, and Lute Strings of Greater Subtlety no longer require Crushed Intestine, Torn Intestine, or Small Intestine trophy items as ingredients. These recipes now require Gut Strings, which can be purchased from any Supplier, Nocie Cook, or Expert Cook NPC.
* Soup recipes can now be purchased from Novice and Expert Cook vendors and will no longer be found in treasure.
* Minstrel lute string recipes can now be purchased from Novice Cooks as well as Minstrel trainers, and will no longer be found in treasure.
* Lore-master pet food recipes can now be purchased from Novice & Expert Cook vendors as well as Lore-master trainers, and will no longer be found in treasure.
* Slightly reduced the required ingredients for the following recipes: Lamb and Mushroom Soup, Lamb and Onion Soup, Lamb and Carrot Soup, and Lamb and Barley Soup.
* All Cook’s guild recipes that previously created a stack of 15 critical foods now create a stack of 25 critical foods. The required ingredients for these recipes have also been increased (in-line with the output adjustments).

Weaponsmith

* Rebalanced the required ingredients and craft experience awarded for many Weaponsmith recipes.
* Recipes to create both second and third age Warden’s axes can now be purchased from the Weaponsmith’s Guild Legendary Recipes vendor.
* Updated all one-shot journeyman, expert, artisan, and master Jeweller recipes (i.e., recipe scrolls with marked as “(Old)”) to use Sapphire, Ruby, Adamant, and Beryl Shards in place of unique creature trophies. The unique creature trophies are no longer marked as crafting ingredients and no longer have any use in crafting.

Jeweller

* Rebalanced the required ingredients and craft experience awarded for many Jeweller recipes. Additionally, some Jeweller recipes and crafted items have been renamed for consistency.
* Updated all one-shot journeyman, expert, artisan, and master Jeweller recipes (i.e., recipe scrolls with marked as “(Old)”) to use Sapphire, Ruby, Adamant, and Beryl Shards in place of unique creature trophies. The unique creature trophies are no longer marked as crafting ingredients and no longer have any use in crafting.

Tailoring

* Rebalanced the required ingredients and craft experience values for many Tailor recipes.
* Corrected the name of the Superb Leather Shoes Recipe.
* Updated all one-shot journeyman, expert, artisan, and master Tailor recipes (i.e., recipe scrolls with marked as “(Old)”) to use Sapphire, Ruby, Adamant, and Beryl Shards in place of unique creature trophies. The unique creature trophies are no longer marked as crafting ingredients and no longer have any use in crafting.

Metalsmith

* Rebalanced the required ingredients and craft experience awarded for many Metalsmith recipes.
* The Supreme Metalsmith crafted shield, “Superb Lothlrien Heavy Shield” now has Tough durability.
* Updated all one-shot journeyman, expert, artisan, and master Jeweller recipes (i.e., recipe scrolls with marked as “(Old)”) to use Sapphire, Ruby, Adamant, and Beryl Shards in place of unique creature trophies. The unique creature trophies are no longer marked as crafting ingredients and no longer have any use in crafting.

Woodworking

* Rebalanced the required ingredients and craft experience awarded for many Woodworker recipes.
* Adding the missing Woodworker’s Guild recipe for “Crafted Hunter’s Hammer of the Third Age.” This recipe can be pruchased from Tawarbes in the Woodworker’s Guild Hall.
* The ‘claw’ trophy items (i.e., Elegant Claw) that were previously used as ingredients in some Champion horn recipes are no longer required by these recipes. The claw trophy items are simply creature trophies that can be sold for coin to a vendor.
* The Twistwood Staff quest recipe now correctly requires 5 Treated Ash instead of 5 Treated Yew.
* Updated all one-shot journeyman, expert, artisan, and master Jeweller recipes (i.e., recipe scrolls with marked as “(Old)”) to use Sapphire, Ruby, Adamant, and Beryl Shards in place of unique creature trophies. The unique creature trophies are no longer marked as crafting ingredients and no longer have any use in crafting.

Emotes

* You may now perform a number of emotes while mounted!

Items

* All Battle Lore scrolls will now increase Offensive Ratings instead of granting percentage increases.
* Crafted Second and Third Age Rune-keeperer Satchels will now be visible when equipped.
* Maces will no longer stun monsters on random attacks. Instead they will apply a short duration slow effect.
* The Harbinger’s Cloak can now be reclaimed using /reclaim.
* Corrected issues with the descriptions found on all fire-oils and light-oils.
* The rare trophy “Speckled Shell Fragment” now uses the correct crafting ingredient background and states that it can be used by Supreme Jewellers in the item’s description.
* Hope Tokens, now give back Hope instead of Radiance.
* Temper Armour effects on weapons should no longer display the percentage chance to apply the effect twice.
* Chests of Chance will no longer create any of the old creature trophies used as optional crafting ingredients. They now have a chance to create any of the Supreme crafting tier optional ingredients.
* The stats on the Rhymer’ Robe were slightly more powerful than intended. Reduced the maximum Power bonus on the Rhymer’s Robe to bring this armour piece in line with others in the set.
* The stats on the Robe of the Stone-reader’s Apprentice were slightly more powerful than intended. Reduced the maximum Power bonus on the Robe of the Stone-reader’s Apprentice to bring this armour piece in line with others in the set.
* We have adjusted the costing models for many of the point-based ratings (Block, Parry, Evade, Melee Critical, Ranged Critical, Tactical Critical, Disease Resist, Poison Resist, Fear Resist, and Wounds Resist) found on items in the levels 1-50 range. These ratings should now more progressively mesh with level 51+ items that utilize the same point-based ratings.
* Fixed an issue with the display names of “Root” trophy items changing to “Root Fragments” when stacked.
* Reduced the cool-down timer for using food items to 30 seconds (was previously 1 minute).
* Sturgeon Group Trophy is now set to Bind on Acquire.
* (Housing) The Lórien Weapon Rack and The Ornate Lórien Table will now have their correct appearances when placed inside a house.
* All Hunter Bow Chants can now be stacked to a maximum of 50.
* The fur linings used for the Forochel reputation armour pieces will now have unique craft icons.
* The Black Pearl and Mikel-Baug now have more appropriate icons.
* Several quests in the Grand Stairs area have had Legendary Item XP runes added as rewards.
* The salmon house decorations had their size adjusted to more closely match their ‘weight’. The 30 pound salmon now looks smaller when compared to the 40 pound version.
* Fixed a typo in the description of a Golden Locket that drops in Haudh Iarchith.
* Edhelharn Tokens have an On Use description now.
* Taxidermy barter items can now be stacked to 100.
* Fixed description for Bright Emblem of Nimrodel barter token.
* “Warg-rider’s Bane” now does extra damage to Orc-kind instead of insects.
* “Turtle-shelled Bracelet Recipe” renamed to “Turtle-shell Bracelet Recipe” to match the output item. Also, the required items to produce this recipe’s output can be located in the Turtle Raid loot container.
* “Cuguru” now has a 5-minute equip cooldown time before the item’s skill can be triggered.
* Effect name on the Peerless Turtle-Shell Bracelet has been changed from “Great Strike” to “Intermittent Strength” which is consistent with the effect it applies to you 5% of the time during combat.
* Leggings of Harmony has a new apperance as it was using an appearance reserved for Leggings of the Seven Stars.
* A number of high level rare cloaks (and two uncommon clocks) have had their appearances changed as they were using appearances reserved for PvP ranked cloaks.
* Quest reward “Ring of the Grove” (from the Giant Footprints quest) has been renamed to “Ring of the Green Knoll”.
* “Cloak from the Men of Bree” will no longer accept dyes.
* More barter tokens now stack to 100, including those used for festivals.
* Harbinger’s Cloak has been updated to somewhat match other pre-order cloaks: increased armor and non-Combat Morale Regen added. The run speed buff on the item now has a 45-minute cooldown (down from 8-hours). The Harbinger’s Cloak is also now dyable. Fixed the description for its run speed buff, as it didn’t mention it was an out of combat run speed increase only.
* The following taxidermy trophies will now bind when you pick them up:
o Small Turtle Shell
o Nornuan’s Head
o Ergoth’s Wings
o Caerlug’s Arm
o Thaguzg’s Armor
o Zholuga’s Head
o Istm’s Head
o Flagit’s Head
o The Blind One’s Skull

