Bullroarer is now live with Book 7!

[Mrbloodworth]

Please keep in mind these are NOT FINAL and are subject to change!

1 new 12-man raid, 6 solo instances for crafters, opening up the rest of Lothlorien with 50+ new quests and book 7 itself has 9 chapters and instances,XP Curve Change, Induction Times Reduced, Quest Guide (Really?  ) ,DPS and Mob Difficulty Rebalanced.

Monsters which "burrow" (Cave-claws, Shades, Dark-waters, Neekers) will no longer do so when they are near death, because that's annoying.

Good, Fuckers.

[Tannhauser]

Wow, some serious love in there.  XP boost, Minstrel buffs (my main) even crafting instances.  Certainly looks promising, especially if they do speed up Minstrel solo play.  Right now it's pretty un-fun. 

On a side note; I like how they are adding content faster than I can get to it. :)  I saw all WoTLK non-raid content in a month and maxxed out.  Or maybe I just enjoy the journey more in LoTRO.

[Modern Angel]

Awesome Warden changes. It's funny that the Warden is completely awesome and broken/half-baked at the same time but those tweaks really bring it in line to where it should be.

[Cheddar]

So, they are making the game more fun.

I just creamed in my pants over some of the changes.  XP curve adjustment?  New quest tracking methods?  Making my mini not so utterly useless while solo?  New AREA?  New way to gather resources?

My god.

[Modern Angel]

New area I'm not sure if I'm feeling. it looks like it's going to be a rep grind in a good looking area. I ran to Lothlorien for shits and giggles at 46. It was closed off except some orcs and part of the forest. I think they're just opening the settlement part of it.

[Johny Cee]

Ugh.

I've got to stop reading this forum.  It makes me want to re-subscribe.

[Cheddar]

New area I'm not sure if I'm feeling. it looks like it's going to be a rep grind in a good looking area. I ran to Lothlorien for shits and giggles at 46. It was closed off except some orcs and part of the forest. I think they're just opening the settlement part of it.

I am hoping they are setting it up so its like Angmar.  You quest and explore, then eventually open up a HUGE area full of danger and adventure!

[HaemishM]

Looks like good changes to me. Quicker leveling? YES, even though so far to 17, the leveling has happened almost without my notice. Something Mythic should have paid attention to. Crafting instances sounds cool. And new content for free? Yeah, that's good patch.

[Mrbloodworth]

I like how they are adding content faster than I can get to it. :)  I saw all WoTLK non-raid content in a month and maxxed out. 

They are kings of this, and the XP change means that alts will have more to do that you didn't do before, because you will out level it.

[Yegolev]

I might be able to play my spider again!

[Tarami]

It's fantastic to read the "you're making this game too easy!" bitching that comes with every, single, patch.

I don't really approve of the quest guide though, I enjoyed not having one... but whatever. It doesn't make much of a difference when you're onto your fourth play-through.

[HaemishM]

I have been jonesing for a quest guide on the mini map. Let's face it, no quest goes unspoiled two weeks after its released anyway. The less I have to alt-tab out to give some guy a page view for his ad revenue, the better.

[Soln]

yeah I kind of think these changes are all for the best.

But I will add that they should 1) revamp the UI ASAP, and 2) revamp at least the Social Panel.  Grouping mechanics need luv.

If they could improve the means for people to get groups more often and more easily, XP would be less of an issue for us newbs.

And while they are at it they should create a new Barrens Chat channel so people can get the fuck off of GLFF and leave it for finding groups. 

[Yegolev]

I thought there would be a new UI in this update.  Guess not.  The UI doesn't offend me, but objectively speaking of the pantheon of MOG UIs, it's not at the top.

[Tarami]

I'm hoping they'll implement a LUA-engine (like WoW) for the UI eventually.

Or Ruby-based. Oh yeah baby.

[Jherad]

It's fantastic to read the "you're making this game too easy!" bitching that comes with every, single, patch.

I've actually heard someone complain that there was now too much content for them to experience without outlevelling it. Serious complaint.

Music to my ears, after the last two MMOs I've played.

[Yegolev]

I'm hoping they'll implement a LUA-engine (like WoW) for the UI eventually.

