The Lord of the Rings Online Producer’s Letter

The coming year is an important one for The Lord of the Rings Online, as was evident from the recent interview. The new producer’s letter confirms this and outlines the exact plan for 2017. A lot of exciting things are coming to the game: a 10th anniversary event, walking into Mordor, and then going beyond the scope of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendary trilogy. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

Prior to Mordor, we have two big things happening in Middle-earth: Update 20, and our 10th Anniversary! We can’t wait to celebrate a decade of Lord of the Rings Online with you. We’ll be bringing out a new event that will serve as a fun centerpiece to complement the festival, along with our other, usual fanfare. We are planning a lengthy celebration livestream on Twitch and YouTube to celebrate a decade of LOTRO. We will see you in livestream chat and in-game!

Update 20 will feature the region called the Wastes, where players will adventure through the bleak Noman-lands, dismal Dagorlad, and up to the very Slag-hills of Mordor. We will also take players to the Battle at the Black Gate, Lord Aragorn’s last, desperate gambit to divert the Enemy from the real threat. Delve beneath the earth through winding maggot-holes and the Towers of the Teeth in two capstone resource dungeons that can be played in solo and fellowship modes. Finally, Update 20 will offer you a chance to help the various companies within the Host of the West prepare for their final confrontation with the Dark Lord. In addition, the update will feature a new Featured Instance rotation, among other things.

With Update 21, we shatter the Black Gates and march into Mordor for our first expansion in nearly four years! In it, we will cover the fate of the One Ring and then embark on new epic tales, foraying into multiple regions of Mordor after the fall. There, we will encounter strange new monsters, new mechanics, and new treasures to be won. We will begin whole new storylines that look deep into Mordor and hint at things yet to come. We are making plans to debut a new playable race, the High Elf, along with aesthetic improvements to all playable races across the board. We also plan to add large group challenge content in the ensuing update.

Update 22 will round out the year, and is far enough away that we’d like to keep its content under wraps for now. Let’s just say that we have years’ worth of plans for Lord of the Rings Online; stories to tell, lands to explore, and heroic deeds to be done.