LOTRO Mines of Moria 35% size of existing world with no zoning

On Sunday 8/31 at PAX 2008 I took time out to review the first expansion for Lord of The Rings MMORPG at the Turbine booth with Adam Mersky from Turbine. One of the first things shown was an in-world map on the back of this egg-like statue. From the front it looks like a planet cracked in half.

But when you look at the back the map is there:

I love little easter egg type art things like this in games. I learned a number of other interesting things about Mines of Moria:

- The Mines of Moria expansion is about 35% of the size of the existing LOTRO world

- there will be no wait times between zones in Mines of Moria (although you will still zone out to the original. Turbine was toting this as a “first” for any MMORPG. I haven’t doublechecked if that’s accurate, but I saw some pretty impressive depth in the demo. IE. a character dropping from high up to his death below (actually during the demo the Turbine rep had ‘god’ mode and couldn’t die). 12 expansive areas in total
- Lord of the Rings license extended for 9 more years virtually guaranteeing plenty of LOTRO gameplay well into the future
- level cap increased by 10 with “hundreds of new quests and monsters”
- Turbine plans to release one new expansion each year and has been working on the expansion following Mines of Moria
- the level of customization for individual items is being ratcheted up considerably with the ability to forge legendary items.

Meaning players can name their own items like say “TD Goodliffe’s Doomsword” and it is unique to the server you are on so nobody else can take your name. These customizable legendary items will level up with players. Customizations include: advancing the item’s virtues, adding runic legacies, modifying titles and forming fables.

From the Turbine PAX 2008 press kit

- 2 new solo speciality classes: Rune-keeper and Warden. The Rune-keeper can heal in one battle and hurl magic spells in the second while the warden is a medium fighter that uses combo maneuvers to unlock more powerful abilities
- There will be 3 different editions sold:

1. Complete Edition. Includes original LOTRO, all content updates since launch (books 9-14) and Lord Of the Rings Online
2. Collector’s Edition. Everything in the Complete Edition plus:
   - 3 exclusive tokens that can be exchanged for player’s choice of 8 different in-game items
   - 22×22 premium quality cloth map of the Mines of Moria
   - Special gold-plated replica of The One 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
   - A full color Collector’s Edition Starter Guide
3. Mines of Moria Digital Expansion. A digital upgrade with the Mines of Moria upgrade only. The press kit doesn’t indicate pricing, but this one will be the cheapest, I’m sure.

Mines of Moria game screenshots

This looks like a sweet upgrade for both new and existing LOTRO players.