Legendary Items

* Each class, upon the launch of Siege of Mirkwood™, will have its legacies divided into two Pools. Pool A contains the all-purpose, greatly desired legacies. These appear upon the initial Legendary Item identification and have a small chance to appear during reforges at level 10, 20 and 30. Pool B legacies are more situational and appear only during reforges at levels 10, 20 and 30. (Click Here) for a full listing of what legacies appear in which pools.
* The nine different Legendary Item Instances now provide Fused Relics as an additional selectable reward. This was done in order to provide an option for those players who already have the Legendary Item Titles they want.
* There is a new Tier 9 set of Relics that can only be slotted in Legendary Items with required levels of 61 or greater.
* Sealed relics now display the minimum item level required for slotting the relic.
* When a relic is unslotted from a reforge or when deconstructing an item at max level we now show you the relics that were unslotted in the chat window.
* When reforging a Legendary Item, if you are supposed to upgrade a legacy but there are no legacies that can be upgraded, you will no longer get an additional legacy added to your Legendary Item.
* New Legendary Item heritage runes have been created for level 61+ Legendary Items. Heritage runes that were introduced with Mines of Moria will now have a maximum item level requirement of level 60.
* Legendary items that fit the following requirements will produce both a Moria heritage rune and a Mirkwood heritage rune upon deconstruction:
o The Legendary Item must be at experience level 60 (or 61-70 if a level unlock scroll was used on the item).
o The Legendary Item must be either a first age or second age item.
o The Legendary Item is stat level 60 or below.

This change will allow players to produce a Mirkwood heritage rune from deconstructing their maxxed out first age or second age Legendary Item from Moria for use with their new Mirkwood Legendary Item. Please note that the Mirkwood heritage rune received from these deconstructions will be a rune of lesser experience value than the Moria heritage rune received.

* The Legendary Point costs of some legacies do not decrease when upgraded to Tier 6 due to round off errors. Instead these legacies will gain one step of bonus magnitude when upgraded to Tier 6.
* Smoothed out the costs for several legacies that increase the maximum range of skills.

Loot

* Fixed a bug which prevented a lack of some loot dropping from monsters in the Man & Elf tutorials.
* Removed a lot of the vendor trash from General Tallug, the last boss in Fil Gashan.
* Angmarim in Forochel may now drop Lossoth Spear Heads.
* Fixed a bug that resulted in no 2nd Age Item Advancement items from appearing in some containers in the *Urugarth boss Legmas now drops a Vile Silver Coin

Deeds/Traits/Reputation

* Skrimish Deeds cannot be completed at trivial player levels. The monster must con a color other than gray to get credit for the deed kill.
* Reputation items for the lower levels (Rivendell, Ered Luin, Mathom Society, Esteldn, Evendim, Lossoth, Bree, and Council of the North) will now drop with the same frequency as rep items in Moria. Players should be able to receive these items at a pace that is now consistent with newer regions in our game.
* All instance based deeds will now appear under the correct deed tab.
* Versioned several old instance deeds that were incorrectly setup. These are deed-completion deeds and should successfully advance if you have them underway.
* There are now seven new titles based on instance deed completions.
* It is now possibly to barter a number of Lothlórien Silver Branches for a single Lothlórien Gold Leaf.

Graphics/Animation/fx

* Elf banner bearers will now function correctly, bearing their banners like every other banner bearing bearer of banners.
* Attack animations with Spears should appear faster.
* If you are looking at and outfit in the character journal and equip something by double-clicking on it in inventory, your avatar in the journal will now update appropriatly with the item you just equipped.
* Small races will now ride a size-appropriate goat (the goat-pony!).
* Attack animations with Spears should appear faster.
* Great Delving – Gragan – Legendary Champion Trader’s animation has been changed.
* Several Guards in Annuminas had shields going through portions of their bodies. This should no longer happen.
* Lone-Lands – Constable Bram Ashleaf: This NPC should no longer occasionally clip through the wall of the Forsaken Inn.
* Fixed an issue with some scenery flickering when moving around the world.
* Sack masks should no longer let faces poke through.
* The Moria Captain and Champion shoulder pads have been returned to their previous position on the character’s shoulder for Human males.
* Festival mask will now have beards that poke through the mask.
* Hobbit males wearing any variant of the Moria upper body light robe should no longer appear to have invisible legs during horse riding.
* Gramsfoot hobgoblins will now correctly use their large firepots to attack players.
* Corrected display of weapons by Ghash-hai Orcs in Crafting Halls.
* Some Boss monsters will now display more attack animations rather than always reacting to being hit.
* Updated the water ripple texture for swimming, wading, and raindrops on water.
* An Elf male hairstyle did not meet the back of the head. It was sort of creepy. Fixed.
* Corrected a rare case of NPC archers shooting arrows at targets locking up into a T-pose.
* Elf male hairlines have been adjusted to show a little less forehead.
* Mount textures have been updated to be more accurate with the various horse designations.
* Moria breastplate armor will no longer clip through cloaks on Man male avatars.
* Warden shields should clip with shoulder pads a great deal less for characters in idle pose.
* Human female helmets should be back to their normal size.
* The appearance of big helms on Elf females has been adjusted.
* NPC: The Twenty-first hall – Thorth Splintershield and Kettil, Son of Athils, appearances may have been rather disconcerting, as they were missing their skin textures. Disconcerting? It was down right freaky!
* Fixed a problem with some underbrush objects (grass, bushes, leaves) not appearing at night when using DirectX 10 graphics.
* Thaguzg the boss of Halls of Crafting has acquired a bow so he will no longer just throw arrows at players.

World

* Be cautious moving through the borders of the Weather Hills and northeastern parts of Bree! Very powerful forces have moved into the ruins there.
* The Elves of Lothlórien have constructed superior farms south of Hythe.
* A rare spawn Maurading Deep toad now has the name Swartgut.
* The word is out! Bards and innkeepers have spread tales of the turtle known as “Nanu.” As a result ,the little turtle’s hiding place isn’t so effective in hiding him anymore. Expect to see more sightings of this cute little creature in the weeks ahead.
* Dusk-wolf Leaders have been brought into line with other monsters in the Bree-land level band.

