The Lord of the Rings Online Update 33: The Yondershire and Anniversary Event Now Live
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In order to celebrate the 15th anniversary since the initial release of The Lord of the Rings Online, Standing Stone Games has made the game's content up to and including its Helm's Deep expansion completely free. On top of that, we're all invited to participate in a series of anniversary events and explore the Yondershire region featuring new hobbit-themed adventures.
Here's an excerpt from the latest release notes with some extra details:
Of Special Note
Celebrate 15 Years of The Lord of the Rings Online!
This year we are partying in a big way, with all sorts of giveaways, events, and more! The Anniversary Event begins at 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on April 20th, 2022, and runs until 3:00 AM Eastern on May 11th.
Our Anniversary Event takes place inside The Lord of the Rings Online, starting at the Party Tree, located on The Hill in The Shire (location: 29.9S, 71.5W). When you first log in while the event is active you will also receive a message in Available Quests, which will get you a free map to take you there. Once there, make sure to pick up the wrapper quest “Another Lovely Year” by speaking to Waldo Rumble by the Party Tree!
This year we are debuting a new Festivity Instance called “A Flurry of Fireworks!” Help bring about the greatest fireworks display Bree-land has ever seen! Find “A Flurry of Fireworks” in the Seasonal Instances category of the Instance Finder. The Instance Finder can be opened by pressing Shift+F or by navigating to it in the Main Menu.
This year's Anniversary Event features a ton of new items to barter and earn! Among the new rewards are cosmetic items, a steed, and war-steed cosmetics “of Crystal Resolve”, a new Golden Crystal Beetle cosmetic pet, new fireworks consumables, a new housing fire pit and fireplace, and the debut of a new pet: the Corgi! Corgis can be bartered for Festivity Tokens, Anniversary Tokens, or Mithril Coins. Some Corgis are being helpful and hauling a cart while others are running unburdened. Everyone who logs in during the Anniversary Event will also receive a free Corgi pet.
Make sure to log in between 10:00 AM Eastern on April 20th and 3:00 AM Eastern on May 11th to pick up your “Happy 15th Anniversary” gifts!
Additionally, we will once again have a 15-Year Giftbox available in-game that can be claimed by logging in between April 20th, 2022 after 10:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) until 3:00 AM Eastern (-4 GMT) on April 1st, 2023.
The Yondershire beckons you!
Welcome to the northern region known as the Yondershire, a sparsely populated region of moor, thicket, and fen that has long been home to Hobbit recluses and troublemakers. Since the time of Bullroarer Took, the Yondershire has squabbled with the more comfortable parts of the Shire. The upstart Lotho Sackville-Baggins aims to bully the local Hobbits, but they’re none too keen on his designs.
Explore the Yondershire, our first expansion of the Shire in years! Fun Hobbit adventures for characters level 20 to 23. FREE to VIPs and available in the LOTRO Store!
You can get to Yondershire:Quest, explore, and craft your way to level 95 to your heart’s content!
- West out of Little Delving
- North-west out of Needlehole through Rushock Gate
- South-east out of Ered Luin past the Falathlorn Homesteads through the Eastway
- South-west out of Oatbarton through Bullroarer's Sward
With this update, all quests, areas, instances, and expansions released between the original launch of LOTRO back in 2007 and up to – and including! - the release of Helm’s Deep, the High-elf race, and the Rune-Keeper, Warden, and Beorning classes- will be available for free to everyone.
VIP players will have access to the Standard Edition versions of the Mordor Expansion, the Minas Morgul Expansion and the War of Three Peaks. VIP players now receive 5 additional active quest slots, up to a maximum of 75. As a 15th anniversary special gift, the benefits of the Subscriber's Jug (VIP Town Services) will last for two weeks instead of one day.
News and Notes:
We will begin the process of ending support for the 32-bit versions of the game client for The Lord of the Rings Online on May 18th, 2022. The 32-bit clients will continue to be supported until January 1st, 2023. In the meantime, some features may not work fully on the 32-bit clients. We recommend all players change their settings in the game launch to switch to the 64-bit game client. This is done by pressing the down arrow button at the top of the launcher, then selecting Options.
