Turbine is ready to talk about the next Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Riders of Rohan. We've got a firsthand look at Riders of Rohan and LotRO in 2012. Check it out!

Lord of the Rings Online has been a solid game in the MMO market for five years now. A game that has supported its players, grown with some of the best expansions in the industry now has some major plans for 2012. Riders of Rohan will be the next expansion for LOTRO and this one brings loads of new content to the game as well as a new mechanic that will have everyone talking: mounted combat. What is Rohan without its war steeds and charging attacks? Thanks to Peter Jackson for making them look like bad ass vikings on horseback, the Riders of Rohan expansion brings another massive update to LOTRO, so let’s go down the list of what players can expect.

Read more of Garrett Fuller's Lord of the Rings Online: Bringing Riders of Rohan in 2012.

Cool, so will be be able to buy the new armors in the Lotro store too?

Upping level cap within 1 year of Isengard is just plain stupid....

And allowing Skirmish pets in open world is gonna make leveling in this game even more faceroll.....

LoTRO could've been so much more. This game would've done much better had it been created as a faction game: Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves  VS  Men, Orcs, and Goblins.

A deep world with realistic World PvP.

Oh man...

Glad to hear they're looking at social events.  This is something I've always seen as a major aspect of Middle Earth.  I wish/hope that NPC's in, say, Bree, will actually react to the time of day... work in the afternoon, settle in at the Pony in the evening, and wander home at night.  Right now, the day/night system feels underused and irrelevent.

It would be all good if i could just get over the boringness of levelling the 40s. It just feels grindy to me and angmar is not a very interesting zone. On top of that when i think that Moria is next i just go and uninstall the game (altho i purchased both moria and mirkwood). I only heard bad things about moria and i really know what they mean by confusing layout, inadequate map and closely positioned packs of mobs and none of it screams fun to me. So until 40s and 50s are improved and the grind removed significantly (please don't talk about skirmishes to me), no lotro for me sadly.

Pffft - it will jsut be another ROI.

Best devs and most of resources come to new Turbine game in development and to pay off 200 mln $ that WB payed for Turbine.

Lotro is just milked cow atm and test bed for freemium business model.

Best Lotro times are already in past.

Originally posted by precious328

LoTRO could've been so much more. This game would've done much better had it been created as a faction game: Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves  VS  Men, Orcs, and Goblins.

A deep world with realistic World PvP.

 

Oh man...

 

Except it couldn't be a faction game as the dark forces, for the most part lack free will. It's very specific as to when they lose. But of course I'm sure we've discussed this before.

Hopefully the new expansion and these mini updates will revitalize the game for me.

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by precious328

LoTRO could've been so much more. This game would've done much better had it been created as a faction game: Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves  VS  Men, Orcs, and Goblins.

A deep world with realistic World PvP.

 

Oh man...

 

Except it couldn't be a faction game as the dark forces, for the most part lack free will. It's very specific as to when they lose. But of course I'm sure we've discussed this before.

Hopefully the new expansion and these mini updates will revitalize the game for me.

 

Just because we know what will eventually happen doesn't mean it can't work as a faction-based game. We know the Sith will lose, yet we have SWTOR.

As for free will, even the good side doesn't have it. Free will would give me the option to kill a fellow Hobbit. I can't do that. I go where the quest tell me to go.

It's a game. It would've done better as a faction-based game.

Originally posted by black_isle

It would be all good if i could just get over the boringness of levelling the 40s. It just feels grindy to me and angmar is not a very interesting zone. On top of that when i think that Moria is next i just go and uninstall the game (altho i purchased both moria and mirkwood). I only heard bad things about moria and i really know what they mean by confusing layout, inadequate map and closely positioned packs of mobs and none of it screams fun to me. So until 40s and 50s are improved and the grind removed significantly (please don't talk about skirmishes to me), no lotro for me sadly.

 

 If you haven't tried Moria, then you should! Don't listen to some negative lillies!

I had a total blast in Moria. The maze layout, made it actually fun and gave a feeling of exploration.

Mines of Moria was actually one of the best expansions, except for the dissapointing Legendary Item system.

I hope the leveling process is much better then ROI was.   It was so linear from quest camp to quest camp.   The mounted system sounds pretty cool and I was hoping they would take the next step with soldiers and let us use them in the open world.  Now all we need is a new pvmp map!

Well with DDO and LoTRO getting major xpacs in 2012, maybe Asheron's Call is due for some love too!

Originally posted by Odysses

I hope the leveling process is much better then ROI was.   It was so linear from quest camp to quest camp.   The mounted system sounds pretty cool and I was hoping they would take the next step with soldiers and let us use them in the open world.  Now all we need is a new pvmp map!

Well with DDO and LoTRO getting major xpacs in 2012, maybe Asheron's Call is due for some love too!

