Ring-forges of Eregion
Jul 24th, 2008 by Eve
"Now to deal with you, Ranger!"
There’s yet another free content update in Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, as Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion has finally moved over to the live servers. The release notes are always good for a chuckle. Here’s a sample:
- Goblin-town: The sleeping goblin who was using a burning pot for a pillow has been given mercy. He will no longer hold the pot while sleeping.
- Angmarim snipers have given in to peer pressure and have stopped wearing their Forochel jammies.
- The Oleif twins have resolved their dual identity crisis by having their leatherworking member take on a new name, “Fielo.” Now when one gets in trouble, the other feels pain! (points for spotting the reference) (extra points for a youtube sample)
- In the interest of peace and mammoth-hood, all mammoths will cast aside their anti-social ways and unite under a banner of fur and friendship. The Straight Dope: Mammoths will now respond to calls for help from fellow mammoths.
(I’m a little worried about the mammoths, by the way.)
Book 14 has much to offer aside from giggleworthy release notes. Loot has been upgraded, crafting experience and costs have been adjusted, and various scroll drops have been increased. There’s just generally a bunch of new goodies: epic quests, instance zones, animations, dyes, crafting recipes, music, deeds, and outfits.
While the majority of the game’s subscribers seem to appreciate the plethora of new content (almost all of it player-requested!), the very vocal minority has predictably started screeching about the changes being forced upon them. What are they complaining about?
- An instance that puts the gamer in the position of Laerdan, an elf: “For the first, and last, time I played a elf today, and if further instances require me to do so, that will be the end of my involvement in the Epic Storyline.”
- New visual sparklies: “I hate, HaTe, HATE the new glowy circle that appears around you now when eating food? What a waste of Dev’s time for a visual effect that nobody could ever really care about.”
- No new zone included: “Can this really be classed as a free Content update ? Evendim was & Forochel was both added a new zone , But I see no new zone added this time ? Maybe I am lost and cant find it lol.”
- The serverwide Ring Lore event: “This tactic makes you guys look like you took the easy way out on stoping/ or slowing the completion of your new content rather than coming up with puzzles, and something grand you crapped out on us! Im sure many aggree! And if you dont i dont care i seen this **** in several other MMO’s and its not popular and un wanted!”
If you could see me right now, you’d see me rolling my eyes. The whinging is so ridiculous that Bogo the Hobbit started the The Unofficially Official Thread to Complain About the Officially Unofficial Bk 14! on the Turbine Forums, which just radiates dry humor. Players like those quoted above will probably take it seriously, though.
That is a keen screenshot you got there…
Love you!
The amount of whining that goes on within the Age of Conan forums has often made me question if I am of the same species as the people who are posting.
I think what someone said of most MMORPG forums is that–generally, those spending all their time on it and complaining about it aren’t the people actually in the game. These aren’t the opinions of most of the people playing the game at the moment–just those disgruntled and vocal.
Despite several updates and poor choices on AoC’s part (which they’ve fixed to my satisfaction) I haven’t felt the need to complain or post on the forums about it. I’m still truckin’ along in the game itself.
I am betting money I don’t have to spend this is likely the case here.