While most people read the announcement of RoR (pronounced RAWR! by me) and thought that it was awesome, I was left with more questions than answers. This is because I recently got added on to CSTM for a PVMP article and have been thinking in PVMP mentality for the last few weeks. I was going to post my first issue of “How to be a Monster” and then RoR got announced. After reading from multiple sites, I could not shake away PVMP questions about RoR. I decided that while the news was still fresh I would write about how this expansion could change PVMP forever.
Riders of Rohan- A Monster’s Perspective
Andang posted this on January 30th, 2012.
Categorized as creep, F2P, Free to Play, freep, lotro, monster play, opinions, PvMP, Riders of Rohan, rohan, RoR.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/cstmfeed/~3/vpOII_Fs1ac/
Turbine talks 2012 Plans for LOTRO
DocHoliday posted this on January 25th, 2012.
Categorized as isengard, lord of the rings online, lotro, mounted combat, Raids and End-game, Riders of Rohan, Rise Of Isengard, rohan, Traits, update 6, Warden.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidaymmo.com/2012/01/25/turbine-talks-2012-plans-for-lotro/
DocHoliday's MMO Saloon DocHoliday's MMO Saloon - LOTRO, Secret World, & Rift with an End-Game View
Right on the heels of the Riders of Rohan Expansion announcement, Massively released an article with comments from Kate Paiz and Adam Mersky talking about the upcoming year.
The article starts off with a bit of a look back at 2011 and I think it is fair to say the whole EU transition took up way more time and resources then Turbine expected. Is this to blame for the “down” year for content? Who knows, but certainly it loomed large for them.
Read the rest of this entry »Next LOTRO Expansion – Riders of Rohan
DocHoliday posted this on January 25th, 2012.
Categorized as End Game, expansion, lord of the rings online, lotro, mounts, Riders of Rohan, rohan.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidaymmo.com/2012/01/25/next-lotro-expansion-riders-of-rohan/
DocHoliday's MMO Saloon DocHoliday's MMO Saloon - LOTRO, Secret World, & Rift with an End-Game View
Today Turbine came out with another big announcement – the next expansion will happen in Fall of 2012 with the introduction of the Riders of Rohan!
Read the rest of this entry »Gap of Rohan Screenshots and Video Diary
DocHoliday posted this on September 9th, 2011.
Categorized as beta, Developer Diaries, isengard, lord of the rings online, lotro, Rise Of Isengard, rohan, screenshots, video.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidaymmo.com/2011/09/09/gap-of-rohan-screenshots-and-video-diary/
More news from Turbine today for the upcoming Rise of Isengard Expansion as they release some new action screenshots and another Video Developer Diary for the Gap of Rohan area. I actually like this style of diaries as you really get a feel for not only the visual style but the passion of the folks behind this game. As much as we might dislike some of the business decisions, it is things like these videos that keep me addicted to LOTRO.
LOTRO Shots of Orthanc and Gap of Rohan
DocHoliday posted this on July 27th, 2011.
Categorized as isengard, lord of the rings online, lotro, Orthanc, Rise Of Isengard, rohan, screenshots.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidaymmo.com/2011/07/27/lotro-shots-of-orthanc-and-gap-of-rohan/
Well we didn’t have to wait too long for them to release some of the most anticipated images in the LOTRO landscape. This for me is a big one as outside of Moria, this is the next biggest thing I’ve wanted to see in game. I really can’t wait to stroll around the area – although I’ll probably be kiting a fair number of orcs in the process 
The images look spot on for what I was imagining even before seeing them in the movies, but I’m still quite curious to see how much of the area is actually open to us.
The Rohan shots look intriguing as well, it will be interesting to see how all those play out in the storylines. I do like that we see the same images as on our pre-order horses and armor, but I’m guessing that won’t get us any farther in the reputation grind 
Massively’s Interview on LOTRO’s Future
DocHoliday posted this on April 21st, 2011.
Categorized as beta, End Game, epic line, Equipment, expansion, festival, gear, group, isengard, lord of the rings online, lotro, mounts, Raid, Raids and End-game, Rise Of Isengard, rohan, Skirmishes.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidaymmo.com/2011/04/21/massivelys-interview-on-lotrors-future/
Massively got a chance to sit down with Adam Mersky and Aaron Campbell to chat about the next couple of updates coming to Middle-Earth. Check out the full article, but I did want to cherry pick a few items:
- Update 3
- 2 Skirmishes in Dol Dinen (Levels 30-65) and Forochel (levels 40-65) both with jewelry and armor rewards
- 2 Instances Inn of the Forsaken (levels 20-65) and Halls of Night (levels 40-65) with new armor, weapons, a pocket item, and cosmetic items.
