Producer's Letters for any game generates hype and expectations for future content and events, and the one from The Lord of the Rings Online today is jam-packed with tidbits to gush over -- which I will now proceed to do!
2019 Recap
So, the first little blip is about the big stuff that was done last year: Anvil of Winterstith, Vales of Anduin, Minas Morgul expansion, Stout-axe dwarf race, Hobbit Present update, and the completion of the Black Book of Mordor storyline. Aaaaand the only parts of that list I've personally experienced are the Stout-axe intro and the Hobbit Present update. I look forward to playing my Stout-axe more, but I'm lukewarm about the Hobbit Presents. The guaranteed Virtue XP is nice, but I feel like the other items are bland or a waste of bag/storage space.
Current Events
Just a line to say people are currently chipping away at the 6-man content and fighting Shelob. I'll get there... someday. Presently, my main on Landroval is hating Mordor and I'm going to have to get someone to help me power through it. When I have the time.
Legendary Items
I'm one of those weird people who liked the Legendary Item system once I reached Moria. I've had a debate with a former player of LOTRO (who quit when the game went Free-to-play) who protests that what was promised for Legendaries isn't what was delivered. I've seen the LOTRO team add more layers of complexity and customization options as the level cap has increased, and I am really hoping that this update they plan for later in the year will simplify this mess they've made. I have actually stopped caring about my Legendaries once I hit level 100. I have no interest in a perpetual grind of the same content just to get items to juice up my Items. If I wanted to do the same content repeatedly, I'd go play Cookie Clicker and raise an army of grandmas to build my cookie empire. Wouldn't it be marvelous if we unlocked actual improvement and better stats as we leveled up or completed deeds, rather than running the same instances on repeat? I doubt that's what we're going to get, but a girl can dream. That there isn't any concrete idea given about how they plan to implement change seems to be an indication that they're going to soak up feedback on the forums.
Late Spring
With the Black Book of Mordor done, the next "epic" storyline is going to be focused on the War of the Dwarves and Orcs based on the theme they present and have titled, "The Legacy of Durin and the Trials of the Dwarves." In a nice change, this storyline will be like the epic storyline of bygone days and be free to everyone. (Yay, free!) They say that the update called "Mists of Wilderland" will take us to the Wells of Langflood where we will "join Durin's line to retake dwarf lands."This raises some questions for me regarding lore and timeline. The War of the Dwarves and Orcs was a 6-year time period in which the dwarves tried to deliberately exterminate the Orcs of the Misty Mountains, taking place in the Third Age and reaching its climax with the Battle of Azanulbizar in the Dimrill Dale (right outside Moria on the Lothlorien side). The 6 years were spent with the dwarves tracking down specific orcs through Wilderland, killing all of the orcs they came across in order to get revenge on those who murdered and desecrated the body of King Thrór.* At this time, Thráin II and Thorin were alive and survived the Battle of Azanulbizar.
So are we time traveling? Are we doing session plays? It's not very clear. I'm fairly sure the lore specialists wouldn't let SSG take this history out of its context. They tack on info about a 12-man raid being released in the fall -- and I wonder if they do so to distract us from wondering about the details! (Say "new raid" and everyone loses their minds. [Insert Heath Ledger Joker meme here.])
* Info about The War of the Dwarves and Orcs taken from "The Complete Tolkien Companion" by J. E. A. Tyler, The War of the Dwarves and Orcs, pages 687-688.
Early Summer
Shifting gears entirely, they throw a new thing at us called "Challenge League." They say it's a new, temporary server which sounds pretty much like PVP in which players pick the side of one of Elrond's sons, both of whom think they're the better leader. I'm not sure if this is for me, because I'm sure a lot of focus is going to be on gear and specific class builds to best opponents. I like that they throw in the option to complete deeds to bring honor to your chosen patron, with milestones available and a leaderboard. I'll at least be curious to see how they execute this idea.Later Summer
Get ready to squee, girls -- it's time for Aragorn and Arwen's wedding! SSG is introducing a new seasonal festival event to commemorate weddings and merriment, and this includes a unique festival questing area in Minas Tirith itself. I foresee a lot of grinding of the same tasks to prepare for the wedding, and I'm hoping the design team pulls out all the stops for cosmetic rewards! (Rumor has it that Farmer's Faire is being integrated into something else to account for this new festival, and as it doesn't appear on the Calendar I am curious where it will go.)Fall
Come fall, we are getting some kind of "new mega update"? They call their update the War of the Three Peaks -- which must be a reference to Moria, which was built under the three peaks in the mid-point of the Misty Mountains: Redhorn (Caradhras), Silvertine (Celebdil), and Cloudyhead (Fanuidhol). (The northern peak was Gundabad, and according to legend is where Durin, eldest of the Seven Fathers of Dwarves, awoke. And the southern peak was Methedras, or Last Peak.) This mega update is going to continue the dwarven storyline and also include content for all levels at the front line of the war in addition to end-game content. If it's a variety of the Big Battle formula, then I'm probably going to make a hard pass on this. (But I hope I get brownie points for doing my research on the name!)
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