We could tell you about how you can play as a breakfast-loving hobbit or a Legolas-like ranger in The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. We could gush over the game’s crisp graphics that makes World of Warcraft look like Diablo II. But even though immersing ourselves in a beautifully crafted world with Nazgûl and knights fills us with glee, that’s not what grabbed our attention when we sat down with Jeff Anderson, President & CEO of developer, Turbine.

Sure, LOTR Online has “next-gen MMO” written all over it in terms of visuals and sheer size of the world. It also draws heavily from the much beloved well of Tolkien’s lore and will be sure to please fans of the films and novels. But it’s also the way that developer, Turbine is paying attention to the little details as the game’s April launch draws nearer that threaten to make this the “one MMO to rule them all.”

Above: The game looks great and purists will appreciate the care that went into accurately portraying the world of Tolkien

MMO enthusiasts will appreciate the way LOTR Online plans to iron out some serious kinks that plague the genre. Whether its setting up a voice chat server for your guild, posting a comment on a forum about a difficult quest, or creating a website for your character, MMO players have gone through great lengths to develop and participate in the strong online communities that grow around their game of choice – and its refreshing to see how developer, Turbine is taking a proactive approach to cultivating these communities.