Rise of Isengard

The first of the Q4 game releases I’m anticipating came out yesterday, the Lord of the Rings Online expansion Rise of Isengard. I didn’t get to far yesterday, but here are some first impressions:

• Crafting is annoying. When the Tier 7 level opens up, you only get two items that you can make. Everything else comes from loot drops.
• Subcomponents were removed, which is good I guess?, but you also lose the XP from making subcomponents. Instead of being able to grind up by making a bunch of those and having a stockpile to use later, you have to make final items that no one wants.
• The crafting guilds get a new level of items, which is good because their recipes are always nice. However, the large pattern you make for faction with them, requires a type of resource you can’t make. Not sure how to get it. At that is the way it is for Tailor. Haven’t logged into my Metalsmith yet.
• The first quest for the new book gives you a choice of two routes to take into Dunland. This is kind of nice, getting to choose something that affects your game play.
• Guardians got a slight improvement to damage which is always nice.
• The stat compression (especially resistances) helps clarify some things.