Siege of Mirkwood Video Preview, Part One

Greetings, everyone!

I'm just gonna keep piling on stuff this week until I get sick of it, hope you don't mind!

This time, we're giving you an exclusive look at Siege of Mirkwood, specifically the Skirmish System. In this video, part one, not too much skirmishing actually happens, but Moormur demonstrates some of the features of the system. Check it out here, on the LOTROCast YouTube channel. Keep your eyes open for future footage; I've already taken 40 minutes of video (don't worry, I'll condense stuff) so there is plenty to share!

See you in Middle-Earth,

Moormur

Episode 016: Rumblings Shownotes

Greetings, listeners! It is episode time again! You can find LOTROCast on the Zune Marketplace, iTunes, and you can directly download the episode from the toolbar on the right once it updates. We’d love it if you took a moment and rated us on iTunes!

Check out Hayoo’s most excellent flash map, The Hunt for the Ring, that masterfully interweaves the lore behind the early part of the Fellowship of the Ring and the game’s lore in a vivid visual manner. Check out some of Hayoo’s other works here.

Altaholic? There are others who share your affliction. Check out Project Altoholism at the Casual Stroll to Mordor, another excellent LOTRO podcast.

Try your luck in the LOTRO Lottery. Check out Turbine’s information about that here.

Part Two of the Developer Question and Answer feature was released recently. If you have not yet looked it over, you can find it here.

PvP your thing? Check out this video that came off the Russian servers of an event that Turbine has EXPLICETLY STATED AS ONCE IN A LIFETIME (meaning there are NO plans to bring this to the game, and NO, other countries do not have creeps running around all over the place). LOTROCast covered PvP very thoroughly back in the early run of the show, in Episode 004: PvP.

If you are running Windows 7, not only am I jealous but Turbine has some information for you. You can find that here.

Two developer diaries on Skirmishes have been released since our previous episode. One is on the topic of randomization and scaling of the skirmishes, and one on the soldier system.

True to form, Turbine released a diary after our recording. Shame on you, Devs! We’ll cover the new dev diary, on the design of Mirkwood, in our episode coming up in a few weeks.

Orion put a spectacular amount of effort into explaining the changes coming to faction and reputation in his blog here.

Thanks to all of you who responded to our query on tiers! Check out the Wizzard of Azz’s blog over here.

Look out for the Lore Mini-casts hitting the podcast starting next week. We’ve got a variety of great topics already lined up…can’t wait to get it going!

See you in Middle-Earth,

Moormur

Guest Writing

Hello, listeners!

Episode 16 is on its way and will be live tomorrow.

In the meantime, I have tried my hand at some guest blogging. For the sake of keeping the website here 'clean,' I've kept commentary on here to a minimum. That doesn't mean I don't have opinions :-)

Head over to the excellent LOTRO Blog MMeOw to check out the first of a few pieces I wrote. More will follow over the next few weeks on various MMO blogs.

Thanks to Tony for posting it up!

See you all tomorrow,

Moo

Episode 015: Developer Diaries and the End of Days Shownotes

Hello, all!

Episode 015 of LOTROCast is now live. You can find us on the Zune Marketplace, iTunes, and you will be able to direct download the episode from the toolbar on the right once it has updated.

In this episode of LOTROCast: The Lord of the Rings Online Podcast, discussion between hosts Alberos and Moormur starts off talking about the ins and outs of Siege of Mirkwood Developer Diaries, but twists and turns its way past speculation on future expansions until it rests on talk about the End of Days in Middle Earth.

Turbine is sponsoring a Pumpkin Carving contest! If you want to give it a shot, Turbine has all sorts of information on the contest here.

You can see a highly entertaining collection of 'rejected pumpkin designs' here.

The fall festival, Harvestmath, is live on the servers and will run for a few weeks. Explore what the festival has to offer, but if you want a basic list of events check out this link.

There are a ton of Developer Diaries out right now, including one that snuck in after we recorded.

You can find links to the dev diaries on Mounts, Skirmishes, and Shared Vault space in an earlier LOTROCast set of shownotes here.

The newer dev diaries are a lengthy one about Legendary Items, and two more about Skirmishes; one covering how the skirmishes are meant to be story driven, and one about the challenges and technology behind scaleable instances. I'm sure we'll talk about the new diary next episode...only to be pre-empted yet again by another new dev diary :-).

On a side note, stay tuned for an exciting little development we're bringing to LOTROCast in the next week or so.

New Episode Release Date

Hey, all. Sorry again for the delay. The new episode will go live as soon as I get it up on Saturday morning.

