That is pretty much the list of good things done.

The first problem is that while you can own a house, you cannot own two. All your characters have to share the same house.

I have five characters in the game, covering each race, but they all have to share the same Hobbit hole. Frankly, my Elf does not want to live in a Hobbit hole, certainly not one also inhabited by a Dwarf. I play on a Roleplaying server; if the topic of ‘where you live’ ever comes up in conversation, the Elf may have to depart to the Grey Havens to avoid the shame.

The second problem is size.

My Hobbit hole is a basic model, which allows me to slot two pieces of large furniture and no huge furniture at all. I do have other slots in which I can put chairs, small boxes and paintings, but as far as real furniture goes, two bits is the absolute limit. This covers items such as beds, tables, the large kegs of beer I can cook (don’t ask), the Stuffed Warg I had made and so forth. Unfortunately, I cannot really fit a single bed in a house shared by five people. This means that I personally live in better accommodation than my fantasy characters. Where is the wish fulfilment in that?

Neither of these problems is unfixable and, to be fair, there are mutterings from Turbine that the limits will be relaxed in the future. Sadly, however, they are not the real killer.

As anyone blessed with elderly relatives who watch daytime television will tell you, the crucial factor in property is location. Location, location, location, they used to proclaim, possibly to pad out word count. So, where are the houses in Lord of the Rings online located? Damn silly places.

Hobbits probably come out best. The Hobbit Homestead is a mere short jog from Michel Delving, over the festival racecourse and through fields inhabited by lethal swarms of shrews. The Dwarf Homestead is in the Dwarf Starter Zone. Is it in a nice bit? No. It is in the middle of the rusting Dourhand bit where the goblins live. No sane Dwarf wants to live in the middle of a rusting area full of goblins. Humans have it marginally better: a Homestead in the middle of the Midgewater Marshes, halfway between Bree and the Forsaken Inn. Now to my mind, if someone offers you a house and the local pub is called the Forsaken Inn, I would be looking at other neighbourhoods. Elves, however, have it the worst. Their Homestead is simply miles away from anything. Honestly, getting back from Halls of Mandos is a small trip compared to travelling to the Elf Homestead.

The developers obviously realised this could be an issue. So, in a manner which totally missed the point, they added some transport options to make the houses easier to reach. You can either teleport to your house or catch a horse from the nearest travel location to the Homestead door. What you cannot do, however, is ride that horse the other way. These are the only four one-way horse routes in the game. Rather than taking you from in the middle of nowhere back to civilisation, which would be useful, they do the opposite, which is not. It’s a problem. Lord of the Rings Online has some fantastic community centres. Bree, Rivendale, Esteldín, Thorin’s Hall: all these places brim with players, crafting, role-playing and interacting in general. If you see another player in the Homesteads however, you tend to assume they are lost.

I am not sure that Turbine can fix this last issue. The Homesteads are where they are and, unless they are radically redesigning the maps, it is presumably where they will stay, which is a shame. Because no matter what fixes they make or cool furniture they add, housing in LotRO will remain largely unused, tucked away and unvisited, full of defaulted houses acting as monuments to the system’s failure.

Read more about Jadrax’s adventures in LotRO:

• Outlevelled
• The Balrog is in the Details

Posted by Jadrax on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

In Lord of the Rings Online, a friend and I spent a good half hour comparing the shape of the Rushock Bog to Tolkien’s maps to work out why it looks wrong. (It’s not wide enough.) Slight geographical errors aside, most often Lord of the Rings Online feels very much like the source material. All the art matches that of John Howe and Alan Lee, whose art has pretty much dominated every incarnation of the licence, from the book covers to the films. It’s not always perfect in tone, in particular fighting level 35 flies around the Ford of Bruinen feels a lot more like EverQuest that Tolkien, but in the main the game succeeds in evoking Middle Earth. Nevertheless, to the fanatic, the broad sweep of art and feel are not enough, it is the trivial details that are important.

Take for example, Glorfindel. Now a lot of people at this point will be asking: Who is Glorfindel? He is one of the characters who was cut from the film, with his role mainly being given to Arwen. That said, he doesn’t really do much in the book anyway, other than rescuing Frodo from some Nazgul. His role is bigger in the appendices. There, he confronts the Witch King and basically chases him away. It is at this point that he makes the prophecy that the Witch King will not fall by the ‘Hand of Man’. This is one of those pivotal facts about the story that people remember, even if they don’t remember it was Glorfindel who said it.

