Jim Crowley, Turbine’s president and CEO, revealed some interesting news this morning at the Tokyo Game Show that should get Lord of the Rings Online players pretty excited. Apparently, the company plans on adding social a networking site to the MMORPG by years end that will be reminiscent of MySpace and Facebook and connected to the online world.

Not only will gamers be able to display full character profiles and upload other gaming data from LOTRO, but they will also have the ability to add friends, view live news feeds, and share videos via a YouTube style feature.

Speaking to Eurogamer, Crowley described the new tool as “a version of Facebook or MySpace that sits directly on top of the gaming world. This is a fully-featured, rich, robust social network. It has every single feature that you would find in the major commercial social networks such as Facebook and MySpace.”

Fully expected to launch by the end of the year, Crowely feels that MMOs are in a position to integrate “web-literate” players into a Web 2.0 network attached to the games, and that Turbine’s other online games Dungeons & Dragons Online and Asheron’s Call will also be able to get in on the networking come late 2008 or during 2009. This would eventually make Turbine more money as well by “extending the lifetime value of the customer and driving “viral customer acquisition” by getting gamers more involved in the online world they are paying a monthly fee for.

“Turbine believes that a closed eco-system will have to become an open eco-system. The MMO needs to learn… to adapt itself to the ‘born digital’ generation. The MMO needs to step out of its shell and start reaching a much broader and deeper audience.”

He went on to elaborate that this is a great opportunity for developers to take advantage of advertising without ruining the games by riddling them with product placements.

“It allows you to inject advertising in a way that’s not in conflict with the game world,” he said. “It’s natural to it, something you see across the web 2.0 space.”

This is great news for players who want to socialize with their Kinships or other online friends in a more in-depth way than just going on grinding missions together. From a personal standpoint, it would be fun to be able to delve deeper into my character and show off some of the cool things I have accomplished that you just cannot see when inspecting an online character; plus it would be nice if you can sign in to the network without signing into the game as well. That way, you can check on your friends’ progress from your mobile without having to be near the computer your game is installed on. Maybe in the future, gaming companies will find a way to integrate all MMOs into one social network so that others can stay up to date on all of your online characters – not just one specific game.

Turbine is giving Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar players a chance to prepare their favorite characters to explore the Mines of Moria. This weekend, you can earn 25% bonus experience starting Thursday October 2nd through October 6th.

As added incentive to look forward to the new expansion, Turbine developer Brian “Zombie Columbus” Aloisio has revealed more of the theory behind the new Rune-keeper class for Moria in the latest dev diary entry.

“The Minstrel sings words of Power and the Lore-master finds Power from ancient secrets, but there are more paths than these. Middle-earth is a land where language has Power, and such words are comprised of rune-letters. Put them together in the right order and the world can be changed in subtle and sometimes grand ways.”

The Rune-keeper rounds out the magic using classes of LOTRO quite nicely with the use of Battle and Healing Attunements. This class uses lightning for quick attacks and chill attacks to hit multiple targets or debuff enemies. Rune-keepers inflict fire damage over time which builds becoming more deadly the longer its maintained. Their healing is also over time supplementing healing skills of other classes without duplicating them.

The Rune-keeper class isn’t modeled after any specific character in Tolkien’s Middle-earth. However moon letters and runes are both part of the mythos so the class fits into the spirit of the world. For more on these linguistic mystics, check out Aloisio’s Rune-keeper dev diary on the LOTRO website.

Turbine is in the home stretch to the release of Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria expansion. More invitations are incoming to those players who’ve registered to participate in the beta. For those of you who haven’t put your name into the lottery yet, you still have a chance to register. Visit the www.unlocktheminesofmoria.com website to apply.

The Moria team released new screenshots today as well as the news about the beta. There are five screens of the Foundations of Stone, each with a different Moria MOB. For more incredible screenshots like the Runekeeper battle above, visit the LOTRO: Mines of Moria archives at FileFront.