Town Services

* Ered Luin – Celondim – NPC – Laenin the Glade Watcher – This barter NPC now has correct icon and map note.
* Shire – Little Delving – NPC Postman Newbuck now has the blue barter icon over his head.
* Eregion class trainers will now offer the level 45 class quests that can be found on other trainers throughout Middle-earth.
* Lórien class trainers will now offer the level 58 class quests that can be found on other trainers throughout Middle-earth.
* It is now possible to barter a number of Lothlórien Silver Branches for a single Lothlórien Gold Leaf.
* Rose Thronley has authorized her farmhands to start buying and selling materials at the work site.
* There are now vendors at Dead Man’s Perch and the pass between the Barrow-downs and the Old Forest.
* The provisioner in Gath Forthnir no longer wanders and is now located in the main chamber.
* Ailn the Healer, found in Tyrn Lhuig, now sells Distilled cures and salves. She no longer carries Greater cure and salves.

Travel/Maps/Radar/Mounts

* Adso’s Camp and Hengstacer Farm now have Stable Masters
* Lowered the travel route cost from Bree to Bree-land housing from 10 silver to 5.
* Forochel and Angmar travel routes that were gated by “Ally” reputation with associated factions are now open to players with “Acquaintance” rep. Players will now be able to access convenient travel routes while questing in these regions without having to grind for rep beforehand.
* There are new mounts for those who are instance deed completionists.
* Icons now appear on the mini-map showing the location of the skill trainers for new Dwarf players.

Questing

General Questing

* Intro Class Quests – In certain cases, a few skill based objectives in the NPE would not activate when the player landed a critical or devastating attack. This has been fixed. All skill executions are now counted correctly.
* Hobbits completing the Skip Tutorial quest will now, correctly, appear in front of Kate Henseed at the quest’s conclusion.
* Voice responses have been added to the following questions in Goblintown to maintain consistency througout the game.
o Other Prisoners
o Stirring Up Trouble
o Plan in Motion
o Matuga and the Jailor’s Key
o The Great Escape
o A Great Goblin
* Due to some changes made to the first tier of Jewellery-crafted items, the Jeweller-focused crafting quests for level 10 have been updated with the correct names. Barton Tyne and Verity Tyne of Bree now ask for “Brilliant Copper Rings” rather than “Amethyst Rings,” and Nefi of Thorin’s Hall asks for a “Brilliant Copper Necklace” rather than an “Agate Necklace.” Affected quests:
o Crafting: Nefi’s New Setting
o Crafting: Verity Tyne Has Lost Her Ring
o Crafting: Barton Tyne Has Lost His Ring
* The following quests have had their rewards adjusted:
o Bounty: Mangemaw The Wolf
o Bounty: Morrafn, The Flame of Hate
o Bounty: Rothlúg, The Drake of Storms
o Bounty: Dhít The troll
o Bounty: Farathlúg The Ice Worm

Eriador

* North Downs: The Billboard for the quests “Wargs of Annundir” will now display a complete billboard upon investigation of the burial mound.
* Bree-land: Carrying the bucket from Goldberry’s Spring back to Adso’s camp has been given a small speed boost.
* Lone-lands: The quest Weavers Beneath the Ruins now longer calls for you to organize a fellowship. Go stab the spiders on your own.
* “The Hideout” Instance no longer displays as a fellowship quest.
* Produce for the quest “Unwelcome Strangers” will now spawn at the rate of other like quest objects rather than the standard landscape mobs.
* At the end of the quest, Unravelling the Thread, players were told that they would return to Lenglinn’s camp. This has been corrected to refer to Strider.
* The quest “An Ancient Story of Evil” will now spawn creatures at the outset of using the forge in The Great Barrow.
* “Breaking Alliances” instance and regular quest are now both set for level 19 players.
* Orcs to the north of the forgetful dwarf in the quest “Stolen Notes” have been told that they should drop the dwarf’s notes.
* Trollshaws: Mountain Raiders – The quest guide was showing a spawn for a timed spawn for another quest. This area should no longer display when the quest is active.
* Angmar: The Cauldron of Death – Ironbound Giant will now take longer to reset so that some lower DPS builds can solo this encounter, without the encounter resetting.
* The Shire: Longo’s Missing Wagon – This quest has been changed. Players currently with this quest currently underway will have the quest removed from the quest log. After this quest is removed, it can be taken again normally.
* Evendim: Forsaken Smial – A Formal Complaint – Both the quest and instance quest are marked as small fellowship quests, and are set to the correct level requirement.
* Forochel: Icereave Mines – Foreman’s Quarters – The Dourhand Captain occasionally would attack players and be unable to be attacked. This will no longer happen.
* Evendim: The Bleakleaf Crest – Hobgoblin’s Recipe – The quest item now appears in quest log.
* Bree-land: Ill Gotten – The quest guide has been updated to be more accurate.
* Foroche: The Hunt is Afoot – Quest Guide marks area on map now displaying correctly.
* Bree-land: Find Malin – When clicking on Malin for the quest “Find Malin” his “dead” body will no longer spin.
* Ered Luin: Seeds of the Past – If you have not completed Seeds of the past, and you are post intro raid, it will be removed from your quest journal.
* Angmar: Gorothlad – Quest – The Tincture – Nightshade plants respawn a bit slower and Quest items no longer spawns in the tree.
* The quest in that place that requires the thingy drop from the whatchamacallit has been adjusted for clarity. (Just making sure you’re paying attention!)
* Evendim: Quests – There and Back Again – Was not properly giving its rewards, it now does.
* Forochel: Beacon in the Snow – Quest Guide for this quest will now provide clear direction.
* Ered Luin: A Rare Vintage – This quest will now complete, and be removed from your Quest Journal as expected.
* The Shire: Rushock Bog: A Gift for the North – The Travel Now button upon finishing the quest teleports the player to the quest giver.
* The Shire: Rushock Bog-Quest: A Gift For the North – The Travel Now button upon finishing the quest teleports the player to the quest giver
* Bree-land: In the Great Barrow quest “Collecting History”, all players in the fellowship will now be able to collect the ancient chalices in the dungeon at once, without having to fight over spawns.
* Targets for the Dead Water quest have been made signature. Spawns surrounding the location of the red maid’s altar have been decreased.
* The quest “The Vigil” now correctly states that you can complete the quest solo and at any time of day.
* Thickets for the quest to clear the stream outside Noglond are now functioning like normal quest objects.
* Bree-land: Spider-bane is no longer able to be completed twice. You either get the quest from Atli or kill Ironaith and get the quest from her head.
* Thorin’s Gate: The quest “The Old Dourhand City” is no longer a fellowship quest.
* The quest “Into the Crags” in the newbie area of Ered Luin now directs players to the Mirkstone Tunnels at the bottom of the Axe head Path
* The quest completion text for the quest “Old Bones” in Ered Luin no longer alludes to the player having visited Gondamon with the wight skull.
* Fixed a typo in the background of the Enfeebling Foe quest.
* Goblin-town quests are now called out as small fellowship when taking in or immediately around the goblin-town space.
* Dunlang now reset properly in the Garth Agarwen Fortress.
* Radagast’s offer to teleport players into the solo version of Passage to Agamaur will now offer red text warning them that it is a solo instance.
* Radagast will now have voice overs for solo and group versions of the passage to agamaur travel dialogue.
* Brigands will now count toward the kill count in the Option Objective to kill Creoth in the Garth Agarwen Fortress.
* Grim and Wretched Wights will fight when standing toe to toe with the shades in passage to agamaur.
* Ruby ring is now the proper output of the Eglain rep quest for Jewellers.
* The Dourhand Overseer is now a signature creature.
* Lowered the surrounding monsters from war-singers in the camp in the eastern stretch of ruins near the blood swamp.
* Increased the number of gaunt-men spawns in The Dead camp in the lone-lands, also decreased the spawns surrounding the half-Orc boss Hontimurz.
* Rose Thornley’s assistants, quest givers since the Book 8 launch, were difficult to see. One of the bestowers was moved closer to Rose in an attempt to let people see that there is more to do at Thornley’s Work Site.
* Dusk-wolf Leaders have been brought into line with other monsters in the Bree-land level band.
* Bill Ferny will no longer double spawn on the quest “Adso’s Delivery”.
* Rose Thronley has authorized her farmhands to start buying and selling materials at the work site.
* There are now vendors at Dead Man’s perch and the pass between the barrows and the Old Forest.
* Bestowing quest giver for “Mr. Haybank Meet…” now gives quest commentary.
* Inconsistent text that made it sound like you previously completed a quest for Eriac the Strong in Agamaur has been removed from the quest “Cutting off the Hand”.
* There are now quest comments on the quest “Predators Become Prey” and “Materials For Our Weapons”. Nos decided to stop being the strong, silent type.
* Directions now state that the NPC for the quest “A Deadly Bloom” appears in Frerin’s Court.

