Another expansion?Follow

Does anyone have any idea what the chances of a another expansion are? Has there been any official statements released regarding one?

Oh, kick ***. I really need to get to leveling.

I wonder if we'll ever be able to go to the Lonely Mountain?

I think there's a few possibilities for expansion beyond the book storyline. Uncharted lands to the East where the Haradrim come from, or maybe delving into Silmarillion lore & the scattering of the elf clans.

Certainly Rohan/Emyn Muil (Dead Marshes)/Isengard/Fangorn Wood would be the most likely choices for the next expansion or three

As much as I might agree with you, be aware that Turbine has only licensed the three books of the trilogy (FotR, TT & RotK). No license has been granted for the other works of Tolkien including The Silmarillion and The Hobbit...

Therefore, Turbine has to chart a very careful course when creating content for the game. They can not use anything outside the licensed material since they have not paid for the use of this (additional) intellectual property.

Everything they do is monitored by the estate of JRR Tolkien and all evolution of and change to the game must be approved by the estate.

Is Turbine already using the Silmarillion? No doubt they are aware of it, but they can't use it as the basis for any game systems or locations. And unless they choose to expand their license to include other works, everything they do has to come only from or at least be based upon its existence within the trilogy.

I can only assume you're talking about the Necromancer in Dol Guldur. Which of course, is actually Sauron in disguise, until the White Council drove him out the same year that Bilbo went to the Lonely Mountain.

If we are allowed to adventure to Dol Guldur, I believe I remember it being mentioned that some of the Nazgul were using it as a base of operations. We may encounter them there.

I would think you could look at the homelands available at character creation for possible expansion areas. For example, Men can come from Bree-land, Gondor, Rohan, and Dale. So far we've only seen Bree-land. Anything listed there I would think could be used by Turbine for future expansions, but that is of course a guess since I don't have access to the license agreement between Turbine and the Tolkien estate.

Right! I had forgotten about the mention of the wars that went on up there. I would be surprised though if an expansion was released focusing on that area - just because I don't think it will draw players in (though it would keep the existing fan-base happy).

Take a look at the map of middle earth (here:
http://www.douglas.eckhart.btinternet.co.uk/maps-middle-earth-01.jpg
if you don't have the book).

If that was included in the "LOTRO" rights purchased, then it gives them TONS of content. But like I said above, the stuff they release will likely have to have some market appeal to bring in new players (or bring back/retain existing players). That's why I don't think an expansion focusing on the north-east would be likely...