Even though the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online is almost 12 years old, it is by no means dead. The developers have now announced plans for 2019 and beyond, surprising us with the announcement of a new expansion.
A new addon!
What have the developers announced? The producer’s letter states that the team intends to focus on the current story around the “Black Book of Mordor” in the near future. This story will lead the heroes to the next expansion. Yes, there is indeed a new addon coming. This is the first major expansion since “Mordor” in summer 2017.
- You will visit the Valley of Anduin and uncover its secrets.
- You will return to Mordor and explore the fortress Minas Morgul.
- There you will face the giant spider Shelob.
- All of this is supposed to lead to the addon.
- It is not yet confirmed what the addon will be about.
Why is the addon a surprise? After “Mordor,” there was no talk of another expansion. At Daybreak Games, the team focused on smaller, regular content updates that expanded the story. However, the fact that a new addon is coming is exciting.
When will the addon come? It is not yet known when the expansion will be released. It could still be by the end of the year, but it is more likely that it will come in 2020. A name for the addon has not yet been confirmed.
There is more to come
What else is coming? Standing Stone Games stated that more interesting things will happen in LotRO this year:
- Further balancing adjustments to the classes
- Game-wide balancing adjustments. The adventures shouldn’t be made harder than they already are in Mordor with the upcoming expansion. Nevertheless, they want to offer high-level heroes special challenges in instances.
- A release of a 64-bit client is planned for March, which should improve performance and loading times.
- The expansion is expected to enhance crafting, allowing players to create very special and powerful items.
- The virtue system is being overhauled: You will soon earn virtue EXP for heroic deeds, which you can distribute to individual virtues.
- Kinships and groupings will also be getting updates.
- The Legendary Servers will gradually receive new content. Next up is Moria.
What is missing for the players? While the announced features are well received by fans and the community is especially excited about the new addon, some wonder if a new class or a new race is coming. This was not mentioned in the producer’s letter.
Even though the LotRO community is known for often criticizing announcements, this time it seems that, according to whatever76543 in the official forum: “Surprisingly little to criticize.”
Now the community is eagerly waiting for more details and how the announced features will ultimately affect The Lord of the Rings Online.