Moria

* Dimrill – Dale-Dru-garmadh – Catapults and Siege Machines – In certain cases, several types of large quest objects would spawn on top of players, and push them through the world. This should no longer happen.
* Moria – Silvertine Lodes – Know Thine Enemy – The quest item for the quest was being dropped by the wrong mobs. Now only Orcs and Goblins in the Silvertine Lodes will drop the quest items, and the quest helper has been updated to match.
* Moria – Zelem-melek – Budkhul-tharakh – Quest: A Thousand Campfires – All bonfires should now be able to be lit.
* Moria – Hold the Line – Spawned Enemies will now despawn if quest is failed.
* Consignment Quests – Work Orders from consignment quests no longer stay in your inventory, after advancing past the first portion of the quest.
* Mekeb-Faham – Book End – The failure timer now matches other similar quests. The failure timer for this quest was for a stage of the quest, rather than for the entire quest. The quest will now fail in 1 hour.
* Moria – Durin’s Way – Chamber of the Crossroads – Emissaries of the White Hand – Quest now listed in the correct area. It is now listed in Moria Upper Levels.
* Moria – Zelem-melek – Allies of Mordor – From time to time, certain dwarf traps would become unresponsive when one was used. This no longer happens.
* Moria – Zelem-melek – An Attempted Theft – The Quest directions have been updated to reflect the location of the object. Additionally quest tracker will display the correct location for the object.
* In the Moria quest “Stronghold of the Goblins”, the escort NPC named Krum has been improved to be a signature instead of a normal. He will be more durable during this escort now.
* The introductory quests to the Dimrill Dale, Talan Haldir, and Echad Andestel now offer increased reputation to accelerate access to Lothlórien (and through Lórien, to Mirkwood.) If you have completed these quests, you will receive retroactive rep compensation with the Galadhrim faction.
* A complete overhaul of the structure under-the-hood of ‘We Cannot Get Out’ in order to deal with some of the issues causing it to become uncompleteable.

Lórien

* Galadriel and Celeborn should now give you Hope during ‘Sons of Leaf and Stone’ and ‘The Worries of Lord Celeborn’
* We have added 19 new quests to Fanuidhol. More opportunities for Galadhrim rep, silver branches, and gold leaves!
* The Sentinel’s Challenges have been versioned, so you will need to re-acquire them if one of them was underway in your quest journal. They will now fail if you fail The Battle of Lórien, in order to keep the timers from counting down even once the Battle is done.

Epic Story

Volume I

* Book 2 will now correctly be reported as an epic quest and display all the correct rings as well.
* Book 2 Chapter 6 Candaith now has a travel route available upon reaching this chapter.
* Book 12 Chapter 9 Weapons of the Enemy: Corpse of Narucham at the end of the instance should show the quest ring properly indicating that you can use him to get out of the instance
* Book 13: NPCs now have quest comments for all quests in the Book.
* Book 13 Chapter 9: Changed the destination of the door you can use to leave the I.13.9 instance.

Volume II

* Prologue – The Unusual walking-stick will no longer display three billboards when taken.
* Book 1 Chapter 1: Torthann could become unresponsive during certain circumstances. This will no longer happen.
* Book 1 Chapter 13: Fixed Rathwald’s Voice Over.
* Book 1 Chapter 13 Instance: The Watcher in the Water – All NPC’s should now have voiceovers.
* Book 3 Chapter 1: Added quest comments to the Dwarves.
* Book 5 Chapter 1: Added some text for the Pulpum to say when they’re defeated.
* Book 6 Chapter 5: Removed the Full Fellowship tag as it should be soloable.
* Book 7 Chapter 8: Removed some Orcs from the difficult pull at the end.
* Book 8 Chapter 6: There was an invisible fire debuff. It’s even more invisible now, because it’s gone.
* Book 8 Chapter 1: The shackles are now 100% less invisible than they were.
* Book 8 Chapter 3: Fixed several typos.

Misc

* Addressed a crash on exit issue.
* The number of files required for a new installation has been reduced.

Related posts:

1. LOTRO Siege of Mirkwood Expansion Announced
2. Turbine Launches The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™
3. LOTRO Developer Diary: Legendary Item Updates

Welcome Back to the Lone-lands

Foreword

In Siege of Mirkwood™, I continued with a re-vamp of early game content in what has become a personal crusade for yours truly to improve player experience from beginning to end. For this milestone, I returned to an area in which I am well versed; I started here when I made my way onto the LOTRO team many years back. Here I am again…the Lone-lands.

The Lone-lands

Epic Story

The Epic storyline is getting spruced up as a result of the changes to the Lone-lands. There has always seemed to be a disconnect between Books 1 and 2 of Volume 1. There are roughly 15 levels worth of disconnect, as finishing Volume 1 Book 1 starts you on a quest far above your level. Further, you are told to go to a location far, far away from the Prancing Pony and through what used to be treacherous territory. The disparity in level has always been difficult for players to handle and it’s one of the first issues we decided to rectify with the Lone-lands update.

With the release of Siege of Mirkwood, all players following the Epic storyline will find that Gandalf now sends them to Saeradan to enlist the aid of the Rangers, to assist with finding another of Gandalf’s order. After making their way to Saeradan, players will find that he will now offer them a free ride to Candaith’s camp in the shadow of Weathertop. Be careful and watch out for any folk in need of assistance on the ride to Candaith! Once at his camp, players follow Candaith’s tale through the battle at the peak of Weathertop and learn of a new faction within the Lone-lands, the Eglain. (This is discussed further in the diary.)

