The Lord of the Rings Online Book 14 Preview

[GameBanshee News]

GameSpy has dished up a two-page preview of Turbine's upcoming Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion update for The Lord of the Rings Online.

Book 14 will also mark the launch of more worldwide server and live events. This, according to Steefel, is a legacy of Turbine's experience with Asheron's Call. "We want to do more to make the world feel alive for players," he said. To that end, the game will be instituting more festivals and calendar events as well as offering server-wide goals for players to push for. One of the big ones that will go live with Book 14 is a chained series of "Battlefield" instances. These are special missions that open in sequence only when beaten a certain number of times within a specific time period. They include an assault on the city of Aughaire, a confrontation at the so-called Angmarim "Line-of-Death" and a final attack on Carn Dun itself. "The idea here is to make the world feel more alive by letting players participate in the actual war."

Battlefield instances will begin with an announcement that the Free People-allied city of Aughaire is under assault by the forces of the False King. Players who choose to do so will enter the instance to find a skirmish line of Aughaire tribesmen defending against Angmarim soldiers. The goal is to defend Aughaire for 45 minutes and save a certain number of allied tribesmen. "We wanted these instances to present players with more tactical battles that require some strategy to solve," Steefel said. To that end, the instances are somewhat randomized as to where defenders and attackers will appear. The second instance (which opens when Aughaire is successfully defended a number of times) is a conflict at the "Line of Death" in Angmar. The line of guardian statues that slaughter anyone who crossed their path has been strengthened by Angmarim sorceresses who must be killed to beat the scenario. Finally the players will take part in the assault on the gates of Carn Dun, in which they'll have to split their time between defending their base camps and taking important points within the town around the gates.