Visions of the Ring is a fansite created as a repository for ideas and suggestions for Lord of the Rings Online.
Disclaimers
Of the Site and Hayoo
Of Massive Games
Of Lord of the Rings Online
Disclaimer
Visionsofthering (VOTR) has no affiliation with Turbine Inc., Codemasters, Midway Home Entertainment, Tolkien Enterprises,or other entities. VOTR is purely a fan work by gamers, for gamers.
Any LOTR ideas, concepts, suggestions, or improvements posted here are free to be used by Turbine or their affiliates. Credit for detailed ideas will be given where possible and applicable. Generic ideas, as determined by the site administrator, will be attributed to the Community as a whole.
THE LORD OF THE RINGS ONLINE™: SHADOWS OF ANGMAR™ interactive video game © 1995-2007 Turbine, Inc. and patents pending. All rights reserved. Middle-Earth Poster Map © 2007 The Saul Zaentz Company, d/b/a Tolkien Enterprises (SZC), under license to Turbine, Inc. All rights reserved. "The Lord of the Rings Online", "Shadows of Angmar", The Watcher logo, "The Lord of the Rings" and the names of the characters, events, items and places therein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SZC under license to Turbine, Inc. Turbine and the Turbine logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Turbine, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other jurisdictions. MIDWAY and the MIDWAY logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Midway Amusement Games, LLC. Used by Permission. The ESRB rating icons are registered trademarks of the Entertainment Software Association. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Distributed under license by Midway Home Entertainment Inc. Midway Home Entertainment Inc. and its affiliates do not monitor, endorse or accept responsibility for the content of any non-Midway website.
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Of the Site and Hayoo
I go by the name of Hayoo online and am the creator of other idea sites such as Planetside-Idealab, SWG-Idealab, and Spaceflight Online. All of these sites share a common goal, to showcase and illustrate as much as possible the concepts and improvements made by gamers. Planetside Idealab has been running strong for 4 years and is the template by which this Visions site will be developed.
I grew up in Florida and went to college in North Carolina, graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Visual Art (computer graphics) and Creative Writing. Since then I have returned to Florida (specifically Orlando) where I've furthered my career as a graphic artist.
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Of Massive Games
My first MMOG (massively multiplayer online game) character was on Dark Age of Camelot as Heyyou There of Hibernia on the Lancelot server. I started playing 10 days after its release, thoroughly enjoying this new gaming experience, growing my character and messing around in the battlegrounds. I was a part of several guilds till joining Valor where I stayed until it disbanded. I then helped start my first guild The Foundation. After reaching level 30, I realized my entire existance would be killing creatures till level 50 just so I could join the Realm Wars. During that time my guild started fading due to the balance changes and level gaps. Because I was a casual gamer, all my friends soon surpassed me and I could no longer play with them. So I decided to move on to greener pastures.
Earth and Beyond was released and I decided to pick it up because, hey it was space!, and it offered a different way of leveling up. While I enjoyed my time there as well, reaching level 50 or so, I was struck by the same realization that I would be killing critters in space for my entire existance. Don't get me wrong, the environment was supurb, the voice-talking NPCs a real treat, the special effects exciting, the stories intriguing, but it was missing something that I couldn't put my finger on. Then along came Planetside.
I first heard about Planetside when it was going through Beta. I browsed the images, raised a couple eyebrows, and bookmarked the sites. When it released I hesitated (after all, twice-bitten, thrice shy) and I waited till early July before picking it up. I have never regretted that decision. This was a game that was completely different than what I had experienced before. It had all the elements I could want: Futuristic setting, First person action, military social structures, real-time strategic thinking, mountable vehicles, flying aircraft...I could go on and on. I was also fascinated by the story behind the game and my brain buzzed, like I know many others did, with the future possibilities of such a world. I have been playing Planetside ever since and created the Idealab as a result.
Since picking up Planetside, I have played Star Wars Galaxies, World of Warcraft, City of Heroes, EVE Online, Pirates of the Burning Seas, and several others. While I have not stayed long with these as much as I plan to with LOTRO, my experiences with them have helped me quite a bit in my hobby. I even dabbled in coming up with my own types of MMO, such as Spaceflight Online, as well as designs for an MMORTS game.
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Of Lord of the Rings Online
And now we come to another game. As a Tolkien fan, ever since Sierra announced Middle Earth Online, I have eagerly anticipated its development. I was dissappointed by the ensuing delays but the movies helped pass the time. Then Turbine announced taking over development and publishing, and changed the name to Lord of the Rings Online. The sudden flurry of development news was most welcome. In November of 2006 I finally got into Closed Beta 1 through a friend's buddy invite. Even at that early stage I was very impressed, recognizing the systems used as being easily adapted for new ideas.
I began to plan a website around gathering such ideas into one place. Through CB2 and Open Beta I have laboured to compile as many as possible, thought I am far from satisfied. The site design was finished in late December and went live for a soft opening in January 2007. The initial list of concepts will be finished by Release. I look forward to enjoying the world of Middle Earth and growing the site with the community's help.
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