With Anor closing in August, Ithil already closed, and no new legendary worlds planned for the near future, the options for a progression server experience in Lord of the Rings Online has narrowed down to just two: the rapid Shadowfax and the creeping Treebeard shards. Both of those are due to receive an unlock on Wednesday, as Shadowfax bumps its level cap up to 100 while Treebeard dives into Siege of Mirkwood content.
Meanwhile, the recent news that LOTRO is planning to greatly expand its class/race combinations drew some pushback (but not universally so) from some quarters. World Designer Jeff Libby, himself a staunch defender of the game’s lore, put the announcement in perspective.
“When I wrote the original class quests for the Captain (I looked it up! It was in October of 2006!),” Libby wrote, “the class had been designed exclusively as a Captain of Men, and I couldn’t really imagine it working for anyone else — but people really liked playing Captains, and wanted that gameplay without having to choose the Race of Man, so the class was opened up. I wasn’t super happy about it at the time, but I get it. Loosening up the restrictions for some of the other most-asked-for combinations makes sense from a gameplay perspective, and if your personal story can involve one of those combinations, I’m happy for you!”
“I think the idea that this is ‘the worst thing we’ve ever done!’ is a little silly,” he concluded. “That would clearly be me sending you looking for boars in Evendim when there are none to be found, or the designer who allowed Forlong to put the length of our quest files to the test.”