Or Ruby-based. Oh yeah baby.

This is what I am assuming the New UI will be, although I'm not terribly concerned about the language as long as it is something people have heard of.  A lack of UI mods is one of the big items holding LotRO back.

[Modern Angel]

I'd kill just to see them open up the aggro mechanics to scrutiny. They're remarkably tight-lipped about it which is a little annoying.

[Stormwaltz]

I've actually heard someone complain that there was now too much content for them to experience without outlevelling it. Serious complaint.

My main did all of the Shire when it was grey to her.

There are still many quests in Ered Luin that I've never done with any charactr (mostly up in the dwarf areas).

[EWSpider]

You can still get loads of Virtues and Titles by doing content you've out-levelled.  Like Stormwaltz I did almost every quest and kill Deed in the Shire on my Warden when everything there was grey to me.  I ended up beefing up my Virtues (many of which I had equipped and provided decent advancement for my toon), gettings tons of Rep with the Hobbitz, and lastly acquiring several amusing Titles.  So yeah, content can still be beneficial even if you've outlevelled it. 

Having said I'm sure the person that complained about it in the first place would come back with some ridiculous counter arguement as to why they still have a valid complaint.

[Yegolev]

I agree, the mindset of outleveling content is archaic at best.  Last night I went back to Ered Luin to do the Enmity of the Dourhands III at lv19 and I was able to knock it out pretty quickly solo.  I definitely do not want to have group up and kill 100 Dourhands in Kheledul while they are even-con.  Doing grey quests/deeds just makes it easier than before and THAT is what people are complaining about; I think we have trashed that topic a good bit elsewhere.

[Tarami]

And you can go > HERE < if you want more specific spoilers of the content of book 7.

I'll just say it's bloody impressive. A couple of highlights in case you don't want to spoil the details on the content;

• Legendaries are again linkable in chat
• Combo damage scrolls for legendaries (damage type and creature type, so Beleriad and +3 to Orcs, for example
• Lothlórien looks fantastic! 
• Lorebook access via an in-game browser
• A ton of new awesome gear earned through the Lothlórien elves. This includes two-part sets of jewellery that unlock a clickable as set bonus.
• Repeatable crafting instances, that act as solo instances with variable (random) mob set-ups, bosses and similar.
• Tokens acquired in crafting instances can be used to purchase XP tokens for legendaries
• A bunch of new Lórien-themed decorations
• Lots of new, improved skill and class icons

[Modern Angel]

Counter to the counter: fucking lower the requirements for the deeds.

[Cheddar]

Counter to the counter: fucking lower the requirements for the deeds.

Why?  Deeds do make a difference, but through normal gameplay you will get them at a decent rate.  There are actually MORE ways to get them then to max them (15 ways to get justice, but it maxes at 9/10).  In addition you can go back when the content is grey and tear it up in only a small amount of time.

I believe all Deed requirements (kills) should be halved, but would rather have the manpower focused on other parts of the game!

[Soln]

just because it needs to be said again -- this is a FREE patch.  More content, faster leveling, more piez.  FREE as in less than 4 months from the large MoM expansion.  More piez for us.

[Azuredream]

Looks like good changes to me. Quicker leveling? YES, even though so far to 17, the leveling has happened almost without my notice. Something Mythic should have paid attention to. Crafting instances sounds cool. And new content for free? Yeah, that's good patch.

If only 

Patch is good though, +1 Turbine

[Modern Angel]

Why?  Deeds do make a difference, but through normal gameplay you will get them at a decent rate.  There are actually MORE ways to get them then to max them (15 ways to get justice, but it maxes at 9/10).  In addition you can go back when the content is grey and tear it up in only a small amount of time.

I believe all Deed requirements (kills) should be halved, but would rather have the manpower focused on other parts of the game!

You're missing my point. If the argument is that faster xp means more deed grinding later to catch up your stats, lower the kill deed requirements. Kill deeds are stultifying. Everyone hates them, everyone goes back and does them at cap. Just trim the fuck out of them.

[Mrbloodworth]

Can you tell us exactly what the quest radar is and what it's going to look like in-game?


