Thread: New Areas after Rohan? Post your thoughts here!

Originally Posted by Dovakhim

Either it will be a covert mission to scout, create mayhem, sabotage, protect Frodo, Sam & Gollum from afar, etc., for Aragorn, or it will be mopping up the place after Sauron fell.

See, this is where it would get rather silly.

- Nobody needed to scout inside Mordor because Aragorn knew he wouldn't be getting in. He and all his men were to be just one big distraction to draw the Eye. So should we, the more the merrier.

- Create mayhem inside Mordor? The last thing anyone would want to do would be to draw Sauron's attention to anything inside his land; that wasn't the plan, remember?

- Sam and Frodo can't be protected because nobody knows where they are. There's nobody who could tell you, either.

- The place did not need 'mopping up'. All the Orcs had gone quite mad and variously killed themselves, thrown themselves in pits or found some deep, dark hole to hide in. Trolls, likewise. Evil beasts, ditto. The Ringwraiths got themselves toasted good and proper when Mount Doom blew its top, and as for the Mouth of Sauron, well, personally I imagine he'd been watching the battle at the Black Gate from the nearest convenient spot (one of the Towers of the Teeth, both of which collapsed in the earthquake that followed Sauron's fall). The Men who'd been there mostly either fled or surrendered, except for a fairly small hard core who carried on the battle and died to the last man. The Free Peoples had the run of the place after that, or at least what little was left of it.

But no way they are going to let this ultimate epic pass. No way.

It depends. Not doing it at all would be better than doing it in some really cheesy way, because that would be the ultimate epic fail.

erebor
lonely mountain
lake town
dale
rhun
harad
ithiliean
the emnets
fords of isen
south of the white mountains
grey havens
north mirkwood
cairn andros


translation, we are never running out of stuff

North Eastern Mirkwood, Lonely Mountain, Iron Hills, and Withered Hills: If I remember correctly, a reason no forces marched from those places to aid Gondor was because they were already fighting off an Easternling invasion. Combine those forces with various "small" bands of goblins still roaming around and there is potential for quite a bit of fighting there before and after Sauron's downfall. The difficulty would be getting the rights to the material legally but if that can be wiggled around then there isn't a reason why nosy do-gooders wouldn't show up at just the right time to throw a pipe wrench into Saurons plans.

Gondor coastline: We know from the books that multiple corsair ships were prowling that coastline to tie up Gondors fleet. Some of those were taken by the "army of the dead" (how many and how ghosts sailed them though... maybe extra helpers?). Maybe the rest ran afoul of some meddling heroes before they could sail up the river?

Minas Tirith: This is a given. If Turbine skips this area they are never going to hear the end of it. In a battle of that scale in a city that is a major center of trade, learning, and political power it is a given that there are going to be many people from other areas swept up in the fighting. Some of those people might have been "minor" heroes including men, hobbits, elves, and dwarfs whose contributions the historians overlooked. Someone had to hold those walls so well in the face of overwhelming odds that Sauron ended up needing Grond to break the Great Gates to get inside. There had to be a reason the Easterlings didn't reach the second gate before the defenders could get inside. Maybe a stubborn band kept harrying them?

Helms Deep: This is going to depend on exactly how much leeway Turbine was able to squeeze into it's license. Technically (going by the books) the only elf there was Legolas but in the movie they added that contingent. If Turbine has a similar amount of liberty they could always say that the only prominent dwarf, the one history recorded, was Gimil but that there were others (and hobbits) there as well who played lesser roles. After all somebody had to stop the Uruk-hai from just running around the horses to enter the caves. Who says it wasn't the handful of "unsung hero's" that no one remembers? It's one of the things with adapting existing material - just because something wasn't mentioned in the original doesn't mean it didn't happen. Just that no one (at least no one living) saw it and told it to someone that wrote it down.

