For those of you who haven’t seen, there is a new expansion announced called Siege of Mirkwood! Their website about the expansion is now live at http://www.lotro.com/mirkwood/
From their press announcement:
The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™
TURBINE UNVEILS
THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™: SIEGE OF MIRKWOOD™
New Digital Expansion to the 2008 MMO of the Year Launching this Fall
WESTWOOD, MA – September 4, 2009 – Turbine, Inc. today unveiled The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™, the digital expansion to the award-winning massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG). Siege of Mirkwood will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces to press further eastward into the dark, foreboding and treacherous forest of Mirkwood and take part in the epic conclusion to Volume II of The Lord of the Rings Online. Siege of Mirkwood will be available as a digital download this Fall with an increased level cap, a new region including the legendary evil fortress of Dol Goldur, major enhancements to combat and Legendary Items and the introduction of Skirmishes, a new system where players will train customizable soldiers and take them into battle as part of the War of the Ring.
“2009 has been a year of unprecedented growth for The Lord of the Rings Online and the launch of Siege of Mirkwood will end the year with a bang,” said Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “As the game expands east of the Misty Mountains, players will face the raging war and shadow that has spread across Middle-earth and the new Skirmish system will thrust players and their soldiers into the War of the Ring.”
NEW FEATURES:
- The Epic Conclusion to Volume II: Mines of Moria™ – Under the command of Celeborn and Galadriel, players will fight through vast armies of Orcs alongside the Elves of Lórien in a battle that will take them to Dol Guldur, the fortress of the Ringwraiths. This update includes Book 9 and the Epilogue to the sweeping epic tale begun with the award-winning Mines of Moria expansion.
- Increased Level Cap — Players will be able advance their characters up to level 65, gaining access to new traits, virtues, skills and class quests.
- Answer the Call of War! – Jump into the heat of battle with the new Skirmishes feature. Skirmishes offer endless action in repeatable, randomized instances where players can create and lead customizable soldiers into battle, training them to greater skill as they earn victories against the forces of shadow. Answer the call of war wherever violence erupts with the new “World Join” function that lets players and their fellowships band together to fight in various locations throughout Middle-earth.
- Take up Arms! – Infiltrate the dark jails, deadly arenas and savage stables of Dol Guldur, the fortress of the Ringwraiths, and strike a blow against Sauron’s forces in new 3 and 6-player instances. Call upon your fellows to adventure into the most deadly 12-player raid yet and face the ultimate challenge – the Nazgûl Lord!
- Major Gameplay Enhancements – Turbine continues to improve the award-winning experience of LOTRO with major improvements to the combat and Legendary Items systems. Players will experience improved responsiveness when in the heat of battle. Players will also be able to create and craft their own customized Second and Third Age Legendary Items from raw materials and grow their weapons’ power to level 60. Achieve new Legacies, new titles, and a fourth Runic slot that will make Legendary Items even more unique and powerful.
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September 4, 2009 at 9:59 am
Heyo. Any thoughts on the announcement? I’m not level 60 yet, so I’m not sure if I can comment on the expansion very well. The skirmishes thing sounds like a nice addition for quick action.
September 4, 2009 at 11:42 am
We’re not 60 yet either. Merric will be excited over the crafting news. He loves his crafting. For me, I’m not sure. On the surface it doesn’t look like it has much in the way of Goldenstar-ness. But rarely do they advertise “Do stupid things!” which will always make me go WOOOO!
September 4, 2009 at 11:52 am
I think that this update/expansion sounds like it includes some of the features that people were asking for such as the world join, more instances, and another pass at legendary items. We’ll have to wait and see how it turns out, but I think that there will be some features for those who are and will not be 60. We’ll have to wait and see, but I’m definitely excited!
September 4, 2009 at 1:11 pm
Got a toon at 60 myself, finished probably 90% of the Moria stuff, but there’s still some fellowship stuff out there I haven’t been able to get people together to finish. Sounds like this is a mini-expansion (hopefully with a price point to match) with some nice additions to entertain us until Volume 3 (Rohan?) is announced. Like Victor said, though, skirmishes definitely sound like they could be a fun addition.
And of course, like we talked about in the Riddle post the other day, it’s cool to see more stuff from the books that didn’t make it into the movies. And really, I don’t think Dol Guldur even made it into the books itself, just talk about it, so it’ll be neat to see something that was alluded to in the literature brought to life for us. Definitely looking forward to more info as it comes out.
September 4, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I agree JT. Mirkwood was mentioned more in the Hobbit than in LotR, I think. Dol Guldur wasn’t really a focus at all like you said. It was just where the Nazgul were from. It’ll be neat to see it! Scary as the Nazgul scare the pants off of me, but neat!