Welcome to the latest free content update for The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar! Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion brings a wide array of changes to LOTRO, including the addition of Eregion, the continuation of the epic questline, and preparations for Moria! The team has also been hard at work adding even more player-requested features to the game!

Highlights:

• Eregion: Journey to where the Elven Rings were forged!
• Epic Quest: The epic quest continues with world events that open up the adventure to every player across all servers!
• Moria Prelude Quests: Aid the Fellowship of the Ring as they prepare to leave Rivendell and make their way toward Mordor.
• Dungeons: The loot dropped in all instances and raids is being upgraded, and bosses and mobs are being adjusted to make for even better play experiences! Now is the time to prepare for the dangers that dwell in Moria!
• Animation Improvements: LOTRO continues to polish the experience!
  • Animations and sounds for each Minstrel skill using their equipped instrument (no longer just the Lute!)
  • Monster play emote animations for Orc, Uruk, Spider and Warg
  • New animations for 12 emotes – plus three new animated emotes!

Of Special Note:

• Monster Play - New racial specific emotes for Monster Player characters are now available!
  • Spiders now have animations for the following emotes: agree, bother, bow, calm, cheer, dance1, laugh, salute, no, yes, and talk.
  • Wargs now have animations for the following emotes: agree, bother, bow, calm, dance1, laugh, rude, salute, scratch, no, yell, yes, and talk.
  • Urukhai now have animations for the following emotes: agree, bother, bow, calm, charge, cheer, dance1, flex, laugh, pose, rude, salute, shrug, no, yes, and talk.
  • Orcs now have animations for the following emotes: agree, bother, bow, calm, cheer, dance1, flex, laugh, pose, rude, salute, scratch, shrug, no, yes, and talk.
• New collection-based fishing deeds are here! Be sure to catch'em all!
• The Dressing Room UI now supports dye color previewing! You can alter the color of any visible equipment slot to preview how you will look once you've applied Dye items to your gear.
• New dyes for clothing available: Orange, Grey, Burgundy, and Turquoise!

Gameplay

• There is now an effect iconic representing the period of time that characters are in the recovering state after exiting a negative combat state.
• Auto-attack will be disabled automatically if you select a new opponent while in combat which is in a state that you might break, e.g. Loremaster's "Blinding Flash" or a Hunter trap.
• You will now see "INTERRUPTED" over the head of the target of any attack which interrupts a skill warm-up or channeled skill that is in progress.

Skills/Classes

Burglar

• Targets of "Share the Fun" now have an effect icon on them. No gameplay change.
• The Damage over Time aspect of “Well Placed Strike” will now stack with other Burglars.
• “Find Footing” was erroneously removing all combat states, not just the listed ones: Daze, Stun and Knocked down. It now properly only removes, and can only]]>Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:16:23 GMT Special Anniversary Pricing Now Available!

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  To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM, Turbine is excited to bring you a very special subscription offer. Now through June 1, 2008, you can subscribe for only $9.99 a month!
  
  The Lord of the Rings Online anniversary promotion lets new and existing subscribers play for only $9.99 a month when they sign up for three months or more of service!

  • 3 Month plans are $29.97 (Save 33%)
  • 6 Month plans are $57.99 (Save 35%)
  • 12 Month plans are $112.99 (Save 37%)

  And for the first time since launch, we're re-opening access to our LOTRO Lifetime Membership for only $199!
  
  
  Single-month subscriptions remain at $14.99. Promotional offers subject to certain terms and conditions.
  
  
  Players who subscribe during the anniversary and select a promotional multi-month plan will continue to be billed every 3, 6, or 12 months as long as they maintain an active account with The Lord of the Rings Online or until they choose a different billing plan. Players who currently subscribe to The Lord of the Rings Online and select the special offer will be transferred to the anniversary subscription package once they have completed their current subscription plan. Players who choose the Lifetime Membership will be upgraded at the end of their current billing cycle.
  
  This special offer only lasts until June 1, 2008. To sign up for this limited time offer buy your copy today from store.turbine.com or go to myaccount.turbine.com and join us in Middle-earth^TM!
  
  
  *Special anniversary offer. Play for $9.99 a month or less when you sign up for a multi-month subscription plan. Participating players will be billed $29.97, $57.99, $112.99, or $199.00 for their selected subscription or membership plan. Offer valid from April 24, 2008 to June 1, 2008.
  ]]>Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:48:52 GMT

  Lord of the Rings Online - Forochel Monsters

  Recently, the MMORPG.com team had a chance to check out some of what's coming in Book 13's new area Forochel. In this feature, we present images of some of the new monsters that players will face.

