There are massively multiplayer online games that release and seem content with adding content to the back end without regard to story. What sets Lord of the Rings Online apart is that it is a game steeped in lore and is on the cusp of a war.
When Turbine set out to create the game, there were naysayers that thought the world too defined. After all, there was the Ringbearer on his quest to destroy the One Ring and once that was done, the threat to Middle-earth was basically done. But Turbine has proven that to be anything but true. LotRO launched three years ago and is on the cusp of releasing yet another expansion, one that will expand the game markedly.
The Siege of Mirkwood takes the game into another direction by opening up skirmish warfare. GameZone was recently given a tour of the beta of the expansion and found a game that caters to both those seeking a smaller instanced selection of quests but also putting players into the heart of the War of the Ring.
Aaron Campbell, the live producer at Turbine, conducted the tour that began near Lothlorien, traveled to Ost Galadh and then into the citadel that is Dol Guldur.
Before getting into the nuances of the tour, the press release recently sent out by Turbine provided a quick overview of the more apparent new features coming with this expansion.
- The epic conclusion to Volume II: Mines of Moria – Under the command of Celeborn and Galadriel, players will fight through vast armies of orcs alongside the elves of L�rien in a battle that will take them to Dol Guldur, the fortress of the ringwraiths. This update includes Book 9 and the Epilogue to the sweeping epic tale begun with the Mines of Moria expansion.
- Players will be able advance their characters up to level 65, gaining access to new traits, virtues, skills and class quests.
- Jump into the heat of battle with the new skirmishes feature. Skirmishes offer endless action in repeatable, randomized instances where players can create and lead customizable soldiers into battle, training them to greater skill as they earn victories against the forces of shadow. Answer the call of war wherever violence erupts with the new “World Join” function that lets players and their fellowships band together to fight in various locations throughout Middle-earth.
- Infiltrate the dark jails, deadly arenas and savage stables of Dol Guldur, the fortress of the ringwraiths, and strike a blow against Sauron’s forces in new 3 and 6-player instances. Call upon your fellows to adventure into the most deadly 12-player raid yet and face the ultimate challenge – the Nazg�l Lord!
- Turbine continues to improve the experience of LotRO with major improvements to the combat and Legendary items systems. Players will experience improved responsiveness when in the heat of battle. Players will also be able to create and craft their own customized Second and Third Age Legendary Items from raw materials and grow their weapons’ power to level 60. Achieve new Legacies, new titles, and a fourth Runic slot that will make Legendary Items even more unique and powerful.
The expansion focuses on the elves as they prepare an offensive to push back the armies of Sauron into a series of confrontations.
“What we are doing essentially, what the players will be involved in, is a distraction action to pull the eyes of Mordor away from the Ringbearer,” Campbell said.
Using instances tells the story of that offensive, presenting skirmish encampments and giving the game a very martial feel to it. “It’s a different vibe entirely,” Campbell said.
All the story-based instances are scalable to party size and difficulty; it is an entirely new layer to the already existing story and brings the conflict that embraces Middle-earth more into focus for the players. One of the instances shown took place in Bree and involved defending The Prancing Pony from a series of attacks designed to destroy the inn. Getting into a skirmish is relatively easy – all players need do is hit Control-J to pull up a list of options and then pick a skirmish to join. For participating, players will earn Skirmish Marks, which can be used to purchase a variety of rewards. There is also a Skirmish Trainer in the camps that can offer rewards.
As mentioned this element adds another level to the game, and helps pull LotRO to the forefront of a long list of MMOs.
“There are a few things that distinguish LotRO,” said Campbell. “Certainly the depth of the story is important, but it is the tenacity of our team that brings out the flavor and atmosphere of the story. I would also say the art and the depth of the world that we were able to build (distinguishes the game within its genre).”
But certainly the depth of J.R.R. Tolkien’s story is a great start to base an IP on, but Campbell took the notion a step further …
“The design team has really been able to make it about you as the hero. And now add a whole new level of that. Layer all that with legendary items and yeah, I think there is just a lot we have to work with here.
“(And) The team continues to go back and refine, even at the early levels, so there is a natural flow to the game.”
One of the driving elements of the expansion is the impressive atmosphere of the environments. The tour jumped into southern Mirkwood where the evil of Sauron, flowing from the citadel, has corrupted the forest. Sometimes what you see is not there, or is not what you think you see. And the history of Middle-earth gets a nod through the runes that touch on the richness of ages past. There are war camps for the orcs, replete with huge bonfires. The environments are textured in such a way as to give each area a distinctive personality.
While the epic storyline alone is worth another 20 hours or so of gameplay, there is so much more here that beckons to the LotRO faithful, including the instanced zones, the skirmishes and the group play.
But Turbine was not merely sated with that. The combat system has been reworked to be more responsive, and mounts have been taken from the inventory and made into a skill, while the game mechanics with them are tighter. Players will be able to, for example, interact with NPCs while mounted.
And new quests have been added to existing areas, and there are even new areas at the lower levels to explore, with some quests tailored to be shorter in length for groups of up to three players.
Scheduled to launch December 1, the Siege of Mirkwood expansion is a vibrant and robust adjunct to a top-tier MMO that continues to get better with age.
