The first official tidbits on the upcoming Volume 3 for Lord of the Rings Online was released yesterday. Volume 3 is named Allies of the King, with Book I: Oath of the Rangers, and it hints at the martial mobilization of zones we know and love. There are going to be some crafting updates. Complete solo-ization of Volume 1, and some updates to a few current skirmishes we have, making them raidable.
The best part is a new skirmish, which will be part of Vol. 3, Bk. 1 called the Depths of Nurz Ghashu, which takes place in the Rift that many loved during pre-Mines of Moria times. Unfortunately I picked up Lord of the Rings Online only a few months before Mines of Moria was launched, and I never made it to the Rift. (Though I did make it to Helegrod – the 24-man raid - amazingly enough.)
It does not seem like we will be getting a new zone, like Dunland, this time around. The start of Volume 3 uses a lot of old content, which is not a bad thing. Recycling old content just requires a balance between the old and new. Developers will want to polish the great memories, discard the yucky ones, and then add a touch of new.  A new drop would suffice, or new mechanics as the case is for the new skirmish in an old dungeon instance.
The best part is that Turbine can escape the timeless existence of their old content. We already see this in a snowy Bree ransacked by villainous curs in the two Bree skirmishes, but this is a future story. I want to see my effects have consequences. Let’s pretend I did kill Thaurlach the Balrog in the Rift. The best I could hope for was some quest text thanking me and suggesting that the threat is now lessened and the Rift is in disarray. Now, Turbine has a chance to show me what happened after that brave group of 12 assaulted the Rift. (Also maybe give another way to give Eldgang rep. Hint. Hint.)
–Ravious
we have to go back, kate
I don’t even know where “the rift” is. It’s one of the rare places I’ve heard of, but never been to. I had no reason to go.
Moria came out right when I hit 50. I never went back to Angmar after unlocking the eastern half. I’m primarily a soloer, and even at that point, Angmar felt group-oriented.
For that matter, I abandoned the level 50 class quests 1/3 of the way through, when it became clear I’d have to go a-raiding, and Legendaries would be better anyway. At 65, my LM still can’t summon eagles. (Which is fine, since I love my cat. She has a great alpha-strike, and she doesn’t pull aggro running after me.)
The Rift is way to Mordor-and-gone up in the north-eastern corner of Angmar, and if you weren’t raiding or shard-hunting in a group you had no real reason to head up there.
The level 50 class quests didn’t require raiding, just grouping – Carn Dum and Urugarth were both designed for a 6-person fellowship. The drops from those instances didn’t bind, so you could buy them on the AH. The weapon rewards were marginal even before legendaries, but some of the jewelry held up pretty well; the utility of the extra trait varied pretty wildly by class.
Word has it that they’re finally going to be re-examining the old level 50 quests with an eye to making them relevant in the level 65 world, a mere year and a half after it was pointed out in Moria beta that this might be a good idea.
That would be impressive if they wrapped the new rift skirmish in with eldgang rep :) I totally forgot about that! Or maybe something to do with left-over rift coins ;)
About the level 50 class quests: You can buy the drops from the Skirmish Curiosities Vendor now. I think it’s about 10-15 skirmishes to earn enough points to buy the final four items.