Any word on when new cultures will be released?

[Stormcrow]

The elves visit Lake-town, at least. We don't really know whether they leave Mirkwood for elsewhere. The Elvenking was quick enough to bring an army to the Lonely Mountain when there was a whiff of free treasure in the air. And when Legolas leaves Mirkwood, he is only sent to tell Gandalf that Gollum escaped; he says the wood-elves didn't understand the significance of this at the time. The wood-elves live in peace in the forest, but there's no indication some wouldn't leave if they wanted.

The elves of Lorien are, on the other hand, completely isolationist. They trade with no one, send emissaries to no one, and allow no one into their lands except in extraordinary circumstances.

[Valarian]

Well, Mirkwood elves don't technically leave their land either. A PC elf would be one of those rare elves that does. Legolas is a very odd duck for leaving Mirkwood like he does. So there's a place for Lorien elves. Any number of strange things could happen, such as Lorien elves sending embassy to Thranduil, etc.

Legolas was sent as an emissary to Rivendell, then became part of the company of the ring. He was following duty, balancing the dwarves of Erebor in the company. Over the journey, Legolas and Gimli became friends, but initially there was mistrust.

[Otaku-sempai]

I'd say that Lorien elves are not necessary: they don't leave their land. During The Lord of the Rings, Legolas himself didn't know anything about Lorien; of the Company, only Aragorn and Gandalf, who had both been there, did.

Rivendell elves are, on the other hand, very necessary. They are a mix of Noldor and Sindar. They may not be sufficiently different from elves of the Havens and elves of the Wandering Companies to warrant separate treatment in the game; "Elves of Eriador" might work as a single culture.

Other Eriador-based cultures besides hobbits would be Dwarves of the Blue Mountains and Men of Bree. I don't think Bree hobbits are sufficiently different from Shire hobbits for distinct game mechanics.

Well, there are Lorien-elf characters such as Haldir, who could be PCs:

'We seldom use any tongue but our own; for we dwell now in the heart of the forest, and do not willingly have dealings with any other folk. Even our own kindred in the North [the Elves of Mirkwood] are sundered from us. But there are some of us still who go abroad for the gathering of news and the watching of our enemies, and they speak the languages of other lands. I am one. Haldir is my name.'

I would be tempted to treat the Men and Hobbits of Bree as a single culture; they seem to be so well intergrated.

[Mim]

I weigh in with Stormcrow on this one concerning the people of Eriador.

IMHO, the Elves of Rivendell (if they continue with them, per their original release), will likely cover the various houses in Middle-earth at the end of the Third Age nicely, & should give us enough to play without adding the ones from the Havens as distinct enough to require their own culture.

The Hobbits of the Shire as already detailed are probably sufficient that we don't need them especially detailed further. If they believe otherwise, they can briefly write-up the Bree-lander Hobbits, similar to what they've done with the Wild Hobbits of THoW.

The Bree-lander men, however, are distinct enough that they probably require some description, & I hope that the Dúnedain are a given & they continue with the Rangers of the North.

At some point, I'd love to see them add some of the other unique people of the region, such as the Dunlendings, Fisher Folk, Snowmen, etc. I figure it's probably wishful thinking, but you never know

[James Harrison]

I'm actually more excited for them to explore the "game space" west of the mountains before South of the wood... while eventually it would be great to have Rohan and Gondor I'm much more interested in the unexplored (in my mind) Arnor; there is a LOT of land their that is mostly untouched in the books, and could be explored well. But I get the impression the more popular south will be next on their agenda (after Rivendale et al.)

Then again, I would prefer the line of books continuing to fizzling out by producing unwanted supplements; so the south possibly makes sense.