[Palantir]

I'm a little confused on the civilizations. Is each one different in each age or merely a proggression of that civilization like in Age of Empires? And the independent civilizations are just enemies or can they be played also?

[CrazyThumbs]

The Civs are different for each age. You can't progress through the ages like Age of Empires, once you pick an age you stay in it for the rest of the game.
I don't think the independents can be played, but I know you can ally yourselves with them and set up trade and the like.

This is all based on what I knew from a few years back, so it could have changed since then.

[Palantir]

Ok, so can you play against other civs from different ages or do they all have to be the same age as you?

[Beren IV]

The game takes place in one age.

As for the minor civs - I think - and I hopw that this will be the case - is that they are playable, but are generally incomplete. You will need (usually) to borrow units from another civilization in order to be competitive as a minor civ.

[rohirwine]

The game wil take place in one age, and you'l won't be allowed to mix civs in the first stage of developing/distribution, since it ewill be mission centered. It's next stage will feature economic/strategic gameplay more close to AOE, wich could let you meddle with different civs...

[Beren IV]

I think the question was directed at "what will TLA be like eventually?" rather than "what will the first release be like?"

I personally am more interested in the economic model than just the military missions for the following reason: Tolkien's world is a "wonderous" world - magical, if you will, but the magic is not flashy like most games these days. This means that the magic in TLA should follow patterns similar to the Wonder powers in Rise of Nations, and those are typically economic rather than directly military in application.

[rohirwine]

Huh, i missed this reply, sorry.
Final stage should comprehend both mission driven and "free" play modes. But the general strategic/economic mode is far away if compared to the mission mode...