Well, an iconic game for us has returned to us from the depths of the Ether.  Most of you already know, but just the same, I'm going to post this mostly because I can.  

All I can say is.... YAY!

You can DL the game free to play after you've got your T3Fun account (direct link to the signup page).

Original 12-minute Hellgate trailer below.

Well, a few of you lot are already playing the Rift in beta, but for the rest of us, here is a fairly extensive game play video, this one showing a rogue class.

About the Rift

Join legions of adventurers in RIFT™, a new fantasy massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) set in a world being torn apart.

Rifts violently rip into reality across the land and release powerful forces that threaten the very existence of Telara. Each breach brings with it new characters, events, and treasures, while the world itself changes dynamically around you.

Play with your friends across vast, lavishly detailed environments, or go head-to-head in challenging Player versus Player (PvP) combat as you battle to uncover the secrets of the planes. Build and advance your character using an innovative new class system with limitless possibilities.

The rifts have divided the people and endanger the world. Whether you fight to seal the rifts forever, or harness their power for your own, epic adventures lie ahead for those willing to fight for the future of Telara.

You can learn more about the rift at riftgame.com.

Guys, this is absolutely worth seeing.

There's a group out there called The Lonely Mountain Band, made up of members of Fathom, a celtic rock band.  The LMB of course focuses on Lord of the Rings prose and music.

The vid here is by a burg on one of the US servers called Lunna and uses the Song of Durin by LMB, put together with imagery from the game itself.

Pretty wicked stuff.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment unveiled today The Lord of the Rings Online™: Rise of Isengard™, the latest expansion to the award-winning free-to-play massively multiplayer online roleplaying game (MMORPG) developed by Turbine. Rise of Isengard will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces to press further eastward into the legendary region of Isengard. Rise of Isengard will be available for purchase in the LOTRO Store in the Fall of 2011 with an increased level cap, the new region of Isengard including the legendary tower of Orthanc, enhancements to monster play and much more!

“2010 has been a year of unprecedented growth for The Lord of the Rings Online with our successful introduction of a free-to-play option for our players,” said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “This is going to be another outstanding year for the game as we progress on our journey toward Mordor and it all begins with our upcoming November update. The journey will carry through 2011 ending with our arrival in the epic region of Isengard where players will confront the raging war and shadow that has spread across Middle-earth.”

NEW FEATURES:

• Experience the Rise of Isengard – The Epic Story continues as the Grey Company makes its way south into Dunland, but troubles arise as their road takes them into lands where Dunlending forces, marshaled by the Wizard Saruman, prepare for war. The Rangers must seek new allies and face dangerous new foes, chief among them the traitor Saruman, whose web of intrigue threatens to endanger your quest, your friends, and your life.
  
  
• Increased Level Cap — Players will be able advance their characters up to level 70, gaining access to new traits, virtues, skills and class quests. 
  
  
• Expanded Monster Play – LOTRO’s monster play system will get a major revamp including opening up the feature to all players, changes to monster player skills and advancement and a brand new region for players to battle for or against the forces of evil.

The Lord of the Rings Online is the ultimate adventure. This award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game delivers an interactive experience brimming with life and filled with the familiar people, places and monsters from the most famous fantasy of all time. From the picturesque surroundings of the Shire to Moria, the most fearsome underground realm ever imagined, players can experience the world of Middle-earth for free! For more information, visit www.lotro.com.

Like any other class, Loremasters gain proficiency in their spells and skills based on usage. Usage of spells and skills is tracked via Deeds, and each completed deed updates, and gives a buff or other added attribute, to the associated spell or skill.

Deeds can be considered as a more epic version of a normal quest, since you may be asked to do one activity over several hundreds times before you're rewarded with something special. Fortunately not all the Deeds are like that. Some of these activities include killing a specific creature or using a particular skill; it can also be finding all areas or completing a number of the quests in a region. Deeds are worth all the trouble and time spent completing them if you realize the rewards at the end of the trip. The rewards are called Traits, adding special abilities for your character.

The Loremaster is a formidable opponent on the field of battle when traited correctly for the situation. While these wielders of arcane powers can deal damage and even bend the will of their opponents, a proper trait setup is essential if you to be of greatest benefit to your fellowship.

Traits can be mixed and matched as the you see fit. And while you do get certain bonuses for focusing on one trait set, versatility does have its own usefulness. Trait choices can also be heavily affected by the make-up of the fellowship, so it's best to keep some degree of revolvabilty within the trait and trait set choices. Traits are ultimately malleable, so you might want to try them all out and see what suits your play-style the best.

Read on for a complete list of all Lore-master traits:

In terms of other MMORPGs, the Guardian fulfills the role of Heavy Tank, with lower overall damage output in exchange for improved survivability. It is one of the hardiest of classes, with extra morale and a number of abilities which mitigate damage taken. It is also a good soloing class, although the lower damage output means defeating monsters takes a bit longer than for some other classes. The Guardian also has reactive abilities that can be used after blocking and parrying.

 

The Guardian is the figurehead of any fellowship. They guard the way between their weaker allies and the enemies that challenge them. Their duty is to protect their allies from harm and to take the beatings everyone else should be receiving.

Their ability to wear heavy armour and defensive skills enable the them to face creatures that would make other heroes' morale fail. Most importantly though, Guardians also have the ability to draw foes' attention away from their allies and to themselves.

Virtues are one of the four types of Traits your character can gain in LotRo. You acquire Virtues, and gain up to 10 Ranks within each, by completing Deeds and occasionally Quests.

Each Virtue grants bonuses to 3 different Character Stats: the primary stat receives the largest bonus, the secondary stat receives a smaller bonus, and the tertiary stat receives the smallest.

Background

Fellowship Maneuvers are a general term for a group of attacks that can only be executed in some relatively rare circumstances. They can occur randomly as well as player-triggered (by Burglars or Guardians). The shortest maneuver recognized by the game is a 2-man maneuver, the longest a 6-man maneuver. There are Fellowship Maneuvers for any fellowship size between 2 and 6 people.

While it is possible to just hit random colors, the most powerful Fellowship Maneuvers require coordination between all members of a fellowship and can provide such useful benefits as a full group heal, heal over time, power regeneration, power over time, massive damage to the enemy, damage over time, or even in some cases area-of-effect damage and removal of fear(?). There are even a few maneuvers which summon one or two Oathbreaker Spirits to