The Struggle for the Ettenmoors

A life in the Ettenmoors can be a hard one if you stray too far from the safety of Glân Vraig. Its exquisite Elven architecture and serene beauty make one wonder why anybody would want to leave. But that’s exactly what’s required of you as a solder in the armies of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth (the Freeps). Beyond the walls you will find the sprawling lands of the Ettenmoors. This is Turbine’s ‘Monster Play’ zone and you will find monsters (Creeps). Or rather, the monsters will find you.

The Destiny of Lotro

"Julian Murdoch over at Gamers With Jobs posits that the recently released Lord of the Rings Online, for all it's flaws, is a new kind of game — the Destiny-Locked RPG: 'The reason that Story sets LOTRO apart is because you know how it ends. This is a luxury World of Warcraft simply can never have. There is no logical end to WoW, where the evil WoW faction of the Horde is victorious, and every member of the good-aligned Alliance dies. The viciously PvP nature of EVE Online means that the story can only sit on the sidelines and inform, not take center stage. But in LOTRO, the game is the story. In this, the game has far more in common with Oblivion than it does with WoW.' The argument here is that a game in which the outcome is known is fundamentally a different (and possibly better) form of gameplay than that the current rage of emergent-gameplay sandbox weak storied games. A challenging idea."

It's not so much that the game's ending is already known, as that there is an ending.

Team confident entering MMO market

Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar has the unpleasant honor of entering into the MMO market where the shadow of World of Warcraft looms over all. From what we've seen and heard, the Turbine developed game is the first real contender to enter the market in a long time. It may not usher an immediate deathblow to WoW, but the fellowship of the ring has a long journey and they're ready to battle.



Joystiq spent some time at Turbine meeting with the team behind LotRO. One of the key things that stood out was the polish of the product and the fact that those we spoke to weren't being deceitful in their presentation of the game -- a rare occurrence to say the least. The team knows they've got something good on their hands.

"We couldn't wait to lift NDA," said Meghan Rodberg, community manager at Turbine. "We knew we had something special and different."



Lead Designer Nikolaus Davidson says the team wasn't being naive on this project. They know they aren't entering a fresh market where the last big game is forgotten. MMOs live a long time and there is a dominating force in the genre. Turbine had to develop LotRO to enter and compete with the two-year-old World of Warcraft. Offering gamers something different, yet accessible, and having some innovations not seen in WoW.

The basic things setting LotRO: Shadows of Angmar, which takes place over the course of The Fellowship of the Ring, apart from the rest of the competition is well implemented layered instances, a deed system, titles and Turbine's track record of quickly expanding content. Layered instances progress the plot of the story and while completing quests the environment may change. NPCs die, houses burn and the story moves on. This first game covers events and subplots that may not have been explored in Tolkien's first book, allowing players to explore the random sub-plots Tolkien glanced over. The deed system acts as achievements. For example, while exploring you may be told you've completed one of five portions of a deed. This encourages exploration and will keep achievement junkies craving for more. Titles like "The Road Watcher," are acquired by completing tasks or deeds and titles can always change to whatever the player wants.



Although Turbine's last game, Dungeons & Dragons Online, did not involve the same development team, that game does hang over the company. Davidson says the LotRO team learned plenty of lessons from DDO and that they are completely different games. He also notes that DDO is entirely different now than when it launched and that speaks to Turbines ability to take feedback and implement new content effectively. He says they will be just as effective in fixing any LotRO issues. When asked how he would react to someone saying that Turbine made DDO and that game was awful, so LotRO will also be awful, Davidson responds, "In DDO we made a game around rules, with Lord of the Rings we made rules around a game."

LotRO was "finished" a while back and the team is spending more of their time on polish and implementing random things for the community before launch April 24. Players can re-dye their clothes for the fashionista gamers, different types of smoking weed will create different smoke rings, but what they are most proud of is the music system. The music system, which currently has no quests attached to it, has been strongly embraced by the community. When players hit a certain level they can receive an instrument to play using their keyboard. Davidson says these are the types of things they could do because they weren't just finishing the game at the last second, they were adding content to make the world lively and a service to Tolkien fans and gamers.



We'll continue to follow the development of LotRO. Along with Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning by EA Mythic this fall, it look like there might finally be some competition in the MMO market.

Shadows of Angmar™ Launches!

