The Lord of the Rings Online -- Book 10 (PC)Turbine announces its next update, continues the epic storyline and gives players a bird's-eye view of Middle-earth.By Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch | July 9, 2007 One must credit Turbine for not sitting on its hands. Just weeks after releasing the first large content update for its MMO The Lord of Rings Online, the company announced to GameSpy that it's hard at work on a second major expansion for the game.According to the press release accompanying the announcement, the free content update will add over 100 new quests, a dozen new monsters and a number of new dungeons. More significant than mere content enhancements, though, are the upcoming additions to the MMO's gameplay systems, which includes a new reputation and bartering system and so-called "session play" characters which include the Ranger and Troll PvP classes The fictional centerpiece of the new expansion is Book 10 of the continuing "Epic" storyline of The Lord of the Rings Online. The "Epic" consists of a long series of involved quests that players can to follow throughout their avatar's leveling process. Starting at level one, a player's character will be recruited by members of the Fellowship of the Ring to follow story threads that weave in and around the original story detailed by Tolkien in his classic trilogy, separate from other short-term or location-based quest series. Book nine, released in the last free content upgrade ("Shadows of Evendim,") involved the players in a plot to recover an ancient jewel that belongs in the pommel of Aragorn's mighty sword Narsil. Book 10 continues that storyline with the players fighting against a new villain named Amartheil, attempting to prevent her from recovering her own magic ring and steal back a palantir before it falls into the Witch-King's hands. The update will also introduce a number of gameplay enhancements. First is a new reputation and bartering system that enables players to earn positive and negative standings with various groups in Middle-earth. The system is obviously inspired by a similar system in rival MMO World of Warcraft, down to the ability to trade dropped items for rewards such as armor sets and mounts. How this will translate to the Lord of the Rings setting where lore forbids inter-faction squabbling should be interesting to see. This should, however, come as welcome news to casual gamers who were worried that the addition of the game's first raid zone in "Shadows of Evendim," might signal a shift in Turbine's original focus on the casual game experience. The update also adds so-called "session play" to the game. Session play allows players to use destiny points (account-level currency) to buy temporary characters for use in specified ways. The first session play additions are for players who enjoy Monster Play PvP. The first is an addition to Sauron's forces -- the ability to play as a Troll. There's no word yet whether the Troll is a class in itself or if it has been split into subclasses in the same way as the Orc. The second class is the Free People's first monster play-specific enhancement -- the Ranger. Players who spend enough destiny points will be able to acquire one of the legendary brethren of Aragorn for use in the Ettenmoors. The final addition to the game will strike some as genius and some as ridiculous. It's called "critter play." Critter play is session play that takes place in the game's PvE sections. Unlike the monster play version of session play, critter play offers gamers the chance to adventure in the world of Middle-earth as -- wait for it -- a chicken. The chicken character will have its own statistics, combat abilities and its own quest lines including the ability to converse with many of Middle-earth's furrier heroes including Wolf, Grip and Fang, Farmer Maggot's trio of hounds. Quest lines apparently revolve around a plague of Enemy-influenced wolves that threaten the Free People's war effort. Players who finish the critter play storylines can apparently earn a unique weapon or other item for their main character and plans are already underway for more animal adventures. Of course, what a chicken can do to stop Mordor's advance has yet to be determined, but it should be interesting to find out. No release date for the update has been announced.
Play on Roheryn on July 11th and Win Prizes!Please join us on Roheryn to check out the preview server between 11AM – 2 PM EDT on July 11th. If you play on that server during the LOTRO downtime, you may be randomly selected to win one of five 60-day game cards, and one lucky winner will win an e-GeForce 8800 GTS Graphics Card!Download the Roheryn test client now and get ready to join in the fun!Players who log in to Roheryn Wednesday, July 11, between 11am and 2pm EST will be entered into a drawing to win an e-GeForce 8800 GTS Graphics Card or one of five 60-day LOTRO pre-paid game cards!One First PrizeOne winner will be randomly chosen from all players who log in and play LOTRO on the Roheryn server on Wednesday, July 11, between 11am and 2pm EDT. The winner will receive:• e-GeForce 8800 GTS Graphics Card (approx. retail value: $279.00)Five Second PrizesFive winners will be randomly chosen from all players who log in and play LOTRO on the Roheryn server on Wednesday, July 11, between 11am and 2pm EDT. The five winners will receive:• 60-Day Pre-paid LOTRO Game Card (approx. retail value: $29.99)Please stay in the game the entire time between 11am and 2pm EDT! We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!