   The Quest Guide is set of features designed to make navigating through Middle-Earth more intuitive. For quests that you choose to track, the radar mini-map on the UI will display an arrow guiding you to the focused (or closest) quest objective that is available. On the main map, you will also have different indicators for objectives available over a wide area, individual quest targets such as NPCs, and quests that would lead you into an instance space. You can expect to see a developer diary with more detail (and screenshots!) soon.


There is a school of thought amongst some players that making quests too easy to track down via systems like the quest radar makes games too easy and removes a layer of challenge. Can you speak to this?


   A primary goal of any game is to have fun, and as you would expect different players have fun in different ways. For players who are new to MMOs or prefer to have a helpful hand finding quest objectives, the Quest Guide provides added features to enhance their gameplay. For players who prefer to explore the world without a guide, we recommend that they disable the Quest Guide through the Options menu (Options>UI>Enable Quest Guide).

If you have run through the winding passages of Moria I believe you'd agree that a marker on the map does not necessarily make the challenge easier; much of the challenge of Moria is simply figuring out how to travel from "A" to "B". We have also taken steps to remove the Quest Guide from situations that were not appropriate, such as quests based on riddles. Ultimately this is a feature that our players have asked for, and we believe will enhance the experience of many players.

Can you tell us about the new raid that's going into the game?


   "Strange Happenings" is a quest arc that begins deep within the Waterworks of Moria. As players unravel the mystery, you will move closer to unlocking the gate to the source of the corruption. Strange Happenings is intended to be slightly less challenging than The Vile Maw, but by no means a pushover. It will take teamwork and strategy with eleven of your comrades to overcome this challenge.


Book 7 is going to introduce new quests into the game. Are these quests targeted at the upper end in terms of character level or is new content being added for other areas of the game?

   Book 7 continues the epic story and reunites the player (as a Hero of Middle-Earth) with The Fellowship. As such it focuses a great deal on the reclusive Galadhrim, the Elves of Lothlórien, and their relationship to the Iron Garrison Dwarves who seek to reclaim Khazad-dûm. The majority of the quests we have introduced are for players who have proceeded through Moria and entered into Lothlórien.

With that said, there are also many new things to discover back in Ered Luin. With Book 7 we have revisited the new player experience for both Elf and Dwarf and implemented many of the lessons learned over the last two years. We do hope that players will take the time to revisit these spaces, invite friends to try, or enjoy them with new characters.

Can you tell us how Book 7 is going to expand the land of Lothlorien?

    Lothlórien is now expanded east of Nimrodel and west of the Anduin. Some highlights of this include the ancient hill of Cerin Amroth, the Banquet Lawn and Hythe along the Anduin River, and the home of Galadriel and Celeborn at Caras Galadhon. Access to Lothlórien is not free, however. As we know, the Galadhrim are cautious and reclusive - players must earn the trust of the Elves of Lothlórien before they are granted access to the Golden Wood, and must prove themselves as a true friend before they are allowed to enter Caras Galadhon. Those who not heed the warnings of the Galadhrim will be shot down by sentries before they set foot within the protected forest.

Book 7 plans to enhance the new player experience. Will this be done by way of a more detailed tutorial, or through some other means?

   Revisiting the early levels of the game was a great opportunity for our designers to put into practice the lessons they have learned from almost two years of experience and community feedback. The early levels do include some tutorial elements, but also focus on making the experience immediate, streamlined and focused. During that early time the game must be engaging, varied and fun while introducing players to gameplay concepts. There are now more quests within these early levels, more to do at each quest location and an updated early Epic story specific to Elf characters. The audience for these games has expanded since we started building LOTRO- we think the changes represent how MMO games have evolved even in recent years and help to make the game accessible to an even broader group of new players.

   
When can we expect to see Book 7 implemented into the game?

Players can expect to see Book 7 this month.

[HaemishM]

This month?  Hell yeah.

[Mrbloodworth]

This month?  Hell yeah.

Welcome to turbines ability to add polished features and huge amounts of content in a timely manner.

You can expect the next book in about 2-3 months. Going by past updates of books. (this one is an exception, it was right after an expansion took a little longer)

[Cheddar]

Wow, that soon?   

