Since Blizzard said a bing no-no to the idea of creating (or porting) a MMO to consoles, Turbine took up the flag and announced, recently, its intentions to explore this yet... unexplored market, to establish a stronghold in this virgin land, where the hands of human beings have yet to set foot on. Turbine has a fair and decent history regarding MMOs, with its Lord of the Rings Online still living and breathing (and, in my humble opinion, the second best MMO out there), so chances are that they will not screw things up.

More details about this are said to come early next year, but do remember that Turbine has the license to create Tolkien-based MMOs until 2012, with the possibility of extending this deadline until 2017. If this was not enough (and we all know nothing is ever enough, except maybe the beating we took when we were kids), Turbine is working on a technology that allows players to create self evolving worlds, as in self-made content. Interesting concept for a MMO, we are eager to see how well it is implemented without completely ruining the game balance.

Source.

In the dawn of Mines of Moria, the fine ladies over at Turbine decided “Hell, it was about time” to open a new development office, right in the heart of Redwood City, California, U.S. Of A., Earth. And, since opening new businesses usually involves new job spots, some ex-Flagship employees were keenly lured to join forces, in whatever future project (or projects) the company has in mind.

The first one to join Turbine's military is Dave Brevik, “ex-chief visionary officer” at Flagship, followed by Jeff Lind and Matt McKnight. All these guys were involved with Flagship, while previously Brevik was president of Blizzard North and Lind did some nasty things over at Electronic Arts, involving franchises like the The Sims and The Lord of the Rings.

We wish them luck. And most of all, we wish they can actually do a better job here than that craptastic Hellfail: London, that nobody played.

An official press release just came out recently, stamping a North American and European release date for Mines of Moria, the (almost) awaited expansion pack for Lord of the Rings Online. Tolkien fans from all over the world will be able to bask in awe, as the game comes with new additions, items, things, a texture of two, all of which can be admired while players will try to retake Khazad-dûm from the minions of Saruman.



Even more, for the European preorders, the game comes with exclusive bonus items AND a lifetime membership for only 149.99 EUROS. I wish other MMOs would take on the same marketing strategy, but alas, other MMOs make enough money just the way things are right now. The expansion is set to launch on November 18.