No pretty pictures or puns for this one. A quick overview of what we had in lotro over the last year. A due note that the articles overall content sounds worse then 2018 has been. With a timely developers letter the pacing could have been amended, but i’ve decided to post it on a slightly delayed timely manner
Out with the old and in with the new
2018 will be the year nearly every part of the game has gotten an overhaul. Classes, landscape, instances, damage systems and mobs. Everywhere you will go in 2019 is different then 2017. While 2018 was a year of change that had its ups and downs with a positive kink in the cable near the end that caused a delay in development. Future lotro is in a good spot, but that’s for another time.
Tail end of mordor
August of 2017 gave us our first expansion in years and the first signs of the upcoming year were laid out. New and returning ideas made it (back) into the game. Some adored and some reviled. The difficulty, barter and loot system each had their fans and opponents. The game felt unhinged at times as some classes would have a clear advantage when they would have had their overhaul. But not long after the raid was released we’d be venturing into a different direction then deeper into mordor
Update 22 Northern Mirkwood
It was time to help the elfs, dwarfs and humans in Northern Mirkwood. We’d roam the landscape for quest tokens and reputation. A 180 degree turn from mordor where the emphasize was on efficiency and instances. Alts, questing and dailies were the focus for the free people. Grouping up with your kinnies as the quests were challenging at times. Instances like searching for beornings were a challenge. You;d often repeat yourself, but it never felt as such to most. The landscape and schedule were gorgeous as you;d choose to focus on the dwarves or humans.
Lay of rust and rime
Right when you’d started to wonder what SSG had up its sleeve. Karazgar turned up with his new weekly quest chain. Not as light hearted as Bingo Boffin, but it made you wonder where the game was heading as we’d get further and further from Mordor. Nearly each week had its own story moment. But a moment if you just clicked continue quest.
Summer instances (and yule)
As we were near the end of update 22 and anticipating U23 which had a new instance cluster. Bullroarer came online with “seasonal instances”. The hobbits went on a picnic and Thrang came back with a vengeance. Rewards for both the casual and the one looking for the best gear were in 7th heaven.
It would come back in december with 2 new instances for the Yule festival. But for a review of these you;ll have to wait a bit for the next 99 instances.
Update 23 – Ered Mithrin
Dwarves, dragons, dwarves and beornings. As we’d dig deeper in Erebor we’d go easter(lings) and west for our new instances. Another batch of great landscapes and stories unfolded as you look for xp to get to 120. Solo, duo, fellowship and daily instances were available. Glimmerdeep, Caverns and Thikil gundu were the new places to be. And you’d go there a lot. In update 22 all the content was spread out and in U23 it’s all focussed in Skarhald. A new loot system, a designed loot and a push away from mordor and Mirkwood with the new and improved Ash system. Every part of the game got a refresh with instances, gear, lootbox and crafting getting a new tier. Pretty good, but missing the dotted i’s and crossed t’s.
Legendary server
The biggest surprise of 2018 was the first new server in lotro in a long while. The legendary server got launched with a desire to give old, returning and new players the experience they missed while fighting in Bree and Angmar. The slower leveling, less content and (bugged) difficulty proved to be hit. Anor getting a baby brother with Ithil joining the Launcher to relieve the first quees in a decade.
2 months in the server are still among the busiest servers. Perfect for a select group of lotroplayers.
Class and rating revamps
2018 was also the year where nearly every class and underlying game system gotten an overhaul. While it started of slowly the last few months of 2018 the game was in a continous flux with weekly patches and updates. When your class was on the board you’d find new options around the corner. Every traitline now was a valid option. Guards could kill stuff, minstrel and hunters got to use more skills then just that one. Even the beorning now feels like a class.
Difficulty returned to landscape and instances with the rating revamp. No longer was it a matter of capping everything. Choices had to be made. Did you want to survive or do more damage? The problems reared their heads as SSG got overwhelmed with all the changes they made and new bugs and issues turned up. Combined with the new instances and legendary server everyone was waiting for a fix to their problem.
Return of the creeps and departure of freeps
Update 22 gave a revival to the Ettenmoors. Creeps gotten a boost where they could now overwhelm the freeps. Pvmp was a good place to be for the summer. With the revamps on bullroarer it promised to be even better. SSG had different ideas towards the end. Without a reliable way to fight the damage the new creeps are pushing, the freeps relented the ettenmoors (on Evernight)
Quick bits
Filter system allowed us to choose which loot, quests or sounds we’d never want to see again. A great suprise we never knew we wanted or expected.
If you’d missed a festival you never had to worry. 2018 was the year of Yule in summer and an encore for every festival.
Grabbing a questlog full of dailies at the start and an empty questlog in december with a ton of instances for everyone to do. Lotro had two opposites for the higher levels in 2018.
Perfecting old systems such as lootbox and ash while also introducing new gearing, loot and essences gathering. 2018 was a game in flux.
A renewed marketing, a new leveling experience for every class and the legendary server. The world once again knew lotro existed.
Bugs, bugs and bugs. SSG chasing their own tails. Not all was roses and sunshine with the latter part of 2018 having more patches and hotfixes for problems they created themselves. A weekly server reset that more often used as an indication if we’d get another downtime this week.
Nearly 99 instances were discussed as some stragglers were left behind to work on one of the worst lotro related articles ever written. Clearly someone hasn’t read critters journey.
2018 in review
Lotro excelled in what they have always done best. Quests, landscapes and stories were created at every stage of the year. While they doubled down on getting lotro ready for the next decade.
Sometime wishing they would they would just stop with the new and polish/clean up the previous changes they made. There has never been a better recent time to experience the older regions of lotro then now. While on the other hand the promises for a well thought out end-game fallen flat on their face. While mordor was grind. Ered Mithrin is a chore.
A mix of superb playtime and time to log out and wait depending on who you ask. 2018 will be a strange year to reflect upon in the future.
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