Developer: Turbine
Platform: PC
Price: Free to Play w/ Microtransactions
Genre: MMORPG
Release Dates:
LotRO: Shadows of Angmar - April 24th, 2007
LotRO: Mines of Moria November 18th, 2008
LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood December 1st, 2009
LotRO: Free 2 Play September 10th, 2010 (September 8th for subscribers)
LotRO: Mines of Moria November 18th, 2008
LotRO: Siege of Mirkwood December 1st, 2009
LotRO: Free 2 Play September 10th, 2010 (September 8th for subscribers)
Official Site: http://www.lotro.com/
LotRO Lorebook: http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Lorebook_home
My LotRO: http://my.lotro.com/
LotRO Wiki: http://lotro-wiki.com/
LotRO DynMap: http://dynmap.ruslotro.com/ (Has the location of every NPC, landscape quest item and area in the game.)
LotRO Gear: http://lotrogear.appspot.com/ (Searchable armor list, think WoWHead for LotRO)
LotROInterface: http://www.lotrointerface.com/ (UI mods)
LotRO Server Status Checker: http://status.warriorsofnargathrond.com/
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows® XP
Processor: Intel Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 512 MB
Video: 64 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 3 or ATI® Radeon® 8500
Disk Space: 11 GB available
DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
Internet: 56kbps Modem
Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows® XP / Vista
Processor: Intel Pentium® 4 2.8 GHz or equivalent
RAM: 1 GB
Video: 128 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® FX 6800 or ATI® Radeon® X850
Disk Space: 15 GB available
DirectX: DirectX® 9.0c
Internet: Broadband DSL/Cable
What do they mean by free to play?
Anyone can download the game and play for free. There is no initial purchase cost and no subscription fee. The first three zones (Ered Luin, The Shire, Bree-Land) and all of their content are free, as are four of the skirmishes and all of the dungeons and raids. All of the landscape of Eriador is open for free, but the quests beyond the first three zones must be purchased.
So what can I buy in the Turbine Store?
Quests, vanity items, and account upgrades (extra character slots, extra bank tabs, etc.) make up the bulk of the things available in the store. Content released in the expansions (Mines of Moria & Siege of Mirkwood) is available either in one lump package or in cheaper, individual chunks. You cannot buy high level gear or levels.
How much does this stuff cost?
Quest packs (which include all the quests in a certain zone) range from $5-$10. Extra character slots, new classes, extra bank tabs, and things like that range from $5-$7. Vanity items and housing items are are between $1-$3, mounts are between $5-$15 and so on. The most expensive items in the store are the expansion packs Mines of Moria and Siege of Mirkwood, which are about $25 and $20 respectively.
Is there any other way to get Turbine Points besides buying them?
Yes. Unlocking Deeds (similar to achievements) will earn you Turbine Points. Don't expect to unlock everything via Deeds though as they only give between 5-15 Turbine Points apiece. Still, there are thousands of Deeds in the game and they add up. Achieving all the Deeds in the first three zones alone will net you around 900 Turbine Points.
I heard something about VIPs and Premium players, what's all that about?
The game has three tiers of players, Free, Premium, and VIP. Anyone who plays the game but has yet to purchase anything is a Free player. They have a cap on the amount of gold they can carry (it's high enough that no one in the starter zones will have to worry about it), can buy but not post items on the Auction House, and have other limitations. If you purchase Turbine Points from the store, you are automatically upgraded to a Premium player. It doesn't matter how many points you purchase, upon your first transaction you will be upgraded. Premium players have more character slots, a higher gold limit, etc.. VIP players pay a monthly fee of $15 and in return have access to all of the content in the game, including automatically getting access to all new content. They receive 500 Turbine Points a month and have no limits on their account. For more information on the differences, check out this chart: http://www.lotro.com/betasignup/vipchart.html.
If you have any more questions, feel free to ask in this thread or reference this FAQ: http://www.lotro.com/betasignup/faq.html.
