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Mirkwood patch and patch notes available

Codemasters Online have today made the patch notes, and more importantly, the stand alone patcher available today.

That means you can read the HUGE long list of new stuff and enhancements HERE , while waiting for the download to complete.  The game won't start working yet, but it will save you much time and get you playing the new content quicker if you get the patch now.

Please be patient though, as the download isn't coming down very quickly for me!

Patch page here .

Krispy

Mirkwood expansion - some hands on time!

I'm just back from a half day of Mirkwood expansion... well the official European press launch anyway, thanks to Codies fantastic Faya who invited 'team Krispy' along :)



I'm uploading images from our hands on playing - so lots to view in the gallery .

There's plenty new - one of the highlights being the all new 'skirmish system' - which is a repeatable, join anywhere, 1,3,6,12 person instances which do have a 'story' and are fully customisable and have random events!  You can even tune the difficulty leave - more risk, more rewards.  It's not about single drops during the skirmish - you receive skirmish points, which can be saved and swapped for nice rewards.  So you can complete many solo skirmishes and receive just the same rewards as someone who has enough friends to do the 12 man skirmish, which seems a nice feature.  Anyone from level 30+ can start skirmishing, and you can do it from ANYWHERE in middle earth.  You do have to take a tutorial first though.  Initially there will be 12 different skirmish 'scenarios' - but more will be added.

Also of note;
12 man super raid (you've got to see the badies you've got to face!),
3 and 6 person instances,
customisable 'soldier companion' for the skirmishes,
HUGE new multi area map. 
Mounts now learnt as skills, so more bag space freed.
Oh and the level cap is raised to 65 from 60.
Legendary weapons can now level to 60.
Legendary weapons level faster later on - less grind required.
Emotes and interactions while on horseback (you can sell and get/complete questions while still on hourseback)
New legendary weapon rune slot - which is CRAFTABLE ONLY!  (so crafters are useful again)
Crafting of 1st age legendary items (also more feedback on how it's going to turn out).
A lot of 'useless' legendary traits removed - as per feedback from community.
100's of new quests, and lots of new deeds.
WAR MACHINES - in some of the skirmishes you get to use war machines

Siege of Mirkwood, release details

Codemasters have now released firm details about the upcoming digital expansion to the LotrO game.  It adds many new features, such as increased level cap to 65, new areas, new game systems, and much more.

You can go to the official page here and pre-order .

There are several options available;

Codemasters Online Unveils: Siege of Mirkwood

Codemasters Online today unveiled The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood, the digital expansion to the award-winning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG).


Siege of Mirkwood will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces to press further eastward into the dark, foreboding and treacherous forest of Mirkwood and take part in the epic conclusion to Volume II of The Lord of the Rings Online.

Siege of Mirkwood will be available as a digital download this autumn and provide players with an increased level cap, a new region including the legendary evil fortress of Dol Guldur, major enhancements to combat and Legendary Items and the introduction of Skirmishes, a new system where players will train customizable soldiers and take them into battle as part of the War of the Ring.

“2009 has been a year of unprecedented growth for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of Siege of Mirkwood will end the year with a bang,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “As the game expands east of the Misty Mountains, players will face the raging war and shadow that has spread across Middle-earth and the new Skirmish system will thrust players and their soldiers into the War of the Ring.”

Important news - Phishing attempt

Codemasters have posted a warning to all LotrO players - some dodgy characters are using the ingame messaging to send out 'phishing' attempts - sending you a link to an url which they say you need to log into with your LotrO account details.  Please IGNORE THEM!

We've found a phishing attempt in ingame messages. Do not be fooled by the message, which asks you to visit a fake website (that looks very similar to the american LOTRO website) and enter your login details.
We ask the players to be very careful and not to enter their login details on the message's link. It is in fact a phishing attempt.

We'd also like to remind you of the only official homepage for LotRO EU: http://www.lotro-europe.com/ and that you only log into our accountsystem on https://cogaccounts.codemasters.com/ with your personal data and nowhere else.

For more information on important safety information, visit this useful forum thread.

Design a horse competition!

Codemasters have today published the details of their lastest fun competition.  What are they asking you to do?  Design a new look horse for use within the actual game (Yes you'll see your design run around middle earth, and even possibly ride it yourself :)  )

“We're pleased to announce a brand new contest for players of The Lord of the Rings Online; the LOTRO "Design a Horse Contest"! LOTRO fans, it's time to show us your artistic and creative skills: we’re giving you the opportunity to submit your very own design for a horse which could be taken and implemented into the game as a player mount in a future content update.”

The full announcement can be found here:

 

EN: English Contest Announcement

FR: French Contest Announcement

DE: German Contest Announcement

Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm out now!

Codemasters Online is proud to announce that the latest major free content update to The Lord of the Rings Online™: Mines of Moria™ is now live and ready to play!


Free to subscribers, Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm is a huge new update with a whole host of new features. These include the continuation of the Epic storyline, crafting revisited and the return of the Summer Festival.

