LOTRO next Expansion Minas Morgul - scheduled to release on October 29 2019

[Slau]

Have they improved graphics? Because that was one thing that put me off.

it depends on when you played honestly - they did improve graphics a lot since 2007 but dont expect it to look like a new game. They had done some work in the last 2 years to improve the graphic quality in old regions which had worse graphics/ effects than the new regions but it is not a new game so the looks are definitely dated. You can download HD texture pack right now and it improves the quality a lot. Unfortunately i dont think i can provide any good screenshots of how the game looks right now because i have terrible resolution so...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntQ7KhRRKaQ&t=3999s - this guy had some allright quality yt video of the game but i have no idea whether he plays on max settings and good resolution so...

imo the graphics are dated but i dont really play the game for it - what i like about graphics is not the quality but the attention to detail and that it looks like lotr. For reference Moria.

[Varitok]

It makes me happy to see games like this succeeding and carrying on for years. Good on them, I should try it out again.

[Slau]

It makes me happy to see games like this succeeding and carrying on for years. Good on them, I should try it out again.

it has a sort of charm that old mmos have - at least for me - levelling never felt like a chore to me compared to wow where levelling is just the worst part of the game by far. It is sort of like classic/tbc wow in a way.

Also as a lotr fan myself i can find all sorts of details everywhere that make lotros world the best representation of tolkiens work so far,

- - - Updated - - -

Have they improved graphics? Because that was one thing that put me off.

ok i found some screenshots of MM expansion on lotro market in high quality so there you go.









as you can see it is not great graphics but definitely looks way better than in 2007.

edit: ok i have a low quality image of barad dur - cant get anything better for now.



Edit: some new previews on yt are up.









- - - Updated - - -

some more screenshots thanks to the curiosity of lotro community but they are on far lower quality than the previous shots:

My personal favorite bar-nirnaeth - the halls of lamentation - its the place where sauron broke and tortured his prisoners.



Some screenshots of Shelobs Lair - looks horrifying.







better look at Barad-Dur before it was destroyed.



Edit: some new previews from beta.

[Slau]

[Tekkommo]

Have they improved graphics? Because that was one thing that put me off.

They have, at least when I went back to play the LOTRO classic thing they did.

Landscapes were beautiful.

I quit before reaching level 50 though, combat is a bit meh. Which is a shame, as the world is nicely done.

This MMO had great potential to be the best, if they could have made combat better, along with a better engine.

[Slau]

They have, at least when I went back to play the LOTRO classic thing they did.

Landscapes were beautiful.

I quit before reaching level 50 though, combat is a bit meh. Which is a shame, as the world is nicely done.

This MMO had great potential to be the best, if they could have made combat better, along with a better engine.

i like the combat - it is a lot slower than most mmos though and playing meele is a bit of a slag.

[Slau]

The expansion has been delayed to November 5th.

[Kuja]

Oooh.. May have to install the game again and catch up with some leveling :P Lots of it..

[Slau]

Oooh.. May have to install the game again and catch up with some leveling :P Lots of it..

depending on when you left a lot of it - taking the character to max level without power levelling takes several months.

[Kuja]

depending on when you left a lot of it - taking the character to max level without power levelling takes several months.

O_o Oh well. I believe I was in Moria the last time I played.

[Sentynel]

Is this that original LOTR mmo from 10 years ago or is this the new Amazon MMO they are making?

This is the old LOTRO.

[Slau]

O_o Oh well. I believe I was in Moria the last time I played.

if you are level 60 it will probably take a month or something like that - really depends on how much you skip or whatever.

- - - Updated - - -

Is this that original LOTR mmo from 10 years ago or is this the new Amazon MMO they are making?

the 12 years old one.

[Slau]

Release notes are up

Update 25 Release Notes

Here are the Release Notes for Update 25: Minas Morgul, released on November 5th, 2019.

Of Special Note:

Minas Morgul has arrived!

Minas Morgul takes you on an expedition deep into the Morgul Vale in search of answers to a mystery that spans three thousand years. The words of the shade of Isildur will unearth secrets and visions of the Second Age that have remained untold until now, revealing playable landscape and new adventures from a crucial time in Middle-earth’s history.