This team they have really reminds me of the Asherons Call team.  Its amazing the amount they pump out.  I cannot wait to see what they do with Rohan and the lands south of Rivendell/Eregion!

[Bandit]

http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/338-developer-diary-lothlorien-quest-notes?start=1

Developer Diary: Lothlórien Quest Notes
[Mar 02, 2009]

Quest Notes!

Welcome to Quest Notes, the place to go if you want to learn about some of the neat new things the Content Team has planned for your questing enjoyment in the next update: there’s a new Epic Book to continue the story of Volume II, the Fellowship of the Ring has (mostly) arrived in Lothlórien and will be pleased to see you again, and the land of the Galadhrim must be kept safe from the dangers of the outside world.  In fact, one of the challenges you as a player must face will be proving to the Galadhrim that you yourself are not a danger to the Golden Wood.

The Trust of the Galadhrim

The Elves of Lórien are right to be cautious: Orcs of Moria have come down from the mountains in the wake of the Fellowship’s passage, readying for an assault on the Golden Wood.  Elves hidden along the border are prepared to shoot any who trespass, with skill so great that the only warning an unwelcome visitor has to their presence will be a swift and final rain of arrows.  How then can you gain safe passage beneath the leaves of Lothlórien?  There are several ways you can prove yourself to the Elves and gain limited access to Lórien.

Completing Quests from Echad Andestel

Located west of Lothlórien, the camp of Echad Andestel in Nanduhirion is home to merchants and wanderers on this side of the mountains.  Elves of Lórien come to the camp to trade and to learn news from the outside world, but these days the news is seldom good.  Several Elves are visiting the camp for the moment: Celegúien, who wishes to reuse arrows that have been used against the Orcs in order to slay even more of their kind; and Dindirith, who rages against the filth-encrusted boots of the Orcs for polluting the swift-flowing Nimrodel.  Each of them can be persuaded to trust you if you aid them with their concerns. As the threat of the Orcs grows you will be able to continue aiding them with their efforts.

Completing Quests from Talan Haldir

South of Echad Andestel, the Elf Haldir maintains his vigil atop a flet, or platform, among the trees.  Among his allies there are Hadroneth, who wishes for you to discourage the Orcs from establishing more outposts in Nanduhirion, the Dimrill Dale, and Maethoron. Hadroneth knows that though the Orcs appear limitless, every weapon they are deprived of reduces their attack capabilities.  Aiding the Elves in these matters and others will encourage them to give you their trust.

Completion of Volume II Book 6

There is one more method of gaining enough trust to be allowed beyond the borders of Lothlórien, and you may have already done it.  If you have personally aided the Lady Galadriel over the course of Book 6: The Shadowy Abyss and have gazed into the Mirror of Galadriel at the end of Chapter 9, you will be trusted enough by the Elves of Lórien to enter the woods.
Once you have earned the trust of the Elves through a combination of these methods, and speak with a Galadhrim Lookout just outside the border, he will notify the hidden archers that you are friendly and you will be permitted inside the Golden Wood.

Epic Book 7: Leaves of Lórien

The story of Volume II continues in the next update with Book 7: Leaves of Lórien, but unlike many of our other Epic books, this one represents a new ‘on-ramp’ onto the Epic story.  Whereas each of the books we added for Shadows of Angmar required completion of the previous one, with Volume II Book 7 we are allowing you to begin the quest chain without completing the previous book.  This means that if you’re still working to defend the Iron Garrison from the Orcs of Mazog in Volume II Book 5 or have yet to take your stand against Gwathnor in Volume II Book 6, you’ll still be able to experience the adventure of the Volume II Book 7 Epic story by earning the trust of the Elves and speaking to Haldir on his flet south of Echad Andestel.

But a word of warning about this!  You’ll be able to experience Book 7 without completing the previous books, but it is strongly recommended that you try to do them in order! If you haven’t already seen the previous books in the Volume II epic, you may very well be surprised at the fate of characters that were left in safety when last you saw them!  When exactly did Bósi get his robotic dog and machine-gun arm? If you haven’t played the first six books of Volume II before beginning Book 7, you won’t know.

