The dev team was on hand Friday to talk about the epic story, saying that players will begin their adventures in Mordor by “unpausing” the Battle of the Black Gate that has been frozen in time since earlier this year. Players who use the new Aria of the Valar to artificially progress their characters to Mordor’s front gate will use a story “on ramp” for the new Volume IV Book 9. And yes, even players who don’t purchase the expansion will be able to finish up the epic story.
Story developer MadeOfLions hinted that we’ll still be seeing Frodo and Sam during the expansion story. “This has been a long time coming, and some of the elements of Book 9 have been gestating for almost a decade! Seeing it become real after living just in my head for so long has been a joy,” he said.