Two New Regions: The Morgul Vale as well as Mordor Beseiged!
Level Cap Increase to 130
New Crafting Guild benefits
New Black Book of Mordor Quests
and more!


Visit LOTRO.com/MinasMorgul to read more. Some elements of the expansion, including the Shelob raid and new Instances, will be released in the near future. Players logging in once the Minas Morgul expansion has been released will get their Valar items, Expedition Supplies, Crafting Carry-alls and more to the first character they log into after the expansion is released, or upon successful redemption of a Minas Morgul game code. Visit LOTRO.com/MinasMorgul for details.

News and Notes:

Classes

Rune-keeper
Overall healing per second has been improved.
Epic for the Ages direct heal has been improved, but its area of effect has been reduced somewhat..
Writ of Health has had its initial healing increased, and its duration has been increased to 24 seconds.
Several Rune-keeper skills have had their animation delays improved.
Bombastic Inspiration has had its initial healing greatly increased and healing over time increased.
The bubble magnitude of Word of Exaltation has been reduced by 5%.
Rousing Words channeling duration has been decreased, but its magnitude per pulse has increased considerably.
The radius of Fates Intertwined has been expanded to 20 meters.
Unwavering Confidence has been increased.
Rune of Restoration's healing pulse has been increased.
Searing Words' damage over time component has been increased.
Searing Words from separate sources can now stack on a single target.
Volcanic Runestone has had its overall power increased.
Vivid Imagery now hits much harder.
Fulgurite Runestone has been redesigned for a longer and more persistent effect.
Ceaseless Argument has received a damage increase.
Word and Essay of Exultation bubbles are now based on a percentage of Morale. Essay of Exaltation has had its cooldown increased to 45 seconds.
Direct damage of most Frost skills has been increased.
Direct damage of most dedicated yellow line attack skills has been increased.
Sustaining Bolt heal has been substantially increased.
Rune Sign of Winter has been increased, and is now a more attractive quick direct heal.
Mending Verse has had its initial heal increased.

Warden
Warden Skill damage and damaging effects have been adjusted upwards.
Several Warden defensive buffs now share icons with the skill that generated them.
The following skill benefits have had their duration increased from 30 to 60 seconds:
Enduring Shieldwork
Enduring Advanced Shieldwork
Enduring Expert Shieldwork
Enduring Evasion
Enduring Advanced Evasion
Enduring Expert Evasion
Enduring Armour Use
Enduring Advanced Armour Use
Enduring Expert Armour Use

The following skill benefits have had their duration increased from 24 seconds to 48 seconds:
Celebration of Skill
Dance of War
Surety of Death
Conviction

The value and budget of main stats itemization has been improved for all classes.
The ratio of Outgoing Healing rating to Tactical Mastery has been increased. This change means that players can no longer effectively cap out their outgoing healing simply by stacking Tactical Mastery.
Virtues can now be earned up to rank 65.
Critical Magnitude has had its cap reduced from 100% to 75%, and its ratings curve is now steeper.


Crafting

The time required to execute planting recipes has been reduced from 10 seconds to 3 seconds for most farmer field recipes.
Crafting Carry-Alls
When Minas Morgul launches, all players who purchase the Ultimate Fan and Collector's Edition will have Carry-alls delivered to them. A Carry-all helps you consolidate and organize your inventory by storing your various crafting materials inside it using only one slot of space. Because these Carry-alls are Bound to Account, sharing crafting materials amongst your characters becomes easier.
The Collector's and Ultimate editions will grant a Small Crafting Carry-all that will hold 10 different types of unique crafting items that will allow each stack to go up to 2000.
The Ultimate Fan edition will grant an additional Large Crafting Carry-all that will hold up to 50 types of unique crafting items that will allow each stack to go up to 5000!
These items will be delivered once per account, and will be delivered to the first character you log into after Minas Morgul launches. If you play on multiple servers, please make sure to first log into the server where you want these Carry-alls delivered.


Emotes

The Elevenses Emote has been scripted to work more consistently; the food items will disappear if the emote is interrupted.


Hobbit Gifts

The Hobbit Gifts system has received a significant update, including a new UI, new items, and Virtue XP in its rewards.


