Fall Expansion: Moria & Level 60

[Numtini]

Codemasters made their "big announcement" and it'll be a paid expansion adding Lothlorien and Moria along with upping the level cap to 60 and adding two classes.

Couple of sites have it.

[Bandit]

Too soon to up the level cap IMHO. 

Moria was to be expected I think, obviously one of the most memorable and marketable areas.

Any snippets on new classes?

[Draegan]

Nothing on the new classes.

And nothing wrong with level raise.  Give people something to do and make their characters bigger. 

[Hutch]

The new classes are called Warden and Runekeeper.

http://www.warcry.com/news/view/82328-Connect-08-LOTRO-to-open-Mines-of-Moria-with-new-expansion

(edit) Here's a less summarized article:
http://www.lotro.com/article/514

[Bandit]

And nothing wrong with level raise.  Give people something to do and make their characters bigger. 

Flawed logic mate, you don't need to raise a level cap to "give people something to do".  Lots of other mechanics for alternative advancement out there.  Expansions seem to be better when they focus on content and new mechanics (see Echoes of Faydwer for EQ2) rather than more levels and the ensuing class balancing.

[Numtini]

No, I think a level increase is more than reasonable. I do hope that they continue to mix it with secondary advancement and I hope it's not just a race to 60.

[Mrbloodworth]

And nothing wrong with level raise.  Give people something to do and make their characters bigger. 

Flawed logic mate, you don't need to raise a level cap to "give people something to do".  Lots of other mechanics for alternative advancement out there.  Expansions seem to be better when they focus on content and new mechanics (see Echoes of Faydwer for EQ2) rather than more levels and the ensuing class balancing.

Regardless, people want more levels. Knowing turbine, a level increase will not be the "Only" thing to do like in some other games. They are really good about the horizontal progression.

[Draegan]

And nothing wrong with level raise.  Give people something to do and make their characters bigger. 

Flawed logic mate, you don't need to raise a level cap to "give people something to do".  Lots of other mechanics for alternative advancement out there.  Expansions seem to be better when they focus on content and new mechanics (see Echoes of Faydwer for EQ2) rather than more levels and the ensuing class balancing.

Fine but how does it hurt the game by adding new levels?  It gives you another option to playing the game.

[Bandit]

Simple.  I would like to see the game mature more and get more people to the cap, before moving on. In essence, expanding the cap makes all the current "high" end content right now obsolete.

They just finished adding in 40-50 skills for christ sake.  I see many crying foul about "diku" leveling and grind system, but now your begging for more levels (generalization of F13ers I know)?. LOTRO seemed to be doing just in its own niche by making it a bit more of a sandboxy game (ie music, player housing)....why the need for more levels like every other game out there? (I guess with CoH being one of the few exceptions, and they might actually want to start going past 50)

Just a preference and not meant for some kind of cyclical argument - I think we can agree to disagree. I prefer more content and new mechanics (as bloodworth has nicely termed "horizontal" development") vs. leveling and class balancing.  They will be months wasting development time  balancing out Ettenmoors again, instead of adding more features.

Nothing against levelling, just needs to mature a bit I think - I may feel different by the time the expansion actually hits.

[Mrbloodworth]

LOTRO isn't WoW where people do not care about anything but the endgame stuff. Increasing the cap wont do shit but give more to do in the adventure.

[Draegan]

Simple.  I would like to see the game mature more and get more people to the cap, before moving on. In essence, expanding the cap makes all the current "high" end content right now obsolete.

They just finished adding in 40-50 skills for christ sake.  I see many crying foul about "diku" leveling and grind system, but now your begging for more levels (generalization of F13ers I know)?. LOTRO seemed to be doing just in its own niche by making it a bit more of a sandboxy game (ie music, player housing)....why the need for more levels like every other game out there? (I guess with CoH being one of the few exceptions, and they might actually want to start going past 50)

Just a preference and not meant for some kind of cyclical argument - I think we can agree to disagree. I prefer more content and new mechanics (as bloodworth has nicely termed "horizontal" development") vs. leveling and class balancing.  They will be months wasting development time  balancing out Ettenmoors again, instead of adding more features.

Nothing against levelling, just needs to mature a bit I think - I may feel different by the time the expansion actually hits.

FYI The expansion will be coming out Fall of this year, so in essence the game would of been 1.5 years old.  I think that's pretty mature for an MMO's first expansion and level raising.

[WindupAtheist]

The new classes are called Warden and Runekeeper.

