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January 2022 Edition

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New PTR Testmud

The T2T Public Test Realm is live! We've set up a new testmud running on port 2020, a copy of the MUD meant to serve as a sandbox environment for a slew of potential changes and new features and areas.

Currently the following things are hosted there:

  • The Crypt

  • A Sandbox Arena

  • New NPCs

  • A *lot* of new equipment effects

  • New gear using the above effects

  • A new profession (very hypothetical)

  • <a ton of other random stuff>

This server started as a backup of the main mud and may have existing character information from about a year ago, with some autoloads, etc.

Feel free to make new characters as you wish. Many realmud rules do not apply there: feel free to multiplay, abuse bugs (within reason), and otherwise have fun. Please do NOT engage in purposefully destructive behavior (e.g. creating 2000 orcs) or anything that may, somehow, affect the main server.

To check it out, just point your client at port t2tmud.org 2020, or you can use the following URL: https://t2tmud.org/client/simple/simple.php?port=2020

New Scavenger Hunt Game in the Works

Our favorite fiery balrog Lungorthin has undertaken building a new game feature for T2T, in the form of a fully automated Scavenger Hunt contest!

This new game will be playable with a minimum of two (2) contestants, and will feature timers, scoreboards, portals, and interactive NPC moderator, a way to subscribe to receive updates when games start, thousands of randomized items to hunt for and more!

The current hope is to begin testing on Testmud soon, with the first live-game roll-out to happen during this year's Event in March. Thereafter, periodic openings of the scavenger hunt are planned, similar to Crypt openings.

Thanks to Lungorthin for taking this on, and we look forward to the first scavenger hunt tournament in Arda!

Arwen’s Retirement

After over eight years as Power of Law (the record by far), Arwen has announced her retirement and has stepped down for a well-deserved rest.

We would like to thank her for her long service in one of the most thankless jobs a person could do on The Two Towers. Trying to patiently and fairly sort through law issues is a trying task, and we very much appreciate her efforts over the years.

Going forward, the active admin will be considering law issues on a committee basis. The ‘law report’ feature will continue to be the primary way to bring issues to our attention, and follow-up actions/interviews will be undertaken by Luthien, Vildoran or Osse as needed.

New Quest in Lothlorien

Hard-working maia Fuinath recently saw his new area enter the game, and had this to add to the in-game updates list: “The battle for Lothlorien rages on as orcs press the attack and the elves valiantly defend their home. Those interested in bolstering the elves' defenses should seek out General Legoral for more information.” Congrats Fuinath on getting your area in-game!

Fun Feature: Tolkien-named Streets in a Netherlands Town

Perhaps some of you have seen this before, but there is a town in the Netherlands named Geldrop where a section has street names based on characters in Tolkien’s works. There’s even a Hobbit elementary school, where Dutch children learn how to be proper hobbits… or something like that.

The explanation for this neighborhood’s theme is rather straightforward: when it was being laid out, one of the town planners in charge of the project was a big Tolkien fan, and apparently no fans of rival fantasy authors were on hand to prevent it.

Here are some interesting tidbits:

  • Boromir’s street is closer to Denethor’s than is Faramir’s.

  • Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? Well, turns out, you start off on Theoden Street, bang a left on Tolkien Avenue, another left on Aragorn, then a right on Westernisse and then one more left and you’re at Denethor. You can’t miss it.

  • Gandalf Street appears to be one-way, and therefore YOU SHALL NOT PASS.

  • Saruman Street goes downhill soon after running into Palantir.

  • There seems to be plenty to for the kiddies in Tolkien-town: Gloin, Fangorn, Westernesse, Lorien, Gandalf, Galadriel, Elros, Arwen and Samwise Gamgee all have parks or playgrounds named after them.

  • You can just see Erebor from the corner of Thorin and Durin.

Vildoran’s Twitch Streams

Vildoran has hosted several streams on Twitch over the past month, to demo some of the cool stuff he’s been working on, mostly on the new PTR server.

You can see the archived streams, and catch future ones, here: https://www.twitch.tv/vildoran

Vild’s current plan is to host a stream every Friday at 7:30 PM, U. S. Eastern Time (mudtime), so keep an eye out for the next one!

The Event is Coming Right Up!

As of the sending this newsletter, we have just over 42 days until THE EVENT launches! This is the 24th year for this special celebration on The Two Towers, which began long ago with the launching of Minas Tirith into the game.

The Event will open on March 15, and our small but dedicated team of coders has been busy working on some fun new attractions and games for it, so mark your calendars and be sure to drop in and say hi!

Patreon Reminder

The best way to show your support for T2T on an ongoing basis is by becoming a patron via our Patreon! We count on the revenue from your monthly pledges to pay for hosting and related registration fees, server upgrades, as well as careful paid advertising to help grow the MUD. Even $1 a month helps, so please consider joining if you haven’t already… AND THANK YOU!

The best way to show your support for T2T on an ongoing basis is by becoming a patron via our Patreon! We count on the revenue from your monthly pledges to pay for hosting and related registration fees, server upgrades, as well as careful paid advertising to help grow the MUD. Even $1 a month helps, so please consider joining if you haven’t already… AND THANK YOU!