Valinor! Hahaha
Just kidding

Originally Posted by dragerslayer

erebor
lonely mountain
lake town
dale
rhun
harad
ithiliean
the emnets
fords of isen
south of the white mountains
grey havens
north mirkwood
cairn andros


translation, we are never running out of stuff

...that's exactly what i thought. And then there's the possibility for user generated contend too

Originally Posted by Moejo

I doubt we'll ever see Dale or the Lonely Mountain. Afaik Turbine doesn't have a license for The Hobbit content, just LOTR. Besides, it would have to be a post-hobbit Dale anyway, to make sense with the timeline we are currently in.

Dale and Erebor are in LOTR. At the same time of the Battle of Pelennor Fields, Sauron has forces attack Dale/Erebor, and there is the fighting between Dol Guldur and Lorien. So, it actually would fit, and is IMO the most likely expansion area.

Originally Posted by EvilTreerat

North Eastern Mirkwood, Lonely Mountain, Iron Hills, and Withered Hills: If I remember correctly, a reason no forces marched from those places to aid Gondor was because they were already fighting off an Easternling invasion. Combine those forces with various "small" bands of goblins still roaming around and there is potential for quite a bit of fighting there before and after Sauron's downfall. The difficulty would be getting the rights to the material legally but if that can be wiggled around then there isn't a reason why nosy do-gooders wouldn't show up at just the right time to throw a pipe wrench into Saurons plans.

That's not quite what happened: Mirkwood was having an Orc problem, not an Easterling problem. The Easterlings won the Battle of Dale but then had to besiege Erebor, which kept them occupied. Likewise the Orcs were busy trying to defeat Thranduil's Elves and the Woodmen.

Gondor coastline: We know from the books that multiple corsair ships were prowling that coastline to tie up Gondors fleet. Some of those were taken by the "army of the dead" (how many and how ghosts sailed them though... maybe extra helpers?). Maybe the rest ran afoul of some meddling heroes before they could sail up the river?

What actually happened was that the fleet had been used to land an army which was busily trying to capture Pelargir, Gondor's main port. Aragorn sent the Dead against them. With the enemy swiftly defeated (including the sailors on the ships, as the Dead just rode out across the water to get them), Aragorn had the defenders man the ships and sail with him up to Minas Tirith as a relief force. The Dead had done their bit and so were allowed to depart. Meddling heroes not required, there.

Minas Tirith: This is a given. If Turbine skips this area they are never going to hear the end of it. In a battle of that scale in a city that is a major center of trade, learning, and political power it is a given that there are going to be many people from other areas swept up in the fighting. Some of those people might have been "minor" heroes including men, hobbits, elves, and dwarfs whose contributions the historians overlooked. Someone had to hold those walls so well in the face of overwhelming odds that Sauron ended up needing Grond to break the Great Gates to get inside. There had to be a reason the Easterlings didn't reach the second gate before the defenders could get inside. Maybe a stubborn band kept harrying them?

The enemy didn't enter the city because they had the Rohirrim to worry about, and had to deal with them first. You daren't carry out an assault while you're being attacked like that, so the enemy had to turn and deal with the new threat; that was why the Witch-king had to turn back rather than fighting Gandalf at the gate. The defenders in MT rallied once the Witch-king had gone and seeing what was happening, they quickly organised a sally led by the Kinghts of Dol Amroth. So, the reason the enemy didn't get in was that Gandalf was there, and that the Witch-king didn't have time to make good on his threats before dawn arrived (a proper dawn for the first time in days; the unnatural darkness over the city had suddenly broken) and with it, the Rohirrim. It's symbolic that the enemy are denied entry to the city, the movie messed that bit up entirely.

Helms Deep: This is going to depend on exactly how much leeway Turbine was able to squeeze into it's license. Technically (going by the books) the only elf there was Legolas but in the movie they added that contingent. If Turbine has a similar amount of liberty they could always say that the only prominent dwarf, the one history recorded, was Gimil but that there were others (and hobbits) there as well who played lesser roles. After all somebody had to stop the Uruk-hai from just running around the horses to enter the caves. Who says it wasn't the handful of "unsung hero's" that no one remembers? It's one of the things with adapting existing material - just because something wasn't mentioned in the original doesn't mean it didn't happen. Just that no one (at least no one living) saw it and told it to someone that wrote it down.

The thing about the caves, I imagine, was that the Uruk-hai couldn't force their way past the narrow entrance in the face of determined resistance. Yes, there's scope for some heroics there.

