As I’ve written on the Early Middle Earth Online Screens and Renders page, Middle Earth Online was the game that essentially led into The Lord of the Rings Online as we know it today. Turbine handled both projects and you can see that in their image of the Forest Troll below that this was in the works by 2002 at the latest.
There seems to be a pretty significant shift in styles between this and the end-game we play today. The full-color Elf pieces, in particular, show a look that arguably has a more anime-esque slant to it.
The Orc Spy image really reminds me of Raziel from the Blood Omen games.
Early Middle Earth Online Artwork
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