The Ultimate Mirkwood Recap, Part 2

Ok, I finally made it through all those links in Part 1, and I'm starting to feel caught up on Mirkwood information. Very cool that you can do animations from your mount now. I can't wait to try it out. The skirmish system sounds great. I like the sounds of Dol Guldur. I most likely will not be raiding, but I can definitely see myself doing the 3 man or full group instances of Dol Guldur. My life just can't hack raiding.

I know nothing about legendary items other than my friend Jelalron said, get started on your Mines or Moria book quests ASAP to start leveling your legendary weapon. /shrug . . . ok. At this point I'd just like a solid hour of play time to be honest.

Ok, so on to Part 2 of this Ultimate Mirkwood Recap. What do I have for you? More links (or more homework for Bach):

Siege of Mirkwood Image Gallery--If a picture is worth a thousand words than our Siege of Mirkwood Screen Shot gallery is worth millions!

Turbine YouTube Channel and Siege of Mirkwood Trailers--Don't forget our incredible new trailers! You can find them all on the Turbine YouTube channel
Siege of Mirkwood Trailer #1 Galadriel's lament
Siege of Mirkwood Trailer #2 Lieutenant of Dol Guldur
Siege of Mirkwood Launch Day Trailer

What the Press is saying about Siege of Mirkwood
Obviously we think Siege of Mirkwood is pretty wonderful, but don't just take our word for it! See what the press has to say!

Massively.com
Developer Tour
Full Coverage

MMORPG.com
Siege of Mirkwood Interview with Jeffrey Steefel and Aaron Campbell
Siege of Mirkwood preview
Full Coverage (screens and assorted news items)

Ten Ton Hammer
The Heart of Mirkwood - A Siege of Mirkwood Q&A with Jeffrey Steefel
Preview
Full Coverage

Warcry.com
Siege of Mirkwood Recon (Preview)
All Siege of Mirkwood coverage
Warcry US Dev Chat Transcript

Whew, ok, I think that gives me enough homework here for now. I asked the LOTRO Community Manager if he has a Mines of Moria Ultimate Recap like this one since I'm really really behind here. I'll let you know!

Merry Minstreling!

The Ultimate Mirkwood Recap (Part 1)

Hey! I just got a nice E-mail from Rick Heaton, the LOTRO community manager, and he had a TON of links to information surrounding the release of Mirkwood to share. These links went to all the LOTRO community sites. He's calling it the Ultimate Mirkwood Recap (copyright 2009 Rick Heaton . . . ok, that catch phrase isn't copyrighted, but I like it; it's catchy!).

First up is a long list of links for a developer diary look at the new Skirmishes system:

Part 1: Overview
Part 2: Story Instances
Part 3: Randomization and Scaling
Part 4: Skirmish Soldiers
Part 5: Rewards
Part 6: Accessibility
Part 7: The End

Ok, I now officially have a lot to read.

Then Rick lays the true dirt down about all the OTHER features in the new expansion:

Crafting in Siege of Mirkwood
Welcome Back to The Lone-lands
Introducing Dol Guldur
Mirkwood Region
Legendary Item System Update
Legacy Pool Updates
Siege of Mirkwood Skill Upgrades
Combat System Changes
Character Panel and Stat Updates
Mounts 2.0
Shared Storage

Cripes! Did I tell you I have a lot of reading to do now?

Ok, I'm going to stop there for now . . . After I finish digesting some of that, I shall revisit the remainder of this e-mail.

Merry Minstrel-ing! (think I may be close to my own catch phrase there!)