Lord of The Rings Online, Book 14 launches

[Modelworks]

I bought the game at retail and played for about 5 months before stopping because of lack of players on servers. I only did the monthly fee at the time and not the lifetime subscription.

Is anyone here still playing?
What are the servers like now ?

The book 14 details :

WESTWOOD, MA ? July 23, 2008 - Turbine, Inc. announced the details of the sixth content update for subscribers to The Lord of the Rings Online?: Shadows of Angmar?. Book 14: Ring-forge of Eregion delivers the climax to the epic story from Volume I of The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO). The story takes center stage in Book 14 with several new storytelling mechanics combined with live in-world events that allow players to work together to be part of the rise and fall of Amarthiel at the Ring-forges of Eregion! This will unlock the prelude quests that will lead players to the Mines of Moria?, the first expansion pack to the 2007 PC MMO Game of the Year* scheduled to be released this fall. Book 14: Ring-forge of Eregion is now available to subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online in North America and Europe.

?The Lord of the Rings Online is one of the only MMOs to successfully integrate story into game play,? said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. ?With Book 14 we continue to create new ways for players to experience the epic story in Middle-earth from the dramatic moments unfolding throughout the story to the new adventure instances that require players to work together across their server to unlock new content and advance the story. The live events planned in Book 14 will provide incredibly dynamic adventures for our players and set the tone for our journey this fall into the Mines of Moria.?

NEW FEATURES:

* The Finale of the Epic Story ? As the epic story of Volume I reaches its climax, Book 14 will take LOTRO?s unique storytelling to a new level. The story continues as Laerdan leaves for Mirobel, the Ring-forges of Hollin, to reforge the ring Narchuil. Players will set out after him and engage in an epic battle with Amarthiel?s minions that ultimately reveals the true enemy. The story will use several new storytelling mechanics and feature a series of live events hosted by Turbine?s Game Masters who will be playing the role of Amarthiel.
* New Battlefield Adventure Instances ? Book 14 introduces a new style of gameplay for LOTRO through a series of 6-player experiences calling on the heroes of Middle-earth to hold the line against the invading forces of Angmar. Players across each world must complete a series of chained quests a certain number of times in order to unlock additional content for the entire server.
* New Animation Technology ? LOTRO continues to improve the award-winning experience for players with major improvements to player animations and the introduction of new emotes for Monster Players.

I also noticed its only $10 to buy it now:

http://www.lotro.com/buynow/an...O&utm_campaign=TURBINE

 

[BudAshes]

It is odd how i hear so little about this game. I thought about getting it, but i'm not really into pay per month games.

 

[SunnyD]

I only have room for City of Heroes and any MMO that someone else pays my monthly fee now.

 

[lupi]

I played it for about a year but went back to wow for now.

The good news is I paid lifetime so I can come and go as I please as I'll just give it a little time to improve things more before logging back in.

 

[acheron]

I've been playing for the past 6 months or so -- been busy the past week so I haven't checked out book 14 yet, though.

The servers vary -- I'm on one of the smaller ones, but I hear that some others are pretty heavily populated. If you wanted to try to play again, I think Elendilmir, Arkenstone, and Brandywine are the larger ones.

 

[KeithTalent]

I have a love/sleep relationship with this game. At certain times I love it, but at other times it just puts me to sleep.

The biggest issue for me is time, I just don't have enough time in the day to sit and play a game for hours on end, which is what I feel I need to do to accomplish anything in LOTRO. I will occasionally login and just wander around for a bit and kill a few things and look at the scenery, but in order to get any quests done, I think I would need a minimum of 2 hours of gameplay, which is something I can rarely afford to do.

Anywho, I have a lifetime sub, so can check in or out whenever I please and will probably log back in soon to try out some new content.

KT

 

[chizow]

I stopped playing around December, the game is really fun at times and is more like your Western MMO, like WoW, where less time is spent on grinding levels and more emphasis is spent on solo'ing, end-game and pvp.

The graphics are absolutely phenomenal in DX10, with Ultra Quality and everything maxed there isn't a better looking game out there short of Crysis imo. The art direction in many cases is an entirely different story, but the landscapes and textures, shadows, lighting, reflections, water, particle effects etc. are just amazing.

I haven't really kept up with the updates although I still maintain my account and pop in every once in a while. I checked it out when I upgraded to a GTX 280 and I'm finally able to get good frame rates in crowded areas or in the PVP zones with Ultra Quality (but DX10 shadows disabled).

End-Game content was lacking for me but the instances they had were fun and challenging.
There were some game mechanic issues I didn't like (mostly the wipe/fail dependencies of the end-game content) and the constant nerfing by the Devs really annoyed me. End-game PVP is very different from most other games but can be an absolute riot at times. You have your "Hero" classes, which are your normal game characters leveled and twinked through PvE adventures pitted against other players who choose to log in as "Monsters", like Orcs, Uruks, Wargs, Spiders. It really makes for some fun zerging.

 

[Nik]

I quit playing LOTRO last year. I have an epic Burglar on... some server that starts with an E, I forget.

I hate that game. It's too hard to find a group

 

[rivan]

I have a couple 50s but haven't had the time/inclination to log in for a few weeks. I guess I should at least get on and pay the upkeep on my house

 

[ElFenix]

been buggy as shit since book 14. servers have been up and down all the time. and for some reason i can't find a server status page. i don't think there is one for US servers, wtf is that?

 

[natebigdawg]

There were a lot of nice little things that they did with this last update and i have only scratched the surface of the content. I regulary play 4 different characters that i started from the begining and love it. My wife plays too which makes it a lot of fun. There were a couple of issues with the update but that is the only time things are ever buggy it seems like.

I just got lifetime which is a great value for how long the game looks to be going. It is my first MMO that i have acutally paid for out of my pocket and it is well worth it. They have released enough FREE content for one or two expansions keeping the game very alive by developers that actually listen to the community. I try to play a little every day and look forward to later releases.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Have they added world PvP (or plan to add it) other than the transform into a beasty in a certain zone? I quit after a few months, found it rather boring without the danger of being ganked.

 

[acheron]

There's about no chance they'll add world PVP. So, not the game for you if that's what you're looking for.

 

[Feldenak]

I'm still playing. Been playing on Brandywine since launch. Haven't been playing the past week though b/c I haven't felt like playing much of anything (PC, 360, PS3) but I've got the lifetime sub so I'll probably be there until they turn the lights out on the servers.