  Recently, the MMORPG.com team had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the upcoming Book 13. This new free content update will introduce players to a new (and frozen) area known as Forochel.

  Forochel itself is a cold and inhospitable place where even the elements themselves can sap a character’s morale. As if the biting cold and storms were not enough, Keith Cross managed to grab a few screenshots of some of the new monsters that will threaten characters as they move through this frigid area.

  The Grim

  

  Ice Worm

  

  Kilpa-Kita

  

  Ice Giant

  

  

  And as if all of that wasn’t enough, we’ll let the]]>Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:15:26 GMTStories here, Intro's here and see the slideshow here!  Congratulations to the winners! 1st Place went to Gizzen, 2nd Place went to Beo and 3rd Place went to Madzir!  Thanks to all who participated!  And special mention to the band, The T-Unit Troubadors! ]]>Sun, 20 Apr 2008 04:08:33 GMTBook 13: Welcome to Forochel! (or…How to Make a Region Without Trees)

  [11-Apr-2008]
  After weeks of teasing the Isengard players and later the Live forums, it is now known without a doubt that Forochel is the newest playable region for The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM. With the launch of Book 13: Doom of the Last-king, players will get the opportunity to explore this brand new region (aimed at level 44-50 characters) and earn the trust of the Lossoth - the native folk of the Northern Wastes.

  Forochel is a region that many of us on the World and Content teams have been looking forward to for a long time now. It is off the beaten path of the Fellowship, which affords us a lot of flexibility in terms of design. This new landscape also gave us an opportunity to try out some new tools that were just recently developed for our upcoming expansion, Mines of Moria^TM!

  World Design Goals

  By the time we started development of Forochel, we were quite familiar with wintry landscapes. Between the Misty Mountains, the Coldfells, and portions of Ered Luin (and New England being what it is), we know snow! The trick with Forochel was coming up with a presentation of a snowy landscape that didn't look like our previous areas.

  To achieve that biome difference, we hit the photo and film references. Like all of our regions, we called upon references from the real world to develop a set of textures and assets that would make Forochel stand out. During this process, we decided upon a distinct lack of trees across the majority of Forochel as being one of the region's distinguishing factors. The lack of trees led to some interesting challenges; trees add a lot to our landscape - they fill space, provide decoration, and easily break up sight-lines and can make an area feel more interesting and varied. We still used trees in some portions of Forochel (primarily as a way to introduce players to the region) but this goal forced us to think differently in how we decorated our landscape.

  One of our chief goals for Forochel was to make it feel massive, and we were able to achieve this in two ways. Since the completion of Book 11: Defenders of Eriador, the World team has been working on Forochel. This allowed the World team plenty of time to develop and polish the landscape before heavy content development on the region occurred. This also allowed the Content team the time to fill the landscape with quests, and at the end of Forochel's development, we have a region that rivals the North Downs in size. In addition to the scope of the playable landscape, we wanted the region to feel expansive, so we used region-impassables that are much lower than those found in our other regions. This gave us the opportunity to develop forests and tundra beyond the playable areas, giving this already large area a much larger feel. This also provides an excellent opportunity to expand Forochel in the future if we so desire.

  Another special addition to the landscape of Forochel is the introduction of some brand new landscape technology - Dual Heightmap Landscape. This feature allows us to develop more organic cave settings on the landscape (similar to the Dwarf neighborhood) without having to use large numbers of rocks to plug the ceiling. This tech offers some very exciting possibilities for the future and we‘re happy to introduce this feature to players in Forochel.

   

  
  (Click for larger image)
  <]]>Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:12:15 GMTComing Soon: The Battle of Amon Hen!
  [31-Mar-2008]

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  Welcome to the next free content update for The Lord of the Rings Online™! The Battle of Amon Hen brings a new race to the table with extra crispy new skills and features!

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  

  
  

  

  Six New Skills! • Oppressive Yolk • Hot Wings • Eggcellent Assault • Scramble • Poach • Batter

  New Features! • New Instrument: Drumstick! • New Trait: Nuggets of Wisdom • New Fellowship Skill: A Pox Upon You • New PvMP Rank: Colonel • Universal Cook Recipe: "Tastes Like..." • One-shot Cook Recipe: Yourself!