WESTWOOD, MA and CHICAGO, IL - April 24, 2007 -- Turbine, Inc. and Midway Games Inc. (NYSE: MWY) announced today that The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM is now available for purchase across North America. The game is the first and only massively-multiplayer online game based on the Books of J.R.R. Tolkien. In development for over four years, the game opens up the mystical world of Middle-earth and creates the opportunity for endless adventure.

Legions of fans have been waiting in great anticipation for the opportunity to start their adventure in Middle-earth and as of today, the wait is over! The Lord of the Rings Online delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the quaint surroundings of the Shire to Angmar, the vile kingdom of the Witch-king, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before.

"The release of The Lord of the Rings Online marks a momentous occasion for MMO gamers and Tolkien fans around the world," said Jeff Anderson, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "Countless adventures await gamers eager to experience Middle-earth in an entirely new way and we're confident that once they've visited this epic world, they'll never want to leave."

"The Lord of the Rings franchise, with its incredibly rich history and extensive fan base, lends itself perfectly to the MMO genre," said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer, Midway. "We're thrilled to be able to partner with Turbine to bring The Lord of the Rings Online to North American gamers looking for a way to experience the world of Middle-earth like never before."

Turbine also announced today the first update to The Lord of the Rings Online. This free update, called the Shores of Evendim, is scheduled to be released this coming June and will include an entirely new landscape region, over 60 additional quests, the Battle for Helegrod raid, nine new monsters and major enhancements to monster play and the music system

The Lord of the Rings Online is now available for purchase at major retailers in both a Special and Standard Edition. The Special Edition of The Lord of the Rings Online includes the game on a single DVD, 30-days of free play, the official ‘Making of The Lord of the Rings Online' DVD, the official game soundtrack and an exclusive in-game item. The Special Edition retails for a U.S. MSRP of $59.99, while the Standard Edition of the game is available for a U.S. MSRP of $49.99.

For more information about The Lord of the Rings Online, please visit http://www.lotro.com/

About Turbine

Turbine, Inc. is a premier developer, publisher and operator of online entertainment and is headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts. The company is one of the largest privately-held online games companies in North America. Turbine's catalog includes some of the most famous online entertainment brands, including Asheron's Call®, DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ONLINE^TM: Stormreach^TM, and The Lord of the Rings Online^TM: Shadows of Angmar^TM. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit http://www.turbine.com/.

About Midway

Midway Games Inc. (NYSE:MWY), headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices throughout the world, is a leading developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software for major videogame systems and personal computers. More information about Midway and its products can be found at http://www.midway.com/.

About Tolkien Enterprises

The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in J.R.R. Tolkien's literary works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Tolkien Enterprises has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on Tolkien's works for almost 30 years. Its headquarters are in Berkeley, California, and its website may be found at http://www.tolkien-ent.com/.

###

"The Lord of the Rings Online," "Shadows of Angmar," "Middle-earth," "The Lord of the Rings," and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of The Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises under license to Turbine, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Midway has provided the http://www.lotro.com/, http://www.turbine.com/ and http://www.tolkien-ent.com/ links solely as a convenience for you. The information on these sites has been prepared by third parties, and Midway does not monitor, endorse or accept responsibility for the content on non-Midway sites.

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning future business conditions and the outlook for Midway Games Inc. (the "Company") based on currently available information that involves risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, the financial strength of the interactive entertainment industry, dependence on new product introductions and the ability to maintain the scheduling of such introductions, the current console platform transition and other technological changes, dependence on major platform manufacturers and other risks more fully described under "Item 1. Business - Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, and in any more recent filings made by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Each forward-looking statement, including, without limitation, financial guidance, speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and Midway undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or unanticipated events or circumstances, except as required by law.

PVP in LOTR Online

Looking at PvP for LOTRO is different than any other MMORPG to me. LOTR has been around for over half a century and has a large and loyal following. Locations, events, races and all other sorts of information like this are well known to many people. So this means you have to decide to either try to remain true to the “Lore” or not.



Now there are two extremes; the first is the “strictly by the book” extreme which is almost impossible to do in an MMORPG and keep the game enjoyable for a large number of people. The other extreme is the one that just wants the LOTR images and does not care about the books or story. Now the argument can be made that having thousands of elves running around Gondor is immersion breaking and that would be correct to a point. The developers have to decide where between those two extremes to draw the line. Anything that deviates from the “lore” is technically immersion breaking. So it appears they are trying to stay as close to the lore as possible while bending some to make the game enjoyable to as many as possible.



