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Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard Impressions
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
With the announcement that Lord of the Rings Online would be expanding this fall, Turbine generated a lot of excitement as players would finally get to Isengard. MMORPG.com's Drew Wood had the opportunity to check out some of the Rise of Isengard expansion and has some impressions to offer. Check it out and then let us know what you're looking forward to in the comments.
The expansion though is really all about the regional content and the storyline leading up to your confrontation at Isengard. Working with the Grey Company of Rangers (who are scouting out Dunland), you must learn the nuances and intricacies of the Dunland people, learning just what kind of hold Saruman has over them and what's in store for the Rohirrim. The Rangers have split up their forces, allowing you two entrances into the content of the expansion with two regions within Dunland. First, I was shown the Bonevales, the ancient resting place of the elder dead of Dunland, where one of the Dunland clans was forced to settle. Having lost their army in their quest to retake their ancestral homeland to a campaign against the Rohirrim, the clan now uses the bodies of their fallen to, essentially make a new army.
Read more of Drew Wood's Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard Impressions.
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Comments
Sounds Great!
Also, here's hoping that all of the under the hood tinkering (class updates, etc...) go a long way towards freshening up the whole leveling experience from 1-65 (as a serial Altoholic, this is where I spend most of my time!)
Only the Reaver!?
Great. That's actually the only class I wanted to play. Time to massacre some pointy-eared pansies!
That didn't sound very orcish, did it?
Nice little read
I'm really looking forward to this expansion
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
One thing I'd love to see Turbine do is to revamp their software engine like Funcom did. The new Funcom engine was a big improvement to how smoothly their game flows graphically. Even after repeated updates to video cards over the past four years, it always feels a bit "jumpy" for a lack of a better word in LotRO. That said I still think that even after four years the over all landscape is one of the most beautiful painted out there.
Basically for a future expansion/update by Turbine i'd love to see said software engine overhaul.
Otherwise I tend to always be rather excited by any expanision by Turbine and always buy them. Bought the 49.95 Isengard expansion and don't regret that since it does support them to continue building a great game.
One issue I did run into, actually two issues but the first one is that the %25 exp bonus you get with the one expansion is a "pocket" item. Sorry Turbine, I'm not about to give up my pocket items that give me stat bonuses etc for one that just makes me earn exp faster. Bad implimentation.
The second issue is the sheer amount of space the cloaks and cosmetic clothing takes up. They should have made "one" set that was account bound instead I have 6x3 per character, ugh.
These are minor issues but I figured I'd mention them because they can be corrected or improved upon.
I thought I might be tempted to return at the next serious expansion. I'm not.
First. All these Dunland clans and their diversity, one clan raising their dead, it simply doesn't ring true as Middle Earth. It is colourful and generic high fantasy. It is Turbine adding a region and then stuffing it full.
Tolkien was not high fantasy. It was low fantasy. Magic was rare. Turbine's "middle earth" has become a generic fantasy world. For those who read Tolkien as a child it is quite sad to see the uniqueness of that world get trashed for profit.
turn off quest tracking the on minimap, helped me when i started playing.
Apparently stating the truth in my sig is "trolling"
Sig typo fixed thanks to an observant stragen001.
As much as I once tried to convince folks I wasn't a fanboy of lotro, I'm beginning to embrace my inner fanboy now. I know, I know, but for some reason, the game just does it for me. And yes, I've already preordered the expac.
It's a proven historical fact that beer saved humankind.
98% of all quests and content in Lotro are based off of the novels. That inculdes the novels Tolkien wrote other the the famous trilogy.
You do know there are other novels of Middle Earth lore right? Not to mention that Turbine is having to stretch lore out and expand on to make enough content to last several years because otehrwise it wouldn't take too long to go through everything in one go.
If you are a fan of Toklien's works, be glad there is any appreciation shown to his works rather than none at all I would suggest.
