Lord of the Rings Online

Rajaah

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The early raiding had some complicated moving things about seems like. I remember having to stand in the right spot at certain times. That wasn't the rift though, maybe I'm remembering another place up north.

I can't remember if we ever beat the final boss of the rift. Seems like the last 10% was really tricksy.

Tricksy hobbitses?

I have an important question if anyone wants to answer it: Do you get to raid the Balrog?

Not necessarily THE Balrog (Durin's Bane? Was that his name?) but A Balrog that's like equivalently cool?
 

Kharzette

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The boss of the rift was a balrog yes, but that's about all I can remember about it. :D
 
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Rajaah

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What's the Rift, anyway?

Also, any content from the Hobbit?

It's been 27ish years since I read the book, and I don't even remember The Battle of Five Armies being a part of it at all. Like I remember the book ending with the fall of Smaug. I need to look this up.
 

Pharone

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I'm still having a fucking great time in LoTRO. Just wanted to share LOL

My 75 Elf Champion on the Gladden server is in the middle of The Great River content. Next up... Rohan.

By the way, I started a kinship on the Gladden server named Lore Bound Walkers to run dungeons at level. Current level lock for the kinship is level 25. I have my alt level 15 Human Guardian as the leader of the kinship. Only a few people in the kinship so far.

The goal is to be able to do a dungeon at level once a week or something. The plan is to level lock our characters to run dungeons in a particular level range, and then at a later date, up the level lock to the next set of dungeons, and so on. Would ultimately like to get to Moria, run the dungeons there, and then do the raids. But, that's a really long ways off.

If anybody is interested, create a character on the Gladden server, and let me know. Keeping up with the kinship level lock should be super easy, so you shouldn't have to play the game much if you don't want to and still be able to login and run the dungeons.
 

Kharzette

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Found a couple old screenshots while rescuing data off an old server. This is afterlife folk fighting the balrog boss. Barely remember this. From January 2008:
ScreenShot00000.jpg
ScreenShot00001.jpg
 
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Aaron

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Looks like you let him pass...

In other news, they have a sale going on now.
 

Pharone

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They have a special coupon code right now. It has something to do with MTG LoTR.

It's only claimable once per account, so make sure to claim it on the character you actually want the portrait frame on.

LOTROMTGO2023 store code gives you:
  • Samwise Gamgee Property Guard
  • Samwise's Portrait Frame
  • Riding Skill
  • Universal Toolkit
The coupon leaked early, so you won't see official mention of it on the Lotro site.

Also, if anybody is interested in a level locked kinship (think guild in other games), make a character on the Gladden server, and hit me up (Lorossi) for an invite. My kinship is called Lore Bound Walkers.

We are currently locking our character levels to 25, and will stay that way for a few months before raising the level lock to 35. Most of our members are also running Land Difficulty 3 - Fearless.

For those that don't know, Land Difficulty was a feature on the Treebeard server, and they just recently pushed it to all servers. It allows you to go to a NPC and set the difficulty level of all overland content (this does not include instances, raids, etc). If you set your land difficulty to at least level 3 before your character reaches level 10 and keep it that way until level 50 and 130, you get special titles ... if you're in to that kind of thing. I personally just enjoy having the overland content actually be less mind numbingly easy.
 

Pharone

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Can we get the name of this thread changed to something like "Lord of The Rings Online"?
 
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Muligan

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With the MTG release and just general interest in the game... how is it now? Does it feel so dated its unbearable? How's the population? May roll on the server listed above.... having fun in D4 atm but have a MMO itch and our guild just really stopped playing WoW for no real reason.
 

Pharone

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Game Updates

A lot of things going on over in Middle Earth. There have been major changes to the Beorning, Guardian, Captain, Warden classes this year. Lore Master and Hunter changes are in the works still. There is even a new housing area in Lyndelby. Oh... and a stat squish... that has people up in arms, pitch forks and lit torches held high in the air... blah blah blah. People need to learn how to chill lol.

The next BIG change will be in update 38 where we are supposed to get the crafting overhaul that will allow us to choose the exact tradeskills we want rather than having to go with the three that each vocation dictated you take.... as well as some sort of new system that will allow crafters to make raid-quality gear with really rare components or something. LoTRO making crafting great again.


Lore Bound Walkers updates
The Lore Bound Walkers kinship is a guild on the Gladden server that level locks our characters at a kinship-voted level each month in order to run dungeons at level.

We have voted and will be moving our level lock from 32 to 40 on September 1st.

