The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria Preview

After spending some hands-on time with The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria, the editors at IGN have cranked out a three-page preview of the expansion.
Before you dive straight into Moria, you may want to take on one of the two new character classes. Both of the new classes, the Rune-Keeper and the Warden, are designed to amplify the lore of the world and to fill some gaps in the current class roster by adding a more traditional magic-user and a mid-level tank. And since the new expansion will offer up a few new character slots, there's no reason you have to sacrifice any of your existing characters to try the new ones.

Turbine is understandably sensitive to the perception of the magic-wielding Rune-Keeper. The fireball tossing, levitating wizards of most MMOs and RPGs don't fit quite so well into Tolkien's world, so Turbine is making every effort to create a satisfying magic class that's also true to the character of Middle Earth. They've worked in close conjunction with Tolkien's licensors to come up with a class that allows players to launch dramatic magic attacks but still fit in with the subtlety seen in magical characters like Galadriel.