On the Mines of Moria

Interview With Jeffrey Steefel

By Jeff Woleslagle

At Connect 08 Ten Ton Hammer Executive Editor Jeff Woleslagle met with Lord of the Rings Online Executive Producer Jeffrey Steefel for a interview about the new Mines of Moria expansion coming to Lord of the Rings Online this fall.  Here is what was said!:

Jeff Woleslagle, Ten Ton Hammer: Along the lines of accessibility (something Turbine's been touting with the game's scalability, from good performance for low-end DirectX 9.0c users to far more robust graphics for DX 10-enabled players), will players that buy the game be able to jump into the new areas right away?

Jeffrey Steefel, LotRO Executive Producer: It depends what you mean. Yes, they'll be able to play right away. Yes, they'll have access to some of the new features. But they won't be able to go into Moria right away.

Ten Ton Hammer: Will players have to buy the original game along with the expansion, or will Shadows of Angmar and Mines of Moria be bundled together somehow?

Steefel: There's a lot of mechanics there that we're going to be talking about as we get closer. Some of it is tied to how we're selling it and how Codemasters is selling it [in Europe], but there will be new stuff for all players, regardless of whether they buy the expansion pack or not. Obviously, buying Mines of Moria gives you access to more things, but there will be new things that you will have access to regardless. Things like new "looking for group" functionality, we'll be making that a lot better for Moria. But that's for everyone, not just those that buy the expansion.

Ten Ton Hammer: So we should save our questions about Mines of Moria retail plans for a later date?

Steefel: Oh yes, absolutely.

Ten Ton Hammer: The legendary items (which are to be added with Mines of Moria and have their own distinct stats and traits apart from the player) - obviously the thing you think of is Sting putting off blue light when evil is near. What kind of visual effects will we see with legendary items?

Steefel: The more legacy an item has, the more the item will begin to manifest itself visually. It's not just stats; at higher levels you'll see plenty of new effects. In some respects, the item itself will become cold or red hot. We're still working out all the details.

Ten Ton Hammer: So one of the neat things about Book 12 was the keg that had some interesting effects. With the introduction of frost damage in Book 13, is alcohol one of the ways you can stave off the cold?

Steefel: That's a good question. I would imagine that one of the things that helps you is some kind of ale or something like that, but I really don't know.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is any class or race particularly adept at dealing with frost damage?

Steefel: There's certainly going to be traits related to frost damage - I would guess that that's the way we'll deal with frost. That's the great thing about the traits system - it gives us flexibility. Maybe we'll make it a racial trait or class trait too.

Ten Ton Hammer: When players get to Lorien, do you plan to use the initial hostility of the elves there towards outsiders in some way?

Steefel: They're not really hostile, but they're not really trustful. They're very protective of their land, especially with the war going on. Second of all, it's the dwarves that they have a little bit of a problem with, but we can get around that in a number of ways. One is by associating you with the fellowship that's already passed through. It's like, 'Ok, you've got the letter from Legolas, so you're fine, let him through.'

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