Mines of Moria (expansion) webby up.

[Tarami]

http://www.lotro.com/moria

Not much there to see yet, but a sum up if you aren't a fanboy (like me).

I'm giddy.

[Mrbloodworth]

Sweet.

[Stormwaltz]

Hm. Moria is being published by Warner Brothers, not Midway.

Collector's edition includes:

• 3 exclusive tokens that can be exchanged for the player's choice of 8 different in-game items
• 22" x 22" premium quality cloth map of the Mines of Moria
• Special gold-plated ring complete with chain and pouch
• Mines of Moria poster
• The Lord of the Rings Online Art and Music Collection with the official Mines of Moria Soundtrack
• A full color Collector's Edition Starter Guide

"More than 200 different monsters." Great, but I'd rather know how many new monster models there are. Ten new bear variants are nothing to get excited about.

Really like the legendary items idea. Let's hope it doesn't devolve into Daikatana.

Crafting guilds? Details, plz.

[Tarami]

200 new monsters is a bit of a hyperbole I imagine. 200 spawn points?

Yes, crafting guilds, I have no idea what it means - they haven't released any details on this yet, AFAIK. It sounds fluffy. I imagine it lets crafters pool resources to build something bigger and better, whatever that is. Trophies? Houses? Neighbourhood improvements (that would be pretty awesome actually)?

[Mrbloodworth]

I don't think we will see many bears in Moria.

Bears and boars are reserved for overland areas. Most dungeons have unique creatures (models).

And they way i read it is, its self published, WB is just doing distribution.

"We are excited to self publish The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria and to partner with Warner Bros. to distribute the title at retail this fall,"

[Stormwaltz]

I don't think we will see many bears in Moria.

It is supposed to include Lothlorien. $5 says we'll see Golden Bears among the mallorns.

EDIT: New cinematic trailer up.

[Tarami]

I don't think we will see many bears in Moria.

Bears and boars are reserved for overland areas. Most dungeons have unique creatures (models).

And they way i read it is, its self published, WB is just doing distribution.

"We are excited to self publish The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria and to partner with Warner Bros. to distribute the title at retail this fall,"

Hibernating bears?

[Mrbloodworth]

I don't think we will see many bears in Moria.

It is supposed to include Lothlorien. $5 says we'll see Golden Bears among the mallorns.

I wont take that bet. Because thats back in the overlands. (I mean overlands to mean, not dungeons)

[Tarami]

Actually I'm willing to take that bet, because I don't think we'll see much mobs in Lothlórien at all, much like Rivendell. ;-) Only a guess, though.

EDIT: New cinematic trailer up.

Ooh, shiny hi res. But it wasn't exactly a Blur cinematic (Dawn of War and more).

[Tarami]

Some concept art that seems new.

I love this one;
Firerogogogo!

[tmp]

Eurogamer's hands-on. Some details on the new area, inhabitants, new player character classes and legendary items system

[Cheddar]

I am definitely resubbing once the expansion comes out.  Out of all the MMO's expansions/new arrivals this is the only one that interests me.

[Bandit]

Except the runekeeper class, little to magic-y for LOTRO methinks.  I am not a lore-nazi by any means, but I really like how they were keeping it lore-tight and the magic toned down. Not a deal breaker for me as I have been playing the shit out of LOTRO again and loving it. 

[Tarami]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O1hWNhEnno

A shaky cam of some MoM footage... helps if you know German. :) Shows some areas and the classes and so on.

And I'll chime in with Cheddar; eventhough I think WoW is a good game and WAR seems fun enough, MoM is the only thing at the moment that I want now-now-now(!). Especially now that the new Amon Amarth album has already leaked.

[Mrbloodworth]

Would be cool if we all played on the same server =(, i have a small, but very helpful guild now over on bandywine.

[Tarami]

I just might take you up on that, if I may. What hours are you guys playing?

