It's time to start getting the files for MoM in preperation for launch!

The downloadable updater means you can download the Mines of Moria files before the expansion goes live on the Turbine servers, saving you time when they come back up on November 18th. It also means you can download the patch on a computer that you don't have LOTRO installed on (i.e. your work computer), transfer the patch to a disk or device, and then run it on the computer with a LOTRO client to update it.

The downloadable updater will download the files needed to update your client to The Mines of Moria. Please note that EVEN PLAYERS WHO DO NOT PURCHASE MORIA WILL NEED TO PATCH TO THIS VERSION. There are many updates included for all players, including Book 15, UI and class changes, and so on. After you've updated your client, when the servers go live with Mines of Moria your client will apply the patch and update itself.

I'd like to thank our very own Morarae for pointing this one out (and then taunting me with it)

Monsters! The Mines of Moria are filled with them, and the dev guy responsible, Raskolnikov (we'll harass him for that later!), has a dev log up that explains the process, and what we can expect to see!

Content is usually concerned about the Lore-appropriateness™ of the monsters and how they’ll affect the different quests they make. As Systems, I’m mostly concerned with the mechanics of the monsters and how exactly their skills will work. (“So, let me get this straight: you want a dude on top of a mammoth who throws spears while the mammoth attacks and then you want the mammoth to go into a rage and buck the rider off and then it will attack on its own…” ‘Yes!’ “*sigh*… I’ll see what I can do…”)

The poor guy had a lot to do, I'm sure, but the write up is entertaining and very exciting for those of us on the edge of our seats for MoM! If you've left LotRO but are excited about the expansion, why not take advantage of this weekend's free "Welcome Back " event, which includes bonus XP and free items!

Who says no to that?!

Art Director Harry "Floon" Teasley has yet another dev diary (two in one day...we're getting close to Moria people!) for us, this one focused on The Art of Middle Earth !

Thus Middle-earth has grown. Our Epic Story has finally brought us to Eregion and the Hollin Gate, to the entrance of the greatest “dungeon” ever imagined: the Dwarrowdelf, Khazad-Dûm, Moria. Greatest work of the Dwarves, this once magnificent city is now in ruins, overrun by Orcs and the evils released by “delving too deep.” Nothing that we have developed to date had begun to scratch at what we wanted Moria to be: the greatest dungeon adventure you have ever seen and played.

Just reading these epic words makes me want to not only reread the books, but hop into game and see everything I can do!  There's lots of Moria discusson going on in our forums, so be sure to join in!

Amlug has wonderful information availble regarding the MoM updates coming to instances in the newest LotRO dev diary: Anatomy of a Cluster !

One of the things we haven’t had a chance to do with our instances in the past is establish a sense of progression. The instances got more difficult, yes, but they also lacked the ability to train players to become better, and they did not encourage players to use the skills they learned to defeat the next bosses. We also simply did not have enough of them at the highest levels to support people who were capped. Being able to create a sense of what’s next and help guide players from one instance to another is really important. We’re going to be doing this in Mines of Moriathrough progression, clustering, “hard mode,” and yes, loot.

He covers both progression through instances as well as storyline, and what we can expect to see change in Mines of Moria!  Check it out!

Mines of Moria is bringing changes to the Player Versus Monster Player game for LotRO, and the changes have been outlined in the newest Dev Diary !

Introduction

Welcome, fellow Freeps and Creeps, to a brand new day in the Ettenmoors! This dev diary will give you a brief glimpse into the mechanical changes we have made for PvMP in The Lord of the Rings Online™: Mines of Moria™ expansion. So grab a bag of popcorn, find your desk chair, and come along with me for a wild reading adventure!

There are lots of changes, including population balances, the removal of stars, and bonuses for monster armour!  It's going to make PvMP much more enjoyable!  Read on for the whole diary!

Today Turbine unveiled a new developer diary video for The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, the first expansion for the award-winning massively multiplayer online game, which will release on November 18th. In this new video Cardell Kerr, Creative Director, and Ryan Bednar, Lead Game Systems Designer, discuss the two new classes to be added to the game with Mines of Moria – the Warden and the Rune-keeper.

You can view the dev diary here, and we also have the Rune-keeper and Warden class videos available for you!

We got an email from one of your fellow players over at MSNBC today and it seems they had a rather unique opportunity to interview none other than Jeffrey Steefel, the Executive Producer for Lord of the Rings: Online about the newest expansion coming to the game. While the interviewer declined to give his in game name, I have to say that this video he shared with us is beyond awesome and shows quite a few details of the vast and extensive new zone of Moria. Loosen those swords, get your bows ready and read on!

Hopefully you've been paying attention to the Legendary Item System being implemented come Mines of Moria!  Turbine has explained it in great detail now, and after reading it, well, I went ahead and pre-ordered the expansion!

Weapons of eldritch power and memorable names are sprinkled throughout the lore of The Lord of the Rings . They are legendary creations of such arcane might that tales of their greatness are spread across all the lands of Middle-earth.

Consider these—

The sword Narsil , the blade wielded by Isuldur that was shattered by Sauron and Men and was used to cut the One-Ring from the finger of the Dark Lord.

For the entire article (be warned, it's long!) read on, for screen shots you can find the original article here !

The newest Lord of the Rings Online developer diary entry devotes 10 pages to the Legendary Item system as we wait for the Mines of Moria to open on Nov. 18.

Chris "Hakai" Clay leads us through numerous aspects of Legendary Items, including terminology, leveling and identification, and well as re-forging and deconstructing the items.

Each Legendary Item contains the possibility of greatness. While they’re typically less impressive than comparable items of their initial level, they have the potential to grow into the most powerful items in the game. The power of your Legendary Items will depend greatly on the effort you put into them and the story you build around them.

The full entry can be found here. The terminology section is after the jump to give you a crash course in Legendary Items.

If you're curious how exactly the new Class Trait system will work in Mines of Moria, then you'll definitely want to read the newest entry in the already full developer's diary on the official Lord of the Rings Online Web site. The newest entry completely details the Class Trait system.

Characters now have the ability to create Class Trait Set pairings that build upon class themes, allowing players to specialize and making them more effective at a chosen class role. As such, Trait Sets represent a way for players to shape their gameplay and enhance their character’s performance.

The full entry can be found here or below.