Winter is here

So it is time to celebrate and give thanks to our great community. All throughout the holidays you can check back here to see our favorite community streamers showing off the latest gameplay. A truly international assortment from many countries, both experienced and new, and we're super excited to have them join us for this event. Featuring Dedicated Servers, the new Cosmetic system, and Rohan and Yule-tide content packs, there's something for everyone. And if you like what you see, go check them out on Twitch or Youtube, give them a like and a follow, and help us support everyone who's having fun with the game.

Also if you haven't seen it, the recording of Wednesday's Forge Talk is now up on YouTube for those who missed it or wanted to listen back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cgt2ByVDiVo

From everyone here at Free Range Games and North Beach Games, we want to thank you for your support of Return to Moria, and we wish you the happiest of holidays and a wonderful Yule-tide, wherever you may be across the globe!

Enjoy and we will meet again in the halls of Moria in 2025!

Winter is here

The Winter Update is here! It is a time to celebrate and give thanks to our great community. Our best gift? Our fourth major title update with two of our most requested features: Dedicated Servers and Cosmetics.

We can’t say thank you enough times to the over 1 million players who have delved with us into the Mines of Moria. Cheers for a great 2024 and we can’t wait to see you in 2025!

This title update provides bug fixes, gameplay additions and infrastructure to enable new downloadable content (DLC) including free and paid content packs. It also offers an early release of Dedicated Servers as a limited alpha. Please see below for more details on how to apply to be one of our first Alpha Testers!

Please ensure you have the correct build number on the main menu. You must complete the update before playing.

• Epic: 1.4.1 [net.8.4.6.boe951]
  
• Steam: 1.4.1 [net.8.4.6.boe951]
  
• PS5: 1.4.0 [net.8.4.6.boe951]
  
• Xbox X|S: 1.4.0 [net.8.4.6.boe951]
  
• Xbox and PS5 update from version 1.3.4 to 1.4.0
  
• Steam and Epic update form version 1.3.4 to 1.4.1

This update has a new cosmetic armor skins feature: the ability to add helmet, chest, glove, boots and origin outfits as cosmetic items via the new Wardrobe screen, accessible in the menu. Once cosmetic items are added to the wardrobe, they are available to be applied to all dwarves associated with your account. Applying these new cosmetic items will override the equipped armor visuals while keeping the stats of the armor you have equipped. Wardrobe Skins also come with all of their tints for free!

On the main menu of the game is now an Add-On and DLC screen that shows what is available and what you have already purchased.
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We have created a free Holiday Yule-tide Pack that includes new festive food, decoration and lighting options as a gift for the community! Decorate your base, invite some friends over, and enjoy the holidays!
The full list of what is included:

• Mulled Cider Brew Recipe
  
• Yule-tide Feast Meal Recipe
  
• Yule Fruit Crust-cake Ration Recipe
  
• Present Pile Building Recipe
  
• Yule-tide Hearth Building Recipe
  
• Celebration Meal Table Building Recipe
  
• String of Lights Building Recipe
  
• Chain of Lights Building Recipe
  
• Simple Candelabra Building Recipe
  
• Candelabra Building Recipe
  
• Elaborate Candelabra Building Recipe

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Our first premium content pack is inspired by the Horse Lords of Rohan, and the friendship forged by Lord Gimli with King Eomer of Rohan. Check out our trailer and join the Yerêg Guard today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do_VhTgm-yY

The full list of what is included:

• Rohan Helmet Cosmetic Skin
  
• Rohan Armor Cosmetic Skin
  
• Rohan Gauntlets Cosmetic Skin
  
• Rohan Boots Cosmetic Skin
  
• Rohirrim Spear Recipe
  
• Rohirrim Shield Recipe
  
• Rohirrim Banner & Flag Building Recipes
  
• Rohan Yerêg Stew Meal Recipe
  
• Smoked Mead Brew Recipe

Note: Skins unlock for All Dwarves. They are cosmetic only. Weapon, Shield, Brew, Meal, and Building Recipes will be available when the appropriate resources are available.

This update provides the ability to host and join a player-hosted dedicated server. Dedicated Servers are available as a limited alpha and we will need your feedback as we refine the experience. Please visit the RtM Discord[discord.gg] if you are interested in hosting a dedicated server. Joining a dedicated server does not require any special installation. Once you have the 1.4.x game update and a join code, you may join a dedicated server through the existing “Join Game” interface.