[Cheddar]

I have no qualms jumping server.  Let me know, I may even resub before the expansion.

[Reg]

Do they have server transfers? My burglar is like 36th level and I would like to avoid leveling up a newb.

[Tarami]

Errr.... yes, they do, but I don't know where it's located in the US release. Check your account page.

[Mrbloodworth]

I just might take you up on that, if I may. What hours are you guys playing?

Me and the lady don't get a lot of time really. But Wednesdays after work (that's about 6pm EST) and then weekends, some more than others. Server is brandywine, one of the more populated ones. Its not my guild, but im an officer so i can invite if i know names. like i said, we have a small, but casually active very helpful (some of the top craters will just make you a full crit'ed set of armor..) Kinship.

We also have a habit of cleaning the ranks of asshats.

[Tarami]

Me and the lady don't get a lot of time really. But Wednesdays after work (that's about 6pm EST) and then weekends, some more than others. Server is brandywine, one of the more populated ones. Its not my guild, but im an officer so i can invite if i know names. like i said, we have a small, but casually active very helpful (some of the top craters will just make you a full crit'ed set of armor..) Kinship.

We also have a habit of cleaning the ranks of asshats.

You implying something? :)

[Mrbloodworth]

Me and the lady don't get a lot of time really. But Wednesdays after work (that's about 6pm EST) and then weekends, some more than others. Server is brandywine, one of the more populated ones. Its not my guild, but im an officer so i can invite if i know names. like i said, we have a small, but casually active very helpful (some of the top craters will just make you a full crit'ed set of armor..) Kinship.

We also have a habit of cleaning the ranks of asshats.

You implying something? :)

Yeah, that some of the other officers have invited people who turned out asshats. lol.  (as hats in " hay thanks for the full set of gear" only to find it on the auction house moments later).

[Tarami]

I'll be rolling a minstrel. I hated it the first time I played one, but that was back in the days. I just need to forge a US address.

[Mrbloodworth]

I'll be rolling a minstrel. I hated it the first time I played one, but that was back in the days. I just need to forge a US address.

Why? Any way i can help? You doing a transfer?

[Cheddar]

I am going to transfer my higher level Dwarf dude to the new server.  Might as well skip the grind!

I am cool with power levelling peeps as well, Tuesday is my main gaming day.   

[Tarami]

I'll be rolling a minstrel. I hated it the first time I played one, but that was back in the days. I just need to forge a US address.

Why? Any way i can help? You doing a transfer?

I'm European. :) I imagine any address will do for the subscription, but I rather not have the hassle later.

[Mrbloodworth]

The underground area that contains the Mines of Moria is not simply a vast series of dark tunnels and crowded zones; this entire map was created with the lore in mind. Until you see it for yourself, it's really difficult to describe exactly how large this is. Not only is this a completely seamless world, with no zoning in between, but Jeffrey Steefel describes it as the largest underground space ever created in any game. It's treated as a landscape, both above and below your character, which helps alleviate any hardware performance problems that would arise otherwise.

The entrance to the mines is 200 steps, just as it describes in the books. Once you enter, you will soon notice the effect that generations of Dwarven life has had on this underground kingdom. The architecture changes from an angular Dwarven style to a bit of an Elvish influence from the age when the Dwarves and Elves were allied.

One interesting thing that Steefel touched on was the fact that in a later Session Play quest, you will fight the Balrog. He wouldn't go into detail, but we can only speculate that you will play as Gandalf in one of the most memorable and intense scenes of Lord of the Rings storytelling.

Many people think that this new expansion will only be the underground area of Moria, and nothing else, but there's just so much more. You will begin in Eregion, where you left off in Book 14, and eventually leave the mines to explore Lothlorien on the other side, including Galadriel's garden and well. This is where you will meet up with The Fellowship once again.