To ensure that we continue forward with the same practices that we attempted to utilize in the Bree-land revamp, there will now be two versions of Weathertop. There is the group version, which remains unchanged, and a new solo version that will enable players to assail the great hill alone against the forces of the White Hand.
At the end of his tale, Candaith sends players to the Forsaken Inn to seek the favour of the Eglain agents staying at the Inn. A new horse travel mount will make the trip a little less risky.While earning the respect of the Eglain, players will follow the remainder of the story without any major changes until reaching the quest to breach the borders of Agamaur. Here, players will be given the option to undertake this adventure solo or with a group. The story concludes in much the same way as before, but the area of Agamaur is now very different, as will be discussed further in this diary.

The Eglain

Living in the harsh clime of the Lone-lands, the Eglain are an untrusting people. This was evident in the initial storyline, as the brothers Gadaric and Hunulf were quick to set players to tasks before allowing them to know the location of their home at Ost Guruth. While revamping the Lone-lands, we took the opportunity to introduce a new concept and direction for the faction system. This direction highlights changes that we hope to incorporate throughout the game at some point in the future.

All quests that have an impact on the Eglain will reward the player with Eglain faction. Any players who have previously completed quests that are being retrofitted with Eglain faction will have the appropriate faction added to their character upon logging into the game once Siege of Mirkwood is released. In addition, there are several new quests that will feed into this new reputation. The goal is to provide players following the natural course of questing in the Lone-lands the ability to obtain Eglain ranks without putting in too much extra effort. There are, of course, some bits of assistance that should help.

In addition to being part of the requirement to continue the Epic storyline, there are other incentives added to the equation. Once players achieve acquaintance status they will be able to purchase quests from a faction vendor in Ost Guruth. These quests directly relate to a vocation and can be completed as often as the player desires. The rewards are a small bit of coin and an increase in faction with the Eglain. The items the Eglain desire are already craftable by those vocations. You won’t need to learn new recipes for these items. These quests can be completed as often as the player wants and will not diminish the amount of faction received at any point. At Friend standing, players gain access to a pocket item unique to their class that is of rare quality and requires level 32 to wield. At Ally, they have access to the first part of a special jewelry set created with the healer, tank and damage dealer in mind. At Kindred, they can purchase the second piece of the jewelry set.

The number of quests prior to Agamaur, including the Epic Story, should allow players to progress to the Friendly tier of Faction without much trouble at all. Vocation quests can be used to attain the next tier or players can use the newly revamped instances of Garth Agarwen as a way to earn faction with the Eglain.

Before we get into the changes to Garth Agarwen, a bit about two new features in our instances:

Challenges
With Mines of Moria™ we introduced the concept of hard mode, a more difficult version of the instance that provided players with greater rewards. As we refined the system it became apparent that Hard Mode was not only a silly name, but also a rather obtuse system that did nothing to assist players in understanding what the objectives were. In order to adjust this, we have created Challenges.

Challenges are daily quests that are bestowed to all players who have not already completed them for that day, and meet all other quest criteria – prerequisites or level restrictions. These quests will appear in the quest tracker and display the success and failure cases for the players. Upon opening the quest journal, players can read the background on the quest and see further instructions on the challenge before them[Rewards for Challenges may vary slightly from instance to instance but, typically, they will be the following: coin, faction, and a barter token of some type. In the case of Garth Agarwen, the barter token is used to purchase rewards from the Eglain at the entrance to the Garth Agarwen area.

Optional Objectives

In addition to the new Challenge system, we have added another piece of tech to allow for Optional Objectives to appear for players inside any given instance space. Like Challenges, these appear in the standard instances and target monsters or other targets within the instance. Also like Challenges, these quests can be completed daily and reward players with coin and/or faction for their completion. There can be multiple optional objectives per instance. The first of these quests, appearing in the Garth Agarwen Cluster, provide up to four different objectives within the instance. Optional Objectives may be different for each player..

Optional Objectives are meant to follow the main path of the instance with minimal extra effort so that groups can work together to achieve each other’s goals. Further, since the optional objectives can each be completed once daily, players will have reasons for entering the same instance multiple times per day.

Garth Agarwen was the first instance created for LOTRO and was in need of a revision. As we set out to make the changes necessary to bring this instance into line with the rest of the game, it became apparent that only a significant overhaul would do. Thus, the Garth Agarwen cluster was born.

The former entrance of Garth Agarwen now houses a small number of NPCs who will provide players with a little more guidance for quests that go into the public area outside of the Garth Agarwen instances. NPCs in the area will also show players the items they can earn for completing the Challenges within the spaces. These rewards include new consumable tokens to remove defeat Dread — only defeat Dread — of the next tier once in a twelve hour (real-time) period, and weapons and shields for player classes of Incomparable quality. These items can be used at level 32 and should be useful to players well into their mid- to late-30’s; but not so good that they overshadow or replace the better crafted items in these levels. To obtain these items, players must acquire a number of Challenge tokens and then turn them in for the various pieces. All pieces are unique and cost the same amount of tokens, save the Dread-removing tokens.

Garth Agarwen

Garth Agarwen

Arboretum

Passing through the arch leading to the Arboretum, players will enter a familiar area where they will find the ancient and fallen Huorn, Grimbark. The Arboretum has been altered slightly to allow for a more open feel with more visibility and game space. Mob density was thinned significantly, and unified to create less of a menagerie of creatures and a more consistent theme to the space.

The Arboretum boasts one alternate boss creature, four optional objectives, and one challenge against Grimbark. We have made a pass through the treasure profile of the great tree and his drops are now unique to him. The Arboretum should prove to be a short instance allowing players to complete it within 15-40 minutes depending on group make-up, objectives completed, space explored, and difficulty chosen. The space is designed for level 32 players and meant for a small fellowship of no greater than 4.

Barrows

Entering the gate through the once-barred gateway within the ruins of Garth Agarwen, players will first encounter the Créoth, keepers of the dead. These descendants of Rhudaur watch over the “Noble Dead” and keep them safe from outside intruders. They serve as the watch guards within the space. Like the Arboretum, mob density and thus time investment has been greatly reduced to create a space that flows much better than previous incarnations. There are some twists to the space that will keep players watching their location the entire time.

As always, the master of the Barrows, Ivar the Blood-hand, holds sway here and together with his host of Wights will do his best to dissuade players from bringing about his untimely end. Defeating Ivar will reward players with treasure from an updated treasure profile unique to Ivar alone. There is one other boss within the instance, once a rare spawn, who now bars access to Ivar and his Challenge Objective. There are also four optional objectives within this space. The instance should prove to be a roughly 35-45 minute experience for players attempting the various objectives. The Barrows are designed for level 32 players in a small fellowship of no greater than 4.

Fortress

The Fortress now stands as the 6-man instance in the cluster. It boasts three optional objectives and two Challenges. The area is meant for a full fellowship of players at roughly level 32. Bosses in the space all have unique treasure profiles, save one optional objective target who shares treasure profiles with the lesser bosses from the Arboretum and Barrows spaces. These bosses include: Edan and Esyld, Vatar, Dúnlang, and of course The Red-maid, Naruhel.

