A preview on website Gamespy discusses the current condition of Frodo and the Fellowship as the Ring marches to Mount Doom. In addition to the story line advancement, Book 14 offers a new gameplay mechanic.

The details are as below:

Anyone who's played The Lord of the Rings Online for any length of time knows exactly where to find Frodo and the other members of the Fellowship of the Ring: They're stuck in the valley of Rivendell looking east toward a terrible journey to Mount Doom. Many of the epic quests that players have enjoyed in that region of Turbine's Tolkien-themed MMO have explicitly mentioned the need to clear the way so that that errand can begin. Well, tick-tock, time's up. Starting with the launch of Book 14: The Ringforges of Eregion, the Fellowship is moving on and Turbine is paving the way for them and their devoted player-base, toward the terrible dungeon of Moria.

Many Partings

"We're really excited about [Mines of] Moria", Jeffrey Steefel said the morning of our visit to Turbine to check out the upcoming expansion pack. "Before that happens, though, we need to clean up some loose ends in the original game and prepare the way." According to Steefel, Book 14 will do both by first wrapping up the gigantic series of "epic quests" that have built up their own rich mythology within Tolkien's world. Then it will introduce some new gameplay systems that will have a profound impact on the way the game plays come the release of Mines of Moria and beyond.

The first element of Book 14 we see is the final instance in the epic quest storyline in which the Fellowship gathers to leave Rivendell. True to form, the instance is a non-combat mission heavy on storytelling that acts as a reward for the patience and persistence of the players who have bulled their way through hundreds of missions and dozens of instances in order to help the Fellowship and beat back the threat of Angmar. In it, Frodo says farewell to the player and thanks him or her for assisting in his decision to bear the burden of the Ring (in an earlier epic mission). Aragorn thanks the player for assisting in the re-forging of his sword Anduril (implying that the players will soon get their own legendary items) and Legolas reminisces about the hunt for the surviving Black Rider.

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What makes this instance particularly interesting for long-time LotRO fans is the camera that swings around the action and zooms in for close-ups during particularly dramatic moments. Book 14 will mark the introduction of a cinematic camera system for in-game cut-scenes that will actually take control away from the player, though this should be an optional choice on the player's part.

The effect was even more dramatic when we were shown the final confrontation between Amarthiel, Mistress of Barad Gularan and the False King of Angmar. The power struggle between these two as they fight over Mordor's third-in-command slot has been a driving force behind the player's epic quests since the game was launched. "It's really important to communicate to the players that they are not playing second fiddle to the Fellowship," Steefel says as we watch the two mortal enemies clash. "The new camera is a tool for showing that this, too, is one of the great, dramatic stories of the War of the Ring."

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Resource: Gamespy