PAX 2008: LOTRO update.

Update is used liberally here as there's not much in the way of blog-worthy news coming out of camp Turbine this PAX. They did demo Mines of Moria and the response from the gamers seems to be positive. The overwhelming response to the old "what did you think of the game?" question seems to be that Moria is huge. Really huge. Turbine showed off the usual bits and pieces of the new expansion such as the level cap being raised to 60, new legendary weapons that you can modify over time, the two new classes Warden and Rune-keeper as well as the rest of the expansion that we're already familiar with.

One thing did come out that I wasn't aware of or at least this is the first time I took notice of it. There will be the ability to join crafting guilds.

Speculation? There will be a new tier for crafters to work on. Along with this the Hef is hearing this and that about specialization in your profession. This along with the legendary items and LOTRO's affinity for reputation grinding leads one to believe we'll be seeing these crafting guilds play out like any other rep in the game. You start out nub then have to work your way to being kindred with them in order to get access to the uberness of that crafting guild.

Turbine is also accepting beta apps for Mines of Moria: clicky.

I'll continue to relay what news comes from PAX 2008 but it seems nothing groundbreaking is being dropped. We'll hear tons more once beta kicks off.

IGN preview of Mines of Moria

IGN's latest sneak peak at Moria. This one is much more detailed than we have seen in the past. Check back in this weekend for updates from PAX!

New pocket items hit the AH. Gold farmers rejoice.

The laughable auction house prices have returned. I predicted that with the release of Book 14 we'd see a significant jump in the availability of Etched Beryl on the AH and a slow and steady decrease in the cost of these items. We have indeed seen this happen. I ranted about this in the past because I thought Turbine was trying to eliminate the big money sink item from the AH. With the ring-lore quest producing level 45 items (i.e. slime, rune...), the increased number of engraved beryl recipes and the addition of Grand Master crafting recipes I predicted the market for consumables to rise and the bank accounts of most players to grow. I was mistaken.

It turns out Turbine indeed wants a series of money sink items to be available on the AH and not available to random gold farmer.

Take the Gold Sewing Needle for example.

Bind on Equip

Bauble

Cooldown: 25m

+15 Will

+45 Maximum Power

+15 Fate

+15 Vitality

+5% Out of Combat Run Speed

+2 Patience

Durability 100 / 100

Minimum Level: 50

This is quite the excellent piece of pocket itemage. But is it worth lining the pockets of some nub with 10 - 30 gold? I think not. Why the price? On my server you will find the prices for the new teal items jacked up that high. I'm going to begin to compile a list of them and see which ones work best for us minis. This one is one of my current favorites. It shreds the Vial of water and any of the scales simply because of its balance. Well, so far. I need to put on the lab coat and begin evaluating.

Moria Release date leaked?

Is it true? November 3rd, 2008?! My sources tell me Turbine will be releasing our long awaited expansion in early November. At first I thought this was a mistake on Turbine's part but with so many expansions hitting this fall 2008 perhaps it is the best time to drop this one into the pool of gamers. Warhammer will be going strong but perhaps the new car smell will be wearing thin on some folks. The WoW'ers will be full-on raiding so I think they'd be a lost cause but maybe some gamers disenchanted by WoW's expansion might end up turning to LOTRO for their fix when Moria hits.

Either way Mines of Moria release date is November 3rd (maybe November 4th).

I guess if you're using this as your source for a date I'm your source so you get to put me in cool quotes and italicize sources =]

If you're looking for more hardcore evidence of the November 3rd release date check out the online retailers as the November 3rd release date is popping up on places like EB Games.

For your viewing pleasure ...

QFTL from President of Turbine Jim Crowley

"We are excited to self publish The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria and to partner with Warner Bros. to distribute the title at retail this fall," said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine, Inc. "Mines of Moria introduces breakthrough content and features including our Legendary Item system that will revolutionize the way players advance and customize their unique heroes."

Give me a friggin' date for the release!!!

With WarhammerOnline being released in early Fall 2008 (September) and WoW releasing Wrath of the Lich-king in mid to late Fall 2008 Turbine is keeping their release date in the dark for now. The Hef does not like this. I want to know when to schedule my vacation time!!

