MMeOw is a LotRO focused blog. Looking forward to Siege of Mirkwood!
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- Founded:
- Web Site: June, 2008; Facebook Page: May, 2009
MMeOw
MMeOw MMeOw: Siege of Mirkwood: The nitty-gritty details begin to emerge!
Tipped off by my kinnie Havborn, I have come across an exclusive album of Siege of Mirkwood screenshots at The Madhouse Tavern (a European LotRO fansite). I strongly recommend heading over to the site to peruse the pictures yourself as they reveal a lot of small but relevant tidbits relating to the Mirkwood region and ...skirmishes! Some of the most relevant information includes: Hunters and Wardens will be able to port/muster to...Read More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-08 14:27:51 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Eew…
Does anyone ever really think about the random things we gather in MMORPGs? This isn’t a “why am I killing 10 rats!?” post, but more a post about the end result. Last night I gathered some barghest eyes. Fine enough. In-game, this is a simple loot procedure. Not too gruesome and certainly disconnected from what would be the “reality”....
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-08 13:47:32 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Accessing Skirmishes
The latest developer diary from ZombieColumbus was posted a short while ago on the official LotRO website. The article can be found HERE. Discussion to follow shortly!
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-06 17:26:25 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Siege of Mirkwood’s Ashenslades
Some new shots of the Ashenslades, an area within Mirkwood, were released today. I always think it’s interesting/funny to see shots of player characters from angles I normally never see them from.
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-05 17:36:01 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Tip Time: Super Useful Keyboard Shortcuts
I think most people are aware of the basic keyboard shortcuts in LotRO. K for skills, L for your quest log, I for inventory and so forth. There are others that are a little less obvious, likely only used by those who bother to look at the in-game key mapping menus....
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-05 14:47:45 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: New Siege of Mirkwood Trailer
It’s hard to believe, but Siege of Mirkwood is less than a month away. Turbine just released this new trailer. Click here to view the embedded video.
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-03 15:54:50 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Docholiday, the Warden’s Warden
His blog has been mentioned before but bears repeating. If you play a Warden, you should be reading Docholiday’s blog. Today’s installment on tanking gambits is pure gold—Auction House gold, the best kind. Cheers, Hobbit...
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-11-02 17:23:51 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Changing kins is hard to do
On Windfola our kin for the past 2 years has been Defenders of Amon Sul. As a group we have decided to merge with the larger Lotus Family and become members of their kin. Why did we decide this? Defenders has grown and shrank over the years but maintained a steady core of players....
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-30 18:56:30 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Mirkwood Regions Developer Diary Live
Turbine just posted Vastin’s Developer Diary today. It’s all about the Mirkwood region and what’s gone into it. I really enjoyed this diary as it gets into what I’ve wanted to know most. You know, little things like quest types, descriptions of atmosphere, details on friendly and not-so-friendly beings we’ll run into. ...A lot of that is covered here. Here’s a few tidbits: We also got to play with some new lore-friendly monsters, like Mirkwood spiders, Olog-hai, and Fell Beasts, as well as some nasties the Fellowship never came across. New monsters always make us happy, and some of us were particularly giddy that we got a shot at the Olog-hai in particular. Those guys are scary. I love seeing what Turbine does with mobs. Some of their “skins” have been nice for repeated enemies, but anything totally new really gets me interested. We’ve also been trying out a number of new quest formats (patrols, point defense, and a few others) that we have previously used rarely or not at all. Vastin gets into more details about this, but variety is the spice of life. Definitely looking forward to new quest types. In retrospect, we might have reduced the scope of the Mirkwood region in order to focus our resources more and go for a somewhat shorter experience with more color and depth, knowing that the Skirmish system was going to help fill in for quite a bit of hack-and-slash game play. This is pretty frank and honest, but Vastin seems to be happy with the final result. Be sure to read the whole thing. I have to say, I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with Mirkwood. Despite being involved on a LOTRO blog, I’ve admittedly wanted to be in the dark a bit about this expansion. Details like this whet my appetite without really ruining anything. Can’t wait to go after some of these new bad guys! Read More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-27 21:13:38 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Nerd’s Paradise: Interview with a Lore-Monkey