(I’m only kidding about the machine-gun arm, by the way.  He doesn’t get that until Book 8.)


The Fellowship in Lothlórien

The remaining members of the Fellowship have arrived safely in Lothlórien, and though they mourn the fall of Gandalf in Moria, they must take what comfort they can and steel themselves for the next leg of their journey.  Once you have gained access to the Golden Wood, you should pay a visit to the hill of Cerin Amroth, around which you will find Frodo, Sam, Legolas, and Gimli, and can learn something of the history of Lórien.  Merry can be found taking one of his walks in the vicinity of the hill, or resting in the nearby garden of Bain Gwaloth.  Boromir, the bold captain of Gondor, is impatient to leave the land of the Elves and broods atop a rise not far from Cerin Amroth.  His mood is not improved by the many Elves all about; he has not seen Aragorn for some time.  Aragorn is not in Cerin Amroth, and will not return there for a long, long time (as prophesied in The Fellowship of the Ring).

Pippin is asleep somewhere.  The dangerous road ahead can wait.

Quest Hubs Within the Wood

There are solo questing opportunities all throughout the Golden Wood, and each major quest hub has its own style of questing:

Cerin Amroth – Quests originating from Cerin Amroth are concerned mainly with the history and traditions of Lothlórien, as well as ceremonies that involve the singing of songs and the working of crafts.

Talan Fanuidhol – This flet on the outskirts of the Golden Wood is humming with activity relating to the Orcs mustering outside and above Lothlórien, on the slopes of the mountains.

Imlad Lalaith – There are many preparations to be made for the nightly feasting that takes place beneath the stars on this expansive lawn, and the nearby vineyards are used in production of the highest quality wine.

Caras Galadhon – Visitors to the city of Caras Galadhon will need to be especially trusted by the Elves before they are permitted inside, but gaining this level of trust will open up new opportunities for questing.  Banners inside the entrance will help players gauge their progress at helping the Elves of Lórien prepare for the oncoming attack of the Orcs.

The Battle of Lórien

The attack of the Orcs cannot now be forestalled; it can only be met, and it must be hoped that the preparations for the defence are sufficient.  When the Orcs begin their attack, the Elves will call upon a trusted few to assist them in the Battle of Lórien, a six-man instance that brings with it some interesting new features: the ability to command NPCs, a Deed that tracks the number of times you have successfully won the Battle, and a set of optional challenge quests that unlock as your skill in the Battle instance increases.

Commanding NPCs – At the outset of the Battle, you’ll have an opportunity to assess the strength of the defenders at three defensive points and make decisions about where to send your most skilled NPCs in three categories: healing arts, melee combat, and ranged combat.  Do you send them to the same point, and concentrate your Fellowship on the defence of the two other points, or do you spread them out among the points?

Completion Deed – The Deed that tracks the number of times you have completed The Battle of Lórien will award you titles at each plateau, and also unlock optional objectives to complete within the instance that provide you with greater reward.

Optional Battle Objectives – There are several different objectives that can be pursued within the Battle of Lórien that range from defeating optional bosses before they leave the battlefield to preventing certain Elves from taking too much damage, and more.  There is also a Legendary Challenge to be undertaken that combines all of the optional objectives into one extremely difficult quest; it will take a lot of skill and precision to pull this one off!

And There You Have It!

And that brings us to the end of this first edition of Quest Notes, a smorgasbord of tasty morsels that hopefully has you questers ready for the main course: the opening-up of Lothlórien in Volume II: Book 7!

[Mrbloodworth]

Oh, and incredible ability to explain said features, and content and communicate that to its player base.

[EWSpider]

The Battle of Lorien sounds pretty cool.  Always glad to see developers improving and offering alternatives to the same old kill/collect foozles quests.

[Jherad]

The amount of content really takes away all the pain from leveling. I can pick and choose the interesting quest lines, or if I'm not up for reading quest text, go for the quests with the fancy shinies. Without feeling a grind, the grass looks greener, and heck, I even feel the urge to explore. This is the first MMO I've ever played where I've seriously crafted (grinding ribbed shirts in SWG doesn't count).

So, gushing aside... Does a game ever make it out of the graveyard? Too soon?