 I don't think they gonna bother converting that old game to a F2P model. I think they just let Asheron's Call linger on till it's dead.

LOTRO and DDO is Turbine's primary focus now when it comes to Live games, to generate income.

We all know, since they were bought by WB for one reason and that is to develop the Harry Potter MMO.

Originally posted by precious328

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by precious328

LoTRO could've been so much more. This game would've done much better had it been created as a faction game: Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves  VS  Men, Orcs, and Goblins.
 

A deep world with realistic World PvP.

Oh man...

 

Except it couldn't be a faction game as the dark forces, for the most part lack free will. It's very specific as to when they lose. But of course I'm sure we've discussed this before.

Hopefully the new expansion and these mini updates will revitalize the game for me.

 

Just because we know what will eventually happen doesn't mean it can't work as a faction-based game. We know the Sith will lose, yet we have SWTOR.

As for free will, even the good side doesn't have it. Free will would give me the option to kill a fellow Hobbit. I can't do that. I go where the quest tell me to go.

It's a game. It would've done better as a faction-based game.

 

First off, over use of CR's is out right rude.  Makes reading the forum hard for everyone.

Secondly, you don't need great pvp to have a great MMO.

I think horse based combat will be awesome.  Personally I love the freemium model.  It is not expensive to be a VIP, but when you don't have a lot of time to play, you can just do the f2p and use points earned to buy needed things.

Personally I find Lotro to still be one of the top MMO's and still fun to play after all these years.

I wonder if they ever stop and think about how casual players feel about these constant level cap increases.  I mean, it's not like they even satisfy anyone.  They keep the hardcore grinders quiet... until they hit the new cap and immediately start screaming for a higher one.  Meanwhile everyone else just has a longer ladder to climb to reach the new content they've paid for.

Would it really be so bad if they included new content at the old level cap?  Or even mid-level content? 

Originally posted by JeroKane

Originally posted by black_isle

It would be all good if i could just get over the boringness of levelling the 40s. It just feels grindy to me and angmar is not a very interesting zone. On top of that when i think that Moria is next i just go and uninstall the game (altho i purchased both moria and mirkwood). I only heard bad things about moria and i really know what they mean by confusing layout, inadequate map and closely positioned packs of mobs and none of it screams fun to me. So until 40s and 50s are improved and the grind removed significantly (please don't talk about skirmishes to me), no lotro for me sadly.

 

 If you haven't tried Moria, then you should! Don't listen to some negative lillies!

I had a total blast in Moria. The maze layout, made it actually fun and gave a feeling of exploration.

Mines of Moria was actually one of the best expansions, except for the dissapointing Legendary Item system.

Yeah, expect Mines of Moria costs real money, honestly the amount of necessities that they removed from the game is absurd.

*Riding skill for level 20 is a cash shop item

*Selling items on the AH requires a cash shop item

*Mines of Moria is around $30.00 USD

*Isengard is $50.00 USD

*Combining those two is $80 damned dollars for a game that wasn't good enough to maintain its original business model.

* $5.00 per bag slot, Vault upgrade, War drobe slot, and gold cap removal.

*Trait slots, which are like talent points are also limited and require about $1.50 to unlock each trait slot.

* Emotes, AH, bags, vault space, traits, buffs are per character.

*shared storage, wardrobe is per server.

*quest packs, skirmishes, gold cap and expansions are account.

*Everything about this game is FUBAR, and with that I leave you with Jackie Chan.

The game is not free to play, and now costs more than what you would previously pay for if the game was of the standard purchase and subscribe model, if you're speaking about short term game play.

What is percieved to be the free to play portion of this game is simply a larger than average free trial. Even people who play LOTRO ritualistically cannot argue with that.

Originally posted by precious328

Originally posted by Sovrath

Originally posted by precious328

LoTRO could've been so much more. This game would've done much better had it been created as a faction game: Hobbits, Men, Elves, Dwarves  VS  Men, Orcs, and Goblins.

A deep world with realistic World PvP.

Oh man...

Except it couldn't be a faction game as the dark forces, for the most part lack free will. It's very specific as to when they lose. But of course I'm sure we've discussed this before.

Hopefully the new expansion and these mini updates will revitalize the game for me.

 

Just because we know what will eventually happen doesn't mean it can't work as a faction-based game. We know the Sith will lose, yet we have SWTOR.

As for free will, even the good side doesn't have it. Free will would give me the option to kill a fellow Hobbit. I can't do that. I go where the quest tell me to go.

It's a game. It would've done better as a faction-based game.

If I'm not mistaken, Tolkien Enterprises actually told Turbine they couldn't make a two faction game. It wasn't the game developer's choice, it's just the price of using a famous and important IP.