However, it is in The Book of Lost Tales where Glorfindel really shines. Along with the Silmarion, The Book of Lost Tales is the Bible of Lord of the Rings: very long, archaic in tone and pretty much only read by specialists. If one percent of Lord of the Rings Online’s players has read it, I would be very surprised. I have not even finished reading The Silmarion, which I understand is the more readable of the two. That said, I do know enough to have realised that in The Book of Lost Tales, Glorfindel is pretty badass.

Among his many deeds he fights one of the Balrogs in single combat, resulting in the death of both. Glorfindel, however, does not leave it there: he very much gets on the first ferry from the Elven Afterlife back to Middle Earth so he can keep accumulating experience by walloping minions of evil.

Therefore, when I meet Glorfindel in Rivendale, I already have a preconceived notion of what he should be like, even if a good 99% of the player-base see him as another random elf. Glorfindel crops up in two quests that I have discovered so far, and I am impressed with the results. Without going to far into the realms of spoilers, the first of these is the main quest, when you ask for Glorfindel’s aid in tracking down the Nazgul, Khamûl the Easterling. One of the nice things about this is that Glorfindel, alone among any of the characters I have met, is the only one to ask an obvious question: What do I think I am going to do if I catch up with Khamûl, exactly? The fact that Glorfindel just does not take my character seriously is a welcome change from the Hero worship I receive from the vast majority of game characters. It’s not just me he questions though, as the other quest he is in (The Riddle-Master for those keeping track) expands upon his opinions towards Elrond, Master of Rivendale, Herald of Gil-galad and keeper of Vilya, mightiest of The Three. Glorfindel thinks Elrond is a bit of dip-stick, and not a particularly good father to Arwen to boot.

And it’s probably the fact that characters like Glorfindel feel so close to the source material that keeps me playing the game. I can be asked to deliver mail, steal pie and kill wolves by pretty much any computer game out there. But hunting pipeweed for Merry, killing bandits for Aragorn and taking strolls with Gandalf… that is something I cannot get anywhere else. So as long as the Glorfindels of Lord of the Rings Online feel like the characters they supposed to, I can see myself playing for quite some time.

Posted by Jadrax on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

The game we chose was called Everquest, which had just had its first expansion pack Ruins of Kunark and was available for a pretty reasonable price. Being pen and paper role-players, we joined the unofficial RP server, Tarew Marr. We all took out our subscriptions, rolled our first characters, and logged in to discover that just to meet up in game, one of us would have to run from Steamfont to Qeynos… which was a very long and dangerous way indeed. This was by no means the only hurdle: eventually differing play times, personal ambitions and sheer ability to cope with the horrifically uncompromising game play of EQ meant the experiment met limited success. On the other hand, most of us ended up in the same EQ guild, which still survives today, ten years and probably even more online games, later.

Despite the fact that it did not really work, I still held onto a sense of nostalgia for the idea, the problem was probably Everquest itself. The unfriendliness of it drove people away, the sheer time commitment simply broke people’s willingness to play and honestly, it probably was not a very good game anyway. In short, the fault was in Everquest, not in us.

Around ten days ago, myself and a bunch of my other mates participated in an experiment. As our lives had developed … well you probably get the idea. The game in question is Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO), which has been running for around three years now. Being all pen and paper role-players in the UK, we joined the official UK-RP server, Laurelin. Unlike EQ, meeting up in game is very easy in LotRO, moving around the starter zones is a short run and a mouse click away. So grouping up is easy, when we can all find time which aligns in our schedules.

However, scheduling is not the main problem; the main problem is the disparity in experience. One of the main mechanics of almost all online games is harsh penalties for grouping with people who are a different level from you. If you take your level 50 barbarian and group him with your friend’s level 12 Nightblade, then the game will take active steps to prevent you doing well as a group. It’s one of my least favourite features of the genre: it is divisive and I thought, unrealistic. However, it’s not in-game experience that is disparate in our case, but real-world experience in actually playing these games.

