A new expansion for Turbine Inc.'s MMORPG, The Lord of the Rings Online has been announced to be launched this holiday season. Siege of Mirkwood will be coming to add some more action and adventure to the world of LotRO on December 1st, 2009.

It's time for another round of "guess who" for Tolkien fans. Take a guess: who is the cousin of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. Clue: he and his wife, Lobelia, tried to auction off Bilbo's possessions when he went off on the Quest of Erebor. You might have encountered his son and his wife on your travels through the Shire in Lord of the Rings Online. Got a name yet? Go to the full article to see if you got it right.

The cool thing about the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar from Turbine is the appearance of several NPCs that have direct relations to the events that transpired in the movies and the books. Take, for example, the case of the ranger Amdir. Know his story after the jump!

As most players would attest, housing is one of the more highly-anticipated features in Turbine Inc.'s and Codemasters' The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar expansion Book 11.

Community Manager Vanessa Price (aka Saffron) said that "due to the high level of interest" the community has shown, the developers have decided to add more Housing Brokers to help players find and purchase new property.

True enough, two new additional Housing Brokers have been added in each of the different neighborhoods making it much easier for players to purchase their own houses. For example, players based in the Bree-land Homesteads will find their new Brokers outside of The Comb, the Wattle Inn in Combe, and in the center of Staddle. Here are the locations of the other Housing Brokers as separated by homesteads:

• Shire Homesteads: Post Office in Waymeet, center of Tuckborough
• Falathorn Homesteads in the Elvish lands of Ered Luin: near the docks in Celondim, near the Scholar's Enclave in Duillond
• Thorin's Hall Homesteads in the Dwarvish lands of Ered Luin: the courtyards of both Noglond and Gondamon

Players who want to buy houses through these new brokers may have to act fast since Price mentioned that the additional Housing Brokers are temporary and could be removed at any time.

 

If you've been hankering to try a new MMORPG, Turbine is offering a seven day free trial for The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar. This is the perfect time to just jump in and try it out. After all, what do you have to lose?

Gamers will get a chance to play for free over a span of seven days. After this, each player is given the option to continue playing by purchasing the full game either at a retail or online store. If they do decide to do so, they will be keeping the characters they created. The CEO of Turbine Inc. Jeffrey Anderson spoke about the free trial and the reason they're offering it to the public:

We have surpassed our goal of combining the greatest fantasy of all time with a state-of-the-art online social experience. And now, we want everyone to have the opportunity to walk through the Shire, climb the Misty Mountains, fight with their own fellowship in the War of the Ring, and fully experience the greatest fantasy of all time.

The game boasts of more than 10,000,000 square meters of landscape to explore, over 200 quests, and legendary play. The developers have also updated the Reputation, Bartering, and Music systems, making it more accessible and easier to use. If you're interested in trying the game out, click on our Read Link to find out more on this.

  

For a village named 'Scary', any stalwart adventurer in The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar worth his scabbard and boots would expect it to harbor a festering cesspool of rabid trolls, lecherous orcs or any of the more undesirable creatures that skulk in the realm's bowels. Unfortunately, any adventurer expecting that and more will find themselves disappointed to the core as the village of Scary is in fact, not that scary at all - rather, it's a peaceful little habitat of hobbits living out their lives.

Aptly-named, the village is a safe haven for those of sword, bow or axe looking for a place to rest. The villagers are friendly enough, too busy with their work at the stone quarry found at the east of Scary to be inhospitable. But for those looking for a challenge, and refuse to believe that the Village of Scary isn't named as such for nothing, the labyrinth of twisting caves underneath the Scary Hills should prove enough of a worthy adversary.

While the name certainly sounds like some in-joke the legendary Tolkien may have come up with in his writings, the source material for the Village of Scary is in fact quite vague, giving this part of the Shire a token description once or twice in the series. Hence the team over at Codemasters gave the village its own sense of mystery, to spice things up a bit. It's also to note that the caves in Scary Hills have been mentioned by Tolkien as the hiding place of hobbits from the oppressive Men during the War of the Ring.