Items

Items that grant War-steed appearances can now be consumed while mounted.
The Flame of Ancalamír can now be used while mounted.
The War-steed Appearance: Grand Accessory once again has its proper appearance on a War-steed Pony instead of looking like a basket of sunflowers.
A new Housing Item called the "Training Dummy Stand" is now available for Barter from the Curator when the Curator is available.
All Embers and Motes of Enchantment, and all Figments of Splendour, have had their total Wallet cap set to 10,000, if their total exceeded 10,000.
Armour value bonus scaling on the Shield of the Hammerhand has been increased so the total armour values are more appropriate.
Physical Mastery has been adjusted on the Finely-woven Standard of the Veteran Captain.
Beornings will now receive heavy armour from the Gift of the Valar, Blessing of the Valar, and Aria of the Valar.
Universal Potions, Food, and Scrolls of Max Morale and Power in the LOTRO Store now Buff/Restore Morale and Power based on a % of max values.
Corrected aura visuals on some weapons that were incorrect, either by scale or position. This does not correct visuals for auras that were not visible, or which were only partially visible.
A Dust-Shrouded Adventurer's Essence Box has been added to the Adventurer's Quartermaster.
When replacing an Imbued Legacy with another Legacy, you now carry over a greater percentage of the earned item advancement experience.
Legendary Item Legacy Tiers have had their base Legacy increased from 63 to 67. Other Legacies have been increased from 79 to 83.
Some older armour sets with a large number of Essence slots have had their maximum equip level set to level 120.


Pets

Critters summoned from the following housing decorations will now perform their correct emotes when not moving: Nanu's Hiding Place, Hedgehog Burrow, and Badger House. Nanu's movement has also been slowed down slightly.


PvMP

Player characters in the Ettenmoors and PvMP Osgiliath can now use cosmetic outfits.


Quests and Adventure Areas

The new Minas Morgul Instances are only available at Tier 1 for launch. Tiers 2 and 3 will be available soon.
Scion Difficulty Tiers 4 and 5 of the Dwarfholds instances and Kidzul-kâlah are unavailable while the new instance cluster is being introduced. Scion difficulty tiers will be available again on selected instances in the future.
Fixed a door in the Loremaster-specific chamber of "In The Presence of Saruman".
The boss in Instance: A Venomous Strike will now summon at the correct time.
Adjusted the requirements to unlock the Volume II Book 3 and Volume II Book 8 movies in the Movie Library.
Various areas have had minor stuck spots, death spots, and physics issues fixed.
Mistrustful Dwarf-folk in Erebor - Forging Trust are now denoted by a blue quest ring to improve their visibility.
Players must now discover the Inner Caras Galadhon stable-master before they can travel there using the Stable-master Collections Panel.
Black Book of Mordor
Characters that have completed Shades in the Swamp can pick up the next chapter of the Black Book of Mordor from Gandalf in the Beorninghus.


Races

Stout-axe's Enmity of the Cultists now awards the Needful Ingenuity trait.
Stout-axe's Enmity of the Cultists II now awards the Nimble-handed trait, and now properly bestows when you complete Enmity of the Cultists tier 1.


UI

New UI Settings option "Induction Bar Display." When checked, an induction progress bar will be shown above any character or pet pending an action. This preference is only available when the "Floating Names" preference is on.
Fixed an issue where Disenchantment examination tooltips would sometimes be clipped along the right edge.


Miscellaneous

Fixed an issue that could cause a crash on startup on machines with more than 32 logical processors, such as AMD Threadripper 2970WX and 2990WX.
You can now earn up to 94 class trait points after completing the Black Book of Mordor. Up to 94 class trait points can be spent in your class trait trees.
The game credits have been updated.


Known Issues:

Some text in French and German has not yet been translated, and there are some missing line breaks in German text.
The following Grey Mountains and Gladdenmere instances are temporarily only available through tier 2:
The Depths of Kidzul-kâlah
Glimmerdeep
Caverns of Thrumfall
Thikil-gundu (The Steel Keep)

[Slau]

The images are a spoiler, be warned.
Ok i know i have potato resolution but had to share this, It is not and everyday occurence to meet the dark lord himself sfter all.

