User blog comment:Smaug the Tyrannical/Mysteries of Middle-Earth.../@comment-25101089-20150130104333

1. I do not know yet. It depends how they are described in the book, and I cannot remember.

2. Not in the foreseeable future.

3. Because when factions were added it was necessary to make a Warg for each faction so that alignment features for Wargs worked on a faction basis.

4. The Hobbit is thematically much more immature than LOTR as it was basically a children's fairytale. Therefore it is expected that things like this exist in the Hobbit, whereas in LOTR magic is more restricted. No, there will never be any form of spellcasting/mana etc. system like you find in most games with 'magic', because in Middle-Earth there are only 5 Wizards. 'Magic' is a loosely defined term anyway and could be seen to encompass many things already in the mod including the Balrog Whip, Elven torches, Morgul blades, blue glowing swords, and so on. But stereotypical 'magic' abilities will be available through use of rings.

5. Yes the mod is based on the books, but since the books are not a visual medium, I either have to create my own designs for everything or use existing designs from other existing adaptations. Where the movies do not contradict the books, as far as I know, I have often chosen to use the movies for inspiration, not only because they are visually magnificent, but also because this will allow more people to relate to and enjoy the mod.

6. The format they were presented in was, to be honest, rather unhelpful. I am sure that some of the suggestions in their original discussion form would have been much more interesting.

7. I am not really looking forward to adding any story features because of the stupid amount of time it will take, but possibly Isengard, because its structure is rather geometric in nature and will therefore be among the simplest to code.

8. There are a great many new ideas, too many to list, but some things we thought of were a 'lock' item that you could use to protect individual blocks instead of using a banner (i.e. a mod version of the Lockette plugin). Also, there were discussions about a new faction in Near Harad which is more desert nomad style than the current one. And a 'fellowship' system where you can form parties with other players for various benefits. Do not take any of this as confirmation that any of those features will be added in the near future or indeed ever.