Due noted from all of you. When the lore gives you facts turn to gameplay. It is the way it has always been and I have seen it before. On the bases of said arguments, I will also state this to Walkure.
You feel the Balrog is at full potential, okay, and you say Sauron has lost part of himself when putting himself in the ring or during the fall or numenor, or during his defeat at the War of the Last Alliance, due noted.
So Walkure you are saying that the Balrog at his full potential is greater than Sauron when he initially poured himself into the ring? Or are you saying that the Balrog is SO powerful that he wouldn't get a boost in power even though Sauron was that much greater than him? If I were to go by the lore and what you have stated, I would have to negate the line in the White Rider: "I am Gandalf the White, but black is mightier still." Gandalf the White states this after his battle with the Balrog and after he wrestled with Sauron in magic. Sauron has and always will always be greater than the Balrog and if he can be boosted by the Ring back to his original levels of power, then I don't see why the Balrog couldn't be boosted to Sauron's level given that he was lesser to him initially anyways. You used Ungoliant as an example, both she and Morgoth both wanted the Silmarils and both would have gotten a boost in power cause of it (example of Ungoliant draining the light of the trees and wells). Appearing lordly and more graceful can have an affect on morale of the enemy and your allied forces as you guys have stated, just because someone is very well rounded doesn't mean they are more powerful thus the ring would still have a minimal effect on the Balrog but a great effect overall.
Speculation, of course, there is no more speculation than what is given for the reasons of the One Ring not working for the Balrog. But again I must reiterate myself. If Smaug is to be implemented then it must be done as Isildur requests and which I agree with.
But understand this, I don't care if Smaug is the main hero of the faction, I don't care if he is a ring hero, what I do care about is lore and since the ET went against the lore, and have Smaug being the Ring hero then adjustments to be made to make it more lore friendly, and it must be implemented, otherwise as stated earlier, you might as well do a faction of Hobbits and Unicorns with Tom Bombadil being the Ring Hero and justify it by speculations and holes in the lore as well.
Both Tom and Smaug would not and DID NOT care about the ring and would just end up losing it. So bring it to Smaug's treasure trove wouldn't be such a bad idea.
As far as Fredius's words about the Balrog's playstyle, nerfing, etc. Dagor Dagorath implements the Balrogs perfectly without much error, and I do have a counter for Durin's Bane and Smaug, it is called Silverthorn.
"But this is a hypothetical scenario." okay how about this, Smaug catches Bilbo in his lair and burns him to a cinder. The ring is there and he goes back to sleep until Sauron contacts him and gets the ring back. End of story.
Also if Smaug is the ring hero, what's he gonna do, eat the ring like Shelob? In that case he should have it on a timer until such a time that he defecates the ring out. Feel sorry for the next ring hero that finds the ring after that LOL
NO, I am content with Edain's decision to make Smaug the Ring Hero if that is what they want to do, but there is more in the background and lore about the Balrog of Moria than there is about Smaug (Three Ages vs One Age). If Smaug is implemented then do it the right way and that is all I am saying.
From Fredius: "One could say that he could be made weaker, but that doesn't do this ancient and terrible creature any justice. The Balrog is meant to show everyone the terror of the First Age, a general of Morgoth's armies, just like Sauron was. but that doesn't do this ancient and terrible creature any justice."
And Smaug who is the greatest and most terrible of calamities is nerfed and this does him justice. Okay Fred. Sauron is also from the First Age, Treebeard is from the First Age, Galadriel is from the First Age, Celeborn is from the FA, Cirdan...do I really need to go on? None of these are asked to be nerfed, nay, Galadriel and Sauron are asked to be upgraded, I even supported a post on that. So the bases for the argument of Smaug vs Balrog is gameplay, pure and simple because there is NOTHING in the Lore that states or hints that Smaug would be interested in such an artifact and there is more in the lore regarding the nature, history, and powers of the Balrog which would be suitable for him to be the faction leader.
So what I have proven so far with no rebuttle:
1. The Balrog is not an isolationist given Nimrodel and Amroth's death and everyone knowing about his presence (also he knew the endless stairs of Moria too well, so obviously he maneuvered around and got to know Moria very well), and he slew many heroes.
2. The Balrog is not a mindless chaotic beast, as stated in the lore they were generals and Maiar of terrible power.
3. The ring would have an effect on the Balrog whether it be grace or power, and being a Maia he could utilize what Sauron poured into.
4. The Balrog could be and could have much potential for being the faction leader and ring hero as Smaug, but Edain said otherwise.
In conclusion, you are all getting what you want even if it isn't canonical for Smaug to utilize the Ring or care about it. You guys get that plus the ability to play a dragon. Something you got to do in vanilla BFME2, ROTWK, oh and many other mods.
So despite the canon depravity and clear flaws that any true Tolkienist could point out the subject of Smaug staying and acting as a hero/Ring hero remains. So do it canoncially and I'll support it, if not canonical then I am against it as I have always been.
EDIT:
The balrog doesn't desire the one ring at all. There is no where stated that he want it and that he wants to use it on anyway. The Balrog is merely waiting to morgoth to return as a said so him making a ring hero seems just weird for he would never leave moria and fight for sauron.
As for the statement that the blarog is the ruler of moria, Where did you get that from. Ever since the goblins went into moria they had an orc as leader. See azog he was the leader of moria.
"Azog, known also as the Defiler and the Pale Orc, was an orc who lived in the Third Age. He commanded the tribes of Moria from TA 2790 until his death in TA 2799. "
"Azog then called out that he had killed Thrór , and that he now ruled Moria as king. His name in runes was carved onto the brow of Thrór, forever branding it into the hearts of the Dwarves."
During that time the blarog was already walking in moria so he wasnt the ruler but it was azog. And probley during the war of the ring the goblins would have found a new commander and king of moria which isn't the balrog.
We dont know who the leader is of moria during the war of the ring. If edain adds a leader in for moria goblins it will probley just be an orc and who knows what.
An the other hand smaug. He would be perfect for a ring hero, Smaug desires gold. What is the one ring made of gold. He loves gold. He would take the ring even if he doesnt sense the power of the one ring he would still take it because it is made of gold. And once he has it the ring will do his job and make smaug stronger with the power of the ring even though smaug never intended that. So smaug being ring hero isn't that weird
1. Balrog not being interested in the ring is speculation, given that he is a Maia he would have more interest in the ring than Smaug.
2. Orc kings existed throughout the First Age but still payed homage to Gothmog (lord of the Balrogs, Sauron, and Morgoth) so what does that prove? Boldog, Balcmeg, Orcobal, Othrod, and Lug were all Orc Kings/Lords.
3. You can be king/ruler of orcs in Tolkien's work and still be ruled by a creature of higher authority and power obviously.