[URL="https://imgur.com/a/K5BXaqN"]https://imgur.com/a/K5BXaqN[/URL]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ERGodGk.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/2HXQ7mb.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/ocx3amo.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://i.imgur.com/K87GMHh.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://i.postimg.cc/rwtJvS59/Screen-Shot-2019-11-07-012446-0.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]https://postimg.cc/fVDmdS23[/IMG]

[Crissi]

whelp, I'll see you all there in...how many months does it take to get to 120? Tyring to experience all the old epic storylines too. I guess the big change to the trait system was with this expac too? Because its so much better than the old system of specific stuff to achieve for specific trait levels (or buying them. ew).

[Slau]

whelp, I'll see you all there in...how many months does it take to get to 120? Tyring to experience all the old epic storylines too. I guess the big change to the trait system was with this expac too? Because its so much better than the old system of specific stuff to achieve for specific trait levels (or buying them. ew).

The trait trees were introduced in 2013 so it has been a while now.

How long? well it depends on how much you wanna play and how many regions you wanna go through but my bet is that even rushing it you cant get through it in one month - levelling has never been nerfed so you need to get through most of the regions and it is a lot of quests - most of them are fun though. The epic storyline is going to always lead you to the next chapter so it is not really problematic.

After intro - bree land which is a zone designed to get you to about 20+lvl
after bree you have a choice of zones
Lone Lands - last free zone in the game which is made for level 20-32
or you can go to the North downs which covers about the same level range
the epic will go through both of them so if you want to do both you will severely outlevel them
both packs are pretty good so it does not really matter which one you want to do altough LL is free so most players jusgo there

Now for level 30-40 your best choice would be Evendim QP but the zone was released later so the epic does not get there until book9
the book wants you to go to trollshaws instead which used to be one of the worst zones in the game in terms of questing but it got revamped and is alright now but the level range is off since it is 35-40 zone - not as good as evendim though

40-50 level range is the hardest in the game because there is no single zone that covers this range

Angmar is the closest covering roughly 42-50 but there are a lot of full fellowship quests and it might be hard to complete

Misty mountains - 40-45 it is allright i guess

Forochel around 45-50 zone - fun but not often done and has a lot of running around since it is huge

Eregion - all quests are level 50 here but you can come a bit earlier and et some good xp

to be honest there is no one good way to level 40-50 and it is a bit hectic

it gets a lot less chaotic from there on

50-60 is covered by the Mines of Moria expansion - there is no other zone that covers this level range so you have to experience the greatness of moria

58-60 zone is Lothlorien - not a very good place to level throught but its beatiful

60-65 there two zones

either the Siege of mirkwood expansion in southern mirkwood

or Enedwaith

both zones are good so take your pick

65-75 is Rise of isengard expansion

70-75 great river QP - one of the best quest packs in the game imo but only covers 5 levels

75-85 east rohan - Riders of Rohan expansion

85+ - Wildermore -

85-95 - West Rohan - Helms Deep expansion + entwood

95-100 - western gondor QP

now several gondor quest packs are all level 100 so if you want to do them you will be overlevel a lot

central gondor - 100
eastern gondor 100
old anorien 100

Far Anorien - 100-105 QP

March of the king - North ithilien 105
The wastes - 105

Mordor expansion - 105-115

and Northern Mirkwood Erebor etc is 115

iron hills and grey mountains 115-120 QP

Vales of Anduin - 120 +

Mordor Besieged and Minas Morgul 120-130.

[Slau]

A patch is going up tommorow.

Update 25.0.1 Release Notes


Here are the release notes for Update 25.0.1, released on Wednesday, November 13th.

News and Notes:


Classes

Wardens
All Warden damage over time abilities have had their pulse count increased by two.
All Warden heal over time abilities have had their pulse count increased by one.
All Warden Item Set Bonuses that affect damage over time and healing over time have had their pulses reduced to +1.


Crafting

Minas Morgul crafting guild quest component costs have been reduced for all guilds except for Cooks.


