The video depicts the new Shan to Kor adventure pack, which is now available to purchase in the DDO store.

Siege of Mirkwood will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces to press further eastward into the dark, foreboding and treacherous forest of Mirkwood.

The Tower of the Twelve is opening it doors to heroes as the twelve face their greatest hour of need. Within its walls, the Planecallers will gate you to Shavarath, Plane of Battle. Here the devils, demons and archons issue forth from their fortresses to clash endlessly on the wasted battlefield.

I recently had the pleasure of going on an expedition to Shavarath lead by Kate Paiz, Senior Producer of Dungeons & Dragons Online. As we fought our way across the blasted battlegrounds, she revealed a wealth of information about the future of DDO: Ebberon Unleashed. Prepare for a divination on the Ebberon setting, the DDO store, the free-to-play model and why keeping your subscription and becoming a VIP member is an awesome deal.
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Lord of the Rings Online is inviting players to pimp their ride in the new horse design contest. As if seeing people riding by on your horse in game isn’t cool enough, winners can also score Turbine goodie bags,forum prizes and a unique forum title for first place.

LOTRO fans, it’s time to show us your artistic and creative skills: we’re giving you the opportunity to submit your very own design for a horse which could be taken and implemented into the game as a player mount in a future content update.

The areas of customization on the mount include:

• Horse’s color and marking
• Horse blanket pattern and color
• Horse saddle

For more information on how you can have your own artistic vision featured in-game, read the specifics on the LOTRO Design a Horse Contest site.

I know its gone from a game we never talk about to a game flooding our coverage lately, but the change to free-to-play has actually piqued my interest in Turbine’s often overlooked Dungeons & Dragons Online (DDO). News of the changes coming to the game seem to indicate that the developer is not making the revenue change and resting on its laurels.

Today Turbine released word that its planning to add new content to the title once it transitions to the Unlimited pay model including two adventure packs and a new player class along with tweaks to the game’s action-oriented combat system. The new class, called a Favored Soul, is a form of holy warrior combining martial prowess with lots of spellcasting and healing abilities. Filling a combat niche similar to how a Barbarian relates to a traditional Fighter or Ranger, the Favored Soul packs some pretty specialized power and makes a very good utility class for solo players.

The two new adventure packs – one a wilderness adventure on another plane of existence and the other a crime drama – did not state the levels required to play but based upon descriptions look to fill out the upper tier and mid-range leveling option.

You can find Eva’s discussion with Turbine’s PR Manager Adam Mersky about the changes here.
Details of the full press release are after the jump.

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The latest big storyline update for the Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Book 8 is coming online today. High level players can challenge the Scourge of Khazad-dûm from the heights and depths of Moria. Gaming Today has talked a lot about this content in the past few weeks with screenshots, details from the patch notes and even given you glimpse from the walkthrough. Now you can see it for yourself in the Lord of the Rings Online Book 8 Teaser Trailer. The video is well put together with plenty of in-game footage of monsters and boss battles. I encourage you to check it out. Here are some screens from the the Scourge of Khazad-dûm including shots of Zholuga and the world eaters.

In addition to new Book 8 content for high level players, everyone can enjoy the Summer Festival which is only a week away. The special events, decorations and the Inn League challenge will run from June 30 through July 14th.
NEW FEATURES IN BOOK 8: SCOURGE OF KHAZAD-DÛM (cont’d):
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I recently had the opportunity to chat with Adam Mersky on Dungeons & Dragons Online’s shift to free-to-play. According to Adam, the decision to convert DDO is based on the trend sweeping across the globe from the East. Gamers are moving to free-to-play models with stores offering optional content through micro transactions.Turbine intends to anticipate the move with DDO rather than play catch up.

DDO is an MMO that players can get into quickly and play for hours if they have the time, but unlike Turbine’s other licensed MMO, Lord of the Rings Online, it can be enjoyed in smaller more digestible bites as well. If players only have ten or fifteen minutes, they can log on DDO and still have a good time.

Turbine is working diligently to get the new free content for DDO: Eberron Unleashed out complete with several new features which should get players into the game faster than ever before. Adam mentioned that one day you should be able to create a new character and be adventuring in two minutes. The new DDO download manager will stream content for installation and updating while you’re playing. For any of you who haven’t ever checked out the Eberron setting or want to know what’s new, take a look at the latest Analog Gamer: Robots and Airships for details on the D&D 4.0 update.

The DDO store is opening soon assuring that gamers will have their pick of any must have items. Careful consideration has gone into the offerings as far as balance. Turbine wants to make sure that the biggest wallet doesn’t equal win. You’ll be able to earn points while you play the game or purchase them.

More details on the DDO store follow the break.
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Turbine has released full patch notes on the imminent Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria Book 8 content. The Scourge of Khazad-Dûm brings a major content update which includes three man and full fellowship instances as well as a twelve man raid. Gaming Today had a chance to experience these first hand. You can read about them in our recent article, From the Roof of the World to the Foundations of Stone: Gaming Today Explores LotRO: Mines of Moria Book 8.

Besides the big changes, there are a lot of little things that are bound to make every player happy. Food, craftable potions and Minstrels’s Lute Strings will stack to 50. Better yet Traveling Rations and reputation tokens as well as all crafting ingredients and components will stack to 100. And of course everyone should be thrilled that the emote for slapping fellow players with a fish is fixed.

One further piece of advice, those blasted Honey and Oats recipes are about to become rare drops. Read the LotRO : Mines of Moria Book 8 patch notes at the LotRO Lorebook.

Turbine is gearing up for the debut of Book 8: Scourge of Khazád-dum for Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria. I recently had the pleasure of accompanying Adam Mersky and Aaron “Rowan” Campbell on an expedition into the heights and depths of Moria. They revealed the horrors and wonders that await players in this latest edition to the LotRO epic storyline.
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Turbine is tempting gamers to try out the new free upgrade of Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited with a ton of new screenshots to whet their appetites. There plenty of dungeons and chromatic dragons in these screens. Shots of Shavarath, Sorrowdusk, the Ruins of  Threnal and Gianthold show off the architecture, character design and special effects DDO has to offer. You’ll also find favorites opponents such as the petrifying denizens of the Underdark beholders and mind flayers, lizardmen and demons in the menagerie of monsters featured in these screens.

In case you missed the announcement, you can get all the details on the DDO Eberron Unlimited free upgrade from Gaming Today. Follow the break to pick out a new desktop from these fantastic Eberron screens.
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