NEW FEATURES:

• The Epic story continues
  
• New Boat-keepers offer Swift Travel routes across Lake Evendim!
  
• Free up inventory space with item stacking to 50 or 100!
  
• New barter system for First Age legendary weapons!
  
• New UI to fill out a stack of goods or enter the amount you need!
  
• Save your UI layout with the /UI command!

For more detailed information about what new content is included in Book 8, view the official patch notes or check out our Book 8 overview page.

Book 8 - released this Tuesday?

It looks likely that the awaiting book 8 update for LotrO will be released to the European Live servers this Tuesday (30th June).  Bad timing for me, as I'll be at the Spinal Tap gig in London, but hey ho :)

Barring any further unforeseen issues to prevent it, please note that this week's maintenance will take place on Tuesday, 30th June, starting 7.00 – 15.00 hours (GMT+1).

This is to update to Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dûm along with the hotfixes to resolve issues with instances reported earlier in the week and stuck characters/connection issues reported on the US service.

To read the preview patch notes of everything that's been fixed and added, visit our patch notes section.

Please note that there will be no maintenance on Thursday, 2nd July.

Devchat June 2009

Warcry hosted the latest LotrO dev chat (June 12th 2009) - and we have the transcript of the questions asked; http://www.lordoftheringsonline.net/readarticle.php?article_id=35

During the question and answer session I was pestering Faya for a release date for book 8 - but she resisted all my efforts (including offers of chocolate), she's a tough cookie! :)

So all I know is, book 8 is going to be here 'Soon' (damn that word).  My guess is... within the next two weeks... I've got a feeling in my ale. :)

Possible book 8 changes

Here's a HUGE list of possible (or probable) changes coming in book 8 - and when will that be?  I reckon fairly soon now, if Turbine are to keep to their 2 month release cycle.

Epic Book 8:

The plans of Gorothúl, sorcerer of Dol Guldur, begin to be made clear as ancient evils stir again in the depths of Khazad-dûm. Small fellowships must form to combat this emerging threat before the hopes of the Iron Garrison and the Elves of Lothlórien are ended by the darkness. The story of The Mines of Moria continues with new quests and challenges!

 

Crafted Equipment minimum level usage requirement changed

Certain crafted equipment items had their minimum level usage requirement changed for Book 8. However, bound items in the player's possession which were changed to exceed the player's level will instead match the player's level. Non-bound and banked items are not versioned in this way.

 

Lothlorien Gift Box Changes:

• There is no longer a chance to receive First-age items.
• There is no longer a chance to receive Tier 4 Runics.
• The Heritage Runes have significantly increased in value.
  • The lowest value is now 75k.
  • The highest value is now 250k.
• There is now a chance to receive Level 58 and Level 59 Second-age items (you can still get Level 60 Second-age items as well).
• The odds have been tweaked, the most significant of which is that there's now a slightly higher chance of receiving a Second-age item, but a lower chance of that Second-age being Level 60 (due to the inclusion of Level 58 and 59 Second-age items).
• The costs of the gift boxes have been significantly reduced: they now cost 15G 30S.
• The descriptions of the gift boxes have been changed to more accurately reflect the potential rewards.
• The gift boxes are no longer class restricted for those who mistakenly purchased the wrong box.
• Please note that there will be no compensation for those who have already purchased a gift box: when you opened that gift box you had a chance to get a Level 60 First-age item.

Explanation of Changes:

The gift boxes have been changed from a high-risk / high-reward design to a more friendly middle-ground design. The high-end rewards have either been removed (First-age) or had their chances reduced (Level 60 Second-age), while the low-end rewards have either been removed (15k Heritage Rune, Tier 4 Runics) or increased (250k Heritage Runes are now available). Because the high-end rewards have been removed/reduced, the cost of the giftboxes has been reduced as well.

First Age Legendary Items

First Ages are now dropped via a barter system.Each raid now drops barter tokens that can be saved up to use to trade for the First Age item of your choice. Vile Maw, Strange Happenings, and Dar Narbugud will all drop multiple tokens. Go visit the barter traders at the Hythe docks to see all the possibilities.

• Level 59 First Age's will cost 4 tokens
• Level 60 First Age's will cost 6 tokens

Currently First Age Legendary items are Bind on Acquire on Bullroarer. This change will be reverted and will not go live when Book 8 ships.

Next European Dev Chat on Friday 12th June!

You've got another chance to put questions directly to the developers of LotrO (Turbine) during another developer chat on IRC.

Don't forget that on Friday 12th June it's the European IRC dev chat night! From 20.00 until 21.00 UK time, (GMT + 1). Developers from Turbine will be on hand to answer your questions about all things LOTRO!

For full details on how to participate, please visit Warcry's site.

Not going to be around for the chat? Send your questions in early to lotro-europe@codemasters.com.

Dev Chat question guidelines:
Be sure to put "Dev Chat Question" as the subject line
Only one question per person
Your question must be in English
We can't answer all questions but we will select a representative group from all submissions.