Items

Rejuvenation Potions and Universal Morale and Power Potions now have the same two-minute cooldown on use as crafted potions and the Minor, Major, and Greater Potions of Morale and Power.
Minas Morgul armour and jewellery quest rewards now bind to character instead of account. All of this quest reward gear now also has a minimum level requirement.
The level 105 and 120 Valar packages now warn players that all content are Bound to Character upon use.
The Virtue quest starting item delivered in Valar packages now has tooltip text indicating its bound to character status.
The Trait Point item delivered in Valar packages now has a different icon.
Valar packages now have tooltip text clarifying how the contents will bind.
Anvil gear has been changed to cost Motes of Enchantment rather than Embers of Enchantment.
Beorning Imbued First Age weapons and carvings, Rune-keeper Imbued First Age weapons, and Lore-master Imbued First Age weapons from the Valar level boost package will no longer identify with incorrect secondary stat bonuses. Additionally, Legendary Item 2-handed melee weapons will no longer identify with agility as one of the secondary stats.


Quests and Adventure Areas

The Tier 3 Leading the Charge deeds for the Minas Morgul 3-player Instances are now available through December 23rd, 2019 at 3:00 AM Eastern time.
The new Minas Morgul 3-person Instances are now available through Tier 3 difficulty.
Tower dungeons in Minas Morgul City now work properly and start you at the correct location within each tower.
Quest "Feast Preparation - Stuffed Waybread" can now be turned in at Aesseledh or the Cook's Guild Leader in Minas Morgul. Players who have this quest underway will have their progress reset. Players who have already completed this quest are not impacted.
The Prison of Rauniel: Completing Eithel Gwaur, the Filth-well instance on Tier1 or Tier 2 now count for this quest.
Fixed an issue in the Filth-well where Gwaurodel could die before the second phase of the fight.
Fixed an issue with the instance Nothing for Nothing so it can be properly completed.

Fixed an issue with the instance Leave No One Behind so that Viznak appears at the proper time.

The following Grey Mountains and Gladdenmere instances are once again available through Tier 3:
The Depths of Kidzul-kâlah
Glimmerdeep
Caverns of Thrumfall
Thikil-gundu (The Steel Keep)

Added an objective to Lost Lore of the Great Alliance to complete Chapter 12.2: The Council of Kings before speaking to Elendil, as he will not be available until after that quest is completed.
Fixed some rock placement, stuck spots, and a few other environmental placement issues in Minas Morgul content.
Eithel Gwaur, the Filth-well now lists the correct required discovery deed in the Instance Finder launch button tooltip.
Woe of Khand will no longer multiply on the Mordor Beseiged landscape.
The floor and walls have been shored up in the area of the quest The North Rammas: Hooks.
The Stable-master Collection map has been updated to properly show the new areas.

[Ragingheadache]

I've played lotro since just after it went live (May 07) and whilst the game has a great many positives - fantastic open world, some great quest arcs, memorable raids & instances (dungeons) and interesting class design & mechanics (warden, captain etc), it has been let down over and over by some terrible decisions regarding systems design and the worst business model of all in the industry. It's this latter point where the game really falls down - for example the Legendary Item System is a good idea, but it's been designed to make it almost impossible for a new player to catch up with power levels that long-term players without having to spend real money on legacy scrolls & crystals. Also the developers really need to sort out their Q&A, because the number of long standing bugs and issues just keeps on growing.

So, the game is well worth a look - certainly the lvl 1 to 50 part - but beyond that, caveat emptor.

[Slau]

I've played lotro since just after it went live (May 07) and whilst the game has a great many positives - fantastic open world, some great quest arcs, memorable raids & instances (dungeons) and interesting class design & mechanics (warden, captain etc), it has been let down over and over by some terrible decisions regarding systems design and the worst business model of all in the industry. It's this latter point where the game really falls down - for example the Legendary Item System is a good idea, but it's been designed to make it almost impossible for a new player to catch up with power levels that long-term players without having to spend real money on legacy scrolls & crystals. Also the developers really need to sort out their Q&A, because the number of long standing bugs and issues just keeps on growing.

So, the game is well worth a look - certainly the lvl 1 to 50 part - but beyond that, caveat emptor.

The legendaries are not really problematic until you get to over level 100 areas - on lower levels you can easily do everything with an avarage 3rd ager. But in higher level areas the imbued LI requires hundreds of scrolls to be somewhat decent and the only source for them is Minas Tirith Dailies. The devs have been so inept at adding scrolls to the endgame that one wonders if it is intentional. And the scrolls dont even drop in instances that often - maybe like 1 scroll per 5 instances completed - absolute madness.

[ksehsatoo]

Is this a new game or that old clunky game that has graphics looking like its created in the 70's?