Everyone has a fighting chance
Lord of the Rings Online servers will be patched today to bring Update 23.1 on board that includes the Harvestmath Festival, as well as a number of bug fixes, class updates and more. In addition, the Grey Mountains instances are back in service with drop rates “increased significantly for both favored and standard chest openings on tier 2 difficulties”.
A brief note has appeared on the Lord of the Rings Online forum to let players know that the Grey Mountains instances have been disabled “in order to address a bug with them”. At this point there is no firm indication when they might reopen. The post simply indicates that they are expected to be reopened “in an upcoming patch”.
On Tuesday, October 9th, Lord of the Rings Online servers will be brought down to prepare for Update 23: Where Dragons Dwell. The new content will feature a trip to the lost dwarf kingdoms of the Grey Mountains, that include “the Longbeard descendants of Durin the Deathless”. New content includes tons of new quests and deeds, three resource instances, and a new Instance cluster. A raid will be coming along in the near future as well.
For the seventh year in a row, the Harnkegger Games will be held in Lord of the Rings Online. The Games are an LOTRO version of the real world Olympics and feature fifteen events that are sure to appeal to competitors and viewers alike. Event winners will be treated to prizes including LOTRO Points and in-game gold. The event will run from Monday, September 24th through Sunday, September 30th on the Laurelin server.
One Redditor is sharing the happy news with the Lord of the Rings Online Reddit family (and we with you in turn!) that the game isn’t going anywhere despite the new MMO currently in the works at Athlon Studios. User Nemarus wrote to Middle-earth Enterprises to express his concern about the new game and the impact it might have on LOTRO, potentially even seeing it closed. However, M-eE wrote back with the cheery news “LOTRO & Athlon will co-exist within the Middle-earth universe”.
The Lord of the Rings Online producer has taken to the game’s official forums to post a note to players about changes coming to the loot box system with the arrival of Update 23. The basic premise is that, while loot boxes will still be present, they will never contain gear that can’t be earned through completing content or by purchasing it from vendors with in-game currency.
If you’re a Lord of the Rings Online player, you may be interested in checking out the P.P.P.P. – the Palantir Private Preview Program. The Program sees developers choosing a select small group of players to play on the Preview Servers and “getting [their] virtual hands dirty with new and upcoming content and telling…what you think”. The program is limited to VIP or Premium members over 18.
From now through September 10th, Lord of the Rings Online players can step into the game to take part in the annual Farmer’s Faire. During the event, players will travel to Bywater to participate, though there are also quests at Sanderson’s Farm and Bamfurlong. There are a number of fishing quests to challenge anglers everywhere. In addition, players will find challenging quests to help Market customers, complete shopping lists, root around for apples and more.
From July 31st to August 7th, Lord of the Rings Online players are invited to take a Vacation to Frostbluff and participate in some pretty familiar quests and activities. Developers have decided that players need to “beat the heat” and are bringing some Yule Festival happenings to sweaty players everywhere. Simply pick up the Stolen Sweets quest in Frostbluff and you’re off to high country locations throughout Middle-earth.
The patch notes for Update 22.3 have been posted on the Lord of the Rings Online forum. This time, players can look forward to new festival instances to celebrate the summer season. The Perfect Picnic allows players from level 10-115 to take part in either a solo instance all the way up to a raid instance to win some awesome new rewards. In Boss from the Vaults, Thrang makes a return in a newly overhauled form to challenge parties of six with new rewards as well.