The Lord of the Rings Online Impressions

Both 1Up and Kotaku have written up some impressions of Turbine's The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, based on some time in the MMORPG's ongoing beta test. A snip from the article at 1Up:
I don't know what it is, but it's a bit of everything. The setting helps a ton: the familiarity with the landscape, and the faithfulness the developers have with it, brings out big geek love in me. (You just try going to Bag End and not feel your heart a-flutter a bit, okay tough guy?) I can't speak for the Elf, Dwarf, or Man areas yet, but the Hobbit world is extremely well realized, and shows that yes, of course, they are doing their homework with this important license of theirs.

And a snip from the article at Kotaku:
The gameplay will be familiar to any who have played an MMO. You have skills you acquire as you level up. You collect things and sell them for better weapons. And there are always plenty of missions to grab, from deliver this package here, to sort out this big mystery that is linked to the grander Lord of the Rings theme of the game.