There will be ten new areas of Eregion, nine of which will be accessible to anyone. The final area will be the trip to the actual Hollin Gate itself, which will only be available to those with the expansion. At this point you will fight the Watcher in the Water, but you won't get very far with him. While mending your wounds, the Dwarves will let you know that you'll need some more powerful weapons to defeat it, which brings us to the Legendary Items.

The Legendary Item system brings a whole new set of gameplay additions to Lord of the Rings Online in what Steefel says may be the largest and best system they've ever created at Turbine. It's basically a layered system which introduces many new features, but also works retroactively to enhance existing items. These items include anything from weapons, armor pieces, armor sets, shields, etc. They are marked as having Legendary potential, so not just any item can utilize this system.

Once you receive a Legendary item through a drop, quest reward or whatever, you will need to take it to a Forgemaster to identify it. This will reveal a set of randomly-generated modifiers, also known as runes or relics, that can be enhanced or removed to place onto other Legendary items. These relics are kept in an area separate from your normal inventory slots, so there's no panic about consuming even more of your precious bag space. Take note that once you deconstruct an item to remove its rune, that item will be destroyed in the process.

You will have the opportunity to work on up to six Legendary items at a time. You can possess more than six, but these workable six are the only one you can regularly upgrade and level just as you would a hireling or pet. Yes, that's right, these Legendary items are much more than just items. They can level up, gain rank, gain XP and even grant special deeds and quests for your character throughout their lifetime. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for end-game adventuring and character development.

Now, the XP you get for your items will be distributed among all six items you're working on. You can choose to turn off XP gain for a certain item that may be maxed out or you don't want to level for whatever reason. Once the XP bar is maxed out for a particular level, you'll need to reforge the item, which acts as a level-up. This opens up new possibilities for achievement options and advancement opportunities within the item itself. For instance, if you have a rank 1 sword and it has reached its maximum XP for that particular level, when you reforge it, you'll get increased DPS, damage range or whatever else you have applied to that weapon through runes. This will make weapon skins more valuable and cut back on that dilemna most current MMOs have when you get that constant influx of loot through drops that it's too easy to swap out after every new battle or quest. Your weapon will be your own personal companion and you'll feel more of an attachment to it.

You can also name your item at this point, but keep in mind that the names are based on a unique system where no two players on one server can have the same names for their items. Steefel acknowledged the complexity of this feature and says it's still being refined.

As you've probably already heard, there will be two new classes introduced with Mines of Moria: the Warden and the Rune-keeper. These will be welcomed with two additional character slots, bringing the total to seven. These classes are said to be developed with soloability in mind, as proven by the complexity of their new game mechanics.

Warden
The Warden is a medium tank who uses a spear as both his ranged and melee weapon. He uses a chain of skills and combos to unlock a Gambit skill that proves incredibly powerful. Once unlocked, these Gambit skills will remain open as long as you're in the combat stance, so fighting multiple enemies at once just got a bit easier.

Rune-keeper
The Rune-keeper is described as the first real magic-user of the LotRO world, yet Steefel says they're not a wizard in the traditional sense as you'd think of Gandalf. He's more like Galadriel where he can harness runes to cause DPS nuking abilities or moderate healing. The way this works is you have a separate bar that ranges from red to green. The further you go into the red half (by using DPS nuking skills), the more powerful skills you can unlock in that particular range. The same goes for the green side, but it works for healing skills. This is much like other chains of skills already in place with LotRO (think Minstrel song tiers), but works even more effectively with more user-friendly UI elements.

There's so much more from Moria, including a ton that we didn't even get to see. This includes:

Crafting
Crafting will have specialization abilities where you can concentrate on one profession in your vocation, joining certain guilds with quests and opportunities to maximize your potential. Despite the fact that there will be no new crafting professions with Moria, the existing ones will get an additional tier to go with this specialization factor.

