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The first expansion to Lord of the Rings Online, the Mines of Moria, is quickly approaching a launch-ready state. For fans of the world of Tolkien, Turbine is offering a few final chances to enter into the Moria beta test. Interested players just need to navigate to the official Moria website, to enter their names into the hat. The official release calls for players to take up the banner, and quotes LotRO executive producer Jeffrey Steefel on his enthusiasm for the new content.

Said Steefel, "The Legendary Items system where players can craft unique and powerful weapons and armor that will grow in power and value is just one of the breakthrough features that will further establish The Lord of the Rings Online as one of the world's premium online games." You can find the full release below the cut, along with five new screenshots of the upcoming expansion. Also feel free to click through to our Moria gallery, which has the new screens as well as all of our previous great looks at the mine under the mountain.

As announced today by Codemasters, the first Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria, is now available for pre-order in Europe. The website information gives us a complete run-down of what's available with this expansion and each boxed version, including the exclusive Special Edition content and special pre-order content as well. What's interesting about this is that on the Play.com site listing, it reports the release date as November 14th, which other online retailers such as Amazon UK had previously reported as well. Meanwhile, the official Codemasters online store lists the release date as only "Autumn 2008".

Where's the North American pre-order information? It hasn't officially been announced yet, but expect news to surface soon. When it does, we'll let you know!

We've received quite a bit of news over the last few months from Turbine relating to the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online expansion Mines of Moria, but much of it hasn't been laid out for us in one continuous, comprehensible chunk. Over at GamesRadar, we get treated to a great 2-page article presenting all of the information we know, plus a few more details to fill in the cracks. This article explains more on Moria itself, and how it won't exactly be one giant underground cave. Plus, we get a summary of the legendary weapon system, the two new classes, an explanation of "stretching the lore" a bit for the Rune-keeper and much more.

In addition to this, we were treated today to six new screenshots from Mines of Moria depicting more of the Dwarven architecture we can expect in the expansion. Check these new shots out below, as well as our complete gallery from Mines of Moria.

What better way to introduce players to the first screenshots for Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria than by making those screenshots of the infamous Hollin Gate, also known as the Doors of Durin. This gate is the western entrance into Moria, outlined in glowing Elvish script. If you've never read the books (shame on you!) and have only seen the movies, you may remember Hollin Gate as the place where Gandalf solved the riddle of "Speak friend and enter" to finally open the gate for the Fellowship.

These screenshots, graciously given to us by Turbine, depict Hollin Gate as it will appear in the game. Be sure to check out our complete Mines of Moria gallery below for concept art, logos and more from the LotRO team as it becomes available.

Now that the Penny Arcade Expo is right around the corner, we're hearing more and more about these after parties held by game developers. First there was the news of ArenaNet's party at Gameworks Seattle, right across the street from the Washington Convention Center, and now we get news of Turbine holding a party at the same location, the night before.

The Turbine party will be from 7pm - 9pm local time on Friday, August 29th, 2008. Those in attendance will include Asheron's Call Producer Crowley, LotRO Executive Producer Nigellian, LotRO: Mines of Moria Producer Eldrad, the enigmatic Marketroid, Community Team members Patience and Frelorn, and more!

Turbine recently announced that they're cutting back on the availability of their Lord of the Rings Online preview server, also known as Roheryn. In the past, this server has been available at all times, although its popularity peaked during the release of new content. However, since the activity quickly died down once that new content made it to the live servers, Turbine decided that running this preview server 24/7 was not the best use of their resources. From now on, Roheryn will only open when new content is available, and during special events.

Unfortunately, all current installations of Roheryn will not be compatible when the new Roheryn goes live. This means you can actually uninstall everything related to the preview server now, in preparation for the new content. There are complete instructions for doing so in the official press release, as well as a simple FAQ for the process.

Massively Speaking Episode 17 is a short show to reflect the slow week in MMO news. Just the same Michael and Shawn had a few interesting things to talk about, including Massively's interview with the folks at 38 Studios and their recent guide to Guild Wars for WoW players. We also (thanks to a reader) have a drinking game for Massively Speaking! Come join us for the official rules to our "totally interesting" podcast drinking game, and a lot more.

Have a comment for the podcasters? Shoot us an email to podcast AT massively DOT com. Maybe we'll read your letter on the air!

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Read below the cut for the full show notes.

Keeping in line with their steady stream of information on the upcoming Mines of Moria expansion for Lord of the Rings Online, Turbine has released yet another group of gorgeous concept art pieces to the public.

