LOTRO Academy: 144 – Vol. 2 Review Pt. 1

LOTRO Academy: 144 - Vol. 2 Review Pt. 1

Branick, Teriadwyn, Pineleaf, Sanswinda, and move on to a spoiler-heavy discussion and in-depth look at the Epic Story of Volume 2 of The Lord of the Rings Online™. Thanks for listening.

Episodes of LOTRO Academy are recorded on Friday and posted when I can get to it. Leave a comment below or via email (podcast at lotroacademy dot com) prior to 8 PM EST on the Friday following the episode’s release for your comment to be featured in the Listener Feedback section.

6 comments

  1. Barnabras /

    Is that a Vacuum cleaner in the back ground on Branick’s mic? Is that Teri’s mom? Ahhh housework, the timeless art of seduction continues.

  2. Barnabras /

    Lore correction, Azog is the goblin who killed Thror and started the war between the dwarves and orcs prior to the Hobbit. Bolg is his son, and Mazog (Lotro invention) is his.

  3. I just went through the beginning Moria quests with my kids.
    There are some other options for LI XP. There are quests at Echad Dúnann that you can save till after getting an LI. In addition there are the quests in the Weather Hills for the Half-Orcs at Ost Alagos (I had to look up the name from Lotro wiki)

  4. Falkbridge /

    Where do you get your great topic ideas ?? Oh right, it’s me.
    I shall quote an email to podcast@lottroacademy.com send in October 2016

    “I also have a request for an episode topic. As I have recently finished the Epic quest for Volume 1 for the first time, I am requesting an episode which reviews “The Shadows of Angmar”. Many starting out players may not know that this was the original end game and I believe it should be treated differently to a quest pack review. There is also pressure on many players to skip this because the real story is to follow the fellowship into Eregion and Moria. I am also a little unsure of what changes have happened in the game since the addition of Moria and other expansions ……..There are also things that I am not sure about now such as whether I should collect the Marks of Valour by redoing the instances in the Reflecting Pools or if they have been superseded. You could also discuss the opening up of all of the Shadows of Angmar deeds in the Instances tab …… and things like why there are areas in lower zones that are inaccessible (some rooms in the keep on Tinnudir in Evendim and the ruins of Delossad in the Trollshaws) and why there are LV50 Angarim just hanging about on those hilltops in the Trollshaws………I know this is old hat to established players like Pineleaf and Teriadwyn but to new players this is all new and worthwhile (I wonder if Sanswinda has done Shadows of Angmar? I am guessing not as she was only recently doing the Fem quest line in Angmar for the first time).
    Regards Falkbridge”

    So there you have it. It became the epic quest line episodes, and worthwhile they were.
    Can you still answer the unanswered questions I posed about the Marks of Valour please?

  5. Falkbridge /

    In relation to two topics raised in this episode: Vertical level design and Dwarves everywhere.

    Mort commented on the fact that as you go south on the map you go downhill (just like Treebeard in the movie). I understand why they did it this way but I find it a little unsatisfying due to things like
    1. when you jump down the well in the Chamber if the Crossroads you end up in the Waterworks, but according to the map it is a loooong way south.
    2. When you find the shard of the broken bridge of Khazad Dum in the Foundations of stone, this is not directly below the bridge at the border between the First and Second Halls but is a fair way south.
    3. At various places in Moria you can glimpse the Endless Stair, but they are not in a line vertically. I was actually quite disappointing that I could not climb the Endless Stair from bottom to top and end up outside at Zirakzigal
    If they had made zones to double back underneath other zones there would have been problems with the mini maps and your positioning on the map, so I totally understand why Moria was designed this way, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t want more from my Moria experience.

    The other issue is regarding the comments about how there are dwarves everywhere in Moria. I actually like this design and if you follow the epic with some of the zone quests thrown in in each zone you get the feeling that you are just behind the advancing line of dwarves into Moria. Everywhere you go, the dwarves have only just arrived. That is I think one of the great things about LOTRO the way that each zone is locked into a particular time period (hence comments about Archet still not being rebuilt or the Council of the North still sitting in that chamber in Esteldin).

  6. Jeffrey /

    Hey guys I just started play lotro I guess technically today for about 2 hours. I have been listening to your podcast to get a feel for what it will be like. So far I enjoy it. Why have you not posted any new episodes since August? Hope everything is alright. I really enjoy listening. 🙂

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