  ]]>Wed, 2 Apr 2008 00:20:08 GMT]]>Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:07:01 GMTMon, 24 Mar 2008 03:03:08 GMTRhyssa & Keflin's dau޲޲gh޲t޲e޲r had޲޲ a lit޲޲tl޲e޲ gir޲޲l! See the post made by Gizzen on the Landroval forums here!  Isn't she beautiful!  Congratulations!
  
  Addison Rei
  7 lbs., 12 oz.
  March 17, 2008
  
   
  ]]>Thu, 20 Mar 2008 20:56:21 GMTslideshow of the event! ]]>Thu, 20 Mar 2008 02:14:44 GMTThe Free Peoples of Middle-earth have been eagerly awaiting Spring’s balmy kiss, and at last it has arrived! This can mean only one thing: time for LOTRO’s first Spring Festival! Players should visit the festival grounds beginning March 7 for some spring-themed celebration.
  • Love is in bloom! Head to Bree to help with affairs of the heart.
  • Get into the spirits! The Tavern League is back for another round with new shenanigans.
  • Send a note of affection to that special someone… or maybe even catch the attention of a secret admirer!
  So enjoy a respite from battling the encroaching Shadow, and take time to pick some flowers. Heroes picking flowers? Well yes, someone has to do it!]]>Tue, 11 Mar 2008 16:01:24 GMTTurbine and Tolkien Enterprises Extend Relationship
  [20-Feb-2008]

  WESTWOOD, MA - February 20, 2008 - Turbine, Inc. announced today that in the wake of the global success of The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM, named the 2007 PC Game of the Year*, it has reached an agreement with Tolkien Enterprises to extend it's license to develop Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Games (MMORPG) based on The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien to 2014 with additional options to extend the rights until 2017.

   

  "We're thrilled with the global success of The Lord of the Rings Online since its launch in 2007," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "With the recent announcement of what are sure to be two blockbuster films based on The Hobbit and a sequel, we expect the success of the license and our relationship with Tolkien Enterprises to grow for years to come."

   

  "We have had a wonderful working relationship with Turbine over the past several years," said Albert M. Bendich, Executive Vice President of The Saul Zaentz Company, and its merchandising division Tolkien Enterprises. "We look forward to our continuing success with Turbine as it pushes the envelope for compelling online entertainment and gameplay to bring the compelling characters of Middle-earth to life for Tolkien fans around the world."

   

  The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online is available in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. For more information, please visit www.lotro.com.

   

  About Turbine

  Turbine, Inc. is the premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Founded over a decade ago with the vision of becoming a leading provider of online entertainment, Turbine has grown to become one of the largest privately-held online gaming studios in North America. Turbine has created some of the world's most popular and award-winning exciting online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM, Dungeons & Dragons Online® and Asheron's Call®. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com.

   

  About Tolkien Enterprises

  The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in J.R.R. Tolkien's literary works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Tolkien Enterprises has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on Tolkien's works for almost 30 years. Its headquarters are in Berkeley, California, and its website may be found at www.tolkien-ent.com.

   

  ###

   

  "The Lord of the Rings Online," "Shadows of Angmar," "Middle-earth," "The Lord of the Rings," and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to Turbine, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All ot]]>Thu, 21 Feb 2008 14:10:20 GMT

  Patience
  Community Manager
  Now with 100% more caffeine!
  Turbine, Inc.
  
   
  J

  
  
  All That Glitters Is Not Gold...

  ---

  Especially in-game gold bought for real money! This is a friendly reminder to our players that buying gold for real money is not only against the EULA, but can put your account at risk for hacking or banning. Buying gold causes game imbalance, damages the economy, and contributes to the amount of spam in chat, tells, and mail. In extreme cases it's even been known to cause increased hair loss, global warming, and the extinction of at least 2 species of insects every day. Don't buy gold!
  __________________
  Meghan "Patience" Rodberg - Online Community Manager - Turbine, Inc.
  --Join the official LOTRO Myspace group!--
  For account and technical support, please contact our Customer Service department.
  Please keep in mind that due to the volume of Private Messages sent to me, they will often go unanswered!
   ]]>Sun, 3 Feb 2008 16:02:24 GMTDeveloper Diary: The Great Angmar Revamp
  [11-Dec-2007]

  by Jeff 'MadeOfLions' Libby and Jared 'Amlug' Hall-Dugas

  The yellow sun slipped beneath the rim of the encircling hills, and the land was shrouded in shadow. In the dim half-light, two figures could be seen, walking north along a dusty road. They made no attempt at stealth. The pair could be seen for miles in every direction, but if this troubled either of them, they made no sign.