I am going to try to look for ideas that fit in between these two extremes. With the development team saying that there will be no PvP and alternatives are required I am also going to try to address that as well as addressing some of the “cons” of PvP.



So at launch we know that PvP is out. And since in Eriador there were no major skirmishes during this time period I can understand this from a “Lore” perspective. Now once we get to Mordor expansions we can look at playable evil races but I’ll save that for last. The first thing I think they could add in to the Eriador section as a patch would be Playable NPC’s. Here is an example:

PLAYABLE NPC’S



You go to Helm's Deep and you see the opening cut scene and arrive and help out the good guys defend the walls, etc... Do some quests/missions. But then you leave... when you come back, as they've said, the area won't look the same (like Archet changes from burned to being fixed up in the beginner human quests).



So if you return to Helm's Deep you are given the option to go in and do more quests like a normal PC, or you can leave your character at a wayside stop and "log in" to the other side of the battle.





If you choose to do this, you basically enter a mini-game where they could have a system where as you "level up" your NPC you can get better items/characters. Now for the example at Helm's Deep... you would now be back at the beginning part, as if you had just arrived there, but this time you'd be fighting NPC’s and PC’s who might be there.





There is the "danger" for the Player Characters: Sometimes when you go somewhere, the NPCs might not be so mindless... sometimes someone might have worked pretty hard to become that Uruk-hai.





Also, the playable NPC’s would have no “chat” box, just pre-selected phrases they can say. Why?? This cuts down on the people “leet” speak and such and helps to keep the NPC in character. Now this system can be added easily and with little resources taken away from other content areas as the NPC’s are already there. Now there are a ton of other options that can be done with this. It would allow players to take part in “epic” battles as well you could allow kinships to fight each other as NPC’s even which orcs tended to do frequently.



So is this PvP?? Sadly no it is not. And now I move on to some other ideas on PvP in the game.





I think that PvP could be introduced into LOTRO using the Evil races of Orcs and Humans with the Mordor expansion. However, by adding evil races you cut the content in half and you run into the “balance/nerf” issues as well as having to zone them to keep them out of inappropriate and immersion breaking areas. So I will give an idea that could work with or without evil races.

PVP

All players will have a PvP on/off toggle (default set to off) which only works after they enter a large instanced area for PvP. Now once you’re in the PvP instanced area your able to toggle it on or off. As you enter the PvP instance you get a cut screen and an option screen appears asking if you want the public or group/kinship PvP instance.



If you chose the public PvP instance than you will be directed to a large instanced area where you can now toggle your PvP on or wait and watch the action by leaving it off. This also allows you to move around or go to areas in the instance and not get “ganked” constantly. Now there would need to be a timer on the on/off switch so it would not be abused.





If you chose the group/kinship area than you and everyone you are grouped with appear as a group and you can see a list of other groups that may be there as well. You can chose to go to a private instance where your group and one other group can have a private fight without others interfering or you can chose the public PvP instance and it would transport your entire group en masse to the public server. On either of the choices you would still need to toggle on your PvP switch to be able to attack others and be attacked back.



That would be the basic PvP ideas and if they wanted to they could add options to allow the choice of fighting in castles or historic battlegrounds and things like that.



Is this idea perfect?? No. Will this idea appeal to all the players who enjoy PvP?? No. But as is often the case in life a compromise is needed and no idea would make everyone happy. I think that by adding these ideas I have listed it would provide at least some form of PvP, stay true to the lore as much as possible and not be immersion breaking for those that are not into PvP and do not want to see it in the main game. Both sides of the continuum give a little and get a little and it’s a win-win situation.

Newbie Archet: in 40 minutes or less

When you arrive in Archet you’ll find yourself standing in front of Mundo Sackville-Baggins. Talk to him and he will give you a quest called Intro: Amdir’s Request which requires you to speak with Amdir. (Note: The Ring icon signifies that this quest is a part of the epic story arc.)

To find Amdir, run towards the south. After just a few seconds you will see him sitting against a post. Talk to Amdir to finish Mundo’s quest and he will give you another quest called Intro: Captain Brackenbrook. This quest asks you to go to The Mad Badger and talk to Captain Brackenbrook.

The Mad Badger can be found if you turn to the south and go through the door on top of the staircase facing the east. Run up the hallway until you find Captain Brackenbrook. Talk to him to continue the quest which needs you to return to talk to Amdir. Go back and talk to him to finish the quest. You will then be given another quest called Intro: Honing Your Skills for which you need to visit your Trainer and train the skills available to you.