I've heard rumor that the release date is in early November for Mines of Moria. If that is correct I'll be upset at having to wait that long between a pretty weak free content release (book 14) that was accompanied with a host of bugs and server downtime and LOTRO's first expansion.

They better make it worth the wait.

To Fate or not to Fate?

In-combat power regen is nice but I'll take morale over power when considering how to build-out my mini. If you're a mini who's soloing 90% of the time or running with a crew that never has a burg or LM then I can see the drawback to my strategy. However, I run with my kin and whether we're hitting Annuminas, the Rift, Helegrod, CD or just doin' whatever I usually have a burg or a Lore-master around to keep the batteries charged. We have a standing unwritten rule ... did that make sense? We have a standing unwritten order on need-to-feed power to starting with the Minstrel followed by the Guardian then it becomes the LM's discretion who they feed power to after that. So, being at the top of the power food chain and usually running with a LM and/or a Burglar I'm set on power.

This means a morale build is preferable for me and I like to argue is preferable for all minis in just about any scenario. The only benefit a high fate build will offer is in very long fights or long periods with no rest in between fights. So give me the raw numbers power and morale over fate. What's this all mean? This means I'm about to bust out a minstrel only webapp that allows you to plan out your character build. But until I get that completed I'll toss out what I currently consider to be the best build-out gear wise for a mini. This may ultimately change once I get the app done.

Total Morale = Total Morale + (Vit * 3)
Total Power = Total Power + (Will * 3)

Helm - Exquisite Radiant: Total Morale = 180 Total Power = 90
Shoulders - Wandering Bard's: Total Morale = 45 Total Power = 114
Chest - Faradwon's Robe: Total Morale = 45 Total Power = 67
Gloves - Arodinna's Gloves: Total Morale = 45 Total Power = 67
Leggings - Wandering Bard's: Total Morale = 24 Total Power = 180
Boots: Wandering Bard's: Total Morale = 90 Total Power = 114
Set bonuses: Total Morale = 45 Total Power = 67

Total Morale + Power combined points = 1173

Using this as a basis to determine which combination of gear (jewelry not included) we see that sporting a full set of Rift, Hele, PvMP, crafted or Annuminas gear isn't actually something to oo and aahh about. Finding the right combination however is. Let's just look at the sets shall we?

Comparison
	Vit		Mor		Pow		Will	Fate	Total Morale	Total Power	Mor+ Pow Total
Amban's Cloth	45		0		66		45	30	135	201	336
Exquisite Radiant	60		180		315		90	45	360	585	945
Wandering Bard's	121		90		292		106	98	453	610	1063
Silver-voice	90		135		225		75	105	405	450	855
Anganskald	90		135		225		75	105	405	450	855
Limbur	45		225		270		105	60	360	585	945
Seven Stars (Book 14)	129		81		201		117	118	468	552	1020
Ajokoira	90		0		45		75	75	270	270	540

We can see here that the Wandering Bard's set is superior from a total power and morale perspective. If you want the highest regen the upgraded Seven Star will suit your needs the best. However, if you want to be the sickest mini you can be you need to mix and match.

Ultimate Set
	Vit		Mor		Pow		Will	Fate	Total Morale	Total Power	Mor+ Pow Total
Faradwon's Robe (Amban's Cloth)	15				22		15	15	45	67	112
Wandering Bard's Leggings	8				90		30	15	24	180	204
Wandering bard's Boots	30				90		8	15	90	114	204
Arodinna's Gloves (Amban's Cloth)	15				22		15	15	45	67	112
Wandering Bard's Shoulders	15				90		8	30	45	114	159
Exquisite Radiant Hat	30		90				30		180	90	270
Set bonuses	15				22		15	15	45	67	112
Totals	128		90		336		121	105	474	699	1173

Arise Metal Hefner!

What is Metal Hefner? The Hef is just a mini in Lord of the Rings Online and this is his blog. Here we discuss strategies, traits, virtues, general minstrel gameplay and the adventures of the Metal one.