Today Turbine announced the release of the new expansion Riders of Rohan and some major changes and new features to the game that we can expect this year:
- A new monthly update model with smaller content updates between the major updates
Starting this year, players will be seeing LotRO adopt Asheron's Call's monthly update model.
This means that we'll be seeing smaller, frequent content updates between the major rollouts. These smaller updates will be designed to give players something to look forward to and should include bug fixes, store additions, quality of life improvements, festival tweaks, and additional epic storyline content.
- The Spring update - A completely new region to the game: The Great River.
This spring we’ll take our first steps along the path as we add another new region to the game and allow players to explore the shores of the Great River (Free for VIPs!). In terms of the game map, it will serve as a gateway between Lothlorien to the southern country of Rohan (and more on that later!), much the same way that Enedwaith led in to Dunland. It begins at the mouth of the Anduin Valley and travels down to the area right before Fangorn.
- Skirmish soldiers will become your character's companion
We’ll also introduce the option to bring Skirmish Soldier along to aid you on your adventures throughout Middle-earth. This feature is still deep in testing and that while skirmish soldiers will make it out into the gameplay world, as of right now they will not be allowed into instancing
- New Summer Festival
- Mounted combat
Players will be able to customize their War-steed’s armor and level the skills over time. The East Plains will be the only place in the game (for now) where mounted combat will be allowed, and the devs emphasized that it would not be wise to travel the zone on foot due to the size and danger.
Source: massively.com, forums.lotro.com