This is a guest post by Moormur of LOTROCast, an excellent blog and podcast. My apologies to him for taking so long to post it! Enjoy. I’ve been thinking lately about the story of Lord of the Rings. Specifically, I have been thinking back on an interview I did for LOTROCast: The Lord of the Rings Online Podcast a few m...onths ago with Berephon, A.K.A. Jonathan Rudder, a member of the LOTRO team over at Turbine. You can find a link to that story here: http://lotrocast.blogspot.com/2009/05/episode-008-dev-interview-berephon.html. Rudder is many things; Copy Editor, Content Designer, and resident lore-master for the game Lord of the Rings Online. We chatted for a good hour on the topic of story. Since Turbine is developing a video game based on the works, naturally there will be some changes and alterations made to the details of the story to make room for gameplay mechanics and ideas. While there are examples of times when Turbine has strayed from the lore path (we don’t really need to look too far to think of a few), there are examples in Lord of the Rings Online where Turbine has taken steps to preserve the story as much as possible. The purpose of my interview was to discuss with Mr. Rudder the ins and outs of working with a story as austere as The Lord of the Rings, and, more specifically, to discuss the company’s official stance on changes and alterations to the original work to create a synergy between the lore of LOTR and the needs of LOTRO. Before the interview, I wanted to find out a bit more about Rudder. Information was a little hard to come by, but I was able to piece together some bits of information to paint a picture of Rudder. He fills several jobs at Turbine. His main role (and the reason he was hired in the first place) is that of the copy editor for the game. Above all, he is responsible to make sure that everything that goes into the game in terms of text is appropriate to the environment of the game and that there are no grammatical errors. When new regions are being planned, he is one of the primary resources for information on what exists in the world of Middle-Earth. He is referenced to see what sorts of environments (geological, weather, geographical, etc.) exist in the lore of LOTR that Turbine can tap into to create new lands. He has studied the linguistic patterns of the cultures of Middle-Earth. He has also done research into J.R.R. Tolkien’s methods for creating the languages and cultures for the story so that he can work on filling in the blanks. Tolkien may have been meticulous with the original stories, but there are plenty of holes that need to be plugged when you are making a game that allows players to roam freely over lands that may only have been briefly mentioned in the original works. Rudder is a ‘guardian’ of the original story, making sure that even if Turbine may stray from the strict parameters set by the lore of LOTR, the game stays true to the spirit of the books. He has been a lifelong lover of Lord of the Rings…he says he reads the books at least two or three times a year. He is a published author with four books in stores and another in the works. He has even appeared for book signings in some stores around the Boston area. They are ‘high fantasy,’ as he put it, and while the stories are hardly rip-offs of Tolkien’s fantasy stories, the Lord of the Rings were the books that set Rudder down the path to writing the books. More recently, at Turbine, Rudder has wanted to expand his horizons and taken on the job of content designer in addition to his copy work. Since he works solo, he is given fairly free reins to do propose any ideas he wants. He uses this job to look for a small area in the game, perhaps a corner of a region, that he feels is empty and hasn’t been given enough attention and improve it. The interview gave some interesting insight into the development process. One particular topic sticks out in my mind. Following the question on ‘where does Turbine draw the line,’ Rudder was talking about how Turbine re-uses assets in the game (textures and architecture being the most common) and how sometimes players can misinterpret some of Turbine’s actions. He talked about how sometimes the company just needs to get content out the door so instead of wasting resources on creating whole new architecture and textures, they may re-use some of the assets from earlier in the game. Players will see this and think that the two regions, which may be completely separated in terms of location and history, have been arbitrarily connected by Turbine in a very lore-breaking move. Looking back over the interview, I am satisfied with how the whole event transpired. The overarching sense I took away from the interview is that Turbine, while taking steps to preserve the fundamentals of the story, has no problem taking liberties to make the story fit the game as long as it is for a purpose. What Turbine is creating is just one interpretation of the Lord of the Rings. When a player enters the game, they