  Amlug: If this is another boar quest....

  MadeOfLions: It won't be. Angmar was the realm of the Witch-king, and that means Evil.

  Amlug: You're right. I'm probably worrying for nothing.

  MadeOfLions: Probably!

  As our intrepid heroes arrived at the crest of the hill, a warm and fetid wind blew out of the east, from the great swamp of Malenhad. Amlug scowled, but not at the swamp-odor.

  Amlug (pointing at a charging boar): Doesn't he know where he is? If there's one place that we shouldn't be fighting boars, it's the Land of Angmar!

  After a flurry of blows, MadeOfLions squinted down at the corpse of the porcine beast, and absentmindedly kicked the dust from one of his boots.

  MadeOfLions: Well at least it was an evil boar...

  Amlug: That's just not good enough! And it's not just the boars, either. Angmar is entirely too much "wild kingdom" for its own good. I think that there should be much less in the way of livestock and much more in the way of evildoers. Do you remember what we're supposed to be doing?

  MadeOfLions: The chieftain of that town we passed said he wanted us to defeat some orcs, and that they should be wandering around somewhere out here. You know, like orcs do.

  Amlug: All right, then. Do you see any orcs?

  The movement of the crimson moon betrayed the passage of long hours as our heroes sliced and diced their way through Angmar.

  MadeOfLions: I see a lot of aurochs. And that's aurochs plural, not aurochs singular.

  Amlug: Me too. You don't think that those aurochs might be 'taking the spot' of our orcs, do you? Should we try and take one out?

  MadeOfLions: I doubt it. After all, it would take a whole fellowship of heroes to bring down even a single aurochs, and that chieftain assured us that we'd be able to take on the orcs by ourselves.

  Amlug: He did say that. Of course, he also told us to get twenty-four silver nuggets from that cave...

  MadeOfLions: I still don't know what that whole garrison of orcs was doing in there. It was a little cramped to be filled with enough orcs to overrun the North Downs thrice over. Barely any breathing room at all!

  Amlug: ... and to then go into another cave to get gold dust...

  MadeOfLions: Do you think maybe that chieftain was just trying to waste our time?

  The two considered this notion for a few uncomfortable minutes, and then started down the slope, in search of fame, glory, and experience points.

  ---

  Content Design Gained a Level!

  A funny thing happens when you've been in game development for awhile: you start to get pretty good at it, and as you get more comfortable with the tools and better learn the scope of the playground, you start to develop more efficient ways of working. You learn new ways of accomplishing tasks better and fa]]>Mon, 17 Dec 2007 02:28:11 GMT LOTRO Hotfix Complete: Wednesday, Dec. 12 7:00AM - 12:00PM Eastern (-5 GMT)

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  Today's hotfix to correct the problem some players were having accessing their housing storage. Thanks for your patience during the downtime! Please note that this was the last scheduled downtime for 2007! Have a wonderful holiday season and best wishes in the New Year!
  Meghan "Patience" Rodberg - Online Community Manager - Turbine, Inc.
  --Join the official LOTRO Myspace group!--
  
  
  ]]>Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:19:07 GMT Happy Holidays to the LOTRO Founders!

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  T'was the night before Christmas, and all through LOTRO,
  the Founders lamented, "Our alts are too slow!"

  
  

  Happy Holidays to the LOTRO Founders! As a token of our appreciation for your loyalty, we'd like to present you with a special gift - the Bree Horse! Useable at level 25, it's just a little something to help your alts make their way around Eriador. We don't recommend you try racing the level 35 horse, though... unless you want to lose! The horse was a little too big to stuff in a stocking or wrap in a box, so you'll find the Bree Horse token, which can be traded to the vendor Gaelm, in your inventory if you're a Founder whose subscription was active as of December 3, 2007. Thanks for your support during LOTRO's beta and launch, and here's looking forward to another fantastic year in Middle-earth!

  
  [Click here to talk about it!]
  
  FAQ:
  
  I was referred by a Founder! Do I get the horse?
  No. This special gift is only available to our original Founders, defined as those players who applied a Pre-order key to their account before June 1, 2007, and have an active subscription as of December 1, 2007.
  
