Immediately thereafter, Campbell introduced me with pride in his voice to the "largest quest-giver in the game," a massive giant eagle that descended up on the garden, taking the two of us out to the forest of Lorien. Mines of Moria includes not just the eponymous Khazad-Dum, but some of the areas of Eregion and Lothlorien as well, and I spent a few minutes running around the golden and autumn-y forest of Nimrodel, just south of the Miramere.
The music for Moria has already been completed and integrated into the game, and it's worth mentioning on its own, because it really is striking. The soundtrack lends a wonderful atmosphere to the various regions in the expansion, to lilting and somewhat mournful music for the forests of Nimrodel to grandiose and bombastic for Durin's Throne Room. (Actually, the folks at Turbine were gracious enough to share a few tracks with us, so look for them soon!)
Finally, Campbell showed me the second new class, the Warden. Whereas the Runekeeper is a caster with the "healing vs. damage" dynamic, the Warden is a quick, medium-armor tank class that wields a shield and spear - a cool and unique profile with a bit of a "300" vibe to it. The Warden class has been very popular in the beta, according to Campbell, and there's a lot of enthusiasm and praise for its core mechanic, the Gambit system.
From what I saw, that praise is deserved - using the class's base abilities in a certain order and combination will unlock a more powerful skill. Shorter Gambits can be built up quickly, but the more powerful abilities will require forethought and planning in order to set them up. Gambits have a wide range of effects from simple damage-dealing (I pulled off "Onslaught," a standard flaming spear attack) to healing the Warden and his allies, to Taunting and building more threat. It's a fun and intuitive little mechanic that has, from what I've been told, generated tons of positive feedback.
Said positive feedback is certainly warranted - not just on the Warden class in particular, but for all of Moria as a whole. While they're certainly not the only MMORPG developer beholden to an existing IP and franchise, Turbine must do justice to the works of Tolkien, one of the most popular and beloved tales of modern times. Not only are they working with Tolkien, they're working with one of the most iconic bits of all of Middle-Earth. These are some mighty big shoes to fill, but they definitely seem up to the task so far.
Something that nearly all the LotRO staff has in common, said Campbell, is a tremendous love and passion for the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. There's nobody who wants to be more faithful to the source material than them, and he admits that even he himself was stunned when he'd first seen the rough builds of Moria - and he works there! The same care that went into the Mines goes into every part of Moria, from the new classes and monsters to the new skills and all the rest of the environment. He repeated what he'd said earlier when surprised by the new Wolf-Rider model: as a developer, there's no feeling quite like seeing a project come together. While Moria might not be quite ready just yet, it's definitely shaping up to knock the ball out of the park - a solid contender definitely worthy of standing next to certain other big-name MMORPGs coming out this season.
Now they just need to get the rights to the Silmarillion... well, we can dream, can't we?