Challenge modes in the space include a survival battle against the Créoth leader Dúnlang, who has captured some Eglain and is attempting to convert them to the service of the Red-maid, and the Red-maid herself. Each is unique and difficult. The completely optional Dúnlang may prove one of the hardest experiences found in a young adventurer’s life. Naruhel’s challenge has proven difficult in testing, though not impossible, and comes with a little payoff at the end to tie together the trials of the Red-maid once and for all. Maybe…possibly?

The space, if run simply to defeat the Red-maid, will likely take no more than 40-50 minutes for a solid group. Pacing and mob layout is much improved and the optional objectives should be compelling and quick. Each fight has been refined or left as-is to heighten the experience within the space. All treasure profiles have been upgraded to make running the space worthwhile to players of the appropriate level.

Western Lone-lands (Forsaken Inn)

The Forsaken Inn

We made no significant changes to the Forsaken Inn, as we have always felt it served, at least in the earlier quests, as a signature location and quest hub. The changes therein were done to streamline questing and provide players with a better overall flow to quest collection and completion, removing a lot of the back and forth that existed with the Minas Eriol area. However, we did move a few of the marquee players from within the Forsaken Inn to an undisclosed location abutting the Central Lone-lands, in a new quest hub area on the eastern side of Minas Eriol.

Central Lone-lands

Hunulf Munce and old Mugwort have moved to a new hub located on the far side of the bridge coming out of the ruins furthest east in Minas Eriol. The goblins within those ruins are no longer elite; instead, they should prove a challenging solo area or a good duo area as the goblins are now signatures. Beneath these ruins players will find the spiders have also undergone a similar metamorphosis.

This new hub serves as a good transition between the western Lone-lands and Central Lone-lands. It should serve to cut down on the travel that existed in the previous draft of the Lone-lands from Ost Guruth to the Half-orc and Dwarf Brigand encampments of the Central Lone-lands. We have also added a new public dungeon, albeit small, to the central Lone-lands. Here, players will find Refr Quicksilver watching over the entrance and a small number of new quests within the dungeon space further explaining the relationship of the Târkrip Orcs and Dourhand Dwarfs in the area.

Eastern Lone-lands

Ost Guruth maintains its status as the main quest hub, but the majority of quests directly feeding the home of the Eglain are reduced and more radial hubs have been added to alleviate the excessive travel in the east. Players will find that the ruins of Dol Vaeg contain a couple of new quest bestowers and a handful of quests, both new and old, targeting the fauna in the easternmost stretch of the Lone-lands and the overrun Wight ruins in the northeast.

Southern Bog

At the head of the southern Bog, players will note that the Earth-kin have added a small number of targets into the troll woods in the bog. These quests now target the area once populated by menacing Elite monsters. Players will find it is now filled with more manageable signature creatures. At the ruins in the deepest extent of the Southern Bog, three new bounty quests for the next tier of crafting and a bundle of new quests targeting the ruins in the southwestern part of the Bog round out the revamp of this area.

Agamaur

Agamaur sees the greatest change in all the Lone-lands. Once an exclusive area for group hunting, the majority of this area now supports solo or duo hunting. Group hunting can still be found in the now public areas of Garth Agarwen.

Conclusion

The Lone-lands has undergone a massive overhaul and should prove to be a good option for players looking to level from 22-32. In our next update, we plan to continue the revamp effort focusing on the second of the level 22-32 areas in the North Downs. This revamp will target areas from Trestlebridge to the Fields of Fornost, then east toward Kingsfell stopping short of Esteldín, Orthrikar and Meluinen.

We hope that these changes will provide a breadth of fun and entertainment for all our new players and those players returning to explore Middle-earth for their latest adventures!

Related posts:

1. LOTRO Developer Diary: Legendary Item Updates
2. The Old Republic: Taris
3. WAR Dev Diary – James Casey

Turbine has announced today that pre-launch offers for Siege of Mirkwood, the upcoming digital expansion to The Lord of the Rings Online, have been extended to November 18th, 2009.

As part of the pre-launch offers former players who renew their LOTRO subscription, or current subscribers who upgrade their subscription to a multi-month plan on or before November 18th, 2009 will receive Siege of Mirkwood free of charge.

Also, players who pre-order the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack which consists of a new shared storage slot, and 2 additional character slots will receive two exclusive items: the Harbinger’s Cloak and the Dusky Nimblefoot goat mount, free.

Lifetime subscribers haven’t been left out either! Lifetime subscribers who pre-order the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack will receive the Siege of Mirkwood digital expansion for free in addition to the aforementioned pair of exclusive items.

Related posts:

1. LOTRO Siege of Mirkwood Expansion Announced
2. Siege of Mirkwood Trailer
3. Get the Siege of Mirkwood™ Expansion Free!

Turbine has introduced a new aspect to their MMO, Lord of the Rings Online, in the form of a lottery.  Apparently each character you have will be eligible for new in game perks or items if they win the lottery.  I personally count myself as lucky to win even a free ticket playing the local lottery so I can imagine my chances in Middle Earth to be at least as unlikely   It is without question an interesting new feature which continues to add “spice” into Turbine’s LOTRO.

Read below for their announcement:

“Try Your Luck in Middle-earth!

Welcome to the LOTRO Lottery!
From the earliest of times, games of chance have been a source of amusement and reward. Skill and determination are often required to advance in the life of a character in LOTRO. Now it’s possible to get an in-game perk for each of your characters just by playing in the new LOTRO Lottery! Like all of my.lotro.com, this feature is launching in beta. We’d love to hear your feedback as we tune and improve the system.

Ready to play? Here’s how it works:

1.    Log into my.lotro.com with your community login.
2.    Look for the Lottery Widget (in the lefthand column by default).
3.    If you are eligible for any current drawings, you may click on one to enter.

That’s it! Select any drawings your character is eligible for and then check back when the drawing is complete to see if you won. Have a lot of characters? You may find it simpler to start at one of your character pages and enter drawings there.

What Can I Win? Where Does it Go?
The LOTRO Lottery is for characters, not players. Each drawing can have a different prize. Some drawings will be random; others will grant specific rewards based on a character’s class, race, level, etc. Entries are limited to one per character per drawing. Prizes are in-game items only, have no cash value, and are dispensed at Turbine’s sole discretion. Everyone who plays LOTRO on the North American service with a character that’s accessible via my.lotro.com is able to play and win!

The First Drawing
Our initial drawing during this beta test is a daily event and will run through the end of the month. Enter your eligible characters each day and you may win an item from our extensive Lottery Loot Chest. For this drawing we’ll be awarding a level-appropriate amount of silver and two bundles of fireworks to celebrate the launch of the Lottery! Any items won will be delivered to your character via in-game mail. The Lottery widget on that character’s page will also update to show which drawings have been won. If you don’t win, simply enter the next day’s drawing for another chance.

Thanks for Playing!
We hope you enjoy the LOTRO Lottery. Please visit the LOTRO Lottery Feedback forum to let us know what you think about the system.

Frequently Asked Questions

My character doesn’t show up on my.lotro.com. Can I still play?
Not with that character, but you may use (or even create) another character to play the Lottery with if you choose. We are aware that some players do not correctly appear in my.lotro.com and have an update in the works that should resolve the issue for the majority of players impacted.