It's always good to see that Tolkien's masterpiece is being given the digital treatment with care and consideration. Updates as we get them!

 

Now is a good time to be a Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar player. This is because of the Shores of Evendim patch which adds new locations, instances, and cleans up few issues some players have been complaining about.

So what can we expect in this patch? The most obvious would undoubtedly be the addition of Evendim. This location is roughly the size of The Shire and becomes available the moment players hit level 25 and above. They have also added over 100 new quests in the game (75 are in Evendim) and seven new sets of Epic Armor.

Other changes players will certainly take note of is the improved music system in the game and that monster's DOT effects now stack (assuming two different effect) so no one will be able to escape from Poison DOTs by getting hit by a Fear DOT.

That said, they released a very long and expansive set of updates which can be found via our Read link. What's surprising is the length of the patch notes considering that they only posted part one of the list. Codemasters and Turbine must have been really busy with this, and the amount of time they spent on it shows.

And so The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar finally lands in Europe. That's right, as of today, Codemasters Online and Turbine's videogame adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's classic will be judged by the many fans out there, to see if the game can indeed live up to the glory of the story itself.

Gamers will be thrust into the wonderful adventure awaiting them in Middle-Earth, from the tranquil hills of the Shire to the wretched kingdom of Angmar.

David Solari, VP and General Manager of Codemasters, gushed, "The response so far has been nothing short of stunning and we're hugely excited about launching this unique game and look forward to it having a profound effect in the market."

On Turbine's end, CEO Jeff Anderson expressed, "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 standard edition of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar is tagged at £34.99 / €49.99. Meanwhile, the Special Edition includes in its package the full game client, 45 days of free play, the official 'Making of The LOTRO' DVD, a 7-day buddy client and an in-game item for a RRP of £49.99 / €69.99. As for the Collector's Edition, you'll get everything included in the Special Edition, plus a full lifetime subscription to The LOTRO presented on a lifetime membership certificate, a parchment letter from Turbine, as well as an exclusive in-game item, all for a RRP of £179.99 / €249.99.

 

After being poetic about Aragorn and Arwen and telling you about the early access feature of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, we now receive word about the first update to LOTRO - Shores of Evendim. Slated to begin in June, LOTRO could start adventuring to the Shores of Evendim, which would be the first of many free updates to the game.

This lies about a 100 miles north of the Shire. This vast region is dominated by the "Lake of the Twilight" or Lake Nenuial. Aside from the vast body of water occupying Evendim, it was said that great wealth and powerful artifacts could be found on the ancient abandoned city of Annúminas. Located on the southern shore and is known as the former capital of kingdom of Arnor, Legends have said that wealth and artifacts abound the place - coupled with evil beings and the nefarious forces lurking in Angmar. Wealth and power comes at a price indeed. Key features include:

•  Discover the lands of Evendim
•  Explore over 60 new Quests
•  Raid in the Battle for Helegrod
•  Fight against 9 new monsters
•  Upgraded music system adds new instruments and lets you share your music with others
•  Equip collectible Armor Sets

Gandalf has asked for help in Aragorn's search of the ancient Evendim lands - specifically the ancient jewel that once belonged to the Sword of Elendil's hilt. Find the jewel, before Sauron finds it.

Reminiscent of the World of Warcraft professions, we have The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (LOTRO) vocations which will allow characters to craft their own items. Everyone knows if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself, so we here at QJ have a basic guide for beginners to help them choose the right vocation for them.

After picking your vocation, it's time to find a provisioner for any of your professions to purchase the necessary items required by your profession. It should not be too hard to find provisioners as they are usually near the Master or Mistress of Apprentices. Some of the rarer items can only be gotten by questing or trading with other players.

You earn experience points for a profession by crafting, however, to reach the next level you will have to do crafting quests. Once you reach Master (the highest you can go) you can use the Mastery Options to give you greater chances of hitting a "Critical Success" in your work. Good luck and happy crafting.

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