While World of Warcraft gamers are celebrating its second expansion, the populace of Lord of the Rings Online can now enjoy their first. The doors of the Mines of Moria are now open and waiting for you.

Details after the link.

It's time for another round of "guess who" for Tolkien fans. Take a guess: who is the cousin of the hobbit Bilbo Baggins. Clue: he and his wife, Lobelia, tried to auction off Bilbo's possessions when he went off on the Quest of Erebor. You might have encountered his son and his wife on your travels through the Shire in Lord of the Rings Online. Got a name yet? Go to the full article to see if you got it right.

What we have for you here is a brief backgrounder on the NPC Gloin from the MMORPG The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. He is actually the father of Gimli and was very vital to the success of the Fellowship of the Ring. Know more details bout him after the jump!

 If you are eager to visit some new places in the world of The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, then we would like to inform you about the Goblin-Town situated in the Misty Mountains.

However, beware that this place will not give you a warm welcome as it is inhabited by goblins who were once under the rule of the Great Goblin. Know more after the jump!

If you write down famous landmarks from the "Lord of the Rings" lore, this one would probably reach the list only by the end, but the hobbit hole of Bag End is a landmark nonetheless. If you remember (and you should), Bag End was the home of the ring bearer, Bilbo Baggins, and eventually the successor to the ring, Frodo Baggins. Find out more about Bag End in the Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar in the full article.

If you've read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, you'd be well acquainted with the dragon, Smaug the Golden. Bilbo Baggins, Frodo's uncle, encountered him  twice during his treasure hunting adventures, also known as There and Back Again, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although he was said to be the strongest dragon in Middle-earth, he has an Achilles' heel in the form of a bare patch on his left chest. Smaug ended up being slain by Bard the Bowman, who later became the King of Dale.

As with the other denizens of Middle-earth, the Dragon-kind have a history. Morgoth of the dark realm Angband bred them and gave them massive destructive capabilities. If you could breathe fire and effortlessly crush stone and metal, I guess that would give you great potentials for destruction too.

There are two kinds of dragons: the drakes and the worms. The drakes are the winged type; they reside on the stony hills and mountains of Middle-earth, preying on aurochs, bears and other large animals to feed their drakelings. They aren't so choosy about their diets, though, as they'd chow on a solitary Hillman or Earth-kin when given a chance.

The worms are the weaker type, wingless and left to roam the barren hills. They aren't fickle about their diets either; they'd prey on animals and men, too. Both the drakes and worms lack the strength of their predecessors but they are dangerous nonetheless.

So players of LOTRO: Shadows of Angmar must be ready to fight or flee these creatures, as they abound around the crags and downs of Angmar, the North Downs and the Misty Mountains.

You know you're a LotR-geek if you know people, places, and creatures that were never once mentioned in Peter Jackson's movie trilogy. Although none of us here in QJ think that "geek" is a derogatory term (mostly because all of us here call ourselves geek of a certain fandom), geekiness is what saves the day more often than not.

In LOTRO: Shadows of Angmar, the whole of Middle-earth is open for you to explore, including all those areas which didn't even play a crucial role in the tales of Frodo's quest to destroy the One Ring. Take Stock for example. It's located in the Eastfarthing area of the Shire, near the point where the Stockbrook and Brandywine rivers merge.

For a Hobbit village, it's a rather large in area and has a quirky feature in its dwellings. Hobbits in this village tend to live above ground rather than the traditional Hobbit-holes (just like Bilbo's house). Despite this, there will still be the occasional Hobbit-hole dwellings found in this village. Of the two main roads the go through Stock, the westward path leads to Tuckborough while the vertical path will bring you northward to the Brandywine Bridge or southward through Marish country.

Better start packing those Lembas bread! You're in for one (again, non-derogatory) geekful adventure!

Uttering the words "green dragon" in Middle-Earth would usually cause panic and fear among other people, but there's one "green dragon" that doesn't really involve any hard-plated scales and combusting breaths of fire. It's called the Green Dragon Inn, and it's hardly anything harmful. In fact, travelers often find themselves having a restful visit in this quaint little establishment.

Located near the Bywater Pool of Bywater village in the Shire, this inn welcomes every adventurer from LOTRO: Shadows of Angmar with open arms and open doors. If you've got a story to tell, stop by and have a conversation with its other guests. Here, you can share stories, gossip, learn of news and even earn some potential allies to join you on your next quest. Heck, the Green Dragon Inn even recently held a Poetry Night event!

Bilbo Baggins himself was once a customer in this inn with the company of Dwarves some time back when they ventured off to the Lonely Mountain. I wonder which room they stayed in?

In the words of Bilbo, you've got to let the road sweep your feet away. All you need to do is step out of the door and have the journey of a life time. That's what LOTRO: Shadows of Angmar is all about. Despite having other games based on the same universe, LOTRO is bound to take you for one heck of a spin and fully immerse you into a massively multiplayer Middle-Earth.

The game will be based on the LOTR canon and will treat fans, both old and new, with all of the flora and fauna in Tolkien's creation. The three stone trolls which tried to stew the dwarves in "The Hobbit" can be found in the game. The ford of Bruinen which Frodo had to cross to get to Rivendell is also on the map. These and much more elements will make the fans giddy like Pippin on some cigar leaves from Bree.

Want to  get ahead on your journey? Click the "Full Article" link for more screens!

Remember Bert, Tom, and William, the three Stone Trolls who attempted to make a meal of dwarf Thorin and company? Yes? Well, good! If you enjoyed that memorable scene in The Hobbit, you'd be glad to know that  the three Stooges trolls-turned-statues will be a fixture in The Lord of the Rings Online.

Adventurers in the Trollshaws will be welcomed by the statues of the now harmless Stone Trolls. If you would recall, these trolls love eating meat. Bilbo Baggins and his companions almost became "troll chows" until Gandalf intervened. The trolls then started arguing over the best way to prepare a Hobbit and Dwarf meat. With the spell, the argument went on until the sun rose, which turned the poor trolls into stones.

It's highly unlikely for Bert, Tom, and William to cause any harm at their "stoned" state, but adventurers are warned of a more fearsome breed of trolls lurking the area. So, while you admire the statues, be wary of hungry trolls who wouldn't think twice of making a meal of you.