From GameSpy

The latest addition to Turbine's Tolkien-themed MMO might as well be subtitled "Extreme Makeover: Middle-earth Edition."
By Allen 'Delsyn' Rausch | Jan. 31, 2008

One of the most frequently underrated aspects of the MMO by developers is avatar customization, and it's certainly not hard to understand why. Would you rather be the monster designer who creates a fantastic new raid boss or the person tasked with coming up with 53 new hairstyles? The former seems fun, but it's often the latter that has the greater impact on player enjoyment. Players will jump through massive hoops to gain some sort of visual distinctiveness and the developers at Turbine seems to understand this (if they didn't, their players have certainly screamed loudly enough about it). That's why despite the latest content addition to The Lord of the Rings Online adding some cool new PvP content, class tweaks and a major area revamp, much of it is simply devoted to making players look good.

Tuckborough Waterfalls

On a recent run through "Book 12: The Ashen Wastes," we were treated to an impressive demonstration of the game's new cosmetic system in action. The keys are the two new "outfit" tabs placed on the player's paper doll equipment screen. These new slots will change the appearance of that portion of the character's clothing to whatever is slotted in and will also allow the player to turn any element of their character's clothing on or off. The kicker is that these new items add nothing to the player's abilities or combat capabilities; they merely alter the appearance of the player's avatar. The system is also subject to class, level and area restrictions. Minstrels, for example, naturally can't wear heavy armor, so they won't be able to do so as an outfit either. The system will also be disabled in the Ettenmoors PvP area to avoid players disguising their classes.



Beyond those few restrictions, however, anything goes with the new outfit system. In our case, the temporary character we were given came with five bags filled with a huge amount of outfit-only clothing that will be available when the update goes live. Some of it, like formal wear and wedding dresses are obviously designed for the role-playing crowd. Some (such as a pirate... err, "Corsair" outfit complete with eyepatch) will only be available as quest rewards, rare drops, reputation recipes for crafters and special events. Still others really work well in terms of fleshing out a character's look. A new "backpack" slot allows players to equip rucksacks designed for specific crafting professions. One, for example, sports the pickaxe of a Prospector while another has a bound-in Forester's axe, and Hunters will certainly appreciate the opportunity to wear one of several new quiver styles.

The second portion of the game's new customization system is the addition of NPC barbers. In our case, we were invited into the great dining hall of Elrond's house in Rivendell to see an unassuming-looking elf standing next to an empty chair. There, for a nominal fee (around 10 silver), players can finally alter their character's hairstyle, hair color and add new facial details like scars. To that end, the development team has been hard at work crafting over 50 new hair styles for players to choose in addition to a second appearance layer to avatar faces that will allow players to add a second facial detail. There's even a mullet haircut the devs jokingly refer to as the "Tuckborough Waterfall."

The final portion the game's "extreme makeover" is an addition to player housing -- trophies. This is a system that started life as a series of rare "pristine carcass" drops from world creatures that could be brought to a taxidermist and turned into trophies for a player's house. The team is expanding this system with an extraordinary variety of quest, raid and mob-related trophies. The ones on display for our tour included the massive blade of Thaurlach the Balrog (raid boss of the Rift) in the front yard of an elf house, the skull of Thorog (the dragon of Helegrod), the helmet of Sambrog (the big bad of the Barrow-Downs) and a barrel of water containing the twitching tentacles of Helchgam (a boss monster in Angmar).

The Delving of Fror

One of the most interesting new additions is The Delving of Fror, an experiment by the developers in finding a ways to make raid-style content more accessible by PvP and casual players. The Delving is a new dungeon located in the Ettenmoors PvP zone. It's an extensive warren that houses a series of stepped encounters and bosses. The difficulties on these monsters range from some areas that are soloable to a final boss that will take a whole raid to take down. Any of these monsters will drop excellent loot but the real prize will be "soul stones," three levels of tokens that drop from every mob in the Delving and can be traded with item vendors for a number of armor, weapon and jewelry sets as well as consumables and crafting recipes. "Creeps" (players playing as monsters) can also use these drops to purchase new corruptions, new skills, new traits, special sessions and new environmental mods.

What makes the Delving especially compelling is that while it's designed as a raid dungeon, it's not actually a raid. The Delving is a public dungeon accessible to anyone so long as their side controls the Ettenmoors. Should control of the Ettenmoors switch while players are inside, the doors are closed and players will be forced to use their maps or other special travel powers to escape. They can, of course, continue to run through the dungeon, but once the other side has access they can then enter the Delving -- and the Delving is a PvP Zone. According to the developers at Turbine, there's nothing quite like fighting a lesser member of the Balrog family when 24 screaming player-monsters break into the room to spice up the party.




The development team is hoping that the end result of adding the Delving is to offer PvP players much more to fight for than mere bragging rights. Since the Delving is a public dungeon, it means that more than one raid of players may enter and take on a raid boss (loot possession is determined by who strikes first). That would potentially put even the biggest bosses and the best loot within the range of casual players in pick-up groups if enough players were in the Ettenmoors. It also gives PvP players a compelling reason to attack and hold control points -- protecting companions currently in the Delving.

The Scouring of Angmar

The final stop on our tour was the new and improved Angmar. The home of the lord of the Nazgul suffered from a looming ship date back in April of 2007. The result was that of all of the game's original lands, the place that should have offered the most compelling content instead felt rushed, filled with half-finished quests and populated by unlikely mobs (just what did all those boars in Angmar eat, anyway?). The new Angmar has received a massive upgrade. New visual points of interest have been added including a fortress wall on the mountainous border with the North Downs. There are new structures in Aughaire, new ruins dotting the landscape and a brand-new quest hub called Imlad Balchorth. There are also more Wargs, fewer warthogs, 54 revamped quests and 64 new ones to challenge players.

Stealing, Tanking and Looking Good in Middle-earth

The remainder of the update includes a new chapter in the game's Epic Quest, the usual slew of patch fixes and a revamp for the Burglar and Guardian classes. Burglars get a whole host of new toys to play with including the classes' first real "stance." Mischief removes the Burglar's stealth abilities while providing the class with two new skills and a considerable buff to their stunning and crowd control abilities. Clever Retort drops a random effect on a Tricked enemy ranging from straight damage to a DOT to an unexpected power or morale recovery for the player. Confound is a time-delayed daze that can be put on up to two mobs. The delay means it won't be an everyday stun, but it certainly looks like a nice emergency skill.



Guardians, on the other hand, are getting some much needed love to their primary class characteristic: the ability to tank. The class is receiving two very attractive new skills. Shield Wall allows the Guardian to transfer any incoming damage from another target to him or herself while Fray the Edge acts as a taunt that also increases the chances for a Fellowship maneuver. Guardians tired of being used as meat shields will also appreciate the new "Overpower" stance that's designed to jack up DPS at the expense of protection and finally make using a two-handed weapon a viable choice. "Book 12: The Ashen Wastes" is currently in development and is expected in mid-February.