The Lord of the Rings Online E3 Previews
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Shadows of Angmar focuses on area in the northwest portion of Middle-earth called Eriador. This is the region that contains the Shire, Bree, Weathertop, and pretty much every location in the first book of the trilogy up until Frodo's crew enters Moria. It's also the former location of Angmar, the dark kingdom ruled over by the Witch-King, a human lord seduced by one of the Nine Rings of Men given him by Sauron. Trapped by Sauron's power, The Witch-King eventually becomes an undead specter, a Ringwraith, their dark captain, in fact. Much of the content of the game's initial release will focus on the Ringwraiths, allowing players to discover quite a bit about the Witch-King, his kingdom, the lesser wraiths the Ringwraiths have in thrall, and even the Angmarim, a cult of humans who worship the Nine.
The second is at IGN PC:
Another interesting feature is how skill advancement is treated. We're told that two players at the same level with identical gear may play very differently according to what badges they have equipped. As you undertake missions to recover artifacts, lore and other bits, you'll be granted skill boots and unique abilities; proficiency in the Black Speech was mentioned as an example. You can wear up to twelve of these badges at a time, and they will be visible on your outfit, which allows people to customize both their appearance and their play style at the same time.
The third is at Gamers With Jobs:
There is a lot of attention to creating complete and deep stories that run in parallel to the events of Lord of the Rings. The events of LOTR Online take place after Frodo and Sam have left The Shire but before the Fellowship is formed, which gives the player opportunities to meet some rather recognizable characters. But, the framework of the game and the individual quests develop around the secondary and tertiary characters, so that people who may have only a sentence's mention in Tolkein's work become fleshed.
The fourth is at Games Radar:
The game will offer four races - human, dwarf, elf and hobbit - and seven classes, including Burglar, Captain and Hunter. The game will be story driven and not just random missions; there is an "end" to the Shadows of Angmar storyline, which involves the Witch King. Future expansion packs will have their own subtitles and unlock new realms.
And the fifth is at Killer Betties:
From what I saw, (a handful of pre-made characters representing the four playable races: Elves, Hobbits, Dwarves and Humans) the characters are fairly well designed and classes like Minstrel, Hunter and Burglar are interesting, designed as they are in keeping with Tolkien lore. One of the first things any LOTR fan is going to want to know is if they get to play any of the famous characters. Well naturally, the answer is a resounding (No.) The game is being made with the help of Tolkien Enterprises, i.e., in strict adherence to Tolkien canon. While that means lots of cool authenticity, it also means gameplay limitations. Anyone out there dreaming of playing as Gandalf or even as a wizard for that matter, can forget it right now. Canon says that there are only five wizards in Tolkien's world. It also says regular mortals can't use magic so this might be the only fantasy MMO out there that doesn't have, strictly speaking, a caster class.
