Update 22.4.1 Release Notes (and comment)

Vacation in Frostbluff

A new quest has arrived in Frostbluff called Stolen Sweets! Visit snowy locations throughout Middle-earth to recover stolen treats for the poor children of Winter-home, and earn the rewards of a white Yule Rabbit and the title "Bringer of Sweets"! The quest is bestowed by the Frostbluff Stable-master. This new quest can be completed once during the run of the Vacation on Frostbluff event, and does not require visiting regions above level 50. Additionally, the other activities available during the Yuletide Festival are now available! Vacation in Frostbluff begins at 10:00 AM Eastern on July 31st, and runs through August 7th!

Miscellaneous

• Corrected a chat issue that was causing problems on some servers.
  
• All characters who have completed, or will complete, The Armies of Isengard meta deed will now receive a second steed reward called the Steed from the White Wizard's Tower. This steed features an Isengard banner and new colors for the caparison and head piece shimmer. Characters who previously completed the Armies of Isengard meta deed will receive the Steed of Many Colours and the Steed from the White Wizard's Tower in their pending loot when first logging in after Update 22.4.1.
  
• All Isengard icons and motifs have been removed from the caparison, bridle, and saddle of the Steed of Shifting Hues. The Steed of Shifting Hues mount granting item now binds to account on acquire, and will not auto-consume. Icons for the Steed of Shifting Hues have also been updated.
  
• Festivity Tokens now have a cap of 40 in the Barter Wallet. If you already have 40 or more Tokens, you will need to spend tokens before you can gain more. Festivity Tokens are now named correctly if you have more than one, and can be found in the Festival Wallet category.
  
• Thrang's Vault Tokens now always go into the Barter Wallet, and have a cap of 40. Thrang's Vault tokens can now be found in the Instances and Skirmishes wallet category.
  
• Newfound Coins can now be found in the Instances and Skirmishes wallet category if you have the Premium Wallet upgrade.
  
• Additional diacritics have been added to the game filter, to allow for these diacritics to be used in Kinship, IA, Bio, Mail, Item, Message of the Day, and Chat messages.
  
• Joining the Northcotton Farm instance AFTER the first boss has been defeated will no longer block you from completing its instance quest.
  

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COMMENT

Like every other MMO, LOTRO has a finite quantity of developer resources to play with. Allocating developer resources is therefore a zero-sum game: resources spent on festivals and assorted peripheral or purely decorative material are resources denied to core game development, like new regions, instances and raids. Unfortunately, it looks as though current thinking at SSG favours the former. It's usually the quick and easy solution, but festivals are the 'empty calories' of MMOs - quick and easy to produce, they satisfy the sweet tooth of some players, but work to the ultimate detriment of the game.

Seriously, "Visit snowy locations throughout Middle-earth to recover stolen treats for the poor children of Winter-home, and earn the rewards of a white Yule Rabbit and the title "Bringer of Sweets"? If I wanted sugary treats, snow bunnies and bling, I'd play My Little Pony. Let's get our eye back on the game, SSG.

LOL at your comment.