are experiencing Middle-Earth…Middle-Earth as presented by the LOTRO team at Turbine. At the core, however, the mere presence of a man like Jonathan Rudder is a sign of Turbine’s dedication to the story of Lord of the Rings. Sure, changes have been made along the way, some alterations have taken place (some more grievous than others). But my interview with Jonathan Rudder re-assured me that Turbine is fundamentally committed to preserving the lore of Lord of the Rings. I’ve been thinking lately about the story of Lord of the Rings. Specifically, I have been thinking back on an interview I did for LOTROCast: The Lord of the Rings Online Podcast a few months ago with Berephon, A.K.A. Jonathan Rudder, a member of the LOTRO team over at Turbine. You can find a link to that story here: http://lotrocast.blogspot.com/2009/05/episode-008-dev-interview-berephon.html. Rudder is many things; Copy Editor, Content Designer, and resident lore-master for the game Lord of the Rings Online. We chatted for a good hour on the topic of story. Since Turbine is developing a video game based on the works, naturally there will be some changes and alterations made to the details of the story to make room for gameplay mechanics and ideas. While there are examples of times when Turbine has strayed from the lore path (we don’t really need to look too far to think of a few), there are examples in Lord of the Rings Online where Turbine has taken steps to preserve the story as much as possible. The purpose of my interview was to discuss with Mr. Rudder the ins and outs of working with a story as austere as The Lord of the Rings, and, more specifically, to discuss the company’s official stance on changes and alterations to the original work to create a synergy between the lore of LOTR and the needs of LOTRO. Before the interview, I wanted to find out a bit more about Rudder. Information was a little hard to come by, but I was able to piece together some bits of information to paint a picture of Rudder. He fills several jobs at Turbine. His main role (and the reason he was hired in the first place) is that of the copy editor for the game. Above all, he is responsible to make sure that everything that goes into the game in terms of text is appropriate to the environment of the game and that there are no grammatical errors. When new regions are being planned, he is one of the primary resources for information on what exists in the world of Middle-Earth. He is referenced to see what sorts of environments (geological, weather, geographical, etc.) exist in the lore of LOTR that Turbine can tap into to create new lands. He has studied the linguistic patterns of the cultures of Middle-Earth. He has also done research into J.R.R. Tolkien’s methods for creating the languages and cultures for the story so that he can work on filling in the blanks. Tolkien may have been meticulous with the original stories, but there are plenty of holes that need to be plugged when you are making a game that allows players to roam freely over lands that may only have been briefly mentioned in the original works. Rudder is a ‘guardian’ of the original story, making sure that even if Turbine may stray from the strict parameters set by the lore of LOTR, the game stays true to the spirit of the books. He has been a lifelong lover of Lord of the Rings…he says he reads the books at least two or three times a year. He is a published author with four books in stores and another in the works. He has even appeared for book signings in some stores around the Boston area. They are ‘high fantasy,’ as he put it, and while the stories are hardly rip-offs of Tolkien’s fantasy stories, the Lord of the Rings were the books that set Rudder down the path to writing the books. More recently, at Turbine, Rudder has wanted to expand his horizons and taken on the job of content designer in addition to his copy work. Since he works solo, he is given fairly free reins to do propose any ideas he wants. He uses this job to look for a small area in the game, perhaps a corner of a region, that he feels is empty and hasn’t been given enough attention and improve it. The interview gave some interesting insight into the development process. One particular topic sticks out in my mind. Following the question on ‘where does Turbine draw the line,’ Rudder was talking about how Turbine re-uses assets in the game (textures and architecture being the most common) and how sometimes players can misinterpret some of Turbine’s actions. He talked about how sometimes the company just needs to get content out the door so instead of wasting resources on creating whole new architecture and textures, they may re-use some of the assets from earlier in the game. Players will see this and think that the two regions, which may be completely separated in terms of location and history, have been arbitrarily connected by Turbine inRead More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-27 20:11:52 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw is being neglected as of late... we're all just very busy. I promise to have some new stuff soon!
MMeOw MMeOw: Nine Circles of MMO Hades Poster
Excellent poster from Ctrl-Alt-Del: CAD — MMO Hell poster design @ © SplitReason.com.
