Lord of the Rings Online’s latest producer letter dropped this afternoon with the outlook for the July to September quarter – and it’s packed with good news as well as a little bad.
Let’s do the good news first. Patch 33.1 will launch in late July and focus on Arwen’s brothers in a Further Adventures episode. “Soon after Frodo’s rescue from the Ford of Bruinen, the scouts of Rivendell venture forth, seeking news on the Enemy and his servants,” Standing Stone Games’ Oleg “Raninia” Brodskiy says. “Lord Elrond has given his sons, Elladan and Elrohir, a secret errand. Join the twins on their journey from Rivendell to the distant land of Lothlórien!”
Players can also expect the return of the Treasure Bugan event in July, followed by the Farmers’ Faire in August; SSG is promising new rewards for that event, which will hopefully make up for the skimpy offerings from Midsummer. There’s an additional undisclosed summer surprise, and then a few details for 33.2, which continues proliferating classes to more races.
“While the changes we’re planning next aren’t quite so momentous, we think they’ll excite players nonetheless. Starting with 33.2, which is planned for September, we’ll expand which classes are available to more races! Dwarfs and Stout-axes will now be able to become Captains and Wardens; Elves and High Elves, Burglars; Hobbits, Lore-masters and Champions; and humans, Rune-keepers. If you’ve ever wished you could play as a Dwarf Captain, a Hobbit Lore-master, or any of the new combinations above, you’ll have your chance in September!”
Now the bad news: SSG is closing down its original progression server, Anor. “Around this time [August 31st], we’ll be bidding farewell to our first Legendary World of Anor, encouraging players there to say their goodbyes, remember their journeys and the friendships they made, and prepare to move to a live world with their memories! We’ll be offering free transfers from Anor onto any of the live worlds.”
Anor has been operating since 2018, and its companion server, Ithil, was closed last summer. That’ll leave Treebeard and Shadowfax as the game’s remaining legendary servers; indeed, Shadowfax will progress to level 105 and open up Far Anorien and the Wastes at the end of August. SSG promises “more to talk about with [its] Legendary Worlds” in the next dev letter.