How do I know if I won?
Check your in-game mail, or visit my.lotro.com the next day to see if you won!

Why did you do this?
The web team is constantly looking for fun and useful things to add to our sites so that players have something to do when they (gasp!) can’t play. Plus, as players, we think it’s pretty fun to win stuff.

Where do I report bugs / send kudos / provide destructive criticism / conflate web development with game development?
For now, we’d appreciate it if discussions of this type were in the LOTRO Lottery Feedback forum. Thanks!”

Related posts:

1. Lord of the Rings Online goes Free to Play
2. Lord of the Rings Online Free To Play?!
3. Turbine Launches The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™

The folks over at http://mmohut.com posted an interesting article about Lord of the Rings Online (original article found here) and their general feeling is that LOTRO will join the free to play crowd some time next year.  This could greatly increase their player base and with the addition of micro-transactions, in game items, commissions on selling.trading player to player items even they could stand to make a nice profit.  Turbine has not officially confirmed or denied this, but mmohut.com’s sources seem to have given them plenty reason to think that this is highly probable at this point.

You can read their article below.

“Lord of the Rings Online, LOTRO for short, is yet another pay to play MMORPG that’s going to join the free to play revolution. Of course none of this is official yet, but we here at MMOHut suspect that The Lord of the Rings Online will go free to play sometime next year. Let’s consider the success Turbine has had with Dungeons & Dragons Online since relaunching it has a free to play MMORPG:

Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) went ‘free to play’ on September 15th and has since enjoyed enormous success. Turbine, the game’s publisher, needed to do something quick to revitalize DDO’s miserable subscription numbers and decided to take a gamble – and it paid off. Since re-launching as a free to play, micro transaction supported game, DDO’s ’subscription numbers’, the total number of users paying monthly, has increased 40%. Although the game is free to play, users can pay a $9.99 monthly fee to access special ‘VIP’ privileges. In a recent interview with Ars Technica Fernando Paitz, the game’s executive producer, said “We’re hitting and exceeding our internal targets, so far we’ve very happy.” “All aspects of our business are growing.” “Hundreds of thousands of new players in the world are playing for free, with a very high percentage using the store.” The fact is, since Dungeons and Dragons Online went free to play the game has exploded in popularity which resulted in increased revenue for the publisher.

We have already confirmed that Turbine has held serious discussions internally about converting Lord of the Rings Online to a micro transaction based game, but until an official announcement is made there’s no way to be sure whether anything will happen. The folks at Turbine are smart enough to realize that the free to play market is huge – huge enough to attract big players like Electronic Arts (Battlefield Heroes) and Sony (Free Realms), so it wouldn’t be too surprising if LOTRO actually did go free to play. With the enormous success that Turbine has had with Dungeons and Dragons Online, it would make a lot of financial sense for Turbine to embrace the free to play model for Lord of the Rings Online.”

Related posts:

1. Lord of the Rings Online goes Free to Play
2. Lord of the Rings Online Lottery!
3. Turbine Launches The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™

Turbine released a video trailer for their upcoming expansion, The Siege of Mirkwood.  The expansion is scheduled to release on December 1st and the LOTRO fans are eagerly awaiting this new content and the continuing storyline within this MMO.  The Trailer doe sa fine job of showing off the environmental graphics in this game which are still visually impressive despite the “age of the game at this point in the MMO marketplace.  While it is obvious by the trailer that many old models for the NPC’s are being reused I am sure that there will be new critters to battle further into the expansion since that is Turbine’s typical scenario when they release new content such as this.

Add this upcoming content and the rumors about the game going free to play together and this MMO has a steady future ahead of it.  While not on the scale of WoW obviously, it is still a fun game with a steady following.  Keep it coming Turbine!

Related posts:

1. LOTRO Siege of Mirkwood Expansion Announced
2. LOTRO Mirkwood special offer extended!
3. Release Notes Volume 2 Siege of Mirkwood

Turbine wants Pumpkins!  well they want to see your pumpkin carving efforts anyway.  They have a contest this year that consists of pumpkins carved to the theme of The Lord of the Rings.  That gives you a whole lot of material to work with folks so if you have mad carving skills, give it a shot and grab your 5 minutes of pumpkin fame.

Below are the official details on the contest:

“To enter the Turbine Pumpkin Carving Contest, send a digital photograph of your pumpkin to community@turbine.com with the subject line Pumpkin Carving Contest.

Include the following entry form in your submission:

Name:
Email:
Category: LOTRO Pumpkins
Forum and/or Character Name:
Name to Credit:
I accept the Terms and Conditions of the Turbine Pumpkin Carving Contest: YES

• All images must be original. Images must be at least 1024×768 in resolution and be sent as email attachments no larger than 6MB. The pumpkin must fill at least 3/4ths of the image, and must be shown lit to illuminate the pumpkin’s design. Filenames should include the entrant’s forums name for identification.
• All entries must include the player’s real name, e-mail address, primary player and/or forum name (if any), a short description of their picture, and desired name(s) to credit (i.e., real name, player name or forum name).
• All entries must be original and created and/or owned exclusively by the player submitting the image.

The contest is open to registered players who are age 18 or older with an active Turbine account. The contest begins on October 12th. Entries may be submitted until midnight Eastern Standard Time on October 30th, 2009.

Turbine will select up to four winning entries. Winning entries will be announced in the forums on Tuesday November 3rd. The winning entries may be featured on LOTRO.com. Winners will receive a custom forum title (“Master Carver”) on the LOTRO forums. One first place winner will additionally receive 1,000,000 copper (the equivalent of 10 gold).

All decisions will be made by Turbine, Inc. in its sole discretion and are final. Players who submit a winning entry may be required to execute an Assignment and Release. Failure to execute and return the Assignment and Release within the time frame specified may result in another entry being selected as winner.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Participation in the contest constitutes players’ full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these rules and terms and conditions. By submitting an entry, each player grants Turbine, Inc. a royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual, worldwide license to reproduce, modify, prepare derivative works of, publicly display and otherwise use, in its sole discretion, any entry in any and all media for any and all purposes, including, but not limited to, incorporation into future Turbine, Inc. products or services and the advertisement and/or promotion of Turbine, Inc. products or services. Turbine, Inc. shall have no liability for any alleged or actual infringement of a third party’s rights in connection with any entry. Turbine, Inc. may assign, transfer or sublicense this license without notice. Turbine, Inc. reserves the right to edit entries as necessary in its sole discretion.

Turbine, Inc. is not responsible for lost, late, undeliverable, incomplete, illegible, or misdirected entries, or for any computer, online or technical malfunctions that may occur. Entries that are not in full compliance with the terms and conditions are void. Turbine, Inc. reserves the right to disqualify any player who, in Turbine, Inc.’s sole discretion, has circumvented or attempted to circumvent these terms and conditions and to render void any subsequent entry by such player. Turbine, Inc. further reserves the right to cancel the contest at any time without notice. Turbine, Inc. is not required in any way to use any entries in The Lord of the Rings OnlineTM, Dungeons & Dragons OnlineTM or Asheron’s Call® or any other products or services. Employees of Turbine, Inc., its licensors, distributors and agencies are excluded from participation. Prizes, if any, are not redeemable for cash. In the event that prizes are unavailable at the time they are awarded, Turbine, Inc. may substitute prize(s) of equal or greater value. Lost or stolen prizes cannot be replaced. Any and all federal, state, and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winning players.