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-24 16:19:45 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: New LOTRO Lottery Awards In-Game Items
A bit of a surprise today from Turbine. MyLOTRO is getting a lottery system that can reward members with in-game items and perks. This new system is in beta and might have some bugs for now, but it sounds promising. It’s pretty simple to enter too: 1. Log into my.lotro.com with your community login. 2. Look for the Lo...ttery Widget (in the lefthand column by default). The Lottery Widget 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. Each drawing has different prizes and some vary based upon character race and class. You can see some examples of this from what my characters are currently eligible for: Example Lottery Entries and Prizes I like efforts to tie MyLOTRO more heavily into the game itself. I definitely am hoping to see more of this sort of stuff. Some of you may remember (or still play) Vanguard, a competing MMORPG. It had a lot of problems, but it integrated with the Web really, really well. It let you take an in-game picture of your character for your site profile, it kept track of when you got certain key items or killed certain key enemies. It even kept track of who was the first person on your server to get a certain interesting item. Maybe someday! Read More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-20 23:59:56 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Reflections on Ered Luin
I joined Cor Pethroni on the Brandywine server, so I’ve had to make a few new characters (I was previously dedicated to Gladden). I’ve been playing for quite a long time, but unlike some of my fellow players, I’m not much of an altoholic. Sure, I have some, but the likelihood of them even getting past Level 5 is extrem...ely low. Even so, you still kind of get burned out on doing the same quests and seeing the same people. LOTRO is better than many MMORPGs in that I feel there’s enough superfluous quests floating about that you can try to do different things each time … but even so, you’re going to repeat things and it gets to feel kind of same-y. It’s just how making alts in MMORPGs always works; I haven’t been in a rush to make a new character in a while because of it. Since then Turbine has seen fit to revamp the starting areas. I’ve already experienced this in Archet as a Man, but I’ve finally only just experienced this in Ered Luin as an Elf. I have to say, they’ve really tightened things up. The most noticable difference for me was the changes in NPC locations. Many are grouped together to encourage smooth questing and discourage needless traveling. Traveling as a whole is just easier in general given that Noglond and Thrasi’s Lodge now have stables. The decreases in price since launch don’t hurt either. I remember when the ride from Duillond to Celondim cost 5 silver, which is a significant amount of money early on. Of course, back then you also needed to travel between the two a lot more often. This is definitely something I appreciate. It gives older players something new to do and makes the alt process smoother. It helps encourage new players to stick with the game too. Most importantly, it allows the team to apply all of the lessons they learn to what is arguably the most important part of the game. I know people get hung up on the “end game” and spend a lot of time there, but I feel that if the outset of the game isn’t compelling to enough people then you have a real problem. The more enjoyable the beginning and middle are, the more people are going to bother to get to the end. I think it benefits all types of players, quite honestly. Really makes me look forward to what the team is doing with the Lone Lands for the next update. Read More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-20 16:38:11 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Siege of Mirkwood: European Launch Date!
European customers have been wondering for a while: when is the Siege of Mirkwood release date on this side of the pond? A repsonse by Codemasters Dev Satine (to questions relating to the new expansion’s European pricing structure), has revealed the digital-download only expansion should be released Thursday 3rd Decemb...er (two-days after the U.S. release date). Original Post by Satine: Quote: Originally Posted by pppp A little off topic, but when does pre order ends? not to soon i hope, dont get money before the end of the month We will be ceasing pre-orders the day before Mirkwood goes live, which is currently tracking 3rd December for launch. The news is altogether not very surprising, with Thursday tying in with the European “servers are coming down” day, and a 2-day gap between release dates having been used in the past. Of course, it remains to be seen whether this release date sticks… for both Book 7 and Book 8 updates, European customers were repeatedly stalled in downloading the latest patch due to technical errors or glitches in the new patch that required fixing first! Read More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-19 09:51:25 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Ask the Dev Team Part 2 Is Live
Turbine just posted the second “Ask the Dev Team” feature. It covers classes, crafting, PvMP and skills, among other topics. Here’s a small sample: Q: Why are the loading times so crazy for crafting panel? I have 8GB of ram, Core 2 overclocked at 4+GHz and I still get a few seconds of frozen game every time I access th...e crafting panel for the first time after starting the game. A: We have changed how the crafting panel is loaded and displayed with Siege of Mirkwood. You should see much better performance as a result. Q: With the up and coming DirectX 11 with Windows 7 — Are there any plans to incorporate some of its specific tech like you had with the DirectX 10 features that are optional? A: AMD’s recent announcement of their first DirectX 11 video cards included a mention that LOTRO was adding DX11 support. You will not see it with Siege of Mirkwood, but you should expect it to arrive sometime next year. Q: Where does Mirkwood fit, size wise, with previously released regions? A: Mirkwood is roughly 75–80% of the size of the Northdowns. Q: Do you ever use auction prices to determine whether there is enough of an item? Or, alternatively, do you note if something never appears at the auction house? A: We often run reports for specific types of items, if we want to gain some insight into rarity – that usually includes how many of that item are up for sale in the AH. Be sure to check out the full post for even more details. Read More
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-16 15:33:51 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Siege of Mirkwood Trailer
A quick post to let readers know of a new trailer for the upcoming expansion. Complete with a voice-over by Galadriel, the video shows new exterior shots of Mirkwood. The video can be founr here.