Again, sorry for the delay.

Moo

One Day Delay

Just quick note that due to travel, LOTROCast will have a one day delay this week. It will come out on Thursday, with Friday being the absolute latest.

Sorry about the delay!

Moo

Remember: TWO EPISODES Were Released Today

Just a reminder to everyone that we released BOTH episode 13 and 14 today. I've noticed about half as many people have downloaded Episode 13 than 14, which is a shame because Episode 13 is the one with the real show. Episode 14 is just a mini-cast with info about Siege of Mirkwood. So don't forget! Head over to Zune, iTunes, or whatever and check out both episodes!

That is all.

Episode 14 – Siege of Mirkwood Update

Hey there! So…imagine my surprise when I check the LOTRO website real quick on my way out the door Tuesday morning after we had recorded a solid show the night before only to find that Turbine had opened up some of the news floodgates (perfectly timed for non-inclusion in Episode 13). Alberos and I decided the best course of action was to make a mini-cast and cover the info that came out. So here you have it: Episode 14, a Siege of Mirkwood Mini-Cast.

You can see Turbine’s official announcements on the release date and pricing plans for Siege of Mirkwood here.

You can check out the three dev diaries we covered by following there links: mounts, shared vault space, and skirmishes.

Enjoy and see you in two weeks!

Episode 13 – The Lone Lands Shownotes

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to LOTROCast: The Lord of the Rings Online Podcast! A quick note before I move into the rest of the shownotes…due to the fact that we recorded episode 13 on Monday, there really was no news to report. Little did we know that the very next day, Turbine would dump a huge amount of information on us. In response, we recorded a short mini-cast to cover the news from Tuesday. That mini-cast is Episode 14, and is also available right now.

You can find LOTROCast on the Zune Marketplace, on iTunes, and you can direct download them from the toolbar on the right hand side of this website.

Check out the Dragon Snacks’ list of games to play in LOTRO…there’s really something for everyone.

Check out the adventures of Pobo, one BAAAAD hobbit, by following this link.

There are a LOT of changes happening in the Lone Lands in the near future. Check out what Orion, one of the developers for the LOTRO team, has to say about the revamping on this area in his blog. WARNING….be prepared to read A LOT of text if you want to get all the way caught up. The blog entries we discussed start here.

Make sure you check out Episode 14 of LOTROCast, also available today, to find out about some of the details coming in Siege of Mirkwood.

Introducing the Galactic Holofeed

Greetings, all!

Moormur here just letting you know that the first episode of the Galactic Holofeed, our podcast covering the Star Wars: The Old Repbulic MMO comming up from Bioware, has been released. You can check it out at www.HOLOFEED.com. If you are interested, it should hold you over until the next LOTROCast episode on this Wednesday. I want to re-iterate that the two podcasts are not meant to replace each other...they just cater to different interests of mine. I am drawn to SW:TOR for the same reasons I was drawn to LOTRO...I love the story behind the game. I have no plans on leaving LOTRO behind, even when SW:TOR comes out.

See you in Middle-Earth!

Moormur

Episode 012: The Journey

Welcome back to LOTROCast! Boy do we have a BIG show for you today. It was one of the most fun to put together and I hope you enjoy the fruits of our labors.

In this content episode, we discuss the upcoming LOTRO Expansion and examine what it means to 'Journey' through Middle-Earth with guests Ivy and Paperbard.

You can find episode 012 on iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, and you can direct download using the toolbar to the right.

You can see LOTROCast's YouTube channel right over here, and you can check out Bain Ennorath by following this link.

You can find the SPECTACULAR website and blog The Road Goes Ever On by following this link.

You can join in on the discussion on the Bounty System at another excelent LOTRO blog, The LOTRO Chronicles. You can find the specific post here.

You can read about Atari's response to Turbine's lawsuit in this article. I'm not sure how much more we will follow it in the show, to be honest...it seems like it will quickly degenerate into a finger-pointing fight.

Fun.

You can read Banaticus' thoughts on 'craft-a-holics' right here. I certainly wish I had his self control...

There is TONS of information about the upcoming expansion around the internet. Some great starting points are the official (somewhat lame, but I suppose that's what teasers are for) Teaser Site here and the LOTRO Official Forums here. The blogs I have listed to the right also have some pretty in-depth coverage of the expansion and we will cover it in plenty of detail between now and launch.

Finally, as mentioned in the show, if you are interested in helping out with a potential new podcast project in ADDITION TO LOTROCast (not instead of, at least for me) centered on Star Wars: The Old Republic, please contact me at LOTROCast@gmail.com.

