As we moved on, Campbell elaborated that they didn't want players to feel dated behind Book 7 if they hadn't fully completed the storyline through Book 6 - while the team certainly wanted players to play through the content, it wouldn't be a requirement. Furthermore, the introduction to the epic quest would be tuned mostly for solo players or small groups, to make it more accessible to everyone.
After touring the Banquet Lawn where Elves were getting their party lawn and the docks where the Fellowship would ultimately set out from Lorien (and falling in the water there), Campbell took me to Caras Galadhon, the capital of Lothlorien - city of eternal light bloom, one might call it.
The developers had intended to make this city nestled in the boughs of trees look as ethereal and otherworldly as possible - more so than the rest of Lorien - and it works rather well. Caras Galadhon was by far the coolest part of the play session, a vast-seeming network of connected platforms that went all over the place. Learning how to navigate the city might be a task in and of itself, but Campbell says that the team has implemented quests to do just that: "Hey, find this guy on that flet over there and give him something. Good luck!" Alas, if only the Elves had invented zip lines.
Like Moria, Caras Galadhon is a very vertical space, making use of the improvements in the game engine since its launch. Apparently the Dwarves and Elves have more in common than they'd like to think. Elsewhere in Lorien, I encountered one Peregrin "Pippin" Took fast asleep on a bench, with Aragorn nearby. Campbell took me down the hill to show me one of his favorite spots in the city - the Fountain of the Lady.
Apparently, I was able to jump up into the fountain, something that would surely get me yelled at by the Elves if this were live. Nearby, I was able to accept a quest to bring some water from the fountain to some thirsty Elves, and Campbell used the opportunity to demonstrate the Quest Tracker, one of Book 7's new features. An arrow on the minimap pointed me in the right direction, and when I went to the regular map, a blue X marked my destination. While some players who played LotRO really liked the lore and exploration and finding everything for themselves - and could turn the feature off - they'd found that some people wanted to just complete things, like logging on and getting some things done in limited time.
Of course, being the test realm, we discovered a bug where the Quest Tracker was telling me to go to the other side of Moria to deliver the water. That's a bit of a trek. Campbell laughed, joking that "just because they aren't combat quests doesn't mean we can't make them tough!"
Another thing that they showed me was the new battle instance space, where players help the Elves prepare for war - the Fellowship's passage through Moria stirred up the Orcs within, and they're now storming out of the mines, intent on invading the Golden Wood.