PvP
PvP will be getting quite an upgrade with new features such as "capture the flag", where your side will gain certain buffs whenever they capture specific artifacts and return them to your base. An additional balancing mechanic will automatically add buffs to the mismatched sides within the Ettenmoors depending on the balance of the server at any particular time. This will help with those servers that are notorious for being too freep- or creep-heavy.

Trait Sets
The entire trait system will be revamped to allow the collection of traits in sets that will grant special bonuses. Once you collect all eight sets, you'll gain a legendary trait to fill one of three legendary trait slots. These trait sets help define one of three clear paths that your character can choose to follow with your "build", allowing an easier example to lead for friends who may want to advance their character in similar ways. These trait sets are class-based with three available per class.

In addition to all of this, we'll also get more instances, a new 12-man raid, a level cap increase to 60, new deeds, traits, items and just about anything else you can imagine you'd want in an expansion. Turbine has certainly shown us their specialty for providing loads of content in the past, and Mines of Moria will certainly be no exception to this rule. Moria will be a must-have for all existing LotRO players, as well as those waiting for an excuse to finally get into the game.

Link

[Cheddar]

That is pure sex.   

[Mrbloodworth]

Updated with the article.

[tmp]

http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/the-lord-of-the-rings-online-mines-of-moria/887238p1.html

pretty old article, but gives in-depth look on the legendary items system. It's... deep

[Mrbloodworth]

Yeah, another sweet system. This is why i say LOTRO is overlooked in terms of what they are innovating on in MMO's. So many of the systems they have been adding are great evolutions, and should be come standard in all MMO's. The quest window for one.

[Tarami]

ftp://downloads.codemasters.com/video/LOTRO%20FLY%20THRU_FLAMIMNG%20DEEPS_UK.zip

The first real footage of Moria, a fly-through of some of the lower areas. WMV-format. Those enslaved trolls that are leashed to rails look cool IMO.

And yeah, Turbine builds alot of cool systems that could be awesome if they had a little more time to develop them, the recent battlefront instances come to mind. They are so nearly very good but lack a little punch - same goes for the housing. :-/

[Mrbloodworth]

ftp://downloads.codemasters.com/video/LOTRO%20FLY%20THRU_FLAMIMNG%20DEEPS_UK.zip

The first real footage of Moria, a fly-through of some of the lower areas. WMV-format. Those enslaved trolls that are leashed to rails look cool IMO.

And yeah, Turbine builds alot of cool systems that could be awesome if they had a little more time to develop them, the recent battlefront instances come to mind. They are so nearly very good but lack a little punch - same goes for the housing. :-/

Well with housing, they always said this was version 1.

[Tarami]

ftp://downloads.codemasters.com/video/LOTRO%20FLY%20THRU_FLAMIMNG%20DEEPS_UK.zip

The first real footage of Moria, a fly-through of some of the lower areas. WMV-format. Those enslaved trolls that are leashed to rails look cool IMO.

And yeah, Turbine builds alot of cool systems that could be awesome if they had a little more time to develop them, the recent battlefront instances come to mind. They are so nearly very good but lack a little punch - same goes for the housing. :-/

Well with housing, they always said this was version 1.

But I want version 5 yesterday! Instant gratification isn't fast enough!

[Tarami]

The Rune-keeper (I'm a link, click me!)

Class Summary

Role: Healer or Damage Dealer (DPS)
Equipment: Light armour, Rune-stone
Races: Elves, Dwarves
Skill Level: Advanced

The Rune-keeper joins the Free Peoples of Middle-earth, adding his unique skills to the fight against the Enemy. Scribing words of Power upon special Rune-stones, the Rune-keeper can harm foes or assist allies. Cirth-based writing, favored by the Dwarves, are associated with influencing the elements of Middle-earth, allowing the Rune-keeper to battle foes. Elvish tengwar Runes and words are commonly used more for inspiring allies, keeping them healed and in the action. Rune-keepers even dabble in foretelling, allowing them to change what will happen next in a fight. Through these skills, they can perform such feats as foreseeing that a blade will not Wound an ally, or that a foe will fall to fire.

