Summer Festival 6/21- 7/11

[Palantir]

Festival time is here- anyone playing doing this?
I don't think I'll bother getting the mount this festival.

Activities:

Summer has reached its peak in Middle-earth and the Free Peoples have spared no expense in celebration. Join in the festivities of the Summer Festival throughout Eriador! Show your skill with reins or rod in the time-honored racing and fishing challenges. Partake in the tastes of both Hobbiton and Thorin’s Hall. Take part in new challenges too, and discover what new rewards are to be won!

Contest will blaze anew as the dwarves of Thorin’s Hall prepare for the Keg-race competitions in Frerin’s Court. Four dwarves have been chosen as contestants in this exhibition of drinking ability and fleetness of foot. They are stout dwarves all – who will you place your wager on? Choose and let the dwarves fall where they may!

North of Hobbiton center, at the feet of Bag End, another party is being held in celebration of the summer. The Taste of Hobbiton: a spread to rival that of Bilbo’s great birthday has been laid at the base of the Party Tree! Four voracious hobbits have been selected from across the Shire to vie in a test of speed and eating skill. The winner will have the great honour of demonstrating their formidable appetite and speed and bring renown to their family. Which hobbit will you choose as the most likely to best their peers?

Let your prowess with the reins be known as you participate in horse races in both the Shire and Bree-land – available around the clock. Prove yourself and be the envy of your kin as you introduce the new Summer Festival Steed to your stable!

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Cast your line and enjoy the Summer Festival fishing derbies. Throughout Eriador, different derbies are to be won from the Bree lakes and Shire Rivers to the mountain streams of Thorin’s Hall and harbor of Celondim. How many fish can you catch in the time allowed? A trophy and titles await those whose angling proves deft enough!

Perhaps a freshly packed pipe is your preferred way to unwind? Scavenger hunts are a great way to experience all the different and unique blends of pipe-weed to be found in Middle-earth. Make sure you try the Shire’s famous “Old Toby”!


Become a member of the Inn League or join its arch rival, the Ale Association! These rival factions have declared all-out war on one another. Garner reputation as you complete tasks for your chosen faction, but remember you’ll lose favor with the opposing side. The consequences are now greater than ever!

Find the steps for whatever tune you chance to hear during the Summer Festival! For those who fancy themselves skilled dancers, there are opportunities aplenty for showing off your moves. And if you were gifted with two left feet, dance masters can be found throughout Eriador, ready to give instruction in the steps of their homelands.http://www.lotro.com/news/latestnews/1272-summer-festival-2011


EDIT- I found this comment & hey, they are right although this horse is more white than the spring, it was tan...

"The only new thing is of course the festival horse, something everyone always looks forward to every year. This Summer Festival’s horse is an exact replica of the Spring horse, albeit with a different colouring. Not very creative or original, especially considering the fact that all festival horses have been distinct so far. Judge for yourself if you like it or not for the price of 1 race token and 20 summer tokens..."

 

[Redwolf]

What's it's summer festival already.

Last summer's festival was the most screwed up (e.g. all rewards bind-to-character) and boring one. Obviously it was given no development time over the f2p code work. Too bad they didn't seem to have found any time this time around either?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

I already bought all the rewards in the store; I actually got a 2 for 1 deal and in fact have already also purchased all the rewards for next year's Winter Festival as well. They may have double charged my credit card by accident, but I am thrilled nonetheless as it means I don't have to actually spend time playing the game in order to reap the benefits of these festival activities. Oh, how I wish the store would have been available three years ago!!!111

 

[Palantir]

I already bought all the rewards in the store; I actually got a 2 for 1 deal and in fact have already also purchased all the rewards for next year's Winter Festival as well.

With the way the Turbine Store now infiltrates into every corner of the game I can't tell if you are joking or not.

Well, this little gem: "50% Bonus to XP for kills" (right hand corner) just shocks me, 50%? Plus you can buy scrolls to give you even more EXP bonuses if I'm not mistaken. Where's the incentive to actually play and experience the game as it was designed to be played? This is just more, "rush thru our content in as many ways as possibile as fast as you can so most of the other content is "beneath you" rubbish. If you wanted to slow down leveling forget about it this weekend.
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The entire idea of exploring and "lingering" (playing) to experiencing everything about Middle Earth (as it was first presented in SoA) has been done away with for a, "how fast can you get to the end" type of game. Add in all the "Maps," "Milestones," "Fast Travel" and "Return to" things they sell and they might as well just sell instant teleports to any spot on the map- spending 5 minutes going someplace is sooooo time consuming.
It reminds me more of a poor console game that kids pay $40 for and then get the cheat so they can finish it in less than 5 hours. Of course just to move on to buy the next $40 game & repeat (read that as buying more Turbine Store Items).

Why it’s presented now might have to do with Isengard coming up soon & they want more players to be at 65 so they can get to 75 quicker… (so expect another one just before it launches) I still can’t understand why they want to push players faster thru the game. (Unless the content is starting suffer and they don't want players to "linger" and notice it.)


Has anyone looked at the Summer Fest at all?

 

[Michael Dorosh]

The Summer Festival is the same one that's been running for three years now, isn't it? I see nothing new to see, hence, no point looking.

I was honestly shocked the last time I went to the official forum and suggested that the pre-order goodies were not an incentive for me to pre-order Isengard. The fanbois there just seemed completely alien to me, as if from another dimension. Not only does Turbine "not get" our perspective, but it's clear that the people inhabiting the forums there, whomever they are, have no qualms with the BUY BUY BUY mentality.

I just plain don't get it. When I suggested that a true pre-order special incorporate something tangible, like, say, a preview quest or something that wouldn't eventually be just a run of the mill in-game item anyway, no one had any concept of why I would suggest such a thing.

It was like something out of Gaslight.

 

[Redwolf]

The Summer Festival is the same one that's been running for three years now, isn't it? I see nothing new to see, hence, no point looking.

No, I hear the events are the same but there's more grind for the rewards