The difficulty is that every fampus battle in the Middle Earth universe has a set outcome. For example, the forces of evil could not win at Helm's Deep. LOTRO is heavily story driven, and it would be hard to write a story for the evil side because they would just lose over and over again. Imagine the quests. "Hey, set this ladder up and kill 10 Helm's Deep defenders." "Good job, too bad we lost anyways."

[Mod Edit]

GJ turbine and i am happy that they will give us more and more.they did nice job with ROI and so will do now

Originally posted by WhySoShort

If I'm not mistaken, Tolkien Enterprises actually told Turbine they couldn't make a two faction game. It wasn't the game developer's choice, it's just the price of using a famous and important IP.

The difficulty is that every fampus battle in the Middle Earth universe has a set outcome. For example, the forces of evil could not win at Helm's Deep. LOTRO is heavily story driven, and it would be hard to write a story for the evil side because they would just lose over and over again. Imagine the quests. "Hey, set this ladder up and kill 10 Helm's Deep defenders." "Good job, too bad we lost anyways."

That they did, and with good reason, aside from yours, of course. 

There are few fantasy books that exist that focus LESS on the antagonist than the Middle Earth books do.

Hell, you never even SEE the main antagonist in the books.  And the only time you see the other villains, like Saruman and Gollum, is when they're with the heroes.  Movie scenes, like where Saruman addresses his army, or talks with the orc guard about tearing down the forest to build weapons and seige equipment, NEVER happened in the books.

The books were TOTALLY from the perspective of the good guys.  So it's not really in the spirit of the novels to create a factional game.

Not that I'd have refused the game had they used factions, but still, the way it is now is much more in line with the Middle Earth books and how the story is told.

Originally posted by moosecatlol

Yeah, expect Mines of Moria costs real money, honestly the amount of necessities that they removed from the game is absurd.

*Riding skill for level 20 is a cash shop item

*Selling items on the AH requires a cash shop item

*Mines of Moria is around $30.00 USD

*Isengard is $50.00 USD

*Combining those two is $80 damned dollars for a game that wasn't good enough to maintain its original business model.

* $5.00 per bag slot, Vault upgrade, War drobe slot, and gold cap removal.

*Trait slots, which are like talent points are also limited and require about $1.50 to unlock each trait slot.

* Emotes, AH, bags, vault space, traits, buffs are per character.

*shared storage, wardrobe is per server.



*quest packs, skirmishes, gold cap and expansions are account.

*Everything about this game is FUBAR, and with that I leave you with Jackie Chan.

 

The game is not free to play, and now costs more than what you would previously pay for if the game was of the standard purchase and subscribe model, if you're speaking about short term game play.

What is percieved to be the free to play portion of this game is simply a larger than average free trial. Even people who play LOTRO ritualistically cannot argue with that.

 

I don't get your complaints. You don't wish to pay for every single thing you want? Simple; set up a subscription. When you decide to drop to premium for a month because you won't have enough time to make good use of the subscription, you still have access to the game.

For those with a subscription nothing changed, for those without you now have access to the game. You also fail to mention that when dropping the subscription, your virtues/bag slots/gold cap/... remain unlocked, you fail to mention you can still get the mount quest at 20, you're prices listed for the xpacks are wrong. You also do not mention how everyone who has a subscruption gets 500pts or 8$ to spend for free. Imagine that, a one year subscription costs you 99$ and throughout the year you've gotten 96$ worth of points to spend.

You're complaining for no reason. Everquest, Age of Conan and Star Trek turned F2P too. Perhaps you should try free-loading over there. Let's see how long it'll take you to realize how good the freemium model of Turbine really is.

Honestly, your post makes no sense and should be removed for false information.

Originally posted by Cambruin

I don't get your complaints. You don't wish to pay for every single thing you want? Simple; set up a subscription. When you decide to drop to premium for a month because you won't have enough time to make good use of the subscription, you still have access to the game.

For those with a subscription nothing changed, for those without you now have access to the game. You also fail to mention that when dropping the subscription, your virtues/bag slots/gold cap/... remain unlocked, you fail to mention you can still get the mount quest at 20, you're prices listed for the xpacks are wrong. You also do not mention how everyone who has a subscruption gets 500pts or 8$ to spend for free. Imagine that, a one year subscription costs you 99$ and throughout the year you've gotten 96$ worth of points to spend.

Honestly, your post makes no sense and should be removed for false information.

I put it this way:

Download Eve Online(or any other P2P) game. 

Don't set up a sub. 

Try to log in.

Can you play?  No?

In LotRO you can.  That's the difference.  If you want more than they give you for NOTHING, subscribe.

Turbine still wants subscribers.  Therefore, the sub model will ALWAYS be the best bang for the buck option.  Going the free route and trying to buy everything is the equivalent of buying a new car... PART BY PART from the autoparts store.  OF COURSE it's going to be more expensive.