Out of the five of us, three have never played an online game before, tempted into the genre by the fact that the subscription model is on the decline, leading to the rise of games that are (almost) free to play. One friend has some experience of Everquest and some experience with Dungeons and Dragons online. I, on the other hand, have been playing online games since Everquest. This is causing considerable tension.

The new players think in terms of role-playing: a group of five hobbits leaving the Shire for a big adventure. I think in terms of needing a Tank, Healer, Crowd Control and DPS for the optimal group.

They think it would be cool to own a house someday. I think it would be optimal to grind gold for a house close to the Superior Craft Stations to take full advantage of the extra travel location.

They think about getting fully immersed in their character. I think about making sure I have alts that cover full crafting interdependence and a spread of characters that allows me to maximise any loot drops.

Of course, I say think but that is not really true, I just did it by learned rote: it took no thought whatsoever, simply reflex. Everquest despised the weak, and it hardened me to be as optimal as I can, because otherwise you could not progress at all.

It’s not just optimisation which separates us however; there is also the wider social aspect of the game. To the new players, other players are invaders in their private role-play sessions, unwelcome outsiders with whom contact should be minimal. Everquest on the other hand forced me to interact with other players.

I am not simply nice to people because I am a nice person, but because deep down, a part of me suspects that at some point I will need something from a Balrog, which requires gathering seventy-two people prepared to spend a night helping me out in the face of horrific odds or mind-numbing tedium. In this way, perhaps, Everquest did me a favour. People who have not spent five days of real time camping the Ancient Cyclops in shifts for the JBoots drop perhaps can never truly understand what true camaraderie and friendship is.

Of course, I could be wrong, and it could work. Certainly it would cause a lot of distrust and strife if I sat there trying to force them to play the game my way. So, for the moment, I am playing the game with my main at level 38, and my hobbit at level 15 with the others.

With my main, I will bring every ounce of experience I have in playing these games.

With the hobbit, I will try to follow in the newer players’ lead, letting them make the mistakes I did. Because… who knows? In this new more friendly world, they may not be mistakes at all.

Posted by Jadrax on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

The system is a familiar one: you play for free but you can enhance your game by purchasing items. A new currency known as Turbine Points can be earned in-game at a slow rate or purchased at a fast one. Those points can be used at the LotRO Store. The FAQ states there will be over 2,500 items and lists some examples of what you can purchase:

• additional storage slots
• extra character slots
• cosmetic items such as clothing and emotes
• expansion packs
• premium content
• health potions
• character-customization options

They state that premium loot and rare gear will only be obtainable through gameplay.

You can choose to subscribe to the game for VIP status (given to all Lifetime subscribers) which will net you 500 Turbine Points each month, two additional character slots, five slots in your inventory, and there is no limit to the gold you can carry.

Somewhat worrying is the LOTRO Free to Play Plan Comparison showing that Chat, Auction and Mail will be limited access for free players. Apparently, it will not be possible to spend destiny points nor take part in Monster Play. Customer Service for the free player is described as “Self-service online” which I presume is a polite way of saying RTFM.

Free Players can only carry 2 gold while Premium Players are limited to 5 gold. Once you reach that limit, any gold you earn will be placed in escrow and you will not be able to access it unless you purchase a higher gold limit in the LOTRO Store or upgrade to VIP status.

This new version of Lord of the Rings Online (I refuse to call it LOTRO F2P) is going into beta “in the very near future” (sign-up here) and is expected to go live this fall along with Volume 3, Book 2.

If you want to know more about the considerations that led to this decision, GamePro has a detailed interview with Warner Interactive President Martin Tremblay and Turbine CEO Jim Crowley.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Unlock the Mines of Moria has updated and now you can complete the puzzle with one last easy step:

Apply for the Mines of Moria beta and you will receive the fifth and final star.

You should notice a pulsating star in the gateway. Click on that and a new window will come up with a form so that you can apply to take part in the beta.

As a reward for applying, you will gain a high resolution image (click on the star after you’ve finished submitting the form). If you have completed the other four stars already, you will receive your final reward in your email after you have registered.

You do not need to have completed the other stars in order to apply for the beta but with our step-by-step guide, it’s easy!

The first star is gained by registering on the site.