Refer to The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria™: Dedicated Servers Guide (Alpha)[www.returntomoria.com] on the website and the "ds-info" channel in our Discord for more information. And look for the full, open release early in 2025.

• Treasure Pile management. Players may now see what is in a Treasure Pile, same as other forms of visual storage. No more losing where you put those Black Diamonds!
  
• Renamable Storage. Players can now edit the display names of chest and tavern signs.
  
• Added controller sensitivity sliders for looking and while aiming with ranged weapons
  
• Trees and Ubasam mushrooms now regrow after a number of sleeps. They will not regrow within a hearth radius.
  
• Players can now plant Cranberries into Farm Patches and Boxes.
  
• Added a player-buildable version of the Statue of Elbereth that unlocks late in the game.
  
• Updated the [redacted] of Durin’s Axe to [redacted] in a much [redacted] way.
  
• The Dwarf Select screen now shows the currently equipped armor look.
  
• Improvements to gamepad navigation in chest and inventory slots.
  
• Added recipes to craft iron ore from scrap metal, and craft ironwood from scrap metal and wood scraps, both unlocked at late-game forges. Yes it's good to craft Ironwood, but it's even better to get rid of those pallets of abundant early game resources!

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• Fixed platform specific crashes.
  
• Fixed desyncs of certain items in multiplayer where an item may appear floating in mid air.
  
• Fixed issue where attempting to pick up items with a full inventory caused their VFX to disappear.
  
• Fixed issues with saving of dropped items while level is loading.
  
• Fixed issue where Wanderkeg is empty after singing a tavern song.
  
• Increased interaction radius of death chests to fix issues where they may be inaccessible by the player and items could not be picked up.
  
• Fixed silent sound effects when rebuilding Great Forges.
  
• Fixed an issue where a Dwarf is not prompted to sing when mining certain deposits.
  
• Fixed issue where Small Crystal Lamps still spawn after being deconstructed.
  
• Fixed some worlds being generated without certain items needed to progress.
  
• Fixed issue where player could not drop items from Inventory and Action Bar with Gamepad.
  
• Fixed missing UI action for right-mouse-button to aim on bow and crossbows.
  
• Fixed inability to equip Mahal’s Gift from the action bar.
  
• Fixed text for mislabeled items and misspellings.
  
• Fixed several icons that were offset incorrectly or were using the wrong image.
  
• When aiming with the Quarrymaster, players will swing instead of kick.

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The following issues are known and will be addressed in a future patch. If you encounter these please feel free to submit a support ticket here[northbeachgames.freshdesk.com] with any information that will help us resolve the issue.

• Cosmetic Armor Skins that have been added to the player’s Wardrobe while online will not appear while playing Offline. Skins added when playing offline do not appear while playing online. We apologize for the inconvenience this issue may cause.
  
• Purchased DLC may not be available while playing offline. This behaviour is dependent on which platform you are playing.
  
• In multiplayer games, dwarves may sometimes enter the world in the wrong location.
  
• In multiplayer games with a large number of players, there can be issues with fast travel.
  
• There are known issues with the Dedicated Server Alpha’s CPU usage and performance. You may experience longer load times and more frequent dot walls than we consider acceptable. We will be working on this before the full release.
  
• Blocking players on Dedicated Servers currently only works when the player-to-be-blocked is online.
  
• There is a rare occurrence of the Steam Deck on certain versions of the OS showing issues with the keyboard, as well as quitting the game.

We are celebrating the holidays and our big update today, plus of course BIG sales on the Steam Autumn Sale!

We'll be broadcasting all weekend long, so join us to see more! Learn about our new update with our pre-recorded developer videos, plus watch guests and community streamers going LIVE throughout the extended holiday weekend!

If you've enjoyed forging memories in the depths of Middle-earth with your companions, we’d be honored if you’d nominate us for the "Better with Friends" category in the Steam Awards! Your nomination helps spread the word of the Dwarves' great deeds and keeps the forges burning bright.


And if you haven't had a chance yet, please check out our new reveal trailer we just dropped, to see all the awesome stuff that is coming soon in December!

Thank you for all of your support, and more great stuff will keep coming in 2024!

Ihraz dâ-khalash akdashûnu
"The mountain smiles on us today!"

Game Director Jon-Paul Dumont guides us through some of what’s in store for Title Update 4 - The Winter Update - for The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.

