It's been four years this month since Lord of the Rings Online has been out - what a four years! The game has not only survived a shift to a free to play/micro-transaction model but has come out on the other side possibly a much stronger and significantly more entertaining game. In April's Producer's letter, Aaron Campbell highlights some of the key developments in his eyes during the games four year history:
(2007) Deep in the northern regions of the Misty Mountains lies Helegrod, the location of LOTRO's first 24 person raid!
(2007) Play as a Troll, Ranger or Chicken!
(2009) In an effort to retain business the vendors have now learned to sell stackable items in quantities other than "one" and "a full stack" in order to better serve you!
(2010) There are now a total of 12 spaces (two Small Fellowships, six Fellowships, three 12-Person Raids, and one 24-Person Raid) that have been upgraded with level scaling technology and will scale from their initial access level all the way to cap.
In this months letter to the players of LOTRO, Campbell also takes the opportunity to lay out what is to come in 2011 for the game. Update 3 will see the addition of new zones, skirmishes and instances. In the fall we will see yet another expansion pack for the game, featuring a level cap increase and a new 24 player raid dungeon.
All in all it has been a pretty fantastic four years for Lord of the Rings Online. It's a fun game, with great graphics (especially taking advantage of the DX10 features) and now a ton of content with more to come. There is no doubt that Turbine anticipates LOTRO lasting at least another four years.
To read the Producer's letter in its entirety, visit: http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/1163-producers-letter-april--2011
