LOTRO: Coming Changes to Race and Class Choice
Standing Stone Games are currently testing the second beta build of Update 33.2 on their The Bullroarer Test Server. The latest patch notes indicate that there are some major changes coming to the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. The proposed Minstrel class changes are proving controversial and I suspect that there will be a strong degree of pushback from players. As I have not played this particular class, I am not in a position to express an informed opinion but reading comments both on the official forums and on Reddit, I think players have legitimate concerns. Changing and rebalancing class skills and in any way altering the status quo, never goes down well as you can never please everyone. It will be interesting to see if SSG take on board player comments or push ahead with their proposed changes regardless.
Standing Stone Games are currently testing the second beta build of Update 33.2 on their The Bullroarer Test Server. The latest patch notes indicate that there are some major changes coming to the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online. The proposed Minstrel class changes are proving controversial and I suspect that there will be a strong degree of pushback from players. As I have not played this particular class, I am not in a position to express an informed opinion but reading comments both on the official forums and on Reddit, I think players have legitimate concerns. Changing and rebalancing class skills and in any way altering the status quo, never goes down well as you can never please everyone. It will be interesting to see if SSG take on board player comments or push ahead with their proposed changes regardless.
However, there are some positive changes included in Update 33.2 such as the removal of racial restrictions to the class system. To date the various classes in LOTRO have been subject to a specific set of race restrictions (please see the image below), which have been justified over the years on lore grounds by SSG. This has always been debated by some of the player community, who feel if the game can be “flexible” with the lore in some areas, why not in others? It would appear that SSG have listened and the update now allows for the following race and class permutations. Dwarf/Stout-axe Captain and Warden. Elf/High Elf Burglar. Hobbit Lore-master and Champion. Human Rune-keeper. The Beorning race remains unique These changes bring the remaining classes inline with the Brawler which is available to all permutations of Elf, Dwarf, Hobbit and Man.
Naturally, there are some players who object to these changes, considering them non-canonical, but I feel that LOTRO departed from lore purity a long time ago. I am just happy that players are getting more choice. Hence, in the spirit of such change, I created a Hobbit Lore-master on Bullroarer last night and played through the first few levels of the game. It was interesting to see all the bespoke Lore-master skills induction animations as a Hobbit and I really didn’t think it an odd addition to the game. The first Lore-master pet is the bear and it is rather comical the way it towers over its Hobbit companion. So far I haven’t encountered any issues, although other players have found some minor anomalies when playing the new Dwarf/Stout-axe class variants. But that is the entire point of beta testing.
LOTRO: Fate of Gundabad Bullroarer Preview
Yesterday afternoon (UK time) Standing Stone Games made the forthcoming expansion for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, available on the Bullroarer test server. This new release, Fate of Gundabad, is due to launch on the 10th of November which is under two weeks away. However, I suspect that this expansion has been under development for a while as it appears fairly complete without very little or no placeholder material. Players have already been providing feedback on the official forums and it would seem that the nuts and bolts of the area are in place and functional. There appears to be a substantial amount of new zones in this expansion with areas both above and below ground. It is worth mentioning straight away that if you are a LOTRO player who didn’t especially enjoy navigating your way through Moria, you will probably find the new areas underneath Mount Gundabad as equally frustrating. There are dense groups of Orcs and other enemy mobs to get past and I suspect these areas will be quite taxing.
Yesterday afternoon (UK time) Standing Stone Games made the forthcoming expansion for the MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online, available on the Bullroarer test server. This new release, Fate of Gundabad, is due to launch on the 10th of November which is under two weeks away. However, I suspect that this expansion has been under development for a while as it appears fairly complete without very little or no placeholder material. Players have already been providing feedback on the official forums and it would seem that the nuts and bolts of the area are in place and functional. There appears to be a substantial amount of new zones in this expansion with areas both above and below ground. It is worth mentioning straight away that if you are a LOTRO player who didn’t especially enjoy navigating your way through Moria, you will probably find the new areas underneath Mount Gundabad as equally frustrating. There are dense groups of Orcs and other enemy mobs to get past and I suspect these areas will be quite taxing.
The Fate of Gundabad expansion adds a new area that directly abuts next to the existing Elderslade map. The northern road that bypasses the Angmarim tower of Caivád Sâr leads to Câr Bronach, which was previously blocked by a locked gate. The player can now enter this area and the region very much in the idiom of Angmar to which it connects. There is a road that traverses Câr Bronach from east to west and leads to Nan Gurth. Midway along this road there is a very impressive Dwarven structure, Mur Shatraug, the Witch-gate. This is the northerly entrance to Gundabad. Enemies hold this entrance so entry is not easy. A second road strikes south west and circles round the western side of Mount Gundabad to an area called Welkin Loft. Due to the altitude this is a snowy zone and filled with ravines as the road travels up the mountainside. There are several Angmarim camps and the contested area of Uzdarulzahar, where Dwarves fight both Orcs and Frost Dragons.
Upon entering Mur Shatraug entrance, there is an underground zone called The Delvings of Gundabad. It is split into five subzones, all of which form a broadly circular route running clockwise. The first Pits of Stonejaws is akin to The Glittering Caves in Helm’s Deep and the Foundations of Stone in Moria. It is a maze and rife with mobs. This area leads to Mattugard which is very much like Zelem Melek in Moria. There is an immense abyss in the centre of the map and a triangular road around it. Vast windows in the mountainside roof let in a pale light. On the eastern side of Mattugard is an exit which leads to the main entrance to Mount Gundabad in the Elderslade map, which is a contested zone. Mattugard is populated by Orcs, Grodbog Spitters and Goblins on Bats (yes you read that right). The next connecting area is Deepscrave which is similar to Mattugard but with more bridges and walkways. There are also infestations of bioluminescence growths encrusting the walls. This in turn leads to Glooming Tarn, which features an underground lake. It is filled with crystal spiders and looks similar to the Giants Causeways with its interlocking basalt columns. Finally, the road leads to Clovengap, the former garden city of the Gundabad Dwarves. There are lights, windows and lush green terraces as well as Wargs. Clovengap exists out onto the surface and Welkin Loft.
The new zones in Fate of Gundabad are large and totally in accord with the ongoing Epic story. If you enjoy Dwarven culture and its respective aesthetic in LOTRO then this expansion should prove enjoyable. However, there are very few entirely new assets on display apart from several reskinned mobs and a handful of relatively unique Dwarven structures. Pretty much everything else is a variation on established themes using assets that players are already familiar with. I suspect that a lot of players will find travelling throughout the Delvings of Gundabad to be an uphill struggle due to the mob density and the complex routes that SSG seem to delight in creating. As always, I’m sure the developers will attempt to compensate by providing a very engaging story as they so often do but I can’t help but feel that Fate of Gundabad is lacking the aesthetic inspiration found in prior updates such as Wells of Langflood and Vales of Anduin.
