Not sure whether this is really good or really bad timing: less than a week after Wrath of the Lich King, the second World of Warcraft expansion, went live, new expansions to Lord of the Ring Online and EverQuest 2 have been launched.
Turbine's Jeffrey Steefel has stated the relationship between the developer and the Tolkien estate has changed since the Lord of the Rings Online project began.
If, as planned, Lord of the Rings Online can successfully launch in China next year, the game is likely to become only the second truly successful western MMO released in Asia, the game's dev lead Jeff Steefel has told VG247.
IncGamers recently caught up with Turbine's Jeffrey Steefel as he prepares for the launch of the Mines of Moria expansion for Lord of the Rings Online. We asked him about the super secret MMO in development by Turbine for consoles and he talked us through the challenge of bringing the MMO to the sofa.
Lord of the Rings Online boss Jeff Steefel reckons Wrath of the Lich King isn't a problem to his Mines of Moria expansion, despite the fact the two are launching within a week of each other.
To prepare you for the release of Mines of Moria next week, Turbine has announced that their downloadable updater is now available. With this updater, you'll be able to download the new expansion for Lord of the Rings Online before it actually goes live on the servers. Plus, this is a way for you to download the content on another computer, transfer the patch to a disk or device, then run it on your LotRO computer later.
Battling other players in Lord of the Rings Online's Ettenmoors will become a bit more balanced (read: challenging), once Mines of Moria releases next month. According to a recent dev diary, the devs have been aware of some issues with the PvP zone since the game launched, and have performed a complete revamp just in time for Moria.
Massively is happy to announce that the Non Disclosure Agreement for Lord of the Rings Online's Mines of Moria beta will be officially lifted tomorrow! They've spent several weeks in the beta, exploring the deepest depths, leveling the two new classes and experimenting with the new Legendary Item system all for you.
Massively: "It's been quite a long time since we've reported on a House of Commons dev chat with Lord of the Rings Online's Turbine and Codemasters devs, so this latest one should come as a special treat. In it, we get word of a few new features for the first expansion, Mines of Moria, which was just announced today to have a release date of November 18th! In order to paraphrase this long dev chat, we've bullet-pointed what we feel is the most interesting answers to player questions:"
GamingShogun writes, "Turbine has announced the release date for its upcoming Mines of Moria expansion to the Lord of the Rings Online. The expansion is due out in North America and Europe beginning November 18th. If you pre-order the expansion, you will receive two free in-game items..."
The Harvest Festival is coming! The Harvest Festival is coming! Starting later today, September 26th, and running until October 13th, Lord of the Rings Online will play host to the second annual Middle-earth Harvest Festival. According to the announcement, there will be a return of player favorites like bobbing for apples, picking pumpkins, horse races and the Geode Surprise.
Often times, players want to know why there's no open or "proper" PvP in Lord of the Rings Online. The system they have in place now is very unlike what most other games consider a player vs player environment. To many, this is a good thing, but to others, it detracts from the game. To fully understand the reasoning behind no open PvP system in LotRO, one must first fully comprehend the lore. J.R.R. Tolkien's world is extremely important to Turbine (despite what some may think with the introduction of the Rune-keeper), so the way they incorporate popular game mechanics into their heavily lore-based PvE game is a constant battle.
Codemasters has announced the opening of the Lord of the Rings Online Mines of Moria expansion beta sign-ups.
Destructoid writes: "The first thing that Adam Merskey, Director of Communications at Turbine told me was, 'Nobody delivers as much content as Turbine.' Over the course of Gen Con 2008, I've learned that may be completely true. Turbine has the excellent habit of never neglecting its fans, even if the game is nine years and has already been updated one hundred times. The idea behind this is one of fan loyalty and a sense of duty.
Turbine has released the finalized box art for the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria.
Codemasters and Turbine have announced that the eagerly awaited update will go live tomorrow.
Turbine, Inc has revealed that a number of investors have pumped $40 million into its coffers, including Time Warner, for the development of "new titles"."With this funding we are uniquely positioned to change the future of online entertainment as we bring new titles to market, as we expand the platforms we support and introduce new technologies to sustain self-evolving game worlds." said Turbine president Jim Crowley.Bring new titles ...
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Turbine, Inc. and Codemasters Online today announced the launch of Swig and Toss, the second mini-game on www.unlocktheminesofmoria.com. Registered participants can challenge themselves and their friends to earn special deeds that unlock unique rewards including exclusive videos, images, and in-game items that will aid them on their journey when The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria launches this fall.
CVG writes: Turbine properly launches new website attached to first LotRO expansion. Mini-games included. LotRO's first full expansion Mines of Moria causing your +5 girdle of endurance to burst in anticipation? Then clutch website Unlocktheminesofmoria.com in a passionate embrace.