Skirmishes:
In essence, skirmishes are repeatable dungeons that you can join from anywhere, scale with your level, and can be completed solo, 3-man, 6-man, or 12-man. They tend to be shorter than your typical dungeon and are largely randomized. Groups and waves are random and occassionally include a mini-boss called a Lieutenant. There are several dozen different lieutenants in the game, all with different mechanics and strategies. Random events also occur. Skirmishes also make use of a NPC buddy mechanic, called Soldiers. When inside a skirmish instance, you can summon a Soldier to help you in battle. You can level up and customize your soldier, choosing what class they are, which abilities they use, and even how they look. Skirmishes award a decent amount of money, xp, skirmish marks and tokens, which can be traded in for just about anything.Epic Questline:
One of the highlights of the game is the epic questline and the story it tells. Available to all players for free, the epic questline spans the entire game and puts you on the path of the fellowship. The entire first volume (which includes 15 books, each with 8-15 quests) can now be soloed and tells what I consider to be the best story in an MMO yet. This is more than just aping events from the book, it involves you with the fellowship in a smart and believable way and tells its own, new story as well.Legendary Weapons:
If you hit level 50 and unlock the Mines of Moria, you get access to the legendary weapon system. Legendary weapons are items you get to customize and tailor to your play style. You level them up, you upgrade them, you slot relics into them, you can even name them and give them different visual effects. Finding and maxing out the perfect legendary weapon for your character is one of the key things you do at endgame.Traits:
Traits are the way in which you customize your characters play style. Traits comes in four varieties: Virtues, Race, Class, and Legendary. Virtue traits are earned through completing deeds and give passive buffs to your character. Race traits are specific to your characters race and slotting them will do everything from give passive buffs to new abilities. Class traits are the most important type of trait as they determine the strengths of your character, they are LotRO's version of the talent tree in WoW. Legendary traits are essentially ultimate versions of class traits, slotting them will unlock new, powerful abilites or give huge passive buffs and improve your class abilities. While you can look at your (or anyone elses) traits at any time, you must talk to a Bard to slot or rearrange them.Player Housing:
Players and kinships (guilds) can purchase and maintain their own personal homes. Houses are located inside housing instances, there are four different neighborhood types (one for each race, although you can pick whichever you want regardless of what race your character is) and several instances per each. Houses range in price from about 1g to 18g. If you own a home every character on your account will be able to port to it once an hour, likewise if your character is in a kinship with a kinship house. Aside from serving as a second hearthstone, housing are mainly used to show off trophies. Most bosses in the game drop trophies which can be displayed in your house and used for bragging rights.Some housing items can be interacted as well, often with fun, silly results.Session Play:
Ever wanted to explore Middle-Earth as a chicken? How about play as a Dunedain Ranger or one of the dwarves present at the releasing of the Balrog and the fall of Durin's Moria? LotRO has you covered with the session play system. It's used mainly for story-telling opportunities, transporting you back in time to experience first hand key events in the history of Middle-Earth. It's also used in the Ettenmoors, the games PvP zone. Build up enough renown and you can play as either a massive armored troll or a ranger for a time. Session play is also used for other purposes, like running around the landscape as a chicken. You think you're hardcore? You've never had to run around and visit every town in the game as a level 1 chicken without dying and with a 7 hour time limit. Only a noble few have unlocked that title.Cosmetic Outfits:
Available once one of your characters hits level 15, cosmetic outfits allow your character to look the way you want without sacrificing stats. You have three equipment tabs: Your main one contains your actual gear that you receive stats from, the other two are purely for vanity purposes. You can select which of the tabs you want to display on your character at any time, but you'll always receive the stats from the gear in your main tab. There is a ton of purely cosmetic gear in the game (items that have no stats and exist only to make your character look cool) so getting your character looking sharp even at an early level is easy.Fellowship Maneuvers:
When in a group with other players, anyone dealing damage can trigger a Fellowship Maneuver. This will only occur when you're in a group and fighting signature level mobs or higher. Occassionally someone will break through the mobs defenses which stuns the mob and allows the fellowship to execute a special attack on it. Each player can choose between four colors: Red (deals instant physical damage), Yellow (puts a DoT on the mob), Green (Heals you), or Blue (restores power). Beyond the basic effects of which color you choose, the order in which your party chooses them is important. Certain orders unlock special named attacks, which have bonus effects ranging from healing the entire party to summoning powerful NPCs to help fight.One of the Best Damn PvE Endgames Around:
Enjoy a challenge? Do you like having things to work on and do long after you hit the level cap? Do you want your favorite low level dungeons and raids to scale to any level and give scaled rewards? Well get your ass to endgame because LotRO offers one of the most finely tuned and balanced PvE experiences in the genre. Whether it's doing endgame skirmishes with a full raid, delving into the pits of Moria, struggling atop the blizzard-ravaged peaks of Helegrod or fighting your way through the dungeons of Dol Guldor, there is plenty to do and see. Even low level content still holds a draw as there are thousands of deeds and titles to unlock, housing and vanity items to find and secrets to discover.Monster Play:
Available only to VIP players, Monster Play is the games form of PvP. Players can choose to either play as the forces of Sauron or bring their main LotRO characters into the fray. All PvP is held in a big, persistent zone called Ettenmoors. The two forces battle for control of five different keeps and the side that is winning gains access to a special raid. The keeps are available for capture at all times and on the populated servers there is almost always a large battle happening somewhere.Classes:
There are nine classes in the game.Burglar:
A stealth class with mid-range dps. Their main role at endgame is to debuff, CC, and trigger Fellowship Maneuvers.Captain:
A heavy armor class that can heal and has a pet. Their main role at endgame is to buff other players and off-heal.Champion:
A heavy armor class that does excellent AoE damage. Their main role at endgame is to dps, interrupt spell casting, and tank (if traited for it).Guardian:
A heavy armor tanking class. They are one of the two main tanking classes.Hunter:
A ranged dps class. Their main role at endgame is to dps and occassionally CC. They can also port to any major town.Lore-Master:
A ranged dps class with a pet. Their main role at endgame is to dps, CC, debuff, off-heal, and restore power to the party.Minstrel:
A healer class. They are one of the two main healer classes, they also specialize in short-term buffs.Rune-Keeper:
A dps/healer class. Available with Mines of Moria or can be purchased seperately. Their main role at endgame is to dps or heal (with HoTs), they cannot effectively do both at the same time though.Warden:
A tank class. Available with Mines of Moria or can be purchased seperately. They wear medium armor and tank mainly through block/evade/parry mitigation and self-healing. They have the best suvivability when playing solo.
Official LotRO F2P Launch Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1e26wYqma1M&feature=player_embedded
Mines of Moria CG Teaser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SaZ0Ow6zxPM
Siege of Mirkwood Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKQSzw015xs
Siege of Mirkwood/Dol Guldor Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsRWLtt2KuM&feature=channel
Skirmish System Dev Diary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtYuNP9LxxA
Concept Art:
Screenshots:
To join the official GAF server on Brandywine, send a tell in-game to either Teladain, Weng, or Vierge or post your characters name in this thread.
US:
Arkenstone
Brandywine (Official GAF Server)
Spire
KernelPanic
GDGF
bloodydrake
Schrade
Retro
Team Vernia
TimeKillr
centracore
Shanadeus
Mr. Snrub
hamchan
Ignignort
VAIL
aidan
Shalashaska161
Delio
nacire
Infinity
paranoidfortean
hamchan
legend166
theinfinityissue
BlueTsunami
Darknessbear
blackMamba1187
ToddG15
czartim
Rekwest
elrechazao
KernelPanic
GDGF
bloodydrake
Schrade
Retro
Team Vernia
TimeKillr
centracore
Shanadeus
Mr. Snrub
hamchan
Ignignort
VAIL
aidan
Shalashaska161
Delio
nacire
Infinity
paranoidfortean
hamchan
legend166
theinfinityissue
BlueTsunami
Darknessbear
blackMamba1187
ToddG15
czartim
Rekwest
elrechazao
Crickhollow (New!)
Dwarrowdelf (New!)
Elendilmir
Haeleos
Borgnine
Dreohboy
Giolon
Borgnine
Dreohboy
Giolon
Firefoot
Revolutionary
jmonteiro
jmonteiro
Gladden
Imladris (New!)
Landroval (Unofficial RP server)
Wallach
Htown
Htown
Meneldor
Nimrodel
Riddermark (New!)
AndyD
Owensboro
Owensboro
Silverlode
notworksafe
HarryDemeanor
Jibber Hack
Reluctant-Hero
HarryDemeanor
Jibber Hack
Reluctant-Hero
Vilya
Windfola
EU:
Eldar (EN)
Bru
Evernight (EN)
Gilrain (EN)
Laurelin (EN) (Official RP Server)
BrokenSymmetry
Snowbourn (EN)
Belegaer (DE) (Official RP Server)
Maiar (DE)
Morthond (DE)
Vanyar (DE)
Estel (FR) (Official RP Server)
Sirannon (FR)