Man, this game has some really unappealing classes.  Tell me you have warlocks and paladins, and I'll have a general idea of what you're talking about even if I've never played that particular game before.  But I'll be damned if I know (or care) what the difference between a champion, a captain, and a guardian is.

[Numtini]

Tell me you have warlocks and paladins, and I'll have a general idea of what you're talking about even if I've never played that particular game before..

Really? Is a warlock a demon pet using dark magic user or a AOE poison/disease nuker?

And there are wardens in EQ2 and DAOC and Champions in DAOC.

[Tarami]

Yes, let's have only fighters, rogues and mages. Seriously.

[Stormwaltz]

But I'll be damned if I know (or care) what the difference between a champion, a captain, and a guardian is.

This surprises me. Not that you don't care, but that those were the ones that threw you. But then, I've played a heck of a lot of CoX, so I'm used to thinking in terms of Scrappers (champion), Defenders and Masterminds (captain), and Tankers (guardian).

The Lore-master was the one that puzzled me. To be honest, I didn't even know it was supposed to be the mage when I made one. The fact that Burglars are stealth debuffers rather than stealth nukers was also a surprise.

Personally, I like the fact that they risked making their classes play a little unconventionally for the sake of lore fidelity. I don't care enough to pick a side in the Balrog wings debate, but I do appreciate thoughtful touches like the use of Tolkien's British-English when naming "armour."

[WindupAtheist]

I know that a warlock is a dark magician and that a paladin is a holy knight.  That's a lot more than I know about LOTRO's class roster, which reads like you typed "warrior" into an online thesaurus and copy/pasted the result.

[Mrbloodworth]

But I'll be damned if I know (or care) what the difference between a champion, a captain, and a guardian is.

This surprises me. Not that you don't care, but that those were the ones that threw you. But then, I've played a heck of a lot of CoX, so I'm used to thinking in terms of Scrappers (champion), Defenders and Masterminds (captain), and Tankers (guardian).

The Lore-master was the one that puzzled me. To be honest, I didn't even know it was supposed to be the mage when I made one. The fact that Burglars are stealth debuffers rather than stealth nukers was also a surprise.

Personally, I like the fact that they risked making their classes play a little unconventionally for the sake of lore fidelity. I don't care enough to pick a side in the Balrog wings debate, but I do appreciate thoughtful touches like the use of Tolkien's British-English when naming "armour."

Honestly, most of the classes have utility beyond one single role. Thats the best part about the classes in this game. The lore master is CC, Nuke, Buff, and staff smacking master. Love that class. All the classes have flexibility of utility, and thats really awesome.

And just to add to the debate, A Warlock is a basterd class as well (in Wow), its a necromancer (Pet,debuffer) a AND a wizard (nuker). If you were truly a purist WindupAtheist, you would be concerned about this.

As we all know, you can only do one thing and one thing only, and you must stand still.

And here ya go.

[WindupAtheist]

Bloodworth, did you even read my fucking post?

I don't care what particular mechanic warlocks use in a given game, but if the game has seven classes and three of them are warlock, male witch, and dark magician, then I'm going to bitch.  Captain, champion, and guardian say to me "well there's no magic, so we had to make up three different warrior classes and some excuses to give them all different functionality".

[Mrbloodworth]

Bloodworth, did you even read my fucking post?

I don't care what particular mechanic warlocks use in a given game, but if the game has seven classes and three of them are warlock, male witch, and dark magician, then I'm going to bitch.  Captain, champion, and guardian say to me "well there's no magic, so we had to make up three different warrior classes and some excuses to give them all different functionality".

Yeah, i did, but thats a better explanation. I guess its a naming thing. I know that a warlock is technically a male witch, and a magician is not a witch..its a different school, or means, of channeling power. So i wouldn't see them as blanket "Magic user". However games such as Wow, that use warlock incorrectly (IMO) like that are what i bitch about. Its one of the first things i said when i joined... "Warlock? but i can choose female, and he acts more like a summoner or necromancer". Then again, In traditional Scottish witchcraft, "warlock" was and is simply the term used for a wizard, or male witch. A synonym is sorcerer. But a "Mage" is a magician, wizard, sorcerer.

So, Wow has overlap as well.

Maybe its just me.

The Definitions given seem straight forward to me.