Is this Magic?

A question I know some of you will be asking is "Does the Rune-keeper use magic?" The answer is a little yes, and a little no. In Tolkien's world, and in our world, ‘magic' is a term for explaining things that are not well understood. A perfect example of this is when Sam was offered to look in Galadriel's Mirror:

'And you? ' she said, turning to Sam. 'For this is what your folk would call magic. I believe; though I do not understand clearly what they mean; and they seem also to use the same word of the deceits of the Enemy. But this, if you will, is the magic of Galadriel.'

Rune-keepers utilize the Power of writing and of words to change small bits of the world. There are some who would call this magic, while others would call this the natural way of things.

It is worth mentioning that of the races of Middle-earth, only Elves and Dwarves have such innate Power. No Man or hobbit scribe could harness the power of runes in these ways; such talents are not part of their nature. Yet to an Elf, such things can be as natural as breathing.

Tools of the Trade

A linguist by trade, the Rune-keeper does not train with any conventional weaponry, or even armour. Instead, he wields Rune-stones. These he covers with the writings he uses to work his trade. These stones are tied to the elements whence they came (for instance, volcanic rock tends to have a fiery touch to it) and modify some of the Rune-keeper's skills. Rune-keepers also utilize rune-satchels for holding their supplies. These supplies include various writing implements, scrolls of powerful words, and extra Rune-stones. All of these help the Rune-keeper focus his abilities.

Class Design

Game design boils down to a sequence of choices. Some choices are made for you, either by fundamentals of the game or by other people, and some you get to make yourself. Each choice influences the options available at the next choice, until the design has been finished. I was given the task of designing one of the new LOTRO classes with these few choices already made:

1. The new class is called "Rune-keeper"

For the class name, we wanted something that evoked more of the mystical side of Middle-earth. Using Rune-letters to make words of Power fit nicely with other classes who use such words, but with different ways of presenting them. The Rune-keeper would be a mystic linguist, capable of writing and presenting words of Power on Rune-stones.

2. Rune-keepers are capable primary healers

Adding an additional primary healer would allow fellowships a variant on the Minstrel, and allow players who enjoy healing roles to try out a different style of play.

3. Address the desire for a "glass-cannon" class

Many MMO's have a class with high offensive power, but lacking in defence; a "glass-cannon." LOTRO did not ship with such a class; the Hunter wore medium armour and neither the Lore-master nor the Minstrel were offensive powerhouses.

With all that, we are left with a class capable of acting as both a primary damage-dealer and a primary healer. This is a very strong combination of class roles, so caution was required. It's very easy to make such a class too powerful; quick and easy access to high-end heals and damage skills is very potent. On the other hand, overly segregating the two roles can become frustrating. If changing between them required a trip back to town for a full trait respec and gear change, why even make it a single class? The solution we came up with is the Attunement system.

Attunement

The Attunement system is our solution for the Rune-keeper's hybrid nature. Attunement is a spectrum, with nine steps of Healing (Nestad) Attunement on one side, and nine steps of Battle (Dagor) Attunement on the other. Over the course of a battle, the Rune-keeper will shift his position on this spectrum by the skills he uses. The closer he gets to one side, the less he is attuned with the other.

 When a battle starts, a Rune-keeper will typically be in the Steady (Thalas) Attunement state. This is a position of readiness that allows a few minor healing or damaging skills to be used (though all utility skills are available). The grey rune in the middle of the Attunement meter that looks like a "b" is the first rune-letter of Thalas in Tengwar.

 If a Rune-keeper uses skills that damage foes, Attunement will shift towards the Battle side of the scale. As that end of the scale is approached, new damaging skills will unlock and some damaging skills will deal additional damage, but healing skills will be blocked. Here, the symbol that looks like an "f" is the first rune-letter of Dagor in Cirth script (which all Battle-attuned skills use.)

