It’s not just Midway employees staring down the prospect of an unemployed start to 2009, as job cuts were also announced today for Lord of the Rings Online developers Turbine.
Prepare Lord of the Rings Online fans. It’s almost time for you to get your hands on Mines of Moria – the first expansion for the MMO – is coming November 18th. There will be plenty of new features to look forward to such as the game’s level cap being increased, new items, and the addition of two new classes, Run-keeper and Warden. You’ll also be able to have the option of purchasing a massive collector’s edition with all sorts of goodies. In the mean time we got a new trailer which gives you a fly through the ruins in Durin’s Way.
The next step in the evolution of the MMO species? Or just a gimmick? Eurogamer has noted Turbine’s Jim Crowley is talking about the launch of a genuine social networking site for LOTRO players before year’s end. Live news from the game world, character profiles, friends lists, and sharing screens and videos from the game. “Turbine believes that a closed eco-system will have to become an open eco-system,” he said. “The MMO needs to learn… to adapt itself to the ‘born digital’ generation. The MMO needs to step out of its shell and start reaching a much broader and deeper audience.”
I think this is a great idea. Virtual worlds need to move beyond the game client, particularly if it can let players do their MMO chores during convenient downtime during the day. If WoW had a mobile phone version of the auction house, for example, I don’t think I’d have left when I did. I’d have just kept playing that market to gain some gold between the times I could actually jump in and spend more genuine time playing the game. Allowing friends and guilds to interact as part of a world-specific social network can only be a good thing. Anyone see a downside?
LOTRO to get social network site this year [Eurogamer] More »
Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a nice interview up with Turbine producer Jeffrey Steefel, mostly centered on the Lord of the Rings Online forthcoming Mines of Moria expansion — also discussed are things like how Steefel perceives LOTRO‘s performance, expansion features, and issues of designing for a licence. While WoW is wide open, not being tied to anything but itself, LOTRO has slightly more constraints in what can — or should — be done. Steefel doesn’t see this as a problem, however:
It’s actually more of an opportunity than a problem. It’s rarely a problem. I’ve been a sort of creative person for a long time – in this business and then before that as a performer. And you always need some kind of boundary. Start with a blank canvas and say that you’re going to make stuff up in this big empty vac cum… it’s actually really hard to do. It’s good to have boundaries. The beauty of Tolkein is that he’s created these exquisitely detailed boundaries that have so much depth and richness inside them, and yet still have all kinds of things which are open for interpretation. I mean, we built Angmar basically from scratch, to our liking, based on very few clues… and yet it still feels as if it belongs in Middle Earth. There’s certain things – I can’t have flying cars or motorcycles or things like that. But I can have other things which are very exciting and it means, by definition, the world has a consistency, where it feels right. It all fits together. There’s not things which just don’t make sense.
Interesting interview with some great little tidbits, especially if you’re interested in LOTRO specifically.
Jeffrey Steefel on LOTRO: Mines of Moria [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
Turbine has released a new set of screenshots depicting the two new classes coming to The Lord of the Rings Online when the Mines of Moria expansion this November. The Warden is a rogue, more or less, who wields a spear and can create their own opening moves and specialises on sneaking up on foes. Meanwhile the Rune Keeper is a combination buffer / healer / caster, with the ability to do massive damage or heal massive damage depending. Minstrels all across Middle Earth are rejoicing as they will finally be able to take two steps outside of the healing role without losing their guild.
I’m personally looking forward to giving the Rune Keeper a go myself. I know Tolkien wasn’t big on flash-bang magic, but then Tolkien never played an MMO, now did he?
When we heard this morning that Turbine was planning to put part of its $AU 42.29 million Time Warner-led investment to work doing console MMOs, we wondered if a console version of Dungeons & Dragons Online or Lord of the Rings Online could be in the works.
Alas, when we spoke to Turbine’s communications director Adam Mersky today, he confirmed Turbine is “actively developing a title for console”, but declined to specify.
“We’ve hired over 60 people since the beginning of the year”, said Mersky, and 40 more job postings for the project are currently waiting to be filled. “The people that invested in us, Time Warner… one of the media giants, getting into the MMO fold, and that’s obviously a big deal”, he said. “They also have a huge distribution network… that may bear fruit for us”.
And that investment, Mersky said, makes Turbine “well funded for a good time into the future”, and he told Kotaku a bit more about what the company plans to do with that money.
A nice, week-long vacation in Middle Earth sounds absolutely lovely right now. I mean, they’ve got everything; verdant hills, babbling brooks, Misty Mountains, all-encompassing battle to determine the fate of the world…toss in some taquitos and I’m there. Right now you can take a 7-day trip to the land of hobbits for the low, low price of free as Turbine launches a free trial for their critically acclaimed MMO, Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Just head over to http://trial.lotro.com to sign up, wait out what is sure to be a massive, time-consuming download, and you’ll be toking up pipeweed in the Shire in no time. If anything it’ll be something to do in between periods of swearing you’ll never return to World of Warcraft. More »
Codemasters has unveiled their lineup for next week’s Games Convention in Leipzig, and it looks to me like they’ll be having a fairly strong showing. Along with the aforementioned split-screen multiplayer for Overlord, the company is presenting two eagerly anticipated titles for the first time ever in playable form to the general public: Squad-based horror FPS Clive Barker’s Jericho and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, playable for the first time ever at GC. I’m interested to see the reception Turning Point gets specifically as it’s an alternate reality WWII shooter that begins with Nazi forces invading New York. Still a bit of a sensitive topic in Germany I hear. Joining the two new games are Colin McRae: DiRT and a playable first look at the next Lord of the Rings Online update, The City of the Kings. Definitely a respectable showing from one of the oldest game developers in the UK. Details follow the leap of faith we call the jump. More »
Turbine continues it’s quest to make Lord of the Rings Online players dizzy with new content next week. August 21st sees the release of Book 10: The City of Kings, the second free content update to the massively popular online roleplaying game. Highlights include newly customisable UI (thank god), new reputation (faction) and bartering systems, the latter being akin to WoW’s pvp reward system, where you trade trophies for special items, the introduction of the Ranger of the North and Troll into monster play, and over 100 new quests. In case that wasn’t enough, you’ll be able to play as a chicken. Yes – a tiny, harmless little chicken. Hunting for worms has never been so…present in an MMO. Weird, but I like it. Hit the jump for full details! More »