OK that thing about the Hobbit and the rights i saw it in so many threads its becoming funny

So from MY point of you the deal was : here it is the book!! Make sure you say the story based on the book. And that's were i think it ends...
No one said you MUST go to places on Middle Earth that only written in the book. (lonely Mountain, Erebor, Rhun, etc)
IF that was the case then how come we saw Angmar ,Forochel,Goblin Town( which by the way is from hobbit). What CANNOT happen is actually play the story of the hobbit ( Happened 70 years ago and we go by a date so...). Maybe we will see some fractions in sessions plays.
So I am pretty sure that if the Developers want to work on those areas they don't have something stopping them. Don't confuse the story from the books with the places of middle earth.
Another thing on this subject is the image of the places.I expect from here on the places to be more like in the movies and there is a reason to that. First of all again Tolkien write a book and everybody used its imagination how these places will be.

That's what we all did, what Turbine did and what Warner Bros did. BUT now that Warner Bros have the rights of the game as well, its not difficult for them to say since we have a prototype and many love it from the movies why not use it?
So in the question can we see places and characters like in the movies?...i would say yes. Can we see elves in Helms Deep that came to help? i would say no...cause its not in the story from the book.
And to tell my thoughts so we wont go much off topic, I would expect to see the completion of Rohan,Helms Deep,Edoras (Developers said that its the absolutely the NEXT thing). And after that before we storm for Gondor a little visit to the battle in the north...and mirkwood ,lonely mountains and erebor (Basicaly cause the movie is coming out and it sound awesome...who wouldn't take advantage of that to gather more players by giving them the places...not the sotry of the movie)
South farthing and those regions only as an end game content or a different path but surely not the next 2 years.

Originally Posted by Moejo

I doubt we'll ever see Dale or the Lonely Mountain. Afaik Turbine doesn't have a license for The Hobbit content, just LOTR. Besides, it would have to be a post-hobbit Dale anyway, to make sense with the timeline we are currently in.

I don't understand this statement. The entire Misty Mountains region is wholly based on The Hobbit.

As long as it was at least mentioned in the Lord of the Rings, they can use it in game. They talk about Dale and the Lonely Mountain, so it would be allowed. The real question is how are we going to go all the way up there to deal with things and still participate in the battles happening down south in Gondor(it's already bad enough we go from Mirkwood to travelling all over Eriador to pick up various rangers...it almost makes more sense to do Enedwaith and Dunland before going to Mirkwood).

Originally Posted by raltar2

As long as it was at least mentioned in the Lord of the Rings, they can use it in game. They talk about Dale and the Lonely Mountain, so it would be allowed. The real question is how are we going to go all the way up there to deal with things and still participate in the battles happening down south in Gondor(it's already bad enough we go from Mirkwood to travelling all over Eriador to pick up various rangers...it almost makes more sense to do Enedwaith and Dunland before going to Mirkwood).

I thought the same as you, and I argued hard in favour of northern rhovanion, but the problem is that by far the major DESCRIPTIONS are done in "the Hobbit" book, so if Dale or Erebor are done, they should use their fantasy (bad idea) or buy the license.

But well, still we can see Gondor, Minas Tirith, Minas Morgul and Ithilien .

There are rumours floating around of 2 Hobbit Movie tie-in games made by WB owned studios.

http://i.joystiq.com/2011/10/19/warn...egy-new-hobbi/

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...tie-ins-report

I would love to see Dol Amroth.

I understand that LOTRO is trying to focus on book content, but that also allows it to fry up most of its main antagonists, and content early. (I believe when future content comes, having Saruman as 75, and some random dude form Khand being 110 is a bit stupid.) I think that northern mirkwood/lonely mountain next is a plus, and you aren't fighting Saulron's main forces. Mordor should definitely be last (can't have anyone beating saulron's main fortress in level, and difficulty.) You could also possibly force players to access it from the east via Rhun or Khand. (Areas hardly mentioned at all in the book.) Since time doesn't really work properly in the game anyway, I think you can let free with going form the lonely mountain and Gondor without having lore months go by, and the siege being over when you get back. I don't think you should put new starter regions, as that will further spread players, and make it even harder for them to find groups. Food for thought here.