By submitting an entry, each player agrees that they have not or will not receive any compensation or other consideration for their entry. Each player further agrees to release and hold harmless Turbine, Inc. and its licensors, distributors, agents, shareholders, directors, officers, employees and representatives from and against any and all losses, damages, rights, claims, and actions of any kind arising in connection with their participation in the contest, including, not limited to, claims based on publicity rights, defamation, or invasion of privacy. All federal, state, local, provincial and municipal laws and regulations apply. Void where prohibited by law. No purchase necessary to enter or win.

Related posts:

1. Lord of the Rings Online Lottery!
2. Turbine Launches The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™
3. Lord of the Rings Online Free To Play?!

One of the most interesting things I found in Lord of the Rings Online was the Legendary Item system which they introduced with their popular expansion, The Mines of Moria. This system allowed you to obtain a legendary item (Sword, bow, staff, axe, etc) and the item would grow in power the more you used it. So basically it was your little hand held minion that kept dinging every so often and yes, it had it’s own little “DING!” sound too. And with each ding came the item points which you could add to specific aspects of the weapon to customize it to your liking. Along those same customization lines, you could also insert certain runes and stones into the item to give it additional powers.

The end result here was a unique system for creating the perfect weapon for your fighting style/ playing style. Not to mention one hell of a long grind to get the right parts and level the tin planted toy. Well if the system wasn’t already neat enough, there are upcoming changes which will enhance it further. Read below for the details.

“Overview

In The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™, we’re updating the Legendary Item system that was introduced in Mines of Moria™. This revision of the Legendary Item system incorporates most of the feedback we have received about Legendary Items since they were introduced.

Identification and Reforge Changes

One of the primary issues with the system is that players have to invest a large amount of time before knowing that a particular Legendary Item is “good.” We have changed the identification and reforge process to front load the system a bit more. The initial legacies placed on the Legendary Item (LI) at identification are pulled from only the “best” legacies. This ensures the LI has some desirable legacies and the player can make a good guess whether that LI is worthwhile before spending time leveling it.

Item Experience Changes

The second major change is in the amount of item experience needed to level and the rewards for doing so. The first 30 levels use the same experience table currently used in the game. The first three reforges, at 10, 20 and 30, now add a legacy primarily from a second group (B) of legacies not in the identification (Group A) pool, though there is a small chance of picking a legacy from Group A. Players still get two randomly selected legacies to choose from to add to their Legendary Item.

The experience needed to move from level 30 to the maximum level of 60 (all Legendary Items regardless of Age have a max level of 60 now), is dependent on the Age of the Legendary Item. Every level from 30 to 60 is now a flat amount of experience; Third Age LI require 20,000 experience per level, Second Age take 40,000 and First Age require 80,000.

Reforges at levels 40, 50 and 60 will give an upgrade to the Tier of one of the legacies on the item. You’ll still get to choose one of two randomly selected legacies to upgrade.

As a result of these changes, Third Age items now require about one-third of the total experience to reach maximum level as the current system. Second age items are around two-thirds of the total, while First Age items will take just a little more experience to maximize the level as current items. This leveling scheme gives more moments of advancement and reduces the feel that you’re “grinding” at the current high level XP values.

Legacy Changes

With Siege of Mirkwood, each class’s set of legacies has been updated. The weakest legacies have been removed and will no longer be added to new legendary items, while other weaker legacies have been improved. Additionally, each class has gained a handful of new legacies. For the most part there are not any major changes in the legacies for each class. Champions are an exception to this as it was felt that there were too many Champion legacies with too specific an application. Their stance-based damage legacies have been replaced with individual skill damage bonuses and more general damage legacies. Other Glory- and Ardour-based legacies have been combined to affect both of these stances.

When Siege of Mirkwood launches, all legendary points on all Legendary Items will be reset. Each existing Legendary Item will also be converted to the new experience tables. For the most part this will result in items gaining additional levels. Any reforges gained during this process will be saved. Players may have multiple reforges available at the Forge Master.
Legendary Item Advancement Scrolls

In addition to the normal item leveling process players will now have the opportunity to further customize their legendary items as they are upgraded. There is a new set of legendary item scrolls that can be found in loot and during deconstruction. Each type of scroll will allow further upgrades to the legendary item on which they are used.

Scrolls of Empowerment

These scrolls allow the player to upgrade the Tier of any Legacy of their choice on one of their Legendary Items. There are no limits to the use of these scrolls other than availability and having a Legacy available to be upgraded.

Legacy Exchange Scrolls

These scrolls allow the exchange of one existing legacy for the Legacy on the scroll. So far the Wise have only been able to decipher scrolls that grant Legacies that increase basic Statistics, Might, Vitality etc.

Scrolls of Delving

These scrolls increase a Legendary Item’s maximum advancement level by 10 up to level 70. No item experience is granted. The extra ten levels have to be earned. Only one of these scrolls can be used on any one Legendary Item. A legacy upgrade reforge is granted at level 70. Legendary Items from level 60 to Level 70 are treated as having reached maximum level for deconstruction purposes.

Scrolls of Renewal

These scrolls reset the legendary points spent on the item to zero allowing the player to re-spend the points in any manner.
Relic System Updates

Crafted Relics

Every legendary item now has a fourth relic slot. This slot will only hold a new type of relics that are not part of the relic combining system but are instead created by Crafters. Each craft can make relics that give a bonus to a particular stat, morale or power. In addition, all crafters can make Greater Crafted relics once they reach Supreme Master rank. These Greater Crafted relics can only be used by the Crafter that made them and give a small bonus to Melee, Ranged, Tactical or Healing skills.

Tier 9 Relics

A new Tier of relics has been added to the relic combining system after Tier 8. These new relics give the same style of bonuses as the other relics.

Heritage Rune Changes (Legendary Item XP Runes)

Heritage runes found in Mines of Moria™ will have a maximum target item level of 60. You will be able to use these heritage runes on any legendary item of stat level 60 and below. Moria heritage runes *cannot* be used on stat level 61+ legendary items found in Siege of Mirkwood™.

We will be introducing a new set of heritage runes which can be used on all legendary items with Siege of Mirkwood.
Legendary items received that fit the following requirements will produce both a Moria heritage rune and a Mirkwood heritage rune upon deconstruction:

* The legendary item must be at experience level 60 (or 61-70 if a level unlock scroll was used on the item).
* The legendary item must be either a first age or second age item.
* The legendary item is stat level 60 or below.

This change will allow players to produce a Mirkwood heritage rune from deconstructing their maxxed out first age or second age legendary item from Moria for use with their new Mirkwood legendary item. Please note that the Mirkwood heritage rune received from these deconstructions will be a rune of lesser experience value than the Moria heritage rune received.”

Related posts:

1. LOTRO Siege of Mirkwood Expansion Announced
2. LOTRO Mirkwood special offer extended!
3. Developer Diary: Welcome Back to the Lone-lands