- The cryptic treasure hunt
- Rise of Isengard Read the rest of this entry »
Fun geeky post on the Beacons of Gondor
DocHoliday posted this on August 10th, 2010.
Categorized as gondor, lore, lotro, rohan.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidayj.wordpress.com/2010/08/10/fun-geeky-post-on-the-beacons-of-gondor/
I’m sure many of you remember the vivid scene from the movies showing the lighting of the Beacons as they stretched from Gondor to Rohan.
I always took that scene with a pretty big grain of salt and just assumed they took a few liberties with reality to make something that looked cool but kept to the general concept. However, this post from an Associate Physics Professor was mentioned on the official forums and I couldn’t help re-posting it. He goes into incredible detail about the speed at which things could really happen as well as how fast they would be moving to match the movie clips. He does note that the books pretty much gloss over this whole concept and I’ll admit I was always curious how something like that would work. He proceeds to the do some real-world testing and extrapolation to what it would take to send a similar signal down the East Coast of the US.
A fun read and certainly one that goes to show that no matter how much you think you know about something there’s always someone looking to go one step further 
FileFront Hands on with LOTRO F2P
DocHoliday posted this on July 27th, 2010.
Categorized as beta, End Game, Enedwaith, Equipment, expansion, festival, Free to Play, isengard, legendary items, lore, lotro, moors, radiance, Raid, rohan, screenshots.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidayj.wordpress.com/2010/07/27/filefront-hands-on-with-lotro-f2p/
There’s been a number of write-ups from people (Massively Part 1,Massively Part 2) who have had hands on experience with the new content and business model but Ron Whitaker’s (@ffronw) from FileFront did have some new tidbits that I figured I’d touch on. I’m not going to focus on the portions that are common from the other previews, just the things I haven’t seen before.
LOTRO Volume 3 – Oath of the Rangers
DocHoliday posted this on January 29th, 2010.
Categorized as Book 9, crafting, End Game, epic line, expansion, lotro, Mirkwood, Raid, Raids and End-game, rohan, Skirmishes, volume 3, Warden.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidayj.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/lotro-volume-3-oath-of-the-rangers/
So yes, I’m a little late on this one but it has been a long week for me. Turbine released the first bit of news on the upcoming new content that continues the epic story. Certainly there’s more info coming but it appears that one of my early predictions is already wrong as it doesn’t look like there’s any new area to explore. Don’t get me wrong, there are some good things in the update but I’m a little worried that this seems a bit light.
By far, the most exciting thing is the Rift (Nurz Ghashu) skirmish that is the first attempt to revive older group/raid content. I’m not only looking forward to getting back in there – but it does sound like an interesting story line as you’re called to help one of the rangers and his daughter from the depths and evils of the area. Although I do find this to be a very similar storyline to Goldir and Amarthiel but we shall see how it plays out. Since they’re doing this via the skirmish system, it does bring a faint glimmer of hope that we may see similar ideas (and raids) in places like Fornost, Garth Agarwen, and Helegrod.
Read the rest of this entry »Ringing in the new year
DocHoliday posted this on January 4th, 2010.
Categorized as Bioware, captain, Dragon Age, End Game, epic line, expansion, gear, group, legendary items, lore, lotro, Minstral, Mirkwood, podcast, radiance, Raid, rohan, Skirmishes, Traits, Virtues, volume 3, Warden.
Shorthand Link:
Full link: http://docholidayj.wordpress.com/2010/01/04/ringing-in-the-new-year/
This will be the first of a bunch of posts coming up today and tomorrow as I get caught up on things. I wanted to start of with a recap of 2009 and looking forward into 2010. This will cover both LOTRO the game as well as my plans for LOTRO and other games.
Looking back
2009 was a pretty solid year for me in LOTRO. Early in the year I achieved level 60 on my warden although not quite as quite as quickly as others due to the poor timing of the Moria launch (poor timing for me that is). I also managed to get my three mains (warden, captain, and minstrel) not only watcher ready but watcher kills on each of them. My minstrel and captain were part of a couple DN raids, but sadly my warden has not seen the inside nor have I been through the entire thing.
I switched kinships twice this year, the first time due to the amount of drama and the second time was just moving from a 3 person kin (more of a holding kin) to a raiding one that included those same 3 people.
Read the rest of this entry »