We will likely be moving our level lock to 50 on November 1st and 55 December 1st in order to start working on the Moria expansion.

This is a really good time for anyone that missed the best expansion in LoTRO history to get in, level up, and experience the dungeons and (hopefully) raids of LoTRO. I say hopefully because I have never ran any raids in LoTRO, and currently we don't have the numbers to even try it.

If you would like to join us, create a character on the Gladden server, finish the tutorial (can't invite to kinship until you exit the tutorial), and contact someone in Lore Bound Walkers for an invite.


Our rules are simple
  1. Level lock character at current kinship level lock
  2. Land Difficulty 3 - Fearless is highly recommended (not required)
  3. Keep your crafting materials and task items separate from your characters above level 25 (not required)
  4. Craft or obtain your crafted gear from within the kinship (not required)
  5. No hate, No drama, No complaining, No begging
  6. Level locks are voted on monthly
  7. Have fun!

Oh one last thing... This isn't EverQuest. People are actually nice in LoTRO, so don't be a duchebag.
 
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Pharone

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Tale of the Shipwrecked Mariners and Stowaway: The Old Man on the Shore Guides

"Every September we bring a special event to the game worlds called The Tale of the Shipwrecked Mariners, and we’re happy to announce that there’s now a new second event taking place this time of the year featuring new Missions and rewards called Stowaway: The Old Man on the Shore!"

Tale of the Shipwrecked Mariners and Stowaway: The Old Man on the Shore Guides

Event runs from Thursday, September 14th (10am Eastern) thru Wednesday, September 20th (3am Eastern).
 

Pharone

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Lore Bound Walkers wants you!

  • Level-locked kinship on the Gladden server.
  • USA Central Time Zone based kinship
  • Currently level 40 locked

We are continuing to run
Garth Agarwen and Forenost as we prepare for our next big level bump October 1st to level 50.

It's not too late. Come join us for some
old-school at-level
LoTRO fun.!
 
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Pharone

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Orion just posted this on the LoTRO forums here...

Best Laid Plans Gone Awry

When The Lord of the Rings Online launched the Vocation system years ago it was meant to inspire social dynamism; by restricting intermediate ingredients to certain Professions not available to other Vocation groups we hoped players would trade socially and use systems like the Auction House to exchange ingredients. In practice, players often created additional characters instead, or just avoided the Crafting system entirely. As we approached level 105 we instituted longer and more difficult advancement paths for Crafting meant to keep Crafters working toward their cap for an extended period of time. We've added additional tiers since then, but these additions highlighted the frustrations these longer advancement paths caused.

We've taken a look at Crafting to identify the most impactful changes we can accomplish within the scope and timing of our wider development efforts, and the results are outlined below:

No More Tier Restrictions

With the release of Corsairs of Umbar, Crafters will be able to execute and learn any recipes available from the Umbar profession trainers without having to previously complete intervening tiers. No more slogging through earlier tiers to get to the newest tier of Crafting!

Over time we intend to move backward through the game removing the earlier tier requirements. Those earlier crafting tiers will logically tie into the expansions where the initial Crafting tier released. This means you'll need the corresponding expansion to interact with these Crafting tiers, but it also makes these tiers more accessible as we continue development.

No More Vocations

The goals we had for Vocations are largely obsolete these days, and we think Vocations and tier requirements negatively impact the auction house economy. Players with multiple characters and years of work can corner the market for lower tier ingredients, which has the effect of driving newer players out of the Crafting system.

If you are currently a Crafter with Vocations of any tier, the only change is the removal of Vocations. Your professions and tiers remain untouched. If you've never engaged with our Crafting system you can now choose up to three Professions of your choice when visiting a Master of Apprentices. If you have three Professions selected and want to replace one with a different Profession you can simply remove the old profession and start a new one. Advancement in a Profession you remove will be permanently lost. We also want to let people pick a fourth profession, likely through the expenditure of Mithril, although we do not yet know when this work will be ready for release.

Gathering and Tracking

We are excited to share changes to Tracking and Gathering! These changes do not require an expansion purchase, and will simply happen when Update 38 arrives.

Most importantly, you will be able to track more than one resource node at a time! If you have only one of these skills you will only see the skill for that specific gathering Profession. The moment you train a second gathering Profession, your skill will change into Track Resources, and you will begin tracking all nodes you can see through your trained Professions.

Once you train a gathering Profession you will be able to harvest any node of that type regardless of tier. Gathering ore, wood, and relics is something you just understand, so specialization and advancement are instead focused on refinement of the materials you collect. This means you can harvest and collect any node you find when traveling!