Originally Posted by Issachar44

Speculation on regions still to come:

1. East Rohan (with RoR)
2. West Rohan: Edoras, Helm's Deep
3. Anorien (incl. woods of the Wild Men and maybe Osgiliath)
4. Pelennor Fields (incl. Minas Tirith and maybe Osgiliath)
5. Ithilien (maybe incl. Minas Morgul and Cirith Ungol)
6. Dagorlad (the gates of Mordor)

I have no idea how Turbine is going to handle the Battle of Helm's Deep. It's so iconic that they can't skip it, but it would be *very* hard to justify Dwarves, Elves, and Hobbits participating in the battle, unless they arrive with Gandalf or Erkenbrand as part of the final mop-up. It could be handled via session play, I suppose.

I figure we have two major expansions left:
1. Battle of the Pelennor Fields (with surrounding land areas)
2. Sauron's Downfall (the march to Mordor, the final battle, and the game's denouement)

What we won't see:
* The Paths of the Dead
* Anfalas/Lebennin/Belfalas/Dol Amroth/Pelargir
* most of Mordor: Gorgoroth, Mount Doom

Although the Paths of the Dead are iconic, the lore is restrictive. Gimli is the only Dwarf to enter (reluctantly), and Legolas the only Elf. There are no Hobbits in the party. Race of Man characters could possibly be accounted for as members of the Grey Company, but that won't happen since the other races are restricted.

Also, the Paths of the Dead and southern regions of Gondor would offer no combat opportunities until Pelargir.

Instead of following Aragorn, Turbine will have our heroes accompany the Rohirrim as they muster and ride to Minas Tirith.

Mordor, I suppose, is a possibility. If instead of marching with Aragorn and Imrahil, our heroes are special agents sent into Mordor, we'd get a view of Sauron's downfall from inside rather than from the plains of Dagorlad. That would open up the possibility of us hindering the Orcs' pursuit of Sam and Frodo, and we might even get a glimpse of Gollum before the end.

Mmmh I think we can still add paths of the dead as a "race locked" area. For other races we could have race locked areas too. Idk what areas but I am thinking.

The Paths of the Dead (and Sauron's downfall) could easily be done via session play. It would be a shame to miss out on these iconic events and places, and so far I think Turbine did a good job of covering the Fellowship's journey either via that or via the movies that outlined their journey.

ok so here it is, I pieced this together much logically:
1. East Rohan
2. North MIrkwood,\
3. Iron Hills
4. Erebor
5. Esgaroth
6. Dale
7. West Rohan
8. South Misty Mountains
7. Minhiriath
9. Argonath
10. Pelennor
11. Druadan
12. Ithilien
13. Lossarnach
14. Rhun
15. Khand
16. Harad
17. Belfallas
18. Umbar
19. Minas Morgul/Cirith Ungol
20. Dead Bog/ Dagorlad
21. Morannon
22. Mordor

I probably missed some stuff but if we are getting a full middle earth, here's your outline

Dorwinion and Umbar and further south Harad would be good areas to have as free expansions to say Mordor/North Mirkwood and Minas Tirith areas.

Dorwinion would certainly introduce some decent wine into the game.

For some reason it seems like the game is alternating between North and South rather than West to East. I wonder if we'll get Northern Mirkwood/Erebor/Dale as the next expansion. I imagine Gondor and Mordor will probably be the last. I don't see Umbar and Harad being included for some reason.

Not sure if someone mentioned it elsewhere, but the new maps with update 7 might be giving us a look into the future?

Notice how there are names not lit up and those that are lit up have sub-maps. Of course there's northern mirkwood map but it's actually just southern mirkwood done twice.

If this is any indication of the future, then Gladden Fields, Western/Eastern Emnet, Emyn Muil, More Brown Lands, The Wold, Wilderland, Rhun, Fangorn, and Dagorlad are all planned areas. Granted things can change, but as of right now that looks like the plan. Interesting teaser turbine.