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-15 14:35:29 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: European Siege of Mirkwood Pricing Structure
As Nerfthecat and Merric have already reported, the European pricing structure for the Siege of Mirkwood expansion was leaked this afternoon. Since, the official Codemasters site has confirmed these costings, for which full details can be found here. More information will be posted shortly.
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-14 16:01:57 GMT
Orrie Smith I love the game ane would like to be entered in the contest!!
MMeOw MMeOw: Want a Bigger Quest Log?
I’m sure some of you have noticed that your Quest Log allows you to have more than 40 quests. I have a character with 43, another with 41 and another with 44. At first, I assumed this had something to do with level … but on closer inspection that wasn’t the case. There’s a great post on A Casual Stroll to Mordor that explains that these are actually due to how may [...]
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-12 21:41:03 GMT
MMeOw Congrats to our contest winner: http://twitter.com/ErrorJustin. Stay tuned for more contests in the future.
MMeOw MMeOw: LotRO Volume III and Riders of Rohan are Coming
Some good news for you folks out there who’ve been wondering about that whole Riders of Rohan business. A new interview on Gamerzines.com confirms that both Volume III and a Riders of Rohan expansion are already in the works and, hopefully, are both meant for 2010. Notes Adam Mersky, PR Manager at Turbine, “Volume III will kick off with our first content update of 2010. [...]
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-09 14:54:58 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Fun Versus Utility: The Endless, Bloodless Battle
The concept of “fun versus utility” is something I think pervades MMORPGs. Should I play the character that I think I will enjoy most? Or should I play the character that will be most useful to others and get me invited to groups more often? In many cases, grouping up is a huge part of what makes a MMORPG fun. [...]
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-09 12:43:01 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Contest Winners to Be Announced Soon
Just a quick update to say that our contest ended last night. I will be putting together all of the entries and announcing the winner within the next couple of days. Thanks for entering!
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-08 17:17:39 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Dol Guldur Exterior Shots
Turbine sent out a set of shots featuring the exterior Dol Guldur today. Mirkwood sure can be a creepy place. Click the thumbnails below for a much larger view.
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-07 19:15:00 GMT
MMeOw MMeOw: Mirkwood’s Legendary Item System Changes
The latest developer diary is up and it’s all about changes to the Legendary Item system. I’m liking what I’m hearing so far as the changes appear to increase the value and strength of these items, while also making the whole process of leveling them a bit less grindy. Looking across the LOTRO blogosphere, it seems to be going over pretty well with others too (Jaxom, Merric). I really recommend reading the [...]
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-07 12:43:07 GMT
Leon Kitain What if this ring replica is actually the one true ring? Now I want to win this collection edition thingie!
Donovan Niewoehner Yay for SoA Contest!
MMeOw MMeOw: Aleneth’s Allegory — Chapter 1: Hats, Bandits and Overly Large Spiders
I rolled a new Champion on Brandywine. It’s one of the few classes I’ve not even attempted to play as in the past. So far I’ve been having fun with it because it feels so new. This is coupled with the fact Archet and Bree-land have been revamped a bit since I last played. [...]
Source:MMeOw
Posted:2009-10-05 23:55:37 GMT
MMeOw Not too many entries so far, which is good by me. That means everyone has a good chance! :)