To find the Trainers, turn towards the south and run past The Mad Badger. Then you must turn to the west and run until you see several people in front of a building. These people are the Trainers. Your trainer will have a symbol over his head. Talk to him to train your skills, both Active and Passive. When you’ve trained them all, put the ones you want in your Quickslot at the bottom of the screen. Finally, talk to him again to continue the quest and return to Amdir.

Talk to Amdir again to finish the quest. Then you will be given another quest called Intro: Seeing to the Defense which asks you to talk to Dirk Mudbrick. When you accept the quest Celandine Brandybuck, the Hobbit standing next to Amdir, will have a quest for you. Talk to her and she will give you a quest called Intro: Remedy of the Old Kings. For this quest, you need to collect four Kingsfoil Leaves.

Dirk Mudbrick is outside of Archet. Run towards the south, out through the gates of Archet and down to the circle of rocks, which is actually a respawn point. From there, you should be able to see a man standing in front of a small house southwest of your position. Run to the house and talk to Dirk Mudbrick. Select to continue the quest and you’ll be asked to kill six wolves.

Turn to the east and you will see a big open field not too far away. In the field there are many wolves. To the southeast of the field there are ruins, which are called Bronwe’s Folly. On and around Bronwe’s Folly there are Kingsfoil Plants which you can use to get Kingsfoil Leaves to finish the quest that Celandine Brandybuck gave you.

When you have collected four Kingsfoil Leaves around Bronwe’s Folly and have killed six wolves, go back to Dirk and talk to him to finish the quest. He will now give you a new quest called Intro: The Spies which requires you to kill a Blackwold Spy and search him for Blackwold Orders.

Blackwold Spies can be found in two places. To find the first, turn south from Dirk Mudbrick’s house, run past the sheep enclosure and almost up to the small pond after it. Look to the west of the pond and you should see a Blackwold Spy hiding behind a tree. Kill him and search him for Blackwold Orders. If you do not see one there, turn east from the pond and run up on top of the rocks across the path. In the trees there should be a Blackwold Spy. Kill him and search him.

Return to Dirk Mudbrick with the orders and he will tell you to continue the quest by going to talk to Captain Brockenbrook in The Mad Badger. Go back into Archet and then into The Mad Badger. Talk to Captain Brockenbrook to finish the quest you have and then he will give you a new quest called Intro: The Captain’s Son. This quest asks you to go the Hunting Lodge and talk to the Captain’s son, Jon Brockenbrook. Now you can leave The Mad Badger.

Talk to Celandine Brandybuck outside of The Mad Badger to finish the quest for four Kingsfoil Leaves. There are now three more quests available in Archet. You can get Fresh Supplies from Peg Pruner, the Provisioner, who is northeast of The Mad Badger; Question the Prisoner from Jailor Ned Pruner who is in the Archet Jail, east of The Mad Badger; and Beyond the Bulwarks from Constable Thistlewool who is near the Archet gate, south of The Mad Badger. Note: If you go to Constable Thistlewool first, you can get two bonus quests; The Jailor and The Quartermaster. These simply ask you to find Ned and Peg Pruner, were you will receive their quests. It’s an easy way to grab some coppers and XP.

After acquiring the three quests, leave through the Archet gate and head east to go to the Hunting Lodge. You will eventually find yourself on a path heading east. Follow it when it changes directions and leads you to a bridge, then to the Hunting Lodge. While on the path make sure you look for boars to kill and get their meat, and for flashing bushes where you can get piles of bilberries for your quests.

In front of the lodge there are two people with quests, Ann Granger and Atli Spider-bane. Ann will give you a quest called Stolen Treasures which requires you to get her satchel back from the brigands. Atli wants you to kill five spiders and find a missing hunter for his quest, Spiders at the Wall. Now go inside the Hunting Lodge where you’ll find Jon Brackenbrook. Talk to him to finish your current quest, and then get a new quest called Intro: The Blackwold’s Roost. For this quest you need to go the Blackwold’s Roost and kill six brigands. Leave the lodge.

Go to the ruins on the other side of the bridge. In the ruins, you will find spiders and deeper into the ruins you will find the missing hunter to complete Atli’s quest. None of the spiders will automatically attack you, so you can run through them until you find the missing hunter who will be on the ground, wrapped in webs. You must search him and acquire his axe. Then you must continue the quest. When you have killed five spiders and retrieved the hunter’s axe, return to Atli in front of the Hunting Lodge and finish the quest.

