THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™: SIEGE OF MIRKWOOD™ TO LAUNCH ON DECEMBER 1STTurbine Unveils Special Pre-Launch Offers Including the New LOTRO Adventurer’s PackWESTWOOD, MA – September 29, 2009-- Turbine, Inc. announced today that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Siege of Mirkwood™, the new digital expansion to the 2008 MMO of the Year will launch on December 1st in North America. Turbine also unveiled The Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) Adventurer’s Pack which contains what every player needs to survive in the chaos of Mirkwood! Siege of Mirkwood and the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack are scheduled to launch on December 1, 2009.SIEGE OF MIRKWOOD PRE-LAUNCH OFFERSStarting today, players can take can take advantage of several special pre-launch offers to celebrate the release of the second expansion to LOTRO: * The LOTRO Lifetime Membership is now available for $199. * Any current or former player who renews or upgrades their subscription to any multi-month plan by October 31st gets the Siege of Mirkwood digital expansion for FREE! * All players can pre-order the new LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack which contains 2 character slots and one shared storage slot that allows players to share items with all of their characters on the same server for $19.99 and get the Harbinger’s Cloak which provides 8% speed boost and the Dusky Nimblefoot Goat mount for FREE! * Starting today, existing Lifetime Members who pre-order the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack get the Siege of Mirkwood digital expansion plus two in-game items (Harbinger’s Cloak which provides an 8% speed boost and a new mount) for FREE!These special offers will be available for a limited time. For more information, please visit www.lotro.com/mirkwood.The Lord of the Rings Online is an award-winning MMORPG that delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most beloved fantasy adventure of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the great underground realm to the menace of Mirkwood, players will experience the world of Middle-earth as never before. The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood will be available as a digital download for $19.99 or as a bundle with the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack plus a new mount for $39.99 on December 1, 2009. For more information or to download a free trial, visit www.lotro.com.About TurbineTurbine, Inc. is the premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities. Turbine has grown to become one of the largest privately-held online gaming studios in North America. Turbine has created some of the world’s most popular and award-winning online games, including The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, Dungeons & Dragons Online® and Asheron's Call®. For more information on Turbine, its products and services please visit www.turbine.com.About Tolkien EnterprisesThe Saul Zaentz Company d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises is the holder of worldwide motion picture, legitimate stage, merchandising, and other rights in J.R.R. Tolkien’s literary works The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Tolkien Enterprises has been producing and licensing films, stage productions and merchandise based on Tolkien’s works for more than 30 years. Its headquarters are in Berkeley, California, and its website may be found at www.tolkien-ent.com.
Mounts as SkillsMounts are now toggle skills! They can be quick-slotted like other skills or executed directly from the new Mount panel (Character Journal -> Skills -> Mount). A new keyboard shortcut can be set to promptly access your mounts panel (using Key Mapping Options). Since mounts are now skills, you can feel free to collect all of the available varieties without having your packs fill up – no more having to choose between festival horses or exchanging them at a vendor!One Less ItemEven though we still rely on a mount-item in your pack, it’s a temporary item used to grant the appropriate mount skill to you. Once used, the item will grant a skill to you and be deleted. If the item is quick-slotted, it will be replaced by the new skill. Regardless of what mount item you purchase you will receive the correct mount type for your race. Gone are the days of mistakenly purchasing the wrong mount for your race (“But I wanted a pony!).Item UsageSome items can be used while riding, such as food, potions, and other miscellaneous items. Even your Map Home item can be used while mounted and you will appear at your destination still riding your mount.NPC InteractionAlmost every NPC can be interacted with while you are mounted. There are two exceptions to this:Stable-masters will still require you to dismount before purchasing a ride. You can still talk to stable-masters while mounted to view the list of destinations. Bards will automatically dismount you when managing your traits.Door UsageEvery door can be opened and passed through while mounted. If the door leads to a place that does not allow riding, you will appear inside dismounted from your horse. Some special types of ”doors” may not be usable while mounted, such as ladders.Skill UsageDepending on your class and level, you may have skills that can be used while riding. Hunters and other classes that enjoy swift travelling can use these skills while mounted. In fact, almost every class has at least one skill that can be used on a mount. No combat skills can be executed while mounted, as that would constitute mounted combat and that’s a horse of a different colour!Crafters will be particularly happy to hear that tracking skills can be toggled on/off while riding (although gathering resources while riding is not allowed).As a side-note, some skills may become unusable while mounted in the Ettenmoors to help preserve a level playing field. Currently, only the Hunter’s tracking skills have this restriction. Hunters can still enjoy tracking on horseback while riding outside of the Ettenmoors.Player EmotesSeveral popular emotes will now animate you while mounted, and even more, while not animated, are now allowed while mounted. The following emotes have animations for when you are mounted*: Bother, Bye, Calm, Cheer, Drink, Eat, Munch, Fidget, Followme, Hail, Look, Lookaround, Salute, Think, Wave, Cry, Roar, laugh (lol), SwordSalute, Shakefist *Some of the animations are reused with the hope that unique animations can be made over time.A majority of the other emotes do not animate, but are allowed while mounted. In these cases the player does not animate but the emoted text is broadcast to those nearby.Horse EmotesWhile sitting idle you can make your horse/pony/goat randomly play one of three different animations. Simply hit the spacebar.Mount HealthYour mount’s health will now regenerate over time. Just as in the old system, getting hit will reduce your mount’s health and critical hits will knock you off your mount. Unlike the old system, you can stay mounted as long as you don’t get knocked off, or fall into a deep body of water.Mount Display PanelA new mount display panel will now appear after summoning your mount. The panel displays the mount’s name and health.Renaming Your MountEvery mount arrives with a personal name that can be changed by right-clicking the Mount Display Panel and selecting the “Rename” option. Unlike pets, your mount’s name is not visible to those around you.Mount DiscountAlong with your first level 35 mount comes a new trait granting you a discount on all other common mounts. The trait is granted to you even if your first mount happens to be a reputation mount or pre-existing festival mount (new festival mounts will not grant this trait). The discount itself only applies to the common mounts sold by Eogar, Son of Hadorgar.My Little Pony (or horse)Players can now gain access to their first horse or pony at level 20. This is a slower version of a normal mount and has less health, but gets you saddled up sooner in the game. The cost of this mount is 220 silver and looks the same as the Founder’s Bree-horse. As a result of this change, Founders can start riding their mounts at level 15!Grey Horse/PonyIf you deleted your Grey Horse/Pony to make space in your pack you can purchase a replacement from Eogar.Mustering & Summoning While MountedTired of telling your fellowship to dismount before mustering them? Never fear, they can now accept your request without dismounting.If Wishes Were Horses, Beggars Would RideThis update focused on making mounts more enjoyable to use rather than adding all new functionality. Before you ask if you can lop off orc heads from atop your favorite ride, remember that was never a goal of this update. File this one under “Quality of Life” improvements.Enjoy the new mount system!
Starting today, existing Lifetime Members who pre-order the LOTRO Adventurer’s Pack get the Siege of Mirkwood digital expansion plus two in-game items (Harbinger’s Cloak which provides an 8% speed boost and a new mount) for FREE!