I don't know if it's fair to call Mines of Moria a sleeper hit, but I know a lot of people have now turned their attention to Lord of the Rings Online because of the expansion, and I am hearing a tremendous amount of people giving it a shot.

To be fair, I've played this more than WoW since release and have yet to open up the EQ2 xpac box, so I guess that says something.

The two new classes really round off the character selection well, and honestly, it would be great if these were in from release. I'm very enthusiastic about this game going forward, from the plains of Rohan to the pirate infested coast of Harad and of course Mount Doom.

My real hope is that they break some new ground in the next expansion and implement the absolute best in mounted combat for Rohan.

It needs to be done to make this go head and shoulders over the competition. Mounted combat has historically been second best in MMO's. I don't just mean a few attacks, I mean tactical fighting, proper restrictions on movement and weaponry and a HUGE open pvmp area which will fit with the timeline very well. I can't stress how good this needs to be, as it should be core to their expansion.

Also with leveling, they introduced the fantastic concept of legendary weapons and how you can level them, they need to make this system work for mounts too. This would be absolutely brilliant if they can pull it off.

Great stuff so far Turbine, want to keep the pressure on you, now to listen to the podcast, thanks Massively!

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Just a note, the podcast was a bit spoilerific in terms of Moria content, not a biggy, but if you want a big surprise, you might considering forward-winding a bit at 33:00 for a couple of minutes.

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Those are some really good ideas Mr Angry... now go post that in the Suggestions forums on the LOTRO forums where your voice will actually be heard :)

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I agree that going forward LotRO holds the most promise of any MMO. I won't however, hold my expectations so high that I would be disappointed if some feature did not make it in. But with the last nearly 2 years and great content with the Book releases that are FREE; and Mines of Moria, Turbine is FAR ahead of the pack in content for endgame and keeping even the newbies happy!

I was really happy to see that MoM includes the original game and all the free books to-date! That means anyone can jump in at anytime and start enjoying this wonderful game. Plus with no level restrictions for fellowships, if you're at end-game and you have a friend that joins, you can help them pretty much from the start of their experience! Course they don't get as much xp that way...but hey it's a possibility at least. :)

Well I agree with you Mr Angry, I think that Rohan will be awesome with mounted combat and a new horse system in play! That's going to just be amazing! Steefel has said elsewhere that is what we could expect. So good news there! I have some friends that will be eagerly joining the game when that happens!

Looking forward to Volume 2 Book 7 sometime early 2009! :)

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Fantastic show. There has been a lot of talk in my guild lately (Casualties of WAR) about starting up LoTRO again. This podcast confirmed it for me.

Also, very good interview guys - well done. My only feedback is I wish you'd ask the Steefels of the world a question or two about the industry. Since Massively is focused on MMOs in general, I'd love to hear what Steefel's thoughts are on the future of MMOs, what he thinks of unusual titles like The Agency, etc.

Otherwise, your normal goodness. Thanks!

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