The Lord of the Rings Online Preview

Warcry has kicked up the latest hands-on preview of Turbine's The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar.
This one feature pretty much sealed the deal for me on LOTRO. At first, I was angsty about not getting to roll a character in an "evil" race and play the game for the side of Sauron. Then I found the Monster Play portal, and I was instantly hooked. Sure, you don't get much in the way of customizing your look or gear, but you can still do a lot to tailor your chosen monster class to your playstyle. As a minion of Sauron, you will be able to undertake quests just like on your normal character, but rather than get experience, you will get Destiny Points. These can be used to enhance your MP character with extra damage, extra defense or new attacks. The best part of all of this is that you will get to choose a name and if you play long enough, and well enough against other players, you will eventually be able to rise to the level of an Elite monster. This means that instead of players gathering together to take on a PvE boss, they will have to group up to take on you. As cool as the good guys are, I will be spending most of my time playing as a monster, because nothing feels better than smacking Hobbits around.