I’ll be honest; I don’t play Lord of the Rings Online anymore. My time with the game was great, I loved it, and it ranks among my favorite MMORPGs for bringing the amazing and expansive world of Tolkien to life, but I simply don’t have the time necessary to commit to the game, or any MMORPG for that matter. That said, every time I see the game in action and the direction that Turbine is taking it I want to jump back in. A few weeks back the Somethingcast interviewed the developers about the expansion and they explained a huge amount of detail about the underground persistent world of Moria, so I am going to spare the text going over that again. Just know that it’s huge, and they don’t bother with skyboxes or any other tricks, the entire thing physical, tangible, and amazing.

The main thing that really impressed me was the new items and the character classes. The developers have decided to take after the books and give characters signature items that they can customize in great detail by doing different quests and finding different items. Just like the traits, killing a certain amount of a different type of enemy might upgrade the weapon’s damage, and completing quest could improve a shield or helmet’s defense. After time you are able to actually name the weapon and have your own Sting, marrying an epic feel to even a somewhat ordinary aspect of the game.

To avoid situations that other MMORPGs have run into with an expansion rending their previous loot drops obsolete, gamers will be able to disassemble them to create more powerful items, giving a good sense of foresight into the development of the expansion. Gamers will find new exciting equipment while not feeling bad for questing hours to find their old stuff, and the very idea of naming and keeping an item as you progress through the game lends itself to the Lord of the Rings IP very well.

The classes were also interesting, but the one that I found the best was the Rune-Keeper, who juggles the roles of DPS and healing while trying to keep a balance for combat. Using powerful combative moves unlocked more abilities in that vein while locking out healing spells and visa versa. For general, run of the mill battles this isn’t far too interesting, but it can be a great enhancement for the game’s huge, epic boss battles. Players might find that they should do damage to an enemy for some time before moving to a healing assistant in order to keep their team alive, adding a level of strategy and a minigame of sorts to the class.

The Lord of the Rings: Mines of Moria is scheduled for release in the coming months, and stay tuned to Gamervision for more information on this exciting expansion.

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