Originally Posted by Apache140

Not sure if someone mentioned it elsewhere, but the new maps with update 7 might be giving us a look into the future?

Notice how there are names not lit up and those that are lit up have sub-maps. Of course there's northern mirkwood map but it's actually just southern mirkwood done twice.

If this is any indication of the future, then Gladden Fields, Western/Eastern Emnet, Emyn Muil, More Brown Lands, The Wold, Wilderland, Rhun, Fangorn, and Dagorlad are all planned areas. Granted things can change, but as of right now that looks like the plan. Interesting teaser turbine.

Hmm it's interesting. Does it mean that there will be no new regions in Eriador??

Also we should bear in mind Turbine's schedule for new regions. We see than for years it looks like expansion big region then after some time small-mediocre region for endgamers. It were Moria + Lothlorien, Southern Mirkwood + Enedwaith, Dunland + Great river.

So i think future schedule may look like:
1. Riders of Rohan: East Emnet, then Fangorn.
2. "Battle at Helm Deep": West Emnet, then Anorien.
3. "Minas Tirith": Pelennor fields, then Emyn Muil.
I'm not sure that after Gondor we'll march straight to Mordor.

My only issue with that is the lack of new stuff added to the Eriador map... my hopes of seeing the Tower Hills, Far Downs, Southfarthing, South Downs, etc are being squashed

Ithilien would be nice. Erebor, Dale, and Thranduil's Realm would go well together as one or more expansions - esp. if timed around the release of the Hobbit movies.

Another idea for expansion would be to expand back to the Silmarillion eras. Once a player reached end-game in LOTRO they could start from scratch in the world of the First Age as a Dwarf of Durin's Line in Moria WHEN IT WAS ALIVE (or other appropriate dwarven locales) , as an Elf in Beleriand (choose between Noldor, Sindar, etc.) or as a Man from one of the Houses of the Edain. It would offer excellent opportunities for PvMP too. Imagine a 6 or 12 person PvMP raid on Morgoth's enemies (maybe a Siege of Gondolin?) fighting alongside drakes, balrogs, etc.

This expansion could allow for new classes/traits/LI, etc if Turbine decided to go this route. The could get true Captains like Beleg, Finrod, etc. How about Loremasters for Dwarves - They created many lost wonders in the First Age, it would only make sense. In addition, this could be a complete map/region played on a T2 difficulty if it was set up right. It would also allow for competing rep factions within the various groups i.e. Sons of Feanor vs the Noldor and/or Sindar, Moria vs Nogrod, etc. Maybe it is too far out there but it would be cool and would definitely keep the LOTRO coffers full for time to come. That would pave the way for Numenor as a Second Age expansion with the Rise of Sauron in Middle Earth, the arrival of the Istari, etc. ??

Originally Posted by Apache140

Notice how there are names not lit up and those that are lit up have sub-maps. Of course there's northern mirkwood map but it's actually just southern mirkwood done twice.

That thing with mirkwood map is funny. There are two same maps when we click on Dol Guldur and Mirkwood. But we don't have central and northern mirkwood. I don't understand why they made two same maps...

I would like to see areas like Mithlond added, with an epic story about goblins attacking it during the war of the ring like in BFME2, it would simply be a cool thing, I would also like a skirm based off helms deep for ftps, that would be epic.

Also does anyone know how to become a LOTRO tester???

Originally Posted by PierreForever

Also does anyone know how to become a LOTRO tester???

As in the Palantir Program or Bullroarer?

For Bullroarer, you can just download the client and start testing. (But its probably not going to work that way for RoR)
For the Palantir, you have to go to the forum on the topic and sign up. As far as Im concerend, they test things very early in development. Stuff that won't be added to the game for months and months, or maybe not at all.

What I think would be cool is if they add the Grey Havens as a stable, and instead of a stable it could be a dock, and you could Go to Valinor. That would be really cool. Of course they're bound to add Gondor, Mordor, the Lonely Mountain/Esgaroth, and all those places at some point. I mean, its almost gaurunteed. I can't wait to see what Minas Tirith will look like.

Originally Posted by jtracy1

Ithilien would be nice. Erebor, Dale, and Thranduil's Realm would go well together as one or more expansions - esp. if timed around the release of the Hobbit movies.