Make sure you’ve gathered four piles of bilberries and six slabs of boar-meat before continuing. When you’re ready, head south until you find more ruins. These ruins are the Blackwold’s Roost. Enter through the southeast side and you will see a staircase leading up to a platform. At the bottom of the stairs there will be a bunch of crates and on top of one of them is Ann Granger’s Satchel. Collect it and finish killing six Blackwolds.

When you’re done killing them, head to the southwest until you find Springley’s Farm. Talk to Cal Springley and complete your current quest, then get Cal’s quest called Old Bloodtusk. This quest requires you to kill Old Bloodtusk, a tough boar.

Old Bloodtusk is back near the Blaskwold’s Roost. Run towards the northeast until you arrive at the river you must cross to get to the roost. Instead of crossing, turn southwest and run until you find Old Bloodtusk in front of a tree. If he’s not there, wait for him because he respawns quickly. Kill Old Bloodtusk, then return to Springley’s Farm and talk to Cal to finish the quest.

You should now return to Archet, which is North of Springley’s Farm, to finish quests you have from there. When you enter, talk to Constable Thistlewool to finish his quest. Then proceed to the Archet Jail and talk to Jailor Ned Pruner to finish the quest he gave you. Go to the Provisioner, Peg Pruner last and finish the quest from her. Before leaving Archet, you should go back to your trainer and train the new skills that are available.

Make your way back to the Hunting Lodge now. Outside, talk to Ann Granger and give her the satchel to finish the quest. Then, go inside to talk to Jon Brackenbrook. Finish his quest and he will give you another quest called Intro: The Assault on Archet. You will then be finished your Newbie Training

LOTRO from the Dark Side

While I was busy NOT getting the Keeps taken care of on Silverlode, I was over at Dark Side Comics where SLAGG, a local LAN Party group was a good eight hours into their gaming party. WOW, Quake 3, WOW, LOTRO, WOW and some other games (plus WOW) were keeping people glued to their PCs. The local server of choice for LOTRO was... not Silverlode, so that's one memo that Brian (operator of Dark Side Comics) and I don't get a gold star for distributing. All good, though. I gave out a few LOTRO posters, stared in absolute disbelief at what was going on in "God of War" on the huge screen in the console game area, and then headed back to my office to see what I could do to further thwart Bill's efforts to provide an entertaining evening of events, who at last report said he was up to 50 participants and growing.



While there, though, I got the chance to ask Andy, one of the LOTRO players and also the resident tech, a few questions:

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What is it you do at DarkSide Comics?



I take care of the machines, organize and support the games... mostly tactical games, but lately we've been getting into MMOs like WOW and LOTRO.



You were in the LOTRO Beta, correct?



Yeap. As soon as I found out about it, I went for it.



Was it because you were into MMOs or because of the Tolkien theme?



I was already into MMOs. WOW the current game I was playing, but when I found out there was a Lord of the Rings Online, I couldn't not play it. As a matter of fact, I recently signed up for their lifetime thing. I'm in for as long as they plan to keep the servers up.



You also play WOW, so what do you think about the similarities and differences?



I don't really see them as similar. WOW is a lot more comic book, more cartoony. You're playing a character that is just there, but in LOTRO, already, I have become immersed. That's probably because I'm a Tolkien fan - a Tolkien geek since high school really. I'm one of the few people that I know that has read the Silmarillion. HUGE fan of the books.



You said you're a fan of the Tolkien series. What areas of the game have you been to so far, and do you feel they have been faithful to the books?



Everytime I have come across an area - I haven't made it much farther than Bree - but everytime I have come across an area it looks like I remembered it from the books. It looks the way I pictured it. They did a good job of getting the world right.



What's kind of character did you go with? What class?



I have a loremaster. It's not a magical thing. I like that. Nobody can be Gandalf. I like that!

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By this time, Bill and Seri were reporting an even larger crowd in the Ettenmoors, and that they had already begun their carnage. Bill had things under control despite the mess I made of the evening, so I was thinking that the perfect grand finale' would be to drive up to his house and yank his net connection from the wall in the middle of his raid on Ost Ringdyr. Instead, I picked up a six-pack of Corona and sat on the couch with my Dad and watched Old Yeller. I'll leave it entirely up to you whether you want to believe that or not.