Class: Captain

    * Skill Level: Moderate
    * Captains are masterful leaders whose commanding presence strengthens allies. Their battle cries strike fear into the hearts of enemies and rally companions to their war banners.
    * Role: Buffer / Pets
    * The armoured Captain possesses some of the most potent enhancements to the heroes of Middle-earth, this makes the Captain a key member of any fellowship. The Captain's ability to summon a Herald pet at later levels, plus the ability to bring fallen heroes back into the fight, make it a desired group class.

Class: Champion

    * Skill Level: Beginner
    * Unrelenting in battle, Champions are consummate warriors. Their fervour allows them to make increasingly powerful attacks. Champions excel at melee combat and can absorb punishment with their heavy armour.
    * Role: Area-of-Effect Damage / Damage-per-Second
    * The Champion trades survivability for the ability to deal explosive amounts of damage to multiple foes. Although a fully armoured class when not in fervour mode, it is when Champions enter this state that they deal out the greatest damage, both to single and multiple foes.

Class: Guardian

    * Skill Level: Moderate
    * The Guardians are protectors of the weak and defenders of those in need. They are capable of withstanding mighty blows and retaliating in kind. True Guardians stand to the forefront of battle, shielding their allies from enemy assaults.
    * Role: Tank
    * The Guardian's ability to wear heavy armour and defensive skills enable the Guardian to face creatures that would make other heroes' morale fail. Guardians also have the ability to draw foes' attention away from their allies and to themselves.

 i have found most classes tend to have more utility than whats listed here, except for the Guardian, but thats changes since i played last. All in all i think the naming is well done, and the names imply exactly what they do.... Even in a historical sense, in army's of old, those titles carried very specific roles.

[Valmorian]

Captain, champion, and guardian say to me "well there's no magic, so we had to make up three different warrior classes and some excuses to give them all different functionality".

Kinda like Druid vs. Shaman vs. Priest.  Or Mage vs. Warlock. 

Seriously, blinders man, blinders.

[WindupAtheist]

Priest:


Shaman:


Different.  And "druid" just makes me think of dipshit neo-pagans one step up the retard ladder from wicca kids, but at least that's different too.

[Tebonas]

There simply is no reason why "Divine Magic that lets you heal wounds because your gods grant it" and "Divine Magic that lets you heal wounds because you ask the spirits for it" are more different than "You slash at enemies with your axe and bash them with your shield" and "You slash at enemies with two swords".

If you reduce it to the basics to show that every melee class is the same, than the same reduction makes every divine class and every arcane class the same as well. 

[Signe]

Priest:


Shaman:


Different.  And "druid" just makes me think of dipshit neo-pagans one step up the retard ladder from wicca kids, but at least that's different too.

Why are you so intolerant?

[WindupAtheist]

There simply is no reason

Aesthetics.  A knight and a barbarian both beat shit with a sword, but each conjures a distinct image.

[Tarami]

But LotR doesn't have berserkers or any of the kind. Barbarian is a derogatory term for a member of a considered primitive/uncivilised culture. Do they fight a certain way because they use leaves to wipe their behinds? I understand what you're trying to say, but the usual high-fantasy terms don't apply in LotR. Those were conceived after LotR was written and aren't at all in line with the setting.

If you're looking for class names for LotR, you need to look to European medieval military and you won't find any of the nifty names you seek there. Except for those already used, of course, and even those are sort of fuzzy terms in that they don't really all belong to the same sphere of warfare.

[UnwashedMasses]

So the first "real" mini-game on the Mines of Moria site is supposed to open today: www.unlocktheminesofmoria.com
Can't access it at work though.  Boo.

Anyone know what the goodies are for these mini-games?  Or just info?

[Tarami]

The site is currently being updated.

Please check back shortly and play King Under the Mountain!

  I will tell you when it gets back online.

[UnwashedMasses]

The site is currently being updated.

Please check back shortly and play King Under the Mountain!

  I will tell you when it gets back online.

Website defeats my browser.  Anyone having better luck?

[Signe]

I'm able to get in the website but I have no interest in playing that game.  Sorry!  At least you know you can possibly win the website!

[Mrbloodworth]

The site is currently being updated.

Please check back shortly and play King Under the Mountain!

  I will tell you when it gets back online.

Website defeats my browser.  Anyone having better luck?

Played, won the match, but got a score of 80 (out of 100 it seems) and didn't see it unlock anything.

[Tarami]

Started playing, got bored, quit. It's a territorial combat game á la Risk but without the area control. It looks sort of ambitious and got chat and multiplayer and things, but nothing overly fancy.

Oh, and signing in makes Flash freeze. Fucking Turbine.