There’s been a rush of news lately with quite a few putting out updates on the beta, new zone, and Turbine Store. Folks have covered some of these already but I will include my take on them as well.
First up is the interview Mordor of Bust conducted with Kate Paiz, LOTRO’s new Executive Producer who was also part of DDO’s transition to the Free to play model. A couple things that jumped out at me but certainly take a read for yourself:
- Since DDO went F2P (Sept. 2009) they’ve released 5 updates and they’re expecting similar frequency with LOTRO. Now we’ll see how big those updates are but 5 updates in 9 months is pretty darn nice.
- She does mention that they’ve already made changes due to Beta feedback, and that the stat tomes from the Turbine Store are also world drops which is nice to know.
- It is nice to see how much Middle-Earth Enterprises is engaged with the entire process, so I feel comfortable that things will still remain close to the lore.
- Interesting to note the LOTRO hasn’t released in China yet and that they’re still looking for a business model that will work over there. That should provide a nice revenue stream for Turbine when that kicks in.
MMORPG.com has a pretty lengthy article on their playtime in the beta including information on the new zone, the instance scaling, and the store. From what it sounds like from the descriptions I’ve read, Enedwaith sounds like a gorgeous zone and I can’t wait to wander around in the bright sunshine again. I’m really excited for the new instance scaling part but a tad disappointed that we’ll have a new set of tokens to fill up our packs. Plus rumor has it there’s no progress on a “wallet” to keep all these things in so we’ll be forced to most likely buy more vault space. But this all does pale to the prospects of returning to some of the places I haven’t been to in a long while and gain (hopefully) useful rewards to go along with the fun challenges. In discussing the store, they do confirm that not only will you be able to accelerate deed completion but also buy the virtues outright. I’ve waffled back and forth on this concept quite a bit but I think I’m coming around to it and am sure I will take advantage of it on my main and my alts.
Ten Ton Hammer also has a similar preview posted but the do include some screenshots including the shot below of the ruins of Enedwaith:
Very similar information but always fun to hear others describe what’s going on and what the new toys are. I’m getting pretty anxious to go back and see the Annuminas instances as those were fun, challenging, and not terribly long. Not to mention the prospects of not having to horse to the instance door is very welcome, although I will concede a tad lore-breaking 🙂