It's Gonna Be A Big One!

Hey, all!

I just put the final touch on tommorow's episode and I was so excited to see all that we managed to stuff into that episode that I just had to come on here and let you know that thhe next episode is going to be awesome. We've got some great discussion, some great content, some wonderful guests. This has GOT to be the best one yet, no small thanks to Alberos who has been incredible to work with. Get your MP3 players ready, 'cause this one clocks in at one and a half hours.

See you tomorrow!

Moormur

New Video Posted on YouTube

Hey, all!

Those of you who have subscribed to the LOTROCast channel over at YouTube will see that I posted a new video...you can also just follow the link here to find it.

In the spirit of Chicken Runs from Episode 11, I decided to put up this video. It was submitted by Obsidia from over on the Snowborne serverin Europe of a chicken run the Element Zero kin put on.

Enjoy!

If you have a LOTRO video you would like included on the channel, don't hesitate to let me know!

Moormur

LOTROCast Episode 011 - We're Back! Shownotes

Welcome back to LOTROCast! We are up and going! Thank you all for sticking with us through the past few months…we are now back on our normal production schedule.

You can access the episode on iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, and directly download it from right here on the LOTROCast website using the toolbar to the right.

To see some pics of Moo’s summer, feel free to check out the mini-album here.

To find the adventures of Coco the Chicken, follow this link.

Check out some of the details of Turbine’s lawsuit against Atari here.

Keep your eyes open for more to come from LOTROCast now that we are back on the two week production cycle.

...And we're back!

Hey, all!

New episode is in production. :-) Sorry about the huge delay, but we will be on track again here reaaaaly soon.

-Moo

As Promised...A Delay

Hey, all! I am writing this at about 9:30 PM...I just finished work for the day. Like I said, the summer time is the most busy for me. I am in the middle of week of 17+ hour workdays and LOTRO, sadly, is the last thing on my mind (this is the first time I have been at my computer for 2 weeks). I am pushing back the episode one week so I can get caught up on all the news (it seems we have a book to play with!). I would rather delay a week and release something of quality than get something out next week.

Bear with us! We'll be back to our regular schedule soon!

Moormur

Episode 010 - Interlude Shownotes

Hello, everyone!



Hope you are all enjoying the Summer air.



In this episode, we introduce Alberos of the Arkenstone server as a cohost. Let me know what you think of our little Dynamic Duo.



To find out more about what Book 8 has in store for crafters, check out this Dev Diary.



Make sure you check out the LOTROCast YouTube channel...subscribe to keep up to date with hour VideoCasts and suppliments.



If you are on Arkenstone, make sure you head over to the Arkenstone Alliance and check out this new website.



Hope everyone has a great few weeks. We'll see you in July!

Scavenger Hunt on Arkenstone!

Thonos, leader of the Wizards of Old is putting on a Scavenger Hunt on Arkenstone to celebrate the kin's anniversary on Monday, June 15th. There will be prizes for the winners: 1st is 1g, 2nd is 500s, 3rd is 250s, 4th is 125s, and 5th is 50s. If you are on Arkenstone, keep your dial tuned to the /glff for more information as the date approaches or contact Thonos if you have any questions.

LOTRO Promo on YouTube

Hey, all!

I put together a little 50 second promo for LOTROCast on YouTube. You can find it here, on the new LOTROCast channel. Subscribe to the channel and keep up to date on the latest videocasts (hint hint) that may be appearing mysteriously in the near future. Also, feel free to pass on the link to friends who may be interested!



See you in Middle-Earth,

Moormur

Episode 009 Multiplayer, Part II of III Shownotes

Sorry for the delay in this episode (and the shownotes...)

In Episode 009, we take a look at a middle-range kinship that mixes casual and hardcore elements. We also revisit the LOTRO Workbench and introduce a new segment.

Announcing Middle-Earth through My Eyes

Have you ever experienced something in-game that made you stop afterwards and go..."Wow!" If so, I want to hear about it! Record yourself talking about it in an audio clip no longer than 3 mintes and send it to LOTROCast@GMAIL.com. Do not include any music and make sure the last words you say are "And that's Middle-Earth through my eyes." Understand if I don't include your submission it is absolutely nothing personal :-).

The Lonely Mountain Band is promising a good time at Weatherstock this Friday, June 5th. Make sure you head over to Landroval and check it out! If you want more info, take a look here.

Also, make sure you take a look at the Book 8 PRELIMENARY patch notes.

In the next episode we will be finishing the series and meeting with a more 'hardcore' kinship member. See you in a week!