Another idea for expansion would be to expand back to the Silmarillion eras. Once a player reached end-game in LOTRO they could start from scratch in the world of the First Age as a Dwarf of Durin's Line in Moria WHEN IT WAS ALIVE (or other appropriate dwarven locales) , as an Elf in Beleriand (choose between Noldor, Sindar, etc.) or as a Man from one of the Houses of the Edain. It would offer excellent opportunities for PvMP too. Imagine a 6 or 12 person PvMP raid on Morgoth's enemies (maybe a Siege of Gondolin?) fighting alongside drakes, balrogs, etc.

This expansion could allow for new classes/traits/LI, etc if Turbine decided to go this route. The could get true Captains like Beleg, Finrod, etc. How about Loremasters for Dwarves - They created many lost wonders in the First Age, it would only make sense. In addition, this could be a complete map/region played on a T2 difficulty if it was set up right. It would also allow for competing rep factions within the various groups i.e. Sons of Feanor vs the Noldor and/or Sindar, Moria vs Nogrod, etc. Maybe it is too far out there but it would be cool and would definitely keep the LOTRO coffers full for time to come. That would pave the way for Numenor as a Second Age expansion with the Rise of Sauron in Middle Earth, the arrival of the Istari, etc. ??

That would be cool, but it would take a lot of work and effort for the Turbine Designers. Plus, How would they fit it in along with the storyline? that would be probably the hardest part.

Originally Posted by Finborhur

That thing with mirkwood map is funny. There are two same maps when we click on Dol Guldur and Mirkwood. But we don't have central and northern mirkwood. I don't understand why they made two same maps...

Yeah. That always confuses me. im like "Wait, they added more on to Mirkwood? Sweet!" Then I find out it's the same as the Dol Guldur Map.

Originally Posted by jtracy1

Ithilien would be nice. Erebor, Dale, and Thranduil's Realm would go well together as one or more expansions - esp. if timed around the release of the Hobbit movies.

Another idea for expansion would be to expand back to the Silmarillion eras. Once a player reached end-game in LOTRO they could start from scratch in the world of the First Age as a Dwarf of Durin's Line in Moria WHEN IT WAS ALIVE (or other appropriate dwarven locales) , as an Elf in Beleriand (choose between Noldor, Sindar, etc.) or as a Man from one of the Houses of the Edain. It would offer excellent opportunities for PvMP too. Imagine a 6 or 12 person PvMP raid on Morgoth's enemies (maybe a Siege of Gondolin?) fighting alongside drakes, balrogs, etc.

This expansion could allow for new classes/traits/LI, etc if Turbine decided to go this route. The could get true Captains like Beleg, Finrod, etc. How about Loremasters for Dwarves - They created many lost wonders in the First Age, it would only make sense. In addition, this could be a complete map/region played on a T2 difficulty if it was set up right. It would also allow for competing rep factions within the various groups i.e. Sons of Feanor vs the Noldor and/or Sindar, Moria vs Nogrod, etc. Maybe it is too far out there but it would be cool and would definitely keep the LOTRO coffers full for time to come. That would pave the way for Numenor as a Second Age expansion with the Rise of Sauron in Middle Earth, the arrival of the Istari, etc. ??

Would absolutely love to see a lot of these things, but sadly as I understand it, Turbine/WB doesn't have the rights to the Silmarillion or the Hobbit...

(ETA: Sorry, after writing this I realized it had been extensively covered earlier in the thread. Moving on...)

Originally Posted by Galadhloth

Would absolutely love to see a lot of these things, but sadly as I understand it, Turbine/WB doesn't have the rights to the Silmarillion or the Hobbit...

True, also from a business perspective is better to get rights for Silmarillion/Hobbit and make a completely new MMO than make a ultra complicated session play to play on the first age on LOTRO...

I'd be fine moving into secondary/tertiary areas, like fighting to Corsairs or exploring further east and seeing what there is out by Rhun or somewhere not really covered by the literature but perhaps could have been relevant but for the efforts of our gallant heroes who were not with the Ring (us).

