By Evan Schrager
In LOTRO, the creation of a character with different races and different classes leaves the player with a wide selection for a number of different possibilties. How accurate their character is to one of Tolkien’s characters can somewhat change the game experience. For example, if one chooses to play a Dwarf Minstrel, they are going against the natural abilities of a dwarf according to Middle Earth standards. Gimli and the dwarves are known to be fervourous warriors! However, making a decision to play as a Dwarf Minstrel can entertain a player if he/she likes to play a Dwarf as a healer. Heck, a hobbit lover could play a hobbit Champion for fun. Who wouldn’t want to watch a cute little hobbit slice-n-dice ugly monsters? If the player wishes to represent their favorite character, such as Legolas, they can select an Elf Hunter. Then, the player can happily sprint around shooting arrows at orcs as they wish-how fun! It all depends on the players personal preference.
The narrative is certainly enriched by these classes in concordance with race. Immediacy is achieved in battle scenes as well as interesting quests-the player is immersed in the action using battle techniques and items, etc. When you do the missions for Book 1, protecting several others NPCs can be fun as a minstrel, healing the NPC, and as a Champion helping on the front lines.
It all depends on how you want your experience on Middle Earth to unfold. Heal the wonded….or wound the healed? The decision is yours- don’t mess it up.
New Media: Storytelling in Literature, Films, and Games 
A lot of the underlying racial mechanics derive from old school D&D individual attribute statistics being varied by race. Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Constitution, and Charisma each had a modifier in the original D&D system based upon race. This impacted the story, and could even make for some funny narrative experiences if you ever wanted to cast a Dwarf into a Wizard role, for example.