 Likewise, if a Rune-keeper starts using healing skills, then Attunement will shift towards the Healing side of the scale. As that end is approached, new healing skills will unlock and some healing skills will restore additional morale, but other damaging skills will be blocked. Lastly, the green symbol here that looks like an "m" is the first rune-letter of Nestad in Tengwar script (which all Healing attuned skills use.)

Looking over the skills a Rune-keeper has will help illustrate this. Here are some example skills:



 Scribe's Spark is a basic Rune-keeper Battle skill. It deals lightning damage to a target, and its damage increases by 4% for every step of Battle Attunement. Using it shifts Attunement one step towards Battle.

Prelude to Hope is a basic healing skill that shifts one step towards Healing. It receives a bonus to its healing amount based on Healing Attunement.

If a Rune-keeper alternates between these two skills, his Attunement will end up staying at the Steady midpoint. However, if Scribe's Spark is used 9 times in a row, full Battle Attunement will be achieved. This will unlock a number of Battle-aligned skills, and increase the damage of Scribe's Spark by a total of 36%!



 Finally, there are various utility skills not associated with Healing or Battle. These skills are Steady skills that always pull Attunement toward the middle. Their advantage is that they have no Attunement prerequisites.

The system may be a little confusing to read about, but while in game the link between skills and Attunement is fairly easy to see. The net effect of this system is that the Rune-keeper can shift from damage to healing focus and back again during a fight, but it takes time. Don't expect a quick spot-heal from a damage-dealing Rune-keeper!

Gameplay

So far, we've gone over the lore aspects of the class, the higher-level design, and the Attunement system. All that's left to share is a bit about the Rune-keeper's skill families and how they work.

First, the Damaging skill families. All skills here shift Attunement towards Battle, and some require a high Battle Attunement to be used.

Fury of the Storm - These lightning damage skills are mostly quick instants that can be used while moving. They have unpredictable effects, like the storms they are derived from.

Wrath of Flame - Fire damage-over-time is the style of this family. Most skills have longer casting times. Maintenance is required to keep the Flames burning hot, but very efficient damage can be generated.

Chill of Winter - These chilling skills deal frost damage in smaller amounts than the other two families. However, many skills hit multiple targets or debuff the Rune-keeper's foes.

Next are the healing skills. There is only one skill family, but it is rather large. All the skills here require Healing Attunement.

Words of Grace - One of our goals for the Rune-keepers has been to make sure his healing skills work differently than the Minstrels. Rune-keeper healing is mostly done through heal-over-time (HOT) effects. Maintenance on a single target is rewarded with a number of different, smaller heals affecting the target at the same time. Group maintenance is also done through HOTs. This leads the Rune-keeper to be wonderful at maintaining high morale, but he cannot quickly react to new threats like the Minstrel can (though, he does have a few tricks to help him out).

Finally, there are the utility skills. All of the skills in these two families shift the Rune-keeper towards the Steady Attunement, which is the middle of the scale. This makes these skills interesting strategic choices, since access to higher Attunement skills can be temporarily removed by using them

Visions and Foretellings - The small amount of prophecy the Rune-keeper is capable of lies here. His talents generally allow him to predict an event, and then see that it comes true. For instance, he can see that a foe will meet their end in flames. This will cause later fire attacks against that foe a chance to see that end come about!

The Middle Path - This family contains all the tricks of the Rune-keepers trade. Neither damaging nor healing, these skills help keep the Rune-keeper running smoothly. There are some tricks to escaping from enemies or temporarily disabling them. Other skills help keep enemies from getting upset with you in the first place.

And so:

I hope you enjoyed getting a glimpse of what went into creating the Rune-keeper. Adding a new class into the mix we already have has been challenging and rewarding. I hope that everyone who tries the class out finds something they enjoy in it!

I'll add, so you don't need to:

DOOOOOOOM!

Atleast that's what they say on the official forums.