I was impressed with the quality of the art and the sheer magnitude of these monsters. Seeing the giant spider in one of the shots sends my imagination into dark fantasies of what Shelob’s brood will be like. MMOs are fun, but they don’t tend to have the same heart pounding effect on players as the horror genre. I’m not asking Turbine to take LOTRO in that direction, but I hope to feel a sense of awe and danger when facing these creatures.

Turbine has released scintillating new action screenshots of the two new classes for Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria. The shots feature the new mage class, the Rune-keeper, using lightning attacks and the spear wielding Warden in combat. You’ll also get a look at more of the MOBs in Moria as well as a glimpse of other areas included in the first LOTRO expansion.

Catch the full collection of LOTRO: Mines of Moria screens courtesy of 1UP.

On Monday, Shawn posted a trailer for the Lord of the Rings Online expansion, Mines of Moria. I have not watched it because I do not want it to ruin any more surprises than the screens for the game already have – being that I am a huge fan of both surprises and the game itself. However, the new screens they sent our way today show nothing more than a bloodthirsty troll in Khazad Dum, hellbent on smashing you into a slick spot on the pavement. This is no different that any other troll in the game, save for the more comical looking ones who do not get aggroed as easily as the mindless killing machines depicted here.

If you want to see more shots of the horrible troll, click here, where you will also find a whole library of screens and information for the new expansion which will launch on October 15. If I were not using my vacation time flying to England next week, where I will also be attending the Mines of Moria event, I would have used it for the week of launch. Yes, I am that dedicated.

Turbine has released the first in-game footage for the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar expansion, LotRO: Mines of Moria. The trailer gives players a glimpse of the infamous black heart of the Misty mountains that was once the crowning glory of the Dwarven kingdom, Khazad-dûm.

The video contains shots of the vast underground halls of Moria that still retains its majesty despite its fall. There are also glimpses of some of its denizens that thrive in its depths. Feast your eyes on “The Flaming Deeps.”

The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar has exposed an ancient evil to the light in the latest Lorebook entry. Udúnion is one of the Rogmul minions of the Balrogs still lurking in the shadows of Middle-earth.

After the Breaking of Thangorodrim, many of the Balrogs and their Rogmul minions were destroyed or banished beyond the bounds of the material world. One of these was the Rogmul Udúnion. He fought beside his lord, Thaurlach, and tried to follow him into hiding, but was trapped by two Wizards and cast into the world of shadow.

These two Wizards eventually passed into the far East, and Udúnion was forgotten by nearly all who lived. Forced to wander the shadows, able to see but not interact with the physical world, Udúnion witnessed the fall of the North-kingdom, the defeat of the Witch-king, and the power of the Dark Lord Sauron diminished as Isildur cut the One Ring from his finger. Now he bides his time, waiting for his freedom.

Although Udúnion and the Regmyl aren’t strictly canon, they seem to have been created in the spirit of Tokien’s Middle-earth. As a very high level boss, Udúnion is a great way to prepare high level characters for the horrors that await them in the depths of Moria.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Eurogamer, Jeffery Steefel believes that Turbine/Codemasters love-child  Lord of the Rings Online is the only MMO out there at present that could hope to achieve the same sort of mass-market success like World of Warcraft.

The game’s executive producer feels that eventually the game could become second only to WoW, but that they have a ways to go:

“There’s another level of success, which is reaching a certain mass-market critical mass, which to be totally fair, only Blizzard has achieved completely so far. We think that we are the game that has the most likelihood of being the second to do that, but we’re not there yet.”

I would love to be able to provide you with a number of players so that we could all get an idea of just how many subscribers the game actually has, but Turbine does not publicize figures of that sort. They do however admit that the Tolkien based game is turning a profit and is growing in numbers. Whatever their profits are, I personally do not know, but as someone who plays the game, I have seen a recent surge in the amount of new players on my server, so I can easily believe that the amount of people defecting to the game is indeed getting larger.