Then you need to play the three mini-games. Each of the mini-games has three deeds, all three of which must be completed for the game star. Once you have completed the three deeds for any given game you will unlocks a high quality image to do with the Mines of Moria expansion.

Here is a full list of the mini-games on Unlock the Mines of Moria, links to our helpful hints and tips and the individual deeds per game.

King Under the Mountain

Gameplay Spoiler
Deeds:

• Warmonger: Take a total of 300 territories
• Dwarven Crown: Conquer all the territories seven times
• High Roller: 20 rolls of 30 or more

All the deeds can be completed in single-player mode.

Swig and Toss

Gamplay Spoiler
Deeds:

• Dead Eye: scoring 35,000 or higher in a single game
• Last Man Standing: 10 multiplayer victories
• Mead-iator: 99 swigs

Dead Eye and Mead-iator can be completed in single-player mode.

Eleventy-Seven Morsels

Gameplay Spoiler
Deeds:

• Stuffed Hobbit: win ten snack-sack victories
• Fourth Meal: a four-move chain
• Reap What You Sow: win ten score-bin victories

All the deeds can be completed in single-player mode.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Level 15

The Hunter’s Path is your first class quest. You will be asked to find Gytha Lainey at Adso’s Camp who will take you into a solo instance of the forest. Use tracking to find Yellowfang. Kill the other wolves wandering about to keep them from helping him (and to get pelts) and make your way to Yellowfang and kill him. There is a detailed quest write-up here:
http://www.thebrasse.com/lotro/quest/355

Level 26

Wilderness by Ost Guruth is an additional class quests for Hunters which rewards the ability to port your group to Ost Guruth. You need to speak to Gaellant in Esteldin in the North Downs. He will send you to speak to Trumswith in Ost Guruth, who will give you a quest to find his sister. Talk to Unni and follow the directions to find the sister. There is a detailed quest write-up here:
http://www.thebrasse.com/lotro/quest/702

Level 30

A Hunter’s Charge continues on your initial class quest storyline. You will be sent to speak to Gytha Lainey at Adso’s Camp again. She will send you to a solo instance of the Shire to intercept a party of Wargs. Head north and wait for the wargs to gather. Kill Laugzok first and then take out the other four wargs one by one, keeping them from ever reaching Gytha Lainey. There is a full quest write-up here:
http://www.thebrasse.com/lotro/quest/558

Level 36

Tracks through Evendim is an additional class quest for Hunters which rewards the ability to port your group to Evendim. Speak to Torogethir in Tinnudir in Evendim who will send you to speak to Horace who will send you to find an arrow-head that he has hidden. Follow his instructions and the trail until you find the arrow-head.
Full directions and locations are given here:
http://www.thebrasse.com/lotro/quest/709

Level 45

Articles of Discovery and Implements of the Hunt: Speak to Fenton Marshley outside the Hunting Lodge east of Archet and collect the components.

• Zorrgolug’s Matted Hide – Named in Fasach-falroid (Angmar)
• 5 Brimstone tinged Tarkrip helmets – Goblins in Western Malenhad (Angmar)
• 10 Glossy Cave Claw Skins – Cave Claws in Nan Gurth (Angmar) and in Isendeep Mine
• 15 Corroded Neekerbreeker horns – Neekerbreekers/Borbolg’s in Western Malenhad (Angmar)
• Rune of Winged Dominance – Mormoz or Azgoth in the Carn Dum instance (Angmar)
• Insignia of Battle – Sorkrank or Burzfil in in Urugarth Instance (Angmar)
• Driftclaw’s Razor-sharp Claw – named bear roams around 30.4S 3.6E in the Giant Halls (Misty Mountain)
• 5 Corroded Iron Crown Staves – Angmarians (Evil Men) in Western Malenhad and Fasach-falroid
• 20 Clouded Worm-Eyes – Fire worms in Malenhad (Angmar)
• 5 Venomous Dread Turtle Beaks – Dread Turtles in Malenhad (Angmar)
• 5 Putrid Fingernails – Crawling Arms in Imlad Balchorth and Nan Gurth and the Carn Dum instance (Angmar)
• Medallion of Passage – Urro, Uruk Hai boss in Carn Dum Instance (Angmar)
• Putrid Slime of Helchgam – named watcher in Carn Dum instance (Angmar)

Level 50

A Lesson from Legolas is straight-forward. Travel to Rivendell to speak to Legolas. This requires you to have completed the level 45 epic quests. Legolas will reward you with the ‘Bow of the Righteous’ Legendary Trait, which returns 10.9-14.9 power on every successful bow/crossbow hit (not including auto attack).