If you can track the resource, you can gather the resource.

Top End Crafting

For a while now we have been listening to your feedback that newly-released Crafting tiers were not as appealing as you would like, and crafted gear was lagging behind rewards coming from quests and other sources. Top end Crafters tell us they feel required to engage in end game experiences that do not suit their playstyle. We want you to play how you like!

We plan to expand the places where Crafters get needed materials to make top-end gear and items. This may include things like Guild-based daily and weekly quests, landscape quest rewards, accomplishment rewards, vendor purchases, and missions. We will maintain drops in raids, Featured Instances, Delvings, and other end game content so we don't exclude any method someone may use to get the recipes or items they want.

Evergreen Resources

We are designing upgradable items that use a new evergreen resource to create enhanced versions of these items. This new resource is called a “Luck Stone Settting”, and it recently debuted with Update 37 as part of the Combe Forester Event.

We'll have more information about these upgradable items in the future, but “Luck Stone Settings” are stored in your Wallet, unlike other Crafting materials, and they are intended to have a limited ability to stack in your account to ensure that the usage and flow of upgrading items with them remains fluid long-term. Obtaining a Luck Stone Setting requires effort, but it also has multiple ways to get it.

You'll get Luck Stone Settings from:
  • Crafting events like the Combe Forester Event, and as we add events for other Professions you'll get them there as well.
  • Guild trade with Umbar and traditional Guilds. When Corsairs of Umbar is released only Umbar Guilds will offer this item, but there will be a set of story quests that bring fabrication of these settings to other Guilds throughout previous crafting tiers, regions, and areas of the game.
  • Barter and rare drop rewards in Featured Instances and Delvings.
  • Accomplishments like Allegiances and Factions.

General Resources and Advancement

We intend advancement along Umbar tiers to be slower than traditional crafting to represent learning the new techniques of a foreign region. We also intend to expand this Crafting tier as we tell the story of Umbar and complete the epic story in the region.

We hope to establish a new paradigm in which we can operate and expand Crafting inside of the game consistently for years to come. This means the amount of basic materials needed to complete many recipes will be increasing to ensure a healthy economy. It is possible that in the future we may permit players to convert upper tier raw materials downward to help get through earlier tiers, although no formal decision has been made on this idea yet.

Guilds

We are separating Crafting Guilds in Umbar since the new Crafting tier no longer requires previous tiers of advancement. You will join the craft guilds of Umbar separately, and they have their own advancement path. Traditional Guilds remain relevant since you'll use some of your Crafted materials in the Umbar Crafting Guild to advance your traditional Crafting Guild as well.

We also intend to bring back Missions, Quests, and Instances created solely for Crafters to help them advance within the Craft Guilds of Umbar. Some of these will arrive after the initial release of the expansion, and development will continue as we move into the future.

Conclusion

We want Crafting to return to a more relevant and exciting place with Corsairs of Umbar and we are excited about these changes. Crafters will be able to make some “best in slot” items if they dedicate time and resources to the effort, and we can't wait for you to see and experience the future of Crafting in The Lord of the Rings Online!
 
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Pharone

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I beta tested the new Mariner class the past couple days, and it's pretty interesting. It wont be a good class for me because it has a lot of complexity and combos to remember, but I am sure some people will love it.
 

Dr.Retarded

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I beta tested the new Mariner class the past couple days, and it's pretty interesting. It wont be a good class for me because it has a lot of complexity and combos to remember, but I am sure some people will love it
What exactly is it supposed to bring to the table versus the other classes? I haven't read anything about it or know whether there's been information on it. Genuinely interested.
 

Kharzette

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I hope some cutlasses and tulwars and cannon fire and silly hats. They love to yell in this game so maybe a hearty ARRRRRRRRR to stun the foe.

Though I guess these are probably more like navy and less like pirates?

I tried the river hobbitses out. They are cute, kind of less football shaped and more humanoid like. Game causes a display driver crash every few minutes though so I haven't gotten very far.
 

Aaron

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It's a good first step in crafting, but I do wish they'd just let you learn all crafting professions on one character. At first I thought that was what they were aiming for when they were talking about how people just created multiple characters to get around this. I don't see that changing if all they do is remove vocations, but still limit you to three professions. Final Fantasy ruined me with their ability to just have one fucking character be able to end up doing everything, though I'm not advocating they ditch Classes, or allow multiclassing or whatever. But secondary skills or whatever you want to call them, if people want to spend their time and effort leveling them all up, why not at this point? It isn't 2007 any more.