The Lord of the Rings Online Preview

ComputerAndVideoGames.com has put together a short preview of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, based on what we know about Turbine's Middle-Earth MMORPG up to this point.
You'll play LOTRO as one of the main races - human, elf, dwarf or hobbit (not orcs or Gandalfs), and there are seven classes, most of which are token Tolkienisations of common names. Rangers emerge as hunters, warriors as champions and so on. As proper magic in Middle-earth is rare and powerful, Turbine has side-stepped mages and created the Loremaster. "There's no question we had to have a magic-using class," explains executive producer Jeffrey Steefel. "People expect that. But at same time, no-one's going to be a wizard. There are only five of those in Middle-earth." So Loremasters act like clerics, with access to magic-esque items.