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

You’ll receive your first deed and light up the center star simply by registering for the game. Then each of the mini-games has three deeds, all three of which must be completed for the star. Completing the three deeds also unlocks a high quality image to do with the Mines of Moria expansion.

Here is a full list of the mini-games on Unlock the Mines of Moria, links to our helpful hints and tips, and the deeds available per game.

King Under the Mountain

Gameplay Spoiler
Deeds:

• Warmonger: Take a total of 300 territories
• Dwarven Crown: Conquer all the territories seven times
• High Roller: 20 rolls of 30 or more

All the deeds can be completed in single-player mode.

Swig and Toss

Gamplay Spoiler
Deeds:

• Dead Eye: scoring 35,000 or higher in a single game
• Last Man Standing: 10 multiplayer victories
• Mead-iator: 99 swigs

Dead Eye and Mead-iator can be completed in single-player mode.

Eleventy-Seven Morsels

Gameplay Spoiler
Deeds:

• Stuffed Hobbit: win ten snack-sack victories
• Fourth Meal: a four-move chain
• Reap What You Sow: win ten score-bin victories

All the deeds can be completed in single-player mode.

The main conversation on the forums are based on whether collecting the deeds are worth it – hard to answer when we don’t have any information as to what the final reward will be! Personally, I found the mini-games diverting enough that I didn’t mind chasing after the deeds but it probably is not worth slaving over for the unknown in-game reward alone.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Why not just settle for that and eat your half? Well, that just shows you aren’t a hobbit: a love for gambling and an innate greediness when it comes to food combine in these hairy-toed fellows to make Eleventy-Seven Morsels a game worth winning. So no, you can’t simply have your half and eat it too – you have to earn your morsels, if you can.

And then, to keep you on your toes, there are two methods of keeping score. At the beginning of each game you will flip a coin to decide whether you are scoring from your snack sack or from your score bin. Your goal is to be the person with the most snacks in the container chosen by the coin.

Playing the Game

Regardless of which stack of snacks is being counted, the basic gameplay is the same: you choose a pile on your side and move them clockwise around the board: the first one goes into your snack sack (hopefully for later consumption) and then the pile marches around the board, dropping one snack per spot until you run out.

At your left is your score bin. If the last piece of your pile lands here, you can go again, so it’s well worth timing your stacks of snacks just the right size to land on the bin so that you can get another go.

The snacks in the snack pack and the snacks in the score bin stay there – you can’t move them.

The game ends when the first person runs out of snacks to distribute. If you are scoring based on the snack sack, you want this to be you because every snack still left on your opponents side will go into your snack sack. If the scoring is based on the score bin, you’ll have to be a bit more careful to make sure you stay in the lead.

Watch your counting if you loop right around the board, you get to skip your opponent’s score bin. But you can fill up your own score bin by landing on an empty pot on your own side. This move will give you all the snacks on the opposite side of the board – one for your snack sack and the rest in your score bin. Goal!

Winning the Game

Your strategy will change slightly depending on the toss of the coin at the beginning of the game. If the score-keeping is based on the snack sack, then you’ll be looking to clear your side of the board as quickly as possible to try to gain your opponents snacks for your own bag. If the score bin is what counts, then you’ll be looking for big piles to allow you to loop round and get back onto your own side – preferably to land on an empty square opposite a big pile of snacks. The initial snack on the opposite side will go into your snack sack but the rest will go straight into your score bin. Once you get ahead, try to clear your side quick to seal the deal.

The Deeds

Like the other mini-games on the Unlock Mines of Moria website, King under the Mountain and Swig and Toss, there are three deeds to be won:

• the Stuffed Hobbit deed for winning ten snack sack victories
• the Fourth Meal deed for a four move chain
• the Reap What You Sow deed for winning ten score bin victories

Reward

Once you’ve completed all three deeds you will gain access to another piece of wallpaper.

