Middle Earth Online Q&A with Turbine

WarCry: How are the devs going to keep the gaming experience from becoming too linear? That is, what motivation will there for players to go back to areas once they have progressed further into the story?

MEO@Turbine: Housing is an easy answer; lots of people will want to buy housing near the Shire or Bree and that will keep them coming back. There will also be some quest-related content that funnels people back to areas of the game that they have visited previously. The trick is that you really don't want lowbie and uber-mobs mingling among one another, so we can't really make shared hunting grounds. What we can do is have quests that send people to a specific place to accomplish a specific goal. Yes, that's a very vague answer, but we don't want to spoil all your fun! Remember that the important characters from the books live all over Middle-earth, even the areas we have chosen as "starting" areas - you can bet that some of those folks will need the help of experienced heroes from time to time...

Supposedly *hides his Dwarven source* there are still Dwarven treasure to be found. Any plans to include the lost hoards consumed by dragons in MEO?

MEO@Turbine: One of the greatest things Tolkien gave us was an unknowably deep history of the lands we're adventuring in. There will be relics from many ages and cultures, dwarf and otherwise, for adventuring sorts to find.

Will we be able to defeat those dragons and claim their horde as our own?

MEO@Turbine: We'll answer your question with a question: could you imagine a fantasy-themed game, especially a Tolkien one, where you didn't slay a dragon and get to grab some treasure from his hoard?

Will there be storylines with related quests that build on each other somehow?

MEO@Turbine: Absolutely, positively, without a doubt; lots of time has been invested in this direction.

Will the things that one group of players accomplishes have any effect on the world as a whole?

MEO@Turbine: This is a very interesting question we've grappled with quite a bit. On the surface, this implies either one-time only events or events that "reset" in a way that is somewhat counter-immersive; neither of these situations is ideal. On the other hand, if you don't give people the opportunity to influence some parts of the world, how can they feel as though they have really accomplished something? We spent tons of time thinking about this and came up with a solution that we're very happy with, but it's a bit early to talk about in more detail than that.

One of the great things about Tolkien's world is how old it feels in the book, and how during the trek of the Fellowship, we see many instances where older civilizations and times are seen in the memory of the land. What steps are you taking to make MEO's world seem similarly old and "lived in?

MEO@Turbine: The art direction at Turbine is among the best in the business and they deserve a lot of the credit for making Middle-earth feel alive. Our job in content is taking the fabulous stuff they've given us and imbuing it with character, making the whole world come alive. The great thing about what you're asking is that it really wasn't hard for us (don't tell the producers!). Tolkien, as you said, did a wonderful job of making his world feel real; by putting so much effort into staying true to what was already there, we naturally inherited the grand scope of Middle-earth.

MEO@Turbine: Great questions! It's always mind-numbingly cool to be reminded just what a gift we have with this property and how much people care about it.

The staff at Middle-earth Warcry, and the whole network in general, want to thank the folks at Turbine for taking the time to answer these questions. We're also impressed by the mind-numbing coolness.