But then I'm an explorer - I see locked off doors and wonder what is on the other side and I really hate invisible walls.

All Information Below disclosed by Turbine to Eurogamer @ :
<http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-01-26-more-detail-on-lotro-riders-of-rohan-expansion>

- We all know that Helms Deep is not in RoR BUT may be in either later expansion or possibly endgame content like book 6 with Armies of Isengard. This is confirmed by the statement:
"Paiz said Helm's Deep will "not be in the fall", meaning autumn. It will be after, she added. "
So we can expect it sometime down the track as they also said that they hope that "players will find it credible and in a way that will meet their expectations."
-If you also have read Return of the King you will also know about Saruman's downfall and the Scouring of the Shire. There is already several Easter eggs already present such as references to "The Chief" and "Sharkey/Sharku" as well as In their Absence and Tuckoborough. The Story is of Saruman's Revenge on Pippin and Merry by purchasing the Shire and oppressing its people by a slow and already present Occupation of Half-Orcs and Brigand that is felt all the way to Bree and the Sarn Ford. Turbine has confirmed this by adding the paragraph:
"And what happens with Sharkey and The Shire? "

So expect more information on Helms Deep and Sharkey soon. If you want to see for yourself go to the interview and there is also a discussion on Minas Tirith and Aragorn and Arwen.

You forgot that they will most likely add Harad and Rhun along with the other regions like the grey havens and Lindon and other areas around eriador Mordor of course will be last.

About new areas after Rohan i have a feeling that we will leave the are near rohan/gondor... if u have noticed much of rhovanion has been opened so we might fight near northern mirkwood, sea of rhun, erebor, dale etc which at the time was facing orc and easterling hordes

My thoughts, aka my wishlist:

2012, fall: East Rohan, the Wold, and Amon Hen! (confirmed-ish, IIRC)
2013, early: West Rohan! Visit Edoras and experience Helm's Deep somehow!
2013, December: You've won at Helm's Deep, Aragorn's on the Paths of the Dead, and Minas Tirith needs help... but WAIT! Using your rocket horse, you're going to help Dale and Erebor first!
2014: Fill-in-the-Gaps year! South Farthing, Tower Hills, and anything in between the Misties and Dale get added!
2015: Gondor!


Yep. That's my wishlist :P

After seeing today's announcement, I think we can finally see what happened with the Hobbit MMO IP.
http://www.guardiansofmiddleearth.com/home

Last official news release I can find, Turbine had the License to both The Hobbit and Lord of The Rings until 2014 with the option to extend until 2017. Then WB bought Turbine. After that, we started hearing rumors through dev posts and interviews. But I never really heard anything official. With the above announcement, -A console based MMO that takes place in competitive multiplayer battle arenas with major tie-ins to Peter Jackson's upcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey motion picture.

As for everyone mentioning Turbine using Goblin Town and the Misty Mountains, again, reading between the lines, Turbine is allowed to keep anything that was used before WBi moved the License over to Monolith or WBIE, or wherever they are keeping their IP licenses. Either way, Both Monolith and Turbine are now part of the WB family which has now has both licenses. What WBIE doesn't have is a license to the Silmarian, and they probably won't for a long, long time, as long as Christopher Tolkein.

As for areas I would like to see, there are many, especially the ones blocked off back near the starter areas. The Gray Havens, The area south of the Sanar Troll caves, Northern Erid Luin - between Thorin's Gate and Forechel (and maybe a route direct route to winter town), and the South Downs, all the way down the north-south road to Dunland. Of course, most of this probably won't happen until after we get quite a ways sound first. The idea of going filling out the starter areas has been brought up before, though I haven't seen it for a while. Last time, the devs said they would like to fill it out, but didn't see it happening any time soon. Of course, this was probably a couple of years ago, and many things have changed since then. We will probably see the North Downs revamp before then, if it ever happens.

I'm also looking forward to our journey south, and I am looking forward to seeing all the things that are coming in the next couple of years. I hope LotRO will be here for many years to come.

one place i really want to see, it might be relly small, but is the grey havens, i k, there wont be the possibility for many quests, but i just want to see it!