Now there is only one star left to complete the entire set and find out what the in-game reward will be for sticking it through to the bitter end. All we know so far is that the final star will not be a further mini-game but you can subscribe to the feed to find out as soon as we do.

Make sure you’ve got your deeds for King under the Mountain and Swig and Toss so you are ready for the final round!

Edit: I’ve added full list of the mini-games on Unlock the Mines of Moria, links to our helpful hints and tips, and the deeds available per game.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

Deeds for Swig and Toss

• Dead Eye: scoring 35,000 or higher in a single game
• Last Man Standing: 10 multiplayer victories
• Mead-iator: 99 swigs

Gameplay tips

Keep the mouse moving – that helps you to keep control of the axe. The huge swerves to the side can be ignored if you continue to make minor movements with the mouse rather than chasing the axe around. One person recommended small circles but I found a tiny back-and-forth movement worked best.

Get yourself into a timing rhythm with the green bar. You shouldn’t have to watch it – once you get into the swing of it, it becomes almost automatic.

Get your drinks to 60-70% (6 drinks) and take the max bet every time. That will get you the 35,000 needed for the Dead Eye deed.

Don’t drink more than 6 drinks, especially not in multi-player. You’ll look silly.

If you miss the timing with the green bar, don’t panic and don’t waste the shot! You can still gain a benefit by hitting the left hand plate! You may wish to avoid the other crockery though!

Results of smashing up:
Either mug: +1 or -1 drink (random)
Plate on wall to the left: x2 next toss
Plate on wall to the right: 1/2 next toss
Vase on left of the target: x2 meter speed

Unlocking the Mines

Once you have achieved all three deeds you will see another star in the doorway. Your reward is an in-game promotional poster to go with the wallpaper you have hopefully already won from King Under the Mountain.

Next week we’ll take on the hobbits at Eleventy-Seven Morsels.

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.

I regretted it almost immediately.

I knew we would be forced onto a specific server set which annoyed me – I’m used to Sony games where some servers are designated with an intended audience (by language or play-style) but as a player I get to choose the server which will best suit me. The recent trend is to force players into a limited server choice based on location whether it’s appropriate for them or not.

A much bigger issue was that I wasn’t permitted to log into the official website. As someone who enjoys writing things up, I’d have liked to take part in the information gathering, but I couldn’t. At first, I thought it was an oversight.

I contacted Turbine to say that I would love to take part in discussions on the LOTRO message boards but I could not because I bought the game in Europe. They responded to let me know that US customers couldn’t post on the (totally underutilized) Codemaster boards, so it was fair. I asked about the Lorebook and other functionality which are only on the official site and thus not available to us. I was told it was “coming soon.”

That was over six months ago and it’s still “coming soon”. Ignoring the bizarreness of having two separate knowledge bases for your fans to populate (what a waste!), there doesn’t seem to be any intention to include the European customers in the community.

Why do this? Why arbitrarily split up your English-speaking user base?

And now this:

Book 13: Doom of the Last-king – Coming soon!
25-Apr-2008

Dear players,

Some of you were expecting to see Book 13 patched up in today’s regular weekly maintenance and were disappointed when it was not.

We are sorry to report that despite best efforts, we were unable to bring you the update within the usual day or two delay after the US update goes live. This was due to a series of last minute problems that meant that the EU version was not ready to go live.

We’re working furiously behind the scenes to bring it to you as soon as possible. We’re unable to give you a firm date right now as this will depend largely on how testing goes over the coming days. I will keep you updated as regularly as possible.

We understand that the previous in-game splash screen said Book 13 was coming in April however we’ve looked at the schedule and will not be able to make that date, for which we apologise. We’ve swapped out the splash screen so as not to further confuse anyone.

As soon as we have more information regarding the EU standalone patch availability and the final date that we will go live with Book 13, we’ll post announcements to the launcher, website and forums, so look out for those.

Thank you for you patience.

You know, I think I’m just about all out of patience. I’m sorry but I’m furious. I think I’ll stick to games where I don’t feel like a second-class citizen because I’m not currently in the United States.

Someone let me know when Turbine is ready to join the global community that the rest of us have been enjoying for over a decade, ok?

Posted by Taymar on http://www.mmorpg-info.org.