i think i have probably been waiting for something like this since i was about 13. i love tolkien's work, and the notion of being able to freely walk around his world is incredible. aside from some shooters, however, i have never done the online thing. please share some experiences with on-line gaming in general(RPGs specifically) that might help me to understand what to expect. also, if anyone has specific knowledge of what i might expect from this particular game, that would be great too. i am well-versed in tolkien's middle-earth, and i am interested to see how it translates into a Wow-type game.

Be ready to deal with mouthy pre-teens and teens who think who know everything there is to know about the game, its mechanics, and about everthing else there is to know about life. Mind numbing general chat that will lower you IQ by 100 points when you read it (called barrens chat for those familiar to WoW).

Group with people (if the game is similar to WoW) and do quests/battles, add the one's you like to your friends list (again, i'm assuming this is like WoW) and hook up with them again when they come online.

Find a website(s) for the game once they launch it. You'll find alot of help from people that are playing, and will save you some time.

Last but not least, don't get addicted to playing it.