The Lord of the Rings Online Q&A #1

RPG Vault has tossed up the first installment of a new multi-part interview with The Lord of the Rings Online executive producer Jeffrey Steefel.
Q: What kind of system have you implemented for updating the game content on an ongoing basis? What have you added since launch, and what are you working on for the near future?

A: We believe an MMO that requires a subscription is really another type of ongoing entertainment, much like a weekly premium cable show, that must continue to grow and evolve. We are committed to frequent, robust, high-quality and substantial updates to the game. For example, we have been operating the LOTRO service for only four months and we have released our second major update, with a third already deep into development.

In those two updates, we have added an entire new region, hundreds of new quests, and over a dozen new monsters and characters including a Balrog, Ent, Rogmul and a new monster class of Wolf-men. We have put in many new major story instances and dungeons. For gameplay, we have implemented enhancements to the music system, several classes, the UI, Kinship functionality, new deeds and crafting opportunities, and several new epic armor sets. We have also added a new system called Legendary play, where players can play as an elite Troll or Ranger, and even Critter play that lets you roam the world as a chicken! :) We have two new systems, Reputation and Barter.

In our next update, we will be adding a great deal more, including player and kinship housing. And let's not forget our in-game Live Events system that has already brought players a Summer Festival, and will bring even more events in every update.