  
  What kind of horse is it?
  Known as the Bree Horse, this fine animal is useable from level 25 and has a slower speed than the horses available at level 35.
  
  
  What use is this to me? I’m a Founder and I’m already above level 35!
  Since the majority of our Founding members have alternate characters in addition to their mains, we think this horse makes a useful gift!
  
  
  What do I have to do to get the horse?
  If you’re an original Founder, the barter token for the horse will appear in your characters' inventories, as well as the inventories of any new characters you create. Bring this token to the vendor NPC Gaelm to exchange it for the horse. If your bags are full, the token may end up in overflow storage. If this is the case, clearing out some of your inventory should allow the horse to appear in a free slot.
  
  
  I’m not a Founder. Can I have a horse?
  Regular players can still have a horse at level 35. We are offering a different holiday promotion for non-Founders, which will be announced soon. Additionally, keep an eye out for our player rewards program, which will launch in early 2008 and offers ways to earn great perks just by subscribing to LOTRO!
  ]]>Thu, 6 Dec 2007 14:03:03 GMT Posted by Saffron on the Lotro Forums
  
  Special Holiday Promotional Pricing!

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  Q. What do you get for the LOTRO player who has everything?
  
  A. More LOTRO at a great price!
  
  This season Turbine is excited to bring you a very special holiday offer. Now through January 31, 2008, you can start playing The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™ for only $9.99 a month!
  
  The Lord of the Rings Online special holiday promotion lets new and existing subscribers play for only $9.99 a month when they sign up for three months of service for the special price of $29.97, subject to certain terms and conditions.
  
  Players who subscribe to the promotion will continue to be billed $29.97 every three months for as long as they maintain an active account with The Lord of the Rings Online or until they choose a different billing plan. Players who currently subscribe to The Lord of the Rings Online and select the special offer will be transferred to the Holiday subscription package once they have completed their current subscription plan.
  
  This special offer only lasts until January 31, 2008. To sign up for this limited time offer go to myaccount.turbine.com and join us in Middle-earth™!
  
  [Click here to talk about it!]
  
  Special holiday offer. Play for $9.99 a month when you sign up for a three month subscription plan. Participating players will be billed $29.97 for subscription plan. Offer valid from December 1, 2007 to January 31, 2007.
  ]]>Thu, 6 Dec 2007 14:01:40 GMTHello Everyone,
  
  On behalf of the entire staff at Turbine we would like to apologize for yesterday’s extended downtime. The outage was a unique occurrence involving a combination of the hardware and software that supports our login servers and other related web services. This problem prevented players from successfully logging into the games, although the game servers themselves were unaffected and remained up.
  
  Please rest assured that we worked hard to bring the service back online as quickly as possible. The team tasked with resolving the issues pulled out all the stops and worked nonstop day and night to bring the service back online.
  
  Despite our best efforts, we could not avoid a lengthy downtime. We’re already working with our vendors to review the process and technology issues that contributed to the outage, and are collectively making immediate changes to prevent this type of incident.
  
  While we can’t give you Monday back, we hope to ease the frustration many of you felt by extending your playtime. Additionally, affected players will receive an in-game gift to show our appreciation for your patience during the downtime:
  • For all players who had an active subscription on 11/26/2007 to any Turbine game, we will automatically extend your current billing period by one day. Your new billing date will be reflected at myaccount.turbine.com after the change takes effect.
  • Dungeons and Dragons Online™ players will receive a Candy Cane for every character on their account. This is an item with 30 charges of Heal Moderate and is usable at any level.
  • The Lord of the Rings Online™ players will be given a stack of five Scented Candles for each character on their account. These items are single-use consumables that provide a temporary increase to Hope.
  • For Asheron’s Call® players we are pleased to announce a Bonus Loot Weekend with a special improvement to the normal loot distribution for a limited time.
  At Turbine, we remain focused on providing the best possible service to our subscribers. Players who wish to give us specific feedback on the issue and how we handled it may send an e-mail to turbinesupportexperience@turbi ne.com. We welcome your comments.
  
  Thanks to each of you and we’ll see you soon in Stormreach, Eriador, and Dereth!
  
  Please note: Special items and game time will be applied during the month of December.
  
  ]]>Wed, 5 Dec 2007 01:09:32 GMT