I started in '07 during book 9 and liked it so much I ended up witih 2 lifetime accounts. Like all games you get tired and move on to other things but I've continued to buy the expansions and play off and on (mostly in monster pvp). It's never seemed like a tolkien world to me since it follows the movies and Turbine has continued to add to the story even if it really doesn't fit in so like others have said it's more like your average fantasy game with no real surprises or unique kinds of gameplay. I'm sure this appeals to the masses as it makes it easy to get into with the exception of the every increasing complexity of the legendary weapons and items. Isengard isn't offering anything I'm willing to spend more cash on and frankly with it taking 4 years to reach this point I no longer want to support Turbines long-winded retelling which only sets us up for many more years of buying content. On top of this they are dog slow when it comes to fixing things and their forums have turned into a slaughterhouse for their moderators to keep cracking the whip with a zeal that I find embarrassing. (I got moderated as it turned out because I made a post saying I was leaving for awhile. Apparently, their guidelines for the forums calls for this to head off any chance of a loud goodbye. It only took me 4 months to find this out and it's obvious their business is all that matters to Turbine and the subscribers need to mind their place and keep forking over the cash in what looks to be a 10 year mission to Mount doom. Of course if you are the type that likes grinding levels, equipment ect it's probably the game for you but since they went 'free to play' the gloves have come off and it's more a monetary enterprise than a tolkien oriented love-fest. I'm not forecasting doom here but more just frustration with their lack of care devoted to their customers. So follow the herd and you will find great happiness in the next green field ready for consumption. (I'll be there chewing my cud but only on the older grass).
Yeah... the Rune-Keeper was a pretty bad idea and a bit overpowered (survivability) for a glass-cannon.
What a game, I have been playing since Beta, & loving it! So looking forward to this expansion! I have 10 characters on Brandywine..tells it all!! Hope to see my friends in the new places!!
Btw, WHAT in the world is an advertisement doing on here?!?!?!? Thought this was a GAME site..it needs to be taken off...
I still want to know if this expansion is modular -- I don't want to waste Turbine Points on a 24-man raid that I will never play. I don't want to subsidize gameplay that I don't participate in.
Somehow I read this wall of text. You think this game is following the movies? Where the heck did you get that idea? They follow the books that Tolkien wrote. And not just the Lord of the Rings novels but other books that Tolkein wrote that dealt with the lore of Middle Earth. They do their best to stick with the lore that Tolkein wrote and I think they have done a good job, it could be a lot worse. Like I said in another thread no game will ever be perfect, you are just kidding yourself if you think that.
Turbine is a company and they have to make decisions on what will make them money, because you know thats what companies do. Their free to play/sub hybrid must be working and people must be enjoying their time if Turbine said they had a huge increase in population and an increase in profits. So yea, shame on Turbine for think about making money.
And just to note, I have been playing since 07 and have been playing nonstop since then and also have a lifetime sub. Yes Turbine has done some things that make me scratch my head, but I don't let "little" things get in the way of my enjoyment.
Games playing: Lotro,Fallen Earth,Star Trek Online.
Games playing casually: CoX,Guild Wars,FFXIV,Champions Online,DDO.
Games Played: WoW,DR,L2,RoM,FFXI,Earthrise,EQ2,DAoC,WAR,Rift,Alganon,EVE,G&H Rome Rising.
Waiting for: Guild Wars 2 and Star Wars: The Old Republic.
PC Specs: Intel i7 990x 3.5ghz, 6gb ddr3 Ram,EVGA GTX 570 SC FTW,EVGA x58 Classified 4-way SLI MB, 2TB HDD 7200rpm, 60GB Intel SSD: OS Drive, Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit, Westinghouse 21 in. 1680x1050.
I look forward to this expansion already.I even tried to pre order with Legendary version.
But for a person with Windows 7, IE 9 and just a Dutch but confirmed Paypal account, i cant seem to buy this.
There is a bug somewhere saying the transaction is not correctly done at the paypal site.
So i created a support ticket at the LOTRO support page to Turbine.
2 days later i get email not from them but from my payment..that has gone wrong.
Funny thing is...you need to pay within 3 days or else the order become invalid and will be deleted.The support ticket will be answered withing 3-5 days...sigh. Still no reply from Turbine.
GReat work guys!! Im really disappointed. Anyone know any dutch phonenumbers to call Turbine to get this job done?
Sara Oakheart was in the novels :P? Looking forward to Isengard and the Monster Play.
"I am the harbinger of hope. I am the sword of the righteous. And to all who hear my words, I say this: What you give to this Empire, I shall give back unto you."
