Yesterday Turbine released the first build of the Update 15 Beta. As always, I headed to the test server to explore the landscape. This time though I found something I did not expect.
Aside from Pelargir, the landscape seems extremely similar to Western Gondor which is a big disappointment. It is Beta so things could change but everything appears to be in a near-complete state based on the level of detail in the zones. This similarity is most apparent in the landscape itself which looks nearly identical to the last part of Gondor.
The final-looking maps indicate that this is basically how the landscape will appear in the final version. While the landscape itself is not a disappointment and looks really good, the fact that it is extremely similar to previous areas is a big disappointment as believable diversity of landscape has been a strength of LOTRO the last several years. Sadly this strength seems to be absent from this build of the Beta.
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It is pretty similar in parts to Western Gondor, but I think that’s to be expected from what is essentially half of the area that doesn’t get too much coverage by Tolkien. However, there are some gems across the landscape, which make it stand out:
– The sandy islands continue for quite some distance into the Anduin, and at the furthest one, you’ll find a rather confused band of corsairs who’ve been finding ways to amuse themselves…
– To the north of Linhir is one of the most stunning areas that we’ve ever seen in LOTRO, and a cousin of Goldberry and the Red Maid of Garth Agarwen is responsible for this beautiful section of the zone.
– Proper beaches! In West Gondor the only ‘beach’ we really get is in at Hashadir, south of Dol Amroth, but here the sandy dunes stretch on for miles in Dor-en-ernil (probably spelt wrong), and really give the coastal feeling that seemed to be missing in parts of West Gondor.
However, I did think that the dawnless day effect, and the fact that they’ve re-used the awful big battles music, in addition to the increased volume of the wind, means that Central Gondor is far less impressive, and also has much more of a depressing feeling about it, unlike the bright blue skies and screeching gulls of West Gondor.
The true question is, has Jajax been spotted yet?
when is update 15
They have not announced yet but I would be surprised if it was after Thanksgiving. They do have a lot to test though with the new class and new kind of epic battle.