Fantasy Flight Games’ new boardgame, ‘Middle-earth Quest‘ is now shipping. The FFG web site has a PDF of the rulebook and a QuickTime trailer movie. This looks to be an interesting offering, not as heavy as the FFG ‘War of the Ring’ game, but certainly more complex than the Knizia ‘Lord of the Rings’ co-operative boardgame. [Trailer] [PDF]
The time period is sometime before the main events of LotR, with Sauron extending his power from Mordor; one player portrays Sauron, with up to three opponents portraying heroes who try to hinder his plans. The heroes win or lose against Sauron as a group.
Hopefully, when I have actually played the game, I will report on it more informatively. [Middle-earth Quest]
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Our friends from the Tolkien Society wrote in with a notice of the Penkridge Library Tolkien Festival, in Staffordshire (UK) happening July 10, 11 and 13. The area is where author J.R.R. Tolkien spent parts of 1915 and 1916 with his wife Edith and where some of his earliest thoughts and ideas about Middle-earth and its languages were formed. John Garth, author of the highly esteemed “Tolkien and the Great War,” will be giving a lecture along with a program of other events, which you can read inside. Continue reading “A weekend Tolkien festival in the UK”
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Alf Seegert writes: This week my board game BRIDGE TROLL is being released by Z-Man Games (it was released in Germany last week). I’m a huge Tolkien fan, as is the artist Ryan Laukat, and my hope is that the troll-theme of the game might appeal to other Tolkien-fans as well. (In the game players get to play bridge trolls who eat and extorts travelers who try to cross their bridges). It would be a huge honor if you found this fit to post on theonering.net! More..
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Lord of the Rings Online, the only MMO based on the literary works of J.R.R. Tolkien, is a subscription-driven online title, but it’ll soon be heading into a market filled with free-to-play games. CDC Games, which has more than 160 million users and 13 million active users in China, holds the exclusive distribution rights and expects to launch the game in China during the second half of this year. The Chinese version of Lord of the Rings Online will come with “significant changes” from the version launched in North America and Europe. CDC Games will utilize its extensive knowledge of the Chinese market and research into local customer preferences to alter the game in various ways, including an enhanced player versus player function. CDC is already encouraged by preliminary test data on the game so far, which has shown an activation rate of more than 80 percent during its closed beta test held earlier this year. Lord of the Rings Online to Rule China
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Today, Turbine has released Volume II, Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dum, the latest major content update for subscribers of The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria (LOTRO). Book 8, which is now available to North American subscribers (available in Europe on 6/25), delivers the next installment to the epic story for Volume II of LOTRO, a new 12-player raid, several rich new instances for small fellowships, major gameplay enhancements, and the Summer Festival. An official press release follows. Turbine has also just released a new Book 8 teaser video and batch of screenshots. Continue reading “Turbine Releases Book 8 Update for LOTR Online; New Video and Screens!”
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WESTWOOD, MA – June 18, 2009 – Turbine, Inc., the premier creator and operator of massive, persistent online worlds that foster powerful social gaming communities, today announced that The Lord of the Rings Online™: Mines of Moria™ has been named the winner in the “Gaming” category for the 2009 Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange (MITX) Awards. The MITX annual awards program recognizes achievements in the development and implementation of innovative technologies. The Lord of the Rings Online, the award-winning massively multiplayer online game, expanded in the fall of 2008 with the launch of the critically acclaimed Mines of Moria, taking players into one of the largest and most dangerous online underground environments ever created.
“We are honored to be named among the best in New England technology by the MITX organization,” said Jim Crowley, president and CEO of Turbine. “It has been an exciting year for Turbine and this recognition is yet another validation of our vision for being the best in online entertainment.” More..
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