From Cosmetics, DLC packs and Regrowing Trees, to Quality of Life updates, Labelling Chests and Farming Cranberries - There’s lots packed into this update, coming this December.

Without further ado, here is the link to our latest Update video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu1cSCkQs841 Oh, and one extra big surprise too, so be sure to watch to the end!

Keep an eye on our Discord[discord.gg] and on our website[www.returntomoria.com] for all the latest news and updates!

Happy holidays (and definitely let your friends know, we're featured as part of the Steam Autumn sale, so now's a great time to buy a copy of Return to Moria!)

Hey everyone!

We wanted to share some information that we just posted on our Discord too - some good news from Tharkun_FRG, the Game Director! More to follow soon, let us know if you have any questions!

I know its been a bit since our last update, but rest assured the team has been busy. We have a whole new Title Update dropping this winter, with two of your most asked for features along with a host of other improvements.

Many of them we have wanted to get out for a long time (trees finally regrowing maybe? hmm?). so keep an eye on dev-updates[discord.com] over the next two weeks - we’ll have more to share about what’s coming and when it will drop!

We’ve also got some holiday sales coming up so watch out for those - it might be a great time to buy some early gifts for your friends and family!

Turugnî hisgin!
Greetings!

This is a smaller patch to address issues that were reported in version 1.3.3. Thank you to everyone who reported issues, shared saves and provided feedback. This has helped us in resolving issues and getting this patch out to you asap.

Please ensure you have the correct build number on the main menu before playing. You must complete the update before playing. Steam: 1.3.4.166483 [net.8.4.5.6.eaaa2]

All platforms update from version 1.3.3 to 1.3.4. Here are the fixes:

• This patch addresses cases where parts of large player construction would be destroyed after saving and loading.
  
• We have also fixed the cause of some spontaneous destruction of building pieces.
  
• We have improved and tested stability in typical building scenarios and in large saves provided by the community. However, it is worth noting that the more complex constructions do stress the limits of the system and may still have unexpected results.
  
• We will continue to tackle those issues as they occur. Please keep sending those support tickets and save files! They were instrumental in helping us with this round of fixes.

• We have fixed a bug where players might encounter an infinite load when attempting to fast travel.
  
• Sieges have been fixed and re-tuned and should not occur with the same frequency, nor should they be triggered as often when players fast travel.
  
• Fixed the issue affecting the Ink Grinder’s ability to dye Armor
  
• Fixed rare issue where Armor Stands built with Build-lore buff providing free construction would not allow any Armor to be placed in them.

The team continues to investigate solutions for known issues listed in Patch 1.3.3.

This Thursday the 3rd of Oct - Durin’s Day - through to the 6th of Oct, Return to Moria is celebrating this famed Dwarven holiday. Please enjoy the streams which will be happening all weekend, and if you like what you see, check these hard working folks out on Twitch and give them a follow!

Kadish Durinul Khalash!

This Thursday the 3rd of Oct - Durin’s Day - through to the 6th of Oct, Return to Moria is celebrating this famed Dwarven holiday. Celebrations include…
This Patch will contain fixes to issues reported by players as well as improvements to the lighting system (especially for bigger bases). This patch is due to release on Thursday the 3rd of October
We’ll be showcasing some streamers with an all-weekend Broadcast on Steam, plus others will be live on your favorite streaming platforms, or posting Durin’s Day themed videos and clips. Keep an eye out as some will have keys for the game, artbook and/or soundtrack to give away too!
Been waiting to purchase RtM or have friends who’ve been waiting to pick it up? The Durin’s Day Bundle will be available on Steam during the celebrations with a hefty discount to swing your hammer at!
Friday the 4th we’ll have a Forge Talk in the Discord discussing the patch, A year (almost) in review since initial 2023 launch, recent community challenges and the dev team will be answering some questions too!
Want to join in the festivities? We’ve got some Durin’s Day and RtM themed icons, and thumbnails for you to use on your socials and videos. Cruise over to Discord to check that out, and If you post anything, don’t forget to @ us on Twitter / X for a chance of a reshare!

Whether you’re going to be delving into Moria to check out the new patch and pouring yourself a brew, or supporting the streams and creations of fellow community members, we hope you have fun celebrating Durin’s Day 2024 with The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria!

Full patch notes can be found here:
http://Return To Moria dot com