In this group we get to see once and for all what the two new classes will look like. The Warden and the Rune-keeper, although only shown here as simply concept sketches, seem to stay on par with the looks of the original LotRO classes. We're also treated to a few environment sketches like Zirakzigil and a cave garden, some art on new creatures and the dwarven NPCs Nain and Durin VI.

Not that there was ever anything wrong with Lord of the Rings Online Europe's website to begin with, but they've recently decided to completely revamp their site to better accommodate the new expansion and future content.

Codemaster Online's new website now features a separate branch for Shadows of Angmar and one for Mines of Moria, as well as the obligatory CGI trailer, free trial info, competitions and a link to their e-shop. Separating the two volumes like this allows the company to present news, features and contests that are specific to a certain expansion, which will become more valuable as the list of expansions grows in the coming years. They also promise that the community section will benefit from the creativity of their designers soon, and will be brought in line with this new layout.

The first expansion to Lord of the Rings Online has gotten a cinematic trailer today via Gametrailers. If you know your Lord of the Rings, then there really isn't anything in this trailer that's going to surprise you. And while it would have been nice to have seen some of the new features, well, featured, we're happy to get something regardless. Plus, it's cool to get a taste of what we can expect once the install disc stops spinning and we log in on release day.

If there's one really cool thing to be taken from this trailer, it's the revealing of the box art for the expansion towards its conclusion. The design features a certain gray wizard facing an infamously awesome Balrog, which, now that we think about it seems like a no-brainer. Hopefully, the next trailer we're all treated with will show some gameplay of either new areas or even the two classes being added to the game.

Turbine has just announced its partnership with Warner Bros. to distribute the Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, the first retail expansion for the franchise. In addition to this, we get some details on what will be included with the Collector's Edition box, as well as the new Complete Edition. Turbine also states that there will be a downloadable version on their website for current subscribers, as well.

If that's not enough to get you pumped, Turbine has also released a few new pieces of concept art, as we've included for you in the gallery below. Be sure to read the complete press release after the cut for detailed information on all editions of Mines of Moria and more.

Codemasters has announced that they will be attending the Edinburgh Interactive Festival from August 10th through the 12th to show off some of their upcoming titles. Their Vice President and General Manager, David Solari will be presenting Lord of the Rings Online's first expansion Mines of Moria, as well as their new sci-fi MMO Jumpgate Evolution. In addition, they'll be giving away free copies of LotRO to the first 200 people attending the presentation.

This festival will also play host to such giants as Nintendo, Sony and Activision. Be sure to check out the festival's official website for more information on scheduling, attendance and a full event guide in pdf format.

In the latest forum round-up over at Ten Ton Hammer's Lord of the Rings Online division, it's no surprise that the focus is on Book 14's new content. There are gleeful praises and there are angry rants, but perhaps the most interesting is the speculation on what's to come with the expanded Critter Play feature.

As one player predicts, the word is out that we may be able to play as Gandalf in Mines of Moria. Now, keep in mind that this is one player's speculation and the evidence he presents for this theory is a bit of a stretch, but wouldn't it be interesting if they were right? Imagine being Gandalf in that infamous Balrog battle scene, protecting the Fellowship from certain doom all by your lonesome. Now that's immersive game play.

In a recent interview with Ten Ton Hammer, Lord of the Rings Online developers Aaron Campbell and Brent Schmidt answered some questions about the new content patch releasing this Tuesday. They explain a bit more about what to expect with Book 14, and ultimately with Mines of Moria, calling it "the largest single continuous underground space ever created in an online game."

However, a good chunk of this interview centers around the new Legendary Weapons that we'll see with Mines of Moria. These weapons will be something like a living part of your character, almost like a companion. These items will gain experience points with you and can be upgraded by your character. Be sure to read the complete interview for more details on what will most certainly be an exciting addition to the game.

As we announced earlier, Massively recently participated in a hands-on play session for Lord of the Rings Online's newest patch, Book 14: The Ring-forges of Eregion. In this session, we were able to play through some of the exciting new content and document it for you, the faithful readers.

In this five-part article, we will explore the initial storyline where the Fellowship finally leaves Rivendell for Moria, a new type of Critter Play that takes you back through history, battlefield defense instances, housing upgrades and a complete new set of screenshots for you to enjoy. Plus, if reading and galleries aren't your thing, we also grabbed some wonderful video of the experience as a brief summary, which you will find just after the jump.

Follow along on our journey through the Ring-forges>>