A day in the life of a middle-aged Captain

Disclaimer: The following journal was written during The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar ™’s (LOTRO) Beta phase. Much of the information provided here is subject to change. The journal is meant to give you a cross section of LOTRO as it was at the time of this writing, and has been approved by Turbine for public release.

Setting aside a few hours to play The Lord of the Rings Online is pretty hard these days, but I manage to do so this week. Armed with tortilla chips, salsa, and a 20 oz. Diet Pepsi, I closed the door to my office and log in.

Today’s session begins with my level 36 Captain resting in the beauty of Rivendell. My quest log reads like a book of short stories told by Tolkien himself. Bilbo Baggins wants me to solve his riddle, Elrond has asked me to talk to Frodo, and there is a Troll problem in the South Trollshaws. There are hundreds of decisions to be made during my time in Middle-earth, and this is the one I always get hung up on. What shall I do first? A member of my kinship informs me that he will be hunting stone trolls in the very near future and that I am welcome to join him if I like. Problem solved. I mount my horse and blaze off in the direction of the troll hunting party. (Yes, I have a horse.)

The ride from The Last Homely House to the hunting party is a long one; Middle-earth is a big place, and travel takes time. Along the way I pass Sam at the Meeting Spire, Boromir near the road to the Misty Mountains and a number of friendly Elven merchants selling their wares. I cross the Ford of Bruinen without incident, but the ride gets more dangerous from here. Many creatures roam these lands and running into a Troll is not uncommon -- get too close to one of these and you’ll find yourself knocked from your steed and in a very tight spot. Luck is on my side this day, and I meet up with my party in one piece.

Scanning my group list, I quickly realize that we’re more than a match for any Trolls in the area. Small talk commences as we wait for one or two more members to show up. It’s not long before we are all assembled and searching for our quarry. My quest log currently contains two Troll quests. The first of these was given by a Dwarf; he is searching for an unremarkable stone and is convinced that one of these monsters has walked off with it. Its return has become my responsibility. My second quest is to thin out the Troll population some. I’m to kill 6 of them and report back for my reward.

As we follow our tracker through the woods, my attention turns to the skill bar on my user interface. The Captain is a good secondary buffer and I contemplate which party members should receive which buffs. The Champion will get “Relentless Attack.” This is a “Command” buff and it allows one to attack ferociously, giving them the ability to critically wound with their attacks more often by adding 5% to their critical hit chance. We also have a Guardian in the group and on him I bestow “On Guard.” This is a defensive buff that adds 5% to his parry chance. These are in addition to the “Motivating Speech” buff I have already placed on the entire group. This skill increases the affected player’s morale pool by 1.1%.

We quickly come up on a group of Trolls and I dole out my buffs. It’s also time for me to summon my herald. At level 36 I have three to choose from: Hope, War, and Victory are their names. My Herald of Hope adds additional increases to the fellowship’s Morale pool while the Herald of War adds points to our Might and Agility scores. I don’t think these trolls are going to be too much trouble, so I use the Herald of Victory which gives us each a larger Power pool to work with.

We move in on the Trolls and the battle is joined. Because of the ease of this fight, my Herald and I use mostly auto-attack so I can relax and chat during the encounter instead of playing mash the buttons. I do use one of my favorite skills from time to time. “Reveling Mark” is a skill that I use to point out weaknesses in our foe’s defense. It also allows fellowship members gain morale as they do damage. This is a nice little skill that will save a group’s healer some power over the course of a long skirmish.

Because they are Elite monsters, Fellowship Combos aid us in our fight, and we dispatch the required number of Trolls in short order. My hunting party returns to the quest givers and reap our rewards. Talk turns to another quest that I have already completed, so I say goodbye to my group. There’s a Hobbit in Rivendell waiting to chat with me.

The return ride is as uneventful as the trip out, and in no time I find myself on the steps of Elrond’s beautiful home. I talk to Frodo and he asks if I will take a walk with him. I won’t go into the details of this quest; its surprise adds to the enjoyment factor of this session and I wouldn’t want to rob you of that.

My time is about up so I finish with Frodo and head to the nearest merchant to repair some armor and sell off some junk I acquired during my travels. Just before I sign off for the evening, I take a moment to look out over the valley. Turbine’s art team has placed wonderful looking Elven dwellings among beautiful streams, bridges and trees here. As with other areas in this game, their presentation of Imladris is truly a thing to behold. I log out of the game, looking forward to tomorrow morning. Bilbo has a riddle for me -- and his are always the most fun.