However, to maintain subscriber levels and to gain fresh blood you have to offer something other than your typical subscription model.  If you want your game to continue for many years to come, you have to offer a variety of ways to coerce the player to spend a monthly fee  – which is exactly how Steefel feels as well:

“This is a franchise that’s going to continue for years and years and years, and there’s no way that the singular, monolithic, $14.95 a month subscription model is going to last for years and years and years all by itself… it has to change.”

Steefel then went on to talk about the new game for the console that Turbine is currently working on which will be an extension of LotRO apparently, but that because of extensive elements in the MMO it would be hard to bring a full-fledged game like this to a box sitting on the floor in your living room:

“Consoles only have a certain number of buttons, so how do you help someone use a console controller to manage inventory and skills and traits and deeds and crafting items and all that stuff in a way that’s not just painful”

Codemasters is having a Mines of Moria event on September 23 and I will be there front row center, so hopefully I will be able to find out a little more on what else they are working on besides the upcoming expansion to LotRO. Meanwhile, you can read the full inteview with Jeffery Steefel over on Eurogamer where he also talks a bit about “the potential of two players co-operating on one machine in a persistent world”, if that sort of thing interests you.

(image courtsey of Fantasy Magazine)

Turbine announced today that The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria has finally entered into the final stages of its beta program. What this means is that players in Europe and North America are being invited to join in on the orc stomping fun and get a first glimpse of the dwarven complexes beneath Middle-earth.

The beta is an invitation only event and starting today, players can register by visiting the official Mines of Moria website.

The new expansion to the MMORPG will include new challenges, two new classes, the addition of ten levels, and many new quests to help your character become the best hope for success in the fight against Sauron and his minions. New legendary items will be added to the game via a new system that will enhance higher level gameplay by allowing gamers to forge their own weapons and armor instead of grinding through the night and waiting for it to drop. This will definitely help with the tediousness of having to do some of the same quests over and over again until you finally win the item you rolled on. I cannot count the times I have been on a quest where the same person wins every time an item is rolled on – it gets frustrating.

The Mines of Moria expansion is expected to be released in North America on October 15. If you sign up for the beta and are not chosen right away, do not fret because Turbine will be inviting people regularly between now and release, so you may still get your chance later on.

You can check out the bevy of new screens we got in this morning for the game here.

Take heed dear travelers of Middle-earth, for news of the greatest kind has been uttered by the town criers in the streets of Rivendale! The all-knowing and all-seeing Codemasters is kindly taking pre-orders for a new adventure which will take you and your Fellowship into the Mines of Moria. Start packing your trusty sword, healing potions, pocket items, bow, plenty of lembas, and lore-master’s cloak now because we will be leaving in mere 50 days, so prepare yourselves well.

Should you decide to embark upon this harrowing and dangerous journey, please be aware of the many different routes that you can traverse:

Expansion Pack (Does not include original game)

• £19.99 / €29.99
• Standalone expansion (original game required, sold separately)
• Full access to new content
• 2 DVDs and game manual
• Choice of 1 bonus in-game item

Compilation Pack (Includes original game + expansion)

• £29.99 / €39.99
• Includes Original The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar & Mines of Moria
• 30-days’ free game time (new players only)
• Full access to new content
• 2 DVDs and game manual
• Choice of 2 bonus in-game items

Special Edition

• £49.99 / €69.99 (Includes original game + expansion)
• Includes original The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar & Mines of Moria
• 60–days’ free game time (new & existing players)
• Moria brooch & ring
• Moria soundtrack
• Moria Fellowship guide map
• 2 DVDs and game manual
• Choice of 3 bonus in-game items

If you are currently residing in the lands beyond, you can view the different paths here.

Our trusty Elf Hunter Stephany will be invading the land of England in a fortnight and 5 days. The Codemasters event will be talking place soon after her arrival, where she will be scouting for more information.  Therefore, most humble and dedicated servants of progress, be sure to seek out the wisdom of the Council of Elrond once she retrieves the needed information.

May the light of the Elves be with you on your journey.

Many thanks to our Allies at VG247!