-Empress Jamyl Sarum I
I still think LOTRO is yet one of the best MMOs out there presently. ^^
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
Hmm. Interesting. Don't you think that SWTOR and LotrO have a lot in common as features, both being of the themepark mold? Just saying
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Really??? Well you'll have to convince me of that.
It's been a very long time however I don't remember any mention of Azog the orc king of Moria in anything Tolkien wrote, however the whole story of your character being in Moria surrounds itself around this Azog character that doesn't appear in any of Tolkien's books from what I can remember.
I'd say less than 50% of what's in the game is actually in the literature. Then again I haven't read much other than the trilogy so please share the titles of other Tolkien books from which Lotro is getting it's story line from. I am very interested in reading them.
Are you being serious? If you are truly interested enough in the lore to have it be a deciding factor in your enjoyment of the MMO, you might want to check out the hobbit, the silmarillion, and the history of middle-earth to get a better understanding of just how well Turbine brought middle-earth to life.
Edit: Azog is mentioned here:
The Hobbit: "An Unexpected Party," p. 33; "The Clouds Burst," p. 292
It's good to hear about the storyline of the upcoming expansion... but what about added stuff. The level cap is increased to lvl 75. What about:
- crafting: any new tier crafting?
- any new classes, like we had runekeeper and warden added with Moria?
- how are the legendary items going to keep up with the level cap increase?
For 50$, I expect to have more then just a new region and a level cap increase.
Have had an on-off (more off than on) relationship with Lotro.. I was one of the new influx of players last year when it went free to play.
I decided to emabark on a costly exciserise this year to find the 'one game' I want to devote time to - and after spending silly money with WoW, trying Rift and looking at other options, I've decided its Lotro. Why? first, story.. whilst SWTOR and Guildwars 2 are all preaching 'story' the truth is Lotro has had story in excess since I first encountered it. The use of phasing which was only recently implemented in Wow and soon to be in GW2 and SWTOR has been a mainstay. The second, lore. SWTOR is based in a black and white world where there are very clear good and evils and no inbetween. Guild Wars lore fairs better in that each race has good and evil aspects, but fails in being too grey. Lord of the Rings on the other hand has a legacy in literature that is unparalleled. Lotro based on the books (not the movies) has a vast canon of information which the orginal author left us. As a result Lotro isn't just a beilveable world, it works perfectly in the good vs evil catagory since everyone is capable of being seduced by evil, but also capable of being seduced by good. Almost everying in Lotro just extrudes quality, from the graphics (on DX11 hardware) through to the compelling storylines and vast world and detailed crafting.
Guild Wars 2 has recently been talked about, and the Developers often talk about 'scale' that sense of scale lost to WoW with it flying mounts and ambigious steampunk/fantasy mash is here in spades in Lotro. It is a big world, it it takes you time to reach point a to point b - in much the same way that Eve online gives you a vast scale.. so does Lotro. Lotro has done this with a 'distance' imposed into its artwork, nicely demonstrated with this screeny
Isengard's release has prompted me to do something I never thought I would. Not only have I pre-ordered the expansion, but I purchased a VIP membership for a whole year - yes I am not a lifer!!! I sadly missed that amazing opportunity.
The move to turbine, doesn't put me off, in fact I feel happier already.. its never a good move to have a thrid party between a user and the developers..
Very happy with Lotro, and I can only hope some of the over-hyped games once biten leave some people cold and wanting a more mature and higher class of game, that Lotro represents.
Judging by what was released to the public, I am totally not impressed by the Isengard expansion. No realy new stuff is coming with this addon, it is just level and virtues cap-increase and some new regions to go with them. No crafting updates (what happened with the Uniq Items crafting possibility that was mentioned like a year ago?), no hobby system update, no new classes, no new mechanics at all. SoM at least introduced skirmishes which are great for solo and small-group oriented players, but Isengard do not seems to bring anything new.
Thanks god, further Moria-like additions such as the legendary items system, radiance or new classes like Rune-keeper or Goat-mount just messed up the game.
REALITY CHECK
Really? Not high fantasy? Tolkien and Lord of the Rings is the very defenition of high fantasy.
I am looking forward to this expansion. Finally I can start leveling my characters again, in new storylines and content