The Lord of the Rings Online Interview

MMORPG.com caught up with The Lord of the Rings Online producer Aaron Campbell for a brief Q&A about the November update that was recently unleashed upon the game's population. A bit of what to expect:
MMORPG.com: What changes have been made to the Lore-keeper and Rune-crafter classes. These classes were earmarked for the more veteran players. Will the changes make them easier to play, more accessible or merely add to the depth of the classes?

Aaron Campbell: The Lore-master changes I would characterize as polishing rather than making them easier to play. We gave them a new AoE melee skill for those Lore-masters that like to get up close and personal with their opponents as well as a new de-buffing skill, Frost-lore that along with the existing skills of Fire-lore and Wind-lore allow the Lore-master to reduce the damage done by all types of monster skills. In addition we gave the Lore-master the long awaited ability to summon their animal companion in battle.

The Rune-keeper updates focused on adding variety to the class by mixing up skill rotations and adding new chisels. For the lightning-focused players, we added a new skill that helps with power issues and rebalanced existing skills to buff those that were underused. Fire users gained a new skill that allows them to get their fire DoT's active faster, and received various buffs and bug fixes. Healers gain the ability to mix more offensive skills into their gameplay and buffs to some traits. Five new types chisels have been added to allow further customization.