New content in June - Shores of Evendim

[Falconeer]

Well, wow. Maybe this is just good market strategy, like "let's keep some ready content out of the game and patch in after two months to just give the feeling that they will get lots of this free updates", in fact Vanguard did something similar with their "art update #1" although with uneven results, but I have to say this sounds good.

Coming in June - Shores of Evendim -- COMING IN JUNE!!

Shores of Evendim


The First Update to The Lord of the Rings Online™

The greatest fantasy of all time continues to expand!

Beginning in June, heroes can adventure to the Shores of Evendim, the first of many free updates to The Lord of the Rings Online™.

About 100 miles north of the Shire, in northern Eriador, lies Evendim, a vast region dominated by the Lake Nenuial; the 'Lake of the Twilight'. On the southern shore, the ancient abandoned city of Annúminas -the former capital of the kingdom of Arnor is well known amongst the Free Peoples. For according to the Legends, amidst its ruins lay a great wealth and powerful artifacts now threatened by evil creatures and the nefarious forces lurking in Angmar.

As the Fellowship prepares to leave Rivendell, Aragorn must re-forge Narsil, the Sword of Elendil. Gandalf has asked for help in Aragorn's to search the ancient lands of Evendim for an ancient jewel that once belonged in the sword's hilt. This powerful relic must be recovered before the Dark Lord Sauron finds it.

Players are challenged to secure the valuables of the abandoned city, defy Angmar's encroaching grip on Annúminas and aid Aragorn in his quest to re-forge Narsil.


Key Features:



Discover the lands of Evendim

Explore over 60 new Quests

Raid in the Battle for Helegrod

Fight against 9 new monsters

Upgraded music system adds new instruments and lets you share your music with others

Equip collectible Armor Sets

[Falconeer]

double post

[Venkman]

So unless Sky sells his LoTRO box, he can maintain elite musicianship until June I guess 

[Sky]

 :mrgreen:

[Endie]

Even if your conspiratorial version is right, Falconeer - and I suspect there's some truth in it - it's really the pay-off for finding themselves in the opposite of Sigil's situation: Turbine actually launched when they were ready, with enough content for launch.  So instead of saying "we'll get this stuff that should have been there by launch in there within a couple of months of launch, we promise" (the eternal Sony stance) they can say "you thought that was good?  Well, look: there's more where that came from."

It kinda exemplifies why I'll probably go for the "lifetime" sub offer: I reckon I'll give the game a decent 4 months or so now.  But when Mirkwood comes out, I'll be there like a shot.  Then when Moria (or Moria I, Moria II, "Moria: The Bad Bits Balrogs avoid", etc) turns up, I'll want to try that.  Rohan, the Lonely Mountain, the Corsairs, Haradwaith, Mordor... I'll want to see them all.  Some, i admit, will be expansions I'll have to stump up a capital cost for, but I'll easily pay back the subs.  Espcially if the zones are as damned big as the current ones seem.  My inner explorer has been having a great time getting utterly lost in Thrain's Vale.

[Venkman]

I personally don't see the "conspiracy". Isn't this what Turbine is "known for"? Consistent timely big content updates? I'm not expecting once-a-month AC1-at-it's-height stuff here. But for Turbine to not do consistent timely big content updates would be as out of character for them as Blizzard skipping an April Fools Day without something darkly comedic.

[HRose]

with enough content for launch.

Are there testers who saw the whole game and not just the initial 15 levels?

Because from all the forums I read no one has a good idea of what the game will be past 15 and if it will continue to be fun and polished.

[Johny Cee]

with enough content for launch.

Are there testers who saw the whole game and not just the initial 15 levels?

Because from all the forums I read no one has a good idea of what the game will be past 15 and if it will continue to be fun and polished.

Arthur Parker did the grind to 50 a couple of times, I think.  He should have a pretty good idea,  and I remember the jist of his posts being mostly positive.

I got to about 20 one time through,  and didn't get motivated to do it again after a server wipe when I knew another wipe was coming in a month.  There seemed plenty to do at that point in game, but honestly I amused myself just poking around in Bree, Midgewater Marshes, and Archet up till then.

At the point I was at,  poking into the Old Forest and Barrowlands were the next targets. 

Honestly,  I'm wavering between picking this up on release.  That actually says alot.  Most MMOs lose me at around level 10,  where I give up and reactivate my DAoC subscription, and RvR (AC2, Lineage 2 beta, CoH, WoW, etc).

It's a great world to explore,  lots of fun lore bits,  and the Tolkien junky in me is riding me to check this out.  Combat is acceptable, nothing special.  If they add some umph to it, dress it up a bit, add some neat animations, and work on making it flow more smoothly....  would be a ton better.

But this is just rehashing stuff I said lower down on this board.

[Endie]

with enough content for launch.

Are there testers who saw the whole game and not just the initial 15 levels?

Because from all the forums I read no one has a good idea of what the game will be past 15 and if it will continue to be fun and polished.

Well, one of my friends is mid-20s with his over-achieving guild, and he says he's enjoying it.  For context, he didn't enjoy beta that much, and only joined up because of his guildmates doing so.

When did you read the forums: I remember quite a lot of discussion from people who had seen a lot of the higher level stuff.  I don't remember anything revolutionary, but nor was there any noticeable doom-casting going on, either.  Turbine just seem to have done it pretty well, for now.

[Hound]

with enough content for launch.

Are there testers who saw the whole game and not just the initial 15 levels?

Because from all the forums I read no one has a good idea of what the game will be past 15 and if it will continue to be fun and polished.

I got to the low 40's a few times in beta. I can vouch for it to up to 43 as of the end of beta 2. By the way I hear the new addition is supposed to be mid 20's stuff, so I am holding an alt at 20 for it.

[Soukyan]

Exactly. This is what Turbine is "known for". They did monthly updates for AC and updates every two months for AC2. I haven't seen word that this will be the case with LotRO, but then again, I haven't looked. ;) In any case, I would wager that they will do updates like this at the very least every quarter with LotRO. Keeping the community content coming to maintain story and interaction is a great way to retain and entertain players. Also, I'm glad to see Turbine expanding upon the music system. It was a popular feature in AC2, and I have found that no matter where I might lurk in LotRO to play my music, if people hear it from a distance, they somehow manage to find me and hang out to listen and socialize. Fine work.

[Xanthippe]

Farming is supposed to be fixed in the June patch.  I assume cooking is also getting fixed, since they are intertwined professions; however, given Turbine's actions of the past with regard to crafting, I don't know if this actually will be the case or not.

I lost some confidence in Turbine with their farming "fix" that actually broke the entire craft, particularly with their statement that their fix that broke everything was how it was originally intended to be (clearly not true). 

Never having played a Turbine mmo before, I don't know what to expect, particularly, or whether this is normal for Turbine.

After playing WoW, my expectations for finished content (like crafting) and dev comments being truthful have been raised considerably.  This is a neat game, but these things lessen my desire to play.

[zubey]

I lost some confidence in Turbine with their farming "fix" that actually broke the entire craft, particularly with their statement that their fix that broke everything was how it was originally intended to be (clearly not true). 

I agree.  That was a blatant lie.  I lost some respect for them there.

[Mesozoic]

Glad I read about the crafting problems before I invested in actual production.  I missed the whole debacle while still managing to make money picking up sticks in Eren Luin.