Lord of the Rings Online Regular Updates Planned

Posted by Stropp on March 12, 2007

Asheron’s Call was the first MMORPG that I played back in the dim dark ages of the year 2000, and like some other things, the first is usually remembered fondly. The scale of the world, learning the dungeon layouts, killing my first Lugian, and crossing the dangerous countryside just to climb a mountain and look out over the miles of virtual landscape. It also happens that Asheron’s Call did one other thing that I haven’t really found repeated in any other MMORPG since. It had an episodic storyline that was updated frequently.

Each month, once a month in general, was Patch Day. Now this was the day which it was advised not to play, but it was always hard not to play on this particular day because the story was updated. There was always a story teaser on the official website, and often new monsters and items were added. On top of this the seasons changed, summer into autumn, autumn into winter… grassy plains became snow covered. Autumn leaves fell from the trees. It was something, I think, to behold.

Well in an interview on the LotRO Warcry network, the Executive Producer of Lord of the Rings Online, Jeffrey Steefel, has made a few comments indicating that Turbine are planning to handle updates and live events in a similar way to Asheron’s Call 1. While he wasn’t able to reveal details, Mr. Steefel did say that the first content update was planned to be 30 days after release. He also mentioned that some members of the AC1 live team will be on the LotRO live team. I have to say I find this very encouraging.

I’ve also heard some rumours that Turbine is planning to do major updates to the game approximately every nine months. These will probably be in the form of expansion packs and will update the major parts of the storyline. The initial release of the game covers the areas mentioned in the first book, as well as the Hobbit. I expect the first expansion will add the locations and storyline events from The Two Towers, and the second expansion will deal with The Return of the King. What a third expansion will involve is anyones guess. Anyway, this is just speculation based on what I’ve heard from unreliable sources, so don’t bet the farm on it.

In any case, the signs are encouraging that Turbine is going to treat the story and lore with the respect that it deserves. It also looks like there will plenty to keep players engaged for a very long time.

 

Popularity: 24%